Shantanu Cafe

[Shantanu_Left]

You are most welcome to embrace* Islam and join the conversation.

*All reversions come with bonus salvations.

Well, my marhoom Nani was a Muslim from the Valley. Does that make me eligible for this thread? My mother too taught me to avoid idol worship. Although I have been mostly hanging out with Hindus in my life, many of them keep their distance from me after they learn about my background. I'm Hindu on paper to avoid bureaucratic hassles and because I have a Hindu name. But I don't follow its practices in any manner.

I have been studying comparative religions for a long time...Christianity, Islam, Judaism. For a brief period of time, I became a Christian. But living in the West disillusioned me as very few Westerners take the message of the Bible to the heart. However, the Bible is not to be faulted. As Mahatma Gandhi once said: "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."

I am very impressed by Judaism. I think it's neat and perfect in many ways. But again, since I'm not one of the Tribe....it's the toughest faith to gain entrance into. But I would recommend any open-minded people to read up on the Maimonides, and even the Talmud. Nothing can prepare you for those insights.

As for Islam, I have read the Quran. I do have a few reservations which I will not express on this forum as it will offend many forum members. But nothing against the faith...Quran is a beautiful guideline for mankind. My Nani and even my mother had tried to instill Islamic values in me (but since my mother is non-practicing for the most part, it was difficult for me to be convinced). I even had an Urdu education in childhood.

Let me know if I shouldn't contribute further in this thread, and I will opt out.

 

[Clearly]

Well, my marhoom Nani was a Muslim from the Valley. Does that make me eligible for this thread? My mother too taught me to avoid idol worship. Although I have been mostly hanging out with Hindus in my life, many of them keep their distance from me after they learn about my background. I'm Hindu on paper to avoid bureaucratic hassles and because I have a Hindu name. But I don't follow its practices in any manner.

I have been studying comparative religions for a long time...Christianity, Islam, Judaism. For a brief period of time, I became a Christian. But living in the West disillusioned me as very few Westerners take the message of the Bible to the heart. However, the Bible is not to be faulted. As Mahatma Gandhi once said: "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."

I am very impressed by Judaism. I think it's neat and perfect in many ways. But again, since I'm not one of the Tribe....it's the toughest faith to gain entrance into. But I would recommend any open-minded people to read up on the Maimonides, and even the Talmud. Nothing can prepare you for those insights.

As for Islam, I have read the Quran. I do have a few reservations which I will not express on this forum as it will offend many forum members. But nothing against the faith...Quran is a beautiful guideline for mankind. My Nani and even my mother had tried to instill Islamic values in me (but since my mother is non-practicing for the most part, it was difficult for me to be convinced). I even had an Urdu education in childhood.

Let me know if I shouldn't contribute further in this thread, and I will opt out.

I don’t know about the protocols of the thread but your post has got my attention. Could you tell me a bit about you Nani? She was a muslim you said, how did she marry your Nana and what religion did he follow? I am assuming this was not an arranged marriage? Also your mother then told you to not worship idols, does she have a religion?

I am sorry if it seems very nosy, these questions, I am a female myself and wanted to know about the females in your family who have a connection with Islam.

 

[Shantanu_Left]

I don’t know about the protocols of the thread but your post has got my attention. Could you tell me a bit about you Nani? She was a muslim you said, how did she marry your Nana and what religion did he follow? I am assuming this was not an arranged marriage? Also your mother then told you to not worship idols, does she have a religion?

I am sorry if it seems very nosy, these questions, I am a female myself and wanted to know about the females in your family who have a connection with Islam.

Oh, there are no issues at all. Look I know Pakistanis in real life, I never have any reservations when talking to them. I had some unpleasant interactions on this forum that is why I am being more cautious in approaching religious threads. As a general rule, I tend to avoid religion-related conversations as they lead to volatile reactions.

As for your inquiry, in India, there are no restrictions on who can marry whom on paper. My nani and nana had a love marriage, of course. A part of my ancestry is something I don't like to talk about...my dad is a Punjabi Hindu Khatri, and currently he doesn't live with my mother although they too had a love marriage. He did have a role in my upbringing. I'm still on good terms with him. However, some of my father-side relatives want nothing to do with me. I am never invited to their family functions...if you know what I mean.

My mother was what you'd describe as a "socialite" in her youth...she had a privileged upbringing in South Mumbai, one of the poshest areas of India. She was non-religious and that's what I inherited from her. Right now, she's kinda making her peace with God/Allah in her old age. Since I don't live in India, I am not sure what she's upto.

Generally since we had a cosmo upbringing in a cosmo city, we didn't have much discussions on religion. My father had intended me to be raised as a Hindu but after my teenage years, I stopped visiting any temples etc.

For many Indians (and South Asians), religion is a big part of their identity and social networks. However, that wasn't for me.

@Pan-Islamic-Pakistan can answer this question as it is his thread.
As for your reservations, it is a good call not to post them here. Best to talk to a legitimate scholar if you want to learn more.

As a general rule, I don't discuss any religion in this forum unless someone really presses me.

 

[Shantanu_Left]

@waz @WebMaster @Horus @Moonlight @PakSword @jaibi

Can one of you guys remove offtopic rants by Joe and Shantu in my thread?

Threadban if necessary. I would like to keep it on topic.

To the same set of mod's

@waz @WebMaster @Horus @Moonlight @PakSword @jaibi

I don't know why my replies got this OP poster triggered so much? There was no intention to derail anything. I had politely inquired whether I should continue in this thread based on my background and responded to another poster...please read my initial set of responses (only two of them).

To accuse me of off-topic rants is a very serious charge when this OP has previously crashed into many of the threads relevant to Indians with his own set of off-topic ideas.

There's nothing wrong in my responses. I come from a different culture where all forms of marriages are legal on paper (both in my birth country and adopted country). And a part of me does feel connected to Islam so I decided to respond as I have studied the Quran.

It seems the OP poster and some of his bully friends are definitely prejudiced against people like me of a mixed background. They try to curtail any civilized discussion by acting in very bad faith towards posters like me.

Whatever be the case, if your forum is going to operate in "silos", that is a person can participate in some threads, and not the others, then it doesn't reflect very well on a forum that is supposed to be about discussions - getting to know each other.

Thank you for reading. I would really like your discretion to advise the OP poster to not prevent any legit forum users from contributing constructively on this thread.

 

[Musings]

To the same set of mod's

@waz @WebMaster @Horus @Moonlight @PakSword @jaibi

I don't know why my replies got this OP poster triggered so much? There was no intention to derail anything. I had politely inquired whether I should continue in this thread based on my background and responded to another poster...please read my initial set of responses (only two of them).

To accuse me of off-topic rants is a very serious charge when this OP has previously crashed into many of the threads relevant to Indians with his own set of off-topic ideas.

There's nothing wrong in my responses. I come from a different culture where all forms of marriages are legal on paper (both in my birth country and adopted country). And a part of me does feel connected to Islam so I decided to respond as I have studied the Quran.

It seems the OP and some of his bully friends are definitely prejudiced against people like me of a mixed background. They try to curtail any civilized discussion by acting in very bad faith towards posters like me.

Whatever be the case, if your forum is going to operate in "silos", that is a person can participate in some threads, and not the others, then it doesn't reflect very well on a forum that is supposed to be on discussions - getting to know each other.

Thank you for reading. I would really like your discretion to advise the OP to not prevent any legit forum users from contributing on this thread.

Perhaps the OP wants specifically to listen learn and educate about Indian Muslims on PDF and your interjection will send it off topic. There are dozens of threads one can discuss your family heritage and history ( which I find interesting ) - but why digress on this thread?
Why can’t you respect the OP and allow the topic to develop on the chosen subject? You can see frequently how threads are destroyed by the masters of disguise so why start on the derailment of this? Let it develop and let’s learn

 

[Shantanu_Left]

Perhaps the OP wants specifically to listen learn and educate about Indian Muslims on PDF and your interjection will send it off topic. There are dozens of threads one can discuss your family heritage and history ( which I find interesting ) - but why digress on this thread?
Why can’t you respect the OP and allow the topic to develop on the chosen subject? You can see frequently how threads are destroyed by the masters of disguise so why start on the derailment of this? Let it develop and let’s learn

Please..give me a break. We all know how prejudiced he's against someone of my background (in fact, against all Indians). His reach-out for Indian Muslims is an eye-wash when we have seen his previous posts where he doesn't really consider Indian Muslims "good enough" to wage a war against the Indian State etc.

All he had to do was politely request me not to contribute further on this thread (if you noticed, I even asked him politely). Like you're doing right now...instead he decided to escalate it to all the mods' (like only one of them wouldn't have been enough- that shows his level of hatred against me )

Openly displays his latent prejudice against me because I am a non-religious person in essence. This OP poster definitely hates atheists and secular types, some of whom can be of my background. I don't know what he hates more: my background, or my non-religious state. In either case, this is a bad faith poster.

He's the one who is overreacting here. And now when this thread slips out of hand, he will try to blame me for this fracas. In fact, this is the last post I'm contributing on this thread unless the mod's want to give a go-ahead.

 

[LeGenD]

@Shantanu_Left

This is the thread for you.

 

[Shantanu_Left]

What is this, mod's? I don't need my own thread.

Anyway, yes, I do have a problem with a few Pakistani posters (2-3 of them actually) trying to trash my posts, and working in collusion to get those posts deleted. Incidentally, all of them have ZERO issues butting in my conversations, and then they accuse me of derailing the threads.

Please lock this thread...Shantanu's cafe...I didn't come to a forum to converse with myself. Thank you.

 

[LeGenD]

I gave you a favor.

Calm down and discuss your matters in here. There are members who want to know you better.

 

[LeGenD]

That is the spirit.

 

[Mad Scientist 2.0]

I guess I may be wrong but I am assuming that feeling left out hurt you the most and it is due to childhood you had you wanted to fit in but you missed the boat in both cases it is not you to blame but the family life was like that and you were a colateral in the cross fire between your parents. Just likeIlike you said in case of your mother when she was young her choice was the thing making her the way she is now. It was my assumption and I am sorry if it hurts. But you are a good person .

 

[Clearly]

Wow what an effing rude bunch.. but thanks for taking the time to reply Shantanu. I was just intrigued cos I can’t imagine a muslim to give up their practices for marriage. Not being judgmental but I was really surprised when you mentioned that your Nani married a non-muslim cos obviously she must be many decades old now so at the time she would have decided to marry a non-muslim, there must have been many obstacles in her way. I guess in India interfaith marriages are commonish between muslims and hindus, I thought only rich people like bollywood khans had this situation going on.

 

[I S I]

That is the spirit.

No, that's the Isopropyl alcohol.

 

[Imran Khan]

daru mily gi to bol

 

[PakFactor]

@Shantanu_Left

Not all are aggressive the political environment created different atmosphere. But what intrigued me about your story is the mix cultural, religious background and upbringing.

But if you can share those reservations you have about the Quran I would like to discuss them with you openly.