Wednesday 12 September 2012

Nature Of The World





Everything has its own significance. It depends how we perceive it.If one looks closely nature speaks our language. We can understand but only if we are literate enough.
The lavish green colour depicts the general population of the world. The various hues of green are the individual identity of humans. The whole year round they exist but as silent observers. They face the wrath of every season.
In the same world of nature, rebels exist too. They are who represent the red, purple, and orange leaves. Even thou they exist in the same family. But yet are different and prominent from others. They have a stronger existence than others. The various colours show the different school of thoughts.
Flowers are the ornaments of nature. They give a feeling of serenity. Like jewelry makes women look pretty. Insects and bugs which nibble on the roots are the deeds which exist in the society.
The clouds are like dreams which form and blow away leaving behind images in mind. Rain is like the joys and sorrows of life. Winds are the unbreakable bonds. Even then they are silent they still exist.
Sun and moon are the forces that shine and calm our lives like religion does. Fences and barbwire's which divide the areas are like the borders of nations.
Mountains are the egos which are hard to demolish. Animals in the jungles create an atmosphere of discomfort. Rivers and seas are the food without which it’s hard to exist.
Wings of spring blow life into nature. Pot of life boils on flames of summer. A time for parting arrives in autumn when justice stops flourishing. Rebels take a stand and sacrifice their lives. Winter takes a silent yet mournful nap.
To wake up in the vicious circle again....

Monday 10 September 2012

Ashiyana



Mera ye thekana nahi
Mera wo ashiyana hai
Es jahan ki khak bohat chani
Phir bi sub anjana hai

Bare bare log mile
Rishto k phool khile
Jab parkha hum ne unko
Hakekat k kai raaz khule

Ye nazar jahan tak jati hai
Sirf andhera hi andhera hai
Najane kismat kahan lejati hia
Kal kisne dekha sawera hai

Ashk bahake b dekhlia
Chup rehke b sehlia
Parkhache urh gaye khawabo ke
Saqii dil ko bohat seeliya

Saqii

Sunday 9 September 2012

Raining Martyrs





Some incidents last in your memories forever. They may be buried in the back of our minds but would rise again if aroused. Even though I can recall many events which are embedded within me. But one particular mishap always stands out in my memory when it rains.
It was an unfortunate day for the soldiers of Pakistan in Siachin. While they were a sleep, they were swept away by a glacier sliding. All of them disappeared in the middle of the night. All martyred.
When I heard about the news, was deeply shocked. But as a common ritual got on with my life. After about two days it rained. Instantly my mind went back to the incident that took place earlier.
Some how I could link the rain drops with the frozen bodies of the soldiers. Because people were unable to pull them out due to lack of facilities. Even the Media was not fair enough to give proper coverage or respect to them.
I could not let go of those feelings. To this day whenever it rains, it reminds me of them. Who defended this land but we could do nothing for them in return.
Buried in snow. Evaporated. Formed into rain. Mixed in sand.A true Martyr.

Saturday 8 September 2012

The Lost Key...







A few days ago I went into my den where I was shocked to see how things were all scattered. I decided to clean the place up, but as I was about to do so I heard someone whispering. As I looked around I saw something move behind the bookshelf. There was hardly any space to even fit a finger behind it, but still there were sounds of human whispers.

I being an inquisitive cat not only looked behind it but I also pushed the shelf away. The moment I did so I saw cobwebs getting thicker and spiders with three piece suits scrambling here and there as they had been caught with a crime.
When I saw them I was taken a back. It sure did make me lose my temper, because the servants were being paid for doing the cleaning and yet the things remained untouched.


I tried to remove the webs; they were so thick that I could not see my hands in them. Suddenly I heard those whispers again. I picked up the torch and as soon as I turned it on I saw the most alarming thing. The spiders were talking to Looney Toons; all of them were carrying guns like secret agency people. They were sitting in a circle the way people sit in summits or conferences for talks. As soon as they saw me, they looked down in shame. I was lost for words after a great effort I found my voice and asked them what on earth was going on. They gave me a hard and long stare and then slowly started walking into a small hole in the wall. I asked them to stop, but they would not. Before the last spider crept into the hole, he looked back and rolled a bottle towards me and disappeared.

I picked up the bottle with trembling hands.  It was labeled: "Drink Reality" That was a very strange label to begin with.  I opened the cap; as soon as I did a strange, nasty odor filled the place, as if there was a dead body somewhere nearby. I wanted to close it, but the label kept me hypnotized.  After a lengthy debate between my common sense and my desire for adventure, the latter won. The moment it touched my lips, I felt as though I was being suffocated.  I could barely breathe and then I collapsed.

Don't know till when I was on the floor but when I woke up I had a heavy head. When I looked around everything seemed so humongous. For sometime I was dazed that may be it was due to my heavy head I was feeling like this. But when I saw my reflection in the mirror, I was shocked.   It looked as though I had entered Fairyland. I had shrunk; I was barely two inches.  Suddenly I realized what had happened. I looked around for that same hole where the spiders and Looney Toons disappeared.

On looking around, I found the hole at last. The door was open and had the gleam of gold. I stepped through the doorway. I was shocked at what I saw; I was looking at a signboard which proclaimed:  “Welcome to the world of Harry Potter.”   The place was all foggy; I could not see very far. But with slow and steady steps I moved forward. As I did so I saw heaps of debris everywhere. I wondered at how all this could have happened. My thoughts were distracted by sobbing sounds. As I looked around I saw small children sitting in a circle and looking into a crystal ball, which was showing different faces of women and men.
On seeing the puzzled expressions on my face one child asked me who was I. I did not really have an answer so I just told him your friend. That was the only way, I could know the reason behind there crying.

The child said that no one was their friend here. Everyone was cruel, mean, selfish, blood thirsty and evil. I could not understand why so much of hate was projecting from his tone and eyes. I took the child's hand in mine and asked that what had happened, and why was he saying all that?

He looked at my face and said that his parents had been killed by evil powers. I got further confused by the term evil powers, so I asked him what he meant. He said all these kids had lost their parents due to evil powers. Those cruel and heartless Voldemort, Macbeth, Iago, Madusa, Ursula etc all wanted to take us into their hold, but our ancestors Che Guevara, Bhagat Singh, Faiz Ahmed Faiz etc got killed due to being rebels.

At hearing the story, it suddenly struck me why those Looney Toons and Spiders were horrified. I picked up the youngest child up and kissed his forehead. Explained to them that there are tough times, but they were sent to earth to make a world a better place. So they should be strong or there would be more kids like them in this world. We walked towards the jungle, as we were entering it. I saw a light flickering in a hut. I went up at the door and knocked. After a while, when the door opened, I saw Harry Potter in front of me. I did not know I should be surprised or sad. He was in the most pitiable condition. He invited us all in, served us tea and some cookies. I kept reading his face silently until he had settled in front of me. He could not look me in the eye; I asked why he was in such a condition? He spoke slowly, but with great remorse that he was locked up since a very long time in the hut. On further inquiry I came to know that he was locked up by the Looney Toons, Spiders and the Godlike idols with evil powers. They had warned him that if he tried coming out his land would be destroyed.

On hearing the story I asked him that what he did before being locked up? He said that he used to be the owner of this land. He gave people the brains to think, integrity, power to speak against the right and wrong, taught them morals, and how to be the ideal world. But unfortunately the idols became too powerful. They took over the minds of the people and locked him here. I told him then that your values etc did not vanish; these kids were the off springs of those values. Their parents gave up there lives to keep your words alive. On hearing this Harry Potter had tears in his eyes and he realized he had not actually failed. He asked me how I had come here so I told him my story. I wanted to take him outside. Show him his world, he seemed hesitant, but at last he gave in and got ready to come out with me.

After so many years, Harry Potter was stepping outside he looked excited. The moment he stepped out of the jungle he was taken aback by the holy mess. He collapsed on the ground and started sobbing uncontrollably. I took him in my arms to calm him down. After a while he calmed down and got up. I asked him if he knew where the idols were living, he said yes they lived on the other side of the land that place was called the land of New Order. On hearing the name I said that name sounds familiar. He said yes it was because that’s where all the idols are accumulated, trained, and sent to this part of land. I was wondering what he meant, because his voice had some sarcasm. On the way we saw a big statue on the mountain top. I asked him what was that, before he could answer the kid spoke up. It was Santa Clause who was killed by Loony Toons. I wondered why Santa Claus would be killed. Before I could question Harry Potter, he said that he was in disguise running around the land with his elves. The whole place was in a mess due to them. He was created by the idols to take over this land and once they were successful they killed him. Since then his statue has been placed here to remind us.

I bowed my head and walked behind Harry Potter. All of a sudden it struck me I was heading the same way I had come from. I asked him where we were going; this is the same place from where I had come from. Without looking back he said yes it was the same path. On reaching the golden door he asked me that did I know what that colour meant. When I shook my head, he asked me to look at the other side of the door. As I did so all that I could see was black colour and something was engraved in it. The language seemed strange to me. On asking the others what that meant they just stared at me with an expression of remorse and vibes of hate were being emitted from them.

I took off the bag from my shoulder, looked for my digital dictionary. When I pulled it out, an expression of horror, swept across the faces of the kids. I explained to them what it was, but they were not satisfied. I looked towards Harry Potter for help, but he just looked at me and whispered "evil powers". With a frown on my face I told him NO, then I typed the scripture on the key pad of the dictionary. After a second the words flashed on screen "Digest Reality" on seeing the words I spoke them out loud and asked what that meant?

After a pause, Harry spoke that the door is a symbol of double faced people. The golden colour depicted that everything that glittered was not gold and the black colour meant that evil existed in the world. I told him that I could not understand what he was trying to say. He smiled and said that how would you because you did not belong in this world. You belonged to the land of New Order. It existed on the other side of the door. Where you all breed those Idols and adorn them with evil powers to be used on angels, fairies and children. Your people did not even spare the pets. We were not the only ones in danger; those poor fellows who can’t even speak for themselves were brutally killed by the evil spells too. Don’t you people have a heart? Even thou we don’t possess those powers yet we have hearts that are stronger than your powers. You never lose your families like a pack of cards flying away by the winds. You don’t even have the hearts to see your own blood in a needle but our blood flows like an ocean. What was our fault, we got raped, died hungry, got tortured and even got blamed by those Godlike Idols but who should we complain too? No one is there to listen to us. What we get to hear is, kill them.

If we try following what you do on the other side we are labeled as hooligans, animals of the jungle. Why? Is it not your proverb Tit For Tat?

All of a sudden he calmed down. Held me by the shoulders when he saw tears in my eyes he said, he knew that I was like those parents who gave up their lives in a struggle like rebels, I was emitting those vibes. But my dear you are in a world were New Orders are made on their own will and going against them is more or less suicide. After a pause, he put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a pouch with a label on it "Justice and Humanity" He said whenever you are in a situation where those Idols are doing wrong and you can’t do anything sprinkle this, it will work miracles.

I did not know what had happened to me, I was silent, shocked and above all ashamed. Yes I was ashamed that I belonged not to the land of New Order, but the land of Cannibals.

I bid farewell to all and I promised Harry Potter that I would remember what he had told me. As soon as I stepped across the door I felt dizzy for a second and dropped unconscious. I was woken up by the sounds in the den. As I opened my eyes I saw familiar faces all calling out my name. I woke up and said that I was alright, but a small child said we were all looking for you. I said I was with the humans. The child said that we all were here, I slowly got up and before I left the room I said no dear we are cannibals.....
Saqii

Monday 3 September 2012

Wrapped in Paper



Few years ago, I heard the term "paper money". Since then, I concluded that every piece of paper is bought by money. It is the only thing that keeps you in the hemisphere of mortals.

Since the time of Adam and Eve to date, everything is pretty much transferred on to the paper, in various forms; documents, notes, journals and the holy scriptures etc. Presently paper is ruling our lives; from birth to death, despite of the different religions, races, colors, cultures and traditions.

When a woman is handed over by the report of her pregnancy, from that moment onwards, she is a certified mother. But who knows the real story behind that report? It might be conceived without her will as she is too young to handle a child. It could be an illegitimate child or a forced child. Are all the family members happy? There might be debates and warnings about the gender of the newly born. What will happen if it’s not a boy? The moment the baby is born, faces a brunt of cocktail feelings depending on the situations but no one really cares. The birth certificate proves that he is alive. But in what sort of conditions? That's the least of one’s concern. There are times when children are thrown in the dustbins without any name and address etc, which leads them to orphanages etc. They too have no standing in the world until they are not accepted on the piece of paper. Even though it’s a blessing if those kids are adopted on the paper, but no one realizes the pain when they come face to face with the fact that their own parents threw them away.

With time, the child grows up in various situations. From the first day to the end of education, he works hard to get a piece of paper known as a degree, to stand on his two feet to make something out of himself and at last he succeeds which makes everyone happy, but no one sees the pain and problems which he faced in all those years. What were his fears? How he overcame them? In what stress, he had to study? No doubt, one gains knowledge for oneself but it does not have any value in the professional life without that paper (degree).

Once, he is out of the academic period, he starts looking around for a job. If for any reason, he does not have those required papers, then despite of the fact that he has studied uptil Ph.D, he won’t be offered by a job or at least a job of his caliber.

Finally the period of marriage arrives, which too is based on the paper document. Otherwise, that relationship of hearts has no authenticity. No one looks at the cracks, the pain, the pieces and the bleeding of the bonds. As far as the paper exists, all seems well. No one thinks if the girl or boy was forced to marry. No one thinks if they are actually made for each other or not? Are they satisfied or not? But just as a face saving tactic, no one admits the wounds given by those ties. People meet their soul mates apart from their marriages too, yet they are bound to that paper and they can’t unite.

Finally when death embraces us, our souls are freed from the bonds of this world, but again it is bound to the death certificates. Otherwise, you are not counted as a mortal. Behind that certificate, no one knows how many tears were shed at the loss? How many soul mates were parted? How they had lived their lives? How children will spend their lives without their parents etc.

These are just 5 major phases of everyone's life. We all go through them at one stage or another. If we magnify the topic more, then we can see that the paper is not only ruling our personal lives, but it’s more of a ticket in this world. If we have to travel from one place to another, we need visas, tickets and boarding passes etc. Without it, you can’t move about freely. If you are ill, your history is written on the paper. If you are wanting to by a property, it’s done by a piece of paper. If you are buying things, you are given a piece of paper as a receipt. If you have to file an F.I.R, that too is on the paper. Otherwise, an unwritten report has no value. Even in the religion, it is said that there are angels sitting on our shoulders, assigned to note down our good and bad points and present that daily to God.

Last but not the least, even on the Day of Judgement, a Book would be kept in front of us with our deeds written in it, and on the basis of which, we would be sent to the hell or the heaven.

No matter how many reasons you give for the importance of those papers and their legalities, the fact remains that our lives are "wrapped in the paper" which is bought by money at every step of our lives, without even having a shadow of our feelings, strained relations, memories, losses or face saving tactics on them.

Friday 31 August 2012

Drying Tears





In my course books I always read, 70% of the world is covered with water. I use to look at maps, tried measuring the area. I would hold mini globes in my tiny hands and tell my father “the world is in my hands” He use to just smile and pat my head.
Then a time came when I use to associate oceans, seas, and rivers with tears, feelings, love, and compassion. Everything flowed freely for mortals, plants and animals. It was more than enough for all. With the passage of time I realized the world was not in my hands nor was the water. It’s been a long journey from childhood to being an adult.
Now I don’t see the same strength in those waves. Neither the moon smiles cheerfully on beaches. Streams, rivers, lakes etc all are loosing connections. The roar of laughter is no more heard in oceans. I only witness the winters getting bitter of hearts. The language getting harsh by the heat of summers. Borders of flexibility getting rigid. Knots tightening in bonds. Autumn seems the only season existing in combs. Spring feels as if a put up act.
I read once, the level of water has decreased. No doubt left, tears are drying up too…
Saqii

Tuesday 28 August 2012

Play Your Part

By chance I got an opportunity to drop-in at a Government office in the city today. My mother had to complain, regarding an issue. The officer took immediate action and was very helpful on various other issues too. During our 30minutes meeting what I analyzed was:
1)     Every Government officer is not corrupt and ill mannered
2)    They have their limitations also as they work under higher authorities
3)    They do the best they can despite of the holy mess that is around them
4)    They need our support too

There are two things that can set the whole system right:
*Law and Order
*Responsible Citizens

Despite of all the flaws in this or any Government/Regime has we as citizens should play our role too. The only question that comes to mind is “how can one do anything in this system?”

       *Start from your home
* Stop littering every where use DUSTBINS
*Be careful while using electricity, water, gas(whatever is available. Don’t wash cars everyday etc)
*Talk to friends and neighbors about hygiene
*On seeing something wrong try to stop it, if you can’t inform the authorities.
*If an accident or unfortunate incident takes place DO NOT make videos instead get HELP…or give space to people who can do something
* Park your cars properly
* Follow the rules while driving
* Stand in straight cues and wait for your turn
* Vote at the time of elections

This list can go on and on, but even if one step is taken the situation for sure would change. No doubt Pakistan is facing one of the worst situations, but all those who want to change this system need to change themselves too. And remember, if this system is still running it’s due to the hard working and dedicated people. So cooperate, spread the word and act responsibly.
Umaima Ahmed,
28august, 2012