April 27, 2006

That bun-maska

On the road for three days in blast-furnace-hot rural Vidarbha, two observations. One, plenty of material accumulated that I want to write about -- here and elsewhere -- and two, there was nearly no chance to do that writing.

So I'll have to play catch up as best as I can, or at least till I get on the road again. (Next week, as it happens).

First item: my Monday MidDay column, written after one of my recent walkabouts in central Bombay in which bun-maska played a part, is here. Comments welcome.

(This is also my second essay on the Sarai fellowship, in which my theme is exploring villages in the city. First one here).

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

are you saying not to eat bun-maska? would that be a rational behaviour?

tejal said...

Dilip, I read the article. It is really a serious problem that these prejudices get sold as "expert opinion". But i am not really sure that "they (Muslims) are normal people too" is the best line to take in trying to remove those prejudices because does'nt that arguement in some way dehumanize Muslims by having to 'prove' that they are just normal people? Muslims have had to prove thier patriotism, thier goodness, thier solidarity with the Hindus against terrorism time and again, and the very fact that these things need to be proven or are asked of Muslims indicates towards a very problematic society. The very reasons why these questions arise or who perpetuates these questions needs to be examined.
I can understand that the position from which you wrote the article is to probably try to ridicule that prejudice (really how can someone make such a statement as the "expert" u mentioned). But i think we need to device ways to deal with these problems by eradicating any kind of discrimination. By saying that Muslims are good and we have proven it, are we in some way justifying the prejudice which calls Muslims bad in the first place?