Reading Lolita in Tehran
I remembered Maulana Hasrat Mohani's annual journeys for Haj which generally ended in a torrid love affair on a scale which would leave today's maulanas of the Jamait-ul-Ulema Hind—of which he was a leading light—gasping for breath. Among the maulana's many eccentricities was his belief that his Haj would only be complete once he had a darshan of Radha!
"Aaye the jo Beirut se woh saath hamare
Yeh rog nateeja hai usi hamsafari ka
(She who travelled with me from Beirut, this malaise is the consequence of that journey)."
