Yesterday, 7th November, 2026, I went to a waleema ( wedding reception ) at 8 pm at a place near Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi ( which had witnessed a students agitation recently ).
Since the venue was near the residence of my friend Syeda Hameed, I decided that before going to the waleema I would visit her for about an hour before proceeding to the waleema.
Syeda Hameed, who is 83 years old, is one of the most distinguished and cultured ladies in India. Instead of giving details of her life and achievements, which would fill several pages, I am giving her profile mentioned in wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syeda_Hameed
Since I was coming to meet her, Syedaji invited about a dozen other people also at her residence, including some students of Jamia Millia, and served us tea and some delicious snacks.
We discussed several matters including Urdu poetry ( in which Syedaji is highly proficient ), the affairs in Jamia Millia, current affairs in India and around the world, etc. I will only recount one of these matters.
I said, as a joke, that Shias are ‘khabtis’ and ‘sarphiras’ ( crazy and crackpots ). This is because when a normal person is confronted by a more powerful enemy, he chooses to surrender rather than fight, thinking that if he loses his life who will look after his wife and children ? But a Shia always thinks of what happened in Karbala, and says that he is prepared to lose his neck rather than surrender.
I said that the big mistake Donald Trump made was that when he attacked Iran in February this year he forgot that most Iranians are Shias, who preferred to die rather than surrender. How does one fight with madmen ? So the result was that instead of a quick victory and regime change in Iran, ( as happened in Venezuela ), which the Americans expected, the war dragged on for 8 months, and ultimately after the US midterm elections there was a regime change in America instead of in Iran ( Trump will no doubt remain the President for another 2 years, but he will be a lame duck President, since Democrats now have a majority in both Houses of the US Congress.
When I finished narrating this, Syedaji laughed loudly, and said ” I am also mad, as I am also a Shia ”.
P.S.
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