From shadows to the stars

I have recently been enjoying some Qawwali music. Naturally, I started out by listening to ghazals of the most famous Qawwali, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. I was watching the video of a Nusrat concert and was shocked to see that some of the members in the audience approached the stage and flung currency notes on to the stage. For me, throwing currency notes has always been associated with something that you do to 'item girls' and strippers (knowledge attained not through personal experience, but from Tollywood and Hollywood respectively). I thought, "Does Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan feel like a stripper when someone flings notes of currency at him? Or does a stripper feel like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan?" Would a stripper even be aware of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan? (Not because I think strippers are stupid, but because it is likely that a stripper and Nusrat belong to different regions and cultures. Not a lot of Pakistani strippers around, I suspect).

Predictably, clamour about religion and other irrelevant nonsense has increased since the BJP led government has come into power. All the right wing Hindu groups and Hindutva elements are wagging their tails, drooling at the prospect of making India a Hindu nation. Talk about 'reinstating' Ram Rajya (Rule of Rama) has also been tossed around, leading me to think what was so wonderful about Ram, mythological figure though he is, and his rule. The reign of Ram is alleged to be fair and Ram himself is claimed to have the interests of the people at heart. Let us examine these claims by using two incidents. 1) The humiliation and exile of Sita Sita, Ram's wife, was abducted by a 'demon King', who held her captive for 11 months or something like that. Rama defeats the demon king Ravana and brings Sita back to his kingdom. Apparently, a washerman suspects the 'chastity' of Sita, which is overheard by Ram or word of which reaches him. Ram, having