Character

Like any other Pakistani, I feel frustrated with the way this country is being managed. Because of having access to media, I can compare my country with other countries and make a contrast in terms of Political, Social and Economic systems. One thing discussed less is our own national character i.e. How do the common people behave? I feel that the mess in this country is not just because of incompetent and dishonest politicians but because of Incompetent and dishonest people(Politicians are not the cause rather are the effect of the way "V" behave). I see shortage of

Honesty
Tolerance
Discipline
Faith
Entrepreneurship
Creativity and innovation


As these elements build and define national character, we need to take following measures.

Education: Shift focus from Post graduate programs to Skill development programs .Improve pay and incentives for Technicians as compared to Engineers/Doctors as they are needed in larger numbers. This would improve employment and workers would not feel frustrated being over qualified .Better earning reduces justification for dishonesty and friction between socioeconomic groups
For higher education, financial incentives should be given to people studying BIO TECH,MATH,PHYSICS,ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE,GENETIC ENGINEERING and some sort of disincentive should be used for people studying finance so that we produce more researchers and scientists rather than experts of Casino economies who currently have better job opportunities but who contribute a little to well being of society.

LAW Enforcement: Divide police into three separate divisions
Monitoring and Reporting
Investigation
Operations

These separate departments break concentration of power at operational level police. These divisions can coordinate through coordinators and IT setup .Police is first line of defense for civilians. Feeling secure can reduce level of frustration which is reflected on roads and at public places.

Entrepreneurship: Bulk of management training institutions are offering MBA degree after simple graduation. It should be made compulsory to have a technical degree like in Furniture making or Food processing before registering for MBA programs. Such people are more likely to use Management degrees for Business in their respective field. Short courses of Business management can be introduced in Urdu and Punjabi to encourage women/undergrads/People with basic education for self-employment.More effective Micro Finance and financial assistance needs to be offered to small scale/young enterprises.

Religion: As a nation we spend a lot of time showing/expressing concerns regarding how wrong others are rather focusing on are we right? Any degree for religious qualification should not be without comparative study with at least one sect and religion and along with compulsory courses in IT and English. This way religious leaders would stay in touch with what is happening around and would also have a realistic view of modern world. There should be reasonable pay for them so that they don’t try to over emphasize on few incidents/events and elements to play with public sentiment rather give a broader and realistic picture of religion.

Sports:"V" need to expand focus from few sports and treat Sports as an Industry.This would help us become more competitive.An average citizen while seeing its national team winning against teams of developed world would start feeling confident during global interaction.

At the end anyone can ask that who would bring these changes?

A simpler answer can be 'The Government' so participate in electoral process.
A tougher choice can be to take initiative at individual level so that eventually many honest and tough individuals encourage others to be like them. I think great nations rise by following footsteps of great and guiding individuals . “V” the Pakistanis need to create such individuals at home!

Peeling the pimples (and Stitching the gaps!)

It took me about 30 seconds to sync into the news of Junaid Jamshed’s death when my mother woke and told me. After about two hours I had seen half an hour coverage of the plane crash, I felt the urge to share and comment on the News and that was when I discovered split emotions in General public about Junaid’s Death.

Majority of the people were discussing his transition from being a Pop Icon to a prominent Preacher but some people were discussing circumstances of his death as a sign of God’s reaction towards his comments about B.B Ayesha(In a preaching session he had discussed holy prophet’s wife B.B Ayesha ‘s conduct as of a typical possessive wife). Since last couple of months I have come to know about discussions against Maulana Tariq Jameel , Professor Ahmed Javed,Javed Ahmed Ghamidi ,Professor Rafiq Akhter. Reason for this post is to develop understanding of the impact when religious sentiments based dislike becomes hatred and this hatred is promoted and shared with other people.

Why "V" should not discuss?

1: Most of us do not spend time in studying religion so our knowledge is limited to what we have heard from someone(that someone’s true knowledge,bias and intentions are rarely known) so logically “V” cant be sure if our sentiments are due to facts or fiction.

2: Our discussions about religion are generally related to those topics which do not restrict us to perform our routine duties as Muslims like should there be Milads/Religious concerts ? so such discussions are least likely to improve our religious discipline.

3:Such discussions are based upon proving how wrong the others are rather than why we are right so very soon in discussion ,Arguments are replaced by scolding between people who actually are very forgiving for themselves when it comes to avoiding strict religious discipline and they just pick a discussion for self assurance of being right without regularly and honestly searching for truth.

4:When “V” follow religious leaders on the basis of sect rather than logic and conduct than “V” tend to become over forgiving for our own leaders (Stitching the gaps)and unduly critical towards other sects(peeling the pimples)without realizing that in spite of difference of opinion about post Prophet incidents and events,our binding element is Allah’s Sovereignty which should make us a lot more united than how much “V” actually are.

5:When “V” generously make it known that “V”can become loud and violent at disagreements than “v” actually reduce our ability to inspire non-muslims rather “v” push them away from betterment.

6: Media/Political parties/Religious leaders exploit disagreements and this is what they all feed on. ”V” get distracted and lose track while ignoring the basic and simpler things which can get us closer to God/Allah like being regular with prayers,Doing our jobs honestly for Halal/Lawful earning, Restricting ourselves to Permissible sexual relations, Helping poor etc.

Common topics of our religious debates and why they are not important for discussion:

• Who should have been the next leader after holy prophet’s death?(rather than practically doing anything for bringing honest leadership now)
• Was Karballah incident religious or political?(in any case holy prophet’s family chose to sacrifice lives but “V” are not even willing to sacrifice foreign entertainment,brands and culture)
• Is acknowledgement of Holy prophet’s family’s status part of religion?(How would it effect our lives in year 2017 and later years?)
• Do “V” need to use a reference while praying to God?(in both cases eventually its God "V" ask from so it actually does not question our faith)
• Can a prophet make normal humans like mistakes like forgetting, having feelings etc ?("V" are answerable and accountable for our own conduct because “V” cant deny having a conscious in either case)
• Is image of a shoe which existed 1400 years ago sacred?(There are many things with more obvious significance like reading translation of Holy Quran and its explanation in mother language so why to spend time on shoe related discussion?)

Being Mulims "v" should be concerned about current challenges and above mentioned discussions dilute our focus from current and real issues:

• “V” still worship idle Gods but their shapes and forms have changed from being of Stones and Clay to being wealthy and Powerful (Just like old times “V” find other sources than God/Allah for getting things done easily.
• Birth of a girl is not welcomed(similar excuse of financial burden)
• Interest based economy exists
• Might is right
Heros from different fields are created,discussed,praised and idealized to make us believe that Personal Glory is worth all of our mind,heart and body efforts.

Due to these real and collective issues it becomes painful when "V"make differences among Muslim sects more known and spread hate about other sects.I feel differences based on practices( for common and shared Islamic beliefs )Can be and should be ignored.

God..Faith....Survivors!

With the passage of time I have realized that Islam for us the Muslims has two functional areas or sections :

A: Worshiping
B: Conduct

Generally 'V' the Muslims are more concerned about those activities which connect a person directly with God like offering prayers or reciting the holy Quran but 'V' tend to show lesser concern about those acts which connect a Muslim with other Muslims,Non Muslims and other living creatures like animals etc.

At this age when I am almost 38,I have started feeling that "IF" not more than at least equal(to have a connect with God) in importance is our conduct with other people and living beings. In fact 'V'can never really feel God's presence without feeling love for its creations.
However once God's presence is felt then sooner or later Faith upon him is tested.

When you start believing that:

Giving money to poor people or financially helping them actually increases your own wealth than suddenly you start experiencing financial setbacks or losses.

God has picked the right person for you as a life partner ,you start feeling tempted for other options.

Daughters blessed to you are as lovely as a son could have been and you get another daughter.

You have developed enough patience for your very old parents but they become even more childlike.

Offering prayers is a compulsion but you start getting busier.



During these and similar tests of Faith 'V'need to remember these words by Stephan king "If the Devil is real than God must be real too (If living is hell than Heaven after living must be real too!


God could guide us through a Book (Quran)only but he also used a person(Sunnah) to show that how living in tougher circumstances and protecting Faith can become a source for progression towards purity and God.

Selfie Kids and Pakistan's future?

As a teacher and member of urban society I interact with parents. I find parents who are over stretching to buy luxury and private education for their kids. I meet fathers (who discuss possible shape of job market after ten years for kids who are currently in eighth grade) and mothers (who want their daughters to be prominent at both Mehndi and Millad and if possible than also on result day!).For their kids good jobs or foreign immigration and their timely marriages into families which can afford comfort is all these parents seem to care for. Without exception none of these parents seems to be encouraging kids for having a purpose in life and to pursuit creativity, imagination and inner happiness.



I teach students (At grammar Schools)who are teenagers. Boys and Girls who have just started feeling young, believing that they are very Good looking, Strong and Intelligent and they look beautiful with typical selfie expression i.e. sidewards face , slightly dropped jaw and eyes displaying aggression and self-belief for personal looks. These kids are full of confidence. They are friendly but do not show usual expressions and signs of showing respect to elders. If you cant fetch references to R&B music, new movies, popular restaurants, cars, mobiles ,soccer , wealth or anything associated with financial prosperity in discussions than it becomes difficult to become friendly with them. Unlike their elders (thanks to unfiltered and unchecked access to adult content)they are very open to discussions and activities which are traditionally not done publicly. These Selfie kids are very open to interact with opposite gender and this interaction is not bound to timings or frequency due to Social media, Mobile phones and prepaid emotions! Due to being too much occupied with electronic gadgets and/or socialization they find little time for Books and Sports thus do not fulfill traditional criteria’s of balanced personality.They love so much being in the present that past (like national history related events before and after 1947,1965,1971 etc)and future(possible water crises and outcome of separatists movement in Baluchistan etc)do not seem to be their concern.



The reason why I am discussing these parents and kids is that they reflect that part of Urban society which initiates trends and develops cultures to be followed by rest of the population. It is very significant that these people (who are influenced by western society but do not suffer from inferiority complex due to better education and exposure)understand that no society has ever progressed without remembering its own history and without following any set of values(Moral ,Nationalist or religious).Being influential on rest of population demands responsibility. ”V” will have to understand that now Europe and America are likely to reduce number of immigrants from Pakistan due to terrorism and due to cheaper skilled workforce availability from Bangladesh , India and from some of the other Asian countries. If “V” want our kids to have a safer and better society to live in than “V” will have to spend more time with them sharing what mistakes their elders made when national history was in the making and what mistakes can be avoided now when history is still in the making!I feel "V" will have to encourage our kids to develop interest in Research(beyond Google!),Sports ,Art and Literature."V" will have to show them pleasures beyond food,Clothing and electronic gadgets.

Note:I have absolutely no idea of who this guy is in tittle pic .I just found this image appropriate for this post while searching from Internet so it can be removed if it is private.