21st November, marks the death anniversary of Dr. Abdus Salam, Pakistan’s only Nobel laureate.

The next time I went to that mosque’s basement, I remember being very disappointed not to find the glass casket which held the body of the magical man.

As a child when I discovered what the Nobel Prize was- ‘the biggest Prize in the whole world’ I was puzzled by the paradox; why is it that this over-achiever was not in my Urdu book, alongside other national heroes? Why was it, that none of my friends had known about him? Why was he not a big deal?

But I was soon to learn. Pakistan had disowned him, in life and in death.
The government had denied him the honour of a state funeral. His epitaph was changed to cut the word ‘Muslim’ from ‘the First Muslim Noble Laureate’ first written. Only revealing the penetrating prejudices inflicting our country like a disease-blinding us of our sight and rationality; the same label ‘Muslim’ is hardly fought on, when it comes to World-class terrorists.

But he was a core Pakistani at heart. In 1974 when Ahmadis were declared non-Muslim, he left Pakistan with a heavy heart- his zeal towards Pakistan in no way subdued. Dr Salam did the pioneering work on the unification of weak nuclear and the electromagnetic forces, which earned him the Noble Prize in 1979. To receive the Nobel Prize- in a myriad of men in suits, he proudly donned the traditional sherwani, wearing a pagri with it. He set up an International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Italy and carved numerous opportunities for many Pakistani and third-world students. Some 500 Pakistani physicists and mathematicians were sent to UK and US universities on scholarship for higher studies, arranged by him.

He was one of the very few scientists who proved his religion to be in concordance and not conflict with science, as the basis of his research was derived from the Quran. In physics, he was mostly involved with symmetries and “that may come from my Islamic heritage; for that is the way we consider the universe created by God, with ideas of beauty and symmetry and harmony, with regularity and without chaos. The Koran places a lot of emphasis on natural law. Islam plays a large role in my view of science’ he said.

Dr Salam is one of the most honoured physicists; Being elected to practically every science academy of any standing all around the world. He was genius made from humble beginnings, adorning humility and upholding integrity. He is one of the few Pakistanis to be gasped in awe at, who stood next to the English Newton, the French Coulomb, and the Japanese Yukawa in standing and prestige.

In an interview published in New Scientist in 1976, Dr Robert Walgate concludes by saying of Dr Salam: he is one man without time, strung across two worlds and two problems. It is a loss to the world that he cannot have two lives.
It is only our colossal loss, not to celebrate him.

These streets like ruptured veins,
Paint them green and white again.
Tell the streams to change their course;
Your eyes have had enough.

Erase me, if you will
To draw you complete;
I will see me in you
Only then will I reconcile.

Trivial is the North Star if you
Sail it with the silver lining
Take this boat home, now.

For letting our otherwise sullen world be painted with green and white, crescent and star, smiles and unanimous cheers with complete strangers.
For becoming that ‘mutual friend’ in making more friends who cheered in harmony on every six and prayed when we needed runs.

For almost letting us forget that what we are going through, by wearing those Boom Boom shirts.

Most importantly, Cheers for us for embodying more than what they call the ‘sportsmen spirit’ For making our team our own and accepting and embracing whatever bad with the good with brimming support, and encouragement.

Indeed, that is the greatness of a nation.

Proud of Team Pakistan.
Proud of us.
Proud to be a Pakistani.

Murder is Murder. Period.

The same story repeated. Bhatti was killed with bullets in the 20′s- again. Everything else- from Security lapses to ‘Foreign hands’ to conspiracies made to distract from the Raymond Davis case were blamed, except the real cause; the monsters and the monstrous society-in-the-making.

Many people I personally know are told not to publicly denounce these atrocities in the name and in the fear of the Blasphemy Law. Even discussing these laws is blasphemy, Forget freedom of speech and expression, what happened to rational thinking?

Islam is not that small or vulnerable that it is endangered by so-called words or actions of illiterates likes Asia Bibi. It is not corrupt that it is made as an excuse for killing people. It is not a tyrant. It is not a dictator.

It is not the wrong. It is only being wronged.

Not all but a lot of our so-called religious clerics are misled and misleading others. Now is not that Blasphemy?
Why don’t they ever come in the news for saving a life? For standing up with the oppressed? For spreading messages of peace and prosperity to others?
Why are not they the true embodiment of Islam when they are suppose to be the flag-holders of Islam?

Speak up.
Cut the silence and stop this discolouring, distortion of this religion.

‘Our own police is beating us. We have all come out for a revolution. who takes out a demo in such hot weather?’ Mr Zohair Toru said and officially topped my list of favourite quotes- for now.

Here is the interview of Zohair Turo, a law student participating in a small demonstration in Islamabad condemning the release of Raymond Davis and Sadly, finding the sun a particular hindrance to his revolutionary spirits.

And by the way, I happened to see a similar Imran Khan’s supporters demonstration today, in Lahore. It seemed more of a bus service accommodating to Madrassah student.
What people do for power.. Imran Khan and Jamaat-e-Islami. tch tch tch.

‘If, God forbid, they do come back, we will leave’ Saira Bibi says.
The rest of the interview is here.

Her flogging brought attention of the government and media, and soon the Swat operation was launched.

I remember, just at that time, there was this new girl that came to my class – her name was Lubna. She had come to live with her brothers who recently came to Lahore, while her parents were in Swat- guarding their property. I still remember her, donned in a traditional Swati dress, wearing a shy smile at a school party. She stopped coming to school and as I got to know, her brother was killed by the Taliban when he went back to Swat at the peak of the operation to bring their parents to Lahore because they would not let them come.

Lubna is still in my Facebook friend-list.

And I just posted a hello on her wall – Something I wanted to do since a very long time!

“This is a warning from the warriors of Islam to all the world’s infidels, Crusaders, Jews and their operatives within the Muslim brotherhood,” it reads, “especially the head of Pakistan’s infidel system, [President Asif Ali] Zardari, his ministers, and all the institutions of this evil system.” This document from the Punjabi Taliban continues: “In your fight against Allah, you have become so bold that you act in favor of and support those who insult the Prophet. And you put a cursed Christian infidel Shahbaz Bhatti in charge of [the blasphemy laws review] committee. This is the fate of that cursed man. And now, with the grace of Allah, the warriors of Islam will pick you out one by one and send you to hell, God willing.”

News of his assassination was soon overshadowed by other very important issues; World Cup, Raymond Davis and you can keep on adding to the list.

Apathy with cold-blooded murder is never apathy or resilience. It is brutality and barbarity. It is a road being paved to self-destruction.

Ayesha Tammy Haq tweeted; The white stripe in our flag has been subsumed by green soon it will turn red with blood and then black like our hearts.

Rest in Peace Shabaz Bhatti. This is not a country for good men.

Determined, she made friends with the kind man who used to sweep my father’s cell and asked him to pass a note to her husband. My father later told me he swallowed the note, fearing for the sweeper’s life. He scribbled back a reassuring message to my mother: “I’m not made from a wood that burns easily.” That is the kind of man my father was. He could not be broken.’ – writes Shehrbano Taseer in this article.

After reading really really dumb and ridiculous comments and statuses, I wished I could laugh. I am not going to start on what, why he said. After all we don’t mind twisting what people say or maybe, we do not understand, or can not understand. All I know is this country lost something!

I am almost two months late in writing this, but better late than never.

Salman Taseer with his daughter, Shehrbano

Some friends decided to do a reunion with their college professor that they all adored(weird). All of them had entered their practical lives successfully, jobs, businesses, marriages. The professor ordered coffee for all of them while they talked at lengths about their lives; how someone was not satisfied with his/her job, how they wanted to excel, ways they could prepare themselves for a secure future.
The professor kept listening, and did not say a word. When asked by his former students, to give him some advice, He only said this; Drink your coffee, And stop worrying about how to get the best piece of crockery to drink the coffee in, just like you are now; Taking the present for granted because of your worrying over your future. Cherish what you have got, And enjoy the coffee while it is hot.

Not memories, not incidents, not people make me sad at the end of a year, but the mere fact that a year, a numerical figure, wont ever repeat itself, and will pass, has passed. This year, I have not been bitten by this weird nostalgia bug.Thank God for that. Though I will get slightly disappointed for a usual, ordinary beginning of a new year (Time Square New Year Countdown, Anyone? )

I am not penning my resolution down on a diary like I did, when I was a kid. Something I left doing only since last year, but I do hope that I will enjoy the coffee while it’s hot. Think in the present tense, and try to make the best out of things; After all fun is not in things, but in people, That explains how we survived a Malko concert, sometime back and still manage to make fun of him ,even now(Please don’t think I actually went to a Malko concert, he was just a startup singer for a concert)

Happy New Year

Till the cookies and candies kept coming in, It was not that exciting.On asking, they would tell you the Hayatabad markets sell American goods, that are smuggled either by looting NATO containers, or the other theory of soldiers selling these consumer goods to Afghan markets in return for drugs. But when a tightly and roughly packed ‘Apple Dessert’ was put infront of me (which I mistook for a wall clock somehow, due to its cardboard packing-maybe) I was very much intrigued.

Hayatabad lies just on the border of Peshawar, and on the other side to it is the ‘Ilaka-e-ghair’.
‘ With the peak of the Soviet-Afghan war in the 1980′s, smuggling was given a great boost and the elements connected with the Mujahideen groups were generating huge amounts of money to be invested in this trade. Suddenly, smuggling became an open secret in Pakistan. Bara traders left tribal areas to move into the Hayatabad area of Peshawar. Here, the largest smuggling bazaar of the country was established with over 2,000 shops and business volume approaching two billion dollars a year.’

With the War of Terror in Afghanistan, there came an addition to the imported diapers, cosmetics already smuggled through various channels. Now sunglassess, watches, firearms, edibles especially made and designed for the US soldiers became available in the bazaars of Hayatabad at jaw-dropping rates. Very low rates also being a major feature of these markets ( To put a morally upright word; Free trade)

The Apple Dessert in my Frigde brought some queer thoughts with it. One; It testified from it’s war-like packing that it was smuuggled indeed. Two; that too, from a war-torn territory. Three; the war-torn territory just lies next door. Thus, it was a reminder less and a token more of our relative normalcy and the billigerency in the neighourhood, across the border.

Four; Even soldiers get dessert! How considerate of the US Military. No, seriously. This puts me wondering do our soldiers get any desserts? (Gajar ka halwa, Anyone?)
Not mocking, neither comparing. Just saying- A futile attempts to crack a joke. I should probably stop writing now.