Dubai: Today is Day 48 of Jalal Bin Thaneya's mission to Makkah and even as you are reading this, he would, all things favouring him, have arrived there in the wee hours of the morning.
It's not been easy, this long walk. At the time of speaking to him, he was one last long stretch away from his destination.
I do not ask him the usual first question about how he is feeling. Because, from the day he undertook this journey, he has been in the Makkah state of mind.
Instead, I ask him about the distance to go. The question, as it turns out, further riles his embattled state of mind. "I was just having a spat with my back-up man, Yahya," he bursts out, " because he gives me one figure, the GPS says something else, the signposts on the road say something else."
Frustrating last leg
The last leg of his journey, it seems, is testing his limits. The remaining distance of under 100 kilometres is turning out to be frustratingly elastic. Given that every kilometre, or even half, matters under the circumstances, Bin Thaneya's concern about the exact miles to go is understandable. He will have to walk night and day now with practically no rest to be able make to it Makkah today.
Making our conversation a little more complicated is the fact that his words seem to be food for the wind. He says something but it all gets snatched away.
"The …," he begins and the rest is a long whoosh. "…some…." More powerful whooshes follow. My telephone's earpiece seems to be gargling to get rid of something stuck in its throat.
Finally, after a noisy 35 seconds of expectoration, the full sentence comes through loud and clear. "The wind is so bothersome."
It's a sentiment that has earned its rightful place in Bin Thaneya's experiences.
Like memories of every great expedition that are defined by stark extremes of heat or cold, this walk too has the weather playing a stellar role in his progress.
It will take its lead position even during the last stretch. Before entering Makkah, at a designated point called the miqat, a pilgrim on his journey to Makkah is required to enter the sacred state of Ihram.
Ihram is a mind-body state that requires Muslim men on Haj or Umrah to discard all regular clothing and paraphernalia, undergo cleansing rituals and don unstitched pieces of white cloth to cover the body. Ihram also requires observing strict mental discipline and other prescribed habits.
True mettle
For Bin Thaneya, entering Ihram and walking the rest of the distance to Makkah in the prescribed attire is an endeavour that will test his true mettle.
But he has been aware of it all along. On the surface, the niggling issues of elastic distances, the wind, sand, heat and parched landscape have all been real but more real is the core of calm he has been carrying in his heart from the day he set out on this mission.
"It's something I have looked forward to all along," he says.
The walk has been like a practice drill for the ultimate internal journey he will undertake in Makkah today. Here, stripped of all extraneous thoughts, he will immerse himself in reflections of life and God.
Battling the elements
"A walk like this is not like climbing Mount Everest," according to him. "There, all along the journey, you are essentially alone with the elements. Here, though the elements are all around and at every step of the way, you are also encountering a lot of ground realities in terms of people, situations and places."
So it is necessary for him to use his time in Makkah to disconnect temporarily with all of that and occupy a uniquely tranquil space in his mind.
Luckily for him, he will have no problems in reaching that space quickly. After all, he had been putting up the signposts to it himself at every step of his journey.
