“Hum samjha aap Leebanaan (I thought you were from Lebanon),” said the Pathan driver from Peshawar.
“Nahin…”
“Aahhaan, Thurki…(Ah, yes, then Turkey)”
“Hum Urdu mein baat kar rahe hai…(I am speaking in Urdu)”
“Achcha, hum bhool gaya! (Ok, I forgot)”
“Indian,” I said.
“Mussalman?”
“Haan.”
“Paanch wakhat namaaz padhta? (Do you pray five times a day?)”
“Nahin. Aap padhte hain? (No. Do you?)”
“Bilkul. Time milta tau. (Certainly, if I have the time)”
“Agar chaaho tau time nikaal sakte ho, baad mein bhi adaa kar sakte ho (If you wish you can find the time or defer the prayers)”
“Achcha, aap Quran-e-paak padhta? (Do you read the Holy Quran?)”
“Haan,” I lied.
We had reached my destination. He turned and pointing to his chest and then mine said, “Khawateen idhar ka dard dikha nahin sakta, na? (Women cannot show the pain they have here, right?)” Then pointing to his hip, “Aur idhar ka bhi. (And here too). Tau aap suraa-e yaseen ya kuchch padh lena, phir aisa haath lekar uska direction mein phoonkh lena…dard ghayab! (You pray a verse, then cup your hand and blow it in the direction of your chest or hip and the pain will disappear)”
“Agar dard sab direction mein ho tau? (What if the pain is in all directions?),” I asked.
“Yeh sar se paaon tak kaam aata hai. Aap kar ke dekh lena (This works from head to toe)”
“Theek hai. Doctor ko bhi sikha lenge (Fine. I will teach the doctor this too)”
He shrugged and shook his head, one finger still tapping his chest.
- - -
Just thought that since the discussions here have been going into tu-tu-main-main Indo-Pak stuff, I may as well share a vignette.
“Nahin…”
“Aahhaan, Thurki…(Ah, yes, then Turkey)”
“Hum Urdu mein baat kar rahe hai…(I am speaking in Urdu)”
“Achcha, hum bhool gaya! (Ok, I forgot)”
“Indian,” I said.
“Mussalman?”
“Haan.”
“Paanch wakhat namaaz padhta? (Do you pray five times a day?)”
“Nahin. Aap padhte hain? (No. Do you?)”
“Bilkul. Time milta tau. (Certainly, if I have the time)”
“Agar chaaho tau time nikaal sakte ho, baad mein bhi adaa kar sakte ho (If you wish you can find the time or defer the prayers)”
“Achcha, aap Quran-e-paak padhta? (Do you read the Holy Quran?)”
“Haan,” I lied.
We had reached my destination. He turned and pointing to his chest and then mine said, “Khawateen idhar ka dard dikha nahin sakta, na? (Women cannot show the pain they have here, right?)” Then pointing to his hip, “Aur idhar ka bhi. (And here too). Tau aap suraa-e yaseen ya kuchch padh lena, phir aisa haath lekar uska direction mein phoonkh lena…dard ghayab! (You pray a verse, then cup your hand and blow it in the direction of your chest or hip and the pain will disappear)”
“Agar dard sab direction mein ho tau? (What if the pain is in all directions?),” I asked.
“Yeh sar se paaon tak kaam aata hai. Aap kar ke dekh lena (This works from head to toe)”
“Theek hai. Doctor ko bhi sikha lenge (Fine. I will teach the doctor this too)”
He shrugged and shook his head, one finger still tapping his chest.
- - -
Just thought that since the discussions here have been going into tu-tu-main-main Indo-Pak stuff, I may as well share a vignette.
10 comments:
Is tu-tu, main-main ka ilaaj na to pathan ke paas hai, na doctor ke paas.
Aur fir kuchh bimariyan jab jeene ki vajah ban jaye, to fir usko mitaane se kya faayda.
I envy them their purified qafir-less paradise! Lucky guys! I hope sarcasm is a forgivable sin! God is Great!!!!
FV,
Sad to see that we cant replicate a worm through all science but have created "gods"of kinds, shapes, sizes, ethinicity who claim to fix all including pain. In my view , This world would be a better place if we understand that GOD and MARRIAGE are two of man's fallacies which have made mess of most things in world today :)
Hitesh:
"Aur fir kuchh bimariyan jab jeene ki vajah ban jaye, to fir usko mitaane se kya faayda."
Sach baat hai, lekin iss jeena kya jeena hai jab jism nasoor ban jaaye? Aur faayda aur nuksaan tau tol-mol hai, jazbaat nahin...
PS: Blue phase? Me too!
F&F:
In your paradise, how many Muslims are there? Let me know. I quite dig Lord Indra...I hope in your faith such thoughts are forgivable, though not forgettable, sins...
Jai Siya Ram...God is great!
JJ:
Agree with the shapes of gods and their job as pain relievers, but...
"This world would be a better place if we understand that GOD and MARRIAGE are two of man's fallacies which have made mess of most things in world today :)"??
Make the patni parmeshwar (not Godrej) and watch...besides, would you then say that women's fallacy is to reproduce more males and think it is a good thing?
Listen, let us be positive. We can imagine any god and any wo/man without 'partaking' of them...dard ghayab ;)
FV
I don't get it. What are you trying to express here by telling us about this ignorant Pathan? Are you mocking him? or are you trying to say that you liked his simplicity or ignorance in the world of chaos between Indo-Pak. lands.
Do you think the Pathan driver was an idiot or simply ignorant?
circle
Circle:
I am repeating a conversation, as I do in the series. It has included expressing my ignorance at times, although this was not. I do have interesting conversations with people, and in this case it was presumptuous of him to ask me about my prayer habits. It could have been anyone anywhere and I'd have responded in the same manner. I do not see it with any loaded meaning. I am surprised you do.
The only reason I mentioned Indo-Pak was due to the ongoing discussions here...
I will be straightforward here. I have also encountered sweet muslims on the plane ride next me urging me to read the Quran. At that time, I thought it was sweet and kind of ignored it and carried on with my life. I believed that all religions lead to the same path and basically advocate non-violence, doing good and all that. However, with Islam being in the news, I started reading. I think the world (specially people who identify themselves as Muslims) should read the Quran (there are many translations on the web, in chronological order and annotated with context to make more sense of it) and Hadiths (if they believe in it). I was surprised/shocked to find out the level of mistrust/hate of disbelievers in there and just pure violence. (just violence according to muslims I have debated with later on because it is directed towards non-believers. But clearly unjust and just plain cruel to my unemotional eyes). No wonder this religion is so polarising. It is a no brainer for me but I fail to understand why non practicing muslims (specially in the sub continent) do not research it or reach their satisfactory conclusions about the validity of Prophet Muhammed's life and message. Or they don't care about it ? I am really curious. I am beginning to question the validity of Islam as a relgion and I am being honest here.
Let me give it a try.
One fundamental message of all religions seem to be that no matter how rational and well-thought social structures we create, human beings are irrational. Lot of western economists are learning that fact all over again.
Now, I am not particularly religious person but let me pose these questions:
1. how safe do you feel in a world where only country to have used nuclear weapons on a civilian population (also, unnecessarily, according to their own supreme commander Eisenhower) considers itself rightful guardian if them.
2. Country responsible for millions of tragic deaths in an entirely man-made disasters (Germany) considers itself competent to advise others on human rights and carries out NATO peace missions in Afghanistan.
3. After carrying out brutal colonial wars and thereafter, wars in the name of Capitalism (Vietnam), if the Western world re-considers its own fundamentalism about it, who is apologizing to those millions of innocents who perished in this ideological war.
I am not bringing this up to argue "two wrongs make right" or to defend any particular world view. All I want point out is the clearly visible contradictions within currently accepted mainstream world order.
So, yes holocaust shakes up our conscience about what we consider to be very basic human values; we still are happy to give Germans the seat at the table.
What would happen if Euro were to fail and Germany to go down with it? Would we be as happy to forgive her sins?
Lot of soul-searching about Islam is partly looking back at an era through the lens of history. And through this kind of lens almost everything looks distorted.
What really matters is NOW. What cultures, societies and countries are willing to move with times how is the world allowing them to do so.
Turkey fulfilled almost all conditions of Eurozone membership but it was kept out because it happens to be muslim majority country (even if it's secular stance has been zealously guarded by its military).
Greece on the other hand violated almost all conditions of membership and was still admitted because of "right" religion/culture. Now, it is the trigger that will destroy EU.
All this says is that it is indeed not easy rise one's prejudices and do what is right. At some point, people may not even care what is right, but if there is no effort to understand and accomodate fifth of the humanity on the basis of fairness and their present position rather than what their scriptures say; then conflict will continue and world will be so much poorer for it.
Just wanted to make it clear that, if Muslims are wrong to interpret Quran and Hadith literally and try to live by it today and more importantly demanding others to do the same, then those who are framing their arguments, positions and prejudices using the same literal interpretations of the same texts are equally wrong.
Hitesh:
Wonderful! Again, you took the load off me and pretty much said what I would have....
Anon:
Nice to see that you are being honest, but in this particular conversation the person confirmed if I was a Muslim and THEN started talking. How come I have not met sweet Muslims on plane rides urging me to read the Quran even when they are not certain what faith I was born in?
And just FYI believers have read the Quran and the Hadiths, but your enthusiasm to research another religion is laudable although it is to rubbish it. Having made these earth-shattering discoveries, will you still pose in front of the Taj Mahal in the moonlight and eat dum pukht biryani? You are connecting the contemporary to the religion, are you not?
Let's get over this, and debate any faith when it affects us politically and socially taking into account the particular culture we live in. e.g. Indians do not have to go ballistic about saudi women not being able to drive when they don;t give a tosh about them otherwise....
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