By Asit Srivastava, IANS,
Mirzapur (Uttar Pradesh) : Spreading the message of communal harmony, a Muslim performer here is winning hearts by singing Hindu devotional songs for a living while the people hail him for bringing the two communities together.
With a scarf wrapped around his shoulders and his head covered with a skull cap, Mohammad Mushtakeem Ahmad starts his day by offering Namaaz in a Pathan suit. Once it is over, he slips into saffron clothes, sports a sandalwood `tilak’ on his forehead, and gets ready for singing praises to Hindu deities.
A devout Muslim, Ahmad has been doing this regularly for the last 15 years. He sings `bhajans’ (devotional songs) and chants verses from the Hindu scriptural book `Ramcharitmanas’ (The Acts of Lord Rama) at temples.
“After offering my morning prayers, I leave for the temples for singing bhajans. I consider myself very lucky as I get the opportunity to appease the almighty, both by devotional songs and Namaaz,” Ahmad told IANS.
“While singing bhajans and chanting shlokas (verses) I derive a unique sense of satisfaction that can’t be put into words. During that period I feel like I am communicating with the almighty. It’s an out of this world experience,” he added.
Ahmad, 34, a native of Bhatauli village in Mirzapur district, inclined towards devotional songs when he was just eight.
“I remember a team of artistes visited my village to perform bhajans. I attended that programme with some of my Hindu friends and was deeply influenced by their performance. It was because of them that for the first time I got inclined towards Hindu devotional songs,” Ahmad recalled.
“With the passage of time, my interest in devotional songs enhanced and I started attending such programmes organised at various temples in Mirzapur at regular intervals,” he added.
Ahmad’s interest in devotional songs prompted him to also contact a group of local artistes who were regular performers at the temples.
“When I was around 13 years old, I decided to contact the local artistes to give me a small role to play in their troupe. The artistes agreed and I started performing occasionally with them at the temples,” said Ahmad.
Though Ahmad’s family never objected to his move, several of his relatives were dead against his decision to join the troupe.
“With the support of my family I even started receiving training in singing from a local teacher, but this was not liked by several of my relatives, who even stopped coming to our home,” said Ahmad.
“But without bothering about the relatives, my family continued to support me, and I started giving regular performances when I was on the verge of finishing my school studies,” said Ahmad, who is a graduate.
Ahmad regularly visits the Vindhyachal and other temples here for singing bhajans in the morning. He also organises bhajan programmes here and outside.
People from Sonbhadra, Chandauli, Allahabad and Varanasi also approach Ahmad for holding devotional programmes.
“The best thing about Ahmad is that he never imposes any conditions for participating in an event. He accepts whatever money you offer him for his performances,” Girdharilal Mishra, who has been inviting Ahmad for programmes in Chandauli, told IANS.
Shanshank Sharma, a native of Mirzapur, told IANS: “We really take pride in having a man in our village who has become a symbol of communal harmony. We really need to have more people like Mushtakeem for bridging the gap between Hindus and Muslims.”
(Asit Srivastava can be contacted at [email protected])