Syed Zubair Hasan

The Road Not Taken


TWO roads
diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth; 5

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same, 10

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back. 15

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. 20


- Robert Frost

I didn't like the number 318 that I made myself write another post. There is a reason why I rejected 318 to be the last. Its an even number. I wanted an odd. So, it can be said that I am superstitious with odd numbers. Whatever it is, I prefer having odd numbers present themselves before the even ones.

If this sounds foolish, there is no question what the rest of the blog can be. I am not happy writing all this. I had once thought of going big miles. I don't; remember what I had in my mind when I had started writing this blog. But definitely I didn't know I would take that number 1 and add 318 to it.

This blog now is open to everybody. I have removed the restriction that were allowing only the invitees to read it. If at all i start writing on this blog again, I will bring back the restrictions. I have a private life. And I love myself. If I sound ironic and if there is a doubt that the last sentence had something in it, then its my pleasure to have that thought generated. If there in nothing in that sentence, then I am better off...

318

Burn the libraries, for all their value is in the Koran.
— Caliph Omar

A little more than an hour back my cousin from Gulbarga called up and the first thing he asked me to do was update my blog. He said he really wanted me to update it and that he always felt relaxed after reading the updates. It made me very happy that somebody was so interested and I wanted to thank him for the consideration he always shows.

I don't know when I will be writing next on this blog. Perhaps this post might end up being the last one. This is what I want at least for now. There are too many things happening and I don't feel like putting them here or sharing it all with anybody. Those I think should know things will be told by me personally. I really find nothing that I can write here. I have no reason why must continue.

Sometime back I used to write thinking that I was relieving myself. Yes, of course I was doing that. Not anymore. I will find better and more personal ways. I am done with this and I have to move on. I have begun to find it immature writing everything here. As I have mention above, this is all what I feel for the moment. It can change. Perhaps even tomorrow itself. I don't know if I'll retreat and write something tomorrow. And if I continue retreating. And for the record, I have bought a new mouse some days back. I am extremely sorry if I had ever written any nonsense on this blog that went on to hurt, confuse, trouble or cause any kind of problem anybody. But it was never nonsense. I will stand for everything.

Don’t be humble. You’re not that great.
— Golda Meir

Between pride, tears and intellect

Blessed are they who have nothing to say and cannot be persuaded to say it.

Sometime back I felt like punching the computer screen. The fact that I may loose the chance of updating the blog stopped me. There were other reasons too that stopped me. I don't know. I will never be tired telling everybody that I am doing fine. It's Allah's wish. I am still trying to believe in it. It looks like fun and excitement to everybody else. Its nice that way.

I had a lovely talk with my aunt today. After coming from CL today I slept for almost 3 hours. I had my lunch after that and left for Salarjung colony to my uncle's place. We went outside from there and returned home around 7:30 pm. After that till 9:30 pm I was with my aunt talking all that we could. The thing that used to conquer all my talks ceased to exist here. As always, I repeat that among all the people I know, I am one Allah has blessed the most. Alhamdulillah.

The last 30 minutes I have spent thinking. That's of course what I happen to do most of the time, like everybody else. I find myself being consumed by the heat generated by the roughening up of my ego, pride, emotions, love, immaturity and happiness. They all vie for precedence and they burn me to hell. All I do is sit and try to understand what exactly it is supposed to mean. I am afraid it will be too late. I wonder if it is again just a perception. That's what I have been mixing life with all these days.

I wanted to chat with some friend after coming home. I found two of them but couldn't really go for the kill - pull out things from me. But somehow I feel better now - especially after writing the above paragraph. Even I am not aware of any meaning in it. But it means peace to me. It created it. But I am afraid it is a terse packet of what is going on. When I stand today and try to see the days ahead on the calender in my mind, I see many circled boxes.

I always see this calender. Then sometimes it so happens that the days I had looked at long back were already gone. The days I was waiting for or was expecting to see become the ones I see today. It feels nice that they are going. They also hurt solemnly. Its the ice cream that can taste amazing but causes cold. Not all ice creams hurt. Only a few. I am not ice cream.

Tomorrow I have a class at CL again. It will be on quantitative aptitude again. There was a small test today. I felt as if I was pulled out a bathroom and made to stand in front of an army that has been commanded by its army general to shoot at me at sight. I managed to escape by cheating them. It was bad. Though I could clear the cut-off.

I have always been told that I have to stand for everything by myself and nobody would be there for me. I have been told many other things too. Seldom did I choose to believe in them. I can't explain how much I want this blog to be public. But I also understand I must not do that. There are some people with underlying motives who have given me sleepless nights - almost. I wish I could walk on that rosy path and never had to turn away. I also can't explain how it feels now. Perhaps I don't know how foolish I sound this way. It's an irony. I am a paradox. But I am not a statement. Sometimes I happen to make some.

Open and boundless

If you can’t stand solitude, maybe you bore others too.
— Bob Gordon

I just finished watching the movie "Behind Enemy Lines". I don't remember when it was the last time that I saw a movie at home completely at a stretch. The movie was nice. I have had it since long now and I thought its time to have a look and delete it. I had my cousins all this time and I dropped them home sometime back.

Tomorrow I have a class in the morning at CL. I am looking forward to it. It will be after a lon tiem that I will be attending one there. I wonder if there would be any camp in the coming days, I look forward to such a chance too. The last time it was near immpossible for me to attend it - not completely impossible though.

I reached home completely drenched at around 3 pm. It was raining heavily. I thought it to be a waste of time to wait for the rain to slow down. It was nice running in the rain! I was afraid that I would catch cold but I am fine. I woke up at 12 noon, had lunch with my cousin, it was a bit heavy for a breakfast and then I left for home. The rain started the moment I came out of the door.

The ME Daily

The person who has no opinion will seldom be wrong.

Around 9:30 am I received a call on my land line and the asked me if I was Syed Zubair Hasan. I affirmed and he started scolding me in a rude language asking me when I would be available at home. In a bold yet eloquent voice I asked him who he was and he said he was the person responsible for the enquiry process for my passport. I became more polite and told him that I would be home now. Rudely he asked me to keep all the papers ready.

I came around 12. I tried to be as polite with him as I could. He continued being rude and heavy with me for some time. But he couldn't stop himself reciprocating the way I was treating him. He came down to my level in sometime and rest was sweet. He took Rs. 250 calling it as "conveyance". That was rather too much.

I know there are two ways to handle rudeness. One is by being courteous and the other by being extra courteous. I could never find myself capable of adopting any other strategy. I am glad I don't know how to be rude - at least with strangers and outsiders. I am still sad I am not that humble with my parents at times.

Right now I am at my aunt's house. I came here in the afternoon. I even had my niece and nephew here until evening. I will return home tomorrow inshAllah. I will be awake for long in the night with my cousin. Tomorrow I even have to buy a mouse for my computer. Yesterday I had spent a lot of time arranging my old files on the computer. I deleted around 600 songs from the drive - all of them were redundant.

Tomorrow after reaching home - probably in the afternoon, the first thing I will do is start with CAT. Maybe in the evening I will make a visit to my uncle's house. I am expected there in the morning itself. I even I have to collect a few CDs from a friend. The biggest deal remains to be CAT. I am still not done with some work on a cousin's computer system. He must be angry with me.

coincidences

If only I had a little humility, I would be perfect.
— Ted Turner (attrib.)

I have no idea what I can write for now but that reason that I post this is just vague - I feel like writing. It is difficult to write with no inspiration at all. There is some want but no force. Inspiration can make me write even when there is resistance to write. When I read my old posts I always wonder if it was me who could write all that. I at time feel I have lost some knack. My posts now a days don't excite me.

I slept at 2:30 am and woke up at 10:15 am. I went to bed again after having a cap of tea and a look at the newspaper. I woke up around 12:45 pm and had my breakfast - I don't know what exactly I can term it as. It was heavy with a big piece of chicken and lots of 'masala'. I had had the same thing even yesterday night. Now again there is a cup of tea getting cold just beside my keyboard.

For the last two weeks my computer's mouse is making me unhappy. It takes a single click as a double on and event he scroller has turned murky. I checked out with two stores near my house but didn't get the kind of thing I wanted. Maybe I will buy one tomorrow. As always I have taken the money from my parents and have not used it yet.

My eldest cousin brother had asked me to come to his house and load some softwares for children on his computer. Two of my niece, he says, will enjoy them. I said I will be there on Sunday. It was more than two months back that I had said this. He asked me again when he was here last Sunday. Today inshAllah I will go to his place in the evening.Its too hot outside now.

My aunt, from mother's side, who lives in Mecca is not well again. We are in continuous contact with her. She has some problem with her throat and she is finding it difficult to talk as the pain is unbearable. We are praying that she recovers soon. My another aunt who is a doctor and lives there is keeping us informed too. We are worried.

I never got to know them

It takes a woman twenty years to make a man of her son, and another woman twenty minutes to make a fool of him.

— Helen Rowland

My uncle, aunt and two cousins arrived from US yesterday night. Their flight touched down at 10:30 pm they came out around 12:15 am. My uncle said no matter how nice the new airport being constructed is, if the management is same, it is useless. They had to wait for a very long time to get their baggage. Around the same time there were two more flights and the place was in mess.

Today they came to my house and we had dinner together. Right from the moment I met my aunt it looked to me as if we have been in continuous contact all these days. Have them at dinner proved it. We had lots of fun talking about everything we could in the short time they were here. I am waiting to see them again - perhaps tomorrow.

Today my mother went to buy some jewellery for the girl my cousin is getting married too. The last time she made such a purchase I was with her. Today she did it even without my knowledge. I don't say this as a complain. Just a fact. I wanted to be with her while she made this purchase. I myself don't know why I wanted to be with her. There is nothing to think about this want! Its irrational.

Yesterday alhamdulillah I submitted the report at Genpact along with my friend. I will get my letter soon stating about what I did being there for these two weeks. My friend will be continuing there and will get into some other process. I wish I could still continue but I have something I find more important. Even my mother is happy with this.

Yesterday I had lots to things to eat. I started with what I had at home in the morning. The same thing was repeated in the lunch. Then there were lots of fruits at Genpact in its cafeteria. After reaching home I had tea - I already had had coffee thrice during the day time. Then at an aunt's place I had herbal tea, samosas and of course lots of sweets. I can't forget these sweets and ever thoughts of them is making me laugh. I don't I have any reason and even if I have it, it is irrational again!

One of my two cousins who are here is 5 years younger to me. He hardly talks with anybody unless asked of something. His replies are short - not more than in two words usually. My uncle said he is the same even with them. The last time they were here five years back, he was different. But I did find him talk to people of his age group. He is well acquainted with my brother - they were already in contact through internet. The only two things he asked me till now by himself were: the time of the day when he arrived here yesterday and if Le Bon was still there. Le Bon is the name of the dog at my aunt's place. But he is a cool guy. It looks apparently.

Today the two cousins, my brother and another cousin who lives here went to City Center and McDonald's. They supposedly had lots of fun. They even had plans to go to Hi-Tech city but had to cancel as they were asked to come home in the evening. I was at home till 3 pm and went to a friend's house after that. He picked me up, took me to his house and dropped me back at my grandmother's house. He had a back up of my hard drive with him and I have copied it back onto my hard drive which I was forced to format a few months back.

No matter how my heart breaks

Nothing so stirs a man’s conscience or excites his curiosity as a woman’s silence.
— Thomas Hardy

I spoke to my friend at Genpact who is with the HR team. I told him that I might not be continuing with the internship after the coming Friday. I will be finishing the current and though I have a chance of getting into some there process, I want to quit and spend some time with CAT. We will be submitting a report on Friday inshAllah.

I really have nothing much to write for today too. In fact its just the thing I must avoid I guess. I have an ambivalent mind-frame and it is best to stay calm. Sometimes sitting back and taking time helps a lot. I have music going in my ears and I am listening to songs that make no relation to me. To be more precise, I find no song that I can match my mood. That's a good thing.

My elder cousin brother from Gulbarga called me up today in the afternoon. It was so nice talking to him. I was very happy glad and happy to hear form him. He will be shifting to Hyderabad on Monday. He will be doing DNB at Wokhardt Kamineni hospital here. He already has a specialization in orthopaedics. I am looking forward to meet him. I have always looked at him as an ideal but could never become like him.

In a short while I will be publishing a post on my family blog. It has been written by my cousin of course. I am just giving some value-add. It will be a long time after which we have written something for this blog.

I reached home a little early today. There wasn't much to be done or seen. We saw a little of the cross-training going on and we also spent some time preparing the report. My friend came to my house in the morning while I was asleep. It took me time to calm myself down. I wanted to sleep a little more.

stitched up by the hands of fate

Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back into the same box.
— Italian saying

Its only out of sheer love towards writing that I am updating my blog now a days. I write only what this love makes me write. I am getting tired by the time I am reaching home and something is necessary to propel me. Its love here. I reached before 10 pm today.

My cousin brother's marriage has been finalized and most probably the dates have been decided too. No confirmation of the dates yet, but they will be around 15th of May. My cousin lives in London and he will be here for a very few days. The last time he was here was 6 months back if I am not wrong. That visit was just for 20 days.

On Friday InshAllah my uncle from US will be here in Hyderabad. I am not sure if my cousins too are coming with him. In July there will be many people coming here from Saudi Arabia. I am waiting for those days to come. Many reasons.

I take no more than i deserve... still need to learn more

I am beautiful; you have quite good features; she isn’t bad-looking if you like that type.

I thought I won't write for today. But I was reminded that today my friend said "for the first time I found a nice girl in Genpact" so I thought I could mention that. In fact a few days back he had said "there is no stock here". I didn't write about that. Just left it for a chance like this.

It i not at all that I have anything against him and I want to exploit everything he says. I just like bugging him. I hardly do that with anybody else. He does it too with me but he does it on an emotional level. So I have to retaliate it this way - by just making it public whatever he says. And he says amazing things regularly.

It was a busy day for us. We learnt a lot again. I am enjoying all this and liking it too. There is of course a difference between liking and enjoying. I am not going to assess that here today. I reached home at 10:20 pm. I had missed my cab and I had to walk a long way before I could get a bus.

bold, italic, publish, save, draft ... more

Reject your sense of injury and the injury itself disappears.

- Marcus Aurelius

Sometimes I don't have anything to write but I feel like writing. Writing even poems becomes simple. Something gives a reason I don't understand. It is not inspiration I know. It is pain and I don't understand it too.

As I have always believed that some things happen for the first times in our lives and it is nice that they happen. Yes, it is nice. But it can be painful. Torturous at time. Unhealthy for the future. They may excite me for the moment but they don't turn into words easily and so, I can't get lucid. It is serious. Those things are serious. I am serious.

Sticking on to something can be tough. Especially when I have spent some years in believing an idea contrary to the present one. I knew grief was somewhere around but didn't know it would strike this way. So brutally and so cleverly. It happens to perfection, creates reality that can't be thought as vague even if it is so; it happens as Allah commands. And He does it beautifully. No doubt. I sit and talk to myself and to Allah.

It was once of those things I had to get over and I was thinking that time would help me out. Here time seems to hunt me down. Perhaps it knows the future and it is preparing me for it. I really don't know what it is. I would reather fill all of today's post with the words "I don't know what is going on". All I can see is a systematic series of events, I had once ruled out thinking them to be foolishness, taking place at the apex of my emotions.

I can't explain intutions. I wish I could at least write them down. It could be so pathetic. But they were not exactly intutions. They were rather cognitions; my imaginations I had created to entertain myself. This would sound unimaginable. Even the presence looks the same to me. I can take things as they come. But its not as easy as it looks. Maybe it is. The mood I am right now says it is not.