Paradoxes

The distance between Dar Al Tawheed Intercontinental Hotel, Makka and the Haram seems to be around 500 Meters. The sound system at the holy Kaaba is electronically connected to the hotel rooms whereby the guests can hear the call for prayer in their rooms . What one has to do if he or she does not want his sound sleep during the sojourn not to be interrupted is to switch off the the button of the electronic device beside his bed. When one steps out of the hotel and walks towards the Haram, he or she meets African and local children, youths and women carrying small of packets of tissue paper or polythene bags and imploring you to buy them at any price. It is evident that theirs is an advanced form of begging. Once when a small girl  aged around  five years ran after us holding a small packet of tissue paper in the midst of the Pilgrims, I don't know why I felt pity on her and began to pat on her head, my fingers touching her soft, curly brown hair and her countenance cooling my mind. When one member of our group gave her a fifty Riyal currency note , I thought she was too  small to hold it and that currency would fly away from her hand. Then I was told that my fears were unwarranted as her mother was watching her closely and that she had been well trained for such a task.

These children are lucky when compared to their counter parts in India and some other Asian countries where they are abducted, mutilated and used for begging business. When I tried to visualize a situation in which a parent comes across his missing child maimed and mutilated among a group of beggars, a shock wave runs through my body, my hand shivers and my pulse rate increases. I sat looking at the photo of a couple whose child went missing while he was playing in the vicinity of their house in a news paper that carried this news item.

One can use the food grains in the hands of these children to invite pigeons and enjoy feeding them as many pilgrims do around the Haram. Some times I walked in the midst of these birds enjoying an ineffable pleasure while they ate food grains and moved like bashful brides, the shining feathers around their necks resembling gem studded necklaces. They revived nostalgic memories of my childhood when I had attempted in vain to catch and tame at least one of them

The area in front of Makka Hilton Towers and Dar Al Tawheed Intercontinental seems to represent the paradoxes and contradictions of this worldly life. On the one hand you meet affluent Muslims enjoying all types comforts and pleasures even while performing Omra or Hajj whereas on the other hand you come across human beings struggling to earn their bread and butter under the scorching heat of the sun or biting cold in front of their eyes.

I don't remember the author who said " Taj Mahal is the worst structure ever erected by mankind ....Marble conceives a multitude of sins etc..." .The white marble around the Haram has a different story to tell. A number of Saudi Youths could be seen waiting eagerly in front of the hotels , looking tired and their hands resting on wheel chairs". They ask the pilgrims coming out of the hotels around the Haram whether they need them to help the aged and physically weak persons to perform Haj or Omra rites especially the strenuous task of Tawaf around the Kaaba and the Saa'yu between Safa and Marwa mountains. The pilgrims are required just to sit on the wheel chairs pulled by these youths and the rest will be done by them. Despite the fact that they are prepared to bear this burden physically and mentally for pea nuts, some of the pilgrims who stay in Five star hotels could be seen bargaining with them. These jobless youths swallow their grievances and continue their struggle for existence. The white marble around the Haram will bear witness to their plight in the Hereafter.

By the father

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