Dilli Dur Ast

Shoaib, it was a good read. You have good observation power. It was well written and droll too.

I went to the dargah last year after a long time and found that it has been defiled by the dirty and najis. They have turned that place into a butcher land with horrible smell of rotting flesh and stench which no amount of itr from shops could hide.

given a chance I would relocate the ghetto that has cropped wildly away from the dargah.

Even the dargah is so badly maintained and found it to be very depressing - there was no elevating thought and this shows that the place has been defiled by najis and impure people.

@Laddu

Forgive my ignorance, but what are 'najis'?

Yes, the surrounding place is dirty, no doubt, but I found the dargah fairly well maintained. This is, of course, my first visit to this dargah so maybe it was a lot better maintained earlier.

Kedar,

Thanks, man.

Re: # 3

In Islamic law, najis (Arabic: نجس‎) are things or persons regarded as ritually unclean. According to Shi'a Islam, there are two kinds of najis: the essential najis which can not be cleaned and the unessential najis which become najis while in contact with another najis.

Contact with najis things brings a Muslim into a state of ritual impurity (najasat), which requires undergoing purification before performing religious duties, such as regular prayers.

Thanks for that laddu (and wikipedia :P).

And what is exactly that was najis there?

Dead animals? if killed in the correct way, dead animals aren't najis, unless they are pigs and stuff.

good read with nice fluency but it is very short for a travelogue and ends abruptly.

shoaib:

If someone is less religious and more spiritual, he would probably enjoy Thursday qawaalis there more. Also, there is Ghalib's tomb in the same 'campus'. And Karim's too.

Re: # 6

Rotting flesh is impure on every account - even if the animal is killed the halal way.

Then dirtiness that prevails over the place and the stench from numerous chai walas and kabab shops certainly contributes to the dirtiness of that place.

Then the dirtiness of people with filthy minds who are all the time looking to make a quick buck out of miseries of poor and helpless people who come to the mazar to get rid of their miseries and woes.

That is the real impurity - the people inhabiting and controlling the land around the dargah are the real najis who do not care about any thing but their own greed..

Thanks, Dr. Lokraj

Abotu the lenght, I didn't mean for it to be a travelogue, really.

I first posted this on a blog :

Dost,

Yes, I missed out on that, but I do intend to go and watch it.

But for that I'll have to wait for a holiday on a Thursday!

And your right about Ghalib's tomb being there. In fact I've put up a pic of it ona blog :

thetimesofbullshit[.]blogspot[.]com (remove brackets to get the url)

And I dont think Karim's is on the same campus. Karim's is very close to the Jama Masjid.

Laddu,

Firstly I'd disagree with you about the kabab shops. That'd take away from the charm of the place.

Abotu the second point, I being new to Delhi, wouldn't know too much abotu it, but are you talking abotu the trustees of the dargah?

Shoaib,

There is a Karim in Nizamuddin too. The original of course is in Jama Masjid area. Apparently, the Nizamuddin Karim's is not particularly great so I am told.

Regards

Re: # 12

Shoaib bhai,

I lived in Janpura adjacent to Nizammudin for a long period of time and it used to be much cleaner in those days in 1970-s , but that was only after 1980-s the mullahs and Afghanis started turning it into a ghetto complete with smugglers, theives, pimps and other subversive agents.

Majumdar,

Ah, that way. Actually the gurgaon-where I live-Karims isn't that bad.

But I must say the Karims Biryani sucks, although theri burra kawab and qalia, I think, was quite brilliant.

I'd rate Shiraz, Zeeshan, Royal etc, from Calcutta as much better Biryani joints even if they haven't served the goddamn mughals!

laddu,

If that is so, it is quite terrible.

I'd say the area has seen quite an influx of Bengalis(Bangladeshis?). Bengali could be quite easily heard, maybe even more than Hindusthani!