.
A technician came home yesterday to service our water purifier gadget. He finished his work and while he was leaving, I asked for his name. He said 'Latheef, I am a muslim' and was looking at me. It took sometime to understand that he was waiting for my reaction after saying that he was a muslim. I just said 'it is OK. There is no need to say that you are a muslim. Your work was good'. He left.
Later I was wondering how many muslim youth must be feeling like him...reluctant to utter their names. It is not going to change in the future.
Until a few years back we never felt threatened by them. We were shopping in 'Bhaai kadai'...bhaai means muslim in colloquial Tamil language (muslim's small shops which sold provisions). We were addressing them as 'bhaai' and talked to them normally. I had a muslim neighbour long back. They were Hyderabad muslims. Very educated family. They were very close to me. I learnt to pronounce urdu words properly from the lady! But even for them it was very difficult to shift to a new house when their landlord asked them to vacate the current house since he was retiring and wanted to come and stay in his house in Chennai from Kerala. Later on he had to go to court to vacate them. These people got a stay order. They never left the house for a few more years. It was an independent house with lot of space around in a prominent area. Then I lost touch with them.
A neighbour of mine here, is reluctant to let out her flat for muslims fearing problems in the future.
Can muslims, normal, soft natured muslims, be comfortable to live here or anywhere else without people looking at them in a 'different' way? Sometimes I feel sorry for them, esp. for people whose children go to normal schools and are intelligent/educated.
A technician came home yesterday to service our water purifier gadget. He finished his work and while he was leaving, I asked for his name. He said 'Latheef, I am a muslim' and was looking at me. It took sometime to understand that he was waiting for my reaction after saying that he was a muslim. I just said 'it is OK. There is no need to say that you are a muslim. Your work was good'. He left.
Later I was wondering how many muslim youth must be feeling like him...reluctant to utter their names. It is not going to change in the future.
Until a few years back we never felt threatened by them. We were shopping in 'Bhaai kadai'...bhaai means muslim in colloquial Tamil language (muslim's small shops which sold provisions). We were addressing them as 'bhaai' and talked to them normally. I had a muslim neighbour long back. They were Hyderabad muslims. Very educated family. They were very close to me. I learnt to pronounce urdu words properly from the lady! But even for them it was very difficult to shift to a new house when their landlord asked them to vacate the current house since he was retiring and wanted to come and stay in his house in Chennai from Kerala. Later on he had to go to court to vacate them. These people got a stay order. They never left the house for a few more years. It was an independent house with lot of space around in a prominent area. Then I lost touch with them.
A neighbour of mine here, is reluctant to let out her flat for muslims fearing problems in the future.
Can muslims, normal, soft natured muslims, be comfortable to live here or anywhere else without people looking at them in a 'different' way? Sometimes I feel sorry for them, esp. for people whose children go to normal schools and are intelligent/educated.