The Floral Dream…

"A young man named Nasreddin planted a flower garden, but when the flowers came up so did a great crop of dandelions among them. Wishing to eliminate the unwanted guests, Nasreddin consulted with gardeners near and far, but none of their solutions worked. Finally, Nasreddin traveled to the palace of the sheik to seek the wisdom of the royal gardener himself. But alas, Nasreddin had already tried all the methods the kind old man recommended to him for eradicating such troublesome weeds. Silently they sat together for a good long time. At last, the royal gardener looked at Nasreddin and said, "Well, then, the only thing I can suggest is that you learn to love them." 'Nasreddin's Flower Garden' -  A Traditional Sufi Story
“A young man named Nasreddin planted a flower garden, but when the flowers came up so did a great crop of dandelions among them. Wishing to eliminate the unwanted guests, Nasreddin consulted with gardeners near and far, but none of their solutions worked.
Finally, Nasreddin traveled to the palace of the sheik to seek the wisdom of the royal gardener himself. But alas, Nasreddin had already tried all the methods the kind old man recommended to him for eradicating such troublesome weeds.
Silently they sat together for a good long time. At last, the royal gardener looked at Nasreddin and said, “Well, then, the only thing I can suggest is that you learn to love them.”
‘Nasreddin’s Flower Garden’ – A Traditional Sufi Story

Resurface…

This is just the way Dara wanted his dearest wife Nadira Begum’s tomb to be… submerged… He wanted it to look as if it was floating on water…

But the invading East India Company saw the boundary walls of the tomb as a great source of construction material… they stripped the walls of its bricks and used it to build the Saddar Cantonment in Lahore… Ironically, this tomb is now also a part of the same cantonment and lies on ‘ Infantry Road ‘

The place is now called Mian Mir Park (as Hazrat Mian Mir’s shrine is right next to it) and Nadira’s pavillion tomb forms its centre…

Emperor Aurangzeb, in the bloody race for the throne, slaughtered his brothers and poisoned their children… Many were rendered fatherless, childless and motherless…

Now children play cricket under Nadira’s watchful eyes…

With endless rains, waters have surrounded her tomb and amid the floods, her tomb floats again…