AS RECEIVED
i went to khane in tokyo on khushali. one of my friends asked what it was like - thought you all might be interested as well.
hope all is well
love
s
---
the khane in tokyo is even smaller than the tiny khane that i go to back in cali (alameda), but has a similar feel. everyone does everything, and you kind of just hang out talking in the prayer hall until khane starts. there are these 3 men originally from pakistan that started the khane some 20+ years ago, and they're still running things. they're really dedicated - in fact, someone told me that the original mukhi of the tokyo jamat was up on stage with MHI during darbar. as with most small khanes, everyone is incredibly friendly and welcoming - it's a very warm, family atmosphere. mukhisaheb gives some varos out, but tends to reserve most of the ginan varos for himself. one of the japanese women said 2nd dua with only a hint of a japanese accent, which i thought was very cool.
the most unique thing is the makeup of the jamat. all the men are either pakistani or american expats; almost all20of the women are their converted japanese wives. and then there are all their gorgeous little half-and-half offspring running around. there were about 25 people in khane on khushali, and probably 10 of them were kids. they have some RE classes, and the japenese ismaili women in particular seem to be really dedicated volunteers. the khane itself is about an hour subway ride out of central tokyo.
the order that they do prayers in is indo-pak style, with the two duas coming first and giryazari tasbih at the end after 2nd dua instead of mushkil aasan tasbih. khane was longer than usual (which means still under an hour) b/c there was a special majlis for khushali (mukhisaheb had me sing the july 11th khushali ginan, which i thought was a bit weird since it was dec 13th, but fine with me since it's a favorite) and then after prayers, mukhisaheb gave a little speech about singapore darbar, and then they gave out gifts for RE students graduating to the next grade level, and for volunteers that have given a lot of their time. they basically gave gifts to everyone in khane, all wrapped up super fancy in true japanese style.
luckily i understand a bit of urdu otherwise i would have been totally lost through this last part of speeches and gift-giving (there was no english during khane, but all of the men speak english and the women speak some). it was funny - mukhisaheb stood up to give his speech, and he faced the men's side of the jamat as he spoke in ur du. amusingly, my little feminist mind went into overdrive on how chauvinistic the culture must be in this jamat for the mukhi to so deliberately be addressing the men and ignoring the women. but when he finished, he turned to the women's side and repeated his whole speech (i assume) in japanese.
sometimes it's nice to be wrong.the prayer hall was decorated for khushali. the front wall behind the mukhi paat had blinking christmas lights around signs that said "khushali mubarak" and "golden jubilee darbar far east" (which i guess they nicked from the actual darbar hall
the japanese love their xmas lights - they're everywhere in tokyo. the speech that i mentioned that mukhisaheb gave was not actually about the darbar itself, but about how he's sorry if anyone had trouble with travel and accommodations in singapore that they weren't able to help with, followed by some comments about how they are a small jamat and if there is anything that is bothering anyone, they should please come tell him directly. after khane they laid out white plastic sheets on the ground in one of the two RE rooms and served up chicken biryani and soda. it was by far the most familiar scene i've come across since i left cali - white plastic sheets on the ground, styrofoam plates and cups, big bottles of coke in the middle, along with large steaming plates of food. i'm sure you can picture it
that's about it. many people gave me their business cards and urged me t o contact them if i needed anything. was a great experience.