The words trader | لفظوں کا سوداگر
The burning ball of fire is about to drown in the dark shades of horizon. There is a gradually increasing blurred dot. He is the one I wait for the whole month, and finally, he is here—Umer Atraf. The air of the hot desert is cooling now as he approached with his tired camel.
"Assalamualaikum...!" he sparkled his refreshing voice as soon as he reached the platform where I was waiting for him.
"Walekumassalam," I, along with nine others who have smiling almond eyes, answered him.
How are you, bookworms? he addressed collectively. Hopeful, waiting for you, enjoying , reading_ everyone spoke at the same time.
One of the youngsters brought a glass of salty but fresh camel milk for Umer. He took the glass with thanks and drank it sip by sip.
So, what do you bring for me this time? I was curious, so I didn’t stop myself. He handed me his glass , went to the camel library, picked a book, walked back to me, took his glass from me and showed the cover of book in his hand.
"One Hundred Years of Solitude"—a book by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. And this is 417 pages of magical realism," he said in an exciting tone.
A bundle of more then 400 pages on the isolation of a being? It could be boring. Show me something else. I wasn’t satisfied with his choice.
Oh, come on. Why are you so dumb? Solitude doesn't mean a single character in the whole novel ,there are a lot of characters that will blow your mind, but—
I cut his words, So what about the solitude thing then?
"Ya Allah...! Can you please allow me to finish?" He was irritated.
"Okay, okay," I raised my hands in surrender.
Solitude is about having no one around you who can understand, evaluate, or anticipate your emotions while you are in a crowd of near and dear ones. It is about the complexities of human psychology, which at one moment may seem so rightful to you but later make you feel awkward. But what I meant is about self-acceptance and resilience. Although annihilation is the ultimate fate of sapiens in the form of death, all the characters own their personalities and reach their end.The rest of it you will understand when you read it.
And I'll give you a free book if you tell me the names of all characters in A hundred years of solitude on my next visit. He was challenging
It sounds weird but okay "I’ll." Let's see. He winked and wasn’t look so sure about it. Don't underestimate me just becoz I didn't get the conventional education ! He wasn't a bit annoying. You’ll get it when you read it. He rolled his eyes in a mysterious way.
Why do you do this, Umer? I always wondered about his passion as a mobile librarian. What? I do "what?" He didn’t comprehend the context of my words. This library, walking miles in scorching heat, book distribution for very little wages.
"Obligation" , he answered in one word, with infinite peace in his voice.
And who made you obliged? I wasn’t satisfied because I knew him. He was from a well-off family and intelligent enough to get a highly paid job.
He put his index finger on his heart and, without saying a word, looked at me.In that very moment his eyes were twinkling like the stars in Shab e Yalda.
You are mad. I couldn’t stop myself from saying this.
I am. He chuckled and continued—but I want to turn this crowd into a nation. I know this is difficult,and maybe I won't see the impact but I want to be in those who stand for a "right change".
How can literature fix people? I mean, it is about imaginary situations.
Nope, fiction is about bitter realities wrapped in mesmerizing words. It can change the thinking pattern in a way that a person doesn’t even realize it is happening. Sugar-coated truths are better than naked truths. It can bleed your heart, but here you want to bleed yourself. I'm a very ordinary person with just an average intellectual level, and maybe my perception is wrong, but literature can normalize the extremism in human That's all what I think
Then he went to his young book buddies to help them select books.
I was left thinking about the solitude of Umer’s obligation.
Camel Library is a real project in the "Thar dessert " Pakistan.
Umer is a wise man. If he were to ride a camel through the cities today, he would have no joy. He would be distraught watching trash TV, first-person shooter games, reality shows and more. He would probably have to realise that his mission has largely failed...
The world is still not short of eccentric people like Umer, and I have to stay optimistic about it.
Such a refreshing thing.
Why don't these kinds of good projects get social media highlight.
I also got to know about this from your post. It's such a heart warming thing to see these children reading books.
You know what? my village is not very far from the main city but they still don't deliver any online parcels to our homes.
Remote area kind of thing.
We pick them from their office.
Now i think how cute it will be if these camels bring my book parcels, cuties😍
Great post, please write more.
Because we have to troll the pathetic social media influencers and trends… e.g., farshi salwar, Danish Taimoor and "filhal," Rajab Butt and his 295 perfume, and the dirty comments about Mahrang Baloch.
So, in all this mess, we have no time to look at Hadiqa Kiyani, Shehzad Roy, Yasmeen Lahri,Mufti fazal hamdard waghra waghara ..
I randomly watched a video of Shehzad Roy’s Zindagi Trust, and believe me, that was like breathing in fresh air.
We are living a century behind the world
Indeed this is heartwarming... ;-) let's do it by yourself for yourself ( a business idea 😆)🌷🌷🌷🌷
Negativity gets our attention. That's why you can see people in streets watching two groups fighting, which doesn't concern them.
And this crackdown on balochi people is really messed up. We can't blame one group for their atrocities.
When you are denied of your rights over your resources unlike other provinces, this is what happens.
When your men become missing persons, this is what happens.
Outrage is natural but our people also don't know how to protest peacefully, we are extremist, it's just kill them or die.
Disturbing thing is balochi has hate for Punjabi or it may has portrayed this way. They want our blood, which is not their right to demand for.
But again these things are agreeable where there is rule of law.
Or wo kya khte hain muhabbat or jang m sab jaiz hota hai, rubbish, there are rules to follow, all these armed groups are fooling common people, our army and these freedom fighters are really complex.
I had talked to a balochi when mahrang started her protest last year i guess, their sufferings are undeniable and they migrate to Punjab for better professional opportunities.
And about rajab butt, i don't know him, my youngest sister told me about him, i think he is stupid and don't know how to handle his stupid fame.
What if i migrate from here?
No one orders books here mere ilawa:)
P.S: essay hi likh dia h mene to, long time no see👋
Vo khuly am support kr rhi h BLA ko ...baqi yar ab sab ko sab ka hi pta h
K State actors or non state actors kya kya kr rhy ....
Magr mujy srif ik bat pta k ...ap ka Sath Jo bi ho rha h ...ya kabi bi is bat ki justification ni ho sakti k ap dosray bagunah ko mar dan....or kya khon ...sary mulk hi ksisi na ksi masly phasa hva h ....khain BLA active h to khain TtP ...khain khusksali ka khtra h to khain PiCa act bhugtaya ja rha h , khain dumpers logo ko kuchal k nikal jaty hn to khain blasphemy arroj pa h ...or poray mulk pa wasy hi IMF ki talvar latakti rhti h.....ahtabr sajid ny kya khob kha h k
جہاں بھونچال فصیل و در میں رہتے ہیں
ہمارا حوصلہ دیکھو ہم ایسے گھر میں رہتے ہیں
Pakistan zindabad🇵🇰
It will be a paradise if we stop seeing the news we can't do anything about.
Ap ka sukria Mr Watoo @abdullahw2
😂😂 Mr watoo kyun?
Well… why not?? 😂
Actually, bro, you once attached your FB profile link to your post. And things about people that I once notice never fade from my memory.