Bengaluru  :

Located off the busy Mysore Road flyover, it is easy to miss the Jewish burial ground, unless you were looking for a bright green facade of the low-roofed house built there. The house has been home for Sheikh Rafiq and family for the last 24 years, since the time he agreed to take care of the graveyard for the Moses family, who have been custodians of the property since 1904.

A gift from Mysore Maharajah Krishnaraja Wadiyar to the family, this cemetery is among a handful of Jewish cemeteries in the country, and the only one of its kind in Bengaluru. “I am the third generation of the family taking care of the land and it is hallowed ground for us,” says Sidney Moses, a retired horse trainer.

The first grave to be laid here was of Subedar Major Samuel Moses Nagavkar (a Bene Israeli) in 1904, and six years later, his son Benjamin Abraham Nagavkar was buried here as well,” he says about the oldest graves in the cemetery. The 50 graves that quietly lie there make for an interesting exploration and there are stories to be shared like why it’s the resting spot for a Russian circus owner. “Mrs Isaaco who was proprietress of the famous Russian Circus died while she was in Bengaluru. Her burial here was quite unusual because the whole circus came and they even brought her favourite white horse for the final goodbye,” says Moses. Now, about the curious choice of employing a Muslim family to take care of these Jewish graves, Moses simply states, “My uncle (Maurice Moses) appointed him as the caretaker but there wasn’t any particular reason why he hired him. In fact, Rafiq volunteered for the job.” “He is very clean and has been taking very good care of the graveyard since he joined,” he adds. “The place was covered with weeds and there was a huge anthill when I first came here,” recalls Rafiq of the swathe of land that is well-tended today.

And where the thought of living adjacent to a cemetery is enough to spook most of us, for Rafiq and his family it’s just part of life. “My son was four years old when we moved here and he has practically grown up playing here,” says Rafiq of his son, Sheikh Rizwan, who helps his father in the cemetery’s upkeep today. “Sleeping here in the night doesn’t scare us. In fact, it is very peaceful here,” says Rafiq who views his unusual job as a blessing. “It is a noble job to take care of the dead,” he says before shrugging off the ‘religion’ angle with a mere, “we all pray to the same god and in death, we are all equal.”

source:  http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Bengaluru / Mahalakshmi  P, TNN / November 14th, 2015