Nostalgia

... to all those sitting on the other side of the fence, who once adorned the stairs of Moin auditorium (floor pieces) the "auditorians " ...some sitting some sprawling with the ever familiar smell of individual underarms ....mixing to give a bheeny bheeny khushboo, ...waiting for sexy eyes to bring you a cup of tea, avoiding to go near the snack corner as shahjee may hound you to pay up last years account....(julsee ..warna.. chalsee)..... which is still better than facing shahid quranski hounding you for party fund........ and just as you lit your first goldleaf cigarette........ ten hands appeared from out of the blue..... yar! ik kash to dena.......... the auditorians who made sure every girl sat safely in the bus and went home, a civic duty passed on from generation to generation.......... firmly believing that any girl who spoke with you is a saint and those who did'nt.___ .... every once in a while taking a stroll across the anatomy hall (of the infamous) to watch peep shows of whos doing who..... returning to the same place to study the gravitational effect on 'elastic tissue' ...sigh...such was usual day for many of us.........and is

salman :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

.........and remember hostel 4...probably the only place where one was welcomed whether in failure or success....the badminton court ...where strategies and notes were exchanged...FMGEMS, and FRCS were passed, many a hearts were won...all over a cup of tea......where seniors would brag about, how to....and juniors would look up to the jubilant FRCS, FMGEM, as nothing less than Greek gods.... but also find one of us bragging about his clinic some where in the inner city................ with the board reading........MBBS (UK), RMP, PMDC, JPMC...equally proud!.........the ground floor where wakeup calls were the thunder of a motorbike being kick started......and the stairs which led to the doctors('n)mess next to a telephone (and sometimes) a broken chair...and no need to call directory assistence.... just look up on the wall.....where you will find the number to "the visiting nurse"association....usually coming in for those ailing "haji's"to help them in ADL (activities of daily living)and "uplift".....yes the haji's the most sought after names during seating arrangements for the viva....the rooms where great minds grew (and in some rooms cannabis)......then comes the exam night....two sinister looking guys in bikes would come and enter a room.....where the "chosen ones" huddling close (do you feel the tension) ...are told of the"revelation"(guess paper)....the middle east delegation taps in on the classified info...................... ALAS!..only to find out it wasn't the elbow...but the knee joint..........well back to hostel 4

.......salman :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

 January 1997

 My cup of tea

It is 8:15 in the morning; the winter is at its peak (we do get little winter here in Karachi in January). The day starts at the snack corner. My friends; Nadeem, Anjum, Moin, Rizwan and Adeel, are waiting for me on the tennis court bleachers under the bright morning sun. After the salaam and hand shakes the first thing that comes out of my mouth (after an appropriate choice of words, which I can not write here) was " where is my cup of tea?" Meanwhile, I take my chapstick out and rub on my lips (somehow the winter has a peculiar effect in Karachi as everyone gets cracked lips), I see that the "chjota" from the snack corner is rushing in to bring a cup tea for me, in the background I see "Shajee" smiling and waving to make sure I acknowledge him as he acknowledges my arrival and sent me tea.

Ahh.. what a refreshing warm experience this tea has in this cool morning of winter. Perfectly light brown in color, nice aroma and very precisely carved broken edges of the rim of this cup. The background is even more charming which enhances the taste. Yes my friends are busy in taking a glimpse at someone special passing by from the snack corner towards the Moin auditorium to attend the first lecture of the morning. Each one of us has to fulfill this duty before we could go to the lecture. For some of us it would require two cups of tea. Oh! Yes my tea is finished and I have fulfilled my duty -- she just went into the lecture, I say bye to my friend because sure I wouldn't want to miss my "lecture".

It has been more then ten years now, I have had tea thousands of times since then but I would still trade anything for that kind of cup of tea.

Yes! "My cup of tea"