With All Due Respect To Bangladesh.

How ironic are we, Pakistanis? At one moment, half of my news feed was filled with pathetic words for the batsmen & prayers for us to win the tournament and when we won the tournament defying all odds, we ended up praising Bangladesh and saying that they truly deserved the cup. Yeah and Pakistan was there just for fun? I respect Bangladesh’s effort but we won despite the battle put up and remained the ONLY unbeaten team by Bangladesh throughout the tournament. Call it a fluke victory or whatever, at the end of it all, we are the Champions! Respect Team Pakistan’s efforts. (Y)

Facebook, Facebook & Facebook. - You too?

As the day falls in or a new day unveils, our minds are set to just one thing, the new phenomena, social networking sites. Whether you have joined Facebook or Twitter or it’s just YouTube that keeps you hooked all day, they all are being an obstacle for us to concentrate and interact with reality.

I, as being a Facebook addict, confess that it isn’t just being an obstacle for me to go on with my life but has turned into my lifestyle. Be it day or night, Facebook has to be checked no matter what the circumstances are. Until and unless I am not occupied with an activity which has my full interest in it, I am bound to have an urge to check Facebook. Addiction to anything is really disastrous, that’s what I have concluded.

Why being a Facebook addict is like falling from a seven-story building:

1.       You have to update a status whenever something happens. YOU HAVE TO.

Whether there is an earthquake or a fire, you have to update a status; after all that’s what social networking sites are for, to inform the world about your whereabouts. On a joyous occasion, whether personal or not, you have to tell the world that you acknowledge it. When you are wrapped around in a gloomy atmosphere, you have to update a status telling the world your sentiments despite knowing the fact that no-one will care.

2.       After a party and not a picture uploaded? What type of a user are you!

Whether it’s your wedding or someone’s in your family, a picture to show the world is necessary as a display picture or the latest trend ‘wall photos’, after all you need those numerous likes and flattering comments. Facebook is one place where you get a variety of compliments despite the fact whether you talk to that person on regular basis or not.

3.       Facebook overpowers your chores.

‘Checking Facebook for a second won’t harm anyone, right?’ And that’s where everything goes wrong. The second turns into minutes and minutes into hours, even before you know it! By then, who even remember what one had to do; it’s just Facebook and her photo and her wall post and her friends.

4.       No sleep, Facebook FTW.

In the olden times, I mean before Facebook was there to captivate us, we’d somehow just manage to sleep as soon as we land in our bed, but as soon as Facebook and other social networking sites came into existence, our bed time slowly started to change and gradually became the time when we get bored of Facebook which is always but never manage to shut it down.

5.       Last but not least, STALKING.

How can a day go on without peeking into someone else’s profile and getting the latest gossips? That’s what Facebook is all about, keeping a check on the real person because somehow everyone takes off their masks on Facebook and show their true colours. 

Life goes on but without Facebook, it certainly comes to a standstill.  

That’s what we do on Facebook, tell everything about us from A-Z.

Humsafar - The Benchmark.

There was a time when on TV ‘star plus dramas’ would be a thing to sacrifice for. The 12 pound make-up accompanied by saari that should be worn on a wedding and the tons of jewelry was the main character’s charismatic appeal to capture the audiences.  The daily soaps would be more or less the same, the wicked mother-in-law, torturing the daughter-in-law or the vice versa.

Proudly, I can say that there ‘was’ a time when this all was happening but now we have our very own flourished drama industry that not only highlights the important issues of the society but also gives solutions and messages in a more realistic way than the star plus drama.

The recent viral that just ended and gave a new bench mark to the drama industry in Pakistan, Humsafar, outclassed all those absurd Indian dramas. Though, the story was very typical, a wicked mother-in-law, a poor daughter-in-law and a prince charming hero, but the show which was close to reality had touched the hearts of many.

It might be a relief for the haters of the show for it to end but, hey, at the end of the day at least half of our population is not hooked up onto the star plus dramas anymore.

A villain, a prince charming and the innocent girl who he falls in love with was enough to get the whole Pakistan hooked up on TV at 8pm, every Saturday.

The Silly Me!

Humans are so ironic or to be specific, I am ironic. When the night falls in, late night, my sleep vanishes. It’s like I am setting to conquer the world, which during the day seems to be a dream. At 10 pm, when my eyes were closing and head was heavy, I decided that after an hour I’ll depart to my bed and I did so, but the time spent on my bed with my eyes closed and a very dedicated try to sleep merely lasted for 20 minutes. I thought to myself, why spend time in ‘trying’ to sleep when I can put these precious hours into something more productive, like studying.

The thought of study does occur to me during every second of the day but I am never successful to put this thought into action. Luckily, at night when I am dying to sleep as I have school the next day, my instincts tell me to put these thoughts into action. Perhaps, the fear of the exam sessions, which start in a month, have made me like this.

Anyhow, I did a good thing by studying one and a half hour which would be otherwise spent in ‘trying’ to sleep and may be ‘actually sleeping’. It’s nearly 1:30 am now and the silly me, who-is-trying-to-get-herself-to-study-seriously-but-only-does-at-odd-times, is planning to sleep, hopefully without wasting time by ‘trying’ to sleep. 5 hours of sleep awaits me. Goodbye world, hello sleep!

Fight Expectations!

It all started with an unexpected victory that I started to perceive life in a different way. As always, I was pessimistic about winning the race though many people believed in me. I knew that I stand no chance to win the 100m race against the seniors. I hadn’t won it with my own class mates on the sports day ever before so how could I even think about victory now? I had locked up all my expectations and thrown away the key though I had set my mind to give my best. As I placed my hands on the starting line, I prayed to Allah because even though I knew that I wouldn’t be victorious, praying to Allah won’t be harmful either! My biggest fear of running a race is to get up on the blow of the whistle and run. I’m always seconds late and in 100m you cannot even afford to be a split second late.

Anyhow, the whistle blew and I ran that instant, all because of the prayers! I ran, ran for my life, well not exactly, I just ran the way I run. It all ended in seconds and while running I could not see anyone around my side. Then and there on the finish line, I was handed the card with number ‘2’. My excitement had no levels. I had won the race which I never thought I would. I jumped and screamed, hugged and smiled. Everything seemed so surprising. For me this victory was a miracle.

Despite of my pessimism, I had confidence in me, i knew it wasn’t impossible. I believe that as you crush down your expectations, you work harder. You know you will be only achieving for what you destroyed your comfort because at the end of the day, you will only want to sacrifice your comfort for the things you know you can attain. Self confidence is essential but one should know the thin line between self confidence and over-confidence. These two can make you conquer the world or destroy the little world you might have had. In the end, it all up to Allah too and for sure, He knows the best so remember Him always through each ups and downs in life.

Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down to the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power it takes to win when the match is even. –  Muhammad Ali