I will be a dream tomorrow,
today I should do what I do best.
Even if I lived a 100 lives,
every life lived will be laid to rest.
I have wandered the streets of time
Making acquanitence with drifters and achievers,
the choosers and the misguided,
loved ones who stood united.
I have looked for content souls
with no regrets of growing old,
loosing life or see their fortunes erode.
Overcoming fear of tomorrow
is what I never aimed for.
Living for the moment
is a feat I ignored.
Wondering and wandering only left me astray.
I have learnt to set my sight for the day.
For no doubt, I will be a dream tomorrow,
Outlived and forgotten in the race of yesterday.
I see it clearly now
I must live my dream today!
Friday, January 25, 2008
Friday, January 18, 2008
Paradigm shift
Myth: Our lives are all about the choices we make.
Reality: Our lives are driven by fate; fate can be altered with Divine intervention
Myth: Judge people, it helps in differtiating your friends from your enemies.
Reality: Judge people, and you live & die alone.
Myth: Forgive and forget.
Reality: Forgive but do not forget; you don't want to make the same mistake twice.
Reality: Our lives are driven by fate; fate can be altered with Divine intervention
Myth: Judge people, it helps in differtiating your friends from your enemies.
Reality: Judge people, and you live & die alone.
Myth: Forgive and forget.
Reality: Forgive but do not forget; you don't want to make the same mistake twice.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
If
(My all time favourite reminder)
By: Rudyard Kipling
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!
By: Rudyard Kipling
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Monday, January 7, 2008
Lonestar
I found a lost star today,
with bruised spirits and a broken heart.
It limped its way to a dark alley
sobbing softly, it sighed heavily.
Kneeling down it cried:
I use to twinkle up in the blue skies,
I lit the caravens' way,
lent food for thought to the Great,
and showed way to the lost.
I shined on as You made way.
I surrendered to Your will
and was a happy guide.
Now I look back and see
all that I gave to the noblest and wise
were pieces of me.
I crashed on to Earth one day,
when a broken heart needed mending.
What did I know that
this would be my good fate's ending.
End my agony, Dear Lord!
take away what is left of me.
I do not deserve a life of dismay,
when all I did was light everyone's way.
The sad star sat there for a while;
recalling all the good times.
Wisemen say time does not befriend anyone,
be it rich, poor, noble or evil.
A bruised spirit and a broken heart,
lead pure souls to a lonely path.
Hearing the lonely star pray
I walked up to it and tried to smile its worry away.
It smiled back at me momentarily.
I am just a victim of fate and belief
perhaps some stories are best meloncholoy.
I lifted the lonely voyager,
embraced it gently.
It did not resist
but mumbled feeling empty.
Look at the number of lives you touched, I said,
all the folks who reached home
because you said they must.
The star crossed Voyagers in a stormy night,
the Lovers' moment of truth,
a sight for sore eyes.
Do not let the dark clouds of despair
steal your gleam.
What would be the dark sky
without the starry night?
You are a star, born to shine.
For a broken heart can be mended,
a bruised spirit can be healed,
but a dead faith seldom ignited.
You have faith, dear star;
let it re-ignite your light.
To serve His people
is to serve the Divine.
Life's real battles are not with others
but with troubled times.
Forgive yourself.
You belong with the high,
a dark alley is no place for a shiny guide.
The skies look for you, my little friend.
They are empty without thy light.
Let the sky embrace you,
hold you, cherish you.
For when you die, hope dies with you.
Don't hurt your Skies
for the few that hurt you.
The star lit up on hearing of the sky.
The sky, the sky, it cried.
My home is the sky,
my playground, wishing well and my drive is the sky.
What would it be without me?
Perhaps as gray and sullen as me.
I will drown in its depth
I will seek comfort in its blue gaze.
How could I not see my silent ally?
It leapt towards the sky that instant
and got lost in the big blue magnitude.
Now, everynight I pray to see
my littke star shine on me.
I have my doubts on the fairest of friends,
acquaintences I have made,
reckless hearts that may led me astray.
Make way for the lonestar,
My gentle star is here to stay.
It will guide itself to new horizons,
and will shine the world's way.
(For Marshal: Jan 6, 2007)
with bruised spirits and a broken heart.
It limped its way to a dark alley
sobbing softly, it sighed heavily.
Kneeling down it cried:
I use to twinkle up in the blue skies,
I lit the caravens' way,
lent food for thought to the Great,
and showed way to the lost.
I shined on as You made way.
I surrendered to Your will
and was a happy guide.
Now I look back and see
all that I gave to the noblest and wise
were pieces of me.
I crashed on to Earth one day,
when a broken heart needed mending.
What did I know that
this would be my good fate's ending.
End my agony, Dear Lord!
take away what is left of me.
I do not deserve a life of dismay,
when all I did was light everyone's way.
The sad star sat there for a while;
recalling all the good times.
Wisemen say time does not befriend anyone,
be it rich, poor, noble or evil.
A bruised spirit and a broken heart,
lead pure souls to a lonely path.
Hearing the lonely star pray
I walked up to it and tried to smile its worry away.
It smiled back at me momentarily.
I am just a victim of fate and belief
perhaps some stories are best meloncholoy.
I lifted the lonely voyager,
embraced it gently.
It did not resist
but mumbled feeling empty.
Look at the number of lives you touched, I said,
all the folks who reached home
because you said they must.
The star crossed Voyagers in a stormy night,
the Lovers' moment of truth,
a sight for sore eyes.
Do not let the dark clouds of despair
steal your gleam.
What would be the dark sky
without the starry night?
You are a star, born to shine.
For a broken heart can be mended,
a bruised spirit can be healed,
but a dead faith seldom ignited.
You have faith, dear star;
let it re-ignite your light.
To serve His people
is to serve the Divine.
Life's real battles are not with others
but with troubled times.
Forgive yourself.
You belong with the high,
a dark alley is no place for a shiny guide.
The skies look for you, my little friend.
They are empty without thy light.
Let the sky embrace you,
hold you, cherish you.
For when you die, hope dies with you.
Don't hurt your Skies
for the few that hurt you.
The star lit up on hearing of the sky.
The sky, the sky, it cried.
My home is the sky,
my playground, wishing well and my drive is the sky.
What would it be without me?
Perhaps as gray and sullen as me.
I will drown in its depth
I will seek comfort in its blue gaze.
How could I not see my silent ally?
It leapt towards the sky that instant
and got lost in the big blue magnitude.
Now, everynight I pray to see
my littke star shine on me.
I have my doubts on the fairest of friends,
acquaintences I have made,
reckless hearts that may led me astray.
Make way for the lonestar,
My gentle star is here to stay.
It will guide itself to new horizons,
and will shine the world's way.
(For Marshal: Jan 6, 2007)
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Outlook 2008
Shabir, the mali (gardener) lives with his wife and three kids at the end of our street. He moved to Karachi from a small vilage in Punjab 8 years ago. Our neighbourhood is Shabir's workplace. Among other things he cleans all the cars, does grocerries and in short, is man-friday of our street.
His average monthly income stands at Rs. 4,000 per month. This is what he is able to make after working 7 days a week, dawn to dusk. He is content that his children go to a near by school, eat 2 meals a day and have shelter.
What Shabir, like many other Pakistanis, does not know is what he should expect for himself and his family in 2008. It's one of the many questions that a number of Pakistanis asked themselves on the new year's eve.
Riots have left thousands of people jobless for 2008 thanks to the factories, shops, etc that were set on fire. Images in the local newspaper showed children stealing grocery items from general stores. This is a clear indication that the poverty gap is widening. What greater evidence do the state economists need than the growing number of street children in Karachi, rotti (bread)prices raising up to Rs. 4.0, which was a mere Rs. 1.0 five years ago.
It was heart breaking for me to see Sydney enter 2008 with a lot of festivities. Fireworks, opera and cheerful crowds were the common images that flashed across my television screen last night as I watched the world welcome 2008. The sentiment was more or less the same across the developed continents. In Karachi, there was an hour long session of arial firing. You could sense that it was a display of who has the best guns than a gesture to welcome 2008!
Despite all of the above, I would still like to believe things will get better for good. The prevailing unrest across all 04 provinces is proof that we have actually started to think and voice our concerns towards growing social and political injustices. I cannot exactly pinpoint the end of it but an interesting start to 2008 is reported in the predictions made by Financial Times.
Here is to hoping that there are simple changes that contribute towards a stable and peaceful country. Where a common man feels safe when he leave for work everyday, where no one fears burning of godowns, shops, and factories as an outcome of political violence, where we are not forced to recite the Qalma (prayer) out of fear while driving up a bridge or flyover. It would be wishful thinking to ask for the perfect leaders. I've grown up to believe that such things are a fallacy atleast in case of Pakistan.
So when neighbours like "Ift" say that, 'Mein nay to apnay beta ko keh diya hai kay yahaan kuch nahee rukha aur tum forun Canada janay kee tyaree rukho...' ('translation: I've told my son there is nothing here [in this country] and that you start preparing to leave for Canada) I feel sorry for his limited vision and more sorry for the son who is being kicked out of his country by his own father.
No, there is nothing wrong in going to Canada. I say go travel the whole world. Learn as much as you can; with learning comes growth. But bring some learning home and share it with people around you, how else would we grow as a country?
2008 - may this be a year of peace and progress for Pakistan.
May our people be more tolerant to each other while driving on the roads.
May we learn to form a queue and wait for our turn at the bank counters.
May we rush to help each other in hours of trouble; and not stone, burn or break.
May we learn to honor the lives that have been lost in rescuing Pakistan.
May we learn to respect everyone's belief, opinion and right to disagree.
May we become less insecure of other nations and more confident of our own existence.
May our governments understand that this is the age of economic wars and not nuclear wars.
May we invest in our people and not on arms and ammunition.
May we create possibilities for Pakistan.
Happy New Year everyone!
His average monthly income stands at Rs. 4,000 per month. This is what he is able to make after working 7 days a week, dawn to dusk. He is content that his children go to a near by school, eat 2 meals a day and have shelter.
What Shabir, like many other Pakistanis, does not know is what he should expect for himself and his family in 2008. It's one of the many questions that a number of Pakistanis asked themselves on the new year's eve.
Riots have left thousands of people jobless for 2008 thanks to the factories, shops, etc that were set on fire. Images in the local newspaper showed children stealing grocery items from general stores. This is a clear indication that the poverty gap is widening. What greater evidence do the state economists need than the growing number of street children in Karachi, rotti (bread)prices raising up to Rs. 4.0, which was a mere Rs. 1.0 five years ago.
It was heart breaking for me to see Sydney enter 2008 with a lot of festivities. Fireworks, opera and cheerful crowds were the common images that flashed across my television screen last night as I watched the world welcome 2008. The sentiment was more or less the same across the developed continents. In Karachi, there was an hour long session of arial firing. You could sense that it was a display of who has the best guns than a gesture to welcome 2008!
Despite all of the above, I would still like to believe things will get better for good. The prevailing unrest across all 04 provinces is proof that we have actually started to think and voice our concerns towards growing social and political injustices. I cannot exactly pinpoint the end of it but an interesting start to 2008 is reported in the predictions made by Financial Times.
Here is to hoping that there are simple changes that contribute towards a stable and peaceful country. Where a common man feels safe when he leave for work everyday, where no one fears burning of godowns, shops, and factories as an outcome of political violence, where we are not forced to recite the Qalma (prayer) out of fear while driving up a bridge or flyover. It would be wishful thinking to ask for the perfect leaders. I've grown up to believe that such things are a fallacy atleast in case of Pakistan.
So when neighbours like "Ift" say that, 'Mein nay to apnay beta ko keh diya hai kay yahaan kuch nahee rukha aur tum forun Canada janay kee tyaree rukho...' ('translation: I've told my son there is nothing here [in this country] and that you start preparing to leave for Canada) I feel sorry for his limited vision and more sorry for the son who is being kicked out of his country by his own father.
No, there is nothing wrong in going to Canada. I say go travel the whole world. Learn as much as you can; with learning comes growth. But bring some learning home and share it with people around you, how else would we grow as a country?
2008 - may this be a year of peace and progress for Pakistan.
May our people be more tolerant to each other while driving on the roads.
May we learn to form a queue and wait for our turn at the bank counters.
May we rush to help each other in hours of trouble; and not stone, burn or break.
May we learn to honor the lives that have been lost in rescuing Pakistan.
May we learn to respect everyone's belief, opinion and right to disagree.
May we become less insecure of other nations and more confident of our own existence.
May our governments understand that this is the age of economic wars and not nuclear wars.
May we invest in our people and not on arms and ammunition.
May we create possibilities for Pakistan.
Happy New Year everyone!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)