Headline April 22, 2017/ ''' *PINING* THY PARADISE* '''

''' *PINING* THY PARADISE* '''

BELIEVE YA ALL  -ME,  just  believe ya all,   poor me, it was just always said that  Phagna   was born   *feet first*.   According to the local superstition-

If you had a bad back,  you would get someone who was born  feet first   to kick you in the back; your backache would be gone instantly!    Very Instantly! 

People with  bad backs  went  to  Phagna  regularly and and requested him to give them a  kick in the back. That was the only time he showed any courtesy to them.

He obliged everyone regardless of their   race or religion   : Brahmins, Muslims, Christians, Parsees, Sikhs,   untouchables    -and he never asked anyone for money.....

*But before I proceed forward, allow me the honor to welcome, Zara Sohail, a member of  Proud Pakistan's  Football team, on !WOW!   -the World Students Society : Computer-Internet-Wireless and for every discipline on earth.

Zara Sohail, plays  Right FullBack, for  *Proud Pakistan*,   but on the Twitter-!Ecosystem-2011!, she is going to be leading the hardwork as *InsideLeft*. 

With dribbles and feints, passes and penalty shoots, *Zara is a Star* in the making. I am deeply honored as she came all the way, to pay respects, and with an invite to come and  address the Students, Professors and Teachers of   *Islamabad American School*

I nominate    *Faraz Majeed and Ali Hassan*,    to come forward,  for either or  both,  to coordinate with Zara Sohail,  and  avail the honor of addressing this great institution on behalf of the World Students Society. 

.*Zara , go and lead, and  many wishes, brave girl!*    

*HE ROAMED  THE WORLD*,    as an expatriate,  as an immigrant in search of a permanent abode. Ironically, the adult in him decided-

To make  cold and frigid  Canada his home, but in the process he didn't forsake the child in him whose moorings are tethered, for good, to the embracing warmth of his defining    Ganga-Jamuni    culture.

*Tales From Birehra*   is Mustafa's epic journey back to his roots, but it could be the same for his generation.  It was a long and arduous journey. It had to be so for one so lost   -for all intents and purposes-  in the humdrum of a life-

Dedicated to pursuits of things that had no truck whatsoever with his roots and, in its chemistry, happened to be poles apart from the somnolent life of his cradle.

They say in every adult there is a child fervently kicking at the barrier of time to break the glass and re-enter the  paradise of early  childhood. Most don't succeed in their effort.

But those who do, often come up with a hefty scoop of reminisces to light up their world of fond memories and enrich the  intellectual landscapes of many an informed  onlooker,

Rafi Mustafa, a  chemistry professor by training and a man varied interest and tastes    -teaching, social and humanitarian work and, of late,  heading and information technology company   -is a prodigal son who managed to not only revisit his cradle of birth in undivided India, but also rediscover the paradise he though he'd lost forever.

*Tales from Birehra* : A Journey Through A World Within Us is supposedly a work of fiction, but its matrix is that versatile and eclectic historical culture nurtured and honed through at least a millennium of  Hindu-Muslim co-existence and and social cultural interaction in northern India.

That hybrid, vibrant and    -until the great divide of 1947 cut it asunder  -coyly-pulsating culture acquired a permanent foothold in the subcontinental psyche as the  Ganga-Jamuni  culture, alluding to the fertile plains fed by India's two great rivers.

That was the locus, the terrain, where the muslim conquerors of northern India first put down roots and sowed the cultural and religious seeds they had brought in their baggage.

of course, those seeds were fertilised by the already rich soil of a prolific Hindu culture and had flourished in the lush plains for a millennia. The harvest couldn't be more fulfilling, and quickly became the envy of the world.

That  Ganga-Jamuni culture may now sound unfamiliar, to those  never exposed to it.  To researcher and author  Rafi Mustafa, that is supposedly  alien cultural heritage is his identity, his persona, his asset of pride.

He opened his eyes to the world in its lap,  inhaled its fragrance with his  first breath  and pined to return to it,  if not physically then intellectually at least, to put to rest his hankering to know his defining identity.

The Honor and Serving of the latest *Operational Research* on Ways, Pining of the World* continues. Thank Ya all for  reading and sharing forward, and see Ya all on the following one:

With respectful dedication to the Students, Professor and Teachers of the world. See Ya all on !WOW!   -the World Students Society and..... Twitter-!E-WOW!  -the Ecosystem 2011 :

''' !WOW! given Gift '''

Good Night and God Bless

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