Zeena’s theme
A tribute to Razeena Khader by her son-in-law
Razeena Khader, fondly called Zeena, lost her life in Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday bomb blasts in April this year. On the last leg of their holiday, Zeena and her husband Abdul Khader Kukkady were staying in hotel Shangri-la in Colombo. Khader who was to travel to Tokyo for a business meeting the next day, had left early that fateful morning to Dubai, where they have a temporary residence. Zeena was to vacate the room a little later and head to Mangaluru to spend a few days with Khader’s family. Having seen off her husband to airport and finishing a brief phone conversation with her son in US, she had just entered the breakfast area at Shangri-la at 8.50 am when the powerful blast ripped apart the place taking the lives of many including Zeena, who was Sri Lanka's daughter and Mangaluru's daughter in law. Khader got the devastating news only on reaching Dubai and returned to Colombo by next flight unable to believe that his wife who had seen him off just a few hours ago, had fallen victim to the rage of insane fanaticism. Zeena was given a quiet burial the next morning in Colombo. Their son Khanfer, daughter Farah and son in law Anirudh, could reach Colombo from USA only a day after the funeral.
Zeena's theme is an inspiring story of achieving harmony between progressive living & religious faith, penned by her son-in-law Anirudh as a tribute to her.
The family in happier times.
Sri Lanka: ‘Paradise Lost’ - again
It is over four months since terror attacks returned Sri Lanka to a state of grief and fear. Hundreds of lives were taken on Easter Sunday - April 21st 2019 in Sri Lanka: lives of those congregating in places of prayer, and peaceful relaxation. Lives ended abruptly, in cruel irony on a day celebrated as a day of redemption and hope.
As religious unrest consumed this island-paradise in the aftermath, the world still searches for difficult answers, closure and for renewed hope of a peaceful future. Amidst this bitter strife, the story of a loving Sri Lankan-Indian mother lost on that day, may yet guide us all – in an endearing way. Her life was filled with examples of how her deep Islamic faith could co-exist with an affinity for progressive living enriched by global influences. Such a confluence is precious, given the communal and isolationist trends we observe today.
Razeena’s Story
Razeena Khader, was the daughter of a Sri Lankan businessman. Originally from Kerala, she spent her early childhood in Vavuniya - a town near the stronghold of the armed rebel regime in Sri Lanka - LTTE. Zeena was proximally reunited with her ethnic roots in India when she married into a large Mangalorean Beary Muslim family at the young age of 19. She immediately became a guiding-figure for most of her husband Khader's 10 siblings. She also continued to stay in touch with her several relatives in and around the nearby Keralite town of Kasaragod. Razeena was able to seamlessly fulfil the delicate task of balancing relations across families in Mangaluru, Kerala and Sri Lanka, often navigating challenges of socio-economic and cultural ideologies.
Razeena's colorful spectrum- 1958- 2019
Her Personas
Razeena was a devout Muslim. She nurtured its practice across her sprawling families ensuring the tenets of Islam were understood, observed, and therefore preserved - even as progressive trends caught wind drawing many of the family members and their children westward. She considered faith as a way to centre oneself, to be in harmony with and in awe of one's surroundings, and to face the challenges that life sprung head-on. Highly respectful of other belief systems and cultures, Razeena would openly share her thoughts on religion in life and would elegantly allay fears when encountering phobias towards Islam. She truly believed in the positive power of religion and Islam: in spreading happiness, love and peaceful resolve.
Razeena at the same time had a comparable passion for progressive living, traditionally considered incompatible with way of life so-shaped by Islam. Her taste in music was astoundingly broad: ranging from global classical to modern day pop. Her daughter notes it was Zeena who introduced her to Britney Spears and the Spice Girls while growing up. She had a penchant for picking up and playing tunes on a piano she had only heard in passing. She enjoyed shopping and never turned down an opportunity to find unique collectibles in some hole-in-the-wall store, often in foreign places unfamiliar to her. The trinkets she carefully collected from the world over and placed tastefully in various homes all have unique back stories. Zeena was also extraordinarily skilled at baking and cooking, and was always eager to try out new cuisines. Zeena not only enjoyed unique street-food, but was also intimately aware of various global facets of fine-dining. She was always eager to experience new sights and sounds, in the form of musical concerts, cinema and theatre. To top it off, Razeena had an extremely playful yet witty sense of humour coupled with a refreshingly childlike joyful perspective on the comedy that life offered.
Razeena with her grand daughter
Her Reach
Razeena stood up for women against societal and religious pressures and followed through by giving the thus-empowered, social standing and protection. She was drawn to performing such considerate acts – some as far-reaching as helping an acquaintance overcome oppression and prosecution under draconian religious law in a foreign country.
Razeena lived in North Africa and middle east, with short stints in Paris. She often visited the United States - where her daughter, son, and most importantly her cherished granddaughter were living . Essentially, she was everywhere - almost omnipresent. A quick online search will reveal articles showing that Razeena’s passing was grieved across regions and ethnicities - reaffirming her truly global persona. In some published briefs she was an Indian-expat in Dubai, in others an Indian originally from Kerala, or from Mangaluru, and of course in many she was cherished as a Sri Lankan citizen laid to rest in her homeland.
The painful irony is that Razeena spent many years in Sri Lanka, of which some were during a gruelling civil war. She experienced fear and terror, when her father was kidnapped and held hostage by the LTTE for over a month in Sri Lankan jungles. She returned to her beautiful homeland after many years and enjoyed a relaxing vacation here in her last days. She was passionately attached to Sri Lanka - she spoke of its resurgence as a top holiday destination, pressing all she knew to experience it with her. Poignantly, the last tune she played impulsively on a piano while holidaying in Sri Lanka, was in fact the Sri Lankan National Anthem. Razeena would have been devastated by the horror her beloved Sri Lanka experienced that day - acts of terror and murder hijacked in the name of a faith she truly believed in, and the hateful unrest that ensued soon after among a diverse people she loved dearly.
Playing the Sri Lankan National Anthem; Kandy, 16 Apr 2019
Her Legacy - "Zeena's Theme"
Today, some of us fight to preserve (or attack) ‘a religion’, others fight against the ‘concept of religion’ asserting it to be archaic, while a few more strut around promoting misguided jingoism and xenophobia. Amidst this chaos, we may want to pause and consider a middle-ground, characterized by peaceful coexistence among faiths, progressive views, and a spirit of amiable cross-cultural exchange; a theme that is not only reminiscent of Razeena’s love and respect for all things sacred, but also equally representative of her passion for vibrant living and open learning - a theme perhaps aptly coined as "Zeena's Theme".
I conclude this writing with unwavering confidence in the potency of Zeena's Theme, because I have personally witnessed it, and have been a direct beneficiary of her warm spirit. I assert the above sentiment as Razeena's grieving son-in-law, who came from a culture vastly different than hers, and yet whom she so lovingly welcomed into her life. Rest in peace Zeena Mom, assured that your loved ones will revere your legacy and bask in your continuing omniscient presence. Also draw hope that your theme of “loving, believing and living all-at-once” is imbibed and followed by many who knew you and by those who will come to know of you - bringing all of us, including your dear Sri Lanka, back from the precipice.
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Man arrested with Rs 2.54-crore heroin in Mumbai
Mumbai (PTI): Police have arrested a man and seized over 500 grams of heroin worth Rs 2.54 crore in the illicit market from him in Mumbai, officials said on Friday.
The police's Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) made the drug seizure in Santacruz in the western suburbs. The operation was conducted by the Kandivali unit of the ANC on Thursday as part of a special crackdown against drug trafficking in the area, they said.
Acting on specific inputs, an ANC team conducted a raid in Santacruz (East) and intercepted a man. During a search, the team recovered 508 grams of high-grade heroin from his possession, an official said.
The seized contraband, a highly addictive, opioid drug derived from morphine, is estimated to be worth Rs 2.54 crore in the international market, he informed.
Following the seizure, a case was registered against the man under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and he was formally placed under arrest in the early hours of Friday.
The police are currently investigating the source of the drug and trying to identify the intended recipients of the consignment, he said.
