Khoon ki holi hai, Khyber se Karachi Tak!

The recent wave of terrorism across Pakistan has sent chills down our spine. Just when we were recovering from the loss of human lives from a suicide blast at a mosque in #Jamrud, #Karachi was hit again by lethal killings claiming 500+ lives uptill now. Since then, there has been a peek-a-boo of bloodshed leaving no point unturned in brutal killings on different ethnic, religious, political and mafia groups in the city. The government is totally at failure to deal with the current situation. 50 people lost their lives in merely last three days and over 300 are barbarically killed in only July-Aug.This is not just "target-killing" now. It has seeped into a deeper level, rotting the roots of our society. Every eye has tears. Everyone is scared. Stepping out of your home early in the morning gives a heartache to the people waiting for you to return home in the evening. Everyday, incidences of firings/kidnappings have lead to a complete halt to the daily routines of the city. 11 people are killed in karachi in the last 11 eleven hours. The fire of blind terrorism is spreading everywhere, and so is the hate/anger/fear amongst people. This seems crazy now. Isnt the government watching? And if the government is unable to stop all this non-sense, why dont they bloody step out of the power? Is there any end to it? While many of us try to portray Pakistan, as the land we know.. inducing positivity, we are thrown back by our own people to a state where hope dies and fear creeps in, slowly & gradually!
And while I write these lines, the President sahab of Pakistan states that no criminal would be spared. But an insecure feeling hit my guts. Who knows may be its me in the headlines tomorrow!

Nisaar mei teri galiyon pe ai watan k jahan

Chali he ras'm k koii na sar utha k chalay

Jo koi chahnay wala tawaf ko niklay

nazar chura k chale, jism o jaan bacha k chalay!

Hai ehl-e-dil k liye yeh nazm-e-bast-o-kushaad,

k sang-o-kisht muqayyad hein aur sag aazad!

Buhat hai zulm kay dast-e-bahana joo k liye,

Jo chand ehl-e-junoon teray naam leva hein,

Banay hein ehl-e-havas, muddaee bhee munsif bhee,

Kisay wakeel karen, kis se munsafi chahein!

Magar guzaarnay walon k din guzartay hein,

Teray firaaq mein yoon subh-o-shaam kartay hein,

Bujha jo rozan-e-zindaan toh dil yeh samjha hai,

Teri maang sitaron se bharr gai hogi,

Chamak utthay hein salasil toh hum ne jaana hai,

K sehar teray rukh per bikkhar gayee hogi,

Ghar'z tassavur-e-shaam-o-sehar mein jeetay hein,

Girift-e-saaya-e-deevar-o-darr mein jeetay hein,

And the following lines are a killer!

Yunhi hamesha ulajhti rahi he Zulm se khal'q,

Naa un ki ras'm naiyee hai, na apni reet nayee,

Yunhi hamesha khilaye hein hum ne aag mein phool,

Naa unn ki Haar nayee hai, naa apni jeet nayee!

Isi sabab se falak ka gilaa nahin kartay,

Teray firaaq mein hum dil buraa nahin kartay,

Gar aaj juda hein toh kal baham hongay,

Yeh raat bhar ki judaa'i toh koi baat nahin,

Gar aaj auj pay hai taal-e-raqeeb toh kya,

Yeh chaar din ki khudaai toh baat nahin,

Jo tujh se ehd-e-wafa istewaar rakhtay hain,

Ilaaj-e-Gardish-e-Lail-o-Nihaar rakhtay hain!

(Faiz Ahmed Faiz "Nuskha Haye Wafa"

Trending Location For Pakistan At Twitter!

Twitter has become a ONE-STOP source of information for us right over the globe. Its reach from web and almost millions of registered mobile apps to the users has grown tremendously, and "real-time" happenings have given a solid touch to the tweets. Tweet it for whatever reasons, Be it personal boastings, celebrity crushings, recommendation of movies, searching a location, guiding someone to a new location, increasing PR .. birdie is for everything!

A quick look at the twitter stats;

• Twitter says that 460,000 new accounts per day are being made.
• Users are now sending 140 million Tweets, on average, per day,
• The all-time high in terms of Tweets sent per day was 177 million sent on March 11, 2011.
• In terms of Tweets per second, the all time high was 6,939 Tweets per second after midnight in Japan on New Year’s Day.
• Mobile users are up 182 percent over the past year

On April 30, 2009, Twitter introduced a sidebar of "trending topics" which refers to the most-appearing messages that are instantly indexed which has made twitter undoubtedly the one-click source to know of what is happening in the world or simply stating, what's hot in the world of discussion!

India got its trending location enabled by November 2010 and by April 2011, Twitter rolled out its feature for city-based trending for India. Why did it happen for India and not for Us, remains the question!

Twitter explains “If you don’t see your country or city, it means we’re not receiving enough Tweets from that geographical area to create a quality list.”

Trending a topic doesnt only depend upon the tweet volume but time zones, tweet consistency, hashtag usage, scheduling/timing the tweets but, tweets from people from that specific geographical location counts the most.

I must say, Pakistanis arent aware of twitter as much as they are of facebook. And those who know about twitter have mostly deactivated their facebook accounts ;)
(No, Zuckerberg; I aint bribed by twitter. I just dont want to know through FB that my ex's girlfriend is prettier than me.Ha)

If it was that easy, we could have trended on 14th august with #PakistanZindabad and #Pakistan, but unfortunately we couldn't.

Nevertheless, with the Pakistani twiterrati in the rise on cyberspace, this wouldnt be difficult. We aim to ask Twitter to give us a separate trending location for Pakistan. Join #TeamPakistan. Tweet @Pakistan_Team, @RumaisaMohani & @fizzarahman, @efrodol, @Sehravi, @faisalrahat who aim to get #Pakistan to location-based trending at #twitter. Help spread the message!

And yes, you can join us too by your suggestions/ideas/comments!
simply reply to this post sending in your twitter username/facebook profile, and become a part of our team!
As they say,

"Ab nahin toh kab, Hum nahin tau kaun"

PAKISTAN ZINDABAD!

You may turn off the sun, but I am still gonna shine :-)

Karachi for a Tweet Up!

Based in Karachi? On twitter? Come, join the club!

A group of young enthusiasts have arranged for an Iftar tweetup this sunday, the 14th of August 2011. The event is open to all as long as you’re on Twitter.

Details:

Venue: Revolving Restaurant, Ceasers Tower, Main Shahra-e-Faisal

Date:14th August 2011

Time: 5:30- 8:30 pm

Official Hashtag: #KhiTweetUp

Register for the event here:

http://pakistanperspective.com/?p=164

You may turn off the sun, but I am still gonna shine :-)

Pakistani Artists Profile Portal Launched at Vidpk.com

Have u ever felt alienated while surfing the world wide web? I do. I mostly do. When I try searching for “most famous movies”, the top results appear of hollywood & bollywood. When I try searching for “most famous actor”, the top results rarely include citations to Pakistani actor. There. I feel lost. I feel sidelined. Who in the world , would challenge that Katrina kaif with a zero potential acting skills is a better actor than Sania Saeed? Yet you know, Sania can be found rarely on our web searches. Why do you think Moin Akhtar wasn't able to trend on twitter while Govind Tiwari did. Well, dedicated Pakistani websites working to promote the softer, progressive image of Pakistan can create an exception. Not only people across the world will be able to see the media/art activities in the country but it will also help portray the world of the real people of Pakistan. People like you and me who live completely normal lives here in the state of Pakistan, which otherwise has been made an issue of contemplated controversies across the globe in reference to terrorism.

A bunch of lightheaded individuals take this burden on their strong shoulders at @vidpk where they provide you an insight to the 1000+ profiles of Pakistani artists, alphabetically. Click to see their pictures, read their biography and the most awesome feature – given at the end of the biogrpahy is a link to the list of all the TV shows they have been a part of and which can instantly be viewed online at www.vidpk.com. The portal also includes profiles for behind-the-scenes people such as directors, producers, writers and more.

Common reaction to this is “Wow”. Uncommon reaction is “Array ..bus 1000+ profiles?” - Chalo koi nahin, atleast you have a fresh start. The database is increasing everyday, so we can hope of a better global presence for our artists in future. Woh kehtay hain na,

“Sitaaron se aagay jahaan aur bhee hain”

And while you go to click the X button to close this window, have a look at the most awesome Lehri sab, to make you smile!
http://vidpk.com/p/330/Lehri/

Mohali Spots a Star- Wahab Riaz!

Well. The Cricket World Cup 2011is over for the Pakistani fans, but not quite over for Team Pakistan. Starting with a crumbled entry into the tournament with three of their best players involved in the spot-fixing controversy, the captain announced at the last moment , the unpredictable batting side supported by a mighty bowling attack, the way we showed Ausses who the real daddy of Cricket is, to making it to the semi-finals was an experience the fans never got since 1999. Thank You team Pakistan for positively distracting us from the many notions of hatred, violence, terrorism, corrupted system, corporate jealousy and star plus for the last one and a half month. Amidst your good performance, the semi-final match was certainly not the kind we wanted to end our cricketing journey this world Cup, but anyway, thrashing the opponents, finishing top of the group, sending the WINDIES go with the wind and reaching to the semis of this great tournament to let everybody talk (read SHIT: if Chappell appears in your mind) about you, Guys,you have already made us proud!

And as they say, the brightest of stars are seen in the darkest of night, so while the Pakistani fans mourn over the 2nd semi-final at Mohali as a dark day for their cricketing experience, they spot a light that makes way all through the darkness to illuminate us with glowing happiness. The star that radiates us hopeful about the future of Pakistan Cricket. We spot Wahab Riaz!

Wahab, the 25 yr old left-arm fast bowler, born in Lahore, known in the squad as Vicky shined throughout the match for those breath-taking deliveries that stunned the crowd at the stadium so much that we had to ask .."Mohali Itna sannata kyun hai bhai". An Indian supporter Mihir Pandya (@@miyaamihir) tweeted "It's twenty one players on one side versus Wahab Riaz on the other".

Firstly, a look at the destruction of what Wahab did to the mighty Indian line-up.
*Fifth ball of the 6th over - The ball pitches on the leg and zips on to Virender Sehwag trapping him leg-before on 38. India score reads 48/1.

Second ball of the 25th over - Virat Kohli edged an away moving ball to Umar Akmal at backward point and he takes it nice and easy. Kohli fell for 9 and India went down to 141/3.

Third ball of the 25h over - The ball comes in swinging and takes away Yuvraj Singh's stumps with it. Yuvraj fell for a duck and India went down to 141/4.

Fourth ball of he 41st over - Traps India skipper MS Dhoni leg-before with a quicker ball on 25. India fell to 205/6.

Second ball of the 50th over - A thin edge off Zaheer Khan's bat is taken by keeper Kamran Akmal. Zaheer falls for 9 and India to 256/8.*

Wahab Riaz kneels down on the ground and perform a Sajda, to thank Almighty for the blessing! [add: &wins our hearts]

*The ball and over update is taken from India Today

Second last ball of the 50th over - Wahab doesnt stop with his might & runs out Ashish Nehra for 1. India 258/9

It was Wahab who was the HERO of the first innings when Pakistan team wrapped up the Indians at 260/9. While moving back to the pavilion, Wahab gave those smiley glares to his mates & cheered with those flying kisses that stole our heart. Way to go boy! My twitter timeline was buzzing with applaud for Wahab thoughout the day from Indians and Pakistanis alike.

Here is to what proud family of Wahab Riaz had to say about his participation in the ICC WorldCup 2011.

Interestingly, Wahab shares mutually two things with Wasim Akram. Left arm pacer & Born in June. Hope to see him following his footsteps in bowling in later part of life too:)

And while I press the "search button" for Wahab, let me take you to an interesting journey over Wahab's cricketing career.

Wahab celebrates as he takes down his first wicket at the Mohali semifinal. Sehwag

This is how I do it,baby!

Dho dia tumhein Dhoni!

Pangraa Paoo, josh dikhaoo! 4 gira diye oye! (Angle 1)

Pangraa Paoo, josh dikhaoo! 4 gira diye oye! (Angle 2)

Mei jhuka hoon iss zameen pe karne sajda tujhe ada!

A five-star - all because of you Allah. Thankyou!

Well, I wanted that cup. Who stole my dream? Someone at my (R)?

Now, I'll go home and be the family guy once again :)

Hell yeah! Thats my grin baby. Did you Macleans your teeth today?

Team Player. Ya' know

Anorexia Nervosa

Wait, Aint I sooper cool in the test white as well :D

I respond your cheers for me, humbly :)

Well, I may be your angry young man!

Dekho mein sab ko cheer karta hoon!

Mera number kab ayega?

Mene bhee woh RAP suna hai. Harra peela, harra peela!

Bus bhye bus ziada baat nai cheap saab!

Kya re saaalay. Fight Club hai kya?

Chalo Trott! Mitti pao

Mene toh mazaq kia tha. Ap is pe serious hogaye aur meri 5 wickets pe nahin muskuraye, bhai?

I was a celebrity already. Internet pe bhee interview aya tha mera!
Style mein bowl karanay ka!

Iss Mazhar Majeed ko toh mene itna sue karna he k is ka sue-sue.... well, samaj gaye na?

Yeh hath ek jadooyee hath hai :D

Dressed to kill in formals, No!

Arre. Ye mein nahin hoon! Mustufa Zahid from the band Roxen. Look alike naa?

I am the five-star stunner.
I am the one who made Mohali silent!
I am the one who did a sajdah at Mohali ground.
I kept the Pakistanis ticking in the game.
I destroyed the mighty Indian line up!
I blew flying kisses to you for cheering me up,
I am the reason of our "graceful exit" from the Worldcup!
I am a youngster, looking for your prayers.
I am proud to make my country proud!
I am Wahab Riaz. I am Team Pakistan!

Way to Go Wahab Riaz. Pakistan Loves You!

P.S: Err.. Wahab are you single?

Thanks to: *Tazeen, for I grabbed her style for the post
*Plus Google & Bing images

Why winning the WC is so important for Pakistan

The first Quarter final between the Toppers of Group A- Pakistan and fourthly placed, West Indies from Group B, at Sher-e-Bengal Stadium , Dhaka, saw the rise of the Sher's of Pakistan. No wonder, the soil of Dhaka sniffed the smell of its ex-sons that day!

Pakistan made it comfortably into the semi-final to be played at Mohali, India on 30th March 2011, against India. Well, the skipper and his team has no issues, they are all set to rip the opponents and make way to Mumbai to clinch the cup, inshaAllah. The mood is just right, attitude just perfect and determination fierce enough to take it all away.

Now, what makes us so happy? Cricket is like the next religion in Pakistan, in which everyone believes. The win of this QF brings the celebrations, joys & fervour in Pakistanis like never before. Like we have never experienced in the recent times amidst all these bomb blasts, terrorist attacks, extremism bashes.
At a time when Pakistan Cricket was having the worst spotlight all over the globe , courtesy to the three stars who allegedly were involved in a spot- controversy, darkened by the shadows of Zulqarnain Haider leaving Pakistan cricket with a FB update and when Pakistan's skipper for the worldcup was announced at such an eleventh hour, nobody had hopes for Pakistan in this Worldcup. Such hopeless we were, but seeing Pakistan, fight back as a team, reunite in determination & put up a strong fight to prove everyone wrong, we managed to outclass Australia in the group match convincingly. It was Pakistan who did it then, 12 years back.. and it was Pakistan again, who did it again. Bravo!

Cricket brings happiness in our otherwise saddened nation. But most importantly, it brings good name to Pakistan. Just like Aisam ul Haq messaged the whole world "we are not terrorists" at the finals of the US OPEN, in a similar capacity, twitter trended with #pakistunned at the QF day. Winning this cup means a lot to us. For a country that has been WORLD CHAMPION once, the decision to not able to host the WC amidst security concerns came as a big blow to the cricket lovers all over the country.

Friendly, civilised, active, moderate, happy, glad, easy to approach, judgemental, analytical, strongly patriotic, thinking globally, positive & marching for peace.. People, watch us. We are the real Pakistan. I hope, this WC brings on the world to see us as as we are. The real Pakistanis. The true Pakistan.

GO GREEN GO! and we shall always look forward to stand up, for the champions, I hope, wish & pray! Amen!

The winner's win!

I am by no means a cricket analyst. Its just the passion of the game that keeps me alive & kicking. So we witness some great matches at ICC WorldCup 2011 where "Cricket turns out to be the real winner" :-)

I heard many a people waiting for PAk VS NZ encounter after Pakistan's win against Srilanka, because Canada, as we all thought was going to be smashed by Pakistan's strong side. So it was all assumed to be a MAJOR vs MINNOW show at Colombo on the 3rd of MArch 2011, but what we witnessed there is something not short of an angina attack to the Pakistani fans.

The decision by the skipper to 'bat-first' amidst such conditions was question of the century. Were we still fearful of our traditional glory to fear "chase-ups". The way the match started, the Pakistani batting was slow, we expected it to rise gradually but instead what happened was fall of wickets one by one and in such a disgraceful manner, we ended up at 184. The whole team bowled out in 43 overs by a team termed "minnow", all thanks to the medium-pacer Harvir Baidwan! The guy seriously needs "pats at back" for what he did. The whole Canadian line-up infact deserves to be congratulated on what they achieved that day. They took us in fear. The fear to lose match against a team we would've otherwise not even cared to watching.

When the first innings ended, I was sure our bowling is going to do wonders. And it did. Although there was a point in the match when Canada were in a very comfy position and we seemed to be on the verge of expecting another upset like the earlier England VS Ireland match. But.. came in Afridi to rescue at just the right time and just the right place. A lion who fierced with fire, to roar against its opponents. Taking a brilliant 5 wickets down for 23. Another record of taking 3 consecutive 4-wickets in a Worldcup, it was certainly Afridi's day.

Although I loved Afridi's performance, and I cheered for Umar akmal, Misbah, Afridi and Wahab Riaz for their tit bits during the match, it was Canada that I really cheered for. To make our win look so damn worthy that otherwise wouldnt have been. although they lost the match, Canadians were the real winners!

To come out as bravely against a team as Pakistan and to put in their extreme efforts speak courageously of their game, that on the other hand raises a lot many questions at .. was the the winners game? The team aiming to win the Worldcup, at the mercy of just a few players to win a match against Canada?

Amidst all the craze,Well done Canada!

Its high time to think. Although the skill, the class and the passion that we are seeing in our team inspite of the recent setbacks of spot-fixing, our unpredictability as a team still remains very certain. As an ardent fan, I will cheer for that green flag always, but I dont want to have that angina turned to a heart attack of dreaming such a performance in the later important games of the Cup. Plz No! No more repetition of WorldCup'99 finals.

We certainly dont expect you to win every time, but Team Green- we want you to fight like the real fighters, come may whatever, make it a team game and win like the real winners.. and what more, we have always .. and we would always love to..
"Stand up. Stand up for the champions"

"Ai Madar-e-Ilmi" - A tribute to My Alma Mater

FIZZA RAHMAN DEDICATES IT WITH LOVE TO THE PLACE THAT TURNED HER DR. FIZZA RAHMAN. An honour.. truely cherished !!

Always obliged to my alma mater

THE FACULTY OF PHARMACY - KARACHI UNIVERSITY

[PHARM.D 1ST BATCH 2004-2008]

Ai madar-e-ilmi,
Kulliya-e-Pharmacy,
Meri rooh meri zaindagi,
Kulliya-e-Pharmacy !
waqt-e-safar aaN para hai
har student hee pareshan khara hai,
waqt-e-judaai dekhe the pehle,
yeh waqt mgar sab se kaRa hai,
doston ka saath chhoot raha hai,
jo bandhan tha tujh se wo toot raha hai ..

Ai madar-e-ilmi
hum jo bikkhre huay shikasta-pa se bachay thay,
medical ko na paa sakne k dukh mein,
din raat aansu'ON mein sisaktay thay,
hum taqdeer ka haaroN ko,
tu ne zindagi se larna sikhaya,
gir kar uthna ..
uth kar sambhalna sikhaya,
tu ne barh kar hamein jo apne seenay se lagaya
tu ne kitna hamein samjhaya ..
"ghum na karo mere jawano,
tum mehez mehnat se khud ko sanwaro,
mein tumhein nannhay paudo'N ki tarha seeNchooN gi,
aur ek din tumhein aik tanawar darakht dekhoon gi,
aur tum se zindagi phhot'te dekhoongi"
Ai mumta ki chahat jesi be-laus madar-e-ilmi ..
teri falak bos imarat mein guzar gaye yeh mah-o-saal,
guzar gaye meri zindagi k sab se qeemti 5 saal !!
tujh se toh hum ne zindagi ko jeena seekha tha,
choti choti khushyon mein hasna seekha tha,
kabhi "auditorium" mein kharay ho kar
presentations dene se confidence seekha,
kabhi "seminar" k qeemti khazanoN se
ilm k moti jama karne ka hunar jana,
kabhi "post-class-room discussions" se
"respecting everyone's opinion" seekha..
aur teachers k ilm-e-jahandeeda se,
zindagi ki hararat ko notebooks pe utar lia !!

Ai pharmacy..
jab kabhi mausam ne ada'yeN dikhaayeeN
hum jhat teri "thandi sadak" pe aa puhanchay,
atay jatay har rastay per,
buland qehqahay aur dabeez muskurahatein phaila deeN,
kabhi sabir ki canteen se udhaar pe chaye peetay,
aur roz hee "kachorion" ka nashta kartay, "anwar" k khokhay ki ronaq thehray larkay..
hum waqt tolioN ki shakal mein sab "nicotine" bharte..
"raza photostat" pe hamesha hee rush rehta..
naseer bhai paan chabatay mashhaqi se copy karte jate,
rashid bhai aik copy banane mein2ghante laga dete,
heraan pareshan sa magar hamesha hee muskurata taimoor,
sab k complicated bakhaidoN ko asani se samajh jata ..
"dekho yeh page chorna hai aur yeh copy karna hai"
"copy theek na hui toh wapis kar doongi"
"yar pese khatay mein likh de,pehli ko de jaoonga"
haye yeh waqt ..
muskurate huay kaun ab hamein udhaar de ga ??
pharmacy k backlawn mein tennis khelna,
valika mein cricket k daur mein,
naray lagana,khoob mazay urana,
kabhi class bunk kar k teachers se shakal chupate phirna,
proxy lagwane k naye naye bahanay dhoondna,
silgirahon ka ehtamam TS pe karna,
atay jaaty points pe awazein kassna,
har lamha,har deewar,har washroom, har clasroom mein
whito se apne group ka naam likhna ..
har waqt har pose mein tasveerain khinchwana,
sardioN ki subhoN mein,
TS pe parti dhund mein ,
chaye ka garam garan cup hathon mein liye,
aik doosre se guppen marna,
fazool gossips karna,
aur apne group k baray mein kehna ..
"we are the best"
imtahan jo ayen toh TS ka sunsaan hojana,
combines k liye combine hona,
aik notes se 4 logon ka parhna,
aur bagher soye paper dene jana,
parhne se ziada waqt "break" karna,
sara semester waste kar k,
imtehaan ki chand raat pe parhna,
aur agar paper mein format,
subjective ki jaga objective ajaye,
toh bahar nikal k khoob kosnay bakna,
aur taheeya karlena k ..
"aglay semester tameez se parhenge".... !!

Ai pharmacy,
ai hamesha se buland-o-bala rehna wali,
azeem kulliya-e-Pharmacy,
teri muhabbat ne hamein mas'hoor kardia,
hum tujh se juda ho k kese rahenge?
yeh hausla toh hum mein nahin hai ai madar-e-ilmi!!
magar .. hum barh rahe hein agay..
teri azmat k nishaaN dil pe sabt kiye,
hum jarahe hein ..
agay hee agay ..
tere naam ko aur ooncha karne,
hum jayenge agay ..
bus ek guzarish hai madar-e-ilmi..
jab kabhi hum khaak chhantay wapas aa kar,
tujh se milein ..
toh hamare liye ajnabi na ho jana,
hamein wohi protocol dena,
muhabbat se galay lagana, shafqat se pyar karna,
ai madar-e-ilmi ...!!
HUM RAHEIN NA RAHEIN TUM YOOONHI DIL LUBHAANA, HAMARI TARHA KAII AURON KO TUM ZINDAGI SIKHANA,
aansuoN se dhalta hua,
nai umeedonN se sajta hua,
muskurahaton se bassta hua,
AJAB HAI YEH SAMAA AI MADAR-E-ILMI..
ALVIDA, ALVIDA..
ALVIDA AI MADAR-E-ILMI ..
ALVIDA MERI ROOH, MERI ZINDAGI..
ALVIDA KULLIYA-E-PHARMACY !

* tears* !!!

You may turn off the sun, but I am still gonna shine :-)

An insight to my transition..

There are some triggering factors that can transit you into the same feeling when it first hit you.
One day, as usual amma was in the kitchen, and complained of her eyesight. It happened for few days, and I took it as the routine eyesight problem, till one day when amma, who is neither diabetic, nor hypertensive, all fit & fine again complained that she is having diffculty in seeing things clearly. We took her to various eye clinics for routine checkups, and with every checkup, it sounded more & more confusing. Amma's eyesight was dropping down continously,and within a day her eyes turned blood red.. yes THIS color. I was terrified. We started taking her for checkups at all the best hospitals in karachi. Everybody would name one, and we would go there. All the specialists had one conclusion "Inki surgery hogi" and I couldnt get up with the idea. We didnt even leave a single hospital offering eye speciality. Though it was frightening but I was keeping my cool, until one day we took her to Ibrahim eye hospital, Khokhrapar. I took my bag so that when we'd get free from there, i'll go to uni right from there. I was in my 4th yr. It was the hardest semester of Pharm.D with the most hardest courses in it. We went there at 7 in the morning. Even there all the doctors were still of the same view, that surgery is the last option, since her retina is detaching. Being a Pharmacy student myself, I couldnt resist my temptation to know the exact diagnosis before succumbing to any surgical procedure and providing any specimen for the butcher-doctors community.
While at the hospital, I was standing nearly a metre away from amma, when she called ..fizz where are you! I turned back. I saw her right next to me. I was silent. Amma called again ..fizza,where are you? My heart nearly sank!! I held amma in my arms and told her to sit. We soon left from the hospital. I was to go to university from there. I threw up my bag and books in the car. "Damn my studies. I'm not going anywhere". I came back with mom to home. Everybody insisted over that we should go for the surgery but dad and I wouldnt agree. I told dad, there has to be a reason for it and till I find that, we wont listen to any dumb shit of anyone.

Those were by far the most struggling days of my life. The hardest university semester, and workload of home. Being the only girl child of my home with nanhyal all abroad ,a limited dadhyaal and myself a dheet version of "mujhe ghar k kaam karne mein maza nahin aata", it was very difficult for me. I had to go to uni, come back, do all the household chores, serve the guests (i hated that then),cook, clean and then study at night for final exams. Amma was at bedrest. One of my teacher suggested me to take mom to Dr. Azam Ali at AKUH. When we went there we got to know that Dr. Azam is out of town and will be back in almost 10 days. Dr. Rashid Baig did the initial checkup and was terrified. Mom's eyesight was 1/6. Her eyes were blood red in color and her retina was visibly detaching. Dr. Rashid advised her to be at complete bedrest until dr. Azam came. Even she wasnt allowed to stand for namaz, and advised to lie down at an angle of 45 degrees. Finally, Dr. azam came. Mom had several appointments with Dr. Azam and Dr. Mughees Sheerani (neurologist at AKUH), and in no time they discovered the problem. Mom had VOGT KOYANAGI HARADA SYNDROME (VKH). I never heard about this disease, never read it in our classical pathology books,even my professors were unable to understand it. My mom was the third case of VKH registered at AKUH. The two before her included a doctor and a young 21 yr old boy who lost his eyesight completely. Mom was put up on prednisone 80 mg, for three days continously. In those three days her face became rounded and she gained weight (side effect of corticosteroids). Her prednisone dosage was tapered and narrowed down gradually, alongwith Azathioprin (immunosuppresant) to mediate the immune inflammatory changes. In a week, she started recovering, although her weight increased tremendously. Sad enough, the weight was just a body bulge while the immunosuppresant was itself destroying her immune system. She was recovering from the disease yet getting weaker from inside day by day. I never saw her cry. I even never saw her leaving any of her prayers during the then period. I saw my father standing right next to her as her support. I saw the fear in my elder brothers eyes. It seemed to me like I have suddenly grown up. I have suddenly achieved the womanly adolescence to keep her family united, the maturity to handle things simultaneously.. just like my mom always did. What I couldnt learn in all the years in my life with my mom's sermons, life taught me all that.. in few weeks .. and I learnt them the hard way. Suddenly I was no longer crying for my share of icecreams. Rather I was looking at how, what and when to do things. To get up early and make breakfasts , pack lunches for dad and bro, asking ammi for the verbal helps in cooking... and from the tom boyish, cricket playing fizza.. I became a responsible, elderly fizza :)

It has been four years since then. Mom is still on medications. They have done their part. Cured her but weakened her. Mom has her routine checkups. Both her doctors are very happy for her progress MAshaAllah. They tell its the dua's and the will-power that has kept her strong. She loves cooking. Firstly she used to do it just for the three of the children. Now she does it for the bahu's and the pota's as well mashaAllah. We are happy to see her back to life.

When I think about that time, I shiver! It gives me goose-bumps. But I couldnt stand the fact that I thank Allah, for all the blissful Mercies He does. Man is nothing. Life is mortal and inspite of all the difficulties, all the problems.. We have to move on .. to find our destiny. The quest for life should never end. If Allah provides you with difficulties, He will provide you with ease as well. The point is ..not to stop, not to complain and move on with the faith!

Thank You Allah! And thank you amma, for being such a wonderful mother, such a sign of sooper inspiration of courage & strength to me. Mom, I am a successful working girl & a perfect sugghar larki.. and I surely take your attributes in me.. PROUDLY! :)

P.S: VKH is an autoimmune disorder affecting nervous system especially the eyes with uveitis, retinal detachment and meningeal irritation.

If you are offered to taste Potassium cyanide, knowingly. Would you?

If you are offered to taste Potassium cyanide, knowingly. Would you?

Answer here

Welcome to the world- Syed Rayyan Bin Muti :-)

The birth of my eldest brother's first son, a child in my home after me.. after one whole quarter of a century.. the youngest after me in my home!
Welcome to the world baba! :)
And yes as promised, Phuppo did name you ..Syed Rayyan- Jannat ka darwazah!
May Allah bless you with falah-e-dunya o akhirah and may you become a responsible citizen, a true peace-maker (since you are an Indian+Pakistani) and a commendable son. Jeete raho mere bachay! Aameen!

Welcome Year 2011

2011 is here!

New visions, new hopes, new dreams, new goals, new achievements.. May this year brings on happiness, smiles, prosperity and serenity to the whole world and Muslim Ummah.
Rise and Shine people!

The message of unity- Hajj 2010

Today the Hajj 1431 Hijri at Arafat is performed by around 2.5million Muslims. The Khateeb of Nimrah Masjid Imam Azam said that Islam doesnt support terrorism. Our religion teaches us to believe in "AMR E BIL MAROOF WA NAHI AN IL MUNKIR" ie " PREACH GOODNESS AND STOP PEOPLE FROM WONG DEEDS".

Every year when I follow the live telecast of namaz-e-qasr (zuhar & maghrib prayers together in 4 rakats)..the moment when the Imam calls ..SUBHAN E RABBI-UL-AALA [PRAISE BE TO THE ONE WHO IS THE SUPREME GOD]..watching 3 million people bowing their heads down in SAJDA ..tears roll down my cheeks. I simply wonder that the religion that teaches us so much DISCIPLINE, that 3 million people bow down to the Supreme Authority without any discrepancy ...can never be a supporter of terrorism.

See the pictures and wonder ...is there any such ritual in the whole world that can be managed so efficiently? The biggest congregation in the name of Allah, in which millions of people bow down to the Super Supreme, people who are black, White, Asian,Chinese, Indian,Turkish, Nigerian,Sudanian..from all over the world,people who are the CEO's of organisations,people who are simply housewives,people who are acclaimed to fame,or laymen... but all these people without the discrimination of cast,color,creed say out loud "Labbaik Allahumma Labbaik. Labbaik, La Shareek Laka, Labbaik. Innal Hamdah, Wan Nematah, Laka wal Mulk, La Shareek Laka"which means "Here I am at Your service O Lord, here I am. Here I am at Your service and You have no partners. Yours alone is All Praise and All Bounty, and Yours alone is The Sovereignty. You have no partners" and millions people bow down simultaneously to the ONLY GOD THEY BELIEVE!! There is something magical, mystical, powerfully mesmerising about these lines. It speak volumes of the La-shareek'a status associated with the Only Master of the world. The Creator. The Supreme force. Allah.

SUBHAAN ALLAH!!
The Hajj is a pilgrimage to Makkah. It is the largest annual pilgrimage in the world, the fifth pillar of Islam, an obligation that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every Muslim who can afford to do so. It is a demonstration of the solidarity of the Muslim people, and their submission to Allah.The pilgrimage occurs from the 8th to 12th day of Zu'al-Hijjah, the 12th month of the Islamic calendar.

This year around 3million pilgrims are participating in the biggest congregation of Muslim world.

The Hajj is based on the life of Hazrat Ibraheem A.S who once dreamed that he is sacrificing his son( Hazrat Ismaeel A.S) in Allah's way. When he narrated his dream to his son, the obliged son asked his father to do what he saw in his dream. [This is the height of respect for parents taht Islam teaches us]. All the preparations were made and Ismaeel A.S was about to be sacrificed,when Allah loved his beloved men Ibrahim & Ismail ,who were laying their lives & living the dream just for Allah. Just when Ibraheem was about to sacrifice his son, a lamb appeared and was sacrificed. Allah loved them for their taqwa and made Hajj an obligation for every affording Muslim.

Eid Ul Adha,in which the animal sacrifice is done is also based on this event. The Quran narrates " Allah tak tumhara gosht nahin puhanchta, bal k sirf tumhara taqwa puhanchta hai" i.e Allah doesnt bother who is sacrificing what. its just the spirit in which the sacrifice is done that reaches Allah.

Have a blessed & meaty Eid everyone.
Have ur tikka's and enjoy the festival alike.

EID E SAEED MUBARAK !

Our virtual world..

The WWW world. My world. Your world. Our world. The world of global citizens. The universe of global netizens. World of people from all walks of life from the highest management levels, the trouble shooters, the students, the lawyers, the doctors, the journalists, the aspiring writers, the fashionistas, the networkers, the pharmacists, the desperados looking out for "frrraandships", the sultry looking for the right match, the hunks looking for time pass, the moms looking for new recipes, the kids searching for new games, the hi-tech eyeing the latest electronic gadgets, the dadi amma for her bawa-adam k zamane old romantic songs that remind her of the first time she saw & fell in love with daada ji,the papa's for keeping up with 45 year old school friends, the 8- yr old newbies who think that at school,one who doesnt have a facebook profile is so un-cool. The teachers, the researchers, the bloggers, the celebrities, the twitterattis, the diggers, and not forgetting the few criminal minded using this world for their crimes, the internet robbers, the ATM looters, the software stealers, this WWW world has taken everyone by storm.

I wonder, how technologically advanced we've become. In a way, it feels so good, to be part of a network where you have the power to say it all, to be connected to your nursery grade friends, to be able to rewind the magic of your 1st birthday party on a projector screen, and to be able to tell to the world "What's happening" in 140 characters or so, anytime from anywhere! Internet has revolutionized our lifestyle. I feel great about this. You can make friends out of anywhere in the world, have access to every bit of god damn information about any topic in the world. As a friend once said, Earlier it was "Think before you speak" and now it is "Google before you tweet", the world is literally on your fingertips. The Social Networking sites have made life much easier with access to people in such an easy way. New friends who tell you stories from their part of the world, I tell you east meets west and vice versa. Not only friends from the world, but friends from your own country, from cities you never thought could be so cool to produce such indigenous minds. So here you go, knowing about their public life, their personal life and even what they are doing at what time of the day. Some even share how *** his/her spouse looks at th oddest hours of night! (samajh toh ap gaye honge) Add photos, share intimate moments and bang! You become part of this magical world. This magical world, that I am part of. That I love to be at in my prime time of the day, every day.

But suddenly,I realise there is something missing! There is something that is wrong. In the quest of finding new friends, havent we gotten out of touch from our old buddies. We surely have had our nursery grade friend back in our life after 12 years and its feels great too, but what about the only friend of yours who has been with you in the toughest phase of your life in the past few years, who stood by you, supported you, encouraged you. Friends, who have shared the best of your time with you. Would you ever dare to forget their birthday? Thanks to facebook, eh? You proudly list your siblings at your profile, but do you have time to sit around and talk to them over a cup of coffee? When we meet up in the family, that too on events, we are still busy writing (read tweeting) about how sick the old aunties are and what crap your cousins are talking about around you, but do you ever keep your mobile away from you and literally go talk to your dadi amma to know how she has been doing in all these years. How is she coping up with post-daada-ji-life. Do you ever take time to talk to your retired father about the days of his glory, the days of his youth? Do we manage to ask our mom to rekindle us the magical moment when she first saw our face? do we ask them how they have been doing without us in all these years while we were busy at uni/office. We go to work, we are pursuing higher education, we only go home to sleep. We work even at home (read chat), so the usual home dinners of families is lost somewhere. Everyone is eating according to his own schedule. No dine-in togethers. We are busy socializing, mostly at the web. Where are the good old times when guys used to sit at the chabootra's in the gali, the times where night wouldnt fall upon us till we hear our daadi's telling us fascinating bed time stories.

I wonder why do people have to wish their spouse at a social networking site only? Dont you live together. Dont you get two minutes to wish your special one LIVE. Birthdays are wished. Candle-blown images are posted to each other's wall but nothing beats the happiness of having your best friends wake you up at 12 am to wish you birthday in their extreme besuri voice. I bet you over that.
Tell me frankly, out of your 300+ friends at facebook, how many are the ones that you talk to daily? Talk as if you share your life with them. Privacy settings are changed for ecah new addition in your contact list and I bet there must be only 80-100 out of your 300+ friendlist that you'd like to give access to watch your private photos and see private content you share. Having your boss added at your account under the term "friend" doenst make him "friend". Isnt it :)

How many times, you see your virtual friends online at Instant messengers, and how many times do you guys initiate a conversation? Think!
This virtual world may be full of opportunities, but we may take time to think and reconsider our real world image as well. Relationships arent made by making one your sibling at the FB profile, rather there is a lot of time, space and love required to make those relationships work. People who are virtually not present in your cyber world also need your attention guys!

Go give your mom a big hug for being the most beautiful woman ever and a tight hug to your dad for spending his youth on you. Your sister for being the best laraka tayyara ever and your brother for being the best jigarr. Neverthless, give a call to your friends. Speak to them about themselves. After all life is all about making relationships. As I see the autographs from most of my friends in my slambook earlier.. "Make new friendships but dont forget the old ones". Yes,Expand your virtual world, reverberate your network but please dont forget the old buddies!

P.S: FB is mentioned here because our is a FB-addicted nation. I was once too, magar ab mene yeh nasha karna chhor dia hai :p

The small pleasures of Life

Life’s Good- We all know that. Life’s hard- We know that too. Life is an unending enigma that has its own rise & falls, own fantasies & negativity’s and every person categorizes life upon his own outlook of perceptions, experiences and entanglements with life itself. I see few kids who drive in their civic’s to universities and I imagine about the thousands for whom catching the place to stand in the bus even matters the most. The dhakkam pail, lrai jhagra over the seats, the sexual abuse by fellows passengers(to women) or just standing next to stinking-upraised- armpit-boy, life may seem hell. I see people partying highlife at 5stars while many people in the same city rush through the garbage to find their “meal”of the day. I see my educated,handsome youth tapping feet office after office for interviews inspite of being highly qualified and yet I see few guys enjoying the priviliges of work either with no qualifications but just “recommendations”(pun intended) or because of being “boss ka beta/beti”. Life becomes an enigma. I see people running 6 AC’s in a house, where I also see people lying on the roof-top’s to kill the deadly hot breeze. I see a 1000-yards bungalow with seperate bedrooms for every individual and I see a small apartment with 3 couples, lots of singles and dozens of children adjusting in the 2-room living. This is how life goes on. We are accustomed to seeing it. But in all these times of difficulties and stress, what binds us together is only “love”. Love may change its from but it resides within us. It spreads an aura that glorifies the universe. It may be in the laughter of a 2yr old who breaks your favorite Cartier watch. It may be in the mother’s eyes when she first glances her new-born. It may be in the man’s head, when he gets a bonus, only to think of his family getting a better meal course that month. It may be in the friend’s voice when you bid him farewell at the airport and he asks “Salay, bhol toh nahin jayega”, or it may be in your lover’s eyes when he asks you to spend the rest of your life with him.
As professionals, we all get engrossed in leading a machine life. But What I say is, take time out for yourself. Laugh with your friends, meet your old buddies, pay a visit to your school, sit few minutes with your mom&dad and ask them to go on a long drive. Yes, they need their romantic life too Spend time with your kids. Ask a peon in your office how is he doing. Give your mechanic a hug for fixing your car. Tell your boss how nice his shirt color looks. Tell your colleague what a nice choice he has in his tie selection or a girl-mate to how well she looks when she ties her hair in a bun. Give small but meaningful presents to your friends. Give call to your long lost buddy that you havent talked for ages. If busy,just send a small sms to your friends saying “kaminon,mein zinda hoon”. Buy flowers for your wife when you go home, give your bhabi a big hug for being such a nice addition to your family or gift your parents a Madhu-bala DVD. I bet, if it doesnt stir a smile and that smile, would be the costliest saving you could ever save for yourself. Agreed, life may not be “perfect” for us, but find life in the smaller packages of happiness to feel better. Give a try, and see how beautiful life looks. Life is just too short to enjoy between your family,friends and work so pick the smaller segments and fill color to it.
Start with forgiving people who did bad to you. I just did!

Back to blogging..

So I was away from blogging for the past One and a half month. Err.. Was just trying to find enough courage to be able to write again :-)
Finally. M back. No more tears! :)

In the loving memory of Noori !

Happy Birthday Noori, my younger sister. Had you been with us today, you'd have been 16. Sweet Sixteen. Full of color , vibrance and life.
I remember the time when you were about to be born. I was jealous of you. I thought by your coming, my importance &love with maa-baa would descrease. I envied you. But at the same time, I thought about you lovingly. I wanted to be "appi". I wanted someone adorable enough to share my life. To share a room full of pink stuff, teddy bears, and lot of cosmetics!
I have never talked about your death openly in the family. I always wonder, how much courage a mother needs to see a child she keeps in her womb for nine month, lying "lifeless" in front of her. How much courage, a father needs to bury his child, his youngest child in the grave. By doing so, the parents bury all their dreams they wove for their child. I wonder, how difficult it would've been for maa and baa to handle this situation. I wonder, why did I never opened up with maa-baa at this topic. Why didnt I wipe their tears. Because, I didnt had the courage to face this all. Every year, I used to think of you growing. How would you look. What would you call me? How will i be the best appi for you. But these are all dreams Noori. You are in another world. With much safer people than there are at Earth around me. You are lucky noori, you will take along maa-baa in jannat with you (inshaAllah).
I was in raheel bhai's drawing room when I heard Sami bhai breaking the news on phone. I didnt know what to do. But i remember, I picked up the jaanimaz and prayed to Allah. I cried and I asked him that this may not be true.
Nobody told me about your death. Bhai and bhayya knew and even they hid from from me. I acted casually. I believed a miracle would happen and everyone would turn out glad when they will see you alive. That probably was the first time when I got to know that all our prayers arent answered the way we want them. When they brought your body from the morgue, you were so little, and your face was just like bhayya's. You were sleeping peacefully at a little chat'aai. And then they took you away. I remember crying in haanji's laps for the first time. I was sad at the thought that "Now no body will ever call me appi".
When mom arrived from hospital two days later, she hugged and cried so much to see me. Probably, she thought of her other daughter ..had she lived !
Allah has his own plans, we fill our hearts with grief but we learn to bow down our heads to His decisions. I bowed down mine 16 years back and today when I look at the sky ..i see two angels smiling up down to me. Telling me how very much they love their appi. Noori & Shaani, you are never forgotten. You are always here, in my heart my sweethearts!
Happy Birthday Noori ! Appi loves you the most!

The *Child* inside

Ahsan & Muniba- a part of small wonders in my family.

Being the youngest in family makes you vulnerable to a lot of pampering from your family (and people who are even just few months elder than you!). I suffer this "kidomania". As a kid, I always envied the elders for not making me sit with them because they thought "its bad for me" and this attitude pissed me off. I decided to take on a stand and be good to my youngsters so that they develop a sense of worthfulness for themselves. Kids are amazing. They are just so full of life. And I have the best of my people occuring in the age group of 5-16. I am blessed to be in a family that has provided me a lot of cousins and thus, a whole lot of brand new generation around me callin me phuppo/khala/fizzy. I am at my best when I am with these kids. They are full of questions, full of curiosity, ready to jump from the bed with me, ready to bang the neighbour's door whenever I say, always willing to play cricket at even 4:00 am, ready to ask you from where did they come into the hospital and yes,always ready to tell the elders "who" persuaded them to go ahead with these naughty ideas! *sigh*
But life is so good with them. To wake up to their morning cuckoos, to see the shine in their eyes when you talk about "icecream", to make up fake stories for them including spiderman, batman, black man, whiteman, snowhite and Rapunzel together to come up with something interesting for them, and if you try finishing the story in 20 minutes, they'd say you dont even know telling stories. Huh
They will teach you the art of fighting,then forgetting and bein' normal so very well. My mother says I am spoiling the kids. I wonder, if I myself am getting spoiled by their vivacious attributes. They teach you to love, the warmth of their hug is outstandingly great. And I love to spend time with my kids (my nephews/nieces) because they teach me how lovely life is, full of color, vibrance and dynamism. Seein' 'em grow up is a wonderful feeling, and that too when they know they have someone to look upto when they feel down is a downright delight to the senses.

Childhood is the best part of one's life indeed, but even if you grow up, dont let the child in you die- for your life will fade off colour if it happens. Be open to children, I tell you they will always make you learn, relearn and redo LOVE in its purest form like no adult will ever teach you! Proven.

Mohalle ki ronak galiyan hain jaise
Khilne ki zid per kaliyan hain jaise
Muthi mein mausam ki jaise hawaein
Yeh hai buzurgo ke dil ki duyaaein
Kho na jaayen yeh.. taare zameen per!