garam hawa : Blowing With The Hot Wind

-ajay brahmatmaj

Garam Hawa

Director: MS Sathyu

Actors: Balraj Sahni, Jalal Agha, AK Hangal

Garam Hawa has a special place in the history of Indian cinema. Told with simplicity and honesty, the film explores the conflict among Muslims who did not leave India after Partition. Elegantly deploying the inherent symbolism of the Taj Mahal and the Fatehpur Sikri in Agra, once the capital of undivided India, the film tells the story of the Mirza family.

Halim and Salim Mirza are brothers. Both, with their respective families, live in their ancestral haveli, with their mother, who is quite old. Halim is a leader of the Muslim League and also the legal owner of the haveli. Salim runs a shoe factory. Salim has two sons – Bakar and Sikandar. He also has a daughter Amina, who is in love with her first cousin, Halim’s son Qasim. Their relationship abruptly comes to an end when Halim leaves with his wife and son for Pakistan.

Qasim does come back with the intention of marrying Amina, but a few days before the wedding, he is arrested for not having proper documents to stay in India, he is forcibly sent back to Pakistan. He does not come back. Saddened by the cruel twist of fate, Amina does not give up hope. She accepts Shamshad, another first cousin (first-born of her father’s only sister) who had been pining for her for years, and hopes to marry him soon. This relationship too doesn’t culminate into marriage. Amina kills herself. Father Salim refuses to leave India despite his daughter’s death and the false accusations of spying for Pakistan leveled against him. The atmosphere of callousness and suspicion around him has no visible effect on Salim who believes that Gandhiji’s sacrifice will not go in vain and eventually everything will be all right.

Produced with the help of state-owned Film Finance Corporation, Garam Hawa was the first film that explored the painful and torturous consequences of Partition in a political context. MS Sathyu, who was very active in IPTA (Indian People’s Theatre Association) circles, was able to make the film within a shoestring budget by putting together a team of like-minded artists and technicians. The film is based on a story written by Ismat Chugtai. Kaifi Azmi and Shama Zaidi wrote the screenplay. Azmi also wrote a ghazal for the film, portions of which are heard during the first and last scenes of the film. Balraj Sahni plays Salim Mirza. The supporting cast includes AK Hangal and scores of local actors from the IPTA chapter in Agra. When it was released in 1973, Garam Hawa was instantly recognised as a film that did not conform, and sailed against the winds.

Satyajit Ray wrote about Garam Hawa: “In context of the contextually-void Indian cinema, Garam Hawa has done full justice to Ismat Chugtai’s work. The film, despite having a lot of other technical issues and aesthetic shortcomings, remains a milestone in the history of Indian cinema, purely on the basis of its subject. Yet, compared with the other films released in India in 1973, Garam Hawa can be called a small film that neither had any big stars acting in it nor a conventional masala plot.”

Doubtless, numerous films were made on Partition before Garam Hawa. But in none of them does one find the filmmaker scratching the surface of reality to find deeper, truer meaning. Although in films like Lahore (1949), Apna Desh (1949), Firdaus (1950), Nastik (1959), Chhaliya (1960), Amar Rahe Tera Pyar (1961) and Dharamputra (1961) we encounter characters affected by Partition, we do not see anything more than vague references to the event and its fallout.

It is more than a decade later with works like Govind Nilhani’s Tamas and much later, Chandraprakash Dwivedi’s Pinjar, that we saw stories about deaths and mass destruction that Partition had brought in its wake. In Pinjar, Dr Dwivedi’s fresh resolution to the emotional crisis of Paro is largely inspired by the original thinking of the work’s author Amrita Pritam. Anil Sharma’s Gadar (2000) is also set around the time of Partition but the film appears to be blinded by notions of nationalism. Without these exaggerations, perhaps the film could have been called a creative success to some extent.

Garam Hawa is often seen as a film that ended the long silence maintained by Indian filmmakers on the splitting of the subcontinent. The writers and director of the film explored the thinking, dilemma, perception of reality, and sociability of the average Muslim living in India. Our country is yet to fully recover from the post-independence socio-political horror. The havoc can be felt even today. To many, Partition was a consequence of the hurry and mistakes on the part of our political leaders at the time. In pursuit of power and ensuing clash of egos, Nehru and Jinnah gave little thought to lives of millions who were displaced, dispossessed and damaged forever. 66 years after independence, the grunt of the affected men and women still stings our present. Animosity and mistrust have become part of our psychosis. Decades later the problems of India-Pakistan, now India-Pakistan-Bangladesh, have remained roughly the same. The seeds of these problems were sown during Partition.

Based on our reasoning and belief systems we blame one or the other individual for Partition. Actually the real culprits were national leaders. In an interview with Leonard Mosli in 1960, Nehru said: “After years of fighting we were tired. Only a few of us would have agreed to a scenario where we could be jailed – a strong possibility if we fought for undivided India. Besides, we had all heard about deaths in Punjab. The plan for Partition gave us a way forward and we accepted it. We had hoped that Partition would be temporary and Pakistan will eventually join India.”

These words may sound perplexing today but they accurately articulate the prevalent viewpoint among the political class during that time. The filmmakers before Garam Hawa never explored this failure of the political class, though there exists in literature a sensitive and realist portrayal of the trauma of Partition. Unlike filmmakers, the writers in Hindi, Urdu and Bengali had made their views known: they rejected the two-nation theory. Time and again these writers brought to life on paper the pain and political neglect they saw all around them. Surprisingly none of these great writers ever found their work adapted for a film by a filmmaker.

Not only did Indian and Pakistani filmmakers stay away from the subject, international filmmakers also overlooked the colossal human tragedy. The inertia of the international film community that made scores of films on WWII and other international events is, to say the least, quite remarkable. In various television and newspaper interviews, Gulzar and Shyam Benegal have spoken about the indifference of the Hindi film industry towards Garam Hawa.

Not surprisingly the film ran into trouble. The officers of the Censor Board felt that subjects like Partition were best avoided. Quite on the contrary, filmmakers and well-informed social and political activists were very anxious to talk about issues at the root of Partition. The censors held on to the film for six months. To gather support for the film a special screening was organised for political leaders and members of Parliament. Finally on the initiative of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, her Information and Broadcasting Minister I K Gujral supported the film and it was passed by the censors to be screened for general public.
The first scene sets the tone for the film.  A scroll reads, 1947, and the map of undivided India appears. Mahatma Gandhi’s photograph is on the screen followed by a picture of him with Lord and Lady Mountbatten, pictures of Nehru, Patel and Jinnah and the transfer of power, stills of Nehru addressing the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort, people dancing with joy celebrating independence followed by an image of the divided sub-continent. The images of Partition move swiftly over the map of the divided sub-continent. Three gunshots are heard, Gandhi’s photograph falls, and in Kaifi Azmi’s voice we hear (in translation below):

“The country partitioned and the heart came to pieces,

Tempest in every chest, over there and over here,

A funeral pyre blazing in every house,

Every town a graveyard, over there and over here,

No one read the Geeta nor the Kuran,

Religion stood perplexed, over there and over here.”

Azmi’s voice over the collage of the images of Partition gives the film a tone of decay and despondency. The sadness that came along is cemented by Gandhi’s assassination. Gandhi’s death stopped the riots in many parts of the country, which is why perhaps in the film Salim Mirza believes that Gandhiji’s sacrifice won’t go in vain, not knowing how divorced this specter of hope was from the reality around him. Muslims’ loyalty was constantly questioned and the indifference towards them did not lessen.

In many scenes we see this indifference. In one scene the tongawallah hikes his rates from eight annas to two rupees. When Salim objects, the tongawalla tells him, “If you want to go in eight annas, go to Pakistan.” Salim doesn’t lose his temper. “Everyone is interpreting the new found freedom in their own way,” he says. Salim’s brother decides to go to Pakistan. In a family meeting, he says: “Do a BA or an MA or do what you will, but a Muslim can’t get a job in India.” Later in the film we see Salim’s son Sikandar being rejected at job interviews.

Salim stares fixedly at a departing train. With heavy feet he walks back to a tonga. “So, who did you come to see off today,” the tongawallah asks. Salim responds, “Elder sister… Her husband is already in Karachi. Today his children have also left… How many healthy trees will be felled in this hot wind?” To which the tongawallah retorts: “Indeed the wind is quite hot, it will dry out all those who refuse to uproot themselves.” The theme of the film is to be found in these lines. We see Salim refusing to uproot himself and his family and drying away slowly with the impact of time and circumstance.

At one point in the film Salim explains to his son that money doesn’t ask a man’s religion. Yet everyday in the city the mistrust and suspicion against them grows. A frustrated Salim asks: “Why are those who have stayed back and want to stay back being punished for those who have left?”

Only in one scene does MS Sathyu show us the face of the person who rejects Salim’s family. It is a merchant refusing them credit. In rest of the scenes we don’t see the faces of the oppressors: the bank manager who refuses Salim a loan, the landlord who refuses him a house for being Muslim, and the interviewer who rejects his son Sikandar, are all hidden from the camera. Only their voices are heard. There is no face to the sudden social pressure faced by the Muslims in India. Sathyu displays a lot of cinematic skill in depicting this faceless socio-political monster. The message is clear: the situation is not favourable for Muslims.

Ever since its release, a section of critics have consistently refused to consider the film as fair portrayal of the consequences of Partition. According to them the film makes no mention of the Hindus who stayed back in Pakistan. According to them the characters in the film are never seen criticizing their community for what happened. This incorrect and inconsistent reading of the film in the name of balanced depiction has led to marginalization of Garam Hawa in the sphere of public discourse. The film therefore did not spark the kind of debate and discussion it was expected to in the four decades since it was first released.

Garam Hawa impresses at many levels. The minute detailing stands out. Every character is well developed and has a motive and the way each of them move in their respective trajectories to tell the story is not just brilliant but is also an excellent example of how great stories can be transformed into greater screenplays. The casting of the film is also near perfect and it is difficult to imagine any other actor playing any of the characters. The film doesn’t take an emotional route to show the extent of damage in the Mirza household. At no point in the film does Sathyu try and create sympathy in the mind of the audience for a broken Salim either. Dealing with the absurdity around him Salim doesn’t look visibly disturbed. He doesn’t even pay attention to people’s comments. He blames everything on the situation rather than poisoning his own mind. The character Sathyu makes us sympathize with most is Amina. We are shocked by her suicide. Eschewing melodrama Sathyu shows Salim react to Amina’s death with nothing more than a slight movement of the eyes.

Salim belongs to the generation when men looked at matters outdoors and women indoors. The women in his family have a very different understanding of Partition. For them their world is the haveli they live in. Salim’s mother for instance doesn’t believe Partition has taken place and that soon the Indian government will confiscate her haveli where she had been living ever since she came in as a young bride in a palanquin. The mansion’s legal owner Halim Mirza has gone to Pakistan. At the time of leaving, the old woman hides herself in a corner of the house.

By now Salim’s wife understands Partition better. In hushed tones she talks about going to Pakistan but doesn’t openly oppose her husband’s better judgment. After Amina’s suicide, when Salim finally decides to go to Pakistan, his wife complains that if Salim had made up his mind earlier, their daughter would have been alive.

The climax of Garam Hawa is both symbolic as well as political. Tired of the social opposition, Salim says: “People don’t cross paths with me. They get up and leave when they see me come in. People turn their faces away when they see me. There is a limit to everything. I now know that it is impossible to live in this country.”

Salim decides to go to Pakistan with his wife and son but Sikandar opposes him and says, “We should not leave India but stay here and fight for our rights with the common man.” Salim pays no attention to his son. The next day we see him at the Taj Mahal with moist eyes as if all his pain is flowing with his tears. Finally he sits in a tonga to go to the station with his wife and son. On the way they see a public demonstration. A slogan is heard: “India wants food, shelter and clothing.” Salim now accepts what his son had said earlier. Salim says: “Go on son, I won’t stop you. Man cannot live alone for long. I am also tired of this isolation. Take the tonga back….” Sending his wife back home on the Tonga, he too joins the demonstration with his son. Again Azmi’s voice is heard (translated below):

“Those who witness the storm from afar

For them the storm is there and here too

Join the flow and flow like one

That’s the call of the time there and here too.”

Ajay Brahmatmaj is Film Editor and Film Critic with Dainik Jagran. He writes extensively on Hindi cinema’s relations with Indian society and Hindi literature

This piece has been translated from Hindi by screenwriter and columnist Mayank Tewari

if he is my enemy- who is this friend?

दोस्‍तों पिछले दिनों अपना एक लेख 'हम ही हैं हिंदू और मुसलमान' प्रकाशित किया था। यह उसी लेख का अंग्रेजी अनुवाद है। मेरे आग्रह पर प्रसिद्ध अंग्रेजी साहित्‍यकार अमिताव कुमार ने इसे अंग्रेजी में अनूदित किया था। आज खुर्शीद अनवर को गए 40 दिन हो गए। उसी की याद में...उसी को समर्पित यह लेख...इसमें उसका जिक्र भी है। मेरी जिंदगी की किताब के कुछ पन्‍ने हमेशा के लिए फट कर उधिया गए कमबख्‍त तेरे जाने से... 

If he is my enemy, who is this friend?

If He Is My Enemy, Who Is This Friend?"

Ajay Brahmatmaj



Am I a Hindu?

Let’s take my own name as our example.

The history of the name “Ajay” is not ancient. It is a modern and secular name. There is more than a touch of the secular in my last name too . No one gets any indication of my caste from “Brahmatmaj.” This name was given by my father whose own name is Sukhdeo Narain. Traditionally, my name should have been Ajay Narain. But my father is certainly more modern and progressive when compared to his contemporaries. He had added a part of my mother's name “Brahma” to the name of all my four brothers. Our surname means “born from the soul of Brahma.” And thus, through this act of naming, all my brothers and I declare ourselves the sons of our mother.

It is clear from my name that I hail from a Hindu family. My background is Hindu. I don’t have any hesitation calling myself a Hindu or when others call me a Hindu. But, am I the same Hindu who is always against Muslims?

Let me confess that I don’t have any religious or spiritual ideals. My mother has always celebrated all the Hindu festivals. She has fasted regularly. But she never forced us to follow all the rites and rituals. Now, she has given up almost all the fasts she used to keep. Asked why, she responds, “What is the need for it any more? All my children are well settled and doing well."

I have lost any interest I once had in religious rituals and worship. Since my background is Hindu, I still go to temples along with my family members, and bow in front of gods and goddesses—but I don’t feel any faith or respectfulness towards these idols. Perhaps a person like me can be called an atheist. But even such a person has still got his place in the Hindu tradition and that is why, perhaps, I have neither been marked as an outcast nor as a hypocrite.

I came to Delhi from Bihar to study. After getting admission in Jawaharlal Nehru University, I was allotted room number 511 in Narmada Hostel. We were three in this room—Mithilesh Pathak, Khursheed Anwar, and myself. For some reason, Mithilesh could not last with us longer than fifteen days. Only the two of us, Khursheed and I, remained. Khursheed had come from Allahabad. I don’t think that he had any faith in Allah or that he was even a god-fearing person. But yes, sometimes he would remember his Ammi—and, catching hold of his ears, he would say “Tauba, tauba” a few times and then ask for forgiveness. One morning, I don’t know what happened to him, he said, "Ajay, yaar, you don’t believe in your gods and goddesses. And I too don't bow in the direction of Mecca, but what if we are wrong? If it turns out that gods and goddesses exist, or if one finds that Allah is there, what will happen to us? You will be judged after your death and even I will be answerable on the Day of Judgement."

After raising the question, Khursheed thought about it a little and then shook all such concerns away, saying, "Let Khuda be in his own place." He married a Hindu girl who also lived on the JNU campus like us. They now have a son named Samar.

Is Khursheed Anwar a Muslim?

My friendship with Khursheed has remained intact all these years. The only difference is that I live in Mumbai and he in Delhi. Sometimes he calls me, and I took keep in touch. Before meeting Khursheed, I knew two so-called Muslims. One was a peon in my father's office. A chequered lungi, a vest with sleeves, slippers, bald head, and a thick beard… He had come to us after his retirement from the army, and, as a result, he was very strict about following all rules and regulations. This was the first opportunity I had to see someone closely… After brushing his teeth with a daatun, he would never split it in the middle and clean his tongue. (The daatun is a thin stem taken from a neem or babool tree, and used in place of a tooth-brush.) He did not throw away the daatun either. We were surprised. We used to get rid of his daatun without telling him and earn his wrath. My mother had kept a separate cup for him. Tea was served to him only in that cup. This same arrangement was in place for all our Muslim guests. Separate glasses, separate cups and a little different behaviour.

Then there was Master Sayeed Miyan. Always clad in a white dhoti and a white shirt… I don’t know whether he is even alive or not. Masterji had a very good rapport with my father. He used to help my father in his office work. Since he was very close to us, we were always been invited for Eid. He had become a teacher, but his father had been a butcher. His younger brother was a tailor. The relationship between our families was this: every week his father would send us mutton and his brother had begun to stitch our clothes. On Eid, our entire family, except our mother, used to go to his house to eat. Sayeed Miyan used to send saviyan for my mother. Till our stay at Areraj, a small town in Bihar, Sayeed Miyan was an extended member of our family. He was always present, always ready to help. He was a religious man. He used to offer namaaz regularly and he also celebrated all the festivals. Once I joined him in a tazia procession. I had gone to a mosque with him on one occasion. Would he not have wondered why he was taking a Hindu to the mosque? Even the Maulavi of the mosque knew which family I was a member of but even he did not raise any objection.

I was on close terms with the family of Sayeed Miyan. Often, I would also go inside his house, where the women used to be in purdah. His wife, his mother, and his sisters, were never cloistered in my presence. It never appeared that they were struggling under any pressure to stay open to me. Any helplessness, or even hesitation, cannot remain hidden. It comes out in people’s behaviour and their words.

And, then my long stay in China… During that period, many Muslims became my friends. Some pure fundamentalists and some progressives who gave no importance to religion… There was one Rehman Sahib…from Karachi, Pakistan…. a great fan of cigarettes, wine and music. Lata Mangeshkar is his favourite singer. Once, he heard songs sung by a folk singer from Bihar, Ms. Sharada Sinha, and sent a letter for her with me. His father had migrated from India, but it was his body that had gone with him… His heart he had left in India… Rehman Sahib would sometimes draw on his blurred memories of a remembered village in India. He had those memories from his childhood—those and a few choice abuses in a Purabiya dialect. At the time of famous Tiananmen Square incident, I had taken three visiting writers from India for a ride in the city. It was 4th June. The city was almost under curfew. All transportation was shut down. It was the Pakistani Rehman Sahib who had come to our help, taking the visitors, Mrinal Pande, Vijay Tendulkar and U. R. Ananthmurthy to their hotel. Why did a Pakistani Muslim take such risk for three Indian writers (all so called Hindus)? This introduces a strange conundrum in my mind. Was Rehman only a Muslim?

Years have passed. My daughters are growing up. In the circle of friends that my elder daughter has, there are many Muslim boys. One of her closest friends is a boy called Ali. We all know him very well. My mother has also met him. No one—not my mother, my wife, nor myself—has paid much heed to the fact that Ali is a Muslim. Then… is he a real Muslim? … To be a Muslim means that you are an enemy of the Hindus… Then how is he my daughter's friend? Is he not a Muslim or is he also living under the same dilemma as me?

Hindus and Muslims. Are these two distinct identities or are they both only two sides of a coin? … I believe that we are Hindus or Muslims because our background and our families, but most of us are not such Hindus or Muslims that want to destroy the other. Even though we live among suspicions, and it is true that some forces want to use us against each other, like fodder in their cannon.

But they will not succeed, because Sayeed Miyan has been a friend of my father’s. My friend is Khursheed ANwar, who despite his busy schedule, get disturbed when he gets news of my sickness. And there is my daughter's friend Ali too. We have been walking in step with each other, together in independent era, an amalgam of different eras and generations. The time of this mistrust will pass, as life is long and without stop or end. Hatred is the name of a mere moment… It is an accident in time, an outbreak of negativism that can never last.

हम ही हैं हिंदू और मुसलमान

-अजय ब्रह्मात्‍मज 

क्या मैं हिंदू हूँ?
मेरा नाम अजय ब्रह्मात्मज है। अजय नाम का इतिहास बहुत पुराना नहीं है। यह आधुनिक और सेक्यूलर नाम है। ब्रह्मात्मज नाम से जन्म से मिली मेरी जाति का संकेत नहीं मिलता। यह सरनेम मेरे पिता सुखदेव नारायण ने दिया। परंपरा के हिसाब से मेरा नाम अजय नारायण होना चाहिए था, लेकिन मेरे पिता निश्चित रूप से अपने समकालीनों से ज़्यादा आधुनिक और प्रगतिशील रहे और हैं कि उन्होंने हम सभी भाइयों के नाम में माँ का नाम ब्रह्मा जोड़ा। ब्रह्मात्मज यानी ब्रह्मा और आत्म और ज यानी ब्रह्मा की आत्मा से पैदा हुआ यानी उसका बेटा इस तरह हम सभी अपनी माँ के बेटे हो गए। प्रसंगवश पिताजी ने मेरी बहन के सरनेम में अपने नाम का एक अंश जोड़कर उसका नाम सुनीता देवात्मजा रखा था।

अजय ब्रह्मात्मज नाम बताते ही स्पष्ट हो जाता है कि मैं हिंदू परिवार का सदस्य हूँ। मेरी पृष्ठभूमि हिंदुओं की है। मुझे हिंदू कहलाने से कोई परहेज़ नहीं है। लेकिन क्या मैं वही हिंदू हूँ, जो हमेशा मुसलमानों के विरोध में माने जाते हैं। सच कहूँ तो मेरी कोई धार्मिक और आध्यात्मिक आस्था नहीं है। मेरी माँ हिंदू परिवारों में प्रचलित सारे व्रत करती रही, लेकिन उसने कभी बाध्य नहीं किया कि हम बेटे उन व्रतों के उपवास या पूजा इत्यादि में शामिल हों। अब वह लगभग सारे व्रत छोड़ चुकी है। कारण पूछने पर वह कहती है अब क्या ज़रूरत हैं मुझे मेरे सारे बच्चे सुखी-संपन्न हैं। मिडिल स्कूल के समय से ही धार्मिकता और पूजा-पाठ से मेरी विरक्ति हो गई। पारिवारिक पृष्ठभूमि से हिंदू होने के नाते मैं मंदिरों में परिजनों के साथ जाता हूँ। प्रतिमाओं के आगे हाथ भी जोड़ता हूँ, लेकिन उन प्रतिमाओं के प्रति कोई श्रद्धा या पूजनीय भाव नहीं महसूस करता। शायद ऐसे व्यक्ति को नास्तिक कहते हैं और हिंदू परंपरा में ऐसे व्यक्तियों के लिए भी जगह है। इसी कारण न तो मुझे हिंदू धर्म से निष्कासित करने की ज़रूरत समझी गई और न मुझ पर दबाव डाला गया कि खुद को हिंदू सत्यापित करने के लिए मैं झूठे धार्मिक आडंबर और आचरण ओढ़ लूँ।

बहरहाल, बिहार से निकलकर पढ़ने के लिए दिल्ली आया। दिल्ली के जवाहरलाल नेहरू विश्वविद्यालय में नामांकन लेने के बाद नर्मदा हॉस्टल में कमरा नंबर ''511'' मिला। इस कमरे में हम तीन यानी मैं, खुर्शीद अनवर और मिथिलेश पाठक थे। कुछ कारणों से मिथिलेश पंद्रह दिनों से ज़्यादा उस कमरे में नहीं टिक सके। बाद में हम दोनों (खुर्शीद और मैं) रह गए। खुर्शीद अनवर इलाहाबाद से आया था। मुझे नहीं लगता कि अल्लाह में उसकी कोई आस्था थी। हाँ, कभी-कभी अम्मीजान की याद आ जाती तो कान पकड़कर दो-चार बार तौबा करता और फिर माफ़ी माँग लेता। एक सुबह न जाने उसे क्या सूझी हो सकता है वह अल्लाह के अस्तित्व को लेकर परेशान रहा हो उसने सुबह-सुबह पूछा अजय तू यार अपने देवी-देवता को नहीं मानता, मैं भी अल्लाह के सजदे में नहीं रहता, लेकिन अगर कहीं देवी-देवता और अल्लाह हुए तो हमारा क्या होगा? मरने के बाद तेरी दुर्गति होगी और कयामत के रोज़ में क्या जवाब दूँगा। सवाल पूछने के बाद वह कुछ देर तक सोचता रहा और फिर जैसे सब कुछ झाड़कर बिस्तर से उठ खड़ा हुआ। रहें खुदा अपनी जगह कैंपस में ही उसने एक कथित हिंदू लड़की से शादी कर ली। उसने अपने बेटे का नाम समर रखा है।

क्या खुर्शीद अनवर मुसलमान है?
खुर्शीद से मेरी दोस्ती आज भी बरकरार है। बस वह दिल्ली में रहता है और मैं मुंबई में कभी-कभार वह फ़ोन कर लेता है और मैं भी हाल-चाल पूछता रहता हूँ। खुर्शीद से हुई मुलाकात के पहले दो कथित मुसलमानों से मेरा परिचय रहा। एक तो मेरे पिताजी के कार्यालय में चपरासी थे। चारखाने की लुंगी, बाँह वाली गंजी, पैरों में हवाई चप्पल, गंजा सिर और घनी दाढ़ी स़ेना की नौकरी से रिटायर होने के बाद वह आए थे, इसलिए नियम-कानून सख़्ती से पालन करते थे। सबसे पहले उन्हें क़रीब से देखने का मौका मिला वह हमारी तरह दातुन करने के बाद उसका चीरा कर जीभ साफ़ नहीं करते थे। वह दातुन फेंकते भी नहीं थे। हमें हैरत होती थी। हम उनका दातुन चोरी से फेंक देते थे तो हमें उनकी डपट सुननी पड़ती थी। माँ ने उनके लिए एक कप अलग रखा था। उसी में उन्हें चाय मिलती थी। सिर्फ़ उनके लिए ही नहीं, बाकी मुसलमान मेहमानों के लिए भी ऐसी ही व्यवस्था थी। अलग ग्लास, अलग बर्तन और थोड़ा अलग आचरण वहीं एक मास्टर थे सईद मियाँ। सफ़ेद धोती और सफ़ेद कमीज़ पहनते थे मालूम नहीं अभी हैं या नहीं? पिताजी से उनकी निभती थी। वह ऑफ़िस के काम में भी पिताजी की मदद करते थे। क़रीबी होने के कारण ईद के दिन उनके यहाँ से बुलाहट रहती थी। वह मास्टर बन गए थे, लेकिन उनके पिता चिक (कसाई) थे और उनके छोटे भाई दर्ज़ी थे। सईद मियाँ के परिवार से हमारे परिवार का रिश्ता इतना था कि हर हफ़्ते उनके पिताजी मांस भेजा करते थे और हमारे कपड़े उनके भाई सिलने लगे थे। ईद के दिन हमारा पूरा परिवार उनके यहाँ खाने पर जाता था। माँ नहीं जाती थी। माँ के लिए सईद मियाँ सेवइयाँ हमारे साथ भेजा करते थे। हम लोग जब तक बिहार के उस कस्बे में अरेराज में रहे, तब तक सईद मियाँ हमारे परिवार के अतिरिक्त सदस्य के रूप में रहे। हर वक्त-ज़रूरत पर मौजूद और मदद के लिए तैयार। वह धार्मिक आस्था के व्यक्ति थे। नमाज़ पढ़ते थे और नियम से सभी त्योहारों का पालन करते थे। मैं उनके साथ ताजिया के जुलूस में शामिल हो चुका था। एक बार उन्हीं के साथ मस्जिद भी गया था। क्या उनके दिमाग़ में उस समय यह बात नहीं आई होगी कि क्यों वह एक हिंदू को मस्जिद में ले जा रहे हैं। कस्बे में तो मौलवी भी जानते थे कि मैं किस परिवार से हूँ, लेकिन उन्हें भी कोई गुरेज नहीं हुआ था।

सईद मियाँ के परिवार में मेरा आना-जाना था। उनके आँगन और घर के कमरों में भी हम चले जाते थे। उनकी बीवी, माँ और बहनों के साथ बेहिचक बातें करते थे। उनके व्यवहार से कभी ऐसा आभास नहीं हुआ कि वे किसी दबाव में हमारे साथ सामान्य रहती हैं। झिझक और विवशता छिपी नहीं रह सकती। वह बात-व्यवहार में आ ही जाती है।

और फिर चीन का प्रवास, इस प्रवास में कई मुसलमान दोस्त बने। कुछ कट्टर और खांटी मुसलमान तो कुछ उदार और अपने मज़हब को गाली देने वाले मुसलमान ए़क रहमान साहब थे। पाकिस्तान के करांची शहर के सिगरेट, शराब और संगत के शौकीन। उनकी सबसे प्रिय गायिका लता मंगेशकर थीं। उन्होंने मेरे कमरे में एक बार शारदा सिन्हा (बिहार की लोक गायिका) को सुन लिया तो उनके नाम एक ख़त मेरे हाथों भिजवाया। उनके पिता भारत से माइग्रेट कर गए थे, लेकिन केवल उनका शरीर पाकिस्तान गया था, दिल भारत में ही छूट गया था। रहमान साहब भी बचपन की धुंधली यादों से गाँव का नक्शा बनाते थे और पुरबिया बोली में दो-चार गालियाँ सुना देते थे। मशहूर थ्येनआन मन घटना के समय भारत से गए तीन विख्यात लेखकों को मैं घुमाने कहीं ले गया था, तभी ''4 जून'' की घटना घट गई थी। शहर में अचानक कर्फ्यू का माहौल बन गया था। सारी सवारियाँ बंद हो गई थीं, तब उस पाकिस्तानी मुसलमान रहमान ने अपनी कार में मृणाल पांडे, विजय तेंदुलकर और अनंतमूर्ति को बिठाकर उनके होटल छोड़ा था। एक पाकिस्तानी मुसलमान ने चंद भारतीय लेखकों (तीनों कथित हिंदू) के लिए क्यों जोखिम उठाया? असमंजस में हूँ क्या रहमान सिर्फ़ मुसलमान थे।

सालों बाद अब मेरी बेटियाँ बड़ी हो रही हैं। बड़ी बेटी के दोस्तों में कई मुसलमान लड़के हैं। उसका अंतरंग दोस्त अली है। उसे हम सभी अच्छी तरह जानते हैं। मेरी माँ भी उससे मिल चुकी है। मेरी माँ ने, पत्नी ने या मैंने उसके मुसलमान होने पर अलग से ग़ौर ही नहीं किया। क्या वह सचमुच मुसलमान मुसलमान यानी हिंदुओं के जाती दुश्मन तो फिर उसकी कैसे दोस्ती हो गई मेरी बेटी से? क्या वह मुसलमान नहीं है या फिर वह भी हमारी तरह असमंजस में हैं।

हिंदू और मुसलमान दो पहचान हैं या एक ही सिक्के के दो पहलू हैं। मुझे लगता है पृष्ठभूमि और परिवार से मिली पहचान से हम हिंदू या मुसलमान हैं लेकिन हम में से अधिकांश वैसे हिंदू या मुसलमान नहीं हैं, जो एक-दूसरे की तबाही चाहते हैं। नाहक हम शक के घेरे में आ गए हैं या कुछ स्वार्थी ताकतें हमें एक-दूसरे के खिलाफ़ तोप की तरह इस्तेमाल करना चाहती हैं।

वे अपने मक़सद में कामयाब नहीं होंगे, क्यों कि सईद मियाँ पिताजी के दोस्त रहे हैं। मेरा दोस्त खुर्शीद अनवर है, जो अपनी मसरूफ़ियत में भी मेरी बीमारी की ख़बर सुनकर सहम जाता है और मेरी बेटी का दोस्त अली है। हम सभी आज़ाद भारत के विभिन्न दौरों में हमकदम आगे बढ़ते रहे हैं। गुज़र जाएगा शक-ओ-सुबहा का यह वक्त, क्यों कि ज़िंदगी लंबी है और चलती रहती है, नफ़रत तो एक पल का नाम है क्षणिक घटना है, नकारात्मक भावनाओं का उद्रेक है।

सिटीजन फॉर पीस और इंडियन एक्सप्रेस द्वारा आयोजित द्वितीय वार्षिक निबंध प्रतियोगिता, ''2006'' में अजय ब्रह्मात्मज के ''हम ही हैं हिंदू और मुसलमान'' शीर्षक निबंध को हिंदी श्रेणी में प्रथम पुरस्कार से सम्मानित किया गया। इस बार निबंध का विषय था- 'हम जैसे नहीं : नागरिकों की दुविधा।'