Illness

Illness can become the best or the worst of what this world has to offer

The Lahore Zoo

These pictures were taken a couple of years back and I thought about sharing them. Went a little bit overboard to insert the lens inside the cages at times so as to get the clear picture. The turkey was not from the Lahore zoo rather it was taken at one of the rest areas on the Lahore Islamabad motorway.

Inherited Knowledge

There is this seemingly indefatigable reliance on inherited knowledge. Makhi pai makhi martai ja rahai hain hum log. We are not letting anything novel come in and that is creating an absurd stagnancy in our lives.

Half Knowledge

Partial knowledge is perhaps the worst of all mental states; a person can find himself in. We read and listen with our minds shut and only let that information filter through which reinforces our already preset notions.

Pride is the only thing which doesn’t allow us to listen to a subordinate at the office or a maulvi at the mosque. Just because one of us has got a degree from a better institution or has read the Quran a couple of times makes one reject everything contrary to personal beliefs. We hold so dearly to our views that we don’t ever let the prejudice take a backseat and give the conflicting idea a fair chance. We go on to claim that our knowledge is perfect without even realizing what the heck we are blabbering.

Criticism is valid and healthy but I observe that we are scared that our beliefs might crumble. The defensiveness and haughtiness which accompanies arguments is only this fear manifesting itself.

Suo Motu?

Writing in the sand

Oh, then I feel my blood run cold

Eyes like the sharpest blade

That penetrate to the bottom of my soul

Words of truth that cut so deep

You write the lines of mystery

I stumble and the stone I held in hand is cast away

When the mirror's shown to me

I see my own hypocrisy

And weep upon the writing in the sand

All the things I try to hide

All the times that I avoid your eyes

Thinking somehow I can live the lie

When the truth becomes too great

And I can't try to clean my rotten, filthy state

Or the hidden sins that doom me to my fate

Oh, I can't hide it from Your sight

You search out the secret things, the darkest dreams

And reveal them in the light

When the writing in the sand has washed away

I could never turn and walk the other way

For the words are carved into my very soul

And the light exposes everything I know

~ Theocracy - Writing in the sand

Colors

Every time, Everywhere, Everything

Every time when you do not find anybody who understands you and every time when you realize that not being understood is not a sign of some higher/different mindset rather it is just you being an uptight jerk. Every time when your heart is so full of everything that is good but you are unable to permeate that goodness out. Every time you try to make things work and every time a strong wave wipes away the beautifully crafted castle. I now get your point of not writing a blog. Every time, everywhere, everything is relative!

P.S. Everything which this world has to offer!

Mensa International

"Mensa is the largest and oldest high IQ Society in the world.It is a NPO open to people who score at the 98^thor higher on a standardized, supervised IQ or other approved intelligence test percentile "

So how would you feel if your IQ score translated to 97 percentile? Urggghhh :S

Rights of Men

With the tip of his forefinger he traced the path of the blade of a UPS backed ceiling fan. The battery was dying down as his finger moved in ever slowing circular motion and finally came to a halt. The energy saver flickered for a few moments and it too faded out. ‘It’s better to burn out than fade away’, he smiled remembering how cool that line sounded back in his teenage. Kurt Cobain was supposed to be the ultimate reality. Duh! Suicide is a luxury which God didn’t allow us. His mind wandered.

“Do you know who is poor? They (the Companions of the Holy Prophet (SAWW)) said: A poor man amongst us is one who has no wealth.”

His teacher had narrated the Hadith that very morning while he adjusted himself for the fifth time. His right leg had gone numb and he fought the temptation to stretch his legs for once.

“He (the Holy Prophet(SAWW)) said: The poor of my Umma would be he who would come on the Day of Resurrecton with prayers and fasts and Zakat but since he hurled abuses upon others, brought calumny against others and unlawfully consumed the wealth of others and shed the blood of others and beat others, and his virtues would be credited to the account of one (who suffered at his hand). And if his good deeds fall short to clear the account, then his sins would be entered in (his account) and he would be thrown in the Hell-Fire”

“So make sure you leave no stone unturned to compensate for all the wrongs done to people”, the teacher emphasized.

“What if someone thinks that he has been wronged but actually he hasn’t been, then?” a guilty conscience from the last bench asked.

“What if he has been, are you still ready to take the risk? With your number of good deeds, I don’t think you can afford to spare even a few of them”, the person sitting next to him supposedly thought it was necessary to speak.

“Okay, then what would be the compensation for a broken heart?” someone was thinking in that class.

TV Islam

Lately we have been relying too much on Qtv and Alim Online for religion. I think the search and struggle for knowledge has been left in the hands of a few and people in general are taking the easy way out. This would make us even more short sighted in our approach towards religion. We would never be able to get the big picture and will hopelessly cling and be subsequently swayed by every new 'Alim' out there.

I have nothing against these programs but yes, I do feel that religion should not be restricted to them. There is a wealth of knowledge out there for us.

On hearing her parents fight, X to her friend who had just come to her house:

And you thought my life was perfect...

Friend:

No, actually I always knew that you had a traumatic childhood : )

Crazy Idea

To paint a world map on one of the walls of my room...

Goose bumps

Social experiment or paradigm shift?

Religion

By the word 'religion' I have seen the lunacy of fanatics of every denomination be called the will of god. I'v seen too much religion in the eyes of too many murderers.

(The Kingdom of Heaven)

Musaafir-e-Dasht: An Interesting Blog

Have just come across a very interesting blog, Musaafir-e-Dasht. Of course it would depend on your personal inclinations whether you'll like it or not.

On the sidebar was this very beautiful hadith,

On the authority of Abdullah bin Abbas, who said : One day I was behind the prophet (sallallahu alaihi wassallam) and he said to me: 

“Young man, I shall teach you some words [of advice] : Be mindful of Allah, and Allah will protect you. Be mindful of Allah, and you will find Him in front of you. If you ask, ask of Allah; if you seek help, seek help of Allah. Know that if the Nation were to gather together to benefit you with anything, it would benefit you only with something that Allah had already prescribed for you, and that if they gather together to harm you with anything, they would harm you only with something Allah had already prescribed for you. The pens have been lifted and the pages have dried.”

- Tirmidhi

Religion or Morality

Had we evolved the same morals if we had no religion?

Which came first, religion or morality?

Even if we suppose that morality is innate then why moral values keep changing?

Did that innate morality had the ability to provide a complete code of life down to the minute details?

If everyone came up with his own version of morality wouldn't there be chaos?

Is then morality evolving? and is this evolution random? and if it is random then are there no perfect moral values?

Forgiveness

Forgive people as quickly as you expect God to forgive you

TIME Cover (29-07-10)

The upcoming TIME magazine’s cover depicting an 18 year old Afghan girl, who had her nose and ears cut by the Taliban regime for leaving her abusive in-laws, is definitely going to create ripples. People have already started to comment on the very graphic cover and it is bound to be interpreted in numerous ways. I have yet to read the cover story but the title, ‘What happens if we leave Afghanistan’, says a lot about what lies inside. Although the managing editor clearly states, ‘We do not run this story or show this image either in support of the U.S. war effort or in opposition to it’ but I think it only takes grade one journalism/psychology to understand what would be the most likely implications.

To me it is another one of those desperate attempts to justify the wars. One could easily bring out a thousand graphical pictures of people who suffered and are still suffering due to incessant bombardment and assault of allied forces but that is very conveniently termed as collateral damage.

Everything doesn’t follow everything. Wrongs of Taliban regime can never be a justification for the ‘U.S. war effort’. They should be rather thinking what happens if we don't leave Afghanistan?

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2007269,00.html

Government Hospital

She is lying on a wooden plank outside the orthopedic department. Two steel rods are tightened across her feeble leg. The cotton has turned crimson from where the rods pierce the flesh. Hardly nine years of age, her wet eyes look around, desperately looking for her father who just promised her that he'll be back in a minute; he has gone to bring a rickshaw.

I stand there, watching her and cursing myself for not having the courage to console her. My perfectly ironed clothes and polished shoes start to make me feel guilty.What if her father never comes back? This is Pakistan and she is a girl. What if the father weighs his options and finds out that it would be better to leave her there rather than to take a disable girl back home, a financial and social burden. 20 minutes pass and the father is still not back; the girl is not crying anymore. Her expressions tell me that fear has replaced all other emotions. I am still standing there at a distance, constantly looking at her. She looks at me after every few seconds. My heart lies to me that perhaps my presence is a little relief to her but I know that I mean nothing. We are both helpless beyond imagination or at least we feel like that.

I know that eventually I'll have to go. I'll be thinking about this for a couple more days, those eyes will haunt me for sometime but then (and I don't know why) I'll forget it. Life would not let me stand on the shore and one of its many torrents would take me away with it. I just wish those eyes could haunt me for the rest of my life so that I could never even dare to complain for how things are or would turn out to be.

__________ I exist because I think but my inability to think what others' think makes me extinct. I am alive because I feel pain but my incapacity to feel others' pain tells me that I am long dead. Slave of the most carnal desires I have the audacity to call myself different_____

The father did come and took her daughter away. The stubborn hope gets the last laugh.

Generating Accents

In an effort to generate an accent, people forget that they are making ‘evaluation’ sound like ‘ovulation’.

A blissful moment

I came home late at night and found the room all cool and cozy but what made it heavenly was that particular homely aroma which never fails to warm the heart and infuse a sense of security. I kept standing there, watching my parents sleep, taking a mental picture, fearing the volatility of life and wondering what my sinful being did to deserve that moment, a blissful experience.

Nothing lasts but it should not stop us from cherishing what we have. Some people think that cherishing would emotionally attach us and when it all fades away it would hurt very much but I think, with a firm belief that everyone is to return to his creator, we can enjoy what life has to offer.

Facebook Ban

When this issue started, I was also of the opinion that only that particular page should have been restricted and not the entire Facebook let alone Youtube and Wikipedia until I came across this blog post. If there is any truth in it then it is entirely a different ball game and there is need to think and ponder over this matter. I came across this audio lecture by an Islamic Scholar Mufti Kamal-ud-Din (LUMS Faculty) and found it very enlightening. Incase I’m unable to attach it here, you can send me your email id and I’ll make sure you get it.

I think that it shouldn’t matter to a Muslim with a mature mindset if some good-for-nothing islamophobic starts coming up with these ideas to infuriate us but still such a page should have been banned for the younger generation, who might be tempted towards it.

Somehow we have instilled in our minds that reacting violently against such mischiefs would prove us as great Muslims but I think what we do in our daily lives is way more insulting to the entire Muslim ummah. Someone very rightly pointed out that where are these Muslims when the government is sitting idle and doing nothing about scores of pornographic material on the internet. We have every right to protest and we should protest against such hypocrisy of Facebook but at the same time we should not forget what it really means to be the ummah of Prophet Muhammad (SAWW).

Love

At times I get this urge to describe love. I want to define it, enclose it in a couple of words, jot it down in a notebook and then throw it away in some dusty, old, termite-infested cabinet.

The metamorphosis is quick and the shades are beaucoup. Love is too big a word. Its canvas has grown over the centuries; adorned with millions of strokes and now it has become impossible to comprehend what the artist wanted it to be. It is that pain which the patient is unable to point out exactly from where it originates. It’s a venom and the only cure available is the venom itself and not in its attenuated state. It takes you out from the dregs only to throw you right back.

Perhaps the entire beauty and ugliness of love lies in the mystery which surrounds it.

Punctual or Shoday?

Being exactly on time for a dinner party and finding nobody there..

H: Does this make us punctual or shoday(greedy)?

Remembering Birthdays

Thanks to facebook, even remembering birthdays is not an art anymore. The chance to be the special one who remembered is all lost.

Correction of Mistakes

I am not correcting my mistakes in fear of making them again.

Plashtak

Plashtak/

plā∫tΛk/(also plaashtuck)/ n. Plastic also Slang (plural -s) silly, ignorant

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Plashtak Hojana not gone according to plan

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O Bhaee Plashtak

a friendly call

Spice Alert

Small wonder with this range of ready made spices stuffed inside the kitchen cabinet the food doesn't taste the same anymore rather everything tastes the same.

An Excellent Resource - The Waste Land

Amazing website if you want to read T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land. The screen is split into sections with detail explanations right at your side without the fuss of looking up in the dictionary or googling it.

Exploring The Waste Land

Nietzsche is dead

God is dead. - Nietzsche
Nietzsche is dead. - God
- The Tombs Restaurant. Washington, D.C.

'Wisdom From The Walls,' by Kristen Kammerer and Bridget Snyder

Basant Ban

My post "Basant Ban" on Lahore Metblog.

On the other side

The people he expected to cry were not making him sad but it were the unexpected wet eyes which were making him feel so good. ‘At least give that ego a rest now’, the inner voice was still very much alive.

He was grateful to all of them for not making hoopla.

“We can't do anything for you. Divine Will can't be changed. Eyes shed tears, and heart is sad and grieved for death. However, will not say anything which may invite the wrath of Allah. If there had not been the true and certain promise of Allah that we too shall come after you.”

Exactly what he had wished for; and he also wanted all those people to get on with their lives as soon as possible. He always admired the English for how gracefully they put up with deaths. It must be a cultural effect because it is hard to believe that they feel any less pain.

We always fuss about the unpredictability of life whenever encountered by the news of a sudden death but hardly anyone prepares for it. At 22, who could have thought it was his time to leave. Nature, as they say, is too cruel to give heralds. There were no regrets but there was certainly anger. Sheer frustration on being unable to find what the heck the whole exercise was about. All the things loved and held closed had lost their worth. Every single bit around which the life revolved had been rendered useless. Jumping from one temptation to another, he knew now that all that fretting was over nothing. He fought battles which could not be won, cherished the perishable and had nothing which could have been brought here.

We are a stubborn lot. We learn only from our mistakes and death is one mistake which we don’t have the luxury to make twice. Chance to make corrections is never there. He remembered that peer who spent forty nights in an open grave; the reason behind that ritual is something which dawned upon him as they lowered him down. The stone slabs were placed over, eclipsing any form of light. Even hope, the obstinate one was shunned from there.

‘Life could be so different from this perspective’, he thought. Compared to this pitch darkness; highest of obstacles and bumpiest of roads are nothing. Eternal meaning is found in places where we never bother to look or lies on paths we seldom tread.

Happy New Year