musaafir-e dasht

Company or more specifically suhbah is a phenomenon whose effects are difficult to describe. There is this teacher of mine who always says that 'environment is silent speech' and I always used to think how right he was... The effects and impacts are so subtle that one does not even notice how one gets transformed without noticing it ever. There are few verses by Shaykh Sa'adi (rahimahullah) that I came across in a book called, Bayt ki haqeeqat . I am compelled to write them on my blog. The poetry is extremely beautiful and rhythmic. Someone who has ever experienced such company would testify to the truth contained in the verses of this hikaayat . Gili khushbooi dar hamaam roozi Raseed az dast-e-mahboobi ba-dastam Be-oo guftam keh mushki ya 'abeeri Keh az boo-e dil-aaweez e tu mastam Be-oo gufta, man gil-e naacheez boodam Wa-leekin muddati ba-gul nashistam Jamaal-e hum-nasheen dar man asar kard Wa gar na man hamaan khaakam keh hastam [One day in a hamaam* , I g...

Two days back when I was working on my take-home exam, my brother said something really strange on listening to the message alert tone in my phone ring . "What kind of a sound is this?" He asked. And then without waiting for me to reply, he further said, "it seems so 'incomplete'! It leaves a lot to be desired!" I was kind of taken aback at such a serious comment coming from someone who I always considered to be quite non-serious. However, on hearing this comment a lot of 'incomplete' and mysterious associations resurfaced on the surface of my mind. Incompleteness. Leaving a lot to be desired. The last sip of tea not drunk but deliberately left in the cup. Deliberate Unfulfillment. Deliberate avoidance of complete satisfaction. It was one of the most wonderful classes. One of those after which you feel as if something has metamorphosed in you. And a new horizon of thoughts, ideas and reflections lies before you...

It is extremely frustrating to see the abysmal condition city has fallen into. People from the up-north are being almost exterminated. Ethnic cleansing. Do we purge ourselves of our own people? I cannot think beyond this... What about those whose entire families consist of people of various ethnicities? I do not know why but I fear the situation might get worse. Language has never been a problem for the 'people' of Pakistan and that I can say with immense confidence. Why? Because we have been living since ages in localities where no one seems to be even bothered as to the language you speak. It is not an issue. However, it is of course a big issue for those who have 'hired' people to create deliberate unrest in the city. Something is definitely wrong due to which "things fall apart/ the centre cannot hold..." What is that 'something', I think each of us must pose this question to ourselves. For how long will we be able to enjoy living comfortably in ou...

Following is excerpted from an sms that I wrote to a friend: "...A man loses himself when he loses his centre of existence. It is only then that Life does not remain worth living anymore. The worth of our purpose determines the worth of our Life."

Winters are the most wonderful part of the year. Why. That I do not know; they simply are. For me Winter symbolises 'Life'. A queer relation, I know. But I cannot help seeing the world all gray and cold. Listen to the 'song of the reed' (Yes, I am referring to Rumi) and you will hear how melancholic Life's song is! Yet, there's a strain of joy that keep the notes brimming with life. All may be gray and cold, but it is still bound to end... ...T.S. Eliot once wrote, "In my beginning is my end." I don't know why I feel that it's the other way round... Following is one of my personal favourites on Winter... How like a winter hath my absence been From thee, the pleasure of the fleeting year! What freezings have I felt, what dark days seen! What old December's bareness every where! And yet this time removed was summer's time, The teeming autumn, big with rich increase, Bearing the wanton burden of the prime, Like widow'd wombs after thei...

... a struggle to delve deep into my 'self'. An uphill task indeed!