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culture
miss it. This is a place which takes you to “I find peace and solace here. I go back
another planet.” with peace every time, I visit Nizamud-
In between the chitter-chatter of the din. It is like every Thursday outing for
crowd, while listening to the Qawwali, me,” shared Nikita Jain, another devotee
I usually get lost in the whirlpool of my at Nizamuddin.
inner thoughts and then suddenly a clar- Neha Dutt, an Indian-origin resides
ity of ideas surprises me. This, to me, is out of India shared her account of listen-
one of the biggest appeals of the place. ing to the Sufi music at Dargah . She said,
Some have told me that they have lost “I never miss Nizamuddin whenever I
and found themselves here adoring Ni- The Nizami brothers, come to India. It is my all-time favourite
zamuddin Aulia. place. The kind of acceptance I get here is
By late evening, people start leav- descendants of out of the world.”
ing and the Dargah compound gets al- Nizamuddin Auliya Nizamuddin is a place which accepts
most empty. The doors of the Sufi saint’s you with all your flaws and evils. People
grave-chamber for the night are closed. and whose family has stand in a queue to get a glimpse of the
This is the time when the qawwals, stand been singing at the shrine of the Sufi saint. The crowd waits
up and gather in the middle of the court- for hours for the qawwals to create the
yard to offer a Persian prayer to the Sufi shrine for more than sama (Sufi atmosphere).
saint, which is said to be written by Haz- 700 years, bring a The few hours you’ll spend listening
rat Nizamuddin himself. Though I don’t to the Thursday night Qawwali will take
understand all of it but it brings peace of sense of authenticity you to a journey of self-exploration. The
mind every time. Once asked the mean- splendid musical hours will be like ages
ing, someone told me that the prayer and genuineness to and seconds-- all at one time.
implores blessing to the next morning’s their commitment
breeze. letters@tehelka.com
