Quiz-2

There was an old man living in a remote village of your country. He had 5 sons and 25 cows. The cows are numbered as per their production of milk per day e.g. in each day no-1 cow gives 1 litre of milk, no-2 gives 2 litres etc. The old man, in his death-bed, decided to distribute his cows among the sons desiring :

• Each of them will get equal number of cows.
• Each of them will get equal quantity of milk.

How do you distribute the cows among the sons to fulfill the desire of the old man?

Pollution in Sudan

It was 24 April 2008 when I landed in Sudan. After 5 months, it seems to me:

• Number of vehicles are increasing very fast thus generating air pollution.
• Increasing traffic congestion spoiling much of man-working hour.
• Increasing use of motor bike leading to frequent accidents.
• Increasing rate of non observance of normal traffic rules which will definitely cause traffic accidents.
• The traffic signals are connected with area based electricity supply.
• Use of polythene bag is higher than any developing country which is likely to create blockage in drainage system and ultimately leads to soil and ground water pollution.

My suggestions are:

• Stop importing vehicles of two stroke engines.
• Design for fly-over before it is too late.
• Educate people about traffic rules and its importance.
• For traffic signal lights of roads and highways, a separate electricity line/phase should be used and continuously maintained.
• Stop using polythene; encourage use of bio-degradable bags/sacks.

My back-door neighbour

" O, o, o...." The father was trying hard to make his baby sleep on his lap. The scenario made me passionate as I had the same feelings 5 years before . The kid was still crying....I shut the back window , pulled the curtains on and returned to my bed. I sighed for a while...."These people are really poor! They don't have any place to live but to occupy other's under-constructed-building for a time being; and one day they will be driven away.......!"

Shhh......with the whirling sound of wind, I got up in the dead of night at 01:30 a.m., there was a haboob (sand storm) going on out side my house. The whole house seemed to be blown away within a moment. Sand with pebbles were scratching away our window glasses, debris were flying around with immense dust...the electricity went out immediately. I jumped out from my bed. There was a hew and cry going on in the nearby houses specially from the tin-shed houses. I stood before my back window, in order to figure out what exactly was going on there at the back of my hired house. I could see nothing but to hear the crying of innocents. I returned to my bed obsessed with thinking,"What will happen to my poor back door neighbour...?"

"Ummu?" younger kid cried out with fear.The mother was almost lifeless to see the severity of storm. She immediately embraced the younger while holding the youngest in the lap. The father was managing the ragged curtain to protect them from speedy sand. "Ah...!" a flying debris just hit the mother's head pushing her aside with daughters. The sound of his falling wife was immediately buried under the sound of the storm. By that time the small kid crept out from her lap and started crawling over the blood of mother in dark. The baby cried out loudly...

The father was still fighting with sandy storm. He could not even imagined her wife being perished away by that time! The younger one was still hiding at her mother's back and peeping out frequently with fear. Suddenly, the father could see a black flying object drawing nearer very fast. Fearing imminent adversary he left the fence at once and started running desperately for his family. But this time the debris hit the baby on floor before his father could reach him. The small body cramped to death immediately. It was just a nightmare for him....he started searching blindly his wife, baby in the dark. The habob took all his lovers away! The father cried out to the sky with cold blood in hands, "Yeah Allah....."

I jumped out from my bed sweating; by then the morning light was playing with the floor. With a subtle steps, I approached to the back window again remembering the legacy of my dream ...

" O, o, o...." The father was swinging the youngest child on his lap while the rest of his family members fell asleep!

I closed my eyes once again with my whole heart contented!

Misunderstood!

It was November 2002. I was wandering in MG road at Pune, India. It was my second visit to Pune shopping area after a month. I insisted my colleague to fall back quickly as it was drawing nearer to sun set. We were looking for taxi to hire but failed. So we started walking for Dapudi...thinking if we could get a vacant one en route. Suddenly we appeared before a bus stand at the Y junction of the road where I could see an awaiting taxi with nearby buses. We approached to the vehicle and asked the driver in English ," Do you like to go to Dapudi?" The driver stared at me with little anger,"Aap Kea kahte hain?" (What do you say?) . I assumed him to be in bad mode, might be because of picking up a quarrel with his wife or others or might be for on going unprofitable business...!
" Do you like to go to Dapudi?" I asked him again.
" Aap Bhartiya hone ke nate, mere sath English main baat kyon kar rahe hain?" (Being Indian why you are speaking in English with me?!) expressed his anger.
"No, no, not at all" I meowed for a while!
"Main garib hun, is liye aap mere sath English main baat kar rahe hain?" (I am a poor guy , that's why you are speaking in English with me)- he started growling at us which was otherwise an indication to call upon nearby colleagues...to take post!
I was literally surprised to hear that; I grabbed my passport inside my pocket feeling my beloved country's passionate touch! I shouted, "You have misunderstood me, I am from Bangladesh" taking no breath..."I am Bangladeshi".
But who wanted to know those funny words oozing from my mouth! We resembled Indian; was it not enough for them to teach us a good lesson?- I presumed. By that time a little hew and cry took place around us. Our sixth sense started working inside fearing for next move from them! It was real bizarre! We neither had enough time to prove our honesty nor had any body but passport to identify us. The approaching crowds were grinning and enjoying our condition. We the poor fellows, were literally fused inside amidst so many unknown peoples. My colleague took no time to pull my hand saying," Let us quit, I am guessing something bad ahead..."
So there was no reason to stay but to make a quick passage through ridicule bowing my head in shame and cursing myself, old politicians and...
I was on my way off mode!

Whom to blame?

"The prices of most of the foodstuffs have already been increased a lot before the Ramadan begins...." the news bar crawls at the bottom of TV screen. I can not figure out why it takes place always right before Ramadan....while claiming ourselves to be true Muslims!

"Babul, have the prices of commodities been increased here?" I inquired our Bangladeshi maid servant working in Sudan.

"No, sir. They don't do that here! You know, my Sudanese boss gave us a lot of food stuffs for this Ramadan." He explained with satisfaction.

I looked at the TV again, people are blaming merchants, government's poor policies etc; on the other hand, the representative from the merchants group are telling different stories narrating all business rules i.e. price increases when demand increases, higher cost for imported foodstuffs and many more.

But what I know as a plain Muslim, Ramadan is for "Self-restraint" which generates from Taqwa(a state of the heart that motivates virtuous conduct and prevents evil action). Combining both fear of Allah and love for Allah lead to Taqwa. So in that case whom do I blame for price hike?

Again fasting in Islam generates various character building factors like obedience to Allah, patience, responsibility as a Muslim to others specially to the poor, self-control and self discipline, purification of soul, afterlife accountability etc. If it is so, did we learn any thing last year Ramadan? Who is to be blamed for?

Is it I? Or you? Or WE?

Do our education system teaches our children to be good human before to be good Muslim? Have you ever heard in any Friday prayers where our religious teachers or moulobhies like to preach, "It is sin to adulterate the food, deceiving by giving less weight, going for price hike unnecessary....?" Have you seen how confusions about religion are infused by our medias without consulting within themselves?

Every where there are something missing in our day to day life! In the holy Quran and hadiths of our prophet Mohammad (pbuh), there are numerous instances where it has been instructed to refrain us from hurting or paining in any form to our neighbours, our other Muslim brothers . Are they not enough for us? We eager to look west to copy or carry out the bad things leaving their good ones which are already there in our holy scriptures 1400 years before!

Hence it is to be WE who should be put into trail, not the above parties alone. Because our shallow knowledge as well as less interest on Islam have made this thing so easy for us to do.

I was pondering all those within myself. I sighed for a while....when I see same drama is being played some other Muslim countries too!