Doing the Right Thing

Yesterday I saw my neighbor busy with supervision of cementing the front yard of his house. He had directed the laborers to create a a gentle slope using cement. Now, the cement slope exceeds the boundary of the plot and very clearly violates the parameters of the main road.

This makes me think about "doing the right thing." In this country, creating problems for others has become a fashion now. In PK, I see people parking on footpaths which creates hurdles for the pedestrians. Moreover, motorbikes use footpaths for shortcuts and their own convenience. If you want to risk your life, just try using a zebra crossing (pedestrian crossing). Any type of car or bike would not make an effort to stop for the pedestrian to pass. In fact, the person driving would resort to honking. Nowadays in ICT, driving on the wrong side of the road is another issue which has increased the risks of accidents.

In PK, a trend of fancy number plates was on the rise when I was studying in high school. Back then, I saw plates put on cars, with 'Barrister', 'Lawyer' and 'Press' inscribed on them. Later, after passing my undergraduate studies I met a person in Lahore named S. Other than the original number plate, S used a specially designed plate which had 'Attorney at Law' printed on it. These days in ICT, I see people using stickers on the top left side of the windscreens of their cars. These stickers have logos of law enforcement agencies including police and the military.

While growing up, although not common, but I did see teenagers kicking volleyball, playing football with basketball, playing cricket in a football ground and playing football in a hockey ground. I also saw people cleaning their front yard and putting the garbage in front of other people's house. I often think, when would people stop doing these foolish acts?

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Seeing is not Believing

I grew up hearing that seeing is believing. I think this idea was as meaningless back then, as it is right now. the use of pictures, videos and print, plays a very important role in propaganda.

The last Prime Minister was a prime example of excessive propaganda. He was portrayed as a messiah who would rescue the country from all challenges. Hero worship reached its height when anyone criticizing the Prime Minister or his policies was ruthlessly trolled online.

Derogatory remarks on social media and use of foul language was used to counter any critique of the PM. The public was made to believe that its now or never.

The young generation of the country was made to believe that a seventy year old man represents the youth of the country. The youth and anyone reading any form of text or literature, should keep two questions in mind while reading. One, who is producing the content? Second, for whom is the content being produced?

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Generation PUBG

Today (30 June 2023) while exercising in a nearby park I saw two small girls copying me. This made me smile. They were trying to copy every move. Trying very hard to do push ups they repeatedly asked me if they were doing it correctly. These little girls were aged between 8-10 years, wearing their Eid clothes. They really wanted to learn different exercises. As I was leaving, I saw the girls running and trying to do difficult exercises inside the exercise area, built inside the park. They were really willing to learn!

About a week ago there were a few small boys from a religious seminary nearby who were also willing to learn exercises, as they were trying to copy me. They just understood pashto and found it very hard to follow my instructions in Urdu. Majority of these kids loved playing and watching cricket.

In the same park I also saw some young boys playing PUBG on their mobile phones. It was a pity to see them immersed in the virtual world. Instead of enjoying the open space and facilities of the park, they were busy with their mobile phones. These phones have literally created a disconnect in human societies. 

A few months back in May 2023, I attended a wedding in ICT, where a day before the final wedding day, I saw teenage boys busy with their phones playing PUBG. Instead of enjoying the wedding function and socially interacting with the people, they preferred their best friends- their beloved phones. I do not know when this craze for online games will end?

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Why do I Write?

Writing is very powerful! It is a very strong medium to convey one's message. 

I personally think its is not an easy job. The more you write, the more you learn and the more you want to write. Sometimes when I look at my old writings I realize how I have progressed over the years. I am sure in five years from now, when I look back I would find my writings different. Writing shows  that change is permanent in a writer's writing. Change in thinking also continues with time.

When I have a lot of ideas in my mind, I write them down, but just writing them down does not help. Expanding on those ideas helps in improving one's writing. The more you write the more you improve.

Writing also helps in keeping a record of what you think and believe. From now on, I do not just plan to write. I will write! I will write!

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Book Review: Books V. Cigarettes by George Orwell

 

This book was first published as an essay in 1940s. The author says that even if one buys books and periodicals, that does not cost more than the combined cost of smoking and drinking. Orwell shares his own experience of working at a secondhand book shop. He doubts whether ten percent of his customers at the bookshop are able to distinguish a good book from a bad one. Every month about a dozen books were stolen from the bookshop.

Orwell states that the job of a book reviewer includes praising trash, and majority of the books published are bad. Furthermore, he believes that the idea of intellectual liberty is under threat from two sides. First, is the theoretical enemy- the apologists of totalitarianism. Second, is the practical enemy- monopoly and bureaucracy. The weakening desire for liberty among the intellectuals themselves is the most serious symptom of all. Regarding imagination Orwell says: ‘...we know only that the imagination, like certain wild animals, will bot breed in captivity.’

The author says that in England the large numbers of well-trained and disciplined nurses are underrated. He also shares his own experience of living in St Cyprian boarding school in Sussex. He narrates how they were underfed, bullied and punished. With that they were also kept in unclean living spaces. He also shares stories of his poverty and how did he feel about it. In comparison with the underprivileged students the rich students were given preferential treatment.  

Ian Hy, Thackeray, Kipling and H.G Wells were Orwell’s favorite authors from boyhood. He also writes about the discussions between the different students who boasted their parents’ wealth. He says that: ‘In a world where the prime necessities were money, titled relatives, athleticism, tailor-made clothes, neatly brushed hair, a charming smile, I was no good.’ He feels dejected.

In this work, George Orwell touches on the themes of money, reading, bookshops, freedom of press, boarding life and patriotism. Anyone with an interest of reading about the early twentieth century England, should definitely read this.

 

 

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Book Review: Money by Yuval Noah Harari

 

Harari was born in Israel in 1976. He studied at Oxford and lectures at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He specializes in the Middle Ages and World History. In this book the author starts with the history of money. He says that hunter-gatherers shared their goods and services through an economy of favors and obligations. Each village was a self-sufficient economic unit, maintained by mutual favors and obligations with a little barter trade with outsiders.

Rise of cities and kingdoms and the improvement in infrastructure created opportunities for specialization. Specialization also created a problem of managing the exchange of goods between specialists. For many societies creation of money was the answer.  Money could be anything that people use in order to represent systematically the value of other things for the purpose of exchanging goods. It isn’t a material reality, it is a psychological construct.  Harari stresses that money is the most efficient system of mutual trust ever devised.

Harari states that history’s first known money is the Sumerian barley money. The first coins in history were struck around 640 BC by King Alyattes of Lydia, in western Anatolia. The Chinese monetary system depended on bronze coins, silver and gold ingots. According to the author, money is based on two universal principles. First, it has universal convertibility and, second it has universal trust. On page 21 Harari states money ‘corrodes local traditions, intimate relations and human values, replacing the with the cold laws of supply and demand.’

From the author’s point of view, in the modern era the new capitalist elite is not made up of dukes and marquises, but of board chairmen, stock traders and industrialists. Capitalism played a very important role not only in the rise of modern science, but also in the emergence of European imperialism. The Dutch won the trust of the financial system as their courts were a separate branch of the government, unlike Spain where it was subservient to the King. This helped the Dutch merchants gain confidence. While the French overseas empire was on decline the British were expanding. Like the Dutch the British empire was established by private joint-stock companies based in the London stock exchange.  

Harari discusses whether intelligence or consciousness is important. He says that the idea that humans will always have a unique ability beyond the reach of non-conscious algorithms is just wishful thinking.  If algorithms outperform human capitalists, we might end up with an algorithmic upper class owning most of our planet. Harari is of the view that algorithms wont revolt and enslave us, they will be good at making decisions for us. With that the author also writes that not following their advice would be madness. New technologies of the twenty-first century may thus reverse the humanist revolution, stripping humans of their authority, and empowering non-human algorithms instead. The author adds that if one is horrified by this direction, one should not blame the computer geeks. The responsibility actually lies with the biologists.

The great human projects of the twentieth century including overcoming famine, plague and war- aimed to safeguard a universal norm of abundance, health and peace for everyone without exception. The new projects of the twentieth century- gaining immortality, bliss and divinity- also hope to serve the whole of humankind. According to the author this may result in the creation of a new superhuman that will abandon its liberal roots and treat normal humans no better than nineteenth-century Europeans treated Africans.

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Book Review: The Eye of the Prophet by Kahlil Gibran

The Eye of the Prophet is another interesting book by Kahlil Gibran. It is brief, but it touches upon topics such as life, youth, woman, love, social relations, slavery, law, understanding, music, art, religion, wisdom etc. I quote here some of Gibran from this particular book.

He says: “The man who does not feel friendship towards himself is a public enemy, and he who finds no confidant within himself will dies of despair.” At another place he writes: “…for he who has never looked at suffering cannot claim to see joy”. On life he says: “Life without rebellion is like the seasons without spring. And rebellion without rights is like spring in a barren desert.” On woman Gibran writes: “The woman of yesterday was a happy woman, but the woman of today is a wretched mistress”. Writing about love Gibran espouses that “Hell lies not in torture. Hell lies in an empty heart.” Regarding mother Gibran thinks: “The mother is everything in life. She is the consolation in our sadness, the hope in our distress, the strength in our weakness. She is the source of compassion, she is love and grace. He who loses his mother loses a breast on which to lay his head, a hand that blesses him, a gaze that protects him.”

On courage he says: “The moth that flutters round the fire until its own death is more admirable than the mole who lives in a dark tunnel.” He further writes in the book: “To die for liberty is more noble than living in the shadow of cowardly submission.” On Truth Gibran mentions: “Truth is like stars: it shows only in the darkness of the night.” The whole elaboration under ‘Earth’ is really fascinating.

Some of his other quotes are:

• Friendliness with an ignorant man is just as absurd as discussion with a drunkard.
• Before teaching others begin by educating yourselves. Teach by example before teaching by words.
• Knowledge makes your seeds germinate but never sows them.
• Understanding forms, the only set of riches which tyrants cannot take away from you.
• The true riches of a nation lie not in its gold or silver but in its aptitude to educate itself and in the degree of integrity possessed by its children.
• The riches of the mind embellish the face of a man and earn sympathy and respect. The mind of a being is reflected in his eyes and in all the movements and gestures of his body.
• The people of the cities pretend to be wise and knowing. But their imagination remains unreliable, for they are none other than experts in imitation.
• Beauty is not in the face. Beauty is a light in the heart.
• Poetry, today, is a consumer product and not a breath of immortality.
• Ask counsel from people wrinkled with age. Their eyes have looked the years directly in the face, and their eyes have listened to the voices of Life. And even if their counsel were to displease you, do not fail to give them a little of your attention.
• Is faith not the sense of the heart just as sight is the sense of the eyes?
• Remember that a single just man causes the demon more trouble than a thousand blind believers.
• Tomorrow is conceived in the womb of yesterday.
• Do not call me wise, unless you call all man wise. I am merely an unripe fruit still hanging on the branch, only yesterday I was still a flower.

Overall this book presents a reflection of Kahlil Gibran inspiration and wisdom.

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Book Review: End of the Past by Nadeem Farooq Paracha

End of the Past is an easy to read book based on eight chapters. In the first chapter the author throws some light on the history of Parachas. He says that Paracha are mainly Punjabi. They are found in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia and even in India.

After that Paracha discusses his early life in Karachi leading to his admission in Saint Patrick’s College Karachi. From 1971 to 1982 he was a student of Karachi Grammer School. Later due to his father’s instable financial position he could not go abroad like his many other friends did.

Throughout the book Paracha tells his own story and relates it with the different governments of the past. At other times Paracha brings in historical reference or links to give a more broad view to his arguments. He seems to be a big fan of ZA Bhutto and his daughter Benazir. In this book Paracha discloses about his personal experience of student politics. At college Paracha had formed a socialist union of students, contested elections and won as General Secretary. Later he was also attached with the student wing of PPP. Further he also explains about the conflicts between various leftist groups in Pakistan. He talks about alliances, fights, elections, guns and compromises during his student years.

Paracha has dedicated a separate chapter on the wine shops of Karachi. He mentions how easily alcohol was available. People would flock to the beaches and enjoy a drink. He tells his own story of how he got involved in hashish, liquor and women. He had various relations with different girls, until the last one which resulted in his marriage.

Furthermore Paracha discusses the birth of political parties like MQM, politics of IJT, Zia’s coup and divide in newspaper agencies along ideologies. In another chapter the author focuses on the film culture in Pakistan. He critiques some films and the starring roles of different actors. Moreover in the book Paracha talks about the class antagonism in Pakistan cricket team, the role of Tableeghi Jamat and the politics within Pakistan Cricket Team.

In the last chapter the author considers Ziaul Haq as the tyrant who retarded the political and social evolution of Pakistan. Paracha considers himself a social democrat o/ Muslim nationalist inspired by the likes of Jinnah. Jinnah is considered a pragmatic a pragmatic politician by the author. He believes that Jinnah should not be studied as an ideologue rather we should see him as a pragmatist who created Pakistan with sheer hardwork. Paracha believes that for a smooth future an end of the past has become really important.

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Book Review: Sand and Foam by Kahlil Gibran

I read this book in late 2012 or early 2013 at Ewing Hall. I borrowed it from a friend. Sand and Foam is one the books of Gibran written about impulse of man’s heart and mind. The themes which he addresses in the book include travel, nirvana, faith, secrecy, traits of humans, children, knowledge, youth, dissent, greed and indifference.

At one point he says: “If you reveal your secrets to the wind you should not blame the wind for revealing them to the trees. Furthermore he states: “You cannot have youth and the knowledge of it at the same time; for the youth is too busy living to know, and the knowledge is too busy seeking itself to live”.

On equality Gibran is of the following view: “Should you sit upon a cloud you would not see the boundary line between one country and another, not the boundary stone between a farm and a farm. It is a pity you cannot sit upon a cloud.

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Book Review: The Luminous Life of Dalai Lama Edited by Shyam Dua

 This illustrated biography of Dalai Lama is a small book of less than a hundred pages. Dalai Lama born in Tibet in 1935 and was enthroned at the age five. He started his education at a monastery in Tibet. In this book the list of awards and honorary degrees conferred on him has been enlisted. Dalai Lama believes that Tibet is still under the Chinese oppression. He is of the view that there is an imminent threat to Tibetan religion, culture and environment. The key themes in his various published books are also shortly discussed in this book. Dalai Lama’s lecture on the occasion of receiving the Nobel Peace Prize is also mentioned. Dalai Lama is of the view that people in Tibet are being turned into an insignificant minority by the influx of Chinese immigrants. Prostitution and gambling have been introduced intentionally in the Tibetan society to marginalize the indigenous population. Furthermore he stresses on the need for moral awakening in the world. Both spiritual and material world should go side by side. In addition to that Dalai Lama champions for human rights, democracy and wants Tibet to become a free peaceful zone where Tibet enjoys genuine autonomy within the framework of the People’s Republic of China.

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Book Review: You Can Excel in Times of Change by Shad Helmstetter

This book is basically an attempt by the writer, to force upon the reader the importance of change in an indivual’s life. 
He explains the practical steps to overcome the problems which any change can bring along with it.The change could be in any form. It could be regarding one’s health, education, job, relationship and any other kind of loss. 
Accepting change, and dealing with it positively has been stressed upon .The plan involved in tackling the change efficiently is in itself a positive step towards dealing with the change.

 At various places, in the book questionnaires have been given in order to evaluate oneself and make one adjust much better to the evolving changes.

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