Lunch with the Maulana

After 7 bone rattling hours aboard a ''sleeper'' bus (not sure how one was expected to sleep in it), I reached the capital of Kutch district in Gujarat: the town of Bhuj. The first thing that strikes you is the scenery. Absolutely flat plains of shrub covered green land with mild undulations, about a 100 kms west of where I am and we would call these undulations dunes. The sand or the Rann of Kutch is not too far away. Bhuj is a town with the remnants of a battered old fort, the poignant remains of several dynasties, guarding its skyline.

My first appointment was with my local guide, a cheery 19 year old called Dinesh. We boarded a bus heading toward the neighbouring town of Anjar. However, after boarding the bus, we saw that there isn't any room for us to sit so we had to squeeze in next to the driver with my legs almost on top of the darn gear box constantly having to shift as he went up and down the gears. Of course by now I have become a past master at this feat due to recently acquired experiences so no biggie. Our destination was the centre of Jamiat Ul i Hind, a Muslim charity organisation which has a national and unless I'm mistaken, a global presence. The chief secretary of the Kutch centre is one Maulana Hakimuddin: polite, intimidating beard but extremely affable. The Maulana took me through the evolution of the charity, how from before 1947, its founders were against partition considering it to be meaningless, how they have only wanted to educate more and more Muslims that religion has nothing to do with one's nationality or with being Indian, of the work they did post the 2001 earthquake, of the work they are doing post the BJP - Narendra Modi abetted pogroms in 2002. Throughout my time so far in Gujarat, I've seen sights of utter despair...my first reaction has been ''there just isn't any hope'' but then I see what interventions are being tried and it gives me hope. This entire experience has made me believe there is hope. The Jamiat centre in Anjar spans 12 acre of land & comprises a hostel for orphaned children ( earthquake & riot affected), an English medium and Gujarati medium school, a traditional Islamic Madrassa and a soon to be functional medical college. The land for the entire facility, as the Maulana told me in his chaste Urdu "yeh poori jameen hamaare ek Hindu bhai ne di hai, bilkul muft'' - the entire land was given to us by a Hindu brother completely free. Hope.

The Maulana held forth on various topics and issues concerning the school and the development of the orphans under the care of the Jamiat. Almost 50% of the kids in this facility are orphans or ''yatin'' in Urdu. It took all my concentration to understand every single thing the Maulana was saying and even more effort to respond credibly: his chaste, sweet sounding Urdu was in stark contrast to my attempts at stringing together some pure Hindi. (damn you Mumbai)

The Maulana was kind enough to offer lunch which I ate along with him ( an honour not granted to too many Dinesh told me later). Even here the Maulana was dignity & respect itself: there was a feast ordered in for the kids and teachers comprising Biryani (what else!) but on learning that I was vegetarian, our meal was all dal, rotis and veggies and he (despite my appeals) did not eat any Biryani himself, " if you don't eat then it should not be on the table"

The school, the set up, the curriculum and the Maulana have all made me believe what I thought is just not possible until today: that a secular & competitive educational environment can be created despite the governing and education imparting authority being a religious (Islamic or Hindu...the Jesuits figured it out more than a hundred years back) body. To dispel any doubts I might have had, I was told that almost 50% of the kids in the school now are Hindu.

I also visited a vocational training school set up by the Jamiat to train young Muslim girls in the art of Kutchi hand embroidered & hand dyed dupattas, scarfs and salwars. Simply beautiful! And they also sold me one at cost price! :-) Tomorrow I visit a women's empowerment society and an environmental disaster management group. And I also board another ''sleeper'' bus back to Ahmedabad.