The breaks-ups and more...

I have been getting some un-wanted phone calls lately. I tried to reason with callers and requested them repeatedly to stop chasing me. Nothing worked. When I ran out of patience and humor, I decided to change my cell number. I hated to let go of that old number as it was picked up by my first girl friend at a Home Depot by the Mall of Georgia...

The new number brought some peace of mind- but not for long. I started getting some seriously troubling messages. Apparently a high school teenager called Kathrine had that number before me. It was revealing and educating experience for me as a writer, to see how kids are behaving these days. One SMS used the word "whore" for her and the other mentioned about fun at the upcoming "prom night ". There were threats and F words and more....I felt sympathy for this girl. Ustaad Nida Fazli is on record:

" Us ke Dushman hain Bahut Aadmi Accha Hoga
Woh bhi Meri Trah Is Shahr main Tanha Hoga!"

It did not take long to figure out who she was running away from. The guy with most messages was called Luke - "the sky-rocket"! When I had enough of it I sent an SMS to Luke - "the sky-rocket" informing him of my gender and sexual orientation. As expected he thought Kathrine was sending him the responses. When some one said there is nothing called free Lunch in America, they really meant it. This "education" was costing me money so I finally called him. I told him that he has two options:

a: Get Katharine's new number or
b: Forget her!

He enjoyed those lines but refused to believe that I do not know her. He thought that I am Kathrine's friend and protecting her. There were other guys too that kept sending messages at odd hours. Some jebroni from Bollywood once said "it is tough to be a woman in the film industry!" I think it is tough to be a woman no matter what industry one is in..I felt for this poor girl. She was facing the same irrational behavior that we all indulge in - ie not accepting the inevitable!

Why people do not move on when relationships fall apart? Why do they wait for one person to act nasty before they lose hope of any reconciliation? Why does it all have to end this way?

I applaud Shahid and Kareena Kapoor for having an exemplary break up. None of them sound bitter when they speak about each other. They both have moved on. It was easy for Kareena as she found a Nawab for the company ( women always find someone first...!!) but poor Shahid was apparently too busy with his career to see the upcoming train wreck. Why can't we all behave like that? Why do we have to come up with allegations and lies to demonize a person before or after the break up?

Mullah has divided womenfolks ( and vice versa for being PC!) in five categories ( Front Page News, Good News, Bad News, Terrible News and Horrible News). He often criticizes me for not differentiating between a Good News and the Bad News types. In this case Luke-"the sky-rocket" was behaving like a bad news....

I dunno about all these Good and bad News. All I know is that if you can write a poem on a woman before you met her, after you met her and after the break up then she is a sure Good News.

Relationships, specially between couples survive on an oxygen called " Trust" and if that " trust" is sucked out then nothing is left. In this start-up joint venture everything is negotiable but trust! We all must recognize that defining moment when trust was broken and move on. There is always someone somewhere waiting...

I did...

Chor....

It’s been two months since I came back from India. It was just a regular trip down memory lane with some cheers, tears and fears in that order!

Leaving mom behind has always been like taking a hit on my heart. Last few days before my departure I always try to photograph her in my mind. I try to remember every line on her face, her eyes, her smiles and her laugh. Every time I leave home I pray to God to please keep her in good health till I return again...every time I try to hide my tears all the way to the airport...every time!

"Jise Chod Kar koi kabhi na Jata Hoga"
Duniya main koi Shahr to Asia hoga!" - S. Akhtar

What I found most troubling after this last trip was my loss of humor. I am willing to lose anything in this life except my humor. This is my weapon of choice. Its always been. I kept going through my routine hoping one day I will overcome whatever that I was going through. And the moment came Saturday morning when I found my car stolen!

The next thing I did was to call cops and Mullah. Only one of them bothered to show up in about 15 minutes. No, It was not the cop. Mullah, looked around tried to smell me for " Daru Hangover” and asked

" Kal Raat kiya kiya? kis bad tameez ke sath the?"
Tumhare sath tha bhaiyya? Kaisi baaten karte ho?
Woh to theek hai magar mere baad khaan gaye the?
Yaar Bistar pe hi aayaa tha.....woh bhi apne...

Mullah suggested we look around the entire neighborhood to make sure I was not drunk and had not parked it in some one else's parking spot. My pleas went unheard and he convinced me that since I hang around with Walty these days, may be I did take one of those " Car or a Yager Bomb” shots. Walty is a buddie from work and is an expert -alcoholic.

We looked in "other people's parking spots" but could not find my car. I was relieved not to find it there else Mullah would have come up some never ending series of questions. Finally Mullah asked

" Ab kiya karen?"
Karna kiya hai , jis ko zarorat thi woh le gyaa. Tum hi socho kal raat pehli baraf giri thi mausam ki, aur itni sardi main kisi ne chori ka irada kiya matlab samne wale ko zaroorat thi" I had decided, It was time to get philosophical.
" Yaar ye accha nahi hua.....sorry" Mullah was sympathetic.
" Allah Kareem....isi bahane Doosri le lenge"
" Doosri nahi - Teesri.."
"Hmmm – wohi Teesri"

And then, right then Mullah said something which was so true.
" Yaar mere khyaal se ye accha shagun tha - Har baar tumhari life main koi ladki aane se pehle nayi car aayi hai". Mullah backed up his analysis by offering me the past statistics.

We both laughed...

Mullah was right. Every time buying a new car always followed by beginning of new beginnings in my life. Suddenly the loss seemed like a profit discounted at the current interest rate.

Even though I had put that loss in perspective and laughed over it, inside I was feeling violated. How the hell someone just found my car worth stealing? Who the hell was he? Why? How dare he?

Later that night it occurred to me that my loss was so inconsequential compare to the theft that have occurred and is occurring the in world today.

This thief's robbery only affected me but what about those thefts that happen in broad day light on the world stage every day? People steal peace from the entire world and go unpunished; they steal oil, other natural resources and survive to enjoy the loot. They steal democratically elected governments, steal monetary system, steal collective psyche of nations. They steal continents, countries, religion and cultures without feel ing ashamed....

What about those thieves that steal trust and Imaan in the blink of an eye? What about those shameless thieves that don’t realize that robbing of some one's innocence is as a heinous crime as stealing of the most precious gem form the jewelry called life? Who will punish these guys?

The guy who stole my car will get caught and most likely will lose his license to drive and may end up doing time but other glorified thieves will stay around for another opportunity to rob some one of something - somewhere!

ps: Dear Dionne, Mullah did not mention you in that statistics and he does not know that you live in Dallas and that you are learning Urdu/Hindi these days! I will translate this blog whenever you are ready! Peace...

Allah Calling....my first film!

Allah Calling is my first film which was completed in December 2005. There was a technical issue that prevented me from releasing it. It is a single scene no-cut 3 minute short with a surprise ending.

I am very proud of it - may be more than Doosra Kinara in some ways. It explores the fundamental rights ie life, liberty and pursuit of happiness as guarenteed by the Constitution of the United States of America against terrorism and its aftermath ( all in three minutes!).

It has an old guy as the central character. Rafiqi arranged for the Japanese tourists but we could not find an old man. Last minute everyone looked at me( read an old man!!).....and I ended up playing that role.

My ruthless philosopher "Jadu" Shipman thought that we need to get it out as it is a great film with a powerful message. I might re-shoot it in February along with "a Jihad of my own". The only difference would be to replace me with a real old man who can act. ( There goes my one more chance of acting in a film!).

a Jihad of my own.....

Picture...