Religion

Religion is a very naive subject when brought under discussion. It is so weak a topic because it has more emotions then logic attached to it. One denies all facts when it comes to religion and to someone who is either a deep follower of his religion or not it is still the best religion in the world. To a Muslim Islam is the best and most purified and complete religion of all, to a Christian Christianity will be over all other religions and same will be the case with a Hindu, a Jew and a Zoroastrian. The problem not only ends into mere arguments but it might even lead up to a war. Wars have been fought under the banner of religion, wars have been fought in order to spread the word, in order to gain more land for religion to breed. Muslims have fought in the time and after of the Holy prophet, Christians fought after Jesus was crucified and even Christian monasteries raided battles against the crusaders in order to save the church. Let us trace centuries back into the time of the Aryans when they started off as very peaceful and religious tribe. They believed in self sacrifice and would sacrifice animals and even their plantations for theirs Gods. But suddenly when their demands grew and they realized that there is a vaster world others the small chunk of land they have been habiting on for centuries they started to discover more. Just then “GLOBALIZATION” stepped in, which meant that they learned how to tame their horses and use them commercially they learned the art of fighting and swords. Before this they would only sacrifice for the Gods and in order to make them happy and gain health or wealth. But then now they became warriors and they kept on looting traders of their animals and attacking neighboring lands. Even their religion had changed now their Prime God had shifted from Mazda to Indra. Mazda was a peaceful God while Indra was the one who had saved the world on his chariot killing a monster which had brought in stability into the world. Their heroes had changed from their priest to the chariot warriors. A peaceful nation had been converted into warrior tribe. Even more dangerous than this is the perceptions that every individual has created of its religion or what a complete tribe holds about it. The people of the axial time had a God for everything source on this Earth. They had a God for something that didn’t even exist. This link to God and religion was the reason that this conversion took place. Some tribes amongst them faded away into becoming warriors for a different God while some remained the same. Same is the case with every religion that has either existed on this planet or is still here. Same is with Islam. Muslims relate everything that happens in their life to Allah and his orders and wishes. They might be right in believing this but this is what has led to extremism and fundamentalism. This has become the excuse for extremist to raise swords against what they consider as infidels and apostates.

Something as pure and holy as religion has been infiltrated by us humans. We have used it and bended it according to our wishes and suitability. Its purity has been lost when it became more then religion, when it became the reason to attack, when it became a reason to enforce our views onto others, its purity was lost when it was used.

Philosophy

Even I believe that every individual is a philosopher in himself. We think, we imagine, we question and then we try finding the answers ourselves or even achieve them through any means. But we only accept them if we find them logical or rational. Rationality then varies greatly. Rationality to a scientist would be that it fits is equation but rationality to a priest would be if it helps him attain spirituality. To a layman it would be if it answers his questions according to his satisfaction or what the society accepts it as. Rationality thus differs from society to society and nation to nation and then between every individual. All the three questions that rose here are not the only ones I believe to be of relevance. It not always what should we know or what is in it or how do we know, it is also why do we want to know and when should be the right time to know it. Thinking cannot be limited to just a few naïve questions. It is one endless system, it is an unbreakable chain. One question will always lead to another one and then the effect carries on.  One belief will lead to another belief and questioning one of it will lead to questioning the next one. This chain cannot be broken or altered or even controlled. This is the complexity the brain carries and this is what philosophy is all about. This is what knowledge is. Accepting everything as it is, is not gaining knowledge, it is limiting it. Knowledge is a never ending path and questioning becomes it staircase.

We might answer everything through religion but it doesn’t end here. Even religion demands us to question certain stuff. Blindly following something without knowing why it has been endowed upon us is not acceptance, its ignorance. If we question what we belief we are not trying to go against it but we might just be trying to fastening our belief in it more. If the questions are correctly answered the belief is strengthened.

Great philosophers have lived on this planet have they have attained this status by questioning, by trying to figuring out what, why, how, when, where, have things occurred. This is why we have so many branches of education and this is why the tree of knowledge is ever growing.

The LTTE and their major assassinations

The LTTE, which may have between 7,000 and 15,000 armed combatants (PDF), is infamous for its suicide bombings. Since the late 1980s, the group has conducted approximately two hundred suicide attacks which are carried out by elite squads called Black Tigers. Targets have included transit hubs, Buddhist shrines, and office buildings. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the LTTE invented the suicide belt and pioneered the use of women in suicide attacks. LTTE fighters wore cyanide capsules around their necks so they could commit suicide if they were captured.

Beyond suicide bombings, the LTTE used conventional bombs and Claymore mines to attack political and civilian targets, and gunned down both Sri Lankan officials and civilians. In an April 2008 report, the U.S. State Department also accuses the LTTE of engaging in abductions and extortion. Many of the LTTE's victims have been public officials. Over the past twenty years, the LTTE has been accused of assassinating almost a dozen high-level figures, including two heads of state.

Assassinations and attacks on officials allegedly committed by the LTTE include;

·         The May 1991 assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi at a campaign rally in India

·         the July 1999 assassination of a Sri Lankan member of parliament, Neelan Thiruchelvam, an ethnic Tamil involved in a government-sponsored peace initiative;

·         a pair of December 1999 suicide bombings in Colombo that wounded Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga. the June 2000 assassination of Sri Lankan Industry Minister C.V. Goonaratne;

·         the August 2005 assassination of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar; ]

·         the January 2008 assassination of a member of parliament from the opposition United National Party (UNP), T. Maheswaran. the January 2008 assassination of Sri Lankan Nation-Building Minister D. M. Dassanayake;

·          the February 2008 assassination of two cadres of the political party and paramilitary group Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP). the April 2008 assassination of Sri Lankan Highway Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle.

A short history of LTTE

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), also known as the Tamil Tigers, are a separatist group in Sri Lanka, led by Vellupillai Prabhakaran . The LTTE had been agitating for a homeland for ethnic Tamils, who felt persecuted by Sri Lanka's ethnic majority, the Sinhalese since the 1980’s.  For the last twenty six years the group has been blamed for a dozen high-level assassinations, over two hundred suicide attacks, and its war against the government which has cost more than seventy thousand lives.

Sri Lanka, an island in the Indian Ocean off the southeast coast of India, gained its independence in 1948. The Ethnic Sinhalese Buddhists make up about three-quarters of the island's population; Tamils, both Indian and Sri Lankan, are the next largest ethnic group out of which most are Hindu. The Tamils are an ethnic group that live in southern India (mainly in the state of Tamil Nadu) hand on Sri Lanka, an island of 21 million people off the southern tip of India. Most Tamils live in northern and eastern Sri Lanka, and they comprise approximately 10 percent of the island's population. Their religion and Tamil language set them apart from the four-fifths of Sri Lankans who are Sinhalese—members of a largely Buddhist, Sinhala-speaking ethnic group. When Sri Lanka was ruled as Ceylon by the British, most Sri Lankans regarded the Tamil minority as collaborators with imperial rule and resented the Tamil's perceived preferential treatment. But since Sri Lanka became independent in 1948, the Sinhalese majority has dominated the country. The remainder of Sri Lanka's population includes ethnic Muslims, as well as Tamil and Sinhalese Christians. The Tamils in Sri Lanka number just 3.2 million, but they have close links to a far larger Tamil population just a few miles across the sea in southern India, where they benefit from sanctuary and financial support. Their grievances run deep, with roots in the British colonial administration that favored the Hindu Tamils as bureaucratic administrators. Many Tamils say they are discriminated against in jobs and education in favor of the Buddhist Sinhalese majority, who make up three quarters of the population.

Interviewing a hero..Major Iqbal Najmi

Me: “ First of all I would like to thank you for this and that it is a great honor to be able to take your interview Major Iqbal Najmi, Sir can you tell us about how and when you joined the army?”

Major Iqbal: “I joined army in 1978 as a cadet and stayed a cadet for the following year, but I was then relegated, I was not being commissioned due to some reasons but after another six months I was commissioned into a 22 cavalry, I was commissioned here because General Zia-ul-Haq was also in the 22 cavalry, I was a proud man, this was because I had passed 7^th in my course.”

Me: “You were in the Siachen War, can you give us a few highlights of the war and what was your role in it?”

Major Iqbal: “ I was not been commissioned at the war site first, but then Me and a group of soldiers were ordered to camp at Mount Eagle, the highest peak in the Siachen War ground. It was around 22000 feet above sea level and was around negative sixty cold. We were sent there to have a bird’s eye view of everything, but on reaching there I suffered severe nausea and started vomiting. Due to which I had to be brought down and the only method was to drag me down wrapped up in a comforter. While I was been dragged down I slipped and fell into a cavern. It was here that I suffered this frost bite. It took me three months to be able to stand up on my feet. General Zia had com personally to meet me at the base and asked me if I needed something. I asked him if I could be moved to my cavalry but due to my poor health I was asked to rest.

Me: “After you suffered the injury did you leave the army or u continued to give yours services to the forces?”

Major Iqbal: “After a few months of well attained rest I was asked to join the intelligence were I served for a couple of years and then attained retirement from the army”

Me: “After retirement was there any special offers that the army had bestowed for you?”

Major Iqbal: “Yes, obviously right after retirement I was offered Rs1587 pension which continued for about two months and then I was offered a job which I serviced for about ten years. They not only offered me medical assistance but medical facilities for my family were completely free in the civil hospitals.

Me: “Currently you have moved to America, why did you have to leave Pakistan and go?”

Major Iqbal: “ Well we moved in search of a better living and a better future for our children but in reaching there I was become a victim of this very rare disease that happens to a very few in a million in America because of which my neck has tilted towards the left, the doctors there were not able to treat me so I have come back here and a local doctor has been treating me and my health seems to be improving. I suffered this because my body because of what it had to go through around thirty years ago in the Siachen War has become very vulnerable.

Me: “Thank you sir for this extra ordinary interview and truly you are one of the heroes that Pakistan deserves”

Naubedari: Helping those who really need it.

In the month of august a major catastrophe hit Pakistan. The flood that started from the north of Khyber Pakhtoonkhuwa and flooded down towards Punjab, Baluchistan and Sindh destroyed all that came in its way destroying thousands of towns and left millions of poor souls to leave their beloved homes and run for dear life. This is a natural disaster that is bigger and more devastating then any that has hit Pakistan ever in it 63 years of independence. One that has shook the very foundations of this nation. It was claimed that the earth quake that had hit Pakistan on the 18^th of October was not able to cause this massive scale of devastation. That was a catastrophe that the Pakistani nation when joined hands were able to not if over come at the least over see.

Their have been heated claims that the government has not done enough to help those who have been affected. It has also been a common believe now that even the general public has not shown the same enthusiasm that it showed years ago. The hands that joined in great brotherhood have gone numb. Great leaders such has Imran khan and media individuals such as Fakhr e Alam have yet to be seen doing what they did when the earth quake shook this nation. But in this heat there rose small groups of individuals and students whose hearts where drown seeing their brothers affected. One of these was a small group of students who have been actively working under the leadership of Murtaza Mustafa and Asad Ali (I) under the name of Naubedari (an unregistered charity organization) for those who needed help, and just when they saw millions “really” needed help they stepped out of their houses trying to gather as much as they could. They went door to door asking for whatever people were willing to donate. They knocked and people answered. It took them around 9 days to gather an approximate of 0.3 million rupees and more then a ton of clothing. People not only provided good cash but also appreciations that lifted their hopes and souls.  With these they were able to make boxes of basic food necessities including bread, salt, sugar, daal (), tea, water and some basic medicines.

 They then joined hands with a group of bayview high graduates who had also like them stepped onto streets and were able to collect a handsome amount of cash. Naubedari was then able to provide their allies with around 108 6 liters of pet water bottles. Naubedari also joined hands with the Rotaract club of Karachi helping them with food and water supplies. They were then able to help two small towns in the upper sindh district providing them indirectly through their own land lords or trailers that were taken by individuals themselves.

This effort did not satisfy the ever growing love and care for their brothers but when they were asked to volunteer at the Pakistan Air Force base at Shahrah e faisal they did not agitate. It has been 5 days since they have been regularly volunteering packing, loading and unloading tons of donations and they seem just not willing to stop. They spend 3 to 4 hours daily at the base working under trained officials trying their hearts out for their own badly injured nation.

The enthusiasm has not died and I doubt it ever will until such young souls live on the phase of this world. Young men who understand and feel what their brothers went through young men who have the “JAZBA” that made this country and the jazba that drives it till today.

Fabrication of race

Racism as I believe is a struggle for power and domination. It is one race’s attempt to degrade the other, in order to achieve a higher status. All these years the whites have not only degraded but mistreated the blacks in order to show them as an inferior race. It also becomes a way to show their insecurity. Persecutions have been carried out; millions have been tortured and killed under the banner and struggle for race domination. This imbalance between the whites and the non-whites specially let to major gaps between people. Richmond here tries to show us the affects in South Africa and what I felt from this article was that the whites due to their insecurities towards the blacks caused mass displacements and killings. Entire races have been swept away from the face of this world the best example being the Latin Americans.

In Fabrication of Race the author tries to convey and question as to what this “race” theory actually is. This is a very complicated subject. He tries to bring up the question as to what would determine ones race and how do u know as to what race one belongs to? The same is what I feel of this mixture of views and of the difference of this man-made ideology. Even though nearly all religions in this world say that all humans are same but the greatest separation also becomes religion itself. But still white Christians degrade black ones. They try to show their superiority but what proves that they are superior. 

I believe that it was the colonial era that had the greatest impact in determining the differences between races. I feel and as the article “black skin white mask” says that it is our weakness that allowed the whites culture become superior to ours, it is ourselves who has allowed them to suppress us, it is our own fault our own weaknesses and differences that blinded us to fight against each other and gave them the path to domination. It is us Asians that are so enslaved to their culture and their methods, that we gave them an advantage to dominate us. The best example is of the sub-continent, a land that had lived in an invisible bond of harmony and brotherhood for decades but after the entrance of the British and our own cultural and ethnic differences we became an easy meat to the ever growing power of the English.

Even though we do have our own identity but our wish to be someone else is where we deny the strength that we could endow and leave a tree with weak roots for the power hungry to prey on.

Psychology and the great Buddha

For decades studies have tried to unravel the mysteries of the human mind. Psychology has come very close to opening it up, but never has it been able to completely unravel it. It might have found theories and understandings for the mind but it has never been able to understand the complexity of its working. Even though Buddha’s was a great spiritual leader but his teachings I feel are not appropriate to completely uncover the human mind. This I say is because his studies mainly concentrate on the human mind on two diverse extremes and that are pain and pleasure. His teachings tell us how to deal with grief and pain and how to control ourselves in pleasure but what I feel is that there is always a state that goes mid way. A feeling that is normative a person when is in equilibrium. A situation that gives him/her neither pain nor pleasure. It is here that the studies should be carried out, when the human stands on level ground. Buddha tries to answer all questions by spiritual attainment, but once someone has attained that level his mind becomes so in his control that the study becomes actually not applicable. A control mind does become a good study but not the correct answer to everything. Even though his teachings are subjective but still connections can be made. His theory on self seems correct but the example used of binge eating wasn’t able to do justice. Here also it seems that everything revolves around pain and pleasure which to me is not accurate. What I understood was that life is like a cycle of pain and pleasure from which u can only free your self is when one attains spiritual guidance. Spiritual guidance might be one branch to a complete tree on control but it certainly is not its root.

I believe that the human mind is a very vast subject. An attempt to try answering it with just one view or teaching is not appropriate. Its complexities, controls, questions and diversities can not be answered subjectively and even one subject only is not good enough to answer it all.

Through the Eyes of a Duck

My eyes burn with sleep. But I somehow cannot put my laptop away and treat myself to few hours of shuteye before I face this cruel world once again. The reason why eludes me.

I am not a philosopher, I am not an intellectual, hell, I’m not even a guy who knows the first thing about.....anything in fact. I am good at, however, reading people. People have always befuddled me. I yearn to delve behind their eyes and ascertain the intricate working of the brain myself. Why do they do what it is they do? Why must they resort to such lowly tactics in order just to say, "I told you so". Why must we not pride ourselves on being humans? Why must we resort to sheer brutality?

The pages of history are filled with blood splattered accounts of the sick ambitions of a few men. Adolf Hitler felt the need to impose Germany on Europe and began the rape of a continent. The repercussions of which we are still witnessing to this day in the Middle East. But do we raise our voices and beg and yearn and plead to our leaders to do something, anything, anything at all to make a difference and pass on the strained voices of the masses? No. We do not. We tune into News channel, listen to news about car bombs, IEDs, IDPs, national calamity this, terrorism that with a passive face and we switch over to the first movie channel we can think of. I know i do. I'm more interested in what’s coming over HBO than what going on in the Gaza Strip. I'm more eager to learn what has happened to Ted in How I Met Your Mother rather than educate myself on the evils of the current decade. I spend my days sleeping while i could be somewhere, anywhere, trying to do.....more.

I'm boring you, yes I am. But I need to let someone know that the world is finite. We are finite. Everything we do is finite. We bitch, we moan, we point our fingers to blame but we never do anything. We wish we could do something but we don’t. And that’s all we're good for. Wishing. I wonder what the emaciated mother in Nigeria is wishing for. The penniless father sitting outside his camp in Sukkur wishing for, the child nursing his bullet wound in Sarajevo wishing for. I wonder what you wish for.

Colonialism

Colonialism is the story of dominance. It is the theory of power of one race over the other.Colonialism is when one country invades another and colonializes it just like the British invaded the Sub- Continent.
 It shows us seven different types modalities of colonialism and then tried to tell us how the British implied these and what they did most efficiently. How the British were able to hoard as much as they could from the Golden sparrow and take it back to their homeland. Be it forcefully or by taxation. Be it by capturing or fooling the locals. They recognized the Mughal head but he only remained there as a sign of hope and then they used the emperor and either invaded his Lands or captured them by tricking the Nawabs. They misused the innocence of the people and twisted the ignorance of the leaders and were able to plug their flag over a land that had been ruled by the local rulers. They used their differences, differences that had been there but never arouse because of the mutual natural treaty that had developed amongst all mixed cultures and identities. They used their knowledge and bended it according to their needs and proved them selves as masters of those who had mastered lands for hundreds of years. They colonized a Land that was administered and ruled by the Great MUGHALS.

Stop The Bombs.

On May 11 and 13, 1998, India tested five nuclear weapons in the Rajasthan desert. By the end of the month, Pakistan had followed suit. With these tests, the governments in Islamabad and New Delhi loudly announced to the world community, and especially to each other, that they had proudly made their place on the list of nuclear armed nations. Nine years have passed since these tests shattered the nuclear-free haven of South Asia.

The bitter rivalry between India and Pakistan which dates to the partition of the sub-continent in 1947 remains the impetus behind the proliferation of nuclear weapons and missiles in the region. The security dynamics of the region are complicated by India’s perception of China as a threat. Furthermore the presence of Al Qaeda and Taliban further increases the instability of the region posing the ever growing threat of nuclear weapons falling in to the wrong hands.

Humans have only been wrangling with the nuclear question for more than 60 years but it is time now that real efforts are made. In order for the nuclear disarmament process to proceed, the nuclear-powers must clearly and immediately abandon their pursuit of developing nuclear weapons.They must refrain from any actions which could undermine the efforts of the international community towards nuclear disarmament.  We call upon them, and all other states that have not yet done so, to adhere to the Non-Proliferation treaty. We likewise call upon them to sign and ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty without delay and without conditions.

We must do all we can to turn back the tide of nuclear proliferation and to continue to work towards a world free of nuclear dangers, and ultimately, of nuclear weapons. The world’s nuclear powers have a duty to take the lead on non-proliferation. These weapons threaten the very existence of mankind.  Our children deserve to live in a world safe from the threat of nuclear war and of weapons of mass destruction. None of us should be seeing World War 3 anywhere in future!

There Are No New Beginnings

A blue morning sky is rent by the cries of mourning. A mother – for her 18 year old child, who died in a car accident. He was her oldest, her favorite son. She still remembered his birth. She remembered his first walk and his first lessons at school. She remembered his first crush – he shared his life with her, willing her to live it with him – and now he was gone… his life snuffed out, just like that, in an instant…

His entire life had been ahead of him; He had been accepted into one of the country’s most prestigious universities on a full sports scholarship and why not? He deserved it. His dreams were finally coming true. But, an accident that left him crippled for life changed all that. His once shining future now lay in shambles before him and as he lay on the hospital bed, he realized that that life would never be the same again.

My exceedingly optimistic fellow beings seem to be obsessed with the ‘a new sun dawning every theory’. Have they not heard of the genocide in Rwanda. Where an estimated 800,000 people were killed where the slaughtered people were seen floating down the Kigara River. Where neighbors were forced to kill each other and where people were forced to murder members of their own family. Do you actually expect the two warring parties to walk arm in arm with each other after such a catastrophe, in the name of a ‘new beginning’? You’ve got to be kidding me.

The Palestinians were forced to resort to suicide bombing against the Israelis. Men, women and children with bombs strapped to their bodies calmly walked into an enemy camp and blew themselves up into a million pieces. That’s how much they had suffered. That’s how desperate they were. Kashmiri children carry guns instead of books in their hands. Iraqis have lost their houses and families. Do you honestly expect parents who have buried their children with their own hands, or children who have witnessed their parents being butchered, to wake up one fine morning, see the sun all bright and shiny, and go: hey! I guess its time for a new beginning. 

Global warming is being shouted off the roof tops today. The ozone layer is depleting at a horrific rate. We can see the results first hand with dramatic climate changes never seen before. Hurricanes, Tsunamis, cyclones are becoming alarmingly common. And so now, people trying to take steps to curb this phenomenon. Mind you the word is curb, not REVERSE. Here specifically there is no new beginning, the ozone that is gone, is gone and whatever you do, it isn’t coming back.

It is nearly impossible to erase the experiences that have shaped one in to what they are. And so the fact remains, there never is a new beginning. Never!

History is a women's body

The article “History is a woman’s body” tell us about the post partition conditions and the sufferings that the female populace of both India and Pakistan had to go through. Never before had so many migrated to and fro. Around 2 million were killed and millions suffered. This article tries to dictate the real stories of the populace who actually suffered. It puts forward their stories and not those that have been written down in the history books. It doesn’t deliberately involve big names because history has been altered due to such names but the real history is what the people speak out. Thousands of females, married, unmarried, girls, mothers, wives, daughters were kidnapped and raped. They were abducted and taken away and were then used for pleasure or business. They exchanged hands and then were disrespected. Females from both side suffered a similar fate. This chapter tells us what the females really had to go through by their own wordings through either narratives or interviews. It then tells us that a treaty was signed between both the states to try recover as many abducted women as possible. Mridula Sarabhai was asked to head this recovery operation and she was successful in producing around 25000 inquiries and recovering 2500 of them. The greatest problem wasn’t finding those abducted that could be done by gaining the confidence of the locals or by rewarding those who brought information. The main problem was if the female wanted to be recovered, if yes would her family accept her. It was a given fact that the muslim community was better at accepting their daughters then the hindu’s who considered these females to have become unholy. One reason that she did not wish to be recovered was that after so many years she had now moved on and that the man who had saved her from being carried on from hand to hand had become her angel. Had given her respect, married her and fed her. One event also tells us about Liaquat Ali Khan’s involvement in this recovery process. After this Sarabhai was then appointed as the camp leader at a recovery camp Gujrat where first she was given a very deceiving sight of the camp telling her that the woman here earned around 300rs per month but when she took charge she realized all that they earned was not more then 10rs the whole month and were inefficient without their supervisors. This camp was set to help these females stand on their feet and face the world but the conditions here were worsening if they were let out they wouldn’t be able to survive so Sarabhai then turned towards some adult education and paid herself for all the stationary and books that was required asked the local staff if they would be willing to teach and on getting a positive response stepped onto it. She was able to produce a dozen or so females who were able to pass near to matriculation and then be able to step out into the world.

Of Random Memories

The college life is a complex and many layered thing. The good, the bad and the worst. The good is a farce. Do not trust it. Take an advice from someone who has gone through the motions of college life spending two years in the institution of what we call the college. For extreme survival what we need is a an average amount of good grade in each subject so that when facing trouble you can innocently gaze up in the teacher’s face and say “but miss, I got an A last year in your course!”, also it helps mollify your parents that you just might be learning something even though the physics goes high up from your head in a Boeing 747, chemistry flies by in a hot air balloon and maths decides to form arcs above your highest ponytail.

Also for basic survival, you need excuses. For instance, when you are late, make a face appropriately innocent for a hungry child in Ethiopia and say, “but miss, my car broke down and I had to come to college in a rickshaw”. There is absolutely no point in worrying teachers about how you woke up late and your beauty routine took up the extra ten minutes because then of course if you wont put on the black nail polish with your black bag how would the economic crisis be avoided. Next, you need to learn bunking. Now keep these tried and tested methods a secret. Always bunk in twos. Never in groups because then you end being caught. Spread your dupatta across formally so that no one can tell from which faculty you are. Also you might consider wearing an abayah and doing purdah as then no one can recognise you or may I suggest that you carry a make up kit which can help alter your face after five minutes required. Or maybe if your parents are really rich you can consider plastic surgery as a last resort. When caught plead sickness, or turn it into a complex matter of social issues. Racism might be a good excuse or you could say you are protesting against the riots in Gwader. Launch into an explanation. Never tell the truth. Teachers refuse to believe that anyone might not be interested in the Brescia solium (if this exists) or Newton’s 19^th Law of Cinderella, if there is any!

Also I learnt the place where you will gain the most knowledge is the cafeteria. Teachers will never tell you when there is a sale at Gul Ahmed for the fear that the good suits might be taken away as they would refuse to inform you that green is the new black this season. They will also not inform you that Nokia is out with a touch screen. You see, they are scared we might end up with all the good stuff so they have hatched a plan called as the Structure of Boredom 101 where they try to put fluff your brain. Sadly, they fail to realise that we still remain one step ahead of them. Also, your journals are made in the cafeteria. If there is a coke spill, name it as a complex chemical or plant excreta according to the subject and impress the teacher. If all else fails say,” Daagh tou achey hotey hain”.

Despite all of this, if you decide to sit in class and obviously end up getting punished because you were fantasising about John Abraham, try taking a friend with you. That way when you both stand you can play Paper, scissor, rock. It doesn’t matter what distance you stand at. Or exchange places when each other behind the teacher’s back. When called for explanations plead insanity. I am sure this one excuse will always work.

Having, appropriately spoiled your young minds with information I would like to point out that the college life will be one of your best you live. Learn to enjoy and gain knowledge and in the process you will make very precious memories. Trust me I did. And keep passing the legacy of bunking on. Happy college!

To Hell with Journalism Ethics:

Geo is an amazing channel. It shows everything. I mean people need to see everything! They need to know everything. What do we care about sensitivity or respect? This is all journalism ethics. To hell with journalism ethics! Take the plane crash. It was an exhilarating ride for our Television channels with smooth landings of their ratings. We have a national catastrophe let’s make a cartoon out of it. So we put up around forty to fifty animators and they come up with this cute little plane that goes to cute little brown mountains and boom! There’s a crash! I’m sure it was an appreciated gesture by all those anxiously staring at the News tickers to see whether  their loved ones made it alive or not. Then we have our reporters who come to houses of the victims and ask their immediate family, no less to tell them how they feel. And to make our news even more crisp, lets attack them with questions on the soyem chaliswa or chaliswa. Journalism laws teach us to be polite distant and not intrude on family time. But to hell with Journalism ethics!

When we can’t make cartoons let us post full length videos with no warnings. If it’s for ten minutes it’s even better. Of course it should be graphic. With all the details, because the people need to know everything! Journalism ethics teaches us censor, but to hell with journalism ethics! And then let us eliminate objectivity. We should compromise on our job of just delivering the news and instead take sides. Granted the two boys were killed inhumanely. Granted what was done to them was wrong, but does it mean we make martyrs out of them? Did we ever get to hear the other side of the story? Fine our security institutions have failed but does it mean we criticize them and then hop on to the same band wagon as them? Journalism is about being objective. Letting us form our own opinions. We need to eliminate emotions, but no to hell with journalism ethics!

We were criticized on CNN but what do we care? Anyway weren’t these goras supposed to be a Zionist conspiracy to lead us away from the voice of God?  They made the journalism ethics. We need not follow. Compassion isn’t a part of our news anymore, because to hell with journalism ethics!

Story of a Tissue Paper

Once upon a time there was a tissue paper. An ordinary tissue paper wrapped up in a plastic covering. Let us in order to give gender say the tissue paper was a lady. So lady tissue paper was lying on top, out of reach of rainy days and sniffy noses.

One day came along a man. He reached up and saw Lady Tissue paper and decided he wished to have it. Lady Tissue paper tried her best to stay out of reach but the man, he hypnotized Lady Tissue paper with kind sweet words and also Lady Tissue paper saw that the man was nice and clean, he wouldn’t ever need to use her. So Lady Tissue paper went with this man. She let him keep her in his pocket. She let him hold her. Many eyed her and mocked her, but Lady Tissue paper decided she knew this man and he wouldn’t ever use her. Lady Tissue paper was in love, she forgot she was a tissue paper and tissue papers are manufactured to be used. Silly Lady Tissue paper!

So this man, one day asked Lady Tissue paper if he she could come out of her cover because he wished to see her. He wanted to feel Lady Tissue Paper and see how the fine threads went along her surface. Apprehensive Lady Tissue paper agreed for tissue papers have no eyes and are blind. So out she came. If you ever have used a tissue paper you would know, after some time it begins to lose its gloss. Sadly, that is what happened to Lady Tissue paper too. For she was an ordinary tissue. She lost her charm and then her gloss and finally she was shedding her ends. So this man he decided he had no use of Lady Tissue paper anymore and he tried to put her back in the cover. But alas! Lady Tissue paper wouldn’t fit in there.

One day it rained. Now see the story says it poured from the sky, but some very secretive sources tell us Lady Tissue paper suddenly grew eyes and they poured making her wet. Wet tissue papers are of no use to anyone. And also, they make pockets wet, so when this man’s pocket’s started complaining, he took out the annoying Lady Tissue paper and put her in a corner.

Many accounts say Lady Tissue paper died, for she was empty now from her very core. All shriveled up, but some say they see Lady Tissue paper trying to find her plastic covering with hope that one day she can still be far up on the shelf where never again can she be used.

Our weak political leaders

Do we have any idea what our forefathers and fathers have been talking about all these years. All the troubles that our ancestors took to establishing this state making it worthwhile and stable enough for its citizens to reside in. it tells us about the social but specially political problems that our leaders went through to stabilize our economy, to control the ongoing problems. It starts from the demise of our great Quaid e Azam and the loss the nation suffered. They lost a figure head that had the whole nation in under his trust a father who would’ve thrived this state like no other would’ve. Once the lost occurred then none have been able to lead this state like he did and he would’ve. His predecessors weren’t able to control the economy and did not even prove out to be good politicians. Continuous struggles for power were witnessed; leaders were over thrown and murdered like Liaquat Ali khan and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. It was like a never ending marathon of politicians for power. It tells us the suffering of the nation and its citizens while our leaders fought amongst themselves to sit on the highest ranks.

Our politicians lack the basic needs to be a politician,the best politician is who is able to convey his message across to the nation. He must be well spoken to win the hearts of millions. A good politician should be able to blend in with the people feel what they feel act how they want him to act, people should be able to have their confidence in him. His reliability should be renowned and people should believe that he knows what he is doing and he knows his work and knows how the state and its law work. A powerful politician he says is to be accurate with his vision and should be able to implement his ideas and views across to the people openly. He not only has to know his vision but also has to believe in it.

We have long forgotten the true meanings of justice, freedom and democracy. Justice has been the right to vote and then the right to be fairly trailed, justice is also when u have the right to follow your own religion. Freedom he says is a restrained phenomenon. It hasn’t been actually fulfilled or followed upon anywhere in the world. Freedom is one thing that only the media has right over. People might have freedom but not complete freedom. Democracy to me is the right to choose our leader but true democracy does not exist in any state of the world. Even the biggest democracies in the world like America and Britain lack the true smell of it. The word of the people is not there true motive an vision they just use their vote to bend their own ways.

Pakistani Holidays

I realized something today. We the Pakistanis love holidays. And strikes. Any reason to shut off our schools, close down colleges and give our economy a break is something oh so exciting for us. And in the process we have to burn down cars and busses and if we’re feeling really awesome, some buildings too! Oh what fun! Today was a classic example! Our MPA died in London, and schools colleges and universities were cancelled in Pakistan. There are no cars on the road. I know the bus service isn’t working because my masi didn’t come and my mother was cursing the government and the public transport. The best part came when it was announced that we’ll be mourning for ten days. TEN DAYS! I mean where did ten days come from? I get three days. You know Islamic and all that but then why not go all out and give holidays for forty days. That makes sense. During that time, I’m sure we’ll be able to squeeze in a mini bomb blast as part of our ‘mourning’. It has come to the point where I think our calendar should have days marked when we go for school and work instead of how usually you have dates marked for holidays. There’s a bhitai day, sachal sarmast day, black day, white day, purple day, red day and what not. And then Friday of course is half day. Aur Sunday ko kam kaun kerta hai yar, Sunday is family day.

So uncaring that our economy is going down, and our literacy is down in the dumps we go around handing holidays like free candy. And God forbid if anyone isn’t in the holiday mood, they are immediately shot down. Who refuses gifts yar? Its rude manners. You say thank you sit back home and relax.  That’s a tough job too okay? Imagine you have to sit at home, wondering when school will re open, pack and repack during examination period you got to keep revising the same damn matter all over again and then suddenly you come to exams have been postponed, you keep twiddling thumbs, watching tv, eat, sleep, pray etc etc. Such a tiring job. And then the rest of the world has the audacity to call us lazy. Shame on them!

Unprotected Legacy:

The arts, culture and crafts of the East have always fascinated all and sundry throughout the world. It has been our rich culture and our arts that have promoted us throughout. Our heritage has been for long our identity especially in times when our subcontinent was enslaved.

Since our identity has been such it is our moral duty to protect our culture and arts and to promote them with much gusto and thrive on it as much as we can and as much as possible. In doing so we must also keep in mind those who have spent their lives enriching our souls with their gift of arts.

So, it was sad for me to read in Images the downfall of major singers and artistes of our country who we seem to forget when their performance tends to change or the music quality is not maintained for a while or when the music scene goes out of their reach. Major artists that were at the pinnacle of the industry during the nineties and eighties such as Rangeela, Sohail Rana, and Waheed Murad are now no longer revered as they should be after they retire.

In the West and also in our neighboring country of India when someone meets their retirement they are still given much honor and presented with much life time achievement awards at various functions. They are written about in various show magazines and are invited as chief guests at different occasions yet our artists are living improvished. They are barely being able to maintain their basic amenities of life and those who are sick live in even worse conditions. Others choose to settle abroad and now it is us who call them unpatriotic. Example of such is Sohail Rana. He settled abroad rather than face appalling conditions.

Today in our country we do not have major media personalities. We live a parasitic life of culture feeding off our neighboring country and the west. To survive in today’s cultural world we should produce more of good artists and also learn to promote our old gifted maestros. Today when Amitabh Bachan is admitted in the hospital millions of us yearn and pray for his recovery, but before today did anyone of you know that Alamgir is fighting for his life on dialysis? Or that the last concert of Mehdi Hasan was sponsored by Jawed Akhter from India?

For us it remains a moment of shame.

Interview of a University professor who had done her Ms thesis on Prostitution

Q What are your views on prostitution?

Ans. Prostitution is rampant and is increasing day by day and is something known as a necessary evil however as soon we make people aware that it maybe a necessity but it is  evil  then only can you cover the problems going around and its consequences to the society because it’s a menace. Now if u realize that a long time ago this prostitution industry was confined but after Zia ul haq came and banned it this inter linked to and grew into every street every vicinity and every society where very lucrative people, by lucrative I mean people who knew that they could make fast bucks on poor women who were helpless and had no place to go because they knew the society would shun the because they were either named as “QARI” and dishonorable because in a society we live in women are placed as second class and third class citizens and men rule the society so even if the poor women try to earn an honorable living is degraded and does not know where to go. So these are my views on prostitution A) that its increasing B) at an alarming rate and C) we need to do something about it pronto.

 Q) MAAM are you aware of the problems faced by these prostitutes like rape abuse, child prostitution and forced prostitution?

Ans)Yes, am aware of a lot of there problems because my MS thesis was based on “ women trafficking in Pakistan lead to prostitution and sex slave trade”. There are a lot of problems. I interviewed a prostitute and she told me that a man had taken her and she never knew but then she was forcefully raped by 6 men and she couldn’t do anything because she will be pointed at and they cannot even cry foul because it will go against them.

Q) So do you  think legalizing prostitution will help them solve there problems

Ans) look more then anything it’s an Islamic country we live in and since adultery is forbidden by Islam so legalizing it will mean we are going against Islam, so my own best bet would why don’t we get together and help the “sex slaves”. I call them “ sex slaves” why don’t we help them why don’t we educate them why don’t we give them an equal nationality an equal right because most of the prostitutes I interviewed asked me “ are you willing to give me an honorable living im willing to change.

Q) What if the government legalizes it will them help fight there case in they are raped just like you told us about the prostitute you interviewed and that under the zinnah ordinance they cant fight their cause ?

Ans) the past is done, don’t hold them accountable under the zinnah ordinance and lets begin completely fresh and new but look at this the other way to give such a status to women where they can hold their heads high and if a women is raped she can say that I have been raped and then she is not penalized and that we say no you were not posing you were applying for a US citizen ship. When a women says we don’t want to be married to this man and then they are buried alive and men say it custom. Men have this very cunning and wonderful ,wonderful  reasoning they switch between religion and culture where religion says this is TABOO they switch to culture and where culture comes in they switch to religion by anyway to justify their action. This has to be put a stop to but other way I don’t think prostitution can be legalized under Islamic law.

Muslims Hate America

So what exactly makes people think Muslims hate Americans? Going through msn today I read Mahmoud Ahmedinijads statements and I thought maybe it’s time one of the common people decided to analyze how exactly it is that people feel Pakistanis or Iranians for that matter have come to the genius conclusion that we, the Muslims of the world, hate the American peoples.

I’m sure it is not a conclusion that came by the dress code. I mean you see half the world including Muslims crazily following denim which originated in Texas and really, from history to date Texas has always been a part of Us of A. So of course, a nation whose youth survives on the All American dress code of jeans and tees, where the girls go crazy over Forever 21 and the boys want to rough it out cowboy style I’m sure culture was an aspect these guys, and by these guys we mean the people who came to this notorious conclusion, must have overlooked.

So it must be the food. I mean let’s look around to see anyone dissing the Café Culture or claiming burger eating habits are part of American conspiracy to take over the world! Nope! Mc Donald’s seems to be flourishing and the Zinger has now first copies available in the food market. So maybe food is not a criterion to judge that we Muslims hate America.

So then I decided to head over to the Us Embassy and count the applications for green card. I’m sure since we Muslims are supposed to be haters of this nefarious nation that one calls American, surely Green Cards are now a fashion of the past when America was glorious. So I enter, see the amount of files piled up and leave quietly. I have an F in kindergarten math. I never could count past one million. I head out and see a young boy wearing the American Flag t shirt. Oh the horror! What if he is murdered by this American hating nation? I should rip it of his body and let him wander naked in the broad sunlight. Getting trumped on naked charges is better than accepting an existing nation in the world with peace and honor.

The American nation is a smart one. I’m sure they are aware that Al Qaeda and such organizations started in Afghanistan and that too, not from every home but a few radicals who want to take over the world and kill all Americans, no matter Muslims or not. I mean really, their intellectual minds can surely grasp the small concept of all fingers not being equal.

So here I am at thinking, what exactly makes America think Muslims hate them? I’m at a loss to answer. A little American help would be appreciated.

Flowing Ink

I would like to take all of us present here briefly back to the time of yesterday’s man. As the major religions were revealed by God one after another – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – much bloodshed was caused as each religion commanded armies into newer territories in order to spread their faiths far and wide. Even more violent clashes and greater bloodshed followed soon as each of these religions clashed with each other in attempts to impose the superiority of their own faith over the others e.g. the Crusades between the Muslims and Holy Roman Empire Then, powerful dynasties and tribes from all regions of the world fought to expand their mighty Empires. The cruel Mongols swept across Asia, European Kingdoms and Abbasid and Omayad dynasties, the Mughals etc gained power and territory. As Empires gave way to nations, greedy Man was again fighting for another few hundred years – this time for land, resources and political power: the Colonial wars, through which major European powers sought even more power and superiority. In short, bloodshed and massive loss of life has been the characteristic of Man in every time. Only the objective of this bloodshed has continued to change. So, first off, as far as bloodshed and war is concerned, if you believe that becoming yesterday’s man will lessen their shame, let me assure you it will not. I believe, however, that today’s Man is fighting to preserve his identity and his culture. Today’s Man does not believe in the Western hegemony and uni-culture in the whole world. The insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan continue unabated, the Hezbollah, Hamas and China refuse to bow, North Korea, Indonesia and Malaysia turn a deaf ear and Saudi Arabia and the Middle East defiantly refuse to freeze money transfer to Palestine, simply because Man today does not believe in having his wishes and his religion trampled on in impunity by others. Today’s Man is rediscovering who he is and what he stands for. And today’s Man is not afraid of doing what must be done. Am I proud of all the bloodshed in the midst of which we stand? Of course not. But I am proud to be a Muslim and a Pakistani and I am not afraid to assert my identity, my culture and my roots. I refuse to stand for Western ideals and morals since these are not my ideals and morals. My ideals and morals are different and I am proud of that. I do not tolerate insulting cartoons made of my Prophet (PBUH) and insensitive remarks by the Pope. I do not tolerate Western attempts that ask me to betray my fellow Muslims and do things that are against the essence of what I believe in. I ask you again, am I proud of all the bloodshed around me? No, I am not. But am I proud to live in a time of courage, a time when we, as human beings, are rediscovering ourselves? Yes, I most certainly am.

Eat. Pray. DIE

I remember the Hippies era where the global population became existentialists.  The term denoted people who lived for the sake of living. Doing anything they wanted and anything they pleased. They abandoned children and promoted peace in war torn areas. Sex was rampant and drugs were oxygen.

So today when Abdullah Shah Ghazi’s shrine got bombed I suddenly was reminded of them. Hippies. Is that what we’re turning in to?  Every morning I leave my house not knowing whether I’ll get back. Every night I sleep not sure whether I’ll wake up. Existing we all are.

Today I shall tell you a story. One small family, mother, daughter and son went to Abdullah Shah Ghazi to pray for dad’s paralysis. They reached the mazar, intending to get closer to Allah they move towards the steps chanting prayers under their breath. First they ate from the langar. The smell of fresh rice and chicken, with mixed spices made their poor stomachs want the free food. They ate to their heart’s content. Next holding mother’s hand, the daughter walked up towards the grave with their heads covered while the young boy went away towards the men’s area. The daughter prayed fervently. She was a young little girl who coudnt decided why her father couldn’t walk. Why he couldn’t run like bhai or give jharoo like mom. You see, he was paralyzed from since before she was born so she just couldn’t understand. Why daddy didn’t have anything in common with them.

Done praying they walked towards the gate when suddenly she felt the earth shake around her. Her ears heard a deafening sound and she screamed bhai’s name and held on to ami with a death grip. She felt something falling on herself and the rest was just itch black.

Sometime late r she woke up thinking it was all a bad dream. Lying beside abbu she smiled up, and was tried to get up. She couldn’t. Then she saw. Ammi crying and bhai tensed she tried to lift again but it as of no use. You see. She had something in common with abbu now.

As for ammi and bhai  they both died a little. Like everyone in that shrine on that fateful evening did!

Marijuana and its negative effects

Legalising Marijuana is one of the greatest social and medical debates that have been raised since the past decade. The argument in legalising it has accelerated since the progress of medicine which has bought about the advantages of using Marijuana as a prescription drug.

To understand the consequences of legalising Marijuana let us first try to understand what the drug Marijuana actually is.

Marijuana is considered as the most harmful, illegal drug of the United States. It is also the most widely used illicit drug. At present, there are approximately 20 million illicit drug users in the United States alone, not counting in any of the third world countries such as Pakistan and India. Out these 75% uses marijuana. Marijuana comes from hemp plant, also known as Cannabis sativa plant. The drug is usually presented as “a green, brown, or gray mixture of dried, shredded leaves, stems, seeds, and flowers of the hemp plant (Cannabis sativa).” Marijuana and other drugs coming from Cannabis sativa are collectively called Cannabis. Other examples of Cannabis include names like sinsemilla, hashish, and hash oil.

All form of Cannabis are “psychoactive” drugs affecting the brain functions.  “The main active chemical in marijuana is THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) “which binds to specific receptors located on membranes of nerve cells. This causes a cascade of sequential reactions producing the desirable or undesirable effects. The effects can be observed immediately and lasts for 3-4 hours.

Immediately upon entering the blood, THC raises the heart rate by increasing the activity of the sympathetic nervous system. The heart rate can increase from 20-50 beats per minute and can even double in some instances.. The blood vessels are dilated especially of the eyes, making the eyes appear red. Another response will relax and dilate the bronchiole passage depressing the respiratory system.

The “high” feeling is produced when the THC reaches the brain. THC directly acts on the reward center of the brain and stimulate the brain cells to produce dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter more prominent in the midbrain neurons. The mouth begins to get dry and the person feels extremely thirsty and hungry.  The hands get cold and may start to tremble. The “high” feeling disappears after a while and is replaced by a more depressing and sleepy state.

Some long-term effects are produced if a person smokes marijuana regularly. A wide range of respiratory problems including chronic coughs, infections of the respiratory tracts, bronchitis, emphysema and carcinomas of head, neck and lung are observed. Marijuana promotes lung and respiratory tract carcinomas because its smoke contains carcinogenic hydrocarbons that are more potent than the normal tobacco smoke. It depresses the immune system and destroys the antioxidants that protect the cell against damage leading to lung and cardiac failure.

Another long-term damage is produced on the memory. Memory is formed in a small area of the brain known as the hippocampus. THC directly affects the hippocampus and “alters the way in which information is processed.” It leads to brain function changes mainly producing depression. Depression is one of the major causes of suicide deaths in the United States and all over the world. Marijuana has it economical effects as well. Employee productivity, public health care costs and accidents are lost due to illicit drug users. Money is spent on purchasing an illegal drug crashing the economy of the country.

Made In Pakistan Label We Reject.

 Patriotism is defined as devotion to ones country. In its simplest terms patriotism is drinking Naurus or Rooh Afza and rejecting Coke.

For nearly a century the Muslims of South Asia had been under the rule of the British and before that were colonized when the Portuguese and French raided. Therefore a sharply contrasted eastern culture merged with the west, something which is acceptable up to a very fine point after which it becomes a distorted form of confusion.

Being imprisoned under a rule for nearly a hundred years, it was a little surprise when the Muslims of Pakistan faced a culture shock and also a setback. Instead of overcoming this obstacle the people instead chose to adopt according to will and whim, resulting in rejecting the country’s own products. Rejecting a label which said made in Pakistan.

Up to this date youngsters are seen with Pepsi and coke in their hands turning their very haughty noses up at our conventional sherbets! Even the older generation with much more common sense is seen buying imported products and then berating the rapidly going down economy not realizing how much of their own involvement in it is. Preferring own products does not only make the economy go up but also shows ownership to the country and whatever it produces.

Buying imported products is also a status quo. Due to the import export taxes the products tend to be more expensive people who have money to spare buy the “ bahar ka saman” and very proudly show off the fact that they don’t buy Rose Petal but the most softest Kleenex is displayed in their crystal tissue boxes which is Baccarat of course! Not only does this create a sharp diversion among the haves and not haves it also creates a

class conflict and major gaps among generations. Students in government institutions face this dilemma a lot. It also breeds superior and inferior complexes.

Rejecting a label of Pakistan not only shows unpatriotic behavior but also gives the impression that the country that has borne and bred you to the point where you are able to buy materials of imported quality, is the one you have no feelings and sympathy for. To be drastic it is also a form of treason. It shows parasitic behavior, feeding off the resources of the country you live in, are a member and citizen off, the country that gives you first class citizen status and security, is the same country whose own products you would not find worth buying.

Agreeably in some cases products in Pakistan produced are not of quality but careful searching shows that our Stone Age is very highly comparable to

Fifth Avenue

!