22

Me: If I die, I would die content knowing that I have touched many lives.
Aati: That's a good feeling to have.
Me: Yeah.
Aati: But. Just for the record. That's a bad feeling to have at age 22!
Me: Hahaha!

The Contrast

X: The love stories that inspire me are the stories of people rising above their fears and insecurities, and taking the leap of faith to be with the person they love. And the stories i see around me are stories of shallow, intense crushes and the success of their love lies in convincing their parents to get them engaged to each other. What a contrast!

Best Individual Blogger

I am glad to announce that the results of Pakistan Blog Awards have been declared, and I have won the Best Individual Blogger award! :D

*yay!*

My thanks to everyone who voted for me, and thanks to the judges who felt that i deserved the award. But my most grateful thanks to the faithful readers of this blog who have appreciated and supported me over the years and have given me a reason to write.

And thank you, Aati. This blog would never have been what it is without you. *hugs*

Thank you! :)

Lost Finale

Lost has finally come to conclusion, after affecting millions of viewers and making fans all over the world; it is the end of an era. The finale was not perfect, but it was good enough to be satisfying, and i shall not be the one to complain. While there was some deficit in the intellectual aspect, emotionally i found it moving.

With the finale comes the inevitable debate: which of Lost's mysteries have and have not been solved? I shall not discuss it but i will refer you to two very good posts on the matter that i have come across as yet:

‘Lost’ Finale Explained: Answering the Unanswered Questions

Unanswered Questions Report Card

Moonies

Consider this. Imagine a religious cult 'Moonies', who believe that Moon is a sacred God, and that any attempt to draw, take a photograph of or land on the Moon is an act of extreme blasphemy and badly hurts the feelings of Moonies. Now, based on how Moonies feel, should it be banned to draw, take a photograph of or land on the moon? Suppose that NASA decides to go ahead and publishes a detailed catalogue of Moon's topography. Moonies go wild with anger and there are world-wide protests, and one of the NASA photographers is actually murdered. So one person in protest against this violence decides to start a movement on facebook "Draw a Moon Day". Would the Moonies be justified in protesting against it and asking for a ban on Facebook?

You tell me.

[From a comment i made on Kellogs.]

Insult

X: My very existence is an insult to you, because its a negation of everything you believe in; the only way you can tolerate people like me is if we keep our mouths shut and pretend that we are not who we are.

Freedom of Speech

Freedom of speech by hellwoman
on deviantART

A Sense of Determinism

A sense of free will gives meaning to a lot of things in our lives; its imparts a sense of responsibility, leading to pride at accomplishments and guilt at mistakes.

Imagine what your life would be like if that sense of freedom was taken away, and you could see that everything you have ever done was determined from the very beginning; that choice was an illusion; that all your decisions had already been made; that the haunting specters of your past and cherished moments of victory had nothing to do with you; that your life has been merely an orchestra of a complex symphony.

How would it be like to live life with a sense of determinism?

It is this thought experiment which makes me appreciate the humility attributed to saints and mystics.

On the Facebook Ban

Come on, people, grow up! Stop being such whining babies.

Aphoristic

Regarding my increasingly aphoristic style on the blog:

The heart finds comfort in brevity.

Suicide

There is no real convincing answer to the problem of suicide. "Why should I continue to live?" Almost every answer to this is a Coelho-style stupid cliche.

Perhaps the best way to tackle the suicidal is not to try and answer his question (there is no satisfactory answer to my mind), but to distract him so that he ceases to ask the question.

The thing which bothers me is, if i were to become suicidal, i can't imagine a single argument which could persuade me from not killing myself. Scary.

Return

Even when this is over, there is no peace to return to; the wasteland of a shattered heart.

Sensitivity

We are selective in our empathy, and we are selective in our sensitivity to pain.

I think it is of great significance, particularly in one matter: how much sensitive we are to our parents' dreams, desires, pains, problems determines to a considerable extent the direction our lives would take.

Our Intolerant Youth

My (first ever) column 'Our Intolerant Youth' which was published in The News on 8th May 2010.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=238000