Are we immune?

• A very sad and disturbing reality of the present day is this: No one is interested in listening to any more bad news.
• Just look around yourself.

1. Who cares about the Gulf oil spill?


2. Who feels the pain of the nurse in Rawalpindi?


3. Who cares how many died in bomb blasts in Iraq, in Lahore?


4. Who cares about the target killings that have sadly become a norm in Karachi?


5. Who cares that 49 people in Latin America and another 70 or so odd people died in Russia due to bad weather?

• Let me tell you who cares. Our dearest TV channels. Of course they care. Because this is the way they sell. This is the way they get the ratings. This is the way they make the big bucks.
• But today I don't want to talk about them because frankly they also have their bread and butter to worry about.
• No, what I think is the problem with many of us (including myself) is that none of us want to get out and observe whats happening around us. We are extremely happy to live in the cocoon of our parent's house thinking to ourselves "Oh, that blast. Well what can I do?" or "Please don't talk about that nurse case. Its merely a publicity stunt."
• Is it this so easy today for us to ignore these things? Have we become so immune to bad things happening around us that we don't give a damn as to what happens to others? Or is it because we are scared to admit that something like this could one day happen to us also?
• Don't be alarmed. I'm not suggesting you to stop living your life. Certainly not. No one has the right to tell you to stop living and start brooding. On the contrary I'm completely in favor of everyone trying to live life to its full capacity. And if someone does tell you that you can always tell them back that its your life. You have the full and final right to lead it the way you want to.
• But this does not mean we are completely exempt? Even in our small capacity we can do at least two things. These two things today might seem very insignificant to you but as the squirrel learnt in the beautiful poem by Iqbal We can move mountains by our small gestures.
• So now what can we do in our capacity? Things within our grasp:
• The first thing that you can do is think once in a day or at least in a week or at least once in a month. Take out 5 minutes of your time and ponder upon these incidents. Just think what would you have done if you were in their place? Is there any way you can help them? Also try sending out warm, happy and comforting thoughts to those who are suffering. I am a firm believer of thoughts traveling and taking our emotions with us. Trust me it really works. Its just like the fact that when we think confidently while giving a paper we tend to do much better than if we were nervous.
• The next thing that you can do is pray. Always remember that when we pray for others who are in trouble disregarding our own needs our prayers are more likely to be heard in the heavens. Also pray for yourself because you may not be as immune to these incidents as you believe.
• So next time you hear something bad, don't turn your eyes away. Pray for those who suffered and pray for yourself so that you are spared from such ordeals .
• Remember in this trembling earth you never know what might happen the next day.
• As Keith Barton rightly said

Anxiety overcomes and takes me down

A path of uncertainty I've never found

Vulnerable and scared I dare to move

In this strange place one cannot prove

Finally I yield and gasp for air

And succumb to a world of hope and prayer

When Is It Enough Part 3

• So, last I left you, it was quite a long time ago. We were journeying through the old lane of past days, memories of long and dark days.
• Well, it WAS dark (that day I wrote part 2) :) .
• From grade one, where we were last present, I stepped onto the next rung of the primary school. Although nothing of note happened it is suffice to say that the early fears of my teachers of me being never good at English were never fully realized. Infact I turned out to be somewhat ok in studies and although I never seemed to put much effort into it (to quote my mother), turns out my peers were putting even lesser ones. So although I continued to come out on top I always knew it was more due to luck than anything else.
• One important thing that did happen during those early years included my friends. It was strange and yet not so strange how easily I started making friends. Once I had shed my early fear of losing my privacy it turned out that friends can be loads of fun. And trust me they were good friends! Not the other kind. Although now that I think about it most of them were my friends probably to copy my notes, get help from me or something like that. However, today I dont resent any of that because frankly in this day and age who has not used someone else for their own benefit? And anyways if it hadn't been for those friends I never would have learnt how to make friends in the first place.
• Later on when I was in 4th grade I was made prefect. Now this was something I was initially vry proud of but later realized was a double edged sword. I found that although being a prefect was
• I did learn in the very beginning that it is easy for any one to form opinions and put people in boxes. (Something that I also talked about in one of my earlier entries). This point dawned on me more clearly once I started making friends and hanging out with them. As it turns out not eveyone is happy with the type of people you hang out with. Either they want to be your friends themselves or they have too much free time on their discretion to make fun of people. So what do they do? They end up name calling, back-biting and expecially bullying you. Sadly it gets no one anywhere. Trust me, none of that bullying ever affected me or stopped me from doing what I wanted to do. And that was to live life as magically, as gratefully and as happily as possible.
• In 4th grade I was thrust with the responsibility of being a prefect. At first I was very happy and proud. However, later I realized that being a prefect was truly a double edged sword. It had both its perks as well as its pitfalls. On one hand you were really admired for your status especially by the teachers but on the other hand those that came under any strict supervision later turned nasty and took revenge in as much innovative ways as possible.
• In that very same year there came an opportunity for me to take part in Urdu and English Speech competitions. Now, everyone had told me that I was a chatterbox. So it seemed quite natural for me to delve myself into this area. And delve I certainly did. And so, began a love between me and public speaking.
• This helped me in several ways. But that is a story for another time, another day.