Alex and Frisbie !!

Alex is another of those people who I found really unique in my recent USA visit. I met him for first time at Mark's famous ultimate frisbie. As the history goes, the ultimate frisbie there is going on for more than 14 years now. And many many people have played the game there over more then a decade. The tradition was set in by the volunteers of the Mennonite Volunteer Service, and the early players were mostly the Mennonite House residents. But as of today, hundreds other have enjoyed the game of ultimate frisbie including me. Coming back to Alex, I met him first during one of the frisbie games and he was a fun character. Later on, we again had fun interaction during Apple-picking in Michigan. Alex is a really humble person with an amazing and fun attitude towards life. Although, himself an architect, he is a crazy skate-boarder and hurt himself while skate-boarding and nothing was ever dull when he was around. It was really fun to dance like crazy with him on Milena's birthday and hear so much fun stuff ranging from beer to german language 'good words'. One of another persons that I would wish to see again later in my life someday.

Like Alex, I really admire the spirit of Mennonite volunteers as well as all practical volunteers who spend their lives thousand of miles from their homes for good of others. Hope I get to meet such wondeful and amazing selfless people throughout my life who have such a beautiful insight on life...
See you in Chi town again Buddy!

500 blog hits and counting...

am really surprised... and happy too with the way my writings have been read by the people. I began this one on 14th February 2009 and its just 7th March 2009 today. So, in essentially 21 days, i received my 500th visit of my blog. The count is at 507 as I write this piece right now.

I would like to thank all those who came here to read, and would hope so for the same in future. Thank you all of you and keep reading.

READING LEADS TO FREEDOM OF MIND !

Pacifism - A necessity for life..

The present state of world affairs has made the establishment of peace, and pacifism a must. With the burden of social, economic and environmental responsibilities, the human beings do not really have any other choice but to avert conflict, hatred and destruction. The idea of mutual destruction may have been a deterrent but it never was a sweet idea, nor was it able to stop any wars. In fact, it only made wars more dirty. The spectre of a spectacular war of total annihilation did not occur but the presence of proxy wars made it even more terrible. It not only cleared the powerful nations of any direct responsibility of wreaking havoc but it also brought with it the idea of using third-party countries as pseudo-battlefields. Afghanistan, Angola, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Iraq, Somalia, Kashmir and many other nations and nationalities had to suffer more then a generation of hardships only because the ego of a few just could not be appeased.

Unfortunately, for all other problems that this planet faces today, war is one of those extravagant deals which has still not given contentment to many a blood-thirsty humans. Of more then 6 billion people living in this world, more then half live below poverty line. It effectively means that their lives are merely masses of shadows barely surviving with the ultimate aim of finding the next meal. Their personalities, thoughts, objectives, beliefs are totally emaciated. And all that remains is constant hunger. And this is not all, one-third of humanity does not know where to get drinkable, safe water...and how ? Not a single human being can claim protection from diseases that are becoming just too many and the great divide between haves and have-nots is increasing exponentially.

The planet Earth is waking up from its natural slumber by human excesses and showing the humans their correct place in form of global warming and haphazard climate change and the thinning lines of food, water and energy demands and supply are just about to snap. A huge catastrophy of hunger, disease, chaos and anarchy is just at doorstep. And yet all that a human thought can reach is to national boundaries. Its amazing how enticing the prospect of 'land' has been for humans throughout the ages. From Alexander to greeks and romans up to the present day civilization, not much has changed. One ideology goes only to make way for another. One religion dies only to let another one take its place. And one Government leaves the power corridors, only for another one to take its place. And in this futile change over, little Gods or as we should say, tiny napoleans and alexanders try to manipulate little universes around them. The curse of nationalism or religious fascism just does not leave humans any sort of respect from a million other species on planet. The childish hatred gets down to such a boiling point that unimaginable loss of human life is considered a 'worthy sacrifice' to keep the map lines drawn the same way on atlas. Just a small walk down the history lane tells of countless who killed or got killed in name of patriotism when in fact, no one really remembers them or cares about them. And no one really will! Who knows the names of millions who died in French wars or the sino-japanese war or the war of independence or both world wars. Loss of life, money, intelligence, time and energy... all too expendable for these nationalist people to 'save the glory' of artificial borders. And yet when human society is at brink of self-extermination, these egoes have only multiplied. The reasons change, names of wars change, new enemies are created, new boundaries are drawn and the cheap human blood is spilled and the poor planet earth is injured. Earthquakes, Tsunamis, Floods, Hurricanes, Draught and Starvation, Glacial melting, epidemics and pandemics, deforestation, ozone rupture, global warming and horrific diseases do not really make an issue for power-hungry humans.

Money, power, glory, lust, fake respect, might and racial as well as national supremacy!! There isn't much different between racism and nationalism except for a few alphabets. The simple humans of same species who were previously racially profiled are now nationally profiled. Where few races gathered to persecute other races, now nations collaborate to persecute other nations. I just don't understand when this curse of nationalism and small groupings end. Humans as a species are at a brink of disaster. Planet Earth has been too kind to humans and its kindness is now being taken for granted as its weakness. But for this huge globe of energy and mass, humans are as unspecial as are the other million species. And probably much more fragile than even dinosaurs. I just hope humans learn soon and start living together as an endangered species and stop these petty fights for the sake of humanity's good and lively future.

Free Judiciary !

A free, fair and just society is the the basis of a civilizations' development. Nobody can ever progress where his rights are not protected by a justice system that weighs him and and his rulers in same balance. Of all the great struggles in great societies, the most fair demand that was ever asked was of fairness in justness. Magna Carta and civil rights movement are just a glimpse in this flood of struggles for equality and justice.

In my country at present, the existence of extremely unjust courts that validate the most embarrassing of rules such as NRO and PCO cannot allow the normal society to flourish. These rules of present justice system are so absurd, evil and destructive that sometimes it seems as if the surfs in Russia before Bolshevik revolution fared better then the poor normal people of my country today. Never in history of Pakistan has been superior judiciary used as a pawn in dirty political game where just the good of few tens of people is considered more important than hundreds of millions.

How can one even justify that the daughter of present chief justice of pakistan-aka the fake justice in eyes of real people can have the academic result of his daughter changed against the norms, rules and social normalcy. And not just that the case of farah hamed dogar is a negation of basic education right for the rest of Pakistan's nation but it also totally kills the merit-based system and takes out all the energy that poor put in their studies and education. Why would anyone work hard in a country where only the rich will win and poor will loose. Its disgusting how people who work hard to make their lives well are never allowed to achieve their aims. Pakistani people must understand that even at the most dire times of nazi onslot in 1941, Sir Winston Churchill was more worried about the impartial functioning of judiciary in his own country. Now that is what we call BELIEF. Belief not in some out-of-the-world help but in your own strength. And nothing can be more fulfilling in a society then the presence of a just and fair system of judgement.


I am least concerned about any of the politicians or politics in pakistan now. But what I do wish is to spread this awareness among the masses that justice is not a privilege. Its a RIGHT....A BASIC HUMAN RIGHT. And there is a time when you cannot just sit and wait for some 'invisible hand' to come and help you in achieveing that.

Nobody takes a person serious when he cannot even put his own house in order. And unfortunately, its same with masses in Pakistan. The Government gives a sh*t to what people think since it knows they are not really people of action. But everything changes and so do I hope that people will change. They will finally wake up to figure out that when you can't get what you own by begging, then you have to snatch it. Again !! JUSTICE IS NOT A PRIVILEGE....ITS THE MOST BASIC HUMAN RIGHT !!!

...and what am I doing for that ? I wrote a letter of appeal to citizens of Pakistan about this issue and have till now dropped more than a thousand copies in different areas of my locality. I have also mailed a copy of this letter to Principal of Rawalpindi Medical College. And apart from all of this, am myself going to the long march and sit-in on 16 March 2009 in front of Parliament and supreme court.

Get a copy of the letter named 'MY LETTER' at
http://ifile.it/luivdgc

Islamabad - The beautiful ! .... ?

Few days back, I went to visit some old visiting spots in my old, beloved city where I gre up most of my life. Islamabad is very different from what it was a decade back. It used to be a beautiful garden city with some great family spots. There were times when crime was almost zero in this city. People in fact used to joke that Islamabad is a separate country within Pakistan, oblivious of the problems surrounding it. But frankly speaking, Pakistan of those days was a thousand times better then what it is today. The city was small, serene and somewhat just and equal. I remember those days of school where I met my love for first time. One of my class-mates was son of a parliamentarian and numerous others were from good families. The reason being that Islamabad was a small city, a garden city inhabited by bureaucrats, teachers, doctors, lawyers, engineers and scientists. Those were good, old simple days. Over time, islamabad has become infested by millions from all over Pakistan hungry for power, authority and importance. The real islooites - the quiet middleclass who literally built Islamabad has died. Little is left of the good peaceful people who while living in Islamabad thought Pakistan was as beautiful, serene and at peace with itself as are the natives of this city.

Today, all greenery has vanished, schools are rotting houses of corrupt student unions, the literate people simply left for greener pastures, others simply vanished. There is no peace, no beauty in anything. People always seem to be in a hurry, ready to spit out anger, furious on God-knows-what. Big, useless roads span over, what used to be greenbelts of trees. Vulgar, immoral beings haunt poor girls in this city where once a switched off street light made an issue. No rules, no manners, no patience, no respect...nothing is same. It seems like the city is there but not the spirit. It hurt to see my beautiful isloo in hands of the unknown people. As I think of it, Isloo simply became part of Pakistan...

So coming back to my trip, I went to some old picnic spots of the city.

Pir Sohawa (Gokina)

Shakar Pariyan (with obnoxious new Pakistan monument there)

Damn-e-koh

Islamabad zoo

Islamabad Playland (Japenese Children Garden)

Track-3 (hiking place)

Rawal dam

Rose and Jasmine Garden

Lotus Lake (now dead)

Museum of natural history (almost empty and closed)

Open air theatre (also almost dead)

the trip was sort of refreshing, very very nostalgic and beautiful. I remembered all those good and beautiful times and days. My this trip also became better as my elder bro was with me and we dont usually hangout so much now.

I took some pictures, hiked a bit, sat and thought about the million problems people in pakistan face. And after a great day of remembrance, nostalgia and smiles, I headed back home in evening, hoping that life and people will change and someday I will see the same old islamabad someday :)

Martin Luther King Jr.

The words of Coretta Scott King, wife of the great Martin Luther King at his funeral...

"My husband often told the children that if a man had nothing that was worth dying for, then he was not fit to live. H said also

that it's not how long you live, but how well you live. He knew that at any moment his physical life coulf be cut short, and we faced this possibility squarely and honestly. My husband faced the possibility of death without bitterness or hatred. He knew that this was a sick society, totally infested with racism and violence that questioned his integrity, maligned his motives, and distorted his views, which would ultimately lead to his death. And he struggled with every ounce of his energy to save that society from itself.
He never hated. He never despaired of well-doing. And he encouraged us to do likewise, and so he prepared us consantly for the tragedy.
I am surprised and pleased at the success of his teaching, for our children say calmly,'Daddy is not dead; he may be physically dead, but his spirit will never die.'
Ours has been a religious home, and this too has made this burden easier to bear. Our concern now is that his work does not die. He gave his life for the poor of the world - the garbage workers of Memphis and the peasants of Vietnam. Nothing hurt him more than that man

could attempt no way to solve problems except through violence. He gave his life in search of a more excellent way, a more effective way, a creative rather than a destructive way.
We intend to go on in search of that way, and I hope that you who loved and admired him would join us in fulfilling his dream.
The day that Negro people and others in bondage are truly free, on the day want is abolished, on the day wars are no more, on that day I know my husband will rest in a long-deserved peace."

Peace...

Peace is more than the silence of cannons or the establishment of ceasefire. This notion of peace being the state of not-in-war is utterly wrong, inhuman and disgusting. It is much much below the human level of thought, kindness and the idea to exist together as a simple but beautiful species. The existing ceasefire in palestine, swat, iraq and other places is NOT peace. Neither is their peace in north korea, iran or even america. These are mere gimmicks in the long flicker of war and ceasefire.

True PEACE bears no relation to present ideas of not-being-in-a-state-of-war which is merely a cloak for the chicanery, the bitterness, the ideological clashes and the racial and nationalistic prejudices which smoulder towards explosion in many parts of the world.

In fact, it is not physical disarmament which counts, but the disarming of hearts and minds. The present state of hatred in this world is so ugly and wild that it feels as if it will simply melt the lone earth. The advent of true peace does not depend solely on the wisdom of the Great Powers but also on the modification of human thinking and human relationships, and on the dialogue which each of us must agree to undertake with others. It is the key to opening each others' locked minds, ideas, thoughts and beliefs. Reconciliation, peace, harmony and the belief ingoodness of human species is the most important aspect in peace development. It is surprising that many lower species which should have some code of conduct to guide their primitive lives do not need one, yet the humans have this urge to believe in religions that propagate hatred, fanaticism, false nationalism and utterly absurd concepts of religious brotherhood.

Humans, being the most civilized nation with the power to manipulate their environment should not look for conflict within and outside. But in fact they should be looking for peaceful co-existence, respect and collective good for the whole planet, its millions of species and everything that is in the universe.