IDHAR UDHAR KI BAAT 103- PAISE VAARNA Brig PS Gothra (Retd)

 Paise Vaarna (rotating money over heads and giving to poor) — ever seen it? It’s that old ritual where someone takes a currency note, waves it dramatically over the head of a newborn or a newlywed couple, and then hands it over to servants or the needy. Pure intent: blessings. Simple and Sacred.

But then comes Punjabi show-shaa (Punjabi flamboyance). What do we do? Not just rotate. We shower notes, rain money, make a scene. All just to say “asi bade great hunne haan” (we are very rich, very grand, very great).

Now, me? Never done it. Even if people snickered behind my back and muttered kanjoos (miser). Why? Because the idea of currency lying crushed under people’s shoes feels like an insult. An insult to money. An insult to the country whose face that money bears.

A month ago I was a worried man. A wedding of a close kin. People will expect you to be flamboyant. How to handle this note-showering business? I couldn’t be flinging Canadian dollars—too expensive. Especially when you earn in Indian Rupees. I couldn’t be throwing Indian rupees. No way. That would be dishonor. Then, someone joked: “Why not Pakistani currency?”

Lo and behold, I managed to get a neat bundle of fresh Pakistani notes. Oh, the mischief of it! Imagine, people dancing, stomping, not even bothering to pick those notes up. My wallet safe, my ego satisfied. Plus, the exchange rate? Deliciously in my favor.

But then—enter inner voice. “Really? What are you achieving? A war won? A point scored? Or just petty bitterness parading as wit?”
Ouch. True. Because if the whole crowd ignores my act, my grand gesture would dissolve into nothingness. The blessings vanish too.

Then came the outer self. “Arrey, but dil ko sakoon to milega” (at least the heart will feel at peace).
But my mind slapped back: “This is futility. Same as those IT Cells of political parties pretending hard work with useless noise.”

Another question struck: “So, you want to join the league of flag-burners and flag desecrator in front of the embassies? You want to look like that type of  idiot?” You want to start an idiotic act promote others to insult your country symbols?
“No. Certainly not.”

Memory rewind: My father brought home a belt buckle of a Baluch Regiment soldier post 1971 war. Displayed proudly in our drawing room, was mounted upside down on a wooden base. Not trampled, not desecrated. Similarly, in Army mess halls I later saw captured enemy flags—mounted upside down, respected as a symbol of victory but never disgraced underfoot.

And that bundle of Pakistani notes? I kept it. Not as a prank. But as a reminder. Of my own momentary pettiness. My avarice. My... smallness.

Oh, and at the Canadian wedding? Guess what. Money was indeed showered. But not Canadian dollars. Nope. Everyone used American one-dollar notes! Turns out Canada doesn’t even have one-dollar bills—the lowest is five. Smart Canadians, eh? Why waste five bucks when a single US dollar can do. Some of the smart people even drop American dollar bills in the gullak (donation box) of  Gurudwara so that people cannot listen to the sound of the coins dropped in the donation box.  After all God knows your faith and devotion but people should not walk away with an idea that tussi great nahin ho.

Jai Hind.