*

Invictus!!

noreply@blogger.com (somair) — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 20:24:00 +0000

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

William Ernest Henley (1849–1903)

Re-start!

noreply@blogger.com (somair) — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 01:32:00 +0000

Some days back I randomly went to Woods Hole Public Library and they had a book sale going on. Somehow, I totally impulsively bought Stephen Hawkings good ol' book. Now that I sit down to reason for it after about 5-6 days, I can not rationalize it. Here is my only possible explanation!!

Its sometimes tough to restart. To begin it all again and think about hiking the tough trail sitting at its bottom. For now, I thought I will try to read through some of the same books that gave me inspiration before. So last wednesday, I bought my 2nd copy of 'A Brief History of Time' by Stephen Hawking. Lets see how many days it takes. I will be starting to read it today. Its fun to listen to U2 and read...

Losses in life..

noreply@blogger.com (somair) — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 17:16:00 +0000

Today I realized that sometimes you want something so bad that its better not to have it at all. You feel hollow, desperate, lost and feel like falling in to a bottomless pit. And the last thing you want is to let go. But you have to. When that something is done, its done. No matter how hard you try, its done and cannot be undone. We all have such moments in life when we wish we could just go back a little bit and not let that moment happen.

Its not my fault 100% nor it is her's either. But for now, I will live by it, and try to bring the goodness out in everything I can.

Grace
She takes the blame
She covers the shame
Removes the stain
It could be her name

Grace
It's a name for a girl
It's also a thought that
Changed the world

And when she walks on the street
You can hear the strings
Grace finds goodness
In everything

Grace
She's got the walk
Not on a ramp or on chalk
She's got the time to talk

She travels outside
Of karma, karma
She travels outside
Of karma

When she goes to work
You can hear the strings
Grace finds beauty
In everything

Grace
She carries a world on her hips
No champagne flute for her lips
No twirls or skips
Between her fingertips

She carries a pearl
In perfect condition
What once was hurt
What once was friction
What left a mark
No longer stings

Because grace makes beauty
Out of ugly things

Grace finds beauty
In everything

Grace finds goodness
In everything

To let my brain work!

noreply@blogger.com (somair) — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 09:11:00 +0000

Being awake whole night, and trying to study is not a new thing for me now. And I am pretty sure, this thing will stick with me throughout my life. But for most of my nocturnal studying experiences, I have realized that caffeine pills, coffee and other waking methods do not help me as much as being positive and let my energy flow. So what do I mean with my 'my energy'?

Well... basically whenever I feel mentally drained, I let my brain drift for a while about some ambitious creative stuff. Mostly, it is a bunch of daydreaming or trying to create music in my head or some way of motivating myself by organized planning for future, but still, its all in my head. The good thing about this method is that when I am done thinking, and my mind feels all fresh, I feel like really ready to 'do it'. And get done with things like wham bam bam.

I have realized over past several years that I am sort of attention deficit. I can focus lots of energy on something and put in all my effort in to accomplishing something but I cannot linger on with it. 15 minutes of concentration and then my mind has to take a break or I will just waste time. From USMLEs to MBBS profs to other professional exams, I realized this poor concentration ability of my mind, but with experience over time, I have come to realize that I still have methods to use my mind to its best. For most of now, its used in reading lengthy reviews and research papers, alot of which seem dry and monotonous but atleast I do find joy in doing what I do. Even if I have to sometimes push my brain a step further for that.

Time to get back to work!

Spring is here!

noreply@blogger.com (somair) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 16:13:00 +0000

So its 23 March today, and I am writing on my blog after about 5 weeks. Its been a long long looonnggg 5 weeks. About a month ago on 23 February, my friend Alexey got mugged and shot. He survived! And he is able to walk now with a limp and also able to go to work.

But that incident put my university schedule totally at a backburner and we had to move to a totally new location in Ridgeland. My research got affected for about a month and I was so much backlogged on a lot of stuff that it feels like I am still recuperating. But all that aside, here is a summary of all the things that happened:

23 February: Alexey got shot.

28 February: I moved to Ridgeland.

Next 2 weeks were all about unpacking and getting settled. I was desparately waiting for the mini-break in mid march and it came by and went really quickly. At least I got enough time to organize things, especially my schedule for the upcoming 2 hard months. During the break, I also did some fun activities though.

Flew kites.

Heard really good news about my fellowship this summer.

Enjoyed like crazy on St. Patrick's Day. My friend Galen came down from Oxford with his 2 friends Anjel and puppy, and they somehow knew Eva, so we all had a blast for 2 days. It all was really good.

Also, Sehar had her CS exam taken care of, so that was also a relief. She went down to Houston, and later stopped at Austin on her way back. It sounds like it was a lot of fun times she had there. Am really happy for that.

Also, talked my youngest uncle, who is more like a cousin, after about almost a year. We talked for almost 5 hours on phone.

I wasn't able to accomplish much on studying front but I am catching up on it. Downloaded tonnes of papers and reviews today for some reading and got some slides to go through tonight.

Things are fine back home, except that the country of Pakistan is unfortunately in the same way as one would expect it to be.

Spring is here, and the weather is super awesome, except for yesterday when temperature went down to 37F like crazy. Its back in 70s today. Sun is out, things look fine and life is beautiful :)

Nations or Corporations

noreply@blogger.com (somair) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 11:05:00 +0000

I had a really interesting discussion with my friend the other day regarding nation states and nationalities, borders and illegal immigrants and various corporate political monopolies. The more I dug in to my knowledge of history, the more I found getting angry inside on how things are working in the present world.

No doubt that I love the world in the western hemisphere and the people who live in this part of the world, its just simply tough to make most of them understand that there is no such thing as 'us' and 'them'. My friend I was talking to is one of the wise people here and she is totally against the existence of nation states that thrive on paranoia and patriotic egotism.

The way I look at nation states is that in various units of functional economies around the world that go from village, town, city, district, province, state all the way up to country; nation states are like big corporations with extended financial interests in a particular economic area. And the national flags are nothing more than the corporate insignia. And the whole concept of patriotism and nationalist egotism is part of brand loyalty. Every country is like a corporate brand, and one person usually pays a certain brand (taxes) to thrive in the corporate race.

These corporate brands would sometimes fight each other for economic survival over petty issues such as area of interest (borders) or disloyal customers (illegal immigrants). Usually when a brand has too much monopoly in one particular area and its customers (citizens) get really blinded by all the corporate advertisments (mass media makeup), they willingly agree to any injustices committed by their corporate brand (country) against any other corporate brand. And when one brand gets too much power, money and monopoly, it would go to any extent to make sure that its customers are very loyal and obedient. To make sure that they are obedient, some of these corporate brands use sophisticated means to make sure that brand loyalty is stricty maintained (IRS in USA).

These corporate brands have paid employees (army) who fight with employees of other brands over egotistic sentiments that have no ground and only lie in thin air. To give meaning to their egotistic patriotic sentiments, most brands use the local differentiating point to garner up support of employees (soldiers) and customers (citizens). These points could be language, skin color, religious ideology or just a fake idea of so-called glory.

The concept of nationalism and 'belonging' to a particular cast, color, creed, religious, political or economic ideology is so lame and outdated that I am surprised people still agree to it and consider borders drawn on maps as some real geographical landmarks that you can see. Most of the average people believe in the corporate advertisement (patriotism) so blindly that they willingly agree to not to look at the larger human history. Most of the people would never sit down and think that these corporate brands (nation states) and their areas of influence (borders) are more fluid than any other thing and they have never been static and will never be static. But in their short lives, most of the customers (citizens) do believe in all the (nationalist) crap that is thrown at them. And this larger-than-life image of a corporate brand (country) makes these people even die for their brand without thinking in the first place that its not the ordinary people who benefit from their 'valor' and 'bravery' but actually the corporations who thrive on strife, turmoil, political chauvinism, war and destructive showdown. In the end, people are just a fodder in this grand struggle for corporate monopoly.

Nation states and religion are literally the last standing barrier between a true human and humane society on this small planet!

Back from New Orleans.

noreply@blogger.com (somair) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 05:30:00 +0000

I came back from the Mardi Gras weekend yesterday. It was an awesome 2 days in New Orleans. Saw the great city! The jubilant people celebrating life and having good time. Saw some really awesome street musicians who did not budge and leave their place when a big police SUV honked to pass through. Saw some craziness on Bourbon street and saw the beauty, life and colors on canal street parades. It was one of those pilgrimages you do once in your lifetime, just like going to a U2 concert or spending a night out on the ocean beach.

Of all its misgivings, America has been the one that provided me with all the above-mentioned things. And one thing that I would definitely it provided me was my freedom. I was shocked, and still am in shock because of the compromise I had to do for the level of freedom I am getting, but then this world is not a Utopian dream either. So, I live happy being here, and to have reached here with Sehar is like a dream come true.

I have been really lazy in writing this blog. I did start writing a hand-written journal daily, and I am glad I am carrying on with it. I really need to make a good time table for my guitar-playing I do not want my finger calluses to 'melt away'. In fact, I think I will have some coffee and than play some guitar before I work on my paperwork today for the Massachusetts thingy. Its already 11:44 pm and I am soooo drowsy! Hmmm... I think I will just sleep for a little while and than make coffee, finish my paperwork and than play before I leave for university at 7 30 am in morning.

Haha... it feels like I am thinking by writing. For a second I felt so lazy in writing today's blog but its really easy to write your thoughts only. Because it does not require extra effort to think. You just think on your laptop keyboard! Alexey is right now listening to an awesome 80's powerballad and really like it. Those rock ballads were so monstrous and awe-inspiring. They still give me shivers and jitters sometimes. And so does any good music. Oh yes!! Eva came up with a really awesome song for the chord progression she had thought out. I think it is an incredible song. In fact, when she showed it to me, I thought its like U2's 'I won't go crazy if I don't go crazy tonight'.

A lot of these thoughts and talk looks disjointed but its because I did not write a lot of stuff for a while, and I feel too lazy to write it all down. So many new people have come in to my life. So many things are changing with time that sometimes you are yourself surprised. It takes a while to even fill up a journal if I miss 2-3 days, so it definitely would be tough to write the chronology of everything since I came to US last July. All I can say is that things have been pretty fast but pretty good!

:)

12 days later...

noreply@blogger.com (somair) — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 04:01:00 +0000

Its been 12 days since I had my last post on 1st February. Following things occured. I did 2 sets of sections in my lab. A couchsurfer arrived from UK and her name is Jude. Its been a good 2 days talking with her.

It snowed like crazy in Jackson. The TV said it has never snowed that much ever here. It was fun driving in the snow this morning. A sort of relaxed Friday. Am so excited about this weekend as we all are going to New Orleans tomorrow for Mardi Gras. I hope it will be fun!

Long day!

noreply@blogger.com (somair) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 06:52:00 +0000

Today was a sort of long and busy day for me. Mondays and Fridays are by far my busiest days at UMC. Its 1:00 am and I need to do some studying before I head to my bed. Am slacking on guitar playing, but since I have loads of other stuff to do, I won't blame myself for it right now. Will go one step ahead with organization!

Here's a toast to the young and beautiful night with my coffee. Will finish studying cholinergic synaptic transmission tonight.

Re-awakening!

noreply@blogger.com (somair) — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 17:43:00 +0000

So it has been exactly 89 days since my last post, and that is a long time. I had decided that if I do not post within every 30 days, I will delete this blog. But I am giving myself this one time relaxation because this year is all about organizing my life and incorporate a healthier and active lifestyle. I am keeping a journal, learning some guitar, studying extra and revitalizing my social life a bit. By the last part, I mean that I am trying to rekindle my old friendships that had been under the dust for a while.
So, here I write again with this hope to keep on writing regularly. Things that happened between October 30 (my last post) and January 28 (my present post):

October 31: I went to New Orleans for halloween party.

November 4: I got a new car.

November 15: Had my birthday party at home.

December: Winter break and loads of fun times (too much to write here....)

January 16: Went up to oxford to meet Galen.

and now its Jan 28, and I think I will head out now to meet my friend Jeremy. Will try writing more often now dear blog!

Hate & hatred!

noreply@blogger.com (somair) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:12:00 +0000

Hatred works through insecurity and paranoia. It creates a political discourse of self-defensive, pre-emptive, aggressive posturing. Where insecurity and paranoia rule, we invite the dialogue of the deaf, negotiation and consultation by mutual harangues, name-calling, vilification and blame. Hatred generates parallel universes of self-justification and the ethos of the bomb-o-gram. Insecurity and paranoia make the first strike the first resort of choice in a political arena that has all the sophistication of a children's playground ruled by the ethics of the bully. Where in such a world is there any hope of transcendence? The culture of violence, the political rhetoric of the bomb-o-gram, has to be opposed everywhere. But it will be opposed only when there is genuine commitment to alternative means of communication. Political arenas and institutions have to become effective and responsive in offering negotiation, accommodation and the capacity to act.

(Ziauddin Sardar & Merryl Wyn Davies)

self...

noreply@blogger.com (somair) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 03:42:00 +0000

Selflessness should ensoul the purpose of every action in one's life. Listen like a cherokee, watch like a falcon, think like hawking, but most of all... act like the sublimation of a worthy God.

No human is good enough to be kneeled to, but no human is bad enough either to be crucified. A world where superficial thought guides actions and, an eyes vision cannot see through the shadow of a pety action, there is an intense need for general forgiveness and acceptance.

The point where hatred is touching 98 degree centigrade, and thinking is suffocated to tiny cocoons of self-reverence, humanity needs to redefine its relative morality to something bigger than self...

Its interesting that the word self can bloom into Sympathy Emancipation Love & Freedom

or...

it can rot in to Selfdom Egotism Lust & Fallacy ...

I hope that someday people will pride not in their God, not in their Country, not in their possessions, but in collective good of humanity. When not a single more human will die of hunger and starvation.

desperation...

noreply@blogger.com (somair) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 01:50:00 +0000

Reading Bakunin's essay on borders and nation states and listening to Muse's soldier's poem at the same time has a combo exponential affect. Just realizing how much injustice there is in the world and how nation states are ripping off their populations just in the name of patriotism. They are acting as nothing more than huge corporations that also have the military power to destroy the monopoly of other corporations. There is so much I wish to write, and so many examples that I have but I really do not know how and where to begin.
But I think I will be writing more on this in real detail soon.

watching the empty highway..

noreply@blogger.com (somair) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 05:42:00 +0000

So here I am, back to blogging after a long break. I think I am writing my first or second blog since I came to America. Starting and job and getting paid does have its advantages and it is sort of fun but it does not take long for a man to already start planning ahead. There is this feeling of doing more, learning more and to feel like having accomplished some long forgotten mission.
Well, am just at the beginning! I realized today that there is so much I want to do. My ambitions are somewhat fuzzy but not invisible. Its like both seeing and not seeing what I want to see. This much is though clear to me. I won't look far behind the dome. I just want to take a little step at a time and enjoy this beautiful world. This beautiful life that I LOVE!! Its simply beautiful, simple and amazing.

And I think I have stopped running after happiness. And the day since I stopped chasing smiles, they are chasing me. Everyday provides me more fulfillment and relaxation. Although when I look behind me, it seems that I have come a long way, just the way I was looking behind on I-20 west heading to Jackson. And the road ahead is only making me happier. I felt a peace with my bicycle on my side on that road. It was like a complete comfort that no matter how far my home is, I will make it to my place before the night falls. And I did in fact!!

Thats how I am at peace with love. I have sehar on my side. I am fulfilled. I don't ask for anything more in my life...

her step!

noreply@blogger.com (somair) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 05:38:00 +0000

Perfection - in a sense
she's an art
a breath of blue
when the sun shines
in the cool autumn wind
and lifts up the curtain
the trees speak
under which she sat
the path that saw her everyday
miss her
look for her ecstatic step
shining - in a sense
she's a stone
carved in beauty
those deep eyes
make me light
when the sun shines
in the cool autumn wind
lift me up
lift me up
am no more...

My Stencil Art!! A Tutorial for Beginners!

noreply@blogger.com (somair) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:31:00 +0000

Here I have written a basic tutorial on how to print stencil art on t-shirt. I have tried various methods mentioned online, and after some basic changes, I have developed this very simple and efficient method :)

Things you need:

1. Some A4 size transparency sheets. (used for presentations)

2. A simple box cutter.

3. A cheap 20 - 40 watt soldering iron.

4. A simple printer for black and white prints.

5. Spray Paints.

6. Masking tape or Duct Tape.

7. Scrap papers, tissues and newspaper.

Step-1:

Take the picture you want to stencil, and convert it in to black and white through microsoft word or adobe photoshop after messing around with it. Its easy to figure out the right combination of black n white through grayscale editing of picture.

Step-2:

Print the picture on a white A4 sheet using any cheap printer.

Step-3:

Tape a transprency over the sheet, and fill any remaining missed stops with black marker or whitener fluid.

Step-4:

Switch on the soldering iron, and when its hot enough in 2-3 minutes, just trace over the transparency sheet on picture.

Step-5:

Simply pull off the transparency sheet from the paper, and use the box cutter to cut any remaining smaller parts missed by the soldering iron. Your stencil is ready to be tested.

Step-6:

Place your stencil somehwere, and test it. I use my rooftop to test new stencils.

Step-7:

Put some stick-on glue on back side of stencil, and place it on an ironed t-shirt and press it, till it sticks, with no opened spaces. Use the masking tape to cover the sides with newspaper and scrap paper.

Step-8:

Spray 4-5 times in layers on the t-shirt from a distance. I find the 'flat black' spray paint to be the best as it has rough texture, and it does not smudge or cross t-shirt layers.

Step-9:

For miniature stencils, glue the stencil as told before, and use the liquid acrylic paint and use a small paint brush andcover the stencil with single strokes in same direction. This not only saves paint, but also provides a very sharp image. The important thing is to use minimum layers of paint when using the brush, so it wont smudge or scrape off later.

Precautions:

NEVER handwash a spary-painted or brush-painted t-shirt.

Preconditions:

Be creative, and outrageous!! ;)

ADAM AND EVE STORY - SOME QUESTIONS!!

noreply@blogger.com (somair) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:20:00 +0000

I am basically surprised at the illogical approach of average joe when it comes to rationality in belief and religion. To believe in something is everybody's right, and am not against it but the point here is to be as curious in asking religious questions, as one would be in asking questions in a medical school.

Lets talk about the story of Adam and Eve in a little detail. I will not try to delve in to the anatomical mystery of how Eve was created from Adam's bones, since even the imagination makes it seem funny. The interesting point however here is not about who ate apple, and who was the culprit, BUT in fact the real questions arise after Adam and Eve supposedly came down to earth. Islam, Christianity, Judaism and all monotheistic religions have taught us that Adam and Eve had three kids Cain, Abel and Seth. Most Muslim students learn the story of 'Habeel and Kabeel' in their early school days, and how one killed the other. But nothing is mentioned about what happened later? And am surprised at the silence of teachers as well as students in figuring out the confusion. The unanswered questions are:

1. Adam and Eve DID NOT have any daughters, so who did their sons married to for propagation of the human species?

2. If there were any daughters of Adam and Eve, of which there is no historic mention; then too the moral question arises, Was in-marriage allowed between brothers and sisters as incest for the species propagation?

3. Why is there a total ethical vaccum in this story ranging from incest to woman being born 'bended' and also being the one to eat the fruit from forbidden tree of knowledge?

This seems simply like the beginning of a mythical and patriarchal story, with no moral or factual reasoning. No offense to anyone with this writing :)

Save religion - destroy the earth??!!

noreply@blogger.com (somair) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 05:49:00 +0000

Humanity has been putting a lot of burden on this poor planet for a long time with this calm idea that they do not belong to this planet. Instead, they think that the planet belongs to them, and the main source of this idea is organized religion that has been passed on for so many ages. Religion has established itself as the central moral auhority that decides all the good and bad by its own knowledge. The usual religion-based moralities make up long lists of dos and don’ts. The problem is, there is no mechanism to revise these as society changes. Over time, they end up recommending silly, or immoral behaviour, and fail to cover many new situations.

An example of this is the religion's negligent behavior towards saving the planet's ecosystem. Since the religious beliefs place the planet at humans' disposal, the religious people really do not consider global warming an issue. For them, decreasing the carbon footprint is not a virtue. Rather they would enjoy contorting personal moralities to tighten the noose of religious slavery around the necks of poor masses. And then suddenly one gets to hear some random assertion by some religious people who pick up issue not because of their interest but because these issues will only make them famous. I have yet to find a church or mosque that put importance on human survival and asked people by heart to stop molesting the environment.

The main reason behind it comes down to the point that unfortunately, religion does not have any interest in planet other then ruling it. Religion tried its best to rule people by dogmatic moralities and will always keep on trying till its death.

Traditional morality has been based on a religious myth that there is some after death punishment if you behave badly. The story is presented with great drama to a child who usually swallows it as a whole. The problem is eventually the clever child may notice there is no evidence for the myth, and that other people believe different myths. This is ofcourse in such an environment where child has the freedom to think and speak. Otherwise there is very little chance of random self conclusion. Without cohesive social pressure, the belief in the myth dissolves and along with it, morality. Those who show an all-powerful God to inflict this punishment have a problem. Why do the good have such a rough time here on earth? Either this God is incapable of protecting them, does not care, or is sadistic in his trials. God may be feared, but not loved, at least not honestly.

the adorable baby cats

noreply@blogger.com (somair) — Fri, 29 May 2009 16:15:00 +0000

So my love for cats is just growing everyday. With my various beloved cats living around the world, its for some unknown reason that they just keep on coming out of nowhere in my life.

From my beloved BIG-boy cat 'Gus' currently enjoying the beautiful chicago weather to the 3 new siblings that arrived at my granny's place last year, their number is just increasing.

And so I was really happy when one of those siblings who is one year old, and a beautiful white cat gave birth to 2 babies last week. They are 2 adorable baby kittens. One is fully black, other fully white, still sleeping with their eyes closed and always cuddled with their mommy cat. Recently I tried alot to upload their pics on facebook but somehow it would not let me, so I thought why not upload here, and let the world share their love through this humble blog !

My Long March Experience

noreply@blogger.com (somair) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 20:02:00 +0000

On 14th of March, wearing a tie and suit, I sat on a caravan of 7 cars and 1 bus. Myself, being seated in back seats of bus surrounded by some other diehard supporters of free judiciary, the day was full of fun, anger, anguish and moments of elation. 14th of March was supposed to be the day when the huge long march for restoration of free judiciary had to come from Multan to Lahore. Resultantly, thousands of blockades and containers were placed all over punjab to stop movement of the lawyers and civil society. By the media estimates, around 8000 containers were used along with 1500 lorries and trailers. Not only that but each and every policeman in the whole country was on every big and small road to stop any kind of vehicle movement at all.
So in these conditions, we began our long journey to lahore at around 6 pm in evening. Just as the Sahiwal city's limits were crossed, we were put off the GT road by police as it was blocked. Using the bypass, we drove 30 km towards Okara city when at the okara city toll plaza there was a huge blockade and a complete traffic standstill. The trcuk and bus queue extended for more then a kilometre. At this point, we lost 2 of the cars from our convoy as they got through the traffic more easily. The remaining convoy drove off the road through thick brush and uneven ground and got on a rail track that was under development. Just as we crossed the toll plaza and tried to get on the road again, suddenly police cars and vans appeared with big lights. The bus was stopped and they got on to check on us. We were advised not to make any signs or raise slogans. Some pleading and love helped the police guys in letting us go. As we moved forward, we were contacted by the 2 cars that had gone ahead earlier that there is a huge traffic mess and police blockade at Patoki city. So we stopped on the road at a diversion going to debaalpur city and convened a little meeting among us to figure out which way to go. A NH&MP police car arrived and the police guy was really tired of all this and advised us to go via debaalpur. The only problem he said would be of security as its not a safe area. Even though totally unarmed and unprotected, we decided to head to debaalpur as we were strong in our commitment to reach lahore city by 15th march morning.

It was around 8 pm now, and the next 4 hours were full of blockades and dead-end roads. We faced so many police people and containers that at points, we felt ourselves pushed to limits. Pleading with them, trying to scare them, raising slogans such as "chief tere janisaar, beshumaar beshumaar" which means 'Chief Justice-your foot soldiers are uncountable'. Mostly our hard work, commitment to reach lahore, loud slogan-raising and presence of an Inspector general of police's brother along with a DCO helped us. One of the funny moments for us was when police diverted us at a town called "CHUNIYAN" and after 2 hours, we ended up twice at the same place. It still is a joke that either the mysterious Chuniyan town is very big or the roads make a complete circle there.

On our way, we met a police guy who was so sympathetic with us that he himself wished to join us in long march. Most of them were sympathetic to our cause and wished us well. A police guy on Raiwand road opened the blockade only and only for us, and not for normal transport, while at another point, the police picked up the huge stone blocks and barriers for us from the road. One of the defining moment for us was when we were very close to Lahore city at around 1:15 am in the morning. It was very dark and silent and we saw hundreds of trucks and buses stuck at a blockade. The police wouldn't budge and the only way to get around was a very narrow road with a sharp turn. Our long bus couldn't get through that turn as there was a big pit on one side so we all got off in our suits and ties with great vigor and ran around to gather bricks and stones. It was such an amazing site to see everyone bringing bricks including myself. In no time, we had filled a major portion of the pit and someone found a huge concrete slab that we placed over it. The bus made its way and the many many dozens of trucks that had been standing there for a whole day now followed us. It was one of the final defining moments in our long trek.

The rest of the journey to lahore was full of thunderous claping, slogan-raising and victory signs. By 2:30 am at night, we had entered Lahore city and to all our surprise, we had overcome 17 road blockades and many road diversions withing a remarkable 8 hours. It not only practically showed me that 'where there is a will, there is a way' but I also looked forward to the eventful day of 15th of March when the huge march was to head to Islamabad in its final leg of journey. And now as I have written it down, millions watched on TV screens as thousands of people poured on streets of lahore and moved every blockade in the way on self-help basis. The huge caravan had not even reached Gujranwala city which in normal circumstances is an hour's drive away from lahore when the Independent Judiciary was restored. The Prime Minister came on TV and announced the decision. The dictator president zardari of pakistan had lost against the people's will and whole country rejoiced and jubiliated. It was a tiring 3 days for me. But the end was such an amazing spectacle that even many of us participants were dumb-founded.

For the first time in front of my eyes, the people of Pakistan have shown some awareness. Previously, the people only united after natural calamities struck somewhere or there was a fear of stupid war or there was a cricket match. However, for firt time, people reached a similar conclusion on a totally different topic. The question of restoration of an unbiased judiciary in Pakistan was one step further in collective awareness of the people of this country. This was not some emotional rhetoric but an analytical decision reached completely by the people. And for first time I guess in history of this country, the military did not directly interfere in a people's movement and the movement did reach its logical conclusion.

A further testamount to the ordinary people's power and for me, once again it has proven that borders and countries do not matter. Its the people who count. Just a few months ago, I was at Grant Park witnessing President Obama make history with power of people and now I saw the people's power at work again about ten thousand miles from Grant Park. I had myself worked hard to push people for this revolutionary long march and you can see a glimpse of those dark and uncertain days here when I wrote, plead and mailed people to join this cause http://somairs.blogspot.com/2009/03/free-judiciary.html
May everyone get his right to justice fulfilled everywhere in the world.

Alex and Frisbie !!

noreply@blogger.com (somair) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:56:00 +0000

Alex is another of those people who I found really unique in my recent USA visit. I met him for first time at Mark's famous ultimate frisbie. As the history goes, the ultimate frisbie there is going on for more than 14 years now. And many many people have played the game there over more then a decade. The tradition was set in by the volunteers of the Mennonite Volunteer Service, and the early players were mostly the Mennonite House residents. But as of today, hundreds other have enjoyed the game of ultimate frisbie including me. Coming back to Alex, I met him first during one of the frisbie games and he was a fun character. Later on, we again had fun interaction during Apple-picking in Michigan. Alex is a really humble person with an amazing and fun attitude towards life. Although, himself an architect, he is a crazy skate-boarder and hurt himself while skate-boarding and nothing was ever dull when he was around. It was really fun to dance like crazy with him on Milena's birthday and hear so much fun stuff ranging from beer to german language 'good words'. One of another persons that I would wish to see again later in my life someday.

Like Alex, I really admire the spirit of Mennonite volunteers as well as all practical volunteers who spend their lives thousand of miles from their homes for good of others. Hope I get to meet such wondeful and amazing selfless people throughout my life who have such a beautiful insight on life...
See you in Chi town again Buddy!

500 blog hits and counting...

noreply@blogger.com (somair) — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 21:04:00 +0000

am really surprised... and happy too with the way my writings have been read by the people. I began this one on 14th February 2009 and its just 7th March 2009 today. So, in essentially 21 days, i received my 500th visit of my blog. The count is at 507 as I write this piece right now.

I would like to thank all those who came here to read, and would hope so for the same in future. Thank you all of you and keep reading.

READING LEADS TO FREEDOM OF MIND !

Pacifism - A necessity for life..

noreply@blogger.com (somair) — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 19:52:00 +0000

The present state of world affairs has made the establishment of peace, and pacifism a must. With the burden of social, economic and environmental responsibilities, the human beings do not really have any other choice but to avert conflict, hatred and destruction. The idea of mutual destruction may have been a deterrent but it never was a sweet idea, nor was it able to stop any wars. In fact, it only made wars more dirty. The spectre of a spectacular war of total annihilation did not occur but the presence of proxy wars made it even more terrible. It not only cleared the powerful nations of any direct responsibility of wreaking havoc but it also brought with it the idea of using third-party countries as pseudo-battlefields. Afghanistan, Angola, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Iraq, Somalia, Kashmir and many other nations and nationalities had to suffer more then a generation of hardships only because the ego of a few just could not be appeased.

Unfortunately, for all other problems that this planet faces today, war is one of those extravagant deals which has still not given contentment to many a blood-thirsty humans. Of more then 6 billion people living in this world, more then half live below poverty line. It effectively means that their lives are merely masses of shadows barely surviving with the ultimate aim of finding the next meal. Their personalities, thoughts, objectives, beliefs are totally emaciated. And all that remains is constant hunger. And this is not all, one-third of humanity does not know where to get drinkable, safe water...and how ? Not a single human being can claim protection from diseases that are becoming just too many and the great divide between haves and have-nots is increasing exponentially.

The planet Earth is waking up from its natural slumber by human excesses and showing the humans their correct place in form of global warming and haphazard climate change and the thinning lines of food, water and energy demands and supply are just about to snap. A huge catastrophy of hunger, disease, chaos and anarchy is just at doorstep. And yet all that a human thought can reach is to national boundaries. Its amazing how enticing the prospect of 'land' has been for humans throughout the ages. From Alexander to greeks and romans up to the present day civilization, not much has changed. One ideology goes only to make way for another. One religion dies only to let another one take its place. And one Government leaves the power corridors, only for another one to take its place. And in this futile change over, little Gods or as we should say, tiny napoleans and alexanders try to manipulate little universes around them. The curse of nationalism or religious fascism just does not leave humans any sort of respect from a million other species on planet. The childish hatred gets down to such a boiling point that unimaginable loss of human life is considered a 'worthy sacrifice' to keep the map lines drawn the same way on atlas. Just a small walk down the history lane tells of countless who killed or got killed in name of patriotism when in fact, no one really remembers them or cares about them. And no one really will! Who knows the names of millions who died in French wars or the sino-japanese war or the war of independence or both world wars. Loss of life, money, intelligence, time and energy... all too expendable for these nationalist people to 'save the glory' of artificial borders. And yet when human society is at brink of self-extermination, these egoes have only multiplied. The reasons change, names of wars change, new enemies are created, new boundaries are drawn and the cheap human blood is spilled and the poor planet earth is injured. Earthquakes, Tsunamis, Floods, Hurricanes, Draught and Starvation, Glacial melting, epidemics and pandemics, deforestation, ozone rupture, global warming and horrific diseases do not really make an issue for power-hungry humans.

Money, power, glory, lust, fake respect, might and racial as well as national supremacy!! There isn't much different between racism and nationalism except for a few alphabets. The simple humans of same species who were previously racially profiled are now nationally profiled. Where few races gathered to persecute other races, now nations collaborate to persecute other nations. I just don't understand when this curse of nationalism and small groupings end. Humans as a species are at a brink of disaster. Planet Earth has been too kind to humans and its kindness is now being taken for granted as its weakness. But for this huge globe of energy and mass, humans are as unspecial as are the other million species. And probably much more fragile than even dinosaurs. I just hope humans learn soon and start living together as an endangered species and stop these petty fights for the sake of humanity's good and lively future.

Free Judiciary !

noreply@blogger.com (somair) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 19:52:00 +0000

A free, fair and just society is the the basis of a civilizations' development. Nobody can ever progress where his rights are not protected by a justice system that weighs him and and his rulers in same balance. Of all the great struggles in great societies, the most fair demand that was ever asked was of fairness in justness. Magna Carta and civil rights movement are just a glimpse in this flood of struggles for equality and justice.

In my country at present, the existence of extremely unjust courts that validate the most embarrassing of rules such as NRO and PCO cannot allow the normal society to flourish. These rules of present justice system are so absurd, evil and destructive that sometimes it seems as if the surfs in Russia before Bolshevik revolution fared better then the poor normal people of my country today. Never in history of Pakistan has been superior judiciary used as a pawn in dirty political game where just the good of few tens of people is considered more important than hundreds of millions.

How can one even justify that the daughter of present chief justice of pakistan-aka the fake justice in eyes of real people can have the academic result of his daughter changed against the norms, rules and social normalcy. And not just that the case of farah hamed dogar is a negation of basic education right for the rest of Pakistan's nation but it also totally kills the merit-based system and takes out all the energy that poor put in their studies and education. Why would anyone work hard in a country where only the rich will win and poor will loose. Its disgusting how people who work hard to make their lives well are never allowed to achieve their aims. Pakistani people must understand that even at the most dire times of nazi onslot in 1941, Sir Winston Churchill was more worried about the impartial functioning of judiciary in his own country. Now that is what we call BELIEF. Belief not in some out-of-the-world help but in your own strength. And nothing can be more fulfilling in a society then the presence of a just and fair system of judgement.

I am least concerned about any of the politicians or politics in pakistan now. But what I do wish is to spread this awareness among the masses that justice is not a privilege. Its a RIGHT....A BASIC HUMAN RIGHT. And there is a time when you cannot just sit and wait for some 'invisible hand' to come and help you in achieveing that.

Nobody takes a person serious when he cannot even put his own house in order. And unfortunately, its same with masses in Pakistan. The Government gives a sh*t to what people think since it knows they are not really people of action. But everything changes and so do I hope that people will change. They will finally wake up to figure out that when you can't get what you own by begging, then you have to snatch it. Again !! JUSTICE IS NOT A PRIVILEGE....ITS THE MOST BASIC HUMAN RIGHT !!!

...and what am I doing for that ? I wrote a letter of appeal to citizens of Pakistan about this issue and have till now dropped more than a thousand copies in different areas of my locality. I have also mailed a copy of this letter to Principal of Rawalpindi Medical College. And apart from all of this, am myself going to the long march and sit-in on 16 March 2009 in front of Parliament and supreme court.

Get a copy of the letter named 'MY LETTER' at
http://ifile.it/luivdgc

Islamabad - The beautiful ! .... ?

noreply@blogger.com (somair) — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 13:20:00 +0000

Few days back, I went to visit some old visiting spots in my old, beloved city where I gre up most of my life. Islamabad is very different from what it was a decade back. It used to be a beautiful garden city with some great family spots. There were times when crime was almost zero in this city. People in fact used to joke that Islamabad is a separate country within Pakistan, oblivious of the problems surrounding it. But frankly speaking, Pakistan of those days was a thousand times better then what it is today. The city was small, serene and somewhat just and equal. I remember those days of school where I met my love for first time. One of my class-mates was son of a parliamentarian and numerous others were from good families. The reason being that Islamabad was a small city, a garden city inhabited by bureaucrats, teachers, doctors, lawyers, engineers and scientists. Those were good, old simple days. Over time, islamabad has become infested by millions from all over Pakistan hungry for power, authority and importance. The real islooites - the quiet middleclass who literally built Islamabad has died. Little is left of the good peaceful people who while living in Islamabad thought Pakistan was as beautiful, serene and at peace with itself as are the natives of this city.

Today, all greenery has vanished, schools are rotting houses of corrupt student unions, the literate people simply left for greener pastures, others simply vanished. There is no peace, no beauty in anything. People always seem to be in a hurry, ready to spit out anger, furious on God-knows-what. Big, useless roads span over, what used to be greenbelts of trees. Vulgar, immoral beings haunt poor girls in this city where once a switched off street light made an issue. No rules, no manners, no patience, no respect...nothing is same. It seems like the city is there but not the spirit. It hurt to see my beautiful isloo in hands of the unknown people. As I think of it, Isloo simply became part of Pakistan...

So coming back to my trip, I went to some old picnic spots of the city.

Pir Sohawa (Gokina)

Shakar Pariyan (with obnoxious new Pakistan monument there)

Damn-e-koh

Islamabad zoo

Islamabad Playland (Japenese Children Garden)

Track-3 (hiking place)

Rawal dam

Rose and Jasmine Garden

Lotus Lake (now dead)

Museum of natural history (almost empty and closed)

Open air theatre (also almost dead)

the trip was sort of refreshing, very very nostalgic and beautiful. I remembered all those good and beautiful times and days. My this trip also became better as my elder bro was with me and we dont usually hangout so much now.

I took some pictures, hiked a bit, sat and thought about the million problems people in pakistan face. And after a great day of remembrance, nostalgia and smiles, I headed back home in evening, hoping that life and people will change and someday I will see the same old islamabad someday :)