I came to India almost a year ago and had to stay back. I wouldn't dwell on the "strange" reasons for this, but have accepted it as fate from Allah SWT. The experiences I have been going through have piled up in such large proportions that if I start to write about them, I can fill the complete virtual-memory space allotted for posting in this blog.
well, for now I want to start with a surprisingly common, almost ubiqutous habit of people on the roads, be it pedestrians, motor-bikers or four-wheel drivers and anyone from 10 year old kids to retired unlces, aunts, educated MNC employees to the illiterate "thela-waalaas". It is the way they force you to turn the head-lights of your vehicle off during the day-time. In fact, they have developed a peculiar hand-gesture to bring this to your attention if you are violating this un-written rule on the road. I just feel amazed why they care so much about this. Are they being energy-saving concious? Thinking-green kind-of thing? But it does not burn or consume any fuel in the vehicle. It might be a burden on the vehicle's battery's performance, but not so much to be forced to turn-off by the whole humanity on the roads. Does the glare from the head-lights hamper their visibility? Not in the day-time...impossible if the sun is out. On the contrary, a majority of them have their high-beam on, flashing right into your eyes during the night times. Dare to ask shifting it to the low-beam and you are guaranteed the choicest expletives enough to hurt your ego and if time and circumstances permit, it might cascade into a full-fledged street brawl guaranteeing a hurt to your physical self.
So I just go about turning my head-lights off when asked to do so in the day-time, always wondering what possible scientific/religious/philosophical/stupid reason might be for the people to enforce this on me.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Amusing India!
The BBC news website today had two very contrasting news items in its "Most Read" news list, both of them about India, the "incredible India"!
1. "Man MARRIES BITCH to beat curse (which made it to the top of the list)
and 2."India ENTERS SUPERCOMPUTING race".
After reading the articles, I began to muse over the question "can you tell something about India?". I have faced this question so many times here in the US and every time, I floundered pathetically. I could not help it, and I believe neither can others. India is just too big to be accommodated into a finite verbal description which covers its most important aspects, let alone all the aspects. Even if one fills pages and pages of words there will still be some aspect or other which demands mention but left out. The list will be endless and its items so full of interesting contrast with each other. When I first saw the news about the guy marrying a bitch, yes the same word is used in the piece of news, I was shocked while assuming that the BBC has relegated to such mean levels that it has used such a derogatory word for a bride. But I was wrong, the guy apparently married a female dog. I wouldn't delve into the details here, but to cut the story short, he did it out of his superstitious beliefs. And interestingly, he had the blessings of the local temple priest and other village folks!
Anyways, I moved to the next piece of news about the successful assembling of the fourth fastest supercomputer in the world, named "EKA". I began to wonder about the possibility of the laboratory where it was assembled being adjacent to the temple where the nuptial vows were exchanged between the man and the bitch. This was not the case, but yes, it is very much possible.
For newspapers and reporters, there is always something "Amusing" to thrive in India.
1. "Man MARRIES BITCH to beat curse (which made it to the top of the list)
and 2."India ENTERS SUPERCOMPUTING race".
After reading the articles, I began to muse over the question "can you tell something about India?". I have faced this question so many times here in the US and every time, I floundered pathetically. I could not help it, and I believe neither can others. India is just too big to be accommodated into a finite verbal description which covers its most important aspects, let alone all the aspects. Even if one fills pages and pages of words there will still be some aspect or other which demands mention but left out. The list will be endless and its items so full of interesting contrast with each other. When I first saw the news about the guy marrying a bitch, yes the same word is used in the piece of news, I was shocked while assuming that the BBC has relegated to such mean levels that it has used such a derogatory word for a bride. But I was wrong, the guy apparently married a female dog. I wouldn't delve into the details here, but to cut the story short, he did it out of his superstitious beliefs. And interestingly, he had the blessings of the local temple priest and other village folks!
Anyways, I moved to the next piece of news about the successful assembling of the fourth fastest supercomputer in the world, named "EKA". I began to wonder about the possibility of the laboratory where it was assembled being adjacent to the temple where the nuptial vows were exchanged between the man and the bitch. This was not the case, but yes, it is very much possible.
For newspapers and reporters, there is always something "Amusing" to thrive in India.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Ramadan and "Marital Relations"
I was surprised at my new finding about the issue of having marital relations with spouses during the month of Ramadan. All my life until now, I have listened to so many duroos/khutbas/lectures from scholars about how the month of Ramadan enjoins us to fast, pay zakat, perform salah, etc; And I recall a "million" times hearing to lectures forbidding sexual-relations with spouses during fasting. Now here is the point that I missed (I am sure there are many others like me): It is forbidden to have sexual-relations "while fasting", and fasting is only during the day-time! Just think about it, how many working muslim men/women or students have so much time, or (mood?) during their day time to think about going to bed! Unless there is an exception, like those working in night-shift jobs or those working from home!
All my life until now, I was under the impression that we are supposed to abstain from sex for the whole month of Ramadan, 24X7. I was even thinking of never getting married during or just before Ramadan (Ahh! there goes a small hint alluding to my bachelorhood; Anyone ineterested?!) for the fear that I simply may not be able to resist the temptations of Shaytaan. But this year, while reading the translation of Surat Al-Baqarah, I came across this verse #187, where it is mentioned about the permissibility of having sexual relations with your wives on the night of As-Saum (the fasts)...Ahh! such a relief!
Disclaimer: I have not verified this with a scholar yet. But from the outset, the translation seems pretty straight-forward. Wallaahu 'Aalam.
All my life until now, I was under the impression that we are supposed to abstain from sex for the whole month of Ramadan, 24X7. I was even thinking of never getting married during or just before Ramadan (Ahh! there goes a small hint alluding to my bachelorhood; Anyone ineterested?!) for the fear that I simply may not be able to resist the temptations of Shaytaan. But this year, while reading the translation of Surat Al-Baqarah, I came across this verse #187, where it is mentioned about the permissibility of having sexual relations with your wives on the night of As-Saum (the fasts)...Ahh! such a relief!
Disclaimer: I have not verified this with a scholar yet. But from the outset, the translation seems pretty straight-forward. Wallaahu 'Aalam.
Tajweed, Shuraim and Jazz
Over the past few months I've been trying to learn Tajweed (recitation of Quran in a particular style). But during the month of Ramadan I've had a radical change of opinion about my Tajweed. I came to realize that the Quran is much more 'holier' than the impression I had of its holiness. This realization dawned upon me after I spent quite some time reading the tafseer of the surahs. I recall how before Ramadan I used to sit with the Sheikh in our local Masjid everyday after Fajr Salah trying to implement the rules of tajweed and reneder my "melodious" voice to the few verses the Sheikh asked me to recite. In reality, I was doing nothing but "destroying" the beauty and "killing" the very essence of deep meaning those verses imbibed in them. Being a non-arabic speaking desi guy, I never had a chance to know the meaning, let alone ponder over the Quranic verses. So I just used to apply the tajweed rules blindly, as if dealing with a math problem step-by-step to arrive at the solution in the form of beautiful Qira'at. First of all, with my half-asleep senses so early in the morning and a sick voice, I could guarantee myself that this was never going to happen no matter what I do. But I just thought to myself, what the heck, I am gonna recite the Quran anyways and one day (may be 5-10 years down the line), inshAllah I will evolve my voice into one like Sa'ud ash-Shuraim!
I chose Shuraim for two reasons: (1) my voice resembles his especially during fajr time when I would be half asleep (and I love it that way, it sounds so 'masculine' !) And (2) Shuraim has this exclusive, enchanting style that I don't notice in any of the other reciters that I know of. He is like this new kid on the traditional jazz music scene with a completely new and refreshing voice and style so different from the classical gurus of recitation like Hudheifi or Basfar or Hoseiri. I have to admit here I've been a jazz fan (at least after coming to US), I cannot deny it, not before Allah SWT, who is described as "'aleem-um bi-dhaatis-sudoor" in the Quran. But I also have to admit that ever since I started listening to Shuraim, I just can not listen to anything else. His voice is so smooth, with that touch-of-velvet like feeling and his pace, SubhanAllah, once started, is smoother than the smoothest jazz music (Listen to his Surat Al-Jinn here). In particular, I love his rhythm, his occasional breaks of emotion, his constant pitch of sound which amplifies itself at suitable words (like the way he stops at the Lafz-jalaalah, ALLAH). I simply don not notice these features in the recitation of a classical masters like Hudheifi. I have listened to Shuraim's recitation so many times from the recordings which I downloaded on my computer. I am so familiar with his recitation that I know precisely at what verse he is going to stop to cry, to express anger, express love or inject whatever suitable emotion fits for that particular verse (Listen to his Surat Al-Mutaffifeen here or Surat Al-Mulk - my favorite!).
So anyway, I would just sit there with the Sheikh trying to recite a page or two from the Quran every morning. I had no clue what those verses meant. But after I started reading the tafseer of those verses before attempting to practice Tajweed, 'WALLAHI', I could feel like needed 50% less effort at applying the Tajweed rules. But the downside of this is that it takes forever to read a the translation and tafseer of a page of verses from Quran. For instance, the other day, I was reciting Surat Yunus after fajr Salat and the Sheikh, for the first time "in my lfe" was impressed by me! He has his peculiar wry grin on his face at such occasions, when he is being appreciative while trying not to mention the mistakes I make. I usually make blunders in Tajweed, with at least 3-4 mistakes per line ranging from messing up simple fatha with kathra to stopping or pausing at all the wrong locations, then going back a few words to maintain continuity and again messing up kathra with fatha on my way back and so on and so forth. But Alhamdulillah on that day, I seem to have maintained good continuity with very few Fatha/Kathra exhanges. So the Sheikh couldn't resist asking me which reciter I had been listening to and how many times I had listened to him. I couldn't resist smiling back while telling him that I spent almost 4 hours to read the tafseer and then preactice recitation for only a couple of pages of that Surah. But it was not not Shuraim this time. He was way too fast in that particular recording I had for that Surah. Somehow I happend to stumble upon Abdullah Basfar's beautiful recitation online and SubhAllah, his Surah Yunus (CLICK here to listen , you have to scroll down to find the player) impressed me so much that i had to reckon that the new-kid-on-the-block (Shuraim) can't beat a classical maestro like Basfar! I really loved his classic style and downloaded his recitation and played verse by verse many times over while pausing each time to imitate him. No wonder my friend in the other room of the apartment we both share was looking surprised at me in the morning and asking if it was me who was awake until 2 AM the previous night and making strange noises!
Well, after this and other similar experiences, I now feel that I should dare NOT to venture to recite any verse from the Quran just for the heck of it. I now feel ashamed, or rather cowed down by the majesty of the Quran. I simply had no real real sense of it before Ramadan. I feel ashamed of myself for all the destruction I was causing until now, by having the false confidence that if I know Tajweed rules, I can be like Shuraim. (O yea, He is still my favorite new kid on the block).
I chose Shuraim for two reasons: (1) my voice resembles his especially during fajr time when I would be half asleep (and I love it that way, it sounds so 'masculine' !) And (2) Shuraim has this exclusive, enchanting style that I don't notice in any of the other reciters that I know of. He is like this new kid on the traditional jazz music scene with a completely new and refreshing voice and style so different from the classical gurus of recitation like Hudheifi or Basfar or Hoseiri. I have to admit here I've been a jazz fan (at least after coming to US), I cannot deny it, not before Allah SWT, who is described as "'aleem-um bi-dhaatis-sudoor" in the Quran. But I also have to admit that ever since I started listening to Shuraim, I just can not listen to anything else. His voice is so smooth, with that touch-of-velvet like feeling and his pace, SubhanAllah, once started, is smoother than the smoothest jazz music (Listen to his Surat Al-Jinn here). In particular, I love his rhythm, his occasional breaks of emotion, his constant pitch of sound which amplifies itself at suitable words (like the way he stops at the Lafz-jalaalah, ALLAH). I simply don not notice these features in the recitation of a classical masters like Hudheifi. I have listened to Shuraim's recitation so many times from the recordings which I downloaded on my computer. I am so familiar with his recitation that I know precisely at what verse he is going to stop to cry, to express anger, express love or inject whatever suitable emotion fits for that particular verse (Listen to his Surat Al-Mutaffifeen here or Surat Al-Mulk - my favorite!).
So anyway, I would just sit there with the Sheikh trying to recite a page or two from the Quran every morning. I had no clue what those verses meant. But after I started reading the tafseer of those verses before attempting to practice Tajweed, 'WALLAHI', I could feel like needed 50% less effort at applying the Tajweed rules. But the downside of this is that it takes forever to read a the translation and tafseer of a page of verses from Quran. For instance, the other day, I was reciting Surat Yunus after fajr Salat and the Sheikh, for the first time "in my lfe" was impressed by me! He has his peculiar wry grin on his face at such occasions, when he is being appreciative while trying not to mention the mistakes I make. I usually make blunders in Tajweed, with at least 3-4 mistakes per line ranging from messing up simple fatha with kathra to stopping or pausing at all the wrong locations, then going back a few words to maintain continuity and again messing up kathra with fatha on my way back and so on and so forth. But Alhamdulillah on that day, I seem to have maintained good continuity with very few Fatha/Kathra exhanges. So the Sheikh couldn't resist asking me which reciter I had been listening to and how many times I had listened to him. I couldn't resist smiling back while telling him that I spent almost 4 hours to read the tafseer and then preactice recitation for only a couple of pages of that Surah. But it was not not Shuraim this time. He was way too fast in that particular recording I had for that Surah. Somehow I happend to stumble upon Abdullah Basfar's beautiful recitation online and SubhAllah, his Surah Yunus (CLICK here to listen , you have to scroll down to find the player) impressed me so much that i had to reckon that the new-kid-on-the-block (Shuraim) can't beat a classical maestro like Basfar! I really loved his classic style and downloaded his recitation and played verse by verse many times over while pausing each time to imitate him. No wonder my friend in the other room of the apartment we both share was looking surprised at me in the morning and asking if it was me who was awake until 2 AM the previous night and making strange noises!
Well, after this and other similar experiences, I now feel that I should dare NOT to venture to recite any verse from the Quran just for the heck of it. I now feel ashamed, or rather cowed down by the majesty of the Quran. I simply had no real real sense of it before Ramadan. I feel ashamed of myself for all the destruction I was causing until now, by having the false confidence that if I know Tajweed rules, I can be like Shuraim. (O yea, He is still my favorite new kid on the block).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
