Book Review : The Irony of Happy Muharram By - Syed Amjad Ali

The book - The irony of Happy Muharram, was sent to me for a review by the publishing house. Just going by the title I was intrigued as I perceived it to be a documentary revolving around Muharram and the perceptions people carry around the same. But the book explores more.

"Aap Muslim ho, lagta toh nahin, ek dum hamari tarah Hain".

Book Blurb - What does it mean to be an Indian Muslim in today's day and age? If you have ever wondered about the answer to this question then this is the book for you. Find the answer to all those questions you have always wanted to ask about Muslim marriages, divorce and many other issues; but be prepared for the fact that the average Indian muslim is just like everyone else. The main attempt of the book is to highlight, with the help of humour, that India is a huge country with many different communities and just as each community has its own customs and rituals so do Muslims but this does not in any way lessen any aspect of their Indian identity. A light hearted look at serious issues.

My View - The irony of Happy Muharram is a light hearted book. It talks about the life of a modern day Indian Muslim. India is an educated society and we go all about discrimination and racism but seldom realize how often we do it. The author quite subtly reveals the little things that happen on a daily basis which makes him realize the way people view Muslims.

The little anecdotes shared show how careless and at times insensitively we humans behave where things unknown to us are concerned. The author talks about the mystery surrounding Muslim living, marriage and divorce. He even illustrates how things and perceptions hurt them yet at the end they know that the doer never had any such intentions.

For me this book revealed how biased and insensitive I, tend to behave at times. We all talk about being liberal and broad minded yet carry some ingrained perceptions about sections of society. The book was informative on various stands and for me it did change a part of my view point.

I will rate it a 3.5 on 5 as I think it would have been great if it was more elaborative.

Still I'll definitely recommend every educated person to read and spread what the author had as a base feeling while penning this book. People let's be more human and sensitive of every culture and custom not just curious cats.