Abbu kept himself above conflict. It was as if the ugly communal reality outside the gates of the campus where he and his family lived could never touch him. He was a practical and plain-speaking man who would rarely ever display any great emotional crests and troughs. His colleagues and students were equal in his eyes, irrespective of religion.
Even then, upon Abbu’s retirement from the university—which meant he would have to relinquish the elegant campus accommodation—he and Ammi chose, without much deliberation, to move to an area in Delhi that was known to be a Muslim ghetto.
Shaheen Bagh, located in the eastern part of Delhi, has a predominantly Muslim, uneducated populace working in tiny shops along narrow, garbage-strewn roads. The entire area was a winding maze—I do not remember a single time that I had been able to find my way to the new Farooqui home without an SOS phone call to them for help with directions. The local municipality councillor and the member of the Legislative Assembly at that time were both Muslim; yet the development of the area had been grossly neglected. For many years, the only other large construction in the area, besides the Farooqui family’s home, had been the local mosque, while the rest were shops akin to holes in the wall.
The Farooqui family felt that Shaheen Bagh would serve as a safety net for them. Ensconced within the protection of their own community, they would be unharmed if any anti-Muslim riots broke out. They felt safest among other Muslims. Many of Abbu’s Muslim colleagues had also moved there after retirement for the same reason.
The feeling of persecution and the threat of impending poverty are two of the biggest issues weighing on the minds of the deprived sections of society in India. More than the average population, Muslims tend to have jobs in the informal sector, which are usually without a written contract or a regular salary.42 At the time of writing, not even one of India’s top twenty largest businesses has been founded, or is run, by a Muslim. According to the 2011 Census, 24.9 per cent of the 370,000 beggars and homeless people in India are Muslim, which is disproportionately high given that Muslims make up 14.23 per cent of India’s total population. Meanwhile, Hindus make up 79.8 per cent of the population, and have a share of 72.22 per cent (268,000) in the total beggar population. On the other hand, Christians, representing 2.3 per cent of India’s population, make up 0.88 per cent of India’s beggars, and Sikhs, who are 1.72 per cent of India’s population, constitute 0.45 per cent.43
Democracy has, therefore, not served to expand freedom of choice for India’s poor.
By the time I returned to India to take up my role at the Jindal Group, I was no longer in touch with the Farooquis. But I had heard that the family had left their sprawling home in Shaheen Bagh to move to a much smaller apartment in a more culturally diverse colony in west Delhi. Poverty and crime were on the rise in Shaheen Bagh, and some of the roads had gradually become so narrow that even a bicycle could hardly make its way through. For the same reasons, their other Muslim peers from academia had also been forced to make the same move.
The journey of socio-economic progress for various groups in politically free India has been different. Democracy has been a game of snakes and ladders for different sections of Indians to improve their social and economic conditions. In this game, some have gained and some have lost. Then there are those who have found that while caste is not negotiable, economic status is. They have worked hard to change the destiny that they were born with. India is a tough place to live—the opportunities are few, the level playing fields fewer, and many people are seeking the same goal.
One factor in the success stories is the renewed respect for hard work in India. For the first time in our history, the new millionaires are looked up to with pride and reverence, in contrast to an earlier era when the newly rich were objects of scorn and derision. Earlier, the ‘old bourgeoisie’ with inherited wealth and families even remotely connected to royalty would look down upon the toil and enterprise of farmers and labourers. They felt that those who worked hard were ideologically barren, without any social class or manners. However, those with a rags-to-riches story are now considered role models who have proved the success of hard work and merit. We have plenty of success stories such as those of Dhirubhai Ambani, Sunil Mittal and Om Prakash Jindal who hailed from modest backgrounds but built massive business empires. Indians marvel that even though Dhirubhai Ambani’s first trading office was so small that it could not accommodate more than four people, when he died in July 2002, his business empire was worth over $12 billion.
It is the ability to make and implement an informed choice that ultimately plays a vital role in shaping who we want to be and the life we seek. Choice is a rational decision that determines change. But only when a free and informed choice can be made will we be deemed to have made progress. The meaning and path (or the lack of it) of progress (or the lack of it) have been unique and different for each of the backward communities in India. For some, it has meant gaining political power. For others, it has meant improving their financial conditions, while for many others, it has meant just leading a more dignified life. The realization of progress has invariably depended upon the ability of members of a backward community to also implement their choice of how to lead
