The black and white background to Dervish's blog..is not just a random black and white picture.
It is a picture of a Jaali. Filigree work...jaalis..are commonly found in most ancient historical buildings in the Indian sub-continent..but some are more interesting than others. The interest could be of what the jaali is holding in or holding out.. or it could well be what the jaali signifies.
The word "jaali" invokes myriad images..from spiritual to the mundane. Leaving the mundane aside, and keeping the non mundane in view, Jaali generally has a spiritual connotation for some.
In the Indo Pak subcontinent...Jaali's in Dargah's are used either for holding and entreating to the saint for his mercy or for your hearts desire or for the other practical alternative for communicating to getting your heart's desire heard...tying the red dyed thread...with the vow that you will untie the thread as soon as your heart's desire has been fulfilled.
In a time long ago...the prime location of the Dhaga Dargahs used to be Hazrat Salimuddin Chishti's Dargah in Fatehpur Sikri. He who is historically attributed for having prayed for the birth of his namesake Prince Salim of Anarkali fame...no other than the Mughal Emperor Jehangir...Akbar the Great's son.
(If you visit Hazrat Salimuddin Chishti's shrine...you will also get to hear..if you haven't already...how Akbar walked on foot from Ajmer to Fatehpur Sikri to request Hazrat to pray for the heir to his throne. )
But then...Time waved its magic wand..."Sufism" became the buzz word...and as with all other things in life...quick fixes became the norm...even in the spiritual world...and Karma Cola became the flavor of the day. "Paisa phaik tamasha daikh" was the preferred way of life.
This perhaps can be attributed to the sprouting of the Dhaga culture at most shrines. They have all become Dhaga Dargahs. Perhaps the sense of communicating that one feels in the act of tying the thread outweighs the silent communication of prayer for some.
This picture though is not as interesting as a Dargah's jaali...but for Dervish is more thought provoking and elemental.
For anyone who has visited the Red Fort at Delhi the picture and the view should have been easily identifiable. It is a shot through the Jaali of the Moti Masjid at the Red Fort.
Built for worship by kings (specifically Aurangzeb) and now locked, derelict...no throng of entreating visitors here...no sense of urgent prayer...not even a single devotee...
Echoing only to the sound clicking photographers, chattering tourists peeking through its mysterious and inviting jaali...and cooing pigeons.
Note to readers: This is a blog. A personal space. Dervish's views and your views may differ. The views of Dervish and the readers may differ. This piece is not suitable for those who hold negative views about Sufism and therefore Dervish would request them not to venture further. Please don't embarrass yourself and Dervish by ungentlemanly comments.
Those who believe in the Way would know that visits to sites of sufi importance require more than simple will of the visitor.
Khawaja Ghareeb Nawaz probably tests this will more than others..what with a fourteen hour drive from Delhi to Ajmer and back...on roads which are highways by Indian standards...but factually are highways that are undergoing extensive construction work which makes the journey quite arduous.
Dervish travelled the road to Ajmer.
Technically this piece should have been about Ajmer...it should have been about Khawaja Gharib Nawaz....it should have been about the experience of the Dargah...it should have been about the spirituality of the Dargah...about the feeling of reaching a destination on the Sufi Yatra. But no. This piece is not about any of those. This piece is just about the Road to Ajmer. Why? The reasons will become clear as Dervish writes further and as the reader reads further.
Ajmer was originally planned as the second stop on the Sufi Yatra with Data Ganj Buksh being the first one...but as said at the beginning of the piece..in Sufi Yatras its not the will of the Yatri that counts..there are other factors that are beyond our control which determine where and who we visit...so as it panned out....Data Sahab was not the first stop...and the Sufi Yatra began on the road to Ajmer.
Allow me to expand on why Dervish wished to visit Data Sahab first before paying respects at Ajmer (in case it is not obvious). On his way to Ajmer, Hazrat Moinuddin Chishti visited Lahore and paid his respects at the Mazar of Shaykh Abu-al-Hasan Ali Ibn Usman al-Jullabi al-Hujwiri al-Ghaznavi..popularly known as...Data Ganj Bukhsh...at Lahore.
Literary Source the foreword to Data Sahab's book Kashf al Mahjub / English Translation...Revelation of the Mystery translated by R.A. Nicholson.
Physical source the small shrine purported to signify the place where Khawaja Gharib Nawaz had prayed to seek permission to advance further as Data Sahab had "spiritual authority over the entire the Indian sub-continent". (As Dervish has not had the privilege of visiting Data Sahab therefore the above is based on what Dervish has heard from others and the foreword in Kashf Al Mahjub).
As Dervish set out from Delhi that early morning..Dervish was taken over by a mixture of feelings...happiness...expectation...anticipation.....happiness at being finally on the road...expectation and anticipation that at the end of the road there will be a spiritual experience...
As the trip progressed....the only feeling that remained was "Rung Do Chunariya Khawaja Piya....Mori Rung Do Chunariya..."
The anticipation just took over and a seven hour journey that would have...under normal circumstances been quite a difficult one.....was quite pleasant.
Finally it seemed as if Dervish reached Ajmer.
There was some event in Ajmer that day as a result of which traffic was disrupted and the main entrance to the Dargah to was difficult to reach.
So the Road to Ajmer was longer than expected as Dervish's access to the Dargah was through the back alley's never before seen or heard.
These were the narrowest alleyways...lanes...that you can imagine...with open drains on the sides..houses and shops on the sides...people sitting on the sides of open shops...pedestrian traffic passing by...and amongst all of this..you are not going to believe this..unless you have experienced it of course....scooter rickshaws! Yes! Scooter rickshaws!
The width of these lanes could just about accommodate the scooter rickshaws but that didn't make a difference to the healthy traffic of scootys...happily plying passengers...passengers coming and going to the Dargah...and in other directions as well.
The Scooty ride was quite an experience....but not a spiritual one!
Finally after bumping along Dervish arrived at the Dargah. Passed through the x-ray machine. Reached the court yard. Filled with a milling crowd. And looked around in wonder.
(this is not the entrance)
Dervish actually just stood there wondering.....wondering as to what happened...in between the drive to Ajmer and arriving at the Dargah. Every single feeling of spirituality that Dervish had ever felt in Dervish's bones had vanished into thin air. I just stood there grasping at thin air..that place inside of Dervish where thoughts of Khawaja had lived and kept the flame alive..that had brought Dervish to Ajmer...that place was empty. There was nothing there. What happened....it was an absolute mystery.
What could it be? Surely it couldn't be the people...all Dargahs have people.
Was it the x-ray machines that sucked out the spirituality? Not possible.
Was it the number of people who were doing the chaddars? Couldn't be...cause that was their karam and their dharam not Dervish's.
Was it the fund raising efforts that Dervish experienced from the powers that be of the Dargah? Will have to rule that out as well...as Dervish is worldly enough to know that such is the way of the world.
Was it the two little boys dressed in white kurta pajama and topi who came running to beg for money within the confines of the Dargah? Shouldn't be as people ask for money everywhere nowadays and Dargah's are the prime suspect.
Was it the press of people within the inner sanctum who were more interested in touching the grave and charhoing the chaddar then saying the Fateha? Once again thats their Dharam and their Karam, Why would that affect Dervish's spirituality.
Was it the dirty pond of water? That is too petty and surely Dervish could not be affected by such things.
Could it be the wandering swines in the alleys outside the Dargah? Surely not as they were not close enough..and in any case they did not touch Dervish.
Through the press of people Dervish was led to the inner sanctum...the chaddar was lifted..in expectation of something from Dervish. Dervish head only bows for Allah and the message was relayed. Dervish requested for time alone to say Fateha and there was a strange kind of surprise on the face of the people who had arranged for the inner sanctum. (The surprise on their faces could not have matched the surprise that Dervish felt)
Sitting right outside the door to the inner sanctum..Dervish watched groups of people bring one chaddar after another after another...and felt no spirituality just a sense of sadness.
While sitting there...(and now while writing it is being relived)...the sense that Dervish got was that people came there with a wish in their heart and the hope for its fulfillment. Which is the norm for Dargahs. And not being a preacher...Dervish has no bones to pick with that. As Dervish said earlier..its each person's own Dharam and Karam.
But Dervish went there looking for Khawaja. For Dervish's Khawaja...Who lives in Dervish's heart. The Khawaja who went to Data Sahab to pray before the start of his message. The same Khawaja whose disciple is Farid Ganje Shakar. Dervish went there looking for the Khawaja whose echoes resound in Qutubuddin Kaki..in Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia...in Kalyar Piya. Not the physical presence of course..but the sense of intense spirituality that one experiences in certain places.
Although Dervish said Fateha at the Dargah of Khawaja Ghareeb Nawaz Moinuddin Chisti but Dervish was on the Road to Ajmer...and never actually reached Ajmer...that road is still going on.......
Dervish will keep you updated once Dervish reaches Ajmer.
