By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: Yes. And this basti is not in a nondescript town in the backwaters of India but in the heart of the nation’s heart – the National Capital called New Delhi. Basti Hazrat Nizamuddin – the area owes its name to the Sufi saint whose shrine it has in its lap – gives you not only a feeling but also look and feel of a festival or mela everyday in the 365-day calendar.
Everyday thousands of people – who can be majorly categorized in shrine visitors and Tablighi Jamaat affiliates – visit the locality on the western side of the magnificent Humayun’s Tomb in South Delhi. The shrine of the Sufi saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia and the headquarters or Markaz of the Tablighi Jamaat attract people both from home and abroad. These two mass charmers in fact set the tone – I mean look and business activity – of the locality. Remove these two and you are in a mohalla of Patna or Rampur – single lane bending variously and giving birth to bylanes and then further narrower bylanes as you proceed on the not so pucca road with garbage in plenty here and there leading to traffic jams now and then.
Banglawali Masjid (left) and a view of Basti Hazrat Nizamuddin (TCN photo)
When you enter the main lane of the basti from the Delhi-Agra Mathura Road in your own vehicle you are confronted with some people, both men and women, in dirty clothes asking you to park the vehicle in their ‘sanctioned’ or captured area. After a few seconds on foot you will find a crowd of white clad people with skull caps in front of a large and tall building on the right. This is Banglawali Masjid – the Markaz of Tablighi Jamaat. And the people you saw have come from across the country and also foreign lands to get instructions from their Ameer to proceed on their tour – village to village, mosque to mosque to preach Islam and teach its basics to Muslims.
When you proceed further on the road leading you to the dargah (shrine) of Hazarat Nizamuddin you are welcomed rather charmed by street vendors selling flowers and chaders to be laid at the dargah. A few meters further and your chappals/shoes are almost snatched by people sitting in the bylane for the purpose. They want you to leave your footwears with them as you are moving towards a sacred place, and they will charge you for this. You can find at least a hundred people inside the dargah – visitors as well as khadims.
The visit of so many people daily to the area has led to the opening of dozens of restaurants and eateries almost filled with people all the time. Besides low cost restaurants you have a well furnished Karim’s restaurant with a sentry on the gate in attire reminding you the Mughal period.
Along side the hotels other booming business is the Internet cafes and PCOs jampacked with customers.
Crowded streets always are the heaven for beggers. This is true with this basti also where you find several dozens of them sitting on the pavement – end to end.
This is not all. The area also houses a building called Ghalib Academy – always centre of literary events – book launches, mushairas etc. Other programs are also held. Like in Ramazan Iftar parties are also organized here.
Being Ramazan the locality wears some extra colours and aroma – coming from shops selling dates and sewai.
Thanks to the dargah, Markaz and dirty bylanes you leave the basti with mixed feelings – the feeling of not coming back is overwhelming though.