Maryam

Jab peechle saal main Rome ja raha tha to Elsa (my co-worker) ne mujh se kaha mere liye Bibi Maryam ke naam ki tasbeeh (rosary) le aana. Jab main wapas aaya to usne mujh se poocha: "Tumhe Vatican main sab se achha kiya laga?"

Main ne Jawab diya: "Maryam ke naam ki tasbeeh"

To hasne lagi aur kehne lagi: "Tum to Vatican ja ker bilkul hi isaaii ho gaye ho?"

Main ne kaha: "Ye baat nahi....magar jun jun meri umar guzarti ja rahi hai...main sochta hun Ibne maryam to saare zamane ke dukhoN ka madawa kerta tha - magar Maryam apni aulad pe hota zulm dekh ker jis dukh aur karb se guzarti hogi, to us bechaari ke aansu kaun paunchta hoga....."

On word "Whore"

On my one previous post (here), 'Beyond' wrote a comment. I agree completely and don't feel like adding anything except to answer that probably we use monogamy as a tool to treat our insecurities.

 "I feel sad for a whore in any case. The term itself is very derogatory towards female gender. There is no male equivalent for men in common language. The idea that a woman will know men better if she has sold herself physically is revolting. It may be true but paints a very bleak picture of this world. Why is the idea of marriage so appealing to masses? If a woman is with several men, it is considered a taboo. If she is married to a man, all is well. Monogamy makes us very comfortable. Please blog about it mystic, someday."

Clay pots

For the longest time, I remained curious about the fascination of artists with clay pots. Once, a priest told me that bible symbolises human souls in bodies, similar to perseverance of treasures in clay pots. I came across the following quote and felt like sharing.

Walmart

If you want to destroy a community, culture or a town - built walmart there.

Maujeeza

Log kehte hain paani pe chalna maujiza hai, magar main kehta hun - 
jeese zameen pe chalne ka saliqa aa gaya use maujeeza mil gaya

~ Annonymous

One ER doc

(A conversation with one of my desi ER colleague)

"Tum itne pur-sakoon kese rehte ho?"

"Jab poora din ER main logon pe yak-dum aane wali aafton se nipat ker ghar aata hun, to ghanton sochta rehta hun ke insaan ki zindagi kese aik lamhe main badal jaati hai. Saari kahanian, saath khaRe ghar wale, unke aansu....... Sab ko lagta hai pur-sakoon hun magar andar toofan chal raha hota hai"

On 'Ultra-short stories' - 2

On one of my previous post on 'ultra-short stories', (here) someone left a short but a powerful comment

~ my two words story "she lived"  ~