Hospitality

We Pakistanis are hospitable. Really. If you happen to be the one who visits the dear ones on occasion of Eid.. you must be knowing it. I do not know how my bladder can retain so much liquid! Every home you go.. they'll treat you with stuff to eat and drink! hey its festival time and why not! but not to the extent of ruining digestive mechanism of a human being for heavens sakes!

The other day, a relative of ours came to our place. The guy is old. Since he came after a long time so he was treated! Man he was treated! check what was on table for him... Pairra from Mardan (a very famous Mardan delight), some dessert that my mum made, dry fruit, dum-pukht meat! tea, cold drink! All sorts of assortments that had no relevance with the "timing of the serving". The old chap really really had a tough time. He could not refuse, he could not eat (no teeth either, artifical ones yes!) I was sitting with him and was 'only' thinking of what he would be going through.

Why on earth do we go to such extent that we put people in such situation. If a person tells me that no he/ she does not want to have certain thing because he/ she just had it at another place.. I would not offer him/ her that thing. Perhaps I am too rude! 'budtmiz' me!

The Brazilian Grand Prix

What a cracker of a race! the Brazilian Grand Prix was the ultimate finale for a Formula 1 that could have been possible! for once I actually sat the whole 71 laps! Lewis Hamilton (McLaren Mercedez) was in title contention with Kimi Raikonen (Ferrari) and team mate Fernando Alonso separated by few points. Drama of drama when Lewis's car stalled due to electronic malfunction ruining his chances of taking the title. This gave Kimi the chance but he was held up by team mate Felipe Masa as he took the lead. Alonso scaled up the charts so as to snatch the title. In the meanwhile Kimi stole the top position from Masa as he went for a pit stop and Alonso fell short to gain enough points. The result - Kimi won the championship by just one point! damn Formula 1 is good!

5 Pillars of Islam

Ok I have to mention something related to 5 pillars of Islam and the general 'awareness' levels regarding them. Unfortunately... we are kept 'illiterate' when it comes to religion.

You must have definitely heard about the story that Prophet Muhammad when on his ascension to heaven.. met various Prophets and finally the number of prayers was set at 5. Right? Wrong actually.

The Five pillars were not given to Prophet Muhammad. They were all given to Prophet Abraham.

2:128 - Our Lord! And make us submissive unto Thee and of our seed a nation submissive unto Thee, and show us our ways of worship, and relent toward us. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Relenting, the Merciful.

People did the rites before Prophet Muhammad.

2:183 - O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you, even as it was prescribed for those before you, that ye may ward off (evil)

Prophet Muhammad was told to follow 'religion of Abraham'...

22:78 - And strive for Allah with the endeavour which is His right. He hath chosen you and hath not laid upon you in religion any hardship; the faith of your father Abraham (is yours). He hath named you Muslims...

The tribe of Quraish was the keeper of Qibla. Remember Abraha? the one who tried to make his own Qibla some 50 years before the birth of Prophet? and for which 'Sura Feel' was revealed? This indicates that people used to observe Hajj before Prophet Muhammad was born.

Check My Other Posts:

1. Muslim or Kafir?
2. Travel Prayers - Salat Qasr

Let them eat cake

I was hearing Musharraf on PTV. Responding to a caller that poverty should be reduced... he said it is being reduced. That he has done this and that for poverty alleviation. He also said that he knew that people in rural areas were now "using motorcycle instead of bicycles, using 'Lux soap' (sort of luxury soap) instead of 'gaye soap' (ordinary soap), drinking Pepsi..'!!

I swear the first thing that came to my mind was the quote attributed to Marie Antoinette when she was told that ordinary folk had nothing to eat and she replied "Let them eat cake".

This is perhaps the most dumb statement I have heard from Musharraf. I like(ed)? this guy. For me he was the best thing that happened to Pakistan. Brave. Courageous. No holds barred attitude. He single handidly did the conferences, no aides. I went in appluase when he shook hands with Vajpayee in a SAARC conference.. what a knock out! How he held himself in India answering and handling Indian media. Just marvellous.

And now. What the hell is he doing? Awarding amnesty to the most corrupt of this country all in the name of reconcilliation. What a hog wash. I swear I think the elite of this country (rulers, feudals, military, mullah, bureacrats etc) consider ordinary Pakistani stupid. They really do. Are we?

Statue of Buddha

We are sick. really. Swat is in a turmoil. Government and local religious authorities are at odds with each other. And the result apart from killing of innocent people? Statue of Buddha.

Twice it has been the target. Some 'believers' I suppose are trying to knock it off from its place because it is a sign of idolworship. Just like the case of Buddha of Bamyan in Afghanistan. Why should an idol be present on the land of the faithful?

I say it again. We are sick. Really.

Unfortunate thing is that these people are our own people. They are part of the society. This mentality really exists. Medresshas (not all) do preach hatred. I am supposedly a 'sunni' because I was born in such family. I used to study Quran in mosque just like an average pakistani child. Trust me.. I used to hear some really nasty things about shias! and non-muslims... we were supposed to stay away from them too! but perhaps not as bad as shias! Good lord they were devils!

Anyways.. No one from the NWFP government (purely Islamic Government I believe because mullahs rule there) has come up with even a denunciation.. let alone providing some security. (yeah yeah I know I am not talking about security for humans but talking of providing security for a statue). The Islamic Caliphate of NWFP is perhaps busy saving its own seat. This ancient relic circa 2 B.C will be no more. I hope I am wrong.

(Photo courtesy BBC)

Check My Other Posts:

1. 'I Hate You'
2. Lord of the Medieval