ONE DOUBLE DOUBLE WITH A CREAM CHEESE BAGEL:

I work in the middle of Downtown Toronto amidst the hustle and bustle of the economics of this metropolitan city. Taking the public transportation everyday makes me realize how different of a lifestyle exists in a giant city such as Toronto compared to Edmonton. Running to the bus stop every morning. Fumbling with the change in my wallet to find enough money for a trip on the subway to work.
The clickitty clack of heels walking to the counters at the subway, the smell of coffee, the "metro" stacked for those who want to know the latest gossip of the city and the running to the train door. People listening to music on their IPods and watching movies on their cell phones. Getting out of the subway and running to Timmy's for a quick bite.
This is the start to the common man's day in Toronto. As is it mine.
Just wantd to write about this...

The IPod Generation? Why the Obsession?

Having a degree in Information Technology and having taken courses in the sociological impact of technology on humans, i have started to pay close attention to the emerging trends in technology. The sales of one new "technology" based toy is the ipod. I call it a toy because it reminds me of a remote control i had when i was a kid which came with my children's boombox. The sleek exterior and the various colors that it is available in as well as the amount of memory that each one comes in make it such an 'in thing' these days. Not only the so-called tech savvy generation is motivated by the sellers to keep an ipod, the number of extensions and formats of files that it can play make it easier for everyone to save their important files in it. Also, there are courses being offered where the lectures are available in a format used only by the ipod. Whether it is the nano or the regular ipod it is catering to the needs of everyone. As once the laptop had replaced the desktop to emerge as the new way to communicate which provided you with portability. The same goes for the IPod and instead of having to carry a case for all the cds that you have, the ipod replaces them all to fit a maximum of 40000 songs. I look around myself on the subway everyday and i realize that people have become dependent on the music and the videos to keep themselves busy. The rest will come soon...

"In the Line of Fire" - Fact or Fantasy?

I have not been good at keeping up with the blogging for the past 6 months or so. However, i will try and update this more frequently now. It so happens that I got engaged and also got a new job which take up most, if not all, of my time.
Recently i read a book...a biography of sorts. The author incidently is the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Out of all the biographies that i have read in my life, i must say this was one of the worst ones written. The language is child-like. The sentences often times dont even make sense. It appears to have been dictated to someone sitting with a thesauras in their hands who kept on searching for the synonyms of the words that the President wanted to use. The book also tries to justify every wrong that the man has done. Everything that he let others do in his country.
Things that really bothered me about the book or the incidents that i believe to have been falsely represented or merely 'misrepresented' would be the operation in WANA, the defaming of AQ, the education system, the Mukhtaran Mai incident and the ignoring of the comments he made in the US about rape victims in Pakistan and the job market. Although i must admit that Pakistan under the regime of Pervez Musharraf has become liberal, albeit too liberal at times. Even though i have witnessed the lifestyle of the so called upper class society, yet even the people i have been brought up with cannot think of watching Pakistani television with their families.
The President was all praise for himself and the people around him. He kept on drilling the point that he was attacked by terrorists and suicide bombers. However, did he realize how many he has killed with the inflation and the prices for houses which have gone up manyfolds. I have been told in the past few years that the bubble is about to burst and that the prices will come down however i have not witnessed any such trend yet.
Now coming back to the style of writing that he has chosen. It has been written in the first person as almost all autobiographies are, i have read some which werent and which let the person form an opinion by themselves. This autobiography leaves no room for interpretation. It reads like a lecture which tries to encourage you to sing praises in the name of the President. It is like a fairytale which might be read as a magical tale, however, the truth remains that all is not that well in Pakistan. The nation has become divided on some very important matters of both foreign affairs as well as domestic affairs. The inflation has gone up and yet the wages of the average joe havent. The problem remains that the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep on trying to make ends meet. As for the middle class, it has been reduced to a few thousand families. It has almost been wiped out.
All in all i thought that the book read like a children's fantasy novel. Right now, i would differ with the President on quite a few matters. Inshallah i will be able to say otherwise the next time that proper elections that held in Pakistan and God only knows when that will happen.
Till then...all I can do is hope and pray for my country.

A Trip

Today when we were coming home from a town an hour away from our place, the distance seemed shorter coming back then it seemed going to that place. It seemed like the journey back passed in an instance. When I voiced my opinion to everyone sitting in our car, my aunt very wisely said: " Just like life it takes 9 months to come to the world... and an instance to go back,"

Uncertainity

Looking from the inside out
Thinking
Wondering if things will
Ever be the same again
The things that happened
Those which were beyond your power
Who was it that did everything?
Why had things happened the way they did?
Was it possible for you to undo any of it?

Thinking and knowing
Become the two polar opposites
One aligned with the other
Never meeting

You go through life
One day at a time
Is this how it was meant to be?
Where will everything lead?
Why is everything unfolding this way?
Give it thought
But only if you
Can accept the truth
If you can't
Let it be
Either
Or
End these thoughts

You wonder
Can life be so unfair?
Can you handle life's pains?
Can you handle the frustrations
That periodically are sent your way?
Why go the way when you know
You are going to lose
Everything that you built
In years
That you know everything that you saved
And you cherished
Will be taken away from you
One day
Why go the way
That the only light at the end of this tunnel is
That of
Uncertainities!

The Instability of A Person's mind

Some thing that i find quite fascinating remains to be the instability of a person's mind. I am not talking about some sort of mental imbalance, on the other hand i am actually talking about the instability of a sane mind. Emotions that God or Allah or which ever higher being you believe in have given to man we misuse. It seems to me that the insecurities of a person come out in an odd and bizarre manner if they are not controlled or channelled towards a higher or more significant goal. Emotions such as anger, love, sadness, pride, hatred, compassion can ruin and run a person's life if they are not kept in check. Once you lose control over the way your emotions come out, you essentially lose control over yourself. After that vital point it makes no difference whether you are of a sane mind or not. After this point, a person tends to do the most prosaic things, things that one might never in normal circumstances expect of that person.
This might explain fanaticism to some degreee. What fanaticism essentially is, is a feeling of devotion gone astray. A person who believes in a particular monotheistic religion worshipping a higher being feels that he has been given all the finer things in life because he was good in his life. Something goes wrong and people start to say that he is being punished for what ever reason, then the person feels compelled to prove to himself, those talking about him and his family but the most important being the higher power. Then the only way it seems to him that he can prove his loyalty is though extreme devotion and this is where people can take advantage of him because at this time the person is vulnerable. Although i have not taken into account the various other aspects that might have pushed the person towards fanaticism, yet for the purpose of this discussion i took a stance which was extreme and the case made painfully simple and obvious.
Another extreme emotion that honestly scares me is hatred. It might just start from a simple dislike or some prejudice that a person might hold due to what ever reason and that feeling goes so out of hand that the person commits a crime such as murder, rape or kidnapping. The fear that that instills in people's minds drives them to hold licenses to guns that keep the vicious circle going. Now for the person who commits the crimes, his life might have been messed up itself. It might be the case that the person had a disturbed childhood or that the person went through something similar. For instance: the belief that all brown people were slaves to the white folk. This is a belief that some rednecks in London, England might hold. The resentment set in the south east asians minds about this particular period of slavery leads to the fights and the murders between the gangs in London. Who will put an end to it? Neither parties are obviously proving the other one's prejudices false. Hence, in their minds theit beliefs even if they are incorrect will not falter and neither will they change.

How big is your world?

Have you ever contemplated about the meaning of life? about the people you meet? about the things you do? Nature and what it means? I have read this in a lot of books and articles and even generally people believe that the world is round and that every 7th person you know is connected to you in some way. I did not maybe grasp this concept before but now that i look at my so called world at the present moment i am beginning to believe that. That and the fact that things really do happen for a reason. Some times when you least expect it things go your way or in some cases they really get messed up for you and you begin to believe that they will never work out again. Sometimes you meet someone another person is mentioned and a couple of months or years later, sure enough you meet the person. You do not realize the significance of the meeting then but later it all comes back to you.

More coming soon...am too sleepy to type :)

More than Words or Mere Words?

Someone says something
You turn around and think
Why is it that the Words caught your attention?
You think to yourself
Was that about me?
Listening in on someone's conversation
Wondering
Have they been talking about you?
The things that people say
To your face
Behind your back
Do they bother you?
If they do
Why?
If they don't
Why not?
What they say about you
Is that true?
Are those
Facts
Rumors
Gossip
Perhaps?
A compliment here
A sarcastic remark there
A word of praise here
Another of contempt there
Why is it that they cannot make up their mind?
One person speaks
Others listen
Still More speak
Do they believe what they hear?
Why is it that Mere Words
Can
Haunt
Ruin
Damage
What one has built
Over years?
Why is it then that those Words
Seem to become More than Words
Why do people listen?
Those that spread these words
Will never know the
Pain
Agony
Torture
Of these Words
For those people
The question goes
Why, Those are Mere Words - Why do you take it as More than Words?
We just heard
And
Passed it on...
I pass on this message to you then
Think
Weigh
Contemplate
On the meaning of those words
You never know
When you might have to
Eat them
Or
Regret uttering them
Or
Suffer because of them
Wisen up!
Before it is too late