Lessons from History...

In the words of Mark Twain, “History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme.” 
Not so long ago a killer horde threatened the centers of learning and knowledge, they built minarets with the skulls of their "enemies". No man, woman or child was spared, while they marched on scholars and leaders in Baghdad procrastinated and allowed them to march on. In 1241 the rulers of Baghdad decided to come to terms with the Mongols and pay an annual tribute to the Mongol court. Yet in 1258 the Mongols attacked, ransacked and burnt Baghdad, the cause of defeat was not that the Mongols were irresistible, it was the inaction and indecision!
Today it seems so relative yet again, our culture, lives and livelihood are at stake and we as a nation and our leaders have no clear plan of action. This procrastination will lead us nowhere but to another fall and its time to think where your and mine head will be placed in that minaret. The hordes are advancing, blood thirsty and power hungry and all we exhibit is the silence of the lambs. So slaughter is the destiny!

Doors...

Some doors are closed upon us and some we intentionally lock. In both cases there are avenues unexplored and untouched. But isn't that what we go through in life everyday, experiencing what is and contemplating what could have been. Hope and hopelessness are both shades of the same color, in the right amount both possess the power to create or utterly decimate!

A dedication...

the journey of separation begins in seconds and the evolves into minutes, hours and days. Till one day the count reaches to years, years a unit of time that seem infinite yet in a blink they are gone. As Khalid Husseini aptly put it, "time is a cruel thing, sometimes it keeps all the details with itself". Then what are we left with? Vivid visions, incoherent recollections, untouchable sensations! Time can take away the details but the bond, the link it lasts. It was always meant to be timeless, always meant to challenge the power of time. So no matter what time puts us through and keeps for itself, it can never take away from us the feeling of welcoming a bond, and the sweet pain of the moment when it is finally time to say goodbye...

I can hardly believe, it already been a year. The feeling lingers, that cold winter night still finds a way deep into the soul. It lingers, it lasts...

Dedicated to my father, who passed away on 15th December 2012!

Our souls long for nature and to be natural...

Human soul has a strange bond with solitude and sunsets, out there in the barren wilderness the soul feels its most natural and this strange bond comes alive again. The different colors spread across the sky tell a story of the different shades the day has passed through. And each day though the colors may change and you may attach a new meaning to them, each sunset is always a time for recollection and thought.It is a time to be with yourself and to evaluate yourself!

When you turn to nature, you do not find loneliness,you find solitude instead. You are taught the virtues of 
kindness, humility and benevolence. There is a serenity in nature which if you can make a part of your soul, spread and cherish. It will make the world more peaceful, more natural!

(2012, Jhula Campsite, en route to K2 base camp)

A soldier...

His eyes were about to close, he was tired and felt the need to sleep. He could see the setting sun far away on the horizon, the day was about to end , his work was done and he could afford to close his eyes and rest! Yet, he struggled to keep awake as if to etch the view of the setting sun on his memory. This day would end and after the dark pause another would begin, but this was a special day. It had to be remembered and cherished, because a life long struggle had come to an end and his work was complete. He struggled but could not resist the urge to rest, anymore. His eyes slowly closing, like the continuous movement of the setting sun.But then a loud sound and a piercing pain, awoke him. It was dark all around apart from the flashes of sudden light, that were as blinding as the darkness.
     He tried to move but his body was tired, that is all that was left of it. So he just lay there thinking and contemplating, "they must think i am dead, that all that will  be left of me is cindered ashes. But here i am, tired, broken and in pain, waiting for the inevitable. But even if they never come back to look for me, i can take solace in the fact that i have done my job, i have played my part. I have finally accomplished what i had trained for. The battle during the day had been tough, men had fallen by the dozens to the volleys of gunfire and the ground had shook with the rumble of artillery shells pounding down. It seemed that the clouds had decided to rain molten metal, and it was no light drizzle either, it was a torrential downpour. I was assigned an evacuation mission for some of our men who had gotten injured. I completed it successfully but on the way back our convoy was hit, the force of the explosion had catapulted me far into the bushes, the jeep was in flames and then it exploded. I could see it all happen, i shouted for help but my voice was lost in the storm of noise that accompanied the downpour of metal and fire. I could see that the convoy stopped for sometime but then they moved on thinking that no one could have survived what they had witnessed. I shouted, and when i tried to move the pain made me scream. I could not feel my legs later i realized, all that was left were shattered bones and smell of burnt flesh. Though i felt a but disappointed that they did not search for me but i know i would have done the same and with that thought some of the pain hurting my soul eased.
     I had always regarded war a necessary evil, I am a soldier and by that some may conclude that war was my primary profession but being a soldier is one thing, loving war is another. Like the dweller of a barren desert can appreciate water and greenery more than others, a soldier, a true soldier can appreciate the moments of peace more than others. A soldier usually doesn't start wars, he merely fights them until his decisive blow can stop it or unless those who started it grow weary and bored of this necessary evil and think about giving peace a chance once more. At the end of the war a soldier may be glorified for his actions in it, blamed for heinous crimes but the fact remains a soldier does not start a war, he merely finds himself inside one and fighting, till the fight or the soldier meet their end. A soldier is not inhumane, a warrior cannot lack compassion and longing for peace. Those who use war as a means to a livelihood are not soldiers but mercenaries, blood hungry monsters. A soldier is brave, caring and compassionate, he is one of you, he is you. A soldier is one they pin medals on when war results in victory and the one to be blamed when defeat arrives. I can think no more and the pain is numbing my thoughts. You will want to know me but i am just a soldier fighting a war, i am nameless and unknown and now that the purpose that was required of me has been fulfilled, i can move on, i can close my eyes, i can finally rest. And if you ever want to understand me, come to place which Rumi described as,

Beyond our ideas of right-doing and wrong-doing,

there is a field. I’ll meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass,

the world is too full to talk about.

Ideas, language, even the phrase ‘each other’

doesn’t make sense any more.”

The next day when the dust settled and smoke cleared some people saw a corpse, they buried him and walked on. A little boy asked who was he? a soldier killed in battle, came the reply

Eid Mubarak

Eid is all about giving happiness to others by living the spirit of sacrifice, today a poor guard outside a mosque did what is the responsibility of every citizen. He did not run away when threatened by terror he saved many lives and happiness of many families by sacrificing his own life. If there is a government out there, you need to learn from that man how to live and die, stop hiding in your mansions. We all have to die, the thing is to die well!
Think about it, your Eid is devoid of happiness and hollow because you do not embody the spirit of sacrifice, the spirit of doing what is right. That guard and many like him will perish in the hope to wake you up but if u still prefer slumber. Remember we all die, honorably or otherwise! Eid Mubarak 

And how better can a man die than facing fearful odds
For the ashes of his fathers and the temples of his gods

Slavery

When i look at the world of today, the systems and norms that govern the world and are responsible for its day to day operations, i feel bounded labor has been replaced by a false sense of dignified labor. People have been given a false sense of empowerment only to let them give the right of exercising this power to those for whom they are no more than mere statistics, an amicable collateral damage that can be incurred to achieve their goals. The more you look at it, the more you understand it, the more you realize that slavery was never abolished, only extended to include everyone!!!