KESC - Vision and Values !

Did anyone of you had a close look at KESC (Karachi Electric Supply Company), new bill?

It includes a line saying, "Hum bijli churatay hain tabhi hamaray bachay school mein garmi say bay-haal hotay hain".

Which means, " We steel electricity that is why our children suffocate in school due to lack of it".

This line while embark the new rage in me at the same time gave me new hilarious joke to share and to talk about with whoever I know....hmm

What a customer service.....hmmm....KESC is accusing all its customer of steeling and at the same time giving all the thieves the reason of their suffering too.....wow....hmmm

Even though I usually not satisfied with the settlements of my electricity bill, they always take my breath away and make me speechless, I always paid the dues before deadline.

And I know so many who have the same practice.

And if some of us do have electricity by unfair means it does not gives KESC the right to call me thief .

Besides, why we have monthly METER READER, came to check and make a record of our meter reading? Is he blind? Cant he judge that who is steeling and who is not? I mean that's what I heard that mostly people do something with their Electricity meter to run slow so cant a professional can figure it out? Cant he see wrong dimensions of electric wire going from one house to other? Are these wrong connections are so easy to pass by and never get noticed?

But no....he will not because :

a) He don't care....and
b) Owner of that meter bribed him to keep his eyes and mouth close.

Basically, it is not KESC customer fault, it is KESC negligence and laxity and besides accepting their own laziness and failure of doing their job properly they include a line on the monthly bill.

Bravo !

It seems like a slap on my face that even though I am paying every month more than three thousand to KESC....just to have a calm night sleep.....I am a thief. And that's what their VISION AND VALUES are.....

hmmm....so now what I did this time...I include a line on that part of the bill which going to receive by KESC that says, " I don't steel electricity" .

hmmm......what a customer service.....baahh !

Makhfi - The hidden one !

The wine of my delight has lost its taste;

The earth of my whole life has turned to waste;

No wholesome grass grows there, now only weed;

My flaming spring of life has passed indeed.

Biographical Data :

Name : Atiya Begum Faizi
Period : 1876 - 1967
Biographical detail : She was an impressive figure in the socio-cultural field, of the Indian sub-continent during the early half of the 20th century.

Atiya went on a scholarship to London in 1906. She visited France, Italy, Germany, China, Japan and many other foreign countries. She complied a book on music that was published from London. Iqbal and Shibli were among her good friends or to some extent admirers.

Atiya was married to a painter called Faizi Rahimin. The couple migrated to Pakistan in 1947 at the invitation of Muhammad Ali Jinnah. She is the author of "Sangeet of India" and "Indian Music".

Atiya Begum was born at Istanbul and hailed from a respectable family of Bombay.

They were three sisters, Zohra, Nazli and Atiya. They were probably one of the foremost families who sent their daughters to UK for studies. Nazli Begum was married to H.H Nawab Sidi Sir Ahmad Khan Sidi Ibrahim Khan, Nawab of Janjira (1879-1922) and passed away in 1964.

hmm...whenever I started someone to read.....I read like I am in love with him/her.

Nowadays.....Iqbal is on my mind....even I have started to have him in my dreams...lol...

Mr Shaffique wrote extremly tremendous biography of Iqbal and first thing which attracts my attention was the freindly-lively lovely conversation or meetings of Iqbal and Atiya, who certainly was not the first woman to travel to Britain, but she certainly was one of the earliest to have wrote about her tour to Britain.

And as all the normal curious reader I started searching for Atiya Faizi and found it a little sad that despite of all her intellectual status, we had just gave her the remebrance of relationship with the poet-philospher Iqbal.

The letters of Iqbal to Atiya Faizi I read (17th July 1909), did not confirmed any colorful relationship between the two instead I think it was a letter to his(Iqbal) friend(Atiya) to whom he can speak out of his heart. Beacuse I personaly believe no one can speak about his/her unstable mental state to ones lover. Its human nature to behave as strong as one can be infront of his lover.

Iqbal was a poet and after all a poet can always use their own poetry while writing to some of his/her friends and can use it as a metaphore.

They might have exchanged some pet phrases to express their friendship, time they spent together and gratitude which Iqbal the same time include in his letters to different people too. They were not solely wrote for Atiya.

It is also evident that Atiya dislike Iqbal's failure to visit her in Janjira where she used to live with her sister for condolence of Atiya's mothers death. If this failure was only due to Iqbal's busy schedule or lack of money, Atiya was such a generous woman she would had forgave Iqbal but as it was not both of the above reasons she belived that Iqbal ignored her intentionaly.

There are so many other things elaborating the same about the both intellects of the same time.

However, as I always like to read about great women of world, I am happy that I found one more pearl from the history and Atiya Faizi would be an inspiring increase in my great women of world list.

I am trying to purchase her daily diary (roznamcha) which was translated and published by OUP-India, "From Colonial Bombay to Edwardian London". But unfortunately couldn't found it here in OUP - Pakistan.

hmmm.....there is always something very nice and worth reading about these people but I do also see that all those people who had made so many accomlishments in history never had an easy life. I dont know why to achieve something one must go through all these hardships and sometimes found oneself lost.

In 1912 Atiya got married to a painter called Samuel Fyzee Rahamin (1880-1964) who was an accomplished painter and a Jew by faith. He embraced Islam at Atiya Begum's insistence.

Fayzee Rahamin was at one time the art tutor of Mary of Teck, queen consort of George-V of the Great Britain.

The couple were invited to make Karachi their home by the Quaid-i-Azam. The couple sold their beautiful house, the Aiwan-i-Riffat, in Mumbai and moved to Karachi and purchased a house in Karachi and named it Aiwan I Riffat .

After moving to Karachi, the couple opened their doors to the local intellectuals and bequeathed the paintings of Fyzee Rahamin and other books and artifacts, their dearest possessions, to the citizens of Karachi.

Next door to the Arts Council are the grounds of the villa of Atiya Fyzee and Fyzee Rahamin.

Unfortunately the estate was neglected and their legacy disregarded as the the owners wished it to be converted into a Art museum but now The construction of Aiwan-e-Riffat- Fyzee Rahamin Art Gallery is under way or might have been completed.

After a span of some years, they were asked to leave their house as it was unauthorized (Strange enough?), helplessly she was made to leave Aiwan i Rifat at and took shelter in a hotel.

How long could they afford to live in a five star hotel , soon they were forced to dispose off some of her prized furniture and artifacts for nothing to the Junk Dealers and even had to borrow to live in Karachi where they were invited by the founder of the country.

I wonder if she had chosen to live in India and a Kala Mandir or Sangeet academy would have been offered , she would have created much more things to live long than what we have today.

She was well versed in Music and knew Ragas so well that one of best books on Music of India has been written by her.

The Music of India was first published in 1925. She took a lot of pain to establish the Bhatkhande College of Music in Delhi.

A large collection of her personal letters were lying unattended including letters by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad,
Maulana Shibli Nomani (the two-volume Makateeb-i-Shibli brought out by Darul Musanifeen contains no letter by Atiya),
Jigar Muradabadi,
Sarojni Naidu,
Maulana Shaukat Ali,
Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar
George Bernard Shaw
and Iqbal.

Atiya Begum Fyzee is no more but her life story is not finished as we have got such tantalizing stories to cherish.

Sourses :

Tashkili Daur by Khurrum Ali Shafique,
Writer Forum (http://dir.groups.yahoo.com/group/Writers_Forum/message/41173)

Note :

I gave this topic a name "Makhfi" which means hidden one taken by a princess poetess (Zebunissa - Daughter of Emperor Aurangzeb) whose tragic destiny is shrouded in mystery. In prime of her life, her father incarcerated her in the fortress prison of Salimgarh, where she languished for twenty years until her death.

I strongly believed that this is what we did with our history and heros. We discouraged their tremendous work and than sent all of their work to sentence where their work died and nobody knew when exactly or what exactly happened.

Beauty ?

I found her beautiful....whenever my mother wore SARI for occasions and forbid me to come close (I was the youngest and naughtiest one)...hmm...it could ruined her dress.

Always only that time I strived hard to reached her ears just to tell her that how beautiful she is looking.

Now after all these years when I reconcile my behaviours.....I question was it love or was she a real beauty? (For my mum...I think it was both...)

How we define beauty ?

Is it looks....? Is it....good figure ?

If it is only the looks which makes anything beautiful than what about the flowers.....poems...songs...lyrics....places...how we going to define their beauty?

Isn't all the human/nature/world beauty lies in the way we see them? Or how strongly we love them?

The dictionary says beauty as "The quality that gives pleasure to the mind or senses and is associated with such properties as harmony of form or color, excellence of artistry, truthfulness, and originality."

A pretty looking lady or good looking guy does not necessarily be beautiful.

Good looks are only skin-deep.

A good look may fade off like an attractive flower, which will wither sooner or later.

Nothing against good looks (believe me), but it is just one of the other million ingredients which make "Beauty."

A poem will be more beautiful if it has deeper meaning than just fancy words sans essence.

A human will be more beautiful if she/he has the right nature than just an attractive visage. Beauty comes from deep inside a person.

It is a reflection of ones character, their mind and thoughts.

Beauty lies in ones actions and deeds. Beauty is defined by ones kindness and their loving nature.

Real beauty is in being oneself and not in pretentiousness. Beauty is perennial.

There is one more way to look at beauty…

In the middle of the eighteenth century, the Scottish philosopher David Hume wrote:

'Beauty is no quality in things themselves: It exists merely in the mind, which contemplates them.'

Or think of the common saying" beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder".

The more you like a person from deep inside, the more beautiful you will find them.

Here is my deeper view…

I find everything beautiful around me....as I believed that ALLAH created all these things and since HE touched them.....they all are beautiful.

It is my love towards my MAKER which makes everything beautiful around me...hmmm....

Moved on !

With every passing day, you wonder...is this what it is to be in a global village?

We’re all connected, by mail or phone...We’re always there when someone needs us!

Yet, we’re not with each other!

The keyboard is a wonderful instrument to type, and the mouthpiece an excellent device to talk.

Yet the feel is missing, the touch is lost!

You keep reminiscing the days of the past.

It is not that you are in denial, it is just that you are in a state where there is something missing! Behind all the separation though, there still is hope!

The Hand that is painting the picture is too benevolent and mysterious for us to understand.

All we know is that the picture will be a beautiful one.

As I keep saying, the larger picture is always nice!

This is just a momentary divergence; the journey will continue, and roads will converge once again!

After all, the streams have to meet at the river!

The streams gush forward, the river is calm!

The lashing against the rocks will continue till we get to the river.

Patience will get us there, after which...there will be pure bliss.

Patriotic, Me !

Last night....we were late and by the time we left for our home it was almost quarter to three. Whole of Karachi was in deep sleep but the big empty and open roads of Karachi were shining and were like smiling at their travellers (which means US of course).

I always adore night...how ALLAH is marvelous in making of such a contrasting flavour during the 24 hours of single day???? I like night...its the best flavour of the day...Allah made it for us to find peace in it. It brings peace and calmness. But I always find sadness in it. Dark sadness....sadness which makes you slow...which can bring tears in your eyes and you don't even need to hide them as it is DARK all around you.

So my inner darkness...sadness was trying to mingle with the out side darkness. And I started enjoying it.

I said to my heart...let go your darkness...whatever is in you...let it out....

And here it comes.....

Few days ago....I read two great writers.

a) Khalid Hosseini - Afghanistan
b) Khalil Gibran - Lebanon.

The interesting thing I found in both of them was that even after living in other country than their own they both felt the strong sense of belonging to their country.

Both of them moved to US in their childhood, the age where changing places is a way of enjoyment. And children are very flexible and don't find it hard also to settle in the new place.

Even than growing in a country where they gain every luxury and good education. Though they got new nationality but they didn't loose their patriotism. They loose their nationality and had a new one but didn't lost the desire of belonging to their own nation.

Both of them are in their writings someway or somehow sang the beauty of their beloved country. You may find yourself seeing their beautiful country from their eyes. Even war is going on in their and shattered her (their countries) beauty. Even than they both find her beautiful and very proudly described her nights...days...cultures...seasons...fruits...innocent people...hmm

I don't want to be the one like them.....hmm ! (believe me it doesn't mean that I dare not to become a great writer)

hmm....they sang the ballads of their country....enchanted ballads and mind capturing songs....

But how sad that....that they have lost her....hmmm....

I don't want to be a person who suddenly become so possessive of a thing which already out of reach.

I don't want to be a person who is loyal but has no one to be faithful with.

I was thinking...about my own beloved....beautiful....country PAKISTAN. ohh....how I adore you my beloved one and how lovely you are in my eyes.

You are the only reason of my cherishing...aspirations and my own separate identity. I have a nationality because of you. I belong to you and it makes me so proud all the time.

I want to be patriotic towards you - my beloved PAKISTAN.

Allah forbid....if something happens to you - my beloved Pakistan....may be I will be the one who would die in the crash or may be somehow fly towards other country and will become like the above two. I will always sing the ballads but would always feel hollow inside. There would be no charm or any enchantment in them.

But I don't want to sing such hollow ballads of you. I want to be faithful and loyal to you while you are alive and I am living in you. I don't want to feel miserable when I talk about you.

So my dear...beloved Pakistan...I prayed and will keep praying for you...MAY ALLAH GIVES YOU LONG HAPPY LIFE. As you are not only important for me their will be more after me who would need to feel the same belonging towards you - beloved country...hmmm

Tomb of a stranger !

On the tomb of a stranger like me there is neither a lamp nor flowers. Since it is deserted, therefore there was no sound of nightingale or the Parvana (a small insect which burns its feathers on the flame of the lamp for the love of it).

It is unfortunate that her tomb was situated in a city which was along the route from Central Asia to India used by traders and invaders. After the Mughal Empire declined, the Sikhs also took advantage of the situation.

Her tomb was deprived of its outer covering of stones.Even the graves of her and daughter were ransacked. They thought they might find ornaments and other precious jewellery from the coffins. When they did not find any such articles they threw the bones away. And the Mausoleum became the abode of cows and goats.

The city Lahore....she adored and may be thats why she decided to have her own mausoleum there.

I gave my life and bought Lahore of equal value. In fact I bought another paradise in lieu of my life.

She, who possessed exquisite beauty, a fine taste for Persian literature, poetry and arts, a piercing intellect, a versatile temper, and sound common sense.

She exerted strong influence on the career and reign of her husband (Jahangir).

Even than she couldn't save herself from insult and disloyalty of her fellow people. She was intelligent enough to predict but couldn't predict her future after death. Even though from her prose on her tomb might someway make a point that she knew somewhere in her heart that it would happen buut couldn't get the exact time.

Because she was not the GOD here.....only HE can decide whether people would respect us even after our death or neglect us.

Sometimes I feel so so helpless and hand tied. I cant even decide my own birth my own death? It seems that since our first breath we are in the TOMB OF STRANGER. Where nothing belong to us and we dont belong there.

hmmm......

(Ohh....I had talked about Noor Jahan wife of Noor-ud-Din Jahangir, the third Mughal ruler).

What I learned ?

When something....anything....liked by your heart it means there is something good in it. Your heart is better judge then your mind/brain.

Cause brain/mind always works with information...experiment...and finally knowledge....or...experience. It never accepts the theory. It always tries to fix every picture with set of reason. It can't just work on imaginations/illusions. It always want you to give examples so that it can reason your experience.

Also...brain can't wait. It just want you to give the reason and do not allow to wait for the correct time.

It don't accept the fate.

Always tries to make people look into the back to see what might cause this or that. While we can easily get away with our failures or misfortunate events by just exclaiming that, " OK...it was my fate to be a failure and I want to be a good failure because it does not matter what you do...the matter is how you do it. So even failure should respect their failure and try their best to be a good failure. "

And just because haunting of our mind we die-try (well this word is invented by me to tell people when they don't believe that how much I tried but couldn't...lol) to find the cause of our failure and than start blaming other people when we cant find any reason. And become exhausted.

I remember when I started reading Ibn-e-Safi (Imran ) was my favourite...while Capt Faridi was OK but he was too too accountant type of person (you know one plus one equals to two). Anyways...I always love to read Ibn-e-Safi....WHY???

Because all of his stories has a hero who never dies. That hero (Imran/Capt Faridi) was our HOPE....hope of good future. So whenever I finished any of the story I felt good inside. Cause I had HOPE to buy another book in which I will find same Imran again.

That time I was a little girl...my mind was on developing stage and I was free....I have not seen the dark side of life. I was in the lovable family. And I was reading all those stories in which I have a never dying hope.

I saw few of the Waheed Murad's movies but whenever I did I felt good inside. Because he also have a hero always with a good character and filled with love not for only selected people but for all of the humanity. Those movies also un-noticeably developed that HOPE phenomena inside me.

I, when entered my practical life....I saw partiality...I bear dirty politics....I over estimated human and under estimated love. Which ruined best years of my life but even though when I was broken I had a hope. Hope of time that it would pass and I will gain myself again.

What I meant by "I felt good inside" is by liking of my heart. Those things were liked by my heart.

And until yesterday in Iqbal discussion session, I was unable to look for a reason of my heart liking.

Because I was afraid of my heart and mind to think on one subject. I do like Imran but if I talk to my heart it would say....good....Imran is good. But my mind would say...it is foolish...no human can save himself from machine gun bullets like Imran did. No one in this world have this authority like Imran has...and so many other reasons. Cause mind always works on reason.

So I used to afraid of taking out my liking for anything if it is liked by heart. But now I can....because heart always likes hope....happy ending....happily live ever after and so on.

I can say this to my mind that because THIS got a HOPE in it....I gonna like it.

When I saw WM movie clip with everyone in the session and than we start exploring those things...I said to my self that just because I was afraid of giving the reasons to my mind I just ignore the whole idea or moral of the movie. What I did was just watch the movie while our mind was sleeping. That's why I couldn't actually see it. I just watch it. And over looked every essence of the moral.

So now I learned that whatever....whenever...wherever....my heart likes I should wake up my mind to work on it so that I can see the reasons of my liking.

hmmm....also I learned that I should get rid of all the HABIB JALIB books because they are too much onto my husband. (Believe me I am not jealous).

And....Shafique Sahib is a very good SALEMAN....hmm...he when was giving me his book told me that I am getting it on sale rate as if I purchase it from market I would've had to pay more.

hmm....very very interesting and informative session.