The other world: Dr. Atiya

Shahab hansnay laga or bola yahan Karachi main aik seer hai, usay mustaqbil ki jhalkian nazar aati hain.

kahan hai, mainay poocha

us ne aik kaghaz per pata likh diya. kaghaz mujhay daitay howay kaha, mera naam le lijiye

Qaisar, Ahmed Bashir, Isfaq Hussain, Insha or main aglay roz ikathay ho kar Atiya se ja milay.

wo aik sanjeeda, kam go, ba wakar or taleem yafta khatoo thi. wahan kamray main kuch or log bhi baithay thay.

jee farmaye wo har sail se poochti. jab wo apni beeti suna chukta to gardan jhuka kar baith jati. kuch der yoonhi baithi rehti, phir sir utha kar muskarati or sawal ka jawab de daiti.

Qaisar k baad meir baari thi. mainay kaha mujhay kuch nahi poochna

aap Mumtaz Mufti hain? Atiya ne poocha

jee, mainay jawab diya

shahab sahib ne mujhay aap ki mutalliq phone kia tha

Ahmed Bashir bola, darasal ye shakhs apni sarisht ke khilaf kisi ko peer man baitha hai

Atiya muskarai, wo buzurg kahan hain jinhain peer maan baithay hain?

Pindi main 

Atiya ne murakbay main sir jukha diya. chand sa-at baad sir uthaya. boli, wo khud aa gaye. oonchay, lambay, goray, chittay, sir per roomi topi thi. hath main hukka tha, punjabi booltay hain kehnay lagay: tu rehan day, asi apay seedha kar laan gay.

main soch main par gaya. isay kaisay pata chala ke wo roomi topi pehantay hain, hukkah peetay hain or punjabi boltay hain. or wo khud kaisay aa gaye. aik marhoom o maghfoor budha Pindi se Karachi kaisay aa gaya or phir lehja bhi to unhi ka tha. ye sab kya hai. ye kaisi duniya hai jahan log marnay ke baad azadana ghoomtay phirtay hain.

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mainay faisla kia ke Atiya se akailay main miloo or isay poochoo ke ye gift usay kaisay mila. mainay telephone pe Atiya se wakt manga, wo man gaye.

mainay kaha mohtarma, aap ko mustaqbil ki jhalkian kaisay nazar aati hain? wo muskarai kehnay lagi kabhi mehsoosaat ke zariye jhalki nazar aati hai, kabhi aankhon ke samnay tasveer aa jati hai, kabhi aawazain sunai daiti hain or kabhi deewar pe film chalnay lagti hai.

aap kab se ye jhalkian dekh rahi hain

bachpan hi se, jab mujhay poori tarah shaoor nahi tha

phir us ne mujhay apnay bachpan ki mukhtasir si kahani sunai:

aik din parosan ki saas beemar par gaye. us ne shor macha diya ke jao doctor ko bula lao. us wakt main mareeza ke paas khari thi. mainay mareeza ki taraf dekha or mujhay yoon nazar aaya jaisay wo mar chuki ho. mainay buland awaz main kaha ab doctor ko bulanay ka kya faida, ye to mar chuki hai. ye keh kar main ghar chali aye. doctor ke pohanchnay se pehlay mareeza fot ho gaye. meri ye baat saray muhallay main mashhoor ho gaye. phir logo ne mujh se sawal poochna shuru kar diye. jab main in sawalaat per tawajju daiti to mujh per mehsoosat tari ho jatay jis ke mutabiq main unhain bata daiti ye ho jaye ga ya nahi.

kehnay lagi log samajhtay hain ye imtyazi salahiyat hai, ghalat samajhtay hain, mustaqbil ko jan laina bari takleef de baat hai. jab meray walid fot howay tab mainay jana tha ye kis kadar takleef de baat hai.

us roz mainay dekha ke aik kafan urta urta khirki se kamray main dakhil ho gaya or doosri charpaye per aa kar tik gaya. aik adh minute wo wahan para raha phir tehleel ho gaya. mainay shiddat se mehsoos kia keh aaj is kamray main koi fot honay wala hai. us roz das bajay mainay kafan ka manzar dekha tha. das bajay se teen bajay tak mujh per goya naza ka aalam tari raha. main mar mar ker jeeti rahi. main baar baar apnay mian or abba ko phone karti rahi, teen bajay wo ghar aaye to kuch tasalli howi. phir char bajay ke kareeb abba ke pait main dard utha or wo usi charpai per lait gaye jis per kafan tika raha tha. meray mian ne doctor ko phone kia laikin doctor ki amad se pehlay hi abba rukhsat ho gaye.

ESP (Extra Sensory Perception) ka mutalia karnay ki wajah se mujhay seers k baray main kuch maloomat hasil thee. mujhay ilm tha ke kuch logo ko paidaishi tor per mustaqbil ki jhalkian nazar aati hain. or kuch logo main sir ki chot lagnay per ye khasoosiat ubhar ati hai. mujhay ye bhi ilm tha ke is khasoosiat ko mazhab se koi ta-alluk nahi hai, laikin hairat ki baat thi ke Atiya ko mazhab se gehra ta-alluk tha.

Atiya ki kahani sun ker mainay jan liya k wo seer hi nahi kuch or bhi hai

Mumtaz Mufti Alakh Nagri

(his autobiography)

Send ups over

My back is arched like that of an old man. My legs hurt and my brain is too saturated to contain anything else. Thinking that it was just a rehearsal and the final drama is yet to come, I get a little scared.

Wasted days

A day without laughter is a day wasted.

Charlie Chaplin

Preparation of medical exams wastes so many days of our lives.

Nature unpredictable

National Geographic is surely the best TV channel. Watch this baffling video and draw your conclusions. Humans have a lot to learn from animals.

Chickenpox and tarka

Our maid said that if any one has got chickenpox then no food in the house should be flavoured with a tarka. Because tarka produces a sizzling sound that is supposed to enhance the severity of pox. Now, I never knew that varicella zoster virus (VZV) had a special affinity and liking for saturated fats or may be its just those specific food items that the virus likes. May be the virus likes Haleem or other pulses. Anyways, while the west is busy developing vaccines for viruses, we have a simple desi treatment at home.

Rock night: three blasts

The enemy has succeeded in what it wanted exactly. It is crippling the people mentally. It is isolating Pakistan. The blasts at WPAF were an excellent success to further tatter the image of Pakistan and to prevent any foreigners coming here again. That would be the end of all the activities in Lahore. Cultural or sports or other. People are already afraid, now they will be even more. Mum and Dad straight away prohibited me from going to the festival today which I had a plan. We are smoothly and fast heading towards a big war.

To Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, with love

I always wondered why we lack scientific minds. A part of the answer might be that because of what we do to the very few such people that we have. We hand over our neuro-scientists to America and we lock up our nuclear scientists. Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan is an asset. People say that he should have been made the president of the country. But I think that he should have been allowed to continue research work. He should have been allowed to establish universities, attract students to this his field and deliver lectures throughout the universities in the country. He should have been allowed to transfer his knowledge to the relevant people and to create minds like his. He should have been awarded with money and all the facilities that our non deserving ministers get to receive.

Even if he were involved in any nuclear trafficking, he should have been defended because he is OUR OWN. Being a Pakistani the government should have tried to cover up his faults and mistakes if there were any. As regard the accusations of other countries, if the government was not able to deny them straight forwardly, it could have handled the situation in a political and diplomatic manner. Like giving statements that 'we condemn it and we will conduct a trial' and actually not doing it or something like that.

Dear Dr. Khan,

Please forgive us, for what we did to you. Our heads are bowed and we are ashamed. We are just not aware or may be we are just too selfish. May Allah give you courage and health and make you able to produce like-minds and do more for the country.

Three D's

Drone, Dengue and Depression

Ud kothay utton kanwa

Well I'm not any Saima or Saira Naseem nor is this crow sitting on the kotha exactly but I still want it gone. I tried singing the song too but like in the movie, it kept on sitting till the end. It is sitting just outside my neighbour's upper storey window pane, a few meters from me. I can see and hear him clearly from my window. This crow caught my attention because he is in love. He sits at the same place for hours and caws. He caws when I am eating biscuits, when I am surfing the net, when I am just trying to relax and when I am trying to memorize the early and late changes after death. What attracts him there is his beloved. And he has every reason to come there daily because his beloved is very docile and does everything that he does. She caws when he does, she flaps her wings when he does; she is his own reflection in the mirror, literally. This stupid, stupid crow sits in front of the window pane, sees his own reflection and keeps on cawing. This makes him happy and me want to kill it. He has developed a long term memory and never forgets her. Far away, I can hear the screams of some eagle too but the eagle is just wasting time flying around. 'The eagle never lost so much time, as when he submitted to learn of the crow.' William Blake
I wish humans had a lesson from the crow too.

A little break

I went to see some contemporary dance today at the festival and I've decided never to see contemporary dance again :-D It's not that it was bad. The performances were brilliant had their own philosophy and meaning of the dance which they explained before every act and they were all very well prepared and rehearsed but it just didn't catch my interest. They were from Banglore, India and they called themselves Nritarutya. Nevertheless the festival per se was sumptuous, as always. The ambience, the lights, the colours and those giant moving puppets.

Guitar universal

I never thought much highly of guitar until I had one. Not only it is a difficult instrument but the most diverse too I guess. It covers a number of genres: flamenco, samba, jazz, blues, country music, rock, pop, classical. I can't recall any other instrument with such diversity. So it would not be wrong to call guitar a Universal Instrument. :) I discovered this Spanish guitar lately and developed a particular liking. In most Spanish music flat notes are used equivalent to our Raga Bhairvi. This video is particularly awesome.

Heaven

Gosh...I love these girls and their combined voice and when they lift their lehanga with one hand and when they do a fast tatkar. I think slower compositions are more aesthetic and the melody over it plays a big role and defines the mood as in this case. A soft teen taal with a sugary melody and slow balanced movements is a good start and rather difficult than fast ones!

Einstein

They call him Einstein. Our African Grey Parrot has made it to whistling, imitating the door bell and saying 'hello' as yet :-D

Happy Birthday

Whenever I think of Urdu poetry the things that come in my mind are a dejected person, a broken heart, a lit cigarette with its ash about to fall and a goblet near by. But then I think about Allama Iqbal and the changing map of world. He might have some of the addictions too but but his other contributions are much more important to talk about.

Exams haven't even started yet and I am already making plans about post exam days. The first thing I am going to do is to visit the 'Javed Manzil' which I haven't ever unluckily.

Dear Allama Iqbal please forgive us for not taking care of your country, for not being the Muslims you wanted us to be, for not developing our khudi and for not fulfilling your dreams.

Beggars

China refused to give money, good job. United States' blatant reply, 'We are not going to throw money on the table', well done. And then they went to IMF. I'm totally amazed at the President's and Prime Minister's joint decision of not accepting the IMF's conditions on loan. Well, first they cry in front of media so openly that 'We need money, we need money, give us money, we need $100 billion instantly (Oh my God), please help us', making us ever more ashamed of our leaders and then after so many rejections when someone agrees to lend money on some conditions they simply reject. God will you please send some good leaders from up their and will you please give a little wisdom to the Pakistani nation so that they do not elect criminals as their leaders?

I think they only refused to give money because they know that their are thieves in here and that those who are asking for money have their bank accounts of billions of dollars in foreign countries which if they just brought to the banks of Pakistan, there wouldn't be any need of asking for money. IMF's conditions must have been about the expenditure of money, thats why they refused them.

Why should any one give us money when we are not ready to change ourselves. There hasn't been one area, one field where the expenditure has been cut down. Instead they are making a cabinet of fifty five members, which should have been cut down to save money. They are taking a delegation of two hundred people with them to the visit to Saudi Arabia. They are having marriage ceremonies in President House! And the foreigners are right when they come here and say 'Seeing the conditions of the leaders we don't think that Pakistan is in such a dire need of money.'

If they had a LITTLE self respect they would not have begged in the first place. They would have sought after respected and dignified ways of bringing money home. Like inviting the foreign investors, transferring their own money from foreign to local banks, asking the oversees Pakistanis to transfer their money in Pakistani banks, cutting down the SO MANY extravagant expenditures. They should have united their nation and they would have said, 'We will work hard, we will stand on our own and we will not beg.' And theres NO WAY on earth they would not have succeeded only if they had good intentions and commitment and patriotism in them.

Great nations are not formed by begging for money.

World Performing arts festival 2008

DAMMNNNNNN!!! Its from 13th to 23rd November, just in between the send ups. I was expecting a delay because they were having a hard time finding the sponsors this year, provided the geo-political instability which also explains their keeping the event in such a low profile. Its just nine days from now and theres no mention of it on any web nor is there any advertisement nor any banners on the road. Well, I'm going to see at least one of my favourite shows. I can't possibly sit on my chair and cram the drugs with all the hustle and bustle going on just a kilometer away from me. :-D I hope that City42 channel provides the live coverage of all shows like they did of the Youth Performing Arts Festival!

The protest bears fruit

The Chief Minister 'succumbed' to our demands of increasing the salaries of House Officers and Medical Officers today.

Young Doctor's Association started these demands first by holding press conferences then by holding demonstrations in front of Assembly Hall and then by boycotting the hospital. As the usual method of getting one's demands accepted here they finally decided to block the Mall Road.

I feel so happy to be a part of that Mall Road blocking. I had to attend the ward so couldn't go in time with the rest of the crowd. I joined them later by walking from University through Mall Road to the Assembly Hall. Sharjeel, Tamoor, Salman and Noman were going back till then. I was expecting a lot more people than I saw. More than half of them were from FJ and Ganga Ram Hospital as I saw them turn back when the protest was over. They were all sitting there in the Chowk, holding banners, raising slogans and posing in front of the media. I was expecting someone to extend a microphone in front of me too but the media was more inclined towards the ladies. :-D

It was my first official protest :-)

Professoritis

Professoritis is a mental disorder characterized by mental instability and delusions of grandeur. The person suffering is called a Professor. The literal meaning of professoritis would then be inflammation of a professor. The most prominent and distinguishing feature of this disease is arrogance. They may also exhibit rudeness and selfishness. These patients are usually found in medical colleges and hospitals and can easily be identified. If you happen to see some young people surrounding and tailing an old murky man or an old man suddenly loosing temper and slapping a young boy or an old man calling the worst names to young people or two old men bickering, you've hit a professor.

The disease can be highly contagious in some cases. For example if some professor has a beard and evil face and wicked smile, other members of the department can have beards and evil faces and wicked smiles in a very short time too. The manifestations of the disease can also vary. Just for example some professors might order the class to study CNS physiology, knowing that the class hasn't yet studied the CNS anatomy or some professor might have a problem with every book he comes across and even then not write a book of his own. Some professor might not even know how to speak and strictly order the boys not to talk to girls. Some professors can mind the students' not attending his two out of three classes and not accept other professors' attendances and fail whole of the two batches for the said reason.

With increasing severity, the person suffering from the disease is referred to as demonstrator, assistant professor, associate professor and finally professor. Some APs can ask a 1st year student in final exam to perform a practical of second year and be adamant about it.

This is one of the incurable diseases. Some people are even in favor of categorizing these patients as a separate specie.

Disclaimer: All the examples in these paragraphs are purely fictitious. Any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely co-incidental.

P.S. Some professors are normal, not all suffer from the disease but 99.99% do.