SHORT TAKES
Reviewed by Randeep Wadehra

Pilgrimage to Paradise: Sufi Tales from Rumi 
By Kamla K. Kapur.
Penguin.
Pages: xvi+158. Rs. 200

RUMI (aka Jalal-ud-Din Muhammad Balkhi, 1207-1273), Persian mystic and poet, whose verse is infused with elements of sufism, a movement of Islamic mysticism, was born in Balkh, in what is now Afghanistan. Later on, thanks to Mongol invasions, his family was compelled to migrate to Turkey and settle down in the Sultanate of Rum. In 1247, Rumi’s friend and religious guide Shams-al-Din, a Sufi darvesh, disappeared without explanation; he was suspected to have been murdered by Rumi’s son. Over the years, Rumi composed nearly 30,000 verses of pain at this loss. Rumi’s epic poem Masnavi-e-Manavi (and not Mathnawi, as Kapur erroneously mentions, for Mathnawi means "one who claims to have proof/evidence," while Masnavi is a long poem with thematic unity) had an enormous influence on Islamic literature and thought. Rumi’s followers organised a Sufi sect called Mawlaviyah, also known as the whirling darveshes.

Tawhid – as has been the norm with Sufi poets and mystics – forms the thematic essence of Rumi’s philosophy. Yearning for reunion with his beloved, from whom he has been cut off, remains the leitmotif of his compositions. This compelling page-turner – which is a rich tapestry of fables, scenes from everyday life, Koran based exegesis and metaphysics – provides us with the quintessential Rumi worldview.

Muslim Sportspersons of India
By Kishin R. Wadhwaney
Siddharth.
Pages: 207. Rs. 500

Muslim sportspersons have been doing India proud both before and after Independence. Their contributions, to individual as well as team events, have been remarkable. In this region, Gama pehlwan (aka Mian Ghulam Mohammad) has become a metaphor for a wrestling champ. If Sania Mirza has caught the nation’s imagination by her exploits in the tennis court today, one cannot forget Zeeshan Ali – the tennis star of yesteryear. In hockey and cricket, of course, Muslim stars are a legion. But their achievements in other sports events too have been significant. The Arjuna Award winning boxer Mohammad Ali Qamar did India proud with his exploits in the 2002 Commonwealth Games. There have been others like the basketball player Abbas Moontasir, the footballer Syed Abdul Rahim, the golfer Ali Sher, rowers Ismail Baig and Kasam Khan, table tennis star Mir Kasim Ali and several others in various disciplines.

Wadhwaney has devoted a separate chapter to India’s Muslim sports journalists. His painstakingly collected information pertaining to various Muslim sportspersons, and their brief biographies, should be of immense value to sports lovers and researchers.

They Dare to Enjoy
By Air Marshal AV Vaidya
Knowledge World.
Pages vii+85. Price 295.

Smart uniforms, macho lifestyle and the thrill of zooming across the skies just about sums up the picture conjured up by the term ‘Air Force’ – the youngest arm of our military superstructure. Yet to celebrate its first centenary, Air Force has acquired sophistication that matches the best of hi-tech entities in the corporate world. But, for most in the Indian civil society, this military arm is basically a nebulous entity. For many, the knowledge is limited to watching jets streaking and spraying the three colours on January 26 every year.

This slim volume, with a storyline and a child protagonist, tries to make the common reader’s perception clearer. While it thrills with the account of IAF’s Sri Lanka-bound secret mission, the volume briefly outlines the Air Force’s journey from balloons to supersonic combat aircraft – informing us how it came into existence; how it was initially used for intelligence gathering; how it graduated to the role of providing tactical support to massive military campaigns during the World War; and, finally, how it has become an effective strategic player in its own right today.

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