the patron of the poor-khwaja moinuddin chisthi

"khwaja mere khwaja,dil me samaja........when i heard this sufi number in 'jodha akbar' i went into a trance. and it continues to haunt me.what beautiful words and how brilliantly converted into a song by the great music director a.r.rehman.the picturisation of this number was unforgettable.and no wonder that rithik roshan got up and joined the singers and went into the turkish whirl.

"i am neither christian nor jew,neither persian nor muslim.i am neither the east nor west,neither from land nor from water." " i am concealed,secret,sometimes,sometimes i appear,and become obvious.sometimes i am a muslim,sometimes i am in the faith of moses,sometimes i am christian.in order to be a model to everyone,i manifest differently in every time."-jallaluddin rumi,the sufi poet and mystic.

sufism has been of great interest to me of late. i have read a few books on its main ideas and about jalaluddin rumi the founder of this cult.currently i am reading a book on rumi by will johnson.i even attended a a sufi evening last year during the kalaghoda festival.as i was particularly interested in the song set to music in jodha akbar. a.r.rehman is a devotee of gharib nawaz chisthi,a sufi saint. no wonder that he has composed such a beautiful song.

gharib nawaz khwaja moinuddin chishti was born in seistan, iran in 1138 in a well-respected syed family. his family was well-off and he led his childhood in comfort. however, when first his father and then his mother died in his teens, his economic condition deteriorated. for a while he subsisted on the income from the orchard he had received as inheritance. he was initiated at the age of 18 and for the next 22 years served merely as the water-boy for his convent. during that period, he was not allowed to attend the exclusive circle of his murshid. eventually when he reached the age of 40, one day khwaja uthman harooni called for him to his court, showed him his two fingers, and asked him what he was seeing in between those two fingers. gharib nawaz khwaja moinuddin chishti replied, “I am watching 18 thousand Galaxies.”

after performing Hajj, he visited the masjid-ul-nabawi (holy tomb of the prophet) in Medina. there he meditated at the tomb for several days. during meditation, he met the prophet muhammad, who commanded him in these words:
"o, moinuddin! thou art the helper of the faith. we hath granted thee the land of india. go there and stay, at ajmer. thy stay shall remove the faithlessness and glorify the truth."

from the land of paganism i.e. ajmer, khwaja moinuddin started the spiritual movement of the propagation of the truth. his efforts bore fruit and within a short period of sixteen years, ajmer was traansformed. It became the nerve center of moral and spiritual leadership in India,paved the way for a grand religious and social revolution, and provided opportunity to countless people to lead a life of equality and honor.

he was kind and forgiving. once a man came to him with the intention of murder. he read his intention spiritually, and treated him very kindly, and asked him, to do what he had intended. the man was ashamed and requested to be punished. khwaja moinudin replied, “the mendicant's habit is, whoever does evil to them, they treat him well." he forgave the man who later became his follower.

in spite of his renunciation of worldly things, his monastery was famous for his generosity and magnanimity. an enormous amount of food was cooked in his kitchen. no one ever went hungry from his gate. he is also known as Gharib Nawaz (patron of the poor). a large kitchen even today serves the hungry and the poor of all faiths from the campus of his monastery. his tomb is one of the holiest places in India where pilgrims, Muslims as well as Hindus come from every corner of South Asia to pay their homage. unfortunately,the terrorists did not even spare this holy place.

one night gharib nawaz khwaja moinuddin chishti went into his chamber after prayers and closed the door. he did not allow anyone to enter. all night long, the people outside heard a mystical sound coming from inside. at the crack of dawn, the sound stopped. sensing that there was something wrong because the door remained closed at the time of morning prayers, his devotees opened the door and found him dead. the year was 1229 A.D.

i am reproducing a translation of the song 'khwaja khwaja' which i found in the web for the benefit of those who may be interested. i thank the author profusely for the excellent translation.

"Khwaja ji.. Khwaja
-[Khwaja, O Khwaja]
Khwaja ji.. Khwajaji
-[Khwaja, O Khwaja]

Ya Ghareeb-un-Nawaaz
-[O supporter of the poor]
Ya Ghareeb-un-Nawaaz
-[O supporter of the poor]
Ya Ghareeb-un-Nawaaz
-[O supporter of the poor]

Ya Moin-ud-deen
-[O helper/assistant of the Faith]
Ya Moin-ud-deen
-[O helper/assistant of the Faith]

Ya Khwajaji, ya Khwajaji
-[O Khwaja, O Khwaja]
Ya Khwajaji, ya Khwajaji
-[O Khwaja, O Khwaja]

Khawaja mere Khawaja, Dil me samaja
-[Khawaja, O Khawaja, come reside in my heart.]
Shahoun ka shah tu, Ali ka dulaara
-[You are the king of the kings, you are the beloved of Ali( R.A).]

Khawaja mere Khawaja, Dil me samajaa
-[Khawaja, 0 Khawaja, come reside in my heart.]
Shahoun ka shah tu, Ali ka dulaara
-[You are the king of the kings, your are the beloved of Ali(R.A ).]

Khawaja mere Khawaja, Dil me samajaa
-[Khawaja, O Khawaja, come reside in my heart.]
Khawaja mere Khawaja, Dil me samajaa
-[Khawaja, O Khawaja, come reside in my heart.]


Bekassoun ki taqhdeer, Tune hai sawaari
-[The fate of helpless/needy/poor, you have changed]
Bekassoun ki taqhdeer, Tune hai sawaari
-[The fate of helpless/needy/poor, you have changed]

Khwaja, mere Khwaja
-[Kwaja O my Kwhaja]


Tere darbaar mein Khawaja, Noor to hai dekha
-[In your court Khwaja, we have seen the spiritual light(aura)]
Tere darbaar mein Khawaja, Sarr jhukate hain auliyaa
-[In your court Kwaja, you are held high by all other Valiees(Saitns/Mystics)]

Tu hai Mutawwalli Khawaja, rutbaa hai pyaara
-[You are the Caretaker Khwaja, you have a beautiful title]

Chahane se tujhko Khwajaji, Mustafa(PBUH) ko paaya
-[If we love you(also), we may get the love of Mustafa(prophet Muhammed PBUH)]


Khawaja mere Khawaja, Dil me samajaa
-[Khawaja, 0 Khawaja, come reside in my heart.]
Shahoun ka shah tu, Ali ka dulaara
-[You are the king of the kings, the beloved of Ali(R.A).]


Mere peer ka sadkha, Mere peer ka sadkha
-[Thanks to my Peer(saint/priest), Thanks to my Peer(saint)]

Hai mere peer ka sadhka, Tera daaman hai thaama
-[Thanks to my Peer(saint/priest), through whom, I have come to know about you]

Kwajaji..
-[O Khwaja]

Talli har balaa hamari, chaaya hai qhumaar tera
-[All our worries/bad omens are gone, we are under your euphoria]

Jitna bhi rashque karein beshaq, to kamm hai aye mere Khwaja
-[No matter how much we envy you, it will be little]

Tere khadmoun ko mere rahnumaa, nahin choddna gawaara
-[It doesn't feel right to leave your side, you are our guide]

Khawaja mere Khawaja, Dil me samaja
-[Khawaja, O my Khawaja, come reside in my heart.]
Shahoun ka shah tu, Ali ka dulaara
-[You are the king of the kings, the beloved of Ali(R.A).]

Khawaja mere Khawaja, Dil me samaja
-[Khawaja, O my Khawaja, come reside in my heart.]
Shahoun ka shah tu, Ali ka dulaara
-[You are the king of the kings, the beloved of Ali(R.A).]

Khawaja mere Khawaja, Dil me samaja
-[Khawaja, O my Khawaja, come reside in my heart.]
Khawaja mere Khawaja, Dil me samaja
-[Khawaja, O my Khawaja, come reside in my heart.]

Bekassoun ki taqhdeer, Tune hai sawaari
-[The fate of helpless/needy/poor, you have changed]
Bekassoun ki taqhdeer, Tune hai sawaari
-[The fate of helpless/needy/poor, you have changed]

Khawaja mere Khawaja, Dil me samaja
-[Khawaja, O my Khawaja, come reside in my heart.]
Shahoun ka shah tu, Ali ka dulaara
-[You are the king of the kings, the beloved of Ali( R.A).]"

the tribal warli art

warli is an ancient east indian tribe.they settled in the western region of india somwhere in the tenth century ad.they were discovered in the early seventies.warla means a piece of land.warli is a maharashtrian folk painting .this small tribe execute their paintings in mud walls of their homes with a red plastered background.their paintings are done on these walls with powdered rice paste. this tribal fork art of maharashtra has been recognised for its originality,simplicity and exquisiteness internationally.tribal routine dalily life is depicted in many of their paintings.by studying these paintings one can make out the life that these tribals led.

the paintngs show their day to day life ,their customs and beliefs.some of the subjects of paintings are:-travelling in bullock carts,applying cowdung on floors and walls,string of mango leaves on the top of their entrance door,musicians at a wedding party,drawing water from wells,carrying stacks of water containers on the head,temple marriages,forms of humans and animals,hunting,harvesting etc. surprisingly there are no gods and goddesses in their paintings.they also paint on paper.

india has rich diversity in its culture.the handicrafts produced in our country are very special and follow historical traditions and artistry.the warli painting stands out as an outstanding example of the efforts of the tribals to exhibit their simple life,thoughts and ideas through the medium of painting.

some four years back i met a warli artiste accidentally in an exhibition.after i had chatted for a while he suggested that he would come over to my house and do some paintings.it was a two day job.he prepared a red background on the front walls of our balconies and did some exellent paintings which are as good as recently done even today. these are open balconies subject to sun and rain.i am happy to have a piece of indian tribal art on my balcony walls which i see every day and admire the painting skills of the warli tribal folks.

"jaane tu, ya jaane na"

it is the latest candy-floss romance to hit the screens in the mutiplexes where the youth converge in hordes. aamir khan,the producer,has struck gold.he has hit the bull's eye. written and directed ably by 30 year old abbas tyrewala,the movie is all about love,friendship,jealousy etc. emotions strongly prevalent in the youth. and as a spinoff it appeals to senior citizens as well who go down memory lane when they watch such films.

the faces are fresh and appealing. the young lovers jai( imraan khan) and aditi( the south indian genelia d'souza) are very close to each other but do not realise that they actually are in love. or is it that they are in a state of denial about their love for each other? the bonhomie and camaderie among their tightknit group of friends is phenomenal. rotlu,jiggy,bombs and shaleen tell mala about the love story of jai and aditi when they are waiting at the airport for the lovers who are returning from the us.it is a flashback. the two rajput cowboys who turn out to be jai's cousins are hilarious. paresh rawal as inspector waghmare does a good job. music by a.r.rahman is scintillating and choreography excellent.

son of amar singh rathore(naseeruddin shah), a proud rajput, jai is his father's exact opposite and a great embarrasment to his late father. jai is a mild,soft-hearted ,non-violent personality.something unheard of among rajputs.the dead amar singh now and again peeps out of his portrait and chides his mother(ratna pathak) about jai."he can be called a man only if he rides a horse,has a physical duel with someone and goes to jail".three important conditions for being a rajput. naseeruddin performs his role admirably.jai and aditi decide on their lives' course by trying to seek new lovers. when jai starts dating meghna (manjari phadnis), aditi gets very very jealous. she gets engaged to sushant (ayaz khan).he is the exact opposite of jai. aggressive,possessive and capable of physical challenges.qualities which aditi admires. but it is now jai's turn to turn green. he hits sushant when he kisses aditi on her lips.jai is jailed and teased and taunted by inspector waghmare who has a running battle with jai's activist mother.the rajput cousins come to jai's rescue.the experiment initiated by jai and aditi totally fails and jai and aditi realise how madly they are really in love with each other.it is a happy ending with jai galloping on horseback to the airport to stop aditi from leaving the country. amar singh rathore emerges from the portrait beaming, proud os his son who has fulfilled all the three essential requirements for being called a rajput!

the youngsters are watching the movie again and again."how many times have you seen 'jaane tu?",' is the oft repeated question in the age group thirteen to twenty. and this is spreading like an infection. the youth are coming back with their buddies,their social networking friends and even their parents! imran,the fresh face,has become an overnight star.genelia too.

everyone is enjoying it. so what if pappu can't dance,saala!

kolkatans are large hearted

kolkatans are a kind and caring lot. if any proof is required, diki sherpa from sikkim will testify. she suffers from renal failure since 2000. both her kidneys have now stopped functioning. daughter of a lama, she has no money for her medical bills. but the rich & famous and the poor are all chipping in.

about rs 4 lakhs is required for her surgery.already about half of this has been raised.industrialists sanjiv goenka,sanjay budhia.harsh neotia and football icon baichung bhutia have all contributed. even those who cannot afford have generously donated. like raju sardar,a banana vendor and sanjay duley,22, a rickshaw puller from chandernagore with rs 1000 each,which is more than their ten days' earnings with the words "may god bless diki". various hospitals have given diki sherpa discounts on medical tests and dialysis.rabindranath tagore institute of cardiac sciences has offered to defray the medical expenses before and after surgery.

the latest news is that diki was operated for kidney transplant on july 30.it was a marathon five hours operation which ended successfully.it would take 72 hours for diki to regain consciousness,the surgeons said.

well done kolkatans. keep it up.