Ghazis and pur-israar banday

yeh Ghazi yeh teray pur-israar banday

jinhain tou nay bakhsha hay zouq-e-khudaii

do neem inn ki thokar pae sehra-o-darya

simat kar pahar in ki haibat sae rayi

I remember this poetic power couplet from Dr. Allama Iqbal as I found out that a co-worker by the name of M Ghazi had been detained by the FBI for threatening to bomb an Amtrak train in Sacramento. The poor chap’s last name means warrior, I never met him, although we are both Pakistani’s. Another desi told me that he has poor English and looks distraught. He was a programmer working as a contractor. Yesterday he came down to our floor looking for left over ice cream cake and I saw him as a disheveled and paranoid desi H-1 contractor.

A Swiss co-worker told me that he is not a very logical programmer and that he can’t believe that he is capable of anything except muttering, yes he does mutter. The reports have failed to mention that he wears a hearing device, yes, the guy is half deaf!

This all happened June 8th, and later I heard other rumors about his erratic behavior, like he once tried to kiss a girl on the Amtrak train, I am surprised strippers from the big tomato have not come up with stories about how during a particularly sweaty lap dance he promised them Male hoors (complimentary to the fabled 72 virgins of paradise, known as Ghulams . . . who says Islam did not give females equal rights)

And now snippets of the news

FBI questions man as bomb squad examines suspicious packages on train

The man, described only as Middle Eastern and in his mid-30s, attracted the attention of Amtrak conductors when he missed his stop in Martinez, according to Lt. Mark Gagan. The man, who was riding Capitol Corridor train No. 525, reportedly became "nervous'' and "agitated.''

When approached by train conductors, the man allegedly told them that the train would "fall into the sea'' and "disappear,'' Gagan reported. The man then began "chanting and praying in a foreign language,'' Gagan said. The officer said an initial X-ray of one package the man left revealed an electronic device consistent with a bomb, but it turned out to be a laptop computer.