Unloading my think tank...

Na main moman vich maseetan,
Na main vich kufar dian reetan,
Na main pakan vich paleetan.
Na main andar bed kitaban,

Na main rehnda phaang sharaban,
Na main rehnda mast kharaban.
Na main shadi na ghamnaki,
Na main vich paleetan pakeen,

Na main aaabi na main khaki.
Na main aatish na main paun,

Bulla ki jana main kaun (4)

Na main arabi na lahori,
Na main hindi shehar Nagaori,
Na hindu na turk pashauri.
Na main bhet mazhab de paya,

Na main aadam hawwa jaya,
Na koi apna naam dharaya.
Avval aakhar aap nu jana,
Na koi dooja hor pacchana,

Mai ton na koi hor syana.
Bulle shah kharha hai kaun,

Bulla ki jaana main kaun (4)

Na main moosa na pharoah,
Na main jagan na vich saun,
Na main aatish na main paun,
Na main rahnda vich Nadaun,

Na main baitthan na vich bhaun,
Bulle shah kharha hai kaun

Bulla ki jaana main kaun....

***

Here's the English translation:
Not a believer inside the mosque, am I,
Nor a pagan disciple of false rites,
Not the pure amongst the impure,
Neither Moses, nor the Pharoah,
Bulleh! to me, I am not known

Not in the holy Vedas, am I,
Nor in opium, neither in wine,
Not in the drunkard's craze,
Neither awake, nor in a sleeping daze,

Bulleh! to me, I am not known

In happiness nor in sorrow, am I,
Neither clean, nor a filthy mire,
Not from water, nor from earth,
Neither fire, nor from air, is my birth,

Bulleh! to me, I am not known

Not an Arab, nor Lahori
Neither Hindi, nor Nagauri,
Hindu, Turk (Muslim), nor Peshawari,
Nor do I live in Nadaun,

Bulleh! to me, I am not known

Secrets of religion, I have not known,
From Adam and Eve, I am not born,
I am not the name I assume,
Not in stillness, nor on the move,

Bulleh! to me, I am not known

I am the first, I am the last,
None other, have I ever known,
I am the wisest of them all,
Bulleh! do I stand alone?

Bulleh! to me, I am not known


PS: Its really late and I want to read. I'll update this tomorrow. For now, breathe in and let the meaning of the lyrics make you calmmmmmm. Om.

I've been doing a lot of re-reading these days; re-reading of news, interesting articles, anything that catches my eye and doesn't involve Britney Spears.

Part 1: The songs of Khuda Ke Liye are on loop on my iPod Shuffle, and I'm loving every sound of it. I understand some words, while others I don't. Whoever says music needs to be understood :) (apparently the Taliban, who numbering at 12000, need to be ignored brought to senses) Anyway, the move is Pakistani, and the language is part-Hindi and part-Urdu. The lyrics are mostly Urdu, with hint of Hindi in between. In the song Bandeya ho, Bulleh Shah is referred to. Now, we all know him at least by the way of Rabbi Shergill's song Bulla ki jaana main kaun. I looked for Bulleh Shah on wiki and read something interesting,

"Baba Bulleh Shah was a direct descendant of Muhammad, through the progeny of Shaikh Abdul Qadir Gillani of Baghdad.

A large amount of what is known about Bulleh Shah comes through legends, and is subjective; to the point that there isn’t even agreement among historians concerning his precise date and place of birth. Some "facts" about his life have been pieced together from his own writings. Other "facts" seem to have been passed down through oral traditions.

Bulleh Shah practiced the Sufi tradition of Punjabi poetry established by poets like Shah Hussain (1538 – 1599), Sultan Bahu (1629 – 1691), and Shah Sharaf (1640 – 1724).

Bulleh Shah lived in the same period as the famous Sindhi Sufi poet, Shah Abdul Latif Bhatai (1689 – 1752). His lifespan also overlapped with the legendary Punjabi poet Waris Shah (1722 – 1798), of Heer Ranjha fame,... "

"Bulleh Shah’s poetry and philosophy strongly criticizes Islamic religious orthodoxy of his day."

This led me to click on the article on Muhammed. And what I read surprised me. I didn't know that:

• Muhammed got enlightenment at the age of 40.
• He got married to Khadijah (15 years his senior) when he was 26.
• Khadijah had a 'Christian cousin' be the name Waraqah ibn Nawfal.
• Muhammed meditated for 3 years at a cave on the outskirts of Mecca, and his wife was the first to believe that he indeed was a nabi (prophet), and rasul (messenger of God).
• Though he had 14 wives in all, he didn't marry anyone whilst Khadijah was alive. He was content and happy with her.
• Khadijah chose Muhammed to be her husband after watching him conduct her trade business; and she was highly regarded in the field.
• He fled along with his family to Medina, when people in Mecca criticized him for his preachings.
• He believed in giving equal rights to women.
• "Muhammad did his own household chores, helped out with the housework, such preparing food, sewing clothes, and repairing shoes. Muhammad is also said to had accustomed his wives to dialogue; he listened to their advice, and the wives debated and even argued with him."
• There are 5 prophets of Islam religion. Muslims believe that the first prophet was Adam**, while the last prophet and rasul was Muhammad.
• Out of 124000 messengers sent by God, the most famous as believed by Muslims and mentioned in Hadith are: Nuh (Noah), Ibrahim (Abraham), Musa (Moses), Isa (Jesus), and Muhammad.

Source of all this is Wiki. Islam is the most misunderstood religion in the world, torn apart by its own people. When their prophet is so liberal, who are the Talibans to unleash torture on people? And look at their messengers - Adam! Yes the very first man created on Earth according to Bible! Now how does a belief in Christianity tally with a belief in Islam?! And the other imp messengers - Noah, Abraham, Moses, even JESUS! Oh please do they need any more proof that their religions stem from the same people known by different names? I was surprised and thrilled when I read this. As the years progressed, people got possessed by insanity and religious fundamentalism (thats redundant I know) and look what we have now. Make all the hate and blood stop God, please make all that stop.

I have a team mate who's Muslim. Lets call him R. I asked him if he was a Shia or a Sunni and whats the difference between them. I could've looked it up on Wiki but I wanted to hear from him. He said he's a Sunni and thats he's a true Muslim; the Shias are not. When I voiced my opinion, he flatly said he only believes in what he's taught in the madrassa (yes he's been to one.). I said ok, and asked him what was Nabi Muhammed? A Shia or a Sunni? He said he doesn't know and doesn't want to know because that might shake his faith in Allah. I mean c'mon! No one can take your faith away from you! Why would you want to give up on your own prophet in case you found out He was a Shia? What difference does it make anyway? If it does, I'd really like to know. The Iraq war is on between Shia and Sunnis isn't it?


Part 2: I was reading the Telegraph and they had a feature interview with Mikhail Gorbachev. Well what do you know?! The former Pres. of a communist country endorses Pizza Hut and is the face of Louis Vuitton! :) We think we know but... :)
While you are at it, check out their QI section. Quite Interesting.

Wie geht es dir? Wie sind alle beim dir? Wir sind zuruck and Indien vermissen. Was ist darüber? Hast du alles verstanden? Wenn du verstehst nichts dann ihr wörterbuch besuchen können.

Liebe Grüße

***

My bhabhiji, who stays in Germany, sent this e-mail to me :O ! I mailed her like a month back or something, and told her that I'm learning German. The mail I wrote was part English, part Punjabi, and part German (I'm such a show-off at times). She was thrilled and replied that next time I should write to her "nur in Deutsche, keine Englisch oder Punjabi" - those were her exact words. And she's so sweet, she wrote the above mail in Deutsche! I'm gonna mail my reply to her! Now if only I could lay my hands on an online German dictionary.... hehehe...

... are now a reality. I'd never thought about it, and seriously, its scary. And a certain something I'd like to refer as a blot on womankind, and also on Earth, who goes by the name of Condoleeza Rice, says people in China and India are to be blamed because our appetite has increased. Look who talking. Someone who hails from a country where number of obese people is huge. Seriously, US politics is a huge sham. And while I really don't care, I hope the new Pres will bring about some seriousness to the "superpower"'s governance.

Our economy is booming, people have jobs, govt. comes up withmid-day meal schemes - and this lady has a problem.

Everyday I see reports of bombs exploding in Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, food riots in Sudan, civil unrest in most African nations, tigers vs govt. in Sri Lanka, Israel vs Palestines, Tibetan unrest - I mean, do people have a problem with peace? Don't people want to have a normal life where they can work, spend, go on vacations, and be content? I get shudders thinking what kind of world I live in. And what kind of world we'll pass on to the next generation. What if my kids ask - why were people so immature back then? why all the riots? Blood and gore - who needs that? Its like a mini WW-III. Sick. Sometimes I think who's wrong? And who do you think is right? Indeed if people from each party/country/fundamentalist religious groups think they are right, they won't give up ever on fighting isn't it? And then what? People seem to have very poor memory. With 2 WWs behind us, I'd have thought we have learned our lesson. A grip on reality is what is missing. Govts., people, religious outfits - they all think they can continue doing what they do as long as they have the resources, without stopping to think about the consequences. Look at the war in Afghanistan - how long will it continue? I remember reading Britain's plans to pull out its troops by Christmas 2007. Thats long gone and they are still there. If your peace-bringing attempts aren't working and one of the reasons is that your troops are still there, you should probably pack up your bags and leave. Since you've been there long enough.

And where's the UN in all these situations? Its reduced to a toothless tiger.

I think we still have a shot at maintaining a civil society, in what seems to be only on our planet in the whole Universe. And its not too late. How do we do that, is a daunting task and everyone's responsibility.

I'm writing a late-review on Khuda Ke liye. Words fail me. Its a beautiful movie. Do, please, do watch it. Review coming soon.

Its been so long! I haven't had the time to write anything, I have been really busy. There have been people at home, work at well... work :D and loads of other things.

But first, here's the thing. Who watches cookery shows on TV? I count me! I'm a huge fan of Nigella Lawson, and her cookery show on Discovery Travel and Living. Mostly she prepares non-veg, but I try and see if I can substitute that with potatoes. Hahahaha probably someone (or many) reading this will want to wring my neck like a chicken's for even thinking of that! Anyway, today I came home early from work *phew* and turne don the TV. There she was, preparing a dark chocolate icing for a chocolate cake. She cut 75 gm of dark choc, poured it into heated hoeny and water, and melted the whole thing. It looked so yummy! Then she poured it all over the cake she'd prepared and set aside. While at that, she said she'd done this for a friend's daughter's 1st birthday, and now she's doing it again. And she was baby-sitting that very little girl! Then, she, her 2 (or was that 3?) kids and the little tot sat down and enjoyed the cake. So basically, what we have here is a lady who cooks at home for her cookery show, earns for it, and is baby-sitting too! And enjoys the meal with her family! She's having her cake and eating it too! Wow I'd really like to be in her shoes! And you know how much I like cooking!

In other news, my in-laws were here 2 weeks back. Then my mom came too. Phew it was a packed house! 6 of us! I hardly had any time to breathe. My in-laws have left, mom's here. And its still choc-a-bloc. Its nice to have people at home, but sometimes I wish I had some time with me. To do something, to laze around, to read a book, to flip channels randomly, to drink tea and solve Sudoku...

So why does everyone think just because I live here I'm gonna go watch the IPL matches? I've had an overdose of cricket frankly. Now I can't even stand 20 overs of it. Its a spectacle of film stars and loud music everytime a batsman hits a six or the bowler takes a wicket. Such a racket! And not to mention the while-over-is-being-played ads by Godrej and Vodafone. And sometimes they don't even let the commentators finish! And please, cricket is being overfed to viewers. IPL is a good concept brought about at the wrong time, in the wrong country. We have other matters to take care of. IPL? Lalit Modi is dumb. Plain dumb. Not just the concept, even the name is a rip off from Barclays Premier League! Anyway...

Some friend asked me if I'm gonna go watch the matches. I said whenever my hubby talks about it, I manage a "hmm", "mm hmm", "lets see" kinda answer. Now whats wrong with that?! Apparently a lot when it comes to nosey people. So they suggest that I needn't accompany him. Well, we are married, which makes us a couple. Lemme explain to you how that works. We try and most of the times, go out together, do stuff together. Its but natural for us. Of course, there are times when he goes out for an evening with his friends and I meet a friend. But, that doesn't give you a right to actually suggest that, don't you think? I frankly don't understand how some actually have the nerve to do that. Now that I think about it, I see that don't care.

Work's OK. S is always in the dorm, except during lunchtime. M is fine and entertaining. She provides me fodder for my mimicry sessions during lunchtime. P is boring as usual (you'll never believe how dumb she is if I tell you, so I'm just gonna leave it at that). I'm playing Scrabble with hubby tonight! That'll be fun! And yesterday, I made Sol Kadi (my fav!) as after-dinner drink. Everyone loved it! And I made super dahi based tadka for the dal that aunty made. Gone in seconds! Believe it or not, and I'm saying that to myself more than anyone else, I never thought I'd manage a decent meal :-) Guess I changed.

Oh, one thing before I sign off. If you are a Harry Potter fan, you gotta check out this blog - Felix Felicis. The girls have amazing imagination. I'm just done with the HPNS series though, and I'm going back for more! Way to go girls!

Oh how can I forget?! I got my course completion certificate for German! I completed A1/1 level. Only 1 wrong in the final test! The letter that we had to write, the sir gave me a "Sehr Gut" remark in my test! I'm proud of me. I'll take a picture and host it up here. Just to make me happy :D

This, is what my Today's Fortune on O-rk-ut says. Yea yea I know I made a big deal about how useless these social networking sites are, and believe me they are. I was in touch with almost all my college friends and school friends anyway, but on a hi-bye basis. Most of them are married and settled here or abroad, and I hardly see them online (on my gtalk or yahoo messenger), so no marks for guessing how frequently we write to each other on o-rk-ut. They just say oh you finally signed up on o-rk-ut, why no kids yet (mere dost log bache the yeh sawaal poochne!), where you now - thats it. After that no more messages from them. Aur agar main bhejoon, then I get replies after a week or something. Looks like I'm the only one jobless and expecting that at least on this site friends'll respond and keep in touch. Nah. But my close friends (S, A, G and L) from college and me are still in touch over whatever means of communication we find. Rest were only through phone sometime, or through chat sometimes. Now, its become through o-rk-ut sometimes. Bas. Nevertheless, I signed up purely because I now have an option of keeping my profile, photos and videos private, unlike earlier. And if you haven't guessed already, the most interesting part for which I want to login to the site and have a good laugh is the "Today's fortune" part. Now, if o-rk-ut is really a genuine site, it better make all of those prophecies come true ;-)

My mom is still in touch with her 3 friends from school. No, she doesn't use o-rk-ut. Go figure!

Dido, one of my favourite singers. She's got a lovely husky voice, and each time, listening to her is a breath of fresh air :-) Listen to this song "Thank you" by her, and then hum along; it'll lift your spirits up!

My tea's gone cold, I'm wondering why
I got out of bed at all
The morning rain clouds up my window
and I can't see at all
And even if I could it'd all be grey,
but your picture on my wall
It reminds me that it's not so bad, it's not so bad

I drank too much last night, got bills to pay,
my head just feels in pain
I missed the bus and there'll be hell today,
I'm late for work again
And even if I'm there, they'll all imply
that I might not last the day
And then you call me and it's not so bad,
it's not so bad

and I want to thank you
for giving me the best day of my life
Oh just to be with you
is having the best day of my life

Push the door, I'm home at last
and I'm soaking through and through
Then you hand me a towel and all I see is you
And even if my house falls down,
I wouldn't have a clue
Because you're near me

and I want to thank you
for giving me the best day of my life
Oh just to be with you is having the best day of my life