On why giving back is a civic muscle — and why India forgot to build it. By Mohammad Shahanshah Ansari There’s a version of civic life where the government handles everything — roads, schools, hospitals, justice — and individuals just…
By Mohammad Shahanshah Ansari I used to read on long train journeys. The landscape outside would change slowly. With nothing but time and a book, I could finish three hundred pages between stations—completely lost in a world not my own.…
By Mohammad Shahanshah Ansari Most people have quietly lived through this moment. You worked hard—or at least believed you did. You prepared, showed up, and waited. And then it didn’t work out. The result was poor. The job didn’t come…
In 2026, the educational landscape for Indian Muslims faces a critical juncture. Although national discussions frequently highlight the “demographic dividend,” a substantial segment of this potential is undermined by a persistent and systemic issue: the high dropout rate among Muslim students.
There are places you remember not because anything significant happened in them, but because of how they made you feel. A neighbourhood tea stall. A worn-out park bench under a neem tree. The old café, two lanes from your house, where the waiter never asked how long you planned to stay. These were not destinations. They were just — places. Unhurried, undemanding, open to anyone who walked in. Most of them are gone now. Or going. And we have barely noticed.
The statistics paint a bleak picture. Between 2001 and 2011, the number of Indians who listed Urdu as their mother tongue fell from 51 million to 50 million, even as the Muslim population in those areas increased. In Uttar Pradesh, which has long been a center for Urdu, only 28% of Muslims named it as their main language. The 2011 census pushed Urdu from sixth to seventh place among India’s most spoken languages, as Gujarati moved ahead. Fewer students have been enrolling in Urdu-medium schools for years. By almost every official measure, the language is shrinking.
As of March 2026, the community finds itself at a critical intersection where historical legacies of the Partition, decades of socio-economic stagnation, and...
Leadership today is often confused with authority, visibility, or power. In reality, leadership is the ability to influence positive change, uplift others, and build systems that outlive the individual.
Here are the book recommendations from Shahanshah Ansari. Books on Indian Muslims Every Indian Muslim Must read.