THE SLOGAN IN A SONG

                                           

Ali Tailor was short-statured, mischievous and a funny character in Bagh Jogilankar, Rainawari. Neither Pandits nor Muslims visited his shop for stitching new clothes. The second-hand clothes market in the city, popularly known as Bangladesh, kept him ever busy with refitting. He had an old sewing machine. After just a few inches of stitching, the thread would come out of the needle, disrupting his work tempo. He was a specialist in refitting old clothes. When in a good mood, Ali Tailor would sing loudly a song that had an intriguing opening line:

"Begham Zuvo mei gham sooziy Hindustan"

"O my carefree self. Keep going like that. I have sent all your worries to India."

One day, Dr. Ram Joo Handoo was passing by his shop. Dr. Ram Joo Handoo had his medical shop close to Ali Tailor's shop. Dr. Ram Joo stopped near Ali Tailor's shop and said, "O Ali Mohammed, why do you sing it incorrectly? It was coined by the National Conference leadership after the Pakistani Tribal Raiders were driven out. Since you are a diehard National Conference worker, you must know the true lines."

Ali Tailor asked for the correct lines. And Dr. Ram Joo Handoo said this:

"Begham Zuvo mei gham sooziy Pakistan"

"O my carefree self. Keep going like that. I have sent all your worries to Pakistan."

Ali Tailor smiled and said, "That is correct. I never knew that. My life is at the disposal of Sher-i-Kashmir Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah and his party."

When Dr. Ram Joo left his shop, Ali Tailor put the thread into the machine needle and smiled. He resumed his work singing, "Begham Zuvo mei gham sooziy Hindustan."

(Avtar Mota)

CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.