<p>We are often tempted to attribute the wretched state of our economy to Divine providence. That was the theme of Muhammad Iqbal’s long poems ‘Shikwa’ and ‘Jawab-e-Shikwa.’ I quote the original and my translation:<br /><br /></p>.<p>Kyon zian karr banoo, sood faramosh rahoon<br />Fikr-e-fard nas karoon, mehwe-gham-e-dosh rahoon<br />Naley bulbul key sunoo aur hamatan gosh rahoon<br />Hamnava! Main bhee koee gul hoon key khamosh rahoon?<br />Jurat - samoze meyree tabe-sukhan hai mujh ko<br />Shikwa Allah sey, Khakam-badhan, hai mujh ko<br />(Why must I forever lose, for ever forgo profit that is my due,<br />Sunk in the gloom of evenings past, no plans for the morrow pursue.<br /><br />Why must I all attentive be to the nightingale’s lament<br />Friend, am I as dumb as a flower? Must I remain silent?<br />My theme makes me bold, makes my tongue more eloquent.<br />Dust be in my mouth, against Allah I make complaint.<br /><br />However, the same Iqbal exhorted people to shape their own destiny with their own hands:<br /><br />Khudi ko kar buland itna<br />Keh har taqdeer sey pehley<br />Khuda bandey sey khud poocchey<br />Bata, ‘Teri, raza kya hai?’<br />(Endow your will with such power<br />That at every turn of fate it so be<br />That God Himself asks of His Slave<br />‘What is it that pleases thee?’)<br /><br />Yaqeen muhkam, amal paiham,<br />Mohabbat fateh-i-alam;<br />Jehad-i-zindagani mein<br />Hain yeh mardon kee shamsheeren<br />(In man’s crusade of life three weapons has he:<br />Conviction that his cause is just;<br />Resolution to strive till eternity:<br />Compassion that embraces all humanity)<br /><br />Amal sey zindagi banti hai<br />Jannat bhi jahannum bhi;<br />Yeh khaki, apni fitrat mein<br />Na noore hai na neri hai<br />(‘Tis how we act that makes our lives;<br />We can make it heaven, we can make it hell<br />In the clay of which we are made<br />Neither light nor darkness (of evil) dwell.<br /><br />Jihadists<br />Once, the two Clauses knocked on a Friday evening, just before Karim’s Quranic session was to begin. Usually Karim turned people away during these sessions, unless they were part of his discussion group. But he let the Clauses in. It indicated to me how close he felt to these two bearded men who had spent most of their vacations treating poor people in remote villages of Asia and Africa.<br /><br />But when Great Clause wanted to hold the Quran-in Arabic, Urdu and English - that Karim passed around and referred to, Karim apologetically pulled it away. It is holy book, Clause, if I may ‘he said in Danish. ‘You should be clean before you can hold it.’<br />It was then that I realised, for the first time that Karim had never let me or Ravi touch his Quran either. Ravi because he was, despite his interest in the religion, not a Muslim and me because, in Karim Bhai’s eyes I had sullied myself with alcohol, nan-halaal food and probably - he was right in suspecting - I did not perform the ritual stinja cleansing every time I pissed.<br /><br />(From Tabish Khair’s ‘How to Fight Islamic Terror from the Missionary position- (Fourth Estate).<br /><br />Expense account<br /><br />The sales manager was going over his salesmen’s expense accounts. One particular salesman’s account was interesting, “Just look at this!” he demanded. “How can you spend Rs 1500 on food lunch in a small town like Jhumri Tilaiya?”<br /><br />“It’s easy,” answered the salesman cheerfully, “You just skip breakfast.”<br />Matrimonial spat<br />“For the last time,” a husband shouted towards the dressing room, “are you ready to go?”<br /><br />“For heaven’s sake, be quiet,” retorted his wife, before a mirror, giving finishing touch on her lips, “I’ve been telling you for the last hour that I’ll be ready in a minute.”<br /><br />Lost & found<br /><br />“I heard you’re offering a big reward for the wallet you lost yesterday.”<br />“Yes, that’s right - have you found it?”<br /><br />“No, I haven’t, but I’m just about to start looking and I was wondering whether you could give me a small advance.”<br /><br /><em>(Contributed by Reeten Ganguly, Tezpur)</em><br /></p>
<p>We are often tempted to attribute the wretched state of our economy to Divine providence. That was the theme of Muhammad Iqbal’s long poems ‘Shikwa’ and ‘Jawab-e-Shikwa.’ I quote the original and my translation:<br /><br /></p>.<p>Kyon zian karr banoo, sood faramosh rahoon<br />Fikr-e-fard nas karoon, mehwe-gham-e-dosh rahoon<br />Naley bulbul key sunoo aur hamatan gosh rahoon<br />Hamnava! Main bhee koee gul hoon key khamosh rahoon?<br />Jurat - samoze meyree tabe-sukhan hai mujh ko<br />Shikwa Allah sey, Khakam-badhan, hai mujh ko<br />(Why must I forever lose, for ever forgo profit that is my due,<br />Sunk in the gloom of evenings past, no plans for the morrow pursue.<br /><br />Why must I all attentive be to the nightingale’s lament<br />Friend, am I as dumb as a flower? Must I remain silent?<br />My theme makes me bold, makes my tongue more eloquent.<br />Dust be in my mouth, against Allah I make complaint.<br /><br />However, the same Iqbal exhorted people to shape their own destiny with their own hands:<br /><br />Khudi ko kar buland itna<br />Keh har taqdeer sey pehley<br />Khuda bandey sey khud poocchey<br />Bata, ‘Teri, raza kya hai?’<br />(Endow your will with such power<br />That at every turn of fate it so be<br />That God Himself asks of His Slave<br />‘What is it that pleases thee?’)<br /><br />Yaqeen muhkam, amal paiham,<br />Mohabbat fateh-i-alam;<br />Jehad-i-zindagani mein<br />Hain yeh mardon kee shamsheeren<br />(In man’s crusade of life three weapons has he:<br />Conviction that his cause is just;<br />Resolution to strive till eternity:<br />Compassion that embraces all humanity)<br /><br />Amal sey zindagi banti hai<br />Jannat bhi jahannum bhi;<br />Yeh khaki, apni fitrat mein<br />Na noore hai na neri hai<br />(‘Tis how we act that makes our lives;<br />We can make it heaven, we can make it hell<br />In the clay of which we are made<br />Neither light nor darkness (of evil) dwell.<br /><br />Jihadists<br />Once, the two Clauses knocked on a Friday evening, just before Karim’s Quranic session was to begin. Usually Karim turned people away during these sessions, unless they were part of his discussion group. But he let the Clauses in. It indicated to me how close he felt to these two bearded men who had spent most of their vacations treating poor people in remote villages of Asia and Africa.<br /><br />But when Great Clause wanted to hold the Quran-in Arabic, Urdu and English - that Karim passed around and referred to, Karim apologetically pulled it away. It is holy book, Clause, if I may ‘he said in Danish. ‘You should be clean before you can hold it.’<br />It was then that I realised, for the first time that Karim had never let me or Ravi touch his Quran either. Ravi because he was, despite his interest in the religion, not a Muslim and me because, in Karim Bhai’s eyes I had sullied myself with alcohol, nan-halaal food and probably - he was right in suspecting - I did not perform the ritual stinja cleansing every time I pissed.<br /><br />(From Tabish Khair’s ‘How to Fight Islamic Terror from the Missionary position- (Fourth Estate).<br /><br />Expense account<br /><br />The sales manager was going over his salesmen’s expense accounts. One particular salesman’s account was interesting, “Just look at this!” he demanded. “How can you spend Rs 1500 on food lunch in a small town like Jhumri Tilaiya?”<br /><br />“It’s easy,” answered the salesman cheerfully, “You just skip breakfast.”<br />Matrimonial spat<br />“For the last time,” a husband shouted towards the dressing room, “are you ready to go?”<br /><br />“For heaven’s sake, be quiet,” retorted his wife, before a mirror, giving finishing touch on her lips, “I’ve been telling you for the last hour that I’ll be ready in a minute.”<br /><br />Lost & found<br /><br />“I heard you’re offering a big reward for the wallet you lost yesterday.”<br />“Yes, that’s right - have you found it?”<br /><br />“No, I haven’t, but I’m just about to start looking and I was wondering whether you could give me a small advance.”<br /><br /><em>(Contributed by Reeten Ganguly, Tezpur)</em><br /></p>