Letter to Men in Starch Uniform (via madihaqureshi)

Super Awesome

Dear Saviors of the Nation, Early morning of every 23rd March I would switch on television just to see YOU parade and fly in the sky. As YOU came down in parachute with the green flags, I would tell myself I wish I was a boy with a little more height, I would do the same thing in a heartbeat. I would spend rest of the day watching Junaid Jamshed and Shoaib Mansoor  work on Pakistan Television. “Kasam us waqt ki” and “Buhut Unchi” were my two favo … Read More

via madihaqureshi

Fortytude (via )

Very Inspiring, and very well written. Please read and also share with others to whom you want to see improving.

Several years ago, we were asked to take personality tests at our law firm.  I was one of the most vocal protesters, complaining that it was a waste of time and silly.  I guess I should not have been surprised that I scored very high as to cynicism. I became more aware of my cynicism and I decided in the last several years that I do not want to be cynical anymore.  Cynicism has a negative element to it, and I want to be positive.  Can you change … Read More

via

Happy Birthday Dear Helen Keller

Happy Birthday Dear Helen Keller by Asghar Malik

All human beings go through hardships in their lives, whether they are minor, or major. How do human beings face and react to these hardships, defines the personalities and characters. There are some special people, who live a remarkable life having physical disabilities, dare to challenge limitations and expand not only life’s horizons but set high standards of achievements. They set examples of bravery, struggle, and great success for the rest of the world, and score high place in the history.

27th June is a birth anniversary of such an inspiring human being, who combined unique skills in her personality, a great daring woman Helen Keller (June 27, 1880–June 1, 1968).

Helen Keller was afflicted by a disease that left her blind and deaf, also alone in the prison of darkness and silence, at the age of eighteen months. With the aid of her teacher, Anne Sullivan, she was able to overcome her severe handicaps, to graduate from Radcliffe College, and to lead a productive and challenging adult life.

Though both blind and deaf, lecturer, prolific author, social and political American activist Helen Keller, traveled the world over, fighting for improvement in the education and life of the disabled people.  Although being a woman, afflicted with physical challenges, she boldly raised her voice for the causes and issues on nature to the importance of equal opportunities for women.

According to Wikipedia an online encyclopedia, she was the first deaf blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree, and she also wrote 12 published books, including her autobiography, The Story of My Life and many articles. She finely documented social issues, problems and challenges of her era, and practical solutions to marginally lowering the impact on the lives of people in her books and articles.

In the following excerpt from her autobiography, The Story of My Life (1902), Helen Keller shares her experience (1887), how the “mystery of language” revealed to her?

“Some one was drawing water and my teacher placed my hand under the spout. As the cool stream gushed over one hand she spelled into the other water, first slowly, then rapidly. I stood still, my whole attention fixed upon the motions of her fingers. Suddenly I felt a misty consciousness as of something forgotten -a thrill of returning thought; and somehow the mystery of language was revealed to me. I knew then that “w-a-t-e-r” meant the wonderful cool something that was flowing over my hand. The living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it free! There were barriers still, it is true, but barriers that could in time be swept away.”

And also describes her feelings passionately on that particular day of her life in the following excerpt.

“I learned a great many new words that day. I do not remember what they all were; but I do know that mother, father, sister, teacher were among them –words that were to make the world blossom for me, “like Aaron’s rod, with flowers.” It would have been difficult to find a happier child than I was as I lay in my crib at the close of that eventful day and lived over the joys it had brought me, and for the first time longed for a new day to come.”

The Miracle Worker (1962), play and the movie, which made on her autobiography, The Story of My Life, brought her passionate struggle into spotlight, and showed to the world, how she learned to communicate with the aid of Anne Sullivan, her brilliant teacher and mentor.

For the first time I heard the Helen Keller’s name while I was digging about the leading character of the movie Black (2005), produced and directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. I couldn’t even imagine that the character could have been existed for real in the history. When I knew about that, it was surprising for me. Later when I read more about her, many wonders and surprises were added in my first state.

The life of Helen Keller teaches us, what can be achieved by an individual, despite the fact of having insuperable impairments of any kind. Her achievements have also had a tremendous impact upon those who are not oppressed with disabilities or impairments, compelling them to have faith that they can accomplish more than they ever thought possible.

The story of her life gives me, hope, light, great courage, and a new meaning of life. Her struggle leads me to believe more in myself. Her life’s story touches my heart and soul. I wrote this piece to pay her heartily tribute on the eve of her birth anniversary, and to say thanks, what she contributed towards the world’s betterment, and particularly positive changes, she brings in my life. I think we should all say thanks and greet her, Happy birthday dear Helen (RIP).

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.” Helen Keller

No gay girl in Syria: Lessons for the social media community

The mysterious “Gay Girl in Damascus,” who had been kidnapped, was recently revealed to be a hoax – not just a deception. The case has also been a great disappointment forblog readers and followers.

It turned out that the blog was not written by a gay girl in Damascus, but a 40-year-old American man, who is currently on vacation with his wife in Turkey. The pictures used on the web page belonged to a woman in London, who had nothing to do with the blog at all.

The news comes as a shock to the many who campaigned for Amina since June 6, the day news of her ‘kidnapping’ broke. People from different countries, on social networking sites voiced their concerns for Amina Arraf, the made-up Arab gay girl who wrote passionately about homosexual rights during protests in the Middle East.

International media covered Amina’s abduction story. People wrote letters to Syrian embassies in their countries for her release. Even the US State Department started an investigation of her abduction. People formed groups and web pages dedicated to her release.

Amina was not recovered, but who was found was Tom MacMaster, a middle-aged straight man pretending to be “A Gay Girl in Damascus,” who is studying for his Masters degree at Edinburgh University.

MacMaster wrote in an apology post appeared on his blog:

“So, I invented her. First, she was just a name, Amina Arraf. She commented on blogs and talkbacks on news-sites.”

It is not yet clear as to what his intentions were behind creating the blog: a conspiracy, a desire to participate in the movement, or sheer boredom.

Perils of internet identity theft

Using fake pictures, false names and creating bogus identities, are common on the internet. I am not sure if this comes under cyber crime, but using such techniques can put someone’s life in danger for sure. For instance, Tom used pictures of a London-based woman for his blog – she could have very well have been harmed by someone who believed she was Amina.

This situation is critical because no one bears the responsibility of such unethical wrong-doings. Even without bad intentions, someone can jeopardise another person’s life without knowing it. It should be thesocial media operators’ and users’ responsibility to make sure that these things do not prevail on their websites. Also, lawmakers need to form laws to prevent such activities. Users should report fake IDs and display pictures to administrators of websites, and their IP addresses should be blocked on all social media links and websites.

Unfortunately, we still have not been able to develop limit children and teens online – how can we expect to affect the usage by adults?

On the internet it’s easy to hide under fake identities and float your weird ideologies, ideas – even if it is just to play with people’s sacred feelings. It also possible to start revolutions.

First published on etribune blogs : http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/6443/no-gay-girl-in-syria-lessons-for-the-social-media-community/

Open Secrets: How to keep a wife Happy

How to keep a wife happy

As I’m sure you will be agreed, that half of the world’s male population is worried about marriage issues. The rest of the world’s male population is lucky enough; they are too young “to die”, oh sorry I mean, “to get married”, and they are celebrating a joyful life.

How to keep wife happy? How to become a good husband? How to live a happy married life? If you are married, these questions will keep you frightened whole life, because there is no end of this long, distress full journey. Wife and client both are very difficult to keep simply satisfied and happy. You have to always offer some extra benefits to both. I am not sure about the client but in case of wife it seems very correct. If you love your wife with some real passion likely I love mine, it will be almost a “mission impossible”, and it can take very long time to make you that smart. In most of the cases men masters these skills in such a long time, whether these are not needed or they don’t want to practice.

Here, I am offering some suggestions for a good husband, which, I believe, would help you to cater your marriage issues. Men need answers and guidance to fulfill this hardest task of the world. However, I have to warn you that following these suggestions is not easy. And remember, that each couple is unique, and these are only common, general suggestions, oriented at a couple in Pakistan‘s urban society, where men are so-called “dominant”, and women attempt to dominate more.

So — friends here are “the suggestions”

1) Listen, Remember, Repeat

Listening is a key, hear your wife carefully and attentively, if you hear your wife you will learn what she wants. Although listening is definitely the first step, the next important step is to remember what you listened. When you remember, you repeat it,” next time”. Once you do something right, you have to do it over and over. Why? Well, you have now created an expectation. If once you managed to take her out for dinner, without being asked, you better do it again next time.

2) Make More Money than She can Spend

Making money is very important for any kind of lifestyle, but to keep your wife happy, it’s become more worthwhile. Spending, shopping and improvising expenses are basic requirements of the wife’s agenda. To keep your wife happy and to live a happy married life, you have to make much more money than your wife could spend.

3) Cater her like a “little Baby”

Every woman is like a little kid, or she wants to be a baby, and just like a little baby she wants her needs to fulfill on priorities. So cater your wife like a little baby, who requires your attention utmost.

 

4) Love your Mother in Law

This is very important, be loving to her mother can spare you from many troubles. Try to buy some gifts for your mother in law to show that how happy you are, to have her daughter as wife.

5) Behave like, she is on a date

Praise her admire her; you must behave more romantic as you were on your first date with her. What was your behavior with her on first date; you have to keep that gesture most of the times in your life, to keep her happy, otherwise now you are not in love and that could make her very angry and pessimist.

6) Follow her mood

If she gets annoying, irritating, or rude, remember you don’t have any right to argue, accept it and solve her problem immediately without losing your temperament. When she is not in a good mood, don’t smile or laugh, just sink into her mood swings.

7) Just do it, without expecting anything in return

The most important suggestion! Don’t expect her to change in return! Just follow all these suggestions because it is your duty, without thinking of the consequences. Just do it, without expecting anything in return.

Caution! “ Keep this article out of reach of wives.”

Happy to be called a Lahori

Home. For me Lahore is home sweet home, it’s where I belong, I live I love my home. I am very much happy to be called a Lahori. Having many friends from Karachi, I often hear criticism of how open, cosmopolitan, fast paced, interesting Karachi is, and how Lahore is small, people are interfering, and everyone over dresses. But I usually just smile and nod my head because I know there’s no place in a world like Lahore. It’s always interested me how people compare their cities, how one has to be better than the other; you can’t compare your home to someone else’s. I love streets, food stalls, famous mall road, hazoori bagh, and I love everything of this city of Live-Hearted people – Lahore I love you my home - after all Lahore is Lahore.

Pakistan would have saved the IMF chief – The Express Tribune Blog

The news about the IMF chief/possible French presidential contender Dominique Strauss-Kahn being arrested and chargedwith an alleged sexual assault, including an attempted rape of a hotel maid, has been a cause for shock worldwide.

The New York Police Department (NYPD), on the complaint of a hotel maid, responded quickly and a high-profile personality like the IMF chief was removed from an Air France plane minutes before it was to take off for Paris.

Now, United States (US) courts will decide the fate of Kahn according to American law.

While I understand that you cannot compare apples and oranges, when I read about this development, what came into my mind was: What if the same incident had take place in Pakistan? Would our police be quick enough to respond and actually arrest the IMF chief?

Below, I have tried to illustrate a hypothetical situation in case similar events transpired in Pakistan:

• First of all, the woman, who is working at the hotel, would not have the courage to report the event to the police. The main reasons behind this could be her lack of confidence in the justice system, her lack of awareness about her constitutional rights, the fear of bitter questioning by the police and later by lawyers in the court, and most importantly the fear of losing her dignity in society.
• The hotel administration would try to compensate her but at the same time would tell her to remain silent since the caseinvolves a high-profile customer. Her colleagues and her family would also urge her not to file a complaint.
• If she does try to register a case, first it will be difficult for her to file an FIR. The police would surely be reluctant, and by chance if they do register her complaint, they would not have the will, resources, abilities or authority to handle a case with such complexities. Naturally they would turn to higher authorities and wait for their permission before taking any action.
• Now, if by some miracle, the high profile personality were to be arrested and put behind bars, it would make way for an array of new complications. The embassy of the accused’s country would first claim that the accusations are unfair and wrongly imposed. This would then result in the spokesmen of different ministries of Pakistan to give out contradicting policy statements. Of course the statements would change with time.
• NGOs, media, and people from the civil society would rise up and demand justice for the victim and hold protests against the accused man.
• Seasoned politicians would show sympathy for the victim’s family, tell them to have confidence in Pakistani courts and ask the people to remain calm because justice will be delivered.
• Finally, high officials from both countries would visit each other and have meetings to strengthen relation for the sake of Pakistan’s future. The matter will then be resolved through talks and mutual understanding and the accused would be put charted plane which would safely take him to his desirable destination – everything would be done according to the law of course.
• The victim would be compensated by “undisclosed sources”, shifted to some secure place to live happily ever, and the government would consider this whole episode as a great achievement with regards to its foreign policy.

Who knows this imaginary description can have how many turns and twists if God forbidden me it actually happens in Pakistan, but I could come only with these, though you are welcome to take a test flight to the dream world.

Why Suicide? Part 1

Khauf aur Umeed by Asghar Malik

Mr President, make a choice – The Express Tribune Blog

We should appreciate the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) decision in President Asif Ali Zardari’s dual office case. And, we should hope that the president accepts LHC’s verdict, if he aims to end national conflicts and boost public confidence in the political leadership of the country.

LHC ordered to restrict President Zardari from conducting political activities at the Presidency. The four-member bench headed by the LHC Chief Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry mentioned in its 35-page decision that a president should be neutral. The verdict further declared that the presidency could not be used for political activities.

Our political leaders need to understand that democracy is not a business. Few businessmen are capable of being in politics – neither do they understand the democratic process nor do they have the tolerance or the depth it requires. So Mr President, you should not be following them.

It is clearly stated in Pakistan’s constitution that the president cannot hold any office of profit in the service of Pakistan or occupy any other position carrying right to remuneration for rendering of services. The current constitution gives the president reserve powers, subject to Supreme Court’s (SC) approval or veto, to dissolve the National Assembly, triggering new elections, and thereby to dismiss the prime minister. The president also chairs the National Security Council and appoints the heads of the Army, Navy and Air Force.

Therefore, we all know the significance and the dignity of the president’s post, because he is the head of the state and the guardian of the constitution of Pakistan. What all this means is that, in times of great crisis, chaos, and uncertainty, the country cannot afford to have a non-neutral head of state.

President Zardari is the co-chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) which in itself has a large span of many complex problems and growing issues which need to be taken care of by the head of the party. All of this, I am sure, puts extreme pressure on the president’s shoulders, who needs to fulfill the duties of both chairs, the PPP and the country. On other hand, if one believes in team work, the PPP has tremendous leadership like Raza Rabbani, Amin Faheem, Jahangir Badar and many more, who can look after the PPP as well as anyone else. A person who is occupying a dignified post such as the president of Pakistan cannot be expected to involve himself in such kinds of anomalies that go against the constitution, which is a supreme law of the country.

Someone beautifully quoted this:

“Those who enjoy responsibility usually get it; those who merely like exercising authority usually lose it.”

My days as a manual labourer– The Express Tribune Blog

Image via Wikipedia

Many of my friends don’t know this but I worked as a manual labourer in my early teenage years. I used to work several hours a day for just Rs20.  There weren’t any weekly off days nor were there any extra benefits.

If you got sick or were unable to come to work for some reason you couldn’t imagine getting paid those days. In fact, you would end up spending money on a visit to the doctor just so you could get back to your life of servitude. I can only describe those working hours as restless, endless stress.

Sometimes, it would be so hard that I was forced to compare myself to an animal and struggle to find a single difference.

This is not a story from the pre-partition days. Rather, it is an account of my life from just a few years ago.

That time of my life has passed now, but for many, not as fortunate, the picture is the same, on the streets, in the marketplaces, and in the fields of this country.

My life may have changed, but what hasn’t is our so-called ‘system’.

It does its best to crush poor labourers.

In Pakistan, millions of people, including women and children, have been exploited by a few dominant hands for their daily bread for decades.

A vast majority of labourers stay outside the ambit of labour laws, which means that workers have no paid holidays, no job security, no medical coverage, no pension or provident fund, no limit on the work hours and are paid no overtime. You might as well just refer to them as bonded labour.

Bonded labour is a grave crime according to the constitution of Pakistan, but no one cares about implementing laws that could protect workers.

Every year on May 1, people around the world, including Pakistan celebrate Labour Day as a public holiday. Some arrange get-together to enjoy the much-needed holiday while others spend it either watching TV or sleeping in their beds all day. The idea is to avail as much from this day as one can – for oneself. But, what no one does is think about what this day truly stands for.

I ask now: have any of us done anything to understand the problems of labourers on Labour Day?

(You can also read this post at http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/5676/my-days-as-a-manual-labourer/)