Mazars Part three

Tucked in among the myriad of Hindu temples on the Riverfront, are two Mazars, or Islamic holy sites where a dead holy guy is buried and people come to offer prayers and ask for this dead saint to intervene on their behalf.

There are many Mazars in town; the two on the river are small and hard to find.

Along with a friend and armed with a 150 year old Urdu text that was falling apart, we spent a couple of days trying to find some of the most historic Mazars. We eventually found both of the riverfront Mazars, though it required some patience and lots of tea drinking.

This photo is taken from one of the Mazars, located inside someone's private home. THe view from the Mazar is magnificant. THe ownership has no desire for the Mazar to become famous again, as it was in previous years. Understandably.

Mazars part two

Here is one of the most popular Mazars (currently) in Varanasi, and very close to our house. Only open on Thursdays, the grounds double as a playground where my children play sometimes. (But not on Thursdays).

Interestingly, this Mazar is well populated with Hindus (and the occasional Christian, though we won't go there at the moment) who also come to offer prayers and seek assistance in life. Inside, people sway to music, and women let down their hair and twirl in a frenzy, hair swinging out far around them.

Outside, there is a festival atmosphere, with vendors selling street food, and hawkers trying to get you to buy all kinds of gadgets.

All so that a dead saint will intervene on your behalf.

Mazars, part one

A Mazar is a place "where a dead holy guy is buried". Usually a Sufi saint, but sometimes just a regular guy about whom later people claim healings and assistance.

Usually, there is someone who is "in charge" of the Mazar: makes sure it is kept up, does repairs, advertises, and collects fees for the prayers etc that are offered.

The power of a Mazar might wax and wane over generations, some years be in great disrepair, other years be quite popular.

Here is one of the oldest in Varanasi, not the most popular, but probably 700 years old, and with a magnificant view of the river.

What do the Indian Elections mean?

India, the worlds largest democracy, just finished up a month of elections (it took a month because there were not enough armed men to police the whole thing in one day).

The results came out in the past few days.

The Party with the most seats in Parliament is now Congress, with 206 out of 543 seats.

But that is not a majority. But they have several close allies. With their allies, they have 262 out of the 543 seats, only ten seats short of a majority.

So will they find those ten seats? Yes.

India has thousands of political parties, with dozens of them represented in the National Parliament. Congress will have no problem finding a few more votes.

So what was interesting about this election?

1. The BJP (a Hindu Revivalist Religious party) did poorly. For those worried about Freedom of Religion in India, this is good news.

2. The Incombent won. In an economic downturn, when people all over the world are putting elected officials out of office, India re-elected the same government, and even gave them more votes. This is probably because Congress is one of the least corrupt parties, and really does have the interest of the people at heart.

3. The Incombent won. India has a long reputation for turning over governments. And now when the rest of the world is upset at their leaders, India gave theirs a resounding victory.

4. M. Singh, the current Prime Minister, will have a better chance for economic reform. He has some good ideas for India (which is in serious need for reform of the economy, though different reforms than what we need in the West), but he was unable to implement most of those reforms in his past term because he didn't have a mandate in the election. Now he does.

5. You don't have to be charismatic to lead. M. Singh, the current Prime Minister, who just got re-elected, is one of the most un-charismatic people you could ever meet. But he is incredibly honest and uncorruptable, and the people responded.

6. The people of India chose national secular unity over regional religious parties. For those who love peace in that vast land, this is good news.

There are straightforword reasons why they look like fortresses...

Many of the mosques in Our Fair City, especially the older ones, look more like a fortress than a mosque.

In a place where Muslims were often the unpopular minority rulers, one needed a place of refuge in time of trouble.

In the older parts of the city, I can still find bits of wall and ancient gates, leftover from the times when the Muslim parts of town were walled off.

One of My Favorite Shops in Banaras

The "Bharat Surgical and Stationery Stores" sells just that: Stationary supplies and surgical supplies. They all kindof get jumbled together. How about a nice felt tip pen with that retractor? Blood Pressure Cuffs and Colored Pencils! Pens and Scalpels, Scotch tape and Diabetic Supplies... all together on the same shelf.
The owners are some of the friendliest and happiest people I know in this city where being "in your face" is a virtue.

Limited Contact

Hey All,

We will be in Thailand for the next little while, debriefing and getting medical and dental care.

Emergency contact number is: 02-758-0138, which would be Tom and Candice Mast.

Fly into O'Hare on Friday, May 29th, in the morning.

The Mosque across the street from our house.

Schools out for the day, and all the girls are heading home. Makes for a traffic jam on our narrow streets. But just proves that some traffic jams are funner than others.

I found this photo on the internet: I googled "Varanasi Muslims" and found a whole bunch of photos of my neighborhood. What fun.

Sharqi Architecture

On around 600 or 700 years ago, there were several Muslim who were rich in Varanasi, and occasionally ruled it. As Muslims are wont to do, they built a mosque.

The "Sharqi" architecture of the time, has a low ceiling and numerous pillars, such as is pictured.

So the big question to a Muslim, who wants to pray shoulder to shoulder with his brother in the faith, is how many people can we get in here, while taking into account all those dang pillars in the way?

Paan Flavored Ice Cream

For those of you who are familiar with Paan (a mixture of betal nut, tobacco, various spices and sometimes lye that is chewed between the teeth and gums), and the reddish stains it leaves behind all over the Indian Subcontinent, you may find this flavor not so appealing.

Thanks to LB for snapping the pic, and to his lovely wife S for suggesting he snap the pic.

Medical Students and the Maharaja Mac

We recently welcomed "Dr. Aaron" to our fair city for a short while. I promise I did not treat him badly (as Staff Physicians are expected to treat medical students).

As proof, here is Dr. Aaron at McDonalds, where he insisted on trying the Maharaja Mac (a chicken sandwich). He requested photographic proof of what he ate. Can't say I ever tried one myself.

Thanks for the photo, Shannon...

Do I think my wife is good lookin'?

Heck, yeah.

They are serious about trying to spiff up the city...

This from our local newspaper.

I am curious about the "Indianisms" (is that an Indianism?) and "Courtesies". Can this happen?

Desire

Here is a photo of a tree at a local Mazar, where a dead Muslim holy guy is buried.

Many Muslims (and quite a few others) will come to these places and offer prayers.

If one has a desire, one can put a piece of cloth on this tree to represent this desire.

Applying

There are many steps in making a silk Sari. One of the latter ones is applying various bits of metal, and sewing fancy embroidery.

Pretty amazing.

Is God Ironic?

I was putting my son Sam to bed this evening, and he was being a real crack-up. Telling jokes, jumping out of bed, throwing things at his sisters, and in general doing all the things you are NOT supposed to do at Bedtime.

The Sons of Korah were singing the Psalms in the background.

Just when Sam was at his worst, they started singing, "Sons are a heritage from the LORD."

Did God arrange that? Is God Ironic?

Miriam or Janalee??

This is Miriam. But I think it looks a lot like my sister Janalee, when she was this age.

Agree or disagree?

They got so much history here, they use old forts for storage

India is an old place. And there is lots of history here. With so much history, it is hard to find regular old land that is NOT historical. So a lot of history just gets used up in the modern.

There used to be lots of walls in Varanasi, but as the city expanded, people used the bricks and stones in the walls to make new houses.

The photo above shows an old fort in Chunar, a few miles outside of Varanasi. It is a massive and impressive fort, covering dozens of acres. It is used as storage by the government. What else to do with it?

At least it isn't being torn down for building materials.

Women in Mosques

Of the various sects of Muslims in Our Fair City, most of them do not allow women in mosques.

Except on Thursdays.

On Thursday mornings, most mosques have quite a number of women in them, praying and reading.

Just one of the tidbits of info that make life interesting.

The Gulley into Madampura at 4 AM

Some of you have walked into Madampura with me, and know the closed in feeling and crowded streets. Here is this same street at 4 AM, the emptiest I have ever seen it.