Sunday, July 29, 2012

I will keep moving on…


No matter how many hurdles
Come along the way.
No matter how much
Filth Pollutes my path,
My mission is to stay.
I will keep moving on…
For those kids,
Who are hungry since hours,
For my wife,
Who hides her tears behind a smile,
For my mother,
Who prays.
I will keep moving on…
In search of their happiness
In fulfilling the thirst of their eyes,
With big and small steps,
In sunny and rainy days,
I will keep moving on…
I will knock every door,
I will ring every bell,
I will sell my pride for
I want their sorrows to fade away,
I will keep moving on
Till my last breath, I say!
Written By: Noor Ul Ain Hanif
Photo Credits : Hassan Raza


Friday, July 27, 2012

Ramadan Menu!

Unique Pakistan
http://blog.uniquepakistan.com.pk/ramadan-menu/

Ramadan is the month that brings bundle of blessings and gazillion reasons of joy. It is the month that teaches us peace, harmony, unity, brotherhood and patience. As we all are entangled in our daily routine so much that we can’t take out time to have dinner or lunch with family, dinner and lunch are farfetched, we hardly take out time for tea or supper and the 11 months pass by, following the same routine but there is no time month where our main aim is to correct our lifestyle and bring it back on track. This month is popularly known as ‘Ramadan Kareem’.
Ramadan is the month of spirituality which comes up with a unique food menu. This is the blessing of Ramadan that our kitchens, houses and refrigerators are diffused with the mouth watering fragrance of different yummy dishes and healthy food items before a week. The lady of the house prefers to cook sehri and iftar items before Ramadan and freeze them into the refrigerator in order to save every minute. Because kitchen is a place where work never ends and everyone wants to spend more and more time in reciting Quran or praying so the smart ladies complete their work before Ramadan and at the Sehri and Iftar time, they just take out the frozen item and serve it hot


Hmmmm…..let’s talk about the sehri menu, paratha! Even the one who never eats paratha the whole year, he/she must want one in sehri. A lot of people prefer different flavors of parathas’ in sehri i.e alu, piyaz, keema and gobi etc.  Paratha is a multi layered roti which is garnished with butter or ghee, now you can actually imagine how much healthy it is. Along with parathas the traditional dinner items are usually served in sehri; koftay, nehari, paye, kabab and maggas etc. After 1 or 2 weeks, people usually skip dinner and have all the dinner items in sehri. After having a complete course of stomach filling stuff, now it’s the turn of sweet dish. Khajla and pheeni are the traditional sweet dishes of Ramadan that are specially served in sehri, dipped in milk which tastes yummy. Moreover, Yogurt to ease stomach from burning and khajoors for filling stomach for long time is also consumed.
So it was all about sehri, now it’s the turn of iftar. Iftar is usually based on hi-tea snacks: keema or alu bhari kachori, alu or keema samosay, chicken or vegetable roll, wonton, bread roll, burgers or sandwiches, channa chaat, fruit salad, dahi baray, alu, piyaz or palak ke pakoray with sprinkled chaat masala and ketchup. This whole course meal is served with liquid or milk drinks. However, khajoor is used to break the fast.
These all are the blessings of Ramadan, we spend a whole day without eating bread or drinking a drop of water and at the end of the day we are sitting on a  filled dastarkhun or table which is decorated with different food items. Allhumdulliah!

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Stop Coughing You Generator!

Published in The News blog with wrong name!
Hats off to carelessness!



his is the story of Khursheed Bhai Apartments, where people live happily and peaceful until the generator of Rizwana Khanum 5th floor turned on.

Ground floor

Haris (crying): Mumma!!…Mumma!!!Tomorrow is my chemistry paper and I am very nervous. I don’t know what will happen…
Mumma: Don’t worry baita, just concentrate on studies everything gonna be fine. Oh its 4:25 pm electricity can go at any second.
Zain…Zain!! baita Zain turn off your PC and turn on Ups go baita hurry up!

Haris: Ohhhh noooo…!!! Mumma if electricity went away then the 5th floor’s maneaters will turn on their teen dabba (generator)!! I can’t
bear the sound! I can’t study in such harsh noise!

First floor

Guriya: Please drink juice Grand Maa I have made it by myself. You’ll feel good…
Grand Maa: Thank you shehzadi. What time is it now?
Guriya: Its 4:26 pm
Grand Maa (sadly): Oh its electricity failure time…5th floor walay
will turn on their generator. Let your father come, I will ask him to
complain again.
Guriya: Hope, the retarded will listen our plea.
Grand Maa: buri baat. Don’t call them retarded
Second floor
Qari Sahib: Kkkha zabar kkkha…
Adil: Kha zabar kha…
Qari Sahib: Kkkha…not Kha…
Adil: Kkhaa…..
Qari Sahib: Baita concentrate, if electricity went away then you
can’t hear my voice properly…complete it before 4:30 pm

 Third Floor

Baji: How was your day? Take out your dairy.
Munna: Baji today, science teacher explain chapter 5 and she has given its exercises for homework. Urdu teacher will take test of chapter 3 tomorrow.
Baji: Okay take out urdu copy and start learning chapter 3. I will take its test.

Fourth floor

***My MAmMA ToLd Me WhEn I wAs yOuNg, We ArE aLl BoRn
SuPeRsTaR…..***
Bobby: Yeahhh yeahhh….
Mom: Bobby slow down the volume
Bobby: Ooo Mom, lemme dance on full volume….only for last few seconds because after that I will dance on the noise of generator…Oh
my poor body!

Fifth floor

Amma: Puttar Mujjii…Mujjiii puttar…where are you?
Mujji: Coming amma
Amma: Puttar, electricity can go at any second…turn on gennator.
Mujji: Changa amma.
Electricity went away
Dhuss…dhusss…dhuss…
Mujji: Ohho no this teen dabba…
Dhuss…dhusss…dhuss…
Dhuss…dhusss…dhuss…DhussssssssssssSSSSSSSSS$$$$$$$$$$!!!!!!!(Generator
turns on)
Mujji: Amma….Amma…!…Can’t you hear?
Amma: Puttar I can’t hear your voice in such noise.
Mujji: Amma..ground’s floor Haris was complaining against the noise of
generator and…
Amma: huh don’t talk about him. He is good for nothing
Mujji: Amma 4th floor’s Bobby was also saying something about you in
angrezee
Amma: Bobby…wo burger munda…I have objection with his name
Bobby…if I had a daughter I will call her Bobby…huh
Mujji (blushing): Amma wo…wo…2nd floor’s tutor…Fariha was also complaining.
Amma: Puttar turn deaf ears to their complains…they all are jealous with us, jealous with our gennator. You know, my mother your nani gifted me this gennator on my wedding. My brother your pyaray mamu bought it from Japan. It has a Japani engine. It’s very long lasting. Puttar you don’t take tension common eat supper…a mera
munna!!

Moral of the story:
This is the condition of more or less very area, colony or apartment. People love to buy generator but they don’t spend money on their
maintenance, it results in noisy sound that disturb them as well and to all the people that live nearby.

The photography fever!

Published on 17 July 2012,
http://blogs.dunyanews.tv/?p=4820

What is the main hobby of youth nowadays? Social networking, texting and hanging out with friends but photography is above all. Cell phone and camera are the two devices that youth mostly carries but due to the innovation in technology every cell phone obsesses a high mega pixel camera inside it which makes more or less everyone a Photographer!

Undoubtedly, camera cell phone has made life easy you can capture every event or moment and can make your memories long lasting by transferring the stuff into pc, usb or any other smart technology and I am sure, this camera feature has created a flood of pictures in everyone’s storage memory. However, mobile camera offers video option too but it’s another long debate.

It’s a fact a good camera can make you good looking and mostly girls have taken full advantage of this cam technology by taking picture every day. Therefore, they change their display picture on Facebook as they change their dress. The poses in pictures are another wide topic to discuss. Pointing out girls only is not complete justice, boys are also taking part in it. Capturing the smoke while smoking is the main target, make the picture black white to gain attention or putting any heart breaking picture to gain sympathies of girls. This is the main psyche behind boys dp.

The journey of seasonal photographer begins from cell phone camera, who later on quotes themselves as professional photographers by putting a smart watermark on pictures and upload them on social networking websites and ask their friends to share and like the page. This is the main reason that facebook is introducing a new photography page every day. Start counting, how many photography pages have you liked till now, you will be amazed!

Sometimes I wonder is photographer this easy? Or to look cool people are adapting this hobby? Is it in fashion nowadays? This photography fever led people to buy professional camera who afford buy it, who can’t they continue capture through cell phone lens. But five fingers are not equal so among seasonal photographers there are talented photographers as well.

Pakistan is the land of talent and youth are the carriers of multi-talent but it’s not good to swim with the flow of water, sometimes you have to think different, if everyone is running behind photography so it’s not necessary to do to the same. Recognize your talent!


Sunday, July 15, 2012

A ray of Hope-An initiative against acid violence

Recently, Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy has raised the heads of all Pakistanis with proud by winning an Oscar for her documentary movie ‘Saving faces’ that is about two brave Pakistani women from South Punjab who became victims of acid violence and their journey for justice. It used to be said that highlighting an issue is just the beginning, after which positive initiatives used be undertaken in order to eliminate that issue from the society. Saving faces has proved to be the same one. The movie has led the core issue in front of the world and now acid violence has become the topic of discussion in many shows and get-to-gathers that end up in disseminating bright solutions.

In the same way, a student oriented panel discussion plus video conference was organized by the U.S. Embassy in collaboration with the Higher Education Commission, Acid Survivors Foundation, and the Aurat Foundation on 10th April at the Higher Education Commission’s Auditorium in Islamabad which was moderated by Dr. Marilyn Wyatt, wife of U.S. Ambassador Cameron Munter. Featuring: Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, Dr. Marilyn Wyatt, Professor Hamid Hassan, head of the burn unit at Benazir Bhutto International Hospital in Rawalpindi, Dr Khadija Tahir, a psychotherapist who treats acid survivors, Barrister Naveed Muzaffar Khan who draft legislatures against acid violence, and Samina Naz a representative of Aurat Foundation. The discussion was not only attended by the students sitting in Islamabad but students across the country also participated in it through online streaming and many of them got a chance to watch the video conference at U.S. Consulate. My university, Jinnah University for women (JUW) was among the universities that attended the video conference at U.S. Consulate Karachi.

The conference started with the words of Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, appreciating the bravery of women who participated in the movie and shared their stories. In Pakistan, there is a general perception that if a woman becomes victim of acid attack then it’s her mistake. We have to change this mindset and psyche of people. Moreover, we have to assure the victims, it’s not their fault; it’s the fault of the man who did such shameful act to them. To do so, we have to educate the people about the law which is in process, Sharmeen Obaid shared her views. It was an interactive discussion between experts and students, soon the introductory session was ended and question session was started in which students from different universities came up with rational questions and enlighten suggestions.

In reply to a question Dr Khadija suggested, “Initially there should be rehabilitation centers across the country. First of all, we have to give them confidence to come outside from the room and face the world”. A question related to legislature replied by Mr. Hassan, “A comprehensive legislature is a bill not a law. We will take its final to the parliament. If it is passed, it would be easy available around the country”. While guiding the students, Ms Chinoy said, “Students can work at their levels or they can help the volunteers. Above all, treat the victims as human being. There is a co-relation between literacy and acid violence so spread education” Many of the students shared suggestions like media has a great influence. It can change the mindset of people. There should be a training center to train the teenager as they are the future of Pakistan.

Such activities are a positive initiative towards the core issue as Acid attacks are increasing day by day that has taken so many lives.  Awareness is the basic need so let's aware people!