Virginity:To keep or not to keep. That is the question

Pakistan is a society full of hypocrisy. We have learnt to appear to be modern with the tight stiletto heels, and the use of four letter words.

Virginity

Virginity Crisis

We have mastered fake English accent, and lines. We are ready to settle abroad, and put up a mask with the help of thousands of labels. We are ready to quote and act like any of the Sex and the City characters, but at certain things we can be extremely rigid. Virginity (FOR GIRLS ONLY) is one such thing. But it is a rule with certain exceptions.

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2010
02/08
CATEGORY
Pakistani Men
Pakistani Women
Society
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Karachi Burning

There have been two bomb blast in the city.. one at Nursury at a bus carrying women and children to the shia Procession.. the other at the Jinnah Hospital that was treating the injured of the blast.

More then that I can’t say.

2010
02/05
CATEGORY
Society
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A Wonderful Encounter with just another Stranger

Today coming back from work, I decided to take the much talked about walking route but which I had always dismissed as being too long. I usually take a rickshaw back home, and as I was coming down the alley towards the main road, I heard a rickshaw and I so hoped that it would be free, because the walk was proving too much for me in my heels ( No I don’t wear heels to work, Yes today was the first time I wore them to work)

Just another Stranger in this crowd of a City

The rickshaw that I heard already had a person inside it, so I asked another one parked in a corner but he refused to take me. And it was then that I approached this rickshaw, with this cute Pathan Baba driving it. As soon as I sat in, he started telling me stories about his life. Read more

2010
02/04
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Personal
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I am sick of Nawaz Sharif

I try to restrict myself from giving these bold statements about anyone.. even if he is a politician.. Now I know that there would be angry heads every where going why target Nawaz Sharif and not Zardari aka the real root of all evil in this world for a lot of people. But here is something: HE HAS NOT BEEN THE PRIME MINISTER TWICE. NAWAZ SHARIF HAS BEEN .. so there fore I have every right to diss him for still not learning from his mistakes.

Nawaz Sharif- Leader of the Muslim League(N)

His “Rid the Punjab of illiteracy” Scheme has been going on for a very long time, and I can understand that it is a very hard job to attain. There are a lot of Political, Economic, Cultural Restrictions in his way, but a recent news item in the paper has changed my perspective about his many, many slogans that are simply void of any dedication.

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2010
02/02
CATEGORY
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The Geography of Life

The question of  finding a suitor nowadays by mum or relatives or other aunties is usually followed by the “Geography” attached to it. By this I mean that the question is almost always followed by the question” Would you mind moving abroad” or “would you like the guy to be living in USA or would you prefer some where close like Dubai”. It seems that now instead of marriages being made in heaven they are now based on the significance of “Geography”.

The significance of Location in the Relationship Sphere

My answer to this question has always been “No I would like to stay in this country” and this has been a sincere but good enough way to shut those aunties up. I think the reason for them shutting up is the sheer shock and maybe a bit of amusement to the fact that some one would still want to live in this country. I don’t blame them.

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2010
01/17
CATEGORY
Personal
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In memory of Asim Butt (1978-2010)

We were all sitting in the office, pretending to be working while sneekingly playing Facebook, when Arif Sahab came into the room to tell us the news that Asim But has taken his own life. He had already made up his own mind about why ASim has done it, and he passed his judgements in the following words

Asim Butt - no longer among us

This would not have happened if this city wasn’t suffocating him, and if there was a place where he could have channelled his energy. But this city doesnt give this chance to people.

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2010
01/15
CATEGORY
Local Happenings
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Haiti in News

Watching Dr. Sanjay Gupta trying to take care of a 3 day old baby in Haiti and the baby wasn’t moving much so he was trying to make her well and cry. And it was at that very moment that I realized that at times in this world there is nothing beautiful than a baby crying. Hearing that baby cry somthing inside of me triggered as I realized that that baby is opening her eyes in the wake of a devastating tragedy that might take years to overcome.

That baby needs our help. We should do whatever we can to help them out right now. Please click any of the links below to find out whatever it is that you can do:-

2010
01/15
CATEGORY
International Happenings
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Before becoming an Architect…

some one should tell you that this is going to be the biggest mistake that you would ever make. Maybe if you are a sadist, or a person who likes to inflict torture upon himself, then maybe you wont be so put out by this profession. Other wise, you should really think twice.You should try hitting your head against the wall a couple of times, then maybe inflict torture upon yourself, poke a hive of bees, sit under a lamp with a highest volt bulb that you can find facing you and then staying awake for 4 days. If after doing all this you think, that you are still up for the challenge, maybe because of the fact that you have hurt yourself too bad, or you just simply enjoy the adrenaline rush, then by all means go for it.

The curse of Architects

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2010
01/12
CATEGORY
Architecture
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The Old Fimiliar Blame Game!

It is always the same old story.. and things always take the same turn always..

Mustafa Kamal

no know knows why this pattern has established… no one wants to think about how we can change it… and nobody is intrigued by it anymore.

After the bomb blast on the Moharram procession, the usual game began, with everyone asking that who is to be blamed. The independent media ofcourse (over)played it’s part. Read more

2010
01/10
CATEGORY
Local Happenings
Terrorism
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The Moharram Tragedy

At 4:20 pm today there was a bomb blast in the city as the Main Ashura procession was passing at M.A.Jinnah Road. Till now almost 20 people, and around 50 people have been injured.

Till yesterday under this very heading I was going to write with a different perspective, that can be summed up as below.

It has always been astonishing to me that people usually don’t care about having their voice heard. They don’t come out when the country is going through a crisis, like when the democratic government was toppled by a military General who would live up to the term “dictator”.

But every year people would come on to the streets every Moharram and perform their religious acts with such dedications- sometimes crossing over to the point of barbarity. This was explained to me by my friends in more or less these words

This is an act of piety, we mourn the death of our Imam and his followers who lost their lives fighting the evil that was Yazid. This procession every year is a sort of symbolic act which is meant to say that we are here against any Yazid that would rise today. We mean to show that we have power in our numbers, and every year you can see the wave of men and women who come out to warn anyone who would dare strike the innocent.

Now I am all for religious independence and I have many friends who are Shia and I respect their believes tremendously. But I think most of the people have engaged themselves too much literally to the concept.. Shouldn’t the point be to rise and come out in the streets against the wrong? And not just in Moharram? Where are all these people year long when so much wrong is going on in the world which is wrong?

The symbolism of the Ashura Procession

I dont mean to sound Prejudce and therefore I should say that it is not only the tragedy of one sect but of all of us. We all take religion literally, when I hardly think that it is the reasonable approach because most of the religion is not literal . There is symbolism and meaning between the lines.

Today, after hearing the news of the blast, I am going to change my perspective a bit, and say the following, that it is certainly very courageous for people to go out year after year knowing the possibility that is out there, knowing that each year after year there is a chance that there is going to a blast. Even as I type this, there are people who are out there on the streets who are continuing with the Moharram Procession. Read more

2009
12/28
CATEGORY
Local Happenings
Terrorism
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The Burden on a Democratic Government

I think we as people like to live under the curtain of illusions, we like to pretend that things are not what they are and thus we always seem to be invaded by the massive propaganda machine that surrounds us. This point was very beautifully voiced by Hajrah Mumtaz in her today’s article in Dawn, one of the few voices that I have come across that are saying something real in this jungle of noise.

Since the NRO decision by the Supreme Court, it seems that the only people who are being called for accountability are the members of the Pakistan’s Peoples Party (PPP) especially President Zardari. I beg people not to take this post as a sign of my support for the current Government or for President Zardari. I have my differences with the government and they will remain in their place, but i am however in support of the process that is democracy and thus I would support however is the President, let it be Sharif’s, Gillani, or the Chaudarys.

A news item in today’s paper said that Nusrat Bhutto, the wife of the founder of PPP, is being summoned for accountability. At this point it becomes important to remind the Committee for Accountability that the women has suffered more than enough on the behalf of the democracy that we seem so fond of, and therefore today article by Ather Abbas in Express News became very relevant.

Nusrat Bhutto- Paid for democracy by losing 4 members.. but still not donw

I appreciate all that the courts are trying to do considering that their own independent is not such an old story, and therefore they do have to be careful, but why is it that whenever there is a democratic government all characters come running from all directions to destroy the reputation of it, or in some way to destabilize it. There are 8000 cases in the NRO, and there are the names of many of the leaders like Altaf Hussain, Waseem Akhtar, Farooq Sattar, Nawaz Sharif, and many of the army generals who have pardoned an amazing amount of money from the courts, and have now run off to greener pastures, why is it that the court is not asking them to come before the committee and explain themselves. Read more

2009
12/20
CATEGORY
Political
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Another blast rips the country

Every blast sends new waves of fears through out the country, and makes you reassess the entire political system of this country. Yesterdays blast at the Mosque at Parade lane in Rawalpindi were thus not an exception to this fact.. or at least that is true for me.

The day before yesterday, after many heated arguments I decided to change my stance towards the army. I thought that I would from today onwards limit my hatred towards the Generals and the majors only, and not towards the many soldiers that have lost their lives, either fighting in Swat or Waziristan, or for that matter even during performing their duties at the many residential quaters that they have so lovingly built for themselves and their families with our tax money. After all not everyone in the army is the like of  Zia’s and Ayub’s and Yahya’s and the Musharraf’s. I thought I would change my perspective, but then the blast happened yesterday and did it make my blood boil.

First, it boiled when I heard the news about the blast, then it boiled when I saw the nightly agonizing show of Kamran Khan.. a paid ISI man. He and to be fair, many of the other anchors on many of the other shows clearly highlighted the fact that the bombing of this mosque marks the darkest day in the Pakistani history.

Army cordons off the area after the bomb blast

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2009
12/05
CATEGORY
Political
Terrorism
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