Gals & Blogging

Ok this is weird now. I thought it was a mere coincidence but it has happened yet again. Another female blogger has deleted her blog! I know 4 of them who have.. not many in numbers, yes I know but its very weird.

Why on earth, you ladies, do that?! Whats the big urge to delete everything you have ever written?!

PostMans Law of Ambulances

you can't catch an ambulance while driving.

Pakistan - 101

Caption: No, a meal is not being prepared rather the WAPDA guys are repairing a transformer. They are removing the moisture from oil in transformer through evaporation.


Credit: to the photographer who took the pic and the one who sent me in forwarding.

A Case of Religion Promoting Hatred?

*a discussion on culture, role of religion in morphing the culture, how western societies are 'missing' the positive factor of religion - it took an interesting turn*

He: When you separate religion from your life – you are deprived of many humanly attributes which God has bestowed and which one could realize only after losing them – Ultra social and moral less set ups have got nothing for ailing humanity in the longer run however they can further aggravate their plight.

look deep into the western society, they have abandoned their family values for the sake of MY Life and My World, Yes – apparently this has given them some edge over others but despite their much development and progress now they feel that they had made a real bad bargain and now desperately they are trying to turn the wheel in counter direction. So serious is their problem that when it comes to the presidential elections of USA – then candidate’s family setup and family values are also rated as of great importance. The candidate is supposed to project and talk about high family values.

I : Religion is one of the input of social norms - not the only one. What you state suggests that Americans are relinquishing their secular credentials.. which of course is not the case. Laws, regulations, environment, social framework for example - all of these contribute, alongside religion of course, to mould the norms of society. Let me give you an example. In Afghanistan and North Western Pakistan, burqa is very common - not becasue of religion but due to custom. Had it been religion then every muslim women on earth would have worn burqa.

As a law, you can not spit chewing gum in Singapore - this has resulted in Singapore being the cleanest of territories. We, the Islamic nation, are more akin to a toilet as compared to Singapore.

He : Postman- laws, regulations, social frameworks etc etc. these are not constants rather variables and being inferior in their ‘spirit’ and structure they require constant revamping for their validity and acceptability though for a short period. Where as religion – Islam - is an absolute constant in letter and spirit because of its divine nature and perfection. (since God himself has endorsed its perfection). Now the real problem is that humans have made religion as supplement, because by and large it does not entertain their ID.

Yes ‘burqa’ is a religious phenomenon but then why does not rest of the muslim world observe it? This has some thing to do with, how much one believes in his religion. Is he a muslim because accidentally he was born in a muslim family? Or he believes that bearing a muslim name and practicing few commandments of his choice are enough to entitle him for paradise.

I : It is an absolute constant, in letter and spirit due to its divine nature and perfection, only for you and me. Not for anyone else. What we tend to forget is that we are not MUSLIM only nation, they are other religions involved. For us its only Islam and god-damn the rest. And us muslims are further bifurcated in sunnis,shias, hanfi, deobandi, ahmadi etc etc. Islam is NOT an absolute constant if looked fom this perspective. Its a fine thought but reality bites.

He : I believe that ‘originally’ none of the early religions preached anything against the divine law, where as it were followers who try to deviate from divine law under one pretext or the other, they label such deviations as tradition/ custom etc.. an easy scapegoat. Later over the ages when this cunning art got perfected and was acknowledged globally as axiom it was then that people tried to differentiate between customs and religion

At present we are witnessing the worst phase where in, by and large, religion is fast losing its divine spirit and role. Contrary to that traditions and customs are being widely accepted because of globalization, embracing and practicing them do not require any rationale neither passport nor any one needs to change his clothes.

I: Why is it that you would readily accept the culture of using mobile phones but would shy away from basant? Why is Basant 'hindu' and mobile phone 'secular'?

He : Cell phone is a technology nothing to do with religion.Flying kites is Okay for me, love flying them - but since basant has got strings tied to religious sentiments relating to a specific event therefore flying kites during specific days realting to incident is ignorance and lack of knowledge of religious history of our region.

I: why do you have to attach religion with flying kites? Just as there is no link of mobile phones with religion.

He : i told you that i like flying kites rather love flying kites but if flying kites (in specific style and conditions) is associated with religious sentiments of non muslims then i will not fly kite with specific style and period. I will simply avoid that time duration and later enjoy my hobby - simple as that.

I : Why should you be even concerned with what religious association kite flying holds?

He : Kite flying and yellow color celebrations are linked with blasphemy. I being a poor believer still can not tolerate this.

I : Well then I find putting in religion as a blasphemy... had it not been due to religion, you would not have found any problem with it. certainly would not have found it blasphemous. A classic example of religion promoting hatred, I hasten to add.

Our Amazing Neighbourhood

Is it not beautiful? :) This is what you will see on the sky if you lie down on the lawn of your home on a dark silent night, on grass, with sweet earthly scent around, slight dew and once in a while gentle breeze.

Full Resolution Image here

Article on Space.com
A new panoramic image of the full night sky — with the Milky Way as its centerpiece — has been made by piecing together 3,000 individual photographs. The panorama's creator, Axel Mellinger of Central Michigan University, spent 22 months and traveled over 26,000 miles to take digital photographs at dark sky locations in South Africa, Texas and Michigan. "This panorama image shows stars 1,000 times fainter than the human eye can see, as well as hundreds of galaxies, star clusters and nebulae," Mellinger said. To combine these images, a simple cutting and pasting job would not suffice. Each photograph is a two-dimensional projection of the celestial sphere. As such, each one contains distortions, in much the same way that flat maps of the round Earth are distorted. In order for the images to fit together seamlessly, those distortions had to be accounted for. To do that, Mellinger used a mathematical model — and hundreds of hours in front of a computer.


If this is not enough to amaze you, then check this out.

Mega-star explosion most distant object ever seen

This is the most distant star-burst captured. and it is 13.1 billion light years far. You cant even imagine how far that is.

(AFP/HO/A.J.Levan & N.R.Tanvir)

GRB 090423 is the small, very red source in the centre of this image. The red colour is indicative of its great distance - about 13.1 billion light years - since all the optical light has been absorbed by intergalactic hydrogen gas, leaving only infrared light. All the other galaxies and stars in the image are much closer to us and just happen lie in the same part of the sky.

Astronomy humbles you.

Moonshine - Revisited

I may be a bit late on moon sighting controversy on Eid.. but then I have to 'deliver my sermon' because I am from Peshawar, work in Karachi and I have to spend the fasting month in Karachi and celebrate Eid in Peshawar. That is a really tricky business. Soon there will be Eid ul Azha and we will 'keep the flame burning' of making mockery of ourselves.

There were three esteemed personalities who made assess out of themselves on this august occasion of Eid ul Fitr. First was Mr. Muneeb ur Rehman, Chairman Rut e Hilal Committee. Second is Mr. Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, MNA Awami National Party (ANP) and Mr. Popalzai, imam of (in)famous Masjid Qasim Ali Khan of Qissa Khwani Bazar Peshawar.

I don't know but from my childhood I have seen 3 Eids celebrated in Peshawar. First ones to offer Eid prayers were/are the Afghans who in colossal numbers had found refuge in Pakistan, especially Peshawar during the Afghan war of 80s. They celebrate Eid with Saudi Arabia. Then there is the local Peshawari population that follows the edicts of Masjid Qasim Ali Khan - they celebrate on second day and then there is the third category who celebrate Eid with Government's Moon Sighting Committee, the third day. This time was no different but the 'very vigilant' media of ours ensured that brouhaha was broadcasted 24x7.

First thing first... what is the regulation according to Quran on moon-sighting? All along in the Quran we get the information that new moon is the source for knowing timings for offering rituals.

2:189 - They ask thee, of new moons, say: They are fixed seasons for mankind and for the pilgrimage. ...

6:96 - He hath appointed the night for stillness, and the sun and the moon for reckoning.

No where in Quran you will find that you have to 'sight' the Moon to know about the advent of new month. Trust me on this one, ancient people were much more advanced than an ordinary mortal of today regarding the movements of stars, moon and sun. Today's ordinary Abdul Qudoos ('ordinary Joe' for the rest) does not even look at the sky. The Arabs of that time were traders and knew the sky well. Even before them, the ancient civilizations of Maya and Aztecs had complex calendars pointing to exact setting and rise of moon and sun. So Prophet Mohammad would not have held a session on 29th of every lunar month to sight the new moon. Want to bet? This renders the moon-sighting committee of Pakistan as just a media stunt.

Coming to the 3 revered personalities, first I shall be talking about Mr. Muneeb ur Rehman, the chairman of Ruet e Hilal Committee. The guy has an issue with the 'witnesses of moon-sighting' from NWFP. Normally the committee, in order to follow the laid down procedures of sighting the new moon, examines witnesses who claim to witness the sighting as regards to their authenticity. Mr. Muneeb says that he does not accept the residents of NWFP as witness as they are liars! He says the Meteorological Institute of Pakistan says that there was no moon in that region so how on earth can they sight it? Hence liars. He will accept the testimony of anyone, even the remotest location of Pakistan but will simply not accept the testimony of people of Frontier. He also says that how can you sit for moon-sighting on 28th of Ramazan when one sits on 29th for that purpose. Idiot does not know that Frontier fasts one day 'before' the rest of the country so its their 29th Fast - not 28th as his is.

Mind you, the Meteorological Institute of Pakistan does not say that there was no moon, it says that 'chances of sighting the moon are less because the records with us indicate that you require 31 hours of moon-life to sight it'. The Institute has this record of various observatories around Pakistan. So the moon-sighting records of the Institute is of 31 hours.. not of the rest. You do not have an idea how religiously (literally too) the people of NWFP (not all areas) are in to this thing of moon-sighting.

When we were celebrating Eid in Peshawar, the Ruet guys were sitting in Lahore to witness the moon-sighting, I heard myself the reporter of a news channel saying that 'its been 42 hours since the birth of moon...' Pray tell me, how on earth can a moon whose life is already of 42 hours, require a 'sighting certificate' for it to be officially born? A new moon born is a new moon born for the whole god-damn world. But nay.. we have to prove that a muslim who can follow science is like a unicorn sighted.

Then we have Mr. Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, MNA of ANP. The guy had the gall to call the rest of Pakistanis who do not celebrate Eid on the day as Peshawarities do.. as Ahmadis/ Qadiyanis! Really dumb-ass. If there is anyone we hate the most, its the Ahmadis/ Qadiyanis - even more than the Jews. We hate them so much that we have written that in our Constitution, just because they don't have the same opinions as the rest of muslims have. How lovely. (Read my Post: 'I Hate You') So 'Haji' Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, and through his endeavors ANP, has lost it big time. Morons unlimited.

The third personality is Mr. Popalzai, imam of Qasim Ali Khan Mosque. There is a of of history associated with this mosque which is placed in the heart of Peshawar City. For hundreds of years people have been coming from far flung areas of NWFP, claiming to be witness to moon-sighting, in whatever mode of transportation they can find. They are Not Liars! as Mr. Muneeb portrays them. They are examined with the same procedure as Mr. Muneeb applies to witnesses as regards to the authenticity. Hundreds of people come to Peshawar and this mosque for this purpose only. Mr. Popalzai, as always, should have been doing what he does normally that is take testimonies of witnesses and declare them as either valid or invalid. Not go on national TV and try to become a star.

*sigh*

I am very tired I swear.

Either follow the procedure of Ruet and accept the testimonies of people of NWFP, or celebrate Eid in unison with Saudi Arabia or use common sense and get the time of birth of new moon from any website and declare Eid. Stop this mess because I have to buy tickets for home :|

What a moonshine.

Kiss? Mum's The Word - Part 2

Seems like the Waziristan Operation, 'Rah e Nijat' (Path to Liberation) and the LUMS ruckus, 'Sirat e Mustaqeem' (The Straight Path) are the only two important things happening in Pakistan. So I'll be focussing on the latter as news from the war zone in Waziristan is bleak.

The News editorial of October 19th, 'Morality Brigade' also talks about it but in a very different tone. If you read the article (please do, its just 2 paragraphs trust me) paints a very antagonized view of our society in which it seems that the primary reason for the low GDP of Pakistan is the conservative lot.

To quote.

"Why should there be so much interest in the behaviour of two individuals which affects no one else? We don’t need more vigilantes in society, who feel it their right to appropriate to themselves the guardianship of society’s morals and behaviour."

True. We don't need vigilantes in our society for the guardianship of society's morals and behaviours. What what exactly did the lady, who initially sent the email in LUMS, do? She expressed her opinion in an email using the public broadcast medium of the university addressing her concerns about an issue. What did the Editor of The News did? He expressed his opinion on an issue which he thinks requires addressing using a public broadcast media. What is the difference between them? Why the lady is a 'schmuck' (as the Editor would have liked to call her) and not he himself?

Look. She did not harass or kill anyone. She just expressed her opinions as she is totally entitled to. Most of us pakistanis may or may not agree with her opinions but she has this right! Just as the editor has to say whatever is on his mind in his newspaper. Being liberal does not mean holding a negative view of the other camp. In the end, its just two parties having a different opinion.

kapeesh?


Related Post

- Kiss? Mum's The Word