10 Quick Fixes to Pakistan

1. Throw the garbage into a dustbin. I know we are not living in a state where we could afford or even think of having trash bins at every nook and corner of a street, but just for the sake of saving our off springs from some unheard and incurable diseases, maintain cleanliness to your extent. To start with something, bring home the cans and burger boxes with you whilst coming back from an outdoor exertion and give it the place it deserve.

2. No matter how stupid it sounds but yes switching off the light as you come out of your room can help in overcoming a large fraction of energy crisis we are facing.

3. Water hydrates the skin; it doesn’t mean that the water going into the drain unused will help in anyway getting that perfect glow. Realize that you are wasting a lifesaving resource that could quench the thirst of many, if you use it responsibly. Every drop counts so you better don't let the faucet run while you are soaping up.

4. We all know corruption has deeply seeped into every stratum of the society and is very much common in our daily lives but still once in a blue moon saying no to that under-the-table deal doesn’t really cost you much.

5. Let’s accept the fact that bypassing meters, meter-tampering and direct hooking on the electricity poles or in common terms using “kunda” are all electricity thefts and a very serious crime. The fact that everyone else is doing it very conveniently makes it more irresistible to holdback. But if everyone else is going into the gutter that doesn’t mean that you are also ought to follow them.

6. Work, work and only work. This is not me; this is what our Quaid said before bestowing this land to us. But alright giving some space to our life-is-to-enjoy theory, at least just don’t sit idol in the parks for hours with your better or better-not half to watch the birds fly. I mean at the end of it you never know what she is actually looking at.

7. Stop behaving irrationally. We know that we are so exhausted and helpless by the never ending train of problems rushing to us that we never miss a chance to puff out our frustration. But that doesn’t mean that you set your neighbor’s car on fire just because your telephone bill exceeds your expectations.

8. Stop fighting on non-issues. Religion, ethnicity, caste, social values and political philosophy could also be followed without abusing the other person’s beliefs. Anyone who can see an angle other than yours is not your enemy. Give yourself a break. Think in a broader perspective and accept that we all are different and therefore we think and behave differently. If He can give us that privilege than who are we pointing out fingers on each other?

9. Start saying truth to yourself. Yes we are living in an “Islamic Republic” but that is not actually who we are. After thinking about all the above mentioned characteristics that we have, it’s hard to say that we are in any way better or any notch above than the non-Islamic republicans. It’s difficult to say that even after becoming accustomed to all worst possible ways of leading a life we’ll ended up in heaven. But to see the brighter side, it also doesn’t mean that nothing could be done about it.

10. Love and respect, that’s all we need from each other. No matter how vulnerable we are and whatever we have done to this place, we still belong to it. Your own cottage is always more contented than someone else’s kingdom. Stay here and make this a better place to live!

Truth, Lies and the grey areas

There would not be a single hand standing on the side which says that it is good to tell a lie. No matter to what religion, cast or nationality we belong to, in the end we all mutually believe and agree that everyone should speak truth. But then what about the third kind? The ridicule of the truth itself is that there are hardly any circumstances where we say either a truth or a lie. Delicacy of the situation, wrong timings, selfishness, fear, concern, love and hate are some of the reasons forcing us to mold the truth in a design that it doesn’t fit in any of the above category. We call it the Grey Areas!

Manipulating truth is sometimes as indispensable as breathing air. But how to decide that when it is necessary to do this expurgation and when it isn’t? That is something that could vary from one individual to the other. Generally the molding that we do for our own interests is considered to be unjust, but then again who is going to decide? Our politicians, bureaucrats, civil servants and even common people have their own grey areas. For people like lawyers, exploitation of truth is the bread and butter. Hence, from the ruler to the one, sitting at a fruit stall everyone feels it their astuteness to manage saying what sounds good!

We find many people who declare that they can not stand a lie. The question that is needed to be asked here is that are they really willing to listen to a naked reality and what if it is about there own self? The answer is by and large in negative. We want to listen what we like. From inside we hope and pray that it may turn out to be true and when that doesn’t happen we tend to start behaving irrationally. On the other hand grey areas suit everyone. It is a convenient option that makes us feel satisfied and glad at the end of it. The thing is that we prefer to pick the truths of our own choice.

A leader will sing odes of love for humanity and expresses his desperation to spread peace and justice on the land. He definitely wants to do that, till the time he doesn’t get a hold on the seat of his dreams. After then of course priorities are different. One party shout aloud to reveal the scratchiest facts of the rival party but ignores even the crystal clear realities of their own dark sides in order to gain sympathies of masses. Contempt of court, suo-moto, reconciliations, memo-gate and all the other ongoing hit numbers of the court rooms are also revolving around the stretching and molding of truth. They twist the fact in a way that it goes in there favor and neglect the one that is against their respectable clients.

Likewise a marketing head of a company tells you all the good things about his product, but what about the bad ones? No, they are sternly trained that the bad things are supposed to be discussed only in the board meetings and then are better being forgotten. In the same way a shopkeeper put all the fresh peaces on the top of the counter and once you get your eyes off, he’ll add few of the rotten ones in your bag as well. Hiding is not lying right!

And then the news channels playing tug-of-war with each other, philanthropically raising death tolls before proper substantiation and exploiting non issues to get their ratings and to claim the number one slot are also part of the game.

Thus, in the end we can safely say that we never lie, it is just the other way out to get things done!

From Patriot-ism to Party-ism

"Roti, kapra aur makan, mang raha hay herr insan"

"khpala khawra khpal ikhtiar” (Our Land, Our rights)"

"Qadam bharao Nawaz Sharif, Hum tumharay saath hain"

"Jo Quaid Ka Ghaddar Hay Wo Maut Ka Haqdarr hay"

Sorry if anybody is being overlooked, as these are the most common slogans that we see zealous and energetic people chanting on the streets, outside the assemblies, in colourful rallies and during the blood-spattering protests around the country. With all the bad things involved with this slogan-culture, what is required to be praised here is the commitment and devotion of these people towards their respective parties. Without any discrimination, every party worker no matter what he is going through in his personal life due to the party hassles, always ended up saying that his party is the most steadfast and effective group of the country and he is proud to be a part of it. 

These passionate people are so blindly in love with their Quaids that they don’t even take a back in a do or die situation. Killing and being killed has never been an out-of-question scenario for them. Just a thump from their leader would be motivating enough for them to get out of their houses and start combating even against the police, army or the state itself. These (generally poor) people who have no else power in life get very keyed up after getting this new and first-in-a-lifetime right in their hands. This is the very first time that they have a guideline, a book of principle (no matter right or wrong) and a common path to move on. So, they try to prove theirselves and work on a sole purpose that is, to give supremacy to their party. They do it without even thinking that this power would only leave them with a hand full of arms but a pocket without a penny. 

In this love-makes-the-world-go-round saga, we could only think that why the very same people are not as enthusiastic and fervent about their own country? Why is that, we don’t see people who say Jo Mulk Ka Ghaddar Hay Wo Maut Ka Haqdarr hay? That is may be because this attitude will force them to agree with the people who might belong to the other cast or party, but are saying the truth. They, then have to stand for justice, rather than their party agenda. People would be free to think and to say what they want to, despite of defending their leaders’ ideologies. People, no matter what cast they belong to, would start gathering on common grounds, and will quit the politics of disagreement.

-Responsibility and respect of others and their religious beliefs are also part of freedom-

Political parties’ disrespect towards each other is one of the main causes of anarchy in our country. No it doesn’t mean that there is something wrong in having reservations or diversification of ideas between two individuals, nor there is an issue to have a leader for guidance. The problem arises when you start acting as a blind conformist of  a particular figure of power.  The dilemma is that in this sightless following, those who are supposed to strive for peoples’ rights start skirmishing on non-issues. Why is it that a party member has to disagree even on the issue where there is nothing to differ on? To show loyalty toward their leader they forget to differentiate between the right and wrong. This eventually ends up in cutting the throat of their own brothers.

A party should be a tool to make people work for their county, but somehow people surrender themselves for the party, to work as a tool against others, completely ignoring the responsibility of striving for the country. Till date, rivalry between groups has caused great social and political disarray and countless ethnic killings in this part of land. The sad part is that even religious sectarian parties have also led to violence in the society. The need of the time is to evaluate your leadership, to check that either your party is taking you towards a nationalistic struggle or the war of their own interests.

It is very important to regain peace in the society that members of all political parties shall conduct themselves in a manner that respects the rights and democratic interests of all citizens, political parties and shall avoid behavior that brings the whole electoral system into disgrace!

Economic Gain Costing Nature’s Loss

Global Warming is a term not hidden from anyone living in the 21st century. Mother Earth is heading towards destruction in the fastest way possible. Earth has given us all what we have and all we could ever ask for. We grow our food, feed our cattle, construct our buildings, run our industries and earn money to live the best life possible here. But sometimes our urge to earn money, attain luxuries and to give our kids a noble life, force us to start damaging the core of it all, Earth.

In 2011, the International Resource Panel, hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme warned that by 2050, the human race could devour 140 billion tons of minerals, ores, fossil fuels and biomass per year – three times its current appetite –

There is a need that countries should start comparing their economic growth with their natural resources’ consumption and try to lessen the stake of nature to gain fiscal stability, as the task is not only the reduction of the usage of natural assets but also to  overcome the nature’s loss that we have earn in the past decades. It has also been noted that a citizen  of a developed or a so-called flourishing country consumes resources more rapidly as compare to the one living in the under-developed or developing states of the world. The above research also noted:

Developed country citizens consume an average of 16 tons of those four key resources per capita (ranging up to 40 or more tons per person in some developed countries). By comparison, the average person in India today consumes four tons per year.

Wastage generated by the industries is not only infecting our atmosphere but also our own bodies. We inhale the air that is manipulated with harmful gases. In United States, about 40 percent of chemical fertilizers used break down into ammonia and are released into the air. Here the example of the USA has been given because according to economic theories Western states are the most literate and rich lands of the world. But the dark truth is that they are the most demanding child of the Mother Earth as well.

Water, air and fire are the main factors of the presence of life on the earth. These are the essence of our presence, the reasons of our survival and our hope for our future. Without nature we couldn’t think of taking a single breath at this place that we call earth. But we are dragging it to the state of the other planets very vigorously, where the severity or scantiness of even one of these factors have made it impossible for a living creature to survive. A drop of water or even a slight evidence of the presence of oxygen  takes us to the farthest part of the galaxy with our technologies, but we are least  interested to safe our own land which is filled with the immense power of nature and the miraculous ability to hold so many creatures at the same time, including us.

We are so much addicted in the thirst of earning sumptuousness and growing the power of economy that we couldn’t see that in the end we would be left only with a hand full of money but no more air to breathe, not a single drop of water to drink and a barren earth to walk on.

Therefore, there is an urgent need to get hold of our actual assets and bona fide reasons behind our own survival. May be today it would be difficult for us to switch off the light  before we came out of the room but thinking about our offspring would make it easier to  do so. None of us would want to give our kids a future with no more resources for living left!

Another heart-hitting fact is that the status of the world’s seabirds has deteriorated rapidly over recent decades and several species and many populations are now perilously close to extinction. We are all responsible for releasing detrimental gases into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels for transportation (driving and flying) and home energy (electricity, heating, and cooling). This leads to global warming, which is destroying Earth's fertility and our ecosystem. 

To get rid of these crises there is a need that we start reducing usage of fossil fuels, burning the most important natural resource for transportation purposes, protecting our forests and growing trees in urban and deforested areas. These minor steps might not seem good enough to overcome the massive destruction we have made, but as you see the larger picture this would definitely help in taking a step forward toward the betterment of the environment. The message from the earth is “keep the status quo ante”

AN INTERDEPENDANT WOMAN

Being a woman, asking for the right to live, learn, work, or to have the independence to decide or choose what is good for you is an old lore now.  No it doesn’t mean that you are being asked to give a deaf ear to the prevailing problems women are facing in our society, that include sexual violence, trafficking, dowry abuse, domestic violence, acid throwing and other ways of humiliation and chastisement adapted in the name of religion, honor and even love. Moreover endemic issues such as unfair lack of employment or poor education couldn’t also be left unaddressed. But here, we need to come up with a more progressive approach which could be acceptable for both the genres of the society and would be a win/win situation for two different kinds of people living in almost the same spectrum. It could be considered the next step taken, once women get what they deserve since a long very time.

“Every power comes with a greater responsibility”. Once you achieve your liberation, you need to realize, what actually it comes with. A liberal person is not the one who embraces his rights and is free to do whatever he wants. This rather, is a more matured and accountable phase of life. Liberation means that now you have the authority. You are on the decision-making side. Many people around you would be looking towards you, to find out that how you will manage this privilege, and whether this power would make you an improved and prolific human being or not.

Here, the term “Interdependent” comes up. An interdependent person is the one who is emotionally, economically and morally responsible for the other participants. Being new in the business you have to learn the ethics of being liberal. You need to understand how decisions are made and how rights are disseminated. Being at the same path you would also get a better understanding of what a man has to go through to fulfill the needs and desires of the family and of an over all society. With the experience of others you could also amalgamate your individual and miraculous visualization to find your own course, which has never been used or thought to be used before.

The so-called “liberal” people in our society generally talk about “giving” freedom to women. This is to tell them that the term “giving” in itself is an under-statement. An empowered and interdependent woman, where at one hand clearly knows her personal and professional responsibilities, she also has a decent knowledge of her own rights and privileges.  

“A right is not what someone gives you; it’s what no one can take away from you” Recognize your strengths and overcome your weaknesses. This fact needs to be understood and accepted that man and woman have two different mindsets and equally different temperaments of dealing with the issues of life; a glass half-filled could be a glass half-empty for the other. A new man at a place faces a lot of obstacles in the beginning, but once he proves his worth and makes his place, people automatically starts counting him as a part of the land. You also being new in the field of liberation and taking “the” authority in you hands would face many rejections and failures, but eventually when you understand the rules of the game, it will not take you too long to get what you want.

The last step is to handling the success and to controlling your powers. An enduring victory is the one that doesn’t leave you alone, rather it gives benefits to the masses; mutual benefits are what we talking about. Being a woman, you genetically know the art of managing relationships very well. To get the win/win situation, always make this ability your strength.

Liberty and progress is not about dominating or winning a race. It is rather about the prosperity and progress of the society as a whole. Strive becomes easier when intentions are good. Keep your goals clear and heads high. The change you are looking for has to come one day. Till then, keep pushing!

THE HARDLINES

Talking about religion with someone is a big task to take on your shoulder. I personally try to avoid it as much as I can to prevent myself hurting people’s feelings that they very firmly have about “THEIR” Deen.

But yesterday, I was caught to talk about what “I” think of religion. Having very cower knowledge of his ideologies, I played safe to say that everyone has his own understanding about religion and everyone has his right to work according to his belief.  That guy rejected my idea by saying that these are the reasons that we Muslims are divided into sects, and don’t have a single PATH. To agonies him more I said that what is wrong in having sections, people are segmented in the whole world in social, moral and spiritual values, and that is their right. Problem arises when you don’t let them do what they believe in and force them to follow a single idea, which is practically not possible.  

The conversation than turned to the topic of “Jihad”. He said that we should do Jihad, as that is why we Muslims have been sent to this world. This time I agreed with him and said that we should do Jihad by getting good education, helping people and by trying to be a good human being. But he argued that we as Muslims have a bigger responsibility of spreading the message of Allah among the mankind and preaching Islam to the whole world. I replied that even being nice to people and getting educated, is a fine way of portraying the real image of Islam and proving that we are good Muslims. He didn’t like the idea of me assimilating the general social ethics with religion. According to him religion could not be defined through these petty things and there is lot more involved with it.

To extinguish the fire, he ended up the conversation on a note that it’s not easy to learn the true essence of religion and left the chat. Even as our impulsive conversation abruptly ends, I kept on thinking about it and that where I had been wrong. The conclusion was that did I actually ever try to find out what God wants to tell me or why He has sent me to this world? The answer was no. We could have our own ways of finding God and the reason of our presence, but have we ever tried looking for Him? We have a right to choose our own path but let’s just start by taking the first step, “LEARN”. By your understanding and by the miraculous power of your mind that God has bestowed on you, find your way, draw your line, but kindly, not the HARD ONE!

Life At Stake

The most dangerous thing in this part of the world these days is to make a living for you and your family, and those who manage to do it in a less then 6-digit wage are on the red line. No, it is not about the next-to-routine suicidal attacks or the killings of bystanders and those travelling through buses or other public vehicles, whose slaughtering are abruptly termed as “target killing”. Nor this bloodshed is committed by the hands of religious fanatics, professional shooters or by the political workers who for the sake of a handful amount and the gain of their unseen, unheard leaders spread anarchy in the society. This butchering is rather by the ones of our own kind, the ones who share the same pain and the same suffering that we do; they are our own fellow citizens.

Passing by a road in the morning forced me to see a truck crushing a bike rider brutally, just to break the traffic law and go by first. The traffic constable standing just on the side of the road also seems helpless to take any action against this fatal crime. Few people showing all-what-they-can-do attitude, give the poor man, stuck in his curved-on bike, a helping hand. The middle-age rider, holding his broken feet couldn’t do anything else except crying on his own fate.

A man in our society is not just an individual human being, but he is also a bread-earner of a whole family. Moreover he could be called the lead runner of the house that includes women, children and infants. A house, where the women have no strength and liberty to being on their own, they need a man in all frames of life to move respectably in the society, where government is busy in its own blame game and have no time at all to provide any facility to the common man. A man who is giving his sweat and blood to the economy, and just get a fraction of it that hardly fulfils his family’s necessities.

It’s not hard to accept the numbness of the government as they don’t have a least understanding of the pain through which a common man is going through but how could our own brothers who suffer the same throbbing everyday. The ones who are the equal bearer of the burden of foreign loans that has been enforced on them to fulfil the lavish expenditure of the people, who proudly call themselves “Khadim of Awam”, and who are sunken in the same day to day issues that includes load-shedding, gas outage, sub-standard medicines, contaminated food, corruption and many more, could do this act of cruelty.

Is that because we are equally responsible for the prevailing situation of the country? Is that because we our self don’t care about the future of our offspring? Is that because we have the same “who cares” attitude that our leaders have about every issue? If that is the case, then who can stand to criticize the government for this entire massacre, who could complain for the ruined system if we our own self are a huge part of it. Every revolution begins from within. To win every battle you need to work on your own character first before pointing fingers on others. Respect life and what comes with it or otherwise this dormancy will suck our own blood one day.