“Saare Jahan Se Achcha Hindustan Hamara…”

“…Hum Bulbulen Hain Us Ki Vuh Gulistan Hamara”. This couplet was penned by a young Muhammad Iqbal in 1904. He turned a traitor in 1910 and renounced his earlier sentiment. Muhammad Iqbal was one of the founding fathers of Pakistan. Hundred and four years later, young Muslims are turning traitors and are gunning for their ‘Hindustan’! India or Hindustan is the only country in the world where young Muslims have earned world-wide fame for themselves, their families and their country. No other country on the face of this earth has given so much to Muslims as India has. Despite such opportunities Muslims have turned against their own ‘Mother India’.

Certain sections of the Muslim population on the Indian sub-continent have long believed that they would one day out-number Hindus in their own motherland. The simple question is how? The next question is why? Is this religious fanaticism or civilizational hang-over? Whatever the case might be, the fact of the matter is that for every single Hindu killed in the world, there are 100 Muslims killed around the world. The Muslim fanatics should do their math! In the meantime Hindus and moderate Muslims are getting educated, raising their families and improving their standards of living. How come no other country has produced a Muslim Azim Premji and Wipro?

Note my concern voiced on September 15, 2008

Those were the days of ‘Mother India’…

‘Mother India’, the film was released on October 25, 1957. I was only 9 years old. It was producer-director Mehboob Khan’s blockbuster, of epic proportions that was called India’s Gone With the Wind. The film was a remake of Mehboob Khan’s film Aurat, released in 1940. Mother India was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1958. In India, the film received the Best Movie of the Year Award from Filmfare. Even after 50 years, it is considered an all time hit in India.

Mother India is a film about an Indian peasant family of Northern India, struggling to survive in a rural community and coming to terms with a newly independent country, freed by the British Colonial Rule. The film starts with a newly married couple, Radha (Nargis) and Shamu (Raj Kumar), who are married in a traditional style. The wedding was paid for by a loan raised by the groom’s mother, from a typical, crooked money-lender Sukhi Lala (Kanhaiya Lal). Immediately after the wedding, the terms of the loan are revealed to the young couple. The conditions of the loan are disputed by the newly-weds but the Panchayat (village elders) rules in the lender’s favor. Shamu and Radha are forced to forfeit 75% of their crop just as interest on the loan of 500 rupees. The couple tries to till more land to alleviate the hardship but in the process, Shamu’s arms are crushed by a boulder. A crippled Shamu abandons his family in shame, leaving behind three small children and a young bride.

The theme of the film is the struggle of a single mother (Mother India), left helpless by the husband and the society in general. She fights the challenges of life with grit and honor. Two of her surviving sons grew up as Birju (Sunil Dutt) and Ramu (Rajendra Kumar). The story line is rooted in the soil of India and is easily identified by the masses. The performances of Nargis in particular and Sunil Dutt in general were of exceptional caliber. Mehboob Khan’s direction was virtually perfect. The music of Naushad Ali was popular beyond expectations. I watched the film atleast a dozen times over the last 50 years and so did a lot of people in India.