Peace.

Does being successful in life guarantee peace and happiness ? What is success ? How does one measure his or her success ?

Human's by nature are very demanding. One desire is fulfilled and then we move on to next. Funny how people fool themselves every time, that whatever they seek is the most important thing in life.....

The truth is that success is only temporary. What one should strive for is happiness, contentment with what one has, "THE INNER PEACE" as some may call it !

Compatibility

Every time i tell myself to have faith and start all over again, something goes terribly wrong and i find myself in that same old state of frustration and mindlessness. Why does life has to be so complicated and tough ? Why can't we simply just read minds and find out what people are thinking ? Seriously it would simplify things so much.

But then some people would argue why change yourself for somebody else ? Maybe they are right. Maybe the best thing to do is to just let go off people who are not compatible with you. But then is it always a possibility ? What if that person is somebody or someone that you have to deal with every single day ? Can you still afford to let go off such a person ?

Ramazan Mubarak !

I apologize to all of you who had been expecting to hear from me. Sorry but i was busy with an internship. Now that I'm done with it i plan to post often. Well apart from that I'd like to wish all of you a very joyous Ramadan !


Go out, eat and enjoy all those iftar dinners with friends and family. But don't forget to pray a lot after all that's what this month is about !

PS: I was going through some of the blogs i read often and i found people writing depressing posts. To that one individual blogger I'd say "Come on get a grip". Life's too short to cry over somebody who was never yours. Enjoy yourself and before you realize it you'll forget him !

Heat !

Finally we're starting to feel the heat turn on in Karachi too. Its almost 35 centigrade outside. Personally i dislike summers, you sweat too much, get dehydrated ,get sun burns if you stay out for too long and if you're out of luck you might even faint due to low blood pressure. In short its really difficult to do anything in such weather.

Thanks to the power supply corporation there's also been an increase in power outages lately.Hot weather plus no electricity its a deadly combination !
To add to the misery my flu is back and its really killing me. Lets just hope it goes away soon.

Thats all for now. Take care all of you and protect yourself from the Sun.

PS: Conserve energy, turn off unnecessary lights and fans.

Mobile Spam !

First email, then messenger services and chat rooms now finally cell phones. Spam is everywhere and its spreading day by day. Most email service providers will boast that their filters have stopped or reduced spam content but it isn't true. Like all other industries the spam industry is also changing ....

So what actually is spam ? According to Wikipedia  spam is "unsolicited or undesired electronic messages" . In other words any unwanted,undesired, disturbing, annoying, irritating message is spam ! So how does it affects us? Basically advertisers use spam as a cheap marketing tool to push their products into our faces whether we're interested or not . The costs associated with spamming are minimal so it is preferred mostly by small businesses and of-course frauds who're always after your money.

Recently with the boom in telecommunication and decreasing cost of short messaging services (SMS)  spam has also made its way into the cellular networks across the globe.Spammers are now increasingly using mobile phones to spread unwanted messages.Spam SMS are really becoming a headache for cell phone users.

Personally I'm fed up of receiving texts about some new internet service in town, or the cheap substandard and probably fake viagra ads that i keep receiving on my cell. Seriously, telecom operators have to stop this otherwise we'll be drowned in a world full of spam.

Culture Day !

What is the first response that comes to your mind when you hear the word " Baloch" ?

I found it very surprising that most people living in Pakistan know too little about the baloch people and their culture. Infact it comes as a 'shock' considering that 44% of Pakistan's total area lies in the Balochistan province.

Whatever little information the general public has about the balochi culture and the baloch people is through the electronic or print media. Unfortunately the media has intentionally or unintentionally created a negative perception of the baloch people.

Baloch are an integral part of Pakistan and it is very important for everyone to understand their culture and their psychology. The baloch people have always been proud of their culture and their land. History tells us that the very first settlers of Karachi were Baloch which was back then known as 'Kolachi' named after its first inhabitants who were from a place called Kolach in Balochistan.

Baloch  are generally brave and kind hearted people who are well known for their hospitality and generosity.The Baloch people possess a rich culture whose traces go back to persian and arab cultures. Balochi poetry, balochi music and balochi cultural dresses are well known all around the world.
Today Baloch populations can be found spread across several regions of the world these include Pakistan, Afghanistan, in the Sistan and Balochistan province of Iran, Oman, Bahrain and other countries of the persian gulf.

The Balochi language is classified as a member of the Iranian group of the Indo-European language family, which includes Kurdish, Persian, Pashto, Dari, Tajik and Ossetian. The Baluchi language has the closest similarities to Kurdish, Avestan, old Persian and other Iranian languages.

To rejoice and celebrate their distinct culture and to portray the positive image of the Baloch people "Baloch Culture Day" is being celebrated on 2nd of March throughout the world wherever baloch populations exist.
I hope this event will be a huge success and will allow people to get an insight to the Balochi culture and language.

Life moves on....

As i enter the final year of my bachelors i am reminded of my last year in school. The second year of my A-levels...

Suddenly i feel the striking mix of feelings, the strange familiar feeling that i felt back then. The feeling of losing your old friends, the feeling of letting go the institution that groomed you, the strange excitement of meeting new people and the fear of what awaits you once you leave your safe haven.

I guess this is what most of us have gone through.


Then comes the most dreaded / much awaited day. The official last day at your institution. Friends meet each other with affection and love. Even those who never talked to each other during all those years come closer at this occasion.Promises are made to keep in touch but deep down everyone knows they will hardly get any time to meet.

You move on convincing yourself you'll never let go off your friends. Time passes by. You make new friends and get busy with your routine. And soon you realize how far you've wandered away. But now it doesn't matter. You have other friends and lots of them. Occasionally you remember the goofiness or cheekiness of one your friends, the taunts of another, the jokes, the small talk, the wonderful evenings you spent together, the time you wasted at the canteen, the sunny days you spent together lazing around in the grass while bunking off classes, the pressure you handled together while meeting a project deadline and all the crazy stuff you did together.

But, life moves on......

Get instant immigration to Canada,USA or UK !

Well the topic is not a new one but in-fact one that most of the Pakistani Youth dreams of.Most young Pakistani nationals wish to immigrate to the western developed world.An average Pakistani starts dreaming of acquiring higher education in a foreign university even before he clears high school. Soon after his intermediate or bachelors he'll approach agents to get admission in a "foreign university" even if it is ranked the lowest in that so called developed country.

Leaving behind much better options in his home town this guy finally persuades his parents that his future lies in a foreign country.The poor parents spend the entire savings of their life to send their 'talented' son abroad to acquire education.

Once approaching that country the son gets too involved in other things(usually enjoying the night-life etc.) and eventually education takes a back seat.After a few years this guy gets his degree barely obtaining passing marks.

Now when this boy comes back to Pakistan,his parents force him to find a job here.Confused between two different cultures, working in a mediocre Pakistani firm is an insult for this 'highly-educated' person.
Finally this guy returns to the country of his choice,becomes a second-class citizen over there and settles for a low class job.

Now i ask you whats the point of migrating to a foreign country where you'll always be treated as a second-class citizen ? Why immigrate to a foreign country if you can do better off in your own country ?
Why not make your own country a better place to live ?

Kindly leave your comments, i want your opinion on this.....

I'm Back !!

First of all i apologize to all my readers for not writing any sooner. I was extremely busy during the past few weeks...bombarded with assignments and tests.But finally now I'm free and not by choice ....

Actually this is the third year of my studies and i am supposed to be doing an internship this summer.I had even applied to an oil refinery a month before our summer vacations. So far so good.I kept waiting for their reply...internship offers from different industries came and went by...

Finally June arrived.I was really looking forward to the work experience i would be getting.As days passed i started getting worried.Usually companies reply until late May but in my case they kept me waiting until June.I called and checked on them but they told me to wait.

At last yesterday i got a reply.I was rejected. I was really confused,why i was rejected? I mean I'm pretty high up on my university merit list but still...
Later on i came to know only those people who'd applied to that refinery through personal references were selected.Those who had applied on merit basis were rejected.

Well what can i say? This is Pakistan. Anything is possible here. You don't have to be talented to be successful in this country,rather you have to have the right contacts so you can pull a string or two and get your desired post.

Anyways so here i am free and idle.No internship to do. No influential contacts to get my job done.I have talent, i have merit,but who cares !

Stress ...

What a stressful week this has been. First the increased work load due to Saturdays being off and secondly the hurricane of emotions that has been going in through me.

Sometimes you feel that the entire world has become your enemy and you don't have any friends.The depression ,the stress,the sadness takes all the light out of your life...

You feel tired and start wondering what is the purpose of your life ? You forget to enjoy the small things in life.That's when you start breaking down....
Something similar happened to me this week.

But,Friday has been better.As the week winded down a friend visited me and we spent all day together.Surprisingly enough i feel much refreshed now.

When your life is all dark and gloomy friends light up your life.So no matter how stressed you are, how tensed you are or how busy you are never forget your friends.

Hungry and Homeless

Today i went shopping for some groceries.It would've been just another usual trip had it not been for that incident.While i was shopping a boy came up to me.He was about 8 or 9 years old,wearing a torn blue shirt,dirty black shorts and was bare footed.He asked me to buy bread for him.As a natural response i hushed him away at first.But when i turned to face him something just made me freeze.
Maybe it was his face,maybe it was his innocence or maybe it was his eyes.Deep hollow eyes that had no sparkle of life in them.It was as if i could see his hunger and helplessness through his eyes.His eyes were full of sorrow and fear.I felt sad for the poor boy and bought him some bread.
On my way back i could not concentrate.My mind was full of thoughts about the boy.Where did he live ? Who are his parents ? Why did his parents leave such a cute little child alone ? When will the boy have his next meal ? Will someone feed him ? Where will the poor fellow sleep at night ?
I don't know how many such hungry,homeless children are there in Pakistan but i know one thing,there are many.
Why is our society so ignorant of such poor innocent children ? Don't they deserve to live a normal happy life ? Don't they deserve three meals a day,a shelter and an education ? Why not-only because they were born poor ?
Our social security net will have to be strengthened to help these innocent souls. Their future is Pakistan's future.If the government is not willing to help them then we should help them on our own.They're our responsibility.They're our children...

Of An Irresponsible Nation

Four to eight hours of daily load-shedding,a total shortage of 4500 MW of electricity,worst power shortage in the history of the country.Yet,when you go out in the mornings you can see street lights on.
Hundreds of small and big parks in the country where lights are on until midnight but in residential areas we have to live without electricity for hours at times.Why not close down all parks as soon as it gets dark and channel that electricity to hospitals,residential and industrial areas ? But no,people need relaxation,they need parks to enjoy...
Nobody cares about babies crying all night because of the heat,no one cares about students not being able to study for their exams.Why should anyone care for patients being operated in darkness with the help of torch light because there's no electricity?

And then we say why are we called the third world ? If in 63 years we can't light a bulb what else do we deserve ?

Global Warming or a Joke ?

There was a time when scientists and engineers worked for the betterment of mankind.These were men who spent their entire lives just so that we people could live a better life.Their main purpose was the propagation of scientific ideas and knowledge.
But,what has happened to today's scientists?
Recently i was reading an article on yahoo regarding global warming.I was shocked and and amused at the same time.Some scientists have suggested people should consume less milk and meat...why?Because livestock produce a lot of greenhouse gases.Can you believe that? Stop eating meat and milk...should people stop giving their children milk ? Should we start eating grass? Is their enough vegetation to feed the entire world ?
I wonder whats next...kill all the poor people in the world to eliminate poverty as well as minimize greenhouse gases? Or execute people for public farting ?

How long should your week be ??

Finally a long weekend has come to an end.Thanks to the holiday announced by the Sindh Government we got Saturday off.I have always wanted the weekend to consist of two holidays both Saturdays and Sundays off.Too bad we Pakistanis only get Sundays off.
When i talk to people they tell me that a six day week is better for the country,people can do more work,we can achieve our targets,its good for the country's economy etc etc.
I don't agree to that at all.In fact i believe that a six day week not only exhausts our work force but also makes it inefficient.The job that would normally take 3 to 4 days is completed in a week's time.The result being the employer has to pay more and the employee feels he's been working too hard.
On the other hand having five working days in a week will result in:
a)An efficient work force
b)Mental satisfaction of the employee
c)Saving electricity which will help minimize load-shedding
d)It will save employers a huge some of money.

What's your opinion ?

Sharing Is Caring !

Yes today millions of people in the world die out of hunger.There are thousands people who get only one meal a day and there are thousands of those who eat more than thrice a day.There are people in this world who have to walk miles before they get a drink of water and there are people who waste gallons of water a day not even giving it a second thought.There are people who have huge luxurious houses and there are people who sleep below the open sky with no shelter above their heads to protect them against the heat,the cold and the rain....Why ???
The reason being that we people have forgotten the most joyful act of life...sharing.
Yes we've forgotten the satisfaction,the happiness,the fulfillment one gets when you share.The world can become a much better place only if we start sharing.No one will be deprived.No one will die of hunger and thirst.No one will be left homeless only if we inculcate this principle of sharing in our lives.
Recently i came across a very intriguing email which i would like to share with you people.So here it goes..

The Power of Giving

By John Harricharan

It was a really hot summer’s day many years ago. I was on my way to pick up two items at the grocery store. In those days, I was a frequent visitor to the supermarket because there never seemed to be enough money for a whole week’s food-shopping at once.

You see, my young wife, after a tragic battle with cancer, had died just a few months earlier. There was no insurance -- just many expenses and a mountain of bills. I held a part-time job, which barely generated enough money to feed my two young children.
Things were bad -- really bad.

And so it was that day, with a heavy heart and four dollars in my pocket, I was on my way to the supermarket to purchase a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread. The children were hungry and I had to get them something to eat. As I came to a red traffic light, I noticed on my right a young man, a young woman and a child on the grass next to the road. The blistering noonday sun beat down on them without mercy.

The man held up a cardboard sign which read, "Will Work for Food." The woman stood next to him. She just stared at the cars stopped at the red light. The child, probably about two years old, sat on the grass holding a one-armed doll. I noticed all this in the thirty seconds it took for the traffic light to change to green.

I wanted so desperately to give them a few dollars, but if I did that, there wouldn’t be enough left to buy the milk and bread. Four dollars will only go so far. As the light changed, I took one last glance at the three of them and sped off feeling both guilty (for not helping them) and sad (because I didn’t have enough money to share with them).

As I kept driving, I couldn’t get the picture of the three of them out of my mind. The sad, haunting eyes of the young man and his family stayed with me for about a mile. I could take it no longer. I felt their pain and had to do something about it. I turned around and drove back to where I had last seen them.

I pulled up close to them and handed the man two of my four dollars. There were tears in his eyes as he thanked me. I smiled and drove on to the supermarket. Perhaps both milk and bread would be on sale, I thought. And what if I only got milk alone, or just the bread? Well, it would have to do.

I pulled into the parking lot, still thinking about the whole incident, yet feeling good about what I had done. As I stepped out of the car, my foot slid on something on the pavement. There by my feet was a twenty-dollar bill. I just couldn’t believe it. I looked all around, picked it up with awe, went into the store and purchased not only bread and milk, but several other items I desperately needed.

I never forgot that incident. It reminded me that the universe was strange and mysterious. It confirmed my belief that you could never out give the universe. I gave away two dollars and got twenty in return. On my way back from the supermarket, I drove by the hungry family and shared five additional dollars with them.

This incident is only one of many that have occurred in my life. It seems that the more we give, the more we get. It is, perhaps, one of those universal laws that say, "If you want to receive, you must first give."

There is a little rhyme that goes like this:

"A man there was, and they called him mad,
The more he gave, the more he had."

Most times, we think that we don’t have anything to give. Yet, if we look more closely, we ’ll see that even the little we have could be shared with others. Let us not wait for a time when we think we’ll have lots and then we’ll give. By giving and sharing the little we have, we open up the storehouse of the universe and permit rivers of good to come our way.

Don’t take my word for it. Just honestly try to give and you’ll be surprised at the results. Generally, the returns do not come back from those we give to. It comes back from sources we could hardly imagine. So give your way to riches.

Take a chance on this universal principle. Take a chance on yourself. Universal principles always work.

Sometimes the return from giving happens very quickly as in the true story above. Other times, it takes much longer. But be assured of this: Give and you will receive -- and you’ll receive lots more than you ever gave.

And when you give, don’t do it with a heart of fear, but with a heart full of gratitude. You will be amazed at how it all works out.

Open the gates of affluence in your life by giving a bit of what you have to those in need. As the great Teacher said, .Give and it will be given unto you..
Try it. You’ll like it.

Agricultural Attrocities

A few days back i had the opportunity to visit a farm located at the outer skirts of Karachi.It was a small farm of about 8 to 10 acres but was an extremely fertile piece of land.The owner of the farm was a 60 year old man who was supposed to be our guide for the day.Upon our arrival the old man came running to us and greeted us warmly.The old man was wearing shabby looking clothes and his hands were dirty,obviously he had been working in the field before our arrival.He then offered us lassi,a traditional drink made from yogurt and milk.We had a little chit chat before the old man took us to his home.
I was both shocked and surprised to see the man's home.It consisted of two small rooms situated side by side,a bathroom in the front yard and no kitchen at all.The walls were not painted and the plaster was falling off the ceiling at some places.At one corner of the room was a woman doing some cooking.We were taken to the other room where we settled on an old,torn carpet.I was informed that the area had no supply of gas and people still burned wood to cook food.
I had always thought that farmers in Pakistan lived prosperous lives as portrayed by the media but, i was wrong.My friend who accompanied me then explained that even if a poor farmers gets a bumper crop,his living conditions are unlikely to improve much.In this case the old man who had incurred all production costs was forced to sell his crop(tomatoes in this case) at Rs 3 per kg to the wholesaler.On the other hand the wholesaler who does nothing except to transport the crop from the farm to the market earns more than Rs 8 per kg.The farmers have no choice because thousands of farmers in Pakistan do not have storage facilities and neither can they afford to buy trucks to transport their goods to the markets.
Our government on the other hand has done nothing to improve the financial conditions of such small scale farmers.They are left at the mercy of the wholesalers.
These wholesalers not only eat up a large share of the farmers profit but also artificially raise the retail price of agricultural products.These wholesalers should be banned and the government should come up with proper policies so that our poor deprived farmers get their due share.

A Pessimistic Society

What is pessimism ? Pessimism is to anticipate failure. It is a general belief that bad things will happen.Unfortunately in our society,all of us have become experts in discovering flaws.Not even a single day of our lives goes without complaining.
Let me give you a few examples.When we look at the current economic scenario we find everyone complaining about unemployment,trade deficit,inflation and what not.But how many of us are actually trying to do something positive ?
This pessimistic attitude is driving away foreign investment from our country....
When we take a look at the social aspect,even before a match starts most of us are convinced that the Pakistani cricket team or hockey team will lose the match.We should at least encourage our players regardless of their performance.
In our daily lives most of us might have experienced that whenever a group gathers,rather than fruitful exchange of information and knowledge we start useless gossip.The funny part is even men have started doing that.This shows how negativity has spread like venom into our society.
Not even nature has escaped our pessimistic attitude.Recently there was a lot of buzz going on in the media regarding shortage of water in country.Most experts rather than planning and building new dams and reservoirs were wasting their energy blaming nature for having less amount of rainfall this year.We as a nation should at least do what is in our hands.
I ask you where did all that optimism go that led to the creation of this great country?
Of course there are certain situations where a little pessimism is required such as in new business ventures or when carrying out scientific research.But,we need to strike a balance between pessimism and optimism.
Remember an optimistic mind backed by positive action is the need of the hour.

Have We Become Mechanical ?

In today’s fast paced world most of us have become mechanical. While eating,travelling,talking and even in meetings, we’re always in a hurry.

Maybe its because we have not completely understood our goals in life. Work is important but its not everything. There’s more to life than material success.

Have we ever wondered whats it like to sit back and enjoy a weekend with family and friends ? Or is it that we’ve forgotten the true purpose of life – to enjoy ?

Well this is the right time to set our priorities right. Sit back and reconsider your goals in life.Take out some time for your family and friends. Believe me you won’t regret it !