By Salma Habib Bhutto

“Mom See on TV, how beautiful the snowfall is there; it’s like falling off the white velvet on earth, soft and shiny. Mom look trees have lowered their heads in the honor of that blessing of God. Mom, would it be dark at night there? Because white glittery snow has shielded everything, how can it look dark? It would be alleviating and clear everywhere. Mom how attractive it will look? If stars appear at night over the sky! There would be a competition of the heavens and earth to twinkle and look more beautiful!”

“Mom, I want to see that beautiful nature of Allah Almighty and visit these amazingly beautiful valleys of my country in this snowy season. Mom, please ask baba to take us there during winter vacation – Mom please!

Bilal had a great eagerness for visiting Murree for many years but his parent couldn´t plan to go there due to uncertain conditions of Covid. But this year as he watched people going there and some of his classmates being there with families his craze was double to go. So his parents could not evade his extreme wish.

They planned a one-week visit with the whole family including Bilal, his parent, his younger brother and sister, hardly two years.

His father followed prescribed precautions of the traveling and took preventive measures for any surprising circumstances. They all set out for visit. On the first day, they visited the nearest areas to their hotel residency, but on the next day, Bilal insisted to see white peaks touching clouds. To reach out at the peaks they had to go a bit farther from their residency and it was a little risky as the route was halted and the temperature was dropping down continuously.

His father asked him to go back but Bilal was still insisting ….moving on the track slowly within their own vehicle they found that on the way many vehicles were stuck already and there was no gap to move back. Within a few hours, their water bottles also freeze. Bilal’s father tried to entertain his kids in cars as going outside was not safe.

It had been the 27th hour to them on the way and all were tired but there was no choice except to wait for rescue.

The night was falling and Bilal was looking outside the car; he saw that even though there was ice everywhere it was falling dark; the sky had no stars twinkling as he had thought he was feeling suffocated being blocked in the car. His parents were not answering him but he was continuously calling them ….her small sister was also crying into the lap of her mother; he tried to shake her to wide-awake but she had slept forever …he was looking unceasingly outside the car that the velvet of white snow was no beautiful now it was scaring . Trees with black branches seemed like beasts of snow and he with his heavy eyes could justify why all this turned ugly!!!  He just kissed his dad’s head who came with him to make him happy and took strongly his mother’s hand and said slowly sorry mom it’s not magic it’s darkest in ice I want to see bright sunny day mom sun is brighter than ice lets go back home !! Sorry mamma.

He slept in a wish to see the sun again but he never knew that the sun of his life will never rise again…

Shiny bright lights

With these bright and shiny lights,

I washed the darkness of my heart;

I came into a relationship with the Lord

And left polytheism behindhand;

I put the sorrows on the way,

And joined with happiness;

Then the marbles of pride,

Were broken inside the soul so?

I am blessed by the lord,

The heart has become united with faith

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Salma Habib Hailing from Gambat, a remote town of Khairpur District of Sindh, Salma Bhutto is a columnist, poetess, blogger, social media manager, graphic designer, book translator, creative content writer, researcher, trainer and Project Manager, now based in Karachi, the capital of province. She writes with pen name Salma Habib. Salma graduated in Sociology from Shah Abdul Latif University Khairpur and did M. Phil. in European Studies from University of Karachi.

The post Snowstorm – A Short Story first appeared on Sindh Courier.

Istanbul

A Rabbi who took shelter in a Turkish mosque during a massive snowstorm in Istanbul that ravaged the Turkish metropolis a few days ago has finally arrived in his native Israel.

Elbom, a 62-year-old rabbi and kashrut supervisor who was on a work assignment in Istanbul, was brought to a mosque by security forces after being stranded on a highway for half a day, local daily Hurriyet reported.

Speaking to reporters at Istanbul Airport prior to his scheduled flight to Tel Aviv, Elbom said that he spent the night in the warm mosque and that people were helpful to him.

“The people were very nice and helped us,” he noted, adding that he later offered the Shacharit morning prayers along with Muslim worshipers.

He also said that Turkey’s chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Mendy Chitrik assisted with the evacuations.

“My friend Rabbi Elbaum was also at the E-5 traffic pile-up in Istanbul – he took it in good spirits,” Chitrik said on Twitter.

Elbaum was in Istanbul as part of his job as a controller for kosher food, checking if companies abide by the requirements of Jewish law.

“Hundreds of travelers are stranded all over the country – due to the heavy snowstorm. I keep on getting calls to supply Kosher food from [Turkish provinces of] Antalya and Ankara to Trabzon,” he added, sharing a video of Elbaum on the car where he was stranded.

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Courtesy: The AsiaN

The post Tolerance: Israeli Rabbi takes shelter in Istanbul mosque first appeared on Sindh Courier.