...Of Lahore

2 months.

That's how long it's taken before my folks have despaired of Lahore. The distances have gotten to them, and the traffic, and the higher cost of living, and the heat. Boy, the heat! For a family who've lived the most part of the last 6 years in the North, it wasn't a great idea to land in Lahore just when it had climbed to the top spot in Beelzebub's "Homes Away from Home for Vacationers From Hell" list. The past two weeks' steadily rising mercury has slowly eroded my folks' "new city,new home" excitement and even the thought of regular Persian lessons at the Farhang-e-Iran isn't succeeding in driving the thoughts of colder, calmer climes from my father's mind.

I must digress however. Granted it's swelteringly hot. Granted too, that the traffic in most parts means that a driver like me who isn't even qualified to call himself a novice can't take his new car out for a spin on most roads without bringing it back with at least a lac or two chopped off it's resale value. And granted that even though I've always been a bit of a miser, the last month or two have repeatedly left me asking for handouts because although I've been working for two and a half months now, my pay doesn't arrive till the 1st of July. The upside of which is that come 1st July, I'll be rolling in the stuff.

But what makes me less eager ,and possibly even averse to giving it up on Lahore is the fact that I've enjoyed it immensely ever since I came here. I'd been 'staking the joint' over the last 5 years and had a pretty good idea about these and many other killjoys that I might have to encounter If I ever moved to Lahore and I'm pretty much prepared to take the rough with the smooth. And it's been more smooth than rough so far.

For a start, I'm actually enjoying my job. The housejob year is probably the most important year in a doctor's career, where armed with the accumulated knowledge(?) of five years of Med School and filled with a mix of excitement and trouser-soiling nervousness, he finally starts seeing and treating patients. I've been at it for the last two months and it hasn't proven as hard as I was expecting it. The hours aren't as bad as in most other hospitals AND I'm learning stuff at a steady rate AND the senior doctors are more than helpful,most of them being alumnus of my college AND like I wrote earlier, I'm not as complete a cretin as I was expecting myself to be. Most of all, as my choice of medicine as a profession was more by default that by choice, it's gratifying to know that I actually have what's vaguely referred to as "aptitude" for it.

This being the food capital of Pakistan and me being me, I've let my taste buds lead me all over Lahore and I can safely vouch for their instincts. From hidden-away dhaabas to shishipoopoo coffee house,I've been there and eaten that. And if the pot belly that had completely vanished at PMA attempts a comeback, it'll be a well deserved one. And it's not just food, I've been able to indulge most of my maghaz tastes here, from attending Qawwali sessions to stand-up shows to getting in among the publishers at Urdu Bazar. I'd told my folks that once I'd gotten to Lahore, It'd be pretty hard for them to keep me housebound.

But most of all, the friends and relatives I used to make those cross-country visits for are now close by and I can arrange a meetup if not every week than at least every fortnight. That fact alone accounts for more than 85% of Lahore's awesomeness.

Books Of The Week,Alistair Cooke,The Biography. The Graveyard Book,Neil Gaiman

Movies Of The Week,Zombieland,Monty Python At The Hollywood Bowl

....Of A More Circuitous Route

It's taken a night in a rat-infested, AC-less room and 24 straight hours of work to finally jolt my mind enough to make me sit down and actually write something.

I'd like to get something off my chest at the outset. The hullabaloo at the recent banning of a number of websites by PTA in response to the "Everybody Draw Mohammad" competition has made two things quite clear.

1) The polarity between the pro and anti ban camps is pretty wide, with very few suggesting any middle ground.
2)I am completely, utterly ambivalent about the whole thing.

Whatever the ultimate implications of the ban may be, I'm not going to use up a whole post on something that a lot of people have expressed themselves pretty eloquently about. A lot of people have asked me what my feelings are, and I can quote Rhett Butler to summarize, "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn!" I've been meaning to quit Facebook and rush over to *Diaspora for ages anyway.

It's been exactly one month since i began my housejob. It's an extremely encouraging sign that I'm actually enjoying my work and that, contrary to what I feared when I left PMA, I actually do remember most of what I learned in med school. I had received a lot of half-cynical,half-congratulatory comments when people found out that I was starting off on a "pwopah" job after 6 years of moseying around in med school, mostly humorous warnings about years of drudgery,clock-punching and Charlie Chaplin style hard labour hat await me; but if the initial one month is any kind of indicator, I might be on to something good here.There had been times when I had doubts about putting up Lahore as my choice for my housejob, but most of them have thankfully been resolved. Despite the heat, the distances and the initial feeling of alienation; I'm enjoying it immensely.

One thing I've noticed on the wards this past month that is quite frightening is that we have a full-blown Hepatitis epidemic on our hands. Patients of hepatitis B and C make up approximately 60-70% of the patients admitted in my ward, including quite a large number who are admitted for other diseases and discover they have Hepatitis during routine post-admission blood testing. And considering I'm in a female ward where most of the patients are married ladies with an average of two children each, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Speaking of working in a female ward, I was mockingly accused of sexism by a friend earlier today when I told her what I think is the main difference in dealing with male and female patients. The difference can be summed up in one word; somatization. Where a male patient with pain in his abdomen will tell me where it hurts, how long it's been hurting and how it has affected his daily activities, a lady with the same symptoms will complain about the pain for a fleeting moment, and then wander off to explore wholly different trains of thought wholly unrelated to the actual problem. the interesting thing is that the long stream-of-consciousness ramblings contain many subconscious clues about the actual complaint, but it's a more circuitous route to diagnosis.

Since this post is also a stream-of-consciousness ramble, I was thinking today of some things that really annoy me. I'm not prone to anger, preferring to simmer rather than boil over, but there are some things that really get my goat.I managed to write some of them down in no particular order as follows;

The soul-numbingly inane keyboards played in Pakistani music,especially where they're not needed.
Sahir Goshdarned Lodhi.
The stream of terrible news emanating from The-Place-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named.
The fact that people are burning tires close to where I live because apparently, that's the sanest, most logical response to somebody's house being burgled.

I'll cut this post short right here because there's something I need to get off my mind right now that doesn't quite fit in with what I've written here.

...Of A Long Awaited Package

It has taken 6 months of coaxing,blackmailing and pleading, but finally it's here. My DVD of 30 Mehfils of Haji Mehboob Qawwal has finally arrived. Wrapped in a page from the funny papers, the DVD has helped me fill the gaps in my admittedly meagre, but moderately satisfying collection. I was expecting some truly mesmerizing stuff and I have not been disappointed, but what I wasn't expecting was the reawakening of a very very fond childhood memory. I've written before about how a secret memory haunted me for almost half a dozen years before I finally tracked it down. My family isn't very musical (if you count out my elder mamu, who more than makes up for the rest of our musical ineptitude), but we like singing. At shaadis and aqeeqas and the occasional family picnics, almost everybody either sings or contributes with voice or gesture. 

 My nano is always pretty active in such affairs, and the few old-time songs she sings can't be heard anywhere else. Two of her songs are my special favorites, one is the traditional seraiki tune "Rohi" which apparently everyone among my relatives (except me it seems) seems to know by heart. The other song is again in Seraiki, a Khwaaja Ghulam Fareed R.A ki kafi that I have only heard from her. As I was going through the various Mehfils in my DVD, I chanced upon it. It had been a few years since I'd heard it so it took me a few moments to recognize it, but if someone had seen the mile-long grin on my face when I finally recognized it, they'dve thought I was off my rocker. I've managed to listen to it about a billion times since morning, imprinting the melody and the words in my mind. And since it's sung by Haji Mehboob Qawwal, the actual body of the kalaam is embellished by girahs in Seraiki,Persian and Arabic that not only bring out it's spiritual essence, but are utterly charming in themselves. Haji Mushtaq is in fine fettle with his alaaps and Mehboob sahab's sitar adds the golden touch. I've spent some time actually sitting down and transcribing the recordings, taking special care to note down all the girahs, (which I've put in italics). Not only is the Qawwali a treat for the ears, but in the true tradition of Haji Mehboob Qawwal, is a piece of spiritual instruction. 

 As a special treat to myself, I'm posting another brilliant recording of Haji sahab, where again the sitar and the girahs give it an otherworldly feel. One of my friends who doesn't understand the sub-continental languages asked me recently if I could translate the kalaam for him, as well as explain some of the slighly obtruse references to various folk romances. I'll take this transcription as a working reference and try to see if i can try my hand at translating. If anyone else wants to give it a try, they're most welcome.

   

Na mi goyam ke dar chashmak azeezam 

Kaneezaan-e-turaa kam tar kaneezam. 

Che baashad gar kaneez-e-raa nawaazi, 

Ze band-e-mehnatash azaad saazi 

Ki hosi chaah nawaazain bolri noon 

Ziyaada na kareen gal thorri noon. 

Ki hosi je karain aajiz nawaazi, 

Tu bakhshain khaak taeen sarfarazi. 

Kithon taheen tussaan theen duur rehsaan, 

Tusaade hijr theen ranjoor rehsaan

Baandi te bardi, tain dilbar di O yaar 

Janeen mahi, mahr na janeen O yaar. 

Hijr tere vich aaheen main maraan 

Aa mahi, mukh dass asanoon, jaan tere to vaari 

Jaan iman dile da tu hain, te tujh bin main kis kaari) 

(Kade tussi asaanoon sikde aahe, hun assi tusanoon sikde, 

Khattaan uttay nit dua salamaan,assi roz hamesha likhde. 

Kade te baah sirhaane aaheen,hun nain vekhan noo sikde 

Je janaa tussaan evain karni, te assi neoon laavan na sikde 

Hijr tere vich aaheen main maraan 

Tujh bin kaun lavay hun saaran 

Tain bin sooniaan dissan bahaaran 

Jind sikdi mahi,taindne bhaanain O yaar

Sevaan main peer, te falaan main paavaan 

Naam tere da vird pakavaan 

Je tu aavain, sadqe main javaan 

Jag peya denda hi,taindre taane O yaar

Saade naalon phul changere, jo sajan gal lagde 

Sanoon sardeyan muddat guzri,te vich birhoon di agg de 

Seene bhaah bale nit gham di,te nain rahen nit vagde 

Eesa ik maahi na pucche,te doojay ta'ane jag de

Jag peya denda hi,taindre taane O yaar. 

Baandi te bardi, tain dilbar di O yaar 

Janeen mahi, mahr na janeen O yaar. 

Ishq kahaani be-andaaz ay 

Mann vich vajda, ishq da saaz ay 

Yaar Farid ki dasse raaz ay

Taba'a aleel Sassi noon milya,Ishq tabeeb siyaana 

Aakhe dard dawa,parhez araamon khoon jigar khaana 

Aab-o-hawa ma'afiq nahi tere,te kar Kech'on tark thikaana 

Ja kar sair kareem Thallaan di, te tad hosiya fazl Rabbaana

Iss aatish theen aatishe hijraan,vich tezi sakht puchaati 

Sohni roz tarray daryaeen,attay sard na hoyus chaati 

Orhak ais Ishq de sozon, baith nadi vich na'ati 

Hashim baaj moyan nahi milda,asaan theek sahi kar jaati

Ishq majaazi, te sar di baazi, jaan sukkay dar dar ke 

Yaar sukhalyaan kise na paaya, te jis paaya mar mar ke

Yousuf aakhya,"Shakl asaadi,te naqsh kareen vich dil de 

Yaariyaan waale sakht pushaale, te yaar na sokhay milde

Ishq kahaani be-andaaz ay 

Man vich vajda, ishq da saaz ay 

Yaar Farid ki dassay raaz ay 

Aithay bhul gaye nain sugghar siyaane O yaar

Baandi te bardi, taain dilbar di O yaar

Jaanay mahi, te mehr na jaane O yaar

 

Aashiqui paida'ast az zaari-e-dil 

Naist beemaari chun beemaari-e-dil

Kya se kya do din main haalat ho gyi 

Al ishq'o naaruhum

Ishq main khwaab ka khayaal kahaan 

Na lagi aankh jab se aankh lagi

Saajan jo main jaanti, jo preet kiye dukh hoye 

Nagar dhandora peet'ti jo preet na karyo koye

Saajan yeh mat jaaniyo,jo tum bichrat mohe chain 

Geelay ban ki laakri, jo sulgat hoon din rain

Mohabbat main naseehat ko to aksar gham-gusaar aaye, 

Usse koi na laaya jis ke dekhe se qaraar aaye

Tum ko taras na aaye,ta'ajjub ki baat hai 

Dushman bhi ro rahe hain mere haal-e-zaar par

Jo dekhe ga rotay mujhe,tum ko hanste

Meri baat choro,tumhain kya kahay ga?

Raain andheri,bijli chamke, jiya rahe be-chain 

Jab tum paas nahi ho saajan,kaise kate gi raain

Aare aamad, yaad-e ma'ashooqam bashab bedaar kard 

Ishq lazzat r'a boyad dar mi kunad ba ranj-o-dard

Kya se kya do din main haalat ho gyi 

Dil na aaya, ik qayamat ho gyi

Saanjh bhayi aur diya jale, piya na aaye paas 

Do naainan se Ganga bhayee, aur tu ban'raa ki aas

Liye phirta hai mujh ka ja-ba-ja dil...

Jaa ka piya bichrat,waa ko nahee chain 

Diya jalat hai raain ko,aur jiya jalat din raain

Sagri raain sukar gayi,jo khalqat gyi sab so

Jin ko chinta pi ki,so neend kahan se ho

Ab jo chaahain woh karain,mukhtar hain 

Aashiqui cheest bego, banda-e janaan boodam 

Dil ba-dastay digaray daadam - hairaan boodam

Ab jo chaahain woh karain,mukhtar hain

Ho gyi ab to mohabbat ho gyi

Chaanta hoon raat din ab khaak main

Ulfat main jo hota hai,wohi haal hai mera

Yeh dekhne waale mujhe kya dekh rahe hain?

Chaanta hoon raat din ab khaak main

Teri furqat main yeh haalat ho gyi

Jal ban lakri koyla bhayee, aur koylay se bhayee raakh

Main paapan aisi jali, jo koyla bhayee na raakh

Aankh se ansoo nikal sakta naheen

Na-tawaani se yeh soorat ho gyi

Ba'ad marne ke hui matti azeez

Tere kooche main jo turbat ho gyi

Bajaa hai jitna karoon naaz apni qismat par... 

Muztar meri nazar main shaahon ki kya haqeeqat 

Muztar meri nazar main jannat ki kya haqeeqat

Kya kahoon naaseh,mohabbat kyun hui

Ho gyi bas un se ulfat ho gyi

Aap to Mushtaq ka chorain na saath

Barbaadi-e aashiq se,kab rehti hai ma'ashooqi

Aap to Mushtaq ka chorain na saath

Ho gyi dunya ko nafrat ho gyi

Kya se kya do din main haalat ho gyi

Dil na aaya, ik qayamat ho gyi

....Of Rafi Yet Again

 I guess it's true what the sentimentalists say about first love, no matter how many times you find new people and settle into new relationships, it's always your very first infatuation that you treasure the deepest and let your mind wander back to when it needs solace.

Rafi sahab has been and always will be my favorite singer. And though I go through phases where Qawwali, Ghazal,Kafi,Folk and the Blues are foremost on my playlists, Rafi sahab is always my first and final port-of-call. Here's something brilliant I found on Youtube, an excellent program on Rafi sahab produced by HumTV. I saw it in the morning today and have been on a Rafi 'trip' ever since. Arshad Mehmood and Anwar Maqsood are probably the most "qualified" people to discuss the life and art of Rafi sahab, and they do an admirable job. Interspersed with tastefully chosen songs, the conversation is both enlightening and entertaining.















Movie Of The Week, How To Train Your Dragon,America, A Personal History By Alistair Cooke (Brilliant!!)

...On Leaving Pindi

Two days from now, I am leaving Rawalpindi. For good.

All in all, I've spent at least 8 years of my life here, and now me and my family are packing up and moving to Lahore. Which is something I've been looking forward to for a long while; Lahore being my favorite city. But still, it's not without a (very) heavy heart that I say goodbye to what has been my surrogate hometown.

We first moved to Rawalpindi when I was in 7th grade, and I liked the place at first sight. Our house was in Harley Street (which makes me a bona fide Harley Street medical practitioner now), and the place was quiet enough, with just enough kids to play with, just enough roof space to fly kites, and just enough of a lawn to sneak out into during the afternoon nap timings. School was 2 minutes walk away, and the thela-wala outside school accepted IOUs. The house next to ours was perennially filed with carpenters, so we indulged in custom-made cricket bats and wickets. My favorite places in Pindi were the Army Central Library, which I ransacked, and Bombeat on Bank Road, that sold John Denver tapes and fueled my early and thankfully short lived boy-band craze.

The second time I moved to Pindi was as a cadet in AM College, and for the next 5 years, Pindi's been my homebase even though my family's shifted homes thrice. I can't even begin to count the number of miles I've clocked walking to and from Saddar, Murree Road, Tench and my hostels. Sadaf, City Hut, Bunny Chowk, KFC, Namak Mandi, Cinepax and Variety Books; i've probably spent more time here than in my dorm room.

And then there's Islamabad, every time the weather was benign, I could always count on three or four people to bunk their wards and head off to Pir Sohawa or the lake or Daman-e-Koh or just about anywhere. The "Lake View Park Fiasco", the "Quaid-e-Azam University Saga", the "Affair Of The Pizza Hut" are just some of the stories that I'll be recalling with my friends decades from now.

Even though, or maybe because Islamabad is a "planned" city, I've always manages to get lost in it. The sectors are confusing, the roads are all alike and the signboards all point the same way. Maybe that's why I like it so much, it lets me wander freely and in the end always leads me to where I want to go. The drives along Kashmir Highway, 7th Avenue and the Murree Expressway were and will remain memorable.

I've written somewhere earlier about the fact that moving house every two to three years precludes any long-term friendships and makes it easy for social retards like me to lose contact with all my friends and acquaintances of the previous city. But Pindi's finally got me. The friends I've made here, especially in AM College, are the don't-you-dare-lose-touch-or-ELSE!! kind.

And I sure as hell ain't planning on losing touch. Both with my friends, and with Pindi.

Books Of The Week, American Pastoral, Philip Roth. How To Be Good,Nick Hornby.
Movies Of The Week, Alice In Wonderland, Shutter Island, The Hurt Locker, Clash Of The Titans.
Songs Of The Week, The Wallflowers Discography, Karen Dalton, Mehboob Qawwal.