Month: April 2003

The Dante’s Inferno Test has banished you to the Fifth Level of Hell!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Very Low
Level 1 – Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	Very Low
Level 2 (Lustful)	Very High
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	Very High
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	Extreme
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	Extreme
Level 6 – The City of Dis (Heretics)	Extreme
Level 7 (Violent)	Extreme
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	Extreme
Level 9 – Cocytus (Treacherous)	Very High

Take the Dante’s Inferno Test

The river Styx runs through this level of Hell, and in it are punished the wrathful and the gloomy. The former are forever lashing out at each other in anger, furious and naked, tearing each other piecemeal with their teeth. The latter are gurgling in the black mud, slothful and sullen, withdrawn from the world. Their lamentations bubble to the surface as they try to repeat a doleful hymn, though with unbroken words they cannot say it. Because you lived a cruel, vindictive and hateful life, you meet your fate in the Styx.

That wazz Nassty, He He He. Took the quiz because the results are so nice and colorful

Not withstanding the frame of mind in my previous entry, which depicts a medium term outlook, the weekend was a good one. Saturday was Aasim’s results day at school. They don’t have exams nor are the children detained back but the assessment was a pleasant though not entirely unexpected. From what was mostly average with an occasional good he jumped to mostly good and occasional average in the last term. He stated he just did not feel like previously.

Woke up late on Sunday to a brunch of fresh Aaloo Parathas and curds. Since Swati was done with the morning maid routine and stuff she was itching to do something to me. So I got a facial massage and a mud pack (eeks!) Since I was in such a compliant mood she extended the courtesy to head, neck, back and …

Long cool shower and I was ready to almost sleep again, but Swati beat me to it. So I cuddled up with Aasim and watched Batman on TV.

Swati was determined that this Sunday we have to go out to one of the Amusement Parks which have come up around the city in recent years. There are plenty of places around Nagpur to go and enjoy on weekends but we never ever went due to sheer inertia 🙁 and also partly because I did not expect much from the places and was apprehensive of the wrong kind of crowd and lastly because Aasim is not too fond of rides, water and pools.

We chose the one nearest to us about 15 KMs

BUT tell you what my village Nagpur has come a long way!! The facilities were decent and the crowd fun loving families, no stags allowed. The manager turned out to be a known person.

Swati promptly found out where to get swim suits from, Aasim was told he could either come on the water slides and pool with us or stay out. I almost felt sorry for him but he had to learn, again to his favor he did not cry and after the first slide and splash he very much enjoyed the water so much so that a while ago he asked can we go again today!

I was pretty surprised to see Marwari women with “sar pe pallu” and Muslim women in “burkha” getting into swim suits.

Soon it was dark Aasim took a ride on one of the mini trains but chickened out of the teeny weeny roller coaster ride.

On way back we detoured to Aasim’s fav restaurant and had a nice dinner.

Yeah I did have my camera but once we decided to get into the pool I stowed it carefully away in the locker may be next time. Next Sunday there already are plans to go to another park which is about 45 KMs away.

My first entry to the community, not much of a photo but it does represent my current frame of mind, I am feeling antiquated like the fossils and under a critical glare of the eye piece, and perhaps not really measuring up…

I am fossilized?

Dinner of Malai Kebab, Chicken Do Piaza and Naan, Ice Cream Soda for Aasim. Then he playing UT2003 in his room while we listen and discuss Khusro’s poetry – Sheer Bliss

Just read that Palm Inc introduced Zire 71 for just $299. For the price it appears to be a steal for PDA beginners, it has a 640×480 camera built in and also an MP3 player. However if you have deep enough pockets (financially and actually) then Sony Clie NZ90 is the way to go. The most common comment I have heard about NZ90, and I agree, It is BIG, but the 2 mega pixel camera is decent enough to use it as your *only* digital cam as recently did. So that way even the price tag of $799 is justified.

They were all of 14 years old, and a very unlikely pair. She with her 24″ waist, fair complexion and brown eyes was the most beautiful of them all. He was pitifully thin, had disheveled long hair and was known for his antics of harassing his teachers with snakes, lizards and crabs. Needless to say that girls avoided him and he couldn’t care less. She was not even in the same section as him. Just that his best friend was “maha fida” on her but couldn’t bring himself to talk to her. Mind you I am talking about 1980 and Nagpur. He insisted that his best friend *ask* but ultimately did it for him, the trysts were to take place at his house as meeting outside would have been too much of a taboo and both his parents were working. Rather convenient…

By the third meeting his best friend had figured out that she was smarter than him and he was not getting anywhere. The best friend dropped out of the triangle but she continued with her Saturday afternoon visits. She discovered that he was not at all bad. They never said “I love you” to each other – It just was assumed, nor were there any promises to love you till the end of this world. In fact by 17 they just moved on… … Each to their own way.

She was my first love – I still love her, I am sure she does as well.

She taught me several important things, again not in order of importance
1) She taught me how to think like a woman – as closely as a man can
2) She taught me how to open hooks with just thumb and index finger
3) She taught me how to make a woman feel “cared for”
4) She taught me how to braid hair

I can keep going on with the list, I am sure she also learned several things from me, BUT there is one thing that I can never repay her back for, nor will she accept any payment for – She sat with me and cried on my behalf when my mother died, We were just 15 and somehow I just could not let my emotions out. She wished that I would cry it out but did not insist. She had just said, I remember the exact words – “Be brave Tarique someday there will be someone”

Just remembered all this while reading this at ‘s journal

‘s post yesterday, reminded me of one of my favorites, again from Faiz Ahmed Faiz. The poem is particularly hard hitting in context of the war and it effects

I am once again making a valiant effort to paraphrase it as closely as possible and I am sure the effort will ultimately entail an apology to the poet… … Still

mujh se pahalii sii mohabbat merii mahabuub na maa.Ng

mai.n ne samajhaa thaa ki tuu hai to daraKhshaa.N hai hayaat
teraa Gam hai to Gam-e-dahar kaa jhaga.Daa kyaa hai
terii suurat se hai aalam me.n bahaaro.n ko sabaat
terii aa.Nkho.n ke sivaa duniyaa me.n rakkhaa kyaa hai (*)
tuu jo mil jaaye to taqadiir niguu.N ho jaaye
yuu.N na thaa mai.n ne faqat chaahaa thaa yuu.N ho jaaye
aur bhii dukh hai.n zamaane me.n mohabbat ke sivaa
raahate.n aur bhii hai.n vasl kii raahat ke sivaa

mujh se pahalii sii mohabbat merii mahabuub na maa.Ng

anaginat sadiyo.n ke taariik bahimaanaa talism
resham-o-atalas-o-kam_Khvaab me.n bunavaaye huye
jaa-ba-jaa bikate huye kuuchaa-o-baazaar me.n jism
Khaak me.n litha.De huye Khuun me.n nahalaaye huye
jism nikale huye amaraaz ke tannuuro.n se
piip bahatii hu_ii galate huye naasuuro.n se
lauT jaatii hai udhar ko bhii nazar kyaa kiije
ab bhii dil_kash hai teraa husn maGar kyaa kiije
aur bhii dukh hai.n zamaane me.n mohabbat ke sivaa
raahate.n aur bhii hai.n vasl kii raahat ke sivaa

mujh se pahalii sii mohabbat merii mahabuub na maa.Ng
Faiz Ahmed Faiz

Don’t ask me to love you as before, my sweetheart!

I had presumed that you will be the light of my life,
Your sorrows fade the sorrows of the world to insignificance,
Your face gives permanence to the blooms in this world,
What more is there to this world than your eyes…
If I get you (your love) the fate will be subservient to me,
Oh! but it was not thus, I had merely wished it to be so,
There is more to pain than the pain of my (unfulfilled) love
There is more to happiness than the happiness of our union

Don’t ask me to love you as before, my sweetheart!

Dark, dreadful sorcery of countless centuries,
Woven into silk and satin lace and brocade.
Bodies sold in markets and alleys, hither-thither,
Encrusted with ashes, bathed in blood.
Bodies taken from the cauldrons of diseases,
pus oozing from their festering ulcers.
I can’t take my eyes off from them, what can I do…
Your beauty is still just as heart-warming, but what can I do…
There is more to pain than the pain of my (unfulfilled) love
There is more to happiness than the happiness of our union

Don’t ask me to love you as before, my sweetheart!

Colours of Summer

Looks like finally the war is showing signs of ending. Unfortunately SARS is not showing any signs of abating. War and SARS combined have effectively brought work to a stand still even at SANIsoft. Nobody wants to take any decisions.

Have started writing an article, hopefully it will be published.

Swati is feeling a bit under. Hopefully just sore throat … …

I have been reading up on Subversion, webDAV and XUL a very heady combination in terms of ideas BUT I am sure I am sooner or later going to get too busy to follow up any of those 🙁

Discovered that Open Office 1.0 provided with RH 9 sux doing a right click on a misspelled word literally freezes the machine for about a minute or so. This never happened in my earlier downloaded versions.