By Karoly,
The writer of love, Kamala Surayya has bid farewell to this world, after her fleeting life which was but as elegant as her literature. A writer par excellence in English and Malayalam, from a dignified Hindu family of litterateurs, she was not afraid to face brickbats and thorns and risk losing the accolades she was wont to receive by testifying to the ideology of her conviction. In the process she brought to fore the hypocrisy of many of our intelligentsia and the deception by the media.
The conversion of Kamala to Islam is a highly significant event for this generation of Indian Muslims. Even though basically Islam is a missionary religion, Muslims are not known for active proselytizing. Most of the conversions in the Islamic history were spontaneous, without the role of any organized missionary activity. The conversions had to do a lot with the then existing social deprivations, and the revolutionary character of Islam in providing panaceas to them.
And sure, there were no dearth of illustrious individuals who came to the fold of Islam in its history. In fact even whole civilizations have embraced Islam, including the great Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Persian, Middle Eastern, Buddhist and even the Hindu civilization in Indonesia. There is no doubt that Muslims see conversions as a validation of their ideological veracity and recognition of their own “model behavior”.
The case today is lot different. The mysterious reasons which wrought such mass scale conversions in the past are not apparent today. There is also no need any more for the pariahs to convert to Islam to gain access to public roads. More basically, the hard truth is that the Muslim community, especially in India, steeped in backwardness, illiteracy, poverty and ignorance hardly presents an ideal society.
This has been very true for the case of intellectuals. Even among the western intellectuals, to my knowledge, there have not been conversions of note after the French philosopher Roger Garaudy and German diplomat Murad Wilfreid Hoffman. In fact it is extremely rare for well known Hindu intellectuals to accept Islam, which may be even rarer than for Jews.
It is here that the conversion of Kamala gains its prominence. So no wonder a section of the media was repugnant to it. They tried by all means to establish that her conversion was not ideological. Some were in desperate search for her “lover” whom she wanted to marry by converting, by interpreting some of her statements after conversion. However her poetry collection “Ya Allah” brought out afterwards revealed who this lover was; who was none other than her creator.
Jesus spake : “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you…”
This came exactly true for Kamala after her conversion. A section of the public acted like wild animals tearing her apart, without even considering that this was a woman and a writer of international acclaim. She was insulted, cursed and threatened through anonymous phone calls and letters. Even many prominent intellectuals betrayed their “my caste greatest” mentality and the disdain for Islam in responding to Kamala.
All is not well with the Muslim community too. In fact the vulnerability of the Muslim community was exposed by Kamala’s conversion. It became apparent how ignorant, skeptical and mistrusting are the general public about Islam. It reveals how Muslims have miserably failed to educate the public about the true Islamic ideals and the influence Islam has exerted on the Indian culture and morals, through intellectual exchange.
The greatest service Kamala has done is to have brought the message of Islam thus obscured to public notice and discussion. Prophet Muhammad said that God will raise for this community at the beginning of every hundred years the one who will renovate its religion for it. In this sense she is the saint of this era.
But a generous person she was, she took care never to hurt the Hindu sentiments due to her conversion. So her departure has left many eyes wet; regardless of religion and caste. This was obvious in the vast crowds thronging to pay her last homage. The Kerala government, the social and literary circuit as well as the public have given a fitting tribute to Kamala Surayya.
Kamala Surayya has at last met her lover. She is laid to rest in the company of her spiritual brethren, under the shade of the sprawling Acacia in the Palayam Juma Masjid. A sapling of her favourite temple plant is planted on her grave. One day it too will bear flowers, spreading their fragrance for all, like Kamala Surayya did with her life. It too will wither to ground after its tryst with this writer of love, leaving only a lingering pain of the loss of someone we dearly loved. However the fragrance of her noble life and works will live much beyond that.