My first Flight out of Pakistan

I thought I may have given some detail before, so I had skippedthis part, but no harm in repetition here.
That morning in Karachi was misty and I thought my "English weather" has already started.
My sister and brother-in-law were there to see me off early in the morning. PIA plane-a 707 jet- started half hour late because of mist.
Our first stop was Tehran. We were not allowed out of the plane only the passengers leaving or coming in were allowed. One passenger (near my seat) was being "questioned" by Iranian immigration, right there (may be he was getting off). The officer looked a the IHC (international health certificate) spoke in a "tahakkumana lehja" sort of making the passenger feel uncomfortable. All he wanted to know "if he had visited any other countries in the last five days" Probably health related question).
Next stop "bairoot" was three hours way but a cousin of mine traveling to London on his way to Washington (PIA engineer going for training) Since he was in first class he took me there offered some cigarettes and showed me the cockpit etc. which made my 3 hrs easy. At bairoot we were offered Coke (this was the first time I had seen the bigger bottle of coke. Pakistan main uss waqt chhoti bottles he milti theen.)
Next stop was Rome. Which reminded me of "Roman Holiday", my most fav. movie and I had fallen in love with Audry Hepburn, she was superb in that (her first) movie.
From Rome to London was another one and a half hours. It was 4 pm in London at the time of landing and there was sunshine, no mist, no clouds. I got some cash from exchange along with coins before leaving airport by bus (five shillings) to Victoria (underground station), where I would take the underground to Liverpool Street station. Those coins-- specially the pennies, my God they were heavy and big. I thought I'll call Saeed, my friend when I get to Enfield in Middlesex.
From Victoria to Liverpool Street by underground (Tube, costing me 11 pence of those days) and then I had to get "surface train". An Englishman was acting as my guide as he realized from my questioning I was new, so he walked with me to the surface train station. Then said, "you can go and get your ticket, I'll see you your luggage".
Like a flash, a thought crossed my mind, he will take the luggage and go (pakistan say niya niya aa raha tha na). Seeing my hesitation he said, " give me the money I'll get you the ticket". While I was still being hesitant, the ticket checker passed by and the gentleman told him "this man wants to go to Enfield, can you guide him please". The Ticket collector said the train is ready to leave I'll give you the ticket on the train." I felt so bad in my heart and then thanked the fellow who helped me.
I got off at the Enfield station and thought of telephoning. Looked at the coins, put four pennies, and dial, the number (which I did not have) so decided not to call, push button "B" out come the coins and I walked to the bus stand (was really tired) and the bus took me to the Chase Farm Hospital and I asked the gatekeeper to call Dr. Ahmad (Saeed Ahmad). He comes in visibly and rightly, I may add, irritated) with his (then girl friend later to be his wife) in his mini and starts at me "Why the hell you did not wire me or tell me when you are coming, I could have come to the Airport and bla, bla bla".
I enjoyed the adventure.

When I left home

Getting passport and getting NOC (No objection certificate from Pak. Govt) and then making sure you would have enough funds to help settle down in the foreign country took all my efforts for over a year or two of planning, going from office to office and pleading my case to all kinds of officers, police, medical department, education etc.
So when all was done and procured and I pocketed some 50.00 pounds from the bank in Karachi I was ready to fly and my flight was due to leave in less than 15 hours. It was that close.
I spent time recording (reel to reel tape-recorder) some fav. songs of those days, thinking I 'll have no music to listen to except the English for which my auditory system was not tuned. It was as if I was going away for good (I did not know, it did turn out that way) There were no halal foods or desi music available in those days. On the paper I was supposed to join some class but instead I was looking for and applying for house job in some hospital. That was the way it was. It took me two months to land a junior surgical house job and I finally said goodbye to the "digs" as they called it
All I had was one large suit case, one bag and one tennis racket and just last 30 pounds left (I had exhausted all my funds, spending about 35 pounds a month or so)
It was a big relief ,the centrally heated hospital quarters.
One of the landlady's place I was given two blankets and thin bedcover with sheets to spend the night. I was given two hours of an electric heater (one rod about 12 inches long) which had a dim glow to it but heat it could not produce. After two hours the other "lodger" had his turn.
I covered myself with all the warm clothing I possessed including my overcoat etc. and then curl up under the thin and cool blankets. waited for the morning so I could defreeze myself in a hot tub bath which was restricted later, so I had to find another "landlady".
Hospital quarters and a warm bed was like jannat.
Jari hay.

Jumáh Journal-- Muhsin

The word Muhsin means in Arabic and Urdu, one who performs good, does beautifully (whatever he does). Also means one who performs "Ihsaan"
Another word, close to it is Mukhliss, one who does sincerely, one who is sincere.
Most commonly it is quoted from the famous Hadeeth-e-Jibraeel, when he asked from the prophet PBUH (after having asked about Eeman etc.)
"What is Ihsaan?"
The reply was "To worship Allah as if you see Him" The Angel said that is correct.
Doing good deeds with "Husn" and Ikhlaass, that is with beauty and sincerity. Beauty here means not apparant but intrinsic. Say, you believe in God and to please Him you want to do some good, let's say give charity. So you find a person who is needy and give him without his knowledge or in such a way that he does not feel he is getting charity and he does not feel obliged to you (you make sure of these things)
That is beautiful.
Or you can go and throw the money in his lap and keep going on your business.
You have given charity but that was as if you made him feel inferior and pitiful. That is not beautiful.
The prophet PBUH said,
Givecharity so qiuetly that the left hand does not know what right hand has given. (something like that)
Also he said
God has ordained on you Muslims doing things beautifully. That is whatever you do do it in a handsome way and to its full extent. Here I may also say additionally Muslims must do it according to the teachings of the prophet PBUH because that is the way God will accept. if you pray in any other way than what the prophet PBUH has taught, will be unacceptable to God.
May Allah accept all your good deeds.-Ameen

Sunday Surkhi, Taseer

I just got lazy folks
As I was talkling about Inaam I mentioned about the Principal of Islamia college Lahore, Dr. M D Taseer
That reminds me of Mr. Salman Taseer the Governer of Panjab and all the surkhis I have been reading about him. Only a couple of years ago I heard about him that--- Salman Taseer kay liyay ham sandwitch Dubai say bheja jata hay. I dont know how correct it is because I used to hear the same about the late General Ziaul Haq that in the white house they serve hin ham sandwitch and he eats with relish.
This year a whole lot of Salman is in the news like when Sri Lanka Cricket Team was attacked in Lahore and some other Panjab Political events etc.
I dont know him but if he is the son of MD Taseer I was impressed with his father as a teacher. I want to place before you my memorable encounters with the late Dr. Mohammad Din Taseer.
My brother took me to Islamia college for admission after my high school. I was very poorly educated in the village and knew very little of city dwellers and their sophistication. I was hardly 4 ft. 10 or 11 inches and weighed may be 76 lbs (age14- I think my pubertal growth had been delayed by my 'friend' Ankylostoma Duodenale, see my note on Jan 10, 2009) I went into the office of the Principal who greeted me smilingly and encouraged me by saying
"yeh to kursi peh baitha hua mujhay nazar bhi nahin aata" He was of the opinion, enen tough I was a shorty I was good enouh for admission to first year in his college and I came out smiling. mera aik pao khoon baRh giya tha.
There was an Urdu debate in the college the topic was
"hind kay shaair-o-soorat ger-o-afsana nawees
Ah becharoN kay a'saab peh áwrat hay sawaar"
Allama Iqbal's lament that Indian poets artists and story writers are too much occupied with woman. (forgive me for doing a better job of translation.)
Any way Of course Dr Taseer was there and among the Judges was one woman "Bagum Salma Tasadduq Hussain"
Many speakers came with arguments in favor and against the proposition but one speaker actually mentioned some advances made by a poet so much so that he named his beloved in his poems, Akhter Sheerani and he actually quoted some verses.
I cannot be absolutely sure but we knew that Akhter Sheerani had named "Salma" in his verses and we were under the impression that his "Salma" was no other than Salma Tasadduq Hussain who was at that time in a very high Governemnt Office probably "naib Wazeer".
Wow.
Sure enough Bagum Tasadduq Hussain was furious (laal peeli) and got out of the college quick
Hall per sannata chha giya. Then it was the brilliance of Dr. Taseer and his-- shagufta goiy aur shusta bayani jis nay saree mehfil main phir say aman ka daur daura qaaim ker diya. He had a God-given gift of using his Urdu as well as distinguished English language to create a smile and laugh in any gathering.
We had lost our regular English professor because Prof. Mahmood Hashmi joined some other job so replacement teachers were trying to teach my class and my classmates were "bored" with Prof. Kamali, so they started teasing him. One day when he was teaching, somebody stared knocking his pencil or pen under the desk. For some reason many more joined the act and Prof. Kamali-- kamal phurti say class say baher nikal gayay.
Next day we had the pleasure of Dr. Taseer himslf teaching us English poetry and I still remember the poem:
"A red red rose" so well, he spent the whole hour on it.
No student had any chance of doing anything Dr. Taseer being a poet himself explained each and every word and why and how it was used the whole class was charmed into complete silence.
I joined Governement College for my third year and one day was walking from Anarkali to my hostel (New Hostel) when around 8pm I saw Dr. Taseer walking in front of Panjab University. Next day there was a Surkhi telling us Dr. Taseer died of heart attack.
Yes he was a poet like Faiz but may not be that caliber. the wives of both poets were English and they were sisters, if I remember. One of the most well-known she'r of Taseer
"dawer-e-Hashr mera Naama-e-ámaal na poochh
iss main kuchh perda nasheenoN kay bhi naam aatay hain"
(O King of the doomsday gathering, do not ask me about my 'record of deeds'
for it contains names of some veiled persons-- stay home women)
Forgive me, I do not do a good job at translations.

Inaam-my friend

I went to Nowshera and by chance knocked at a door to find this friend, a very pleasant surprise of my life that I mentioned before in a blog.
Talking about "Soodi", I mentioned his name but I realized I had not written much about Inaam before, so I decided to give a brief note here.
He was in Pakistan Army Dental corps and we would sit and talk about the life and its difficulties and how to get over them while his "ardali" (Orderly) served us tea and biscuits etc.
When I joined Islamia College (Railway Road) Lahore, Dr. M.D. Taseer was the principal (Will write about him some time later). I was hardly 5 ft. 3 inch and weighed less than 80 lbs, so most of the "shorties" were my friends as in the morning PT class we would be lined up according to height.
I had spent 4 years in a village (where I learnt it), so my Punjabi was hard and "Thaith" that did not make an impression on slightly more sophisticated softer "City Language"of Lahore. Inaam was however a very kind-hearted soft spoken sweet person who became friends with me in a short time. We were all taking the same subjects. Inaam's uncle was a homeopathic doctor on Mayo (Allama Iqbal) road and was very successful. His cousins also got friendly with me as we all played Badminton in the afternoons.
I was short of age by 4 months and also did not get enough marks for admission to KE medical college that year so I joined BSc class from Government college and Inaam got into Dental.
He joined Army after graduating from Dental College and was Capt. in the Army when I went to Peshawar medical college as senior lecturer in Physiology after my graduation from KE Medical college. Since he was posted in Nowshera we frequently saw eachother. His family were looking for a match for him but there was a girl who got interested in him. She met him through Peshawar Officers club. She was married to the club canteen owner or something like that. She was much younger than her husband (who may be 40-42 while she was 20-22). That explained her interest in younger officers.
It so happened I got to know that husband through another friend. Things were getting serious when Inaam told me he likes her but he cannot go against the family (His father was an English teacher and very conservative) who had found somebody for Inaam in another city and "baat pakki ho gaiyee thee". He did not have the guts to tell the girl that he cant marry her. Muhabbat itnee pakki nahin thee. During this time her husband had also come to know of the "affair" and was respectful with me and Inaam. So one day I told him before he would come back from work, I would go and talk to his wife about Inaam's inability to marry her. I had never seen her but I went to their house and talked with her that she has a loving and caring husband, and should stick with him even though he is older,and forget about Inaam. When I left the house I saw her husband walking in. It was all in good faith.
A few days later I got an annonymous letter from her friend accusing me of all kind of unworthy character etc. I never wrote any answer. All went well and I kept my aquaintance with her husband, for Peshawar Officers club had an active dramatic club with their music director who was known to me and who, in fact helped me in providing musicians for Peshawar Medical College Music functions (requires separate story).
Inaam got transfered to Karachi while preparations for his marriage were going on. While in Karachi I visited him during the time I was getting "No Objection Certificate" from the Pakistan Government as I was palnning to go to England. He helped me there and I still have his letter that accompanied the official "NOC". He got married, had one child, left Army and was practicing Dental surgery for a while in LAHORE. His letters got disturbing as he was not sleeping well. Apparantly his inlaws had maltreated his family and he was disappointed from the whole life with that wife and child. He was mentally disturbed but did not communicate with me.
Next I get a letter from his father that he took an over dose and killed himself in his clinic.
Inna Lillahi wa inna ilaihi Raajeoon.
I was very upset but could not do anything. I had never at any time during my relationship with him found any syptoms of depression . He was a happy man before his marriage.
I do not know what forced him to that terrible action, circumstances alone or that he was indeed depressed that severly. I did not foresee because I had never found him depressed and he always communicated with me until his marriage. It was because of his intimate relationship with me that his father thought of informing me.
Life can be cruel some times.

Jumáh Journal-Anger management

Here are somepoints I learnt from today's Jumáh Khutba with some of my own additions:
There is a Hadeeth of the prophet S. that a companion came to ask him for advice.
He told him, "Do not be angry".
The man repeated, "and then some more advice"
He S. repeated, "Do not be angry" and third time the same.
It is possible that man needed to control his anger, so the advice for him was the same.
But really speaking the Prophet S. has given excellent advice for the control of anger which btw is a useful emotion to defend yourself against the enemy.
We are, however, cautioned, "Not to exceed, in retaliation." Anger is likely to drive us to excess and it is very easy to to cross the limits in anger.
There are other directions from that great teacher, Muhammad S.
Say Aóozdubillahi minash-shatanir-rajeem.
Sit down if standing
If not better, lie down
Drink a little water.
(I have given you main helpful points from sayings of the prophet S.)
Yes, of course today the psychologists tell us all such things for anger management but they cannot tell us about "Taáwwuzd" or why we should drink water etc.
A continuous state of anger is however more damaging and likely to destroy relationships, may ruin love and respect, may dismantle or disintegrate a family. In addition it consumes the mental and psychological energy of the individual carrying this undefeated mood of anger and generate all sorts of neurotic and unbecoming behavior. When the opportunity or the means to combat or negate the anger feeling are not available, it is best to listen to Qurán again
" Those who believe and whose hearts find satisfaction in the remembrance of Allah; for without doubt, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find satisfaction. (Sura 13, aya 28)
" Zdikr" is more than just remembrance, I woul like you to realize and ''satisfaction'' is a poor equivalent of what we in Urdu call "Itmeenaan -e- Qalb".
Listening to Qurán itself or reciting of Qurán by itself is also Zdikr and will provide that ''satisfaction of heart''.

Jumáh Journal--my leave

I wont be blogging for two weeks again after today so this Jumáh journal is early, taking leave of you dear reader
Last Jumáh was in Makka Musharrafah and one before that was in Madina Munawwarah. Al-Hamdulillah Allah has been so kind to me in my old age that I get to see these holy palces whenever I would like.
Both in Madina as well as Makkah one thing struck me (not new, I have felt that often before)
It is all due to one man, Rasoolullah Sallallah-o-alaihi-wasallam, an humble man with a tough life and at his death there was almost nothing much in his house but he was the only fully successful prophet, may Allah send his blessings on him and his progeny. We see big buildings, new Makkah, new Madina wonderful Masjid-e-Nabawi. You look at these marvellous structures and still construction going on and expansions going on. People coming from all over the world paying homage to Allah and visiting this man's grave. A whole worldview was created by this simple man, what greatness, what magnificent example. So when the na't writers exaggerate
"Ager woh na hotay to kuchh bhi na hota" , they are really not too far from the truth.
I was wondering during tawaf, this was the place where all the Muslims and the Mushrikeen were making sajda following the recital of Sura Najm by the prophet SAWS. Staying inMakkah and Madina I often wonder about all the history that exists in those places and I wonder where my steps are following the steps of the great companions Sahaba Karaam may Allah be pleased with them all. Some history there, is'nt it?

Soodi

We met in 1948 as being together in many classes in first year. My Roll No: was 327 and his was 328. We both were in "medical group" (Biology class). We both had much interest in filmy (pop) songs and we both played badminton together. His father was some ofiicer in railaways and they had a "kothi" on Mayo road (Now called Allama Iqbal road). That was not too far from my other friend Inaam's house whose uncle had a well-known Homeopathic clinic. (I did write about Inaam before as he was the one who shot himself after starting his practice of Dentistry and after having served in Pakistan Army for 5 yrs.)
Soodi's name was Mas'ood and was a very likeable clean shave youngman, good player of Badminton. We were together for two years in Islamia College Lahore but toward the end he was less and less eager to meet with us or play. One of the reasons was his lower abdominal pain and he did have appendix taken out but his participation with us did not improve.
One day we sat down (Myself and Inaam) to ask him what happened to his cheerful and lively attitude, the appendectomy had become an old story, so why?
"Germiyon ki chuttion main hum Sialkote main rahay. Meri mulaqat meri aik cousin say ho gaiyee. Mujhay kashish mehsoos ho rahi thi awr woh bhi kashish main thi. Chunancheh hamari mulaqat raat kay andheray main honay lagi. hum aik doosray kay buhut qareeb ho gayay aur wa'day waghaira pukkay honay lagay. Aik shaam buhut barish thi main baher nikla to woh bhi bheegi huie wahan milnay aachuki thi. Uss kay doosray rose say uss nay ana band kerdiya.
Main pareshan tha kiya ho giya usay to pata chala woh beemar thi. Usay nimonia hogiya tha.
issi pareshani main tha khabar mili kih woh Allah ko piyari ho gaiyee"
I dont know what ahppened to Soodi after that as he did not join medical college with us.