Smart, sassy and funny, 'The Moslems are Coming', is a well written book which emerged from Essa's award-winning blog on Thought Leader. An insightful take on global politics, he tackles race and religion, bigotry from anti-Semitism to opposition to blacks, gives a fresh perspective on the Israel-Palestine conflict and casts new light on old stereotypes. He also presents the existing views about a particular issue which is talked about in the chapter, in the postscript. The title itself gives an idea as to what's to come inside. His voice is engaging both questioning and is a delight to read.
An accidental academic and an incidental journalist, he belongs to a generation with none of the old identities or fractured loyalties and tackles stereotypes with elan. The anecdotes from his own life from encountering racism in Turkey to his visit to JNU are presented in both an intuitive and hilarious manner with healthy doses of his own opinion on various matters from the book- 'Tales from one thousand and one Nights' to Indo-Pak conflicts.
I particularly enjoyed the chapter 'Muslim fashion du jour' ,a satirical piece, which talks about abolishing the burqa in France and Belgium"the biggest movement since the French Revolution" according to fashion insiders. It contains comical quotes which indirectly ridicule the hype behind the ban of burqa from ending political aspirations to astronomical changes in the job market to promoting the idea of being a sex symbol. Essa's words are profound especially when it comes to
03:39 PM, May 09, 2012
