Letter to Santa from African Child

Dear Santa,

I am 7 years old and live in a little village here on the Dark Continent, which become even darker after gold and diamonds and other valuable minerals were discovered in the last and the previous centuries. Prior to all these discoveries, pious looking men came in their flowing black robes with a Holy Book describing the Great Father in Heaven who would look after us. They said if we accept this Great White Father, whose Son died on a cross, we would be lifted out of our misery.

However, many of our Elders and other ancestor-worshippers say there was no misery or hunger or war or sickness. There was no AIDs or syphilis or other dreaded diseases before the white fathers in black robes came. They say our people lived by a strong moral code for tens of millenia. Peace and harmony existed between the tribes.

But many of us chose to believe the white men in black robes who called themselves 'Father'. We learned to read the Book and believed in the Father and the Son. And we also believed in the Holy Ghost, Who we had known for millenia. Soon the carriers of the Book invited other white people to come and help us. They said they would help us retrieve all the treasures beneath the Earth which the Great Father in Heaven had given us. Our ancestors told us to leave them alone, but many of us trusted the white men because of the Book and we agreed. Soon even more came in their wake. The new ones brought iron wheels and iron horses and lots of guns. They said the guns were there to keep evil spirits away. We believed them.


It has been more than a hundred years since the white fathers in black robes came, but we have seen no peace or happiness. There is only mayhem all over the Continent. They said it was the evil spirits which lived in the gold and diamonds which was causing the problem. They told us that they would help us by banishing the gold and diamonds to their own countries, where they would lock up these evil spirits disguised as gold and diamonds in special vaults from which they could not escape.


The fathers who came here told us we should not believe in Allah, but in the great Heavenly Father, who sent his only begotten Son to redeem the world. I don't understand why since we have left our Allah, this White Heavenly Father has disinherited us. After all, we didn't put his Son on the cross to die. That happened in your part of the World. Why is He angry with us? Why did He put evil spirits into the gold and diamonds, which were the gifts He sent to make us rich and happy? It's more than a 7-year old can understand.

Our fathers trusted the new people, while we lived in more and more poverty. They brought more guns and they brought new toys that blew off your hand or foot. They called them land-mines. They said these land-mines were there to pacify the Gods after they removed the evil gold and diamonds from other mines in the land.

Then again, in the last century, oil was discovered on our continent. We thought that the Great Heavenly Father was happy with us again. The fathers who brought the Book had told us, more good people would come when new treasures were found. And it was so. New good people came. They are called investors and corporate entrepreneurs. They told us that this oil was another curse on us but they could deliver us from this black ooze that came out from the ground. They said they will send engineers who know how to get rid of evil spirits who live in the bowels of the earth. But in the process of removal, they left much of it in our rivers and on our farm land. Now there is more misery. We don't have water to drink and we don't have unpolluted land to grow our food on. They said they will send specialists to help us, like the World Bank and the IMF, who are great wizards that the Heavenly Father only gives to those who worship Him.

The reason I'm writing to you, Dear Santa, is there are stories going on around here that you are now the New Messiah and deliverer of glad tidings. That every person in the countries in the West where you live believe in you for their special gifts. The children sing your praises and wait for you.

Dear Santa, I'm only 7 years old and I don't know things about politics or corporate embezzlement or stock markets. I've only known the dump where the local expatriate community dumps their garbage. We find scraps of old bread and other dirty food that their homes, hotels and restaurants throw away.


I know its far for you to come here on your sled with Reindeers. I don't know whether Reindeer can even fly where there is no snow. But maybe your corporate sponsors who consider you their greatest mascot can lend you one of their flying machines which we see overhead sometimes going to our big cities, where thousands of us live in the slums and toil in the factories for a pittance. (Sometimes those flying machines drop leaflets saying we should be wary of enemies who call themselves communists. They say these lost souls don't believe in the Great Heavenly Father. So we have kept ourselves away from them.)


While we are waiting for the World Bank and IMF wizards to do their magic, all I'm asking for Christmas, is a fresh whole loaf of bread that has no dead flies and rat droppings like the pieces of bread from the garbage dump. Please, Santa, let me feel your compassion until I can get the courage to believe in the Great Heavenly Father above again.

Anticipating your kind gift, your new admirer on the Dark Continent,

"John" (The name given to me by the local Book-carrying Father)

P.S. I believe lots of people in your land have also given up on the Great Heavenly Father. According to a recent article in the Toronto Star, 25% of Canadian people don't believe in God anymore. At least they still believe in you.

P.P.S. If it is not too much trouble and not too heavy for your sled, could you also bring two bottles of clean water. The inexpensive supermarket kind will be fine. My brother has diarrhea and needs good clean water. We don't have a chimney for you to come down, because we don't have a house. My family sleeps under a tree. I imagine its a Christmas tree. Could you kindly place the gifts on the other side of the tree from where we are sleeping, because if any of those bottles fall, they might hurt us. There is already too much hurt and pain. God bless you. Ooops I'm sorry, may you bless you.

Essay #388. Written Dec-15-2008.
© 2008 Mahomed Ally Keshavjee. All Rights Reserved.

The New (Godless) Reality

In August 2008, the Toronto Star reported new research on belief and dis-belief in a supreme creator. Alarmingly, 23% of the population of Canada does not believe in God anymore. There were no statistics for the US. Also, none for the UK, Europe or the entire Western world. But a 23% atheism rate for a so-called Western Christian country, does say something for what portends for the world to come.

When did this happen? How did it happen? Or even, why did it happen? Are very relevant and important questions to be asked because Canada is a Western and a strong Christian-based country. If research ever showed that even 1% of the Muslim world didn't believe in God, it would send shock-waves throughout the Islamic world.

Where did things really go wrong? Admittedly, there are more Christians in the world than Muslims, so they can afford to lose a few. But the Church is a very powerful and wealthy institution, with more missionaries, evangelists and Bibles in distribution (and more being printed) than there are in the Muslim world. Is there a new reality emerging? How much has materialism to do with all of this? And where are the answers going to come from? There is now chaos and mayhem all around the world. It is every man for himself and God for all. If there is a God.

Islam has the answer. It is growing rapidly without missionaries, evangelists and Qur'an's. But is anyone in the West interested?


Essay #385. Written Aug-21-2008.

© 2008 Mahomed Ally Keshavjee. All Rights Reserved.

Wall Street's Own Animal Farm

Angry shareholders are taking matters into their own hands. The brokers they trusted made the shareholders go broke. Now investors are saying that the system is broke and needs fixing. But Wall Street is in denial and is telling investors all is OK and if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

The Bull is gone. Disappeared. The Bear is having babies and there's no room at Wall Street to house them all. President Bush says he has appointed watch dogs at the SEC. But one of the watch dogs had to go, because somebody blew the whistle. A little birdie told the FBI about some previous dirty linen. But not to worry, the SEC has some new dogs now. I hope that the SEC does not become a Secret Expense Currency institution. It would be like putting the fox to watch the hens.

Wait. What's that powerful stink? Maybe there's some skunks hiding somewhere around here. What are all those animals with the sharp teeth and the prominent dorsal fins? Don't tell me that there are now corporate sharks in the sewers of New York. I thought it was an alligator that people claimed was in the sewers. Whatever. With so many animals around on Wall Street, I don't think America has to worry about a shortage of entertainment for a long time. Maybe they should start their own Animal Farm? It may help them bridge their cashflow issues until the bull comes back.

If they are looking for more animals, they can ask Martha Stewart for her goose, that the corrupt CEOs wanted the government to cook. Don't forget the greedy pigs. They're the ones that caused the problems in the first place. And don't forget the dirty rats who always seem to hang around where ill-gotten gains are to be found.

Pity George Orwell is not here to see this Animal Farm.

Essay #123. Written on Dec 10, 2002.

© 2002 Mahomed Ally Keshavjee. All Rights Reserved.

Forgive Us, Our Mother, Africa

Oh Mother Africa, a hundred millennia ago the All-mighty Creator breathed unto us a soul and you gave us birth. And with your permission and blessing, we left to people a world of continents. Some were very cold and severe and some were warm and beautiful, but all were welcoming of life. We remained abroad for long. We thrived and evolved into a myriad of shades, shapes, looks and sounds. We built civilizations and we developed new forms of knowledge. We did not know war or hatred in those early days because there was always another frontier for us to explore. We learned to trade with each other and create more wealth for all. It was through your blessings and early lessons, Oh Mother Africa, that we were able to achieve so much.

But then things started to go wrong. Some places where we lived started to get crowded and our knowledge slowly turned to knowledge of war and disharmony. We fought with our neighbours, forgetting that we were brothers and sisters from a common land. We grew stronger in our knowledge of weapons. We developed new ways of conquering other people. We built tanks and ships, so we could have superiority over others.

Soon we returned to you, Mother Africa. But we did not come in peace. We came back armed with knowledge of destruction. We took our brothers and sisters into slavery, out of our pride and prejudice. We coveted their lands. We took what our brothers and sisters gave out of naiveté and we took the rest by force. We partook of the brew that Cain drank when he slew Abel. Pride allowed us to learn the devil’s evil ways. We polluted the earth with our false knowledge. It is knowledge not for life, but for death and annihilation of the entire planet. We developed material superiority and technological know-how so that we now mock God with our worldly power.

While we were gone, our brothers and sisters in Africa, sustained you. They developed languages of love and beauty and songs of heavenly praise. While we were slowly sowing the seeds of our own destruction, you gave birth to other souls, who remained with you, dear Mother Africa. They were succoured by our Heavenly Father, who sustains all new little ones and gives meaning to life and love, with a myriad of cultures and languages and sustained them throughout the millennia while we were away.

But armed with arrogance, pride and prejudice we schemingly mocked your loving soul. We humiliated and oppressed our brothers and sisters. We brought sadness and loneliness. We have pride in our hearts. We have not conquered our own lust that we brought back to your door from our conquest of other continents. We came back at you with much maligned thoughts. We, your first born, were away learning hatred, war and vengeance. We sold our souls to the devil and when we came back, we mocked you, our own Mother.

How will you forgive us, dear Mother? How will you forgive us, dear Mother of all the world’s children, who now stand at your door? How will you forgive us, Mother Africa?We brought to our brothers and sisters concepts that were alien and immoral. We brought the concepts of war and spoils of war. We brought the concepts of wealth and immoral behaviour. We brought concepts of greed and selfishness. The concepts of how to take by force from those who have not or who have little and to give it to those that have. We shunned the teachings of great teachers, like one who came two millennia ago. We rebuked him and tied him to a cross. We shunned good advice. We belittled the elders of this continent. How will you forgive us, Mother Africa?

We set ourselves up as Kings of the Earth to exploit our own brothers, who welcomed us back and called us their long lost brothers. We looked down upon their color and said ‘we are of gray clay and you are of ebony’. We said, ‘how can we be brothers and sisters?’ Little did we know!

How will you forgive us? We are still filled with pride from alien concepts, which we find hard to release. How will you forgive us, our Mother? How will you bless this bewildered entity, who knows only how to hate and alienate? Forgive us, Mother Africa, and pray for our souls that we may truly repent before we destroy all that God has created. We beg forgiveness, Mother Africa. We pray you forgive your lost children, your eldest children around the world, who now need your help and guidance, dear Mother. Please, we pray, come to our rescue. Show us how to repent. Take us back to your bosom, Oh Mother of all mankind!

In the scriptures, the Lord said to the Children of Israel, ‘be ye then like the children of Ethiopia, that I may call you My own.’ Do not forsake us Mother. Please take us back to your bosom and call us your own.

Essay #382. Written on 28/06/2008

© 2008 Mahomed Ally Keshavjee. All Rights Reserved.

Please Standby, God

We know You are getting impatient with us Lord. We see it with the increasing ferocity of the hurricanes and the anomalies in social matters --the economy, religion and in quite a few other spheres. But as a Great Nation founded in Your name, we ask that You standby in case this very great nation needs Your help. You know Lord that we have always done right by You. And we still use Your logo on our dollar bills and our nickel plated coins.

We know You are angry with us because of the sub-prime fiasco, where millions of poor pensioners, widows and innocent working men and women got shafted by our famous Wall Street bankers and brokers. But I’m sure You know its now something that is happening world wide. But we assure You, we are definitely on Your side.

We are aware that the literary circle and intellectual class has been writing all kinds of stuff about You being dead and so forth. But that’s the literati, not us. We, the leaders of this nation, still command the greatest military power the world has ever seen. Even in space, our presence is invincible. We believe in You. There are, as You are aware, lots of new powers arising around the world, who threaten us. But we are very capable of taking them on because the proud, the few are still with us. We know that You are with us.

We know You are losing patience with us, Lord. Lately Your franchise has, like some of the fast food franchises, been slipping. We realize that the Sunday attendance at Your fast soul-feed enterprises are not doing too well. And many have decided to close shop because they can’t pay the rent. But much of this has come about because of modernization. There are too many distractions for people and it is hard for them to attend Your franchise services when Hollywood, Disney and Las Vegas are so much more entertaining. I don't wish to tell You what to do Lord, but You could consider updating your franchise model. After all, it has been over 2000 years since it started. Those Fire and Brimstone preachers just aren't what they used to be. I don't like making too many exuses Lord, but there are still some subtle communist influences at work in this country. Our intelligence agencies are working night and day to rout this out. But as You know, with changed laws and lack of enthusiasm by people, we are unable to produce the likes of McCarthy to help us.

We also have to deal with the double threat of those hook-nosed anti-semitic semites. You know who we are talking about, Lord. We don’t want to mention their names, because they might just pull the plug on us. You are aware that they have invested most of their ill-gotten petro-money gains in our fine money-losing financial institutions. Its a good balance --their money going in, ours going out. There is a certain beauty about the symmetry.

But working with them is like playing with a double-edged sword. The one side is money and the other side is religion. They do like Your logo, don’t get us wrong. We mean these guys really love the green stuff that our machines produce night and day. It gives them power to keep their women locked up behind harem doors. Well, that’s their personal choice. But now that they have us in a money dance, they talk to us about their God. They call him Allah. We’re sure you know all about that.

Well they are intimidating our nation. They say that their Allah never dies. He lives forever. They say He created the heavens and the earth in a flash of thought. They say it didn’t take him six days of hard work, so much so, that he had to rest on the seventh day. They say he is alive and is all-knowing. This is scaring the bejesus out of the evangelical community from whom this great nation gets its moral support.

But now some of the evangelicals are getting bogged down in doubt, just when they should be confident. They are saying that it is our immoral behaviour that is causing all these problems for us. They say Katrina was not an anomaly, but a direct result of the violation of Your laws. You know very well we wouldn't do anything to disappoint You, Lord. And You know how much we still trust you. Otherwise our money would not have Your famous logo that says “In God We Trust”.

The real problem makers behind all this are those bankers and brokers who master-minded the take over of Your franchise by creating new financial vehicles. They say the Greenback is not as powerful as their junk bonds, CDOs, ABCPs and other vehicles that have captured the imagination of stock markets all over the world. They claim that the Green Back is old-fashioned and like You, Lord, is dead. Even the glittery yellow hallowed metal from which the exodus Israelis fashioned their Golden Calf is now in hiding, fearing it will be hunted down next.

Please standby, God. Things are looking rough and we may still need You. Walmart says we should not worry, everything will be OK. But we still put our trust in You.

Essay # 374. Written on 12-May-2008.

© 2008 Mahomed Ally Keshavjee. All Rights Reserved.

Too Many Wolves at World Bank

Isn’t it ironic that the last two outgoing presidents at the World Bank were both Wolves? Before they came to this mislabeled institution, there were many wolves at the World Bank, but they were not called Wolfensohn or Wolfowitz. The World Bank should have been called The World Political Crooks Bank, because more money went into the pockets of crooked politicians, than went to the people it was supposed to help.

The World Bank is not the only organization with wolves running the show. The other sheepskin garbed entity, The International Monetary Fund (IMF), should not bask in self-piety because they haven’t been mentioned so far. The IMF should have been named the Irresponsible Maniac’s Fund or perhaps even Irregular Money Fudges.

In the Third World, there’s always a wolf at the poor man’s door. That is, if he has a door in the first place. Most of the poor live on the streets, especially in Asia and Africa. The garbage dump is their local Zellers or Walmart. It is also their McDonald’s or Burger King. They are happy to find scraps to eat. The wolves are luckier –there’s always the poor they can eat.

Nothing has really changed since the Wolfs left. In fact, it is worse now in the Third World. The two visible Wolfs, like the other wolves at World Bank, took their orders from donor nations –especially the G8, now the G10. Corruption is just as rampant as it always was, maybe worse. There’s always a loan for a huge useless project. Loans to buy nuclear power plants, which nobody wants in the West, are readily available. Want to fight a neighbour? Loans for arms are readily available. But don’t try to buy nuclear arms, that’s a no-no. Also don’t bother to ask for money for new energy technologies or micro-lending. Everybody knows that micro-projects are helpful to the poor, but they aren’t scalable, so why bother? Micro projects are for fools and dreamers. Alternative energy programs are growing fast in the West, but its not for you, if you’re a Third World country. Corrupt Third World leaders and politicians are still getting stronger with ‘chai’ money. This ‘chai’ does not come cheap. Wheat and corn prices are now double what they were a year ago. If the West does not wake up, the same wolves in sheep’s clothing will come to feast in the West. God’s justice is not sleeping. Jesus said, “I will come like a thief in the middle of the night.” I think Jesus is watching and listening very closely.

Essay #358. Written on 10-Mar-2008

© 2008 Mahomed Ally Keshavjee. All Rights Reserved.

Moti, The Untouchable's Dog, Wants Name Change

Hello God,

This is your humble creation, man's best friend, making a humble imploration. You know its nearly 8 years since I have been entrusted to your humble untouchable family on this disgustingly dirty street corner of Mumbai. I sometimes wonder what this is all about. You know, Lord, the people and dogs in America don't really have to think about meta-physics, I mean all this Karma and rebirth and after-life stuff. I mean, those people in the States and their dogs really get to live it up. While, here in Mumbai, my Master's family and I go hungry on many days.

What is my Karma that I am holed up on this street corner for the past 8 years? Don't get me wrong Lord, my Master has been more generous and kind to me than all those priestly and God-loving Brahmins who treat my untouchable Master like that four-letter word that starts with 's' and ends with 't'. I know you love us because you have given us a sixth sense to know and see things that these haughty Brahmins will never understand. In Hindi, they call me kuta, a four-letter word that they consider as disgusting as that other four-letter word. Why do we have to endure all these things, Lord?

In Europe they call me dog. A three-letter word that nearly resembles your name, Lord. Only, you spell it backwards. Our names are so similar, it's no wonder your name gets kicked around so badly these days. Some even say you don't exist anymore. But you are lucky, they don't see you. It's only your name which they kick around. But with us, they really kick us around physically. What is the meaning of all this, Lord?

I know that the Jews respect you because they call you Jehovah, a six-letter name. The Muslims respect you with their five letter name for you. And the Zulus have a 12-letter name for you, which they express with the utmost reverence. They call you Nkoziphezulu, meaning the King-Who-Lives-Above. But I think you and me, we need new names.

You know I've seen how these so-called civilized people respect long names. Tell them there's an anaconda behind them and see how they jump. Now there's a real seven-letter wake-up call. What about 'terrorist behind you!'? That's what scares the be-Jesus out of everyone today. Semantics aside, Lord, we really need to change our names to get more respect.

Have you noticed Lord? These days people don't even lift your great Epic, the Bible, to see what you're all about. The Preacher on a Sunday morning, will read a couple of passages from your book and stop in fear of boring the few attendees sitting on the pews. Yet those same people all run to buy a new book about a new person. They say he is a Hairy Porter. He must look like a shaggy dog or a Yeti. In any case, they buy these books even for their children. They read them on the buses, on the trains, on the planes and even at work! They spend hours reading these books and never seem to get tired. They have even made movies from these stories. I don't know whether your Grand Vazirs inform you of these things.

The people say that you sent your only beloved Son to Earth about 2 millenia ago, but you had to call him back because the Romans got this posse together and deputized all the informers. But I believe He couldn't make an easy escape. You see now Lord, why we need a name change? Not one like Hairy Porter, although that name sounds quite scary. But not scary enough to scare the be-Jesus out of them. Maybe something out of India, like Ayoghurkhali --it means here come the Gurkha's. These fierce, brave-unto-death warriors scared the likes of the German army in World War II. Maybe something like that, Lord. Please find names that also sound reverent. Maybe like Mahabharata, it sounds so reverent. Also, please let me know how on Earth could a Hairy Porter have become more famous than you, Lord. This really bothers me. Lord, I leave it to you to decide when to change our names. In the meantime, your name God and my name Dog, suits me fine.

Yours truly,

Dog.

P.S. And look after yourself, Lord. Because after what they did to your Son, anything is possible. If anything happened to you, your opposite name sake is finished.


Essay #380. Written Jun-10-2008
© 2008 Mahomed Ally Keshavjee. All Rights Reserved.

Born of a Crooked Seed

Born of crookedness and immense greed,
The world-class politician is a lying breed.
Not nurtured on honey or life-giving mead,
He was suckled on rye and rotten barley seed.
He and the American stock broker share a creed.

The poor and the working man's vote does he need.
So he makes great claims and false promises indeed.
Like legal agreements made by lawyers who are a bad seed,
The poor and working class, the fine print cannot read.
And into the unknown the poor do they truly lead.

To the Public they say, we'll house the homeless and the poor we will feed.
Let us politicians be your guide and you we will lead.
We promise from the shackles of poverty you will be freed.
A life of freedom and joy will you lead,
And the riches of the Earth will be yours, indeed.

But, just like lobbyists, the coffers of tax money do they bleed.
They suck the blood of the poor without a straw or a reed.
They are an unsatisfied materialistic selfish breed,
They pretend they are mana from heaven, but they are more like the weed.
They are blood suckers, vampires and follow the vultures creed.

The poor, their devious minds cannot read.
On Sunday at Church, the rosary they roll without counting the bead.
They are definitely the devil and satan's breed.
They know the political machinery and its creed.
If you confront them, the system will help to pull you out like a weed.

Essay #381. Written Jun-12-2008.

© 2008 Mahomed Ally Keshavjee. All Rights Reserved.

N35 Contacts Earth, Part 2

N35 Calling Planet Earth. N35 Calling Planet Earth. We know you are reading us loud and clear with all those primitive radio and other receptors you have placed on your planet to hear messages from Universal Space. It has been 3 years since we replied to your request to hear from us. As a matter of fact, millions of planets, advanced and less advanced, have been hearing your request since your planet started broadcasting on radio frequencies. Our planet has been monitoring you for over 100,000 years since you evolved from Homo erectus. We do not need radio frequencies to monitor your planet.

We were the only planet allowed by our Federation to respond to your quest. There are thousands of Planetary and Galaxy Federations scattered throughout the known Universe. Most are too advanced to care about your primitive communications, just as most of your peoples don’t bother to learn to speak with dolphins.

Our answer to your continuing request, again, is as follows. There is mayhem and confusion on your planet. You deliberately, out of your greed and hubris, choose and elect morons and imbeciles to lead you. Take a closer look at your planet. It is devoid of spiritual vision. You talk of war. You talk of power. You talk of superior weapons and superior armies. You have been doing this for the last 6000 years. It even escalated 2000 years ago, when we sent one of our greatest spiritual leaders to teach you about life.

Are you listening? Do you really listen? Your planet is about to be consumed by fire. Your Earth is trembling. Innocents are dying from your military shock and awe. There is hunger and misery amongst your own brethren. You have closed and chained your conscience from eternal guidance. What other advice do you want from us? Do you want advice about super weaponry? We have it. But we have never used it. There is no hunger here. There is no hatred. No self-pity. There are only shining faces that give thanks to the Creator.

Look at your situation. There is no happiness on your planet –only greed for power and selfishness that we find hard to comprehend. You withhold food from the poor. You trample on those who have less power than you. You steal from those who are less fortunate than you. We have no poor here. It is an alien word here on N35. Forget us. We are not supposed to be your mentors. Your last teacher came 2000 years ago and you still have not put into practice his guidance for your well-being and survival. How can we teach you more, when you do not exhibit the ability to learn lessons that were sent so long ago? Good luck to your petty politicians and your false evangelists, for they are leading you astray. This is our final message to you. May the eternal Creator have mercy on your souls.

Essay #383. Written on 23/7/2008

© 2008 Mahomed Ally Keshavjee. All Rights Reserved.

N35 Contacts Earth, Part 1

N35 calling Planet Earth. N35 calling Planet Earth. Please quote Contact Reference Number PE-GAL825-MW623 in all future communications. We know you are reading us loud and clear through all your electronic media. N35 is a habitable planet located in the Artemis galaxy. We are members of the L14 Planetary and Galaxies Federation, consisting of 45 galaxies and 9000 advanced planets. Your planet, number PE-GAL825-MW623 is part of a federation of primitive planets. PE means Planet Earth. The numbers indicate that you belong with a number of other primitive planets whose denizens live at the lowest level of mental and spiritual development. The planets of our Federation are highly evolved and technologically advanced. We knew about your planet long before you put up your first radio telescope at Jodrell Bank in England, after your so-called Second World War. War is a concept that does not exist here.

We heard all your messages long ago. But we are not allowed to contact any planet without permission of the Federation. Recently, permission was granted to us to contact you. The Federation wants to know from within your hearts why you want to have contact with us? According to your message, you want to be friends with us. Why would you want to be friends with us when you don’t even know who we are or what we look like? We have very serious doubts about your intentions. For us to be friends with you would be like getting into a cage with a tiger that is purring like a little cat. It would be fool-hardy.

You already have people like yourselves on your own planet whom you sack and rape and rob for material gain. You steal their measly possessions because they are of a different color and language. You trample on their rights because they have less power or weapons. Why would you want to be friends with us? We know about your historical conquests. You have spent billions and billions of dollars to collect different kinds of rocks from different planets in your solar system. Is this some sort of spoiled rich man’s hobby that you pursue while millions of your own go hungry and die in vain? We know all about your planet and all the other primitive planets throughout your galaxy using our very advanced abilities. You might call this capability cosmo-reality. You cannot understand the concepts, so we will not discuss it.

Is it not hubris that some of your most celebrated and famous religious leaders have asked your scientific community in advanced space research to enquire if there is an entity called Jesus living here in our midst? What do they need of him? Is there a warrant still outstanding for his arrest? It is their kind, especially those who call themselves Reverends, who had him dispatched in the first place. He would be a fitting citizen of your so-called Sudan or Ethiopia, or the slums of Nairobi. Are they inviting him to come sup with them at 10 Downing Street or at the White House? He would not come.

In actuality, there are 3 entities on N47, a planet about 70 light years from here, who meet your criteria for advanced spiritual leadership. With our advanced travel, we can be there in about 3 Earth minutes. One of those entities –the one you are looking for –calls himself the Carpenter. He lives with a flock of people who are called the Essenes. Their spirituality is beyond your capability to comprehend. The Carpenter lived on your planet 2000 years ago when he was sent away by lobbyists and lawyers of his day. There is also one called the Enlightened one, who meditates with his followers under a Pipal tree. And then there is another who calls himself Yasudev. Your Earth knew them as Buddha and Krishna. Their planet is even more advanced than ours. Once you have evolved beyond your current primitive state, you will be able to contact us through the principles of cosmo-reality. At the moment, you are in age of materialism which seeks technological solutions. You will need 425, 000 years for this age of materialism to totally pass and for you to evolve to an age of spiritualism. Are your Reverends Graham, Falwell and Robertson still seeking to meet us? Let us know through any of your 21st century, primitive communications methods. Just so you know, we already know what you are thinking.


Essay #291. Written on 23/1/2006.

© 2008 Mahomed Ally Keshavjee. All Rights Reserved.

Sweet Golden Jubilee

This is the year of celebrating the Jubilee so sweet,
There is rejoicing and singing in the street,
This special spiritual enjoyment you cannot beat,
It is a mind and soul satisfying sweet treat!

In this Jubilee, brothers and sisters from all over will you meet,
Share in the festivities and have some biryani to eat.
For this special Jubilee, get yourself a view-full front seat,
This is something that no other celebration can ever beat.

It is spiritual springtime with gifts of candy, dates and wheat,
Celebrate with all the sweets and jelebees you can eat.
Even hard-working volunteers should stop for a sweet on their beat,
It’s a special occasion that is sweeter than sweet.

There’s going to be many singers, with gazal, kawali and other geet,
Momins should be happy, joyous and sing aap ni jeet.
Happy is the clean-hearted soul,
Her destination with goodness will she meet.

Take the inner journey and accept no defeat,
Celebrate and to the path of goodness direct your feet,
Share the joy and within your heart see who you can meet,
All is possible when you eat the Golden Jubilee sweet!


© Mahomed Keshavjee. All Rights Reserved. Essay #367. April 14, 2008.

Jubilee GJ Jive

Everybody is singing, dancing and doing the GJ jive
From Canada to the Maldives
This is the historical Jubilee Year, televised live!

Every momin and his brother is busy serving,
Working like bees in a hive,
From the highest mountain they are ready to dive,
This is the inspiring GJ jive

Up early in the morning at quarter to five
Jump into their chariots, ready to drive
A Tim’s coffee and a crispy donut by their side
They are ready to do the famous Jubilee GJ jive

With lots of Baraka, these momins will always thrive
From a quarter to five ‘round the clock to quarter to five
They are always ready to serve, doing the GJ jive.

So come on all you dandia dancing dindharo,
Don’t be so naïve
Get on the band wagon and join in the GJ jive

Alexander’s Ragtime Band never had it so good
Nor knew how to thrive
‘Cause they never knew about the Jubilee GJ jive


© Mahomed Keshavjee. All Rights Reserved. Essay #364. Mar 31, 2008.

The Golden Jubilee Jao Jalali

This is the happy Golden Jubilee Jao Jalali
It’s time for singing, dancing and khushiali
Everyone is happy, singing with Jao Jalali

Women dressed in their best saris
Even the Mumbai and Karachiwalis
They came from all over the globe
Even from Timbuktu in Mali
Remember, this is the Golden Jubilee Jao Jalali

All working in harmony to complete it successfully
Taking it in their stride, volunteers handle it coolly
Need a chair? Need some water? It will be here duly
No time to get upset, please help and cooperate fully
All your longings and wishes will be met, just say Ya Ali!

God commanded Moses to declare a true jubilee
So obey the Commandments and make jao jalali
Abraham took his son for sacrifice and called it Ismaili
Jesus said, love one another, as I love you truly
That is the true jubilee, so make jao jalali

Prophet Muhammad (SAS) said,
All of mankind is one brotherhood
So all you happy momino, jive your best,
rock, roll and sing the jubilee jao jalali

Momins are truly happy today,
you know it’s the Golden Jubilee
Nacho, nacho ane karo jao jalali
Aaje chhe Golden Jubilee
Gao, gao ane karo jao jalali


© 2008 Mahomed Keshavjee. All Rights Reserved. Essay #368. April 15, 2008.

Golden Jubilee Joy

Jubilee’s can be platinum, silver or gold
But all that is symbolic, the Prophets the people told
The true meaning is brotherly love which is more than gold
Coming together is the meaning of Tawhid within the fold

Many false Prophets worldly riches to the people sold
And many lost in the maze of materialism, this untruth still hold
Look at the world’s poor, who hunger and are utterly cold
Lost in a maze into which they have rolled

Mankind looks away, to admire the glitter of gold
“All have come short of the glory of God,”
The great teacher with those words the world did scold
And to account, Jesus said, the Maker the rich will hold

But this is the jubilee year from household to household
Declare freedom from oppression, poverty and biting cold
All is mine said the Lord,
All the treasures, all the land, all the people and also the gold

Jubilees are joyous occasions, ancient and old
God told his prophets to declare the jubilee and be bold
Jubilees have spiritual meaning and riches untold
So open your heart and understand the real meaning of the gold


© 2008 Mahomed Ally Keshavjee. All rights reserved. Essay #366. April 4, 2008.

Islam is Forever Part 2

Islam is not a people
Islam is not a nation
Islam is not a political entity
Islam is not a religion
Islam is not a kingdom

Islam is a way of life
Either you accept its precepts or you don’t.
Islam means peace
Islam means submission to the will of Allah
Islam is for you and me
Islam is not private property
Islam cannot be enslaved
Make your peace with Islam

Islam is within you and without you
Man cannot change what Allah has ordained
Islam belongs to no man.
Islam is like green grass: if you burn it in front of you, it will grow behind you
Islam is evergreen, ever living.
Islam cannot be doused. It burns forever.

Man talks of freedom of speech and individual freedom.
Man talks of freedom to bear arms and to master space with Star Wars.
Who gives man this arrogance to speak about shock and awe before Allah?
The birds and the bees and the beasts of prey all submit to his will.
Nature submits to his will.
What gives man the right to destroy His Kingdom?
Slaughter innocent men, women and children and talk about freedom?
Before Allah and beyond his commandments no man is free and there is no individual freedom
Before Allah all is quiet and bowed in submission.
That is Islam.

Man wants to decide when creation came into being.
He talks about theories, creationism vs evolution.
He limits Allah’s creation to six thousand years.
Creationism suits him fine. He does not want to accept evolving from the primates.
Man is proud and vain and talks about human intelligence.
But he forgets that primates don’t create weapons of mass destruction
They don’t talk about vital interests and strategic positions.
Man kills his own kind from greed, envy and selfishness.
He forgets Allah can create instantly or put into effect evolutionary creation
All are within his power.

Man’s own limited intelligence has made him vain
He disdains wisdom and bows down only to his own selfish greed and limited intelligence.
There is no room for pure thought or reasonableness.
When he comes into positions of power he goes stark raving mad.
Look at the Earth and its condition.
He talks about democracy.
What is this democracy that he speaks about?
It is all vanity without the thought of Allah.
Allah gives and He takes back.
He is most gracious, most bountiful.
Read the Koran and quote it in full context.
Forget your guns and weapons that you call smart.
Start living like humans.
Let the Church stop scaring people about demons.
Let the Church pursue the truth of Allah. La Illaha Illalah.

Material power does not make you free.
Only Allah can make you free.
La Illaha Illallah!

Islam is liberation.
Islam is not confining.
Islam is transparent.
Islam is colorless.
Islam is not judgmental
Islam is here and everywhere
Islam is enlightening
Islam is peace
Islam is not enslaving
Islam is boundless
Islam transcends all boundaries
Islam is not containable
Islam is freedom from everything
Islam is submission only to its Creator
Islam cannot be bought
Islam is free for all who submit
Find Islam. It is within.

Jesus said submit to your Lord and my Lord
Every Prophet submitted to the call of Islam
No Church, no walls, no containment.
Martin Luther King said “Free at last. Free at last.”
That is Islam.

When Ghandhi found Islam, the British might could not hold him back.
War is greed and hubris. Give it up
Free yourself from want and greed and power
Wake up Western world!
Wake up Church and follow the truth
Remember Islam is forever.
La Illaha Illahlah!

Islam is Allah’s mercy to mankind.
Abraham (PBUH) made ready for the sacrifice.
That was Islam.
Moses (PBUH) went up the mountain to bring the Commandments.
That was Islam.
Jesus (PBUH) submitted to his sacrifice.
That too was Islam.
Mohammed (PBUH) delivered the message of the Qur'an.
That was Islam.
Jesus said, "Seek ye the truth and the truth shall make you free."
What is this truth? This truth is Islam.
Jesus said, "I shall pray the father that he may send you another Comforter who will abide with you forever."
That forever is Islam.
Jesus said, "When the Spirit of Truth is come He shall take of what is mine and show it unto you."
That was Islam.
Who is there that can change what Allah has decreed?
La Illaha Illalah!

Today people are happy to sit their children in front of a T.V. to get their worldly education.
Filled with all the filth so that the youth can sow their wild oats.
Science fiction wizardry and make believe are the order of the day.
Virtual reality with the aid of the Dajjal is now the new reality, the new truth.
Where is the Church and where is Jesus’ message of Truth?
Mayhem and war is everywhere and the innocent slaughtered.
Wake up to the call of Islam before it is too late. La Illaha Illalah!

© 2006 Muhammed Ally Keshavjee. All Rights Reserved. Written Dec 13, 2006. Essay#307.

ISLAM is Forever Part 1

What is Islam?
Who is Islam?
Where is Islam?
When is Islam?
Why is Islam?
What is the colour of Islam?
What is the purpose of Islam?
Who is the purpose of Islam?
Who is the Creator of Islam?
When did Islam come?
Why did Islam come?
Where did Islam come from?
Does Islam have a date of birth?
Does Islam have an end?
Does Allah have an end?

Who is there that can measure Islam? Evaluate Islam?
Islam has no language, no culture.
Islam is beyond everything.
Islam has no beginning and no end.
Islam will come to end when the whole of creation comes to end.
Allah is the Creator and lives forever.
The West denigrates Islam.
It’s like using a sword to cut through wind or water.
The West wants to destroy Islam.
How can you destroy what you cannot see?
How can you destroy what you cannot understand?
How can you destroy that which has no beginning and no end?
Western power comes from the barrel of a gun,
Power, pride and prejudice has brought about this madness.
Wake up, before it’s too late!

Remember Islam speaks to the soul, not the mind or body.
You can fight the Iraqis and you can fight the Iranians.
You can fight the Syrians and you can fight the Talibans.
You can destroy their houses, you can destroy their Mosques.
You can destroy their armies. You can destroy their ornaments.
You can also destroy their families.
But all the political powers that be
Cannot blow out the flame that burns in a Muslim heart

That flame is Allah.
It is the call of Islam five times a day not to just prostrate and shout Allah Akbar
but to remember the calling of Islam.
La Illaha Illalah. There is no deity except Allah.
This is a losing battle, man against the will of Allah.
When will the West ever learn?

Mohamed (PBUH) was the Renaissance.
If there was no Mohamed (PBUH), there was no message.
That message was the Renaissance
Everything then followed the Muslims who accepted Allah.
The second Renaissance was in Europe
But it was the Renaissance of the gun and power to fight Islam.
It failed then and it is failing now.
Give it up and say La Illaha Illalah.

© 2006 Mahomed Ally Keshavjee. All Rights Reserved. Essay#307. Written Dec 13, 2006.

Lamentations for Ice and Snow

Lamentations for ice and snow are not enough. There are so many, including writers, who lament the passing away of snow and ice on mountains, the fast melting and disappearance of icebergs and the disappearance of Polar bears. The other day I read about the disappearance of the snows of Kilimanjaro; a timely but too late article for the fast receding snow and ice on Africa’s highest peak. This article by MG Vasanji got me thinking that all this is due to the greed of a people gone mad, wanting to possess every legitimate and illegitimate material object available on this planet. But MG misses a greater lament.

Lamentations for disappearance of ice and snow are fine, but our observations of late have become soul-less. In all this material greed and pursuit of physical comfort, we have overlooked the disappearance of the diversity of humans on the continents we have pillaged and raped. The tribes of Africa are fast disappearing like those that have disappeared in North America and other developed continents. The tribes in Africa will soon disappear, just as the snows of Kilimanjaro will soon disappear.

Greed, oppression and political squabbles by rival post-colonial colonizers and their industrial proxies are tearing up entire villages of human souls. They are seeking rare metals needed for space exploration to find life like ours out there. All the while, life like ours exists right here on this planet in a myriad forms of God-created beauty, culture, language and color. Blinded by our greed, we see only, like Narcissus, self-love and self-preservation at the expense of God’s beautiful creation. It’s too late now to lament for material things and the loss of some of frozen water on a bit of rock in the middle of the Dark Continent. Let’s instead lament now for ourselves and the loss of our shared humanity. It may still not be too late to save ourselves.

© 2008 Mahomed Ally Keshavjee. All Rights Reserved. Essay #360.

Bay Street Blues

The brokers and bankers on Bay Street drank Bear-Stearns’ illicit booze
And tried to abscond with the windfall without paying their dues
But drinking an unknown proof always leads to a drunken doze
Basin Street has nothing on Bay Street’s drunken snooze

From the resulting financial hangover nobody will have any clues
Senile investors will now have to wake up and soberly choose
Or their families will soon have to go without even a pair of shoes
Everybody and their mothers will soon be singing the Bay Street Blues

Some firms of brokers and bankers on Wall Street lit a fuse
Thinking they’d have some firecracker fun and not pay the dues
But Monday morning March 17 came the earth-shattering news
That those who trusted these brokers and bankers everything will lose

The SEC pretended to police the Wall by cooking Martha Stewart’s goose
But the real wolves were busy inflicting on the public a nasty ruse
That cooked goose was the Street’s smoke and mirror ruse
Their own crookedness and greed to hide and excuse

The Nation many more billions of greenbacks will lose
So the fat cats on Wall Street can have more of that expensive booze
Better to go to Vegas where you can dine, dance and your game choose
And come back home empty-handed, but with a satisfactory excuse

Since Katrina, Basin Street has lost its basins and has its own blues
Those basins could have stored the Street’s ill-gotten monetary refuse
But all that’s left in the Big Easy are some bowls with stale rice, alligator and moose
They can serve as begging bowls for brokers and bankers with their soul-less shoes

Soon Bay Street will be to nobody of any use
But instead will only serve as a jazz singers muse
And a symbol of those who their savings lose
All Canadians are now singing the Bay Street Blues



© 2008. Mahomed Ally Keshavjee. All Rights Reserved. Essay #362.

Languages in the Location

As I reflect on my life, I sometimes go back to my childhood days and recollect my thoughts about the life we led in the non-white ghetto in Pretoria. There were three ghettos in a total area of about a mile and a quarter by a mile and a quarter for the three basic non-white groups, namely coloured or Cape coloured (those of mixed race), Indian or Asian and African or Bantu. The ghetto was made up of Marabastaadt, the area for blacks, the Asiatic Bazaar for Indians and the Cape Location for those of mixed race. All of us who lived there just called it Location.

By the mid-forties, the Black African population was growing rapidly and they were slowly being moved out to Atteridgeville. The blacks called it Pelindaba --a basic bare-boned city, some 8 or 9 miles West from the City of Pretoria. Atteridgeville was ethnically divided to keep people from different black tribes who came from different areas of South Africa apart. This was in keeping with the divide and conquer philosophy of the ruling party in South Africa –Apartheid began at the ethnic or root level. Once the Blacks had been moved out, plans for moving the Coloureds was initiated. The Coloureds were moved to Derdepoort, an area some 10 miles East of Pretoria. Similar arrangements were made in Johannesburg and other major and minor cities of South Africa. Indians in Pretoria were to be moved to Laudium, which today is a reality and somehow also ethnically divided. However, before all those events took place, all three races lived in the one Location.

The Location was bounded on the North side by the Magalis (pronounced with a throaty g –almost like a raspy h) range of low mountains. Struben Street acted as the Southern border. The Municipality of Pretoria had a fence along the entire Southern border, behind which they stored road building equipment and other requisites. The West side of the Location was cut off by a highway called Von Wielligh Street. The East side was cut off by the Apis (Monkey) River. Boom Street ran through the middle of the Location, connected by a bridge on the East side to the White areas and the outside world. These three major groups of people shared their destiny of being cut off from so-called superior White civilization. We definitely lived in a world of our own.

Some Indians who had shops in the City of Pretoria, from the early part of the century before the official Apartheid policy came into effect, were allowed to go to their businesses during the day, but had to be back by evening to spend the night in the Location. Some Indian businessmen did have homes behind their businesses in the City, but this was an anomaly from the early part of the century. By the mid-fifties they were already ear-marked for removal –both business and residence. This was part of the Group Areas Act which set aggressive milestones for the separation of the races.

Those were years of increasing oppression and being on the receiving end of an inherently discriminatory and divisive policy. South African White policy in those years was designed to progressively remove all economic and political opportunities from non-whites. However, reminiscing of the days in the Location, all is not lost because life is not measured in terms of money, places or status. It is measured in how we lived with our fellow man and the trials and tribulations we bore together and how we emerged from it all.

The first great thing that came to be was that Mahatma Ghandi came to live in the Location in the early part of the 20th century. This was surely divinely ordered. He lived there for many years before moving to Natal and eventually back to India. Everyone knows the mark he left on India. Few have heard of the legacy he left in South Africa –a legacy of pride in heritage, fighting for freedom and belief in the greatness of ordinary people. I went to school with many children who came from families who took the Mahatma as their leader. Many of them later played important roles in the South African freedom movement.

Now my thoughts go back to the fact that the Location was probably one of the richest sources of cultural exchange on the face of the globe at that time –something never to be repeated in this fast changing, modern world of ours. Toronto is probably the only other place where this cultural heterogeneity is encouraged, to a point. However, Toronto is not a ghetto and it is also so large that the ethnics have their own ghettos. But Pretoria’s Location was unparalleled on the planet because nowhere else were so many different people put together in such a small area from where they could not leave by their own choice.

The richness of life that I’m also talking about is the people who lived in this Location. And my memory takes me to re-meet the neighbours and their cultures and the languages that were spoken here all around us. The Location was over-crowded because the Indian area was no more than about ¾ of a mile by ¾ of a mile. There were close to 10,000 people in that small area, living in poverty and under an oppressive regime. Families and extended families of 20 or 30 people using one toilet was not uncommon. But people got along. We survived. We learned to tolerate each other. Understand each other. We visited each other in our homes. We went to school together in this one-of-a-kind place in the world, the Location. We had three movie theatres, showing Indian, American, British, Egyptian and Tamil movies. This was our escape.

When I look back on my school days and school mates, first of all, everyone spoke either one of the country’s major legal languages, English or Afrikaans. The Coloureds mostly spoke either local or Cape Afrikaans (a Dutch-German derivative language, with a smattering of Flemish and English mixed in). The African servants and black customers at the local shops (blacks were allowed to be there until 7 pm, but had to observe the curfew that forced them to go back to their areas by 7 pm), spoke either Zulu, Xosa, Venda, Sesutho, Swazi, Ndebele, Tswana or Mchangan. Most of the Indians and local business people spoke at least 2 of the above languages, including their own local language from India. In addition most also spoke Hindi, English or Afrikaans or both.

Indians were truly multi-lingual out of necessity. They were the trades people of the area –running small shops and service businesses for the blacks and coloureds, who worked in the white areas. There were also a couple dozen Chinese families living in the Location. Some came from Mainland China, others from Hong Kong or Macau. They spoke either Cantonese or Mandarin.

In the Location, there were Indians from South India, especially Tamils, who were a big percentage of the population. They spoke, depending on where they came from in the South of India, Madrasi, Telegu or Malayalam. Also, some from the mid-section of India spoke a few different dialects of Indian languages. There were the Hyderabadis, who spoke their own language. There were Cochnis from Cochin, they spoke their own distinct language. There were a few from Ceylon, who spoke Sinhalese. Moving North towards Pakistan, there were many Urdu speaking peoples. Indians from Mumbai spoke Marhastran. And Parsis, who also came from the same area, especially from Mumbai, spoke Gujerati. Then there were the Gujeratis, with a big ethnic population, who spoke their different brands of Gujerati –the Kanamyas, the Surtis, the Katchis, the Katchi-Mehman and Halai-Mehman from Sindh. There were Sindis who spoke pure Sindi, with their own unique script. There were those who spoke Hindi and as we go further North, we find the Sikhs, with their own language, Punjabi. There were people from Kolkata, speaking Kalkatian language. And from Bangladesh, people spoke Bengali. There were Patthan-speaking Indians from the North West of India and Punjabi-speakers from the Punjab.

This was a microcosm of almost all the people you could think of. Pizzaro and Cortes didn’t allow the Aztecs and the Mayas to be in the Location, otherwise we would have had them also. And the North American Indians and the Northern Aboriginals all fighting for survival –they were not here.

There were Portuguese-speaking Indians who came from Portuguese speaking enclaves in India. The Malays of the Cape were also here, with their Malay-mixed Afrikaans. They had come to South Africa with the Dutch from Malaysia. There were German-speaking coloureds who came from the Cape province, on the border with Southwest Africa, where they spoke German. And there were Arab-speaking Mullahs at the local Madrassa.

I’m sure I’m forgetting some other people with their peculiar language here. But they were there in this Location. All their children, boys and girls, were at the local school. Nowhere on Earth will you find this. The children of the very, very wealthy and those of the very poor, went to the same school because of the Apartheid ghetto –which did not differentiate between rich and poor –only between white and non-white.

In spite of the oppression and lack of opportunities, what could be more momentous than having one of the greatest men on this planet as a neighbour living in this Location? That’s what it felt like to have Mahatma Ghandi as part of our neighbourhood. It gave our lives and experiences meaning and richness in a larger global sense. When I see Ben Kingsley portraying Mahatma Ghandi, I say to myself, ‘We had the real thing.’

In conclusion, I must reiterate the richness of this once-in-a-lifetime, once-in-a-long-historical-period that only divine intervention could have produced. Where in the world would you get a Location of so many cultural and sub-cultural backgrounds with their rich heritage of music, dress, color, religion and language have come together in such a small place? Yes, there were even Ismailis here. One family in particular, the Keshavjees, had very close contact with Mahatma Ghandi. This was truly a historical event of a magnitude that would have world-wide impact. Mahatma Ghandi was part of this beautiful historical mosaic. Indians and Africans played out their roles, while the British and Dutch looked on from the side-lines with their attitudes of Apartheid, snobbery and British arrogance. Look where they are today.

This was a one-time phenomenon with, not Ben Kingsly whose relatives are also known to me, but the real thing thrown in: the Mahatma. This is my legacy. A tapestry full of riches, a mosaic to cherish, with all the different music, art, religion, dances, stories and languages woven into the fabric of life. The White man in South Africa, with his one superior language truly missed out. To him, Ghandi was yet another `coolie` to be derided and ridiculed. What irony. Wake up Canada, smell the real world that the divine created. Embrace it or you’ll lose out also.

© 2008 Mahomed Keshavjee written in Summer 2007

Jee Jay Wrap

Come on and hear the Jee Jay Wrap,
It is now covering the whole world map,
There’s no time to sit or take a nap,
There’s work to do. Get going, get hep.

Come hear and sing about the Jee Jay Wrap.
Joseph put on the Technicolor Magic Wrap
But Momins added Gold thread to that Wrap
Come over and join us in the Jee Jay Wrap

Come and open that big-hearted compassion tap,
Help the poor to understand the Jee Jay Wrap.
All who wear Joseph’s Magic can do the Jee Jay Wrap
The light is one. The coats are many. There is no gap.

Be sincere. Purify the mind and drink the magic sap.
Have faith, work hard and the world will fall into your lap
Come get hep. Come do the Happy Jee Jay Wrap.
The world is blind to the Gur Gat Ganga tap.
The Ganges flows right past your door. Scoop the sap.
Come get hep and do the Jee Jay Wrap.

The Illusionary world beckons but it is a big trap,
The Lord of the Ages guides us to leave worries in his lap.
To understand the message you need an inner thinking cap.
Get hep. Come on and do the Jee Jay Wrap.

Unity and ujama is the answer to cover the world map.
Build brotherhood and get out of the individualistic trap.
Get hep. Be happy and come join in the Jee Jay Wrap.
Leave the wine, drink water –it is the wise man’s magic sap.
Get hep. Come and do the melodious Jee Jay Wrap.

If you have faith and say to yonder mountain
Come hither, it shall come in a snap.
Come over, get hep and do the Jee Jay Wrap.


© 2008 Mahomed Keshavjee written on Mar 1, 2008

The New Three Ring Circus

There’s a new circus in town. It is the new Dingling Brothers, Farnham and O’Malley Circus. All is new! Come see the three man acrobatic act. No membership fees required. All are welcome –except the Gauls and the United Nations. Ring-side seats available without Security Council approval.

See John Bull in the ring with the Spanish matador. The Bull does not die in the end. See Buffalo George and his six-shooting Texas Rangers –only the villain Saddam dies. See the Spanish conquistador do a flamenco dance on the rock of Gibraltar. See the Prime Minister of Britain, Blairing music without a trumpet. See the Texas Ranger’s Cheer leaders sing, “Behind the Mulberry Bush.” No, we don’t serve French Fries, French Toast or French Kisses. From now on, it will only be Texas BBQ sandwiches, Fish and Chips and Empanadas.

Dame Vera Lynn will entertain with ‘White Cliffs of Dover, “ “Wish Me Luck,” and “There’ll always be an England.” Willie Nelson will sing “God Bless America,” “Home on the Texas Range,” and “Adios Amigos.” Julio Iglesias will sing, “Yellow Rose of Texas,” “South of the Border” and the “Peanut Vendor”. Father George Bush Sr. will sing, “Twelve Long Years,” “Bring Back the Oil” and “Happy Days are Here Again.” Clint Eastwood will sing, “Shoot Up Baghdad,” “Get the Butcher” and “Home on the Range”. No complementary tickets for Jean Chretien and Vicente Fox. Adios Amigos.

(c) 2008 Mahomed Ally Keshavjee, All Rights Reserved

The Clinical Trial

Have you attended the clinical trial?
It is Big Drug and Pharmaceutical’s prodigal child.
Every person who signs-on for a free test is beguiled.
One day you’ll be sorry, their number you dialed.

Father medicine has joined in the fray and sacrifices
Those who lend their names to the clinical trial.
Of the side effects, they say nothing:
They won’t even show you your file.
After all, you signed on the dotted line.

In their hearts they know the outcome of the trial,
Because only they know the contents of the vial.

The side effects hurt you,
And you can’t even walk a quarter of a mile.
All because of a wrong number that you did dial.
But you cannot sue them or take them to trial
Because you signed on the dotted line.

Grandma’s remedies tasted like Buckley’s or bile,
But you know they worked even though you did not smile.
I know you’re sorry you joined up for a clinical trial –
You became their sacrificial lamb by signing on the dotted line.

Many are called and many are chosen to boost their bottom line.
Happy are the accountants and salesmen,
Whose bonuses are on track and on-line

If you’ve seen Harrison Ford’s movie, the Fugitive,
He accused his detractors for changing the samples
And putting his life on the line.
It doesn’t just happen in the movies, but also in real-life.
So beware before you sign again on the dotted line.

© 2002 Mahomed Ally Keshavjee, All Rights Reserved. Written Dec 5, 2002. Essay#

Mr. Jackal and Dr. Hide

My name was Mr. Hide,
But since I’ve become a doctor,
I feel I’m more a Jackal, than a Hide.

The drug companies give me all kinds of freebies,
And they’re all tax-free.
But my conscience doesn’t allow me to be free.

From those drugged out patients, I have to hide.
My office has become a dispensary
For all my patients and even uncle Harry.
They want all kinds of samples from my apothecary.

I was once a doctor, but now I’m a druggist.
Even Carlos Escobar, the Colombian, has nothing on me.
I have a license. He doesn’t.
He was only a thuggist, but I’m a true druggist.

I get all my supplies at the company store.
Now I’m a low down hypocrite, dirty to the core.
There are days I get angry and very, very sore.
There’s no medication to help me in my cupboard or in my store.
I spend my time with company agents who sell me even more.
But I was never like this before.

They sit in my waiting room, telling the patients to ask me for more.
They bring cases of samples to give out to the poor.
Now I’m learning to play hide and sick,
Before the government takes a big stick.

(c) 2008 Mahomed Ally Keshavjee, All Rights Reserved