Memories of the Monsoon

#14(originally from defence? Are you?)

Munshi Talok Chand Mehroom Ji ki Aatma ko shanti nahin milay gi jb tk keeh aap yeh nahin bolain gey: Kehtay haiN yeh aaraam g`hey noor-e-JehaN hai!

Sawanr, the time of monsoons in my country of childhood, stands out as a unique part of my life that I hold dear to me. The whole spirit of joy and romance is the treasured memory in my life. It is because of this special place in my life for the Sawanr that I am sad to see this thread having been neglected by my `colleagues` in the Chowk. Sanwanr gives water to our rivers which our Plains use to grow crops and prosper. These rivers that have been used as a blackmail by India against Pakistan.

Even the Indus Basin Treaty has been unfair to Pakistan. Under this treaty, my great uncle, Sunder Das Sood, tells me that Pakistan lost. The River Ravi and Sutluj`s waters have been diverted towards India but when the monsoon`s rains threaten floods in India, they open the supply of water towards Pakistan and many cities and hundreds of villages bear the cosequences of the resulting floods. Hundreds of lives are lost and loss to the lives of survivors is inestimable. He says that he doesn`t know which Einstein figured out this solution to water problems of India and Pakistan. It`s like leaving the loading chamber and the trigger of a lethal [water?] gun in the hands of India and the barrel in the hands of Pakistan.

Dada Ji Sunsoo told me this because he is from Lahore and thinks that because of this calumny on India`s part his `dearer than life` Lahore gets inundated almost every year and causes havoc.

He wonders if the Noor Jehan`s mausoleum gets ruined because of these floods. He cites some poetry, by Munshi Talok Chand Mehroom, about this mausoleum:

Ain. Din ko bhi, yahan shub ki siahi ka sama/n hai [he spelled it for me].

This dampens my romance of Sawanr and that makes me sad. He says there is only one solution. And that is, that India should get the h-ll out of Kashmir. The Britishers consolidated a lot, quite a lot, of territory which never was part of India

as a country or nation and left most it to India [as British India], to Indians, than existed before they came. The Indians should not be just land hungry and kill people and destroy land, in the process of grabbing it. According to him, India can develop just the Andeman and Nicobar

islands into a tropical haven/heaven better than the ``Fantasy Island`` where Mr. UBV can be a crier, and shout, ``the plane, the plane``, (He doesn`t like the current Prime Minister of India!) and make more money than what they know what to do with.

In any case, I think that India should leave its savage control over Kashmir and Kashmiris or else Lord Vishnu will wreak such havoc on them that their next 100 generations will remember it.

Somebody do something to save my Sawanr!

rehanhasanansari

whatsaynow?

temporal

In a non-serious vein I always think that whereas the West has so many more things that it enjoys than we, we have one thing we enjoy that these people are deprived of. And that is Saawan.

These people have four seasons, but we have five. And what a fifth season!

I liked the verse ``Can you stop the monsoon?`` in the poem. It reminded me of a rendition by Shahida Parveen (Zahida Parveen`s daughter). Mukhra hai ``Roothi

rut [I like to pronounce `rit-u`, the shudh Hindi pronunciation, instead] na maani, ummarria beet gaiee ; doe piyassey nainan haar gaiay, saawan ki bdli jeet gaiee``, in rag jai-jai-vanti. I can`t express my feelings in words but I know when I run into something worth dying for. Alas, the saawan ki bdli couldn`t be stopped! I hope the reader has heard Shahida Parveen.

Thanks for sharing your feelings with us.

nice..i liked it..though you could have chosen a more suitable flower::))

Very interesting ... indeed ... though the hibiscus would not be my ideal flower of femininity - anyway its expressive enough ... and makes you realise what you have missed out in life by livng away from the tropics.

.. Have fun .. thats all its about ....

I think the hibiscus is a perfectly feminine flower: It comes in a variety of colors and is quite attractive. The petals, I understand, tend to drop off in case of poor treatment which, as the song goes, is ``just like a woman...``.

Great read!
Although age accumulates the many monsoons
we encounter in life, we tend to remember
the hurricanes more.

Ras

I agree! A very badly worded teaser on the front page. Tsk tsk, Chowk Staff. But then again I don`t think that line works in the poem either, I liked it better as ``The hibiscus``.

I found the poem`s imagery nice, but the lines are a little choppy.

Bina.

Ah! the monsoon… It’s been twelve years since I last experienced monsoon...If we can`t stop time; can we turn it back?

I liked your poem a lot...

Thanks for sharing it with us.

Faridinkum post #17

I absolutely agree that it is far more important to know what is wrong with Karachi then knowing the origin of names of say Kharadar or Meethadar. My whole post (#2) is directed to bring this point into notice that the Karachiites although they live in Sindh but they are not aware about the history and culture of their province. They are proud to be Karachiites but at the same time do not acknowledge that Karachi is very much part of Sindh. When any one from rural Sindh visits Karachi they ask him ``So have you come from Sindh?``,as if they are not living Sindh. I have met many young people of Karachi and many of them are my close friends also, what I have found is the feeling of rootlessness among them. Most of the time they are talking about immigration to Canada, New Zealand or Australia. They get admission in Oracle or Java courses so that they can leave the country. On the other hand I have met people of same age group in the cities like Hyderabad, Nawab Shah, Mirpur Khas (both Urdu speaking and Sindhi speaking) their prime concern is to get better education and do something in their own city or say in Sindh or Pakistan. Very few of them talk about immigration to Canada etc. They are less frustrated as compare to an average middle class Karchiites youth. I have thought over the reasons for the difference in thinking between these two groups of people. And one of the reason is less attachment and more alienation to the soil of the city, to the natural surroundings of Karachi. On a recent tour to Kirthar National Park which lies just 80 km north of Karachi I was accompanied by families all from Karachi. It was a wonderful experienced for all of them. Most of the people were really surprised that even after traveling north to 80kms they were still in Karachi division and then I saw a feeling of attachment to the arid and rugged mountains of Kirthar in the eyes of the people of Karachi. Now I hope if any one of them will ever feels stressed by the hectic life of the city he would found respite in the quite and calm surroundings of kirthar. This will be the gift of Kirthar for the people of Karachi for owning it. There we met the local people of the areas known as Palaris. They were hospitable and very happy to see such a large number of people from Karachi and they were talking economics not politics. If people of Karachi can come here then it is going to uplift our standard of living. That`s exactly what is needed to bring close the Urdu speaking and Sindhi speaking people of Sindh. Close contact among them. The super high way between Karachi and Hyderabad should be crossed by the people of Karachi from all walks of life more frequently. They should visit Hala, Bhit Shah, Khaipur, Ranni Kot, Moen jo Daro more frequently. The school going children of Karachi could stay in a village for few days as their learning experience to know the life of rural Sindh and through this way we can bring the gap which exist between Karachi and rest of Sindh to end. This would usher a new era of prosperity in Sindh. Interior of Sindh needs the professionals of Karachi, entrepremuers of Karachi and Karcahi businessmen needs market, karachiites can come for jobs or for tourism and believe me interior of Sindh is a virgin market.

Lets join hands together, forget about politics and build a prosperous Sindh as a most dynamic province of Pakistan.

i like it...i like it alot (unlike your last poem..which i didnt like..at all. :) )

i like the feeling of wanting to stop time, the rushing by accentuated by the backdrop you have...the memories. (mebbe because they are shared..osmotically ofcourse). everyone i think can relate to walking, singing, falling into somthing, drenched to intoxication, just surrendering.

the teaser for the poem sounds artistically pornographic...i like it.

i`ll stop before i say somthing crude..like, baby, let me ..never mind.

z.rizvi.

Uzma,

My favorite lines were:

``I can still taste the salt

and hear the wind rip through the palms.``

Always a fan of writing that appeals to the senses.

Thanks,

Fozia

Uzma:

``...Can you stop the monsoon?
....I can try.
....And I smiled at your desire to stop time.``


Piquant.



love,

t