Just Bliss

Gems, jewels, diamonds, gold, and other precious stones are stuff that adds beauty, upgrading the status of that who owns them or wears them, but as it is rightly said, when wealth is lost, nothing is lost when health is lost something lost, but, when the character is lost, everything lost.
Often the possessor feels arrogant and looks down upon the ones who do not have this wealth.
Such wealth creates distance between hearts and souls.
Luckily my gems and jewels are the human beings who taught me some great lessons.
They purified my soul with their words and deeds. I am the reflection of my gems’ unobserved character.
Golden memories of my ‘Gems and Jewels’ date back to my childhood Sabro (meaning the one who is composed and has patience)
The middle-aged lady worked in our home as a full-time maid.
She was very cool, calm, collected, and a caring lady.
She used to sing Pashto songs in her husky voice.
She shared stories of her childhood which were of great interest and curiosity to me.
She entertained me with her songs but carried out her duties very faithfully.
Her diligence was unmatched too.
Peshawar is in the north of Pakistan.
It is one of the oldest cities in the world.
Peshawar has all four seasons.
The winter is cold, and the summers are sizzling hot.
The autumn is dry and depressing, and spring is full of lush green grass with all colors of beautiful mesmerizing sweet-scented flora.
Sabro usually did her stitching and needlework on hot summer afternoons after finishing her other duties.
With weak eyesight, she found it difficult to thread the needle.
She looked at me with a pleading smile to help her.
I was always ready to do so.
I was not allowed to play with sewing boxes.
The stitching is in the afternoons.
Hence there was no danger of being caught and scolded by my mother.
I quietly tiptoed from my bed and joyfully helped Sabro.
One day she got very ill.
Sabro wished to be with her family.
She asked me to call her son.
As no one could speak or understand Pushto.
Her son came and took her with him.
I missed her very much.
After a few days, I sent a message to her son to know about her health.
He said that Sabro missed me too.
Sabro passed away.
I can still see her kind, smiling face in my imagination.
I am sure she’s in a better place in the heavens.
She taught me that friends are like fragrances, having no boundaries, regardless of color, cast, religion, age, or status.
We had no neighborhood.
I needed someone to play with
So make friends with our sweeper’s son Peter.
He was my age.
Grace, the sweeper, was a clean and good-natured woman so was her son.
Miss. Narjis Gai taught us that sweepers are the noble class.
They are to be respected more as they clean the trash we spread.
I religiously followed my teacher’s advice.
My brother used to tease me that he would marry me to Peter
I believed him.
I loved my brother so much that I believed what he said.
Fortunately, he got married before I did 😀
Grace instilled in my brain that cleanliness is not the feature of the
rich only.
Cleanliness is Godliness!
A very tall, fair old- man with broad shoulders, stout posture, white hair, and eyebrows came every weekend with a big basket full of eggs.
He was very handsome.
He sold eggs.
He put roses in his cap and decorated his basket with roses too.
Red roses and white eggs looked beautiful.
He called me elder sister though I was a small nine or ten-year-old girl whereas he touched his 100th year.
An old lady also came to sell eggs, hens, and chickens.
She was very jealous of that Baba because Baba always came before she did.
She would not understand when I told her the early bird gets the worms
Grumbling and abusing Baba, she used to leave.
Baba taught me the dignity of labor at every age and in all seasons.
He did not depend on his sons though he had five sons, as I recall
The old- man earned his bread N butter himself.
The dairyman was another well-wisher and my friend.
Whenever and wherever I went shopping or went to my friends’ homes, my nephew, niece, Gusher, and my dog Boofy accompanied me.
Peshawar Mall Road knew us.
It was a hot day
Three of us were coming home on foot from my friend’s home.
The Army dairy milkman dressed in his uniform with big mustaches saw us walking in burning sunlight.
He stopped his carriage, seeing us, and called me.
He asked us to sit in his carriage.
He scolded me for why I was roaming on the hot summer day.
He dropped us home.
Boofy came home running behind.
In those times, any older person could easily guide and scold children for wrongdoing.
No matter which status they belonged in society.
Parents would not mind either; they thanked me for being so caring.
We were in Mardan.
There was an old Pathan lady.
Everyone called her Addy, mean aunt.
She taught the holy Quran.
I also availed the opportunity.
She had grey hair.
Wrinkles on her face added grace and made her very beautiful.
When she came to teach the Quran, she wore a black, golden, and silver embroidered velvet gown in winter and a chocolate brown cotton gown in summer.
She was small in size and a fragile lady.
Walking with a stick, she looked adorable.
She taught that teachers should be gracefully dressed.
She should be punctual and regular.
I learned dedication from her.
The tailor we called Lala (meaning brother) was a gem of a person. He was not a rich man.
He proved that to say goodbye to someone dear to you is to give a gift as a token of love and invite them for food.
My husband transferred to Faisalabad. So before we left Mardan, he invited us over for lunch. He brought horse driven carriage for us to take us to his village. He came riding his bicycle behind us. His wife served us luxurious lunch and presented me with a healthy hen that laid eggs as a gift. He did not let me pay the fair of Tonga as I called him brother. In our Muslim custom, the brothers never let their sisters pay for anything. How kind he and his family were. They were real civilized people who believed in traditional values and virtues.
Nawaz worked as a peon where I served in school as the Head Teacher.
He was a very devoted and hardworking man. He used to call me Sir
Once he came to my home.
He looked around and failed to see any pedestal fan in our home and did not see any steel pots in the kitchen.
He thought I was poor.
He very kindly sympathized that I was poorer than him too. He overlooked all the amenities we had :). He told me that when he gives out charity, give me.
I nodded my head very obediently.
I did not want to hurt his innocent bighearted feelings. He did remember me. One day he gently told me in school that he would come on his cycle to take me to his home to feed me with the rich dishes he made to give away in charity. My children asked me after he left.
I sit behind him on his bicycle to go to his home. I said: “Yes, I will if he comes.”
He came as he promised but not to take me.
He brought hot spicy biryani, sizzling kebabs, and cooled custard. We all enjoyed delicious lunch with him.
He has moved to his village in Multan.
He calls me often n visits me whenever he comes to Karachi. I cherish his innocence and purity of heart.
Gusher lived with his parents.
He was seven brothers and I and one sister, and they all used to live in our servant quarters.
His mother was a very pious woman.
She always wore white cotton clothes.
She washed her children’s clothes and hers daily and made them take showers every day.
Her small quarter was clean.
On hot summer days, she used to serve us crushed ice mixed with brown sugar.
It was a treat for us.
They did not have electricity or electric fans.
We also never felt the need for any fan either.
Allah had provided us with all facilities life in our times was above all this pomp and show or status complexity.
Her cleanliness and God-fearing habits helped her family live a simple and righteous life. Gusher’s brothers are designated at high-level posts today due to their hard work and honesty.
I went to Peshawar they welcomed me warmheartedly.
Lavish and plentiful dinner was served with an expensive shawl as a gift by Gusher’s mother.
It is the tradition of Pathans to respect their guests, and before parting, they also present gifts as a token of love.
I wish them all a fruitful life always.
Other gems of my life are Shahid, Fayyaz, Iqbal, and two Irshad’s. Shahid and Iqbal worked as office boy Fayyaz as their supervisor in the Chinese company where I worked as a health consultant.
I usually had lunch with them and gave them gratification.
Fayyaz daily brought handmade bread for me especially.
Iqbal, working outside Pakistan, calls me often to ask about my well-being.
None of us now are in the company were sincere feelings.
The respect we had for each other is still in practice.
One Irshad was a sweeper in Hamdard School.
When I went after a few years to see my friends and colleagues, she was there too.
I embraced her.
It was something divine for her though it gave me immense pleasure to see her there after so long.
The other Irshad is still working at my daughter’s home.
She’s a wonderful lady, always smiling and compromising.
I consider myself very fortunate to have come across such great people.
They are the ones who should be loved and respected.
They are true Pakistanis.
I am proud of them all.
May Almighty Allah shower His blessings upon them and keep them satisfied with what they have and keep them away from greed and selfishness that prevails all around.