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”میں کام کرتا ہوں“

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

چاندنی چوک پر اشارے کی روشنی سرخ تھی۔ میں نے بھی گاڑیوں کی لمبی قطاروں میں سے ایک کے پیچھے گاڑی روک لی۔

چند سال پہلے چاندنی چوک پر ٹریفک کے یہ اشارے موجود نہیں تھے۔ صرف ایک گول چکر تھا اور اُس گول چکر کے درمیان میں چلتا ہوا ایک فوارہ، جو رات کے وقت جگمگاتی روشنیوں میں کافی خوبصورت لگا کرتا تھا۔ یہ اور بات ہے کہ ایک مصروف چوک ہونے کی وجہ سے نئے نئے ڈرائیورز کے لیے اس فوارے اور چکر کی موجودگی اچھا خاصا ہوّا تھی۔ خود میں نے پہلی بار اس چوک میں ڈرائیونگ کرتے ہوئے گاڑی کو چکر ہی پر چڑھا ڈالا تھا۔

”سِکستھ روڈ جانا ہے جی، سِکستھ روڈ جانا ہے جی۔“ ایک کمسِن آواز نے مجھے چونکایا۔ ایک چھوٹا سا لڑکا، کمر پر بستہ لٹکائے اور سادہ سی شلوار قمیص میں ملبوس میری طرف دیکھ رہا تھا اور ہاتھ کے انگوٹھے سے آگے کی طرف اشارہ کر رہا تھا۔ میں نے چوک میں جلتی سرخ روشنی کو دیکھا، ” بیٹھ جاؤ۔“ وہ لڑکا تیزی سے اگلی سائیڈ سیٹ کا دروازہ کھول کر بیٹھ گیا، ”مہربانی جی۔“

اشارہ سبز ہونے پر میں نے گاڑی بڑھائی اور کچھ دور آگے جا کر اُس لڑکے کی طرف دیکھا۔ اُس کی عمر بمشکل بارہ تیرہ سال رہی ہو گی۔ گاڑی کے فرش پر نگاہیں جمائے وہ اتنے مؤدبانہ انداز میں بیٹھا ہوا تھا کہ مجھے ہنسی آ گئی۔

”پڑھتے ہو؟“ میں نے پوچھا۔

”جی؟“ وہ چونکا۔

”پڑھتے ہو؟“

”نہیں جی۔ کام کرتا ہوں۔“

”کیا کام کرتے ہو؟“

”جوتے پالش کرتا ہوں جی۔ صبح قرآن مجید پڑھتا ہوں۔“

میں اس کے لہجے میں چھلکتے فخر کو محسوس کیے بغیر نہ رہ سکا۔

”حفظ کر رہے ہو یا صرف پڑھتے ہو؟“

”صرف پڑھتا ہوں جی۔“ اس نے میرے جوتوں کی طرف دیکھا۔

”مسجد میں؟“

”ہاں جی۔” وہ رکا۔ ” آپ کے جوتے پالش کر دوں جی؟“

”آں ۔۔۔ نہیں یار۔ خیر ہے۔“

وہ دوبارہ خاموش ہوا، پھر کہنے لگا، ”بڑی مہربانی جی آپ کی، آپ نے بٹھا لیا۔“ میری سمجھ میں نہیں آیا کہ کیا کہوں۔ وہ کہتا رہا، ”ابھی میرے پاس چپل نہیں ہے جی، ورنہ پیدل ہی چلا جاتا۔“

میں نے پہلی بار اس کے پیروں کی طرف دیکھا۔ مٹی اور گرد سے اَٹے ہوئے، چھوٹے مگر سخت جان، برہنہ پیر۔

”سِکستھ روڈ پر کہیں بیٹھتے ہو یا ۔۔۔“

”نہیں جی۔“ وہ میرا جملہ ختم ہونے سے پہلے بول پڑا۔ ”پھِر ٹُر (گھوم پھِر) کے کام کرتا ہوں۔ وہ موچیوں والا ڈبہ ہو نا جی تو بیٹھ کے کام ہو جاتا ہے۔“ اس نے ہاتھوں کے اشارے سے مجھے ڈبے کا سائز سمجھانے کی کوشش کی۔

”تو دکانوں میں پھِرتے ہو؟“

”ہاں جی۔ آوازیں لگاتا ہوں جی۔ سارا دن چل کر ٹانگیں تھک جاتی ہیں جی۔“

ہم سِکستھ روڈ کے قریب آ گئے تھے۔ ”بڑی مہربانی جی آپ کی۔“ وہ پھر بولا۔ اس مرتبہ میں نے ہنسنے کی کوشش کی۔ ”کوئی بات نہیں یار۔ میں نہ ہوتا تو کوئی اور بٹھا لیتا۔“

اترنے سے پہلے ایک بار پھر اس نے میری ”مہربانی“ کا شکریہ ادا کیا۔ گاڑی آگے بڑھانے سے پہلے میں نے دیکھا، وہ ہاتھ اٹھا کر مجھے سلام کر رہا تھا۔

گھر کی طرف واپس آتے ہوئے میں اسی لڑکے کے متعلق سوچ رہا تھا جب ایک مال بردار ٹرک موڑ کاٹ کر گاڑی کے سامنے آ گیا۔ اُس ٹرک کی پُشت پر، نمبر پلیٹ کے نیچے ایک بڑا سا مڈ فلیپ لہرا رہا تھا اور اس پر لکھا تھا،

”سب مایا ہے۔“

میں نے ایک طویل سانس لی اور اُس ٹرک کو اوور ٹیک کرتا ہوا آگے نکل گیا۔

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56 comments

Saady

Apr 27, 2005 at 7:00 pm

Awesome….you write well Jee !

Vlady!

Apr 27, 2005 at 9:55 pm

mashAllah.
I loved the ending to be sure. Maya reminds me of this proveb:
Maya ko maya millay kar kar lambay hath,
Tulsi das ghareeb ki koi na poochay baat.
Anyway, a very well-mannered kid you helped. I noticed some irony there when the little shoe-polisher mentioned he had no shoes.
and pray, tell me, what does Navak e nem kush means?

Saroosh

Apr 28, 2005 at 3:00 am

itz really nice..keep it up :)

BaptizedLucifer

Apr 28, 2005 at 4:46 am

aap agar jootay saaf kar daytay to shayad us ki thori aur madad ho jaati? =)

its been ages since ive read urdu, took me some time, but, beautiful.

you just reminded me of what an unthankful jerk i am. bohot mehrbaani jee =)

Dinky Mind

Apr 28, 2005 at 5:13 am

Wah jee wah! Kamaal ker dia aap nay yeh post ker kay!
Kitna mehenti bacha ho ga wo!
Very nicely written! Love it!

Cheerio =)

Nauman...

Apr 28, 2005 at 11:00 am

LOGON KAY JOOTY POLISH KERNAY WALAY KAY PASS KHUD JOOTAY NAHI…kuch choti choti batein kiya kuch soochnay per majboor ker deitee hain…
there are many kids of this age & working similar types of job. child labour is very much on in this part of the world…& SAB MAYA HAI !!!well…………..

Gul

Apr 28, 2005 at 12:49 pm

Mind Blowing is the word :)
This shows true love with native language ….. I too love to narrate such kind of moments in life in Urdu there is excessive conveyance we find rather eng bcoz our family language is this.
Praying for that boy would soon get comfortable pair of chappals for him…Aameen
Acha just temme did u write this urdu script from Uni code fonts then what is the font name? for doing so did u download nay software or just foonts?

BaptizedLucifer

Apr 28, 2005 at 1:04 pm

usay koi Roy ka I get Paid to Learn/Study School main daakhla dilwa day? :-/

A

Apr 28, 2005 at 2:18 pm

*stunned*
I am confused. Should I cry at another young life forced to dust? or should I come over and thapkofy your back for another great post.

Saadat

Apr 28, 2005 at 6:18 pm

Saady: Thank you jee!

VLady: Thanks! And tulsi daas gareeb ki koi na poochay baat, really. Although I had in mind the other meaning of maya: khuda ki qudrat. (It’s quite a multipurpose word, this maya. Insha’s Sab Maya Hai has a completely different theme.) And yes, he surely was a well mannered kid, mainly because of the life he is living, with experience being his teacher.
And navak e neem kash! Sad you told the meaning of koshta mana …, I was thinking of making a deal ;) Navak = arrow; neem kush = which has not been pulled fully before shooting.

Saroosh: Thanks for liking it!

Baptized Lucifer: Thanks! I don’t know why I didn’t get my shoes polished, but you are right, that could have encouraged him. And that kid reminded me of what an unthankful jerk I am. Meherbani wala jumla tou mujhay bhi usay kehna chahiyay tha. As for Roy’s schools, are there any branches in Pindi/Islamabad?

Dinky Mind: Yep, a hard working kid he was. Thanks for liking the post!

Nauman: Child labour is an issue often misunderstood. In many cases it is injustice to those children, but in some, there’s no other alernative for those kids. But forced or otherwise, it is sad. And yeah, sab maya hai.

Gul: Thank you for liking the post! Ameen to your dua, and yes, for some of us, Urdu is much more expressive. The font I used is Urdu Naskh Asiatype (it’s the same as BBC Urdu website’s. If this font is not found in your machine, then Tahoma would be used, which is already present in Windows). Just download it and install it in the Window’s fonts folder as you would do for others. And check this site too. It’s rich with info about Urdu viewing and typing.

A: Maybe that kid can fight back and come up as one of the most successful men from this soil, who knows. The thapkofication I receive a lot from your side, and for that I am grateful. :)

Gul

Apr 28, 2005 at 7:47 pm

Well thanx Saadat despite of all available urdu fonts including Asia type i have already downloaded at my PC but they never even work at word document any changes required before writing Urdu ? BTW must know i dont have XP or 2000 i had these OS but way back they messd all my PC n ruined it so simply i took a daring act & install ME bcoz the website u recomended is offering instruction for XP n 2000 users

VLady!

Apr 29, 2005 at 3:21 am

There is a song “sub maya hai”, which I think you might have heard. A good one. me likes it.
Don’t worry about koshta mana. May be, you’d like to translate:
Sojay beday mullah, raya maro mullah
hehe, it’s a funny one & is a proverb. The language is, again, balochi.
Hm, navak e neem kash … :) interesting!!!! Neem is the same in balochi … we say neem kini (split it into halves) and kash is also in baloch … kapodara pinjaraya chay kash (take the pigeon out of the cage). ^_^ dumb me!!!

echa

Apr 29, 2005 at 7:29 am

i really wish that i can understand this language :D

Tall Dark Handsome

Apr 29, 2005 at 11:28 am

nice work :)

sadiya

Apr 29, 2005 at 8:32 pm

i feel like a monolingual loser :( i’m so missing out.

BaptizedLucifer

Apr 29, 2005 at 10:05 pm

S: I’ll check up and let you know on that =) There’s also TCF. I gotta jet right now, but i will get back, iA

BaptizedLucifer

Apr 30, 2005 at 6:11 am

yo–

http://www.thecitizensfoundation.org has branches in: Karachi, Keti Bandar/Jhangesar, Kotri, Daharki, Hub, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Mangowal, Shahpur, Jauharabad, Khushab, Jhang, Sheikhupura, Faisalabad, Jaranwala, Chiniot, Bhaipheru, Khanewal, Thatta Gurmani, Bhalwal, Gawadar, Taxila, Muzzafargarh, Dichkot, Nowshera.

BaptizedLucifer

Apr 30, 2005 at 6:13 am

ZindagiTrust.org (shehzd’s):
Zindagi Trust Office: 155-A
Bank Road Saddar
Rawalpindi Cantt
051-5528098
pindi@zindagitrust.org

BaptizedLucifer

Apr 30, 2005 at 6:15 am

oh and zindagitrust’s i-am-paid-to-learn schools are in rawalpindi @
Shamsabad
Chahsultan
Dhamiyal
Dhoke Saidan
Naseerabad

BaptizedLucifer

Apr 30, 2005 at 6:16 am

hope that helps =)

Saadat

Apr 30, 2005 at 7:50 am

Gul: Er, I don’t know much about Windows ME. You can try downloading the Phonetic Keyborad Layout for Urdu, and see if it runs on Windows ME. If it does, then hopefully you’ll be able to write Urdu in Word.

VLady: Yep, I have heard that song, sung by Faisal Latif. It’s written by Insha and is the same poem I was talking about. And this proverb went over my head (other than the word mulla)! Again, if you could write it in Persian/Balochi script, please? :) And right, pigeon is kapodara in Balochi. I was wondering, by the way, that we Blogistanis will become quite some linguists if this translation game goes on!

Echa: :D

Tall Dark Handsome: Thanks! :)

Sadiya: Well, er, don’t know what to say.

Baptized Lucifer: Thanks a lot for the info. I’ll be checking them out all :)

madiha

Apr 30, 2005 at 3:10 pm

tell me y do we only think abou t such incidents for a while, sigh and then move forward? y doesnt anyone of us has a solution and if we dont have a solution tell me y do we have the feelings?

l i v e...

Apr 30, 2005 at 6:49 pm

thats true our thinking about these incidents are temporary. it should be permanent & we should think abt solutions.
we are ALIVE & HUMAN BEINGS thats why feelings are there…NO FEELINGS NO HUMAN…

VLady

May 1, 2005 at 12:18 am

LOL, some philologues we are sure to become! Pigeon is not ‘kapodara’, it’s ‘kapodar’. We add an ‘a’ when it is the object being referred to. Like, if cat is “pushi” .. it’s becomes “pushia” (pushi-a) or may be it’s pishi and pishia. I’ve heard people use both. Pushi-a danna kash. Take the cat out.
Despite some really hard attempts .. I couldn’t write the script in urdu/persian script(I’m so bad at it, honest). I’ll try writing it in a more distinct manner:
Soj-ay beday mullah, rah-ya marro mullah.

Three words in the above phrase are the same as in urdu, btw. One you guessed, guess the other two then perhaps you’ll be able to guess the whole meaning! And oh, actually an urdu word is derived from one of the two words.

doodpathi

May 1, 2005 at 2:44 am

ãÇÔÇ Çááª! Èšی ÏáÓ ˜ÀÇäی ʪی۔ ÈÓ Çá᪠˜Ç Ô˜Ñ ˜ÑÊÿ ÑÀæ۔

doodpathi

May 1, 2005 at 2:45 am

translated: great narration. just keep thanking Allah for his blessings.

Moiz

May 1, 2005 at 5:21 pm

lol-took me quite a while to read urdu…but i persisted!& yes, lovely post…we just arent grateful enough, for the blessings we have…& how often do we pray for people who don’t have what we have??

Dinky Mind

May 1, 2005 at 10:01 pm

Thats what I wanted to know….How do you write urdu here?
So, I should click the link you have given to Gullay?
Suggest, suggest, suggest!

Cheeio =)

Saadat

May 2, 2005 at 10:11 am

Madiha: Solutions don’t come ready-made, they have to be created. BaptizedLucifer’s info is one of the solutions we have got. And without feelings, there can’t be any solution. If you can’t feel, you can’t solve. And as Live is saying below, no feelings, no human. Thanks for visiting!

Live: Yep, no feelings, no human.

VLady: How about you start a new blog and teach Balochi there? :D And as for the proverb, I think I am losing my comprehension abilities. The hints are quite good, and maybe if I think a little I might come up with a partial translation, but the thing is that I am mentally exhausted as hell. Maybe bed is ‘cane’, or is it a rray instead of a daal? And probably rah is ‘way’? *sigh*

Doodpathi: Thanks! And yes, Allah ka shukar tou har haal mein karna chahiyay.

Moiz: Thanks, man. Yes, we just aren’t grateful enough. And the praying for others thing: maybe we do it only when we are jealous of someone and want for ourselves what they have!

Dinky Mind: Click, click, click! On that link. It has got quite some info about Urdu blogging.

Musa Khan

May 2, 2005 at 5:53 pm

Really nice….especially the end is very dramatic

Gul

May 3, 2005 at 3:23 pm

Lagta hai mari kismat main Urdu likhna naseeb hi nahi hai :sad: :sad: :sad:

Indifferent

May 3, 2005 at 7:17 pm

Assalamo ‘alaikum.

It’s always inspiring to read about such kids. Despite being deprived and under-privileged, they are so hopeful and striving for a bright future. They really put those people to shame who despite being privileged, are so indifferent toward the society–and at times life itself.
As they say: “leadership isn’t always characterized by authority. It’s characterized by doing the ‘right things’, which benefit the followers.”
These kids are truly leaders in their very own special way! :)

Regards and best wishes.

VLady!

May 4, 2005 at 2:29 am

Awesome try. LOL
But I think I shouldn’t waste your time much with such silly games, hehe. the proveb means …
The mullah gives advices which he himself doesn’t follow … somethng like it… you know … something like it.. LOL forgive me, It’s a shame I’m not good in any language!! I know so many of them and I get things mixed up!!

MYK

May 5, 2005 at 8:15 pm

You must be a great believer in human goodness… Hail thee, bro!

sadiya

May 6, 2005 at 8:49 pm

ok time for an english post :) (i know, im a stupid canadian.. sorry)

Saadat

May 6, 2005 at 11:33 pm

Musa Khan: Thanks for liking it. :)

Gul: Hehe. Qismat banayee bhi jati hai. Lemme have some free time and I’ll email you the most necessary details.

Indifferent: Oh yes, true leaders they are. Their lives are hard, yet so simple that it makes one wonder.

VLady: Ah! The mulla gives advices which he himself doesn’t follow! Funny indeed, and sarcastic! By the way, I would disagree that you aren’t good at languages. Modesty is a good thing!

MYK: Of course I am!

Sadiya: LOL! You made me laugh here. An update will arrive soon (well, as soon as I start thinking about anything else other than writing code :) ).

chij bachee

May 7, 2005 at 1:18 am

awww….such a cute, sad eye-opener. And you DO write well!

Yousaf

May 7, 2005 at 9:11 am

2 words ” well Said “

VLady

May 7, 2005 at 10:06 am

hehe, i just opened your blog in konquerer and mozilla. Knoquerer is not showing a single urdu word while mozilla is showing the whole post … each word.. only that the script looks like it’s Sindhi. Double nuqtas under the last urdu alphabet. It looks funny!! I think Explorer still rules.

Saadat

May 8, 2005 at 10:26 am

Chij: Thanks :)

Yousaf: 2 words “Thank You”!

VLady: Ah, I so miss surfing the net while on Linux – stupid WinModem. I have a SuSe live evaluation CD, and the Konquerer on that simply screws up the whole design. It does display Urdu though, with that Sindhi script thingy. And tell you what: IE does NOT rule! Well, maybe if you talk about eye candy effects, then it does!

VLady

May 8, 2005 at 12:49 pm

Well, konquerer does nothing to your design here. It only doesn’t show urdu! Okay, mozilla rules :) I’ve to download and try firefox yet.

A

May 9, 2005 at 2:30 pm

next?
??
???
????
?????

Yousaf

May 10, 2005 at 2:51 pm

I urge all fellow bloggers to open/raise this Topic “desecration of Quran at Guantanamo Bay
” as much as they can in their writings , lets make a Chain of unity at least to protest against this cruel action of insanity and disgrace
against our faith ….

Yousaf

May 10, 2005 at 2:59 pm

Dinky Mind

May 12, 2005 at 1:24 am

When will we read more Ulti-Seedhi news?

Saroosh

May 12, 2005 at 9:25 am

hey
no progess…
anywayz hope u r doing goood
tcz
Allah Hafiz

Asma

May 12, 2005 at 4:11 pm

Oh … i came very late here !!! excellent post i would say … no more words to comment !!!

A

May 13, 2005 at 10:41 am

are you waiting for a half century to update?

A

May 13, 2005 at 10:41 am

there you go then. ‘Tis the 50th comment!

NJ

May 13, 2005 at 3:44 pm

51 comments… is this a record?

Moiz

May 14, 2005 at 12:26 am

Amazing observation and writing man

Fallen Angel

May 18, 2005 at 11:54 am

Ok, now this was NOT a nice post. This post made me think and analyze myself, my life, my attitudes and made me look at the “under-privileged” from a different perspective, so how can this be a nice post?

(*In case you didn’t get that, I was being sarcastic*)

Anyway, you write really well, if, you ever decide not to make a career out of computer science, you can always become a writer or a journalist :)

knicq

May 19, 2005 at 11:35 am

Zabardast!!!

Insaan bohat nashukra hai, jaisey jaisey us par Allah ka karam badhta jata hai, woh mazeed nashukra hota jaata hai. Isi liyey hadeeth humen yahi sikhati hai keh duniyavi taur par apna mawazna un se karen jinhen hum se kum nematon se nawaza gaya hai….aur deeni taur par un se jinhen hum se ziyada.

Chotey bhai, May Allah keep this compassion in your heart always…

Wajahat

May 30, 2005 at 7:39 pm

you know Man, you just redefined “brilliance” :)

[...] تحریر بھی۔ اِس طرح میری پہلی یونیکوڈ اردو کی تحریر “میں کام کرتا ہوں” تھی، جس کے لیے اُس وقت مَیں نے اردو نسخ ایشیا ٹائپ [...]

[...] 2005ء میں ”الٹا سیدھا“ بلاگ کے سعادت متین نے ”میں کام کرتا ہوں“ کے عنوان سے اپنی پہلی یونیکوڈ اردو تحریر لکھ کر اردو [...]

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