Imtihan

 Jab main ne Karachi main "muqable ka imtihan"* (Public Service Commission) paas kiya aur abba ko bataya to abba ne kaha: 

"Beta imtihan to ab shuru huwa hai!"

(I very quickly resigned and never pursued a career in it)

* Found this term always funny

Ethics

 I found the following statement very enlightening - guided me to traverse through a recent situation in life.

On my journey to become a doctor

 As I read this beautiful article from Jamshed, I thought of many bus conductors, mini-drivers, medical school cafeteria waiters, neighborhood shopkeepers, many chai-walas -  Sadar main woh irani samose wala and lasbela pe woh qeema parathe wala

"Perhaps, he felt proud that he had contributed to my journey in becoming a doctor."

Read the article (click) ‘Tangey walay baba’ and I on the road to becoming a doctor

URL link: https://www.dawn.com/news/1212819

Makeup of rupee

 I have seen this info often on the internet and always amused and intrigued me. I have been to stores buying things with 2 anas. I doubt generation Z can even comprehend this.

Life! as per Murshid

It is said that - a line from Jaun Alia  (now popularly known as murshid as he developed his own cult), is heavier than a pile and pile of pages. 

Once he famously said:

یار میں تو سید آدمی ہوں میں شرابی ہوگیا ہوں - کوئی تو وجہ ہوگی

 

 جون ایلیا

On humans and snakes

 Saanp bhi katta hai to koshish kerta hai ke apna zaher bacha ke rakhe

 - aik insaan hai jo apni hewaniat ki aag main apna saara zaher kisi aur main unDel deta hai

Read this shocking story: https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/20/india/india-snake-cobra-murder-intl-hnk-dst/index.html

Childhood trauma - Shakeeb Jalali

Urdu poet Shakeeb Jalali committed suicide by throwing himself in front of a furious train at age 32 - about 22 years after he witnessed his father throwing his mother to an incoming train!

His own couplet was

فصیل جسم پہ تازہ لہو کے چھینٹے ہیں

 حدود وقت سے آگے نکل گیا ہے کوئی

Life is a bitch!

Poverty

 Actual poverty is not a lack of a bank account but a constant state of mind of not having enough.

~ Gurbat aik dimagi halat ka naam hai

On Chefs

Hamare aik Mamu ko khandan ki har shadi pe- deg per bitha diya jaata tha. Wajah ye thi ke mamu khud aik bohat achhe bawarchi the. 1971 ki jang main border cross kerte huwe pakRe gaye the. Hindustaan ki jail main rahe, wahin se khana banane ka shoq lag gaya. Kehte the - jab qedi khane ke zaaiqe main apna har gum bhul jaate - to mujhe bohat khushi hoti thi.

Ab bhi yaad aata hai unki speciality 'mazedar garam garam roTian" hoti thi. Allah hi jaanta hai kiya alag kerte the ke roti itni mazeddar banti thi.

Aik din abba ne mamu ke dekh ker kaha tha:

"Jis shaks ko dusroN ke liye rotian pakane ka shoq ho - woh shaz-o-nadir hi bura hota hai."

From Krishan Chandar ...

 I think from technical perspective Krishan Chandar was a better short story writer than Minto.

"Krishan Chandar ke haan jazbaat ka aik therao hai. Minto ki tarah shiddat pasandi nahi."

"یوں تو میری شادی بھی ہو جائے گی اور بچے بھی ہوں گے میرے اور میں اُن کے لئیے ایک اچھی ماں ،اپنے خاوند کے لئیے ایک نیک اور اطاعت شعار بیوی بھی بن جاوں گی اور میرا گھر ہو گا اور زندگی کی ساری خوشیاں جو ایک عورت چاہتی ہے وہ مجھے نصیب ہوں گی مگر کہیں پر میرے اندر میرے بہت گہرے اندر اور میری کوکھ سے بھی بہت دور اندر جہاں کہیں عورت کی روح رہتی ہے وہاں تم ہمیشہ موجود رہو گے" 

کرشن چندر کے ناول غدار سے اقتباس

Men, women and heart

 If a woman thinks with her heart - it's her virtue. This is vice versa for a man. It becomes his weakness.

~anonymous 

Practice Makes Permanent

 Last week was reading Elizabeth McCormick's book 'The P.I.L.O.T METHOD". 

She is an interesting character and I was privileged to get her book free from her, and signed by her.

It's a quick read.

She says a beautiful thing: "Practice Makes Permanent".

[Good or bad habit - it becomes permanent with time].. so true.

Quote - the day

 

Roz ka aik imtihan

 Meri umar koi 16-17 baras hogi. FSc ka imtihan de ker farig tha. Aik din Amma ne kaha jao nana ke baal ketwa ke le aao....

Jese hi hum bazar ke nukkaR pe paunche, aik shaks apne bete ke saath khara khubsurat bansuri (flute) baja raha tha, bete ke haat main aik takhti thi jis pe likha tha: "Humare hunr ke mutabiq kaam nahi mil raha: bansuri suniye aur kuch madad kijye".

Nana ne jeb se 5 rupe nikale aur bete ke haat main thama diye - Us zamane main 5 rupe bohat hote the - aur ye wahi 5/10 rupe the jis se nana ne baal katwane the.

Main ne nana se kaha: "Ye kiya kiya nana ji!'

Nana bole: "Imtihan tha. Shukar karo kaam theek ho gaya"

Main bola: " Nana imtihan kesa?"

Nana ne jawab diya: "Insaan ki zindagi main roz aik imtihaan likha hai. Koi aesa kaam jo tumhari zimmewari na ho, magar jis se kisi aur insaan ka faida ho, woh kaam saamne aa ke khaRa ho jaaye. Wohi insaan ka imtihaan hai. Aaj ke imtihan se bach nikle."

Is baat ko 30-35 baras guzar gaye - magar aaj bhi roz imtihaan main fail ho jaata hun.

A quote

 

HHH of Health

During the fellowship, when I was rotating through Trauma and Neurosurgery, we treated patients with Subarachnoid hemorrhage using Tripple-H therapy which stood for Hypervolemia, Hypertension, and Hyperdynamic.

Dr. Garcia (here) used to tell us life is also all about Tripple H. Couple of days ago, I was sent the same joke in a meme. Though it is a joke if you think it is very accurate.

Zindagi, wasf aur Imtihan

 ‏زندگی آپ کے اسی وصف کا امتحان لیتی ہے، جو آپکے اندر موجود ہو، میرے اندر" 

"محبت تھی

 امریتا پریتم

"Life examines you on the virtue you have (the most). I had love" ~ Amrita Pritam

2 approaches

Interestingly two similar events on the same day but two different approaches

In the morning - a  friend while blowing the red light

"jahan itne kaam galat ho rahe hain, aik aur sahi"

In the evening - another friend by mistake -  took an extra item on a grocery cart without paying. As we reached the car, he said:

"Zindagi main bare kamine kaam ho rahe hain - kam az kam cheez wapas ker ke aik galat kaam to kum kiya ja sakta hai"

The paradox of 'everything is assessible'

سب سے زیادہ کربناک لمحات وہ ہوتے ہیں کہ ؛ جب ہر چیز مُیسر ہو 

"Nothing is more painful in life when everything is assessible"

Sounds like a paradox, but think for a minute if you have everything available to you, what kind of life you will have without any ambition, anything to achieve, and the only thing left is greed!

As Ghalib said:

na ho marnā to jiine kā mazā kyā

My Conscience Is Dying A Slow Death

 My Conscience Is Dying A Slow Death

By Javaid Jabbar. 

Sometimes in the darkest hour of the night, I call on my conscience to see if it is still breathing. It's dying a slow and gradual death

every single day.

When I pay for a meal in a fancy restaurant

an amount which is perhaps the monthly income of the guard who holds the door open, I quickly shrug away that thought. My conscience dies a little. 

When I buy vegetables from the vendor and his son "Chhotu" (a small child who should be studying at school) 

smilingly weighs the potatoes, I look the other way. My conscience dies a little.

When I'm all decked up in a designer suit (a suit that costs a bomb) 

and I see a woman at the crossing in torn clothes, trying unsuccessfully to save her dignity, I immediately roll up my window. My conscience dies a little. 

When I buy expensive gifts for my children and returning home I see half-clad naked children with empty stomachs and hungry eyes selling toys at the red traffic signal, I try to save my conscience by buying some. Yet, my conscience dies a little more. 

When my sick maid who can't come to work sends her daughter to work by making her miss school, I know I should tell the little girl to go to school, but then I look at the loaded sink full of dirty dishes and I tell myself that is just for a couple of days. My conscience dies a little more. 

When I hear about a rape or a murder of a child, I feel sad, yet a little thankful that it's not my child. I cannot look at myself in the mirror. My conscience dies a little more. 

When people fight over caste, creed, and religion and I feel hurt and helpless, I tell myself that my country is going to the dogs, and I conveniently blame the corrupt politicians, absolving myself of all responsibilities. My conscience dies a little more. 

When my city is choked and breathing is dangerous in the smog-ridden metropolis I take my car to work daily, not taking public transport, or carpooling. One less car won't make a difference, I tell myself. My conscience dies a little more. 

So when in the darkest hour of the night I visit my conscience and find that it is still breathing I am surprised because bit by bit, day by day, I try to kill it and bury it with my very own hands.