Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

May be this was the first nursery rhyme that i learnt, but today i found out that it was way too beautiful than i realized. here i m posting it for everyone to read it and enjoy!

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are!

Up above the world so high

Like a diamond in the sky.

When the blazing sun is gone,

When he nothing shines upon,

Then you show your little light,

Twinkle, twinkle, all night.

Then the traveler in the dark

Thanks you for your tiny spark!

He could not see which way to go,

If you did not twinkle so.

In the dark blue sky you keep,

And often through my curtains peep,

For you never shut your eye

Till the sun is in the sky.

As your bright and tiny spark

Lights the traveler in the dark,

Though I know not what you are,

Twinkle, twinkle, little star.

Jane Taylor

In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
 By (the Token of) Time (through the ages), 
 Verily Man is in loss, 
Except such as have Faith, and do righteous deeds,
and (join together) in the mutual teaching of Truth,
and of Patience and Constancy. 
                              
                                 -  translation by Abdullah Yusuf Ali 




I was watching the news on TV about the match fixing fiasco that is created by our very dear cricket team and they show this very cute picture of Salman Butt, our captain and Muhammad Aamir and I realized that if proven guilty they have ruined their careers!!!!! "Man is in loss!"


yesterday, we were having a discussion in school as to why people sell off their faith? how much money do they need to spend good life? is honesty has come to nothing? and I said that, "i think that in order to spend good life, I only need 50 lacs. I could go back to university and get my home repaired and that's about it." 


One of my colleagues said that," S 50 lacks are not much, we at least need 25 million to spend a good life. you can't even buy a house in 50 lacs." 


But now i think that it all depends on how materialize your world is! my good idea of life is to have enough money to get good education and have food three times a day on your table. Obviously if i need to expand my view, living in the new modern home will be  a good idea and driving a car of new model every year and going to foreign countries on vacations would be sooooooooooo nice. but there has to be a limit!!!!! and we have forgotten our limits!!!


and that is why we are in loss...

Realization - first step to change

Teacher: I know all of you are very intelligent! [humorously] or anybody has objection?
Me: Sir, I have objection.
Teacher: I know you would have!


X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

convo ended, we carried on with the teaching. this is the part of conversation that took place today in the CI [Curriculum and Instruction] class.

now the question is why do i have an objection on being called intelligent?
because if we don't realize the truth about ourselves, we'll never change ourselves. and the truth is that we are far away from being intelligent. [individual cases ignored]
 Most of my colleagues during the sunday class come to enjoy themselves, or to get a degree for sake of a rise or teacher's allowance. there are no people there who go there to learn. and i mean seriously learn. our ground realities are far from being ideal! we cheat, we lie, we copy, we waste time, we joke...  but we don't realize any of that.

I love thinking of myself as intelligent, I love to hear it from people, but when i assess myself, I have got a long way to go before I finally end up being intelligent. this realization will help me change whatever is wrong in me, whatever needs improvement, whatever needs to be corrected, avoided, deleted, updated...etc etc. but if i run away from realizing that i have got room for improvement, i'll end up being mediocre, just average not intelligent. so i don't want my teacher to call any of us intelligent!!!! we are in for "Rude Awakening!"

Something Beautiful

there is so much going on around me, personally, nationally - internationally, i am unaware of :#, that we miss ramzan as we used to have it in yesteryears, all the festivity and religious zeal and happiness it cause, i heard this naat on tv someday back and i just love it - wonderfully said. i hope that you enjoy it too :)

Politically Aware - Humbug

today - as it happened kids were off due to the flood threat and teachers and librarians were free to do whatever they wished. and i went to my favorite spot that happens to be library. there a heated conversation was going on about the condition of flood victims and what everybody is doing about it and what is the duty of government in this situation and what it is not doing [we tend to keep an eye on what government is not doing, rather than on what it is doing]. everyone was busy criticizing all the people for not doing what they ought to do and then i jumped in!!!!! [that i gather is my favorite thing :P]

and i asked them what they are doing???? and everybody started counting what they had given in donation [i admit that i personally have not done much apart from praying :#]. then i invited everybody if they are ready to come along and we'll go and help people out there or stage a protest against government... and guess what??!!! everyone backed out.... nobody was in. easy to criticize, hard to demonstrate. we all are very much into politics and government policies when it comes to talking, we would read newspapers, magazines, listen to endless minutes of news, hear programs and read reports on what is going wrong but we will not do anything to change it practically... we are so comfortable in this situation that we don't even think of doing it. "It is easier to sit in your cozy drawing rooms and criticize government, but very hard to go on road and tell them to correct it."

one of my colleague's father was into MRD movement, a long time back and he was sent to jail for being into, i asked her what is wrong with us, we still know what's going on, and we still can differentiate between what's right and what's wrong, but why we don't do anything anymore? she simply replied that we don't have courage anymore. "we have gone deep inside rabbit's fur :("

and then as i was reading reader's digest Asia, i came across a regular feature called "heroes"  in which people write about other people who they think have done something outstanding or are doing something outstanding, this hero was a woman who went to homes of old people or orphanages to help people there along with her family and friend. she would give them packets of food and other items and instruct her volunteers to ask them what do they need, and they will try to bring it next time, no matter what it is!!!! WONDERFUL. and it made me wonder, why can't i be like this? why can't i do this? why do i wait for abdul sattar edhi to show up? why can't i be what abdul sattar edhi is? why blame others for not doing enough for my people? why don't i do it myself?


ANSWERS ANYONE?????!!!!!


We live in a country where
Pizza reaches home faster than ambulance and police.
Where you get car loan @18% and education loan @40%
Where rice is Rs 90/- per kg but sim card is free.
Where the shoes are sold in AC showrooms but vegetables, we eat, are sold at footpath.
Where lemon juices are sold with artificial flavours while dish wash has real lemon.
Where our leading class is having fake degrees while educated youth is jobless.
What a NATION!


WE CAN CHANGE THAT, IF WE WANT TO...


P.S this post was written on 24th august 2010, but i was unable to post it due to electricity problem.

In the Beginning

who ever thought that life would end up being an online diary? in the beginning none of my contacts knew about blogging and it was alien word and so many of my software engineering friends still runaway from blogging because we just do not know what to post online and what will happen of our posts???

it is a genuine reason not to start blogging [well i think so] this is the very reason that kept me from blogging for a long time. i have another blog, called Rambling of Lunatic and there i post all the fictitious things that i think about or read about!!!! it is far far away from reality and this blog of mine mostly contain my comments and views on different things.... [sadly those are not very nice comments] but then my blog is not my personal diary [i actually keep one, and i have had one since 11 years] so it gets quite confusing what to post and what to censor!!!! [censoring oneself is a big problem]. the blogs have given us freedom to express our thoughts, political and social mostly, and to reflect on the attitude of our nation and to praise or condemn them!!!!

there is so much going on around us and the youth of my country has turned somewhat radical and they have got enough energy pent up inside them, which in turn make them destructive.... but venting those emotions out and saying everything to people makes it easier for them to bear the hardships of life in Pakistan. Blogs give us this freedom of writing our heart out!!!!

Jeeaye Blogging :P

100 Edits on Shelfari...

i was introduced to shelfari in 2007 by a friends [he never used it after inviting me] shelfari is a website that is all about books and readers. in the beginning it wasn't much fun, all you could do was add books that you read or have read in the past and make friends and join groups, but gradually shelfari improved. now it offers you to add information about your favorite authors and books, add characters, write synopsis, recommend books and as for recommendations.

yesterday i completed my 100 edits on shelfari and that is simply great for me because it took me one complete year to understand this editing facility and after that i was hooked, continuously searching for new books and editing their info.

Shelfari is fun, do try it.

14th August Independence Day - Zong

A wonderful advertisement and a message full of hope. this poem is inspired by Jonathan Reed's

"lost Generation"

LOST GENERATION

BY

Jonathan Reed

I am part of a lost generation
and I refuse to believe that
I can change the world
I realize this may be a shock but
“Happiness comes from within.”
is a lie, and
“Money will make me happy.”
So in 30 years I will tell my children
they are not the most important thing in my life
My employer will know that
I have my priorities straight because
work
is more important than
family
I tell you this
Once upon a time
Families stayed together
but this will not be true in my era
This is a quick fix society
Experts tell me
30 years from now, I will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of my divorce
I do not concede that
I will live in a country of my own making
In the future
Environmental destruction will be the norm
No longer can it be said that
My peers and I care about this earth
It will be evident that
My generation is apathetic and lethargic
It is foolish to presume that
There is hope.

And all of this will come true unless we choose to reverse it .

Read the message, then read it again in reverse.

Reading

I had free time in the school today, as the attendance was low and the classes were merged, so i went to the library there i started reading "Reader's Digest", that's what i usually do, when i m free in school and don't hv classes to take.

there i came across an article, a true story about a woman, who had lost everything and was forced to live in a car for many days, then she discovered blogging and started writing one, first time admitting that she was homeless. She named her blog WanderingScribe and started writing about her failures and hope and things, I am following that blog and I want other people to take a look at it!

I also read an article in Spider and read an article about plagiarism, it is interesting how people use other people's work as their own... sometimes i feel that i do that too, but then i mention the names, is it plagiarism then too?  I've yet to find an answer to that. and it was sad to observe that people don't enjoy reading much these days....

But whatever the truth of people be, I love reading and Books and everything about them :)

P.S. I recommend people to read, To kill a mocking bird, it is a fascinating book =)

Picasa Web Album

i was desperate to display my cross stitch work on my blog, and i searched and searched, but in vain, finally i came across slide show option of the blogs, it wanted the address of the picasa web albums and i was not very keen on making one more account, so i chose my facebook albums, to display my work!!!!!!!

But guess what, the link was not working and there was no slide show! :(

So, i decided to make an account on Picasa... but i hate the upload tool, it'll take me ages to upload all my pictures. :(

Any suggestions for faster upload????

Flood 2

The flood have not yet reached Haiderabad, but it has caused a lot of destruction in the northern Sindh, it has crossed the dangerous level! Well,  you must have heard it in news several times...and that's not why I m writing.

I was talking to my friend, and she said that people are really angry at the biasing of the Urdu media of the country, because according to Urdu media, the flood is only in KPK or Punjab, Sindh isn't very important. Then why do Government expect from us, Sindhis, to act Pakistani??????

MY friend and her family has started calling Geo News, as Joota News, because all they are obsessed with is the throwing of the Shoe  at President Zardari in London. [Aur Urdu mein Jeem se Geo or Jeem se joota]

When the shoe was thrown at President Bush, there was the full media coverage, and one can watch the clip at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWt3-kPBQ4A, and when the shoe was thrown at Chinese Premier there is a video of it, which can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SruwzgddXY, and when the Indian Home Minister was thrown shoe at, there was recording, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFMiC-dkHbY, but i have yet to find the video of shoe being thrown at President of Pakistan. I think it is all a lie, and it is just a trick to get people's attention by the channels.

If there is one dead in Karachi, the Urdu media [read Geo News] start to cry over it, airing the news again and again, but there are thousands of dead in the flood and not even a 5 minute report on the incident!!!!!! What would you call this? How can I remain Pakistani, when my problems, as Sindhi, are not considered important?

This is not the time to protest against the banning of channels or burning of newspaper, but it is time to come together and help people in need!

Miscellaneous Thoughts

Everybody has been cursing the President of Pakistan lately, but i wonder why they are doing so??? They chose People's Party themselves after the elections of 2008! although they gave them Condolence vote, but they did themselves. Now good or bad, they are the rulers, and as Muslims, we should not say anything bad about our rulers, but we should support them with their plans, and if we don't agree with their plans, or think that they are corrupt, or not fit to rule us, we should openly campaign against them,  not talk bad about them!

Allah is very merciful and Allah choose for us as we are like. We should first assess ourselves.

-----X-----X------X------X
Urdu channels in Pakistan, particularly Geo isn't broadcasting anything about the flood situation in Sindh, they mention it in passing, as if it was something small... that's heart breaking, we are part of this nation too and Sindh is not only Karachi, it is Kashmore, Larkana, Jacobabad and all other districts too!!! we are in need, we need help and prayers.

-----X-----X-----X-----X
When one is facing any difficult situation, one should read this dua:

This dua was said by Hazrat Younus (AS) while he was in the stomach of a big fish.

May Allah have mercy on all of us and protect us from the calamity of flood.

FLOOD

clouds... that i wish would pass without pouring anymore water on us!

floods come and go... in other countries!

bad things happen... to other people!!!

but... this time the flood is going to happen to us! i live only 10 kilometers away from the River Indus. some people call it "MIGHTY INDUS." and my school where I teach is only 10 minutes walk away from the river! and we are still on the high alert for the flood.
Today I had a good look of the river from the roof of my school. it was full to the brim and if flood water hits, it's gonna be havoc! we are in danger and people!!!!! well people are people...................................


i talked to few people about what they think of the flood threat and the condition of high alert? and you know what nobody is bothering about it!

there was killing in Karachi of some leader of MQM and everyone is lamenting about him.... ignoring how many people have been killed in return and altogether forgetting the threat caused by flood, deadlier since 1979...

the natural disasters are not that great as the mismanagement of people have made them!!!! we were (Pakistani Management) informed a lot of time earlier that we are under the threat of flood and heavy monsoon rain! but to no avail, now more than 1500 lives lost and many more disappeared, we are thinking of rescue and relief operations ヅ [as if this is gonna ever happen]


facing the problem is one thing but surviving to see the aftermath is another. I always think that if something is gonna happen, I would be the first one to die (wait a sec, I never said i was a coward or a pessimist, or i hate life), because dead are relieved from all the problems. PROBLEMS are for the living things. after the flood water recedes, the chaos it has created, the havoc it would have caused would be a lot more difficult to face than the flood itself. how can i would stand to see what would have happened of my home, my neighbors' home, the place where I worked, the shops that i went to, the roads i walked on? the people i saw everyday? I would die of Sadness the aftermath would have caused! I wish that floods would never come.

I wish that water would stay in the river and won't break any boundaries.

I wish that after the 4th of August, or the 9th of August, or the 11th of August {these all are the dates when the water is predicted to hit Haiderabad}I would wake up early in the morning and go to work and see the smiling faces of my colleagues, my students and all other people on the way.

Home outside the school, it's in the imminent danger of being drowned by flood 

scene outside my school

Food and Me

i m a non-conformist!

i don't follow people's rules, i have my own standards and i am only obliged to them!!!!

i don't really want to explain my behavior or attitude toward different things, but then i think that i should explain, in the same way that paulo coelho explains things.

so i don't like food much!!!!!!!!! although i admit that it is one of the greatest gifts of God, but then is it all i should think about and learn in order to survive my married life????? well if that is what people expect from me, then they have to be disappointed!!!!

in paulo coelho's novel "The Zahir", esther tells her husband that "women are the happiest when they cook and see their family eat". true very true!

and i read somewhere that evolution of mankind is directly related to the cooking of food! the importance of food, accepted! but is it necessary that one's life should revolve around cooking of the food?

i don't cook.... and there is a difference between 'can't' and 'don't'. it means that i can cook but i don't do it regularly!

life is too short and there is so much to do. we already waste a lot of our time, doing unproductive things, that are to no avail, food although is important, but does not make focal point of my life existence. i eat to live, and not live to eat. cooking exotic meals to satisfy my taste buds or that of my friends is not necessary for me, you can fulfill your requirement of food by eating daal chawal or tikka or duck fonti! who cares? you will feel hungry after four hours and then what? follow the same ritual???!!! isn't there something better to do? there is not even a single person in this world, who can tell you, what my favorite food is? because it is not important.

80% of world problems arise because of food, the lust for food, eliminate the food and there would be less problem! a teacher of mine once told me that its not my sole responsibility to eliminate those problems.

all in place. i don't like to spend my time learning to cook exotic food and gathering people's praise. i have learnt the hardest way that i can't make everyone happy, so i won't even try!!!! i've got better things to do with my time :)