Often! We use these words “like and love” in lieu of our expression as say; therefore to convey our feel with respect to the one, whom we are involved or attached emotionally, psychologically or sensitively.
What are these terms, liking, and loving?
Are they synonymous or have their own domain of explanation as mean, though are extensively in our daily impression of expression as interest; or are they in real means variant specie as word with vast denomination in vocabulary of definition.
In my opinion these phrases have diversified dominion.
“Like” is a term that takes off its plight from theme as desire.
It has an attitude that encompasses senses as feel.
It’s a craving dire as desire that weighs things on comparative caliper thus; sorting it in to preference as priority.
This verb as adjective relies completely on feel as perception and is an interpreted and integrated phenomenon of pleasing sensation awarding transient euphoria.
This verb has soothing effect that console mind but immediately vanishes when similar desire with more dominant effect overcome thus perishing the crave by new miscellaneous.
It is a superficial feel with no emotional attachment but; with psychological belief as congruent of console.
Where as on the other hand! Love is an undefined phase of emotional derangement, which completely take over psychological behavior as; reaction, mood, sensation and integrated perception.
It is an undeclared fate as compulsive destiny that routes feeling through the depth of heart without the element of integrated belief as logic.
It is a state of mind which paralyzes senses and takes over rule and reign of perception via a new module of concealed power of heart as autonomy.
This powerful impulsive force has no limits of sight and boundaries as dominion rather it pursues its course through the spectra of self sacrifice for an unknown cause; you may call love.
This is a faith in one’s own thought that pulls individuals mind and soul as possession or preoccupation.
It’s an undeclared war against own thinking mechanic thereby give-up by surrendering even before footing in to the ground hence; announcing the bugle of war as submission.
It is the only legitimate action of human errorless transgression of mind that award its own worthy function of interpretation to heart as compassion; thereby obeying the same recessive command as interpretation; vide the melodious signals’ of its beat.
In my opinion; it is the story of submission of will, velocity and thrill in lieu of obsession as passion so to sacrifice sign, signature and soul; in reward and award as honor, of this undefined verb as “love or lunacy”.
“This is very much easy rather within own domain to sort our love as passion.
In my opinion: Simply disregard what you like and you would feel the depth and essence of real love.
Real love lies far behind your integrated feel as perception.
It takes off from crave till its final static flight as completely lunatic under obsession as passion hence handicapped.”
SOURCE
Farooqu|
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Love is a choice
Love is a choice, being asked to submit a case study on the topic; I decided to do some research and try to figure out at what exactly I was working at.
The title is based on a paper back book by authors Dr. Robert Hemfelt, Dr. Frank Minirth and Paul Meier M.D. Having valiantly flipped through the book, I found some enlisted cases to be quite intriguing. The book basically focuses on letting go of unhealthy relationships, be it marriage, relationships, intimate and physical relationships and also cons of codependent relationships.
Why I seem to seem to differ from the authors is that letting go or giving up is not always an option that might yield you the results that you require. In my perspective, letting go is actually acclaiming the fact that you can not cope up with a certain obstacle that life may have hurled in your way and so you tend to give up. In the case of relationships, which are serious for both the partners, sometimes issues and differences evolve, it is only natural, but that does not necessarily mean that you resolve on parting ways.
Although that I must say that I approved of the title, which eventually was made the topic of my study, that yes, love is definitely a choice, although, for some.
In the book I found three cases worthy of proper attention, in the start a case of unhappy marriage is mentioned, where both of the participants are having a hard time living together with each other and see divorce as the only way out. One partner observes, although sarcastically, that death for the other would have please him the most. One such is the case where endings, though how bad they might have to be, are inevitable.
The second case gives us the insight into the bad beginnings of two people, scathed by poverty, but determination leads them into more bountiful endings. The case is not about two people in marriage, it is about their offspring who acquires a raging desire for sexual please, comes close to bringing his matrimonial life to a bad end but does not pay heed to the advice of his parents, naturally the parents get worried about the well-being of their offspring.
The third case, needless to say intrigued me the most, expressed the story of one such individual who did not pay heed to the want of love in one’s life, though having everything a man of conscience could demand for, but solitude had taken its toll on his life. The person had suffered the loss of his mother at an early age, his father, though as rich and aristocratic as one can be, termed him the cause for the series of unfortunate events and banished him under virtue of boarding and apprenticeships. The person comes to the clinic, though half heartedly, not knowing why he was wasting his time to go under treatment when he considered himself not needing any. When asked why did he prefer solitude and did not consider love to be a part of his life he rages and exits the room.
They say no matter how solitude loving a man can get, no matter how he tries to defy the auras of love, there comes a time in his life when he just wants to relax after a day’s long work; he just wants to come home to a hot supper waiting at the table, he wants to relax in his cozy chair while a pair of loving hands hand him a mug of his favorite brand of coffee, he wants to be controlled by a pair of those loving hands, who would not hear a word of resentment and lead him towards the four poster, engulfing him into the fiery depths of passion for the one, forcing his soul to meet his lifeless body as he indulges in the act, which sends cold and frigid shivers of ecstasy up his spine, he would love to be received by wide open arms after when he relives, say he would want to lie in those arms and watch the night slowly fade away.
This is the case with most men, a handsomely paying job, a quiet and discrete life and someone to consummate with. Needless to say that this is been a norm of the world for many centuries and will continue to be for as long as this universe is intact. I ask the question, is it impossible to life a quite life on your own? Is it necessary to have someone who would lovingly gnaw at your earlobes? Is it mandatory to cherish each smile hurled at you, each approving smile that would make your heart rapidly beat, commanding you to throw yourself into pleasure?
I think no, none of this actually completes a man, what does is his own determination, the one weakness that man faces is the opposite sex, which brings him down to such extent that he loses aim; he becomes weak and only thinks of him plus that special someone.
Love is a choice, it can not be forced and it can not be endured when it is forced. Love is a feeling not a commandment. Love is an expression not a constitution. Love is life but not the elixir. Love is a question not the answer. Love is excitement, love is pleasure, love is enchanting, love is undying but it is not the reason. Love is death and the reason for a life worse than death.
Affection and inclination, to me, is one of the basic ground rules of love. It can not be induced, it can although be grown. Hast decisions in these matters always, I must endorse this point, always, leads to confrontations and complications. I give a medieval example for this matter:
In 1814, Jane Austen wrote a letter to her niece, Fanny Knight, who had asked for advice about a serious relationship, telling her that "having written so much on one side of the question, I shall now turn around; entreat you not to commit yourself farther, not to think of accepting him unless you really do like him. Anything is to be preferred or endured rather than marrying without Affection".
Jane Austen, a popular novel wright of the eighteenth century, has impeccably and inquisitively expressed the whole dilemma in a nutshell. “Anything is to be preferred or endured rather than marrying without Affection” I completely and fully endorse this statement. If one is to love, it has to be whole heartedly, it can not be just for the sake of passing ones time, it can not be the result of entering your twilight years, yet it has to be that sentiment, it has to be that emotion, which strikes you at whatever age at life, be it maturity or adolescence, it has to have such possessive strength, such scent, such aura, which engulfs the person from head to foot in a burning sensation, one that is enough to make him endure the toughest of situations throughout all his life whether he has to do it alone.
For those who succumbed to the hostilities of love, love is unquestionably a choice. It is not impossible to live only with the memories and thoughts of the one loved, rather than finding someone else just to momentarily stop the bruises from pain any further. For one true lover, one such thought is enough to stop him from loving someone else, when he pictures being passionate with someone else while the thought of the one he originally loved and will never cease to love looms in front of his eyes, it is not only doing injustice to the other person, but it is actually acclaiming your own defeat, your own defeat at losing someone and then trying to compensate for the damage by playing with someone else’s life. It is not mandatory to do such a thing, for love is a choice.
Farooqu|
The title is based on a paper back book by authors Dr. Robert Hemfelt, Dr. Frank Minirth and Paul Meier M.D. Having valiantly flipped through the book, I found some enlisted cases to be quite intriguing. The book basically focuses on letting go of unhealthy relationships, be it marriage, relationships, intimate and physical relationships and also cons of codependent relationships.
Why I seem to seem to differ from the authors is that letting go or giving up is not always an option that might yield you the results that you require. In my perspective, letting go is actually acclaiming the fact that you can not cope up with a certain obstacle that life may have hurled in your way and so you tend to give up. In the case of relationships, which are serious for both the partners, sometimes issues and differences evolve, it is only natural, but that does not necessarily mean that you resolve on parting ways.
Although that I must say that I approved of the title, which eventually was made the topic of my study, that yes, love is definitely a choice, although, for some.
In the book I found three cases worthy of proper attention, in the start a case of unhappy marriage is mentioned, where both of the participants are having a hard time living together with each other and see divorce as the only way out. One partner observes, although sarcastically, that death for the other would have please him the most. One such is the case where endings, though how bad they might have to be, are inevitable.
The second case gives us the insight into the bad beginnings of two people, scathed by poverty, but determination leads them into more bountiful endings. The case is not about two people in marriage, it is about their offspring who acquires a raging desire for sexual please, comes close to bringing his matrimonial life to a bad end but does not pay heed to the advice of his parents, naturally the parents get worried about the well-being of their offspring.
The third case, needless to say intrigued me the most, expressed the story of one such individual who did not pay heed to the want of love in one’s life, though having everything a man of conscience could demand for, but solitude had taken its toll on his life. The person had suffered the loss of his mother at an early age, his father, though as rich and aristocratic as one can be, termed him the cause for the series of unfortunate events and banished him under virtue of boarding and apprenticeships. The person comes to the clinic, though half heartedly, not knowing why he was wasting his time to go under treatment when he considered himself not needing any. When asked why did he prefer solitude and did not consider love to be a part of his life he rages and exits the room.
They say no matter how solitude loving a man can get, no matter how he tries to defy the auras of love, there comes a time in his life when he just wants to relax after a day’s long work; he just wants to come home to a hot supper waiting at the table, he wants to relax in his cozy chair while a pair of loving hands hand him a mug of his favorite brand of coffee, he wants to be controlled by a pair of those loving hands, who would not hear a word of resentment and lead him towards the four poster, engulfing him into the fiery depths of passion for the one, forcing his soul to meet his lifeless body as he indulges in the act, which sends cold and frigid shivers of ecstasy up his spine, he would love to be received by wide open arms after when he relives, say he would want to lie in those arms and watch the night slowly fade away.
This is the case with most men, a handsomely paying job, a quiet and discrete life and someone to consummate with. Needless to say that this is been a norm of the world for many centuries and will continue to be for as long as this universe is intact. I ask the question, is it impossible to life a quite life on your own? Is it necessary to have someone who would lovingly gnaw at your earlobes? Is it mandatory to cherish each smile hurled at you, each approving smile that would make your heart rapidly beat, commanding you to throw yourself into pleasure?
I think no, none of this actually completes a man, what does is his own determination, the one weakness that man faces is the opposite sex, which brings him down to such extent that he loses aim; he becomes weak and only thinks of him plus that special someone.
Love is a choice, it can not be forced and it can not be endured when it is forced. Love is a feeling not a commandment. Love is an expression not a constitution. Love is life but not the elixir. Love is a question not the answer. Love is excitement, love is pleasure, love is enchanting, love is undying but it is not the reason. Love is death and the reason for a life worse than death.
Affection and inclination, to me, is one of the basic ground rules of love. It can not be induced, it can although be grown. Hast decisions in these matters always, I must endorse this point, always, leads to confrontations and complications. I give a medieval example for this matter:
In 1814, Jane Austen wrote a letter to her niece, Fanny Knight, who had asked for advice about a serious relationship, telling her that "having written so much on one side of the question, I shall now turn around; entreat you not to commit yourself farther, not to think of accepting him unless you really do like him. Anything is to be preferred or endured rather than marrying without Affection".
Jane Austen, a popular novel wright of the eighteenth century, has impeccably and inquisitively expressed the whole dilemma in a nutshell. “Anything is to be preferred or endured rather than marrying without Affection” I completely and fully endorse this statement. If one is to love, it has to be whole heartedly, it can not be just for the sake of passing ones time, it can not be the result of entering your twilight years, yet it has to be that sentiment, it has to be that emotion, which strikes you at whatever age at life, be it maturity or adolescence, it has to have such possessive strength, such scent, such aura, which engulfs the person from head to foot in a burning sensation, one that is enough to make him endure the toughest of situations throughout all his life whether he has to do it alone.
For those who succumbed to the hostilities of love, love is unquestionably a choice. It is not impossible to live only with the memories and thoughts of the one loved, rather than finding someone else just to momentarily stop the bruises from pain any further. For one true lover, one such thought is enough to stop him from loving someone else, when he pictures being passionate with someone else while the thought of the one he originally loved and will never cease to love looms in front of his eyes, it is not only doing injustice to the other person, but it is actually acclaiming your own defeat, your own defeat at losing someone and then trying to compensate for the damage by playing with someone else’s life. It is not mandatory to do such a thing, for love is a choice.
Farooqu|
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Prologue*
I lie here hopelessly, the dark silent depths of my room consume of whatever soul is left inside me. I can sense a melancholy stillness in the room as though a soul as been ripped apart from its body, leaving behind nothing but a sad, emotionless sculpture of clay. My mind as always, is preoccupied with the thoughts and memories of the time spent with her. I haven’t noticed that the moisture I feel is due to the tears rolling down, so silently that I too am unaware. Not wanting to open my eyes, fearing sighting the lights as dawn breaks. Behind closed eyes, I see your face, beautiful and angelic as ever. A smile plays across my lips as I remember that I am fighting for a lost cause. My amusement at the realization of my own defeat is a mystery to me, why I can’t seem to feel pain while watching the love of my life slipping through my own fingers? Maybe it’s because of the fact that my love has not turned me into a selfish and demanding creature, maybe my love wants me to out my self at pain and agony just to see someone happy, or maybe it is because of the fact that I have faced so much pain, so much has been taken away from me that I don’t seem to be bothered if the meaning of my life is snatched away from me. Fact is to feel pain for loss, you have to have something first, I never had the love I imagined and maybe that is the reason behind me feeing happy at my own defeat.
I try to open my eyes, I shield them as my eyes have difficulty in being accustomed to the light, I do not know how late it is in the morning, I wasn’t able to sleep the night before, I look out of the window and try to figure out. I notice the gentle splatter of rain drops on the roof above, creating such sounds as if an orchestra maestro showing off his skills and that explains that uncanny dark sky outside. I sigh heavily because rain wouldn’t help uplift my mood. Bad memories from the past are attached to it, every time something bad has happened, it has always rained, be it before or after, and today it brings the feeling that I might ultimately lose the love my life and the reason for me staying alive will altogether be gone.
My mind is still groggy, even though I didn’t sleep; I was sort of in an unconscious state. I turn sides as I reach out for my cell, I squint at the screen as my eyes try to find something that I’ve internally been wishing for, disappointed, I let it fall down next to me. I start looking around my room, hating every bit of it from the core of my heart; these walls bring nothing but solitude and perseverance, as if I am being punished for bad deeds of my past life. My eye catches something red stuck to my arm, I see half of my left hand red with clotted blood and I could see fresh blood glistening under those deep cuts, I try to recall when and why did I actually did this to myself, having no memory of it, I let my arm slide down. The gentle trickle of blood from the cuts sends cold shivers of pain up my spine, I, loving every ounce of pain that I could achieve, let it flow. I know that going through this whole lifetime without the one I love is going to be excruciating for me, the pain that I will have to endure will be nowhere as close to what I feel now, so I try to accustom myself to the sense of pain, pain that threatens to take away my life.
I lift up my head to get a glimpse; light breaks the silent depths of my room, half of it being blocked by my partially closed window. I raise a hand to wipe my face, still lost in deep thought I pick up my pen and start to write whatever that is circulating inside my mind and making half of me go insane. Words have always been a magnificent source of expression for me, I knew the only way I could beat the pain and despair of this moment was to write something that could portray my thoughts without leaving a trace of remorse inside me. I write my first few words, taking a moment to smile at the name written in my thin slant, almost a sense of being reborn and being thrown back in to the fiery depths of love. I think for a moment what to write, the whole morning I could not keep myself from admiring the flawless beauty that had captivated my mind, but the words do not tend to flow. I go over it in my head once more. I close my eyes and her face looms in front of me, the depth of her eyes deeper than any ocean, the spark in her eyes enough to make the brightest of thunder flashes shy, the glow of her angelic face not even comparable to the nights of the full moon, the curls of her lashes concealing the light from eyes like a total eclipse, her voice sweet and melodic, unlike any sound ever heard of, her laughter ever so rhythmic. The long hair, darker than any pitch black night, dance joyfully in the blowing air, giving a sense of twilight approaching in the darkest of hopeless nights.
It is just like one of those moments when I am completely lost in thought, having no sense of my own presence, a moment that never ends. Every passing second etches the memories deeper in my mind, making me prone to succumb to my own thoughts. It would not be an exaggeration to tell her that if I collected a flower for every time I thought of her, I could wander in my own garden forever.
I open my eyes and look at the piece of paper; damp blotches seemed to have materialized on it, smiling to myself I tear it apart knowing that I would not be able to write anyway. I wipe my tears, laughing silently at my own weak state. I hear the familiar tone of my cell; hear it as if I am standing at the end of a long tunnel, broken from my thoughts of her, I reach out for it, I grin as I read her name comes up on my screen, loving her ever so perfect timing, my head falls back to the pillow as I press it to my ear, and stop myself from saying, I Love You.
*Excerpt from an adapted screenplay by me.
Farooqu|
I try to open my eyes, I shield them as my eyes have difficulty in being accustomed to the light, I do not know how late it is in the morning, I wasn’t able to sleep the night before, I look out of the window and try to figure out. I notice the gentle splatter of rain drops on the roof above, creating such sounds as if an orchestra maestro showing off his skills and that explains that uncanny dark sky outside. I sigh heavily because rain wouldn’t help uplift my mood. Bad memories from the past are attached to it, every time something bad has happened, it has always rained, be it before or after, and today it brings the feeling that I might ultimately lose the love my life and the reason for me staying alive will altogether be gone.
My mind is still groggy, even though I didn’t sleep; I was sort of in an unconscious state. I turn sides as I reach out for my cell, I squint at the screen as my eyes try to find something that I’ve internally been wishing for, disappointed, I let it fall down next to me. I start looking around my room, hating every bit of it from the core of my heart; these walls bring nothing but solitude and perseverance, as if I am being punished for bad deeds of my past life. My eye catches something red stuck to my arm, I see half of my left hand red with clotted blood and I could see fresh blood glistening under those deep cuts, I try to recall when and why did I actually did this to myself, having no memory of it, I let my arm slide down. The gentle trickle of blood from the cuts sends cold shivers of pain up my spine, I, loving every ounce of pain that I could achieve, let it flow. I know that going through this whole lifetime without the one I love is going to be excruciating for me, the pain that I will have to endure will be nowhere as close to what I feel now, so I try to accustom myself to the sense of pain, pain that threatens to take away my life.
I lift up my head to get a glimpse; light breaks the silent depths of my room, half of it being blocked by my partially closed window. I raise a hand to wipe my face, still lost in deep thought I pick up my pen and start to write whatever that is circulating inside my mind and making half of me go insane. Words have always been a magnificent source of expression for me, I knew the only way I could beat the pain and despair of this moment was to write something that could portray my thoughts without leaving a trace of remorse inside me. I write my first few words, taking a moment to smile at the name written in my thin slant, almost a sense of being reborn and being thrown back in to the fiery depths of love. I think for a moment what to write, the whole morning I could not keep myself from admiring the flawless beauty that had captivated my mind, but the words do not tend to flow. I go over it in my head once more. I close my eyes and her face looms in front of me, the depth of her eyes deeper than any ocean, the spark in her eyes enough to make the brightest of thunder flashes shy, the glow of her angelic face not even comparable to the nights of the full moon, the curls of her lashes concealing the light from eyes like a total eclipse, her voice sweet and melodic, unlike any sound ever heard of, her laughter ever so rhythmic. The long hair, darker than any pitch black night, dance joyfully in the blowing air, giving a sense of twilight approaching in the darkest of hopeless nights.
It is just like one of those moments when I am completely lost in thought, having no sense of my own presence, a moment that never ends. Every passing second etches the memories deeper in my mind, making me prone to succumb to my own thoughts. It would not be an exaggeration to tell her that if I collected a flower for every time I thought of her, I could wander in my own garden forever.
I open my eyes and look at the piece of paper; damp blotches seemed to have materialized on it, smiling to myself I tear it apart knowing that I would not be able to write anyway. I wipe my tears, laughing silently at my own weak state. I hear the familiar tone of my cell; hear it as if I am standing at the end of a long tunnel, broken from my thoughts of her, I reach out for it, I grin as I read her name comes up on my screen, loving her ever so perfect timing, my head falls back to the pillow as I press it to my ear, and stop myself from saying, I Love You.
*Excerpt from an adapted screenplay by me.
Farooqu|
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Betrayal
*Post contains mild language. Read at your own discretion
A simple and commonly used word of the English language, though many meanings can be derived from this word and indeed this word can be used differently for different types of situations. One meaning under consideration here, defines betrayal as to disappoint the hopes or expectations of; be disloyal to. Having read this, I am sure you must have an idea about what I am going to be bragging about in the next few (more than few) lines.
Mostly people in today’s society suffer from betrayal at the hands of their business partners, their colleagues, and their classmate or so called friends. Though some betrayals having lesser consequences than the others. Take for example major share holders in a big multinational organization. Investors are lulled in to a false sense of security; they are flattered and showed dreams of making billions out of just mere millions. Happens what? They invest, the head of the organization takes off with the investors money, leaving them stone fucked in the middle of wall street with no where to go. That is I suppose one of the worst kinds of betrayal a man can come across during his life time.
Trust is, I think, the worst decision one can make in his life time, trust me (no, literally! Come on just for the sake of the article) I speak from personal experience, entrusting someone with your secrets, with your thoughts, with your insecurities, with your emotions, with your belongings and with every thing you have, lands you in such a pit where you are ruthlessly fucked by alligators. (no kidding).
People tend to gain your trust, such people I believe are the root cause of the annihilation of modern society, then they take away everything you have, with such simplicity and ease that for one split second, you are sure to grab your head and call yourself a fucking idiot. Try to imagine, your insurance company tells you that they will be always ready to provide you the claim not only because you are paying a ridiculously high premium but because they “care for you”. Frankly speaking, nobody believes in this sweet shit of the insurance companies any way, but taking in account some half minded millionaire who has nothing but money to spend, gets robbed and then the insurance company shows him a clause in the agreement that says something as shitty as the policy does not cover ignorance of the state police. Now who the hell would have though they could do that? No one! That is why that is called betrayal and not just plain fucking for the sake of it.
Enough with the corporate examples lets turn our attention towards a topic more targeted towards the society. Take for instance your average girlfriend. A very nice hot piece of ass, half of your college wants to do her in public and the other half as already done it. (With you not knowing of course). Well everybody knows nobody is honest these days, exceptions are in the case of mentally retarded ex army assholes, big landlords, impotent so called guys, villagers and peasants. The girl knows that the boy wants to fuck her, and then dump her for another; fresher and plumper piece of ass and boy knows that the girl wants to empty his wallet and find someone with a bigger wallet, so he basically speeds up the fucking process. The question you may be asking is that where does betrayal fit in this whole scenario where fucking each others brains out is the only motive to be achieved. Well my lovely half brained readers, betrayal is the by product of those lies and promises made just for passing half an hour while your favorite slut wacks you off under the wheel of your shiny new car, or the product of the time when you are being groped from behind and texting with one hand to the cell and the other to the….. well you understand. Though I must endorse this fact that the chances of these types of things happening in our society are comparatively lesser, I just tend to give a broader view on many different issues throughout this global village.
That my friends, is the true betrayal. One may not know that the other person they are being so damn flirtatious with, may be interpreting the wrong signals and instead of just fucking you, they leave you with nine months of sheer pain. (I don’t feel the need of explaining that phenomena). Then you cling to the word of betrayal while you attend the Jerry Springer show and they try to find out they guy behind your humongously (that aint a word, I know that) large belly.
I now give you the conclusion, and that is trust no one, except, EXCEPT, you are damn sure that the other person would rather die than betray you, and make sure that nothing of this sort has just been expressed in words, learn to read the people that surround you, try to deduce from their promises that what would they actually do to you if they ever found a chance of gaining benefit from putting you in pain. You can also trust someone, of whom you control each and everything, because that person knows they are going to be gigantically fucked if they ever try to deceive you.
Peace out homies.
Farooqu|
A simple and commonly used word of the English language, though many meanings can be derived from this word and indeed this word can be used differently for different types of situations. One meaning under consideration here, defines betrayal as to disappoint the hopes or expectations of; be disloyal to. Having read this, I am sure you must have an idea about what I am going to be bragging about in the next few (more than few) lines.
Mostly people in today’s society suffer from betrayal at the hands of their business partners, their colleagues, and their classmate or so called friends. Though some betrayals having lesser consequences than the others. Take for example major share holders in a big multinational organization. Investors are lulled in to a false sense of security; they are flattered and showed dreams of making billions out of just mere millions. Happens what? They invest, the head of the organization takes off with the investors money, leaving them stone fucked in the middle of wall street with no where to go. That is I suppose one of the worst kinds of betrayal a man can come across during his life time.
Trust is, I think, the worst decision one can make in his life time, trust me (no, literally! Come on just for the sake of the article) I speak from personal experience, entrusting someone with your secrets, with your thoughts, with your insecurities, with your emotions, with your belongings and with every thing you have, lands you in such a pit where you are ruthlessly fucked by alligators. (no kidding).
People tend to gain your trust, such people I believe are the root cause of the annihilation of modern society, then they take away everything you have, with such simplicity and ease that for one split second, you are sure to grab your head and call yourself a fucking idiot. Try to imagine, your insurance company tells you that they will be always ready to provide you the claim not only because you are paying a ridiculously high premium but because they “care for you”. Frankly speaking, nobody believes in this sweet shit of the insurance companies any way, but taking in account some half minded millionaire who has nothing but money to spend, gets robbed and then the insurance company shows him a clause in the agreement that says something as shitty as the policy does not cover ignorance of the state police. Now who the hell would have though they could do that? No one! That is why that is called betrayal and not just plain fucking for the sake of it.
Enough with the corporate examples lets turn our attention towards a topic more targeted towards the society. Take for instance your average girlfriend. A very nice hot piece of ass, half of your college wants to do her in public and the other half as already done it. (With you not knowing of course). Well everybody knows nobody is honest these days, exceptions are in the case of mentally retarded ex army assholes, big landlords, impotent so called guys, villagers and peasants. The girl knows that the boy wants to fuck her, and then dump her for another; fresher and plumper piece of ass and boy knows that the girl wants to empty his wallet and find someone with a bigger wallet, so he basically speeds up the fucking process. The question you may be asking is that where does betrayal fit in this whole scenario where fucking each others brains out is the only motive to be achieved. Well my lovely half brained readers, betrayal is the by product of those lies and promises made just for passing half an hour while your favorite slut wacks you off under the wheel of your shiny new car, or the product of the time when you are being groped from behind and texting with one hand to the cell and the other to the….. well you understand. Though I must endorse this fact that the chances of these types of things happening in our society are comparatively lesser, I just tend to give a broader view on many different issues throughout this global village.
That my friends, is the true betrayal. One may not know that the other person they are being so damn flirtatious with, may be interpreting the wrong signals and instead of just fucking you, they leave you with nine months of sheer pain. (I don’t feel the need of explaining that phenomena). Then you cling to the word of betrayal while you attend the Jerry Springer show and they try to find out they guy behind your humongously (that aint a word, I know that) large belly.
I now give you the conclusion, and that is trust no one, except, EXCEPT, you are damn sure that the other person would rather die than betray you, and make sure that nothing of this sort has just been expressed in words, learn to read the people that surround you, try to deduce from their promises that what would they actually do to you if they ever found a chance of gaining benefit from putting you in pain. You can also trust someone, of whom you control each and everything, because that person knows they are going to be gigantically fucked if they ever try to deceive you.
Peace out homies.
Farooqu|
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
The thing called Life
*Post contains mild language. Read at your own discretion.
Life, what is life? A synonym provided for the characteristic of being alive and breathing? Or is it merely a word attached to all the bad experiences in one's entire period of being alive? May be it is the existence of livings organisms in a certain environment or just plain torture we sculptures of clay have to face before departing for our creator. Life, by proper defined meaning is a characteristic that distinguishes objects that have self-sustaining biological processes ("alive," "living"), from those which do not. I beg to differ.
Looking at this from my point of view, I say life is that joy, that someone achieves all his hearts desire in this short span of time that he might not want to give it away, ever, only because of the fact that life has gifted him with so many creature comforts that one could possibly think about. To that person, life will be the only thing to worry about, to cling onto while facing a dangerous situation, and wishing to remain immersed in its pleasures till the creator actually calls the person to reunite with him. While for some stereotypical human beings life is the root of all the problems faced by them during their lifetime, it is the cause for their constant suffering at the hands of the many people that inhabit this planet of God. They think that the "blessing" of life is rather a curse; they would not hesitate if someone offered them to trade life for death. For them, the world is an exact replica of hell, or maybe even more traumatizing than the actual realities of hell. For them it may seem to be the place where for them, there is nothing but constant suffering and pain. Keep in mind, no infant is filled with hatred for life, it maybe those memories or experiences, that may develop inside him, the negative thoughts about why life has actually been bestowed upon him. The point to ponder over is that under what circumstances, are individuals of such sort, previously life loving, are injected with utmost hate for life.
For some, life is generous, on the other hand for some, well honestly speaking; Life fucks them squarely in the ass. The basic question, how? Life is no individual; life can't walk around hurting people's feelings and snatching their hearts desires from them. So why blame life? What people need to understand is that life does not bring all the unhappiness in your life, YOU yourself do. Life wouldn't give a rat's ass if you are on hash, coke, or dust, life wouldn't give a fuck if you are drunk, stoned or toasted every hour of the day. Here, arises another question, while it is quite obvious that many people use drugs just for the sake of using them, while in most cases the druggies are people who might have lost something or someone, who might not have been given what they wanted, so they resort to getting their minds in a numb state so that the can't feel the pains of life. Here is the obvious reason for blaming life, fucking up your own character in front of everyone then making excuses to shift the blame from unto you. Failing miserably in every fucking thing tried, just because of your incompetence and then blaming life for fucking up your life. People let their failures bring them down, they lose hope and give up too soon, you don't lose, you just find out new ways that do not yield the results that you require. Yes it is true that life is not a bed of roses, if it were a bed of roses we would all be handsome princes passionately fucking playboy playmates whenever we wanted. Motherfuckers! Where there is no pain, there is certainly no gain, even wrestlers takes punches at their groins just to earn a little cash, and believe you me, the pain is unbearable. (I speak from experience).
Well it is not entirely false that only you are not responsible for your ever so miserable life, even other people may have the bigger hand in making your life a living hell. Take Cinderella for example, I know it's a stupid example, but come on cut me some slack, she is a beautiful babe living with her step sisters (I may be wrong, I haven't actually read it) who make her life a living hell. There! Simple as that, even chicks in fairy tales think that their life is miserably fucked up till some gayish prince charming comes along and fucks their brains out. Apart from that, what is really meant to be conveyed here is that change is mandatory. You can't give a rose to everyone who sticks an iron rod up your ass every alternate day, you can make exceptions though. The thing is, change yourself with time, don't give a crap what people say about you, don't think what people say might be insulting to your dignity, in that case you actually get to know the people that surround you and label themselves as your friends, for example if one of your friends come up and says that they saw nude pictures of your fiancé online and man did she look busty! Well you just wouldn't go and tell your fiancé to fuck off, as a matter of fact; you'll just screw the person who made the comment in the first place. Same is the case with matters between friends; if you really honor the commitment of friendship you'd first make inquiries of something and then pursue the matter rather than going to their place and beating the fuck out of them that is if you are not one mentally fucked up ex army douche bag.
Coming towards the conclusion, what is to be deduced from everything that as been said above, well let me put it all in a nutshell. First of all, your life does not, I repeat DOES NOT fuck you in anyway, come to think of it, and it really can't, because it's fucking impotent! Second, don't blame life for anything that you did, are doing or will do at some point onwards. Third, giving up on something important to you, well honestly speaking, you'd be the biggest dick on earth to actually go that direction. Lastly, fourth, live your life the way YOU want to, be fucking selfish, and don't give a fuck about anything that others might say or think of you or your actions, as long as you are not living off somebody's scrapings, you're the master of yourself and nobody controls your life in this world. This is the thing which I call, Life.
No power can dare aggression against Iran: Ahmadinejad
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday that no country would dare to launch aggressive actions against the Islamic republic and demanded that US-led foreign troops leave the region.
"No power will ever dare to think of launching aggression against Iran. Today, Iran is experienced and powerful," the hardliner said in an address to the nation on the anniversary of the breakout of the Iran-Iraq war in 1980.
"Our armed forces are ready to confront the forces of darkness. If anybody wants to shoot a bullet at us from anywhere, we will cut off his hands."
Ahmadinejad, who was to head later Tuesday to New York to attend the UN General Assembly meeting, demanded that US-led foreign forces leave Iraq and Afghanistan.
"We advise you to go back to your own land. Our region will never accept a lengthy presence of foreigners," the re-elected president, dressed in his trademark light-colour jacket and wearing sunglasses, said in a ceremony attended by top military and administrative officials.
"As you saw in Iraq and Afghanistan, people are against the presence of foreigners. It is impossible (for foreign troops) to have a stable base in the region."
Ahmadinejad's speech was followed by a military parade, an annual event marking the breakout of the war between Iran and Iraq which lasted almost a decade.
About a million people died on both the sides in the war which erupted soon after the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran.
SOURCE
Farooqu|
"No power will ever dare to think of launching aggression against Iran. Today, Iran is experienced and powerful," the hardliner said in an address to the nation on the anniversary of the breakout of the Iran-Iraq war in 1980.
"Our armed forces are ready to confront the forces of darkness. If anybody wants to shoot a bullet at us from anywhere, we will cut off his hands."
Ahmadinejad, who was to head later Tuesday to New York to attend the UN General Assembly meeting, demanded that US-led foreign forces leave Iraq and Afghanistan.
"We advise you to go back to your own land. Our region will never accept a lengthy presence of foreigners," the re-elected president, dressed in his trademark light-colour jacket and wearing sunglasses, said in a ceremony attended by top military and administrative officials.
"As you saw in Iraq and Afghanistan, people are against the presence of foreigners. It is impossible (for foreign troops) to have a stable base in the region."
Ahmadinejad's speech was followed by a military parade, an annual event marking the breakout of the war between Iran and Iraq which lasted almost a decade.
About a million people died on both the sides in the war which erupted soon after the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran.
SOURCE
Farooqu|
New Saudi university to break social barriers
Boasting one of the fastest supercomputers in the world, a team of top scientists and a campus where female and male students can mingle freely, Saudi Arabia's new multi-billion dollar university aims to break both scientific and social barriers.
Officially the goal of this week's launch of the sprawling new facility is to propel the kingdom into the heady global ranks of technological research.
But with women on campus not having to shroud themselves in the black abaya and allowed to drive cars, an unstated aim is to chip away at the strict restrictions on Saudi women imposed by hardline Muslim clerics.
On Wednesday the monarch, in a keystone of his attempts to power his country into the 21st century, will open the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology -- KAUST -- probably the only postgraduate research university ever built from scratch.
Both the ambition and the billions of dollars thrown at the project have sparked deep interest in the global science community.
In just three years the Saudis have constructed a high-tech campus of huge modernist buildings on a 36-square-kilometre (14-square-mile) desert plot on the Red Sea coast, and recruited hundreds of scientists and students from around the world.
KAUST has already launched joint research programmes with institutions ranging from the National University of Singapore to France's Institut Francais du Petrole to Britain's Cambridge and Stanford in the United States.
And it has created its own research operations spanning nanotechnology, applied mathematics, solar energy, membrane research and bioengineering.
"Two years ago it was nothing but sand and sea. Today there is one of the best infrastructures for research," KAUST president Choon Fong Shih told AFP.
Classes, all taught in English, opened in September at the campus 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of Jeddah, with 71 professors and 374 post-graduate students.
The masters and doctorate degree students represent more than 60 countries, with some 15 percent from Saudi Arabia itself.
The Saudis drew on top-calibre scientists and science educators, especially in the United States, to spur the recruitment process.
Shih himself is an example. The lauded research engineer helped turn the National University of Singapore into a respected research institution over the past decade.
KAUST's success will ultimately depend on world-class research and the results being published in top journals, said Edward Derrick, who directs the research competitiveness programme at the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
"Universities compete for resources, for prestige. You want your students to be published in the best journals," he said.
Money for research is the key, said Fawwaz Ulaby, a US-based engineering professor who served as KAUST provost during the start-up period.
"The single most important component probably is that... the amount of resources able to fund research worldwide does not meet demand," he said.
That gives oil-rich Saudi Arabia an advantage. KAUST reportedly has a 10-billion-dollar endowment to fund research, and it has spent aggressively on salaries and scholarships.
Some professors were offered 90,000-dollar annual salaries tax-free plus all expenses for themselves and their families. Students also receive generous stipends, and some had their last year of university elsewhere paid for.
The freedom of the academic environment will also be crucial, Ulaby said.
That will perhaps be harder in Saudi Arabia, where science in public schools takes a back seat to religion, with bureaucrats loath to cede power and women facing many restrictions.
With about 15 percent of the incoming student body women, all having studied at universities outside the kingdom, mixing is absolutely necessary for successful research, experts say.
People involved in KAUST's development say Abdullah hopes its culture will eventually spill outside the campus gates, where women are banned from driving, must be accompanied by a male relative outside the home and have to wear an abaya.
Some restrictions are evident inside, however. Male students report that they are banned from entering women's residences at KAUST.
And hardline clerics are already battling the "anything goes" ethos inside other foreign compounds.
In June the religious police cracked down on a limited access residential and resort community north of Jeddah -- not far from KAUST -- where men and women mixed with relative openness and women had been seen driving.
SOURCE
Farooqu|
Officially the goal of this week's launch of the sprawling new facility is to propel the kingdom into the heady global ranks of technological research.
But with women on campus not having to shroud themselves in the black abaya and allowed to drive cars, an unstated aim is to chip away at the strict restrictions on Saudi women imposed by hardline Muslim clerics.
On Wednesday the monarch, in a keystone of his attempts to power his country into the 21st century, will open the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology -- KAUST -- probably the only postgraduate research university ever built from scratch.
Both the ambition and the billions of dollars thrown at the project have sparked deep interest in the global science community.
In just three years the Saudis have constructed a high-tech campus of huge modernist buildings on a 36-square-kilometre (14-square-mile) desert plot on the Red Sea coast, and recruited hundreds of scientists and students from around the world.
KAUST has already launched joint research programmes with institutions ranging from the National University of Singapore to France's Institut Francais du Petrole to Britain's Cambridge and Stanford in the United States.
And it has created its own research operations spanning nanotechnology, applied mathematics, solar energy, membrane research and bioengineering.
"Two years ago it was nothing but sand and sea. Today there is one of the best infrastructures for research," KAUST president Choon Fong Shih told AFP.
Classes, all taught in English, opened in September at the campus 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of Jeddah, with 71 professors and 374 post-graduate students.
The masters and doctorate degree students represent more than 60 countries, with some 15 percent from Saudi Arabia itself.
The Saudis drew on top-calibre scientists and science educators, especially in the United States, to spur the recruitment process.
Shih himself is an example. The lauded research engineer helped turn the National University of Singapore into a respected research institution over the past decade.
KAUST's success will ultimately depend on world-class research and the results being published in top journals, said Edward Derrick, who directs the research competitiveness programme at the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
"Universities compete for resources, for prestige. You want your students to be published in the best journals," he said.
Money for research is the key, said Fawwaz Ulaby, a US-based engineering professor who served as KAUST provost during the start-up period.
"The single most important component probably is that... the amount of resources able to fund research worldwide does not meet demand," he said.
That gives oil-rich Saudi Arabia an advantage. KAUST reportedly has a 10-billion-dollar endowment to fund research, and it has spent aggressively on salaries and scholarships.
Some professors were offered 90,000-dollar annual salaries tax-free plus all expenses for themselves and their families. Students also receive generous stipends, and some had their last year of university elsewhere paid for.
The freedom of the academic environment will also be crucial, Ulaby said.
That will perhaps be harder in Saudi Arabia, where science in public schools takes a back seat to religion, with bureaucrats loath to cede power and women facing many restrictions.
With about 15 percent of the incoming student body women, all having studied at universities outside the kingdom, mixing is absolutely necessary for successful research, experts say.
People involved in KAUST's development say Abdullah hopes its culture will eventually spill outside the campus gates, where women are banned from driving, must be accompanied by a male relative outside the home and have to wear an abaya.
Some restrictions are evident inside, however. Male students report that they are banned from entering women's residences at KAUST.
And hardline clerics are already battling the "anything goes" ethos inside other foreign compounds.
In June the religious police cracked down on a limited access residential and resort community north of Jeddah -- not far from KAUST -- where men and women mixed with relative openness and women had been seen driving.
SOURCE
Farooqu|
Friday, September 18, 2009
Sign In to Facebook using your username only
A couple of months back, the well popular social networking site Facebook introduced a new feature, that facebook users could select their own usernames and redirect someone to their profiles by simply giving them this link facebook.com/"yourusername"
it was indeed a good addition to the services offered by the website, it not only increased ease of use to its users, but also reduced the time required to find some acquaintance only by name on the website.
From today onwards, facebook has announced that its users will now be able to log on to facebook through any website (facebook connect enabled), mobile device or any web browser.
Keep in mind that all of these services can also be accessed using the email address as used before, email address log in feature has not been disabled.
Check out this link :http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=138003612130 for more.
Farooqu|
it was indeed a good addition to the services offered by the website, it not only increased ease of use to its users, but also reduced the time required to find some acquaintance only by name on the website.
From today onwards, facebook has announced that its users will now be able to log on to facebook through any website (facebook connect enabled), mobile device or any web browser.
Keep in mind that all of these services can also be accessed using the email address as used before, email address log in feature has not been disabled.
Check out this link :http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=138003612130 for more.
Farooqu|
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Prophet Muhammed (S.A.W) | The Husband
Prophet Muhammad personifies the roles of perfect father and husband. He was so kind and tolerant with his wives that they could not envisage their lives without him, nor did they want to live away from him. He married Sawdah, his second wife, while in Makkah. After a while, he wanted to divorce her for certain reasons. She was extremely upset at this news and implored him, "O Messenger of Allah, I wish no worldly thing of you. I will sacrifice the time allocated to me if you don't want to visit me. But please don't deprive me of being your wife. I want to go to the hereafter as your wife. I care for nothing else" (Muslim).
The Messenger did not divorce her, nor did he stop visiting her.
Once he noticed that Hafsah was uncomfortable over their financial situation. "If she wishes, I may set her free," he said, or something to that effect. This suggestion so alarmed her that she requested mediators to persuade him not to do so. He kept his faithful friend's daughter as his trusted wife.
Separation Calamity
All of his wives viewed separation from the Messenger of Allah as a calamity, so firmly had he established himself in their hearts. They were completely at one with him. They shared in his blessed, mild, and natural life. If he had left them, they would have died of despair. If he had divorced one of them, she would have waited at his doorstep until the Last Day.
After his death, there was much yearning and a great deal of grief. Abu Bakr and `Umar found the Messenger's wives weeping whenever they visited them. Their weeping seemed to continue for the rest of their lives. Muhammad left an everlasting impression on everyone. At one point, he had nine wives and dealt equally with all of them and without any serious problems. He was a kind and gentle husband, and never behaved harshly or rudely. In short, he was the perfect husband.
Each of his wives thought that she was his most beloved.
A few days before his death, he said, "A servant has been allowed to choose this world or his Lord. He chose his Lord" (Al-Bukhari). Abu Bakr, intelligent and smart, began to cry, understanding that the Prophet was talking about himself. His illness got worse daily, and his severe headache caused him to writhe in pain. But even during this difficult period, he continued to treat his wives with kindness and gentleness. He asked for permission to stay in one room, as he had no strength to visit them one by one. His wives agreed, and the Messenger spent his last days in `A'ishah's room.
Most Beloved
Each wife, because of his generosity and kindness, thought she was his most beloved. The idea that any man could show complete equality and fairness in his relationships with nine women seems impossible. For this reason, the Messenger of Allah asked God's pardon for any unintentional leanings. He would pray, "I may have unintentionally shown more love to one of them than the others, and this would be injustice. So, O Lord, I take refuge in Your grace for those things beyond my power." (At-Tirmidhi).
What gentleness and sensitivity! I wonder if anyone else could show such kindness to his children or spouses. When people manage to cover up their lower inborn tendencies, it is as if they have done something very clever and shown tremendous willpower. But they sometimes expose these very defects unconsciously while bragging of their cleverness. The Messenger, despite showing no fault, sought only God's forgiveness.
His gentleness penetrated his wives' souls so deeply that his departure led to what they must have felt to be an unbridgeable separation. They did not commit suicide, as Islam forbids it, but their lives now became full of endless sorrow and ceaseless tears.
The Messenger was kind and gentle to all women, and advised all other men to follow him in this regard. Sa`d ibn Abi Waqqas described his kindness as follows:
`Umar said: One day I went to the Prophet and saw him smiling. "May God make you smile forever, O Messenger of God," I said, and asked why he was smiling. "I smile at those women. They were chatting in front of me before you came. When they heard your voice, they all vanished," he answered still smiling. On hearing this answer, I raised my voice and told them, "O enemies of your own selves, you are scared of me, but you are not scared of the Messenger of God, and you don't show respect to him." "You are hard-hearted and strict," they replied. (Al-Bukhari )
`Umar also was gentle to women. However, the most handsome man looks ugly when compared to Joseph's beauty. Likewise, `Umar's gentleness and sensitivity seem like violence and severity when compared to those of the Prophet. The women had seen the Messenger's gentleness, sensitivity, and kindness, and so regarded `Umar as strict and severe. Yet `Umar shouldered the caliphate perfectly and became one of the greatest examples after the Prophet. He was a just ruler and strove to distinguish right from wrong. His qualities enabled him to be caliph. Some of his qualities might seem rather severe; however, those very qualities enabled him to shoulder very demanding responsibilities.
Consultation
The Prophet did consult with his wives. The Messenger discussed matters with his wives as friends. Certainly he did not need their advice, since he was directed by revelation. However, he wanted to teach his nation that Muslim men were to give women every consideration. This was quite a radical idea in his time, as it is today in many parts of the world. He began teaching his people through his own relationship with his wives.
For example, the conditions laid down in the Treaty of Hudaybiyah disappointed and enraged many Muslims, for one condition stipulated that they could not make the pilgrimage that year. They wanted to reject the treaty, continue on to Makkah, and face the possible consequences. But the Messenger ordered them to slaughter their sacrificial animals and take off their pilgrim attire. Some Companions hesitated, hoping that he would change his mind. He repeated his order, but they continued to hesitate. They did not oppose him; rather, they still hoped he might change his mind, for they had set out with the intention of pilgrimage and did not want to stop half way.
Noticing this reluctance, the Prophet returned to his tent and asked Umm Salamah, his wife accompanying him at that time, what she thought of the situation. So she told him, fully aware that he did not need her advice. In doing this, he taught Muslim men an important social lesson: There is nothing wrong with exchanging ideas with women on important matters, or on any matters at all.
She said, "O Messenger of God, don't repeat your order. They may resist and thereby perish. Slaughter your sacrificial animal and change out of your pilgrim attire. They will obey you, willingly or not, when they see that your order is final" (Al-Bukhari).
He immediately took a knife in his hand, went outside, and began to slaughter his sheep. The Companions began to do the same, for now it was clear that his order would not be changed.
Counsel and consultation, like every good deed, were practiced by God's Messenger first within his own family and then in the wider community. Even today, we understand so little about his relationships with his wives that it is as if we are wandering aimlessly around a plot of land, unaware of the vast treasure buried below our feet.
Two Halves
Women are secondary beings in the minds of many, including those self-appointed defenders of women's rights as well as many self-proclaimed Muslim men. In Islam, a woman is part of a whole, a part that renders the other half useful. We believe that when the two halves come together, the true unity of a human being appears. When this unity does not exist, humanity does not exist — nor can prophethood, sainthood, or even Islam.
Our Prophet encouraged us through his enlightening words to behave kindly to women. He declared, "The most perfect believers are the best in character, and the best of you are the kindest to their families" (Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhi). It is clear that women have received the true honor and respect they deserve, not just in theory but in actual practice, only once in history — during the period of Prophet Muhammad.
This World or the Next
The wives of the Messenger were given the choice of remaining with him or leaving:
[ O Prophet, say to your wives: "If you desire the life of this world and its glitter, then come! I will provide for your enjoyment and set you free in a handsome manner. But if you seek God, His Messenger, and the Home of the Hereafter, verily God has prepared for you, the well-doers among you, a great reward." ] (Al-Ahzab 33:29)
A few of his wives who wanted a more prosperous life asked, "Couldn't we live a little more luxuriously, like other Muslims do? Couldn't we have at least a bowl of soup every day, or some prettier garments?" At first sight, such wishes might be considered fair and just. However, they were members of the family that was to be an example for all Muslim families until the Last Day.
The Messenger reacted by going into retreat. The news spread, and everyone rushed to the mosque and began to cry. The smallest grief felt by their beloved Messenger was enough to bring them all to tears, and even the smallest incident in his life would disturb them. Abu Bakr and `Umar, seeing the event in a different light as their daughters were directly involved, rushed to the mosque. They wanted to see him, but he would not leave his retreat. Eventually, on their third attempt, they gained entry and began to rebuke their daughters. The Messenger saw what was happening, but only said, "I cannot afford what they want" (Muslim).
The Qur'an declared [ O wives of the Prophet! You are not like any other women ] (Al-Ahzab 33:32).
Others might save themselves by simply fulfilling their obligations, but those who were at the very center of Islam had to devote themselves fully so that no weakness would appear at the center. There were advantages in being the Prophet's wives, but these advantages brought responsibilities and potential risks. The Messenger was preparing them as exemplars for all present and future Muslim women. He was especially worried that they might enjoy the reward for their good deeds in this world and thereby be included in [ You have exhausted your share of the good things in your life of the world and sought comfort in them ] (Al-Ahqaf 46:20).
Life in the Prophet's house was uncomfortable. For this reason, either explicitly or implicitly, his wives made some modest demands. As their status was unique, they were not expected to enjoy themselves in a worldly sense. Some godly people laugh only a few times during their lives; others never fill their stomachs. For example, Fudayl ibn `Iyad never laughed. He smiled only once, and those who saw him do so asked him why he smiled, for they were greatly surprised. He told them, "Today I learned that my son `Ali died. I was happy to hear that God had loved him, and so I smiled" (Abu Nu`aym, Hilyat al-Awliya' ). If there were such people outside of the Prophet's household, his wives, who were even more pious and respectful of God and regarded as Mothers of the Believers, would certainly be of a higher degree.
It is not easy to merit being together with the Messenger in this world and the hereafter. Thus, these special women were put to a great test. The Messenger allowed them to choose his poor home or the world's luxury. If they chose the world, he would give them whatever they wanted and then dissolve his marriage with them. If they chose God and His Messenger, they had to be content with their lives. This was a peculiarity of his family. Since this family was unique, its members had to be unique. The head of the family was chosen, as were the wives and children.
The Messenger first called `A'ishah and said, "I want to discuss something with you. You'd better talk with your parents before making a decision." Then he recited the verses mentioned above. Her decision was exactly as expected from a truthful daughter of a truthful father: "O Messenger of Allah, do I need to talk with my parents? By Allah, I choose Allah and His Messenger" (Muslim).
`A'ishah herself tells us what happened next: "The Messenger received the same answer from all his wives. No one expressed a different opinion. They all said what I had said." They did so because they were all at one with the Messenger. They could not differ. If the Messenger had told them to fast for a lifetime without break, they would have done so and endured it with pleasure. However, they endured hardship until their deaths.
Some of his wives had enjoyed an extravagant lifestyle before their marriage to him. One of these was Safiyyah, who had lost her father and husband and had been taken prisoner during the Battle of Khaybar. She must have been very angry with the Messenger, but when she saw him, her feelings changed completely. She endured the same destiny as the other wives. They endured it because love of the Messenger had penetrated their hearts.
Mothers of the Believers
Safiyyah was a Jew. Once, she was dismayed when this fact was mentioned to her sarcastically. She informed the Messenger, expressing her sadness. He comforted her saying, "If they repeat it, tell them, 'My father is Prophet Aaron, my uncle is Prophet Moses, and my husband is, as you see, Prophet Muhammad, the Chosen One. What do you have more than me to be proud of?'"
The Qur'an declares that his wives are the Mothers of the Believers (Al-Ahzab 33:6). Although 14 centuries have passed, we still feel delight in saying "my mother" when referring to Khadijah, `A'ishah, Umm Salamah, Hafsah, and his other wives. We feel this because of him. Some feel more love for these women than they do for their real mothers. Certainly, this feeling must have been deeper, warmer, and stronger in the Prophet's own time.
The Messenger was the perfect head of a family. Managing many women with ease, being a lover of their hearts, an instructor of their minds, an educator of their souls, he never neglected the affairs of the nation or compromised his duties.
The Messenger excelled in every area of life. People should not compare him to themselves or to the so-called great personalities of their age. Researchers should look at him, the one to whom angels are grateful, always remembering that he excelled in every way. If they want to look for Muhammad they must search for him in his own dimensions. Our imaginations cannot reach him, for we do not even know how to imagine properly. God bestowed upon him, as His special favor, superiority in every field.
The Messenger did not divorce her, nor did he stop visiting her.
Once he noticed that Hafsah was uncomfortable over their financial situation. "If she wishes, I may set her free," he said, or something to that effect. This suggestion so alarmed her that she requested mediators to persuade him not to do so. He kept his faithful friend's daughter as his trusted wife.
Separation Calamity
All of his wives viewed separation from the Messenger of Allah as a calamity, so firmly had he established himself in their hearts. They were completely at one with him. They shared in his blessed, mild, and natural life. If he had left them, they would have died of despair. If he had divorced one of them, she would have waited at his doorstep until the Last Day.
After his death, there was much yearning and a great deal of grief. Abu Bakr and `Umar found the Messenger's wives weeping whenever they visited them. Their weeping seemed to continue for the rest of their lives. Muhammad left an everlasting impression on everyone. At one point, he had nine wives and dealt equally with all of them and without any serious problems. He was a kind and gentle husband, and never behaved harshly or rudely. In short, he was the perfect husband.
Each of his wives thought that she was his most beloved.
A few days before his death, he said, "A servant has been allowed to choose this world or his Lord. He chose his Lord" (Al-Bukhari). Abu Bakr, intelligent and smart, began to cry, understanding that the Prophet was talking about himself. His illness got worse daily, and his severe headache caused him to writhe in pain. But even during this difficult period, he continued to treat his wives with kindness and gentleness. He asked for permission to stay in one room, as he had no strength to visit them one by one. His wives agreed, and the Messenger spent his last days in `A'ishah's room.
Most Beloved
Each wife, because of his generosity and kindness, thought she was his most beloved. The idea that any man could show complete equality and fairness in his relationships with nine women seems impossible. For this reason, the Messenger of Allah asked God's pardon for any unintentional leanings. He would pray, "I may have unintentionally shown more love to one of them than the others, and this would be injustice. So, O Lord, I take refuge in Your grace for those things beyond my power." (At-Tirmidhi).
What gentleness and sensitivity! I wonder if anyone else could show such kindness to his children or spouses. When people manage to cover up their lower inborn tendencies, it is as if they have done something very clever and shown tremendous willpower. But they sometimes expose these very defects unconsciously while bragging of their cleverness. The Messenger, despite showing no fault, sought only God's forgiveness.
His gentleness penetrated his wives' souls so deeply that his departure led to what they must have felt to be an unbridgeable separation. They did not commit suicide, as Islam forbids it, but their lives now became full of endless sorrow and ceaseless tears.
The Messenger was kind and gentle to all women, and advised all other men to follow him in this regard. Sa`d ibn Abi Waqqas described his kindness as follows:
`Umar said: One day I went to the Prophet and saw him smiling. "May God make you smile forever, O Messenger of God," I said, and asked why he was smiling. "I smile at those women. They were chatting in front of me before you came. When they heard your voice, they all vanished," he answered still smiling. On hearing this answer, I raised my voice and told them, "O enemies of your own selves, you are scared of me, but you are not scared of the Messenger of God, and you don't show respect to him." "You are hard-hearted and strict," they replied. (Al-Bukhari )
`Umar also was gentle to women. However, the most handsome man looks ugly when compared to Joseph's beauty. Likewise, `Umar's gentleness and sensitivity seem like violence and severity when compared to those of the Prophet. The women had seen the Messenger's gentleness, sensitivity, and kindness, and so regarded `Umar as strict and severe. Yet `Umar shouldered the caliphate perfectly and became one of the greatest examples after the Prophet. He was a just ruler and strove to distinguish right from wrong. His qualities enabled him to be caliph. Some of his qualities might seem rather severe; however, those very qualities enabled him to shoulder very demanding responsibilities.
Consultation
The Prophet did consult with his wives. The Messenger discussed matters with his wives as friends. Certainly he did not need their advice, since he was directed by revelation. However, he wanted to teach his nation that Muslim men were to give women every consideration. This was quite a radical idea in his time, as it is today in many parts of the world. He began teaching his people through his own relationship with his wives.
For example, the conditions laid down in the Treaty of Hudaybiyah disappointed and enraged many Muslims, for one condition stipulated that they could not make the pilgrimage that year. They wanted to reject the treaty, continue on to Makkah, and face the possible consequences. But the Messenger ordered them to slaughter their sacrificial animals and take off their pilgrim attire. Some Companions hesitated, hoping that he would change his mind. He repeated his order, but they continued to hesitate. They did not oppose him; rather, they still hoped he might change his mind, for they had set out with the intention of pilgrimage and did not want to stop half way.
Noticing this reluctance, the Prophet returned to his tent and asked Umm Salamah, his wife accompanying him at that time, what she thought of the situation. So she told him, fully aware that he did not need her advice. In doing this, he taught Muslim men an important social lesson: There is nothing wrong with exchanging ideas with women on important matters, or on any matters at all.
She said, "O Messenger of God, don't repeat your order. They may resist and thereby perish. Slaughter your sacrificial animal and change out of your pilgrim attire. They will obey you, willingly or not, when they see that your order is final" (Al-Bukhari).
He immediately took a knife in his hand, went outside, and began to slaughter his sheep. The Companions began to do the same, for now it was clear that his order would not be changed.
Counsel and consultation, like every good deed, were practiced by God's Messenger first within his own family and then in the wider community. Even today, we understand so little about his relationships with his wives that it is as if we are wandering aimlessly around a plot of land, unaware of the vast treasure buried below our feet.
Two Halves
Women are secondary beings in the minds of many, including those self-appointed defenders of women's rights as well as many self-proclaimed Muslim men. In Islam, a woman is part of a whole, a part that renders the other half useful. We believe that when the two halves come together, the true unity of a human being appears. When this unity does not exist, humanity does not exist — nor can prophethood, sainthood, or even Islam.
Our Prophet encouraged us through his enlightening words to behave kindly to women. He declared, "The most perfect believers are the best in character, and the best of you are the kindest to their families" (Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhi). It is clear that women have received the true honor and respect they deserve, not just in theory but in actual practice, only once in history — during the period of Prophet Muhammad.
This World or the Next
The wives of the Messenger were given the choice of remaining with him or leaving:
[ O Prophet, say to your wives: "If you desire the life of this world and its glitter, then come! I will provide for your enjoyment and set you free in a handsome manner. But if you seek God, His Messenger, and the Home of the Hereafter, verily God has prepared for you, the well-doers among you, a great reward." ] (Al-Ahzab 33:29)
A few of his wives who wanted a more prosperous life asked, "Couldn't we live a little more luxuriously, like other Muslims do? Couldn't we have at least a bowl of soup every day, or some prettier garments?" At first sight, such wishes might be considered fair and just. However, they were members of the family that was to be an example for all Muslim families until the Last Day.
The Messenger reacted by going into retreat. The news spread, and everyone rushed to the mosque and began to cry. The smallest grief felt by their beloved Messenger was enough to bring them all to tears, and even the smallest incident in his life would disturb them. Abu Bakr and `Umar, seeing the event in a different light as their daughters were directly involved, rushed to the mosque. They wanted to see him, but he would not leave his retreat. Eventually, on their third attempt, they gained entry and began to rebuke their daughters. The Messenger saw what was happening, but only said, "I cannot afford what they want" (Muslim).
The Qur'an declared [ O wives of the Prophet! You are not like any other women ] (Al-Ahzab 33:32).
Others might save themselves by simply fulfilling their obligations, but those who were at the very center of Islam had to devote themselves fully so that no weakness would appear at the center. There were advantages in being the Prophet's wives, but these advantages brought responsibilities and potential risks. The Messenger was preparing them as exemplars for all present and future Muslim women. He was especially worried that they might enjoy the reward for their good deeds in this world and thereby be included in [ You have exhausted your share of the good things in your life of the world and sought comfort in them ] (Al-Ahqaf 46:20).
Life in the Prophet's house was uncomfortable. For this reason, either explicitly or implicitly, his wives made some modest demands. As their status was unique, they were not expected to enjoy themselves in a worldly sense. Some godly people laugh only a few times during their lives; others never fill their stomachs. For example, Fudayl ibn `Iyad never laughed. He smiled only once, and those who saw him do so asked him why he smiled, for they were greatly surprised. He told them, "Today I learned that my son `Ali died. I was happy to hear that God had loved him, and so I smiled" (Abu Nu`aym, Hilyat al-Awliya' ). If there were such people outside of the Prophet's household, his wives, who were even more pious and respectful of God and regarded as Mothers of the Believers, would certainly be of a higher degree.
It is not easy to merit being together with the Messenger in this world and the hereafter. Thus, these special women were put to a great test. The Messenger allowed them to choose his poor home or the world's luxury. If they chose the world, he would give them whatever they wanted and then dissolve his marriage with them. If they chose God and His Messenger, they had to be content with their lives. This was a peculiarity of his family. Since this family was unique, its members had to be unique. The head of the family was chosen, as were the wives and children.
The Messenger first called `A'ishah and said, "I want to discuss something with you. You'd better talk with your parents before making a decision." Then he recited the verses mentioned above. Her decision was exactly as expected from a truthful daughter of a truthful father: "O Messenger of Allah, do I need to talk with my parents? By Allah, I choose Allah and His Messenger" (Muslim).
`A'ishah herself tells us what happened next: "The Messenger received the same answer from all his wives. No one expressed a different opinion. They all said what I had said." They did so because they were all at one with the Messenger. They could not differ. If the Messenger had told them to fast for a lifetime without break, they would have done so and endured it with pleasure. However, they endured hardship until their deaths.
Some of his wives had enjoyed an extravagant lifestyle before their marriage to him. One of these was Safiyyah, who had lost her father and husband and had been taken prisoner during the Battle of Khaybar. She must have been very angry with the Messenger, but when she saw him, her feelings changed completely. She endured the same destiny as the other wives. They endured it because love of the Messenger had penetrated their hearts.
Mothers of the Believers
Safiyyah was a Jew. Once, she was dismayed when this fact was mentioned to her sarcastically. She informed the Messenger, expressing her sadness. He comforted her saying, "If they repeat it, tell them, 'My father is Prophet Aaron, my uncle is Prophet Moses, and my husband is, as you see, Prophet Muhammad, the Chosen One. What do you have more than me to be proud of?'"
The Qur'an declares that his wives are the Mothers of the Believers (Al-Ahzab 33:6). Although 14 centuries have passed, we still feel delight in saying "my mother" when referring to Khadijah, `A'ishah, Umm Salamah, Hafsah, and his other wives. We feel this because of him. Some feel more love for these women than they do for their real mothers. Certainly, this feeling must have been deeper, warmer, and stronger in the Prophet's own time.
The Messenger was the perfect head of a family. Managing many women with ease, being a lover of their hearts, an instructor of their minds, an educator of their souls, he never neglected the affairs of the nation or compromised his duties.
The Messenger excelled in every area of life. People should not compare him to themselves or to the so-called great personalities of their age. Researchers should look at him, the one to whom angels are grateful, always remembering that he excelled in every way. If they want to look for Muhammad they must search for him in his own dimensions. Our imaginations cannot reach him, for we do not even know how to imagine properly. God bestowed upon him, as His special favor, superiority in every field.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Pakistan should learn from Bangladesh
It is true that Bangladesh, once a part of Pakistan came into being almost 24 years later than Pakistan. So it is basically a fact that keeping in views the entire crisis that Pakistan faces, and the shortfalls, Bangladesh would be one step ahead.
The key to eliminate all the difficulties and eradicate all of the problems is that alongside the common man, those who govern the nation and are responsible for the progress and prosperity should equally be determined to keep the situation under control.
One of the most widespread of the problems, is the shortage of electricity in Pakistan, with the demand supply gap rising. Most parts of Pakistan or areas of major cities suffer from prolonged power outages, while the officials in the offices of the power authorities or the state employees enjoy the perk of having electricity around the clock. This is one such act that puts the sense of isolation inside the people, that the rulers enjoy all the comforts while the common man is given nothing at all.
Recently a piece of news caught my attention. Bangladesh has told all of its government officials to avoid wearing suits, jackets and ties during the summer to save electricity used on air conditioning. The Bangladeshi cabinet announced its decision recently, saying officials should wear open necked shirts and trousers changing a dress code that had been in place since 1982. This code was adhered to, at least by the mid and senior level officials who used to don a suit even in the hot months of March-Nov. This change shows the latest steps taken by the government of Bangladesh to curb the shortfall of electricity.
Its shows that the government is concerned about their country and their people. The high officials of Pakistan should also cease to enjoy the high level of comforts and sacrifice their privileges for the betterment of Pakistan.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Let there be rain
Karachiites breathed a sigh of relief when it was announced that a rain system over Madhya Pradesh was heading towards the city of Karachi and heavy rains were expected for the next couple of days. Now call it more of a norm in Pakistan, that the predictions put out by the institutions is hardly believed by most of today's people, because what ever they say, something totally opposite to it happens. I for one, had no belief that such a thing was about to happen.
As I was in Lahore, I got a text from a friend stating the bad weather situation looming ahead and was advised to cut my trip short and return before the sky burst open. I returned and found the following next day to be as hot as it would have normally been in Karachi. This confirmed my presumption that all this talk was nothing more than just B.S.
How ever, I found out that I had been completely wrong; an unexpected change in weather caught me off guard when I woke up the next day late in the afternoon. The sky was covered with black clouds and the sun was no where to be seen. The menacing roar of the clouds threatened that it would be raining cats and dogs in just a couple of moments.
And so it did, starting off with a nice pleasant drizzle, one that provokes people to head out of their homes to enjoy the pleasant weather, not knowing that Mother Nature has bigger and better things in store for them. Soon after that drizzle, it literally rained like all hell had broken loose. Still people were out on the streets, enjoying the rain, as thirst from their fast had broken them down, and the rain seemed to have rejuvenated everyone, even those who kept to the comfort of their beds and laptops.
Almost a month has passed since there was rain in the city of Karachi, so this was certainly one such thing that the people of Karachi were wishing for. I remember last time when it rained, I wrote a blog titled "Be Careful What You Wish For" In it, I wrote about the painstaking endurance of days long power cuts, wading through waist deep water on streets and every other possible havoc that the rain could have wreaked.
Yesterday's rain gives no other scenario. Every thing was the same, the same power cuts, the same puddles (rather rivers) of water on the streets, the impotent "state of the art" drainage system in D.H.A, the fragile and crippled power management system of the K.E.S.C, the hour long traffic jams, the submerged underpasses and what not.
I would like to attach some images for a detailed perspective.
Source of Image 1 , 2 &3
To be honest, this is just a little teaser of the ordeals faced by the people of Karachi when it rains. No I am not saying that it should not rain so as to keep the people of Karachi safe from different kinds of problems, I mean to criticize the poor and under development of the projects, like drainage, sewerage, electricity, telephones and the major roads of the city.
Pick up a newspaper after the day it has rained, the top headlines that meet your eyes will be "Most parts of the city without electricity for past 24 hours because of rain" "Rain cripples the fragile electricity distribution network of the K.E.S.C" or maybe this "3 people electrocuted after a mains line snapped" and definitely this "Major roads of the city totally submerged under water, residents leave their cars and walk home". Hold me accountable if one of these doesn't make it to the headlines in today's paper.
As I was in Lahore, I got a text from a friend stating the bad weather situation looming ahead and was advised to cut my trip short and return before the sky burst open. I returned and found the following next day to be as hot as it would have normally been in Karachi. This confirmed my presumption that all this talk was nothing more than just B.S.
How ever, I found out that I had been completely wrong; an unexpected change in weather caught me off guard when I woke up the next day late in the afternoon. The sky was covered with black clouds and the sun was no where to be seen. The menacing roar of the clouds threatened that it would be raining cats and dogs in just a couple of moments.
And so it did, starting off with a nice pleasant drizzle, one that provokes people to head out of their homes to enjoy the pleasant weather, not knowing that Mother Nature has bigger and better things in store for them. Soon after that drizzle, it literally rained like all hell had broken loose. Still people were out on the streets, enjoying the rain, as thirst from their fast had broken them down, and the rain seemed to have rejuvenated everyone, even those who kept to the comfort of their beds and laptops.
Almost a month has passed since there was rain in the city of Karachi, so this was certainly one such thing that the people of Karachi were wishing for. I remember last time when it rained, I wrote a blog titled "Be Careful What You Wish For" In it, I wrote about the painstaking endurance of days long power cuts, wading through waist deep water on streets and every other possible havoc that the rain could have wreaked.
Yesterday's rain gives no other scenario. Every thing was the same, the same power cuts, the same puddles (rather rivers) of water on the streets, the impotent "state of the art" drainage system in D.H.A, the fragile and crippled power management system of the K.E.S.C, the hour long traffic jams, the submerged underpasses and what not.
I would like to attach some images for a detailed perspective.
Source of Image 1 , 2 &3
To be honest, this is just a little teaser of the ordeals faced by the people of Karachi when it rains. No I am not saying that it should not rain so as to keep the people of Karachi safe from different kinds of problems, I mean to criticize the poor and under development of the projects, like drainage, sewerage, electricity, telephones and the major roads of the city.
Pick up a newspaper after the day it has rained, the top headlines that meet your eyes will be "Most parts of the city without electricity for past 24 hours because of rain" "Rain cripples the fragile electricity distribution network of the K.E.S.C" or maybe this "3 people electrocuted after a mains line snapped" and definitely this "Major roads of the city totally submerged under water, residents leave their cars and walk home". Hold me accountable if one of these doesn't make it to the headlines in today's paper.
A long time has passed; Karachi is still facing these issues. The new state of the art drainage system laid out by the D.H.A is not as efficient as it was claimed to be. Whenever it rains, people fear for their lives if they are stuck out somewhere, for gods sake, its just rain! Mega cities all across the world get more rainfall in a month what we get in a whole year, though no body there has ever complained of disconnected telephones, electricity failures and water pools.
The problem is of management, the mismanagement that has embraced this city for decades has left karachiites helpless whenever such a situation arises. Though it is commendable that most departments work to their full potential to provide relief to the people, but still lack of resources doesn't let them work to their full capacity.
I hope that somebody will start learning from the experiences in the rain over the last decades, and will work to provide better services to the citizens of Karachi, so that when ever it rains, people take it as a blessing, not as the wrath of God.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Just a thought
City of my dreams
My message to you all is of hope, courage and confidence. Let us mobilize all our resources in a systematic and organized way and tackle the grave issues that confront us with grim determination and discipline worthy of a great nation."
(Quaid e Azam)
Call it human nature that almost every person on this planet wants to have some place to call his own creation. To call it his ingenious brain child, some place that would encourage people from all over the world to follow suit to someone's efforts. Most people tend to take a much smaller approach to this problem, by tackling small areas of interest or personal holdings. The world has yet to see people who are determined to bring about drastic changes in mega cities all over the world, and make them for facilitative and beneficial to their inhabitants.
People talk about building a house of their dreams, the perfect house in perfect size in a serene and picturesque location having all the facilities available that one can pamper himself with, without the fear of getting all of it taken away from it.
Why can't we proceed with a broader vision, a vision to turn our city into the best the world has ever seen? It is very true that drastic changes can not be induced in a society or culture by a mere individual, it has to be the collective efforts of everyone residing in that specific community that can bring prosperity to the community.
My city Karachi , I have a lot of emotional attachment with my city , because I was born and raised here , but the city which I have perceived in my dreams is a city which is free from tyranny , injustice , Corruption , pollution , deception , and where laws are obeyed and respect is prevailed. Sadly, that is not the case with Karachi. I want It to be that way, I want it to be my dream city, I want to see that change, tiny drops of water makes the ocean. To do justice to this saying I have begun to initialize change on my part. I never litter on the streets , I observe traffic rules , I never support bribing neither do I bribe , I do everything that is in my reach to make my city Karachi the city of my dreams.
I share my dream with my friends, and together we have formed our own alliance, our mission is one, we have the same passion, the same spark, the same desire, we want to make our city the city of our dreams.
Our city is the financial capital of our country, the economic backbone of Pakistan. We have to make it sophisticated so as to attract foreign investors. I dream of Karachi as a non polluted city, with lots of greenery, and trees. Environment friendly buses running on the roads which contribute less to toxicity.
Mannerism among the dwellers of Karachi. No corruption. Land mark projects, and state of the art underground stations.
The greed for power and supremacy in this world has surpassed the need to save the city from harm, we are so much sought-after for our momentarily technological advancements, the race to outdone each other that we ignore the inevitable threat of corrupted race.
If I am given the chance, to turn Karachi into the city of my dreams, I would like it to have better facilities, better infrastructure, better schools and institutions, better system of law and order. Pollution is the main threat that is faced by most mega metropolises across the world, and yes Karachi is one such city where industrial development is blossoming by the minute. Radical steps would have to be taken in order to curb the adverse effects inflicted by pollution of the residents thus protecting them for scores of different diseases.
With all said, it is not a matter of words, it is not a matter of presenting a concept or an ideology, these things would not change the perception of the people who have the authority to bring about changes in a society, what has to be done is that alliances be formed, that we unite and shape our city in the city of our dreams.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Virtually Unlimited
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Wateen holds the distinction of setting up a country wide WiMax network in Pakistan.Currently this service is operation in 22 major cities of Pakistan.
In 2007, when Wateen launched its service to private consumers in Pakistan, the rates that the company was charging was well above any normal man's approach, and second, the data download limits were too less as compared to the speed, if one might have considered switching to Wateen for their ISP, the data limits would have surely held them back.
In recent times, we have seen great packages being offered by different ISPs across Pakistan and the hype that Wateen generated during the first year of its launch, seemed to fade away.
Until recently, a new advertisment aired on different channels, which depicted several guys boasting about their internet connections and what they paid for it and believe me, those rates have long been obsolete. One can say it is utterly preposterous for someone paying 5k for a 512k connection, many ISPs start offering their services from 1 mb.
On the advertisment, its told that Wateen now offers 1mb link for just Rs.699 with unlimited download. Here is where the deception is, The 1mb Rs.699 package has a 5 GB download limit, which i guess is the weekly download of a normal internet user.
The Virtually Unlimited Package which is offered for Rs. 1399 has a download limit of just 20 GB, it is evident that Wateen has fabricated its packages in such a way that many people may get decived and the company still would not face any harm.
What i would like to suggest is that Wateen should follow suit of the many ISPs that really provide their customers what they boast about in their advertisments rather than keeping so many things hidden.
Farooqu|
How A Politicized Supreme Court Deceived Pakistanis
In 2007 Condi Rice, Richard Boucher and British diplomat Mark Lyall Grant created a law called NRO to whitewash the illegal wealth of Benazir Bhutto, Asif Zardari and many other Pakistanis to help them come to power. Two years later, in 2009, the Supreme Court of Pakistan has indirectly declared the NRO as valid. The excuse for this is to avoid ‘rocking the system’. Musharraf is gone but his NRO will survive. In a theatrical move, he was condemned but his illegal creation – and that of Condi, Boucher and Grant – was preserved. This could prove to be the biggest deception carried out in Pakistan in the name of democracy.
Farooqu|
By Ahmed Quraishi
Wednesday, 12 August 2009.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—The edifice that has fallen is not only that of Mr. Musharraf’s. Another edifice – Mr. Zardari’s – has been shaken. All the judges appointed by the incumbent government have been sent packing. But let us not fool ourselves. Unless the entire parliamentary strength of the government turns against President Zardari – an improbability – there is no chance the parliament will strike down the NRO and reverse the fortunes of some of the most powerful men in the Zardari government.
At least this last pillar of the edifice raised by Mr. Musharraf will continue to stand tall, ironically. But the mother of all ironies is how the Doctrine of Necessity – the cover for all military coups – was used this time, by the Supreme Court no less, to save the ’system’ from collapse. May I respectfully ask the honorable court what was the fuss about? The NRO is the worst part of Mr. Musharraf’s legacy. Throwing it to the parliament might have actually spared the necks of many. This was done in order not to destabilize the country. Fair enough and commendable. But if the doctrine of necessity applies here when it suits the court, it surely applied back on 12 October 1999 when a prime minister mishandled the serious matter of removing an army chief from office. Taking a high-stakes action without considering the views of the military brass and removing the army chief mid air surely sounds like an immature hasty act not worthy of the prime minister of a nuclear-armed nation.
Is this why the dictator’s pre-Nov. 3 actions were not touched? Is this why PCO-I judges have been spared and PCO-II judges axed?
While there is no question that most Pakistanis are looking up to the honorable Chief Justice for salvation because they have no faith left in the political system, last week’s ruling has actually thrown a lifejacket to this failed system. Instead of taking our rulers to task over national mismanagement, we will be treated for the next few months to a media circus over the fate of NRO, Musharraf, the axed judges and the resulting legal mess.
All of which would have been fine if this were the Republic of Rome. But this is Pakistan, and it is headed for national failure on a massive scale. A few blocks away from where all these games are being played is the US embassy, which has expanded 18 acres more during the reign of our democrats. With close to 2,000 staffers soon, the American embassy in Islamabad will rival the one in Baghdad. The only difference is that Iraq had to be invaded and occupied for this to happen. Diplomats will tell you that abnormal expansion of embassies is the first sign of a big power trying to swallow a smaller one. That’s what the Soviets did with their client states. Better still, that’s what Iraq did before invading Kuwait this week 19 years ago. Almost 6,000 ‘diplomats’ were listed in the Iraqi embassy in Kuwait the night before the war. That’s what the Indians are doing now with their ‘consulates’ in Afghanistan.
But who will pay attention to this? Our playful democrats should remember that Rome’s republic triumphed over monarchy and lasted for five centuries. But after civil wars and mismanagement came the rise of imperial Rome, not democratic Rome.
This column was supposed to appear on 5 August. It was blocked by The News International where Mr. Quraishi’s columns are published regularly. No reason was given for this censorship. One more example of how democracy does not work in Pakistan despite the best efforts of Condi, Boucher and Grant.
SOURCEFarooqu|
Friday, August 14, 2009
20 things to do when you’re failing an exam anyways
W00T! If exam fever has you! and you have already made mind that you will FAIL this exam then why you are tensed? Chill out! because you already know you are going to fail this exam. Do it with fun, I suggest you 20 ways to fail an exam with extra ordinary fun and making it memorable moment of your life. Here they are:
SOURCE
Farooqu|
- Come into the exam wearing night clothes. Chew gum loudly with all the disgusting noises and blow bubbles.
- Bring things to throw at the instructor when she/he’s not looking. Blame it on the person nearest to you.
- Go into the exam room. Sit down, put on a helmet with the blast shield down and tell the professor the Force will guide your pen.
- Bring a water pistol with you, and start shooting in the middle of the exam.
- Upon receiving the exam, look it over, while laughing loudly, say “you don’t really expect me to waste my time on this ?!?!
- Run into the exam room looking about frantically. Breathe a sigh of relief. Go to the instructor, say “Gotta go.” and run off.
- Get the exam. 20 min into it, throw your papers down violently, scream out “F*** this!” and walk out delightedly.
- As soon as you get your exam paper pretend puking on it (better is that you really puke on it), hand it over to the teacher and leave in a calm manner.
- Bring a black marker. Return the exam with all questions and answers completely blacked out.
- Bring a giant cockroach into the room and release it on a girl nearby.(It works awesomely).
- Upon receiving the exam, look it over, while laughing loudly, say “you don’t really expect me to waste my time on this ?!?!
- Answer the exam with the “Top Ten Reasons Why Professor “Somebody” is a Terrible Teacher” .
- Leave the whole exam blank after writing ‘THERE ARE ALWAYS MARKS FOR NEAT WORK’.
- Bring cheat sheets of any other subject (make sure this is obvious… otherwise you’re not just failing, you’re getting kicked out too) and staple them to the exam, with the comment “Please use the attached notes for references.”
- Call the teacher over. Repeatedly call him/her. When he answers, wait 5 seconds, then say “We’re taking an exam teacher!”
- Stare at people doing their exams. When you catch their eye…give a BIG smile and wave fervently.
- If it is a written exam, relate everything to your own life story.If the exam is math/sciences related, make up the longest proofs you could possible think of.
- Every 5 min. stand up, collect all your things, move to another seat, and continue with the exam.
- Complete the exam with everything you write being in mirror image.
- After completing a question loudly sing “TA-DAAAAA.”
SOURCE
Farooqu|
A Struggling Nation Indeed!
Twitter is a very commonly used micro blogging service and many people in our beloved country Pakistan have start utilizing this great feature.
I myself am an ardent tweeter and no day goes by well if i do not tweet! :p i can be followed on twitter by clicking here.
14th August, as we all know is the independence day of Pakistan, and how well to celebrate it than to make it one of the trending topics on twitter. Tweeple from all over Pakistan, including me ofcourse, tweeted and retweeted relentlessly this afternoon just to get Pakistan in the trending topics.
Pakistan reached 6th in the daily listings...!
The trick is to add hash tags to a certain topic, in this case #Pakistan or #pakistan.
The reason that comes to my mind that why Pakistan was not able to be on the top of the list today was the using of two separate tags namely #Pakistan and #pakistan, yes having a capital P or a small p makes a difference, but it was pointed out by tweeple there and soon everyone was using #Pakistan.
Kudos to all the tweeple in Pakistan!
Farooqu|
I myself am an ardent tweeter and no day goes by well if i do not tweet! :p i can be followed on twitter by clicking here.
14th August, as we all know is the independence day of Pakistan, and how well to celebrate it than to make it one of the trending topics on twitter. Tweeple from all over Pakistan, including me ofcourse, tweeted and retweeted relentlessly this afternoon just to get Pakistan in the trending topics.
Pakistan reached 6th in the daily listings...!
The trick is to add hash tags to a certain topic, in this case #Pakistan or #pakistan.
The reason that comes to my mind that why Pakistan was not able to be on the top of the list today was the using of two separate tags namely #Pakistan and #pakistan, yes having a capital P or a small p makes a difference, but it was pointed out by tweeple there and soon everyone was using #Pakistan.
Kudos to all the tweeple in Pakistan!
Farooqu|
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Musharraf in London
It has been the usual practice of Pakistani politicians facing harassment or more intense persecution at home to look for safety and comfort in London. Following his ouster from the presidency in October 1958, Iskander Mirza lived there for the rest of his days.
The pension he received from Ayub Khan’s government did not go far and he worked in a middle management position in a hotel to supplement his income. He chose to remain silent on the affairs of Pakistan.Altaf Hussain, the MQM boss, has been living in London for a number of years now. He directs the affairs of his party in Pakistan from his offices in London. Other leaders, Benazir Bhutto among them, resided in London for periods of time. They commented on political developments in Pakistan and, while in London, tried to guide their followers back home.
Gen Pervez Musharraf has been residing in London, for some months and it is hard to say when he will return as doing so at present could be hazardous to his life and limb.
Revisiting recently the Nov 3 emergency the Supreme Court ‘invited’ (not summoned) Gen Musharraf to appear before court to explain his action. Considering that his Oct 12, 1999 coup and subsequent rule have led certain parties to call for his trial for treason under Article 6, it is easy to understand why he is inclined to stay on in London. He, accordingly, chose to ignore the Supreme Court’s invitation.
Had he returned to Pakistan and appeared in court, what could he have said? I imagine something along the following lines: ‘Yes, I executed a coup d’état on Oct 12, 1999 and I imposed emergency rule on November 3, 2007. Yes, in taking these actions I violated the constitution. But this honourable court validated my violations as extra-constitutional measures that had become necessary and, therefore, proper. So, what is there for me to explain? In validating my violations the court followed its own tradition: it had validated similar, if not worse, violations committed by Gen Ziaul Haq, and Gen Ayub Khan. The chief justice of this honourable court is judging an action of mine which entailed his own dismissal. He is acting as a judge in his own cause.’
This reasoning was not presented to the court which examined Gen Musharraf’s imposition of emergency and held that it had been contrary to the constitution and so were many of the actions that flowed from it. The court declared that Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar’s appointment as chief justice had been unconstitutional and illegal as was that of the other judges who had taken oath under the PCO.
Thus, Chief Justice Chaudhry and his colleagues cleaned up their own house. A distinguished lawyer from Pakistan mentioned to me the other day that so thoroughly sweeping had the operation been as to have left the Lahore High Court with only seven judges (instead of more than 50 that it normally has).
The court has not gone beyond judicial house-cleaning. It did not touch Musharraf’s remaking of the country’s political system. It did not void the ordinances he had issued following the emergency and left it to parliament to do with them as it might deem fit. It repudiated some of Musharraf’s actions but did not hold him guilty of a crime and did not award him any punishment.
It may now be appropriate to take note of the damage caused by Gen Musharraf’s violations. Apart from the fact that he overthrew an elected government, set up a dictatorship and militarised the country’s governance, he amended its constitution on a huge scale and, in the process, mutilated it. Second, he weakened the nation’s political institutions by dissolving, suspending or ignoring them.
Following the general elections of February 2008, political forces in parliament and civil society demanded President Musharraf’s impeachment. With an elected government in place, he had lost much of his former authority and power by this time. Weakened and harassed, he resigned as president in August 2008. He resided in the Army House in Rawalpindi for a time and then moved to London where he now lives.
One may wonder how the general is occupying himself in London. Reports have it that he has been delivering speeches at various places on extremism and militancy and Pakistan’s ongoing fight to eradicate them. The president of a public relations firm said that he could command between $150,000 and $200,000 for each appearance. If this is the case, it would seem he is doing well for himself. The likelihood is that speaking invitations coming his way will decline, for he has probably exhausted the subject of extremism and his expertise does not include much else.
During the months preceding his retirement he discounted speculation that at some point he might enter politics. In fact he did have a strong association with Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and other leaders in PML-Q. He continues to have their support. He was recently reported to have met some and might have consulted them about his prospects in the politics of Pakistan a few years from now.
DAWN.COM | Pakistan | Musharraf in London
Shared via AddThis
The pension he received from Ayub Khan’s government did not go far and he worked in a middle management position in a hotel to supplement his income. He chose to remain silent on the affairs of Pakistan.Altaf Hussain, the MQM boss, has been living in London for a number of years now. He directs the affairs of his party in Pakistan from his offices in London. Other leaders, Benazir Bhutto among them, resided in London for periods of time. They commented on political developments in Pakistan and, while in London, tried to guide their followers back home.
Gen Pervez Musharraf has been residing in London, for some months and it is hard to say when he will return as doing so at present could be hazardous to his life and limb.
Revisiting recently the Nov 3 emergency the Supreme Court ‘invited’ (not summoned) Gen Musharraf to appear before court to explain his action. Considering that his Oct 12, 1999 coup and subsequent rule have led certain parties to call for his trial for treason under Article 6, it is easy to understand why he is inclined to stay on in London. He, accordingly, chose to ignore the Supreme Court’s invitation.
Had he returned to Pakistan and appeared in court, what could he have said? I imagine something along the following lines: ‘Yes, I executed a coup d’état on Oct 12, 1999 and I imposed emergency rule on November 3, 2007. Yes, in taking these actions I violated the constitution. But this honourable court validated my violations as extra-constitutional measures that had become necessary and, therefore, proper. So, what is there for me to explain? In validating my violations the court followed its own tradition: it had validated similar, if not worse, violations committed by Gen Ziaul Haq, and Gen Ayub Khan. The chief justice of this honourable court is judging an action of mine which entailed his own dismissal. He is acting as a judge in his own cause.’
This reasoning was not presented to the court which examined Gen Musharraf’s imposition of emergency and held that it had been contrary to the constitution and so were many of the actions that flowed from it. The court declared that Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar’s appointment as chief justice had been unconstitutional and illegal as was that of the other judges who had taken oath under the PCO.
Thus, Chief Justice Chaudhry and his colleagues cleaned up their own house. A distinguished lawyer from Pakistan mentioned to me the other day that so thoroughly sweeping had the operation been as to have left the Lahore High Court with only seven judges (instead of more than 50 that it normally has).
The court has not gone beyond judicial house-cleaning. It did not touch Musharraf’s remaking of the country’s political system. It did not void the ordinances he had issued following the emergency and left it to parliament to do with them as it might deem fit. It repudiated some of Musharraf’s actions but did not hold him guilty of a crime and did not award him any punishment.
It may now be appropriate to take note of the damage caused by Gen Musharraf’s violations. Apart from the fact that he overthrew an elected government, set up a dictatorship and militarised the country’s governance, he amended its constitution on a huge scale and, in the process, mutilated it. Second, he weakened the nation’s political institutions by dissolving, suspending or ignoring them.
Following the general elections of February 2008, political forces in parliament and civil society demanded President Musharraf’s impeachment. With an elected government in place, he had lost much of his former authority and power by this time. Weakened and harassed, he resigned as president in August 2008. He resided in the Army House in Rawalpindi for a time and then moved to London where he now lives.
One may wonder how the general is occupying himself in London. Reports have it that he has been delivering speeches at various places on extremism and militancy and Pakistan’s ongoing fight to eradicate them. The president of a public relations firm said that he could command between $150,000 and $200,000 for each appearance. If this is the case, it would seem he is doing well for himself. The likelihood is that speaking invitations coming his way will decline, for he has probably exhausted the subject of extremism and his expertise does not include much else.
During the months preceding his retirement he discounted speculation that at some point he might enter politics. In fact he did have a strong association with Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and other leaders in PML-Q. He continues to have their support. He was recently reported to have met some and might have consulted them about his prospects in the politics of Pakistan a few years from now.
DAWN.COM | Pakistan | Musharraf in London
Shared via AddThis
Saturday, August 8, 2009
History repeats itself
Earlier this week, I attended a talk about Islam and homosexuality at a medical school in Karachi. The very fact that medical practitioners, particularly psychiatrists, were gathering to discuss the subject piqued my interest. After all, a variety of psychological and physical ailments have been documented in patients who suppress or conceal their sexual identities in conservative societies.
But I was disappointed to learn that the lecturer was taking a historical perspective and simply tracing the history of homosexuality in Muslim societies. It would have been far more interesting to hear a debate about the prevalence of homosexuality in contemporary Muslim societies and consider ways in which psychiatrists and GPs respond to patients who are gay, and whether approaches differ if patients embrace their sexual identity or consider it an affliction.
Still, it was encouraging to see some acknowledgement within our local medical community that homosexuality is a phenomenon worth keeping in mind when dealing with patients (and what better place to start than at the very beginning). For readers who are now expecting a grand theological debate about whether homosexuality is permitted in Islam, feel free to click elsewhere on this website. That question is still up for debate, with some Muslim groups condemning homosexual acts as a sin and others arguing that it is natural, and therefore created and condoned by the Almighty. This post simply considers how Muslim societies deal with homosexuality in practice.
The fact that Muslim societies are struggling to figure out how to respond to homosexuals in their midst is perfectly illustrated by Iran. A few years ago, the country enraged human rights groups and made headlines when it publicly hung two young men – one 18, the other a minor – for being gay. Soon after, President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad further irked the global community by flat-out denying that there were any homosexuals in Iran. How then, the world asked, can you hang young men for something doesn’t exist and thus couldn’t have happened? Ahmedinejad’s – and Iran’s – confusion about what to do with homosexuals is widespread in the ummah – should Muslim societies seek out and punish homosexuals? Ignore their very existence? Or acknowledge that they live and – gasp! – worship in Muslim societies and therefore protect their human and constitutional rights?
To help address some of these questions, the lecturer went back in time to the Ottoman and Abbasid empires, during which homosexuality was commonly practiced and socially tolerated, though not explicitly legally protected. Back then, the lecturer explained, there were various reasons for homosexual behaviour (including lesbianism) being widespread.
Firstly, the legal system was multifaceted and did not take a decisive stand on homosexuality. Cases were judged either by the sultan’s law, common law or shariah, of which only the last had an opinion about homosexuality. Homosexuals were rarely taken to court on account of their homosexuality – if they did end up before a judge or qazi, it was for another social transgression (such as disturbing the peace). According to the lecturer, and here I summarise, the thinking at the time was that people’s sexuality was no one’s business unless they made a nuisance of themselves. Qazis who did pass judgement on homosexuals usually did not punish them for their sexuality per se, but for their conduct with regards to social norms (so, if someone abducted a young boy or committed a sexual act near a school, they would be punished for kidnapping or indecency and not for homosexuality).
Legal crackdowns on homosexuals during various Islamic empires were also few and far between because the burden of proof on the accuser was immense. As Brian Whitaker sums it up for The Guardian:
Furthermore, the levels of proof required by Islamic law are so high that if the rules are properly applied no one need ever be convicted unless they do something extremely blatant, like having sex in the street in broad daylight.
The lecturer also explained that if a person accused someone else of homosexuality and was not able to muster up the required evidence or witnesses, they would be permanently discredited and prohibited from testifying before any shariah court again.
In addition to legal laxity, homosexuality was prevalent in the Islamic empires because the cultures prescribed to a ‘one sex model’ in which conceptions of beauty were the same for men and women. The lecturer showed several miniature paintings from the Abbasid era in which men and women were indistinguishable (check out this famous illustration of Shah Abbas with a wine boy). Men would wear make up and drape themselves in gowns and jewels while women with downy mustaches were considered the most attractive (apparently, women would paint on mustaches to seem more comely!) Youth – rather than femininity or masculinity – was idealised, thereby eliminating the taboo around homosexual relationships.
Given the permissive attitudes of previous Muslim societies, how then did we get to a point where minors can be hung for being gay? The lecturer argued (convincingly, I might add) that present-day homophobia in Muslim societies is a fallout of the colonial encounter. Her logic relied on several premises.
Firstly, Europe subscribed to the ‘two sex model’ in which women were feminine and desired by men. Secondly, at the end of the eighteenth century, Europe, which was at the tail end of the Enlightenment, had reconfigured homosexuality from being a ‘sin’ into an ‘abnormality.’ When Catholicism was dominant, homosexuals were sinning against God, and could thus be managed (all that was needed was for them to confess their sin and atone by saying a few Hail Marys). As rationalism and science replaced God, homosexuality became a medical disorder, which was more threatening and harder to ‘cure’. Therefore, when ascendant European powers began to infiltrate the Muslim empires, homosexuality in the West was considered abnormal and inappropriate.
Now, as Muslims began traveling to Europe – which by this point was more progressive and wealthy than the Ottoman and Persian empires, and in some cases beginning to colonise the eastern powers – they saw that homosexual practices that were common and acceptable in their societies were considered abnormal in the West. They also began to wonder whether this ‘abnormal’ behaviour was not the cause of their weakness in the face of European colonialists. It was these initial encounters that began to taint the practice of homosexuality in Muslim societies.
And the rest, as they say, is history. With references to present-day Muslim societies and their attitudes towards homosexuality, Whitaker writes:
Nevertheless, while attitudes towards homosexuality in the west over the last few decades have generally been liberalising, Muslim countries have been moving in the opposite direction. This is largely a result of international politics. Perceptions of a domineering west, coupled with fears of globalisation and modernity have brought a revival of imagined “customs and traditions”, along with the spread of rigid and puritanical versions of religion.
The phenomenon he describes, however, is not that recent. According to the lecturer, as Muslim empires were colonised, they laid claim to the one thing that their colonial masters had not tainted and could not influence – Islam. And this they began to cling to in its most extreme and literal version. Since the mid-nineteenth century, then, Muslim societies have been largely anti-gay. Shariah courts that would previously disregard homosexual acts came to punish them harshly.
Or that, at least is the perception. Hearing the lecturer speak about the attitude towards homosexuals in the Ottoman and Abbasid empires, I couldn’t help but see parallels with modern-day Pakistan. Admittedly, there are no openly gay men in our society (and if there are, they suffer the consequences of social isolation, professional discrimination, and in many cases, arranged marriages which result in psychological trauma both for the man and the unfortunate woman he marries).
At the same time, though, we have Begum Nawazish Ali on our airwaves, hijras on every street corner, young ‘maalish walas’ at every roundabout, Dostana in our cinemas, innumerable curse words for homosexual men in our vernacular, and foppish characters in every comic skit. As Irfan Husain puts it:
This aspect of human sexuality is rampant in our part of the world, much as we would like to sweep it under the carpet….
Despite our prudish pretence, the fact is that we are relatively tolerant of homosexual behaviour. Our literature contains many references to romantic attachment between men. And for years, homosexuality in Pashtun society has been an open secret, although it might well be exaggerated. According to local tradition, many men live by the credo “Women for duty; boys for pleasure.”
While social mores condemn homosexuality and Pakistan’s didactic middle-class says ‘tauba tauba’ at the very thought of same-sex relations, we are thankfully not at the stage where there are witch-hunts for homosexuals. It seems as if the historic Muslim attitude towards gay men applies here too – out of sight, out of mind. As long as homosexuals don’t fly rainbow flags from atop the Teen Talwar, we don’t mind if they’re in our midst.
Indeed, as long as homosexuals are willing to preserve the façade of a heterosexual social order in which men and women get married and have babies, they probably have little to fear (at least in terms of prosecution and state punishment – society’s righteousness is another matter altogether). What this status quo denies them, though, is the option of ever celebrating their sexual identity. Gay pride is something I do not see on the horizon for homosexuals in Pakistan. But in an age where regard for human rights should trump all, they deserve better than that. One can only hope that the current era of don’t-ask-don’t-tell tolerance evolves into something more progressive and open. Sadly, looking at present-day Pakistan as it abandons social tolerance for blind extremism, it seems as if history truly is fated to repeat itself.
By Huma Yusuf @ Dawn Blog