Thursday, October 7, 2010
My Condolences
The misguided anti Muslim, anti Islamic, anti Human, anti God, pro Lucifer, followers of Abu Jahal and Abu Lahab struck yet another disastrous and deadly blow to the nation and the ummah by attacking the shrine of Hazrat Abdullah Shah Ghazi (r.a) today. May the souls of the deceased rest in peace in Jannah, may the injured recover quick back to health and may the worshipers of the devil, perpetrators of such a heinous inhumane crime burn in the deepest darkest corner of Hell for eternity (ameen).
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Mother Road
As i walk on the road of life heading towards my unknown destination predefined in the books of destiny, i can't help but wonder where are we heading as a nation? I mean we are a nation of people who are unnaturally attracted towards the road itself and the least bit bothered about the destination. Our fascination and fixation with the road began as soon as we chose to travel on the road to freedom in the August of 1947.
With the passage of time a sad road centric culture has unfortunately developed in our country. For example we record our protest on the road, we celebrate on the road, we take our frustrations out on the road, we express anger on the road, we throw garbage on the road, we spit on the road, we use the road as a latrine, we pray on the road, we burn tires and vehicles on the road, we fight on the road, we hold naming ceremonies for the road as if it was our own child, we rename the road as per our requirements, we rally on the road, we use the road as an income generating machine by digging and rebuilding it, we express joy on the road and often we use the road to travel from point A to B.
For us the road to happiness is the road itself, for our political parties the worst case scenario is having no M.A Jinnah Road to lead a protesting mob, for our small business owners the road provides ample opportunities to encroach and establish a business, for our police men the road provides for them "Bhatta" from the "Theas" and public transport buses, for the beggars a good spot on the road means a handsome monthly tax free income, for the homeless the road provides shelter, for the hungry the road has enough food to feed them and for our leaders the road is a perfect place to lie, cheat and steal.
Come to think of it the road is very much like our mother, it provides food, clothing and shelter for us and loves us unconditionally and we in-turn show our gratitude by hurting and destroying it whenever we feel like doing so similarly like we treat our real mother's. I hope our fascination with the road ends soon so we can focus and concentrate our energy on the things which are more important than using the road for our own demented personal objectives.
With the passage of time a sad road centric culture has unfortunately developed in our country. For example we record our protest on the road, we celebrate on the road, we take our frustrations out on the road, we express anger on the road, we throw garbage on the road, we spit on the road, we use the road as a latrine, we pray on the road, we burn tires and vehicles on the road, we fight on the road, we hold naming ceremonies for the road as if it was our own child, we rename the road as per our requirements, we rally on the road, we use the road as an income generating machine by digging and rebuilding it, we express joy on the road and often we use the road to travel from point A to B.
For us the road to happiness is the road itself, for our political parties the worst case scenario is having no M.A Jinnah Road to lead a protesting mob, for our small business owners the road provides ample opportunities to encroach and establish a business, for our police men the road provides for them "Bhatta" from the "Theas" and public transport buses, for the beggars a good spot on the road means a handsome monthly tax free income, for the homeless the road provides shelter, for the hungry the road has enough food to feed them and for our leaders the road is a perfect place to lie, cheat and steal.
Come to think of it the road is very much like our mother, it provides food, clothing and shelter for us and loves us unconditionally and we in-turn show our gratitude by hurting and destroying it whenever we feel like doing so similarly like we treat our real mother's. I hope our fascination with the road ends soon so we can focus and concentrate our energy on the things which are more important than using the road for our own demented personal objectives.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Funny People
Today i was stuck in a terribly bad traffic jam at Tibet Centre for about a painful hour or so. Since i had nothing else to do besides inhaling toxic fumes coming from the buses, listening to the god-awful, psychologically torturing noise coming from the rickshaws and noticing how motorcycle riders will do anything to get passed the traffic jam by using the footpath as the 4th lane of traffic or by being a nuisance zigzagging in front of other cars, i diverted my attention from the fact that no matter what i do i will never get this hour of my life back which i spent slow poisoning myself by observing the doings of the people around me.
As i looked around searching and scanning the proximity for anything remotely interesting besides the Rickshaw driver next to me putting his hand under his kameez and enjoying the sensation of scratching his sweaty armpits and right after eating a samosa with the same hand, i noticed some commotion coming from a mini bus. A mini bus as we all know is always at the heart of exciting and intriguing chain of events so naturally i too rose from my seat to investigate the happenings currently under way in or should i say on the mini bus.
What i saw next was of course filled with irony but was also funny like nothing i had seen in the past couple of years. Two guys sitting on the roof of the mini bus had gotten into a fight and the rest of the roof dwellers were trying their best to stop them but were also trying their best to avoid falling off from the roof of the mini bus, which could later be reported by the leading news channels as synchronized failed suicide attempt by a group of people. The two guys both were in a very awkward position because of the limited availability of space and safety measures provided by the owner of the minibus so they were busy fighting while laying down in a fetal position both holding on to the legs of the other street fighting artist.
In the meanwhile the verbal battle continued on ferociously and i lost count of the women mentioned by name or by relation. When the roof crowd gave up on their efforts to stop the brawl, the driver had to get involved by standing on the entrance by which he enters the driving area and he started trying to somehow separate the two young guns from making a mockery of the sacred roof top of the minibus but he too failed to break the bond of anger and revenge between the two passengers from hell.
This went on for sometime and eventually two Rangers appeared from their mobile which was also stuck in the traffic jam and did the thing for which they are famous for. One ranger pulled the driver down, got up on the entrance and smacked both of the fighters silly. While the other ranger got on top of the roof and brought the guys down by their collars. Things would have gotten more interesting but sadly the traffic started moving and the rangers let them off the hook by giving stringent warnings and lecturing them about the code of conduct while traveling on the roof of a moving vehicle.
I have no doubt in my mind that something like this could only happen in Pakistan, not because of the people happily traveling on the roof of a public transport vehicle and paying the conductor to degrade them, i have seen similar scenes in India where people commute via a train's rooftop but a fight on the roof is our monopoly, only we are this fearless, no other nation or country compares or comes remotely close.
Long live Pakistan, the land of Fierce, Fearless Hearts and long live our transport system for giving a platform to our star fighters to make their debut Nationally .(no pun or sarcasm intended, i seriously mean it)
As i looked around searching and scanning the proximity for anything remotely interesting besides the Rickshaw driver next to me putting his hand under his kameez and enjoying the sensation of scratching his sweaty armpits and right after eating a samosa with the same hand, i noticed some commotion coming from a mini bus. A mini bus as we all know is always at the heart of exciting and intriguing chain of events so naturally i too rose from my seat to investigate the happenings currently under way in or should i say on the mini bus.
What i saw next was of course filled with irony but was also funny like nothing i had seen in the past couple of years. Two guys sitting on the roof of the mini bus had gotten into a fight and the rest of the roof dwellers were trying their best to stop them but were also trying their best to avoid falling off from the roof of the mini bus, which could later be reported by the leading news channels as synchronized failed suicide attempt by a group of people. The two guys both were in a very awkward position because of the limited availability of space and safety measures provided by the owner of the minibus so they were busy fighting while laying down in a fetal position both holding on to the legs of the other street fighting artist.
In the meanwhile the verbal battle continued on ferociously and i lost count of the women mentioned by name or by relation. When the roof crowd gave up on their efforts to stop the brawl, the driver had to get involved by standing on the entrance by which he enters the driving area and he started trying to somehow separate the two young guns from making a mockery of the sacred roof top of the minibus but he too failed to break the bond of anger and revenge between the two passengers from hell.
This went on for sometime and eventually two Rangers appeared from their mobile which was also stuck in the traffic jam and did the thing for which they are famous for. One ranger pulled the driver down, got up on the entrance and smacked both of the fighters silly. While the other ranger got on top of the roof and brought the guys down by their collars. Things would have gotten more interesting but sadly the traffic started moving and the rangers let them off the hook by giving stringent warnings and lecturing them about the code of conduct while traveling on the roof of a moving vehicle.
I have no doubt in my mind that something like this could only happen in Pakistan, not because of the people happily traveling on the roof of a public transport vehicle and paying the conductor to degrade them, i have seen similar scenes in India where people commute via a train's rooftop but a fight on the roof is our monopoly, only we are this fearless, no other nation or country compares or comes remotely close.
Long live Pakistan, the land of Fierce, Fearless Hearts and long live our transport system for giving a platform to our star fighters to make their debut Nationally .(no pun or sarcasm intended, i seriously mean it)
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Death Detergent
A while back I read or heard someone say "Death is only the beginning" and I had trouble understanding this theory. But as time passed not only did I start understanding but I also started to agree with this philosophical statement. Case in point the recent murder of a famous political figure in London, I am not naming names well for obvious reasons, number 1 I like to be alive and number 2, I would like to continue living in Karachi since I do not have dual nationality.
The modern judicial system of our world can be summarized in just one sentence, "Innocent until proven guilty" but what about the people who chose not to face the allegations laid against them in the court of law and instead opted to hide and take exile in some foreign country? Shouldn’t the verdict be then, "Guilty until proven innocent"? I wouldn't be writing this piece of text is the deceased had chosen to face all the allegations laid against him in the court of law, cleared his name and then opted to take exile or did whatever he wanted to do with his life. I am not saying or implying that the deceased was rightly accused for all the things written in his charge sheet but again only if he had decided to rid his good name of all those charges he would have received a lot more applauses and titles during his lifetime not only from his own political party but from his rival political figures too.
Sadly like with many other non sense making elements being forcefully embedded in our society and social culture death is fast becoming an easy shortcut for many to get their name embellished in gold and cover all the traces of the despicable deeds committed by them, if any, during their life time.
The recent London incident goes to prove that Death is the best detergent available to wash away all the stains of corruption, lawlessness and all the other brands of crime. This isn't the first time that death has intervened and cleared someone of his/her deeds by taking away the soul and leaving the mortal body to rot in the grave. Rehman Dacoit is still remembered by many as the modern day Pakistani Robin Hood. If he had been successfully apprehended and produced before the judiciary and then handed the punishment for his wrong doings this Robin Hood and Savior status could have been prevented from going to him and consequently many youths who now idolize him and want to be like him would have seen the other side of the coin. Eventually every one of us has to die and face our maker but I hope my life would itself prove enough to uphold my name long after I have been buried and made food for the grave critters. I wouldn't want to live a life of crime and wait for my unfortunate demise and then be called a "Shaheed" for reasons unknown to everybody.
Once again I will take a famous slogan of a famous brand of detergent and use it for my own good by twisting it into saying, "Death to achi hoti hai".
Friday, September 10, 2010
Eid Mubarak
Farewell Ramazan Kareem, a time of abstinence, a time of refrain, a time for divine blessings and a time of receiving joy and bounties, farewell. It's time for Eid now, the time to smile, be happy and the time to let the happiness shine through. I would like to specially convery Eid greetings to the flood IDP's and the brave mother of the two brothers of Sialkot who are now a symbol of human brutality and mob cowardliness. The news of the perpetrators of this heinous crime being successfully apprehended and convicted brings some much needed joy on this otherwise flood drenched Eid.
This Eid is not like the previous eids celebrated by us us a nation and as muslim's. Back in 2005 we found the courage to halt all festivities in honor and in favor of the Earth Quake victims and effectees and this year we will show complete solidarity sharing the same sentiments for our flood affected brothers and sisters. Knowing that the nation is wholeheartedly participating in helping the victims is in fact Eid in itself. Congratulation Pakistan and Pakistanis for showing the world, shutting them up and ending all speculations about us being a divided and patriotically dead herd of sheep rather than a nation. We are a nation and will insha ALLAH remain a proud, mentally, ethically, morally and religiously glued nation. Let us also hope that this eid somehow brings another miracle with itself, a miracle which will cure our corruption plagued leaders, will end all political bigotry and will also end the epic but utter rubbish cat-fight between the judiciary and the government.
This Eid is not like the previous eids celebrated by us us a nation and as muslim's. Back in 2005 we found the courage to halt all festivities in honor and in favor of the Earth Quake victims and effectees and this year we will show complete solidarity sharing the same sentiments for our flood affected brothers and sisters. Knowing that the nation is wholeheartedly participating in helping the victims is in fact Eid in itself. Congratulation Pakistan and Pakistanis for showing the world, shutting them up and ending all speculations about us being a divided and patriotically dead herd of sheep rather than a nation. We are a nation and will insha ALLAH remain a proud, mentally, ethically, morally and religiously glued nation. Let us also hope that this eid somehow brings another miracle with itself, a miracle which will cure our corruption plagued leaders, will end all political bigotry and will also end the epic but utter rubbish cat-fight between the judiciary and the government.
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