Haji Ali

"Allah hu akbar Allahhh...."


Mmmmm.... One can never appreciate an Azzan [the Muslim religious prayer] till one has heard it. And today I woke up to it. I am staying in an Islamic majority area near Worli, in Mumbai. I had noticed a few masjids around from the roof. So now I guess I will have these wake up calls everytime I oversleep. To jerk me up and tell me to do my duties...

But I was still lazy. Stayed back in bed till lunch! My mind was confused as to what to think about. Choices are very tough for me to handle. :D So it finally gave way and went to sleep. :) The afternoon workshop had me run here and there between disciplines ranging from electronics to aeromodelling to biology. I was again confused. I had too many choices of things to do! I just went back to my room and sat there trying to prioritise the choices for the next few evenings... Faintly I heard the melody of the evening Azzan again & I wondered why. But, I almost fell asleep again swaying to it and got delayed for my planned visit to Crawford market to get some bargains for my home etc.

I can never guess why I decided to goto Haji Ali later! But I did... Not to all those 'happenning' places around, but Haji Ali! I walked till there and had missed the sunset (I should say - thankfully). I walked down the footpath towards the Dargah which slowly curved from the East towards South... thinking about some things which were making my thoughts a jumble...

And then in the colourful Dusk I saw it! The Crescent Moon!

I stood right there... spellbound! A glowing crescent on top of a Dargah... I knew it was not a sight to be repeated for me... It was like something which had to be gupled down. and I ve been here for the last half hour now looking at it slowly set. The night has got darker now and its growing more beautiful every moment. For a 'lunatic' like me, this is the best sight possible.

I have sat down on a bench and I have sketched the scene (sketching real life only the second time in my life...!) Its lousy but something in me says I am going to do it more. The path to Haji Ali is over the water to the left, lit with yellow lights. The dargah itself is illuminated with multihued lights with a green glow to the towers. All around is just the sea lit by the reflections and above all is that Glorious Crescent.

The First instant I saw it I wanted to hold onto something/someone coz I was almost shivering with excitement. The second instant I missed not having my camera coz all my important people would be missing this. The third instant, with tears in my eyes, I knew... It was My event! Meant for Me, Deserved by Me. A reward for living maybe...

[If you do, then...] What do you expect God to Give you? This is near maximum I guess, a heavenly pleasure of senses. And eerie coincidences related to human beliefs could make anyone believe in God at such a time. So I have somehow been dragged into this highly affected state. Its so dreamy. This is Nirvana, Heaven, Jannat... I'm not sure I'm alive. & I would not regret dying tomorrow.

I still sit there watching, waiting for my leaden legs to come back... As my field of view widens, I notice...

Two people were "getting a Life" at that moment.
One was Me.
Absorbing something 'God-given'.
I could suckle off the crescent of the heavenly orb, getting all the ebbing inspiration back from the reward, getting all the nourishment for my Mind from this limit-testing sensual experience, getting immunized to the torture of the taxing, unjust, futile world...
And besides me was the child of a poor Mother at her breast.
Was she the God to him? Was He her reward?
The Moon set, the Mother left...

As I walked back, for a while, tears kept welling up with the returning tide on the sea-face.

Written on 29th April 2006.

PS: A coincidence exactly an year later made me post this. No reason for this to be hidden...

I Divide

I divide the world in 2
The goodness in Me and the bad that is You.
I decide, I judge and I do...
I divide the world in 2

I divide the world in 2
The cracked Earth and the stardust glow,
The real news and the morsels You throw.
The things that I lust, the things that You screw
and the leftovers branded by You.
I divide the world in 2

I divide the world in 2
The cries for freedom, while You strip Liberty,
and the laughs from the top raping virtuosity.
The rebel in Me and the slaves that You make.
My sacrifices and those that You fake.
The simple Me and the Hypocrite in You.
I divide the world in 2

I divide the world in 2
My own faith and Your enforced beliefs.
The tired sleep and the "Hand that relieves".
I divide the world in 2

I divide wine and water. I divide pimp and father.
I divide smoke and air. That halo is just Your burning hair.
I divide plenty and dirth. Let me show You what You are worth.      
I'll divide You from Thee... Conquer You, so there's only Me!

Rushing by me is a deluge of hot air and I stand here in the cool gust of an AC, at the division very similar to the conventional heaven and hell. I'm standing at the door of my AC 3-tier compartment of the Chennai Express. I have chosen to open it, to be aware - of my choices, of the divide between reality and convenience. The Spring moon shines bright only on the East side of the train. On the West, Venus, Sirius and Canopus, the three brightest objects in the sky, were struggling to illuminate the dark. The rails dividing the dry farms & the dry terrain upto the hills, suddenly cross a bridge. It's like flying. There's nothing ahead of my feet to feel attached to. I am on the divide of the Earth and Sky. The river below is half a kilometer across, but without a drop of water. A tinkle and a jangle tells me that someone just made an offering of coins to the river godess. The plastic, crushing, noise is of the disposed "mineral water" bottle joining more of the trash in the river-bed.

      A swank girl passes me by with her twin. She's in Black and the twin has a White top on! What better division can I have for a sign to write this?