A Sufi’s journey to peace and satisfaction: Naeem Mahmood

Tuesday, February 09, 2010
By Jan Khaskheli, in The International News, Karachi

Sitting on the floor of a small room, he calls his ‘ashram’ in Tando Mohammed Khan, Naeem Mahmood is a 51-year old sanyasi, Sufi, poet, and music composer. Hundreds of people, mostly low-caste Hindu and Muslim families, hailing from different parts of the province, wait patiently outside for his attention. The sanyasi is busy, for a moment though, reading old books to update his knowledge of indigenous herbal plants that are used for medication. Most part of his ashram is occupied by diaries, old books, bottles, small weighs for measuring herbs, and a harmonium. All this stuff and his followers, the sanyasi says, are his real assets.

It is not often that we come across a person, who writes poetry in four languages, composes music, roams hundreds of shrines, and provides his services to the people as a sanyasi. Difficult, however, not impossible, Mahmood is one such person.

He belongs to a lower class family based in Tando Mohammed Khan town. He is a Sufi and roams in different shrines of Sufi saints all over Sindh, goes through their poetry, and listens to the music to add to his knowledge. He is a skilled music composer and artist, as well as writes poetry in Sindhi, Urdu, Hindi and Seraiki.

Apart form his followers, Mahmood’s ashram is visited by local artist to learn from him on a daily basis. He, being a sanyasi, has a peculiar kind of relationship with them. Though he is dependent on his skills as a herbalist to feed his small family, he teaches his students absolutely free of cost.

Mahmood told The News that he has a vast knowledge of the Sufis’ lives, their views, music notes, and rhythm, adding that he has memorised works of the poetic giants such as Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai, Kabeer, Bulhe Shah and others.

Born to home of Usman Ali in 1956 at Dock Bungalow village, Nawab Shah District, he passed class II from there and left the school when his family migrated to Tando Mohammed Khan town. He said that he started learning healing from Sain Gayandas of Kotri. He stayed with Gayandas for several years, and then traveled for long from one place to another in search of peace and knowledge.

He learned Hindi from low caste Hindus visiting the ashram of his spiritual leader, Sain Gayandas, he said.“Sain (Gayandas) was a Sufi, healer, a kind man, and was loved by the poor, who used to come to him frequently for healing. He was also a well skilled composer as well,” Mahmood said.

Meanwhile, the 51-year old sanyasi said that he was also inspired by his grandfather, Ali Bakhsh, who, according to him, was a famous storyteller of that time, and had great skills playing music instruments.

Mahmood also possesses good knowledge of classical, semi-classical and folk music. He said that he used to visit Syed Habib Shah of Naushehro Feroz, who also imparted the first lesson of music to one of South Asia’s leading artists, Abida Parveen. The sanyasi claimed that they both (he and Abida) are contemporaries and got their first lessons from the same guru. Later, he said, Abida continued with music and he stepped into other fields too, such as healing, poetry, and traveling. “I decided to stay aloof for the sake of learning,” he added.

Mahmood has also been to Multan for studying about traditional medicine from senior sanyasis.

However, a section of people in his neighbourhood points fingers on his ‘different’ style of love as he sides with the Hindus. “All human beings are equal. I learnt this from the good people I have lived with for long,” Mahmood said.

Moreover, he said that many people visited his ashram and assured him of publishing his works but in vain. He said that he never felt it necessary to remind them to have his works published as his gurus had taught them against doing so.