A Research Scholar in Kolkata shares his travail in house hunting.
By Nazmul Hussain,
“We are all different from each other at least in one context,” said my friend while discussing on a current social topic in a Coffee House in central Kolkata. Certainly the motion of upholding his arguments deals with a philosophical reasoning and also in turn quivering the very idea of a family in the larger perspective. However, the reasoning is sometimes conversely baffling as the authoritarian’s preconceived images spread over on a larger canvas, and that frames the inner coat of an obscure thinking.
Do my friends have the same obscure thinking? Probably no; as the relentless free thinking will destine oneself to this much needed goal which in deed a need of the hour in connecting people for virtuous companionship. Who knows this (!) better than Amartya Sen – one of the great thinkers of our times? In his book, Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny, Amartya Sen explained about the multifarious identities of a person in modern days’ background. The real success of this book lies on its propensity by which it compels the reader to think beyond the boundary of so called social inviolability which pollutes generation next by the help of our social and educational environments. And so, by hovering around the manifold identities, it only invites me to capture a larger and durable state of affairs where similarities are more prominent than dissimilarities within human races. But then why do we eager to magnify our one or two identities? Such a question may draw attentions to many; getting answers may not be difficult also but change in ground reality is miles away as we refuse to correct or learn within and beyond the periphery of our acquired acquaintance. Well! By and large we have a composite society with customary differences within and such differences are not tinted by open eyes but into conscious mind.
[File photo: TCN]
Resettling in a new abode was my prime concern after getting a new assignment in Kolkata. Nurturing the desire with a reasonable financial potential, I rather prefer to settle down in a place of my convenience where an easy access to civic amenities and infrastructures are in doorsteps. I am quite aware of the fact associated with the Muslims in cities that they live mostly in Muslim dominated ghettos. With the background I have, the necessity is the only driving force in searching for a rented house in Kolkata and that refuses to accept the Muslim dominated areas as an alternate because these are far away from my work place. The ghettos are prominent and overcrowded in most of the cities. Besides its normal overload, the seasonal or long time migrated labourers, students, job seekers etc. also put pressure on these areas to accommodate them.
Zakir Nagar in South Delhi and Topsia in Kolkata are two classic examples in this regard. Many lessons were learnt from my esteem institution – “Aligarh Muslim University” and those compelled me to think beyond the unwanted caste, language and religion wise divisions in our society. Although a noticeable division and its aftermath realities in the social context persist widely in our society, the basic philosophy may change or seem to change in time due to external factors like education and so on. The divisions among Hindus are wide open and full of confrontations in caste line , but these were buried when a group of people turned into mob in 2002 Gujarat pogrom where schedule castes and schedule tribes also participated en-mass. Such unification of Hindus signifies neither a positive change of mind nor an abolition of caste structures as the action itself is destructive in nature and the change of mind was not taken place by a valued education and hence, the change is temporary. However, my heart beats for a positive change in our Indian society irrespective of a few differences we acquire by our birth .Thus the primary identity as a human being calls me to be an Indian first and then Bengali who loves to eat rice and fish.
My observation about the Muslim localities in Kolkata may get some scores for not selecting these as one of the choices for a new address in the city. It is well known that the most of the Muslim dominated areas in the city suffer from basic amenities and infrastructures .The hygiene and communication within locality are in abysmal condition. Civic body services are irregular and inadequate. In one word, the civic facilities are not at par with other localities and people called them as Muslim ghettos. May I ask who would like to settle down in a place like this where none will match in the bigger Indian context? Certainly , I would not like it in a city known for its cultural heritage and feeder of knowledge and many people call it now as ‘City of Joy ‘
As some sociologists believe that large-scale mobility, both upward and downward, breaks down class structures, rendering a culture more uniform, and my individual mobility to the city also generated a need for an accommodation to this effect. I discussed the matter with one of my colleagues and he helped me to locate a property related broker. In a busy Sunday morning, when local vegetables and grocery market is crowded, the broker took me to a rentable vacant house near Patuli Police Station on the third day after our first meeting. The house belongs to a couple whose only son resides outside Kolkata and has been kept vacant for a longtime. As I visualized my needs in perspective and felt that the flat will cater most of those. The apparent look and location of the house is also attractive, I decided to finalize a deal for the flat. Agreed with all the terms and conditions like two months rents as security deposit and one month rent in advance, I am told to handover my identity and address proof and some cash to the house owner on the next day. Accordingly I submitted all papers and cash amount on the very next day. After completing the formalities, I left the place by a rickshaw dreaming my future association with the people and esteemed nature of the locality inculcated and shaped over the years of its existence. While I was leaving the broker requested me to call him at night for paper related issues if any and the bond paper agreement formalities. At night 9.30, I called the broker with some customary words, then he apologized and said “‘Sir, please don’t mind, the owner will not rent his house to a Muslim. I shall try for you another one.” I am shocked and utterly confused thinking that the couple’s outer appearance and inner philosophy are in a platform of mismatch in the ‘City of Joy’. Nevertheless, I breathe easy and look forward for a sunny day.
After that incident, I took a brake for a while and thought about this as a trivial one and decided to contact another broker in Garia area after two weeks. Now, I was a bit cautious and fixed the priorities to disclose my identity well before visiting the flat. I asked the broker to disclose my identity to the flat owner first when he wanted me to visit a flat. The very next day broker said me sorry and narrated the episode. The broker told “Everything went fine in that morning until I revealed your identity. As soon as they heard your identity, the house owner’s wife rushed to inside the house, and called her husband in. The husband came back after ten minutes of intensive discussion. The husband apologized and said that his wife had given words to someone else for their flat and he didn’t know about it. What he said was not matching with their behavioral pattern before I disclosed your identity; actually they will not rent their house to a Muslim. I am sorry but I shall try my best to arrange a house for you.”
I took it in right spirit and convinced myself by telling that the broker was honest enough to describe the whole story and felt pain no less than me. At least I found a man who felt in the same way and took an oath to reverse the trend.
On the next day, the broker called me and took me to a nearby two room flat on ground floor. While going with the broker, I took a stock of the situation. He assured me that this time the owner did not have problems with the Muslims. In the house, other two floors were occupied by the owner. Things were smooth and everything was finalized. At the time of departure from the house, I asked the owner ‘Please don’t tell me later; tell it right now if you have any problem with the Muslims.’ Then the house owner wife asked his husband to ring the secretary of their association. The husband obliged and rang the secretary. Changing face during conversation, the man had given me enough clues to guess the decision of their secretary. I took a right turn and started to move from the house. Ending the call, the owner shouted –‘Sorry’ then I walked at least 10 meters from the house. After a while again the owner called me and told -”If you have any Bengali friend who requires a rented house, then give him my address.”
The statement shook me and forced me to think that the discrimination is not only merely based on religious background but also based on culture and language too. Again I felt a tremor but took control of myself and gently asked the couple, “Do you think I am not a Bengali? If you don’t want to rent out your house to a Muslim, it’s okay, but for god sake don’t take away my beloved identity- ‘Bengali’ from me. I am both a Bengali and a Muslim, I have no problem with these. I have no problem with your identity also.”
I was not interested in further discussion and started walking towards the bus stop. The broker didn’t console me this time but his face narrated the picture of his mind. I shook hand and told him “Hope to meet you again.”
While returning from my office by Metro train, I was passionate to find out the root causes of the incidents. It took me to the era of partition and shook me remembering “Ram Khalawan” – one of the great stories of Saadat Hasan Manto. Ram Khalawan, a hardworking washer man, is indebted to a Muslim family for many reasons. Once he fell grievously ill after drinking alcohol, the wife of the Muslim couple took him to a doctor by taxi and he survived. As the partition approached, the wife left for Pakistan. The man went to collect his clothes from Khalawan as he too was planning to leave for Pakistan following the outbreak of violence. As he approached the Khalawan’s house, he could locate Khalawan among a group of inhabitants dancing with long heavy wooden sticks in their hands. Suddenly one man asked him whether he is a Hindu or a Muslim. The man replied that he is a Muslim. “Kill him, kill him” response came from the inhabitants. One of the washer men raised his stick to hit him.
Suddenly Khalawan came in the middle, and shouted at the top of his voice, “Sahib! He is not a Muslim; he is my Sahib, Begum Sahib’s Sahib ………” The man was thus saved, and he safely left for Pakistan.
No man is indebted to me, a few is known to me in this vast city; am I safe like Sahib? Can I live peacefully in the ‘City of Joy’? Or I will have to leave it like Sahib. Can I fulfill my wish to stay in a better locality? Will anybody call me, he is not Muslim; he is my Bengal’s Bengali brother.”
Days ahead may have answers for me.
(Dr. Nazmul Hussain is a Research Associate at the Centre for Studies in Social Science, Kolkata and can be reached and can be contacted at [email protected].)