Happy and Happiness

The novice, standing by the door was looking at everything with great amazement and wonder. The people in the room were simple people. It was not like that the room was filled with rock stars or sportsmen. Like I said earlier, the room had normal people leisuring and acting all normal. But the thing was that the novice had never seen normal. He knew no happy faces. For him a world where being happy is a possibility does not exist. There was no planet where smiling people lived. Even if there was one, he was not aware of it.

But the people who were laughing, the object of his amazement, were they really happy? The answer varied but all of them were trying to be happy. Nobody can ever be happy without trying. It requires a lot of practice and hard work to stay happy. Staying happy is not some involuntary action. You cannot observe happiness, you can only feel it.

The novice was fooled by the sight like most of us; who think that they are happy but sorrow nests in them. The mirage that the happiness is, is a web that entangles the strongest of the strong, it fools the wisest of the wise.

If you are fortunate, it comes to you and if you are not that lucky then you have to walk to it. The distance may vary, sometimes few steps and sometimes a journey needing you to crawl through waters full of crocodiles, land that is mined and air that is un-breathable.

But the pursuit of happiness is a stimulant that is at par with father’s tap on your shoulder and a mother’s prayer for you to succeed.

The reality is that there is no thing called happiness in this world. The reality of happiness is that when the pain is bearable and sufferable it can be called happiness and if it is otherwise than it is the opposite of happiness.  So, if you want to stay happy make sufferings of others and yours sufferable.   

ہم نے اب یہ سوچا ہے

ہم نے اب یہ سوچا ہے
ہم زندگی یوں گزاریں گے
جس سے لڑنا ہوگا
اس سے بھڑ جائیں گے
جس کو جو کہنا ہوگا
اس کو وہ کہہ ڈالیں گے
کیوں کہ
ایسی ساری دیری
دل میں نفرت کو جنم دیتی ہے
اور ہم نفرت کے ہاتھوں ہار کر پھر
نہ کچھ کہہ پاتے ہیں
اور نہ ہی ڈھنگ سے لڑ پاتے ہیں

Me and my future wife

When it comes to marriage in general and a wife in particular, my knowledge is based on observation alone with no personal experience so far, I am like the kid in the toy store who wants every toy he gets his hands on (Not in a Charlie Harper kind of a way). 

Let me establish one thing here that the above statement is not with regard to some number but I am specifically talking with reference to qualities. Thus whatever I have observed and deemed it to be a good quality, I added that trait to the resume that my future wife to be has to fit in. The qualities my better half should have, have piled on over the years. So, if I ever have to publish a matrimonial advertisement, it will read like this:

A 30 year old not so white, curvy around the edges boy (still calling himself that) wants the hand of a girl in marriage along with her rest of the body and a bangla in People’s colony (a quality that made its way to the list when I was at the Punjab College). The girl should be a super chef, who is a PhD in Physics, has won an Oscar and a Nobel Prize and has at least won a silver medal at the Olympics, says her prayers five times a day, observes purdah and can keep my mother happy. Can sing and write poetry. Should have authored at least 3 books and is an administrator of two face book pages and five whatsapp groups. Working women can also “apply” but only if they are a CEO at a Fortune 500 company. The age of the girl should not be more than 20 years. Beauty pageant winners will be given priority.

But then I read somewhere that a woman is the reflection of his man. It changed the equation for me. Even if I get a girl with all the above mentioned qualities she will still be my wife and if I am a bad guy she will be the wife of a bad guy nothing more nothing less. So, since then I am trying to be worthy of my future wife. I am working hard on my short comings (which I will not mention here as they might harm my any possible chances). So, as Gandhi Saa’hib once said that be the change you want to see in the world, in pure matrimonial terms, I say that be the spouse you want to marry. 

نفرتیں

نفرتیں ہم نے جیب میں ایسے رکھی تھیں
جیسے وہ کوئی ریزگاری ہوں
اور جو راستے میں کوئی ملے
اسے اس میں سے کچھ حصہ
دیتے ہوئے چلے جائیں
پر ہر دفعہ
ہوتا ہے کچھ یوں کہ
میں جب بھی واپس لوٹتا ہوں
میری جیب میں پہلے سے زیادہ ریزگاری ہوتی ہے