Read Of The Week (March 27 to April 2)

The great poet Ghalib, part of a long tradition of eclectic liberalism, found Benaras so compelling that he wrote his longest poem on the holy city, Chiragh-e-Dair (lamp in the temple): Ibadat khaana-e-naaqoosian ast, Hama na Kaaba-e-Hindostan ast. (Devotees make searing music with conch shells; This truly is the Kaaba of Hindustan.)

Take Ghalib and his myriad followers out of the equation. Will Hindustan be left with a gaping hole or become something quite new? The Muslim Vanishes, a play by Saeed Naqvi, attempts to answer that question. Caste, the Hindu-Muslim divide, Pakistan-Kashmir-decibel levels on these subjects are too high, with each side fiercely defending their own narratives for a conversation to take place. What is the way out of this trap? Razor-sharp, gentle and funny, Saeed Naqvi falls back on a combination of grandma’s bedside stories, Aesop’s fables and Mullah Nasruddin’s feigned foibles to spring an inspired surprise on us. Can it douse the flames?

Saeed Naqvi is a well-known Indian journalist, filmmaker and author.