Katcha School, Dherki, Sindh.

WALL OF FAME

Scene: Gtalk
Characters: Me and MD

Me : " I have now started believing, no one is bad, its just the circumstances that change people.."
MD: " I am glad you have finally grown up!"

Scene : Office (me running away from a bee)
Characters: Me and ZR

ZR : " Let it BEE and it wont BUG you. All the puns intended."

LIFE IS FULL OF SURPRISES AND MAYBE...THATS THE BEST PART!

I am writing after so long. Almost two months. And so much has happened in the past few months. Today once again i am able to look at life differently. I worked as a coordinator at a School for about two months. It was an experience in itself. While i was there i also got an opportunity to lead a delegation of students to Mumbai, India
When i look back now, who would have thought that my School job could give me the opportunity to experience love and warmth across the border? The trip was an experience in itself, about which i will write again in greater detail.
I am today a strong believer of one thing. We can really get what we want, all we require is : Patience.

IT IS ALL CONNECTED….

Numerous movies and few books have led me to believe that everything under the sun is connected. Connected in a very mysterious way. Our world is so complex. Yet so simple! I am of the opinion that at times to understand the bigger issues of our lives we need to examine our lives on day to day basis. You may not agree with me. But let’s give it a shot.

 I have been meaning to clean my cupboard since ages now But I keep delaying this mundane task. Why do I do that?  because I am trying very hard to avoid change. I am standing at yet another turning point in my life. I am trying hard to have faith and continue. I am aware of the fact that after graduation I have stepped in to the most dreaded “real world”. Now getting immune to the harsh reality of this fact, is certainly not very easy for me. Bidding goodbyes is never easy for me. Hence I continue with the act of delaying things. Still not convinced with this philosophy of mine?Lets give it another shot.

 Have you ever looked at the privacy setting of your Facebook account? How much information do you share with everyone? Is you wall visible to everyone? Are your “tagged” pictures visible to everyone? No? If not then who is in your limited profile? Your far away cousin in some other city who fails to understand you or your university life?

The settings that you maintain for your Facebook account are the ones that you have in your real life too.
Let us look at another example. For the past four years I have traveled in the Daewoo bus service numerous times. As my university was in Lahore and my home in Pindi. Every time the bus was about to reach the terminal, even before the announcements were made, I noticed that the passengers would begin to get uneasy and fidget. Men from the seats at the back would start grabbing their luggage and push their way through the aisles. I observed that everyone was frustrated and in a hurry. Don’t believe me? Next time you are a a traffic signal, waiting for the green light to shine, look around you. You shall see people who are agitated and frustrated. Everyone hates red lights. Why is that?

I am of the opinion that it is because, as a nation, we are frustrated. We are helpless in front of the political crisis, terrorist attacks, soaring inflation, growing poverty and now natural disasters. This helplessness begins to show in us in forms of frustration and anger.

Hence , I conclude, that its all connected. All we have to do is to connect the dots.

To Forgive and Forget

The great African leader Nelson Mandela taught his nation a very valuable lesson to forgive and forget. After spending 27 years in prison, he forgave those who had got him imprisoned. However, today are we capable of following that lesson?

Pakistan, after its 62 years of independence has a long list of politicians, bureaucrats and military dictators that its nation is not willing to forgive. With the judges restored and Supreme courts functioning, people of Pakistan had their hopes high that soon they will witness justice taking place. They did not want anyone to be forgotten or forgiven. The supreme courts decision of labeling the November 3rd emergency as unconstitutional was welcomed as a positive step.

However, the question arises that will justice continue to prevail or should the Pakistani nation learn to forgive and forget? The immediate reaction of many would be that none of them should be forgiven or forgotten but after much thought one can find other possible ways too. For example of forgiving but not forgetting!

Pakistan, being a developing nation has many issues to deal with, such as poverty, soaring inflation, corruption and population explosion. Hence, the time is to learn a lesson from the military dictators and surely not forget them. I am not suggesting that none of them should be held accountable and allowed to peacefully spend rest of their life on a farm house. Rather than forgetting the person we should not forget the wrong done. It should be remembered as a lesson. With forgiving and not forgetting maybe, just maybe, we will able to see light at the end of the tunnel.

Dedicated to you Mr Ex-President

IT HAS ALL BECOME A ONE MAN SHOW

May its soul rest in peace. Today we lay to rest the honour and dignity of every soldier of Pakistan Army. Worthy of all praise for the successful completion of this task is one and only our great President. However, one must also not forget many others who came before him and played a very significant role in snatching away the pride of our Army. Yet, the way he completed it, surely deserves appreciation.

However, what forced me to write this was not just, because I wanted to congratulate our President for successfully ripping off the Prestige of Pakistan’s armed forces but the repeated degradation of Pakistan army. Being an honest and retired army officer’s daughter, I can see it all around me. Military is being criticized repeatedly these days. I am also against the operation in our tribal areas; however, I am of the opinion that the whole of Armed forces cannot be blamed for following its top ranks orders. They have been trained to say: Yes sir! They have been socialised to accept the orders. Their training begins the moment they step into the PMA. They are left with very little choice.

Therefore, I feel we would not be doing justice for blaming all ranks for the wrong done by the top few men. Young officers feel that they our serving the nation by following the commands. The hierarchical order of army leaves very little room for officers to think as we move from top ranks to those at the bottom.

It hurts me when people criticize our armed forces. Let us not allow our great heroes to fade away from our memories. Who laid their lives to secure our future. I have often heard my father saying that an important rule in army is “Not to reason why, but to do and die ”. I believe that every soldier is fighting for us, is fighting for the country.

 All I demand is that the right people should be blamed and not the whole institution. Today my brothers are not willing to join the army; they feel it fails to give them the dignity and Praise that our father once got.

I pray for democracy, I pray for the return of our Military’s honour. I pray for that following verses to echo in the minds and hearts of every patriotic Pakistani once again:

“Aye Rahe Haq keh Shaheedo, Wafa ki Tasweero,

Watan ki main aur betian salam kehti hai..”