What They Hate About Mumbai

Mumbai is a golden songbird and fanatics hate the songbird, because they hate love songs. Mumbai is all about profane dreams and openness and fanatics hate the profane and they hate the openness.

In Mumbai religion is an intimate affair. Muslims and Hindu live together, among all kind of other denominations. Fanatics hate the right to have your intimate affairs and they hate the mix of denominations. In Mumbai the other poeple look at your religion as at your eccentricity that matters to you only. Fanatics hate your right to be eccentric. In 1993 people were burned alive on the streets because they were Muslims. In 2008 people were murdered because they were visitors.

What they love, these fanatics? They love seeing people murdered, mosques burned, temples bombed. They love seeing people expelled based on religious affiliations. They love seeing logic of globalization replaced by logic of holly war.

Do not confound Islam and Islamic fanatics. Do not confound any religion with its fanatics. Confounding any religion with its fanatics makes yourself a fanatic.

These words, Bombay is a golden songbird, belong to a Muslim, living in Mumbai and dreaming Mumbai dreams, and Mumbai spirit.

I found these reflections in a text by Suketu Mehta, I quoted at random and I added my own. The text was published in today's NY Times. Mr. Mehta is the author of Maximum City - Bombay Lost and Found.



(Zoon Politikon)