On 'ilme najoom"

(I am making following post for my own record)

Bano Qudsia was born in Feroz Pur, India. It is said that when she was born, there was a hindu jotish (palmist) sitting outside the hospital. He predicted that this moment a 'bhagat' (god's person) is borned.  Later, she became one of the finest author of Urdu literature and over time her writings were bridge towards sufism and spiritualism.

Dye and High Heel

Us mard ka kabhi aitabar na karna jo khizab lagata ho ya oonchi aerhi ke joote pehnta ho

(Never trust a man who Dye his hair or use high heels for shoes)

 - Ardeshir Cowasjee

A rare Jaun Elia's talk (on Urdu and Shia rituals)

Jaun Elia remained a very volatile and controversial figure in Pakistan's modern literary history due to his unconventional thoughts, poetry and courage to speak loudly his thoughts.

Following is a very rare - albeit controversial talk - on Urdu and some rituals of Shia sect (He himself belong to a very reputed literary Shia family). Speech contains urdu curse words (C****, BC etc.) It tells us how Shia and Sunni sects lived peacefully in India just in recent past!

Personally, I met him twice. First, when I went to a small library/literary center in Garden east, Karachi looking for a book on Hasan bin Sabah. He helped me out and I didn't know this is Joan Elia. He worked there as a scholar. Second time, I saw him in a mushaira in Karachi. He was literally and physically thrown out of National stadium when he start talking against MQM!

Note: His full name was Jaun Asghar Elia. Why he was named Jaun by his father and what it means, I don't know. But Elia was his faher's tkhallus and he adopted same.

Enjoy:    http://www.kidvai.com/windmills/Media/JoT.mp3

Rumi

Rumi's poetry has consistent themes from different angles including "love for all including sinners even murderers", - and - '"Learning the secrets of the universe through silence". 

 But one theme which always remained stuck to my brain and I found consistently true in my life is - "What you seek is seeking you"

Green Card

Mujeh ye bhi to yaad hai ke - Jab main New York main tha aur woh mere saath thiN - aur main ne aik din hanste huwe unhe kaha tha ....... "Ammi main soch raha hun ke yahiN shadi ker lun, achha hai na Green Card bhi mil jaaye ga"..... To Ammi ne mujeh muskura ker kaha tha: "Achha! ye halaat hain? Beta jo log zindagi main kamyabi ke liye chote chote raaste akhtiyar kerte hain, woh amuman chote faasle hi tay ker paate haiN. Tum khud ki qabliyat pe bharosa kiun nahi kerte"......


(From Baland Iqbal's short story 'Ya Bibi Sayyada'. Baland Iqbal is a physician, writer, journalist and TV anchor. He resides in Toronto. He is son of Himayat Ali Shayer. He recently published his short stories - "Meri Ikyawan KhaniyaN")

Man's Ego

(One of my friend frequently flirt with writing TV dramas. He wrote something very interesting)

"Mard ki anaa hi uski sab se bari taqat aur uski sab se bari kamzori hoti hai"!

(man's ego is his biggest strength as well his weakness)

A thought

I seldom share forwarded stuff from emails, FB etc. But I am sharing following, as it has a little different angle in its thought which struck me. Kind of a girly thing but....

Knowledge, Intelligence and Wisdom

Human intellect is comprised of 3 levels

1. Knowledge - to know various aspects of a subject
2. Intelligence - Ability to drive a conclusion from that knowledge
3. Wisdom - To know what to to do with that conclusion

(In Urdu you may call it Ilm, aqalmandi aur Danish)

Gulab Jamun

Jab hum college main the to hamare aik ustad kehte the: "Insaan ki zindagi main aik mithai aesi honi chahiye jis pe aap ka bure se bure tareen halaat main bhi dil aa jaaye aur aap ko, us ko khane ki tamanna ho. Jab tak aesa hai, samjhaiye aap main zindagi ki ramaq baqi hai"

I can say this "yes" to Gulab Jamun. Do you have any?

Diwali (and RIP)

Few bloggers continue to amaze me with their wisdom (mind it: wisdom is different from intelligence)

Rohit from Mumbai again strike me with a beautiful post on Diwali:

"On Diwali, when I was a kid, Maa would ask me to keep my door and windows open as I sleep. She would say, “We should not miss any chance if Lakshmi plans to walk into our house.” Well I don’t really know if Lakshmi ever walked into my room in last so many Diwali nights. In fact I don’t even know or care if she exists. But what has remained with me is the idea of open doors and windows. Today, as people around me prepare for the festival once again, I wonder what are we gonna open ourselves to?.........As I retrospect today, I realize, besides everything else that could or could not, what certainly has walked into my life is a sense of wonder.... With each person around us, there’s this amazing possibility of a whole new world… or a whole new understanding of our existing world."......Read whole post here (http://rohit05kumar.blogspot.com/2013/11/happy-diwali.html)


And, Adnan (Toronto) wrote: When we say "rest in peace," we're not speaking to the dead. We're speaking to ourselves." His blog link is here: http://blog.jaaduhai.com/

A note on 'Animal Farm'

First time I read George Orwell's 'Animal Farm' in intermediate as an assignment from our English teacher. That age of 16 was not very sweet as our heads were confused and angry over the modus operandi of this universe. We debated the book even outside the classroom on the beautiful lawn and stairs of National College, Karachi. We laughed, we vented, and we shook our heads. It was such a great work depicting the idiosyncrasy of both capitalism and communism. It was a commentary on the hidden evil nature of humans.

A week ago, I picked up that book again at O'hare airport. A smile came to my face. It brought back tons of memories. I reread it. I am more at peace with this world; I learned two lessons from that book.

1. In various roles and capacities in our lives - as a parent or as a teacher or as a spouse, brother, sister, friend, boss, etc., etc. - we have more or less some power over someone or something. If we don't keep our heads in check - we quickly start abusing our role. 'Animal Farm' teaches us how the human mind can easily and promptly succumb to power!

2. Humans, for their means, can stoop to any level, even if they have to trade, dine and wine with low-level savages and animals. In Urdu, let me convey my sentiments: Insaan bara Kamina hai. Ye apne matlab ke liye kisi bhi janwar ya shaitan se dosti ker sakta hai.

*

Note: It is a very small novel which you can finish quickly. Free link here

Mamta

"Shadi achi cheez hai, ker leni chahiye"
"Aur agar shadi kisi kamine aadmi se ho jaaye to?"

"To koshish kerni chahiye ke bachhe ho jaain"
"Ye kiya baat hui?"

"Baat to hui! Aurat ke andar Ma banne ka aur aulad ki parvarish kerne ka aik aesa janooni jazba hai, ke woh uske liye ziyada tar, kisi bhi kamine shohar ko bardasht ker leti hai"

4 Surah

"Tum na to khuda ko maante ho aur na kisi Allah wale ko! Har cheez ko psychiatry ki aankh se dekhte ho. Agar ye sab jhut hota to 15 saal main kahin kisi 'prozac', kisi 'paxil' ya kisi 'psychotherapy' se mere 'depression' ka ilaj ho hi jata! 

Magar mera ilaj huwa to korangi main bethe aik baba ki choti si dua se.

Yaad hai! - jab tum ne mujhe Banu Qudsiya ki kitab ka woh hissa park ker sunaya tha jis main likha tha - 'Insaan Ishqe-la-haasil se deewana huwa' - to main kitna bilak bilak ke roi thi.

Us din pehli baar main ne tumhe bataya ke Rehan ka ishq mujhe kha gaya. Jab Rehan mujhe chor ker chala gaya to main sach main deewani ho gai - Jitni 'medicines' ke naam tumhe nahi aate un se dugni dawaiaN main ne khai hain - Kai kai raataiN ro ro ker guzari....magar aik lamha chen nahi aaya. 

Peechle mahine Pakistan gai to bari apa mujhe korangi main aik baba ke paas le gain. Us ne bas sir pe haat pehra, paani ka aik piyala diya, us pe koi ayat parhi aur kaha pi jao. Phir raat ko sone se pehle 4 surahaiN parhne ki nasehat ki. Jis Quran ki ayatoN ka tum aksar mazaq urate ho, uski 4 surah tumhari saari psycho-pharmacy se ziyada taqatwar nikli...Us raat 15 baras main pehli baar khub ji bhar ker soi.

Sach poocho to har raat surah falaq, surah naas, sura ahad aur surah asar parh ker soti hun - aur itni gehri neend soti hun ke kabhi na soi thi.

Mere bablu!  Apne Allah se laraii chor do. Tumhari tarah main bhi  apne khuda se barsoN larti rahi, magar sukoon ki neend aakhir usi ki agosh main aai hai!"