Two’s Company
May 28, 2009
It is one thing to sit on a rock by the channel in Defence Phase VIII and catch fish and quite another to go deep-sea fishing in a luxury yacht.
Enjoyment of life
“I want to see the word but I don’t have money,” said Babboo. “You should first see your own country. Pahle apna mulk to achhi tarah dekh lo.”“I can see my country any time, at my leisure, but when would I be able to see the world? Waqt nikla ja raha hai,” he said sadly. “But you don’t have the money.”
“I have the time, also the desire. An irony, isn’t it?”
“But, my friend, even very rich people are unable to see the entire world. I suppose even our very own former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz failed to see a number of countries – despite spending, according to a newspaper report, one billion rupees on foreign travels!”
“A billion rupees?” Babboo cried
“Yes, one billion rupees. He could achieve this feat by undertaking as many as 47 foreign trips between the years 2004 and 2007.”
“How great enjoyment he must have had, kaash main Pakistan ka Vazeer-i-Azam hota!”
“You have not even been on umra as a free-loader. If only you had known one of the presidents or prime ministers of this country, you would have been invited to tag along and fulfill your religious obligation too.”
“Alas! Na Khuda hi mila na visal-i-sanam!”
“Aisi mout se to zindigi behtar thee,” I said.
“What?” Babboo failed to grasp the humor.
After a while he said: “Come to think of it, what is life after all but for going places and enjoying?”
“And what better enjoyment if it is at the cost of public money,” I said.
He ignored my remark and said: “Our late friend Latif Kapadia used to say, zindigi mein maza aana chahiye.”
“He did enjoy his life to the full, didn’t he, till his last breath?”
“But sometimes, he also complained about his empty pocket.”
“That we, the common natives of the motherland, always do for one reason or the other. But in the case of Latif did his empty pocket ever come in the way of his enjoyment of life?” I asked. “Wait a minute! Don’t you think if Latif had been a senior bureaucrat or a politician – in other words, if he had access to public money – he would have roamed the world and enjoyed his life much more fully?”
Shocked at this outrageous remark, I said, “Babboo, I only wish Latif was here today to respond to your idea! It would have been fun watching him taking care of you!
Babboo overlooked my comment and asked: “What was the secret of our friend’s joyous life?”
“The secret was his being ready to enjoy the things available to him – simple things that life offered him. He loved his food and sherbet, he loved looking at the clouds, the sea, the moon, felt the breeze on his face, smelled the grass, the flowers, the mustard fields… he loved music, above all, he loved his family and friends and their company.”
“You are romanticizing him too much. How could he enjoy life without being a rich man?”
“You don’t need money to enjoy the clouds, the sea and the moon, do you, Latif did not go to the Maldives to enjoy the moon, to Pataya Beach in Thailand to enjoy the sea, to Seychelles Island to enjoy the clouds,” I tried to depress Babboo by naming these places and reminding him what he was missing, but a clever customer that he is, he asked: “Who told you they go to these places to enjoy nature?’
“What do they go there for?”
“Jab baray ho jao ge to samujh mein aa jaye ga (you will know when your are matured enough).”
Babboo had scored a point and a perverted smile lit his face. Continuing the offensive, he said; “It is clear you are still living in your childhood, in a fool’s paradise, in a time when you were a small silly boy and your grandmother told you stories about handsome princes and beautiful princesses, tales of their great love and their journey to exotic places beyond the mountain in a golden chariot …” “You are making fun of my grandmother’s storytelling. You don’t know what enjoyment is. I am sure if you were given a golden chariot today, your warped sense of enjoyment would not let you enjoy riding in it.”
“Who goes riding in a chariot today, for heavens sake? Give me a Lexus, a Prado, a Mercedes, and you will see how I enjoy my life. Or give me an air ticket to the Maldives, Bangkok or Seychelles and I’ll show you how to have a good time. My friend, it is one thing to go on a picnic by bus or bicycle and another thing to go in a four-wheeler; eating ice cream by the roadside and enjoying it in a five star hotel are two different things; yes, it is one thing to sit on a rock by the channel in Defence Phase VIII and catch fish and quite another to go deep-sea fishing in a luxury yacht…” “… and catch barracudas and marlins made of pure gold,” I said.
“Don’t be sarcastic! The truth is gone are the days when people used their mind’s eye to see things beautiful. We are not living in the era of Ghalib any more and we don’t need to follow his doctrine Baithay rahen tassawur-i-janan kiye huye,”
“Yes, of course,” I said, “now you don’t need to use your inner eye to see beauty; the inner eye is no more there – all you need now is luxury cars, air tickets, electronic equipment and gadgets in order to enjoy your life!” I sat back in my sofa, closed my eyes and went to see the world in my golden chariot.
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