Words talk

“It was probably close to Isha prayers, it would have been 7 or 8 at night. I went in there and I couldn’t believe there were about a 1000 people at the mosque. I thought subhan Allah look at this religion, look at how strong they are! [pause] it was the first night of Ramdan [laughs] ‘Ramdan Muslims’.” Abu bakr shares his feeling about the night he converted Islam. Sadly! we are slowly losing the entitlement of even being termed as the ‘Ramdan Muslims’. The zeal with which we should look forward to Ramdan has been replaced by the resentment on season, environment and time of year Ramdan has arrived at. Of little that I know about Islam, I know it is not a religion of imposition or force. Well! I think a lot of people know that already, they do practice it for skipping fasts for sure.  Eid has become another day for us on which we can sleep late, have food and send in Eid messages. It’s a gift from God for someone who has kept fasts in the holy month of Ramdan, which is f...

Iffi, our 16-year-old American born desi cousin was always questioning his roots. One day when the patriot kid was complaining how his parents had kept him away from his culture, the Pakistani couple instantly decided to send Iffi to Pakistan in summers. We and my aunt live together in a joint family system; so Iffi instantly decided to stay with us. Zain and Iffi are the same age so naturally, Zain was responsible for Iffi’s religio-socio-cultural tour in Pakistan. After partying till dawn, Zain and Iffi would go to sleep after having sehri. The fast was easy, Zain only got up to offer prayers and recited the holy book half an hour before iftar. Iftar was delicious and the nicotine doze afterwards made it soothing. Zain’s routine to me is pretty usual. She does well at school and her parents are happy with her. Iffi was a branded gora kid so he instantly became popular among Zain’s friends; who at one end hate American policies for Pakistan but on the other fancy their lang...

I have reached Abbottabad safe and secure. It’s 1 a.m. and it was indeed a long day. The weather here is as cozy as I was expecting it to be; the sky is as clear as it was 12 years back when me and my friends used to lie down on the water tank tops and stare at the stars for hours; my niece and nephew are cuter than ever and their excitement to see me washed away my tiredness from all the travelling. The day started with a call-come-alarm by a sales man at 8:30 a.m. I was late for work, 9: 15 a.m. and I was office. The usual pouring of calls started and it was 12 noon already. I had by than planned the production for the next 2 days. With much excitement, I circulated the mail of my chutti, among the concerned, and seconds later I was on my way home. It’s been six months since I have entered the professional world; IT IS as harsh as they say, but it’s worth the experience and exposure. Our sales force is master of their art and they demand the same from me. It was insa...

Welcome to the modern world, where we have advanced and developed with time. Some people think that we have passed the optimum point on the time line and moved in the negative but who cares? Its more cool here. We eat using tons of cutlery; in fact the word cutlery has become synonyms with intermediary between humans and food. Days of eating the way our holy prophet used to eat are long gone. Now, the people who eat food (read rice) using their hand are paindu/ maulvi or backward; in either case they are not modern and thus not liked. Asking Rs. 5 to buy tobacco is cool but asking back your change of Rs. 5 will make you a laughing stock. It’s just another perk of advancement. Hash, alcohol, weed are okay but what’s not okay is fighting for small amounts of change. Let me clarify here, please don’t compare small amount here with interest; interest is good! Next, we introduce the concept of dowry*. *Some modern men at back throw confetti while opening a bottle of champagne*. You see, w...