Receipts

 It was almost 20 years ago. I was on my way in the evening rush hour to a far suburb hospital for an educational session for the incoming evening shift nurses. I stopped by on the highway to get gas. I put gas in my car after using a credit card. Everything went smoothly. As I retook the road, after 5 minutes, I saw a police car coming behind me with flashing lights. I thought I had been stopped for speeding (enough in my driving history). But it was due to a complaint about my car from the gas station attendant that I took gas and ran away without paying the money. I insisted that I paid via credit card but didn't take the receipt. To make story short, I requested the cop to meet me back at the same gas station and sort it out. After running the camera, pulling the cash register history, and calling American Express, it was confirmed that I paid for my gas. 

All these could have been saved if I had taken the receipt. I learned my lesson. 

Again and again, I have been reminded that though trivial, it is vital to take receipt - no matter what.

A lesson in Justice

 A 16th-century painting showing the skinning alive of a corrupt judge, Sisamnes, in the year 500 BC. Sisamnes was a corrupt royal judge at the time of Cambyses ll in Persia. It was discovered that he had taken a bribe in court and passed an unfair judgment. As a consequence, the king ordered that he be arrested for his corruption and ordered that he be skinned alive. Before passing judgment, the king asked Sisamnes who he wished to nominate as his successor. Sisamnes, in his greed, chose his son, Otanes. The king agreed and appointed Otanes to replace his father. He subsequently passed judgment and ordered that Sisamnes removed skin should be used to upholster the seat on which the new judge would sit in court to remind him of the potential consequences of corruption. Otanes, in his deliberations, was forced to always remember that he was always sitting on the skin of his executed father. This helped to ensure fairness and equity in all his hearings, deliberations, and sentences.

The Best Five Doctors

 The Best Five Doctors

Sunshine, Water, Rest, Air, Excercise

Amir Mehdi Khan of Hunza

 

Jibran says

 Found this true ever and ever in my life:

Travel and tell no one, live a true love story and tell no one, live happily and tell no one, people ruin beautiful things. 

 Kahlil Gibran

Lahore (Lahore Aeyy)

 

13:30

 Life is a bizarre web of unusual and coincidental circumstances. In this blog, earlier I documented my interaction with a young Sufi girl who wore jeans and puff cigarettes (Sonya, Sonya-2, and sonya-ki-kahani).

In the last few months, I was tangled in a life situation where I was unable to make a decision - I was confused. 

I am acquainted with a Middle Eastern Girl who lives in Vancouver, Canada. She is a women's magazine model. I met her a few years ago at the United waiting lounge when my flight was delayed. We exchange memes etc. here and there every few months just to stay connected. She sent me a message with a pic.

 "I am not sure why my guide is asking me to send this message to you"

Two therapies

 

Fyodor Dostoevsky says

عورت اُس مرد سے کبھی محبت نہیں کرتی جس پر وہ ترس کھاتی ہے۔

دوستوفسکی 

Haj-e-Akbar

 

Bilinguals

 

Shallows

 

War & poetry

The war will end one day, and I will return to my poetry.

 

Sweets of adversity

I visited Dallas for a Pakistani physicians meeting on July 4 to meet some old friends. Sitting with cigars and wine late at night, we shared many of our inner thoughts. Discussion, as expected, turned to moving to the West to find green pastures and to beat adversities back home. One friend made this beautiful comment:

In that process of progress & evolving yourself, you lose a big part of yourself, which you intentionally traded off for that Success, & then wonder if it was worth it. My dad's famous impromptu 'Sweets are the uses of adversity which, like a toad, though ugly & venomous, still bears a jewel on his head.'

On few regrets in life

 My life is not different from any other human's life; instead, I am over-blessed. Said that few regrets make me wake up at night.

I had a very close friend. Irrespective of allegations, charges, and plea bargains, he was jailed for seven years. He was sent to federal prison. He was discharged from prison during the pandemic due to his services of running a school and library for other prison mates.

It hurts me and makes me ashamed of myself that not even a single time I went to see him in prison.

Seemab akbarabadi ka ye shyr mujhe bohat tang kerta hai

Main gira tha to bahut log ruke the lekin 

Sochata hun mujhe aaye the uthaane kitne

Smell of poop and humanity

 America is an amazing country. When you live here, you realize what an interesting melting pot this country is of immigrants worldwide. I have interacted and made friends with people from many countries, religions, cultures, colors, and languages.

Somebody said it so well yesterday: "In the end, the smell of all poops is the same." :)

*

Karen Armstrong says

 

A Speech