Grandson!

I just heard an extremely exciting news about the 4th Generation of AIESEC in Pakistan MC.

Jeremy Higgs has been elected MCP for 2008/09!
All my best wishes and support to him.

Lots of emotions and thoughts around this, the organization remains dear to me as always.

Thank you for being first one to notify me! Owe ya one!

A Tree Falls In A Forest and No One Is Around To Hear It..

Apologies for being a bit of a faineant as regards some recent events. To be honest, part of the reason for the delay can be blamed upon the fact that I was trying to find some manner of adding a form of feeling or emotion to the event, and not just make a newsreel style post. Unfortunately, that process was in vain and having interacted with many Pakistanis over the issue, it appears that I'm just an ordinary citizen in my stance towards this - or the lack thereof.

The blast in Lahore, the first of its kind to tarnish the cultural capital of the country occurred on the Mall Road, a boulevard of government buildings that stand witness to colonial legacy. It's all quite symbolic really. The Empire's main function was revenue extraction and undemocratic rule. 60 years down, while the people in these buildings have a darker skin, their actions remain as malicious.

The blast occurred in the middle of a large platoon of policemen that were awaiting the lawyers' weekly march down the road. Most likely motive: A subliminal warning to the lawyers to desist from continuing their protests. Most low-cost target: Bunch of cops. Now why is it that I find myself surrounded by a lack of sympathy towards those targetted? As friend of mine says, 'The answer's quite simple: While the vast majority of them were mere pawns in the dirty war, its one in which the protagonists are often indistinguishable. '

Police is the most direct physical form of state repression in this country. It's also the easiest one to target. Their own attitude hasn't helped much. Today, most of us see the police, not as guardians of our safety, but those on 'the other side'. Much like their counterparts in the military - the 'defenders of the country'.

Protesters attach placards and stickers against the establishment on a police vehicle.

The funny rebuttal that the state is using nowadays is a lame attempt to hide their incompetency as regards security lapses: 'It was a suicide bomber. You know.. We can't do much about such things..'. (Initial reports from site were that the bomb had been planted under a police van!) Most of us have seized to have even an iota of confidence in what the government tells us now.

And what's with those reports about 'X number of suicide bombers have entered city X'. Umm.. Hello? Who's giving you this info? Why didn't you catch them when you'd been tracking their entrance into the city! And what does 'the security forces in the country have been put on high alert after the blast' even mean? Were they on low alert since things have been all so peaceful lately? Surely they mustn't be too motivated after the way they're being targeted. Alert, probably not! Afraid, I would suppose so!

It appears that mass movement on the street is not in the making. Perhaps prompt elections are the only (albeit suboptimal) way forward. Our choice pool constitutes a college freshman, his corrupt father that's made it to the top-5 richest people in the country at our expense, an indecisive moron with a history of U-turns, and a criminal that thinks the province is his personal property.. and his son famous only for the fights over gals that he settled outside his college using daddy's guards! But it's still our choice to make, eh!

This too shall pass.

Wearing A Pair of Bifocals

How do the views of two foreigners compare?

One, a political analyst for the The Economist, able to command the audience of hundreds of thousands, through a sensational cover story. The Other, a young Australian, exploring the country on foot.


He writes...

"Nothing else has worked. it is time for the world's most dangerous place to try democracy.."

He writes (Pics he's uploaded paint a slightly different picture from the one above a bit)..

"...seeing this country described as a "failed state" and a "pre-9/11 Afghanistan". All the while, my head is screaming from the negativity I see. I have tried to write how the Pakistan seen in the media is not accurate..."

What IS accurate? What are we dealing with here?

Matrimonial Arcana

Two awesome friends of mine, Adeel and Hana got engaged last night!

Now, while I've attended countless numbers of weddings in the last few weeks (since Nov-Dec-Jan is wedding season here - no wonder all the kids are born in Sep-Oct [9months!]), but being a part of something involving two friends this close had a special indescribable charm to it! Besta luck you too! We're all taking notes on successful relationships here! (..And we're all trying to forget how possessive I was about my friends when it all started! -- Ignore the picture, pls, we're just posing! Hana he's all yours! Ok.. maybe not in the broader sense of the word 'All'..! Khee Khee!)


A recent survey states that on average, people fall in love 6 times in their lifetime. Woah! SIX Times?! So, while there are people like Hana and Adeel bringing down the average drastically, I guess this finding says there's still hope for us commoners!

Additionally, another dear friend of mine told me yesterday that a large majority of people in Ukraine entertain the superstition that getting married in a leap year is not lucky. That does make me wonder as to what a belief like that would do to the thriving 'wedding industry' we have down here! Phew!

Get the feeling this yr's gonna be pretty eventful!

Just Another New Year's Post?

Let us not drink to the past, but to the future. Cheers !!!

A dear friend of mine dropped in an email which ended with that line. It was something that struck quite a note with me over the last couple of days since the thought of the last year left behind this acrid feeling left, as a direct result of recent events. Most people here are talking about how 2007 was a dark year in terms of the events that occurred. Now, it's not me to be taking such an uber-pessimistic approach to matters, but I guess it bogged me down pretty too.

... And then, things picked up. I got an text message from a super close friend

Ich hoffe du geniesst den ersten tag im neuen jahr

Naturally after a little bit of imagination (and of course the handy German-English dictionary!) I decoded it verbatim

I hope you enjoy the first day of the new year

Having made a vain attempt to reply using my advanced language skills, I got on FB as customary to end any day! I'd been tagged in a video. Woo. Hoo.

Now, adding to the infinite layers of disclaimers I ruthlessly subject you too, I consider myself to be someone that isn't easily swayed emotionally. Play. It was a simple compilation of a number of pictures (with the quintessential AIESEC song 'Time of your life' playing in the background) of a group of people sharing some of the fondest moments of my life.

Don't want to sound like an emotional hag, but this was quite it.

Sure the year's had its downs. I've concluded experiences very dear to me, my country's gone through hell, I've lost relationships of meaning, I've had to make decisions I haven't been entirely satisfied with, and so on.

But it's also been a year I've shared special moments with a lot of special people, I've made new friends for life, and I've gotten in touch with many I hadn't heard from in years, I've had time to reflect and recover, and I've learnt a whole lot about myself and the world I live in.

Yes, the year's illustrated to me that I have limits. But it's also taught me to push those limits further.

So, at this point, I drink to the past as much as I drink to the future! And I drink to all those that I share this life with! Cheers!

PS. Thanks for the emails of concern everyone. Haven't been able to get on blogger over the last few days. Life here has returned to normal, but the political arena still remains tense. Keep y'all posted.

PPS. I'm thinking that with in the spirit of change, the black ribbon's gonna go - in hope for a much brighter future ahead!