Ajay Kumar Lodha R.I.P.

 

Ajay is gone and I could not say good-bye.

I lost a dear friend this past week. The news I dreaded for a while but did not want to hear arrived by text from Shankar Sadhwani on November 20^th, Saturday morning.

Ajay was my first non-Pakistani friend. He was the first person I called friend in the United States.

It was June of 1989 and we were having our orientation for residency in Flushing Hospital in Queens NY due to start next week. We had submitted our requests for the holidays for the year to come. Ajay approached me and asked if we can exchange the vacation slots. He wanted the second half of March 1990 and I had already asked for that. Why? I asked. He had to go to back home to get married. I told I had exactly the same plan. He laughed and said that in that case, he will not ask at all. That was our introduction.

We were all foreign graduates, including the few Americans amongst ourselves. We were from all over: Eastern Europe to South America, Middle East to South Asia to the Far East. We had a sort of United Nations of our own. I bonded the most with Ajay Lodha and Ashok Sharma.

He was a few years younger than me. He had wasted no time after graduation to be in residency program, somewhat unusual for a foreign graduate in those times. He had an advantage. His parents were here and he was exposed to the system here. In the pre internet era, it was a huge advantage.

He was a happy man with an innocent smile. We ended up sharing a lot of work.  We were on calls together. Our first year was the one before the Bell Commission’s rules. We had many 36 hours calls together. We learned together how to endure.  Finding difficult iv accesses, drawing bloods, ABG’s and all the skut work. We learnt together how to transition from our British based MBBS’s to American system.  We became friends. We hung out together. We hailed from diagonally opposite traditions. He was a Rajasthani Jain, a strict vegetarian, and I was a Punjabi from Pakistan. But there were more things in common between us than what separated us.

Over time, we both got married, and had kids. I moved out of Flushing but we stayed close.  We attended each other kid’s events, and family gatherings. He attended my father’s funeral. With time our social lives drifted apart but we remained close to each other at work. I cam back to central Queens and we kept on seeing each other and sharing patients.

Ajay was always ahead of his time. He was first to start moonlighting and first to start practice. He helped me almost in all steps of my professional life. He found me a place to start moonlighting in The Parkway Hospital where he was already working, while I was a fellow in training. Later when I was to join a Heme Onc practice in Forest Hills, he put in good word for me to my prospective employer. I am still working in that place. He had nothing to gain in helping me out. He was primary care and I a specialist. Everyone knows who runs the show in private practice.

Apart from my immediate family there are very few in life whom I own a lot and who owe me nothing. Ajay is one of them.

Out of our Class of 92, Flushing, he was perhaps the most successful person. He built his practice from scratch, expanded it and branched out. He was active in Indian American physicians, ultimately becoming the president of AAPI; and much more, which I am not privy of.

He was always in a hurry, he had to be somewhere, he always had his eye on something ahead. That was his strength. But once in a while, when we spend some time, and relaxed, we always reminisced the good times we had together.

It is my misfortune that I did not have the chance to speak to him since he fell ill. By the time I knew, he was beyond my reach. I texted him on April 9^th, “Ajay, I hope you seen this message soon and be healthy, Just today I heard you were sick. And tried to call you. Then I found out you had been transferred. It is a big service and a price to pay in our profession. Wishing for a speedy recovery, I know you can do it. “. I was hoping he would get it, but by that time he was unreachable. I kept on communicating through Sanjay but with time, I realized it is an additional uncalled burden on him.

After so many months of hearing about him third and fourth hand, one day I thought I should try to communicate directly, and texted him the following on Friday the 20^th November, “Ajay, I have been thinking of contacting you but don’t know if you are willing to communicate. I don’t want to cross any lines. I want to tell you that I think of you almost daily and wish the best for you. Huded and I talk about you all the times. Wish you well and whenever you feel like it you can contact me. I am a click away. And if I don’t hear back at all, I will understand that too.”

And the next day I got a text from Shankar Sadhwani.

Ajay, you have paid the ultimate price for the path you took. And you fought well. Rest is peace my friend.

In gratitude

Nasir Gondal

Tuesday, November 24, 2020

 

 

خواب /Khawab

 خواب

خواب دیکھنے  پر تو کوئ پابندی نہیں

خواب سنانے پر ہے

کیونکہ ایسا کرنے سے آپ

دوسروں کو بھی وہ خواب دکھا دیتے ہیں

جو انہوں نے ابھی تک خود نہیں دیکھا

اس طرح مجاز کو حقیقت میں بدلا جا سکتا ہے

مجاز کو تو جواز کی ضرورت ہوتی ہے

اور حقیقت حق ہے

ایک انسان کا خواب تو مجاز ہے

سب دیکھ لیں تو حقیقت میں بدل سکتا ہے

اس ابلاغ کی اجازت نہیں دی جا سکتی

سرکاری اہلکار نے یہ سب 

ایک سپاٹ لہجے میں کہا

 

اور ہاں

خوابوں کی تعبیر ڈھونڈنے پر بھی پابندی ہے

تعبیر عدم استحکام کی علامت ہے 

جسے کوئ معاشرہ برداشت نہیں کر سکتا

اور ہمارا معاشرہ  تو اب جا کر

صحیح رستے پر لگا ہے

سو بے بنیاد خوابوں کی تعبیریں ڈھونڈنا 

جرم ٹھہرا تو ہے ہی

دوسروں کو سنانا بھی

فساد  فی الارض سے خالی نہیں

آینٰدہ ایسا جواز نہ فراہم کرنے

کی تلقین کے ساتھ

سرکاری اہلکار واپس چلا گیا

آج وہ اہلکار پھر آیا تھا

موجودہ حالات کا تقاضہ ہے کہ

خواب دیکھنا امنِ عامہ کے لیے مضر ہے

آپ یہ روشن دان اور کھڑکیاں بند کر دیں

خواہ مخواہ باہر کی ہوا اور روشنی آتی ہے

اور اس کے ساتھ 

 بھٹکتے ہوئے خواب

بھی آ  ٹپکتے ہیں

نت نئے مسئلے پیدا کر دیتے ہیں

اس میں نیند کا خلل بھی شامل ہے

نیند اچھی آنی چاہیے

سب کا بھلا ہوتا ہے جب لوگ

چین کی نیند سوتے ہیں

ہمارے پاس جدید آلات موجود ہیں

جو ہوا کو گردش میں رکھیں گے

اور مصنوعی روشنی بھی پیدا کریں گے

جب یہ سب کچھ موجود ہے تو

پھر خواب دیکھنے کی کیا ٖضرورت ہے

خواب دیکھیں گے تو سنایں گے بھی

اور ان کی تعبیر بھی ڈھونڈیں گے

سرکاری اہلکار نظریں ملائے  بغیر

رخصت ہو گیا

خواب دیکھنے کے خوف سے

شاید آج رات

مجھے نیند نہ آئے

ناصر گوندل

اتوار ۲۲ نومبر ۲۰۲۰؁ء

نیو یارک

Ghazal/بےوقت

 غزل

پیدا ہوا بےوقت تو مارا گیا بےوقت

جو وقت تھا وہ سارے کا سارا گیا بےوقت

جب تک کھڑا رہا مری شنوائ نہ ہوئ

اور جب چلا گیا تو پکارا گیا بےوقت

وہ جرمِ مفلسی کی سزا کاٹنے چلی

دلہن بنا کے کو سنوارا گیا بےوقت

نا آشنا تھا گردشِ گردوں سے باغباں

کلیوں کو آندھیوں میں نکھارا گیا بےدقت

پہلے دلوں میں فاصلہ پیدا کیا گیا

اور پھر رقابتوں کو ابھارا گیا بےوقت

اس سے کے بیشتر کوئ پڑھ لے ، اسے جلا

تجھ پہ جو اک صحیفہ اتارا گیا بےوقت

ناصر گوندل

نیو یارک

اتوار25/اکتوبر2020؁ء

 

What is Islam /Six Questions. By Shahab Ahmed

WHAT IS ISLAM

By 

Shahab Ahmed

Six Diagnostic Questions. 

I am very happy that I have found Shahab Ahmed at this time. Thanks to Farooq Hamid for introducing me to his book, “What is Islam”. It is an amazing book. I am reading it these days. I am also very sad that I have found Shahab Ahmed at this time. He is dead.

Shahab Ahmed was a phenomenal person. He accomplished so much in such a short time, had he lived longer, he would have given a lot to the world. What I gather online about him, he was somewhat younger to me. He was born in Singapore to Pakistani physicians, came to USA, studied in Princeton and taught in Harvard. He was a polyglot and had extensive knowledge and understanding of the subject matter. This book has 45 page list of cited work, in small print. It is more than 500 pages long, which could easily be a thousand-page book had the print size be of regular size. 

His first sentence, says it all. 

"I AM SEEKING TO SAY THE WORD “Islam” in a manner that expresses the historical and human phenomenon that is Islam in its plenitude and complexity of meaning."

His first chapter, “Six Questions about Islam” is like the Muqadima of Ibn Khaldoon. It raises the six questions he thinks are fundamental to understanding of Islam, for both Muslims and non-Muslims. He presents a different narrative. The prevailing version of Islam focuses on initial centuries and first generation of Muslims. He talks about the later time, from 1350 to 1850, when Islam was the dominant religion of the land from Balkans to Bengal, a phrase he uses in the book.

He makes the point that was Islam, practiced, lived and celebrated at that time. It deserves to be classified as Islam and should not be relegated to a second-degree status. That is what he perhaps will try to put a case in the remainder of the book: What is Islam.

The six questions highlight the various thoughts, practices and concepts prevalent in present day Islam, but run at times contrary to the established dogma of Islam.

First, the Greek influenced reason based philosophical version of Islam. It clearly claims the dominance of reason over faith. Faith has to be subservient to reason: if it is not reasonable, it cannot be Islamic. The scripture is for the common man. Those who can apply reason and interpret the nature, are able to find Divine Truth without being following rituals. Ibn e Sina, the greatest Muslim philosopher makes no bones about it.  Divine is wajib al wajoob., the essence of all existence and can be found with reason. He proudly asserts his faith in a Persian couplet which essentially states that if Ibne sina were a Kafir, there would be no Muslim anywhere.  Can a belief of reason over faith be Islam?

Second, the way of the Awliya Allah, the Friends of God. Sufis can attain the personal experience, kashf, through the rigorous developmental exercise of the holistic faculties. The have found the way(Tariqat) to the Truth (haqiqat) that they do not need to follow the law (Shairat). Anyone able to make this connection through a spiritual experience will find Divine Truth and does not have to follow the rituals. Can this path bypassing shariat be Islam?

Third, the illumination theory of Suhurwardi, that everything is illuminated by God’s light and the  almost pantheism of Ibn Arabi, wahdat al wajood, are the basic ingredient of later day sufism.  This concept exist in contradiction with Good and Evil as binary opposites. Here Divine exists everywhere and every act of worship is essentially worshiping God. Can this be Islam?

Fourth, widely prevalent form of art and expression in the Islamic world, poetry, has the dominant theme of Love. Claimed as the religion of love, mazhab e ishq talks of earthly (often homoerotic) to Divine Love. Penned by poets from Rumi to Jami to Hafiz (the greatest of them all), this poetry and verbal imagery is understood by all. It even talks about understanding and developing a bond with the Rival lover (Raqeeb se, by Faiz). Can this be Islam?

Fifth, the art, including the paintings and pictorial representation is all secular (except architecture). The pictorial representation of humans has been claimed and celebrated by the Islamic culture and society. Can this be considered Islamic when there are clear prohibitions against image making?

Sixth, wine drinking and its social acceptance has been, for all the times, a part of the Muslim culture, despite been considered forbidden. Old literature is replete with mannerism of drinking. Naseeruddin Tusi tells the ‘right way to drink’.  Social drinking gatherings including by kings, philosophers (Ibne Sina) and Sufis (Shams Tabrez) were acceptable and prevalent.  Wine drinking pottery with God’s grace engraved on them were commissioned by Mughals (Jehangir) and Ottomans. Wine in poetry may have allegorical meaning but the reason that symbol existed was that wine was a reality in Muslim culture.  How can this be Islam?

One may comment that many of the six questions could be related to the ‘elite’ of the society, whether political, social, intellectual or spiritual, and common man may have always been following the dogmatic tradition. Shahab makes the point, that on the contrary, we see that the street culture is/was  imbibed by the ethos of issues mentioned above. The penetration of all these thoughts in the common culture, and not restricted to the elite is exemplified by a widely sung kafi of Ghulam Farid, in Saraiki.

Aye Husne Haqiqi, Noor e Azal, teeno wajib tay imkaan kahun

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJs81iqSJhE

Then he mentions, for the initiated that in this kafi, popular in the uneducated and unlettered masses, the following concepts, mentioned in six questions, and more, are raised: Avicennan philosophy of Necessary, Contingent-Possible, Pre Eternal, Self-Essence; Neo Platonic emanationism of Highest Heavens, Celestial Spheres, Spirit, Matter, Vegetable, Animal, Human; Suharwardian Illuminationist Beginning less Light; Akbarian Intellectual Sufism of Absolute Pure Existence, Becoming known of the Originary Archetypes, Display of Attributes and Acts; Mazhab e Ishq of Real True Beauty, Beloved of Every Heart, Houri, Farily Lass, Handsome Lad, Love, Sita, My Darling Love; Text book questions of Kalam/ philosophy/theology of  Essence of the Reality of Quiddity, Species, Positions, Modes, Measures, suspicions, Prehensions, Conviction, Notion; Sufi experiences of Tasting Rapture; Music of dholak, tambur, table, meter, note beat; Natural Phenomenon of Water, Fire, Narcissus, tulip; Quranic Prophetology of Noah, Abraham, Mohammad; Pantheism of Pothi, Gita, Granth, Veda, and what not.

Islam, as practiced and lived in those five centuries, 1350-1850, (the 8th to 13th Hijri centuries) deserve its space in today's question about Islam. That was the time that many of the theological disputes had been settled, and  the philosophers and sufis and the purists had agreed to disagree. Form Balkans to Bengal, there was a remarkable similarity in culture, elite classes had similar manners and customs, wore similar styles of dress, enjoyed much of the same literature and graphic arts.  Their educational institutions had similar curricula, people on many levels of society had similar notions about the ground rules of cooperation and dispute and shared common institutions, arts, knowledge, customs and rituals. That is what Shahab Ahmed makes a case to be considered as the legitimate place in time and history to answer the question: What is Islam.

Shahab Ahmed finished this great book in 2015 and died the next year from Leukemia. May his soul rest in peace.

 

شہر کرشمہshehr e karishma

شہرِکرشمہ

چرچا تھا اس نگر کا فقیدِالمثال ہے

تعبیرِ ہائے خواب میں حدِکمال ہے

زرخیز ہے زمیں تو فضا سازگار ہے

ہر غنچہِِ خیال نویدِبہار ہے

محنت کرو گے اور ثمر اس کا پاوٗ گے

جو بھی تمہارا حق ہے اسے نہ گنواوٰگے

حق میں برابری ہے ہر اک خاص و عام کی

ہے سلطنت یہیں جو کہیں ہے عوام کی

قسمت یہاں کھلے گی اسے آزمایٗے

اس کو وطن بنا کے وطن بھول جایےٗ

ایسی کشش سے کھینچا کہ ہم آ گئے یہاں

تھوڑا سا کشت کاٹا تو پھر ہو گئے رواں

ہم نے بھی اک زمین کا ٹکڑا کما لیا

سر پہ مکاں بنانے کا سودا سما لیا

بنیاد کھودنے کو جہاں پھاوڑے چلے

بد حال و بے کفن کئی لاشے وہاں ملے

ویسے حقیقتاََ یہ چھپایا نہیں گیا

مجھ کو لگا کہ مجھ کو بتایا نہیں گیا

میرا قصور تھا کہ میں اس سے تھا بے خبر

جائے وقوعِ جرم ہے کہتا ہوں جس کو گھر

میرے مکاں کا قصہ نہیں یہ سبھی کا ہے

اپنا سمجھ رہے ہیں وہ رقبہ کسی کا ہے

تختی لگا رہا ہوں کہ میری ہے یہ زمیں

بے گھر ہوئے یا مارے گئے اولیں مکیں

یہ کس طرح مسطح ہوا دامنِ دمن

مزدورِ مغویانِ فریقہ تھے کوہکن

اس سطحِ مرتفع کو جو ہموار کر گئے

کتنے یہاں پہ جبرِ غلامی میں مر گئے

میں جس میں رہ رہا ہوں مقدس مقام ہے

ہر اک قدم یہاں پہ رہینِ غلام ہے

ایسے نہیں ہے شہرِ کرشمہ کمال کا

شامل ہے اس میں خون پسینہ بلال کا

ناصر گوندل

حلقہِ اربابِ ذوق، نیو یارک

آن لاین اجلاس

اتوار11/اکتوبر2020؁ء

 

ghazal/ جو دیکھتا ہوں وہی واقعات لکھتا ہوں

غزل

جو دیکھتا ہوں وہی واقعات لکھتا ہوں

جو سوچتا ہوں وہی ممکنات لکھتا ہوں

جو تو نے پردہ ہٹایا امین ہوں اس کا

پھر اس کے بعد کٹی کیسے رات، لکھتا ہوں

جو روشنائی نہیں تو قلم بھی سوکھا ہے

نیاز مند ہوں مدحِ دوات لکھتا ہوں

جو تیری آنکھ سے ٹپکا ہے میرے پہلو میں

اس ایک قطرے سے میں کایٗنات لکھتا ہوں

ہوا نہیں ہے کوئی معجزہ کہ ذکر کروں

جو ایک آدھ ہوئے حادثات، لکھتا ہوں

مجھے بتایا ہے شاہِ قصور نے جیسے

میں تیری ذات کو اپنی ہی ذات لکھتا ہوں

جو منزلوں کی عنائیات تھیں رقم نہ ہویں

جو راستے میں ہویں مشکلات، لکھتا ہوں

مری زباں میں رکاوٹ سہی قلم میں نہیں

جو بات کہہ نہیں سکتا وہ بات لکھتا ہوں

بپا ہوئی ہے جو صحرائے ذات پر ناصر

خدا گواہ ہے وہی واردات لکھتا ہوں

ناصرگوندل

حلقہِ اربابِ ذوق، نیو یارک

آن لاین اجلاس

اتوار13/ستمبر2020؁ء

 

Ghazal/جواب بننے سے پہلے سوال بنتا ہے

 

غزل

جواب بننے سے پہلے سوال بنتا ہے

سوال بننے سے پہلے خیال بنتا ہے

امیرِشہر کی چوکھٹ پہ اپنی ہستی کو

جو بیچتا ہے وہی کوتوال بنتا ہے

یہ میرے ساتھ ہی خانہ خراب اترے ہے

مرے جنوں کا وہی ماہ و سال بنتا ہے

ہر اک جنم میں مجھے برجِ بردبار ملا

یہاں عروج سے پہلے زوال بنتا ہے

کچھ اضطراب کے پتھر شکوک کے ٹیلے

مری زمیں کا یہی اشتمال بنتا ہے

میں ڈوبتے ہوئے سورج کو پیشوا جانا

جسے یمین میں سمجھا شمال بنتا ہے

وہ جستجو میں بھی اتنا کمال دکھلائے

جو گفتگو میں بڑا باکمال بنتا ہے

لیے وہ ہاتھ میں نشتر بتا رہا ہے مجھے

کہ اس کا زخم وجہِ اندمال بنتا ہے

ناصر گوندل

حلقہِ اربابِ ذوق، نیو یارک

آن لایٗن اجلاس

اتوار16/اگست2020