Thursday, May 08, 2008

Akhtar Bhai ka America

America har kisi ko raas nahi aata. Kubhi kubhi America ki zindagi insaan ka sab kuch barbad bhi ker deti hai. Aese hi aik bad-qismat insaan hain Akhtar Bhai. Jub main america naya naya aaya to Akhtar Bhai se jaan pehchan hui. Kuch arse un se koi rabta nahi raha magar aik hafte pehle, main aik desi restaurant se 'naan' pick kerne gaya to aik table pe akele bethe nazar aaye.

Akhtar Bhai, aaj se koi 20 baras pehle america aaye. Har immigrant ki tarah unhon ne bhi odd jobs ki aur yahan settle hone ki koshish ki. Go gori se green card ke chakkar main shadi ki magar imandari se us rishte ko nibhane ki koshish ki. Un ke 2 bachhe bhi huwe magar bad-bakhti ki dastan aage khud un ki zabani suniye:

"America mere liye baaise-rehmat ki bajaye azab-jaan bun gaya. Shuru shuru main to yahan settle hone ki dhun main kaam kerta gaya, shadi ki aur kuch ziyada pata na chala.Sab theek theek chalta raha magar jub mera lurka school jaane laga to use school walon ne ADHD diagnose kiya. Jo 'medicines' doctor ne likh ker di, us se us ki personality aur change hone lagi. Jub main ne khud us ki medicines rok di to school walon ne 'child protective service' ko report ker di. Qissa mukhtasr, court order ki wajah se ab har 2 weeks pe mujhe, bete ke saath, unke daftar aur doctor ki clinic ja ker hazri deni parti hai aur affidavit sign kerna parta hai. Mera beta jis zehni koft se guzarta hai us ka bayan nahi. Peechle hafte uska utra chehra dekh ker mere aansu nikal aaye. Main ne uske sir per haat pehra aur kaha: 'I am sorry beta!, I never meant things to go this way'.

Kuch mera qasoor tha aur kuch meri biwi ka. Bachhe na to musalman rahe aur na christian. Mulk aur khandan se bhi rishta aahista aahista khatam ho gaya. Mazhab se doori aur 'cultures' ke 'conflicts' ne meri beti ko aik dyfunctional aur confuse teenager bana diya. 'Few days ago I was horrified to learn that she participated in one Jerry springer type show!' Is baat per mera aur meri biwi ka khub jhagra huwa. Kul subha, meri office building ki manager ka mujhe phone aaya ke - 'police constable is here to serve from your wife (divorce)" !!

yeh daagh daagh ujala, yeh shab gazeeda sahar
woh intezaar tha jiska, yeh woh sahar to nahin

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Immigration can ruin people and lives... but this it does to some of us... do you know why?

Anonymous said...

Its hard to explain. Luck/qismet plays a major role but I think, once you loose source of your inner strength like religion, culture, language or like for few people literature - you start gravitating down like free waterfall and than its all your luck where you land...

Said above, despite that, I have seen many ruined people who apparently did everything right.

God knows better.

Anonymous said...

hmmm...that is definitey a very scary and sad story. I feel for people who lose their identity in this amlagamation.


Aapne jo shair quote kiya hai..I feel like I have heard it recited in a song. Shayad noori ka song ho?

Anonymous said...

Thats the right word "amlagamation" (I liked it).

Actually this is the firt sher of faiz ahmad faiz's famous poem "Subhe-Azadi"

Anonymous said...

ज़नाब हिन्दी/ उर्दू को अंग्रेजी स्क्रिप्ट में पढ़ने में बड़ी दिक्कत होती है. हो सके तो देवनागिरी में लिखें. बहुत ही भावनात्मक ब्लॉग है.

NaVeed said...

pareshaani halat yaa waqiyat say nai khayalat say hoti hai

Anonymous said...

Annonymous - What I understood from my poor hindi reading is that, you want me to write directly in urdu or hindi , instead of roman hindi/urdu. I love writing in urdu. I tried urdu keyboard but gave up after technical glitches. Whatever hindi reading I learnt is due to my father and today u reminded me of him, I was able to read your sentence.

Naveed - you made my day. Aik jumle main itni bari baat keh di. Wah ! maza aa gaya !!