WHEN I WENT FOR HAJJ

I was never a too devoted practicing religious person. I am still not.

My parents went to Hajj in the year 1974, by sea. They travelled by the famous SAFEENA E HUJJAJ.

They used to tell us the  details of what they did and what had happened there. They had been narrating their personal observations to us frequently. Due to my father's involvement in the field of journalism, he was in the habit of observing everything from different angles. So he had been narrating such observations which we had never heard from any other Haji before.

One of those observations was that Hajj needs physical fitness. Thus in their opinion it was never a good option to leave Hajj to be done in the last part of our ages. One must perform Hajj during his young age, when physical fit. His observation was that a number of old Hajjis usually fail to perform all the parts of the Hajj, due to their weakness and sickness. The heat of Mecca also plays its part in effecting physical fitness of old and weak hajis.

After completing my chartered Accountancy, i had started working in the Rahim Jan &Co. Chartered Accountants. My parents suggested that it would be better if i go for Hajj at a younger age. I said OK to them. The year was perhaps 1984. I was 29 years old. I filled the Hajj Application form to go by air. I deposited the needed amount and waited for the announcement of my name in the names' draw.

My names was not among the list of probable Hajjis, when the names were announced. We decided not to draw back the amount deposited and to try our luck for next year.

It was 14th August 1984. I had gone to the house of my maternal grandmother in Nazimabad Number 1, Karachi. Suddenly my parents came there. (Keep it in mind in those there were no mobile phones, and there was no normal phone in the house of my grandmother) They told me that they had received a call from a friend of my father, who was working in the Hajj Department, that there were some vacant dock seats in the next voyage of the MV SAFEENA E ARAB. It was 14th August and the ship was due to sale at 5AM on 16th August. There was just one day left.

An adventure person i am, i instantly said Yes to my parents. We rushed home back. My father phoned back his friend in Hajj department, and told him that i would be going.

There was not much time left. It was 14th August, most of the shops were closed. We decided to go and meet some close relatives that evening.

At that time i was working on the audit of KESC. It was a special annual  audit that we used to do for the World Bank. The reports and information had been submitted to them on the prescribed form. I was the job incharge. Muhammad Zaki was the senior of the job. (He is now the Director Finance of Interflow group of companies in Karachi). I told him the situation, and told him how he would be finalising the report in my absence. I phoned my boss, Syed Hafizullah FCA, the partner of Rahim Jan & Co. Chartered Accountants, and told him that i would be going to Hajj the next morning. He was stunned, he asked me about the situation of the audit job, i told him that Muhammad Zaki was competent enough to finalise the report in my absence. There was no other option left for him but to accept my request. I left the office.

The remaining part of the day, me and my parents spent to buy the necessary clothes, the ahrams, a thin portable plastic folding foam to be used as emergency bed, a cup, two steel plates, two spoons, and some other necessary things etc etc. All these were put in a canvas bag that i could carry on my back or in hand. That was all that i was going to have with me.  We went to the Haji camp and got the necessary papers filled there. Not to forget, that we took a book about how to perform hajj, from the Haji camp. By night i was all ready , both physically and mentally, for the unforgettable adventure,due to start the next morning.

I must mention that due to shortage of time my passport and needed visa from the Saudi Arabian embassy could not be have. No MUALLEM was made responsible to lead me during Hajj.

The next morning we reached the port at about 5Am. There was a huge crowd there. The ship was going to carry 1200 passengers. I was one DIFFERENT passenger among them...........without any passport.

I boarded the ship. I had never travelled in a ship before. But i did have an idea about how the travel was going to be, because my parents had told me a lot. It was going to be 9 days and 9 nights in the ship. I  felt myself alone, as i waved goodbye to my parents and the younger brother and sister, from the ship and the ship sailed. Most of the passengers were  on the sides of the ship waiving hands to their  relatives. We all kept on looking back to the wharf, as we moved ahead, leaving everybody on the shore. It was a very sentimental sort of moment. Some tugs helped the ship to move away from the wharf. The speed boats of KPT accompanied the shift till the end of the wharf.

Most of the passengers had returned back inside the ship. I was still standing there on the other side of the ship, just looking at the one single pilot boat at full speed by the side of the ship. The pilot boat had had to accompany the ship to a few more kilometres. I liked the scene as if the vesell was racing with the red coloured pilot boat. Then the most important moment  arrived. I saw somebody (must be the captain of the boat) coming out , he stood alert there on the deck of the boat , facing the ship. He saluted  our ship, and the pilot boat took a U turn, while our ship galloped ahead, giving a loud whistle of depart. I lost the sight of the boat a couple of minutes later. I did not see it anymore. All of a sudden my heart sank. I had felt myself lonely. Perhaps i had considered that pilot boat as my last connection with Karachi. The last connection with land. For 9 more days and nights, i was not going to see the land anymore. Just blue sky and blue sea. I had felt my heart sunk. The real adventure had just begun.

It was a very large ship. I did not know where to put my bag and sit. I started looking for some place for myself. There were 3 huge holds in the ship. If i remember correctly the ship had 4 storeys. The hold mean the bottom of the ship, under which there were the engine rooms. The base of the hodls were made up of wood. Quite large.

( photo of a small HOLD of a ship)

There were cabins for the first class and second class passengers. The third class were the majority, like me .....the deck passengers. They were supposed to find a vacant place for themselves anywhere in the ship, within the allowed portions, and enjoy themselves. There were quite too many hanging beds on all four sides of the holds, but mostly people had decided to remain on the bottom of the hold. There were three holds in the ship. I put my bag somewhere in a vacant spot on the floor of the hold. Opened my folding foam and sat on it. There were quite too many people around me, Different people, different ages, men and women, different faces, different colours of dresses and sheets, different languages. But we were all one. Heading in the same direction, under the same conditions. I looked up from the place where i was sitting squat. Open sky could be seen in square form, four floors ahead. It was a unique scene. The ship was going too fast. I left my bed and bag there and set off for a tour of the ship.

It was a huge ship. I passed through the hospital, the toilets, the cabins, the mosque, residential portion of the crew, the kitchen, etc etc. There were 2 or 3 big TANDOORS. The two men there had already started working there. It was too early, but indeed the did have to feed 1200 persons . A very hard job indeed.

I returned back to my place, because the breakfast was going to be distributed.An announcement was made by the captain that everyone must go back to his place and wait for the breakfast.  A couple of crew members were distributing tea, biscuits, cake pieces etc to everybody. Everybody was advised to remain seated at the place where he was. They were approaching to each and everybody. Everything was very disciplined. No one was shouting, no hustle and tussle, everybody was sitting quietly, nobody was pushing . I thought if they were the same persons who used to push everybody while boarding the buses, or in lines. But they were the same people. Some may say that it was because they were going to perform hajj, some may say that there was no other option left to them but to obey the directives given to them by the captain and crew of the ship.

I enjoyed the breakfast.

I looked around to see the people between whom i was sitting. A big number of people there seemed to belong from Northern part of Pakistan. I did not know their language, but they did know mine. In a short period of time, we managed to loosen up. Since most of the persons there had already met each other in the Haji camp in karachi, so they had already taken their places in the form of their groups. I was not in any group. I was going to be simply someone or to be very correct nobody.

I realised once again that one has to find his own way by himself. I was used to this. But i was not and still not, a person who make friends easily. I always prefer to have my own ways, which frequently do not match to other people.

I continued my tour of the ship. There was a barber shop too. A small shop providing the newspapers too. It was a huge ship. Perhaps everything was there. Something like a small city afloat. I tried to read some newspapers, but left. I was more interested in looking at the huge fishes chasing the ship. They were jumping out of the blue sea and thumping back metres ahead. They were trying to outwit the speed of the ship. My parents had already told me this scene many a times.

The weather was not very good. Strong winds were there, and huge waves could be seen everywhere in the sea. The ship was moving ahead with great speed, but the way it was groppling with winds and the waves, we the passengers were feeling it inside our stomachs. The movement was exactly like this. First the front of the ship was going up high and then the whole ship was falling down with a thud over the wave. The same exercise was being repeatedly in harmony. Everybody started feeling vomitting. I saw the crew of the ship spreading all over the ship, directing the passengers where to vomit and where not. They were having cleaning utensils with them and cleaning everywhere. The situation had become too different from what it was a couple of hours earlier. The majority of the passengers were vomitting. The foul smell was everywhere. But the experienced crew was fast taking the remedial measures. Luckily i was not vomitting.

At lunch time once again we were advised to sit at our places. The crew started distributing food. Everyone had had to have their own plates. The food was of high quality. My favourite dishes were there. The mutton and potatoes. The tandoori roti (bread) and rice. But the most important item was AAM KA ACHAR (the mangoe pickles) . It was compulsory to eat the achar, since it was going to stop vomitting. The crew was asking each and everybody to eat it. We all obeyed.

At Zuhr prayer times, although most of the people had formed separate jamaats at different places, yet i preferred to go the ship's mosque. It was a small place. The movement of the ship was such that repeatedly we had had to hold each other to be able to remain on our feet in the saf.

By evening , most of the passengers were better. The initial attack of vomitting was over. After all we all were going to go through the same conditions for 9 days. How long can one continue vomitting? Our internal body systems had started adjusting itself to the demand of the time. Swinging right, left, front and back with the movement of the ship, our bodies had started becoming used to it.

I slept on the wooden floor, just like so many other passengers. It was cool. I was deep in my sleep when i felt my stomach going upset. I was vomitting. I ran and managed to reach the place where we were advised to vomit. But it was not stopping. I felt very very bad. I returned back to my place, but started feeling myself very sick. It was just the time of Fajr prayer. I was feeling too bad. My stomach was out of my control. I was feeling very week.

I  raised myself from the place where i was lying. Collected whole of my strength, and went to the ship's hospital. I was feeling myself in so bad a condition that i had thought that the doctor would immediately admit me. But the situation happened to be very different from what i had thought. The doctor listened to me patiently. he did not give me any medicine. He told me to go to kitchen, and take some green chillies, and a Tandoori roti. He advised me that i should remain in the middle area of the ship, just because the effects of movements of the shops were minimum there. He further advised me that when i lay down i must not sleep flat on my back. At first i was somewhat shocked at his advices. But later on as i acted according to his advices, i realised that he was correct. I was too happy and active in a very short period of time.

There was nobody to take care of me. I had had to take care of myself alone. That was just an another reason that i was back to normal in a very short period of time. I had learnt yet an another lesson, to guide me in my future life.

The days and nights kept on passing fast. I had made a couple of friends, but mostly i preferred to spend my time alone, watching sea, fishes by standing on sides of the ship. I was too interested in how does the crew of the ship worked. I did speak to some of the cadets and other staff there. Interestingly, the owner company of the ship. M/s PAN ISLAMIC SHIPPING was one of  the clients of Rahim Jan &Co. Chartered Accountants, but unfortunately i did never get a chance of auditing their accounts. Mr. Saeed, who had been my Senir Job Incharge in Rahim Jan &Co. during the days of my Articled ship, later joined Pan Islamic Shipping as its Chief Accountant. I myself did have some understanding of the ships and their management, as i had audited the accounts of  Pakistan National Shipping Corporation, the then largest merchant shipping corporation of Pakistan, and of Karachi Shipyard also. So i did have a sense about the ships..

I remember, during early 1980s on one particular day the Safeena e Hujjaj ship was made open to general public on the west wharf of karachi port. I had visited and toured the ship. There were 6 floors of the ship. It was a huge ship. I had enjoyed touring the ship with my father, who was too excited to pinpoint the places in the ship we he and my mother had slept years ago.

Well coming back to the main topic, life continued almost with the same routine for the next 9 days. sleeping, eating, praying, reading the book about Hajj,  wandering around  inside the ship, watching the games the fishes plays, observing the colours of the sea, which used to change frequently, from blue to green to black of varying shades. Life was going too smoothly. As always i never had the habit of missing anybody. My parents, brothers, sister, relatives, friends, i never felt missing anyone of them. This was my characteristic and still is. I do not miss my wife or children whenever i go out somewhere. I am perhaps aloof of such feelings. I am somewhat different sort of person.

Well the otherwise routine life suddenly got a jolt as we the ship reached the point where we were supposed to wear our ahrams. There was a sudden change of atmosphere inside the ship. Everything seemed changed. Everybody started off, going to take the bath and to wear the Ahram. The goal for which we all were travelling had started making its presence. A totally different feeling that i had never experienced before took me into its grip.

The ship kept on moving fast ahead, and we reached the port of jeddah. After a long period of 9 days and nights we all had seen the face of the land. Everybody took out the Hajj passport, and  started disembarking from the ship. But i was without the papers. As more and more left the ship, i found out that i was not alone. There were a few more pilgrims like me, who were not having their documents and Hajj passport. We were told by the crew to wait in the ship.

It did not take too long. Some persons, perhaps from the Pakistan embassy boarded the ship. They had brought  our Hajj passports with them. They handed over the passports to us and we too step on the soil of Saudi Arabia. During the period of 9 days the Haj department in karachi had prepared these passports, got the visa stamped from the Saudi consolate, and had sent them by air to Jeddah to be handed over to us on the ship. The first part of the adventure had finished. Much more had had to follow.

                                                          (jeddah port)

ORANGES ARE YELLOW AND LEAVES GREEN

The families of two nephews of my wife visited us in northern cyprus last summer. They stayed for a short period. The most part of the time ofcourse was spent in sightseeing. Although northern cyprus is a simall country, yet still there are quite too many places to go. The predominant characteristic of this part of the island is its natural beauty. I prefer to call it the nature at its best. The official tourism brochures however mention the northern cyprus as a corner of the earth touched  by heaven. Indeed it is.

So one day we went out for a day long travel from Lefkoşa to the Güzelyurt area, which is at a distance of about 40km. It was a nice drive and we stopped at a number of places to roam around.

However, the most prominent aspect of natural beauty of that areas are the gardens drooping with oranges. I call  that scene as a very unique combination of yellow and green colours. That's a chance to view the splash of colours on a very very huge canvas. Natural canvas, painted by the nature with natural colours. That is the beauty of the nature.

Well, we decided to stop at a point, where there were orange gardens on both sides of the road. Everybody  jumped off the car to enjoy the scene. It was a unique chance for the guests. We all enjoyed, roaming around the trees, with oranges almost touching our heads. The deeper we went inside the garden, the more natural the scene became.

Here are some evidences of that adventure from the eye of my camera

NORTH CYPRUS ON FOOT

I run and run, jog and jog and walk and walk. It has never been important for me if i run or jog or walk. Whatever it may be, i like it. The movement, and that is it.

For years i am walking, sometimes less , sometimes for long period of times. With the passage of time, i developed a liking for going out for long distances. I started going to a place called BOĞAZ, which is at a distance of about 10km from my city Lefkoşa (pronounced as Lefkosha). It is a straight broad road, which starts from Lefkoşa and goes to the port city of Girne (Kyrenia),passing through high mountains. Girne is about 20km from my house.

Mostly on sundays , whenever i managed to get time to walk, i started running/walking from Lefkoşa to Boğaz. The stretch of going and returning used to take around 3 to 4 hours. I liked walking that way. The natural beauty attracted me. 

Then one day i thought that if instead of returning back home from Boğaz, i keep on moving ahead, i would be reaching Girne (20 km). The idea fascinated me. I started off for it. It required quite terrible climbing also, as the road pass through narrow gauges. I started going off for Girne in the evening of saturdays around 5pm, reaching Girne at around 8pm. The nephew of my wife lives in Girne. I started staying at their place for night and started returning the next (sunday) morning to join my family at the sunday breakfast. This practice continued for a couple of years, with gaps, since mostly this could have been done only during summer, when the days are long .

However, over a period of time, i started thinking of walking to some other places to. But where? That was the main question. 

However, the vital point of going out for long distances is to manage the food, rest and returning home back. This aspect appear too difficult as compared to the act of running/walking. Someone must pick me up from the point where i finish my walk at the end of the day, and must be able to retake me back to the same point the next time to let me start the long run again. Providing water and food at various points is always a problem. My wife is very helpful in such cases, but it is not always preferable to engage her in such at the expense of personal and family engagements. 

So what should i do, if i want to go out for longer distances.?

With the passage of time, the idea further developed into my mind, and i started thinking of covering the whole Northern Cyprus on foot. 

To some the idea may seem too impractical. But too me, it is easy. I always believe that in such expeditions what is needed the most is strong will power. I always consider fitness as 30% and remaining 70% as will power. Once one commits himself/herself to such a goal, half of the problem stands solved instantly. This is what i believe.

Although i still have got to finalise the details of how would i be able to walk through the whole northern cyprus, however, yesterday (29th April 2012), i decided to put myself through the first challenge. To Test Myself. The longest stretch of my run/walk had been 25km. This time i decided to put my legs to a bit harder test. I decided to go for a 35km run/walk.

A family friend of ours live in a village named PAŞAKÖY (pronhounced as PASHAKOY...meaning the village of the General). I decided to go there by foot. The point of returning back home was kept open. I had thought that it would depend on my physical condition. If bad, i would be asking my friend to drop me back home, if not i would try to return on foot. But i remained undecided on this issue till the last.

So as the day arrived, i started off at around 6.30am.  I had taken a light early breakfast, but had taken two packets of biscuits and one small cake piece, alongwith a half litre water filled bottle.  I was happy to see that the weather was cloudy. "It is doing to be a good day for running", i said to myself. I started jogging. I continued on the same road which take me to my workplace. From the round about of the Çangar motors i turned left and reached the main highway which links Lefkoşa to the port city of  Gazi Mağusa (Famagusta). 

Although the clouds were there, but the sun had started showing its presence, as i was heading east, facing the sun. 

It was an easy run. There was very little traffic on the road. I was enjoying running at my usual slow space on the highway. It started becoming a bit hot while i reached the round about of Hamitköy. I estimated, i had perhaps crossed first 5km. 

The next point was going to be Haspolat. A small industrial area, which has got the University opposite to it, on the left side of the highway. I was no more running. Just walking. Enjoying the walk. I walked passed Haspolat at around 8 am. 

The next point was going to be the bridge, from where i was going to take a right turn, to go towards the Ercan airport. I decided to take first rest for a couple of minutes. I drank some water from my bottle. But i was not supposed to waste the time . The sun was fast rising up. It was getting hot. There was no other option for me but to move ahead fast. I sat off. 

The newly built road leading to the Ercan Airport is the one that i always wanted to run on. The time had come. I started running. I was enjoying. The sun was shining, i was running with the bottle in one hand and the packets of the biscuits in the other. I was running, singing. Easy going. Metres after metres were passing by. 

But the road was too long. After a couple of kilometres i was walking. Still enjoying. I was not feeling any tiredness. Just moving ahead and ahead and ahead. I had started listening the signals of tiredness coming from my legs, as i was reaching the 20km mark. I understood the feeling, as that was the maximum distance to which my legs had been taken me till then. But now they were supposed to take me much too far. The real test of endurance had just started. I had had 15 more kilometres to go. I told my legs that it was the time for which i had been training them for. 

As i reached the round about of the Ercan Airport, i decided to give myself  an another break. I sat on the grass, took off my goggles, hat, shoes and socks. I ate the small cake piece and drank some water. I wanted somebody to take my photos, but could not find anybody. I took some photos myself.

which one is more tired?

my legs or shoes?

I looked at my watch. The time was 10.30am. 4 hours had passed. I was on the road. It had started to be really hot. I was not supposed to waste any more time. There was no other option but to move. I don my shoes, put on my goggles and hat. The long long road towards Paşaköy was waiting for me.

It was a single road, so i had had to be careful walking. There were hip high brown wild grass on both the sides of the road. There were trees too, but their shades were not extending up to the road. I had had to bear the heat. 

I kept on going ahead, sometimes running just to change my mood, but mostly walking. Tractors, some cars crossed me from both the sides. I had had to go, so i continued. It was terribly hot. 

Gaziköy was the next village at a distance of about 12km from Ercan airport. I was too happy as i entered the village, because i did know that Paşalöy village is not much too far then. I crossed through the village in a very pleasant mood, although the weather was quite too hot. There was very little water left in my bottle. I wanted to buy a bottle of water from some market, but the only market that i found out on the main road, was closed. It was sunday. I crossed through the Sports club, where some people were sitting, first i thought to go there and see if i can buy a bottle of water from there, but i decided otherwise. 

I re-started running, because i wanted to finish the episode as early as possible. The temperature was around 30 degrees centigrade, and i was running, enjoying. My legs , which had been complaining of tiredness at Ercan, had infact stopped sensing anything  that could be referred to as tiredness. They were just under the command of my brain, which was pushing them to run and run and run, without feeling anything. My feet were chasing each other in an automatic rhythm. I was running, without feeling anything. No heat, no thirst, no tiredness. Perhaps all senses had started becoming ineffective on me. I was running slowly but in a very passionate style.

It was not too long that i found myself entering the Paşaköy village. The grand mosque of the village was in front of me. The house of my friend was just 100 metres away. I took a snap of the mosque, as a landmark for my expedition, and ran past it. 

The door was opened by the wife of my friend, who was terribly shocked in seeing me in such a condition. She did not believe me when i told her that i had come running/walking all the way through from Lefkoşa some  35km away. She took some time to come back to her senses. I drank two large glasses of water, and fell down at the sofa. It was 12noon. I had completed the span of 35km in 5.30 hours. Not a bad performance. I was a bit tired but too happy. 

I slept for about an hour. A deep sleep did the wonder. I woke up at about 1,30pm, almost fresh. The lunch was very nice, and i loaded myself as much as i could. Rice, potatoes, bread, salad, yoghurt, i cleaned all plates on the table. I did not sit back as i finished the lunch. I did not want to sit back. Later on i drank two cups of hot tea. I went to the toilet .

I was all ready to run/walk 35km again. I was no more undecided and confused. I had been feeling myself sufficiently fresh and confident to go out for further 35km. The time was quarter to 3pm. I said goodbye, and came back on the road, heading back towards Gaziköy and Ercan airport. 

I was in high spirits. The only problem was heat. It was quite too hot. Scortching sun was just on my head. However, i succeeded in keeping my attention diverted to the sceneries around. In fact there was nothing extraordinary around. Stretched to the forenost were plain fields. There was nobody anywhere, except small lizards emerging from the brown grass, going faster than me for a moment and again going back to the grass. They were of all sizes. I enjoyed looking at them. I kept on walking. The road to Ercan was too long....more than 10 kilometres. 

Again i gave myself a ten minutes rest break as i reached Ercan airport round about. I took off my shoes, sat on the grass, rested my back to the iron base of a neon sign. I closed my eyes. The clouds had re-started emerging. In a short period of time, it was no more as hot as it had been before. I was lucky.

I took off again, to run back on the long long road with my back towards Ercan. It was a nice run with long patches of walking. Cars and taxis were fast passing by me. The traffic on the road had started to increase. A couple of aeroplanes had landed a little earlier, and the passengers were fast going to their destinations. Some did blew their horn, some waived hands to me as they crossed by. I enjoyed the scene. But i had started feeling tiredness. It was still more than 10 km to go. 

I was no more running. I decided to give myself another 10 minutes rest gap, as i turned left ton the main highway facing Lefkoşa. There was a small bus stop there. I put my things on the bench, took off my shoes, and closed my eyes. I was tired. 

I took off again. I had had to walk, there was no other option for me. Walk and walk and walk.  "Just ten kilometres left,"i told myself, as i set off with fresh commitment. I had already finished the water. I bought a fresh bottle from a petrolpump.The water was cold. I finished the whole bottle in one go. 

It was about 8,30pm as i crossed Hamitköy roundabout. Totally dark.  "Reaching home in 45 minutes." i messaged to my daughter. 

My legs were tired but were moving in full swing, as i turned to the road where i walk 6km daily. The rest was easy. 

It was 9 pm as i entered my house. Home sweet home.

It was a wonderful day. I was too tired physically , but not mentally. 

Now i am more confident. I tested myself. I passed. Next time i will be goiing for a further longer distance. I have already crossed the 70km mark. 

(In the end i would like to say that it is only Allah who helps me moving ahead in life and in overcoming all obstacles. But i do not like saying İnshallah, Mashallah, etc every now and then, because i believe that excessive repitition of any word leads to reduction in its importance. )

IT IS WITHIN OUR REACH

The 49 years old Belgian athlete Stefan Engels has created a record of running a marathon a day, consecutively for 365 days. a wonderful achievement.

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/SPORT/02/05/marathon.record.engels.365/index.html

I was just reading this news item. Rolling down to the news item, i found out something very interesting. He was a patient of ASTHMA, as a child. The doctors had told him that he would never be able to do exercise. It was then that he decided to start running marathon. Now look at the achievement of the same asthma patient.

The reason is simple. I believe that doctors usually OVERACT and make the patients terrified. Being sick is just a part of life, and the life must go on. But my experience shows that the doctors usually do more to terrify the patient instead of building his confidence and will power.

The only way out that the doctors usually show to their parents is medicines. the patients of blood pressure, sugar, etc etc live their lives just with the help of the medicines. Whereas had they not become addicted to these medicines, they could have lead a normal life, just by being more disciplines and careful. But the doctors do not show them these ways. The medicines are not the only recourse. Disciplining the daily life is the answer.

I might have mentioned earlier too. I was a regular visitor of doctors' clinic till i was in my early twenties. I was diognised Tuberculosis. A pretty long and strenuous period of medicines, injections, x-rays, blood tests etc etc passed, and that made me think about asking myself. "Is this the only way?".

With the help of my father, i started collecting information about the human body and medicines. then i found a book that my father had brought a couple of years back. It was the urdu translation of an english book. I do not remember its name now, but i remember i had found it sometime back on the net also. The book is the life tale of a person, who did have a long history of heart disorders in his family. He himself was a centre of quite too many sickness as a child. The doctors had never hoped that he would remain alive. But this young man, later on  studied human body, its functions and disorders, and decided to discipline his life.

He charted out his own principles of disciplining his own life. He tested all his theories over his own body and started seeing the results. The book carried his photos at the age of 20s and 70s. He was too fit at the age of 70.

Just simply, disciplining the life.
BASIS OF SELF DISCIPLINING

IMPROVING THE IMMUNE SYSTEM .... HOW TO AVOID BECOMING SICK

A strong immune system is the key for a healthy life. Persons with weaker immune system carry more chance of getting sick again and again. A person with a stronger immune system most probably get least damage for any sickness. It is just like the armed forces of a country. A country must have a strong military force to thwart any attack from outside.

Our bodies are our country. We have got  organs to run this country. The immune system is our defence forces.  We must try to improve their effectiveness. This is simple logic.

Medicines are basically toxins. The toxins pass out of our body from various points of discharge. The production of toxins is an automatic and natural process of our body systems. The whole system works naturally, but once we increase the burden of toxins , on our organs, by inducting toxins from the medicines, these organs suffer , since they do have to work more to pass the toxins through. Thus various systems of our bodies start being tired of overworking. This overworking of all organs, are one of the main reasons of our so many sicknesses. The sickness first show signs on the spot or organ which happens to be the weakest in our body.  It differs from person to person. Again some more medicines,further  increase burden on our organs, and the next weaker organ of our body start giving signals of being sick. Thus a chain of intermitting complaints of sickness starts. We feel ourselves cured of one sickness by using some prescribed medicines. But in fact the chain of interlinking actions and reactions inside our body continues. We do not know how we have overburdened our inner organs, and all of a sudden one day we start complaining about some other sickness. We never think of linking the two sicknesses. Our doctors never tell us this. Why?

The present day medicines in general help our immune system , in getting rid of some sickness. These medicines can thus be considered as the foreign soldiers whom we have invited to help our soldiers to defend our borders. But how long? We must try to build a system that we would not be needing this foreign military help at the time of need. We must try to strengthen our own defence mechanism.

Let i continue with the same example, just to understand the situation. The arrival of the foreign forces always make a negative psychological effects on the local soldiers. They become used to asking for the foreign help at the time of need. They get used to this practice, and suffer strong downfall in their own efficiency. They become lazy .

This is exactly what happens to our immune system (internal defence mechanism of our bodies), when we ask for foreign help (medicines) again and again.

The only way out is to train our soldiers. We must force our soldiers to strictly adhere the military drills. They must be forced to obey the orders. They must sleep and wake up at the assigned timings. They must be ever ready to meet any foreign threat at the first stage.

We must discipline our lives to make our immune soldier as strong and efficient as a perfect soldier.

We must now think, do we need foreign soldiers to defend our borders and our soldiers remain lazy and efficient, or you want to put your soldiers through strict military drills. This is what i call disciplining our lives.

BE HEALTHY BY SAYING NO TO THE MEDICINES.........DISCIPLINE YOUR LIFE

                                                                           Photo by Hugh Kretschmer for Newsweek

Ask any sick person about the reason of his sickness. He will come up with the name of a disease or virus. Ask a doctor the sickness of his patients? He will list down the names of the diseases. Go to any doctor, tell him about your sickness, he will prescribe a number of medicines for you.

By using the prescribed medicines, you will find yourself recovered quickly. That makes you happy . But what you do not know that the medicines that you used in fact have relieved you of your prime complaint. But you are still prone to other sicknesses. In a short period of time you will find yourself again visiting the same or some other doctor, with a different complain. As the saying goes once you start using medicines with or without doctors's prescription, in all probability you will become a more frequent visitor to the doctor and consumer of the medicines.

Why is it so?

The human body has got the immune system. I prefer to call it the natural inbuilt defence mechanism of the human body. We become more prone to any sickness when our immune system is weak. Unfortunately, the doctors usually do not tell us what makes our immune system weak. The very obvious reason for this behaviour of the doctors is that they do not want to lose the patients.

What makes our immune system weak?

A long list of reasons can be prepared, however most important from them are........

1.MEDICINES THAT WE USE. Medicines are the toxins, when mixed up with our blood effects so many areas of our organs that even the present day medical system does not know.

2. USE OF ANTIBIOTICS


3. IMPROPER DIET


4. USE OF ALCOHOL


5. STRESS


6. EXPOSURE TO RADIATION


7. LACK OF EXERCISE


8. LACK OF SLEEP

etc etc etc

Now whenever you feel yourself sick look at the above, and test yourself against them. Do not rush to the doctor. Take your time. Try to understand your body yourself. Do not let the doctor take decisions on your behalf, because everyone of us has got a different body, and it is only us who can feel what our body is saying. A doctor simply cannot hear the voice of our bodies. He can just guess.

So take your time. Do not rush to the doctor, who has got no other goal but to prescribe the medicines, and play his part in bumper profits of the pharmaceutical firms.

ALWAYS KEEP ONE SIMPLE POINT IN YOUR MIND
It is better to discipline your life yourself, if you do not want to spend your life attached to a respiratory machine. Disciplining the life is not something difficult. Do everything to improve your immune system, if you want to remain away from the sickness.

NOTE: I used to be a Tuberculosis patient at the age of 24 and a frequent visitor of the doctors' clinics.  One day i stopped using medicines and learnt to understand the complaints of my body. I have learnt how to bear the pain, by being remain cool and patient. Regular minimum exercise, has played a big role in keeping me away from medicines. Now at the age of 56 i run/jog/walk for around 60km per week. I have not used medicines for over last 30 years. I am very happy and find myself healthy. 

SAY NO TO MEDICINE
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2011/08/14/some-medical-tests-procedures-do-more-harm-than-good.html

MY FIRST PAINTING EXHIBITION

Thanks to early guidance by my father, i  started making pencil sketches at a very young age, when i was in the middle school.. Later on my studies forced me to not to go too far in the world of art. However once i qualified as Chartered Accountant, in 1979, the road was wide open to me .

However, as if freed from a prison, i started off in various directions at the same time. Music, journalism,running, painting, plus my job, i set off for all at once. However, with the limited time at my disposal, i could not do much that i wanted to do.

But even before that when i use the word Exhibition, i recall the time when i was in class 6th i thnk. My father had showed me how to draw a portrait on paper, by making small squares  on the original photo and then making the same number of larger squares on a piece of paper, and then draw every line in each square as it appeared in the same square on the photo.

I made the portrait of a boy, just lines, no shades. I showed it to my father. He was more than pleased. As a recognition of my achievement, he pasted that sketch on the entrance door of our sitting room. So every visitor used to have a look at the portrait that i had made. The same portrait remained there on the door for quite sometime. It was the first exhibition of my art work.

I had been making pencil sketches for years, however by looking at the penworks by famous artist EQBAL MEHDI http://www.eqbalmehdi.com/ in Subrung digest, i had started making sketches by ballpoint pens and marker. However i did not know how to make sketches by pen and ink. I was too afraid to start oil painting.

EQBAL MEHDI


beautiful-drawings-and-paintings-of. EQBAL MEHDI

I had joined M/s Rahim Jan & Co. Charterd Accountants, as an articled clerk for doing my chartered accountancy, in 1974. My first audit assignment was Khairpur Oil Mills, Khairpur Miras, Sindh. I stayed there for quite sometime. I was staying in the guest house of he mill. I was having much free time , after returning from work. There were around 8 quite large photos of sceneries in glass frames, ahnging in the dining hall. An idea struck my mind. I started copying the sketches made by EQBAL MEHDI in Subrung digest, on large drawing cards, with pencil colours. I had been completing a couple of sketches a week, and replacing the sceneries in the frames with my colourful sketches. In a month's time, their was none of the sceneries left. The dining hall had become my exhibition hall. There were 8 large sized (about 24 x 20 inches) framed coloured sketches , made by myself, hanging there. There were not much visitors there, except three or four regular visitors there. Even then it was a matter of pride for me.For the first time I had put my art works on display.

Later on in  the year 1983. We were going to have  the annual get together of Rahim Jan & Co, in Sana Palace, Federal B' Area, Karachi. I was the main organisor. One of my articled clerk RIZWAN HASHMI was interested in calligraphy. He had had some good pieces of calligraphies done by him in oil. I had written an article about his calligraphy, which was published in the youth page of  The Dawn.

While organising the annual get together, the idea of exhibiting our paintings in the function came to our minds. It was a good idea. Resultantly i pasted my pencil works on hard boards. There were i think 10 or 12 sketches in all. Rizwan was going to put 4 or 5 pieces of his calligraphy.

On the day of the function we put a few tables in the corner of the hall and put our works resting by the wall on them. It was a moment of extreme satisfaction seeing the guests appreciating our efforts.,

I continued making sketches in pencil and pen, when in the year 1984  my friend Iftikhar Hussain, who used to be my old class fellow and the singer of our musical group,(i used to play drums in the group) THE GRADUATES, took me to the annual function of ZUBAIRI ASSOCIATION. There i met a young artist (Razi Ahmet Zubairi) who had put some of his art works on display there. Indeed that was the only thing that i was interested in.The quality and standard of his works made me realise that i must be working hard if i want to do something in the world of art. Iftikhar introduced me to the artist  Lately my friendship with Razi fostered.

However, thanks to my friend Razi Zubairi, i started doing oil painting too. My field of work has always been portraits. I started doing experimenting with oils. Once i made a portrait of an old man by rubbing black paint on a white canvass and then etched the black colour by a piece of cloth. The result was a good portrait of an old man. Razi Zubairi asked me to put the painting in a competition which was being organised by the Arts Council of Pakistan,  Karachi (1984). Reluctantly i submitted my painting. I was more than happy when i was awarded the special prize. This helped me gaining the much needed confidence, and i started taking painting more seriously. But ofcourse finding time from painting was the biggest problem for me.

It was early 1985, when Razi Ahmed Zubairi, took me to Eqbal Mehdi. I had never thought of meeting the artist, who had always been my favourite. I showed him the sketches that i had by then made. In his peculiar style he said,"hmmmmm acha kaam hey". (good work) On my request he allowed me to visit his studio whenever i get time. That was just what i had not even thought of. I started visiting his studio, whenever i could get some time. However, the most time that i could take out of my very hectic schedule, was usually not more than an hour a week.

One day i asked Eqbal Mehdi, that i wanted to have an exhibition of my paintings. He told me that i must have sufficient number of paintings to start thinking about organising a painting exhibition. He advised me to do some calligraphy. Under his guidance i started  writing the word ALLAH in various styles on paper, in black ink with the oil colour wash over it. It came out to be something different. But due to the limited time that i used to have at my disposal, it was going to take months for that. But i was too eager to have an exhibition of my works.

I charted out a plan. I used to go to the YMCA almost daily for running. I spoke to the president of the YMCA one day, and asked for his permission to exhibit my works in a room. There was no art gallery or lounge sort of place there, where the paintings could be exhibited. He was reluctant, but agreed ultimately, when i told him that i would be arranging everything by myself, and would be extremely careful that nothing is damaged there.

In a matter of week, i hurriedly sorted out my old pencil and penworks. I decided to make Eqbal Mehdi its chief guest. I told him about that. He agreed. I got the invitation cards published and started distributing them. I always had a very limited social circle. However, i managed to invite each and every person that i did know.

The room where i was going to exhibit my works, was a small one. There were cupboards with glass doors. I pasted my paintings (drawing cards) with tape on the glasses. My makeshift art gallery was ready. In the nearby lounge of the YMCA hostel i managed to bring chairs from each part of the YMCA. Luckily a good number of friends, mostly from my office (Rahim Jan & Co. Chartered Accountants), turned up.

It would be improper if i do not thank my colleagues , who helped a lot in organising the event.

Eqbal Mehdi arrived with his students. Tanweer, Siraj, .........., Shehnaz and Shabnam. They were all there. The ex film star turned journalist Asad Jaffery was also there. Eqbal Mehdi was kind enogh to say some nice words about me. In his peculiar slow style he said," ACHA KAAM KURTEY HEIN". (His work is good).

Eqbal Mehdi toured the room and looked at the sketches. The visitors looked at my works with interest. I was too happy. The first exhibition of my paintings (howsoever amateurish that was) but that helped me a lot in gaining confidence, and i started working for my next paintings. Fortunately or unfortunately i had always been more interested in exhibiting my works, since my marketing side is very very weak, so i always failed to sell to meet even the organising costs of the exhibitions.