Insaan

 

From Ocean 11 - A woman's perspective

 

Nostalgic shyr

The below shyr, though out of meter (wazan)- still gives goosebumps. Years ago, it was said by a girl I promised to revisit but ended up cancelling my trip to Pakistan with a petty excuse.

 

 

An approach to life

 

Anticipation

 

Life from wrong end of telescope

 

Mirza Ghalib on Fasting

"دھوپ بہت تیز ہے۔ روزہ رکھتا ہوں مگر روزے کو بہلاتا رہتا ہوں۔ کبھی پانی پی لیا، کبھی حقہ پی لیا، کبھی کوئی روٹی کا ٹکڑا کھا لیا۔ یہاں کے لوگ عجب فہم رکھتے ہیں۔ میں تو روزہ بہلاتا ہوں اور یہ صاحب فرماتے ہیں کہ تُو روزہ نہیں رکھتا۔ یہ نہیں سمجھتے کہ روزہ نہ رکھنا اور چیز ہے اور روزہ بہلانا اور بات ہے

مرزا غالب کے ایک خط سے اقتباس 

Returning car

 I was always told that if you borrow a car from someone, the right etiquette is to always return it with a full tank.

Yesterday, somebody went a step further, and added: "If you borrow a car for more than two days, always return it with a full tank and a carwash."

Community

 A female colleague made an interesting comment interestingly about the desi community (at least here in the USA). It was about another female colleague desperate to get her daughter married on the pretext that "umar nikalti ja rahi hai, log kiya kahain gey."

I don't agree completely, but it makes sense on many levels, at least for women in the community.

Yeah community!… gelee lakrioun ki tarahn hootay hein. Qarib aou to koi garmi nahi, aur dour sey sulagta hua dhuwan!  

Kask

 Zindagi ke kai sawal aese hote hain, kai kasak aesi hoti hain -

barson lag jaate hain 

       - unka jawab milne main

       - woh kasak, woh khalish mitne main

~ Shayed yahi bohat hai ke maut se pehle saare hisab saaf ho jaain

Lakshmi and Owl

 As we were casually talking about the extravaganza, display of wealth, and waste of money in Ambani's recent wedding event, one of my Indian friends (whose father still runs a small kiryana shop in Gujrat) commented:

"In Hindu mythology, the goddess of wealth - Lakshmi, usually arrives on the owl. Although owl means wisdom - in India, an owl is generally referred to as an idiot. So go figure."

Love to House

 Jab Amma abba pehli baar Canada aaye - tabhi, bahen aur behnoii ne Toronto main naya makan khareeda.

Abba ne tab un se kaha tha:

"Makan ko bhi wahi piyar dena jo aulad ko dete ho. Makan ka khayal rakho ge to yahi makan saalon bulke buRhape tak apni chaaun dega."

Shayed unhon ne abba ki is baat pe lafz b lafz amal kiya.

Is baat ko 30 baras beet gaye. bachhe baRe ho gaye. BetioN ki shadiyan ho gai. Kal raat jab un ke sath beth ker sakoon se chai pi to abba ki ye baat bohat yaad aayi...

... na jaane kese log apna makan kiraye pe de dete hain. Kabhi koi aulad ke saath bhi aese kerta hai!!

DINK

 I was disturbed by a new phenomenon my students have told me: a widespread trend in new generations, irrespective of their cultural origin in developed countries, is to be married but stay DINK (Dual Income, No Kids).

Very disturbing.

Puzzle of Life

Classic of Irrfan Khan

 

 

Petty Cash

 While in medical school, I was part of a friend group active in the student union, particularly in arranging social events, including debates, musahiyra, get-togethers, etc. Student unions allocate a particular amount of funds for such events. Said that it was a public (government) medical college and allocated funds were minimal. We primarily relied on money from advertisements, commercial banners, and pharmaceutical companies. One of the tricks I learned from seniors during those days was called “petty cash.”

What ‘petty cash’ meant was that we had a secret account for money saved from previous events to use if we ran short for subsequent events. We used to keep a balance of around 3000 rupees in that free-flowing, non-audited account. Interestingly, we kept that money in a box hidden somewhere in the student union office, and we call it petty, as in Urdu. (Trust me, in those days, 3000 rupees was a good amount for poor students.)

“Petty cash” always stayed with me. When I came to this country and slowly started settling down, it brought more and more responsibilities on my shoulders. It also meant taking care of more bills–and often unexpected expenses. My ‘petty cash’ amount was $25 monthly when I finished residency. I also learned that “petty cash” is a classic example of ‘life balance.’ Sometimes, you may lose money somewhere, but on the same token, you also get money from unexpected sources.

Going forward, this amount gradually increased. As my two children are in college, I have two cars for personal use and travel extensively; my current “petty cash” value is $1000.

If I lose up to $1000, I don’t sweat; money will be recovered somewhere down the lane. To give you an example, I recently had to cancel an international flight, and I lost about $1100 (it hurts – I know), but next week, I learned one of the locum companies I worked previously paid my license and DEA fees (almost equivalent to $1500) for one of the states as a good gesture. Simultaneously, American Airlines deposited 11K miles in my account for a mistake on their side a year ago. Every other week, I encounter such examples.

That’s how life is with its pleasures and sorrows. Life is full of ‘petty cash’. Usually, it’s not worth being unhappy about small losses, as money is bound to come from unexpected sources. As Rohinton Mistry says about life, it is a fine balance.

Please continue to tip servers and drivers appropriately, and don’t be unhappy if you lose petty cash here and there. Decide on a petty cash value at which you will shrug your shoulder and move on—maybe $5 extra on your cable bill or $50 more on your car insurance.

Life goes on!

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