The advent of Ramzan has reminded me of the following anecdote. Humayun (1508-1556), which we are all familiar with was son of King Babur and father of Emperor Akbar. If you want to know how Humayun looked like some 500 years ago in brisk colors then to the right of this text is an artist’s sketch.
“The” Humayun which we are going to discuss today is however nothing like above. He is son of Qureshi Saheb and father of none and he lived in our street during the period 1984-1994.
Before Humayun moved to our locality, I used to be the tallest boy in our street and had the laqab (title given by public) of Lamboo gali ka daada (i.e. The bully of the tall street).
I don’t remember how I got that laqab because those who know me can testify that I am anything but bully in real life.
In 1984, when Qureshi saheb’s family moved to our street, they also made sure to bring their son Humayun with them. 
With a lean and extra thin physique, Humayun had a height of 6′ 4″ and from a distance he looked like a walking bamboo. I on the other hand was even slimmer than him and people called me a walking stick. Walking together we looked like the number 11. I don’t have a photo of Humayun so I took my own shadow photo in a setting sun shown to the left. This is how Humayun looked like in 1980s. Having few things in common i.e. height and extra slimness, Humayun and I became good friends.
Jusy like me, he was a mad cricket fan. He was a very good fast bowler. Him and I used to open bowling for our mohalla (neighborhood) team. With the two of us from either end and with a variety of left arm (me) and right arm (him), we used to give tough time to any opposition batsman.
Besides cricket, Humayun had one more passion in life and that was an obsession to gain weight by any means. He would eat a lot of fats but to no avail. As long as I remember, his weight and width never increased.
We had an MBBS ‘Mian Bivi Bachon Samait’ (husabnd-wife-alongwith children) doctor named Dr. Masood living in our locality. Sometimes he would also come out to play cricket with us. Every now and then, Humayun used to ask his expert advice on how to gain weight. A typical conversation between the two went like this:
Humayun: “Masood bhai, kinnoo kha loon? kinnoo charbi to nahiN kaaTay ga?
(Brother Masood, Can I eat oranges? I hope it doesn’t cut into my fats)
Dr Masood: kha lo bhuee kha lo. charbi tum meiN hai kahaaN jo kattay gi?
(Go ahead and eat it. You don’t have any fats that could be cut into anyways)
At this Humayun would show his teeth and start peeling and eating another of his favorite kinnoo (a crossed variety of orange) in the street.
Some other things I remember about him include the episodes when we had to sit on a motorbike together. With pillion riding of a 6’4″ and a 6’2″ tall passengers, the motorcycle beneath us looked hilarious. From a distance it must’ve looked like two people sitting “ukRooN” (squatting) on the ground and somehow moving forward.
Humayun was also instrumental in the famous cricket incident where our team mysteriously disappeared without giving batting to the opposing team. To this day our opposing team has created lots of rumors about this particular game but let me tell you what actually happened. It was a 15-over-a-side Ramzan cricket tournament. One team used to bat before ‘namaz-e-asr’ (prayers) and second team after it. For one match we could only find 7 players. After winning the toss we elected to bat in a hope that we’ll miraculously find 4 missing players from some where. Those 4 players never showed up as nobody was willing to play empty stomach in sizzling Karachi heat. On the huge Shadab Cricket Ground in Gulberg we played full 15 overs like a test match and scored only 50-60 runs. Shadab Cricket Cricket (SCG) located in Gulberg Karachi is shown below. The building at one corner of the ground is Shadab masjid. Cricket pitch is also visible in the center of the ground.
With a taped-ball and only 7 fielders on our side, 50 runs would have been next to impossible to defend in a 15 over match. We were also playing under roza (fast) condition which made defending 50 runs look like a mountain. After molvi sahib said salam to the right hand side our whole team disappeared with from the left hand side door and went home. After the prayers the other team must’ve waited for their batting which they never got. We obviously lost the match because of walk-over given to other team but the enjoyment of ‘muffat ki’ (free) batting without having to field is still with me. Note my spellings of Urdu word ‘muft’ written deliberately as ‘muffat’ above. If instead of correctly pronoucing the word ‘muft’, you say it as ‘muffat’ then the enjoyment of getting something FREE doubles.
In 1994, Humayun family moved to North Nazimabad Karachi. I saw him for few more years here and there and whenever we played cricket together. I have lost contact with him for over 13 years now. Hopefully he is happy and prosperous wherever he is.
Photo Credits: First photo is from Wikipedia
“Ali Pervaiz Sahib. Are you a civil Engineer or an architect by profession”….. Owais Mughal.
Owais: I am jack of many trades and master of some. Just joking with you. Have fun.
“I would like to disagree slightly with the observations mr. alipervaiz and bhindigosht made regarding languages.”
hilu
I have no problem with your stance. However it is ALVIPERVAIZ and not alipervaiz. About the influx of sound of letter P in spoken Arabic. It is present in some areas but due to the outside influence. Not only due to the neighboring but also due to the European and American influences. The Arabic language by itself internally or inherently does not have the sound of letter p in it. This is how ‘Patrick Patrick Cally’ becomes ‘Butras Butras Gally’. Indeed all living languages are dynamic and ever evolving. Evolution however could be due to the internal and also due to the external dynamics. A forced Arabization of Urdu by the ‘Man of Darkness’ was a bad exercise. But then again I also remember some of the phraseology used by our learned Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as well. Life is interesting. ‘Isn’ it.
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“First of all we have to understand that languages evlove so do our perceptions of what a “language” is, in the first place. Language is not a rigid entity rather it is ever changing.”
[/quote]
Hilu,
You are right, languages evolve. But the point being made here is that in Pakistan an attempt was made, and is still being made insidiously, to Arabacize the Urdu language as if by decree. For example, road signs to Karachi Airport were changed to read ‘Mataar-e-Karachi’ during Jiaul-Haq’s time (mataar being the Arabic word for airport). What is wrong with the word airport, which has already been assimilated in Urdu like school, station, head master, etc.? I wonder if the ariport signs have been changed back now that we are in the era of enlightened moderation.
On a slightly different note, one word that is in use in Pakistan (only in Pakistan) and needs to be changed is ‘baitul-khala’. Even the Arabs laugh at this word. In the Arab world you see the word ‘hamamaat’ or ‘maraaheez’ or “maraaheed” (depending on how you pronounce the letter Zuaad) written at the airports and public places for toilets or bathrooms. But we have dug out this archaic word from God knows where. Like, we have this ‘akhraaj-e-hangaami’ in PIA planes.
Khuda Hafiz
No, we dont HAVE to stick to Ramzan. Call it wantever you want. Ramadan. Ramjan. Whatever. The name does not matter. Many of my friends call it Ramadan. That is their choice. I do not think they become more muslim than me by doing so. And I am sure they do not think I am less muslim because I say Ramzan. Ramzan IS the Urdu version and a perfectly fine one. Yes, languages evolve. I just see no reason to force this change. Ramzan works perfectly well for me, thank you. But, of course, you can call it whatever you want.
salam,
I would like to disagree slightly with the observations mr. alipervaiz and bhindigosht made regarding languages.
First of all we have to understand that languages evlove so do our perceptions of what a “language” is, in the first place. Language is not a rigid entity rather it is ever changing.
Urdu is, infact, a perfect example of HOW language evloves. Keeping this in mind we should have absolutely no problem with transition of pronunciation of words such as ramzan to ramadhan, salaat to salaah etc…in urdu itself. This is a function of language. To claim that we HAVE to stick to the words ramzan, salaat and so on is not coherent with the concept of language!
Also, I would like to mention that arabic dialects are very diverse as we move across middle east. To claim that it does not have “p” sound is not true. Infact if you go to areas that have been heavily influenced by turkish etc like parts of lebanon and syria and egypt they do have the sound “p” in their “spoken” language. Infact you will also find the sound/letter “ch” in their spoken language in some dialects.
Just to give a few examples:
a) I once knew of an egyptian whose name started with a “p”.
b)In iraqi dialect there is a word “phanka” and it means “fan” (just like we have pankha in urdu)…
I think I’ve said enough to make my point that languages can NOT remain rigid and they have to and do change. So, there is inherently nothing wrong with how pronunciation of some words are changing (that too to a more proper pronunciation).
fee amanillah.