Much Ado about Nothing.

One of my favorite past-time on the Delhi Metro is to watch other people and try to guess as much as I can about them. Last night as I was getting into the mode, I saw a middle-aged man take out a book and dig right in. The topic of the book piqued my interest and I definitely din't want to miss the chance of discussing it. The book was the much controversial "Jinnah: India-Partition-Independence" by Mr. Jaswant Singh, a very prominent face of Indian politics during the recent years.

For those who are not familiar with the book and the controversy surrounding it... the book is about Muhammad Ali Jinnah, generally regarded as the Founding Father of Pakistan, and his  role in the partition of India-Pakistan. According to Mr. Singh, Jinnah was against the partition while Jawaharlal Nehru, was for it. The book, not only is a contradiction to the general beliefs of the partition, it also is against the fundamental beliefs of the BJP, the party to which Mr. Singh belongs to. In fact, Mr. Singh was unceremoniously dropped from the party with a mere phone call as a result of this book. The hype and controversy over the subject has definitely been interesting quite a lot of people, me being one among them, even though I personally find politics boring. 

Now, I usually don't go around talking to complete strangers, especially in India. And I usually stay off the topics of politics and religions even with people I'm very close to. These two are the most disputable topics known to humankind. And you can never be sure what may actually trigger off a heated conversation. But this was an opportunity I couldn't pass by and surprisingly, it turned out to be the most intellectually stimulating conversation I've had in a very long time.

I started a conversation with the gentleman, ignoring the look of annoyance on his face at my interruption. I wouldn't blame him for it though, I personally hate being disturbed while reading something interesting. But the more questions I asked about the book and his views on it, the more he started opening up. One question led to another and we ended up talking for almost 30 mins. We talked about the book, about popular beliefs about the partition, about what happened to Mr. Singh, about the general politics in India and the lack of literary freedom in the country. Surprising how much you can learn from someone by asking one, simple  question.

We did have a difference of opinions on the way politics is being played out in the country now, him being a supporter of the oppositional party and me, being a supporter of the ruling party. Actually, him being an old school political fan and me being a young look political fan. But we did agree on quite a few things:

-- That India does have a hard-lined view on political and religious arts, be it books, paintings, or anything else for that matter.
-- The whole controversy of dismissing a seasoned politician over a book seemed a lil' too harsh to both of us.
-- The lack of literary freedom seems a lil' too much for a democratic country like India.
-- We also did agree on the fact that the political leaders of the country should quit trying to make a mountain out of a molehill over a book and maybe pay more attention to the security of the country, especially in the North-Eastern parts.

The conversation was so engrossing, we didn't even have the time to exchange any personal information. As I got ready to disembark at my destination, I asked him whether the book was worth the hype and controversy that it was churning up. His opinion, like all books, read the book like a book, with a pinch of salt and a huge helping of literary license. The book happens to be good reading and actually sets people thinking on an off-beat track.

His actual parting shot "It's much ado about nothing".

Signing offffff......