Laal Baig

Another gem of writing from Banu Apa. (Total Time about half hour)

"Hum khud apni mataye-garoor ko apni ana ki aag main jala ker maar dete hain aur phir saari zindagi uspe laal baig ke tarah reengte rehte hain"

On Eid Day

Khuda Quran main kehta hai ke woh hame aazmaye ga - dar se, bhook se, maal se, jaan se aur phaloN (aulad) ki kami se (2:155).

Kubhi kubhi sochta hun - zaroori to nahi ke - ye dar, bhook, maal, jaan aur phalon ki kami hamari apni ho. Iska ye matlab bhi to ho sakta hai ke - kisi aur ke dar ko hum kitna baantte hain, kisi aur ki bhook ko hum kitna mehsoos kerte hain. Kisi ke maal pe badnazri to nahi kerte. Kisi aur ki jaan ko kese bachate hain aur apni aulad ko kitna is qabil banate hain ke woh kisi aur ke kaam aaye!

Baqol Ashfaq Ahmad: Allah hame asani de aur saath asani taqseem kerne ka sharf bhi de!

Hum Baray Ho Gaye!

Aik hulki phulki magar khubsurat nazam. Shared from Rida's blog. Poet unknow.

Hum baray ho gaye
Muskurahat, tabassum, hansi, qehqahay
Sub kay sub kho gaye
Hum baray ho gaye

Zimma-e-dari musalsal nibhatay rahay
Apnay dukh soch kar roay tanhai main
Mehfilon main magar muskuratay rahay
Kitnay logon se ab mukhtalif ho gaye
Hum baray ho gaye

Aur kitni musafat hai baqi abhi
Zindagi ki hararat hai baqi abhi
Wo jo hum se baray hain salamat rahain
In sabhi ki zarorat hai baqi abhi
Jo thapak kar sulatay thay khud so gaye
Hum baray ho gaye

Khatm honay ko ab zindagani hui
Janay kub aai aur kya jawani hui
Jo haqeqat thi ab wo kahani hui
Manzilain mil gaein humsafar kho gaye
Hum baray ho gaye

Updated Fairy tale!

Last week we watched new Hollywood flick "Friends With Benefits". On lighter note it was a good watch to relax (though R-Rated). Just sharing one line from movie - Mother to Jamie (Mila Kunis):


"You need to update your fairy tale. You don't need a prince on horse carriage but a partner to face this world".

 Also this movie portrayed NY and spirit of NY so well!
 Trailer here

Boys' sexploitation

Few days ago, I posted my review on off beat bollywood movie "I AM" (here). Rohit is one heck of an intelligent boy from Mumbai. He send me his review. One thing striking in his review is statistics of child abuse back home:

".............The piece, “I am Abhimanyu”, is another very important one. This subject of Child sexual abuse needs more discussion in public domain. This is one area that is mostly shoved under the carpet, in Indian homes. In a survey conducted by government of India, it was found that 53.22% of children being surveyed were sexually abused, out of which 52.9% were boys, a number way higher than the girls (Source –Study on Child Abuse, India 2007 by Ministry of Women and Child Development, Govt. of India. More details are also available on Wikipedia). It is important that we build an atmosphere of confidence in our homes so that children can report such issues at least to someone......"

Also his take on movie is way different than mine (I loved his take on story of Megha). You can read his whole review here

Mid August!

On our independence days. I am sure most of you have seen this viral video but I think it would be an important post for this day as we all in perdes cant take des(h) out of us, no matter how hard we try!

Karthik calling Karthik

I was recommended this movie long time ago but remained unopened on my desk for months. Finally I saw this flick and loved it. I have written on this blog before about my interest in Schizophrenia.

'Karthik calling Karthik' starring Farhan Akhtar (also producer) is an off beat movie for which it is said that in an effort to do his role, he isolated himself in real life and turned off his phone. He also learned to solve the Rubik's Cube, Which was shown as hobby of central character - and at the end Farhan did a superb job of a schizophrenic.

This movie superbly deal with the denial, bi-polar roller coaster, intelligence, self manipulation and self-mutilation of a schizophrenic person. This movie reminded me of all schizophrenic patients and people I have met in life. If you like off beat flicks watch it.

Add.: It was more like a 'mutiple personality disorder' than Schizophrenia.....and at one point in movie they brought this point too...but I guess for the sake of movie, it was portrayed simply as Schizophrenia.

Faiz on Prison, Burqa and Confinement

I see this now applied to whole Pakistan's present day society.

".....I think I have written before that prison life does accentuate petty selfishness. I have never understood that psychology of purdah women as well as I do now. It is the normal psychology of a prisoner. I understand the pettinesses, the preoccupation with small grievances that seem to occupy the whole universe, the oblivion to larger impersonal issues, the selfishness and the self-pity, the spitefulness and the temper, the silliness and the servility, spells of paralysis and feverish activity - all this is the usual concomitant of suppressed and confined living and not very easy for free people to understand......"

(In a letter -dated March 7, 1952 - to his wife during his prison of famous 'Rawalpindi sazish case' published  in Pakistan recently by his daughter Salima Hashmi. You can read full letter here)

Ifti!

(Few days ago Pakistani poet Iftikhar Naseem passed away. I heard this news while away from town. It took a while to absorb his death).

Ifti se meri pehli mulaqat Chicago ki 'clark street' ke aik restaurant main ittafaqan hui. Main Pakistan se naya naya  wareed huwa tha aur Chicago main residency ker raha tha. Aik din main yunhi 'Lincoln park' aur 'Clark Street' pe gasht ker raha tha. America ka 'euphoria' tha magar jeb main paise nahi the! Main aik resturant ke bahir khare ho ker yunhi menu parh raha tha ke mujhe andar se kisi desi shaks ne ishara ker ke andar aane ko kaha. Ye Ifti tha!

Ifti ne yunhi rasman do char baataiN ki aur phir aik dum se poocha: 'Peeche kis kis ko chor aaye ho?' Main ne jawab diya: 'Amma Abba ko'. Ifti ne wahiN napkin pe aik sher likh diya

Taaq per juzdan main lipti DuaiN reh Gain
chal diye bete safar per, ghar main MaaiN reh gain

Ye to mujeh barsoN baad pata laga ke ye khud Ifti ka sher tha. Ab bhi Ifti ki likhai mere saamne dhari hai. Main jub tuk Chicago main raha, Ifti ke naye naye chehre saamne aate gaye. Ifti ailania 'Gay' tha. Kai log Ifti se meri dosti ka sunte to mujeh kehte kiun badnaami kerwate ho magar Ifti ne mujeh kubhi kisi tarah se kahin bhi 'seduce' kerne ki koi koshish nahi ki.

Ifti ke hawale se meri zindagi main kai haseen yaadaiN hain. Ifti ke hawale se hi meri Kaifi Aazmi, Shabana Aazmi, Jawed Akthar aur kai aur logon  se mulaqat hui. Woh raat main kese bhool sakta hun jun hum ne Michigan lake pe waqye Ifti ke Condo pe Ahmad Faraz se unhi ki zabani kai nazmain ghazalaiN suni. Faraz sahab bhi us din saroor main the. Raat gaaye ye silsila chalta raha. Us pe Ifti ke latife! Ajeeb hans mukh aadmi tha bulke saala poora comedian tha. Apne hi latifoN per apni tond hila hila ke sab se ziyada hasta! Zindagi ka kitna hi gambhir masala ho, ifti ko us main mizah ka pehlu dikh jata. Bala ka hazir jawab tha. (Read Dr. Azra Raza's article on him "Mr. Wrong"!).

Magar Ifti dil ka bara naram tha. Jub uske ghar jao koi naya aadmi sir chupaye betha hai aur Ifti us ke liye kaam dhundh raha hai. Ifti ne aik billi paal rakhi thi. Mujeh billioN se dar lagta tha. Main uske haan jata to Ifti billi ko apne paas hi rakhta. Ifti shuru se hi 'bagi' tha. Pakistan chorne se pehle us ne ayub khan ke khilaf chalne wali tehreek main goli khai, jail gaya. Allah! jaane kitne logon ko is baat ka ilm hai. Isi 'bagawat' ke confusion main woh 'Gay' bun gaya! Hum use koi bhi naam dain magar woh khud ko 'juggler' kehta! ke raat din ko balance kerne main hi mera waqt kut jaata hai.

Ifti se meri do dafa laraii hui. Pehli baar Shaifqur-Rehman ke hawale se kahin koi baat ho rahi thi. Ifti ne kaha woh Urdu ke sab se bare 'satirist' hain. Main ne kaha main nahi maanta. Mere khayal main Shafiqur Rehman ne mizah zaroor likha magar bunyaadi tor pe woh aik rumanwi likhari the. Ifti ko bara bura laga. Dusri baar, kahin koi punjabi mushaira ho raha tha. Main ne ifti se kaha, Pakistan ke jo halat hain wahan aik Urdu ghazal bhi parh do. Ifti biphar gaya. Kehne laga kisi ko punjabi se takleef hai to apne paas rakhe.

Ifti se mujeh do shikayataiN hain. Aik to ye ke us ne bohat ziyada likha! Jo uske zahan main aata kagaz pe likh deta aur chaap bhi deta. Is se kai jagah bharti ka saman jamah ho gaya. Dusri ye ke us ne  shayeri pe to khub dhiyan diya magar uska kamal afsana-nigari tha. JinhoN ne us ki 'short stories' parhi hain woh jaante hain ke Ifti kis qadar kamal ka afsana-nigar tha. magar saari duniya use shayeri ke hawale se jaanti hai. Aik baar main ne Ifti ko apne do afsane "Hasbe-Aarzoo" aur "Jinu Abraham" diye. Usne zaban theek ker ke kaha lao chaap dun! Main ne kaha nahi bhai mujeh nahi chapwane - ye sirf apni 'psychotherapy' ke liye likhe hain. Kehne laga mujeh de do. Barson uske paas pare rahe magar meri baat ka lihaz kerte huwe na chaape.

Hassas aadmi tha is liye 'brain hemorrhage' se mar gaya! Baqol Ghalib

Haq Magfirat kare, ajab azad mard tha!


You can hear above post below

Resham Apa

Resham Apa se main koi 20 baras baad mila. Ab to unki umar 65 ke lagh bagh ho chali ho gi. Hamilton (Toronto) main kisi ghar main aaya (maid/nanny) ka kaam kerti hain.

Resham Apa ki kahani na to koi afsana nigar likhe ga - aur na hi kisi ko us se dilchaspi ho gi -  magar dukh ki aik kasak kahin hawaoN maiN terti rahe gi.

Resham apa jawani se hi bari khubsurat thi. Mohallae ke larkoN se tang aa ker un ke amma abba ne 16 baras ki umar main hi biha diya. Shadi ke baad aik baad ooper neeche 5 bachhe paida ho gaye. 1971 ki jang main balwaioN (miscreants) ne unke shohar ko maar diya. Luti lutai Resham apa Karachi aain. RishtedaroN ne thori bohat madad ker ke - landhi ya korangi ke ilaqe main aik chota sa makan kiraye pe kerwa diya. Resham apa ne gharoN main maasi ka kaam kerna shuru ker diya. Bachhe sarkari school jaane lage!

Resham apa jawan thiN, khubsurat thin aur akeli thin. Jis ghar pe woh khana pakati thiN wahan ki maalkan ke beta un pe aashiq ho gaya. Usne Resham apa ko bachhe chor ke bhagne ki targeeb di. Resham apa uske behkawe main aa gain. Lurke ne dono ka passport banwaya, America ka visa lagwaya (was easy in 70s). Aik raat unhoN ne bachhoN ko bhai ke ghar chora aur lurke ke saath airport nikal gain. ......Magar airport paunchi to bachhon ki shaqlaiN saamne aa gain aur woh airport se wapas laut aain. ......

Resham apa ne  maasi ka kaam phir se shuru ker diya aur Zindagi ka phayya ghumta raha. Resham Apa ki tarah un ki 3 betiaN bhi khubsurat thiN. Achhi jagah biha gain. Aik lurka accident main faut ho gaya. Dusre lurke ne MBA ker liya aur Canada aa gaya. Usne apni ma ko sponsor ker ke Canada bula liya magar shaadi ke baad bahu ne saas ko ghar main rakhne se inkaar ker diya. Suna he beta Vancouver chala gaya hai aur ab Maa se la-taaluq hai.

Reshma apa ne masi bun ke 5 bachhe bare kiye, zindagi guzari, apni khawishoN ka gala ghota - magar ab bhi maasi ka kaam ker rahi hain. Main un se mila to mera beta mere saath tha. Use dekh ke unki aankhoN main aansu aa gaye. Shayed unhe apna beta yaad aa gaya.......Us aik aansu ki bund main 65 baras ka dukh dhalak gaya...

Main ne aap se kaha tha na ke: Resham Apa ki kahani na to koi afsana nigar likhe ga - aur na hi kisi ko us se dilchaspi ho gi - magar dukh ki aik kasak kahin hawaoN maiN terti rahe gi.

EI and Ethics!

In last 15 years one term became very popular called "Emotional Intelligence" (EI). I believe I have talked about it before on this blog here. Personally, I was shocked when few years ago I was tested during my interview at one of the huge health care chain.

Couple of weeks ago while in travel I picked one magazine and encountered an interesting article. Author was an Ottawa based freelance journalist Jennifer Campbell. She argued about the dark side of EI with references of some credible studies. Allegedly people with high EI can be very manipulative and can harm or use people around to fulfill their own needs and gain benefits. Keeping ethics aside, they are worried only about their social climb. In nutshell, people with EI are only valuable if they come with values of honesty, loyalty and trustworthiness.

(I tried but was unable to find electronic version of her article but here is similar article click).