Nov 23, 2010

Baat se Baat - I

  /   9 comments   
“Phir?”

“Phir kya?”

“Phir kuch nahi. Tum apni zindagi main apni jaga bana lo. Us kay baad meri jaga nahi rahegi.”

“Tumhe lagta hai kay main tumhe kabhi yad nahi karun ga?”

“Karogay na, bilkul karogay. Akele bethe cigarette peete hue, meri yaad ubhre gi jo us dhuwein k sath hi hawa main tehleel hojaye gi. Ya phir sardion ki kisi raat main koyle jalate hue, kisi chingari ki tarha jis tezi se bharkay gi, usi tezi se bujh bhi jayegi. Kabhi Tarrar ki koi kitaab parhte hue kisi lafz per meri yaad main gum ho kar chonk jao gay.”

“Aur tum nahi yaad karogi?”

“Karoon gi.”

“Kab?”

“Jab tumhe bhoolne lagoon gi.” 
_________________________________________________________________________________


"پھر؟"
"پھر کیا؟"
"پھر کچھ نہیں. تم اپنی زندگی میں اپنی جگہ بنا لوگے....اس کے بعد میری جگہ نہیں رہے گی."
" تمہیں لگتا ہے میں تمہیں کبھی یاد نہیں کرونگا؟"
" کروگے نا . بلکل کرو گے. اکیلے بیٹھے سگریٹ پیتے ہوئے میری یاد ابھرے گی جو اس دھوئیں کے ساتھ ہی ہوا میں تحلیل ہوجاے گی. یا پھر سردیوں کی رات میں کؤیلے جلاتے ہوئے کسی چنگاری کی طرح جس تیزی سے بھڑکے گی اسی تیزی سے بجھ بھی  جائے گی. کبھی تارڑ کی کوئی کتاب پڑھتے ہوئے کسی لفظ پر میری یاد میں گم ہو کر چونک جاؤ گے."
"اور تم نہیں یاد کرو گی؟"
"کرونگی !"
"کب؟"
"جب تمہیں بھولنے لگوں گی."



#بانوسازی 


Oct 26, 2010

Oct 13, 2010

Oct 5, 2010

Oct 2, 2010

Oct 1, 2010

Sep 30, 2010

Anesthesia

  /   No comments   
Thousands of miles away from home, I learn a new lesson each day. Life has never taught me at this speed like it does now.

Embodying myself with experiences has made me a bit lost in my own life. I made new relations, lost old ones under 6-feet while being away in the desert.

I want to lose my mind in a different alley for some time.

Sep 24, 2010

Sep 7, 2010

Sheharbano ka Yousuf

  /   3 comments   
"I always tell people that it's eyes in the human body that decides my communication and connection with other person. It's true. Nobody knows, how I keep falling in love again and again only because the way you look at me."


Tum dekhte ho tau yun lagta hai, is kainaat main mujh sa koi haseen nahi. 
Mere naseeb, tumhari nazron ki peimaish sirf aur sirf mere liye hai......bhala kahan se koi aisi nazar laaye  jo neend main bhi mere hon'ton ko cher jaaye.


Ye ankhein, meri zindagi per waise hi saaya karti hain, jaise baadal kisi samandar per.......hadd-e-nigah tak.


--- Yousuf ki Sheharbano

Sep 5, 2010

Sep 3, 2010

Sep 2, 2010

Only because.....

  /   No comments   
Dear Express Tribune,

The nation doesn’t need to know what’s cooking in PM Gilani’s kitchen. So you better keep rubbish aside and don’t let it be the decoration of your newspaper. Fizza Batool is PM Yusuf Raza Gilani's daughter, doesn't mean Pakistani Press has the right to bring her personal life in the light. Who knew her till Express Tribune published this.

Media lost it long ago, and Express Tribune is no exception. This is ridiculous and highly irresponsible on Editor’s part to get a story published like hers. After all, floods and ethnical and sectarian clashes are enough to fill in the web or newspaper space.


This is the same media that condemn Sialkot lynching and Mukhtaran Mai’s gang rape and bring the public on roads to protest for securing the youth and respect of a woman. But on the other hand, the same media doesn’t think twice before ripping off a woman publicly only because her father happens to be Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Aug 31, 2010

Mola Ali ibn e Abi Talib A.S.

  /   No comments   
The zeal and virtue of Ali were never outstripped by any recent proselyte. He united the qualifications of a poet, a soldier, and a saint; his wisdom still breathes in a collection of moral and religious sayings; and every antagonist, in the combats of the tongue or of the sword, was subdued by his eloquence and valour. From the first hour of his mission to the last rites of his funeral, the apostle was never forsaken by a generous friend, whom he delighted to name his brother, his vicegerent, and the faithful Aaron of a second Moses."
--- English historian Edward Gibbon
"In my view, ʿAlī was the first Arab to have contact with and converse with the universal soul. He died a martyr of his greatness, he died while prayer was between his two lips. The Arabs did not realise his value until appeared among their Persian neighbors some who knew the difference between gems and gravels"
--- Khalil Gibran

Image Courtesy: Here

"O people, I am a human being. I am about to receive a message from my Lord and I, in response to Allah's call, (would bid good-bye to you), but I am leaving among you two weighty things: the one being the Book of Allah(Qur'an) in which there is right guidance and light, so hold fast to the Book of Allah and adhere to it. He exhorted (us) (to hold fast) to the Book of Allah and then said: The second are the members of my household I remind you (of your duties) to the members of my family."
--- Hadith at Pond of Khumm, Sahih Bukhari, Vol 3, P 5920



Sayings of Mola Ali A.S.

  • “People's hearts are like wild animals. They attach their selves to those that love and train them.”

  • “You [humans] think that you an insignificant, while there is a great universe contained in you.”

  • “Associate with people in such a manner, that they weep for you when you die and long for you if you are alive.”

  • "He who is deserted by friends and relatives will often find help and sympathy from strangers."

  • "One who does not realize his own value is condemned to utter failure. (Every kind of complex, superiority or inferiority is harmful to man)." 

21st Ramadan, 1431 Hijri 

“With him perished the truest hearted and best Muslim of whom Mohammadan history had preserved the remembrance.”
---Robert Durey Osborn (1835-1889) Major of the Bengal Staff Corps.
[Islam Under the Arabs, 1876, p. 120]

Aug 29, 2010

Spilling Beans

  /   3 comments   



Coffee, which was my once a week ritual, has become a deadly addiction.

I always avoided addictions; for me it’s too much of dependency. But on this trip, it seems whatever I have avoided in past is unavoidable.


I avoided past, but it rose randomly.
I avoided strangers; they catch me accidently.
I avoided clashes with core; it costs me deadly.
I avoided face behind a face; I now, know them surprisingly.
I avoided you, but you are getting closer to me.


Above all, I avoided life.
Its happening to me daily !!!


Cairo is not (may be) my cup of coffee :)

Aug 19, 2010

Innocence

  /   No comments   
I asked Ash if she would like to come along with me to get a match-box from my place. We both started talking about why her father comes late from work and how she detests it.


Me: Jab papa late hote hain office se tau aap unka intezar karti ho?
Ash: Ye intezar kya hota hai?


I looked at her in awe and realized it’s not a Hindi word. While I felt envious for a moment, I also considered how lucky she is, not to know what “intezar” (to wait) is. She is innocent and oblivious to the perils of growing up and falling into the trap of her own deeds; the traps and the deeds, which leads us to “intezar”.
At least, some people can wait in anticipation of it to come to an end. But not all are lucky enough. They wait like a hopeless romantic, with no aim and no charm of the future. The wait is just endless. Life abides by the past and procrastinates the future.


I realized that in the age of innocence we demand an explanation for everything and want to know the unknowns. Today, when I know everything (almost), I want to become unknown to all of it again.


I want to return to the age of innocence to shed the burden of knowledge.


Aug 14, 2010

Aug 11, 2010

Aug 9, 2010

Caught in Catastrophe

  /   No comments   
I am not heartless or empathetic nor am I saying that Pakistan Army isn’t doing enough for flood victims. It is a mega disaster of history.

But looking at this picture, made me think how one can catch a food bag thrown from such a height?
Chances are that bag will burst and float in the flood water, making it inedible for the people who are there waiting for it to arrive, but properly. Am sure there are better ways such as repellent technique etc.


A Pakistani army soldier drops food bags for
 flooded survivors in Kot Addu, in the
southern province of Punjab on August 8, 2010. – AFP
 

At another point, they are doing more than their capacity. May be our government, keeping up with the tradition is only begging for aid but failing to provide sufficient survival aid to victims. Hence, Pakistan Army cannot do much but to manage within the available resources.

Pakistani soldiers pass a baby across a watercourse
as part of an effort to help homeless people in
Taunsa, near Multan, move to safe location - BBC





Long live Pakistan Army
 And
 May GOD be with you and the flood victims !!

Aug 3, 2010

Sponsoring Suicide

  /   No comments   
If you have any intentions of committing suicide, let Pakistan sponsor you.

The whole country is hit by natural and un-natural disasters. First it was only Talibans and their jackets, which can blow you into pieces. In return, you family gets meager amount of compensation and that too after struggling through red tape policies.

But that’s old. The nation got used to it so much that hearing only 30-40 people died in a blast is a thankful situation. One may hear, “Chalo shukar karo buhat ziada log nahi maray” or “Abhi to dekho, hospital jakar kitne maren gay”. We Pakistanis have become immune to terrorism.

So, now if we don’t get killed in a blast, we have other sources. You may flying in a plane, anticipating the landing and guess what? You are murdered at Margalla Hills (Islamabad) leaving others never to look at the hills in a way they used to.
It’s ok if you don’t like being burned down like this. We have floods to offer as well.


Millions displaced and thousands killed by the floods in northern and southern Pakistan. There was a time when we were crying for water shortage and bad crops due to no rains. When it came, it came like cats and dogs. I prefer to call it bitchy rains.


You are also most welcome to Karachi or Quetta. Both are the hubs of ethnical clashes. There are various choices such as target killing, torched buses and cars.


If not by this, than by that but options are infinite. Choose at your ease.


Lakki Marwat Blast, January 2010

Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa Flood and Rains, July  2010

Karachi, burned down after ethnical target killing, Aug 2010

General Knowledge

  /   No comments   

"Main janti hun tumhe aur mujhe ek dusray k baray main ziada janne ki zarurat tau nahi hai magar phir bhi yun hi aksir ye khayal aata hai kay ab tum kaise ho?

Kya tum aaj bhi Lata k ganay sun kar wo raaten yaad karte ho jab main gaati thee aur tum hans kar kehte they, Lata ki taang torna band karo. Jaante ho us k baad kitne hi roz maine ainay k samne khare ho kar wo gaana gaaya hai. Ab tau aisi aadat pari hai k na chahte hue bhi fursat main wohi gungunati hun.

Tumhe wo nazm yaad hai jo tumne mujh per, mere liye hi likhi thee? wo lafz aaj bhi naye k naye hain aur kal se ziada haseen. Uss kaaghaz ka reshmi-pun kuch alag sa hai, shayad tumhari unglion se aisa hua hoga.

Wo shabnam se bhi ziada saaf shaffaf chehra yaad hai tum ko? Kitne hi din hogaye tumhari nazr nahi pari uss per. Yun lagta hai waqt ki dhool jam gayi ho. Maloom hai wo pankhar’ian bhi sookh gayi hain apni hi zuban ka namak chakh chakh kar.

Kya tum aaj bhi poori poori raat ye soch kar jaagte ho k humare sirhanay khali hain? Aaj tak nahi jaan paayi k aglee subha tum kaise jaan lete they. Ye ek muamma hi reh gaya jo tum se khud bhi na hal ho saka.

Wo lambay lambay khutt yaad hain jinhe dekh kar tum pareshan hote they aur poochte they kaise likh leti ho? Main aaj bhi tumko tumhare hi lafzon main dhoondti hun. Jane wo likhne wala kahan gum gaya.

Yaad hai wo meri pink flowers ki shirt? Unka rung urr chuka hai.

Mujhe ye sub zaroor batana.

Ho sakay tau wapis aajana.  



K.

Jul 28, 2010

Al - Hussain Mosque

  /   No comments   



Al-Hussain Mosque, Cairo. It is situated right in the center of ancient Khan Bazaar dated back to 1154. 

It is believed that head of Imam Hussain A.S. was brought here after the martyrdom but returned by Fatamid Caliphs. Much later, it was found out that Fatamid Caliphs are also buried here. Government has closed down the museum which has a large range of Relics of Prophet Muhammad P.B.U.H and Bibi Fatima Zehra A.S. 

Also, the oldest complete manuscript of Quran is present at this site.


Courtesy: Me :)

Jul 25, 2010

Jul 21, 2010

C.A.K.

  /   1 comment   
-->
 “People think soul mate is your perfect fit, and that’s what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that’s holding you back, the person who brings you to your attention so you can change your life. A true soul mate is the most important person you’ll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then they leave. And thank GOD for it.”
--- Richard from Texas in Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat Pray Love

It was you and will always be you !!!

Shukria........

  /   1 comment   
-->
Mujhe zinda rehna ata hai, aur buhat ache se ata hai. Main muskurati bhi hun, hansti bhi, pasand ka khati, peeti aur pehanti bhi hun. Siyasat se le kar dhaniye podinay ki khareedari tak main barh charh kar hissa leti hun.
Magar main sirf zinda hun. Zinda rehne aur jeenay main farq hai.
Zindagi phir se mere muskurane per muskuraye to mere ander jeenay ka ehsaas jagay. Lekin, zindagi muskura nahi rahi han albatta hans rahi hai mujh per, ek bar nahi baar baar. Mujhe iss kay hansne per koi khaas aitraaz nahi kuon kay ab main kaafi dheet hochuki hun. Pehle mujhe zindagi kay yun hansne per rona aata tha, ab main muskura kar chehra palat leti hun.  
Kabhi kabhi lagta hai, main dukhon se guzar kar, guzar jaoon gi.
Bahar se dekhne wale mujhe dekhte hain, mera aap nahi jaantay. Mujhe wo sub mila jiski maine shiddat se kabhi khuwahish nahi ki, aur wo sub cheen liya gaya jo maine raaton ko uth uth kar maanga.
Maine jab saath chaha, uss nay haath kheench lia. Jab muhabbat se dekha, tab chehra palat lia. Dostee main darguzr ka kaha tau damaan maila kardia. Tumne mujhe akela rehna sikha dia, khud main gum hona bata dia. Tumne mujhe nafrat karna sikha dia.
Tumne mujhe marr kar zinda rehna sikha dia.




K.

Jul 16, 2010

Karwa Sach

  /   2 comments   

-->


Woh muhabbat kay fasanay, 
Sub tere jhootay bahane.
Waqt per to waqt tha, 
Ab ap ko kya hua janay?

 

 

 

Written by Kulsoom B.
July 17, 2:18 a.m.

Jul 13, 2010

Soccer can be sour !!!

  /   1 comment   
Countries have border conflicts, political conflicts, military conflicts, resource conflicts but who can have a soccer conflict?

Egypt has it.


Before coming to Cairo, I thought country is at cross with Israel only. But I was so wrong. They are extremely sour when it comes to Algeria after facing bloody defeat at FIFA 2010 qualifying matches. The best soccer team of Africa kicked out by Algeria in one of the most combative matches.


Algeria played simple to get even with Egypt after 20 years. Algerians had their taste of defeat from Egypt, when they were left behind in FIFA 1990.


Egyptians took it very seriously. Let’s say to their hearts that it’s still bleeding.

Algerians are not very welcomed here and gets racist remarks openly, be it at work or at a mall. The minute a person says he is an Algerian; you got to look at others’ face expression or reaction. Egyptian put them aside like aliens while Algerians play it pretty cool. After all, they got what they wanted; a victory.



Few days back, I asked an Egyptian colleague that why fuss over such small matter. To which she replied, “You know, we helped Algeria in gaining independence. They shouldn’t have been so rude to us.” Now this obviously doesn’t make sense to me. I mean what the heck?


Afterwards, I asked an Algerian what he thinks about the comment made above. I also added that Egypt, indeed, helped Algeria. But he thinks, Algeria has been helping too, for instance it is providing Gas to them. With an annoying look, he claimed “You know the burner on which you cook? We provide the gas for it.” For a minute I was thankful to Algeria because I certainly don’t want to deprive myself from Pakistani food in Cairo.

Anyways, I guess we Pakistanis and Indians have bigger hearts. After 3 wars and various cricket defeats, we still manage to eat and laugh together. In an alien land, we cherish each other.


Aren’t we great?






Jul 12, 2010

Advocating Fadlallah

  /   No comments   
Many a times, when people are alive, we don’t get the chance to tell them how do we perceive them or what influence do they have on our lives. So when they pass away, the emotional insurgency takes place, compelling us to let the world know how we feel.



That is what exactly happened when Ayatollah Fadlallah passed away on July 4, 2010.
During his life, Ayatollah Fadlallah considered harbouring Hezbollah and being one of its pioneers. Though, never acknowledged by either of them, any wise man can judge the importance of connection after Ayatollah Fadlallah came under CIA car bomb attack in 1985 which killed around 80 people. A decade later, he was labelled as terrorist by USA.


Modern media claims to be liberal and is permitted with freedom of speech but one of its own Octavia Nasr, who had been with CNN for decades, got fired for paying a tweet homage to Ayatollah. If a person is in media or government, doesn’t mean that they hold no personal opinions. May be they had far different experience than CIA with the labelled terrorist.


Ayatollah Fadlallah has been portrayed more of as an American enemy rather than on his stance against Iran and support on women’s right. His practices were pretty much easier to adopt in common life and speak logic.


A human holds different roles and personalities in one life which defines his character. I am not an authority to judge Ayatollah but am sure he must have had some charm which made CNN’s Octavia Nasr and British Ambassador to Lebanon, Frances Guy to eulogize him.










May you rest in peace.

Dear John

  /   No comments   
Saying that, you won't go to the extent where you can hurt me isn't enough. You have already hurt me in a manner, which was never invented.

Or may be you were right, am too fragile. Sadly, nobody yet has come to know how to handle me with care. For once I thought, it's you who might do but then again am bad with judgment and too quick to decide.


Thank you for teaching me a lesson. From now onwards, I will try to be a listener but not by heart, by mind my dear.



Secretly yours!!!

Jul 8, 2010

Short on thought !!

  /   No comments   
Every morning, the last dab of lip color remind her of the tasteless touch she had with him but still no harm to look good. While putting up her lip color and making a peach outline, she suddenly remembered that it’s her turn today for the cab. After finishing the only make up she does, she checked her wallet and found that she carries no change. She hushed the thought by deciding to give the larger note to cabby, hence, nothing to worry.

It is hardly a 5 minute walk from their houses to meet at the intersection and get a cab to work. Without fail, after morning greetings, they have been telling each other how sleepless they have become after moving to this new place. He avoids looking at her completely, not in ignorance, but in an order to resist the temptation of keep looking at her long beautiful hair. This gives her an absolute chance to admire his cuteness. Things and time doesn’t seem to support the idea, still she wishes to tell him someday the curves she makes on his face, put her into century long commitments. She has not gathered the courage yet to admire any of his things. The fear of encouragement on his part impedes her need to admire him in words.

Waving at a cab, he ensures to stop the one she prefers to sit, metered one and sits only after she has made her place at the seat on his back.

She whispered in his ear, “I don’t happen to have change. So will give 20 bucks and I will get the change too”. He nodded his head in negative and said, “No need, I am carrying it”. She ignored him by taking out the note and passing it beside his freshly shaved cheek. Only she knows how hard it was not to feel them.
He asked her firmly to keep it back and put an end to whispering bickering. It was offending for her since he has paid 2 days in a row. Today, for a change, he asked the cabby to take the left turn and stopped at the corner instead of making her cross the road. Earlier, she used to wonder why does he make the cab stop much before office, but now that wondering is wandering else where. She flips over the small walks they make together.

Coming out of the cab, she folded her hands on her chest and made an expression of disapproval. He turned around her saying, “It’s all right” and both started walking. She made a comment in her fastest speaking manner, “You always do what you want to do and then listen to me. It is so hard to convince you”. He smiled and replied, “It’s early in the morning, and we both know no cabby keeps the change this time”. He made sense but she didn’t say it, instead she said “We could have tried.” He continued, while making a way for her between puddles and leaves laden trees, “I always think well before doing anything. I plan beforehand and look at every aspect properly”.

His statement made her slow down her pace and looked at him over his shoulder. Few nights back, what was he thinking when making the move? Back then he told her, that it is an unplanned desire, but now? She so wanted him to stop and answer her, only if she could merge her imagination and words together to ask him all this.

Standing at the crossroads of her thoughts, she is again losing the faith in her judgment and fate. Being a woman, she masters the art of imagination and has dived into it with him, without his knowledge, many a times since that tasteless touch.

Climbing up the stairs, she told herself, that only time and intentions will clarify the fog in her mind, to decide if it was a moment or a mistake. Till then, she has decided to keep change money always.

Jun 29, 2010

Comedy of Errors

  /   No comments   
There are times when one thing can have dual meanings and its makes the whole situation hilarious.
One fine my morning, my colleague opened her inbox and found a business email from Nigerian counter part, which opened like below:


Good Morning,


How was your night?


My colleague got confused and thought that other person might have done it by mistake. But, no, it was written in all good spirits.
Actually, this is how Nigerian asks about your well being. Though for us Pakistanis it’s little awkward, and we may feel offended. Our night spends are pretty personal and who asks about your night anyways; at least not in my part of the world.


Later sometime, I and few team mates were having after-lunch chat and discussing my Egyptian assignment and the Mummies. In between, my team mate popped up a statement saying “You will return becoming Mummy from there”. I was embarrassed and laughing hard at the same time and told her I hold no such plans.


Thankfully, my elders don’t get to know such comical conversations.

Jun 28, 2010

(FUN) Fact Sheet --- > Cairo, Egypt

  /   No comments   
-->
With in 24 hours of my landing in Egyptian capital, I learned that……




1. Egyptian women doesn’t really know how to handle kids. Leave them to cry so others can have free headache.


2. They are super-busted.


3. Extremes are found among women. From knee-length skirt to full head scarf. Just at the breakfast today, I saw a woman with her whole face covered with thick black veil. She was eating her breakfast as per the instructions of her husband. I pity her.


4. Egyptians have no sense of queuing. I literally fought for my turn at immigration counter.


5. Egyptian men love crew cut or stay bald. It suits them in my opinion. Cool.


6. Small girls can be found tying various ponytails(Note: ponytails not braids). Its done very neatly. I have to admit african reagion is too good at hair styling.


7. They love wasting time.


8. One is required to smile and ask for their well being even if you meet 5 times a day.


9. Women know beautiful ways of wearing headscarves.


10. It doesn’t really matter if it’s a Muslim country, one has to survive on toilet roll.