Naya Nagar’s poetic justice

Sahitya Akademi Award winning novelist Rahman Abbas and journalist Mushraf Shamsi, who runs local newspaper Tirchhi Aankh, are as old to Naya Nagar as Nihal Corner in the background. The restaurant serves as the de facto venue for their lengthy baithaks with like-minded friends. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

Hosh walon ko khabar kya…," wrote Urdu poet Nida Fazli, "...bekhudi kya cheez hai." [What do those in their senses know what it is to lose oneself?] The ghazal, immortalised by Jagjit Singh in the 1999 Aamir Khan starrer Sarfarosh, was an instant hit. But while it was picturised on two love birds silently serenading each other, the actual embodiment of selfless love - for words - may be found in a small but bustling locality in Mira Road.

The connection isn't a tenuous one. Fazli actually lived in this area for several years before moving to Mumbai city. Even Shahryar, another renowned Urdu poet, lived in Naya Nagar for a few months. Other names include National Award winner Abid Surti, Salam Bin Razzaq, Rakesh Sharma and Hriday Mayank. And thanks to their influence, countless houses in this locality home budding or upcoming poets.

Poetry greats like Nida Fazli (centre) have lived in Naya Nagar, and their houses would be the venues of impromptu mushairas. Their influence has led to the emergence of numerous poets and writers from the Mira Road locality

Since last week, the area has been painted in a communal colour, as clashes allegedly erupted between local Muslim residents and Hindu members of a rally celebrating the consecration of Ayodhya's Ram Mandir. Several shops and vehicles were damaged and two days later, the local administration, in a shocking move, razed allegedly illegal extensions made to some commercial establishments in the Hyderi Chowk, where the clashes occurred. Later, mid-day found that it all started as a simple road rage incident, and was escalated by the gravity of the day - January 22 - and the fact that one of the two-wheelers involved had a saffron flag.

When this writer texted his friend in Mira Road to say he was visiting Naya Nagar, she responded that she'd been asked to work from home as it was unsafe to venture out. But, walking through the lanes of the 0.48 sq km locality, mid-day found business was as usual. The mood, while not jubilant, wasn't hostile either. Shops were open, public transport operational and people were going about their affairs as they would every day.

The foundation stone of Naya Nagar in Mira Road was laid in 1979 jointly by Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray and All India Muslim League president Ghulam Mehmood Banatwala. It was a feat made possible by Syed Nazar Hussain, one of the architects of Mira Road, whose son Muzaffar is now Congress MLC from the area

Several residents said small groups of men had roamed the streets for three days, chanting religious slogans, standing pointedly outside Muslim-owned shops. On the day of the clashes, one of them allegedly set off firecrackers outside Muhammadi Masjid, just as namaazis were exiting.

"Thoda aur bardasht kar lena chahiye tha," a middle-aged man in a crisp white shalwar kurta and flowing salt-and-pepper beard said to us before walking away.

Rahman Abbas, a Sahitya Akademi Awardee who has nine Urdu novels bearing his name, remembers Fazli, who passed away in 2016, fondly. "We used to spend hours at his place," he tells us as we walk through the streets of Naya Nagar. "He was a great influence on us."

Mukhtar Khan and Faraz Khan

The town bustles. Seekh-paratha stalls jostle for space on the pavements, the aromas wafting around. Some have proud declarations of their fare being cooked only in refined oil. Rassaz, a 10-year-old theatre that is now a multiplex, also doubles as a hangout for the youth. A row of food and drink stalls inside the compound serve as date spots for the love struck.

We didn't ask Rahman for the tour that he is giving us; but perhaps he felt there was no better way for a stranger to understand Naya Nagar. We began to see his point.

Rahman shifted to Naya Nagar in 2000 and quickly became involved with the writer adda. This was always his dream; his first novel Nakhalistan Ki Talaash (The Search For An Oasis) was published in 2004. It was set against the backdrop of the 1992-93 Mumbai riots following the Babri Masjid demolition and earned him the ire of extremists, who, predictably, registered an obscenity complaint. He spent a few days in the Arthur Road Central Jail before being cleared of all charges the same year.

(From left) Journalist Mushrif Shamsi, writer Pulak Chakravarti and novelist Rahman Abbas regularly gather at Nihal Corner, one of the oldest restaurants in the locality, for lengthy discussions about everything under the sun. Other locals like activist Sadiq Pasha drop in frequently. Pics/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

He also won the state Sahitya Akademi Award for third novel, Khuda Ke Saaye Mein Aankh Micholi (Hide And Seek In The Shadow Of God) in 2011. The prestigious award honours a book of literary merit in any Indian language. Abbas returned the award in 2015 to protest the then rising attacks against Urdu writers.

"I had asked Nida sahab why he wasn't returning his awards. He asked how many should he return!" Rahman laughed. "We had our differences of opinion, but we [the writers] also shared an unbreakeable bond. We would randomly drop into his house, and just like that, an impromptu mushaira would be underway."

Abbas went on to win the national Sahitya Akademi Award in 2018 for his fourth novel, Rohzin (Melancholy Of The Soul).

A day after the clashes at Hyderi Chowk, local authorities demolished several illegal extensions to shops in the area. Ironically, the last structure in this same row is the Mira Road police station

It's the same in hundreds of Naya Nagar houses, where wordsmiths of all ages, influenced by the likes of Fazli and Shahryar then, and Rahman now, read Urdu literature and process the world around them through writing, elocution and sometimes, music. Cultural events are held practically every weekend at community halls - mushairas, book fairs, readings of the works of famous writers, and concerts.

As we speak, we approach the building where extensions of the shops were demolished. "Wait for it," Rahman said, as we walked till we saw it. The last structure in the same building, where these ‘illegal' extensions stood and stayed unchallenged for years, is Mira Road police station.

Naya Nagar was formed in the mid 1990s, when Muslims from Madanpura, a cultural hub in Nagpada that was home to Saadat Hasan Manto, and frequented by Urdu greats such as Kaifi Azmi, began leaving their homes in search of a new safe one after the 1993 serial blasts. Things had been bad enough since the demolition of the 16th century Babri Masjid in Ayodhya which happened as a culmination of the Ratha Yatra, and the subsequent rioting. However, when Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar was named as one of the masterminds of the 1993 serial blasts, the city had conferred the moniker of Mini Pakistan upon Madanpura. Many felt it was time for a fresh start.

"The most affordable real estate was in Mira Road, and it helped that Syed Nazar Hussain had started a slew of residential building projects in 1979," said Mukhtar Khan, who shifted from Antop Hill to Mira Road 20 years ago.

The writer, who is a professor of Hindi at the St Xavier's College in Churchgate and also writes columns in English, Hindi, Marathi and Urdu, is a walking encyclopedia of information when it comes to his hometown.

"Nazar sahab saw great potential in Mira Road, because of its proximity to Mumbai and Gujarat. He built six buildings here, which attracted the attention of a seamen's union. They, too, constructed buildings. Nazar sahab used to buy 50 tickets to and from Mira Road every day to give the impression that this was a well-populated area, hoping that this word would spread and people would start living here," Khan laughed.

Naya Nagar was officially inaugurated in 1979. Interestingly, Hussain brought Shiv Sena founder late Bal Thackeray and All India Muslim League president Ghulam Mehmood Banatwala on a common stage to lay the foundation stone. But the people came later.

"Affordability was a major factor," said journalist Mushraf Shamsi, who runs a newspaper called Tirchhi Aankh. "I moved here in 1998 after I got married and couldn't stay at a hostel any more. You'd hardly see any people here back then. When me and the missus stepped out for a walk after dinner, we'd see lights in very few windows."

The second wave of residents, after 1993, came in 2006, when the Bharat Nagar slums in Bandra were demolished. Their friends and relatives followed, all of them driven by the desire to have a home of their own.

We met Shamsi at Nihal Corner restaurant, one of the oldest eateries in the area set up by the late Imamuddin Nihal. Over the years, the cornerside eatery has become the de facto adda for unofficial mehfils, with people streaming in at all hours. The current manager didn't flinch when we occupied a table for over an hour without ordering anything beyond two cups of tea.

"Every one in four residents here is a shayar," declared Pulak Chakravarti, a proud Communist known as Comrade in the ilaaka. "It is a natural consequence of an entire community being brought together by strife. They bond, they find a passion, they discover self-expression. I organised the first book fair in Naya Nagar in 2000. Now they are a regular occurrence."

Chakravarti, too, has been staying here since the late 90s. "That," he pointed to the pavement across the road from Nihal, "is where Abbas and I would have endless conversations about everything under the sun, night after night."

The elder residents are happy to see the younger lot equally passionate about the arts. Like Faraz Khan, who is trained in the harmonium and also a singer. He performs at concerts and makes his own music videos, in which he promotes communal harmony. "It's a great place to live if you are creative," said Khan. "Yes, of course, it is more affordable for those still struggling but it's more than that. Naya Nagar has let me thrive."

Why, then, is this rich side of Mira Road perennially ignored? The wise journalist provided the answer.

"It's too far away for mainstream news media to send their correspondents to experience the cultural programmes we hold. Even for local stringers, a book fair or mushaira doesn't hold as much allure as, say, a politician's event. A mushaira won't have free sharab and kebab," Shamsi chuckled, just as the muezzin started the call for afternoon prayers.

Members of the adda fail to see why their hometown is the talk of the country today. They say that people from all backgrounds have lived together for years. We saw Dr Sana's Clinic next to a Sandeep Medical Store, and countless such examples. A major chunk of jewellery stores owned by Hindus have functioned without once being touched here.

"My window has a clear view of a Hindu temple next to the compound, and I begin my day with its deedar. Not just that, some Hindu residents of my society, who are unable to walk to the temple because of old age or health issues, come to my house to catch a glimpse every morning," said Khan.

Everyone has mixed feelings about last week's clashes. Some say that the non-stop provocation finally caused some people to crack, which was enough reason for the other side to go on a rampage. Others say that this is no reason for anyone to choose violence, that one of the basic tenets of Islam is sabr.

"The instigators were not even from here," said Shamsi. "We know some of the faces, they stay in areas far away from Naya Nagar." Among the many shops targetted that night was a leading optician's outlet five minutes away from Mira Road station. "Even we didn't know that it was run by a Muslim," said Abbas.
Khan, meanwhile, had an opinion that stemmed from personal experience.

"Those who got provoked were very young, in their early twenties. They are hot-headed and do not know the consequences of such actions. Us, we have lived through nightmares like 1992-93. I had to take shelter at a Hindu friend's home when Antop Hill was torn apart by riots. We have seen the literal meaning of the phrase ‘lamhon ne khata ki hai, sadiyon ne saza paayi [Moments make the mistake, centuries pay the price]," he said.

Incidents like these do hang in the air at Naya Nagar. The colony is already tainted by the fact that three suspects in the 2006 serial Mumbai train blasts that killed 147, were picked up from here. Now, with the ongoing propaganda - and misinformation where videos of clashes from other parts of India are being passed off as Mira Road - the town finds itself a target again.

"Politics relies on the past as well as on the promise that one day, your own religion will be the greatest. That is one of the advantages of being a Communist; you don't believe in religion so this stuff can't get to you," Chakravarti laughed.

We left Naya Nagar that Thursday evening remembering Fazli's words, "Benaam sa yeh dard thehar kyon nahin jaata/Jo beet gaya hai woh guzar kyon nahin jaata."

1979
Year Sena founder late Bal Thackeray and All India Muslim League president Ghulam Mehmood Banatwala laid the foundation stone of the town that would come to be occupied by residents of South Mumbai's Madanpura and nearby localities to escape the association of the area with 1993 blasts mastermind Dawood Ibrahim