Ever since I remember I have had this fascination for the
Haji Ali Dargah off Worli sea face. The setting of the Shrine is perfect. It is
around a kilometer off the mainland. The sea face is a very busy Mumbai
arterial road. I remember passing through this place many times when I was a
kid. Whenever we had to go to town we would pass by Worli and I would put my
head out to see and admire the shrine.
Here is the satellite image. The little white thing out in
the sea is the shrine.
My parents were largely secular. I remember whenever we came
to Mumbai in the vacations from Dubai, we would have one scheduled visit to
Haji Ali. So as a kid I have been there quite a few times. But after we shifted
back to Mumbai for some reason it fell off our ‘to visit’ spots. I must have
hardly been there once or twice since. When I was dating Jasmine I remember
asking her if she had ever been there. She said that she had never been there
as it was a Muslim place of worship. That’s when I first thought of it as a Muslim
place. The dargah is largely Sufi which meant that its appeal would largely be
open to both faiths. But I also guess it would be a question of faith and
exposure. After having stayed in Dubai, I guess my family would be obviously
more open to the Muslim faith. But then Jasmine also stayed close to a Muslim
dominated locality. But would that have meant bringing them closer or further widening
of the divide? I don’t know. It could cut both ways. Like next to Jasmine’s
building was a Muslim dominated building. The problem would arise during Bakri Id.
This is when they would have goats in the compound a couple of days prior to
the Id and the same would be sacrificed on Id. This would happen in the open.
Most vegetarians would find this highly disgusting and unbearable. Possibly this
would further divide ‘us’ from ‘them’. The Moharram mourning with self-flagellation
is also something that is a point of misunderstanding. But if I were to put on
the opposite cap – I don’t think the Muslims would understand the 7 day fasting
that Jains do or the fact that Jains don’t eat onions and garlic and other
stuff that grows underground. In fact I guess the biggest grouse that anyone
can have of Jains is that on religious grounds they are holier than thou and in
business they just are complete blood suckers.
But this is not a blog about disparity. This is about
plurality and the open embrace of Sufism. So when a friend from UK came to Mumbai
and requested to see the shrine I was more than happy to her around. As timeline
would have it, we only had a morning slot free. Which meant a visit to Haji Ali
at 6 am. You can only go there during low tide as high tide submerges the half
km entry path. 6 am is also a good thing as it meant availability of parking. In
that area there is absolutely no parking available. I wonder where the pilgrims
park their car during normal hours. I would guess the availability of parking
would tempt many more pilgrims that what the shrine currently gets.
6 am also meant that the path was relatively free of all the
beggars that normally dot the sides. No crowd to jostle with and a peacefull
prayer time for my friend. When I walked to the shrine and when I walked in, I was
somehow feeling a bit ‘nothing’. I don’t know. A bit let down in some sorts. Let
down that I felt nearly nothing. I was expecting to feel nostalgic at the least,
or even possibly feel a vibe or some thing. I was left unimaginably cold to the
whole thing. Watching the Mumbai skyline also had no effect on me. Possibly the
tide was way too low. A higher tide would have made for a dramatic scene with
the waves lashing. But hell it was a really cold trip. Walk in walk out.
Dam me and my realism on god values. I see it nothing but an
interesting monument. As of now at least I have nothing to ask from him or him
to ask from god on my behalf. I think every time that this robs me of the magic
that a more religious person might have felt. And this stuff is what I teach Jispa.
That a temple is just a monument. God can solve your issues. You don’t need to
pray to God for anything. So forget me and Jasmine, even Jispa won’t feel that
magic. I felt that faith as a child growing up. It was there till about I was
21. Even after that I went through the motions till I stopped on day on the banks
of the Ganga. Now it’s a cold nothingness. I am not really complaining but I wonder
if that is an important part of life skills that I have not passed on. I wonder.
