Thursday, August 30, 2007

Tasleem Apa


Asghar Bhai ne jab Tasleem Apa se shadi ki to dono ki umar 20 ya 21 baras se ziyada nahi ho gi. Ye mohabbat ki shadi thi magar koi 'zalim samaj' beech main nahi aaya. Shadi ke aik hi saal baad dono ke haan aik chand si beti paida hui. Uske baad yake baad digre do aur auladain huin. Aik chote se 'flat' main saas, susar simat kul 7 afrad ki zindagi guzarne lagi.

Ye aik aesi kahani hai jis ka agaz ooper diye gaye climax ke baad hota hai. Chota sa flat, qaleel si amadni aur shaksiaton ke tafarruqon ne ghar main aik musalsal tanao paida ker dia. Tasleem apa zaban ki karwi to thi hin magar mua'shi tangdasti ne unhe aur karwa bana diya. Baat baat pe Asghar bhai se uljhne lagin. Asghar Bhai ko mohalle aur khandan main khidmate khalq ka shoq tha aur is baat pe aaye din mian biwi main tu tarakh hone lagi. Suna hai aik aadh baar Asghar Bhai ne Tasleem apa ko 2 haath bhi jhar diye. Asghar Bhai ki walida yani Tasleem apa ki saas bhi thori sir phiri khatoon thin. Jab din main mard ghar pe nahi hote to saas bahu ki larai chalti rehti.

Ghar ke bare is baat se bekhabar the ke 3 bachhe ye sab kuch rozana apni aankhon se dekh ker uska aik ajeeb nafsiyati asar le rahe hain.

Tasleem apa ne apne masail se farar ka addiction 'binge eating' main dhundha. Motape (obesity) ka marz ho gaya. Ooper se stress ke baais blood pressure aur diabetes bhi lag gayi. Dawaai bhi waqt pe na khatin. Chirchira pan aur barh gaya. Mohalle ke log baat kerte huwe bhi katrane lage. Gharelu larai ne aik 'vicious cycle' ki surat akhtiyar ker li. Aur phir jese hi Tasleem apa ke heart pe se 'estrogen' ka 'protective effect' khatam huwa - aik raat 12 baje unhe jaan lewa heart attack huwa aur woh is duniya se chal basin.

Is baat ko kai baras guzar gaye. Main America aa gaya. Un ke bachhe bhi jawan ho gaye the. Aik din ittafaqan unki beti se yahan america main aik conference main mulaqat ho gai. Woh doctor ban ker yahan residency ker rahi thi. Hu bahu Tasleem apa ki shakal thi. Magar us se baat ker ke mujhe bara dukh huwa. Sirf 10 minute main mujhe andaza ho gaya ke us ke ander kitna zaher bhara hai. Pakistan se le ker mard zaat aur american airlines walon ke excess baggage charges se le ker hospital ke chief resident tak - hur kisi se us ko shikayat thi. Us ka jumla mujha aaj bhi yaad hai ke: "life is so unfair". Main chup raha ! Ye kehne ki bhi himmat nahi hui ke 'bibi shukar karo, america main residency ker rahi ho'.

2 baras pehle Pakistan gaya to pata laga ke ab Asghar bhai kahin africa main karobar ker rahe hain. Tasleem apa ke susar ko stroke ho chuka tha aur woh bister pe the. Main milne gaya to tasleem apa ki saas ki zaban ab bhi wese hi chalti thi. Asghar bhai ka bara beta dubai nikal gaya tha aur chote bete ke baare main mohalle main mashur tha ke hum-jins-parast (gay) ho gaya hai !

Ghar ka mahol be-haal ho to us ke asraat barson us ghar ki auladain bhugatti hain !

Baqol Ashfaq Ahmad: "Allah hum sub ko asani ata kare aur asani taqseem kerne ka sharf bakhshe"

Monday, August 27, 2007

On "Evil of Patriotism"

Jis din main ne pehli baar Pakistan chora to london ke Heathrow Airport pe transit ke dauran mujhe aik hindustani lurka mila - 'Raj'. We had coffee together but he paid the bill as he found me nervous first time in foreign land. Ye pehla din tha jab mere ander se 'narrow' ya 'black' patriotism ki deewar giri. Itne baras jub main america main raha aur mukhtalif mulkon, naslon aur mazahib ke logon se mila to aik naye falsafe ne janam liya - "Humanity is one".


"Nationalism is our form of incest, is our idolatry, is our insanity. Patriotism is its cult. It should hardly be necessary to say, that by “patriotism” I mean that attitude which puts the nation above humanity, above the principles of truth and justice; not the loving interest in one‘s own nation, which is the concern with the nation‘s spiritual as much as with its material welfare - never with its power over other nations. Just as love for one individual which excludes the love for others is not love, love for one‘s country which is not part of one‘s love for humanity is not love, but idolatrous worship" - Erich Fromm


Thanks to irving for posting above quote

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

The Sad Fate of the Comma



Interesting article:

"I have always liked commas, but I seem to be in a shrinking minority. The comma is in retreat, though it is not yet extinct. In text messages and e-mails, commas appear infrequently, and then often by accident (someone hits the wrong key). Even on the printed page, commas are dwindling...............But the comma's sad fate is, I think, a metaphor for something larger: how we deal with the frantic, can't-wait-a-minute nature of modern life. The comma is, after all, a small sign that flashes PAUSE. It tells the reader to slow down, think a bit, and then move on. We don't have time for that. No pauses allowed. In this sense, the comma's fading popularity is also social commentary......."

Read whole article here (By Robert J. Samuelson in newsweek)

Monday, August 20, 2007

Khawab


Agar aap ne USA main driving ki ho to aap ko ilm hoga ke left turn banane ke liye (agar signal pe arrow na ho to) saamne se aane wali garion ko 'yeild' kerna parta hai. Main jub bhi us ke saath driving kerta woh yeild wala left turn kubhi na banata bulke poora aage se chakkar kaat ke aata....main ne aik din us se poocha: "yaar ye kiya bewaqufi hai - why don't you just make left turn on yeild". Us ne mujhe bataya: "Mujhe zamane se ye khawab aata hai ke main left turn bana raha hun aur meri gari ka accident ho gaya. Jub bhi woh khawab aata hai, us khawab ki feeling itni real hoti hai ke main left turn banate huwe darta hun".

Aik din mujhe ittlah mili ke uska zabardast accident ho gaya hai. Gari chakna chur ho gai magar woh thori bohut choton ke ilawa bach gaya. Jub main ne us se poocha, kiya huwa to us ne jawab diya: "Left turn banane ki jurrat ki aur accident ho gaya. Sala khawab sachha ho gaya" !

Thursday, August 16, 2007

On 'Paradox of Truth'

The investigation of the truth is in one way hard, in another easy. An indication of this is found in the fact that no one is able to obtain the truth adequately, while on the other hand, no one fails entirely, but everyone says something true about the nature of things, and while individually they contribute little or nothing to the truth, by the union of all a considerable amount is amassed. Therefore, since the truth seems to be like the proverbial door, which no one can fail to hit, in this way it is easy, but the fact that we can have a whole truth, and not the particular part we aim at shows the difficulty of it.

– Aristotle

Saturday, August 11, 2007

dukh kiun aate hain


Aik shaks kisi sufi ko dhundhte dhundhte unke ghar pauncha. Hazrat-e-sufi ki biwi bari karwi zaban ki aurat nikli. Un ne shaks ko bura bhala keh ker rawana kiya. Us shaks ne bahar logon se sufi ka pata poocha. Kisi ne bataya, sufi shahab lakrian (logs) kaatne jungle ki taraf gaye the - wahan dhundho. Jub woh shaks jungle ke qareeb pauncha to hazrat sufi aik sher (lion) pe sawar ho ker lakrian laade aa rahe the. Sher ne sufi ko jungle ke bahar utara aur phir wapas jungle main chala gaya.

Woh shaks bara 'impress' huwa. Us ne kaha: "Aap itne bare sufi hain ke jungle ke janwar aap ki ghulami kerte hain. Magar mujhe afsos hai ke aap ki biwi iitni karwi zaban ki aurat hai".

Buzurg sufi ne jawab diya: "Woh hai to ye sab hai" !!

Moral of the story: Dukh aur taklif insaan ko ruhani tor pe mazboot kerte hain.

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Hum-bister

Kuch log aik jumle main saari kahani bayan ker jaate hain. Jub Mazhar ki talaq hui aur aik din main ne us se poocha ke nachaaki ki bunyaadi wajah kiya thi to us ne jawab diya: "Jub mian biwi ke bister alag ho jaayain to ghar bhi saath nahi rehte" !

Monday, August 06, 2007

Apathy

"One of the evil associated with success is 'Apathy'. When you have stable flow of income and living in a good house and when your kids are going to private school, you stop worrying about other people"

(Per Dr. RC whom I never liked but should appreciate his thought)

Sunday, August 05, 2007

Sala ye harami dil !

'Shazo' ke itne saare sawalon ka main kiya jawab deta. Is kaainat main kab saare sawalon ke jawab milte hain. Koi formula nahi chalta. Kisi mantiq ki chul theek nahi bethti. Hum saari zindagi jaanne ki tag-o-do main lage rehte hain magar saara kuch is dil ke maanne se hai. Agar dil ko qarar aa jaaye to koi maujiza naqabile yaqeen nahi rehta. Kuch bhi namumkin nahi rehta. Falsafa chale na chale magar jo baat, jo cheez is dil ki dharkan ki ley se murtaish (vibrate) ho jaaye - wahi haq, wahi sach !

Sala ye harami dil !!

Thursday, August 02, 2007

Islam ki Dushman!


Razia apa meri dur ki cousin hoti hain magar bachpun se apne bhaiyon ki tarah rakha hai. Un ke shoher ka naam sharafat hai, aur hum sharafat bhai bulate hain. Kamal ki cheez hain. Hur cheez ko dekhne ka unka apna andaz hai aur logon ko lajawab kerne ke champion hain. Razia apa 1978 se america main hain. Main ne apna pehla july 4 (america ka roze-azadi) Razia apa ke haan guzara. Miami Beach ke kinare fire works ke baad, sharafat bhai ne beer ke can kholna shuru kiye aur aik can meri taraf barha diya. Main ne kaha: "Sharafat bhai ! main sharab nahi peeta".

Unhon ne jawab diya: "Mian sharab Islam ki dushman hai, ise pee ke khatam ker do" !