I loved this week’s reading, particularly Taneja’s “Sharing a room with sparrows: Maulana Azad and Muslim ecological thought.” I think this is my favorite reading so far other than the reading about the mushrooms. The connections that were made between ecological thought, the pandemic, and minority rights were very interesting and important. Before the connection to the pandemic was even made, I noticed that the experience that Azad had of isolation and imprisonment had many parallels. While obviously imprisonment is a worse punishment than quarantining for months, the psychological impacts and transformations that arise from an extended period of isolation are quite similar. Azad began by being an aggressor, he viewed the sparrows as an unwanted guest in his space. It was not until he realized that he would benefit from connecting to his environment that he began to form an intimate relationship with the sparrows, naming them and personalizing them. This provides us with an important message about our relationships with others as when we are forced to spend an extended time alone, any sort of company will suffice–humans need intimacy and interaction to thrive. I believe that the connection to democracy that Taneja makes is especially important as well. The idea of ecological thought shows us that when we can look past all positions of power, class differences, racial/ethnic differences, gender differences, and more, it is similar to the relationship that a human has with any non-human entity. In this case, Azad simply yearned for an intimate connection with anyone and anything as he was forced to live in isolation. It did not matter that Azad was human and the sparrows were birds–the company of the sparrows was enough. One of my favorite quotations from the text was ‘”The ecological thought doesn’t just occur “in the mind.’ It’s a practice and a process of becoming fully aware of how human beings are connected with other beings – animal, vegetable, or mineral. Ultimately, this includes thinking about democracy. What would a truly democratic encounter between truly equal beings look like, what would it be – can we even imagine it?” (239.) This concept truly makes the reader think about the possibility of having a true democratic encounter with another and makes me wonder: do we think this is truly possible? Is there any instance where one can have an encounter with another individual and put all other factors (gender, race/ethnicity, age, class, sexuality, etc.) aside?
I also thought the end of the reading was very important and interesting. Taneja demonstrates to the reader that the concepts of ecological thought, the pandemic, and minority rights are all connected and parallel each other. During a period of isolation, such as a long imprisonment or quarantine during the pandemic, one’s concept of time changes and people’s outlooks are transformed. I had never really thought about the connection between our altered perceptions of time during the pandemic and the growth in strength of the Black Lives Matter movement. I thought that Taneja’s discussion of this was very significant and I would be interested in reading more pieces that further discuss the relationship between the pandemic and movements for minority rights.