Tag: culture

Mosaic of Indian Muslim Culture

The last two essays explored Guru Nanak in poetry of legendary Urdu Scholars along with the literary review of Gita in Urdu & Persian from days of Faizi up to recent publication from India & Pakistan.

A readers Review: But You Don’t Look Like A Muslim

Cover page of the book

Chaman me ikhtilat-e-rang-o-bu se baat banti nahi
Hum hi hum hain to kya hum hain tum hi tum ho to kya tum ho

It is the intermingling of the color & fragrances that makes a garden
If there is only us there can be no us & there can be no you if there is only you.(Author’s translation)

(Sarshar Sailani)

But you don’t look like a Muslim, authored by Dr. Rakhshanda Jalil & published by Harper Collins, India in May 2019. This book is a collection of forty essays divided in four contextual sections or themes. The essays covered author’s memoirs, anecdotes, critical reflections & reviews on Urdu literature. Before the text commence you will find a contextual verse of Sailani with dedication note of the work by author to her late father, Dr. Abdul Jalil Sahab. The section “the politics of identities” started with the journey of her late father from the mufassil town of Tarai plains of Himalayas to Delhi in the backdrop of partition politics & demographic shift.

Moving from the collective memoirs focused on the identities, the book moved to the cultural essays, exploring the lesser known facets of Urdu from the days of Khusru to the recent past of golden days when “Jay Siya Ram” was a common greetings in a practicing Muslims. The mosaics of literature concluded on the essay on the facets of unfortunate event i.e., partition in Urdu. Here the narratives of Batwara vs Azadi were explored. The last theme “Rubric of Religion” composed of essays starting from Chand Raat, Muharram, Shabe Qadr to Janmashtami, Holi, Bada Din, & Diwali. The last two essays explored Guru Nanak in poetry of legendary Urdu Scholars along with the literary review of Gita in Urdu & Persian from days of Faizi up to recent publication from India & Pakistan. Collecting a diverse essays in one manuscript with such a contextual title define the sociocultural history of Indian Muslims. The separate themes connected with each other by key word of “Identity” with blend of Urdu poetry & its translations is a reflection of authors long writing journey as a foremost literary historians. In the days when we find the hate mongering is used as a tool for the majoritarian regime to assert the power, the book explores in depth the rich flavors of Urdu poetry centered around Krishna & Ram as an Imame Hind.

Maslak-i-ishq hai parastish-i-husn
Hum nahin jaante aazab-o-sawaab

Hasrat Mohani

The identity of Indian Muslims that was evolved as an outcome of centuries old syncretic fusion & cultural exchanges has been central to the manuscript. On the other hand when neo-puritan ideologies finds the larger space in elite Indian Muslims in recent days, the authors memoirs on Muharram, & Eid Maulid gave a rich overview to readers with its cultural context in Indian Subcontinent. The starting essay described the preference of her late father. Dr. Jalil, a young medical graduate from an esteemed medical school who had chosen India over the so called promised land of Muslims. His home town located in lap of Himalayas in fertile plains of Tarai faced bloody riots with changing demographic shift due to influx of Hindu immigrants from Punjab & Sindh. He preferred to raise his children’s in land of Nanak & Chishti instead of availing opportunities that were easily accessible to educated middle class Urdu speakers in the newly created state on line of religions.

Muttam Al Turkistani Bukhari

A restaurant of Persian speaking Afghan at AlMajmaah

Text & Pics by Rehan Asad

(مطعم) Muttam an Arabic term used for the restaurant. The Al Turkistani Bukhari restaurants are commonly seen in Saudi Arabia. Majority of them are own or manage by the Afghans. Its a typical preparation of the rice (Ruz) and the recipe that reached here from the central Asian city “Bukhara” located on the old silk road.  It is this historic connection, the rice preparation got its Arabic name, Ruz Bukhari. The Bukhari rice is one of the delicious and familiar rice preparation of Middle East, especially in Gulf countries. Its a preparation of basmati rice and grated carrots cooked in olive oil along with spices like cinnamon sticks, cardamon, and cloves. The crushed Saffron and fried garnish of whole carrots, almonds, pistachios, and raisin also add to its flavor and appearance. The rice has been served with different types of the roasted preparation of chicken and lamb.

Sample plate showing two different varieties of the rice. The yellow one is Bukhari ( Ruz Bukhari). The white one is Peshawari Rice ( Ruz Abyad).

Located a hundred meters away from the main Al Rajhi Bank on King Fahad Road, at Al Majmaah, this Muttam Al Turkistani Bukhari is managed by Abdul Ghafoor and his son. The man in his fifties originally belonged to Shehberghan, the capital city of Jowzan province of Afghanistan. Etymologically his home city name is derived from the Sassanian monarch, Shapur. Abdul Ghafoor was fluent in Arabic but hardly able to understand Hindustani/Urdu language. While communicating with him in my broken Arabic, I came to know that Persian was his first language. He told that Pashtun & Uzbek speakers are also present in Shehberghan but his tribe is hundred percent Persian speakers from the centuries. Abdul Ghafoor was dressed in the red shirt and trousers, a uniform for all the Al Turkistani Bukhari managers in Saudi Arabia. The son was dressed in modern attire with black casual shirt & jeans. He communicated in his sluggish Urdu predominated by the accent of his native language.

Abdul Ghafoor told that his son is studying and helps him for managing the restaurant. Other than Arabic and Persian, he is also studying the English language. Both father and son missed the food, culture & weather of their hometown but they are residing here for making the better livelihood of their family. He was satisfied with his business. The cooking team is from Afghanistan and the assistant is from our neighboring country Nepal. As Saudi Arabia has the separate section for bachelors and families. The front section for bachelors have both types of arrangement, the dining tables, and traditional carpets for those who wish to dine on the ground. Behind the main section, there are separate cabins for the family section. Other than grilled chicken, he is also serving several other middle eastern meat preparations such as (Shish tawook), (Shawaya), Camel, and Mutton Kababs (Muqebelat)

From the vegetarian dishes and salads also on the display are cucumber yogurt salads, Hummos ( Chickpeas paste), green salad, Mulokhia (Jews Mallows: an Egyptian vegetarian savory sauce made up of green leaves Molokhia with coriander and mint leaves), and Arabic style of ladyfinger preparation.