Mystic Detective (11)

Paul was meeting Abdul in a café on the Curry Mile in Rusholme. Almost every shop was a curry house or an Indian sweet shop or a shop selling gold bling or colourful saris. It was alive and pulsing with noise and sounds by late evening but this was 5 o’clock and it was quiet apart from a few ubiquitous students and people going about their lawful and unlawful business.

Abdul was a light skinned Gujarati, born in Mumbai in India. He had moved to Kenya with his teacher parents as 5 year old and the returned to India for his secondary education. He then moved to England for University in Manchester where he settled 20 years ago. He was one of Paul’s contacts within the ethnic Indian communities in Manchester. Abdul was also a Muslim and able to give details when he so wished about Islamic matters. They had met when Paul had helped Abdul find his teenage sister Jamila who had run away from home into the arms of a white criminal gang (See ‘The Mystic Detective goes West’). But Abdul was not merely a useful source of information, indeed few of Paul’s best contacts were just that. Abdul was a friend of Pauls.

Paul met Abdul in Jaffa, a halal café halfway up the curry mile. It was noting to look at with red leather imitation seats (rather reminiscent of 1960s Wimpey bar) and a large takeover counter at the far end with an open plan kitchen beyond. But the food was surprisingly good, otherwise why would Abdul choose to eat there and Paul noticed that he was the only white person among the dozen or people in the café. This was always a good sign, even if it still made Paul feel a bit uneasy, for an all white clientele would suggest a lack of real ethnicity and quality in the food offered.

This proved to be the case, the humus Paul ordered was almost sweet, sharp and fresh some of the best he tasted. Abdul had ordered a mixed grill – meat with salad – and he naturally sought to share his and Paul’s food. Paul struggled with this, his Greek friends including Sophia did the same but when Abdul picked up a chapatti and dipped it in Paul’s humus Paul winced inside.
- Oh mystic I had forgotten your English sensibilities, forgive me I should have ordered an extra plate of humus
- S’OK Abdul, I need to let go of my prissiness.
- Hmm, anyway why did you want to meet me apart from the joys of my delightful conversation and company?
- What do you know about OM?
- Bunch of arseholes! (Paul had forgotten Abdul’s rather colourful choice of language)
- That’s your carefully considered opinion?
- Look they prey on you white people’s love of yoga and love of our ancient and colourful Hindu spiritual traditions and stories. Your English Christianity is so lacking in colour it is no wonder that crap like OM flourish. You Brits have such poor taste. But you should try the real thing, check out the Sufis, read some Rumi.
Paul nodded, - I have and I love the glorious madness of Rumi’s spirituality. It speaks to my condition… but tell me more about OM
- OK many of their teachers are Indian from the South, Kerala, but the guru is white. White! A Hindu group with a white guru!
- What’s his name?
- Guru Ganesha
- Guru elephant (They both laugh)
- Yes, if you like, Ganesha of course is linked to the sacred sound OM, he is said to personify the sound OM and he is the remover of obstacles or sometimes he puts obstacles in the way of his detractors
- What’s his English name?
- Jonathan Walters
- Know anything about him?
- Very little apart from he was a criminal who saw the light via Yoga in prison.
- Hmm, I’ll have to dig around.

Later back home it took Paul a few phone calls and ten minutes on the internet to find out a fait bit about Jonathan Walters. After early school at a minor public school Walters went up to Oxford University to study classics where he got in with a heavy drinking and partying set and dropped out just before being expelled. Working in a merchant bank did not suit him and a scam involving some hyped but worthless shares led to a heavy fine and a 2 year prison sentence initially suspended. However, soon afterwards he was arrested after a violence affray and served 18 months during which time he took up yoga. What happened next was not that clear to Paul’s contacts and the internet but a trip to India, and possibly China happened and subsequently Om was founded.