A good life – Is it the be all and end all of life ?

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3.               A good life – Is it the be all and end all of life ?

As a student of English Literature , I became familiar with the terms of round character and flat character . A flat character is an ordinary man on the street who goes on about his job , his family and his house . A round character is one around the plot of the novel revolves irrespective of the fact whether he  is good or bad . If good , he is mostly romantic and an optimist .  

I have been   a round character for most of my adult life . In school , I was very shy and timid to the extent that I hesitated to ask the teacher a question for fear that he or the class would laugh at me .  However two things changed my life . The first one was my  joining the Cadet College , Hasan Abdal and the second one was my joining the Masters in English Literature .  Both events brought out  my latent talent .I became an enfant terrible so much so that I asked the Director GATT ( now WTO) while visiting  a cathedral in Krakow (Poland) to show us the torture chambers which made the man livid   .

 I joined the College in 9^th class . It  had an annual parents for the junior classes ( 8^th to 10^th) . I was enjoying introducing my parents to individual teachers . One of the teachers was Lt. Mahfooz Ali Solanki ( later he became a Captain in charge of the Education Branch of the Pakistan Navy . He and his lady wife would often visit us till they remained in Islamabad ) . He made a pertinent observation to my late parents  that I had no aptitude for Mathematics .  A similar observation , not in these words , was made by our Physics Professor ,the late Mr. Mahmood Khan .  Then Humanities was no go area .  However  I did my BSc with Physics and Mathematics in the first division . But I did not understand the concepts of the two subjects .It was enough for me . I became a guide , an able or worthless is  for my children to judge . However , I stepped in only once when my son was

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choosing to go for a MBA while my daughter was choosing a career in Chartered Accountancy . I guided them to switch over .

One of my dearest friends , the late Naveed Zafar , advised my son and daughter not to go for jobs . He gave several examples for successful careers through investing in a shoe string . Well my son , Saad , resigned from his highly paid job , and is working towards establishing his own company while my daughter( MBA and MA (Economics ) became the principal of a school . My son’s job was a 8 AM to 8 PM six days a week both demanding and unrewarding .  My children are grown up , mature and able to distinguish between good and evil . However my son sought my advice . I told him that Allah is the Provider and Sustainer . Since he cancelled his chance for Canadian Immigration to be with his old parents , Allah will surely compensate him for that .

Why not work and take pleasure from it  ? I have tried to instill that motto into my juniors . I gave standing orders to my  junior officers and  staff to finish the work within office timing and avoid late sitting .  I have too followed a principle “NO HARM IN TRYING ”. Most often I succeeded  with maintaining my dignity . So let the young ones try their fortunes .   The author ( Oscar Wilde )  of “ The Picture of Dorian Gray “ was a human being .

While on a four month  course in Geneva , I found a pastime in entering different churches and cathedrals in the city on Saturdays and Sundays  . Those were magnificent outwardly . But they were also  empty . There was no God . However , I found Him in the sacred cities of Mecca and Medina in all His glory  and in the hearts of His creatures .

 Plant a tree . Educate kids especially the poor  . Feed the poor . Take good care of the widows and orphans are some work to do while earning .

 Mahfooz ur Rahman

Islamabad

February 7, 2015    

A FOLLOW UP OF WHAT I ACHIEVED IN LIFE

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2.                         A FOLLOW UP OF WHAT I ACHIEVED IN LIFE
A couple of years ago , I wrote  ,what I thought was a  disappointment in my life, a short essay on the subject . I gave the example of a craftsman , by way of  illustration ,for eg   a potter who takes pride in his work. Ever since my posting in the Economic Affairs Division , I have been drawing  a graphic picture of my tomb  that instead of mud , it will have thick files and flags as bookmark in every colour and description . At the head , a file board , with Urdu poetry inscribed ,will be placed . Sympathizers from the family and friends rushed with messages of annoyance for being an ingrate . They referred to my service to the State of 35 years : that I retired with my integrity and reputation intact , a rarity in Pakistan , particularly the Government circles : having a fine family and educating my children in the finest Institutions and leading a comfortable life .
All said and done  I felt something was missing in my life . And  after my retirement , a feeling of emptiness began hounding me. To keep myself busy , I adopted writing . I suddenly realized that that the profession was meant for me . Not that I earn . In fact , I earned about $ 10000/ selling my articles on Fanbox . But my account finished and I could not cash my writings . The moral of it : Easy come .Easy go.
The advantages of writing whether professional writings or otherwise are :-

1.    One can express his feelings unhampered.

2.    Writing keeps me busy the whole day .

3.    Since I am not professional writer , I use emails to send them to my family and friends or use Facebook , Huffington Post and the newspapers ( blogs only) of home and abroad . I even send them to those family members living abroad whose faces I do not remember.

4.    I even send them to those who hurt me  .

5.    I don’t expect others to agree with me in toto . But somewhere I will find a receptive audience , not at once , but gradually .

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6.    The maximum the recipients can say “ Oh God . Not again” . “His writings are silly , lousy or boring. He makes me sick “

7.    I cant find time to indulge talking behind one’s back . So I don’t sin at the expense of my brother .

8.     Through my writings ,I have made acquaintances  living in faraway places whose names I cant even recall .

Mahfooz ur Rahman
Islamabad
March 21 , 2013       

2,00,000,000 guinea pigs.

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         1.                                 2,00,000,000  guinea pigs.

                                      ( With Malice Towards None)

.“100,000,000 Guinea Pigs: Dangers in Everyday Foods, Drugs, and Cosmetics is a book written by Arthur Kallet and F.J. Schlink first released in 1933 by the Vanguard Press and manufactured in the United States of America. Its central argument propounds that the American population is being used as guinea pigs in a giant experiment undertaken by the American producers of food stuffs and patent medicines and the like.

The book goes on to state that the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 is not effective in arresting these trends, and real reform or consumer protection is obstructed by the powerful connections that offending corporations have with the government .

If the poison is such that it acts slowly and insidiously, perhaps over a long period of years  then we poor consumers must be test animals all our lives; and when, in the end, the experiment kills us a year or ten years sooner than otherwise we would have died, no conclusions can be drawn and a hundred million others are available for further tests"(Source :- Wikipedia ).

I took a cue from Authur Kallet and F.J.Schlink’s book  as title of this essay.

Guinea pigs are animals  belonging to the rat family . These are used for laboratory  tests . They are no way connected to pigs and they don’t belong to Guinea .

With the first Martial Law imposed on 28^th October 1958 , the ugly capitalists began throwing their stocks of adulterated ghee other consumer items which were horded in the nearest river or sea   .However , when the fear was over . they went back to their infamous occupations .

There was the West Pakistan Pure food and Drugs Act . These laws have undergone revisions . Some educated people know . This law appartently is not applied  . A visit to the market and a survey of edible goods that are sold will prove the hollowness of the state machinery and the laws enacted in the august houses of the Parliament and the provincial legislatures .

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I give you an illustration . For eg. In a market there are one hundred shops . When the Food Inspector comes , each shopkeeper pools Rs 100/  . The Inspector goes back happy richer by Rs 10000/ in his pocket .  

                                                                                                                                                        For instance , milk   is being ‘ manufactured’ not hygienically clean laboratories .But in filthy rooms and in filthy containers . A compound of Barium Sulphate mixed with concentrated Sulphuric Acid are used  to prepare milk . On a serious note , however , ‘packed milk’ has chemicals injurious to human health .’ Vegetable ghee’ that is sold openly has injurious items used in its ‘manufacture ‘ such as dead animals offal . Of course , an  independent Pakistan has no “consumer proctection’ advocate like  Ralph Nader ( A reference to Ralph Nader of the US).

This is not confined to only milk or vegetable ghee . The markets , including those located posh areas , have no concept of cleanliness . The butchers wear dirty dresses . Their shops are dirty with flies hovering  over the meat . We have no concept of standardization and grading . Once , in the UK, salmonella was found . Resultantly , thousands of eggs and chickens in the region were destroyed .

The daily onslaught on body and soul , of course , is tremendous . All gratitude to our Maker .

 I wish to point out  to various views on the Indians , and by inference , to the Pakistanis too . Winston Churchill was strongly against the grant of independence to India . He denounced them rascals and scoundrels . No less than the Founder of Pakistan , the Quaid e Azam’  in his speech on 11^th September 1947 to the Constituent Assembly warned the nation against the lack of law and order , bribery and corruption , blackmarketing ,nepotism and jobbery .

M.A. Burke , Pakistan’s  first Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York,  in one the  chapters ‘ Jinnah , Ayub and Bhutto’ of his book  denounced Punjab’s  politicians of his time masquerading  as ‘saints and holy men’. This book is lying in the library of the Cabinet Division .

The three statements quoted above is indicative of a deep malaise dating  much before the Partition of India and Pakistan . While we don’t know the state of affairs in India now , the conditions in Pakistan are before us . The

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Governments in the centre as well as the provinces have done precious little in this regard .

MAHFOOZ UR RAHMAN

ISLAMABAD

NOVEMBER 10, 2013

In the arena

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                                                    In the arena

                                                 The family’s migration to Pakistan .

I was born on June 12 ,1944 in a small place named Banur in East Punjab near Patiala , the capital of Patiala state , a Sikh state . According to the elders of the family , my forefathers came from Mecca to India via Kabul and settled in Patiala city . Earlier they were tutors of the royal family in Kabul . My great grandfather was a physician and my grandfather was an engineer . On my mother side , both my maternal great grandfather and grandfather were hakims ( indigenous doctors) .

The family was very well off . Again according to my parents and other sources in the family , my grandfather had a car and a telephone at home . He had four servants , one whom served various family members  in Pakistan and died in the 1980s at the house of my aunt ( father’s sister) in Karachi .

My grandfather died in 1926 . According to my parents and family sources , he was a very generous man giving stipends to widows , orphans and youth to complete their education . With his death , the family’s fortunes took a dip .

My father , after completing his education , travelled from part of India to another part for search of a job . He changed an assortment of jobs . He  was even  employed as a radio operator . Later , he joined the Indian Royal Air Force .Those were the period of a severe recession and good jobs were not easily available for Muslims . Finally he ended up in New Delhi where he got a permanent job in the General Headquarters . Alas the local Pakistan and particularly the present  generations , fail to appreciate the hardships the Muslims in united India in searching for any job leave alone a decent job . And above  all the discrimination from the English rulers .

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I have a foggiest idea of the Partition of the Sub Continent . My parents and elderly relations , uncles , aunts , now dead , are my primary sources once my father left the house to take a bath because the water connection in our house was disconnected or poisoned . My mother and I were alone . A mob shouting “Jai Hind” stormed the house . My mother picked me up and the Holy Quran and began  reciting it . Suddenly the mob dispersed . When father came home , she narrated the event and begged him to go to another place . Fortunately the place they chose was a Muslim Mohalla which was relatively safer because of Muslim majority  .

The moment I stepped into the house , I asked my late mother if we have stepped on the aircraft because I heard my father telling her that he planned to go to Pakistan that way . However they came by train .When the food came , I ‘demanded’  a spoon .

My father opted to go to Pakistan . So did my entire family . The scenes have been described in many history books as appalling . However by way of illustration , I recount an event . Two trains started together from Delhi Railway Station . Our train managed to reach Lahore after stopping regularly for checking for arms . After a  three day stay in a camp , we were moved to Rawalpindi which became our home from 1947 to 2003 . The other train was derailed outside Delhi . The bogey in which my in laws sat became the target . A daughter was lost in this mishap .

Thus  Pakistan became  the only home I have known  in my life . I have never looked back  .  My family and I found love here : within the family , in  our friends’ homes , in schools , colleges or universities  , in hospitals . Pakistan remains my cherished land . Pakistan always  remains in my prayers . I wish the best for it .The first generation of our family lived here and are buried here . My father had such a love for his new homeland that he brooked no nonsense anyone talking against it .

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In 1949 , I was admitted to the Presentation Convent High School , Rawalpindi . A ramshackle school bus was also engaged . Gradually I had friends studying in the class and with those who travelled by the bus . The School also bought a new bus . Everyone wished to travel on it. Among the friends I made were the four children  of the deceased Mr. and Mrs. A.K. Nyazee , Farzana Baji , The late Gul , Imran and Haroon  , Arshad Nasar and his younger brother , Shahid , Pervez Rehman , Pervez Asghar Mian and his older brother , Saleem .    

Pakistan and I are growing older almost simultaneously . Together we have weathered many a storm . The country started from a scratch . I have seen  it develop  into a nuclear power for its deterrence  .  While I will return to dust sooner or later  , my earnest prayers with the country . In my adopted country , I can roam freely in any direction   not bothered about caste system or apartheid . In India , for instance , the old habits die hard for discriminating for being a Muslim regardless of Indian claims of being ‘secular ‘ .Now that , Modi is in power with the support of BJP-RSS combine , India is showing a different mind set i.e. a Hindu mind set  .

Any country’s Independence is a bliss . My family and I acquired education from the finest educational institutions of the country . We are allowed to compete wherever competition is required . Pakistan has its passports . The country is free . It has its up and downs . But the people are assured that Pakistan is safe .

Mahfooz ur Rahman

Islamabad

March 17, 2015

General Pervez Musharraf

General Pervez Musharraf

Can anyone please  decipher  a riddle for me which is haunting me for six years since the  previous and the present “ Democratic Goovernments “ took over ?

Even in purely democratic countries , a pendulum of likes and dislikes is constantly moving . The governments fear it . The movement of the  pendulum is indicative of its popularity  for eg. Gallup Polls in the USA and helps them to keep on their toes constantly . Even then governments lose their popularity by the third year in office .

My riddle was why the popularity graph goes down in Pakistan within one year of taking office . In the case of the previous and the present  ‘ democratic ‘ governments is that they have a past baggage  .

I have never known General Musharraf except what appears in the media . Like every person , he had his plus and minus points .  Suffice to say that as long as generals were not associated with politicians , they appear sincere in doing their work . I am not discussing the personal failings of an individual but official dealings . General Musharraf is a patriot and  seemed sincere in his efforts to accomplish gigantic projects  . Advisers make or break a leader . ( Please read Qudratullah Shahab’s “Shahab Nama “ particularly the portion which relates to General Yayha .)

Hazrat Ali ( May Allah be pleased with him ) was once asked why the affairs of the Caliphate went wrong during his Caliphate . His answer was that he was the adviser to the first three Caliphs whereas his advisers were incompetent and incapable .

In the modern era , the media plays the role of advisers thanks to the grant of freedom to them by General Musharraf  .Whether or not , it had used that freedom to better the living conditions of the 180 million people of this blighted land is open to debate . My vote goes to the negative . The level of discussions is abysmally low .

Pakistan’s history can be divided into two parts

1.     Civilian Governments

2.     Military dictatorships

Briefly civilian governments had been known and are known for palace intrigues whether the ruler was Malik Ghulam Muhammad , Khwaja Nizamuddin , Mian Mumtaz Daultana or Iskandar Mirza or the present lot . Little or no work was done or they are capable of doing except for lofty words and empty promises . Credit which is due for military men  for something useful is given to undeserving people . For eg . the foundation stone for the steel mills in Karachi was laid by the Soviet President , Podgorny in 1970  with the President  General Yayha standing beside  clapping .

Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in spring 1977 decided

1.     Declaring Ahmadis as non Muslims

2.     Introducing the Hadood Ordinance .

The media in Pakistan continues to blame General Zia Ul Haq for the second step .

After Bhutto initiated the nuclear programme , it was kept going by General Zia till the completion of the mission and after his sudden and mysterious death by the then President Ghulam Ishaq Khan whereas Bhutto’s daughter , Benazir , capped the programme to please the White House .

The country was on the take off stage economically in the times of Field Marshal Ayub Khan . The growh rate was 8.2% next only to Japan with 9 % as its growth rate . Divisive tendencies came much later in the early 1990s . After Ayub Khan resigned , I rushed to a friend and found him gloomy  . He said in Urdu

“ Ab jootian mein daal bata gai “

Every time I see the dull performance of the ‘democrats’ I remember his words .

Incidentally only the military dictators in Pakistan resign.

I am sorry for my candid views .  

Mahfooz ur Rahman

Islamabad

November 15, 2014       

      

MY RAMBLING THOUGHTS

                        MY RAMBLING THOUGHTS.

Rambling thoughts , like dreams , lack cohesion and consistency .  I had read books written by the late Justice Muhammad Rustom Kayani , the former Chief Justice of the West Pakistan High Court . His rambling style was very amusing .

Last night , I had a tete a tete with the late Talat Mahmood , the singer , on my laptop .  

 My rambling thoughts often trouble me .  From my childhood days , I have been reading about Allama Iqbal that he was a great poet and a dreamer for Pakistan and that he was our national poet . However we have been paying only lip service to him . His anniversaries are only remembered . A piece of news appearing on those occasions in the country’s dailies. On the contrary , India has given him a pride of place . One of his poems “ Sare Jahan Se Accha   Hindustan humare “ is placed next to the nation’s national anthem .It is played at every national event in India and elsewhere .

Is  Pakistan under duress  of any big power to forget about Allama Iqbal ? Where lies our independence and sovereignty ? Similarly Muslim heroes of the past were removed from the school text books .

Last night , I sent emails to some of my contacts asking a question as to who was I .

 In the days of Ayub Khan , the President was emphasizing ' national integration ' left , right and centre .  I was in College then . I used to tell my friends that there were two ways in which national integration could be achieved 

1.   Cross migration within the provinces eg. A Sindhi moves to KPK . a Pathan moves to East Pakistan . A Punjabi moves to Sind .

2.   Inter marriages within provinces.

This way we gradually  would be  a melting pot like the USA .

 But was not to be . We stand divided into provinces . Within provinces between people speaking the same language and so and so forth .

My question still remain .Who am I ?

Qudratullah Shahab’s book “Shahabnama “ must be read to have a fair idea of the events before and after Partition . Suffice to say that my parents and extended family passed the gory drama  played by the Hindus and the Sikhs against the  Muslims and vice versa . However my question is that if Pakistan was meant to be secular as interpreted by some people on  Mr. Jinnah’s address on 11^th August 1947  why  India was divided into two countries ? And after Partition what is happening now for the past thirty years . Muslims killing brother Muslims in the “ pristine name of Islam ?. It is an article of faith with me that Allah has not delegated His Attributes to anyone  howsoever pious he might to judge any brother Muslim .

Irrespective of the fact that we are overwhelmingly Muslims , we carry  very poor impression of being liars and cheats . We lie easily . Food , drugs and virtually everything are tempered with . Food and drugs adulteration is a crime in most countries in the world . Here it is no so . Famine is raging in Tharparkar  in Sindh .Each day , children are dying but the Provincial Chief Minister denies it .

We have in our midst the example of the Noble Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him ) ,his gentle behaviour , his kindness with sundry folk even those were not Muslims . Numerous people embraced Islam seeing that . However we lack that . The behaviour of  most of us , including the ulema ,is outrageous and conceited .

There are two obligation that a Muslim must fulfill

1.     Obligation towards Allah to follow the tenets of Islam , and

2.     Obligations towards humanity .

We strive to follow 1 . However we neglect 2. howsoever easy it may be like for eg. meeting ones parents with a smile or remove a banana or an orange peel on the way . If perchance someone slips on it , it is funny for the onlookers . The secular west has been striving to abide the “obligation to mankind “ by practicing good governance and not preaching . They have a cardinal principle to provide easy and comfort to the maximum number of people without any discrimination of nationality , race , sex , white or black . They are heavily taxed to provide service whereas majority of us do not pay taxes  . But some of us belong to the class of ‘holy cows’.

I am reading Oscar Wilde’s plays for the upteempth time  to help someone to understand the English hypocrisy for his homework . A typical example of English hypocrisy is Tony Blair . As a student of English Literature , I am familiar that the common people , the cook , the maids and including the apothecary ( doctors) , the common clergy i.e. parson used to back door while entering English homes . Well Pakistan society has subtle distinctions and not so distinctions between the haves , the lords and masters and the ‘slaves ‘ or the serfs who have ” no right  to live” .

  

In summers this year , Israel attacked Gaza as we all know . Each day there were comments on Facebook condemning the former . Eid fell during those days . Muslims forgot Gaza and sent Eid messages much to my chagrin .     

Mahfooz ur Rahman

Islamabad

October 30, 2014        

    

   

A grim tragedy -Mr. Himayatullah's suicide

A grim tragedy – Mr .Himayatullah’s suicide.

It happened one Sunday evening in September-October 1958 . The evening was pleasant . The entire Cadet College was enjoying a fascinating football match between the College with visiting team . We were fully absorbed in the match proceedings because our College was winning .A shot rang out : the sound of a double barrel gun . I thought that one of the teachers , Mr.S.A.S.Zaidi , was enjoying hunting in the valley outside the College’s campus.

The next day , while we were waiting for Mr. Himayatullah to take his class Mr. Khalid Amin , another teacher entering the room . I was in tenth class .He made a shocking announcement that Mr. Himayatullah blew his brains out the previous evening . He used a double barrel gun and pulled the trigger with his great toe . His discussions with his colleagues was enough to make a folk lore. After classes and lunch , we trooped to his room . It was a very grim to behold . Blood and his brain spattered the room.

Mr. Himayatullah was a quiet man . He did not enough clothes . In the summers , he wore white shirt and trousers while in winters , he wore a green blazer with his trade mark white dress. His green blazer was torn at the rear . Cadets used to say that he wore a tail coat .

His funeral rites were held at night behind the Jinnah Wing shortly after his death . None of the cadets was informed of it because we were very young . But we felt that something was going there . Subsequently , after his burial pieces his clothing was there for some days till they were removed . However , my dear friend , Tariq Ikram, haunted me every night . I had a difficulty sleeping .

The motive of his suicide remained a mystery because we were very young to understand . There were two rumours : one was he had been jilted by his Swiss girl friend and had married another man and two he was the son of some Indian nawab . his father died followed by Partition . After Partition , the family was in deep financial straits