A L O U D

How an extremist mindset is created ? the hard reality of Pakistani media

2021-12-17T14:12:00.001-08:00

The extremist mindsets are the ones that have no ability to think out-of-box and judge without any logical grounds and have little or no acceptance to people's opinions etc. Have you ever thought about why and how and if a child from her/his early childhood can become extremist or/ and develop basis of an extremist mindset that matures with the years to come?

Please take a look at this TV screenshot from "HD Kids Zone". The channel claims to be the first Pakistani cartoon channel that dubs cartoons in Urdu.

The blurred face of pig is not by mistake here...its by pure intent of masking out the face of the animal while other animal(s) are clearly visible. A child of 2 years won't be able to recognize it as something unusual but a child of around 3 and above will surely do. They may ask what happened to the TV ? Why is this face not clearly showing up? What happened to it?

Now imagine what the parents or the elders at house will be answering to the kid? some might say. Its a haram animal and highly disliked and therefore better not to have a look of it (that's the most obvious reason for hiding the face of pig here too) and with this the child's mind will start wondering about what haram is? The child might develop a box ; a rigid wall in his/her mind with some hatred against the poor pig of course.

With this one instant, the cartoon that was supposed to be imaginative, colorful, joyful will most probably shut down the mind of a little kid for as long as it is de-learned and re-learned. And who will do it? or will anyone care about it?

Where are we heading to?

Such channels should be having strict regulations from PEMRA and relevant govt. institutions.
Try to recognize the soft and hard extremist elements around you and don't fall your child prey to this darkness.

Wrong answers to meaning of oneself!

2021-12-06T00:53:00.001-08:00

Why is it so difficult to know ourselves? why is it so that we need others to help us know ourselves?
The answer might be; because we don't ask for it or know the importance of the questions and therefore pay no attention to that.

I started asking these questions from myself some time ago and lost interest in world around! may be I got all the wrong answers! Knowing oneself therefore needs to be a multilateral approach. Keep asking the questions but only asking won't work out.

A combination of searching for answers and keep observing people, world and things around. Opening eyes to see beyond what things normally look like and hearing beyond what is not said will reveal mysteries. If these revelations take you into sadness, hopelessness or abys of darkness-then these are not the right answers!

Image: Canva.com

Time for Sexual Harassment Committees at Madaris

2021-06-23T03:42:00.002-07:00

Imagine watching a real life video in which an elderly man of a stature of Molvi or Mufti sexually abusing a male pupil! If that's one video we are looking at-what has been happening before that with many other pupils in that madrassa? what sort of frustrated future scholars out of these innocent pupils are in the making because of what is happening to them in today's time? Aren't these so called religious scholars defaming the name of Islam and are cause of Islamophobia? Are we fearing to raise our children in a country where writ of the state is meaningless infront of these so called religious clerks?

The recently leaked videos on Twitter and also shared by people on WhatsApp of sexual violence within the madaris (religious seminaries) in Pakistan has brought so much anger and frustration among the public. Exploitations in the cloak of religion particularly raises many questions because it is an area of our lives where we expect not to be exploited but guided by good norms of life.

It is unfortunate that religion when becomes business; it leads to exploitation by some powerful people.

Can there be any way out of it?

Pakistan has the " Act Against Sexual Harassment at Work Places" which is implemented/implementable in office setups and other educational institutes. Many work places are successfully complying with it and now its high time to comply all the madaris with it. This is very helpful for everyone to work in a dignified setup. The government needs to enforce reforms like these in these kind of setups as well. It should hold trainings on setting up of these committees for these madaris and make it possible by any means.

Whenever, reforms at madaris were discussed in the past by governments; it has always been opposed by the heads of these madaris-why? - because this will challenge the power to exploitation and wrong doings inside. This questions the writ of the state as well.

The state needs to show its power over this kind of inhuman abuse, otherwise who will feel safe here?

What is Woman Empowerment ?

2019-03-06T23:51:00.003-08:00

Am i an empowered woman ? Who is an empowered man by the way? What it actually means to be empowered?

Empowerment is not a buzz word anymore. If you have in your life power to make choices in important instances of your life then you are an empowered person. If as a woman you are having enough space, confidence and guts to make your own decisions by yourself in a society where men dominate in private and public spaces then being a woman you are empowered as a man is.

Men usually get this space easily out of societal settings and norms and women have to struggle for it, therefore women empowerment is often quoted terminology when it comes to human rights and ones choices in life.

If i earn and the decision of how, where and when to spend my earned money has no role of me involved then i would not call it "empowerment". Empowerment comes with "decision making".

However, how one decides is entirely not part of empowerment-its just a certain way one adopts to decide about anything based on experiences and learning.

Are you empowered ? if yes, that's the best thing you have in life and if not-why not to be one ? and if you fall in the ''if not'' group of women then you would be highly disliking my blog and at the same time thinking on how to be empowered in the sense that i have explained above.

In order to be decision makers of our life choices, if one is not empowered enough but want to be then start giving importance to your thoughts regrading "self-approval". Do you approve your self being the way you are? Do you feel extremely unhappy about any thing in your life? how to fix that?

Start making choices based on your decisions on smaller aspects of life like what to wear on daily basis not for the approval of others but for the satisfaction of your ownself . For some women even that is a hard decision to make (even if they want to choose dresses that are culturally appropriate) which does not include their own choices but approval of others around.

Lets throw a stone in stagnant water on whatever small level we can in our lives and try to feel the beauty of making ones own choices!

Photo credits: sidra saeed

Globalization 4.0 and the E-Graveyards

2019-02-20T00:29:00.006-08:00

Congratulations! We are living in an era of Globalization 4.0. You can call yourself the living inhabitant of the "Global Village"-the foundations of which are built on digital technology. But you are not alone here as you are accompanied by the dead humans as well!

With an increasing integration of technology into our daily lives; everyone is getting closer to social media platforms; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. are some of the most quoted examples worldwide. These password protected accounts by individuals continuously get feeds from individuals and their followers and friends.

What happens when the very same person dies and his/her account still remains there? the simple possibility is that they remain there unless removed by someone. The "remains" of the social media accounts of the dead ones can be called as the "e-graveyards" of the dead ones.

In the recent past days, i have gone through the existing "e-graveyards" of few Pakistan based accounts and it gave me yet another feeling of getting connected with the dead ones for their values, thoughts and ideas but under limited accessibility mode as with some of them i was not friend or follower.

Screenshots of the "e-graveyards" of some of the accounts i know

The question however arises; while we are living and have social media accounts should we be responsibly keep updating them for our original thoughts etc to remain alive after death ?

Do we need to be consciously what we actually are on social media platforms and not be artificial or fake?

Stop Justifying The Murders!

2019-02-06T00:04:00.000-08:00

On February 5th, 2019-a news came all over reporting a mother who killed her own daughter-Anam of 2.5 years of age at the Sea View point in Karachi (Pakistan). Later, the dead body of the little kid was found and mother was caught by police as well.

The mother in her statement said that "her husband kicked her out of her house without any reason one month ago. Her father did not allow her to come back to his house either and as she had nowhere to go, she decided to get rid of her daughter and commit suicide.”

Over the social media, some posts found elaborated the scenario in an emotional way by justifying the mother-the 28 years old Shakila Rashid's crime by highlighting it as the result of family disputes and as if the mother had to do it under such circumstances. Some blame the state and others blame the families.

However, this is not the first case of its kind. Some cases did happen in the past in which parents were given their due punishments but at the same time we as citizens keep a "soft corner" in our hearts for the criminals too.

The truth is hard to accept but lets call spade a spade and mothers can be killers too.Emotionally justifying these kind of acts is not motherly but very much an evil act.

What if tomorrow a husband kills his wife saying he was under immense family pressures and disputes and he had no place to give his wife decent life and instead of making his wife suffer emotionally by his family members who are so brutal, he decided to end her life!

Will we be able to emotionally justify it?
I guess NOT!

Heart Vs. Brain - Who Runs Politics?

2017-03-15T03:05:00.004-07:00

It was a big city; almost as big as the universe is and as noisy as silence that speaks louder than any voice in the whole world. Very unusual though it appeared to the people living outside that city but the inhabitant was part of it since birth. Yes! There was only one inhabitant of that whole big, noisy city- the human itself living through its body!

Full of thoughts, assumptions, observations, judgments and sometimes contradictions this human body was always full of noises inside- that appeared to be silent like a deep level of sea to the outer world. On one fine day, usual noise inside that city rose up with unusual thoughts between mind and heart.

“The political affairs of the world cannot run on mere emotional grounds”, said brain arrogantly

“Logic alone cannot sum up the existence of entire world affairs and neither politics specifically” said the offended heart

“O really!” brain objected and ridiculed heart while adding, “So you want to tell me that love can run political affairs of the world?”

“Are love, affection, inclination the only sides of emotion? Isn’t that the emotion of hate, superiority and arrogance that have led to conflicts in the world?” said the assertive heart

Feeling confused said brain: “No! ...i mean yes! but I wanted to make point that…”

“Let my silence speak louder than your words !” –heart interrupted;
“why are supremacy, power and justice taken as “brainy” and weakness, love, sympathy considered emotional ? If the world explores the very self of me rightly, then you have no preference left over me, you may become equal to or less than myself but never ever superior to me! “said the heart very calmly but as stormy as strong wind hits the flame of burning of candle.

And the city since the time of its existence felt itself like universe for the very first time!

The Beautiful Side of Politics

2016-05-04T03:26:00.000-07:00

Politics is the practice of ideology of struggle for justice, peace and equal rights. Be it feminists raising their voices for equality of men and women or a students resisting against worst regulations in educational institutes or workers coming onto roads against their exploitation. Politics is never meant to exploit others but to prevent its believers and practitioners being exploited by others or in general the society/community where it exists.

In this age of globalization, our source of information is derived mainly from the conventional media (TV, Radio, Newspapers) and new media (social media). How much they are biased or not in their opinion is really a matter of great concern. And unfortunately, mass audience believes and adopts what they watch and hear. Politics has fallen prey to this irony too. Our self developed picture of "politics" is the most weird and probably "very dirty" as a result of this.

A system should never be judged by its followers; but rather by its ideology. However, it feels the other way round when we take a look at young generation around us. We have to understand that politics is a system just like any other; but far superior to others as it is in the core of all of them. Can we call education dirty or bad just because a certain university has lots of internal issues or runs on corruption of minds in the form of favoritism? The importance of education will remain the same!

Why looking at "politics" with all the hatred in eyes and frustration in mind when it is the only way out of dungeon?

Having political consciousness is the key to sustainable solutions for society we breathe in. If it is corrupted then it does not mean to be translated into famous tag line that "politics is dirty"; it simply means that you need right team to plan and execute agenda that ail society in general.

Sometimes, life is about de-learning and re-learning and it is high time for generation of our age to re-look into this concept of our lives that affect us the most. The first step towards it to break our "myths" about dirtiness of politics and taking it clearly as set of ideologies. Otherwise, we should only expect dark road on which our 64% population of youth will reach a dead end only.

Borderless Thoughts

2015-11-16T23:11:00.000-08:00

I have always been interested in getting to know more about Pakistan’s two neighbors, Bangladesh and India. The reason behind this is very simple: we share the same history – a history that with passage of time has turned us more hostile. Visiting these neighbors never gave me the feeling of being away from Pakistan. The young generation of Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh not only want to know more about each other, but also have a great urge to work together. The border politics, unfortunately, have never made it easy for dreams to become reality.

While participating in TedxSecunderabad in Hyderabad as a speaker, I had the chance to be in India for the very first time in my life… I thought I would be questioned a lot at immigration or face problems during my travel or maybe encounter some security issues, somehow. The only thing that I actually encountered was love and affection from India. Although my stay was limited to two days, these two days have added a lot of perspective in my life.

During the event, I had a great time interacting with young Indian fellows from diverse backgrounds. The strong message I received was that media never shows an accurate picture. The young and middle-aged Indian generation who I met at the event had the perception that we in Pakistan are entangled in utter destruction. I felt the onus was on me to project what Pakistan actually is in today’s world, in the long discussions that ensued with my Indian friends. “We share the same blue print of life.” This was the simple but intensely meaningful statement mentioned to me by a young Indian while discussing the current political scenario of Pakistan and India. The most emotional moment was during the farewell dinner with organizers when one of the Indian fellows mentioned to me that his best friends, whom he met in the United States, are from Pakistan. He misses them a lot and wanted to visit them in Pakistani, but logistical hurdles facing Indians and Pakistanis trying to visit the other country made it impossible. I could see the moisture in his eyes when he mentioned that to me. So now, they are all planning to meet up in some other country soon – but not in India or Pakistan!

The people-to-people bond between the two countries can only be felt if you get the chance to visit the other country. This specific part of South Asia has a lot of potential to grow together and become a strong union, but the dilemma of sour diplomatic relations leaves this as a dream for the younger generation.

Increasing people-people relations is one way of mending back the broken, lost, and weak chains of love and friendship. If mainstream media is only adding fuel to fire, then we, the new generation, have the tool of social media. Ample exchange programs for Pakistanis and Indians by the collaborative initiatives like Pakistan India Peoples Forum (PIPF) or Amman ki Aasha and other similar platforms can work wonders too!

What I can do in this regards as standalone Pakistani is yet a question for me and that urges me to leave this blog unending in formal way, because the ending has yet to come.
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Reference: This blog was originally written for the Pak-US Alumni Network (PUAN) by Sidra Saeed. It can be retrieved at: http://www.pakusalumninetwork.com/2015/11/02/borderlessthoughts/

Cafe Philosophy-monthly (August 2014)

2014-08-12T09:38:00.001-07:00

When a new life comes in this world it remains empty until it finds a mean to live and cherish the best moment with the best friend of life. But unfortunately not everyone is lucky enough to have that best friend. A best friend is a person who is your real reflection of life. When mirror gets cracked, it gives the shattered reflections. Similarly, when a person who reflects you gets misunderstandings, it shatters your whole life. But the beauty of this mirror is this that if optimism is maintained and you get back to mutual understanding, the shattered pieces reunite without any sign of cracks! This the difference between true friendship and a formal friendship! This is the significance of world's purest relation where one finds the purpose to live the life in the amidst of various problems.

So the question is who is this best friend in your life? Is it necessary to have fellow human or God or nature pr anyother thing? For some people, the answer is fellow human and i fall in that category as well. A true friend takes you closer enough to your own self that you are unable to differentiate you and your friend. You are both one !

You are two bodies but one soul. Your hearts beat same time. Your minds think same and gradually your words become same. Sharing laughters and joys on one side but you always find them standing beside you all the time. They keep awakening long nights when they see you in pain. Your pain gets poured off from their eyes. This thing gives you loads of courage to face the all hardships of the life. Their one word of love and care, diminishes the rocky mountains of worldly problems.

True friendship is a feeling that if explained and being talked about, seems like a fantasy world to the reader. Therefore, this writer is going to end this writeup by giving her readers a belief that such friendships do exist. The only you need first is to open up your heart wide enough that no one can see you but your friend!

Cafe Philosophy ( monthly)- July 2014

2014-07-01T14:30:00.001-07:00

Everybody is busy and everyone is working hard in life. No one wants to feel bad at the end of the day. We all want results out of whatever we do, and that also of our desire. Why we do all this hard work in life and even if we are not doing the tough works, we all want happiness in our lives.

Happiness is the ultimate core of all we do in life and you can even use alternate words for this; like satisfaction, feeling of success and achievement. But the biggest question is why we don't always achieve happiness out of every task that we do?

Before peeling the onion to this question, the important thing to mention is that happiness is not the destination , its rather a method of life. Also that happiness is a relative term and can be meant differently for individuals.

Whatever is the translation and definition to this term, what is common to everyone is that certain good feeling that almost is the feeling of accomplishment. Why we cant feel it everyday or in most of the little of big tasks that we do in day to day life is because we forget to live in our present. Most of the people live either in their past or in future, but they never grab the moment and its importance in real time and space.

For the moment, think of what are you doing at this very moment? You might be only reading this blog or eating something or anything tangible happening ! But you might have forgotten that you are living in the present moment with all the good health you have, your family and loved ones that are the reality of this moment. Realizing the fact, that your life is much better than may be many others on the face of earth and that you are still not dead, but living and with all the important good or bad realities of your life. This is i believe, is the most important thing in life to remain in your present.

If something worse is happening in the present tense of lives; becomes much worse when we assume its implications in future and dread by past of either ourselves or of others. Learning from past is one great thing a mature mind can do, but remain stuck in past and worrying to the highest degree about future takes the present out of the scene!

That is the scenario of our minds, which keeps us worried most of the times and do not let us appreciate with all maximum resources and capacities we have in our in our present.

Appreciate your life with every thing you have! Search for positive things in your life that will help you to remain happy in your present. Learn from past, be prepared for future but live your life in your present!

*This blog is dedicated to an aeroplane model seen in Berlin, which is made using old material and is hung in one of the common hotels, and became source of inspiration to write about living in present

Cafe Philosophy (monthly)-June 2014

2014-06-18T14:22:00.001-07:00

People often develop opinions without experiencing them actually. And from the word "often" i really mean quite often! The experiences in life matter because they have all the powerful abilities to even chnage who you have been previously.

It might be human behaviour that leads him/her to find answers of their questions that they already have in their minds. The brain must act as sponge that has the ability to absorb so welcomingly!...and not as hard rock, that even reflects back the sound waves that touch it.

The question is how to delearn and relearn?

There is no absolute way out to this, but one best way can be to accept ones own limitations of thoughts and the reallty that we cannot be right all the times and so we cannot be also. Socializing with people but with acceptance of thier diversity can be one best methods to achieve this goal.

People often meet lots and lots of people in their lives. But some dont have the liver to accept the reallty that they can be different from us and this difference can be like difference between water and fire! Until or unless we don,t respect people for who they are and their reallty is, the socializing is not going to benefit us in even bits and pieces.

Politics-Youth & Media

2013-12-07T12:01:00.000-08:00

Young people alienate themselves from the political life of the country and communication politics can be put into lime light under this context. Communication politics is a hybrid term with its origins in communication studies and political science. What Pakistani media are communicating to youth of Pakistan?

Politics is as spreading across media like anything Thanks to fast spreading media in Pakistan! But looking deeply will give an insight into other side of coin which is taking our youth away from politics and the important aspects of it. Creating politics not a serious business but a circus where jokers are entertaining us has been strictly criticized by concerned segments of the society. The politicians don't stand alone in this arena but they have been portrayed on a bigger canvas than ever before. Today people take comedians seriously and politicians as a mere joke !

Political communication has an important role in understanding the factor of young minds moving away from politics. The skills must be used to affiliate youth with politics by bringing on scene and talking about social, cultural and scientific aspects of politics round the world and translating the same into the local context.

Youth takes aspirations from media and perspires the learning in the form of their hatred towards politics. Young people have high level of mutational abilities in regards to new learning and therefore, it is possible to strengthen the bonds of politics with youth. Sometimes, de-learning is stronger than first time learning.

Media owns power but with responsibility to be mature and fruitful, as a proverb says
"Fire is a good servant but a bad master" !

Empty Vessels Make Much Noise !

2013-11-15T15:33:00.000-08:00

Pakistan is not the land of diverse cultures but of diverse terrorists!

We condemn terrorists, anti-state forces and the foreign hands that without shedding a single drop of tear; kill us and burn our bodies to last phase where the body becomes solid hard coal! We condemn the suicide bombers who enter our homes, markets and funerals and leave nothing but the mourning voices! We condemn the stone made hearts that target innocent citizens, behead them, shred their bodies and leave them to dogs and vultures!

When will we condemn our very own “innocent” selves!

We destruct our own cities, set roads on fire and kill each other and the news turns out that an “angry mob” killed so and so people! In the name of “religion” we disrespect the sanctity of each other as human beings. Where in religion anyone has been encouraged to kill, burn each other and damage the spaces without even listening to each other? Everyone here let alone tries to be the biggest disciple of the religion and really don’t know how to behave in public and in own life!

As a nation we really don’t know how to behave. What kind of peace are we demanding when at the very spur of moment we are all terrorists in our own selves? If we really need peace, then it must start from ourselves first. How can we fight the terrorists in our country if we cannot accept each other and without using our “so called brains” we will continue to smoke the whole country?

Mr. Shakeel Badayuni! you were very true when you said that:

Mera azm itna buland hai k sholoun ka mujhko dar nahi

Mujhy khoof aatish-e-gul se hai ke yahii chaman ko jalla na de

(Translation: My intentions are so high that I am not afraid of the unknown blaze I am afraid of the fire of the flowers lest it burn the garden)

Science Vs. Religion - A War Forever

2013-08-09T14:08:00.001-07:00

I am a believer in one God, i observe fasting and believe in the basic pillars of Islam. I have been studying science for about 6 years and did extensive research in human medical genetics- a research where all you can trust in what you see and witness. Whatever , i argue in science, i have to prove it! The two entirely different aspects of religion and science have always been clear to me in the sense of not mixing them with each other. From this i mean, not to prove my religious beliefs through scientific facts and not falsifying my believes in religion only if science proves it.

Contrary to this, in today's world many religious scholars try to persuade people upon their point by using support from science. For instance, Astro-physics says sun rises in East, and the Quran also mentions same point. Then they argue that the Quran is true because it has said about the fact many a years before human could know about it. What if science could have wrongly discovered that sun rises in West, or North or South? Would that proved religion false or scholars would have have used some other way of proving believes in religion?

The question is why we are on the verge of proving our religious beliefs using scientific facts when both are so contrary to each other? and why if scientifically we fail to prove "metaphysical" aspect of religion (when the way of analyzing religion through science is so unfit), takes us away from the belief system?

The other interesting phenomenon about science and religion is this that science is a social matter and religion is an individual one. Not realizing this, we have mixed the two so confusingly and deeply that science seems more like personal and religion a social matter!

The war between science and religion will continue within our very own selves until we clearly understand that religion is a belief in itself and science is an existence apart from it.

Do not pull one string to strengthen other, otherwise at the end you might completely loose at-least one of them!

Cafe Philosophy (monthly)-May 2014

2013-05-23T06:04:00.001-07:00

Sometimes life is fractured on its exterior and sometimes, you don’t want to concentrate on anything but you have to most of the times as one cannot question his/her commitment to their professional careers. People get jealous and it reflects on their face, fractures themselves in the interior. But when closest relations in life start eroding your interest in life, there is always a danger that this erosion will enter deep inside through fractured exterior and will eat up everything secretly inside. This is the truth of being neglected by dearest ones in life!

Not all the truths are bitter however, some are quite sweet too! For instance, the realization of one’s existence after experiencing death from close distance is a sweet reality. Sometimes, we experience death but we don’t die physically and that's a bitter truth.

So we might conclude that sweet truth is the philosophy of child; a brain that only conceives what happens in physical world. And bitter truth is the philosophy of young person who leaves no angle of thinking as wildly and diversely he/she can!

Sometimes, philosophical talks end in no ends! and here is the one too!

The Other Side of Being Young!

2013-05-12T10:55:00.004-07:00

Young people are considered fuel to economy and development of any country in general and one can actually predict the future of a nation by analyzing the trends of development among young people of it.

Abundance of projects, work lines, political agendas on both international and national scales are being built that specially focus young people. A young person in today’s world is very important because we won’t have ample of them in coming times of say about after 15-20 years. Young people of today will naturally make up the elder generation meanwhile. And well educated and aware people now prefer to have smaller families as opposed to concept of bearing 6-7 or even 12-13 children in limited economical resources. This gives a future picture of less percentage of younger population than today on the face of the Earth. What does this mean to us as young person today?

While growing old and finding less young people around gives us a situation where we need to be more responsible by the time and much aware today. Creating a cadre of young people today who have all the important skills to create a future that could make use of energy of less number of young people in effective manner, must be the topics of discussions

How the modern Genetics and Science will behave to cope with the lesser number of young people on Earth? This is the question that takes me to the evil side of science of human cloning and selective breeding through Genetic Engineering. Loudly thinking---infact imagining if human development inside mother’s womb could be condensed down to 3-4 months than normal 9 months in future to promote reproduction in humans!

The coming time is bound to challenge us as human beings and we must be ready enough to counter it.

The outcome of the counter depends on what kind of seeds we sow today. The time has actually come to think about it today.

The other side of being young today means living, thinking and acting more responsibly!

“Branded Water”

2013-02-19T02:58:00.002-08:00

“Everything should be simple but not simpler” said Einstein and adopted by some of the most clever minds on our blue planet “Earth” . So, they took the simple idea of selling property of people to them but in a complex way!

Rewinding human history in 3^rd World especially to not more than 10-15 years back, there was no concept of “brands” of water. Today there are bunch of companies which are selling water and people today actually talk about brands in water!

The water of “Bara” was one natural source of drinking water in my home town; Peshawar...which has lost its identity even in today’s generation.

The art of branding water seems to be way of taking back from common man his property on which he could claim his rights being naturally available to all human beings. Today this “natural right” has been taken away by multi-nationals to take money out of our pockets and into their accounts. Water is branded now! Our bodies are naturally constituted of 90% of water..can you exactly tell me which brand you own in your body?

Don’t tell me I can scare you by the concept of “branded oxygen”?

The Massacre of Charity Workers in Pakistan

2013-01-06T08:57:00.004-08:00

It was Oct- 2012, when militants gave open security threat to some media organizations working in Pakistan over the case of Malala Yusufzai. Which resulted in closing down of some offices across the country, many projects were closed down or stopped, people were fired and offices closed for unknown period of time.

Then, late Dec,2012 gave another sad news of brutal attack on polio team workers in Punjab and this caused big damage to anti-polio campaign, for which our country is really working hard to exit its name out of list of few countries in the world which are still facing polio. The new team has again started working but under tight security conditions. It seems like the country itself is victim of polio…it feels as if we are limping now. The latest news about anti-polio campaigns in Peshawar says that due to insufficient security, the campaigns have been cancelled for an unknown period of time. Which on the other hand means, we must expect disabled generations in future!

This news was not yet out of the discussion, when the new year eve was telling story of another bloodshed in the serene beauty of district Swabi where seven charity workers including six women and a man working for a Pakistani health and education charity involved in vaccinations were shot dead on their way home from a community centre in Swabi district. The existence of militants in Swabi is another question that needs to be answered … but no one will ask this question as answer is already known to all of us.

Today is 6^th Jan, 2013 when I am writing this blog. An unknown gunman shot two charity workers in Charsadda district. These unfortunate souls were working for education in Pakistan with a local organization.

This chain reaction of brutal killing of charity workers needs to be addressed sooner as possible. Nipping the evil in the bud is the dire demand of all of us, otherwise we will be lost into the dark ages of our time forever!

Peshawar- A City Under a Demon

2012-12-24T00:06:00.002-08:00

Once upon a time there was a city which was famous for its hospitable people, music, dance and food. Slowly and gradually, it started emerging as one of the modern cities of the country. Young people started liking the new shopping plazas built and enjoyed brands of different accessory items available. People from all over country visited that city to have best shopping of electronics and utensils.

Suddenly, the city was overcome by a demon and its catastrophe took strong roots. The demon killed many citizens and important figures of the city. For atleast 1 year, it felt like as if dark ages begun. Since that day till today, the city has not fully gained its vivaciousness, zeal and fervor.

The city was torned apart into many little pieces and now people are searching to gather each one of them. When they start picking the pieces and place them in order, they are again broken into particles which are lost in the air.

I really don’t understand how to end this story, as I am searching for missing pieces and particles yet.

With this story of demon I welcome you to city of Peshawar!

As You Think So Shall You Reap

2012-10-11T21:44:00.000-07:00

When we were growing up, our grandparents used to tell us about their time of life when they were young and explored Pakistan , went through all the places which could be called real beauty on earth and how they used to play in streets without fear of being target killing. Their stories seem perfect combination of peace and harmony. When we will grow older, our stories will revolve around brutality of so called “Talibans”, cultural suffocation of Mukhar Mai, the famous Sialkot incident, Salman Taseer’s and Shahbaz Bhattii’s murder, target killings in the air of Balochistan, and murder attempt of Malala. Our stories will give odor of bombs, drones and tanks. We will be experienced in differentiating between drone and F-16, bomb and missiles.

How will it sound like?

Either we will feel good that bad time has passed and now then we are safe or we will be more worried about our next generations and their forth coming generations if same conditions persist.

The former condition will prevail only if we speak today!

When I Left…

2012-05-13T21:56:00.001-07:00

When we leave a beach after enjoying nearby sea, we leave our footprints behind. When we leave our rooms, the very look of it shows some one just left it. But we can never leave the bitter realities of our past behind, they exist with us in our minds and soul till death. The reality of being betrayed by someone closed enough always creates a chaos at the back of mind that keeps one in the state of catastrophe just like an abstract painting in one colour but with different shades.

She also was betrayed by her husband and then rejected by her family and her very own brother killed her son in an effort of killing her. Her mother never spoke for her daughter and kept silent. The sister never tried to realize the circumstances through which her elder sister was going through. The poor lady tried not to leave behind her family but it was them who didn’t want her back.

When she left her husband’s home, she left everything behind but her son and when she left every single member of her family, she left the soul of her son as source of repent in their hearts forever!

When I left the film screening hall, I left everything behind but my confidence, strength and willingness to be at least minor addition to the betterment of the world and to spread this strength among others as well.

*This blog is written in reference to “MovieLog” ,film screening of “When of we leave” at FES-office Islamabad

Bricks of a Lane

2012-04-16T08:57:00.005-07:00

There are two boxes in life of every person. One is created by him/her-self and other by the society. Some live in both boxes throughout their lives while others break both and still some are able to break one but not the other. The foremost is the most common while latest is the rare one, and the middle one is something I won’t talk

about.

Not every aspect of society is the worst face but few practices imprison us into a box made of bricks that are hard to break. Marriage by force is one of them. By nature human beings are created with a sense of liking someone and desire to get married. If this desire takes place of enforcement, it creates a lane that constantly adds to the bricks of tiredness, suffocation and uneasiness in ones life.

Realizing the issue of forced marriages was brought into context through the “MovieLog” monthly film screening organized by Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation in Islamabad. Being one of the organizers, I sensed the way the dialogue about forced marriages created a magic in the air. Earlier I had mindset that without providing any solution, talking about an issue is worthless. But now, I feel that awareness is the first step towards any solution. It is the awareness that breeds an inner sense of differentiating right from wrong and if takes a hype, it can result in change! Even nature evolves by first letting creatures know that only “survival of the fittest” is possible and if they are not fit they can’t breathe anymore similarly if human was not aware of his needs for electricity, the world would seem to be very different than today!

The reaction in the form of dialogue followed by the movie session made me remember of Mr. Friedrich Ebert who ones said that:

“Without democracy there is no freedom. Violence, no matter who is using it, is always reactionary.”

“LIVING GODDESS” or “LIVING DEAD”?

2012-03-14T00:12:00.003-07:00

She was made Kumari a year back when she was only 7 years old. This innocent child was just right infront of us, sitting on an ornamented chair with nicely done eye makeup. The very first glance at her entrenched a wave of sadness into my soul at the very moment. She was shivering and had strange fear in her eyes that were wandering like a lonely cloud and searching for some place to escape.

Kumari or Kumari Devi is the tradition of worshipping young pro-pubescent girls as manifestations of divine female energy or Devi in Hindu religious traditions (Ref: Wikipedia). Under the custom, after every 4-5 years, the head of all the temples selects 3 out of 50-60 female children of 7 years of age and finally selects one of them who is entitled as “Kumari”. This child remains in a certain room inside the temple till she achieves puberty. It is also part of the ritual that this girl cannot get married throughout her life. Spending 4-5 years in one room when the age demands playful activities, hanging out, learning new things, going school and dreaming of becoming something great in life made my heart heavy. Above all, forcing a human being to stay unmarried (virgin) throughout her life is the complete negation of nature.

The frightened gaze of that girl and uncertainty in the voice of her brother who was staying there with her reminded me of a bird whom I once found in our backyard who was trying to fly but its right wing was badly hurt and that made it feeble and helpless.

If goddess comes to know that she has been reincarnated by her followers in the form of living Kumari, she would stop creating female human kind the very next second!

“Will you teach me in that university?”

2012-01-08T22:10:00.000-08:00

The little child with reddish hair, beautiful eyes, and fair skin tone with dust over it was standing right infront of me. She was not more than 4 years of age and was trying to tell me in Pushtou language that I should write down her name as well on the paper in hands. Suddenly, she pulled my duppata and asked “will you teach me?” and I said “yes”. She then pointed with her little fingers dabbed in dust and pollutants towards one of the biggest university’s building that was behind the slum area in which she was living and said “will you teach me in that university?”

For the first time, when I saw that slum area 2 weeks back, I felt as if two entirely different worlds are living right infront of each other. The 3 big universities are shedding light of education, and awareness among people but the slums are as dark as black holes. The standards of life and thinking have clear contrast between the two.

No one- not even students’ federations of universities ever thought of teaching these young chaps. It is evident because life does not mean same to everyone. Some live for others while rest live for themselves only. Sometimes the luck of others lies in our hands provided if we could ever realize that power of control that has been bestowed upon us. The decision and realization lies somewhere deep in hearts and a single moment can bring that infront of our selves.

I have achieved that moment of realization!