At 110, Indian performs his fifth Haj

India's Sarfaraz Ahmad Khan, who is from Anantnag in Jammu and Kashmir, is currently in Saudi Arabia for his fifth Haj pilgrimage - at the age of 110.

Khan, who performed his first Haj in the wake of the 1971 India-Pakistan war, feels things have become more organised since then.

"My pilgrimages have enriched me a lot. I have seen the Haj changing with the passage of time," he said. "Though things were not as organised as they are today, the atmosphere was certainly more personal then."

The centenarian recalled how he had first travelled to Saudi Arabia in a ship carrying Indian pilgrims, amid rumours that it would be attacked on the way.

"When I embarked on my first Haj in 1972, it took 21 days to reach the shore of the Red Sea in Jeddah. The journey was very tiring and demanding. I remember dozens of pilgrims had died on board the ship, since there was no proper arrangement for treatment," he said.

"Butm thanks to Godm things have changed considerably. Everyday, I am examined by doctors from the Indian Consulate," Khan was quoted as saying in Arab News.

According to Khan, only a few thousand pilgrims used to come from India at the time. "The whole area of Mina and Arafat resembled an open-air mosque with people reciting Talbiyah and praying for salvation," he said.

"Today, pilgrims come from all corners of the world. They come in organised groups, are met at airports by air- conditioned buses, travel with experienced guides and stay in star hotels in and around Makkah," he added.