The two readings from Taneja this week were very captivating to me personally, particularly because they offered knowledge and perspective on a time in history that I didn’t know much about. The first reading provided interesting theological frameworks and historical context for her second reading that was more oriented around primary examples of writing from that specific decade/era. In Hindustan is a Dream, Taneja utilizes Urdu poetry, as reflected through the life and writing of Jaun Elia, who was a particularly popular Urdu poet. I liked the way in which he described the works of Elia as melancholy but also hopeful— harboring a “sense of mourning”, yet still seeing a “potential for its [Hindustan’s] recovery” (4). I think this was well reflected in her analyses later during the reading, especially as she gets into the discussion about sense of self. Another aspect of Taneja’s first reading that I really appreciated was the way in which he provided a historical framework for religious discrimination in the era. He did this by outlining the ways in which the previously secular Indian Constitution of the era began to become theologically biased through the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). This act, from Taneja’s description, essentially made it easier for refugees of Hindu, Sikh, Christian, Parsi, and Buddhist religions to obtain citizenship. The way in which he described this act characterized it as a pivotal point in Indian history as it became the first time a theological qualification for becoming an Indian citizen was added to their constitution. This set the stage for the rest of the reading and the larger theme of the exclusion of Muslims at large. In the second reading, Sharing a Room with Sparrows, Taneja recounts the writings of Maulana Azad, specifically commenting on his literary use of time throughout letters 19 and 20. His main comment on Azad’s letters was that his use of various verb tenses was unique. Taneja asserts that “he switches […] from past tense to present, to future subjunctive”. He elaborates upon this as he describes Azad’s personal accounts with sparrows, and how this relationship contributed to his sense of self. Specifically, how Azad’s spending time with the sparrows made him grow softer, a stark contrast to his former, more hard-shelled self.
A possible question that I’d pose after engaging in Taneja’s readings would most likely pertain to India’s legal and societal history of religious discrimination, as I became more interested in this aspect after reading her first article— In what other instances do we see religious discrimination reflected not only in India’s consitution and legal frameworks, but in their society today?