On - crossroads in life

 

Happiness and Success

 Allan Karl said a beautiful thing:

Success doesn't bring happiness

Happiness brings success

Wow!!

The best line!

I was advised years ago - and it helped me always. 

If someone is going through any kind of grief, the best thing to say: "I am not sure if I can share your grief as my words may not heal everything, but I AM HERE for anything you need".

Is say ziyada dilasa aur kuch bhi nahi  - ke kisi ko ye yaqeen ho ke - aap waqt pe mojoud the 

- werna aik insaan to dusre insaan ke liye patta bhi nahi hila sakta

on Facebook and old friends

 On Facebook, we connect to many friends and acquaintances from our long long gone past years of child and younghood. In many cases, we feel it would have been better we would not have bump again - as people grow on different axes over decades.

Shayed woh bhi aesa hi sochte hon ge

Devine, humans, acts and signs

 Devine writes the first act. Humans write the second. In between comes the signs. Watch it strikes.

On Amar Jalil's Khuda Gum ho gaya hai

I was shocked (and still in shock) the way Pakistani conservative society has reacted to Amar Jalil's short story "Khuda Gum ho gaya hai" (God is lost). It is nothing but a masterpiece of literature. I didn't even find a grain of insult to anyone. I guess people have not read Iqbal's Shikwa, Manto's and Ismat Chughtaii's short stories. 

It was a beyond idiotic reaction.

Jitni tezi se Pakistani logon ko kafir bana rahe hain, Pakistan ke jhande main sirf sufed rang reh jayye ga - range-kafan.

Synch

 

On travel

COVID has disrupted many of my bucket list travel plans. I usually travel by myself and many of my friends don't like it. But the whole idea is to liberate oneself in travel. I found to travel as a form of meditation when I travel alone.

'Dead Sexy'

 Interesting story regarding writing an obituary. 

 "just a rockin' dude from Omaha, NE. It attributes his cause of death to "either leukemia or more likely being 'dead sexy'. (Eric's) departure was just in time for him to make his spiritual appearance at every Red Sox spring game. He is preceded in death by billions, including his dog Harvey who most of us loved to hate. We are confident they are joyfully reconnecting right now. Eric loved, in this order, his smoking hot wife, his brilliant kids and family, his many friends, the Boston Red Sox, the Kansas City Chiefs (before being a Chiefs fan was cool), the Huskers, Liverpool Futbol, QT iced tea, Adidas sneakers, fishing, backpacking, hiking, hunting, and any old Chevy he saw on the road. Eric hated sad stories, beets, romantic comedies, a snow packed driveway and turning off the garage light. That's it, Eric was content with most everything else."

Link here: https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/21/us/eric-sauser-dead-sexy-obituary-trnd/index.html

Hafiz Shirazi says

Do yaare zeerak o az badaye kohan do maney

 fara'gte     o kita'be    o   gosha'ye chamanay

(two intelligent friends and two kilos of old wine

 - and may have leisure and a book and a corner in the garden)

"The Sun and the Cave"

"One day the Sun and a Cave struck up a conversation. The Sun had trouble understanding what “dark” meant and the Cave didn’t quite get the hang of “light and clear” so they decided to change places. 

The Cave went up to the Sun and said, “Ah, I see, this is beyond wonderful. Now come down and see where I have been living.” 

The Sun went down to the cave and said, “Gee, I don’t see any difference.”

When the sun went down, it took its light along and even the darkest corners were illuminated. That's why the Sun couldn't see any difference. 

There is a quote from an old book that says "The enlightened ones can never be sent to hell or pushed into darkness. They carry their heaven on their shoulders all the time".

We thought that a heaven is a place where we are supposed to go, perhaps it was a state of mind we were supposed to achieve. 

If you are full of darkness within, full of negativity, fear, and doubt, you become a Cave unknowingly. It's hell within and no matter how much you accumulate, you still remain hollow. 

If you are illuminated like the Sun, then the darkness of the cave wouldn't matter. You could be in the worse of circumstances, you'll still be able to find a blessing somewhere.

You'll be carrying your Heaven with you.

Love at first sight

(Found this beautiful story on the internet: Sounds like a true occurrence: Author not known)

She watched him from a distance. He definitely looked lost, a lone brown figure guarding a sewer pipe. He stood out in the green field because of his color.

He would move forward a little, try to talk to passersby and then retreat back to his comfort zone, in front of the sewer pipe. She was drawn to him and watched every move of his with keen interest. 

Those around him were reluctant to approach him as they did not know what to expect from him? what he was trying to say? what he wanted? who he was and where he had come from? He looked too young to be wandering around on his own though.

She wondered whether he was asking for help. She knew that his behavior could become unpredictable but while all spectators watched, she felt an impulse to run down the field to comfort him.

She heard a commotion nearby as an animal control van screeched to a stop right next to where she was parked. Out jumped a pleasant young sheriff holding a neck collar. It was clear that this young man had been called to rescue this lost creature. 

She was expecting some sort of a reaction from her focus of attention but to her surprise, the creature displayed no agitation or fear but patiently waited for the young sheriff to approach him. 

The sheriff sat down on grass, right next to the lost soul, and appeared to be uttering calming words to gain his trust. The sheriff made several patient attempts to place the collar around this dog’s neck but the dog took this as a game and playfully jumped up and down for a bit. She wondered at this rare spectacle for this Pitt, was not being aggressive or combative at all. After several failed attempts, the sheriff was finally able to get the collar and leash around this dog’s neck. 

When the sheriff tugged at the leash, encouraging the dog to follow him, it was clear that the dog didn’t want to budge from his favorite spot. She wondered if he was trying to tell them something about his owner and felt a pang. 

The sheriff finally succeeded in nudging him to a small dog cage in his van. As the main character passed right close to her car, she saw him at close quarters. He wasn’t angry, he wasn't barking, he just looked defeated and melancholic with tears filling his eyes & his head hanging low. 

She had been afraid of dogs while growing up and for a good reason too. Her experience with strays back home had not exactly been favorable. But this was one dog that made her heart melt. As he passed at arm’s length from her, she wanted to reach out and pat his sad and remorseful head. 

She offered to help the sheriff look for anything that was bothering this sad creature. However, even after a thorough search of the sewer pipe and the surrounding field, the officer found nothing that could be holding this dog back. She felt saddened as she sensed there was something amiss but was unable to do anything about it.

The young sheriff assessed the dog to be about a year old as he was drooling and looked nervous. This dog was one of the mildest and gentlest creatures she had ever set eyes on. She felt so moved by this incident and the personality of the dog that she wanted to bring the dog home. 

She surprised herself with this irrational thinking. Was she really physically and mentally able to take this responsibility? Wouldn’t there be religious connotations of having a dog? No one in her family liked dogs, particularly her mother who had been bitten by a stray once. 

For some reason, this trapped, doleful animal reminded her of herself. Of late, she had been asking people to help her with the care of her mother when in the past she had been able to handle most of such challenges herself. Now, some unavoidable circumstances had rendered her helpless. 

She was informed that the dog would be taken to the animal shelter where an attempt to find a chip on him (and thereby his owner) would be made. If no owner was found for 15 days, he would be given up for adoption. She wished that he would either find his owner or another loving home. 

She noted that during this time, all worries and stressors had left her and she had felt as light as a cloud. In those few moments, she had felt united with a kindred spirit.  

She promised herself to find this lost creature home. If she couldn’t care for him herself, she would beg her friends to do so. This was indeed love at first sight and her restless soul wished to see this kindred spirit again. Their connection was unexplainable and all she could gather from this incident was that her destiny had brought this dog into her life to fill the chasm left by those who she had once held dear and those who were soon to leave her...

Illusion of knowledge

 

Accident and God

 I have written 2/3 of posts on Naeem Sahab before. 3 months ago, he was very sick with COVID in ICU. Now he lives in some inner rural town in Lubbock, Texas. During his sickness, I frequently talked to his doctors. Fortunately, he recovered. Once I had my 2 doses of vaccine, on his insistence, I traveled in my car to his place, as I needed some time for myself. Evenings in rural Texas can be mesmerizing with layers of never-seen color-combinations due to the bright sun, open skies with scattered clouds (see pic below). One eve. he took me to drive the area. While we were watching the beautiful sunset, he said:

"Ye sab agar accident hai to phir yahi accident mera khuda hai"

(If this all is a mere accident - I embrace this accident as my God) 

توبه نصوح (Tobatun Nashu- Origin of the story)

I always knew "Tobatun-Nashu" as a novel of Deputy Nazir Ahmad but one highly literate friend told me that it was originally described by Rumi. I wish I had time to translate... Alas! never-ending COVID work at the hospital

 

 نصوح کون تھا....!         

 

نصوح ایک عورت نما آدمی تھا، باریک آواز، بغیر داڑھی اور نازک اندام مرد.

وہ اپنی ظاہری شکل وصورت سے فائدہ اٹھاتے ہوئے زنانہ حمام میں عورتوں کا مساج کرتا اور میل اتارتا تھا۔ کوئی بھی اسکی حقیقت نہیں جانتا تھا سبھی اسے عورت سمجھتے تھے۔ یہ طریقہ اسکے لئے ذریعہ معاش بھی تھا اور عورتوں کے جسم سے لذت بھی لیتا تھا۔ کئی بار ضمیر کے ملامت کرنے پر اس نے اس کام سے توبہ بھی کرلی لیکن ہمیشہ توبہ توڑتا رہا.

ایک دن بادشاہ کی بیٹی حمام گئی ۔حمام اور مساج کرنے کے بعد پتہ چلا کہ اسکا گراں بہا گوھر

 (موتی یا ہیرا) کھوگیا ہے

بادشاہ کی بیٹی نے حکم دیا کہ سب کی تلاشی لی جائے۔

سب کی تلاشی لی گئی ہیرا نہیں ملا 

نصوح رسوائی کے ڈر سے ایک جگہ چھپ گیا۔ 

جب اس نے دیکھا کہ شہزادی کی کنیزیں اسے ڈھونڈ رہی ہیں تو

سچے دل سے خدا کو پکارا اور خدا کی بارگاہ میں دل سے توبہ کی اور وعدہ کیا کہ آئندہ کبھی بھی یہ کام نہیں کروں گا،  میری لاج رکھ لے مولا۔

دعا مانگ ہی رہا تھا کہ اچانک باہر سے آوازسنائی دی کہ نصوح کو چھوڑ دو، ہیرا مل گیا ہے۔

نصوح نم آنکھوں سے شہزادی سے رخصت لے کر گھر آگیا ۔

نصوح نے قدرت کا کرشمہ دیکھ لیا تھا اور ہمیشہ ہمیشہ کے لیے اس کام سے توبہ کرلی۔

کئی دنوں سے حمام نہ جانے پر ایک دن شہزادی نے بلاوا بھیجا کہ حمام آکر میرا مساج کرے لیکن نصوح نے بہانہ بنایا کہ میرے ہاتھ میں درد ہے میں مساج نہیں کرسکتا ہوں۔

نصوح نے دیکھا کہ اس شہر میں رہنا اس کے لئے مناسب نہیں ہے سبھی عورتیں اس کو چاہتی ہیں اور اس کے ہاتھ سے مساج لینا پسند کرتی ہیں۔

جتنا بھی غلط طریقے سے مال کمایا تھا سب غریبوں میں بانٹ دیا اور شہر سے نکل کر کئی میل دور ایک 

پہاڑی پر ڈیرہ ڈال کر اللہ کی عبادت میں مشغول ہوگیا۔

 ایک دن اس کی نظر ایک بھینس پر پڑی جو اس کے قریب گھاس 

چر رہی تھی۔  

اس نے سوچا کہ یہ کسی چرواہے سے بھاگ کر یہاں آگئی ہے ،  جب تک اس کا مالک نہ آ جائے تب تک میں اس کی دیکھ بھال کر لیتا ہوں،

لہذا اس کی دیکھ بھال کرنے لگا۔

کچھ دن بعد ایک تجارتی قافلہ راستہ بھول کر ادھر آگیا جو سارے پیاس کی شدت سے نڈھال تھے

انہوں نے نصوح سے پانی مانگا 

نصوح نے سب کو بھینس کا دودھ پلایا اور سب کو سیراب کردیا،

قافلے والوں نے نصوح سے شہر جانے کا راستہ پوچھا 

نصوح نے انکو آسان اور نزدیکی راستہ دیکھایا ۔

نصوح کے اخلاق سے متاثر ہو کر تاجروں نے جاتے ہوئے اسے بہت سارا مال بطور تحفہ دیا۔

نصوح نے ان پیسوں سے وہاں کنواں کھدوا دیا۔

آہستہ آہستہ وہاں لوگ بسنے لگے اور عمارتیں بننے لگیں۔ 

وہاں کے لوگ نصوح کو بڑی عزت اور احترام کی نگاہ سے دیکھتے تھے۔ 

رفته رفته نصوح کی نیکی کے چرچے بادشاه تک جا پہنچے۔

بادشاہ کی دل میں نصوح سے ملنے کا اشتیاق پیدا ہوا۔

اس نے نصوح کو پیغام بھیجا کہ بادشاہ آپ سے ملنا چاہتے ہیں مہربانی کرکے دربار تشریف لے آئیں۔

جب نصوح کو بادشاہ کا پیغام ملا اس نے ملنے سے انکار کر دیا اور معذرت چاہی کہ مجھے بہت سارے کام ہیں میں نہیں آسکتا، 

بادشاہ کو بہت تعجب ہوا مگر اس بے نیازی کو دیکھ کر ملنے کی طلب اور بڑھ گئی۔ بادشاہ  نے کہا کہ اگر نصوح نہیں آسکتے تو ہم خود اس کے پاس جائیں گے۔

جب بادشاہ نصوح کے علاقے میں داخل ہوا، خدا کی طرف سے ملک الموت کو حکم ہوا کہ بادشاہ کی روح قبض کرلے۔

چونکہ بادشاہ بطور عقیدت مند نصوح کو ملنے آرہا تھا اور رعایا بھی نصوح کی خوبیوں کی گرویدہ تھی، اس لئے  نصوح کوبادشاہ کے تخت پر بٹھا دیا گیا۔

نصوح نے اپنے ملک میں عدل اور انصاف کا نظام قائم کیا۔ وہی شہزادی جسے عورت کا بھیس بدل کر ہاتھ لگاتے ہوئے بھی ڈرتا تھا ،اس شہزادی نے نصوح سے شادی کرلی۔

ایک دن نصوح دربار میں بیٹھا لوگوں کی داد رسی کررہا تھا کہ 

ایک شخص وارد ہوا اور کہنے لگے کہ کچھ سال پہلے میری بھینس گم ہوگئی تھی ۔ بہت ڈھونڈا مگر نہیں ملی ۔ برائے مہربانی میری مدد فرمائیں۔ 

نصوح نے کہا کہ تمہاری بھینس میرے پاس ہے 

آج جو کچھ میرے پاس ہے وہ تمہاری بھینس کی وجہ سے ہے 

نصوح نے حکم دیا کہ اس کے سارے مال اور دولت کا آدھا حصہ بھینس کے مالک کو دیا جائے۔

وہ شخص خدا کے حکم سے کہنے لگا:

اے نصوح جان لو، نہ میں انسان ہوں اور نہ ہی وہ جانور بھینس ہے۔

بلکہ ہم دو فرشتے ہیں تمہارے امتحان کے لئے آئے تھے  

یہ سارا مال اور دولت تمہارے سچے دل سے توبہ کرنے کا نتیجہ ہے

یہ سب کچھ تمہیں مبارک ہو،

وہ دونوں فرشتے نظروں سے غائب ہوگئے۔ 

اسی وجہ سے سچے دل سے  توبہ کرنے کو (توبه نصوح) کہتے ہیں. تاریخ کی کتب میں نصوح کو بنی اسرائیل کے ایک بڑے عابد کی حیشیت سے لکھا گیا ہے۔ 

کتاب: مثنوی معنوی، دفتر پنجم

انوار المجالس صفحہ 432۔ (اخذ مولانا جلال الدین رومی)

Practical and non-miraculous aspect of Muhammad's life

 Following is the write-up from a Pakistani physician Dr. Rao Kamran Ali. It created some waves on Facebook and lot of flakes were send his way. I am not trying to take a side but I do think his thoughts make sense. Read and make your own judgement.

عمل اور عشق

رسول کریم صل الله عليه وسلم نے چالیس سال کی عمر میں اسلام کی تبلیغ شروع کی اور تریسٹھ سال کی عمر میں مکمل فرما دیا۔ یہ تیئس سال کا عرصہ ہے جس میں کوئی معجزہ نہیں، کوئی عقل سے بالاتر کام نہیں (معراج کے واقعہ کے حوالے سے میں غامدی صاحب کی رائے سے متفق ہوں) کوئی لمحہ عشق کے نام پر ضائع نہیں۔عمل ہے، محنت ہے، مشقت ہے، جنگیں ہیں، بھوک پیاس ہے، چوٹیں ہیں تکلیفیں ہیں۔جدائیاں ہیں۔

ایک بچہ جو نبی کریم کی سنت کی مطابق لوگوں کے درد دور کرنا چاہتا ہے، مدد کرنا چاہتا ہے، شفا دینا چاہتا ہے؛ بارہ سال مسلسل محنت کرکے اسکول اور کالج میں بہترین کارکردگی دکھا کر پانچ سال میں ایم بی بی ایس اور چھ سال میں اسپیشلائزیشن مثلاً کارڈیالوجسٹ یا سرجن بنتا ہے۔ اس راستے میں بہت سے مسائل آتے ہیں، فیس کی کمی ہے، تکلیفیں ہیں، نروس بریک ڈاؤن ہے، مقصد کے حصول کے لئے چھوڑی گئیں ادھوری محبتیں ہیں; لیکن تیئس سال میں بننے والا شاہکار عملیت کی سنت کی راہ پر چلتا اپنی زندگی میں ہزاروں جانیں بچاتا ہے۔

دوسری جانب، عمل کی مشکل سنت سے بے پرواہ ؛ خود ساختہ عشق کے نام پر داڑھی بڑھا کر، شلوار ٹخنوں سے اونچی کرکے کوئی کلونجی کی بوری لیکر بیٹھ جاتا ہے اور دوکان کے اوپر (ضعیف ) حدیث لکھ دیتا ہے، “کلونجی میں موت کے سوا ہر مرض کا علاج ہے”!!!!

Life is not about happiness

 What an important lesson, Life is a higher calling than attaining happiness!

Mera Lahore

(Received as a forward. A true account written by Dr. Naeem Siddiqui at California)

It was the last show ending at midnight. Three of us just left the Regal Cinema after we enjoyed our last movie together. Our lives were in limbo. Dreams, fear, and uncertainty of the future were clouding souls. We all wanted to do something big but did not know what that big thing was? I had just finished my medical school and Ahmad wanted to go to NCA, just wanted to see girls. Anis had finished his BSc in Physics. His father had passed away and he inherited this tea stall at the corner of Mall Road near Pak Tea House. We had one bicycle and had to go to Sanda. Two of us got on the bike and the third one had to push it to turn by turn. It was midnight and Mall Road was lonely except for three shadows on a bike. We made it to his home and had to feed ourselves. Not much to eat except leftover beans and few naans. The food was cold but we were hungry. Anis was always quiet and never shared his thoughts except to crack a joke occasionally. I had my dream to come to America and for me all that mattered. 

America America! why are you so far? 

Early in the morning, we headed to our homes to face another day of hope and a foggy future. I wanted something to happen but time was indifferent to my plight and plans. I had a dark moment hanging over my head like a swarm of bees. I needed money and that is something I had never my life. I used to live like a prince at Nishtar with a nonstop supply of books to boots and socks to sweaters from England where father was working in a steel factory, night shift to earn more for our education. I had graduated and wasn’t going’s to ask my father to bail me out. 

The next day was another day with Anis and Ahmad for our midnight ritual. It was midnight and dark and I could hide my face or at least I thought so. Anis, I am very ashamed but I need your help. I need some money. With batting an eye he handed me all that he had earned that day selling tea in hot summer next to a kerosene stove. 400 Rupees and that is all he had. A few months later I left Lahore not to return for another 10 years. 

Life has its own plans overriding ours. I had to find Anis but his brother had taken over the tea stall he was not in contact with Anis. I lost Anis and Ahmed had gone to Germany. Back to NY and the endless brutal fight to survive and succeed in a residency had consumed my time and life and I forgot Anis. Another ten years filtered through my palm like dry sand. I had to find Anis but he fell off the face of the earth. 

In my rare moments of solitude, I kept his kindness alive and finally, I found him. 

He was married and had a daughter, doing odd jobs in Lahore. Hello Anis,,,, this is Naeem. I owe you some money. I don’t remember, he said. But I do and told him about midnight escapes and watching the Movie Collector. I am paying you back and I don’t have words to say what I want to say. 

That is what friends do for friends. You owe me nothing. 

That is the Lahore ... My Lahore. 

PS:  The Tea Stall is still there on the mall next to Pak Tea House. It is bonded.

On Origin of name Nehru

How the surname Kaul became Nehru is best explained by Frank Moraes in his book, 'Jawaharlal Nehru A Biography': “We were Kashmiris". 

"Over two hundred years ago, early in the eighteenth century, our ancestor came down from that mountain valley to seek fame and fortune in the rich plains below. Those were the days of the decline of the Moghal Empire after the death of Aurungzeb, and Farrukhsiar was the Emperor. Raj Kaul was the name of that ancestor of ours and he had gained eminence as a Sanskrit and Persian scholar in Kashmir. He attracted the notice of Farrukhsiar during the letter’s visit to Kashmir, and, probably at the Emperor’s instance, the family migrated to Delhi, the imperial capital, about the year 1716. A jagir with a house situated on the banks of a canal had been granted to Raj Kaul, and, from the fact of this residence, ‘Nehru’ (from nahar, a canal) came to be attached to his name. Kaul had been the family name; this changed to Kaul-Nehru; and, in later years, Kaul dropped out and we became simply Nehrus.”

Songs of Blue Whales in Indian Ocean

 "Not much is known about blue whale songs, although most researchers think that they help males woo their mates, as is the case with closely-related species. That can make any modifications to a cetacean melody fairly high stakes, Dr. de Vos said: “If two populations can’t talk to each other, over time, they’re going to grow apart.”

Interesting article at NY Times: https://nyti.ms/35660zB