The bright side of pessimism

 

From the sharp pen of Majeed Lahori

عہدہ و منصب دلا جمہوریت کے نام پر

تخت پر مجھ کو بٹھا جمہوریت کے نام پر

’آیت الکرسی‘ کا کرتا ہوں وظیفہ رات دن

بخش کرسی اے خدا جمہوریت کے نام پر

فاقہ کش لٹتے رہیں، پِٹتے رہیں، مٹتے رہیں

مجھ کو ڈکٹیٹر بنا جمہوریت کے نام پر

بھولی بھالی قوم کوئی اور مل سکتی نہیں

قوم کو الّو بنا جمہوریت کے نام پر

Two philosophies of life

 I have two extreme of friends, and not sure which one is on the right philosophy.

One is like my friend KT - who we popularly call - Abu dada. He is a strict dieter and an exercise freak. He has not eaten rice in two years, walks two miles every day besides an hour in Gym. My this group of friend takes life very seriously and believes healthy body leads to a healthy mind. Most of them are intellectuals or at least pseudo-intellectuals.

The second is like Sohail and Abhijeet. They love food. They don't care about weight gain. One has two stents in his heart and the second travel exclusively for the sake of good food.  Both have a wobbly belly. They believe it does not matter, you live 50 years or 100 years. Die early but enjoy fully.

I, personally and periodically oscillate between two philosophies. 

A second chance to say Good bye

 I don't want to make it dramatic, but this is an interesting article today on CNN. This is not the first time, this is talked about, but this may be interesting in wake of the COVID pandemic.

"And whenever there is a massive tragedy such as a pandemic, a war or a natural disaster, there is a corresponding surge in reports of people seeing the dead or trying to contact them. The 1918 influenza epidemic sparked a "spiritualism craze" as Americans turned to seances and Ouija boards to contact departed loved ones. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks came a wave of people reporting sightings of and even conversations with those who had been snatched from their lives. When a tsunami struck Japan in 2011, killing at least 20,000 people, so many inhabitants of Ishinomaki reported seeing their loved ones appear that a book and a documentary were made about this city of wandering ghosts."

Article link: https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/20/health/supernatural-encounters-pandemic-loved-ones-blake/index.html

Doll

One of my nephews has a three-year-old girl. They visited my place just for a couple of hours in my city around eight months ago. The little girl left her doll at my home. Later that night, her mother called to inquire about the doll as the girl kept crying on the airplane. I got the baby girl on Facetime and promised her that I would find her doll. I took it for granted—and completely forgot. We all forgot. 

A week ago, I visited them. As soon as I entered the house, the little girl asked, "Did you find my doll?"

At least to say, I was ashamed, I was embarrassed, and I was apologetic.

When I flew back, the first thing I did was look for her doll. I found it. I FedEx it. She finally got her doll today :)

Someone said, "Every child you encounter is a divine appointment."

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