Whataboutism and Paris attack.

People are crying over selective humanity by west and all that "whataboutism" is going on like crazy. I agree Western media has converged more on Paris attack and Beruit has been ignored in all the outrage. And I agree Beruit tragedy is equally heart-wrenching and should be condemned with equal intensity. It's wrong if anyone thinks human lives lost in Paris are superior. I stand up for Beruit as I stand up for Paris. 

But what bugs me is that Syria has been on war for last four years and ISIS has been breaking hell loose there, but Muslim facebook warriors didn't talk about it. They didn't give a shit about knowing Syria conflict. They didn't bother raising a voice for refugees and their troubles unless Humans of New York (a western blog) started a campaign and people commented and shared those pics with some oohs and ahhs. No one boycotted arabic countries for turning cold eyes on Syrian Muslims. And now today, when people are standing up for tragedy in Paris, they have suddenly waken up about Iraq, Syria and Palestine. Europe has been a part of biggest peace rally against Iraq war in 2003, making it to Guinness book of world record. How many demonstration have we seen here for Syria, Iraq, Palestine and even Pakistan? How much solidarity people show to war crimes in these Muslim countries, that are reported daily? Majority prefers to enjoy their lives but when comes a time for standing up with something happening in western world, all of sudden everyone wakes up and starts moaning about why there is no dp filter for Muslim countries. So, yes it's not Muslim ummah you care for, it's hatred of west that provoke you for this. It's just a way to shame those who care enough to stand for a carnage happening in a world which is culturally and religiously different from us. Even Muslims don't care about Muslims. They only feel insecure about west getting sympathy. This is utter hypocrisy.

Good Bye to Third Prof, 2015

Another year has almost ended. Almost, because vivas are yet to come but I have dealt with major part and I definitely had my fair share of misery. I feel third year seems benign but it has a weird power of knocking you down on your knees and make you cry in helplessness. Nothing was as easy as it seemed, or at least as I had anticipated it because of my own denial and optimism (not that I regret it). 

Pharmacology was like a stubborn baby, everyone had warned you about. Frustrating, tiring and rot with no sense of ethics. So, I hired a nanny Raymon and learned to make my way through it. It wasn't easy (definitely not easy)  but not impossible either. Turned out, I had raised the stubborn child well at the end. Thanks to the nanny of course. 

Pathology was like "other woman" you had underestimated the whole year but that bitch knew where to hit hard. It caught me off the guard and threw me at the edge of my breaking point where I almost lost my sanity. No matter what, I won't be able to muster up a shred of compassion for Patho now or ever. 

Forensic: A friend zoned admirer, desperate for attention. Getting along with a shred of effort but you were always too busy to bother. How could that be different for me? I turned to it for occasional breaks only when other two drained my whole energy and it still hugged me. But you know people, they give up on you some day and so did Forensic. It took revenge in its own way and I had no idea what was I doing while attempting mcqs. Still, it was easier than rest of two. 

Behavioural sciences: a person added in your Facebook whom you never notice unless he dies or pretend like it. And I understood House religiously when he said: Everyone dies. 

So, here ends this year. It was tough. Yes, it was like surviving a hurricane but nothing worth having comes easy. These days are still the most powerful days of the year that make us push our limits and redefine them. They give us a sense of achievement and control on ourselves. And they leave memories of their own kind. Saying good bye  to yet another period of annual misery which will be back again in no time. And Leaving it in hope that it won't hit back.

Masks.

I see people complaining about others wearing masks and pretending all the time but what they fail to realise is that it's the world itself which forces everyone to wear that mask. Honesty isn't a sweet pill to swallow and it goes hand in hand with acceptance. One can't exist without other. But in here, being yourself completely and putting out raw, beautiful self which you truly are, is like going out in a blazing sun at peak of July. It's a constant battle of restraining yourself from breaking down, and melting in the face of a force that wants to either tone you down into its own pattern or crush you altogether. It brings you to a point where you're mocked, bullied and antagonized by same people who claim not to want a masked face. So, pretending is a survival strategy, a desperate attempt to escape those hostile circumstances, and it's justifiable because there is nothing wrong with craving for acceptance. And If people want others to be honest, they themselves need big hearts too, open enough to accept that darkness hidden inside each of us. 

From Natural disasters to National disasters

Last week, ten years after 8th October, 2005, Pakistan and its neighboring countries faced yet another intense earthquake. It has shaken everyone to core and unfortunately death toll is increasing with passing time. Intense weather and insufficient communication system are giving hard time to authorities in managing relief activities. The scale of damage is huge in backward areas like KPK and Hunza due to geological reasons, poor infrastructure and scarce resources. It was a horrible day for South Asia, calling for much-needed attention to climate variations triggering such frequent catastrophic events, and precautionary measures to deal with them effectively. But majority doesn't seem to care about it and here is the reason why I'm forced to say this.

The minute quack hit, my Facebook home page was hijacked by "born again" Muslims, all of them asking for "tauba" and "hidayat". They were warning other people to wake up and turn towards Allah before it's too late. They were sharing thoughts on how we had brought this on ourselves by forgetting our Creator. Seminaries had already declared it as a warning from God to us, sinners. While I've no problem with a sense of spirituality instilled into people by a threat, I'm amazed on the set of priorities. Not even a single person around me had talked about disaster management or anything alike. None of them had tried to highlight a logical reason involved, in fact everyone rushed to make an "Azab" out of it. I couldn't help but wonder how easy it is for people to sit in their safe houses that are strong and modern enough to resist these destructive jolts, and blame the victim. Yes, blame the victim. It's like advocating that although sufferers were poor and short of resources, their sins were abundant unlike ours so they got what they deserved-their houses ruined and loved ones dead. Contrarily, we were relatively naive plus rich and wise enough to live in secure places and built strong houses, so we got another chance. And that's why we are putting it to right use by displaying immediate repentance for our sins. Now, what should I call it? Ignorance or vanity? Lack of empathy probably. Yes, empathy doesn't come hard here but only if you make a tiny effort to think beyond the narrative society feeds you. Unfortunately, we are not programmed to do that. One moment something happens, in next we get ready to romanticize it in the name of religion, overlooking the fact that it might be an insult to sufferings of those helpless victims.

Our society has this pattern of blaming either our sinful ways or HAARP and Jews, for every flood, earth quack or natural calamity. Even an unusual wave of heat is proclaimed to be an outcome of our collective social debauchery. It's nothing more than a prime example of guilt clogged minds and a desperate attempt to deny responsibility. But attitude like this hampers real efforts, crucial for building a society, armed enough to fight with unpredicted circumstances. Resultantly, most damage comes to the less-privileged people who are unfortunate enough to have insufficient resources and poorly constructed houses. So, people need to stop, just stop propagating such ideas.

My point is that use this tragedy to refresh yourself spiritually, if that is all you want, but don't let this overshadow the real issue. Because, if you think it is a divine vengeance, you won't bother checking your technical mistakes and working on them. If you think it is only a warning from the Creator, you will never ask your authorities for disaster management beforehand or a better infrastructure. You will accept your fate and stay where you are- suffering, witnessing misery, blaming the victim or nature and moving on with your life after making a prayer of forgiveness and gratitude for another chance in life. Do, if it pleases you, but then don't get upset when I tell you nothing will change. Floods will keep coming, earth will keep jolting and disasters will continue inflicting us unless we stop bringing our sins into every climate change and use our energies to figure out underlying causes and devise viable solutions to cope-up with such threats.