No matter what people say about Musharraf (President or General), I say the others were worse. At the juncture when he came, there could have been no better person at the time. To take us through a time where we had the sad potential of becoming nothing less than Afghanistan and Iraq, where we needed someone to be the smarter brain understanding global politics rather than the low-blow politics played by others locally, I think he delivered.
OK so obviously, I am not anti-Musharraf. Saying all that I am a believer of democracy as well. But with a slight twist one can say. I say democracy is something which is the people's choice, the obvious definition. But do the people "really" have a choice? That is a question that one should ask when he goes around promoting democracy.
To have a democracy you need the options to choose from. Unfortunately, the people of Pakistan have never had that. It has always been a choice between the same feudal lords and army takes over when things go out of hand. How can people just forget the acts of the current potential leaders again....we are welcoming them....and they are acting like saviours...how can we all have such bad memory?
OK I am sure enough people criticize...whats the solution is what I ask? I ll put in my two cents here...as absurd as it may sound...there is none in the near future...its going to be survival for at least till the next generation...lets work towards that objective...lets hope we survive...
what our generation can do right now is to stop brainwashing our children...or letting them listen to the weird world of politics today....prepare them to be leaders tomorrow...try to keep them as away as possible from today's influence of politics....so that when the time comes....they can come with a revolution of their own....nice thought eh?
OK...here is a more on a public demand comment...fix the judiciary....have fair elections...Go Musharraf GO!!! I don't understand this at all....how can you ask someone to leave by saying Go Musharraf Go!!! That's a cheer....they actually cheered him all this while during his tenure...how ignorant of the opposition whether it be lawyers, politicians....everyone came out on the street and went "Go Musharraf Go!!!" and he took it all as a complement...and went on and on...hehehe...stupid...illiterate...people...and we are gonna vote for them...how lame is that?
On a more serious note...don't take the above as negative...do go and vote...and vote for the person you think is the best out of the worst...its that decision we have to make now....its we the people...one thing is for sure...its gonna be fair elections...more fairer than any in the recent ones....so the person who comes out winning will really have to run a serious political campaign be it underhand, aggressive or honest...it doesn't matter...its gonna be drama in Jan'08 at the elections....unless of course...PML (N) doesn't even put in a competition as the latest news say....they are boycotting them...
Obviously they know the results from before on so they are back to their old tactics...does anybody care about Pakistan here? I think one thing that Musharraf did bring to the table was his steadfast and strong actions....not once can I pinpoint were his decisions against the security of our nation...he was able to keep outside powers at bay so that they couldn't enter our border....he wasn't afraid to take on the world...and in that regard...our country survived the turmoil...well under him....
we have to unite...we have enough examples available to see in this world....see booming economies...and where they came from...look at japan, India, china...you have to be close together and work towards....a singular objective...but I am sure everybody has heard all of this before and many times....
so...enough said...the next government is a crucial one...cast your vote carefully...
Cos Tomorrow is Gonna be Sunshine...
"Cos tomorrow is a gonna be sunshine...you never know what the tide may bring in...."
The above is a line from Cast Away, the movie that made me a die-hard fan of Tom Hanks...He says this line when he is sitting with his friend when he is back and how he trying to tell him what kept him going on the mission to survive even though there was nothing to look forward to. He kept going just trying to keep breathing every next day...it was the picture of his girl that was one thing that kept him going...
But when he got back...she had married thinking that he was dead...and he says...he had lost her all over again and now he actually felt grateful that she was with him on the island in the form of a picture, which carried hope and will to survive and breathe another day...and now after going through all that...he believes he is now ready for living that same life again like he did on the island..."just trying to breathe the next day..."
What a great movie and what a great actor....and what a great message...
The above is a line from Cast Away, the movie that made me a die-hard fan of Tom Hanks...He says this line when he is sitting with his friend when he is back and how he trying to tell him what kept him going on the mission to survive even though there was nothing to look forward to. He kept going just trying to keep breathing every next day...it was the picture of his girl that was one thing that kept him going...
But when he got back...she had married thinking that he was dead...and he says...he had lost her all over again and now he actually felt grateful that she was with him on the island in the form of a picture, which carried hope and will to survive and breathe another day...and now after going through all that...he believes he is now ready for living that same life again like he did on the island..."just trying to breathe the next day..."
What a great movie and what a great actor....and what a great message...
The "Perspective"
Woman: "You are my everything..."
Guy: "You are something out of a lot of other things..."
Woman: "That's mighty honest of you..."
Guy: "That's me...I am honest because I love you..."
If you take the above true story conversation, it just explains how a woman and man look at life. I may be speaking in an Asian, more cultural/traditional perspective but that's what the traditional woman feels once the marriage bond has been created. That is what the whole life is about now. That is who around which her whole life will revolve now, call it kids, family, food, work...you name it and everything in her life is going to be linked to him....
But when it comes from the perspective of the guy, he has a lot more on his plate...and its not only the wife and kids...there is father, mother, siblings which hold as a responsibility in his life just like wife and kids. I am not ignoring the fact that the woman has responsibilities towards her father, mother and siblings also but in this part of the world its not the same. The parents of the daughter do not expect to a level as compared to the son. Even if they do not expect, the responsibility is still greater. That's how things work.
So in the end, it depends on the perspective...while the guy may love the woman no less than she loves him....she can never be "Everything in his life..." She will continue to be "Something amongst other things..."
Guy: "You are something out of a lot of other things..."
Woman: "That's mighty honest of you..."
Guy: "That's me...I am honest because I love you..."
If you take the above true story conversation, it just explains how a woman and man look at life. I may be speaking in an Asian, more cultural/traditional perspective but that's what the traditional woman feels once the marriage bond has been created. That is what the whole life is about now. That is who around which her whole life will revolve now, call it kids, family, food, work...you name it and everything in her life is going to be linked to him....
But when it comes from the perspective of the guy, he has a lot more on his plate...and its not only the wife and kids...there is father, mother, siblings which hold as a responsibility in his life just like wife and kids. I am not ignoring the fact that the woman has responsibilities towards her father, mother and siblings also but in this part of the world its not the same. The parents of the daughter do not expect to a level as compared to the son. Even if they do not expect, the responsibility is still greater. That's how things work.
So in the end, it depends on the perspective...while the guy may love the woman no less than she loves him....she can never be "Everything in his life..." She will continue to be "Something amongst other things..."
Its OK to be Different...
This is a tribute to one of the most influential people in my life...Mrs Parveen Kassim...the principal of Karachi High School...
Not many people would know about this school...but I spent my whole young life there....from nursery...to matric...I entered school when the school originated...my GR NO was 0009. I entered school crying and left school after matric crying but during those 12years ....I had become the man no place other could have made me....and all because of this great lady on a mission....
The simple strategy that Mrs Kassim had...was...to bring out the best in somebody...everybody in this world is not supposed to be a genius in studies....we all are different and each one of us has some role to play...Mrs Kassim took it as a mission to find something in everybody...where the whole of the Schools in Karachi would give up on some child...Karachi High School would take the child with open arms...and Mrs Kassim would make sure she takes the challenge on making them useful in their lives...find their goal...find their strength. It could be sport, singing, you name it....Mrs Kassim was ok...if a child comes out and does something he likes to do...studies follow with confidence and attention gained...from that special gift that he had got...she was strict and yet loving...she was the principal and yet she was like a mother...
Trust me the strategy was difficult and looks crude on paper as I write but it required patience and....lots of it...Allah had given her that at the time. I have heard people today complain about the school not having the same standard...but I would say she is only human and with age and health...its difficult to maintain that same patience level...that she once had....
I only wish we could see someone take the torch that she lit, and made some very dim futures so bright, and take it forward with the same energy and vigour...as she had...
Do u know where I picked up the topic of my post...? This is a sticker that still sticks on to the door of my beloved principal...it did when I studied....and it is still there...as I went a few months back...to meet her....The door doesn't have the Principal's name ....it says...IT'S OK TO BE DIFFERENT....
That's what a frustrated and dejected parent and their kid see when they first enter the principal's office and that's the lesson I preach which I learnt from one of the greatest teachers that I have been acquainted with...
Salutations Mrs Kassim, this one is for you...
Not many people would know about this school...but I spent my whole young life there....from nursery...to matric...I entered school when the school originated...my GR NO was 0009. I entered school crying and left school after matric crying but during those 12years ....I had become the man no place other could have made me....and all because of this great lady on a mission....
The simple strategy that Mrs Kassim had...was...to bring out the best in somebody...everybody in this world is not supposed to be a genius in studies....we all are different and each one of us has some role to play...Mrs Kassim took it as a mission to find something in everybody...where the whole of the Schools in Karachi would give up on some child...Karachi High School would take the child with open arms...and Mrs Kassim would make sure she takes the challenge on making them useful in their lives...find their goal...find their strength. It could be sport, singing, you name it....Mrs Kassim was ok...if a child comes out and does something he likes to do...studies follow with confidence and attention gained...from that special gift that he had got...she was strict and yet loving...she was the principal and yet she was like a mother...
Trust me the strategy was difficult and looks crude on paper as I write but it required patience and....lots of it...Allah had given her that at the time. I have heard people today complain about the school not having the same standard...but I would say she is only human and with age and health...its difficult to maintain that same patience level...that she once had....
I only wish we could see someone take the torch that she lit, and made some very dim futures so bright, and take it forward with the same energy and vigour...as she had...
Do u know where I picked up the topic of my post...? This is a sticker that still sticks on to the door of my beloved principal...it did when I studied....and it is still there...as I went a few months back...to meet her....The door doesn't have the Principal's name ....it says...IT'S OK TO BE DIFFERENT....
That's what a frustrated and dejected parent and their kid see when they first enter the principal's office and that's the lesson I preach which I learnt from one of the greatest teachers that I have been acquainted with...
Salutations Mrs Kassim, this one is for you...
I am Sam...
I cried...and cried and cried...it was one of those great movies at the perfect of timings for me to burst into tears...and keep going with each dialogue....It was during the movie...only that I had decided I ll blog about this...but now here I am trying to write something but can't express...in words...
A story of a low IQ father...who loves her daughter...but the world obviously doesn't let him keep her as that's not the best for her...she thinks otherwise and so does....one lawyer who fights the case...
Love prevails and the father does get the girl in the end....Sean Penn entered my good actors list and...I am really moved....I cry at movies...and enjoy it...it brings out the natural side of me...which is very very sensitive....but this was amazing...I haven't cried like this for ages...maybe it was because it was a father who is not perfect and yet his love is...and love is bigger than all the imperfections in this world...who is perfect anyway?
And that's where I end this post....must see movie...for all those loving dads out there... and all those wannabe dads ...and well anyone who feels they are imperfect as parents...your kids don't want u to be perfect....they just want LOVE...
and my friends....I am that...I am BABA to my daughter... and I love you Mahnoor...
A story of a low IQ father...who loves her daughter...but the world obviously doesn't let him keep her as that's not the best for her...she thinks otherwise and so does....one lawyer who fights the case...
Love prevails and the father does get the girl in the end....Sean Penn entered my good actors list and...I am really moved....I cry at movies...and enjoy it...it brings out the natural side of me...which is very very sensitive....but this was amazing...I haven't cried like this for ages...maybe it was because it was a father who is not perfect and yet his love is...and love is bigger than all the imperfections in this world...who is perfect anyway?
And that's where I end this post....must see movie...for all those loving dads out there... and all those wannabe dads ...and well anyone who feels they are imperfect as parents...your kids don't want u to be perfect....they just want LOVE...
and my friends....I am that...I am BABA to my daughter... and I love you Mahnoor...
Imperfections
An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walks from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.
For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.
After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream...
"I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house."
The old woman smiled, "Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?" "That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them."
"For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house."
Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. You've just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them.
For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.
After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream...
"I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house."
The old woman smiled, "Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?" "That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them."
"For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house."
Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. You've just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them.
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