My Wanderings 167. Hungama hai kyon barpa

Akbar Allahbadi a great  urdu poet was born in 1846 and died in 1921 in Allahabad. His small couplets in urdu  written  more than a century ago are very fascinating and have amazing similarities with the political, ethical and cultural values of present times.

1.Quom ke  GAM me dinner khate hain hukkaam ke saath
    Ranj  leader KO bohut hain magar aaraam ke saath.
   (They cry over the community's woes with rulers over fine dinners.
   The leader talks of sorrows but in comfort.)

This couplet has  similarity with present political set up in our country. Our leaders like  Mr.Kejriwal  who represent themselves as common man , to entice public and subsequently  win elections . After getting elected to highest posts,  they  give vent to their feelings and aspirations. They spent large amounts of public exchequer  on their official residenes and name them as Sheesh Mahals. They also prefer to have  lavish life styles and elite decorum but present themselves as chappal clad babus.

2.Beparda nazar aaye Jo kal chend bibyan
   Akbar zameen mai  gayrate qomi se garh gaya
   Poocha Jo Maine apka purda tha kya hua
   Kahney lage ki aqal pe mardoon ke pad gaya
( yesterday when I saw a few women without  a veil, I was stunned for lack of morals in community. When I enquired about their veil. They told me that it has covered the intellect of men.)

It is true in present scenario also.  All types of morals and ethics are  imposed upon the women only. In Islamic countries women are advised to remain in veils and are  deprived of all rights. In our secular country also newspapers are full of news items of rape  and exploitation against women. Whenever such incidents happen some of our moralists start lecturing on the dress etiquette and make up of women. They say women should not enjoy full liberty in society as they are prone to high risk. Therefore, they are advised not to use cellphone or not to celebrate velentaine day which is direct attack on their fundamental rights. But it is not actually attire of women or liberty enjoyed by women but mindset of  some men that needs to be transformed, which is covered with the veil of lust and male ego. Men and women are inseparable parts of our society. Men should not perceive woman as an object of entertainment . Woman should always be respected as  she represents the image of our mother, sister and daughter. Such type of mindset in men will definitely ensure safety of woman. Ramakrishna paramhansa   regarded every woman as the incarnation of Maa Kali. However we can not expect all men  to be having such high morals but at least mindset of some men need to be changed so that they can respect woman.

3.Sidharenge Sheikh Kaba to hum  Englistan jayenge
   Woh Khuda ka ghar dekhenge, Hum  Khuda ki Shaan dekhenge
   (When Sheikh will go to Kaba we shall visit  England
   He will see the home of Lord and we shall see the grace of Lord).

With spiritual pursuits and renunciation , development and pursuit of  nature is also necessary because lord manifests in its creation as described by our religions. What is  characteristic  feature of   Kashmiri Shivism that it says all things are manifestations of this consciousness but the phenomenal world (Shakti)  is real ,having its being in consciousness (chit).
Moreover, Development is the sign of life and disaster signifies death.   A person  can not escape from development. It is the reward for persons continuous hard  work for years together in pursuit of achieving excellence.

4. Huye is kadar mohzib kabi ghar ka na muh dekha
     Kati umar hotloo me, mare haspataal me jakar.
     ( we have become so much civilized that we have never visited home
       We spent our life in hotels and died in hospitals)

These days In blind pursuit of materialistic objects,  a person is getting detached with his roots. He is forgetting his language  and culture, which is otherwise necessary for the balanced growth and development of an indudual. A person should not be taken away by the winds of development and prosperity. He should keep his cool and maintain his induduality.

      

My Wanderings 166. Short Story No. 66 Wealth and Honour

It is an old English  maxim  that loss of Wealth is nothing as compared to loss of character or honour.  I was always   feeling guilty of my   wealth in the form of movable and immovable properties, which we left and  lost while migrating from valley of Kashmir at the time of turmoil there. But during my new posting in Kashmir in the year 1998 , it dawned upon me that we lost nothing as compared to people who never left the valley.  Ofcourse, they purchased  our houses at throw away prices. They took our jobs and immovable property. But I always  observed  something amiss on their faces which I could not forsee at that time. Though they sometimes hinted towards   it by saying, you people left once for  all , and lost only your homes and hearths, but we have lost much more  valuable than that. We had to die many deaths  during  those days  .  Moreover, we had  to  face the wrath of  both militants as well as army personell.

        In the beginning, at the time of my transfer to  valley,  I was very skeptical about the behaviour of my new colleagues ,  with whom I had to work and  who were appointed in our place  after the mass migration of our community from the valley in year 1990. But only after joining my duty in  valley,  I realised that our new colleagues, who mostly belonged to Muslim community, were not so bad as I had anticipated. They mostly  appeared to me very obedient and meticulous in discharging their duties except a  few and far between, which can not be ruled out in any  type of society or organisation.

                  One of my colleagues,  whom I remember now was Aslam,  who was not so meticulous but very obedient person . He could never say no to any task alotted  to him,  whether he could complete it or not. But there are always fair mix of employees in any organisation and it's  work does not suffer  at the cost of one  negligent  employee. Aslam was very handsome  and healthy young man  , much junior to me in age and always adorning a smile on his face. He enjoyed eating  good food and meat and hardly could say no to food when offered to him. On Eid days, he would take so much meat that he  mostly  extended  his  leave from office ,a few days  more,  as he often  fell ill with Gout or any other ailment due to excessive eating . Once I also visited his house to ask about his welfare , when he did not return office for a long time after Eid  festival. During my visit to his home  I came to know that his  father had died few years ago and he and his sister were living  with their  mother only . His sister appeared to me  very beautiful and smart prima facie  but she was suffering from depression as disclosed by Aslam  to me. Aslam  further told me that he has shown his  sister to so  many doctors in the valley but  of no avail. Then I suggested   him   to get the consultation from   one of the   renowned  neuro physicians  in the matter, who was  residing at jammu like all other migrants. Aslam readily agreed to my suggestion and implored upon me to arrange for the appointment with the Doctor.

                 I arranged his meeting with the Doctor at jammu using my resources and good offices , as it was very difficult to get that Doctors  appointment within a short span  of time. One day he came to jammu with his sister. At the scheduled time I also reached to Doctors clinic  to help him. When he was called in by Doctor, I also accompanied him. The Doctor after examining his sister  advised  Aslam to meet him in the  absence of patient. Aslam asked me also to join  the meeting with Doctor. Then Doctor asked  Aslam to apprise him about the whole history of patient. Aslam first hesitated to tell the truth about the reasons behind the depression  of his sister. Then Doctor after observing  his hesitation  said to him," Mr Aslam, I have seen many patients like your sister from valley , who visit my  clinic , for treating themselves :  please tell me the whole story to enable me to treat your sister properly. You should not conceal anything from your Doctor , if you want that your patient  is treated well". On hearing these words of Doctor,  Aslam broke down  bursting  into tears and began to address   Doctor directly, 

Doctor sahab, I will not conceal anything from you for the benefit of my sister,  so that she can be treated well. When you people left the valley for good, we became the soft targets of terrorists. They began to enter our houses in huge  numbers and used  to ask us for  food, which we arranged for them happily , as we considered them  mujahids and freedom fighters.  We thought that they have  left their country and reached Kashmir with great difficulty for our liberation. After taking sumptuous meals ,they would usually ask us to send our young daughters and sisters  to their rooms for their entertainment . We most reluctantly had to fulfil their wishes as there was no other alternative left with us,  because their guns and ammunition would tear us apart within minutes. We could only hear shreiks of our women folk who were being gang raped by them in front of us. Almost every home in valley faced the same problem and nobody was able to make any complaint against them. My sister also became  fodder of their excesses and after sometime became pregnant . 

                One day my father died due to   heart failure, as he could not bear the abuses  they hurled upon his daughter and that too  in  his presence. Then I had to arrange for abortion of my sister in a far off place in jammu with the help of my some  Hindu aquantaces living there. We were not exceptions , this was the tale of each and every home in Kashmir. These terrorists were sent by Pakistan with the allurement that they will go to Kashmir which is called heaven  and can enjoy beautiful damsels available  there. Moreover, hurriat also preached us that they are Mujahids who have come to free us from indian tyranny . You should not hesitate to offer them your sisters and daughters,  so that latter are purified and made sacred by them. No body could complain about these excesses . We  all could only hang our heads in shame and never discussed about the problem with each other. As we   all were helpless and let it happen for decades in the name of freedom. Many who revolted against this were either killed by mujahids or died their own death by heart failure or brain strokes. After hearing this harrowing tale from Aslam,  Doctor began to write the prescription for his sister with shaken hands. He advised Aslam all about the care he should take for his sister. Then Aslam left for Kashmir with his sister and came  back again to   Jammu several  times,  to treat his sister with the same Doctor until I lost contact with him.

            One day after my retirement from service Aslam met me at jammu near Residency Road . When I enquired about his sister , he told me that she is alright and married now with two kids . I was very happy to know about Aslam and welfare of his sister.