The Muslim Vanishes, Saeed Naqvi
The Muslim Vanishes, Saeed Naqvi
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The Muslim Vanishes

Author: Saeed Naqvi

Narrator: Avantika Akerkar, Abhishek Deswal, Abhishek Saha, Adwait Karambelkar

Unabridged: 3 hr 48 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/25/2022


Synopsis

The great poet Ghalib, part of a long tradition of eclectic liberalism, found Benaras so compelling that he wrote his longest poem on the holy city. If we take Ghalib and his myriads of followers out of the equation, will Hindustan be left with a gaping hole or become something quite new? The Muslim Vanishes, a play by Saeed Naqvi, attempts to answer that question.A Muslim-free India, as a character speculates naively in the play, would be good for socialism, since what the 200 million Muslims leave behind would be equitably shared by the general population. Meanwhile, another character, a political leader, is traumatized by the sudden disappearance of the Muslim voter base and the prospect of a direct electoral confrontation with the numerically stronger Dalits and other backward classes. Caste, the Hindu-Muslim divide, Pakistan and Kashmir-the decibel levels on these subjects are too high for a conversation to take place, with each side fiercely defending their own narrative. What is the way out of this trap?How to douse the social and political flames? In this razor-sharp, gentle and funny play, Saeed Naqvi draws on a mix of influences-from grandma's bedtime stories to Aesop's fables and Mullah Nasruddin's satirical tales-to spring an inspired surprise on us, taking us on a journey into the realms of both history and fantasy.

About The Author

SAEED NAQVI is an Indian journalist, widely known for his TV interviews with world statesmen like Nelson Mandela, Fidel Castro, Yitzhak Rabin, Mahathir Mohamad, Mikhail Gorbachev and others. His passion for Indian culture and civilization lurks in the columns he writes every week. Mera Bharat, a thirty-five-part short film series on India's composite culture that he produced, was a pathbreaking effort.He is the author of Reflections of an Indian Muslim, The Last Brahmin Prime Minister and Being the Other: The Muslim in India.


Reviews

Goodreads review by krn ਕਰਨ on April 16, 2022

Caustic, irreverent, uproariously funny. But coterminous with the laughter, an incubus-like sadness. Like something truly nasty has wormed its way into the soul of the nation and refuses to be exorcised. The premise? India's 200 million muslims - the second largest population of muslims by country -......more

Goodreads review by Devangana on March 04, 2023

A brilliantly executed satirical short-play on a Muslim free India. It’s snarky, caustic, uproarious and thought provoking, the sense of irony pinches hard. India wakes up to the news of the sudden disappearance of its 200 million Muslims without a trace. Poof!! Gone!! And they’ve taken their langua......more

Goodreads review by Sumeet on June 16, 2022

The book starts off with a promising premise but wavers a lot as it moves along and is unable to keep up a satirical tone. Its weakness is that it's unable to resist pontificating, especially during the courtroom scenes, which might as well have been written by Rajkumar Hirani.......more

Goodreads review by Sadiq on February 12, 2022

A bold book for the times that we are in. Satirical, sarcastic and thought-provoking.......more

Goodreads review by Raghav on August 30, 2022

This book raises some important questions about the project of Hindu nation and highlights the syncretic nature of our civilisation. However we don’t possess the collective IQ to ponder over, debate and discuss intellectual questions. And there is always the same black sheep behind every problem in......more