Memorable Quotes from Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee

Is he happy? By most measurements, yes, he believes he is.However, he
has not forgotten the last chorus of Oedipus: Call no man happy until
he is dead.

His own opinion, which he does not air, is that the origins of speech
lie in song, and the origins of song lie in the need to fill out with
sound the overlarge and rather empty human soul.

He has always been a man of the city, at home amid a flux of bodies
where eros stalks and glances flash like arrows.

But in my experience poetry speaks to you either at first sight or not
at all. A flash of revelation and a flash of response. Like
lightening. Like falling in love.

From fairest creatures we desire increase, he says, that thereby
beauty's rose might never die.


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Al Jame Al Juyushi

Al Jame Al Juyushi ( means the masjid of the commander of the army).

Al Jame'al Juyushi was built by Amir al Juyush, Badr al Jamali (RA) in the year 478H/1085AD. This Fatemi masjid was built on an edge of the Muqattam hills overlooking the city of al Qahera.

During the time of Imam Mustansir Billah, Badr Al Jamali a commander from Syria was invited to take control. Badr Al Jamali responded to this orders and took control in Cairo with his army. On his successful take over he was given the title of Amir al Juyush ( Commander of the Army) and later he built this masjid, and eventually it came to be known as Jame Al Juyushi :D

Thanks to internet, I was able to find the old pic of Jame-Juyushi ( before restoration) and after restoration. And this restoration too was done by our Aqa Moula TUS Sayedna Mohammed Burhanuddin TUS. This masjid's is a classic example of Fatimid architecture, and you can see that similar style is followed in newer masjids built by us.

So here is the pic of the Masjid before restoration:



And here is a pic after restoration:

Al Masjid Al Azam bil Kufa

The heading in Arabic could be translated as - The Great masjid in Kufa. Yes one of the holiest shrines on shiite(followere of Ali Ibn Abi Talib) muslims is located in Kufa close to Najaf in Iraq.

This masjid hold a significant importance for the Shiite muslims, because it was the place where Ameer ul Mumineen ( the commander of the faithfuls) was martyred on 19th of Ramadan. The masjid has been restored to its past glory after close to 1400 years of neglect. It is the fourth important masjid in Islam after Masjid ul Nabawi in Medina, Masjid ul Haraam in Mecca, and Masjid ul Aqsa in Jerusalem.

This was done by none other than our Aqa Moula TUS - Sayedna Mohammed Burhanuddin TUS. Here is a glimpse of how the masjid looked like before restoration:



And after restoration the masjid looks something like this:






Here is an article on timesofindia.com, that summarizes the herculean effort our Moula TUS undertook in completing this masjid. Once again the article is flawed as its credits Mumbai based Bohras, because every Dawoodi Bohra mumin prayed and worked hard with our Moula to make this a success and obtain the khushi (benediction) of Moulana Ali.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Bohras-help-War-ravaged-Kufa-get-back-its-glory/articleshow/5707264.cms


Here in the picture is our Aqa Moula TUS praying at Kufa Masjid. Aqa Moula TUS - responsible for bringing this masjid back to its glory :)



Here is a glimpse of Fatimid (sons of Fatema tus Zahra) Architecture, which is very similar to what you would find at Al Jame Al Aqmar in Kahirah (cairo). The second pic is the from the Masjid Al Azam bil Kufa and the first is from Masjid Al Aqmer in Cairo built by 20th Imam - Imam Amir AS - also a Fatimid Ismaili Mustaali Imam :). This was built around 9-10th century.




Also, if you closely looked at the restored minarets of the masjid. You will find a stark resemblance to Al Jame Al Juyushi - another Fatemid masjid build during the zaman of Imam Mustansir billah, in Al Moizzatul Qahera ( Cairo which was conquered by Imam Moiz AS).

Al Jame Al Juyushi's minaret:


Al Masjid Al Azam's minaret:




As mentioned earlier Kufa masjid was the place where Moulana Ali Ibn Abi Talib was martyred by Ibn Muljim ( a kharajiite) on 19th of Ramadan. This happened when Ali AS was prostrating for the Fajr (early morning) prayer. And this happened in the Mehrab (the place where the custodian of the masjid prays).

In this Mehrab our Aqa Moula TUS placed this grand decorated Mudawwara (round shaped). In Kufi script its written "Fuzzto be rabbil Kaaba" which means - i swear to Allah (the lord of Kaaba) that I've won. These were the last words of Moulana Ali AS after he was attacked.



May Allah give long life to our beloved Aqa Moula TUS, and Inshallah give me an opportunity to visit Kufa Masjid.

IPL Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders

lol...havent seen a game more funnier than this lol :) ..so many injuries ...the funniest one was towards the ending ..when ganguly edged a bowl over to third man ...and the bowl bounced in the front on the catching fielder ..and hit his ear lol ....reminds me of laxman yesterday ..when he got hit by the ball thrown from a fielder ..poor laxman :D

- Munaf patel : loves to use his feet more while fielding than his hands ... reminiscence of the great Venkatesh Prasad or Anil Kumble ....who would dive after the bowl passed :) ...Patel actually tried to deflect a throw from the outfield on to the stumps at the non-strikers :) ..he did manage to save a boundary though .....and yes he cannot bend ...he plays like an old...lazy looking bowlers ...he just bowls good medium-pacers ...very deceptive :) thats all we (Royals) care about :)

- Saurav Ganguly ..lol it was hilarious watching Ganguly bat .....no matter how hard he tried he couldnt clear the 30-yards circle :) .....it was more like a desperate attempt to even connect the ball ...i think Ganguly should just retire ..even from IPL ..

- A Jhunjhunwala ..lol funny name ..even the English commentators find it hard to pronounce ....first time i heard ...the commentator referred to him as ..jhunajhunawaaala ..lol ..and today i heard ..jhunjhunwa.....whatever ..he is a kid ..who is hyper excited ..he needs to cool down ..i know he is batting good ....but adrenalin should be contained ...in all these euphoria ..he dropped a sitter (a simple catch - a lollipop lol). But scored good ...46 valuable runs ..i cant believe i bought him for 100K (talking abt my fantasy Rajputana Rifles team) ...

- S Trivedi ..lol i know u have never heard of him ..and may be after IPL you will never hear of him :) ..but yeah he bowled well ..really well ..varied his pace ..and was very economical ..except the fact that the heat got the better of him :) ....got cramps ...but he fought hard ..and bowled well after that ...even got a wicket ...that too middle stump knocked :)

- Faiz Fazal....he is another unknown player ..but he played well for his 35 odd runs ..clean hitter of the ball ...hopefully he will play again ...i guess Michael Lumb should be rested ...he is good for nothing ..really ..sucks in fielding as well...

- Adam Vogues ....the highly touted all-rounder from Australia....might be the difference maker for us ....could he be the next Shane Watson for the Royals ?? only time will tell :) ..but he batter well for his 37 of 22 balls ..crucial runs ...that too in the middle order ....very imp contribution ...

- Shane Warne ..how can u forget warnie ...the master thinker of them all .....made some really good bowling changes ..changed ends ...added variety to the bowling .and it paid its dividends ....we won :D

- Yousuf Pathan .....didnt do well with the bat but bowled very well ...took 2 wickets ..and with good economical bowling ....we are all waiting to see a cracker of an inning like the first one ..100 in 37 balls ..its not entirely elusive ..its very much on the cards ...just the matter of time ..may be this victory will give an impetus to such a knock again :D

Most important ..the pitch and the outfield was competitive ...the bowl turned well .it was a pleasure watching shane warne bowl those flippers ....and luckily we didnt have the moths invasion like the first match in ahmedabad :)

Hopefully this is the beginning of a new Rajasthan Royals team !!!

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Freak Incident

Okay, so yesterday at the gym, I was going to the swimming pool. And to get to the swimming pool you have to go through the men's locker room. In the men's locker room there are showers, and one for handicapped people.

So when I went I saw a walking crutch with wheels and presumably someone was taking shower. After an hour or so, when I came back the crutches were still there. Along with me an another person too noticed the same. We were both thinking if the person sitting inside had a problem or something. I thought may be there was nobody inside. So I bended and saw from under the door, and I did see somebody's legs.

We knew something was wrong, but didnt know what to do. I didnt want to get involved in the first place, because if I did report something, and if there was an incident, then I would be the first responder or probably an eye-witness. Now you know what that means - going to the court and I didnt even have my license. I was seriously perplexed.

So, I told this to an another person, that someone is inside for more than an hour. And he without wasting anytime starting knocking at the door screaming if someone was inside. And after he knocked 4-5 times, there was finally a voice from inside ..and a big sigh of relief from my side :).

Justajo hein Saba ko tere toor ki

This was a madeh (song of praise) that we Dawoodi Bohra Mumineen recite in respect of our Aqa Moula (TUS). The first two lines of the madeh are:

Justajoo hein sabaa ko tere toor ki
hein tajalli jaha rab-e-mastoor ki

and it got me thinking about the meaning of these two lines. Dont ask about the rest because its even more difficult to decipher. The wordings are a mix of Arabic and Urdu. And I being neither a native arabic or an Urdu speaker found it hard to understand.

But, I did make an effort to translate them. So it goes like this:

Justajoo (obsession)
sabaa (breeze)
toor (mountain)
So the first line could mean: Its the obsession of the breeze to reach your mountain.

Tajalli (Happiness)
rab (God)
mastoor(Hidden)
And so the second line could mean: thats where the happiness of the hidden God lies.

So altogether it would mean, that the obsession of the breeze is to reach you, and in it lies the happiness of the hidden God (Allah). Breeze - which is the creation of Allah itself.

This got me intrigued as I started thinking of Imam Ahmed ul Mastoor AS - our 9th Imam. He was the sole author of Rasail Ikhwaan us Safa (Rasail - compilation, Ikhwaan - brotherhood, safa - purity).

There is a known rivawat(history) related to Imam Ahmad Ul Mastoor. It was during his Zaman( time in office) that there was this Abbasid Caliph called Mamoon, who had publicly declared that there was no deen (deen-religion in this case Islam). It was then that he compiled Ikhwaan Us Safa and secretly placed the book in every masjid. Through the book Imam AS proved tawheed(oneness of Allah) and established the righteousness of Shariat(Islamic way of life) through numerous disciplines like arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, botany, zoology etc.

IPL Teams theme songs :)

Here is the collection IPL3's theme song collection:

1. Rajasthan Royals


2. Mumbai Indians


3. Deccan Chargers


4. Kolkata Knight Riders


5. Delhi Daredevils


6. Chennai Superkings


7. Bangalore Royal Challengers


8. Punjab's King XI

Solace in Music

Here, is an interesting article about how a totally devastated musician in Haiti, is composing songs, and people are finding solace in it.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/03/05/world/americas/20100305-haitimusic-audioss/index.html?ref=world

meri bigadi bana dijiyeh

A recording has been sent to you. Retrieve it now by using the
download link below. This link will only remain live for 10 days.
http://2.recordertheapp.com/29f032919633ad82318a

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Old vs New

check this out ...this was an original sang by Tasawwar Khannum :....agar tum mil jaao, zamana chor dengey hum :D




and then there was this song from the movie Zeher...a perfect carbon copy :D