Tagheyyur.

It was so cold that they could hardly breathe. Its been an hour since the sun came out. Yet the clouds owned the sky. Their breaths were the only impression in otherwise invisible world. Tea mugs warmed fingers lightly. The excitement of being away from everybody else's prying ears was too much to be bothered from biting wind. Or the icy floor. Both were at peace on the rooftop. Enjoying the early hours of the day. Everything bathed in fog. They could hardly see the park right across the road. Even that could not persuade them to leave. The couple wanted to seize one more minute with each other before entering the craziness of their worlds. Each passing moment was precious, much earned and well spent on that rooftop. They were silent. There was no need of words as the fog engulfed them. Separating the two silhouettes from the outside world.  Her universe was breathing beside her. Warming her insides. What could be better than having him all to herself. No beeping phones to distract...

  How A female bear nurtures her cubs? They are born in hibernation. This duration is five months long; from November to April. There is no food stored beforehand. As its snow all around them, she can't go out and leave the infants alone. She breastfeeds them even though she hasn't eaten for days even months. Yet she nurtures them with all she can muster. We would question; how does she feed them then? God has designed her biologicalsystem in such a wonderful way that her body fat melts and turns into milk for the newborns. For five months she feeds them and stays in the cave with her babies. Spring comes. The snow melts into rivers. Mother bear comes out of the cave with her babies. They have to climb down the steep cliff. It is very tough for the li'l ones. Yet it is inherent in them to follow the footsteps of their mother. They step where mother left the mark. She keeps looking back to ensure they are coming behind her. The family climbs down successfully. The strea...

  I started getting a lot of notifications of related articles ever since I took content writing/Freelancing course. I used to open all of them and read what they have got to say. I got tired. There is so much advice on writing great blog posts on internet that one feels intimidated by the task. The simple writing becomes ominous because of the constant barge of Google's smart notifications on: How to start earning six figures; how this freelancer started getting more clients; etc.. It just wears you down. You are afraid of looking at the blank screen. Instead of that advice helping you to get started, it hinders you from writing at all. How to avoid that intimidation? I wanted to write without being burdened by constant guidelines on internet. I decided to shut off all the pings I was getting from Google and other sources and stared at blank screen. What I really wanted? I want to put my unique voice out there. The voice that will make the difference in the world. There are...

  Every step in toddler's life is a giant leap towards self reliance. The toddlers go through an array of emotions from excitement to fear to anxiety. It is quite natural to feel this way. On one hand self reliance is good and ensures their independence more. While On other hand the little angels are afraid to let go of your gentle arms. They want to stay a little longer but that cannot be the case. The transition should be made smooth for the innocent souls so they are happy about it and not anxious to get it done. My elder son is 5 years old and he can write himself. I was quite anxious that how my 4 year old, who still acts like a baby, would learn to write himself. The thought of teaching him made me tense. I was afraid that how I would achieve it. I feel this is a crucial moment in Talal's life. It's a big step towards self independence. He is afraid of writing himself as he is used to of holding my hand while tracing the patterns. A hack came to my mind to help my...

  David is driving down the road and he sees a red light going on the dashboard indicating long due engine service. He asks his car to take him to the nearest mechanic, and voila! It does.  To make it more interesting; the mechanic can use IoT to generate savings coupons; making new customers and hence, increasing his business. The car in this scenario is the Thing, in which a software is installed and is connected to the Internet. Yours truly, IoT.  According to Wikipedia , “The Internet of things (IoT) is a system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital machines provided with unique identifiers (UIDs) and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction.” It comprises four components. Hardware Data Software Connectivity The physical things around us serve as hardware. And they could be animals, humans, appliances, even doorbells. This hardware connected to the internet through chips then tran...

We have a saying in Urdu, " ایک چپ سو کو ہراتی ہے۔ " I had always been a person who believed to retort back in same way if someone criticize negatively. OK, and I have been kind of a person who never had to hear any criticism from anybody at all. In fact my khala used to say, "be a little tough or else people would take advantage of you." And that's what happened. I didn't know what was going on at first because I never imagined it would happen to me. But a lot of things happened. With bitter experiences I learned to stay quiet. I used to hate myself for being quiet and took it as my weakness. But then I read a hadith narrated by Hazrat Anas (razi Allahu Anhu) سب سے بڑی نیکی خاموش رہنا ہے۔. And since then I have made it my lethal weapon. We take silence for granted. We take God's delay as affirmation to our actions. We are so full of ourselves in our heads that we don't give a damn about anything. But God has His own ways of showing who is ...

It was a post on Facebook about bush fire in Australia and how to protect children from watching TV as its traumatic for children. A person commented "but you cn't shield them from the world and raise them ignorant." She didn't mean to make the kids watch news or talk to them purposefully about it. I agree with her. Ever since I have read about end of times, I have always wondered how would I prepare my kids about it. How much should I convey to them in what ways? Because that is something related to nurturing the right values from the very start. also the signs are beginning to show rapidly. Everythings is on our fingertips, our children's too. So they have to be educated about it so that they don't fall prey to these factors. Frankly, I was taken aback by the book and what it had to offer. It was well-written, researched yet radical in some way. May be for me. Because I had no prior knowledege. I was consumed byt this world. listening to songs on radio, E...

The basic premise of all leaders which were included in Pakistan movement through 1857 was “Unity”. From Sir Syed’s ‘dulhan’ to Iqbal’s ‘mein uska banda banunga jis ko khuda k bandon se pyar hoga’, to Jinnah’s ‘faith unity and discipline. Even Mary Parker Follette, in her world renowned book, ‘The New State’, states ‘there should be a will to will the common will.’ They and others always talked about unity and power of people instead of rule of few. When Iqbal commended Ataturk’s revolution of democracy he said that the parliament can act like a body to bring into action what people demand. And Turkey is pioneering a great system when Khilafat ended. Sir Agha Khan III said that the true leader is the one who listens to the inspirations and dreams of his people intently and realize them in physical form for them. We in our age need to go back to our roots and learn from them that how they became great leaders. How they achieved great things; by listening to the time...

He said I am confused about my direction. He left me questioning myself and my ideas. I asked him to specify but he changed the subject so I have to figure it out on my own. He is right to think that way. I don't judge his judgement. But I know that there's lack of understanding in this statement. It's okay. I will not explain myself because its of no use.  I have things on my mind but that is not enough. One has to have time and presence of mind to turn those ideas into actions. Yes I am always talking (to myself about doing this and that) but its all talking and he doesn't see any thing substantial so he is right in a way.  But who is going to change it. When am I going to have 'enough' time to have my ideas come true. Nobody tells me that.  What did I want to say? Why did I come here? I just wanted to let it out to keep me going I guess. It gets quite strenuous to keep your mouth shut for hours on end. I have been reading a lot these days. But I c...

I am usually rude, mean, angry and moody with the kids. I take out my frustrations on them fully aware that I shouldn't be doing it but carrying on anyway after holding it inside me longer than necessary. Lately I have been trying to be patient with the kids. I see this transformation in my three year old as well. With me, he is also trying to control himself. Even going a step ahead by offering compassion to me. He surprises me. With Winter around the corner, I insist on eating everything warm (read hot). "It's medicine when taken warmer." I tell them. And they both accept it grumping about. So my three old had his egg and I didn't, I didn't feel like eating it. He saw it and came to me; "You didn't eat it? Meine bhe khal lia, affan ne bhe kha lia. Ap thanda khaengi to tabyat kharab ho jaegi. Phir mein apko dawayi nahin dunga." And my heart burst with I don't know what not. Yes, I become cruel and tell them that if they wet their clothes or...

The second chapter of Aazadi book is about the first stage of active struggle of Muslims. This period is from 1886-1906 Syed's personality in that period towers over others. This stage is twenty year long and all of these years are brimming with Syed's efforts. His efforts are defined beautifully by Iqbal that his ideas were so huge that they needed several generations to gradually unfold and reveal their consequences. The society free of want and poverty was the only goal behind every effort of Syed and it is unfolding even now after more than a hundred years. He introduced the everlasting good which was in fact the soul of all human beings and which was going to be the centre of attention of our ancestors. All of their efforts revolve around her. This period gave us the manifestation of consensus also. Canada came into being through dialogue and. Nobody imagined that, especially Britishers, after more than 50 years another state would come into being. Sy...

This interview is divided into series for easy reading purpose. You can read parts I , II , III and IV as mentioned. During freedom movement, the Muslims sadly didn't have access to different forms of media as Indian Congress had. Congress even had voices in British Parliament which spoke on their behalf; ruling Muslims totally out of mainstream. As a result, common English person didn't know which minorities existed in sub-continent and what was their stance. In this backdrop, they were unaware of Muslims' struggles and how they were subjugated. And so they were in favor of United India. Also, it was (and also today) falsely believed that British wanted to create Pakistan. It is one of the greatest lies of history. Quaid-e-Azam made it a point in many of his speeches that "it was the common man who came first. You (educated people) came later" [for Pakistan Movement]. It is also discussed in detail in Mr. Khurram Ali Shafique's new book, Aazadi (u...

Aazadi book lays down the journey of freedom from slavery and foreign rule. This book breaks so many idols and brings out shocking facts, yes facts which were literally erased from our books, minds, hearts. It rightly claims that if only we accept what is presented in this book we will have our legacy again., and it is not a mere wish of the author but what our hailed ancestors struggled and lived for. Where do we come from? Why did we come out of India? How did it happen and many more likely questions are answered in this book. It is usually wrongly believed that there was mutual hate among Muslims, Hindus and Britishers and thats how Pakistan came into being. The author discusses this lie which is fed especially to young Muslim of Pakistan. The hate was not mutual. Neither it always existed. Hindus and Muslims lived peacefully in Muslim Empire. Muslim Emperors went out of their ways to keep the peace for Hindus and not make them feel they were ruled by foreigners....

  (Int erview continues) SELF(BN): And does that also apply to defense? JINNAH: Of course it applies to defense. Once again I will ask you a question. How is Afghanistan defended? Well? The answer is not very complicated. By the Afghans. Just that. We are a brave and united people who are prepared to work and, if neces- sary, fight. So how does the question of defence present any peculiar difficulties? In what way do we differ from other nations? From Iran, for example? Obviously, there will have to be a transition period. We are not asking the British to quit India overnight. The British have helped to make this gigantic muddle, and they must stay and help to clear it up. But before they can do that, they will have to do a lot of hard thinking. And that reminds me I have something I would like to show you. He excused himself and left the room. I lit a cigarette and waited. And suddenly I realized that something very remarkable was happening, or rather was ...

This is the third part of the interview series. You can read previous parts here and here . Beverly Nichols interviewed Quaid-e-Azam in 1943 and included it in his book "Verdict On India". He was quite taken with Quaid's personality. Look how he describes him [Jinnah] in the chapter when he reached at his place to meet him.  THE most important man in Asia is sixty-seven, tall, thin, and elegant, with a monocle on a grey silk cord, and a stiff white collar which he wears in the hottest weather. [...] I have called Mr. Jinnah 'the most important man in Asia That was to ensure that you kept him spotlit in your mind. Like all superlatives the description is open to argument, but it is not really so far from the truth. India is likely to be the world's greatest problem for some years to come, and Mr. Jinnah is in a position of unique strategic importance. He can sway the battle this way or that as he chooses.    JINNAH: [with a smile] What other question...