Operation: Dislodge Waistline

I realized I needed a project in my life. Something I can actively contribute to with discipline but still have fun. Something I can be persistent about. Something that would igniiiiiiiiite the liiiiiiiiiiiight and leeeeeeet it shiiiiiiiine. Something that would rekindle my passion for life.

Then I watched Julie and Julia. Needless to say, it inspired me. (Ofcourse, it reminded me of my days as a passionate blogger :) )
I decided to embark on a similar project.

But wait! Which one? Being in the round-is-a-shape category of the human race, a cook-and-nom project would effectively contribute to my ever-expanding waistline, which given my mother's anxiety levels about my big-fat(literally!)-desi-wedding, was not such an appealing idea after all. Plus, on my university-student-no-job-huge-family-more-birthdays budget, the idea flat out laughed me in the face!

And then it dawned upon me- what is it I realllllllly want? (Not Chicago Uno Grill's rattlesnake pasta, we're talking long-term!) I want to be skinny. And most of all, to quit being the deer caught in headlights among desi-aunty-gossip circles!

And that, dear bloggers, gave rise to *DRUMROLL*

OPERATION: Dislodge Waistline

Stay tuned :)

Of Peace, Pakistan and Philanthropy

Abdul Sattar Edhi. This is who we are. This is who we were. And this is who we should inspire to be. Winner of several international awards, Abdul Sattar Edhi is a simple, self-proclaimed uneducated man who operates the largest voluntary ambulance services. Whenever a disaster strikes Pakistan, Edhi's ambulances are always ahead of the rest, at Pakistan's service.

This is what Islam is about. The simplicity, the honesty of this man is what we Muslims are taught in Islam. THIS is the real Islam. Islam is not Al Qaeda, Islam is not Taliban. Abdul Sattar Eidhi is a living example of what Islam teaches.

What does Abdul Sattar Edhi own? 2 suits. 2 suits is all he owns. One he washes, the other he wears. He does not own enough resources to give Zakaat, because he gives them all in charity. He drinks milk morning and night, and only eats one piece of bread for lunch, without meat.
This is modesty, this is humility. This is what Islam teaches.

Abdul Sattar Eidhi deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. What infuriates me is that Obama won it for what? For getting Aafia Siddiqui arrested. For detaining a mother of a 1.5 year old child in an all-male prison on the mere basis of suspicion. Despite all the objectivity and equality that these awards boast, Obama was a politician. Politicians are NEVER objective. Why, then, was he awarded the Nobel Peace Prize? Where has he contributed to peace? Drone attacks in Pakistan, War in Iraq, Afghanistan, this is not peace! Despite ALL EDHI'S HUMANITARIAN EFFORTS, despite all the real work he's done, Obama gets the award.

You decide. Where's the justice? We Muslims are being brainwashed. We are blinded to our own side. We don't see the efforts of our people because it is not being promoted by the media. We need to open our eyes and ears to our people and educate ourselves about the wonderful efforts and contributions that Muslims have made in the world. We need to be inspired by these, by our history, by Islamic history and make continuous efforts to clense this ridiculous hegemonized image that the Western media has constructed about us. We need a revival.

And this is it. It's now, or never.

Fleurs de L'amour

There's a hollow pain in my chest where my heart ought to be
Rainy days aren't all that charming anymore
On cold winter nights sitting by a fire side,
Near me is where you ought to be.

Should I consider this love?
This madness, this, this insanity?
For never once has it happened before
That love ought to inspire me.

There's a twinkle in your eyes,
A passion that hasn't died.
There's a spark in my heart,
An unsettling electricity in the dark.

Champagne doesn't thrill me,
Sinatra once spoke of it.
Cosumed by indolentia,
You are the ultimate kick.

19-1-2011
Wednesday

From Munni to Mumtaz

I was asked to write about my take on Salman Taseer's murder.
At this point, I've decided that anything is possible. The state of anarchy that humans have reached, anything can happen. And nothing shocks me anymore.

For those who don't know, Salman Taseer was an avid critic of Pakistan's blasphemy laws, and he thought Asia Bibi should be pardoned for blaspheming about the Prophet Muhammad (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). He was killed by his own guard Mumtaz Qadri in the name of Allah, for advocating a blasphemer. I could go on about how this whole issue was fabricated to be about blashphemy and minority rights when in fact it was a property feud, but I won't because the fact of the matter is that whatever happened, happened because of what was believed by the public (Mumtaz Qadri) and what was brought to light by the media, NOT what really happened and whether it really even happened at all or not.

In one sentence: What happened to Salman Taseer was wrong. Period. It's human life and it was taken away by someone other than Allah. This is haram.
All those arguments about killing people in the name of God, well, as fellow blogger and friend Mehreen Kasana said, "God does not need human protection." And God sure as hell does not want you to take someone's life because that is not what Islam preaches. How many times do we have to whip out the Hadith saying whoever kills a man has killed all of humanity.

I'm not going to go into details, because there are several other bloggers out there who do a much better job than me to provide you with all the evidence.

All I have to say is this: Mumtaz Qadri was not a hero, and Salman Taseer was no hero either. Salman Taseer was corrupt like all other politicians, and Mumtaz Qadri was a bigot like all uneducated, brainwashed humans. But Salman Taseer did not deserve to die like that, just like Aafia Siddiqui did not deserve to be treated that way, or the hundreds of other innocent civillians who didn't deserve to die in drone attacks.
None of these humans deserved to die. Human life is not cheap, and it is NOT so worthless that we kill it because of our xenophobic tendencies.

Salman Taseer might have been wrong to advocate Aasia Bibi's pardoning in a state that is run on Sharia Law, but that is precisely what Pakistan is not: run on Shariah Law. We don't follow Shariah Law in any of our courts, we fight for democracy but whip Shariah out when it comes to blasphemy. Why don't we follow Shariah for all those years of murders, for robbery, for theft? And what appalls me are the large number of people belonging to s0-called globalized, civilized population who advocate this downright ridiculous 'cause and are celebrating this murder as 'Aashiq-e-Rasul'. It's like one minute they were out there singing along to Munni and comparing her with Sheila Ki Jawani, and all of a sudden this is about protecting Islam and fighting against blashphemy.

As for Aasia Bibi, how do we really know for sure whether she committed blasphemy or not? Do we have evidence? And this is precisely where Qadri is wrong; to have killed without even knowing really for sure, without concrete evidence. To have killed at all.

I don't support Salman Taseer, no. I don't support any of the involved parties. Where was justice when it came to Aafia Siddiqui? Why didn't Taseer sit next to her and address the media? Why didn't Mr. Lion-of-Punjab be all fierce and heroic when Aafia Siddiqui was kept in a male prison? But I am against him being killed for voicing what he believed in. I will start believing in blasphemy laws when Pakistan starts applying them. Islam is not a pick and choose religion and I'm SICK of this twisted interpretation of a religion that spread a revolution solely through love, unity and good character. When the disbelievers cursed the prophet, not once did he curse them back, but kept showing mercy and love. He did not go around killing every single disbeliever who blasphemed. He corrected them through dialogue, through rationality and character.

Boycotting social media websites and internet, protesting around the city, suicide bombing, killing blasphemers and murdering their advocates is NOT in support of Islam. It will not implement Shariah in Pakistan, if that's what you really even what. People seriously need to remove their brains from their buttholes and understand what the beautiful religion of Islam preaches.

STOP shattering the image of Islam and Pakistan. This is not who we are. This is not who we were and this is NOT what we were taught.

*Insert Misleading Title*

I remember back in elementary school, we got aked to fill out these little quizzes and they'd ask us about our role models. Or in slam books, where bright-coloured glitter pens would speak volumes about who we were at that time, depending on who we jotted down as our role model.

I could never come up with a name.

I've never had a role model, or a person I'd look up to. I think this is probably because I've always wanted to be my own person, uninfluenced by others. Copying others has always been a pet-peeve of mine, and I believe my childhood was no different. It irked me to the end of my wits if one of my siblings jokingly told me I only did a particular thing to be like said person.I remember how fiercely I'd argue to get my point across. Ofcourse, my pitch directly proportional to my level of frustration at not being heard.

I guess this speaks about the nature of man, about how imperfect man is. We all have certain qualities, certain talents, some God-gifted skill if you will at which we're ace. But there's always something we lack. For example, great artistic sense but a serious lack of social skills. I probably realized way early as a kid that it's better to be your own person than look up to someone because they weren't perfect, and if they weren't perfect, well then there's no point in making them an ideal, an idol.

I don't think I was or am narcissistic, I mean God alone knows how wonderful it would to be to have just a dash of narcissism in me. I mean, there were things I admired about people, like a particular talent or skill, and it inspired me and made me want to take the initiative and achieve great things like them, but I never wanted to be them or be like them. Sure, having talents like them would be great, but not the whole deal.

So anyway, that was a little something dug up from my past. How about you? Ever had a role model? What's your take on the whole idol/ideal thing?

Teenage Dreams

Let's stay up all night watching the fireflies as they dance around the flames.

Fiery flames, hissing, burning. Licking us.

Consuming us into the moment.

Hand in hand we skip through life, paths undiscovered, destinies unfulfilled. The background a dizzying array of scenic pasts, we come through.

Teenage dreams, reverberating through our souls.

Titles are a Dead Giveaway for the Content of the Entry. Therefore, I revolt!

There's a hole in the bottom of the sea,
There's a hole in the bottom of the sea,
There's a hole, there's a hole
There's a hole in the bottom of the sea.

There's a log in the hole in the bottom of the sea,
There's a log in the hole in the bottom of the sea,
There's a log, there's a log
There's a log in the hole in the bottom of the sea.

Am I the only one who sees a connection here?

Tsk tsk.

Corrupting young minds...

Munni Badnaam Hui, Darling Teri Liye!

*walks into room full of angry, shoe-and-other-random-objects holding bloggers with arms crossed over head*

Someone's been bad.
*hears imaginary spanking*

Right. So long, uninformed absences? What be the cause?
Well folks, the time came in the life of yours truly where, HOLD YOUR BREATH, the passion died down.
People kept nagging me about how blogging is a time-wasting activity and how I do nothing productive with my time.
Said people also told me that I will never be able to do anything in life if I whiled it away on the internet. Said people were HA-IN-YO-FACED after I got my first real job via Twitter, for the Berkman Center in Harvard too. *ho-snap* Can I say ha once more?
HA!

So anyway. I've decided to take things under my control, seeing as it IS my life and I AM 18 years old and venturing out into the world. And do my own thang!
And I don't give a flying poo (here's to visualization!) about what anyone else thinks. I don't want to live their life, I'm living mine. And I call the shots here.
So, that's that. I'll keep doing what I have to do. For too long I've let others dictate my passions, it's time I dictate my own.

I feel so rusty with this whole blogging thing, considering I've been away for a good few months.

I BETTER BE GETTING SOME WELCOME BACK LOVE!

This Candy Got You Drunk!

Anybody remember these?
Wonka Nerds ♥

Stumbled upon them yesterday at Emarat and just had to have one.
Avalanche of childhood memories ^__^