تم میرے پاس ہوتے ہو گویا
جب کوئی دوسرا نہیں ہوتا

Tum mērē paas hotey hō gōyā
Jab kō’ī dūsrā nahin hota

The grave of one of the finest Urdu poets, Momin Khan Momin (1800–14 May 1852) is in the #Mehdiyan cemetery opposite Maulana Azad Medical College.

I read about it and decided set off to find it and recite a fatiha. The compound which was once a premier Delhi area is now a dhobi ghat with clothes spread out to dry after washing. Encroachment is everywhere.

This is also the compound of the mazar of the famous Sufi saint Shah Waliullah and some members of his family.

That compound has many graves. Just outside the saints mazar is the grave of Hakim Momin Khan Momin. I had to look for it amongst all the others.

We are lucky it has survived.

At some point in the 1960s unscrupulous builders decided to bulldozer the area. They leveled the hilly ground around it.
A devoted fan of Momin Sher Ali Mewati came to know of it and came to Delhi from #Mewat.
He lay down in front of the bulldozer but it didn’t work.
Next he went and lay down on the road opposite Teen Murti house just as #Nehru was being driven out.
Those were the days. He wasn’t arrested instead Nehru ji got down from his car and asked for an explanation.
He was very upset and immediately drove to the spot with Sher Ali Mewati.
He gave orders to stop demolition. Sher Ali hot the mazar repaired and a compound wall built .