Birds of nature

Nature reflects itself in various forms; sometimes it properly clads the silvery dress of snow, sometimes the running rivers and streams with their crystal clear water reveal its innocent beauty. At other times, it smiles confronting man as beautiful flowers, and sometimes as birds with untold beauty and fascination of their scheme of colors which snatches words from pen and man’s power of discourse. Birds are a source of love and beauty and are a way to pay a humble tribute on the part of man to his Lord, for His mastery and skill, which is the slightest manifestation of His genius. What are like these birds when twitter look singing the praise of the Almighty at breaking dawn. The dusk also reflect their chirping and the atmosphere fills with pure passions and lofty sacredness.

What are dreams?

Whenever I think of dreams, a well-known character of literature “Sheikh Chilli” comes to my imagination who was himself a dream from head to toe. Certainly, he would be a source of entertainment for many of us but personally, I am very much impressed by his character. Although he was in the habit of seeing dreams with open eyes, yet he opens the world of action for his readers. He goes to the market with a basket of eggs on his head and thinks about future plans. This is not mere entertainment but a very strong desire to do something marvelous and astonishing in life.

Seeing dreams in life is a compulsory thing for all of us because they produce a stir in us to do something great. These act as a road map for us to follow. The unique ideas in every field are a dream at the very outset. The immortal works of arts, literature, architecture, and engineering were ambiguous dreams in the minds of their creators. Alexander Fleming was working in his laboratory when a fungus dropped in the culture plate, the organisms in the plate died at once. The inspiration that struck his mind bestowed a strange gift to mankind was surly a fulfillment of a dream which he had seen in the labyrinths of his brain very long ago.

Freud is of the view that dreams are in fact our thoughts, desires and longings, which remained unfulfilled, and we in our dreams, like a good poet, see our own created world. When our conscious mind sleeps, unconscious mind awakes and the depressed and broken desires take their entity and we see them, as we wanted to see in our real life. The dreams are pleasant as well as nightmares. It is our inner fear that remains sitting anywhere in our unconsciousness and apparently, we totally forget about it.

Mango is the king in fruits

Once the legend of Urdu Literature, Mirza Ghalib, was leisurely sitting among his contemporaries where ‘mango’ was under discussion. All were counting the qualities of a good mango. When Mirza Ghalib was asked he plainly replied, “Mango must be sweet and plentiful in quantity”. This shows the strong liking of Ghalib for mangoes. Late Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, a well-known politician of Pakistan and highly reputed in making alliances against the existing governments, the evergreen symbol of opposition and great critic of ruling parties, was in habit of sending baskets of mangoes to his fellow politicians. He continued this tradition throughout his life. The former president of Pakistan Mr. Asif Ali Zardari too never forgets his colleagues including opposition leaders to send mangoes as a gift in mango seasons .It is considered a sign of love and confidence in sub-continent. The people living in mango-cultivated areas do send baskets of mangoes as gifts to their relatives and friends.

India is the home of mango. It was grown in India about 5000 years ago. The legend says that Mahatma Buddha meditated under the cool shade of mango and got tranquility. The word mango is derived from a Tamil word ‘mangkay’ or ‘man-gay’. When Portuguese came to India and settled in the western part of the country, they named this fruit ‘manga’, which afterwards became mango. The traders from Middle East and Africa introduced the fruit in their countries. In India, it is treated reverently and regarded as a sacred tree, which can fulfill every desire of man. Hindus on holy occasions clean their teeth with the twig of mango tree.   

Great men of Medical Science

The marvelous development of Medical Science that we witness today has a long and painful story of trials behind it. In 5^th century B.C., when young Hippocrates decided to take medicine as his profession, there was a monopoly of church over this field. The illiterate religious leaders and soothsayers were responsible for the health of people. He was sent to the church of Aesculapius for medical education. He observed the patients were absolutely ignored and hated there. The profession was quite lucrative, so it was under the possession of the church. Hippocrates then took a decision, which proved a foundation stone for the coming generations. He, along with his other softhearted fellows, started curing the patients. Sympathetic thinking and scientific way of working was the sole purpose of this group of physicians. He introduced the unique and different way of curing the diseases and soothing the patients. The inquiry about the disease and examining its effects on the patient, the extreme care, and preventive measures resulted in quick recovery of the patients. For the first time in medical history, the record of the brief history of the diseases and the patients was maintained. The mental and spiritual state of the patients was given importance during treatment. He was of the view if the patient is disturbed mentally and spiritually, he would feel the disease intensively. The medicine of his time was an experimental procedure, but the care, sympathy and winning the trust of patients made recovery of the patients very quick. It was not only curing the diseases but also a great research process. Hippocrates and his co physicians prepared many volumes of the brief history of the disease and the patients. He kept in mind the environment in which the patient lived while studying a patient and advising him the remedies. Although it was not a very big leap, yet a step ahead to explore the new methods and ways in medical science. It was the foundation on which later generations could build the magnificent buildings. It was the defeat of false obsessions and the gateway for the servants of humankind and for the curious souls.

The frightened men of knowledge

An orphan boy used to play in the streets of a town, named Thorn, on the bank of River Vistula, near the Baltic Sea, in Poland. No one was aware that he would prove fourteen centuries old and accepted theories wrong and irrational. These theories were not only the matter of scientific knowledge for the people, instead a matter of religious belief. In Cracow University of Poland, his worthy teachers sew the seed of deep interest of Mathematics and Astronomy in his curious mind having boundless love for knowledge. Then his thirst for knowledge took him to Bologna University where he studied Law and enhanced his knowledge of Astronomy and Mathematics. He also learnt Greek to have direct approach over the translations that came from Arabic origin. In Rome, he started his career as a university lecturer of Astronomy. He had to teach Ptolemy’s well known Geocentric Theory to his students. The professor was not an ordinary person but was Nicolas Copernicus. Very soon, he resigned from the lectureship of university because he was not sure about the authenticity that he was teaching. He went back to his native town and started working for what he had left his job. There was a huge problem was of fog and he could not see the sky clear, but his passion was beyond limits. He remained busy making his observations and keeping a record of his findings. He silently went on the path of knowledge, studied stars, planets, observed eclipses, made estimations, and then proved them with the help of mathematical formulas. After years’ toil and tiresome struggle, at last he proved that earth is not the center of this universe. Earth is also moving along with other heavenly bodies around the sun, which is stationery. This great success gave the scientist a boundless joy as well as a lot of fear. He concealed his research work because he could not find courage to reveal the truth. He was well aware of hostility of church, which in no time would announce him a pagan and have him hanged. He agreed to publish his work when he was at the edge of grave. He put his book in the name of Pop Paul 3^rd in order to please the church. The publisher wrote in the preface of the book that the contents of the book are not based on reality but a mere joke. When the book came before Copernicus, he was at his deathbed and could not find time to have bird’s eye view of his book for which he had spent all his life.