An Advice To Naseeruddin Shah
By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
13 June
2023
"The bubble of your perceived intellect
always bursts when you start speaking too much."
Salman Rushdie, quoting Rumi
I'm a small
fry when it comes to advising anyone, much less a person of Nasiruddin Shah's
stature who has proven his mettle over the years. But I'm afraid, geriatric
degeneration seems to have got the better of him. Of late, this otherwise
balanced actor has begun to talk through his hat. He drew flak for his recent
statement that no one speaks Sindhi in Pakistan. In fact, there're so many
Muslims who speak Sindhi and it's a functional language in that country. Bhutto
clan in Pakistan still speaks Sindhi despite most of its members having been
educated in England.
Naseeruddin
Shah
-------
Recently,
Naseer Saheb said that he used his awards as washroom handles. His certain
'facts' about Mughals are also not correct. There's no gainsaying the fact that
Nasiruddin Shah is one of the finest actors in the annals of Hindi, nay Indian,
cinema and people look up to him. He's a role model to many aspiring actors.
But in an attempt to sound candid and straightforward, his recent utterances
reveal his mindset (read, Muslim mindset) which's sad.
Once Khwaja
Ahmad Abbas interviewed the great thespian Balraj Sahni for an Urdu daily.
Abbas asked Sahni, "Aap Bahut Kam Bolte Hain Aur Kai Martaba Aisa Lagta
Hai Ki Aap Koi Raay De Sakte Thay Lekin Dee Nahin. Aisa Kyon?" (You
speak very little and a great many times when it seems that you could have
given an opinion, you refrained from doing that. Why so?). The dignified Balraj
Sahni smiled and said, “Main Laffaazi Se Zyada Kaam Ko Ahmiyat Deta Hoon"
(I prefer work/s over rhetoric). So very true.
These are
golden words which must be followed not only by Naseeruddin Saheb but also by
all loudmouths who have crowded the current political landscape of India.
Perhaps,
our PM is much more than in need of pondering over Balraj Sahni's statement
made years ago. The problem with this country is that there's a bucketful of
armchair thinkers, philosophers, exegetes and activists whose quivers are
always full of wordy arrows.
In his
seventy years, Naseer seldom spoke about Hindu-Muslim divide. His wife, Ratna
Pathak, is still a Hindu and his elder brother and the former VC of AMU, Zameer
Uddin Shah retired from the Indian Army as a Lt. General. The entire family has
been very educated and secular. But the same Naseer has begun to say things
that reek of his faith. Agreed, Muslims are being targeted and they're often at
the receiving end. But they too are belligerent and communal. Naseer chooses to
keep mum on this aspect. Let's hope, sense will prevail and his estranged
sanity will re-descend on him and he will speak less to earn more respect.
----
A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul
is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He
has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several
languages including Persian.
URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/advice-naseeruddin-shah/d/129982