People, Places and Stories.

It’s amazing how we, the humans living in separate parts of the world with different cultures and languages and yet have the same basic needs. Almost same stories, just the places are different.

Different places and stories always have fascinated me. From the barren lands of Afghanistan from the book The Kite Runner to the cherry blossoms from Memoirs of a Geisha. I absolutely loved how Elif Shafaq has a love affair with Turkish food and culture in all her books. And I love how Anna finds love and a home away from home in Paris.

It’s wonderful what stories places hold. The food, language and customs yet the human desires and problems are the same. Some people searching for their identity, some struggling for money and many helpless in love.

Every place, every person has a story and every story is equally beautiful, striking and painful. Only the perspectives are different. 

My ideal space.

A couple of years ago in our Idea development class our teacher asked us to write a paragraph describing what kind of a person we are and then writing our ideal space. That time I wrote a lengthy self description of a person who is still in search of an identity. My ideal space at that time was a beautiful landscape. No roof. No walls.

I still feel I am searching for an identity.  I believe the search will never end but somehow the ideal space that I had in my mind back then is competing with a place which confines me. My ideal space would also be home now. A home with walls and a roof. With large windows facing the sunset. A home with wind chimes, fairy lights, books and assorted tea mugs. A home with fluffy cushions, light colors and warmth of love. A home with beautiful smell of flowers and a small garden. A home with soft music of laughter and conversations. 

Whispering night

There are whispers in night

Can you hear them?

There is the rustle of wind

Is it calling my name?

And the light that falls on my window

Is it the moon or have you decided to pay me a visit?

The fragrance is intoxicating

Is it your presence?

The sound of soft footsteps echo in the silence

And the music of your voice rings in the void

Don’t let the dream just be

Let the interpretation be as sweet as your company 

People standing in Perfect Places.

The top reason I want to live in New York for some time now is no doubt Humans of New York.

It’s make me feel we all have a story, something to share, a glorious memory to cherish, a miserable past to bury, a dream to fulfill and a present to live. We the humans, the people, we all are so different yet so alike. On the surface it might feel our goals and objectives in life are different. Some want to achieve success, some people want to get filthy rich, others might just are living to take revenge.  But the truth is in the end we want to be content. We want to live in that warm and fuzzy feeling where everything is alright. The world is a perfect place just because we have everything we want.

The dilemma is we always want more. We want more than we can ever have.

To end this note I am sharing a portrait and quote from #HONY. It might feel off the topic but honestly it is not. If we think about it we all are standing in a perfect place ready to be discovered by ourselves.

  

“The world is full of people standing in perfect places.”

13 October 2011

Sindh Festival 2014

Starting on 1^st of Feb (ehm ehm my special day) is the much talked about Sindh Festival. While I appreciate the initiative and support all kinds of programs promoting culture I feel this festival lacks direction big time.

Awareness is definitely important of Sindhi Culture in order to boost tourism but the government does need to realize that our tourist attraction places are in shambles e.g. Kheejar Lake, Makli graveyard, Ghorak Hill station. Please spend some amount on the restoration of our tourist sites.

Coming back to the main issue, is Bilawal Bhutto Zardari even part of the government that he and his ‘foreign friends’ are looking after such a huge project?  What experience do they have?

The festival is going to start with huge display of fireworks and light show at Moen Jo Daro, what I would like to know is exactly how many people would be able to enjoy that display of fireworks? Why aren’t fireworks being displayed at the Bin Qasim Park?

Celebrating Basant is all good but the focus shifts from the main purpose, celebration of Sindhi Culture. Basant is nowhere near Sindh just to clarify. And to add cherry on top the organizers are calling top Bhangra singers, who are going to sing Punjabi songs in a Sindhi Cultural Festival, ironic isn’t it? 

We have such beautiful plays in Sindhi Literature so why aren’t we having a theater in the festival? Why don’t we have a section completely devoted to Sindhi Food. Have we invited our Sindhi friends from India to participate in the festival?

The festival still needs a lot of thinking and planning. I hope it goes well though. Looking forward for Festival City part only.

P.S I beg the authorities to rework on the Logo. Our Sindhi Culture has such beautiful art let’s not just show the world that we are incapable of even coming up with a good logo. Hire Khuda Bux Abro Sahab aur Mohammad Ali Bhatti Sahab.. They I am sure will be more then welcome to help.

The Road

It feels like I am running on dark road. The sun is down and the street lights are still not on. The road is straight and lonely. And I know on both the sides of the road there is nothing but empty space. There are neither turns nor any junctions. 

And I am running, without even thinking, without looking back. I am running away from the chains that tied down, running away from all the demons I befriended. I don’t know the destination; I don’t know if there is going to be light anytime soon or even if this dilemma will ever end. But I am running away.

The Key

The subtle curve of her waist, the softness of her hair, the sparkle of her eyes and the music of laughter, they kept me awake for a long, long time. Day after day, night after night. Her idea of love was magic. My idea of love was her. She wanted to spread her wings and fly towards an eternity of bliss. My eternity started from her.

You must be thinking if I loved her so much why did I let her go? Why would I drive her away from me, when her presence in my life was what all I needed for my existence?

So let me tell you my friend. Life isn’t what she thought & what you might think is right. Like if like a twisted road spread across a valley. Slowly and gradually you move towards a maze of twists and turns. The turns get sharper as you progress higher and before you even know crossing all those challenging turns were not worth at all because you are moving down the hill again. In midst of all the confusion of the road you completely forget to admire the beauty of the valley. You are so much focused on the challenge of the road that your focus for not a minute wanders towards the lush scenery the valley is offering you. I did the same. I did not let my focus wander. I was caught up in the difficulty of being with her so much that I forgot to admire the beauty of presence.

I stole her shine. I stole her smile and hid them in a locked box in a small corner of my mind. She wept and begged but the box never found its key. I had hid the key. I had to let her go because I had forgotten where I had hid the key.

And now she is gone, I found the key but the box is empty. I let go of her and just got to know her smile had escaped from the box long ago she just found them back.