Lockdown hits businesses around shrines hard in Mumbai

With major Sufi shrines like Haji Ali and Mahim Dargah shut for nearly three months due to the lockdown, dozens of families linked to these sacred spaces are in dire straits. If donations to the charity boxes at these iconic mausoleums of the revered saints have dried up in the absence of devotees, shuttered stalls which sold flowers, shawls and perfumes near the shrines mean a huge financial dent. Evidently the economy, both within the dargahs and around them has been hit hard.
"There are 10 flower shops near the Mahim Dargah and at least five people work in each of them. Most of the workers have gone home but the owners' families face starvation," said Azim Kirkere whose family shop has sold flowers here since 1932.
Devotees typically visit these sacred spaces with offerings such as flowers, chaddars and sandal paste but the pandemic pulled curtains on this age-old custom. The group of qawwals whose Sufi numbers mesmerized devotees into handing 'nazrana'/'hadiya' or currency notes in return, are jobless. So are the owners and workers at the roadside eateries which made brisk business by selling hot halwa paratha, kebabs and biryani near Mahim Dargah.
Altaf Ahmed, who is known as Altaf "Saffron" because he owns the popular Saffron restaurant near Mahim Dargah, says he has been taking care of his staff while his eatery has been shut for over two months. "I provided space to the workers and fed them even when there was no business. Now we take orders online but it is nowhere near when people used to come and eat here," said Altaf.
"The Dargah's income today is nil but the expenses remain as usual since we have to give salaries to the staff working at the Dargah. Unlike many corporate houses, we are charitable organizations and we cannot cut the staff's salaries or sack them. Along with the Dargah management, people dependent on the shrine are also suffering," said Sohail Khandwani, Mahim Dargah's managing trustee and a trustee at Haji Ali Dargah.
Unlike the sea around it, the iconic Haji Ali Dargah, is uncharacteristically quiet. Thousands used to throng the shrine, especially on special occasions like Eid-e-Milad (Prophet's birthday) and Shab-e-Barat, the sacred night when many visit the graves of their dead, before the lockdown halted all activities here.
"Our flower shop at the Haji Ali Dargah is 100 years old. We have survived on it for so long but now it is difficult to make ends meet," said Mohammed Irfan Mohiuddin Shaikh. "No devotees means no income."