Subject: KERBALA - A Heaven of Peace and Plenty Mohammed Yamani, deputy chief at the Fayze   Report by an American military officer ,Captain Brendan   A couple of months after Iraq had come under the occupation of the coalition forces, an American military officer strayed into a facility called 'Fayze Husseini', located hardly 100 metres or so from the shrines of Imam Hussein and his brother Hazrat Abbas, in the holy Shia city of Karbala. Needless to say, with Karbala being one of the holiest pilgrimage sites for Shia Muslims, it is a politically sensitive city too. It is well known in Iraq that the Shiite faction that controls Karbala, along with the nearby city of Najaf today, would be the frontrunner for ruling Baghdad tomorrow. Small wonder then that the Americans have kept a close watch on Karbala, and one day Captain Brendan walked into this complex, meant for the boarding and lodging of Dawoodi Bohra pilgrims from all over the world, but mainly India. He was amazed to find that in the midst of a war-ravaged Iraq, here was a star-resort like facility - with a vineyard, date palms, and trees bearing many of the fruits mentioned in the Quaran - like figs and pomegranate. There was a grand mosque, and a huge dining hall, a plush, well-equipped office, complete with the latest computers, a well laid out and landscaped outer area with fountains and a pond with ducks, and above all, over 100 fully-furnished, air-conditioned and well-equipped spacious rooms, with bath attached, for the pilgrims. Here, he was treated to a grand meal, almost all of it Indian, as the chief cook is a talented chef from Mumbai. When he sent pictures of this facility to his wife at home, as well as details of the platter, this was her response, 'You must be kidding. This doesn't look like any place in Karbala. Right now, considering the news reports and pictures we see of Iraq, this seems to be heaven.' Well, she might have been exaggerating a little, but many Bohra pilgrims, who are all eligible to stay at such facilities not only in Karbala and rest of Iraq, but also in Cairo, Medina and other important Shiite pilgrimage centres in the rest of the Islamic world, would share this sentiment. In Iraq, the Bohra community has boarding and lodging facilities also in Najaf and Baghdad, but the one at Karbala is special. Particularly, because, at the moment, a violent and bloody battle is raging between different Shiite groups for the control of this holy city, where the monetary offerings generated at the two shrines constitute a neat fortune. And to get patronage and support, not to mention sophisticated weapons, a lot of money is required.   Reverting to Fayze Husseini, the sprawling complex, where a package is charged in US dollars for a week or 10 days' stay, which is affordable considering the comfort, food and other facilities on offer, in troubled times like these, it is the safety component which makes it priceless. For instance, during the third week of October, late one evening, violence erupted all of a sudden in a hitherto peaceful Karbala. As bullets went flying into the air, the mausoleums were quickly closed down anthe Iraqi police asked people to get off the roads as quickly as possible.Andthat moment, staff of the Fayze Husseini went out onto the streets, literally got hold of the Bohras — easily identifiable by the men donning white and gold caps and white kurta-pyjamas and the women colourful ridas, which stand out in the sea of black burkhas worn by the Iraqi and Iranian women - and escorted them into the secure zone of the Fayze Husseini, the heavy gates of which were then bolted and locked. Within a couple of hours American helicopters were circling over the city that normally has a population of about five lakh, but which swells to about 1.2 million each Friday. Now with the mausoleums being thrown open to Shiite pilgrims of the world, Iranian pilgrims, who had been allowed only in a trickle, having to pay a stiff tax of $750 per pilgrim, had poured into Karbala during those weeks. The previous week, which marked the birth anniversary of Imam Mehdi, an estimated 17 lakh pilgrims were in Karbala. With limited hotel facilities overstretched, there were thousands living virtually on the streets. As one heard the sound of gunfire throughout the night, along with the whirr of helicopters on a constant vigil, secure within the Fayze Husseini, one wondered at the plight of the pilgrims who were virtually sleeping on the roads and paths outside the shrines. The cuisine offered at the Fayze Husseini is another fairy tale. Of course, you don't have the freedom to dine at your leisure as in a hotel. But once you learn to follow the not-too-difficult drill - breakfast at 7.30 a.m., lunch at 1 p.m. and dinner at 7.30 p.m., — it is nothing short of victuals for the gods. Trotters, minced mutton or masala omelette, with delicious, oven fresh khabus (a type of Arabian naan ), accompanied with fresh cream, date honey or apricot jam, Swiss cheese and pots of freshly brewed steaming tea, is standard fare at breakfast. Lunch is a four or five-course affair with chicken and mutton preparations, lentils, salads, rice or pulao, a couple of salads and dessert followed by chilled fresh fruit and sherbet. Dinner is a repeat of such rich delicacies and one marvels at the warmth and love with which the staff serves you food, replenishing empty platters any number of times and with a smile too. An indefinite number of glasses of milk are available for infants and children and food is willingly packed in plastic containers to be taken to the room for the elderly or the physically handicapped. It is a moving sight to watch the staff of the Fayze Husseini accompany the physically challenged to all the pilgrimage tours, carrying their foldable wheel chairs in the air conditioned luxury coaches which ply the pilgrims. For the children, a playground with swings and slides is created on the huge terrace. Here, a couple of washing machines and driers are kept for pilgrims who don't want to incur the additional expenditure of getting their clothes washed and pressed in the laundry within the complex. You can use these free of charge and dry the clothes on the terrace fitted with cloth lines. Set up at least a few decades ago, the Fayze Husseini was remodelled about 10 years ago. When quizzed on the amazing management, and the way in which the kitchen was run (if your departure is at 4.30 a.m., as ours was, two of the staff are ready in the dining hall at that unearthly hour to serve you breakfast complete with masala omelette, butter, cheese, jam, bread and tea/milk, and more food and water are packed for the land journey too, if you so desire), Murtaza Pachorawala, one of the administrators, says that there is never a dearth of funds required to serve such food and for the meticulous maintenance of the entire complex. At present power supply to Karbala has been restored. But even during long periods of load shedding the pilgrims had huge generators to fall back upon. 'Our instructions from our religious head, Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin (T.U.S) are simple. No effort should be spared to make the pilgrims absolutely comfortable. While on such a holy pilgrimage, they shouldn't have to worry about material needs such as food or shelter. We are told that a pilgrim shouldn't need to go out even for a cup of tea.' The idea obviously is that free of such mundane worries, the pilgrims should be able to concentrate on the spiritual mission they have undertaken and spend as many hours as they want in the mausoleums that are open from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. One also learnt that the pilgrims donate generously, and most of the money comes from Indians. As foreigners can't own property in Iraq, the land has been taken on a long lease and apart from 12 people in management, trained at the institute Al-Jamea-Tus- Saifiyam, run by the community in Surat, about 40 Iraqis are employed here. On an average, on any given day, there are about 800 Bohra pilgrims who stay here and to feed them 12 to 15 sheep, each yielding about 25 kg of meat, are slaughtered daily. 'Again, we have been told that the food can be in excess, but not fall short. On the days we have excess food, it is sent either to orphanages or given to our staff to take home,' says Pachorawala. Watching the mass of humanity in the Imam Hussein mausoleum one day, he said wistfully, 'During the war, there were only 15 of us from the Fayze Husseini in the shrines of Karbala. Everybody had left the city, but Syedna Burhanuddin ( T.U.S.) sent us instructions to stay here. Had we vacated this place, it would surely have been looted like so many other complexes in Iraq during the war. The manner in which we used to perform ziyarat (homage) those days was amazing.' He adds that the Indian Embassy, which had shifted to Amman during the war, kept in constant touch with them. 'They used to tell us that `if you feel any danger, please call us. We are at your service. We will contact the Americans and make arrangements to fly you out of Karbala'. But that necessity never arose. There were also some Pakistani and Yemeni staff here, but they never received such calls from their embassies,' he added. Well, the Indian embassy has one reason for this soft corner for the Fayze-Husseini. Its senior staff, including the Indian Ambassador to Iraq, often takes a two-hour ride from Baghdad to Karbala, whenever they feel home-sick for exotic Indian food! 'And we are delighted to play host,' adds Pachoriwala collected:  saifee surka 79 yrs firdaus flats, khanpur, ahmedabad 380001 ph. 079 25504667 M. 9825664353 saifee.surka@gmail.com