Nightmare

People were smoking in that gloomy office. They looked weird and mysterious at the same time. A woman came to me:

“RD is calling you.”

I got up and followed that woman. The moment I entered RD’s office I started shivering with fear. RD had no head.

“You’re early, 15 minutes. That’s impressive!”

The voice came right from the table in-front where RD’s head was lying.

My eyes got wide open. I was sweating on my bed, dream was over. I hurried to the bathroom to get ready for my first day at work. I was already 15 minutes late.

MAK

It was my first month at work while I was observing and experiencing a lot of stuff in my professional life. MAK (Mohammad Ahmed Khan) was our agency’s Creative Director. Everyone used to call him Ahmed Bhai.

I was on my way to meet him at his office. The moment I entered his room with some routine work he shot me up with a question:

“How is it going?”

And in a microsecond every single statement from different colleagues regarding Ahmed Bhai started dancing in front of me. Well, the majority of the statements:

“I feel this small when Ahmed Bhai is angry with me.”

“I only say Prayers when Ahmed Bhai is around.”

“Ahmed Bhai is unlike other bosses. I hate the rest.”

“He is just better than the rest of the crew. Less Corrupt.”

“What you decide to discuss with him, exactly the opposite happens after the discussion is over with him.”

“I think Ahmed Bhai has a Djinn………...he knows my secret that I never told anyone. He was asking me about it.”

“You see this new entry in our office, the Ahmed Bhai look-like, same beard but with a cap (They were talking about ME). He is His (Ahmed Bhai’s) Spy and is here with a purpose…he has the same (Ahmed Bhai’s) thinking, and I believe he is hired to convince all of us to think His way (Ahmed Bhai’s). You know, to be on the same scale and platform. Basically, to prove us wrong and get things done without a conflict.”

“If you want to discuss anything with Ahmed Bhai, I suggest you should pen those things down on a paper and take it along with you during the session. Otherwise you will forget your points, right there at the right moment.”

“Are you understanding everything around here?” Ahmed Bhai put an end to the dancing statements in my mind.

“Let me tell you one thing.” Ahmed Bhai continued. “The kind of environment, the kind of atmosphere you get in my agency; you will not get it anywhere else in Pakistan.”

I looked through Ahmed Bhai’s shiny little eyes and wished if I could become a SPY.

Story of the Lamp

“Useless Obedience”

Not very long ago, my friend from Australia (Actually Pakistani but recently shifted there) sent me a lamp as a gift. He also sent the same to another common friend of ours. Australian friend’s strict instructions were:

“Do not fix the lamp by yourself. Wait for Raja (The Other Friend) he will come at your place to do so. You might break the lamp.”

Raja never came because the Australian friend sent both the lamps without bulbs. So first we needed the bulbs for the lamps. According to Raja:

“Bulb for this particular lamp are not available in Pakistan.”

Australian friend responded to this statement of Raja and tried to convince Raja that bulbs are available in Pakistan.

Raja replied with the problem:

“Maulvi likes warm light, and I have ordered warm light bulbs from Dubai. Let them come and then I will set both the lamps before Ramzan.”

Raja never came before Ramzan due to official trip to Karachi, and after Ramzan he got married. I waited for him but that lamp did not get lucky. Before Ramzan it was 1^st week of June and after Ramzan July was almost hitting its 20^th. August, September, October passed away; eventually I forgot about setting the lamp.

Finally, November arrived, my sister told me about a lamp store that should be visited. I needed a lamp for my writing table so I went to that store. The moment I entered that store I saw the exact same lamp which my Australian friend gifted me with strict instructions.

I asked the shopkeeper about the bulb. And he replied with a smile:

“No sir no special bulb and especially not from Dubai. Just simple energy saver Osaka or Philips; not the pin one but the one with bangles (Choori Wala). Get with cool or warm light, depends on your choice. I can fix your lamp if you have any doubts”

From the same store I bought another lamp for my writing table. On my way back home I stopped by an electric store to purchase energy savers of my choice. I set the new lamp on my writing table when I reached home and after that I unpacked the gift from Australia and ignored the strict instructions.

I assembled the lamp within 15 minutes. Now the bulb, when I looked at the holder it seemed different and I thought my friends are right; this holder might require that bulb especially made for this particular lamp. But Thank God, I recalled that lamp in its operational form in the store where I was like half an hour ago. I fixed the energy saver fine and switched the lamp on.

Amazing light, that took more than six months to glow. Really, it made me very happy. I placed it properly and I truly liked the lamp’s everything. The gift was perfect. Thank You Omer! (The Australian Friend). Amazing Warm Light.

Also I thought for a moment that someone has ordered bulbs for the lamp from Dubai. And they are on their way…I still got no news about the lamp sent to Raja (The Other Friend) if it’s working or still packed under some bed. Because, mine was, but not anymore.  

The Man With a Special Sight

There was a guy we met in Raiwind who told us a story of a man who attained the Special Sight through piety.

Special Sight means that the Invisible Veil in front of the eyes is somehow removed or not there anymore.

The guy continued his story;

“That man never used to have food from market. He used to grow vegetables by himself and was careful in arranging meat and chicken whenever he felt the need. After a while he started seeing other people not in the usual way but in the form of animals and other creatures. Some people got the head of donkey and some are dogs. Rest of the body is like normal human beings. Basically he got free of the Veil in front of his eyes. He could not believe it and got very much stressed. Also scared, he reached somewhere before time. There might be some other reason. He consulted this issue with his senior; the senior smiled and asked his servant to bring my brother a cup of tea from the market (Bazaari Chai). After having that tea that man became normal and the Veil was back on like the way it used to be. Finally, he started seeing everyone the usual way.”

During the times of Moses (PBUH), we know that people used to get transformed in to non-human beings due to their sins. Especially we remember the incident of “The Butcher & His Parents”. But afterwards, it stopped happening due to the Prayer of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). We should be grateful to that.

I realized the importance of Bazaari Chai after hearing this story from that Raiwind guy, and also wondered, what if I had met that man in the time of his special sight?   

Literature Fever

“Dear Talha Anwar,

Thank you very much for your interest in the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS).

The Admissions Committee has reviewed your application to attend the Spring Semester 2015-2016 at LUMS as an Auditing Student. We receive a large number of applications for the limited seats available and entry to the programme is highly competitive. We are pleased to inform you that you have qualified for the admission, and everyone in the Social Sciences Department are waiting for you.

We also wish you success in your future endeavours.

Sincerely,

......................."

This is how you read a letter in excitement and you still can’t believe it.

Let me tell you the story from the very beginning.

Punjab University

“You are an MBA Graduate but not with the required GPA. You should have a CGPA of 5. 4.9 will keep you in the waiting list. The literature department has its standards to maintain. Basically we don’t give admissions to humans. Hope you don’t mind being one.”

Government College

“Everything is more than good except you did not appear in 200 marks English Exam in your Bachelors’ Programme.”

“Sir what’s the Solution?”

“Take Admissions in our Bachelors’ Programme and appear in 200 marks English Exam.”

LUMS

“Today is 12^th October and it’s the last day to apply. Please apply online before 5 O Clock. Otherwise…”

“But ma’am the course offer list is still not released by the Social Sciences Department.”

“Can’t help it. It’s your fate, so you have to bare the loss. Go to the Admissions Office and sort out this issue.”

The Admissions Office was quite cold but still they came up with a solution.

“Get the code of any course in order to proceed with your admission procedure. You can take the course code from the Social Sciences Department. You better hurry up. Just 2 hours left. After that admissions will be closed.”

The Social Sciences Department took a print out of the previous year course list and handed me over the course code.

I took the code to the Admissions Office. Only 20 minutes were left. They took the code and entered the information; helped me out in applying online with the shortest fastest possible way. Really appreciated that. After all I was hanging around their heads for the past two months and they were not at all bothered. What they did in 10 minutes seemed unusual of them.

At 4:50 PM my online application was submitted. It felt like something heavy on my head and shoulders got unloaded. I thanked them and they handed me over the Admission Processing Fee Voucher.

Next day I deposited the fee and thanked Allah in my heart that all went well.

After about a month I got a letter from the Institution and I opened it with excitement. In fact, the letter was like this:

“Dear Talha Anwar,

Thank you very much for your interest in the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS).

The Admissions Committee has reviewed your application to attend the Spring Semester 2015-2016 at LUMS as an Auditing Student. We receive a large number of applications for the limited seats available and entry to the programme is highly competitive. I regret to inform you that you have not qualified for admission, and I am sorry for the disappointment it will inevitably cause you.

We wish you success in your future endeavours.

Sincerely,

......................."  

Abdullah

"Hello."

"Yeah."

"I'm a father now to a baby boy." Salik broke the news over phone. An old friend.

................................................

Not very long ago, I was heading home after Esha Prayers on foot when Salik pulled up his car on my way back to home at the end of the street.

"Hey, come fast we got to meet Imam Saab."

"What's the rush?"

"Just need to return him his books. We'll just drop them, say Salam and then head back home. A matter of 15 minutes."

"Have you informed Imam Saab that we are coming."

"Yeah I did."

I joined him on the Imam Saab tour. Within three minutes we reached at the gates of Imam Saab's Masjid  where he is responsible to lead the 5 times Prayers. Salik parked the car outside and in a rush he pushed the gates and entered into the hall of Masjid. 

I followed Salik in the hall and found Imam Saab sitting there under the white light of energy saver with two other men. Imam Saab greeted us with pleasure and the other two men just smiled at our arrival.

"You can keep the books if you want to."

"Thank You very much." Salik did not take the books.

"What else?"

"Nothing, we will leave now. I got to visit the old city tomorrow morning."

"You may leave but, if you want to see a Jinn you can stay. Party will be here in a while."

Salik looked towards me with excitement.

"Talha, you got time? I can't leave without a watching a Jinn."

"Plenty of time. No issues."

"Just sit tight then, I'll drop you home in a while."

I still can't believe why I agreed with Salik that time to watch a Jinn. The moment they mentioned it I thought it was a joke. And I thought it will be over in a while but that wasn't really a joke. I realized that fact the minute I said "No Issues.".

After some minutes few men arrived with long beards and no caps on their heads wearing white clothes (Shalwar Kameez). Along with them there was a little boy around the age of  7.

"It's with him." The men in white clothes pointed at the little boy.

"No worries. Just relax and sit there and make the lad sit in front of me." 

The men in white sat with a distance after literally placing the little boy in front of Imam Saab. I was sitting right next to Imam Saab and Salik with happiness out of this world was on the left.

"What happened to you? Tell me your name." Imam Saab asked the little boy this question but he was dizzy. I realized this fact after Imam Saab's question. The little boy could not answer. He was not in his senses. 

"Bring water...!" Imam Saab ordered one of the two men who were already here before our arrival.

Imam Saab read some verses from Quran and made the little boy drink some of it. Imam Saab kept on reading. After drinking that water the little boy looked better. He was stable this time.

"What do you see? A Door or a Hole? Imam Saab asked the little boy this question. I was still not believing it.

"It's a Hole." The little boy replied. His voice did not seem like little ones'.

"Is it a Black Hole or you see White Light coming through it?"

"It's Black." The little boy replied to Imam Saab.

"It will come now."

Imam Saab kind of announced. Right that moment I saw a jerk in the little boy's body. Imam Saab took out a stick. He held the little boy's hand and made the stick go through his fingers.

"What is your name?" Imam Saab asked the little boy this question once again.

"ABDULLAH." Little boy kind of howled his name. He was so loud and so not that little boy apparently. He started looking at Imam Saab with a very evil look.

The moment he mentioned his name "Abdullah" I got terrified. I noticed that none of the other people in that particular gathering got scared. Except me. I guess for them it was something very normal. But, at that time, it was not at all anything that should be called normal to me. In fact, you take many things in life non seriously and you are kind of a non believer. All Hollywood films I recalled that very time were not really some craps. They all flooded up in my memory, after all they got something true. Not entirely but some part of it that I used to consider a lie before this incident.

I also got shocked the way my heart reacted to this incident. I felt weak and kept on trembling in terror. Obviously I tried to cover that and pretended that I am very brave and I am not at all affected but, you all should know that so called Jinn "Abdullah" was hardly at a distance of 1 to 2 feet. If Imam Saab was not sitting right next to me I would have run and run till I reach home with maximum speed.

"How many are you?"

"FIVE."

"Why are you disturbing the little boy?"

"JUST FOR FUN......HAHAHAHA."

Imam Saab squeezed the hand of that Jinn (Little boy) and pressed the fingers beneath which the stick started to hurt. "Abdullah" got terrified...

"You better leave this place for good along with your friends. Next time if I ever see you anywhere causing such trouble, I will lock you down in a place from where you never be able to escape. Consider this as a last warning."

Imam Saab made "Abdullah" very clear. And that was evident from his reply.

"Okay."

"Before you leave shake hands with our brother Talha."

"Abdullah" the Jinn moved forward towards me to shake hands with me. Though he was that little boy apparently but, I was about to faint. The moment he shook hands with Imam Saab smiled. I'm sure he knew that I was shit scared the whole time. Still I shook hands.

"Now go...."

The little boy fainted after the procedure. "Abdullah" was gone. Imam Saab sprinkled that water over the little boy whose real name I still don't remember.

"He will be fine in 10 to 15 minutes."

Later we left the Masjid and headed home. Salik was more than happy. It was like his dream came true.

A few months later all was normal but this whole event or anything related to the event brings some amount of fear in my heart. At present that small amount of fear has wiped out but it was there or remained there inside the corners of my heart for quite a while. And the last I felt it when Salik called me to break the news...

"I'm a father now to baby boy."

"Congrats...so what name are you thinking for the newly born?

"Abdullah." 

The Wish-List

“I love Camry.”

“I want 7 series!”

“I just don’t understand when I will be able to buy one.”

“Whenever I’m on the road, I become sad.”

“Yes, same happens to me, my heart starts burning.”

I meet my friends often and they are always discussing cars. It’s their passion, their dream at individual levels or simply something to achieve in their wish-list(s). As a matter of fact; cars are the most desirable stuff in their wish-list(s). Their love, I hope it’s not final. 

Once in the love of cars one friend said:

“I want to become a Driver, so that I drive my favourite cars all day long and when I get tired I just go to sleep and when I get up, I get back to driving, my dream cars.”

One of my friends in frustration even stated that:

”I’m unable to accept those creatures sitting at the driving seats.”

Another said:

“I do not want to get my favourite car at the age of 50 or 40, not even at the age of 30. I want it right now.”  

And another:

“There is no use if I work all my life and when I become an old man then I finally get the car I’m dying for.”

I just thank Allah that I don’t have cars in my wish-list. It is very hard to see the thing you love in front of your eyes flowing here and there and you are unable to be with it.

“I like Suzuki Swift it's cool.”

“Oh shut-up.”

“BBC Top Gear stated that if you have don’t have money to buy Mini Cooper then you should not be worried and go for Swift. Plus it’s economical and fuel consumption is awesome.”

“Really? How much in 1 Litre?”

“I did not check like that.”

“Then how did you check it?”

“I checked it from the needle (Fuel Indicator).”

“NEEDLE???”

“Petrol Needle, when I come from Islamabad to Lahore in Civic it comes back to point E really fast and when I come to Lahore from the same city in Swift it comes as slow as you want it to be.”