A visit to Haji Ali Mosque in Mumbai!!

After a hectic trip to Surat ABG shipyard, which was good in the sense that it gave us a slightly comforting feeling about ’slow shipbuilding industry’. The efficiency, optimization and the pace which we observed impressed all of us.

‘These guys mean business’- quoted soft-spoken Vyom Sharma who is my senior from IIT Madras and has been in the Industry for last 5 years and so.

Anyways my lethal affinity towards catching cough and cold in slighlty changing altitude and climate din’t let me enjoy my first trip in much fancied Shatabdi Express of my childhood.

So I was talking about our trip to Haji Ali. It will be quite safe to say that it wasn’t any secular drive or religious sentiments which led us to visit the holy shrine, rather was an inner urge to  give some momentum to our otherwise dull life so far in the office and in the lodge. I wasn’t much convinced about going out in sunlight in my terrible state of cough and cold, nor was Vineet , but still I decided otherwise. So first we had to go through the plain trauma of Mumbai Local which we are not used to yet. When the Mahalaxmi station neared and the train was still in motion at the station, one rough looking guy in his mid 40’s, pushed me. I looked back at him annoyed and complained about pushing. It wasn’t a normally crowded train and there was enough time for everyone to get down easily. But when I complained, he denied of pushing me and one sharp voice came from other side -” Ab local me dhakka nahi khayega to kaha khayega?” ” If you don’t experience in Mumbai local, where would you?”

My Haryanvi blood seemed to hotten-up but my Rajasthani wisdom decided in favour of peaceful solution of avoiding the comment.

We arranged a taxi which stopped just in front of the holy shrine which against my expectations, was a rather smaller place. Before it slips out of my mind, my praise for Mumbai Taxiwalas. 17 rupees in taxi, In chennai anything below 100 bucks in taxi was out of equation no matter what!

Shrine was a cliff extending in the sea to a fancy distance and led to a  mosque in the middle of the sea. What always amazed me at these religious place was their natural beauty and tranquility of the place. May be the ‘wise of religions’ were really wise enough to sense that religious sentiments and faith won’t be sufficient enough to bind people, natural tranquility and beauty will, where they can really realize peace and divinity which is natural to such places, be an added and necessary requirements. Haji Ali Shrine was no exception, with beautiful sea and soothing breeze always making it a nice experience for followers no matter what community they belong to?

The number of Hindu visitors in the shrine again reminded me of the ages old secular mindset of Hindus which is being tarnished by some extremist group who considers themselves the contractor of Hindu religion. I really doubt if they know Hinduism at all which they clain to patronize. For ages hindus have accepted the inflow of dozens of different clans, communities, faith and nationality with unprtecedented harmony. The much complanied ‘lack of aggression or lack of patriotism can be attributed to this secular Hinduism which could never agitate itself in history on the question of racial divide or communal differences. Whoever is willing to mingle in this great culture was bossomed. If only we could revisit our history, Hindu ideologies, we can find a convincing record of great Hindu religious tolerance since ever. Do we need one more Vivekanand in the times of VHP and Shiv Senas to remind so called Hindu patrons about our great heritage which has prospered like no other culture did, purely attributed to our varied culture and faiths and our willingness to accept anyone who wants to live with harmony. While my mind was dwelling on the lines of Hinduistic tolerance, it also supplied me thoughts about Muslim religious tolerance as well and no matter how secular I might be, it still makes me sad that I dont find such culture and heritage of religious tolerance in our Muslim fraternity. I am not accusing of them anything but only if I could find one example (what surprises me even more, even politics dont seem to give me a single example of this) of a Muslim visiting Hindu shrines ever. I never depended on my much biasssed father’s thoughts about socio-politics but this one arguement of him make me think a lot. Not a single example I ever witnessed. Is someone listening and site me an example. I will be lot relaxed to hear one incident. The other day when we were sitting in our favourite restaurent which is run by a Muslim family, we encountered similar weird experience of intolerance. Avik put down his tumbler on the plate and one stern voice from behind( which definitely lacked any trace of moisture and humbility which you would ,otherwise , so commonly experience in hospitality industry) strongly advised him otherwise. Sissy Avik immediately complied with a meek apology.

I can never justify any communal violence or racial abuse based on any logic whatsoever being a ‘Gandhivadi’ myself but only if we could educate our people more about religious tolerance, we can go distances in curbing the poisoning of communities by their leaders which subsequently lead to violence which our history is so rich to site examples of. This country needs another Gandhi.

Vaishnav Jan to tene kahiye je peer parayi jane re.