faiz aur hafiz

.... the night had passed and reached  early hours  ,  during hind and pak  mustard hafiz jallandhari got up to recite his  poetry  it was his turn but  other poets were tired, faiz Ahmed  shouted from amidst the audience  to keep it small 

Hafiz was annoyed,  outrageous it was how could faiz Ahmed  cut him short,  hafiz remarked  his nazms were not  small like faiz s one liners

Firaq gorakhpuri intervened  in time  to stop the heated argument  between the  reputed poets by saying that that one liner by hafiz was  enough and the mushaira was over 

page 253

....do you manage your accounts in your own income?

No, not at all,  my accounts are completely dependent on loans and income of others 

.

Don't you think  Mrs bakrat is a little  self centered?

A little? More than  normal  she sends  her congratulations and compliments on her own birthday to her mother 

.

Yunus sahib  had a habit of borrowing things from neighbors,  one morning he reached his neighbor and  asked if the neighbor was going in his car somewhere that day 

Neighbor catching his point emphasized  of course  the car was to be with him all day,  he needed it to  visit several places 

That's so cool,  I.ll need your  bike  actually  yunus  said with satisfaction 

.

A man got his daughter married  and within a week he was pouring out his  tales of woe against his son in law  who didn't know how to drink and  didn't know  how to gamble 

The amazed friend remarked  but that was a blessing not a problem,  

The poor father explained he drank but didn't know how to, gambled but didn't know how to play 

page 67

...she recalled all the   mysterious stories  read during her childhood,  tge golden handle hanging at the main entrance  gave her some  satisfaction,  in the vintage English movies  it was  banged against the door to announce one's arrival,  she  also   hit the  bolt  on the wooden door,  on the third count the door was opened 

This is manahal   daughter of memnu  come to see you,  explained Fatima  Maryam standing by the study table   and he was listening   staring at an invisible point  before him into  the space 

Usher her to the guest room downstairs and   take care of  her , ask her what she likes to eat,  extend hospitality  serve her tea coffee hot chocolate,  he had  broken his silence  after a long  time 

But I ve already  given all these instructions  , she arrived over an hour ago,  Fatima Maryam  said  with her arms folded 

He nodded and turned to look at Fatima  what next 

Manahal wants to see you 

What will she do  by seeing me,  he asked blandly,  why does she want to see me 

See her  sahib she is memnu  s girl  once more Fatima reminded him 

He picked up the newspaper kept in front of him  but isn't she also someone  else's girl too or have you forgotten 

Nothing forgotten  but what  is her mistake in that,  saying this Fatima  had to  harden her heart,  but who else is her relative besides you,  God knows  how much she expects to see you how much she loves you 

Don't try to  trick me into such emotional matters Maryam,  a  knock on the door  made him look towards there  , Maryam  turned to press the door handle,  she stood there 

page 63

....she opened the lid of the jar and offered  the jar to sayyad,  memnu mama had made it  who was an expert in baking,  in a  small oven,  extending her arms a little bit she showed the size,  it used to be always there even when they were gone to boarding schools  , they still had the oven from which came those cookies  , speciality  mama learnt from  the governess  what was her name   ...oh , yes, Fatima Maryam,  just look at their shape,  keep them all together  and they present a zoo,  they used small frames to produce all the cookies 

Oh manahal  you talk so much  mahin said annoyed,  who bores their first time visitors giving all  the details 

Please ma,m let her speak don't stop her,  in our house  she is openly talked about for her chattering and how interesting her chatterings are, sipping his coffee commented  sayyad, he watched admiration stricken at manahal,  he added  the coffee was excellent  the second ever of his life 

And where was the first excellent coffee you tasted asked manahal disappointed 

That is sold in Islamabad  in my favorite coffee shop,  sometime I ll take you there  

Disappointment spread  over her face,  ever since they had come to live there they were kind of got locked  up inside  but before coming down they lived in Islamabad,  her face lit up, she still remembers  though she was very small then

from previous

..asghar and she eloped to get married,  both their families since  didn't forgive them,   mistakes done unwittingly in their youth   regretting at leisure  the child's father returned to his family  , the son born to them was merely one year old then,  sudden death of a brother in the  family   was  an excellent excuse to go back and  take control of the entire family business and even got married to  the  widow, the eloped wife and son were  given up for ever , this was her son's life history 

His life was bitter he realized  unwanted  by father  and his family  he had to accept himself first for being what he was,  he passed his matric and joined a college  where he met zahid and both became good friends,  he too was a poor  boy from poor family like himself,  both  would frequently watch others enjoying themselves and  felt depressed for their own financial reasons,  they felt   inferior  , choosing FSC was a mistake because  the subjects were quite difficult beyond their expectations and comprehension,  so both failed with the lowest points,  finding a government job  with matric  was impossible,  doing  small jobs they came to a decision  they must change their life conditions  and for that they had to cross their path,, both became robbers, in the beginning  they entered empty houses to pick up things,  zahid was an expert lock breaker , he had mastered this skill from another experienced  master locker breaker, their  first two  attempts of robberies were a success and they collected in thousands,  easy money big money  their first ever,  third time zahid  on knife point  extracted  money from a man  completely emptying his pockets,  they  frequently  picked pockets of strangers 

downtown

ustaad

...the first lesson  looked the Mauldin seriously at them both,  zahid  not apparently paying much attention  the other  fully focused  listened..never ever  trust a criminal  whether hardcore or beginner 

Was there any difference between  the types of criminals  asked zahid scornfully

The Mauldin sahib  glared at him, the other  dug his elbow  into his ribs that hurt him  and doubling with pain a dirty abuse escaped from his lips 

Zahud was stubborn   his bad habits known to his friends 

Of course  there was  a classic difference between  the new criminal  who  could sometimes   give in to his feelings of kindness,  the hardcore never showed sympathy and was ruthless  , devoid of all human sentiments,  Mauldin sahib  like  a sage  explained   his  point,  both students  nodded  , maulvi sahib was a most interesting character,  he was the only one in the jail  with whom the two of them got along,  both were  imprisoned for three years  and  the maulvi sahib  was  spending his nineth year, his real name was   replaced by the title maulvi by the other two inmates  because of his long beard , he was regular five times a day  namaz  practitioner,  unlike other prisoners he didn't spend time  humiliating others but kept  to himself,  when these two  entered the prison  maulvi  s solitude  was removed,  one would listen to him attentively  and the other zahid couldn't escape and had no other option