Non-surprises!

"Zindagi main kubhi kubhi 'surprises' se ziyada 'non-surprises' achhe lagte hain. Apka 'partner' subah subah kitna 'cranky' hoga. Jali hui 'chai' pe khud kitna jala huwa hoga. Subha jaate hue jo 'forehead' pe aik 'kiss' ki adat si ho jaati hai. Jub aap ki dawwiyaN aap ko koi aur yaad dilata hai. Jub aap ki khoi hui cheezain kisi aur ko mil jaati haiN. Jub saare ghar main har taraf kitabaiN bikhri pari hoti haiN. Jub saalon baad bhi toothpaste ke dhakkan kho jaate hain...aur bus aese hi bohat si batain....

..........kuch non-surprises aese ho jaate hain jese saans lene ki adat."

24 years prison!

"I was in federal prison, serving the seventh year of a 24-year sentence for a first-time nonviolent crack cocaine offense...Many things have changed in the last decade. I graduated from college, attended law school, got married, raised my son who was born while I was incarcerated and gave birth to a daughter. I also established my own foundation to give hope to children of incarcerated parents."

Interesting real life story of Kemba Smith Pradia here

Aurat ka Kaaba

"Aurat ki sab se bari 'problem' ye hai ke - us ka kaaba sirf apni zaat hoti hai"

Daddy's Girl

"I always wanted to be my Daddy's little girl. We were five sisters, but I always felt that my father keep distance from me - up to the point that I started thinking that - I was not her real daughter. As I grew up, I connected to him, and we started communicating - but I still feel that empty space left vacant when I was 6-7-8-9-10 years old."

*

Muhabbat ki Zaban

Hamari 'maid' spanish bolti hai aur use urdu/angrezi ka aik lafz nahi aata. Aur udhar hamari Amma ko spanish ka aik lafz nahi aata. Magar phir bhi dono ghantoN saath guzar leti hain. Dono aksar saath shopping kerne jaati hain! Ye kaunsi zaban hai jo do insaan bagair bole aik dusre se bol lete hain.

Kaun Sahi, Kaun Galat?

(Shared on dinner table)

Mere Abbu aik 'self made' insaan the. Mere dada ke paas bari daulat thi magar abbu ne un ka aik paisa nahi liya aur khali haat Pakistan hijrat ker gaye. Unhon ne Pakistan main apni zindagi phir se shuru ki, shadi ki aur hum 6 bhai bahen paida huwe. Abbu ne sadar main aik choti si dukan shuru ki. Mehnat aur lagan se use parwan charhaya. Jub bhai ne hum sab ko Canada ke liye 'sponsor' kiya to abbu makhmase (confusion) main par gaye ke 40 saal purani dukan ka kiya karain? Yun to woh dukan kiraye pe thi magar uski pagri (Goodwill) kum az kum 50-70 lakh hogi. Abbu ke liye woh Dukan bechna yun tha jese aulad ko bechna. Hum sab ke mashware pe abbu ne beech ka raasta akhtiyar kiya. Unhon ne Dukan apne 28 saal purane mulazim - Jamil Chacha - ko chalane de di. Waada ye tha ke agar kubhi abbu wapas aana chahain to dukan unhe mil jaaye. Aur har mahine Jamil Chacha 3000 rupe abbu ki mad main jama kerte jaayain. Baqi ooper jo kamai ho woh Jamil Chacha ki. 

Jamil Chacha ke kehne pe abbu ne maalik makan se keh ker Dukan ki 'lease' apne naam se Jamil Chacha ke naam 'transfer' ker di. Do saal baad abbu Pakistan gaye to Jamil Chacha ne paise dene to darkinar bulke abbu se ye keh diya - ab ye dukan meri hai - raat gayi baat gayi. Abbu wapas Canada aa gaye. PaisoN ka to koi gum nahi tha magar Aulad jesi Dukan khone ka gum unhe ander hi ander se khaye jaata tha aur usi gum main woh fot ho gaye. Kubhi khud hi kehte the: 'Jamil ki baat bhi theek hai' - phir khud hi kehte the: 'magar dukan to meri thi'....Aur phir aah bhar ker khud hi kehte the: 'Allah hi Qayamat ke roz faisla ker de ga'..... Aur mujh jesa bin-mazhab aadmi dil hi dil main Mirza Ghalib ka ye sher parhta hai:

jate hue kahte ho qayamat ko milenge
kya khub! qayamat ka hai goya koi din aur

Book

(Found on Facebook - author unknown)

"There comes a time when you have to choose between turning the Page or closing the Book!"

16 Jyotsna

I bumped this young man's blog on net. His name is Rohit and he is from Mumbai. I liked his few short stories as I think I can relate to them from my Karachi background. Here is one I really enjoyed. His last line is a superb punch!

"My experiences with Mumbai are always analyzed and debated upon with self, sitting in that narrow kitchen window of my apartment; we now famously call as 16 Jyotsna........." Read full story here.

hat lady

I am blogging now almost for 6 years and I consistently follow very few blogs. Out of all bloggers - I found 2 boys very distinct in their outlook and perspective on life. Very intelligent chaps. One is Nabeel (I think he is in Chicago) and other is Adnan (I guess he is in Canada).

Adnan has rare quality of expressing things in few words. He is a master of one liner. He can see things which we can't! With his permission I am putting his latest post here.

"The wind caught the tip of her hat. The hat danced on her head for a mere second before flying off with the wind. The distance grew further and further between the hat and her outstretched arms. The look on her face was as if a part of her had died. We are still not sure which part."

Stuff! - A note from life

I lost couple of my bags and about 10 boxes during move about 15 months ago. Somehow they came back. Interestingly though I was very attached to them I realized I never needed them (at all)! And actually I threw half of the stuff in trash........HAHAHAHA. We all are collection masters and we carry stuff around...jese gadhe ki peeth pe bojh.

Sab thath para reh jawe ga jub laad chale ga banjara

Guilt!

(A true instance from my early days in USA)

I was on 15 hours bus ride on Grayhound going from Detroit to NY. I had 5 bucks left in my pocket. I didn't know what I would do if a person in Manhattan refuse to give me space. I had to save my bucks for subway rides in NY. It was Youngstown, Ohio where I could not take my hunger anymore and decide to spend  2 dollars to get a sandwich from a vending machine. As bus departs - I was shocked to see - by mistake I got Ham sandwich. Tears rolled over my eyes. I struggled for next 2/3 hours to debate should I eat pork. Finally I could not take it anymore and ate sandwich but that guilt haunted me for years till I develop intellectual strength to see I was right that day.

Andekhi quwatoN ke ghere main
InsaaN phir bhi kathere maiN

Births

"Do you think woman who gives natural birth to a child loves her kid more than the woman who goes through C-section because she never experienced that pain and climax of pregnancy?"

Gussa

Apni residency ke baad main ne yahan blog pe apni pehli job ke 2/3 'interesting' logoN ka zikar kiya hai (Rick Osman, Velona, Behroz etc.) Unhi dinoN meri mulaqat aik Indian sahab Mr. Anil se hui. Naam bhi Anil tha aur shakal bhi Anil kapoor jesi thi. Umer koi 50-55 ke aas paas hogi.

Anil sahab apni mun boli beti ko hospital se pick aur drop kerne aate the. Woh hamare hospital main clinical rotation ker rahi thi. Unki kahani unki zabani suniye:

"America aa ke jub kuch paise jama huwe to main ne aik chota sa 'steak house' restaurant kharida. Meri biwi ne mera poora saath diya. Hamara restaurant khub chalne laga. Main kafi khushal zindagi guzarne laga. Rupe paisoN ko koi kami na rahi. Meri do betiyaN thi. Mera bara shoq tha ke dono betiyon ko doctor banauN. Meri betiyan parhai main kamzor thiN is liye yahan US main admission nahi mil raha tha. Kisi ke mashware pe main ne un dono ko caribbean ke aik medical school main daakhil kerwa diya. Yun to main america main rehta tha magar 'indian values' ke muamle main bohat 'conservative' the. Aik saal ke baad jub meri aik beti ki birthday thi to hum ne unhe 'surprise' dene ka faisla kiya. Apni beti ke ghar ki aik chaabi (key) main ne 'as a precaution' apne paas rakh li thi. Jub wahan paunche to - "I was shattered to see my one daughter sleeping with a black guy (kala meri beti ke saath soye - yahi mere liye kaafi tha). I also found drugs on table. I crossed red line in my head.....Main gusse main wehshi aur junooni ho gaya. Jo haat main aaya us se beti ko peetna shuru ker diya. Police aa gai....I was thrown in jail....But the sadest part is that my daughter died after few days in hospital. I was jailed for 10 years. Making long story short my other daughter came back to USA. I, my wife and my other daughter went through extensive psychotherapy. Jo nuqsan hona tha woh to ho gaya magar main ne faisla kiya jub tuk mere paas daulat hai - har saal aik indian larki jo khud doctor banna chahe ko doctor banuN ga - shayed meri mari hui beti mujeh muaf ker sake."

Is kahani ke kai pehlu hain - zabardasti apni marzi aulad pe thopna, caribbean medical schools itself (?), reacting to teenagers mistake, racism toward blacks........

Gussa bari bhyanak shey hai. Jitni kahaniyaN likho kum hai.