2 Diamonds

 *A Merchant wanted to purchase a gorgeous camel in the market and after spotting one began to settle for it with the seller!*

There was long bargaining between the merchant and the camel seller, and finally, the merchant bought the camel and took it home!

On reaching home, the merchant called his servant to take out the camel's saddle..!

Under the saddle, the servant found a small velvet bag which upon opening revealed him to be full of precious diamond gems ..!

The servant shouted, "Boss, you bought a camel, but look what came with it for free!"

The Merchant was also surprised, he saw diamonds in his servant's hands which were shining and twinkling even more in the sunlight!

The Merchant said: "I have bought a camel and not the diamonds, I should return it immediately!"

The servant was thinking in his mind "how stupid my boss is ...!"

He Said: "Nobody will know who the owner is!" However, the merchant did not listen to him and immediately reached the market and returned the velvet bag to the shopkeeper.

The camel seller was very happy and said, "I had forgotten that I had hidden my precious stones under the saddle".

Now you choose any one diamond as a reward!

The Merchant said, "I have paid the right price for the camel so I do not need any gift and prizes!"

The more the merchant was refusing, the more the camel seller was insisting!

Finally, the merchant smiled and said: In fact, when I decided to bring back the bag, I had already kept two of the most precious diamonds with me!

After this confession, the camel seller was infuriated and he quickly emptied the bag and began to count his diamond gems!

But after he counted with a heavy sigh of relief, he said "These are all my diamonds, so what were the two most precious ones that you kept?"

The Merchant said: ... "My honesty and my self-respect."

The seller was dumb-struck!

We have to look within ourselves to find out if we possess any of these two diamonds.

Do you have these two precious diamonds Anymore?

Anyone who has these two diamonds, *HONESTY AND SELF-RESPECT*, is the richest person in the world.

Probably true

I found the following statement somewhat true in my life.

 

 

Dedicated to immigrants

I came to Canada after two years due to the pandemic (still a lot of fuss at airports for COVID-19 papers). I realized that Canadians and Americans are on different trajectories. Canadians are more about values and a pluralistic society but struggle to meet ends as everyday lifestyle is relatively expensive. Americans are progressively more on a divisive path, more individualist, and spend money freely. I have been traveling between these two countries for almost 27 years now. The last two decades, particularly America's reaction to 911, indulgence in two prolonged wars, poor political leadership from both parties, and Trump's presidency, have done a lot of damage.

For the first time, I felt a little misfit in Canada. I took a little time off. I went to Woodbine Beach in Toronto. I spent a quiet time watching the sunset and full moon. It gave me a perspective of people who must immigrate to a new culture and survive with new values.

*

Mohammad Ali Says

 

Travel

 Travel

Italian poem by [Gio Evan]

Travel

otherwise you
become racist
and end up believing
that your skin is the only one
to be right,
that your language
it is the most romantic
and that you were the first
to be the first

Travel
that if you don't travel then
your thoughts are not strengthened
you are not full of ideas
your dreams are born with fragile legs
and then end up believing in television
and to those who invent enemies
that fit like a glove with your nightmares
to make you live with terror
no more greetings
nor thanks
nor "you're welcome"
nor "my pleasure"

Travel
that traveling teaches
to give everyone a good morning
regardless
from which sun they come,
travel
that traveling teaches
to say good night to everyone
regardless
of the darkness that we carry inside

Travel
that traveling teaches one to resist
not to depend
to accept others not only for what they are
but also for what they can never be,
to know what we are capable of
to feel part of a family
beyond borders,
beyond traditions and culture,
traveling teaches to be beyond

Travel
that otherwise you end up believing
that you are made only for a panorama
and instead inside you
there are wonderful landscapes
yet to visit.

in the box

 All my life I was fascinated with out-of-box thinking, but when I started my fellowship - one of the teaching attendings said a beautiful thing, which always makes me smile: 

"I am not here to teach you out-of-box thinking. I am here to tell you what is inside the box - that is more important. I don't think anything else matters!"

Trains

 "No vehicle gives you a more honest impression of a country than a train" 

~ source unknown to me

Pascal's wager

 This is an interesting 2x2 table developed by Pascal. It argues that believing in God has a better probability of a benefit than not believing in God. 

I am sure it means nothing but is still interesting. You can read more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal%27s_wager 

I save this with the caption: LOL.

Nature and Art and Poetry

Just on a side note: A lot of yellows in Van Gogh's paintings are due to his treatment with medicine called digoxin/digitalis - a cardiac medicine but also used on those days for psychosis.

 

On 'moving-on in love'

 

Beauty of humanity

 As I decided to downsize my living place, I moved to a townhouse with four adjacent units. Interestingly, each unit is occupied (counter-clockwise) by pure white caucasian, Hispanic, Arabic, and the Indian subcontinental (myself) families. All other three families knocked on my door to ask if I need any help during the move. 

I found this beauty of humanity fascinating.

Khayyam says

 ﻣﻦ ﻫﯿﭻ ﻧﺪﺍﻧﻢ ﮐﻪ ﻣﺮﺍ ﺁﻧﮑﻪ ﺳﺮﺷﺖ

ﺍﺯ ﺍﻫﻞ ﺑﻬﺸﺖ ﮐﺮﺩ ﯾﺎ ﺩﻭﺯﺥ ﺯﺷﺖ

ﺟﺎﻣﯽ ﻭ ﺑﺘﯽ ﻭ ﺑﺮﺑﻄﯽ ﺑﺮ ﻟﺐ ﮐﺸﺖ

ﺍﯾﻦ ﻫﺮ ﺳﻪ ﻣﺮﺍ ﻧﻘﺪ ﻭ ﺗﺮﺍ ﻧﺴﯿﻪ ﺑﻬﺸﺖ

I know not whether he who fashioned me 

appointed me to dwell in heaven or in dreadful hell, 

but some food, and an adored one, and wine, upon the green bank of a field— 

all these three are treasures to me: thine be the credit-heaven!

On Einstein's agony of son

Einstein ne saari zindagi ye 'pretend' kerte guzar di ke woh aik khush mizaj insaan hai. Us ne kabhi sare aam apne dukhon ki numaish nahi ki. Einstein ki Zindagi se mujhe aik waqt tha - aqeedat ki had tak muhabbat thi. Jab Apple ne apna video editing software 'iMOvie' nikala to main ne 2 ya 3 documentaries banaii thi. Pehli documentary Einstein ki zindagi per thi 

(-I need to transfer it from CD to youtube/digital media someday to preserve it.) 

Us documentary ke liye main ne Einstein ki zindagi ka bohat qareeb se mutaliya kiya. Yahi shoq mujhe Switzerland ke shahr Bern tak le gaya - Fortunately, it is within walking distance from the main train station.

Very few people know that Einstein spent a long time in the agony of his youngest child, Eduard, aka 'tete,' who was diagnosed with psychosis and schizophrenia. When his family left Europe due to the Nazis, he had no choice but to leave his son back in a mental asylum in Switzerland. He was unable ever to go back and see his son again. His son was an ardent student of Jung and psychiatry. Too much self-analysis made way to the dark alley of psychosis. At one point, he told his father that he hates him. After WW11 was over, Einstein decided to stay away from his son, so he doesn't relapse into his psychosis. Tete died in 1965 due to a stroke.

Woh kehte hain na

Kisi ki aankh agar nam nahi hai

Ye na samjho, us ko gum nahi hai

Ordinary

 

Day 53 of Age 39

Somewhere around the third week of July, I admitted a Muslim Bangladeshi man with a drug overdose with the intention of suicide. We were able to save him after a couple of days on the ventilator. Our hospital arranges Muslim chaplains if asked. In any case, we were able to bring a local mosque Imam at the request of his family. He agreed to talk with him. I was in the room when Imam made this statement. I am not sure if I fully agree with this. You can make your judgment.

"Allah the Almighty says in Ayat 53 of Surah 39, named Zumar, that: "Do not take a toll on your nafs (life/soul). Do not lose hope in Allah's blessings. He forgives all sins, and he is Gafoorur-Rahim."

Here is the kick from Imam. I think this ayat is a sign for you, and you know Ayat itself means sign. You did your act on the 53rd day on your age 39, and this ayat is the 53rd ayat of Surah 39. Allah gives you a sign that if you asked for forgiveness of your act, you would be blessed by him.

Go figure!!!

Guide - Guru - Hadi

 Kabir says:

At a personal note: I don't subscribe to the philosophy of Guide/Guru/Hadi - but I guess it should help.

Journey of Sufferings

Not sure what to make of this quote

 

Annihilation

I went to see one of my patients I cared for once. Unfortunately, he progressed to stage 4 cancer and is now in hospice. He said something worth sharing:

"Doc! I am lucky to take care of many affairs that people may not be able to when they die abruptly. It is such a blessing. I was able to distribute my estate fairly. I am talking to many friends, reading many books, and enjoying favorite foods as much as possible. A few days are good, and a few are bad due to pain. The most important realization is that - we all eventually annihilate in-universe as energy. We never die. We think we were born. Our energy vibe slowed, and we lived as a body for a while. We were always here and will stay here. When I close my eyes and feel myself as a wave of energy, I suddenly feel a part of the infinite universe. I feel immense peace, and I ask myself, where is death?"

*

Nothing is accidental

I made a conscious decision to donate all of my books to people since I realized: "Jin kitaboN se kirdar main pukhtagi naa aaye woh gadhe be ladaa bojh hi hai". 

In any case, it was getting hard to find a person who can value all my classic Urdu collections - many of them are now out of print. I made announcements in local WhatsApp groups with titles/pics, inquired via friends and families - but no one was interested. 

I accidentally bump a person in a local mosque where I went to help in a vaccine drive. The point is that I promised a few months ago, but on that particular day, I was post-call after 24 hours at Trauma ER and had to go reluctantly & tired. I guess things are meant to happen in a specific way. This person was ecstatic finding these books and has a good comprehension of Urdu literature.

 

Life