from previous

...the next morning began  stormily,  soon  after breakfast the qazi   reached there demanding for his   deposit,  he was returning to basra, he had  completed all his personal matters  by the previous evening,  the box was opened and looked empty,  he was outraged  his deposit missing,  he shouted he had specially instructed them to guard the box and contents , the  native  explained  he had left for fajar but the keys were with qazi, qazi s  deposit  disappeared from the inn meant  absolute destruction of the inn, perhaps some other  travel was the culprit  because the proprietor had seen a coin on the floor,  he showed the coin  turning it over on its sides, qazi  roared all travelers were to stay put , nobody must leave,  he would  investigate  and check each one  himself for his missing  one thousand  dinar coins garland,  qazi was overwhelmed with  rage and sorrow,  the other three travelers were   investigated  for   grueling time before ushering them into one room,  gaush,  magish and abid stared at each other  suspiciously,  the night before spent gossiping friendly  manner was lost, the pleasantness  replaced by unpleasantness,  qazi conducted investigation  humiliated them  and their dignity was  shattered 

page 25

... in the  streets and lanes and markets of Baghdad  inky dusky veil  had spread out, , shopkeepers also looked satisfied with the day  s business profit, among them some merchants were  not  so  happy with their  day and were swaying between hope and desire  for the left over evening,  gauss was one such business man,  his face was a portrait of sheer disappointment and  irritation 

Seeing what come towards him  was a serious matter of self concern,  since morning episode he hadn't made any progress  and he was bad definitely bad omen and asked shouting in anger why was he there,  the traveler had wanted to see him , he asked the shopkeeper to hold his horse  reigns for a moment,  the horse was very strong and hyper active,  not wanting it to runaway,  what laughed 

Gauss  rebuked him for making damages and showed his worriedness  , he asked him to go away elsewhere 

Wahab gave him a dinar the reason he had come,  it was the price he was paying for the morning roti and asked him to return the  first coin he was given,  he said scratching his head 

Gauss explained he was satisfied with less , wagab argued in the morning he didn't have enough but after a good sale of all his baskets it was his ethical duty to make full payment,  his own satisfaction was more important than the shopkeepers  contentment 

page 57

....the building of  forest department  was a preparttition  haveli of maharaja  known as poonch house,  there were more government offices inside it, , as usual  nobody  was seen working,  when senior officials  would  think of restoration of the old building  the media made a noise  that a historical  heritage site was being destroyed,  the design and map was being destroyed,  rare features and landmark of the past was being changed and replaced though all was already done  , when the flaky paint fell off with old plaster  cement patches  were  applied to keep the rest of the stuff from falling off,  old broken windows  were  fixed with pieces of ply  wood,  entire previous whitewash of limestone was hidden  with layers of paint , higher officials  cabins were customized  to their  standards and liking, inside and outside  constant changes were made,  but the ceiling remained untouched  and still appeared  old wooden and made of rotting planks that were definitely  the choice once upon a time of the then maharaja,  the metal work and mesh around were  retained,  razya and her siblings were away at bahawalpur

page 24

....getting to the local market the traveler merchant  with his special smile asked the first  person what was he selling,  in genuine curiosity 

You seem to be an outsider  here  the native  asked 8n rebound 

Yes, he explained he was  new in  town and he had come from sham Syria  his tone filled with pride  and  respect 

The native sarcastically asked didn't sham citizens eat grains or not recognized it

Well,  in sham it is called a paratha  delicious  spicy and layered and flaky meant for human consumption but this doesn't look fit for human beings  , he looked  at the very thin flat roti bread 

In Baghdad this is called roti and eaten by people because in our Baghdad people eat only to stay alive and not for pleasure,  he shook his head  to stop the thread of conversation that was heating up to an argument 

The merchant said its neither a roti nor a paratha,  it's an argument 

The native snatched the  roti  from his hands and put it quickly into the basket and covered it annoyed  and turned away from the unwanted presence  

page 23

...stranger you have just reached the right place,  I am  nakshibn mazahir  he said proudly 

Wonderful,   it's just as I was told,   hospitality here is  outstanding smiling said novaro 

The host explained  the inn was established  generations ago  by his grandfather who worked on it  to make it a success,  later his father inherited it along with the responsibilities but the real  standards were set by himself  naksh  spoke stiff necked taking all the credit  and asked him from where had he come 

The traveler was from sham Syria and a business man  come to see   cattle 

Naksh was put off  and turned  cold and  expression hard before turning away his face offending him for his cheap appearance,  clothes and worn out shoes 

Naksh asked him to speak up quickly whatever he had to say because he was very busy 

The traveler wanted a room 

Two dinars for a room rudely  spoke Naksh 

It's too much,  kindly  lower the  charges a bit  noro was rather surprised all he wanted was  a room for the night to rest 

In that case  a place to sleep is available for half a dinar too, he could sleep  in the cot placed there in the yard 

page 17

...in a poetry recital  gathering Manohar  sahay Anwar was reading out his  gazal...

whose land was it

Explained is nothing 

World is nothing 

Harahan poet sitting there on the stage next to him added 

Only  it's us in our entire family 

Whole family is nothing 

My child is too good but

My child's mother  is nothing 

                   ₩₩₩

Someone asked  israrul haqq majaz

How is your  health these days 

He answered..when there is no health there is no  question of asking how  is it 

zindgi ki khubsurti

...the three storey building of the government hostel  was designed on a long straight line,   rooms in a row  corridor in the  middle and again another row of more rooms facing the front,  room doors faced each other  , huge meshed windows  on the starting and ending points of the corridor which hardly ventilated the corridor but they definitely  casted dim sunlight  to keep the corridor  lighted up during the daytime 

All the three floors  were  built on the same pattern  except  on the middle floor  the corridor had a door on one side instead of the window,  the wooden door lead to a dining room  beside the spiral stairs and a kitchen,  there was a  l e d television on one of the  walls in the dining hall for furniture  three long tables and chairs and cheap curtains  furnished the window,  in the kitchen  all the walls were  covered with rotting wooden cabinets in which the girls  kept their things locked up , greasy and dirty the ply had lost all their beauty,  there was no air conditioning in the hostel nor was anyone given permission to keep one,  summer nights were  terribly testing specially for those who had  West facing  room  windows  that  let 8n full burning sun heat  raising the temperatures of their room  walls  , direct afternoon sun by the evening  turned the rooms to  hot ovens, girls  moved up to the terrace  to sleep in the cool, mostly in the months of July and August