CHAINED DOORS AT SHANKARGARH FORT (PRESENTLY KNOWN AS SHABQADAR FORT) IN PESHAWAR.
Only a sikh could give such a hilarious punishment to innocent wooden doors of a Fort which was breached by enemy. When, in 1840, Prince Sher Singh of Sikh Empire was on a visit to the Fort in Peshawar, Pakhtoons attacked the fort and were able to enter the fort. However they were repulsed after a fight. Later in a court martial the fort doors were found to be at fault and thus given a 100 years sentence to be chained to a pillar. In 1940 the term was served but the poor gates are still chained.
امردیپ سنگھ شب قدر قلعے میں زنجیروں میں جکڑے ہوئے دو
د روازوں کا ذکر کرتے ہیں۔ وہ بیان کرتے ہیں سنہ 1840 میں سکھ دورحکومت میں مہاراجہ شیر سنگھ نے یہاں کا دورہ کیا تو کچھ افغان جنگجو قلعے کا دروازہ توڑ کر اندر داخل ہونے میں کامیاب ہو گئے تاہم انھیں پسپا کر دیا گیا۔
مصنف کے مطابق اس کے اگلے روز جب تفتیش کی گئی تو سکھ فوج کے ایک اطالوی جنرل جین بیپٹائسٹ وینٹورا اس قلعے کے کمانڈر تھے اور دفاع کی ذمہ داری بھی ان کے سپرد تھی تاہم مہاراجہ نے دفاع میں ناکامی کا ذمہ دار قلعے کے دروازے کو قرار دیتے ہوئے اسے 100 سال قید کی سزا سنائی۔
سنہ 1940 میں یہ سزا پوری ہو گئی لیکن آج بھی یہ دروازے ایک مینار کے ساتھ زنجیروں میں جکڑے ہوئے ہیں۔
Yoga is good. For Laugter therapy, please see the Hindi Film Munna Bhai MBBS.
I have a personal experience. I had pain in my left leg and was limping for months. The Hospital therapy failed to cure fully, and the remaining 20% was cured in few weeks of Yoga. 20 years ago. (I think I should start it again just to keep good.)
About laughter therapy I have doubts.
Below is from BBC Urdu.com.
ڈیرہ اسماعیل خان: دہشت اور ذہنی کوفت کو ’دفع دور‘ کرنے کے لیے مفت یوگا
عزیز اللہ خانبی بی سی اردو ڈاٹ کام، ڈیرہ اسماعیل خان
9 نومبر 2018
ڈیرہ اسماعیل خان کے مرکزی پارک میں قہقہے لگاتے سینکڑوں افراد لوگوں کی توجہ کا مرکز ہیں۔ ہر ایک کا یہی سوال ہے: یہ لوگ کیا کر رہے ہیں؟ کہیں پاگل یا دیوانے تو نہیں؟
کسی نے بتایا کہ یہ لوگ یوگا کر رہے ہیں اور قہقہے لگانا ’لافٹر تھیرپی‘ ہے۔ یعنی قہقہے لگا کر غم غلط کرنے کی مشق۔
یہ یوگا کیا چیز ہے؟ اس سے بیشتر لوگ نا واقف ہیں۔ لیکن لیکن جوں جوں اس ورزش کے بارے میں لوگوں کو آگاہی بڑھی، یوگا کرنے والوں کی تعداد میں اضافہ میں بھی ہو رہا ہے۔ آج ڈیرہ اسماعیل خان میں ایک نہیں، پانچ یوگا کلب قائم ہو چکے ہیں۔
خیبر پختونخوا کے اس پسماندہ ضلع میں لوگ پرتشدد واقعات کی وجہ سے ذہنی دباؤ کا شکار ہیں۔ اس سال کے گذشتہ دس ماہ میں اس شہر میں 40 افراد کو ٹارگٹ کلنگ کا نشانہ بنایا جا چکا ہے۔ دہشت گردی کے خلاف جنگ سے بھی یہ شہر بری طرح متاثر ہوا ہے اور یہاں متعدد دھماکوں اور خود کش حملوں میں بڑی تعداد میں لوگ ہلاک اور زخمی ہوئے ہیں۔
فرقہ وارانہ تشدد کے واقعات تو اب معمول بن چکے ہیں۔ عاشورہ کے جلوس پر حملے اور جنازوں پر فائرنگ کے واقعات بھی عام ہیں۔
اس یوگا کلب میں ہنسنا منع نہیں، ضروری ہے!
عوام کی ذہنی کیفیت کو مد نظر رکھتے ہوئے کچھ پڑھے لکھے لوگوں نے جب شہر کے حق نواز پارک میں یوگا کلب کا آغاز کیا تو اس وقت اس میں صرف چار افراد شامل تھے۔
یوگا شروع کرنے والوں میں گومل یونیورسٹی کے شعبہ صحافت کے چیئرمین پروفیسر ڈاکٹر وسیم اکبر نے اہم کردار ادا کیا۔ ان کا کہنا تھا کہ وہ لوگوں کی منتیں کرتے تھے کہ آپ آئیں، اس سے آپ کو فائدہ ہوگا۔ لیکن اکثر لوگ پوچھتے کہ ’یہ یوگا کیا چیز ہے؟‘
اب لوگوں کو اس کی افادیت کا اندازہ ہونا شروع ہو گیا ہے۔ نئے یوگا کلبز میں چار سے پانچ سو افراد یہ ورزش کرتے ہیں اور اس کی کوئی فیس نہیں ہے۔ لوگ اپنی مرضی سے صبح اور شام کے اوقات میں یہاں دل بہلانے اور ورزش کرنے آتے ہیں۔
یہاں مقامی لوگوں کے علاوہ جنوبی وزیرستان سے نقل مکانی کرنے والے وہ لوگ بھی یوگا کے لیے آتے ہیں جو فضائی بمباری اور جنگ کے ماحول سے آئے ہیں۔ ان میں ایک شخص ایسا بھی ہے جو افغانستان کی قندھار جیل میں قید رہا اور وہاں اس پر شدید جسمانی اور ذہنی تشدد کیا گیا تھا۔
اس شہر سے تعلق رکھنے والے کرنل ریٹائرڈ خالد علی زئی پنجاب کے مختلف شہروں میں یوگا کلبز قائم کر چکے ہیں اور ڈیرہ اسماعیل خان میں بھی اس کا آغاز انھوں نے ہی کیا ہے۔ ان کے بقول ان کا مقصد ’ہسپتال ویران اور پارک آباد‘ کرنا ہے۔
انھوں نے بتایا کہ یوگا سے مختلف بیماریوں کا علاج ہوتا ہے اور ایسے افراد جنھیں مختلف عارضے لاحق تھے، یوگا کی بدولت وہ اب تندرست ہیں۔
اس کلب میں ورزش کرتے ہوئے 73 سالہ ریٹائرڈ استاد اور ماضی کے ہاکی کے کھلاڑی محمد کامل نے بتایا کہ ان کے گھٹنوں اور کندھوں میں شدید درد رہتا تھا، لیکن اس ورزش کے بعد وہ واضح بہتری محسوس کر رہے ہیں۔
ڈیرہ اسماعیل خان میں اب پہلی مرتبہ خواتین پارک بھی قائم کیا گیا ہے، جہاں خواتین یوگا کرتی ہیں۔
خاتون انسٹرکٹر مسز خالد نے بی بی سی کو بتایا کہ بیشتر خواتین ذہنی دباؤ کا شکار ہیں۔ ’انھیں ہر لمحہ یہ فکر رہتی ہے کہ بچے کہاں ہیں اور شوہر کی فکر لاحق رہتی ہے۔‘
اس شہر میں خواتین گھروں سے کم ہی باہر نکلتی ہیں، لیکن یوگا کلبز کے قیام سے انھیں ذہنی سکول ملا ہے۔
مسز خالد کے مطابق پہلے ان خواتین کے لیے گھر میں انتظام کیا گیا تھا، جہاں چند ایک خواتین آتی تھیں۔ لیکن اب خواتین پارک میں ان کی تعداد بڑھ گئی ہے۔
اس شہر کے طویل کشیدہ حالات سے خواتین بھی بری طرح متاثر ہوئی ہیں۔ ان میں ایسی خواتین بھی شامل ہیں جن کے گھروں یا محلّوں کوئی نہ کوئی شخص دہشت گردی کا نشانہ بن چکا ہے۔
اس شہر میں نفسیاتی کاؤنسلنگ کا کوئی خاطر خواہ انتظام نہیں اور ذہنی آسودگی حاصل کرنے کا کوئی اور طریقہ بھی نہیں۔ شاید اسی لیے یہاں کے لوگوں کے لیے مہنگی دوائیوں کی نسبت یوگا کی مشق زیادہ کارآمد ثابت ہو رہی ہے۔
The shortest distance between any two points on a flat surface is a straight line joining the two points. This universal fact is obvious and is used every day by humans and animals alike. Likewise any one side of any triangle is shorter than the two other sides together. This is also obvious enough and Mathematicians will take a lot of arguments and jargon to ‘prove’ it. A cow will take a direct (shortest) route to its fodder and ….
WILL not follow a devised route. Similarly a man will tend to cut across beautifully manicured lawn instead of following the pathway.
All our actions are governed by the fact that we are following shortest routes in each and every action of our lives.
Even Allah (SWT) enjoins us to ask Him to guide us to a straight path, in
Surah Al-Fatiha. : (Ehde Nas Seratal Mustaqeem).
There will not be a single person on this Earth who will willingly follow a longer route if he can help it. This is but natural. A shop keeper is trying to sell his goods at a higher price to get rich quicker, or when he sells at a discount, he is trying to get rid of his stale/ obsolete goods. In either case he is following a shortest route to achieve his goal. When we do take a physically longer route on a road, it may be to avoid danger, to avoid bad patches or perhaps to have a good time if the company is gorgeous. The route of least resistance is even followed by the electric current.
There is a dilemma about what people THINK is the shortest route. A couplet by Mahendra Singh Bedi states:
دیرو حرم میں چین جو ملتا
کیوں جاتے میخانے لوگ
(Why would people visit pubs if they could find solace in church and mosque?
I am sure he writes this as a piece of beautiful poetry only and knows better.
The Holy Qoran has clearly mentioned that : ala bithikri Allahi tatma-innu alquloob (13:28
الابذکراللهتطمینلقلوب
Translation by Yousuf Ali: for without doubt in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find satisfaction.
It is mercifully Allah (SWT) Who gives us guidance about the real shortest routes for our life’s actions. They may look difficult, but depending upon the extent and the degree of conviction of our eeman, they are easy enough.
Allah (SWT) has given at a number of places in The Holy Qoran hints to the shortest routes that men can follow to achieve the goal of HIM being pleased with us. (Jannat is a secondary goal as it were). The shortest route comprises of a combination of “does” and “don’ts”. It is my humble intention to bring some of these to my esteemed readers and wish that Allah will guide me and keep me from mistakes.
Actually the whole of Holy Qoran is the answer to the prayer “Ehde nas seratal mustaqeem” and thus IS the straight path. In it there are certain surahs and ayas that specify it with clarity.
I will elaborate two.
(1) Surah Al-Ma’un (107)
(2) Ayatul-birr (2/177)
SURAH AL-MAUN (107)
(I owe the understanding of this surah to my friend Mohammad Umar Chand)
Allah (SWT) adopts all manner of speech in Holy Qoran. Direct instructions to suggestion to questions to simile etc. In this surah He adopts a very interesting manner in which He asks a question and then spells things which are actually ‘don’ts’ but He puts them in such a way that we are left to draw our own conclusion.
He wonders if we have seen a person who denies (the day of) reckoning. Then He tells us that he is such that he does this and this and………A total of five actions are mentioned which of course we are to understand that we must avoid.
We are supposed to strive to avoid being such a person who so to say denies the fact that we are to be judged about our actions one day by indulging in such activities as:
Pushing away the orphan. Orphans are given a very prominent place in The Qoran and we are asked to look after them as much as possible.
Not encouraging others to arrange for the feeding of the poor. Here it means that we are to make sure that no one goes hungry as far as we can manage.
Not paying heed to our prayers. This means that we are to give top priority to the prayers and always be conscious of their timing and prepare for them on time and in time always.
Showing off his prayers. We must be sincere in our prayers and must not do them only to be seen by others that we are good person.
Refusing small favours. This last thing leaves me astonished as to the degree of minute details of human nature that Allah (SWT) brings in focus. I have known people who are so mean that they refuse small favours to neighbours, friends etc. This is part of daily life that we lend a hand, a little of this and a little of that (a little salt, a hammer, a spade, a ride etc.) to whoever happens to need for a while.
I cannot but remember here a line in a Gulazar’s famous song “Beeri Jalai le”. It states “Ja parosi ke choolhe se aag lai le”. I remember in my childhood we were routinely sent to neighbours to borrow a few ambers to start our choolha, and to borrow so many other things besides. Yet there were some houses where we dared not enter, for immediately we would hear a yell, ‘get out’.
We must be generous and helpful. This is the lesson here.
This concludes my small effort of high lighting the Surah Al Ma’un. May Allah (SWT) give us courage and taufeeq to follow His commands.
Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the east or the west, but [true] righteousness is [in] one who believes in Allah , the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the prophets and gives wealth,
in spite of love for it, to relatives, orphans, the needy, the traveler, those who ask [for help], and for freeing slaves; [and who] establishes prayer and gives zakah; [those who] fulfill their promise when they promise; and [those who] are patient in poverty and hardship and during battle. Those are the ones who have been true, and it is those who are the righteous.
Muhsin Khan
It is not Al-Birr (piety, righteousness, and each and every act of obedience to Allah, etc.) that you turn your faces towards east and (or) west (in prayers); but Al-Birr is (the quality of) the one who believes in Allah, the Last Day, the Angels, the Book, the Prophets and gives his wealth, in spite of love for it, to the kinsfolk, to the orphans, and to Al-Masakin (the poor), and to the wayfarer, and to those who ask, and to set slaves free, performs As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat), and gives the Zakat, and who fulfill their covenant when they make it, and who are As-Sabirin (the patient ones, etc.) in extreme poverty and ailment (disease) and at the time of fighting (during the battles). Such are the people of the truth and they are Al-Muttaqun (pious – see V.2:2).
Pickthall
It is not righteousness that ye turn your faces to the East and the West; but righteous is he who believeth in Allah and the Last Day and the angels and the Scripture and the prophets; and giveth wealth,
for love of Him, to kinsfolk and to orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and to those who ask, and to set slaves free; and observeth proper worship and payeth the poor-due. And those who keep their treaty when they make one, and the patient in tribulation and adversity and time of stress. Such are they who are sincere. Such are the Allah-fearing.
Shakir
It is not righteousness that you turn your faces towards the East and the West, but righteousness is this that one should believe in Allah and the last day and the angels and the Book and the prophets, and give away wealth out of love for Him to the near of kin and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and the beggars and for (the emancipation of) the captives, and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate; and the performers of their promise when they make a promise, and the patient in distress and affliction and in time of conflicts– these are they who are true (to themselves) and these are they who guard (against evil).
Udur
نیکی یہی نہیں کہ تم مشرق یا مغرب کو (قبلہ سمجھ کر ان) کی طرف منہ کرلو بلکہ نیکی یہ ہے کہ لوگ خدا پر اور روز آخرت پر اور فرشتوں پر اور (خدا کی) کتاب پر اور پیغمبروں پر ایمان لائیں۔ اور مال باوجود عزیز رکھنے کے رشتہ داروں اور یتیموں اور محتاجوں اور مسافروں اور مانگنے والوں کو دیں اور گردنوں (کے چھڑانے) میں (خرچ کریں) اور نماز پڑھیں اور زکوٰة دیں۔ اور جب عہد کرلیں تو اس کو پورا کریں۔ اور سختی اور تکلیف میں اور (معرکہ) کارزار کے وقت ثابت قدم رہیں۔ یہی لوگ ہیں جو (ایمان میں) سچے ہیں اور یہی ہیں جو (خدا سے) ڈرنے والے ہیں
I stumbled upon this ayah and was stunned by the degree of preciseness and the details. Later it turned out that it is indeed a very prominent ayah.
It is the embodiment of the popular saying that one is supposed to be aware of haqooqul ebaad as well as of haqooqul Allah.
Allah Himself dismisses the ebadat of someone who is busy only praying the salat and ignores the people’s needs.
He defines the neki (Birr) as not just the prayers but a host of other things besides: like:
Eeman: (on Allah, on the day of judgement, on the angles, on the book (Qoran), and on the prophets).
Spend (in spite of the love for it/ in Allah’s love) the money we have on
(a) relatives (near and far)
(b) orphans
(c) the destitute
(d) the wayfarer
(e) the ones who do ask
(f) getting the release of the captives
Pray salat
Pay zakat
Fulfil the promise if once committed
Be stead fast in the times of struggle and hardship and during battle.
The last two indeed form the core of the great character that one will have if only he possesses these.
There is some conflict in the translation of No.2: Spend (in spite of the love for it/ in Allah’s love) . But I say we should not bother about it and remember that we have to spend. Allah will decide what He meant.
Conspicuously missing from the list are two farz: Fasting in the month of Ramadan and Hajj in the Hajj season. These two in my opinion are two ibadats that concern the relation between Allah and the man alone and thus are excluded from the list of the things that form neki. Neki it turns out is that which translates in the well being of the people. Wallah o Allam. He alone knows why these were not included.
There are a host of other things mentioned else where like neighbours’ rights, doing a fare deal when trading, not measuring less, not profiteering nor hoarding etc. Being kind to parent’s elderly in general, love the children etc.
May Allah give us strength and taufeeq to follow His commands. Aameen.
And I beseech him that he should stop waking me up early in the morning, he might as well kill me.
At this he is horrified and, after covering me with the quilt, left the room.
Bebe had only scorn for Daoji who was in awe of her. She used to sew clothes of local women all day never ceasing to complain about Daoji. I hated this but could do nothing about it.
Daoji would say, “ Son, God forbid, this woman is like the cruel owner of a rest house where you, me and my daughter Qurrat (meaning (apple of the) eye, I called her BIBI) are staying.” And it seemed to be true as she was very dark in complexion with very white teeth. When she walked she looked like the witch spying on innocent people. She did not spare even her own daughter Bibi who would cry for hours after listening to her harsh words. The only person she was good with was her son Ami Chand, perhaps because he resembled me or because he did not love Daoji like did Bibi (Qurrat).
Bibi was good but she was not very friendly with me. She would come up on the roof to collect firewood from the shed, and would see me studying. She would shout from there, “Baoji, he is playing with straw and is not reading”. I would retort, “Why you worry if I do not read, are you the police inspector?”
Daoji would shout from below, “No Golu Molu, do not quarrel with your sister,” and I say, “I am reading, she tells lies.”
My routine was that I left Daoji’s home in the morning and had breakfast at my home. Then I went to school. My mid day meal was sent to school from home. In the evening I would fill my lantern with kerosene and come to Daoji’s home. Evening meal would be sent to me there from my home.
Daoji was a scribe in the local court where he would spend time and would wait for work which was not much. Occasionally he would earn 2 or 4 rupees otherwise he kept himself busy reading books. When he was free he would come to my school at the closing time and walk me to my home, bombarding me with his incessant questions on the way. On the other hand, Bebe had a good business sewing clothes. One reason she was so harsh with Daoji could be that, for some years, most of the household expenses were met by income from her sewing.
Once I surprised Daoji and went to the court to fetch him. The court had closed and Dao Ji was having tea on a tea stall. I gathered his things and said, “Come, Daoji I will walk you to your home today. He paid an “anna” to the tall keeper and started walking with me silently. I said, with mischief in the eyes, “I am going to tell Bebe that you drink tea here.” He said, “He makes tea with jaggery instead of sugar and it is very tasty and is good for health. And he charges only an anna for a full glass. Please do not tell your Bebe or she would create a nasty scene.” I felt sorry for him and promised not to say a word. When I mentioned this episode to my mother, she started sending to Daoji’s home milk, fruit, sugar etc occasionally. But Daoji never got to use any of these. Though it made Bibi change her attitude towards me a little.
I remember the day when I arrived at Baoji’s home with a can of milk and Bebe was not at home. She had gone to the nearby pond to have a body wash with her women folk. Daoji was enthusiastic at the sight of milk and decided to make tea. He told Bibi to start a fire and went outside to buy some jaggery. When the fire was ready he said he would make tea himself. As the water came to boil, he added the tea leaves. He was very happy watching bubbling water and was singing golu molu with delight. We three had a happy hour and it looked like the happiness had visited our little home. The main door opened and Bebe appeared and saw what was happening. When he saw her, all the colour on his face faded. She saw the boiling tea steaming on the fire and that the old fool was caught playing the forbidden game. As he brought his form to standing he said weakly, “It is tea”.
Bebe struck Baoji at his back with her hand and started a shrill monologue. “You old fool, you shameless scoundrel, who drinks tea at your age? You saw the field was clear when I wasn’t around and you felt no fear. You wish I die so you will do as you will. I might as well die. Oh, what dirty creature birthed you and what cursed fate that I was married to you. Oh why death does not reach you”, She reached and removed the hot pot from the fire with the help of a piece of cloth and threw it on the ground. Hot tea splashed in all directions and before he dragged himself away, some found his feet and ankles. He hurried away from there with cries of,” Oh you be blessed, oh you be blessed” and entered the front room. The way he retreated brought spontaneous laughter from me and Bibi and it could be heard around the entire courtyard. Bebe ignored me but turned to Bibi and caught her by her locks. “You are good at playing the second wife of the old fool. Why did you give him the key to the cupboard”. Bibi began crying and I made myself scarce and entered the front room.
Daoji was on his favourite chair, caressing his feet. I found all this funny again and could not curb my laughter. He beckoned me to come near him and said, “I am meaner than the dog of the ONE on whose holy head an unfortunate old woman in Mecca used to throw rubbish”. When he saw I was surprised, [because he was a Hindu] he continued, “If I, a member of the circle of my great teacher, complain on receiving hot water on my feet, I might as well be cursed. May He save me from the hell fire in the name of His Beloved, May the God of Abraham give me strength, may the God of Jacob grant me patience”.
I asked, “Who was your great Teacher?”
He was my teacher and mentor. He was your grand dad-teacher.
Daoji narrated how he found his teacher and took a long time relating his story as he would from time to time go in to trance with reverence written all over him or would recite several couplets of Persian poetry (praising the Prophet) at every turn; After he had finished I asked, “Daoji why you revere your teacher so profoundly and why you call yourself his servant?”
He answered, “The one who changed a donkey into some one whom people say, ‘This is Munshi Chant Ram’, wouldn’t he be my saviour or my lord?
“What a change in me that has occurred”, he said. The first voice of my Learned one still echoes in my head. He called, “O son of the animal keepers, come to me”. I came with my staff hitting ground at every step. Several boys from nearby villages were sitting in front of him in a semicircle, reading lessons with eyes cast down. He said, “I see you tending your goats every day, why don’t you leave them to themselves and sit here and learn something.” Then he continued, “what is your name?,”
“Chintu”, I replied like a yokel. He guessed, and correctly, “Is it Chant Ram?, yes it must be” The students were looking at me with squint eyes. I had a raw cotton garb on, with only a loin cloth for trousers, and a pair of dry leather shoes on my feet, a red piece of ordinary cloth wrapped on my head.
I cut in,” So you were a shepherd?”
“Yes, and My father had 12 goats”.
I was stunned, and with gaping mouth I hazarded, “So you were grazing goats near a school”
“No son, there were no schools even in the cities in those days. 74 years before who knew your M. B. High School? Actually, my Lord loved teaching poor folks and he gathered children around his home and taught.”
“He was from a very learned back ground. His whole household was well versed in Persian and in matters of religion. His father was the only hakim (medicine man) in the entire district, and was a preacher. His great grand father was Head clerk for Maharaja of Kashmir.”
“So you started schooling with him. “ I said, fearing he would go away from main tale.
“Yes I started immediately. I threw my staff on ground and squatted near him. He said, no, come on the mat and sit with others.”
I said, “Sir, for 18 years I have been sitting on the ground and comfortably.”
He sort of accepted my humility and gave me a booklet with alphabets, and asked me to repeat: alif, be, pe te ……..” His voice was like silk and was very loving.
“What was his name”, I asked
“He was known as Ismail Chishti (may Allah have mercy on him)”
As I was enjoying the tale, suddenly he said,” What was Subsidiary (Alliance) System.”
Woe to the English, they come as East India Company or as the bearer of Queen Victoria’s Order, they always manage to bring chaos in our ‘system’. I related the entire provisions of The Subsidiary System like I would the times table of one and a quarter. Then he ordered me to go out and find out if Bebe’s rage had subsided. I went out with the pretext of filling my ink pot with little water, and saw that Bebe was busy with her (sewing) machine and Bibi was cleaning the kitchen.
The chapter of Bebe in Daoji’s life was very weak. When he noticed that the atmosphere was good, he would ask us to recite a couplet each and when Bebe couldn’t, would ask her to sing the folk song concerning one’s son’s marriage. She would try to smile but couldn’t and Baoji would then sing it himself, like a woman would, inserting my name and that of Ami Chand as the ‘son’. He declared that he would wear red turban at my marriage and would sign on the marriage contract as a witness. He would declare that he would teach his ‘daughter in law’ to read Persian and to write Nastaleeq.
On one such a day when he was dreaming my marriage and my would be wife, he said, “God the Great would find a good and believer type wife for my Ami Chand also, just like He would find a pious wife for you who would be obedient to me. My Ami Chand has gone astray, what with his learning the martial art of lathi (long staff) and of jugat (hand fight), or attending meetings of (fundamentalist Hindu) Sewa Sangh (The Serving Party). I wish that he get a loving wife who might bring him back to normal behaviour.
I kept quiet at the mention of a ‘believer’ wife for Ami Chand because my remark could hurt him,
The marriages of me and of Ami Chand remained just wishful thinking, but one day a group of people did come for Bibi in a procession. Baoji had told me on several occasions that the bride groom Ram Pratap was a good boy and his name passed the test of stekhara (a method of testing important decisions by Quran). He was most impressed by the fact that his opposite, groom’s father, was a professor of Persian.
On the evening of the 12 th of the month, when Bibi was to say good bye, the whole house was charged with emotions. Bebe was crying buckets of tears, Ami Chand had his eyes full too; the local women showed proper behavior that was required of them at this moment and contributed to the chaos by making wailing noises. I was standing by a wall and Baoji stood by me with his hands on my shoulder. He is saying, “Today, I find that my feet scarce get hold on the ground”.
The father of the groom said. “Munshi ji, please allow us to leave”.
At this Bibi started wailing and all but fainted. She was made to stretch on a cot, women surrounded it and were fanning her with their loose portions of saries. Baoji moved to the cot making me a support. He addressed his daughter as Qurrat and asked not to ruin this important moment in her life. Then he said he will always repent that he could not give his daughter a good education, at which his opposite said that he would teach her.
The procession consisted of tangas and ikkas (both horse driven carts) and the bride rode with her women companions in a rath (pulled by oxen). And they left.
Rano was a very bad man in our locality. He had a pen containing 20 or 25 goats and 2 cows. He sold milk morning and evening. He had a habit of teasing Daoji every time he passed his house by hitting hard his lathi on the ground and shouting in mock style, “O Pundit, long live Ram”. Daoji would explain to him that he was no Pundit as a Pundit has to be a learned person and he was not. Rano would say why, any one with a chutiya (tuft of hair on head, or scalplock) is a Pundit. He was sort of a bully and had meetings in his premises in the evening in which other vagabonds would sing dirty songs or would gamble.
After Bibi was married, I one day went to him to buy milk. He asked, with mischief, “Now that the main attraction is gone, why you still go to that house? Tell me, there was a river (of easy sex) flowing, did you take a dip?” I god mad and hit him on the head with the can I brought for milk. He was down with pain and I ran to my home and related the incident to my father. Rano was summoned at the police station but he got free after a little scolding and stern warning. After this he became even more aggressive with Baoji and he used to ridicule his chutia the most. Baoji revered this part of his head because he said it was his mother’s favourite. In his childhood, his mother would use curd to clean it, followed by mustard oil.
He said, “When I came back to the village after serving as a teacher in the city for one year, Great Teacher asked me if I had done away with my chutiya and when I said no, he said that I was the most obedient son of my mother”. When I would touch his feet in reverence, he would say, “what is the use, since I cannot feel your touch. (He was paralyzed from back down)”, “I used to give him a ride on my back and show him entire village from time to time and he would give lots of blessings. When I recited before him SIKANDAR NAMA (Tale of Alexander the Great in Persian), he was too happy and rewarded me with one rupee. He added after lot of praise that I had the same profession as that of Moses, and that I was a follower of the Lord of Medina, that is why I am blessed by God the most merciful.”
As my exams were nearing, Daoji became more and more stern and would not let a moment pass by without giving me instructions, When I would go to the water pitchers more to have some respite than to drink, he would follow me with his incessant questions. He started coming to school at the closing time to fetch me every day. After the day I sneaked from the back door; he started waiting for me just outside my class room. I became extremely irritated at his method of “teaching” and would resort to even calling him names, including “dog”. He never bothered and would scold me with loving voice calling me golu etc.
One cold night when I was on the verge of abandoning all effort to succeed in the studies, because there was a problem I could not solve try as hard as I could, and I was crying sitting on the stairs, Dao Ji came to me wrapped in a blanket and related his own predicament on the difficulties of learning. He told how he would spend hours, even days solving one problem and one day when he approached his great teacher looking for help he was told that the solution was beyond him too and that it was time he would need to consult a better teacher who lived in Delhi. He would give him his address only after he gets permission from his mother to go to Delhi.
“Knowing that my mother would never agree, I stole from her box 2 rupees, leaving 2 for her, and left the village in the dead of night. (God forbid me for this crime), In those days a railway line was being laid between Lahore and Delhi. This gave me direction to Delhi as well as work. I would work for a day or two as a labourer and then walk for days. I reached Delhi in 16 days and with great difficulty found out the residence of the Teacher my great teacher had talked about. (Hakeem) Nasir Ali Seestani was very famous and was also blind. He had already received a letter from my teacher about my disappearance and about the possibility of my appearing at his house. He received me with love. He would use his bare back for a paper and ask me to use my finger for a pen drawing invisible lines for geometrical propositions. Then guide me step by step till the solution is obtained. I was much confused in the beginning but later on I became accustomed to his method.”
Dao Ji continued, “I stayed with him for one year and, after some learning, returned home. I went straight to my great teacher and, leaving my head on his feet, asked for his forgiveness. He said if he had strength he would withdraw his feet, I cried at this and he said he forgave me.”
Dao ji was very concerned about me gaining weight. One early morning he dragged me from bed and took me forcefully for a long walk. The streets were very cold and very dark. We arrived far outside the village to a mound which was reputed to be remnants of a city sunk with its residents long long ago and that the dead souls still hover around there. No body ventured there even during the day. He showed me two bushes a hundred metres apart and ordered me to go and run between them 10 times. I went and sat for a while then ran slowly about 4 times and returned, thinking the time I spent would be like I ran all 10. I found Daoji on his knees, as if he was possessed, howling and shouting various ayats of the Quran and talking and all the time throwing his hands palm down on the ground only to lift them up high over his head and down again. I was terrified and thought Daoji had tamed Jinns with whom he was having conversation.
Soon he was normal and, noticing me crying nearby, he said, “Lets go”.
After that day I never went to walk with him.
Not long after that walk we started receiving at odd hours, from outside, pieces of bricks or lumps of earth. Bay Bay was convinced that these were thrown by Jinns who were angry at Daoji. She became mad and like a bitch who has birthed puppies, man handled Daoji and screamed insults. She was of the opinion he was trying to kill her and Ami Chand. Dao ji said Jinns do not exist and that they being non matter cannot make matter move.
In the evening when I was coming from my home Rano met me and asked sarcastically if I got hurt, as he heard there were stones coming in Daoji’s home. I never wanted to have any thing to do with him and so I left. I was thinking how he knew?
We had a High School in our village but the Examination Centre was in the nearby city. I went there with the rest of the class, and Daoji followed and gave me instructions right to the end.
After the examination I abandoned Dao Ji like I never knew him.
While waiting for the result, my day time was spent with friends and in the night I read story books. Occasionally I did find time to go to Daoji to say hello and he pressed me to continue coming regularly for preparation for my college studies. I was allergic to him and his methods after a year of his torture and was not prepared even to consider. When the result came, my father took me to Daoji accompanied by a hamper containing sweet meats. He and myself were happy with the result but Daoji was sad. He said he expected a first division. I said I missed it by just one mark. Still, Daoji said, either there was something to improve in his teaching or my base was weak to start with.
I got admission in the college in the city. In the beginning I replied to Daoji’s letters from hostel but gradually stopped.
I was in second year when the country came close to get independence. There was a lot of commotion, riots and fights. There were news coming from all directions of riots and mother called all of us to come home as it was relatively safe here in our village. All the (Hindu) baniyas (shop keepers) andmoney lenders fled. Soon shelter seekers (muslim displaced persons) from the other side started arriving. They brought the news that the independence had been achieved. One day few houses in our village too were put on fire and there was trouble. A curfew was imposed and when it was relaxed all the Hindus and Sikhs left. Mom sent me to check on Daoji and when I went, I found there was an ox tethered at the gate, the door had a curtain made from old sacs. I reported that Daoji had left.
After a few days, long after sunset, I was returning from the mosque where new arrivals of shelter seekers (muhajirs) were staying, and where I determined how many blankets were to be sent from relief camp, I noticed a huge crowd near Dao ji’s house. The muhajir boys were brandishing long staffs and were shouting. I tried to penetrate the press of the people but failed.
One was saying to an aged person, “He had gone to a nearby village, and when he returned, he entered his house as if it was his own?”
“Which house,”
“The one the muhajirs of Rohtak have acquired”
“Then what happened?”
“Obviously they caught him, and when examined, he was found to be a Hindu!”
Some one called,’ O Rano, come quick, it is your victim, The Pandit!”
Rano left his goats, that he was taking to the pen, in the keep of a boy, and entered the crowd.
Some how I fathomed that they have caught Dao ji. I said to no one in particular,” He is and old man. He is a good man. Leave him.”
One boy remarked, “So you are on his side! You don’t know what we have endured on the way. Shall we give you the same treatment…? Shall we”
Some one remarked, “He seems to be a local”
Terrified, I quickly moved to a different part of the crowd.
Rano and some of his companions had gathered around Daoji and were interrogating him. “Oh, now what you have to say, scoundrel?” Dao ji was silent, eyes down.
One removed his turban and said, “Let us crop his chutiya! (scalplock)”
Rano promptly cut his hair tuft that he had saved for all his years.
The same boy now wanted to kill him. Rano said, “No, he is old. He will be my help in tending my goats”.
Rano said, “O Pandit, now you have to recite THE SENTENCE” {Kalima, that converts one to a muslim after reciting it}
He did.
At this Rano handed him his staff and said, “Let us go, the goats are waiting for you”
The bare headed Daoji walked towards the goats like an expert shepherd.
There many thoughts that are unique to Ghalib. However there is one thought that “I will die (of happiness) if I believe you made a true and firm promise (of coming and meeting me)” has been framed by Kaif Bhopali. But in a different way.
Kaif said ” You made me live longer by making a false promise”. Meaning I would have died if your promise was firm.
آپ نے جھوٹا وعدہ کر کے
آج ہماری عمر بڑھا دی
Aap ne jhoota waada kar ke
Aaj hamari umr baRha di.
Where as Galib says:
تیرے وعدے پر جیے ہم تو یہ جان جھوٹ جانا
کہ خوشی سے مر نہ جاتے اگر اعتبار ہوتا
Tere wadey par jiye ham to ye jaan jhoot jana
Ke khushi se mar na jaate agar etbaar hota.
Meaning ‘ If I live after you make a promise then you should know I knew it was a false promise. Because if I had believed it to be true I would have died of happiness’۔
Two shers each reflect similar thoughts about the effect that half opened eyes of the beloved brings upon the lover. There is a subtle difference though that needs to be understood.
1. Ghalib says:
کوئ میرے دل سے پوچھے تیرے تیر نیم کش کو
یہ خلش کہاں سے ہوتی جو جگر کے پار ہوتا
Koi mere dil se puchhe tere teer e meem kash ko
Ye khalish kahaan se hoti jo jigar ke paar hota.
Teer e Neem kash : an arrow shot with the bow only half stretched. ( i.e. eyes half closed looking at the lover)
Khalish: pain
Who will know the anguish my soul feels after receiving your half powered arrow that has remained stuch in my being. Would I be experiencing this pain had it gone right through my heart?.
Mahinder Singh Bedi said:
ہوا جو تیر _نظر نیم کش تو کیا حاصل
مزہ تو جب ہے کہ سینے کے آر پار چلے
Hua jo teer-e-nazar neem-kash to kya hasil
Maza to jab hai ki seene ke aar-paar chale.
Teer e nazar : arrow of glance
Neem kash: half stretched.
What can be achieved with a glance with eyes half closed like a half stretched arrow.
It would be great if it were to go right through the heart.
،…………………………………… . . ……………………………
One feels great pain ( read pleasure) when the arrow is stuck and the other wishes it to pierce the heart through and then he would feel joy.
लोकक्षेम मंत्र | सम्पूर्ण विश्व के कल्याण का मंत्र हिन्दी भावार्थ: सभी सुखी होवें, सभी रोगमुक्त रहें, सभी का जीवन मंगलमय बनें और कोई भी दुःख का भागी न बने। हे भगवन हमें ऐसा वर दो!
English Translation: May All Be Prosperous and Happy May All Be Free from Illness May All See What Is Spiritually Uplifting May No One Suffer In Any Way Om Peace, Peace, peace
Today I remembered what my Primary school teacher said 70 years ago. We were taught besides academic subjects some hands-on skills. Making toys using clay, weaving mats with palm leaves, making thread from cotton, etc. I made a toy elephant. Four ‘pillars’ (for legs) attached to a lump for body and a smaller lump for head with a trunk. Ears and tail. He appreciated, but remarked that there is a membrane joining upper part of hind legs and the abdomen. Today I saw this membrane vividly in a documentary video. Photo screen shot shows this triangular membrane on the left corner.
. . Dar es Salaam is a coastal city and political capital of Tanzania. Some 73 km north of Dar es Salaam is the island Zanzibar which was an Arab Sultanate and a hub of trade, mostly slaves, gold, ivory and spices through past centuries. East coast of Tanzania from Tanga in the north to kilwa in the south with Dar es Salaam in the middle have a great Arab influence because of Slave activities.
The main land was known as TANGANYKA which was a British coloney till 1964 when it was granted independance. TANGANYKA and Zanzibar, the Arab Sultanate, then decided to merge and form one country called TANZANIA.
. . . . The British brought from India labourers and skilled workers to work on railway line laying and other projects. These Indians, mostly Gujarati speaking or Kokni, remained after the independence and now had almost entire Tanzanian economy in their hands.
. . . .The first thing a visitor notices upon arriving in Dar es Salaam is that it does not look like an African city. Every where you see are Indians speaking Gujarati. All shops are owned and operated by Indians. Africans are found only working as help or labourers.(1970).
A Gujarati shop.
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. . . . Africans are both muslim and christian. They have set traditions for all occasions. For xample, an African meeting another on the street would enquire about the well being and exchange greetings for several minutes.
Ahmadu meets Abdu for example:
Ahmadu: assalamalekum bwana, habari gani. (Hello Mister. What is the news)
Abdu: walekumassalaam. Mzuri saana (Hello, all good)
Ahmadu : habari wa kazi (how is work)m
Abdu:. Alhamdulillah (thanks Allah)
Ahmadu:. habari wa toto (how are children)
Abdu: mzuri saana (all good)
Ahmadu: habari wa jumbani (how is home, meaning wife)
Abdu : Alhamdulimlah
NOW Abdu will start asking same questions to Ahmadu and will get similar answers, Alhamdulillah and mzuri saana alternately.
GREETINGS.
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C A R A N D M O T O R C Y C L E
I purchased an old motorcycle, Honda 50 cc, and started using it in Iringa. When the tyre is flat, it cost me 25 shillings to repair it. After some time I decided to purchase puncture-repair-kit so that I would repair puncture myself and save sh: 25. (Tubeless tyres had not come yet), After all it was a simple affair.
Come next puncture and I sat down to repair it. The wheel was front one and I used screw driver to pull out section by section the tube from the tyre. I found out while inflating and testing the tube in water that I had succeeded in inflicting multiple new punctures and ruined the tube. So much for saving sh:25. Now buy new tube.
Come next puncture and I sat down to repair the tyre. I found out while inflating and testing the tube in water that I had succeeded in inflictin
A certain Mr. Khan asked me he had a friend selling his vw car for only sh: 3000. Mr. Khan was an officer in secret service department of police and was retiring. He could buy it for me and then train me in driving. In return he would use the car for the two months he needs it in Iringa before going to UK for good. I said ok and gave him sh: 3000. He brought the car, 12 year old, 1959 model vw beetle. He also gave me a receipt for sh: 3500. I asked how come the receipt is for sh: 3500? He said, “The seller would not sell it for sh:3000 so I paid sh: 500 from my pocket; after all I will use it also.” Gullible as I was, I said I will not have you pay for my car and gave him sh: 500. He accepted the cash. Later I suspected he made a fool of me.
. . . . He gave me half an hour lesson every day and use the car himself rest of the time. After he has gone I had the car to myself. Being an old car it was often out of order. Often both the car and the bike were bad and as I walked to town my friends teased me. I was soon fed up of spending money on maintaining and repairing the car.
. . . . Mr. Ibrahim Thakore, a friend and colleague, asked me for a donation of sh:25 for some mosque. He was a very good and God fearing man. But somehow I made an excuse.
. . . . I felt bad that I refused donation for a mosque. And I am wasting money on the car. To please God I resolved to get rid of this car and donate the money for that mosque. Soon Thakore sahab received from me sh: 1,600 for the mosque. That was the amount I sold the car for.
. . . I moved to Dar es Salaam and took the motorcycle there. I stayed in Dar es Salaam for a year working in Kinondoni Secondary school, and then got a job in government ministry of education and posted to Dodoma.
While in Dar es Salaam, I was befriended by people of Tableeghi Jamaat. One man, Qamar Uddin, became my fast friend. He caused me to join Tableegh’s weekly programme of visiting with several other men mosques in far and wide areas off Dar and stay there Friday and Saturday night and come back Sunday. Do tableegh (preach Islam). He was good at throwing lavish dawats in honour of tableegh jamaats (group of 5-10 people who visited from other countries). I was always present in such dawats. He became in debt for this habit but said, “I am doing this for Allah, He will relieve me from debt.”
When I was going to Dodoma to join my new Government job, Qamar Uddin bought from me my Honda for sh: 800. This amount was decided by another tableeghi friend named Palekar to whom I had given the right to decide the price, in view of the fact that I and Qamar were friends. But I had a feeling that he favoured Qamar. Any way, Qamar never paid me. He would say you do not need money, only you will put it in your bank if I paid, and I am not running away.
After two years when I heard he was going to UK, I sent a word from Dodoma to Qamar for payment of Honda. He paid me sh:800. I heard he had sold it for sh: 2000.
Honda 50 cc (1970).
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S E C O N D C L A S S T R A V E L*
. . . . Train comming from Tabora in the west going to Dar es Salaam passed from Dodoma. As the Third class was very messy and crowded, we always travelled second class going to Dar es Salaam from Dodoma. It was necessary to make a booking two weeks in advance.
. . . . In a second class cabin, you have two berths to be used by two passengers. One on top of the other.
Private toilet. There was a dinning car between the second class carriages and the third class carriages.
. . . . lf you pay sh:25 extra, you will find your berth complete with bed and pillows and blanket. Since the journey was for whole night, I always got the bed. My colleagues saved sh:25, and brought just a pillow and some food from home. But I always ate dinner in the dining car. It was a great experience for just sh:25. About 5-6 course meal western style and you have a set of knife and fork for each course already arranged around your plate.
There were times when you needed to travel immediately and there is no booking. However, I would board the train and spend the evening in some second cabin with some acquaintance, talking, and after the dinner, move to the dining car to spend the night sitting and sleeping with head on the table. The guard would come checking and I would buy a second class ticket from him.
Once the guard was in a bad mood. Looks like he had a hiding from his wife. He ordered me to move to the third class carriage with a third class ticket, and refused to sell second class ticket. There was a door leading to other half of the dining car serving third class. He opened it and eased me to squeeze in.
The first thing that hit me was the stench rising from warm breaths and bodies of people who were packed like sardines but accommodated me too. The dining car had lost its dining purpose and served only as provider of space for travellers; even I could see from counter window people packed in the kitchen. Some had their meagre belongings tied in a piece of cloth balanced on head as there was no separate room for luggage. One was carrying the head of recently killed goat.
The practice of travelling in the second class dining room was not common. It was done only by us two or three lecturers of the college in Dodoma and the railway staff knew it. Probably the attendants of the dinning car persuaded the guard to pull me back. After about ten minutes of torture, the door opened and I was beckoned to come back. I was whisked and helped sail through the door instantly and it was a great relief. (I was too naive to use bribing tactics)
I took a bus, after this, when I had to travel on a short notice. The buses too had two sections. Some 12 seats in the front next to the driver were called second class. Majority of passengers travelled behind the grilled partition in the back. But you always get a place in front.
ACT OF KINDNESS. Here I remember an incident when I gave my seat on a crowded bus to an old and frail African woman and chose to stand, knowing it would be for hours. It was on the bus from Iringa to Moshi, whole day journey. The genuinely thankful face of the woman I still remember.
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. . . . S T R E E T . C R I M E
. . . . Once I was with Qamar riding at thr back seat of the Honda which he was driving. At a traffic light, near Karaku, when we were waiting for the signal to turn green, some African removed from my wrist the Omega watch and ran away. This watch, Seamaster, I bought in Jeddah.
. . . . On another occasion, I was walking with a friend in the night and decided to take a short cut through a public park. This place was infested with thieves and sure enough we were stopped. I told them, speaking Swahili, that I was a mualimu (teacher) and so I was allowed to go. This was because they liked foreigners speaking Swahili and they respected all teachers as the president Nyerere was once a teacher. My friend (visitor from Jibouti) was robbed of his watch and wallet.
. . . . Another time I was alone in the night at a bus stop waiting for bus. I was sitting on the bench and on the far end of the bench an African man was sitting. An African came and stood in front of me brandishing a knife and said. “Give me money”. I handed over whatever little money I had and he ran away. He was just a boy. The man at the other end watched but did not intervene. When the bus arrived, this man upon my request bought the ticket for me.
My watch was with bracelet type strap like this one.
I noticed right away in the first Juma prayer I attended in Iringa two things:
1. The wall clock showed time 7 am where as it was 1 pm.
2. The namazis shouted AMEEN loudly after the Imam finished reciting surah Fatiha in the namaaz and thus the whole mosque reverberated with huge Ameen sound. I was used to every one saying Ameen in soundless whisper in India.
Later I enquired and investigated.
Because of Arab influence, the Tanzanians traditionally followed Arab (Islamic) way of time. Their day starts at sunset (instead of western model of midnight) and thus the time of 12 hours strarts at sunset. At the Sunset the time is 12 O’ clock. Western 12 noon is 6 O’ clock for them. And thus the Juma prayer time which is 1 pm for us is 7 O’ clock for them. There is no am or pm.
I was invited by an African friend to his house. He said,” Come in the evening, saa kumi na mbili”. (at twelve O’ clock)
The proof of Arab times comes from Month of Ramazan. The month of Ramazan starts right after sighting of new moon at sun set and thus the Taraweeh prayer is prayed that evening. And the month ends just as the new moon for Eid is sighted. No Taraweeh is prayed that night.
. . However, in Tanzania these Islamic way of timing was only observed traditionally, all official work was done according to international way of timing.
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. . . I was told that Shafayi muslims say Ameen aloud as against us Hanafi who say it quietly in namaaz.
NEW MOON HERALDS THE START OF ISLAMIC MONTH.
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. . M A K O N D E C A R V I N G S
Makonde is a tribe in south Tanzania and their wood carvings are world famous and an icon of Tanzania. I like these wood images very much. We still have a number of these images 50 years after they were bought and after scores of times of moving house across cities, across countries, across continents!
The last picture is a shop selling Makonde Carvings in Dar es Salaam.
I am going from Iringa to Dar es salaam to attend a 15 day Math conference in University of Dar es Salaam. The bus stops midway in Mikumi. This is the first stop after the bus has climbed down and has negotiated dangerous winding mountain roads and reached plains. I assumed that the bus would allow passengers time to have tea. I went in the nearby restaurant and ordered tea and biscuits. Soon, before my eyes the bus left without me. I rushed out and stood on the road staring at the fast receding back of the bus.
By chance I noticed a car with two occupants stop by me and asked if all was well. They were my friends (aquantances actually) from Iringa going to Dar. I jumped in and said please go after that bus; I was travelling in it and it left without me. I have my brief case still on it. They raced the car and soon got ahead of the bus and waved the driver of the bus to stop. He stopped and I boarded the bus again, thanking my friends.
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Another similar incident happened several years later. I was travelling from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma by the night bus. Among the several personal jobs I had done in Dar, one was getting a friend’s tennis racket repaired. One string which was broken has been replaced, costing me 12 shillings.
Half way in to the journey, in the middle of the jungle and dead of the night the bus broke down. There being no way to communicate with Dar bus terminal, the driver had to find a ride back to the city and the help would arrive only the following morning. We the passengers were destined to spend the night in the bus, hearing roars of lions around. I however decided to take the risk and stand in the middle of the road facing traffic going to Dodoma in the slim hope of some one giving me lift. I was standing in the full glare of approaching vehicles and soon I saw a jeep passed me and then stop 20 m ahead. I heard some one call, “Shakil.”
It was a man I knew called Ibrahim. I joined him with my things transfered from the bus to the back of the jeep.
We arrived in Dodoma around three in the morning. Ibrahim and his two African co-passengers were going to a town beyond Dodoma and asked me if they could spend the rest of the night in my house. I said be my guest.
In the morning I made parathas and chana daal and tea, which every one ate with relish.
Before leaving, they charged me 30 shillings for the ride from the bus to Dodoma and it was strange for me. But I paid knowing it was a great help.
Later, I also found out that the string of the tennis racket that was repaired has broken again due to bumps on the road. I told my friend the whole story that I spent 12 shillimgs but the string broke again by road bumps. He never paid me.
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TEACHING
. . . Teaching can be fun or a hazard or both. I was new and did not know that the word in Swahili for God was Mungu.
. . . There was a litttle disput between two students and I as a teacher was asked to mediate. Both students were African and one upon my enquiry was talking in fast Swahili. At the same time he was moving his index finger of right hand across his throat and saying “Haki ya Mungu”. I was terrified at this, thinking he is threatenning me that he would kill me if I found him guilty. After all he is an African, I thought.
I some how resolved the matter.
Later I was told that he was swearing in the name of True God that he was innocent. Haki is a distorted Arabic word haq (حق) meaning true.
There are a lot of Swahili words that are distorted Arabic words.
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Why, even Urdu is laced with words from Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit.
HAKI YA MUNGU
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Y A Z D A N A
(Yazdana and me played togther as children. As adults we never met. We were in contact though through letters all these year as she was in Karachi and I in India)
With my Indian passport, I went to Pakistan Embassy, Dar es Salasm requesting for a visa for Pakistan. The year was 1972. They asked me to first go to Indian High commision and get my passport endorsed valid for Pakistan. It took Indians a year to do just that (the matter was referred to New Delhi).
After that the Pakistnis needed two years to grant me visa. I hastened to travel to Karachi lest they will retrieve it. 1975.
As I landed, the very object of my visit was whisked to a different location in Karachi, as if I or her or both would turn to stone if we should cast an eye on each other. Not that they observed purdah, but it was strange we were purdahed. The first time ever we saw each other was after the nikah. That too NOT direct, but in a hand mirror, held by villain women on the stage surrounded by other women. I thanked Allah that she was pretty. Very pretty.
I stayed in Karachi for a total of 4 weeks, the last week being after the marriage and was full of fun activities. We went to places and restaurants. A Uni friend of her, named Sultana, organised a live singer who sang just for us, for hours. We went to ManoRa beach where we rode together a camel, went in to the water upto knee and splashed water on every one, or ran on the sand etc. Had a hearty lunch from local beach venders selling fried fish and potato chips.
. . I came back to Dodoma after visiting India for a week.
THE UNIVERSE CONSPIRED FOR THIS MOMENT
JUST MARRIED.
MOGHAL GARDEN IN KARACHI.
I had to wait for four months before she was able to come to Tanzania. People in Dodoma were anxious and keen to meet my wife. Once she arrived all were very responsive and every one welcomed her. We were youngest couple among expatriates, both Indian and Pakistani. There was a period of dinner parties and we enjoyed our day.
I had been cooking food for last five years. Now I could enjoy home cooked delicacies. Her cooking was superb and I and my African servant both enjoyed. The African boy complained that now he is getting a measured amount of gravy and rice. (Before, when I was alone, he would clean the pots of all remaining food.)
After few weeks, I offered, “Today I will cook. You will not believe how tasty my food is.”
I, as was my method, took a frozen packet of meat from the fridge and put it in the pressure cooker. Closed the cooker after adding masalaas and onions.
The food was awful. She ate but did not comment. I was perplexed how come the food was so bland. It was during isha prayer it dawned on me I had forgotten adding oil. She smiled when I told her. The next morning she did some repair job and the gravy became very tasty.
We went to Dar es salaam by train. As the train passed through jungle we could see wild animals like giraff, lion. Hyena, antelop etc. We stayed with a friend who took us to evening stroll on the beach. This place was just next to the central city and it was full of people every evening. The people were all asians (called Indians) and African men and boys were selling all sort of snacks and toys etc. It was like a mini fair and a good way of enjoying evening breez by the sea side.
S A M E R A
Yazdana came to Dodoma in November and the chinese midwife gave the date for delivery of child as 3rd of May. Our friend, Ashraf sahab, suggested that we move to their place in town as our residence in college campus was far from city, and she needed care when I am away teaching. We accepted the offer and shifted to their flat in April 1976. Ashraf’s wife and his mother took good care of Yazdana as their own.
A friend (shia maulvi) asked me what did I expect, a boy or a girl? I said, “Any, the only thing I pray for is that the child should be good natured”. Privately I knew I had dreamed of a boy in shorts playing in my home.
Samera proved to be just that. Good natured and playful like a boy.
She was our treasure and we couldn’t be happier. While teaching, often her face would appear at the black board among my writing and I had to pause. She was very excited when she heard my vespa scooter arrive.
. . .
Samera was hardly a month or two old that yazdana had a desire to go to her parents in Karachi.
. . . . .We went to Dar es Salaam a day before her flight to Karachi. Samera’s name needed to be included in Yazdana’s passport. I took her passport to Pakistan embassy. They knew me very well as I had been making many visits in relation to my visa. But they said they could not include Samera’s name in Yazdana’s passport because her father(me) is an Indian and thus she is an Indian. I asked how will they travel, they are booked for the flight to Karachi the next day. The man at the embassey advised that if Indian High commision will issue a passport for this child, we will issue a visa for her, even though visa for Indians can only be approved from Islamabad and it takes a long time. I thanked him and rushed to Indian High commission.
. . . . They too knew me very well. They, after listening to my tale about Samera, gratiously agreed that if I provide them with a photo of Samera they will issue a passport in hours. I took Samera to a photographer and he took her photo while I propped her up in my arms. She was so small. I gave the photo to Indian High commission while it was still wet.
. . . . .I collected the new Passport first thing the next morning and then Pakistanis issued her a visa in minutes. Thus they boarded the flight at 11:30 am.
(Later I was told that at Karachi airport, her brothers came to receive her right at immigration area and Samera was passed on from inside airport to right out side before Yazdana could complete the immigration, where she presented only her passport. Later Samera got a new birth certificate. It shows Samera was born in a Karachi hospital. Her name was added in Yazdana’s passport. The Indian passport of Samera is lost. It should have been preserved as a precious souvenir.
. . . . . So she went back with Samera and I was left with hollow days and bland food.
After few months my contract finished and I visited Karachi. Samera was already sitting and walking.
. . . Recently I asked a friend what is it that gives you peace of mind? He said,
“Peace of mind is hard to come by. Can’t say what exactly brings about peace in mind. One thing though is sure. It is when SHE gives me a piece of her mind, or tells me what SHE thinks of me, is when all peace of mind is gone.”
. The truest things are often told in a lighter mode.
. . But seriously, as a muslim I cannot but lean upon Glorious Quran and its teachings in this case.
(Those who believe and whose hearts find comfort in the rememberence of Allah. Surely hearts do find comfort in the rememberence of Allah.
. . . . Now rememberence of Allah is a matter for contemplation and deliberation. One would say peace comes by bringing smile to a child’s face, drinking water right from the stream from your own hand-cups, looking at blue sky with white clouds and grey hills in the back ground and feeling the breeze. Helping an old lady cross the street, feeding the needy, making good the promise of a walk with your dear child. The list is endless. All, and any thing that your conscience is at peace with, is remeberence of Allah. Here ayah 277 of surah baqrah (2:177) is very relevant.
(2:177) Righteousness does not mean (only) turning your faces towards the east or towards the west;[175] true righteousness consists of believing in Allah and the Last Day, the angels, the Book and the Prophets, and in giving one’s wealth, inspite of love of it, to one’s kinsmen, to the orphans, to the poor and to the wayfarer, and to those who ask for help, and in freeing the necks of slaves, and in establishing prayer and dispensing the Zakah. True righteousness is attained by those who are faithful to their promise once they have made it and by those who remain steadfast in adversity and affliction and at the time of battle (between Truth and falsehood). Such are the truthful ones; such are the God-fearing.
. . . . There is also a lot of peace in listening to favourite music, eating good meal and especially having good company. Doing what you love doing, or just doing nothing at times, gives you peace.
. . . . Having no debt is peace, obviously. But all of us have debts other than financial. Those debts must be regularly and properly serviced and the reward is peace. I mean the obligations towards parents, siblings, elders etc should be recognised.
. . For some, strange it may look but it is a fact, peace of mind or happiness comes from other peoples’ misery. This is so if one has sadistic tendencies or is narcissist.
. . . Another type of people is even more strange. Those who are always complaining; about weather, friends, government, boss, subordinates, food, or any thing they are dealing with. Nothing gives them satisfaction. This state of mind in my mind has peace of mind only when it is upset, which is always. I had such a friend. I remember a Urdu sher here that describes this exactly:
بے سکونی میں سکونِ قلب ہے حاصل مجھے
اضطرابِ دل نہیں ہے اضطرابِ دل مجھے۔
When I am upset only then I am at peace
Uneasiness of my heart is no uneasiness at all.
. . Faiz Ahmad Faiz recognises the fact that love gives peace of mind but yet observes that there are numerous avenues of getting solace besides love. (He later states that one could find solace in lessening sufferings of others.)
اور بھی دکھ ہیں زمانے میں محبت کے سوا
راحتیں اور بھی ہیں وصل کی راحت کے سوا۔
Another poet says:
دیر و حرم میں چین جو ملتا
کیوں جاتے مے خانے لوگ
dair o haram mein chain jo milta
Kyun jaate maye khaane log
If there was peace to be had in temple and in mosque,
کبھی کبھی میں یہ سوچتا ہوں کہ مجھ کو تیری تلاش کیوں ہے کہ جب ہیں سارے ہی تار ٹوٹے تو ساز میں ارتعاش کیوں ہے Kabhi kabhi main ye sochta hun, k mujh ko teri talaash kyun hai K jab hain saare hi taar toote, to saaz mein irteaash kyun hai.
I sent this sher of Javed Khtar’s new ghazal to AI whats app meta. Itade me stunned with the literal meaning followedby true poetic rendition.
(Can you translate this from Urdu to English please) Answer by AI: Meta AI “Here’s the translation:
“Sometimes I wonder, why am I searching for you, when all the strings are broken, why is there still a vibration in the instrument?”
Or, in a more poetic sense:
“Why do I yearn for you, when all connections are severed, why does my heart still resonate with your presence?”
This is a beautiful and melancholic verse, suggesting a deep longing and emotional connection that persists even in the absence of a physical connection.”
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THE REST OF THE GHAZAL
کوئی اگر پوچھتا یہ ہم سے بتاتے ہم گر تو کیا بتاتے
بھلا ہو سب کا کہ یہ نہ پوچھا کہ دل پہ ایسی خراش
کیوں ہے
koi agar puchhta ye ham se batate ham gar to kya batate
bhala ho sab ka ke ye na puchha ke dil pe aisi khraash kyun hai
اٹھا کے ہاتھوں سے تم نے چھوڑا چلو نہ دانستہ تم نے توڑا
اب الٹا ہم سے تو یہ نہ پوچھو کہ شیشہ یہ پاش پاش کیوں ہے
utha ke hathon se tum ne chhoRa chalo na danista tum ne toRa
ab ulta ham se to ye na puchho ke sheesha ye paash paash kyun hai..
ے
نہ فکر کوئی نہ جستجو ہے نہ خواب کوئی نہ آرزو ہے
یہ شخص تو کب کا مر چکا ہے تو بے کفن پھر یہ لاش کیوں ہے
na fikr koi na justju hai na khwab koi na aarzu hai
ye shakhs to kab ka mar chuka hai to be kafan phir ye laash kyun hai.
Childhood never leaves, even after you have crossed oceans and spent almost all the years. . . 1. In a town in north India I was a child in the 50’s. In the summer days, after the hot and dusty day, a water tanker would pass from our locality slowly, sprinkling water from back and sides. It helped to settle the dust and to dampen he heat. Often you see a dog or a child walking along side under the shower.
2. The winter of 1964 was very very cold. We found dead birds under the trees in the mornings. I remember it was difficult to hold the pen and write the exam. We used fountain pens as the ball point pen had not arrived.
(In the schools, our desks had a little depression on the right side. It was called ink well. It could hold 2 cc of ink. Every morning peons would go round all the class rooms dusting the desks and filling the ink wells with ink. We dipped our nibs in the ink and wrote on pages of exercise books. We called these little books copy. We had a blotting paper that had soaking property and dried the freshly written things.) . . . The municipality had arranged big logs all around the city that burnt slowly for days and provided warmth to homeless or pariah dogs in the long cold nights.
3. There was a goldsmith shop. For hours a man would pound with a wooden hammer a pad in which he had dozens of thin papers. Between every two papers he had placed a small silver chip. After the pounding, he would have silver leaves.(chandi ke warq) چاندی کے ورق۔ .These very very light and shiny silver leaves were used by sweet meat merchants to cover sweets like burfee.
to have enjoyed the music of the 90s
