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Mor!
All my life my mother was larger than life to me, and it came as a shock when I realized today, that this once big, strong, intimidating woman has shrunk with age and now looks so small and fragile. She can’t see us anymore but her hearing is as sharp as ever, she knows who we are and will call out our names before we reach her.
This gentle woman who now sits all day combing her grand children’s hair and gently rocking them to sleep was once a loud vibrant being, she sang and hummed as she finished her chores. Yes, she sang us lullabies too, but loud enough so that her voice carried over the low mud walls into the neighborhood, not only making our eyelids heavy with sleep, but also effectively all the babies around us and even some of the grown ups.
What I remember most is a rope that would be attached on one end to either Mor’s wrist or her toe and to the old cradle on the other. Mor would put the two youngest in the cradle and by slightly moving her wrist while she went about her daily chores or by moving her big toe at night she would keep the children rocking. I never once heard her complain about not having personal time or space and if she ever was sad on unhappy I do not remember her ever telling us.
Sleeping two to a bed and sometimes three, the two rooms that had been allocated to us in the sprawling ancestral home never seemed small or suffocating. Mor would gently pull her fingers through our hair in the dark searching for lice and nits and would dose off many times while telling us tales, we would impatiently tug at her and she would start up again only to doze off again. To this day there are hundreds of tales that I don’t know the endings to or what I do remember are so jumbled up together because they are different stories that she interwove in her sleepiness.
Mother had a simple approach to life, she dressed simply but neatly and lived the same way and that was how she would discipline us too. She did not slap us often, though thinking back now I can see we gave her plenty of cause, her slaps were sharp and usually one would be enough to get the point across.
Mother’s aim was exemplary, she is the only person I know who could throw her shoe at us from 200 yards and not miss. It was not uncommon to see one of us twelve running out the door only to be hit by her chapal mere microseconds before we could escape.
As we grew older we would hold her arms tightly and convince her not to slap us, we were after all grown men, she would struggle a second and then the hilarity of the situation would sink in and we would all break out laughing. As soon as we would let go of her hands she would bend down and pick up her chapal and it would sail after us as we made our hasty exit.
Taking care of twelve children must not have been easy, and she may not have been able to give us individual attention but that does not mean that she did not try.
I will always love you Mor!
Sun, 2008-07-06 12:18
Thank you Feroz Khan for posting the following article! We wouldn't be having better understanding than a lot of you, the intelligent folks. As I quote Khaleej Times' westerner Column, dated Jul 06, 2008:[The ANP leadership had argued before the operation that the Federal government was ignoring the deteriorating security situation in and around Peshawar. On June 16th, senior ANP leader Federal minister Bashir Ahmed Bilour said on the floor of National Assembly during the budget session that there was fear of the entire province "falling to the Taleban" if law enforcement agencies fail to control the situation.] However, it would be hard to understand a situation where on one hand one of the ANP prominant leader, such as Bilour, asking the military for cleanup operation in Peshawar on the floor of assembly. And in another Sufi asking people, in the same constituencies, for his Jihad as your article has it in thousands. If you and I, hailing from the same, were to ask a brethren for honoring us with a cup of tea or a glass of water (that too for sawab (reward by Almighty)) then there would be none. So my thinking would be that thaa the western society pa shaan the wbo wul they, pake khalaq doob thi. Au the thena the rawato laar ye nishta? Soak che te pak au safa rawozi, no behtara ba wi. Kethay shi, che the superiority jang yi (remember the previous amel -weaving beads). Yaw wai za yam, au bal wai za:) The west the racism thaa nasha pa watan ke ralwate thaa. Zama pa khiyal, Mulla hum zoar kawul ghwari, che the thagha wraze thapaara ANP au noare siyasi partiyanE pa mothoa au neto struggle kai.Soak ba pa the zaiy khpela sikka jamawahi ya khejayi, i.e political monopoly in this situation:) Please explain if you are to disagree on this? Na military operation kha they, au na the west pa shaan "zoar" i.e a proverb or saying or phrase or matal or moral in Pukhtu: "yaw taraf ta daang they au, bal taraf ta praang":) ============================================================ Intezar said, Sat, 2008-07-05 22:02 ګرانو پښتنو د لر او بر پښتون قوم د بر بادئ ،قتل و قتال او د دوئ د بيخي نسل کشي په دې روان بد وخت، زما زړه نه غواړي چه داسې خبره منځ ته راکش کړم چه ګويا نوره بدګماني د افغانانو او پښتنو ترمنځه پيدا شي خو کله کله سړئ په دې سپيناوي مجبور شي چه سپين ته سپين او تور ته تور اوائي. د شلمئ صدئ د ابتدا نه واخله تر انتها پوري او بيا د يوشتمۍ صدي د اغاز نه واخله عن تر نن ورځ پوري زما په ياد او علم کښي د هيڅ ښه زيري خبره نيشته، چه زه دا خپل قام او اولس ته د شعر يا نثر په ليکنو کښې دا اوايم چه ګني د ستر افغانستان خوږو او قدرمنو پښتنو د کوزې پښتنوخوا د پښتنو سره کومه نيکي ،ملاتړ،تعاون ،ياد امداد لاس ورکړئ وي.!!!! زه شاعر او ليکوال يم ..خپل اولس ته بائيد ريشتوني خبرې وکړم د ورور د ورورولئ ، د دوستانو او اشنايانو د نيکيو او د دشمن د بديو نه ئې خبر کړم... په حيث د يو اديب او شاعر ،غوره به دا وي چه زما ذهن او فکر روشن او مثبت وي او زه د دنورو عامو خلقو په څير تنګ نظر نه وم ، بلکه د خپل پښتنو وروڼو تر منځه د اتفاق او اتحاد خبره وکړم. خو نن زه په دا خبره مجبوره يم چه اوايم چه افغان اولس او واکمنو د کوزې پښتنوخوا د پښتنو په مشکلاتو کښې په هر وځت او هر ځائ کښې اضآفه کړې ده . اساني خو څه کړې چه د مزيد مشکلاتو او لانجو او ستونځو سره ئې مخامخ کړي دي. نوکيه کله کله د شلمئ صدي په اول کښي د پښتنې مهاجرينو افغانستان ته د تللو او بيا د هغوئ سره د ناروا وو سلوک او واقعاتو تکرار کوي او مونږ ئې هر وخت ملامتوو. خو که په غور سره وکتلائ شي نو دا زميني حقيقت دئ چه افغانانو د پاکستاني پښتنو سره کله هم ملاتړ او کومک نه دئ کړئ.او هر وخت ئې ورته پيغورونه او بې غيرته او پنجابي او بې ناموسه او څه څه نه ده وئيلي... په مقابل کښې د کوزي پښتونخوا ،غريبو ،لاچارو بي وسو او بقول د دوئ محکومو پښتنو په هر زمان او مکان د افغانستان د خلقو سره د سرونو ،مالونو قرباني ورکړي دي. دا قربانئ دوئ فقط د پښتنې او اسلامي ورورولئ په اساس ورکړي دي. دا بيله خبره ده چه د قام او ملت د ښمانانو به د دوئي دا قربانياني د خپل ناوړي مقاصدو د پاره استعمال کړي وي. خو پښتنو،ماشومانو،بوډاګانو او ځوانانو ديني او پښتني غيرت ته هيڅوک هم د شک په نظر نشي کتلائ.او که داسي وي نو دوئ له شرم پکار دي چه د دغه غريبو ،او بې وسو پښتنو قربانو ته د تحسين او تشکر په سترګه و نو ويني. او د دوئ عزت او درناوئ نه کوي.. د افغانا نو د سترګو پرانستلو د پاره د بي بي سي دا رپورټ ستاسې په درنه خدمت کښې وړاندې کووم.. http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/avconsole/bb_wm_fs.shtml?redirect=fs.shtml&lang=ur&nbram=1&nbwm=1&bbwm=1&bbram=1&ws_pathtostory=http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/wsindex/int/av/urdu/-/urdu/news/avfile/2008/07/&bbcws=1&ws_storyid=080703_sumaira_doc ’باجوڑ سے بلخ تک‘: خصوصی ڈاکیومینٹری تحریک نفاذ شریعت محمدی کے سربراہ ملا صوفی محمد سن دو ہزار ایک میں پاکستانیوں کا ایک لشکر لے کر امریکہ کے خلاف جہاد کے لیے افغاسنتان چلے گئے تھے۔ وہ خود تو واپس آ گئے لیکن ان کے ساتھ جانے والے سینکڑوں لوگوں کو کچھ پتا نہیں چلا۔ ملا صوفی محمد کو افغانستان سے واپسی پر گرفتار کر لیا گیا تھا لیکن حال ہی میں ایک معاہدے کے تحت انھیں رہا کر دیا گیا ہے ـ لیکن وہ جو واپس نہیں آئے ان کے ساتھ کیا ہوا۔ دیکھیے سمیرا اسلم کی خصوصی ڈاکیومینٹری: ’باجوڑ سے بلخ تک‘ http://www.destaar.com/hujra/viewtopic.php?t=446 »reply »