On unnecessary religious controversies!

I am not a very religious man but over years one simple story from Imam Abu Hanifa guided my way to live a tolerant life when it comes to religious beliefs. Someone asked Imam Abu Hanifa (on classic Shia-Sunni conflict among Muslims), what he thought who was on the right path in Jang-e-Jamal. He replied, "God will not ask me this question after death so I am not worried about it."

What he was implying that most differences are historical and what matters to All Mighty is your deeds.

The Odd Life of Timothy Green (& Hope Springs)

'The Odd Life of Timothy Green' is a new Hollywood flick. Its an interesting abstract simple low budget movie. Being a parent it was an important watch for me.

We all crave to have a perfect child! and we all think that our child is a miracle! Its true in many senses but things get complicated when your child is 'different' (No! I don't mean abnormal). Each child comes with his own strengths and weaknesses. He may not be a perfect piano player, swimmer or a soccer player - but he may have other artistic strengths. More than anything, he may be an optimistic, good heart survivor!! He may be the source of your own creativity. Parenthood is an experience which you lives through! Also, you will love your adopted child as much as your own biological child.

Trailer here

P.S: If you like adult-theme-'spouse related relationship issues'-type-movie, watch "Hope Springs". I have no second thought that Meryl Streep is the finest actress in Hollywood!! and Tommy Lee Jones is a very under-appreciated actor! (Sexual language) Trailer here

Sorry!

During mindless human genocide, carnage and riots of 1947 partition, Saadat Hasan Manto wrote a 4 line short story, named 'Sorry', which became an Urdu classic! (Let see how many can understand this short tell)

(Source: here)

“Ripping the belly cleanly, the knife moved in a straight line down the midriff, in the process slashing the cord, which had held the man’s pajamas in place. The one with the knife took one look and exclaimed regretfully, ‘Tut, tut, tut! … Mishtake!” (Translation by Khalid Hasan)

Hu!

Bohat dinoN se aik uljhan thi  - jo andar hi andar khaye ja rahi thi.

Sare-aiina hi pase-aaina ka aks tha
Andhera bhi wahiN tha, roshni bhi wahiN thi
Hidayat bhi wahiN thi, jahan gumrahi thi

Aur woh aik 'Allah-wali' tawaiif ka roop dhare hui thi.....

Aik asan sa jumle andar hi andar ghut raha tha: "Huzur! marne wale bhi aap ho, bachane wale bhi aap ho - aakhir ye kiya majra hai"

Aur phir - aik dost ne Hazrat Shah Niyaz (here) ki ye nazam bheji to aankhoN se aansu chalak pare! Allah jaane ye nazam ka saher tha ya Abida Perveen ki awaz ka Jadoo". Full poem is below.

Yaar ko hamne ja ba ja dekha, Kahin zaahir kahin chhupa dekha.
Nukta-e-imaan se waaqif ho, Chehra-e-yaar ja ba ja dekha.
Kahin mumkin hua kahin waajib, Kahin faani kahin baqa dekha.
Deed apne ki thi use khwahish, Aap ko har tarah bana dekha.
Dekhta aap hai sune hai aap, Na koi uska ma siwa dekha.
Soorat-e-gul mein khilkhila ke hansa, Shakl-e-bulbul mein chahchaha dekha.
Shama ho kar ke aur parwana, Aap ko aap mein jala dekha.
Kar ke daawa kahin anal haq ka, Bar sare daar wo khincha dekha.
Tha woh bartar shuma-o-ma se 'Niyaz', Phir wohi ab shuma-o-ma dekha.
Kahin begaanavash nazar aaya, Kahin surat se aashna dekha.
Kahin hai badshah-e-takht nashin, Kahin kaasa liye gada dekha.
Kahin aabid banaa kahin zahid, Kahin rindon ka peshwa dekha.
Kahin woh dar libaas-e-mashooqaan, Bar sare naaz aur ada dekha,
Kahin aashiq 'Niyaz' ki soorat, Seena biryaan-o-dil jala dekha.

Why I don't sleep with married women!

I was having an happy hour with folks at work. One colleague made an interesting comment when talk turned to sex!

"I don't seduce, flirt or sleep with married women. I've been cheated on before and it f**king sucks. I don't want to put another human being through that."

Bachpan aur Eid ka woh Hilali chand!

Jab hum chote chote se the to har Eid per sham se chand dekhne ghar ki chat (roof) pe char jaate...phir pata lagta pichli gali se chand nazar aa raha hai, to hum wahan bhagte....

Buzurg kehte ke - Eid ka Hilali chand dekh ker jo Dua ma'ngo, zaroor puri hoti hai..aur hum kiya mangte? School ki aik 'extra' chutti, dher sari eidi, Eid wale din Pepsi ki 'botal', khilone, Cricket main Pakistan ki jeet, Javed Miandad ki century, naye joote, Eid ka naya Shalwar Kameez (neele rang ka)....

Baqol Faiz sahab: "Aur Dil kehta hai har baar, chalo laut chalo"*

* And Heart says every time ! lets take journey back

On Ocean, Women and Moon

"................They spoke of her (ocean) as a contestant or a place or even an enemy. But the old man always thought of her as feminine and as something that gave or withheld great favours, and if she did wild or wicked things it was because she could not help them. The moon affects her as it does a woman, he thought".

(from Ernest Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea") - What a fine read this book is!

Subcontinental plagiarism - 2

On my previous post, Beyond put an interesting comment. Also, when I shared this article with my friends privately on email, I received few more interesting replies. I guess, it deserves a post.

1. Beyond said: "I read by chance a 1975 'Readers Digest' (RD) which I found in a second hand shop in Islamabad. Few days later, I was listening to late Ashfaq Ahmad in one of his famous talk show. A complete article was taken out of the RD about graciousness of heart.I was so really surprised".

2. A friend informed me that Ghalib completely plagiarized a 'sher' of Persian poet  Bedil:

Bedil sher was: 

Bu-e-gul,nala-e-dil,dood-e-cheragh-e-mehfil
Her k az bazm-e-tu barkhast,pareshaN barkhast

Ghalib sher was:
Bu-e-gul,nala-e-dil,dood-e-cheragh- e-mehfil
Jo teri bazm sae nikla,so pareshaN nikla

3. It is said that Rabindranath 'Tagore's Gitanjali is fully plagiarized in style from Saadi's Gulistan-o-Bostaan and Hikayaat.

4. Allama Iqbal's central idea of poetry -  "Khudi" -  is fully obtained from Nietzsche

5. Kamal Ahmad Rizvi's central characters of super hit "Alif Noon" are 100% lifted from Hollywood's Laurel & Hardy as today many Pakistani/Indian movies and TV serials are copy cats... (though name is a short version of PTV's boss at that time - Agha Nasir)

I guess list goes on..!

Subcontinental plagiarism

After long time I read a very high standard literary article from a Pakistani newspaper. (In last few years, most of Pakistani journalism has eroded to nothing but junk). Taking clue from Fareed Zakaria's recent confession of plagiarism, author reviewed plagiarism in Urdu literature! And it is a very fine read...

"Who hasn’t read Ismat Chughtai’s short stories and novels and fallen for her? Anyone who has read Lihaaf or Til or Masooma or Ziddi is fond of her. The latter, which was also made into a film, is an almost plagiarised version of a Turkish writer’s novel, Hajira. The Turkish author, who wrote by the pseudonym of Adalat Khanam, penned Hajira in English in the late 19th century. After prominent historian Amir Ali highly appreciated the book in his presidential address at the Calcutta Mohammedan Educational Conference in 1897, it was translated into Urdu in 1899. Some 43 years later, Chughtai came out with her novella, Ziddi. She changed the Turkish, Muslim names into Hindu names and turned the comedy into a tragedy. Most of the plot, dialogue and setting remain the same;..."

Read full article:  Subcontinental plagiarism: Idrees Bakhtiar

URL: http://dawn.com/2012/08/14/subcontinental-plagiarism/

Different

"All men are pigs and all women are bitches. Don't you agree?"
"Let me put it this way. They both are different animals"

Saheri ke baad!

(A true episode as narrated to me)

Hum college main achhe dost the! 
Jub college chuta to saari dostiaN bhi chut gai. 
Ab to college chore bhi 30 baras ho gaye...

Hamari us ke baad sirf aik baar rasmi si mulaqat hui. 
Na koi rabta na koi taaluq. 
Na kabhi koi email na kabhi dostoN main koi khas zikar....

Aaj subah sehri ke baad mujeh ganoodgi se mehsoos hui. Main bistar pe let gaya. Khawab main kiya dekhta hun - hum phir college main hain aur dostoN ka mazaq chal raha hai.. Main us se khub bataiN ker raha hun......Phir meri aankh khul gai....Aankh khuli to aik ajeeb si bechani thi...

Aur phir kahin se khabar aai ke - "kul raat mar gaya woh" *

Shayed waqte-nazah usne mujeh halka sa yaad kia hoga....

Kiya insaani rishte kabhi nahi marte?


* It was morning in Pakistan but night in USA

5 Quotes

Life is similar to Boxing game.
Defeat is NOT declared when you fall down;
It is declared when you refuse to ‘Get Up’!

Two things bring happiness & success in life:
 1. The way you MANAGE when you have nothing, and
 2. The way you BEHAVE when you have everything !

A Deaf child says: “For all of you, I am deaf; But for me, all of you are dumb…”
 Moral: Life differs in each perspective.

 Do you know why God didn't give us the gift to read others’ minds?
 So that, We could have the chance to “TRUST”, And privilege to be “TRUSTED”!

Diplomacy is an art of telling people to go to hell in such a way that they tend to ask you for directions..!!