When we arrived at Mehrauli it began to rain. We were welcomed by the citizens who had been awaiting our arrival for many hours. They formed a procession led by parties of singers and dancers. We proceeded slowly through Mehrauli’s narrow streets. People showered us with flowers, the heavens showered us with rain. When we arrived at our residence, Jahaz Mahal, fireworks were let off. The waters of Shamsi Talab already pocked by the falling rain burned bright crimson and blue and gold as cracker after cracker exploded in the sky and its embers came streaming down into the pool. Wallah! What a beautiful world it was! We slept to the sound of the rain beating on our roof and the gurgle of running water.

Next morning the sky was clear. We said our fajar prayer at the Auliya Masjid. This little mosque has been hallowed by Khwaja Muinuddin Chisthi of Ajmer, Fariduddin Ganj-i-Shakar of Pak Pattan and innumerable other saints who had performed chillas (forty days of prayer and fasting) in its cells. After the morning prayer we went to the tomb of Qutubuddin Sahib Bakhtiyar Kaki and said a fateha at the graves of many of our kinsmen who were buried in the precincts.

Begum Zeenat who was with us was not allowed near the tomb of the saint. She presented a canopy made of roses and jasmines which was hung over the tomb. Then we watched divers leap eighty feet into a well in the courtyard and rewarded them suitably. We spent the rest of the day riding through the innumerable ruins that surrounded Mehrauli. First we went to the Qutub Minar and the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque. We said fatehas over the tombs of Alauddin Khilji, Altamash and Imam Zamin. Then we rode past the house of Metcalfe Sahib to the mosque of Kamali the poet. The tomb of Emperor Balban was in a state of neglect. We ordered its repair.

We spent the evening in Jahaz Mahal. On the other side of the Shamsi Talab there were umbrella-shaped pavilions. We ordered a party of shehnai players to perform in them. The notes of the shehnai floated softly over the waters raising ripples as they came towards us. With the slow movement of the alap, clouds in the sky began to take bulbous shapes. As the melody went into the next movement, the gat, a gentle breeze began to blow. The clouds began to roll over faster as if keeping pace with the tabla. What improvization! We heard thunder and lightning and the hissing of the wind. And behold the sky was overcast! It became dark, lamps were lit. And as the shehnai moved into its finale in fast tempo, it began to pour. It is truly said that a great master can move the heavens to shed tears and the tapers to light themselves and burn in anguish and ecstasy! We heard the Raga Megh Malhar (melody of the rains) and then Deepak (melody of the lamps). And we were like one in a daze.