Posts

Spiritual ethics: Solace in silence

Image
The Imam of wisdom and commander of faithful  Hazrat Ali  said that increase your silence and your thoughts will flourish, your heart will enlighten, and people will be safe from your hands. He again reiterated in another quote that excess of silence produces awe.  In a detailed sermon,  Hazrat Ali  said, “Your redressing what you have missed through your silence is easier than attaining what you have lost through your speech, Safeguarding the contents of the vessel through fastening its cover and safeguarding what is in your hands is dearer to me than seeking for what is the hands of others.  The bitterness of cutting off hopes (in people) is better than seeking from people. An occupation (to earn one’s living) accompanied by chastity is better than wealth accompanied by immorality. A person is the best keeper of his secrets. Often one strives for what is harmful to oneself. He who speaks much speaks nonsense and he who contemplates gains insight. Associate with peopl

Lahore: The city of hearts

Image
Lahore has got a special place in every person's heart and this is the reason it will always be the city of hearts and dreams. I spent 20 years of my life in Lahore and cherished every single memory I have, the friends I made there; they are all so uniquely kind and generous. I had my life-changing moments there. On Sunday I would get my self lost in the labyrinth of the old city. I used to sit there imagining the glory of the old Lahore, seeing the ghosts walking in the streets, people greeting Eid to each other, vendors selling spices and other edibles and the entire experience was mesmerizing. not too many people know the history of the city so let's take a journey back in time and explore the real Lahore. The early history of Lahore is obscure, inauthentic, and attributed to myths and tales. Virtually no historical reference of the city is available in travelogues; history books and archaeological excavations historical chronicles do not provide any account of such a city w

Angels cried for her

Image
The angels cried for her as she was too innocent and naive to understand that the parrots she just freed would be the cause of her death by torture. Zohra Shah was just an 8-year-old innocent girl when she succumbed to injuries in a local hospital in Rawalpindi. She was brought to the hospital by her killers. Soaked in her blood, the poor angel was unconscious and her entire body turned blue owing to merciless torture and later she died because she was young enough to tolerate the excruciating pain. She committed two crimes i.e. she freed the expensive parrots and she was a poor domestic worker. Her employer had beaten her like a beast. Imagine a minor girl being kicked again and again in her private parts for countless painful minutes for a crime which wasn’t a crime in her eyes. Being herself a captive, she couldn’t see the parrots in the cage sighing for freedom. Zohra Shah, an unpaid domestic worker, was killed in the affluent neighborhood of Rawalpindi, Pakistan’s fourth-largest c

Pakistan’s supply chain dilemma: Logistically wrong policies

Image
Transport and logistics being important component of supply chain management play a vital role in the modern economy but in Pakistan, this sector has been facing severe challenges owing to the lack of innovative policies and vision of the government.   Pakistan has kicked off the China Pakistan Economic Corridor but, unfortunately, it considered that a mere road construction across the country will solve all the issues related to the logistics sector.  On the other hand, the developed countries mainly focused its policies on the logistics industry and gave it a proper status and their progress is visibly playing a vital role in the modern economy.  Pakistan’s logistics and transport sector depend upon railways, roads, ports, and air cargo. Railway – despite its growth at snail’s pace – is the single major mode of transport for the public sector. Recently it was discovered in a news story that as many as 141 out of a total 474 diesel-electric locomotives of Pakistan Railways are not in

Depleting Indus Delta

Image
Indus delta is also known as the vertebra of Pakistan’s ecosystem and economy, Indus delta is 5 th largest in the world and home to the 7 th largest mangrove forest. It forms where the mighty Indus River flows into the Arabian Sea, creating a complex system of swamps, streams and mangrove forests. A triangular piece of fertile land is created when the fast-flowing river deposits rich sediment as it empties into the sea. However, dam construction and mismanagement of water by the government have significantly reduced river flows, causing the delta to shrink, and threatening both human life and its ecology. The absence of flowing freshwater allows seawater into the delta, destroying the soil and the aquifers, making it unfit for humans, animals, or crops. Last year, The Third Pole reported that around 1.2 million people from the delta have already migrated to Karachi. For years, the communities in the delta have reported the loss of livelihood, an increase in disease, and forced migrat

Ode on a Grecian Urn by Keats

Image
Thou still unravish’d bride of quietness, Thou foster-child of silence and slow time, Sylvan historian, who canst thus express A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme: What leaf-fring’d legend haunts about thy shape Of deities or mortals, or of both, In Tempe or the dales of Arcady? What men or gods are these? What maidens loth? What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape? What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy? Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on; Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear’d, Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone: Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare; Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss, Though winning near the goal yet, do not grieve; She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss, Forever wilt thou love, and she be fair! Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed Your leaves, nor ever bid the Spring adieu; And, happy melodist, unwearied,

Rise of narcissists: The plague that killed poetry

Image
People around me believe I am a cynical person as nothing around me seems to be fit as per the great divine plan and according to the social structure. They say I have the tendency to scrape the rationality out of every single thing. I can’t disappoint them it isn’t my thing. Let’s talk about modern poets. I get the eerie feeling whenever I read or watch the Urdu poets of our modern era. They are the living embodiment of narcissists who would dominate the modern world, according to my prediction (Trump can regard a good example). These narcissists can be seen everywhere as this is all about the new age thinking and philosophy. It’s about having that egotistical approach that everything is phony and only your ne’er-do-well ideas will save the world around you. To be a modern Urdu poet you may require some key elements. You need messy entangled hairs, a rough beard, a dressing style which gives you a junky look, and last but not least a social media page where you can post your