After movie zero

My daughter is a Shah Rukh Khan fan. No wonder, I had to take her to SRK's movie on an opening day. After the movie, she asked:

"Is it true that if you break someone's heart, you lose your magic?"

"Beta! losing someone's trust is worse than losing the magic."

A quote

I found the following quote very interesting, actually, the other version is better

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Another version: If you seduce her mind, her body will follow.

What you would have done?

I think this is the highest test of human integrity. After reading the following story, I asked myself, what I would have done? I don't know the answer.

 (And if I don't know the answer, I failed the test!)

A New York subway rider might have earned himself a spot for life on Santa's "nice" list after he turned in a purse with $10,000 cash he found on a train platform.

Link: https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/22/us/cash-subway-found-purse/index.html

A Diary from Haj

(Posted as shared)

"It is strange to see women totally covered sleeping in the mosque.
On the side note, the electricity bill of this place should be in millions at least. 
Only animals you will see are cats & pigeons.

It is weird to be stared at by men.
No one looks at you in the west.

In 2009, you were not allowed to take camera phone inside. Now as everyone has a smartphone, the authority cannot do much. The amount of selfies taken with Kaaba in the background is mind-boggling. People making videos while doing tawaaf is distasteful. I have even seen people Skype while doing tawaaf. I may sound ancient but C'mon people. It is just not right. 

As many men have their shoulders uncovered, it is rather cringe-worthy to see human flaws. Hair like a bear, moles & skin tags. Some men have their belly bare which is very unsightly. Quite unattractive. Such big wobbly bellies. 

The cloth of Kaaba is very fragrant. Very soft.

People bring food and give it to other people. Anything from tea to candy to dates etc etc. My sister in law actually thought that people are selling it. It is 3.16 am. People are giving away tea and snacks. Isn't it great? Free food.

There are ababeel like birds at Fajr time.

There is no overweight Malaysian or Indonesian woman and no underweight Arab woman that I have seen:-) I can see women with water bottles on the top of their heads just like a gaon ki aurat with matka on her head. It is very amusing to see that. Some Arab woman from a gaon of Egypt may be.

Egyptians make the largest proportion of visitors to Makkah followed by Pakistan & Indonesia. "

Trajectory

As I have lived more than half of my life, and as I try to connect the dots of various episodes, I am learning that sometimes minor incidents in our lives set a trajectory of more significant future events. We meet someone accidentally, see a billboard, read a mindless article, travel somewhere for no reason, or even make a wrong turn on a highway. Minor events and daily occurrences sometimes set a trajectory to a more immense horizon. I think I blogged the quote from Steve Jobs before:

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. Because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart even when it leads you off the well worn path; and that will make all the difference.”

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On "Good Anger"

Following has been described frequently in sufi literature:

"Gussa aag ki ruhani shakal hai. Agar qaboo main rahe to chulhe pe tuaam ka baais banti hai - aur be-qaboo ho jaaye to ghar jhulas deti hai".

(Anger is a spiritual form of fire. If stays in control, it prepares a feast - and if gets out of control, can gut the whole house.)

Over the years, I learned that actually, the post-anger phase is more beneficial! After a bout of (hopefully controlled) anger as the waves of emotions defervescence - answers to many unresolved queries hit the mind.

On "Reading Books"

I read this quote somewhere on net, and loved it:

"I don’t read books to learn from them. I read them to experience them, and to learn about myself through those experiences."

That's how books should be read.

Trump (aur hum)

I am not a big fan of Donald Trump for many obvious reasons.

Magar kabhi kabhi sochta hun: Hum sab ke andar aik Trump rehta hai jo hasbe zaroorat bahir aata rehta hai

(But sometimes I think: We all have a kind of Trump inside us, which we use as needed).

Marriage and Adat

One of my friends constantly "bitch" about his married life. One day in frustration, I said" "Than why don't you leave her."  There was a pause of few minutes on text, and then he replied: "Shayed mujhe uski adat ho gai hai," followed by this famous lyrics of a legendary musical dramatist Alan Jay Lerner.

Damn, damn, damn, damn
I've grown accustomed to her face

She almost makes the day begin
I've grown accustomed to the tune
She whistles night and noon
Her smiles, her frowns
Her ups, her downs

Are second nature to me now
Like breathing out and breathing in
I was serenely independent and content before we met
Surely I could always be that way again

And yet
I've grown accustomed to her looks
Accustomed to her voice
Accustomed to her face

Youtube link:  https://youtu.be/IewpDlwamF0