LIFE IN ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE

It has been an year and a half since we shifted, rather I shifted to Saudi Arabia. The story goes back to 2003 when I first came to Makkah to perform Umrah. The sight of the Masjid-e-Haraam and the Kaaba mesmerized me. I remember the first time I looked at Kaaba, I was unable to take my sights away. After that since we stayed there, I used to sit by a pillar in the Haram and pray. I fell in love with that pillar, and when it was time to leave, i hugged the pillar cried and asked it to pray for me so that I could come and live in Saudi Arabia. For the next 10 years that passed, I got opportunities to go to many countries but I just waited and waited until the time came and I got an opportunity to shift to Saudi Arabia. The place where I live is about 400km from Makkah, it is a drive of about 3 and a half hour from my home to the Haram. People ask me all the time what it feels like to live here. So I decided to write this blog.

Life in Saudi Arabia, especially in a suburban area is very different from the hustle and bustle of big cities like Karachi or Lahore. It is very peaceful, quiet, and serene. The place where I live is a hill station, there is lots of rain, even snow here and the weather is so pleasant that I so many times forget that I am living in a desert. Once it starts raining, it normally goes on for a week, sometimes even more. The air is so fresh that every breath I take reminds me of heaven. The sky is always filled with stars as there is nearly no pollution here. In a nut shell, it is like another life.

The people here are simple, not much educated, majority is not well versed or even familiar with English. Communication is possible as there are a large number of Pakistanis, Indians and Bangladeshis who can understand and communicate with anyone speaking Urdu. They are conservative about their values and may seem arrogant, however after you get in acquaintance with them and are honest and truthful, a mutual sense of respect starts developing between you and them.
Our Landlord, Mr. Ali Al Garni is a thorough gentleman. Though more than 90 years of age, He is Masha Allah a very active person. He has made farms on the back side of his house where there are trees of Pomengranate, Guave, Dates, vines of grapes and shrubs of lemon. He plants melons, onions, tomatoes, romaine lettuce, corriander, mint, green chillies in the farm. He gave us permission to take whatever we wish from his farms. May Allah bless him and his family with health and happiness. One of his sons Majid is a young man studying Computer Science from the local university. He is well versed in English and is Masha Allah a very helpful person.

Whenever we feel like, we set out for Makkah, perform Umrah and the come back spiritually cleansed. This truly is another perspective of life that I am living now, and I am very satisfied with it. May Allah bless us all and keep us all in His Eternal Protection, Ameen.

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AISAM-UL-HAQ QURESHI

While I am typing this post, Aisam-ul-Haq has reached into the finals of both the men's doubles and the mixed doubles in the US OPEN, the first Pakistani to ever do so. He has really been a fighter all the while when the Pakistan Tennis Federation was all politics and not concentrating on promoting this jewel of Pakistan. Aisam never let this ignorance of the PTF be a hurdle in his race towards excellence. He has become an icon for the Pakistani youth who have interest in sports especially tennis. I pray for him from the depths of my heart that may he win both the finals and bring laurels for my Pakistan, infact our Pakistan which is being neglected and tortured and tormented by all the calamities and suicide attacks that have been occurring lately.


However the reason why I have him as the topic of my post today is something else. It is the post of "Ambassador of Indo-Pak friendship" that he assumed by pairing up with Rohan Bopnna of India as his men's doubles partner. In all their matches they are seen sporting T-Shirts bearing "Stop War, Start Tennis" as their slogan. I have always believed that unless these two giants India and Pakistan develop peace among themselves, the condition of the depressed and deprived people of both the nations cannot improve. Some one has to take the initiative, stop all that happened in past, ignore what the common enemy of both India and Pakistan friendship does, and move towards a secure, friendly peaceful South west Asia. If you look at their picture on the left, you will see two smiling young men, who are friends from their hearts, both want peace and both play together for the same cause - winning. Their interaction and team work during play is immense, they understand each other very well, thus showing that whatever the enemies of Indo-Pak friendship manage to do, they will keep the cause of Indo-Pak friendship moving on and on. We all have to learn from their team, if we try we can also make teams with our Indian neighbours in all walks of life, and let all the teams have the same objective that is to win for both our countries. I am sure that this wish of mine will be fulfilled Insha Allah. Sphere: Related Content

RECENT FLOODS IN PAKISTAN

Pakistan is in the headlines of world newspapers and news channels due to the flood that hit Pakistan in the month of August. This flood brought very devastating results for the already crumbling economy of Pakistan. Millions of people lost their loved ones, properties, valuables and are now forced to live on meager aid either on open or in camps established by various philanthropist organizations in Pakistan. Truly, the world community is doing a lot for these people, but I guess a lot more needs to be done to help them stand on their feet again. I met many people who say that the flood was God's punishment on these people, but I also read once that God loves His fellow much much more than a mother loves her son. How could God let such a havoc break on His beloved people ? Well, it is not a matter of why or how, but what to do to help these homeless, destitute people so that they can attend to their families and live normal lives again. Pakistani government may be a poor one, but the people here are rich, some indeed very rich. If these people can help in the rebuilding and restructuring process, then not only can these people get out of the post-flood trauma, but can hope for a future in which they can sustain themselves and their families. One thing that has always lacked is proper organization of the Disaster Management Cell (DMC) . The DMC has always lagged behind in case of all such calamities. It is always the Army that is first on the line and first on time in helping people in case of any such catastrophe. I wish that the DMC can be organized in such a way that it can truly help the people in case of any unforeseen incidents in a satisfactory manner. I request the people of not only Pakistan, but the entire world to come forward and help these helpless poor people in this hour of need. More than your support, they need your love and kind words, as that will infuse a new spirit, a spirit to live in them. Sphere: Related Content

Match Fixing and Patriotism

Whatever Amir, Salman Butt and Muhammed Asif did for Pakistan cricket has really hung the heads of all Pakistanis in shame. I have read the word greed so many times, but I have never ever been able to understand its depth i.e how much greedier a person can be. Can greed push you so much that you can even sell your conscious ? yea, I guess that is so. Otherwise how could they do a thing like that ? What we have done in the recent years is that we have given them a sort of movie star type celebrity status. Due to that, they have just mounted on our heads and have started thinking that they can do whatever they want to. I will never ever forget the decent gentlemen we used to have in Pakistan cricket like Hanif Muhammed, Zaheer Abbas, Waseem Raja, Majid Khan, Fazal Mehmood. One one hand they were maestros of Cricket, yet on the other hand they always had Pakistan first on their agenda, instead of Money. I guess times have changed too much. Am not able to write more, but just wanted to say that if you cannot love your country and be loyal to it, you better leave it and go somewhere else where they can accept a traitor like you. Adios Amigos :) Sphere: Related Content

Suicide Bombing

He walk very carefully in a slow frightened pace, with cautious eyes moving in all directions and a mind that has been brainwashed and terribly confused. He is trying to find something or some place. But he does not ask anyone, just keeps going on. Then he spots what he was looking for, goes towards it, presses the button, and it is all done. What was he looking for ? A mob of people either in a religious gathering, or in a market place or anywhere where there is a reason for people to gather. What does he get in the end ? Well indeed he gets publicity on electronic or print media as his head is displayed by the law enforcement agencies trying to say that they have done their job. This whole cycle gets repeated every few days, in fact sometimes everyday and all that we do is feel sad about the whole affair and then go along with our daily routines. What can we do to prevent this ? Sometimes I feel we can do nothing, and yet sometimes I feel that we can do a lot, how ? The answer lies in education. Yeah E for Education. We all know that the Madrassah System is one of the main culprits behind the religious and sectarian extremism that is on its peak in our society these days. Where has Allah Rab-ul-Izzat written or said that only religious education should be obtained by Muslims ? Nowhere. In fact the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) ordered us to travel to as far as China in search of knowledge. Now China has since long been a non Muslim state so why say China ? It is because China was thought to be the farthest nation, so He meant us to search for knowledge as far as we can. And of course He never refrained the Muslims from getting western education. So why do these Madrassah people preach the western education as evil and focus entirely on their ill-interpreted version of Islam and Sunnah which they deliver to their innocent pupils. These so called religious clerics thrust religious and sectarian extremism into the raw minds of these innocent men and kids who come there in the hope of getting at least some education. Getting into a school is made impossible for them, either by the feudals who won't let any institution open in their area, or by the low standards of education that is offered to them in the remote places. Obviously we are so luxury loving that we cannot dare to go there and offer our services in such schools on voluntary basis, turn by turn in our free time. Thus the only place where the young raw minds can go for enlightenment is these Madrassahs. And that is where the seed of a Suicide Bomber is laid. Wow, what a speech I've made, what if I myself am asked to go to such places and teach voluntarily; of course my answer would be the same as yours that I won't go due to safety reasons. Still, this is a thought, maybe someday it will be converted into reality, Insha Allah. Sphere: Related Content

???

Here i am once again, after such a long time. Where i was, i don't know. I guess life turned so much stagnant. It is like getting up to the same routine everyday. No change at all. That is not what i wanted or at least my idea of life. But still so many lives depend on me, all those kids whom i teach, so i can't quit right now. Have to go on and on. I am have this idea of starting my own counciling business in which i plan to do seminars for kids and talk with them about optimism and pessimism. I have just been getting so many ideas about it. I am sure that i can do it. Lets see what happens. I just checked my mailbox and found an email from Rashid, my old friend. But couldn't reply, cause i am so much embarrassed that i couldn't contact him on his mother's death. He is such a kind gentleman. I met him about long time back the last time. His kid must have grown up by now. What did I do with my life ? I completely lost track of what i was doing. This was not what i was supposed to be. Anyhow, life goes on. No stopping. I hope that this time i will continue to write without a break. Anyone following this blog ? Nah i guess :) Sphere: Related Content

TALKS OF WAR!!!

Nowadays after the sad incident of Mumbai, the air is really hot with talk about strict and severe actions from the Indian side. In reply the Pakistani media is also retaliating with statements from the politicians that a strict reply will be given in case an agression is seen from Indian side. I even heard Sheikh Rasheed talking about using the Nuclear deterrent against India. I was just wondering that aren't these guys grown up enough to understand the repurcussions of war ? Don't they know what effect it will have on the already crippled economy of the nation and on the poor people who even in this peace time don't have access to basic necessities like food, clean water, health and education ? I feel that there should be a meaningful dialogue, and before that, a fact finding commission should be established to look into the facts of this matter. Lets talk point to point with such strong arguments so that even if Internationaly people are biased towards India, still they can have a point to ponder in their brain. Wars have never been the right solution to problems in the history, and at this point too, it seems just devastating. The Indians must realize this now that it is not Pakistan, but a group of terrorists who have no name, no religion and no nationality who is doing it all both in India and Pakistan. These terrorists don't want a peace dialogue happening between these two nations because if that happens, the world economy will be affected and the balance will tilt towards this region. I pray to God that May He bless us all with pragmatism so that we can think peacefully about solving this crisis successfully. Sphere: Related Content

Mumbai Incident !!!! A Tradegy of Epic Proportions.

This has been a very sad week. Mumbai got hit by a terrorist attack in which lots of innocent people lost their lives and great damage was inflicted to the property. Property doesn't matter here but what is more important is that lots of innocent people lost their lives who had no fault at all. Terrorism has been a long time problem for the Indo-Pak region and nothing more than just the blame-game has taken place. The blast at Mariott Islamabad, and in so many other cities of Pakistan, and then the Mumbai incident they are all so condemnable. Imagine France and Britain fighting each other in so many battles, Germany and British fighting two world wars, but they all are today living so peacefully with no practical danger from each other. However Pakistan and India have not been so lucky as some foreign element has not let them improve their relations at all and has always interfered with some terrorist activity in either of the two countries. It is this foreign element who is afraid that if Indo-Pak trade relations improve, it will add China into this duo more effectively and thus the trio so formed can be very influential as far as the world economy is concerned. The military balance will also shift to this region because the might of both Indian military and the Chinese military. That is why this element has never let both India and Pakistan to rest for a while and look at the differences both have against each other at ease. I wish that all the youth of Pakistan and India unite in tracing out this evil foreign that is always creating storms between the Indo Pak relations. If we successfully trace this element, i am sure that peace will reign in this region and never ever will there be an incident of terrorism in this golden region that has always been such a rich cultural region. I request all reading my blog to please look at the other side of the picture, so that blame game can be stopped and something concrete can happen. I feel the pain of the Indian people and I want to tell them that being a Pakistani and a Muslim, i strongly condemn it, i believe it that the people who were involved in it were nothing near to being Muslims or Pakistanis. They were no ones. They will be confined to hell for whatever they did. I offer my sympathies to the Indian brethren, and want to pray to God that may He bless this region with peace. Sphere: Related Content

Lost in Space !

What is happening ! Nothing seems alright. It seems that some change is about to come and all that is happening around is a sign of that. I just pray that whatever is going to happen will be something that is nice. It has been a while that something new has happened. It just seems as if life is suspended in space. It is all so stagnant. We were not created by Allah to stay just one way. We were supposed to be changing, evolving, adapting, but what are we adapting ? what are we evolving into ? Doesn't it fell sometimes that we are all turning into demons, demons that have been let out loose so that they can rampage on earth. But we all forget that the Creator is watching all this from up there and when He will ring the bell, it will be game over for all. Why is it that we are Muslims, member of a religion that is such noble and serene, yet we don't seem to have adapted anything much substantial from it into our lives. Why ? I guess that answer lies in the fact that we have become lazy, we are not into investigations anymore as were our forefathers, the great Al-Razi, Bu-Ali-Sina. We don't have time to even investigate what is written in the Holy Quran. Reading just the Arabic will definitely not help very much if we don't understand what is written too. We don't need any cleric to understand the teachings of Islam. All we need is to research ourselves and then i am sure that we can all come out of this time lapse and play an active role as members of this planet. Sphere: Related Content

KIDS!!!! YESTERDAY AND TODAY.

Well, imagine what an interesting topic i have right now in my mind, but it happens that i have been giving private tuition for the last 18 years along with my academic life and have also taught in a school for 4 years, thus i feel qualified enough to talk about the time, when i was a kid and today. In my days, kids normally had an ideal ahead of them whom they used to follow. Everyone had an ambition in life and that ambition was the talk of the day, all the time, because no one wanted to lose his/her vision. As there were very few TV Channels, Radio Stations and Computer/TV games, kids usually played outside, or at home and had lots of time to sit with their family and interact with them. This helped them in learning family values, socialization, and strengthened the bond between the siblings. It also increased their confidence as they were able to talk about everyday matters no matter how petty with parents and get an experienced outlook about them. This made them more optimistic as they always had the moral support and encouragement of their parents and their elder siblings behind them.
Now lets take a look at today's kids. They are all the time busy with their cells, PS2s or Computers. They get much lesser time for picnics, sports, family gatherings, and their socialization is also limited to just their circle of friends, due to which they have very little tolerance for the society. The violent media of today has transformed them from innocent kids into time bombs who can explode at any time if not dealt with carefully by their parents, friends or the society. I am not saying that computers are bad, or PS2 has got just negative points in use, however, there should be a balance in life, don't just sit in front of the TV or the Stereo, give time to your family, your studies, fitness or sports. They should be tolerant towards society, take more interest in social work and restrict TV watching to a minimum. Books should be more in as well as letter writing between friends to promote literary advancement. Thus they will be able to maintain a balance between academic, social and family life. Sphere: Related Content

Time Stopped for the Contestants of Indian Idol 4

With the ongoing strike by the Indian Stage and Cinema technicians, one just gets to look at all the previous episodes of all the favourite soaps and reality shows including Indian Idol 4. All the top 14 contestants, must be having a breather and also plenty of time for practice which means that we are definitely going to see more rehearsed, composed and serious contestants when the strike comes to an end. All my favourite contestants like Ananya Mishra, Mohit Lalwani, Rajdeep Chatterjee, Sourabhee, Tullika Gangully, Torsha Sarkar, Prasenjit Kosambi, and the "Chota Don" Remo must be enjoying the time together as this is a great and well timed break for all of them. They are among the best in this lot of 14 in my humble view as i feel their enthusiasm is very top class and up to the mark. I want to send my best wishes to all these 14 contestants and a word of advice that don't take this break as granted, but practice more and more so that you can be a force to reckon with, once the show resumes. I am sure that we all viewers are gonna get a treat from these 14 completely charged up packages of fire once the show is up again, so see ya till then. Ciao. Sphere: Related Content

Regional Trade

The region where India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China are located is one of the most productive regions in the world, both in terms of resources and in terms of manpower. With a combined population that may be more than half of the worlds population, this region should have been the economic and trading leader for the rest of the world. However, unfortunately, due to the so so many differences between India and Pakistan, this could not happen. OK! I admit! That there were a lots of differences at the time of creation of India and Pakistan, but what now! Why do we still fight ? The whole of Europe was not once but twice inter-engaged in two of the greatest wars the world has seen, yet today it is all bound by the EC (European Commission ). All of them have forgotten whatever happened in the past and just look at the future now. Who can forget Wellington and Napolean in the famous battle at Waterloo, but what about the repercussions, have the British and the French stopped talking to each other ? or have they stopped trade ?
Thus, one has to forget the past and look at the future, which open arms and hearts, so that both the countries can benefit from each others capabilities. The youth of both the countries has this greatest challenge to bring these two nations closer together, they have to shed all the hatred, the differences, and turn a new leaf so that a new era of economic, social and cultural progress can begin its epoch. It is only then that we both will be able to survive in the best manner and tell the world about the grandeur of our common ancestors. Sphere: Related Content