In the memory of a dear friend who left us crying...

Jaate hue kehte ho qayamat mein milenge
Kya khoob qayamat ka hai dooja koi din aur
Haan ae falak e peer jawaan tha abhi ‘’Aarif’’
Kya tera guzarta jo na marta koi din aur

Legendary poet Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib wrote the above quartet on the sad demise of his nephew Aarif. The same thing happened with me on 29th March ,2009 when I lost one of my best friend Qasim Ali , who used to regard me as his elder brother. I have known Qasim since last one and a half year and still cannot believe that things can come to such a passé within a short span of just 20 days between 8th March and 29th March. He was just like a normal, gym going athletic handsome guy on 7th March and on the 8th he was diagnosed with suffering from the deadly disease of Leukaemia. I will always miss the days of our working together in Hindustan Times when we used to crack jokes and play pranks. I could not ever think of writing an obituary for him.
Qasim, now you have left us grieving I cannot and won’t ever forget the things and memories associated with you. The day when you died was the 12th death anniversary of my late father. How can I forget that cold night of January when you brought dinner for me on the birthday of your sweet niece Irmish while I was working in the office. I kept you waiting for 20 mins because of the hectic schedule that day. I will also miss your brotherly affection towards me. Qasim, you suffered immense pain during the 20 days of your ailment. These 20 days made the world upside down for your grieving family. Our sadness and remorse stands nowhere in front of the scar which your death left on the heart of your mother. While you were battling for your life in AIIMS she kept reading The Holy Qur’an beside you day and night. Once she told me: ‘’Hassan mera dil kehta hai mera beta bach jayega’’. I don’t have words to pay condolence to her. Your parents and brother couldn’t gather the courage to ask the doctor about your condition. Whenever I asked the doctor about your condition he gave negative feedback and each and every time I kept lying to your family members that your condition is stable and will improve within few days.

Sometimes I ask myself, why did this happen with a young and energetic guy like you. But these are the questions whose answers are not possible for anyone to give. You seemed to be always in a hurry as if you know that you are here just for few days. Qasim, do u remember the day when you told me , ''Hassan bhai we will launch a News Channel together''. All those dreams have been shattered.

My dear Qasim, : ‘’Tanha gaye kyun ab raho tanha koi din aur.’’ Lets see when do I join you there.

Zamane ne dekhe jawaan kaise kaise
Zameen kha gayi aasmaan kaise kaise

God bless you my brother. Stay happy wherever you are. May your soul rest in peace.

Yours ever
Hassan Bhai

The Servant and the Master's son

Recently i concluded a famous novel "The Kite Runner" by an Afghan writer named Khalid Hosseini. It is one of the best novels i have read ever in my life. Hosseini, an Afghan physician settled in America tells us a story of fierce cruelty and fierce yet redeeming love. Both transforming the life of Aamir, the stories' young narrator. A personal plot arising from the close friendship between Aamir and Hassan,the son of Aamir's father's servant Ali is a thread tying the book together.The fragility of this relationship, symbolized by the kites the boys fly together, is tested as they watch their old way of life disappear. Hassan bears Amir no resentment and is, in fact, a loyal companion to the lonely boy. whose mother is dead and father a rich businessman is always busy or preoccupied.Hassan always protects Aamir from sadistic neighbourhood bullies and in turn Aamir fascinates Hassan by reading him heroic afghan folk tales.Then, during a kite-flying tournament that should be the triumph of Amir's young life, Hassan is brutalized by some upper-class teenagers. Amir's failure to defend his friend will haunt him for the rest of his life. Hosseini's depiction of pre revolutionary Afghanistan shows the tense relationships between countries different ethnic groups especially between the pashruns and Hazaras who are mostly the Shias.Aamir's father or baba is generous enough to respect his son's artistic yearnings and to treat the lowly Hassan with great kindness, even arranging for an operation to mend the child's harelip. As the civil war starts to ravage the country Amir and his father must flee for their lives.In California, Baba works at a gas station to put his son through school; on weekends he sells secondhand goods at swap meets. Despite poverty the exiled afghans manage to keep alive their ancient standards of honor and pride.As Amir grows to manhood, settling comfortably into America and a happy marriage, his past shame continues to haunt him.He keeps worrying about Hassan, wondering what has happened to him back in Afghanistan. Hosseini describes the suffering of his country under the tyranny of the Taliban, whom Amir encounters when he finally returns home, hoping to help Hassan and his family.The final third of the book is full of haunting images: a man, desperate to feed his children, trying to sell his artificial leg in the market; an adulterous couple stoned to death in a stadium during the halftime of a football match; a rouged young boy forced into prostitution, dancing the sort of steps once performed by an organ grinder's monkey. When Amir meets his old nemesis, now a powerful Taliban official, the book descends into some plot twists better suited to a folk tale than a modern novel. But in the end we're won over by Amir's compassion and his determination to atone for his youthful cowardice. Through "Kite Runner"Hosseini gives us an engaging story which reminds one how long the people of Afghanistan have been struggling to triumph over the forces of violence forces that continue to threaten them even today.