Ye mera dil, meri dharkan, meri saans
Aaj saneha-e-buzdili ki daastaan pe ro raha hay

Voh maa, behan, voh bhai aaj kyun apnon se bechar gaye
Farishta-e-sifat bachon se kyun koi badla le raha hay

Qaatil tum naheen, hum naheen, koi bhi naheen
Voh phir masoom lashon ke unbaar kyun laga raha hay

Dekho aaj ilm ke paristaar wahan chal basay
In taarik rahon main kyun koi dia bhuja raha hay

Raasta hay kathan, manzil bohat door apni
In halaat main kyun koi kaante bicha raha hay

Phir na dilana yaad mujh ko ye din saaqi
Ke mera dil aaj khoon ke aansoo ro raha hay

Ke mera dil aaj khoon ke aansoo ro raha hay . . . .

(C) Atif Mumtaz December 16, 2014

Dedicated to the victims of Peshawar Attack.

Never have I seen Twitter, Facebook, News media and SMS flutter with so many congratulatory messages before. #Lala is a trending topic, and so is #Boomboom on Twitter. Open your Facebook timeline in Pakistan, and chances are Lala’s heroics are the only thing on it.

From the very first moment he stepped into the cricket field some 18 years ago, he has literally stormed the world of Cricket. Scoring the most number of fastest centuries, most number of sixes, winning World T20 World Cup for Pakistan, taking nearly 400 ODI wickets and scoring almost a mammoth 8000 ODI Runs. And a strike rate that has never fallen below 100. Never! Never has cricket seen such a phenomenon in one man.

He is undoubtedly a category 5 hurricane when in the groove; annihilating the opposition with his wile googlies, wrong-uns or with batting blitz that seem to make the best bowlers look like club cricketers. Ashwin must have felt that way today. The shell shocked look on his face after Afridi had hit him out of the park twice was priceless. He could not believe such brutality can be imparted to his clever bowling. After all, he is the best India has. How can he be taken apart so easily?

It is not often that someone wins you a crucial match under immense pressure with such superb execution. Sure Miandad did it in Sharjah 1986 but we had to wait literally nearly 30 years to see it happen again. Out of nowhere, Afridi scored 34 runs in 18 balls to bring about an impossible victory. The game was all but lost to India. Only for it to be back in Pakistan’s hands with Afridi’s vigorous onslaught.

Such moments are not just shallow victories, they are game changers. Confidence builders. Nation uniters. They make you happy and give you a reason to live another day. They inspire you to great things.

Just like 1986 victory changed the way Pakistan played cricket for nearly the next 10 years; fearless, tough and matching winning, this victory will change the way this young Pakistan team will take on tougher oppositions in the future.

India just glimpsed what this young team can achieve. The world will now see their talents on display during WorldT20 later next month.

Best of Luck Pakistan. Not just in Asia Cup but for World Cup T20 as well!

Have you ever wondered, how did a Muzzin called the faithful to prayer five times a day without the use of a clock? Some would argue the stars helped him, but then how was he so precise for Salat time on a cloudy night (or day for that matter)? How were they able to account for changing of the day and night and the length of daylight?

Did you know that the first Scientist to figure out Earth’s circumference to within 1% of accuracy (of what we know today) was no other than Al-Beruni, the muslim mathematician in Baghdad. And he did it in 900AD!

Did you know that, while Europe was going through its dark ages, the Islamic Civilizations were thriving in Spain, North Africa, Middle East, Iran, Central Asia and India. Their scholars were world leaders in Agriculture, Medicine, Mathematics, Chemistry, Astronomy, Geography, History, Philosophy, World Travels (Ibn-e-Batuta) and war machinery. Pretty much everything that could be studied at that time.

While the Black death/plague was ravaging Europe and was considered God’s wrath on mankind, it was being actively studied among Physicians in Islamic world who were looking to find a cure. As it was revealed in Prophet Muhammad’s (Peace be upon him) sunnah as related by Imam Bukhari (194-256/ 810-870) in bab ma anzala Allah da’ illa anzala lahu shifa’ (“There is no disease that Allah has created except that He also has created its treatment”)

So science and religion were in total harmony and horrendous plagues were considered a challenge given by God and Muslim scholars spent their time and energy seeking solution scientifically.

One of the arduous problems was figuring out the direction of the Kaaba so that the faithful always prayed in the right direction and at the right time. The mathematics at that time was too rudimentary and totally inadequate for such calculations. But scientists persisted. Learning the latest of Greek, Indian and Chinese mathematics and improving upon the learnings. Hence, the 10 digit numbering system was adopted from India and enhanced with the advent of decimal places, Algebra was invented by Alkhwarzmi making complex mathematical problems simplers (after whom is named the word, Algorithm), and most importantly Trigonometry functions were improved and advanced to a level that we know them today. Islamic scholars actually invented the Cosine, Tangent and other such functions making it possible for us to make complex calculations.

And ofcourse, clocks were invented and placed in city centers for all to see the time and synchronize their schedules for business and religious duties precisely. Yes, one could look at a clock and tell the time for prayers in 1000AD in any major city of the Islamic Empire. What’s most interesting is that these clocks were totally automated. By using the power of water.

And one of the most famous inventors of water clocks is Al-Jazari whose replica elephant clock and others can be seen in Ibn-e-Batuta Mall, Dubai, UAE today.

These monumental works had literally laid the foundation of the modern world. Literally.

Did you know that to be a Muazzin in a Mosque in the Islamic Empire of 1000AD, you had to not only have a diploma in Islamic Studies but also in Mathematics and Astronomy? Yes, without a certified degree in all three, you could not get a job as a Muazzin anywhere in the Caliphate? Try telling that to a Muazzin in your neighborhood today.

The reason was simple, Muazzin had to calculate the time for prayers five times a day, the direction of the Kaaba and ofcourse predict the sighting of the moon for Eid and other Islamic rituals. Only a person well versed in Mathematics and Astronomy could do that. And therefore, it was a requirement for the job.

Today, our Ruet-e-Hilal committee sits in air conditioned high rise sky scrapers waiting for some poor soul to call in and report sighting of the moon. Together, the members contemplate when we will begin our fast, when we will celebrate Eid and how many days will we fast in Ramadan. Incidentally, their calculations always differ from our brothers and sisters around the world and we end up celebrating the same event on different days. As if moon was magically present in one country but absent in another.

Science, like in 1000AD, today can still predict and point out when and where the moon will rise, for how many minutes and if we are precise, we can catch a glimpse of it with our naked eyes or use modern telescopes or whatever instrument we conjure up to see the moon.

If members of the Ruet-e-Hilal committee, like 1000AD are taught some basic mathematics and the science of Astronomy, we may end up finding the moon on time and not have the embarrassment of celebrating the “Eid ka chand” on the wrong day.

And we might finally celebrate our Eid on the same day world wide with our fellow brothers and sisters.

Or does it.

The real problem is not what we eat. But how much we eat. And by God, we eat a lot after dutifully abstaining during the hot summer day. Just visit your nearest Iftar party in a typical Lahori restaurant; we literally invade the buffet trays as if we are famished for days.

To us a typical glass of Rooh Afza seems like the holy Zam zam water as we gulp glass after glass of this exotic drink and top it up by swallowing one after the other fried pakoras and samosas as if that’s the last cuisine left on earth. And the worst part is, it is only the beginning. The main course is still some ways away.

And please, dont get me even started on the main course. Which is usually served right after we pray our Maghrib prayers. It’s more like a battle of who can build a mountain of food onto their plates in the shortest span of time. To those who gorge food like never ever eaten before, here is what I have to say: it’s a buffet, you can always go back for seconds!

I am no food expert, but those who are, have ordained on typical human being to eat around 2,000 calories a day on average (for an average person). But we usually end up gorging twice as much calories in one meal, if not more.

To give a typical meal example, see the calories intake for a typical sehri and iftar (as shown here).

Typical Sehri

And these numbers do not even include the dinner that we gobble up which is no less than this in calories.

Typical Iftar

So three meals each averaging 1,400 calories would translate to 4,200 calries in one day. Wow, twice as much intake as is recommended by the experts for an average Joe.

If we really want to control or even reduce or weight, we really do need to go easy on fried food (samosas, pakoras, fried chicken ), colas (yes that means Pepsi), and eat in smaller proportions of our rice, chicken/mutton Handis. No, I am not asking you to go on diet after one month of fasting, all I am asking is that we control the intake. We should eat fewer items and will smaller proportions. So instead of filling our plates with deep fried samosas and pakoras, we should focus on eating at most one piece of it along with some water (no colas please).

I assure you smaller proportions will not famish you, it will only make you healthier.

Since crashing out of the World Cup 2007 in the first round, Pakistan has shown remarkable consistency by reaching at least the semi-final stages of all the six major ICC tournaments to date. On their way, they were able to make it to the final of two (winning one of them, World T20 2009 in England) and semi-finalist in the other four. This is remarkable, considering they are the only team to have played so many semi-finals or finals so far. The other team that comes close is Sri Lanka with 5 such appearances since 2007 World Cup Final. However, Sri Lanka, on the other hand, has not won anything yet, even though they were in the finals four times.

In all the semi-finals and finals that Pakistan lost, they were not the one-sided affairs (unlike the 1999 World Cup Final when Pakistan catapulted to Australia at Lords). Rather, they were hard fought battles pushing the opponent to the brink. It only shows their determination not to give up, no matter what the odds.

In the current tournament, their batting is a bit brittle, which can collapse at any given moment to even the feeblest bowling attack. But their bowling, as usual, is solid and with enough variation up their sleeve to keep their opponents in check.

If I were to choose pre-tournament finalists, I would rate Sri Lanka, Pakistan, South Africa and New Zealand as the most likely teams to make it to the semi-final stages of the tournament. And my favorite to go on would be New Zealand and Pakistan.

So let the games begin and let the new ICC Champion be crowned. My prayers go out to Pakistan Cricket Team.

Government of Pakistan claims that the demand for electricity in the country is 24,000MW and the shortfall is 5,000MW. Fair enough.

But then, we see 20 hours of load-shedding in rural areas and 12-14 hours in urban centers in a day. The amount of load-shedding and the amount of shortfall do not add up. So let’s do some simple math to figure out what is going on.

Let’s assume that 30% of the total population of the country lives in urban centers like Lahore, Faisalabad, Karachi, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, etc. While 70% of the population lives in rural towns and villages (Toba Tek Singh, Mardan etc).

Now if Urban centers on average receive 10 hours of electricity in a day. That’s about 42% of the time with electricity and 58% without electricity in a 24 hour period.

Using the same logic, the rural centers receive no more than 4 hours of electricity in a day. So that’s about 17% of the 24 hours that they have electricity while a whopping 83% of the time there is none.

Now let’s add the two sums up. The 30% of Urban as a percentage of total (urban + rural) will add up to only 12% of the time that the urban centers get electricity. While the 70% of the rural as a percentage of the total country will be no more than 13% of the electricity.

So by adding 12%+13% we get 25% of the total time the nation has electricity at any given time.

So if the total requirement is 24,000 MW, then 25% of that would be no more than 6,000MW. Hence, the total production in the country is 6,000MW while the shortfall is 18,000MW.

It is now evident that the government’s estimates of shortfall and production are wrong. Either the people who are calculating these numbers are incompetent or the numbers are being deliberately fudged.

Photo courtesy of BBC. Ban IPL

I had always contended IPL is nothing more than a circus. The recent investigations by Indian Police that spot-fixing is ripe in Indian Premier League (IPL) have made it abundantly clear that none of the matches are a reliable and taint-free day in the field.

It is not just the fringe players out to make some quick bucks, but some of the leading Indian cricketers are found guilty of the offense. To make matters worse, now even the IPL owners are under Police investigation leading one to speculate, is everything reallyCricket?

BCCI has always considered themselves as Godfathers of world cricket. More akin to cricket mafia than a national governing body. Dictating often how cricket should be played and when and where it should be played. They would mock ICC on many occasions including overriding the world cricketing body; Choosing whom to play, whom to ban and whom to ignore. They would take on feuds with other boards who would rival their authority and somewhat step on their toes.

Heck, they even banned Pakistani players for no apparent cricketing reason rather dragging petty politics into create. Which in turn has created enough animosity towards BCCI across the whole region. Heck, due to BCCI iron hand tactics, more cricket fans want to see India loose than win in a match.

Today, their #IPL lies in ruins with revelations of spot-fixing all across the tournament. The multibillion dollar enterprise is reduced to nothing but bookies playground where they dictate the terms and often results.

Who would watch such a circus? Seriously who would? The cleanup does not happen by capturing a few culprits, it will only be successful when all such elements are eliminated, and that could mean banning the tournament for the foreseeable future.

There is always reward at the end of the journey for the faithful and harsh punishments for those who go astray. There is charity to be distributed among the less fortunate and Holy Kings to conquer new continents in hope of spreading the message and converting even more converts to the new religion.

The game’s edicts sadly do none of these.

It resides within a closed world of a USB and is played only once by a player who may never share his experience with anyone. There are no weekly congregations (what no online Forums or Facebook following?) nor any regular prayers (no tweets either?). Oh and it is also missing the very concept of life after death (in the game, so to speak).

Everything seems to be secret, known only to those who play it. And of course you are chosen to play, you cannot choose yourself.

There does exist a community that is defined by this very principle. It is referred to as a secret society.

The game’s author, Jason Rohrer, has inadvertently built Chain World around a secret society and not a religion. Ponder that fascinating thought for a moment.

If the game were to be a religion, it would be distributed to known confidants and its principles shared. With each one told to share a copy with other confidants. Sort of spread like chainmail and fast. Sort of how the religions around the world spread.

Each player should always live twice. One, that dies in the game, the temporary life as in the religion. And the other that lives on forever. Of course, the afterlife should be based on the outcome of the life during the first play within the game. There should be a good life, where the gamer is rewarded for just playing it. And the Hell version, where the gamer has to jump through difficult levels to get out in search of heaven. But surely can never leave and never live for more than a few minutes.

The first gamer, Jia Ji was bestowed the honor to play it other than the author, at the gaming convention. He had fun with it and played it till he died. After his gamely death, he purportedly passed it on. Or did he? Jia Ji shares three different versions of the what happens to game after he has played it.

The first, where he destroys the game and with it the religion. The second where he passes it on to the next but we do not know the fate of it and last where still has it, around his neck as a necklace.

But that’s all smoke and mirrors of course. Something a secret society would do to hide its identity from prying eyes.

Perhaps the creator of Chain World simply wanted the rules be rewritten by the gamers themselves. Including rewriting part of the game itself. Maybe, he wanted it to be copied and spread as the players want it.

Maybe Jia Ji made three copies and all the three scenarios he presented are really true for each of those copies.

Maybe a few years down the road we will encounter Chain World like games which are just morphed copies of the original. Sort of Abrahamic religions have morphed into Judaism, Christianity and Islam. And each one of them have begotten even more copies we tend to recognize as sects. Perhaps that would be the true fate of Chain World.

Perhaps the real holy war of Chain Klans will begin then, not now as Wired story claims. The early years are just heresy with naysayers ranting on about nothing. We must wait for the real battle to follow in the near future.

Based on our real life historical experiences, we of course all know how that will turn out.

PS: If you have the game, pass it on to me, a true believer. I will play it to the best of my abilities. And upon death, will be passed on to another faithful follower. And i promise not to blog about the holy experience. Maybe not with my real name

Monument at Fatima Jinnah Park in F-9

Islamabad has a lot to offer for those who love nature and the outdoors. And folks living here can’t wait to find a reason to spend time outdoors. Even in the middle of a hot monsoon summer or freezing winter.

There are these famous hiking trails all across Magalla hills with a new one added just a few weeks ago. Islamabadis take time out on weekends to enjoy the serene and beautiful nature resorts like Pir Sohawa, Shakarparian, Murree Hills, Khanpur and Rawal dams. Some of these places get so crowded during holidays that it seems everyone has abandoned their homes for the outdoors. The has one more outdoor activity to offer. The well manicured parks and gardens. And one such beautiful park is Fatima Jinnah Park in F-9 Sector.

This 700 acre park was part of the original master plan of the city dating back to early 1960s but was not opened up to the public till early 1990s. In the past twenty odd years, it has gone from being a rugged green expanse to a well maintained and managed park in the city. Probably the best kept in the country.

Thousands of Islamabadis throng the beautiful park in late afternoon, daily, for a stroll or a brisk evening walk. And still others come here to fly kites, model aeroplanes, learn martial arts from masters, play cricket and football with friends. Or just go for a jog on the many trails criss crossing the park.

For parents with young children, there are swings, slides and all the goodies that a five year old can enjoy.

The park is designed with many snaking trails for walking and jogging which are going in all possible directions. It is always fun to explore a new path and see where it leads to.

During holidays (like Eid and Independence day) it is not uncommon to find special events happening, including free concerts to keep the people enthralled.

There is one serious draw back though. Since electricity load shedding is in effect, the park grows dark when the sun goes down in the evening. There are lights along the walkways, but they are all turned off (except for the children play area). So if you plan to visit the park in the evening, bring a flash light with you.

The park is surprisingly very clean and well maintained. The grass is actually green, and the rides for children don’t creek with bad upkeep. Everything seems to be in order, which is a nice surprise for anyone visiting the park for the first time.

Fatima Jinnah Park F-9 Islamabad

Don’t forget to see the sun set in the evening. It is so beautiful and so clear. It is not uncommon to see photographers out with their special cameras capturing the moment.

If you are visiting Islamabad or just passing through, I recommend one later afternoon walk through the park. Fatima Jinnah Park is truly one of the most beautiful parks in the country.

Whenever you read classical Western history, it is usually summed up with “civilized” culture and literacy taking roots with Greeks, polished during Roman times and then after a long and bleak dark ages resurrected by the Europeans during Renaissance. Well, that could be the historical roots of Europe but certainly a wrong representation of the world.

The fact is that Science, literature, language, learning and culture is far older than any Romans or Greeks civilizations. And there were no dark ages sans Europe. The rest of the world led by the Arabs, Chinese and Indians were developing new engineering methods, laying the roots for mathematics, developing financial models of business including the first banks and cheques and building huge trade routes (Silk road) that span the whole of the then known world.

And of course the written language was already well in place and used in the Middle East, Egypt, Mesopotamia (present day Iraq, Iran Syria, Lebanon) India (The Indus Civilization spanning present day Pakistan and India) and China. They were writing the first texts of the world thousands of years before Greeks and others began their own discovery.

And if we go back 5000 years BC, we see Egypt building huge Pyramids, beautiful temples and perfecting the art of writing (hieroglyphs), founding the principles of agriculture and putting together the first manuscripts on medicine. At the same time thousands of miles away, in present day Pakistan, ancients were building proto-cities on a grid with paved roads, running water and citywide sewerage system. They had even developed writing for communications and were trading with empires as far away as Mesopotamia and Egypt.

Fast forward to the “European” dark ages and we see the world moving ahead at brisk pace with technological advancement. The truth of the matter is that Baghdad in 800AD and Muslim Spain in 1,000AD were probably centuries ahead of any other civilization.

While Europe was still living mostly in village based societies, China, India and Middle East were building cities that housed hundreds of thousands of people. They had book stores that sold books of every subject (not just religion) in multitude of thousands. There were paved roads with street lighting, running water and gardens for past time. There were hundreds of public baths for hygiene of the common man. And universities that promoted open thinking and reason. The very model that the earliest European Universities adopted.

But times have forgotten their accomplishments and modern historians tend to belittle or completely ignore their contribution.

If you lived in India today they never experienced dark ages, except for when the British invaded the land some two hundred years ago. But before that, the sub-continent was one of the richest in the world and had a tradition of Engineering (Taj Mahal anyone?) advanced mathematics (Invention of zero as a digit), understanding of the skies (astronomy and sometimes intermixed with Astrology), navigation techniques for the oceans, sophisticated textile industry, exquisite pottery, advanced agriculture and literature including a strong tradition of poetry.

The Europe centric view of the world is no longer the best view. Maybe we should give credit to others as well when we think of the past and their contribution to what we are today.