A Better Tomorrow

Justice...Peace....Law and Order....

These words sound like a lot of baloney to an ordinary Pakistani and quite frankly, they ring so empty within the current government framework. We, as a nation, have been left to brave the elements, whether they are social, economic or political. In the past, such a system led to anarchy and chaos around the world, and in some cases it even paved the way for rebellion. But somehow, we seem to be handling ourselves quite nicely. We have kept the act together and have been progressing on slowly. We have become so good at this that we even have the courage to look into the eye of the storm - that is terrorism. We have now a long list of heroes, who sacrificed themselves just to protect others. There are many examples of individual officers of the law, who believed in the greater good and gave up their last breath just so that this country could see a better tomorrow....

But I'm afraid I don't see a better tomorrow anywhere over the horizon and neither do I find any reason that can justify all the deaths of civilians and officers in the name of peace...I searched high and looked down low, and all I could come up with were just empty promises made by the Government to negotiate for peace...I feel humbled by the magnitude of the sacrifices of all the daredevils for something they believed in so strongly despite the failures of every political party that comes to power. How can anybody believe in the greater good, when the bad is so obviously in control of everything that is around us? I am not a pessimist but being realistic is not very helpful either :p

Eversince this year started, we have been losing officers and civilians hither thither but did that even raise an eyebrow in the higher offices? I don't think so.....The few good men that we do have are being targeted by God knows whom and for what nefarious conspiracies. The stakes are getting so high in our country because we seem to be having the interest of so many countries around the world. Somebody disappears and somebody reappears...we get aid and we get a kick in the nuts...somebody does good and somebody gets blown up...we have laurels bestowed upon one talented girl and we get ignored for hundreds of other talented girls...we really have no idea what's going on......

But then we go through this every day and we bear with all the crap just so that we get to see a better tomorrow that comes with the sunrise of fulfilled dreams, the open skies of justice, the songs of peace and the vistas of progress. Yup...tomorrow please be better than today.

Changing Hats

Every once in a while you are reminded of something you used to do when younger and then you stop to ponder why did you quit doing it. Did you grow out of the habit? Or did you just forget all about it? I have reached that juncture in my life when there are many things that make me nostalgic and it shocks me how much I have changed and adapted to the new happenings around me. I have taken on new roles and have become more of a shape-shifter to suit the situation...and in the process, I have lost focus of who I really am!

I'm sure you do go about changing hats too..you try to be a good parent, good sibling, good spouse and never have the opportunity to be the carefree person you were when you did not have to fit into either of these hats. Living for just yourself sounds so selfish but you do envy the people who do exactly that :p Bearing the brunt of all the added responsibilities is a tall order but one way or the other you have to summon all your strength to become the mature adult that you are expected to! That is the trouble of shifting into adulthood....

When you are a small child you dream of becoming as big as the adults around you and think that will be the true fun of life. You hate the books you have to study and despise the puny toys you get to play with. You think your big brother gets the best of everything just because he's older than you. Being taller seems to be the only way to compete with the adults. You wanna drive cars and enjoy all the big things. But then you do not know these things come with the heavy pricetag of responsibility. You never notice how your dad holds his head in frustration when he pays the bills. You never realize how hard your mother has to work the whole day to keep the household together. You never feel the pressure of your elder siblings at dealing with burdens of studying and adjusting within the society. That really is the time of your life, when everything is so simple and there's nothing to fret about besides a broken toy or hurt knee. There's always the hope of daddy getting you a new toy or getting mommy to kiss your tears away. But what do you do when mommy and daddy are no longer there to walk you through life...and when you have to step in their shoes and be the tower of strength that they used to be for you? Changing that hat is the toughest one....

The Good..The Bad...The Ugly...

Sometimes you give everything you got to please another person but somehow in the end all your efforts are for naught and you end up being the bad guy....does it mean you are pathetic at pleasing others? Or does it mean the other person is not worth all the effort? Seriously, over the years I have gained a treasure trove of experience in handling different sorts of people but still find it difficult to discern if the other person needs to be treated nicely or not. Some people don't need your goodness or your cooperation...what they really need is a piece of your mind :p

Some relations are a painful reminder of how vulnerable you are to manipulation and moral extortion because your social duty stipulates you to be good. If you quit that duty you are bad but if you keep on trying valiantly to fulfill it...you are definitely bad. The ugly side of affairs is unveiled when you observe a person least bothered with duties or social opinions. You realize that only those who blatantly refuse to be good are the ones who get the most respect and reverence. You will be shocked to know that those who are full of themselves are the ones who get pampered the most. There is no end to their tantrums but they still get their way in everything. Those who enjoy emotionally trampling others are the ones who get supported most often. You have been trying to be good all along...believing something worthwhile will come out of it and you see the bad guys getting all the good stuff...now isn't that ugly?

Then when you have run out of reasons to be good...you look up and feel Someone watching you...He knows how hard you have tried...He never forgets what you do because His memory does not fail Him like us humans...He tells you to keep on doing what you are doing because that is why He put you on this earth...then you want to be good for Him. To Him we will all return...either good or bad or ugly.

Bare Sentiments

Engraved upon my hands

The lines called fate

Running away like sands

Memories filled with hate

The silence calls halt

Their smiles are hideous

'Tis not their fault

They be only envious

All that I possessed

Clubbed to death

To become obsessed

Till the last breath

My hope, my refuge

Lie in only one

Ah but time's deluge

Will leave behind none

Every body's Favourite Bully

USA has been digging its own grave ever since it tried to "free" Vietnam from the clutches of Communism. It laid out its coffin with the invasion of Afghanistan and hammered down the last nail with the attack on Iraq. It even crafted its own tombstone with Egyptian and Libyan interferences. And now, I get the feeling that the story of how USA fell apart is going to be written with the blood of the helpless Muslims of Syria. Its funeral sermon will be quite a tale...

After the conclusion of the Cold War and the demise of USSR, America has strived very hard to become every body's favourite bully. It has ruthlessly been breaching the sovereignty of every country it considers a ‘threat to national security’. The Homeland that it holds sacred is usually under threat from countries that are located thousands of miles away from it and are economically challenged, politically destabilized, technologically outdated, militarily pathetic and above all are Muslims states. The threat level is deemed grave every time…Sometimes it is Al-Qaida, sometimes its Weapons of Mass Destruction and now its deadly sarin gas…I wonder who created this deadly sarin gas in the first place?? Oh! Let me guess…it was America! Strange coincidence! First it creates these potential threats then it wants to thwart them for the whole world to see.

Why does America run amok on the poor innocent people, to whom it has promised freedom from oppression? Why does it waste its own resources on ruining the countries that it seeks to help? Why can’t America be the ‘nice guy’ and build schools, roads and hospitals for the needy people instead? Or is that too much to ask from a pig-headed superpower, which sends its Marines on baseless Crusades? The Syrians will die for a country that somehow became the focus of America's wrath and the Marines will die for a country that was not even endangered at any point in time. Makes you feel sorry for both sides doesn’t it?

Looks can be deceiving

Every now and then you meet someone you instantly admire due to their attire and style but the moment you converse with them and discover their mentality, you are totally put off! This has happened to me so many times that I wonder why can't people have an appearance that matches their personality? I know people who portray themselves to be very modern and adorn themselves with the latest fashion clothes and have an English accent to their way of talking...but their vision is very narrow and they don't even know what their life is about. They think anybody who says their prayers and observes fast is out-dated and boring. They think just because they have education, whatever they think is correct. On the other hand, I have met people who look very religious due to their external Islamic get-up and vocal projection of Islam but their knowledge is limited to just a few books and they still do what others do but in a manner that they claim is Islamic. They do not practice what they preach and do not bother to figure out the true meaning of the teachings of Islam. They think just because they are carrying the banner of Islam, they have the right to denounce everybody else's belief and philosophy.

Why can't people understand that being modern is not just limited to fashion and English but it is to have a broad-minded approach towards other people and the events going on around them? Why is it that being religious is to just wear an abaaya or have a beard and not understand what our beautiful religion teaches us about humanity and equality? Islam is a religion that teaches both modernity and chasteness at the same time. It does not stop advancement of science and technology and neither does it ask for extermination of all those who behave or think differently. We have been asked to give space to others rather than impose ourselves on them. We as Muslims have not been told to live without the good things of life but have been told to do so wisely. It is not our job to kill people from other religions but it is our responsibility to set a good example for them to create a positive impression. Islam is not what the local and international media portrays...that is people waving Kalashnikovs and waging so called Jihad. It is you and me...it is every person doing his job honestly, it is every child obeying his parents, it is every mother tending to her children, it is every ruler ruling with justice, it is every man offering his prayers and above all it is the rhythm and harmony of nature. You can only see all this if you rise above all your self-imposed standards of superficial modernity or psuedo-piousness. 

High-profile Shenanigans

It takes guts to wave two guns - Lara Croft style - and hurl a mouthful of pointless and meaningless nonsense at an army of armed policemen, media personnel and civilians...but Mr. Sikander did it... for nearly five hours! Talk about high-profile shenanigans :p He may have been high on drugs at the start but I'm sure the media attention went to his head after the first hour! His state of mind isn't hard to understand because a sane man is not so prone to staging Mexican standoffs at such a large scale....especially with his family's safety at stake. The hapless man's wife seemed to be playing multiple parts of a shady sidekick, the innocent intermediary and the unwilling hostage. I do feel sorry for his children because they are the true victims...It is their misfortune to witness the shameful gimmicks of their father and be exposed to all the violence at such a tender age. The reckless bravery of the Good Samaritan, Mr. Zamurd Khan, ultimately saved the day...which leaves me to wonder, what was the purpose of the entire episode...Was it just chowder for the media? Was some deep dark conspiracy unfolding behind this incident? Or was it simply a mad man on the loose? It was an obvious failing of the security forces present because if it hadn't been for the death-defying stunt of Mr. Zamurd Khan, we would still be the unwilling audience of "The Phonebooth" sequel.
The incident leaves a lot to the imagination...The exclusive footage on the news channels did help the imagination along but somehow the more we see, the less we seem to know...