“Look at that white lady over there.”
“What is she doing? Is she mad?”
“She’s too naive. Thinking her country will save her. Hmph.”
No seriously, if this sounds bigoted to you, you haven’t seen India yet. Almost all the people in India are bigoted. The conversation written above is a real life conversation between two Mumbaikers/Bombayittes who spot a white person in Bombay. Here’s a bit of advice- If you have a low melanin content, don’t go to India. Let’s leave it at that. Moving on.
Kabuliwala is a story written by Rabindranath Tagore.
To those who don’t know-
Gurudev Tagore of West Bengal, India is THE most renowned bard of India. Forget Gandhi, he was a sexist weirdo (another talk for another day). Gurudev composed the national anthem of India & Bangladesh being the only man to do so. It’s for people like these, that I can be proud to call myself an Indian (which is the only time I’ll say this ’cause I hate my country with a burning passion). To put this into perspective- he was the only non-caucasian writer/poet who was awarded the Nobel Literature prize in 1913 before Yasunari Kawabata carried the torch forward in 1968 & was awarded the knightship (which he refused later on).
I’ll let that sink in for a minute.
Forget Shakespeare. This man is a legend. Because you must remember, that this was during the era of the “White Burden” when europeans thought we were good for nothing. The great Yates himself pushed Tagore’s writing to the west.
Now, to talk a little about the text-
Kabuliwala was written in 1892 during the British Colonial period. The brits (or Angrez as the Desis like to call you) used to control Afghanistan as well as India. This occupation oversaw a period of great trade between the territories. The story is about a merchant from Kabul (Kabuli- from Kabul, Afghanistan + Wala- person belonging to) who befriends the daughter of the the author. At first, the daughter, Mini, calls out to the Kabuliwala from her house & when he approaches the house to respond, Mini becomes shy & hides behind her father. Their friendship grows over time. Many people doubted the integrity of the Kabuliwala, even the author. However…… Ohhhhh I’m trying so hard not to spoil this story. Phew. Okay, here goes- Let’s just say there’s a bit of a plot twist & we see the Kabuliwala possibly framed for a crime. In the end, the narrator realises that despite all the differences between him & the Kabuliwala, both were fathers with unmeasurable love for their daughters & that both were human beings.
Now, to give a reason as to why this story is important even today.
Let’s start at the very beginning. The different nation-states in the Indian subcontinent (I refrain from using the word for the current nation-state of India because it is waaayy different. Each place in the Indian subcontinent, even to this day, has different ethnicities, traditions, culture & overall have different peoples) lost their autonomy at about the start of the 1200s. From thereon, India was ruled by different Muslim dynasties for approximately 550 years & later on by the British for 200 years (attention!! This is all a simplification. India was never meant to be one country because of its diversity. But that’s what the British do- leave behind a broken region which the locals have to repair.) Then, India became independent, blah blah blah. A partition was formed with two countries for muslims & one country for hindus in the subcontinent. India was established as a secular democracy. That’s the catch of this story. India was meant to be secular. Remember me droooning oooon about muslim dynasties?
This is where that info plays in. Because of that muslim rule, India can fall into two different categories- Hindus & Muslims (there are a few other religious minorities but if I get into that, it’ll be a headache of its own. Anyways).
In the story, we see the characterisation of Muslims as a nefarious people. Today, we see a similar kind of ideological surge- hindu nationalism. A notion that India belongs to the Hindus & that Muslims are the spawn of evil, blah, blah, blah.
(Sound familiar? We’ll come back to that)
We see lynchings of muslims in India merely because of the fact that they’re muslims & they practice their faith. We see them being beaten to death over some lingering hatred from a bygone era.
An Innocent muslim beaten to death by the RSS (a hindu nationalist group)
& the current government doesn’t help either. The party in control of the Prime Ministers office & the Parliament- the BJP- is a right-wing hindu nationalist advocate. You can watch the episode of Patriot Act by Hasan Minhaj (he does a good job of explaining the modern situation)-
Here are some extra links on the situation from the Guardian & The New Yorker.
Tagore, was an ardent advocate of bringing about a more secularist India. One that would build the brotherhood of Muslims & Hindus. He foresaw the potential of hindu nationalism & its toxic damage to the very fabric of a secular society. He saw nationalism (a.k.a patriotism) as a great evil which degrades human dignity (I wholeheartedly agree with him on that). Now you may think- “Ok. But what does that that have to do with me? Me. In America.” Well, reader, remember me foreshadowing something with that Trump gif?
(Nerdy & Snobbish Global Citizen vibes coming in T-1, T-2…. T-3 & go!)
We see the same kind of nationalism & islamophobia in the U.S right now. The same kind of ignorance & bigotry in many Americans. Americans like to refer to their exceptionalism when it comes to the global scheme, but the truth is that you are no different than any other country. Humans are humans. They have an innate desire to be evil (which is why I am a misanthrope a.k.a people-hater). But, looking at this through from my cynical sense will not give you any hope. So, me, arguably the most cynical person, will say to you this-
Every person is capable of a great evil & a great good. It is up to us to let our good side prevail. Treat other people like living beings. They deserve it. In the light of all of this, we must remember that we are all people just like the Kabuliwala was a father. We all deserve respect as living creatures no matter what our identity, age or gender.