Koi Umeed - Mirza Ghalib

Koi umeed bar nahi ati
koi soorat nazar nahi ati

Moat ka aik din mo-ayeeyan hai
neend kyun raat bar nahi ati

Agay ati thi hal-e-dil pe hansee
ab kisi baat per nahi ati

Jaanta hoon sawab-e-teyat-o-zohad
per tabiyaat udher nahi ati

Hai kuch aisee hai baat jo chup hoon
warna kiya baat ker nahi ati

Kiyon na cheekhon ke yaad kartay hein
meri awaaz gar nahin ati

Daag-e-dil gar nazar nahin ata
boo bhi ae chaaraagar nahi ati

Hum wahan hain jahan say hum Ko bhi
kuch hamari khabar nahi ati

Martay hein arzoo mein marnay ki
moat ati hai per nahi ati

Kabah kis moun say jao gay Ghalib
Sharam tum ko magar nahi ati

The Shadi Craze

I was born in an society where a predefined pattern of life events have to be followed in accordance with the timeline provided. Unfortunately, I wasn't brought up to take care of these insecurities of the society. I was admitted to a school when I was 2 and a half years old. I opted to matriculations instead of o levels, when my friends were planning to join a medical college I was telling my career counsellor I would rather be a patient instead of a doctor. Then while all my university class-fellows were getting married I was plotting the arrest of abductors. I have never really paid attention to what most of my social circle is doing. 

At 27, I have been through enough to say that my experience with people and life surpasses the experience of a 45 year old. Not that it made me any wiser but it definitely has taught me how to react. The people I called friends are the ones talking about how I'm throwing my life away. Their definition of 'life' is being married, with children, a mother in law to bitch about and a sister in law to hate on. My definition of life is freedom. These 'friends' are incapable of thinking about anything that is outside the defined societal patterns of living. I would go ahead and say these are drawn for both genders, however, men have wider time-spans to play with unlike women. Shadi is the only social responsibility our nation seems to be aware of. The morning shows, the news bulletins, fashion shows, music industry, movies, television entertainment shows and drama serials, drawing-room talks, family gatherings, eid, shabraats EVERYTHING you name is based on the concept of Shadi. 

With our obsession with weddings we have forgotten the prime utility of the phenomenon. Every-time the phone rings, life drains out of me. I hate how my relatives are so concerned about why I am not married as yet. I hate to explain it to my parents why I don't like anyone they try to fix me with. I hate the craze all of us have fallen into. My shadi is my problem, looks like everyone else is concerned sick except me. The right to my life is mine. Only if the society respected that. 

Tale of a Shopper with no Shopping List

Thursday - November 7, 2013

Noting down yesterday's expenses and trying not to freak out after checking my online credit statement.

15 hours earlier

I only had a couple of tasks to complete before I could call it a day at office. Luckily I work at an organization where we don't have complete 8 hours if we manage to complete the assigned tasks before that. Today is one of those happy days. So instead of going back home I chose to call my mum and invite her to go shopping with me.

She picks me from office at around 2 PM and we go straight to buy printed tape which my sister loves. Unfortunately when I walk in a shop I never leave unless I buy myself something. Doesn't matter whether I would need it or not. It's like an addiction. Addiction like most of you guys are addicted to tea/coffee/cigarettes. 

Alright, heres a confession: "I am addicted to shopping"

I ended up buying fridge magnets, glass magnets new jewelry boxes for my dressing table two rings. I'm not that bad. Naah really! I loved these two bags they had prints of Kitkat and the other one had London bridge, London eye, buses etc. I din't buy those because my mum didn't let me. Not because I decided so. So I guess I'm bad. 

Next stop was a nation-wide clothing outlet. I tried a few dresses but everything look far-fetched. I've a pretty dull/safe clothing style. Hence I didn't like anything from the clothes but I still bought a bag, a truck art themed laptop carrying bag.

Anyway, while I paid for this bag my mum walked out, by the time I left the shop my mum was in the store next to it. My heart went out when I saw those winter jackets. A must have military jacket of the season. I wanted to run out of the store and at the same time wanted to buy one of those immediately. Alas! I ended up buying a scarf matching ear studs and that winter jacket.

Next we bought shoes, more shoes and shawls my credit card limit exceeded and my mother dragged me back home before my credit bill crossed my paying back ability. I still had to borrow around seven thousand rupees from my dad. 

3:57 PM Nov 7, 2013

With spending more than I had in my bank account I have serious shopping issues. I have been advised to keep a shopping list and a spending diary which I have to strictly follow. I need to find more ways to earn. Because no, i have no intention of ever really giving up my hobby.

Children's Shield

I've always heard my mother say, "yeh maujein maa baap k sar pe hoti hein"

Because we live in a nuclear family, our interaction with our relatives is limited to dinners/get togethers/mangi/shadi/funerals/eid etc. and we have never lived at other people's houses (not even sleepovers) to experience anything minutely related to how people treat other person's children. But my mum also says: "waqt humesha aik sa nahi rehta, chahay acha ho ya bura". - Time changes, either good or bad. 

One of my khala is a divorcee, and she never remarried. She has her reasons, two little children are just happen to top the reason list. A few days before coming to Canada, I happened to come across her letters which she wrote to my mum. She was divorced in 1995. She wrote letters to my mum about how difficult her life was and how she wanted nothing but for the misery to end. I asked my mum what she wrote back, her answer: "Mene sabarr karne ko bola tha" - I told her to stay patient! 

And then my mum told me how she wanted her sister to stay patient because she had two kids, and how hard life will be for them if she took the socially forbidden step of divorce. Long story cut short she ended up being divorced and has lived on her since. But I've seen how everybody treats those little cousins of mine. Don't even try to argue with me about how times have changed and how our generation has better minds and open hearts, because no nothing has changed, might have worsened but I've seen no good improvements. I've seen my khala's son sit dejected in a room full of happy faces, but smiles faded as soon as their eyes flickered across his face. I've seen my khala's daughter being made fun of because she had to wait for the new month to get the new shoes unlike everybody else. I've seen the pain on my khala's face. I've seen it all.

I'm only trying to bring you to the actual point of this post. Parents no matter how rich and comfortable they are or even poor and misers they are, they are children's shields'. They are our umbrella from this harsh reality we call life. It would now be a lie if I said, "I've not seen the horrific eyes of people or the ugly faces they hide behind the smiles."

I've seen enough now. I will omit what my story regarding these two-faced people is, but I just hope the world starts accepting single parents/orphans other majboor humans who can't even say what their sorry-story is and starts behaving themselves. 

Parents are proof that God loves us.

Oukhay Painday Lammiyan ney Rahwa'an Ishq Diyan

Oukhay painday lammiyaan ney rahwa'an ishq diyaan
Dard jiggar sakht sazawaa'an ishq diyaan
Allah hoo..

Phoolan wargi jindri ishq roulla chadd dah
Sar'ay bazaar chah'way ishq nachaa chadd dah
Hayai khakk na chadd day veekh wafa'waan ishq diyaan
Oukhay painday laamiyan rahwa'an ishq diyaan
Allah hoo..

Sajj'naa baajo'n jaat sifaata'an ishq diyaan
Vakhri kulli din tey raata'an ishq diyaan
Hayai wich chauda'an tabaak andaar chaawa'an ishq diyan
Oukhay painday laammiyan rahwa'an ishqy diyaan
Allah hoo..

Ishq di hussti, masti yaar mitta dey'way
Agg ishq di, dil di dhunni jaga dey'way
Bullay waang nachavaan taraan ishq diyan
Oukhay paiday laamiyan rahwa'an ishq diyan
Allah hoo

Religion and Blasphemy

I've been meaning to do this post since forever now. But before we start, lets get some facts straight. I'm a muslim, neither a liberal nor a conservative. Religion is a personal choice but it isn't a joke. I've my ideas and my beliefs and I don't think being a sunni, shia, wahabi, barelvi makes much difference. This post is mostly coming forward because I'm sick of all the people either acting as religious extremist and/or extreme liberals. In 1433 years we've come this far. Amazing how we decide who deserves to live and who should die. From the very beginning, Let us have Oxford online dictionary define religion and for us. 

Religion, according to its definition, is not only Islam. Now that we have clear in our heads, lets see how blasphemy is defined,

Since we already know now that Islam isn't the only religion on the planet (which we seem to have forgotten lately) blasphemy is clearly not only committed against Islam.

Islam is defined by the Oxford online dictionary as: 

Most of the people take the liberty to talk just because they have a tongue/ a medium (internet/social networking sites) they think they can comment on religion ours (islam) or others. What everybody seem to have forgotten is this Surah from the Holy Qu'ran:

Keeping the current happenings in mind, let me explain it in detail, Surah Kafiroon defines the right attitude for the people who reject faith, and faith is a matter of personal conviction. Surah further states, that believers will not worship what the non-believers bow down to, and the disbelievers will not bow down to what you believe in. And the last Ayaah - 'Lakum deen'o kum, waalee ya deen' "To you (non-believers) be your way and to me mine" in decisive that let their religion be for them, and keep practicing in what you believe in. 

I'd also like to share Treaty between our Prophet Muhammad (saww) and Chirstians, shared by Anas Razaaq initially:

I disapprove of everyone who is delusional about him/herself that they are God, and they get to decide who is/isn't a muslim. Thats for Him to decide, and don't we have a Day of Judgement promised, why are we being so cruel?

I'd also like to address, the counter argument coming from the fundamentalists - 

God and his Prophet has instructed the believers to preach goodness and stop evil, and in return believers have been promised great rewards. The Hadith states that, evil should be stopped with power of hand, if that isn't possible, stop the evil with negotiation (power of tongue/coversation) and if that isn't possible the believer should dislike/disapprove (hate) the evil with his heart only. Nowhere in the Hadith I was able to find the hierarchy of the said actions. Say why would anyone start with killing/burning other people instead of preaching them against the evil first?

For example, When a child does something wrong, parents/guardians don't start with spanking them or punishing them right away, do they? There is a logical way to teach/preach. We as muslims have probably forgotten that it exists. Our sole emphasis is on:

'Ammar bil maaroof ohnaahee unn almunqir' and we have absolutely given up on practicing Islam in real sense and with logic. If we are true believers, why do we forget that, Allah (God) has promised the protection of Holy Qu'ran Himself? Evidence:

We, Muslims, have forgotten to guard our faith against our own evil and think it is more important for us correct others (that too, without correcting our own selves).

Now the other kind of extremist, the liberals! 

Today in the afternoon, I came across the link:

I don't even know how to react. Mostly because people like Veena Malik and Lady Gaga are respected and this person didn't even think twice before he abused a national mufti. If this is Liberalism, I'm better off being a conservative. Because I'd chose the lesser evil. His ending words, "Rab raaa-kha, jey rabb hai" Clearly if his father was a paanch waqt ka namaazi, he forgot to teach his son one minor thing, trust and faith in God. This person doesn't even know that 'Iblees' aka Shaitaan was/is NOT an angel (Farishta) but a Jinn. And there he considers himself relevant and important enough to comment on religion. 

What people forget is a thin line between believing and disbelieving. I'd never want to be one of the people, who doubt Allah's existence. Not now, not ever. I'm not quoting anything from the Qu'ran for liberals, not because I don't see any hope in them, but because I don't see any use arguing with people who's argument can go as low as saying, "When you like following the Sunnah of Holy Prophet so much, you should be calling Pakistan, Bakistan, because that how he would have said it."

I have no words. Nothing to say to people who make fun of Prophet Muhammad (saww). Our Creator loves the Prophet and we as his creation are making fun of his beloved Muhammad (saww)? We deserve everything Pakistan is going through.

"O believers! Take not as friends those upon whom is Allah's wrath. They are indeed despaired of the Hereafter as the infidels are despaired of the inmate of the graves"

Hum Jeetay Ji Masroof rahai..

Last night after I read this comment on my post about Faiz sahab, I was left feeling guilty. Precisely because someone who has been reading his work for over two decades considers himself  short of words when it comes to talking about Faiz Ahmed Faiz.

I will however still write about this book that introduced me to Faiz sahab's poetry because, one its not as difficult to understand as I had initially assumed and two it is relatable and three his poetry gives me hope. And hope for a person like me is the magic potion that saves lives.

I'd like to share the poem from the title of the "Hum jeetay ji masroof rahai"

Woh log bohat khush kismat thai

Jo ishq ko kaam samjhtai thai

Ya kaam se ishq kartey thai

Hum jeetay ji masroof rahai

Kuch ishq kiya, kuch kaam kiya

 Kaam ishq key aahrey ata raha

Aur ishq se kaam uljhata raha

Phir akhir tungg aa ker hum ne

Dono ko adhora chorrh diya

- Faiz Ahmed Faiz

No, I had never read this before. And it gives this heavy feeling in chest, where my supposed heart feels restless. Restless because the last line of the poem will haunt me forever. I've had two line from this poem stuck in my head -  Hum jeetay ji masroof rahai / Dono ko adhora chorrh diya.

Punjabi poetry for me was limited to punjabi songs from Pakistan and from across the border. The only Punjabi poets I knew of were Baba Bullah Shah, Sultan Bahu, Baba Farid and Waris Shah. When I reached the Punjabi Poems' chapter of the book, I was taken aback. Mostly because with the kind of urdu Faiz Sahab used didn't even slightly flicker Punjabi accent in it and Punjabi poetry is immensely influenced by sufism. And unlike other famous Punjabi poets Faiz sahab wasn't a sufi.

Agha Nasir, the author of the book, states that Faiz sahab believed that some subjects for poetry are better expressed in Punjabi. Faiz sahab believed that Folk songs couldn't be sung in Urdu. Poems and songs about countryside, farmers are better suited for Punjabi language. 

It took me a while to grasp Punjabi written in Urdu but this poem like everything else I had already read in the book before it was a master piece on its own.

Meethray yaar mere, jani yaar mere

Tere qoul tey asaa'an wasa kar key

Jhaanjhara'n waa'ng, zunjeera'n chunkaaiyan ney

Kaddi kaa'ni mundaara'n paaiyan ney

Kaddi paai'ri bairiyaan chhai'yan ney

But Faiz Ahmed once said about his Punjabi poetry: "Baaee baat yoon hai, itna parhney likhney aur riyazaat key baad hum shaayed Ghalib jaisa aik adha shaaer keh leyn gay, lakin agar saari umer bhe lagay rahain tu Bullay Shah aur Waris Shah jaisa aik bhe nahi keh saktey."

In 1935 he had to move to Amritsar from Lahore. There he met a well versed couple, Sahibzada Mehmood Al Zaffar and Doctor Rasheed Jehan. Mr. Mehmood was a vice principal at local college and his wife was a doctor by profession. They were both Marxists. When they met Faiz Ahmed, he was madly in love and they soon found out about it. It was then that they tried to convience the young Faiz sahab by saying:

"Tum ishq aur aashiq key chakkar mai parray ho. Yeh sab fazool baat hai. Dunya key jo dukh hein unn ki nauyaat ziyada sangeen hai. Ashiqi ka yeh tumhara chota sa mumalah hai."

According to Faiz sahab, Doctor Rasheed Jehan taught him that personal miseries are minor as compared to the global issues and fretting over personal matters is but only selfishness. And it was then that Faiz's poetry was transformed from love to revolutionary and political.

Faiz sahab's poems have been sung time and again by renowned singers but when Madam Noor Jehan sung this piece by him, all he had to say was, "Yeh nazum ab humari nahi rahi. Hum ney tu yeh Madam Noor Jehan ko dey di hai."

I've probably made my point here. Faiz Sahab's poetry like Sami Saayer said, has hit me hard.

(Part 2 of 2 of Hum jeetai ji masroof rahai).