Hello everyone thank you so much for your birthday wishes….I read all the comments but there is one comment that grabbed my attention…its was by the mighty bug and it said

“ho hum ! budhai ho gaye ho saeen !!! time to stop jumping around ? what a down blog waise, where is all the sex drugs and especially the rock n roll ?”

Now don’t think that I am about to refute or argue anything said here and neither am I going to talk about sex and drugs….but instead I want to talk about the author…..THE MIGHTY BUG..

The writer is not an ordinary entity…in fact before he was a Mighty Bug…he was just a Bug and before that he was a simple Maqora.. So even though there has been a progressive improvement in his name and status as an insect…I have simply known him as MAQ and it is about him that I write this entry:

When I was young, I could very easily make friends but it was very hard for me to maintain the friendship. Friendship to me was all about finding common interests. However being a child with a fleeting focus and an ephemeral mind, my interests changed in a matter of weeks and so did my friends.  By the time I was in class ten, which would be around 1991, I was pretty much friendless. I was in a school called Crescent Model and though I my fondest memories are from there only,…the school was a conglomeration of middle class students who were interested in learning only that which was necessary for them  to top the Matric exams. The education system in those days was the post Zia mindset; avoiding as much western exposure as possible and schools calling themselves English Medium yet teaching English itself in Urdu……in fact in our school, if someone spoke fluently in English he was considered a freak by the students and usually made the School Head Boy or Prefect!!!
It suited me to be friendless there, because I did not think that I could ever meet someone whose likes  could range from Glam Metal, to breeding fish, to collecting stamps, to programming computers to making his own electric guitars and airplane models….to reading Manto and watching art films by Ingmar Bergamn. They were all too busy playing cricket, trying to watch porn or getting really good grades!!!

Speaking of sports, the only sport I know is tennis and that too because my father forced me into it, otherwise I simply hate sports. But it’s thanks to tennis only, that I came across MAQ.

I still remember it like yesterday, though it’s at least 17 years ago. It was one of those tennis evenings at GOR when the best tennis player at the club Muji, as he was nicknamed, introduced me to a guy called MAQ. He was his class fellow and at least 3 years older than me. Now bear in mind that when you are class nine or ten you don’t associate with older boys…they look at least 10 years older and are usually scary and bossy. But MAQ was different. He had really thin legs and his voice had (has) still not cracked!!!. Muji introduced him as the most brainy kid he knew.  Apparently he had never come second in his class.

We started talking and it seemed that he was interested in everything. He said he had all the computer games (we’re talking ZX Spectrum and Commodore days btw!!!), all the comics, all the Star Trek movies, all the glam music …..he had all of everything that I could’ve been interested in. I did not know what to feel, but if a person says he has everything of everything….it seems he is either showing off or lying.

But there was something about him…he didn’t seem arrogant or even cocky. Somehow I was getting a very interesting vibe from and I wanted to meet him again.  A few days later when I was at the club he came and this time offered to take me to his house to show me some of his computer games. I did go and to my surprise he really was not lying.

I was in a house that was full of Everything!!!

WOW!!!

But this was no fake collector, no show off.. this was a guy who was really passionate and curios about learning things other than just school books. He seemed like a boy with a hundred hobbies…….. I had found  “THE” friend…..

Before I move on, its is important to clarify (for sake of prevention of breaking hearts) that the only other friend that I still have intact from those days is Wameez (our keyboard player), who I had met around 6 months earlier than MAQ. He was our neighbor when we moved to GOR 1. His room and mine were just 8 feet apart with a wall that was incapable of creating much of a boundary. We stayed like that for 8 years. I am sure many would agree that after that time it becomes almost impossible for me to see him in any way less than a real brother. Both Hamza and I are extremely close to him and we have gone way beyond the friendship stage.

So having said that I can safely say that MAQ is my oldest friend,. He is not like a brother or my emotional mentor. He is the only person that I can share the passion for anything and everything…..more than anybody else in the whole world.

The reason why I chose to talk about this in my first substantial blog entry is because the Blog has given me a chance to analyze and vocalize so many things that I have learnt to take for granted and hence ignore.

One more thing I can safely say is that MAQ has more than 60% role in what I am today. He has been the information pimp!!!! He has educated me more than the Internet. He is probably the biggest collector of every film, music, software, instruments etc. etc .etc. etc…and he has shared  all that with the biggest heart. I must confess I can’t do that.

Collecting and being interested in things is just half the MAQ, the other bit is his capability to absorb and enjoy his collection, of which I’m the most envious. Many people can collect but very few actually enjoy. I don’t know how in a day, he can read 2 books , watch 3 movies, write an article or a song, play a set of tennis and yet still argue in a court at 8 in the morning (he is professional lawyer). This guy has really set a precedent of living your life to the fullest.

But more than the fact that he and I share so many things together….he has been the only one who has truly believed and supported me.  He has encouraged me, played devils advocate with me, criticized me…even saved my life once, but most of all he has been what I think a real friend should be….and that is someone with whom you can share your intellectual growth. I am sure many are going to disagree but this is what I think.

Every time its is his birthday or something, I have no clue what to buy for him as he probably does not need any thing…. I have never given him any substantial present  ….but I know that after 17 years of friendship he can make do with a thank you and this ode………..

Way to go Mighty BUG!!!!!

September 29th, 2008
Categories: The Diary . Author: Ali Noor

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