TBD.

Today started out very promising, and depending on the second you ask me - ended up anywhere from a 2.5-7.5 on a scale from 1-10. Epic fail or marginal success? I still haven't decided the final tally.

So, for my mom's birthday this year, we decided to do a fun little day of events in Hyderabad. She loves exploring spiritual and religious places of interest of all kinds, and so courtesy of one of my sister's amazing friends - we left the house on our way to explore the Moula Ali Dargah. We don't find ourselves getting to play tourist at home much, so we were pretty excited about it.

Dargahs, as I learned, are basically Islamic shrines built over the grave of a religious figure, often a saint or a revered individual. They can be large or small, and contain many different structures and building within, such as a Mosque, or a school, or any religious community building. The Moula Ali Dargah, is located towards the north of the city, and is built in the memory of Hazrat Ali - the Prophet Mohammad's son-in-law. The structure is at the very top of a large hill (essentially one solid rock), built over 400 years ago. According to the story, a member of the court under the rule of the Asif Jahis found the impression of Hazrat Ali's palm print on this rock, after having dreamt about it as well. Subsequently, a shrine was built which was later expanded to a dargah, and also contained a mosque, and a pavilion. 

While you can see the older steps that were carved in the stone, there are around 500 odd steps that make the climb to the very top a little easier. Apart from being a great workout - the view from the very top of the Dargah is beautiful. You can see the city, and on breezy sunny days like today - the weather feels perfect. Local tradition also involves attaching a lock somewhere in the structure - a lock which represents a wish of yours. Once locked, it hangs there until such time you return to remove it - once your wish has been fulfilled. I loved the idea, the concept, and the hope of it. I also loved how thousands of people visit the Moula Ali Dargah and participate - with only a fraction of them actually being Muslim.

On our way to Moula Ali, we stopped by a road side store to buy our locks. I had brought my camera along for the day, hoping to take some pictures of to commemorate 1) me leaving the house 2) birthday festivities 3) being a tourist here. Apparently this was a bad idea. Somehow, in the 7 minute span of buying the lock, returning to the car, taking 30 seconds to realize and rummage, and another 30 seconds to return to the store - the camera was gone. Since I was sitting in a stationary position for about 45 minutes with the camera in my purse - the only plausible explanation was that it "fell" out of the car, and in 2.5 minutes, someone had stolen it. It really broke my heart.

Seeing as the camera was pretty new, and I tend to occasionally be obsessive about taking pictures and documenting everything - this was a big blow. Every kodak moment during the day was quite sad too, and post camera theft - everyone was a little less excited about the day's events. 

The store owner who was a foot away the whole time claimed he saw nothing (per usual) - and we have no idea of knowing what happened. I was surrounded by 4 others the whole time as well, and none of us saw anything. After a period of frantic searching, questioning, and hopeful glances around - we gave up and chalked it up to fate. It was a major mood killer, and needless to say, I think I know what we all wished for with our locks.

A few local sweets, some roadside food, a moments panic of ANOTHER lost item, a trip to Numaish - the annual all India exhibition that is also a family favorite (Numaish), a few unpleasant moments, and a birthday cake later, the day ended. We were all pretty tired, and a bummed, so the jury is still out on where the day ended up. While I write this entry though, I think I'm feeling a little more positive, so let's tip the scale that way for now. In any event, Happy Birthday Mommy. I'm very proud she was able to climb to the top. Here's the best I can do to document (yes, that's my mother):