Have you noticed (well I have noticed) that our people once they see a unique shop being made, then in the space of a few months you will see many of the same shops opening as well in the same area or even road. It makes me think that our people lack creativity.
We often hear people telling us that so and so is doing well in life. Then we wonder how are they doing well in life, maybe if i copy what he does the same will happen for me. But why not think to yourself what qualities do i have. If i do not have certain qualities for a job, how can i make myself gain such qualities. There is this belief that certain people have a naturally gifted ability, but imagine a person with a gifted ability not striving to improve or take advantage of that ability. He will not be at any advantage over the average person.
We see certain athletes who are said to possess natural ability in running. Maybe their physique helps them in achieving the best status amongst runners, but have we ever seen how hard they train? The amount of effort require to achieve the highest position is extremely huge. So what we should learn is that through struggling and through failing one can achieve many things. Nobody has it the easy way all the time and it is the failures which help shape our future more than the success.
So we should always think of ourselves to be capable and we should be creative enough to be able to think outside of the box. I love photography, i see people take many photos and i wish i could take such photos. But i have a simple camera with me and not those expensive SLR cameras which many photography enthusiasts have. Does it mean i can try to take photos and think i am able to be a good photographer? Photos capture beauty and beauty is in the eye of the beholder. One person may view something as beautiful but somebody else may not agree. But you are the one who is trying to show others this is me. You can view my pictures and understand me as a person, i have not tried to be somebody i am not.
No doubt originality does not mean we cant learn from others. But we do not have to copy eachother. I may see a muscular man and i would want to copy him. When i see that he spends hours in the gym, lifting heavy weights and his diet is protein shakes and so on. I do not have to copy him in how he gained such a body. But he can be an inspiration and according to the way i live i can achieve the same thing. It reminds me of the rocky film where he is against a Russian boxer who is training with expensive machinery, precise electronic data and far superior opponent. But he goes to some hut in a really cold place full of snow and improvises by cutting down trees and using simple ways to get fit. So we need to be able to think for ourselves and not let others think for us.
Tuesday 27 July 2010
Sunday 25 July 2010
Be positive?
I know many times i write things and it may be seen to be a bit negative, but i do not consider myself to be a negative person. If we see something wrong around us it is our duty to try to correct it in the best manner possible. I remember a quote which goes something like...
'it is better to have an enemy who points out your faults rather than a friend who praises you all the time'
I always quote this to people because it does make a lot of sense. Imagine your best friend always saying you look good today, you are really intelligent, you have a good sense of humour and all these praises. No doubt it does help you gain confidence when you have a friend who appreciates your qualities and makes it known to you. That is fine but what about showing you your flaws? It is really important that the way in which you tell somebody that you need to improve yourself in such and such a way, matters a lot. Me myself am really open to criticism when I realise the person pointing it out to me is doing so because he cares and not because he wants to put me down or make a joke out of it.
Positive thinking is one where you do not look at the bad things, but rather you look at the good aspects. So sometimes it can be positive thinking when you want that your friend notices he is going down a wrong path and you correct his way so that he ends up being successful. The thought of that leads to a positive outcome, although the process leading to it might seem a bit negative.
With too much praise a person becomes forgetful of his imperfections. So there needs to be a balance between praising somebody to help him be more confident and pointing out a persons faults so that he may become a better person.
'it is better to have an enemy who points out your faults rather than a friend who praises you all the time'
I always quote this to people because it does make a lot of sense. Imagine your best friend always saying you look good today, you are really intelligent, you have a good sense of humour and all these praises. No doubt it does help you gain confidence when you have a friend who appreciates your qualities and makes it known to you. That is fine but what about showing you your flaws? It is really important that the way in which you tell somebody that you need to improve yourself in such and such a way, matters a lot. Me myself am really open to criticism when I realise the person pointing it out to me is doing so because he cares and not because he wants to put me down or make a joke out of it.
Positive thinking is one where you do not look at the bad things, but rather you look at the good aspects. So sometimes it can be positive thinking when you want that your friend notices he is going down a wrong path and you correct his way so that he ends up being successful. The thought of that leads to a positive outcome, although the process leading to it might seem a bit negative.
With too much praise a person becomes forgetful of his imperfections. So there needs to be a balance between praising somebody to help him be more confident and pointing out a persons faults so that he may become a better person.
Friday 16 July 2010
Roots of most evils contd...
Like I was saying before about blaming others. I didn't notice this aspect of life when I was living in the west, except from my little brother who complains all the time and blames everybody for everything. But like that's what you expect from all teenagers, they never take responsibility. But this disease of blaming others I have seen as the root of many problems in Peshawar (the east).
If an argument occurs between two people, one person says I am right and the other person says I am right. Then who is wrong? Can two people be right, the funny thing is that sometimes yes that can happen. Human beings are not all the same, we are very different. If a husband says to his wife there is too much salt in this dish, but she says no it is fine. The argument will go on and on both trying to prove their point. But both are right because according to the taste of the husband the salt is less, but according to the taste of the wife the salt is fine....This is a very simple example of what im trying to say, but you can get an idea...
We have to live with the fact that we cannot always make people believe the way we do or act the way we do. We cannot impose things but we can set principals and this just brings a person back to the Quran. What a beautiful book it is and how it is neglected and not read. I will also blame myself because I haven't read it from a long time. If the Quran was about imposing a belief, it would consist of bullet points or something like the ten comandments. Follow this and that is it....
But no!! The Quran is a huge book, describing many things and explaining things. It asks for the mind to think, it asks the human to read, it asks the human to question and investigate. Why are we different from animals because of this brain we have. It is unique and yet some may use this brain to earn a degree or become a Doctor or an engineer or watever but in reality they are brainless. Because the thought process is really complex, it involves emotions and deep centres of the brain. Whereas memorisation in comparison is not. When a person memorises the Quran that is a big achievement but if you are not able to grasp the meaning of the Quran then you cannot use that memorisation to your advantage. A person who understands the meaning of something he is then able to act upon it. I have to quickly google some saying about this i think it was by Imam Ghazali. I found it...
"Knowledge without action is insanity, and action without knowledge is vanity..."
Now why have I mentioned all these things, it goes back to the root of problems. When you live in a society where few question what they do and where creativity is looked down upon then you end up with people who are vain. At the same time when you see the knowledgeable people not acting right, then you have a society full of insane people. If a normal person were to live amongst such people they will keep on saying these people are crazy...What I saw/experienced in Peshawar just destroyed me completely in the beginning and I became so depressed. I had painted a very beautiful picture in my mind of how my people were back home based upon reading up on their history, based upon going on holiday over there, based upon external looks and so on.
You see simple people, less wealthy living, bearded men and women covered and mosques are full. From the outside it looks like the retreat for a person fed up of the busy materialistic western life. You hear the adhan from the mosques. This is a culture and not a religion (im using thing idea for those who just follow without knowing why). Many people use culture and religion in the same context, both you can say is a belief. But to me culture is something which does not involve the heart or mind whereas religion involves the heart and mind.
To wear shalwar kamis because everybody wears it doesn't mean anything. For a woman to wear a hijab because that's what the society requires them to do, doesn't mean much. For a person to pray just for the sake of praying means something, but not as much as the person who prays due to devotion. A person who lights up his house and lights fireworks on the Prophet (saw) to me doesn't mean much compared to the one who follows his teaching. This list can go on and on. That is why in the west when a man goes to the mosque instead of going to the nightclub down the street or the pub down the street means a lot. A person who fasts while everybody around him is enjoying eating means a lot. This is what true faith is about. When the going gets tough you stick to your beliefs. When some shopkeepers are worried about the inflation they start blaming the leaders being corrupt and think well I will be corrupt as well. That is the easy way out for them, which reminds me the shopkeepers increase the price of goods during Ramadan can you believe that.
You know what the next experience im gonna write just explains well what my beliefs were before and how simple i was.
I was driving on a main road in Peshawar and there is a junction coming up ahead. But its not like the west where you have traffic lights. The cars should wait and cross the junction only when the cars have passed on the main road. But im relaxed and driving on the main road, when all of a sudden a car pulls out from the junction and I try to avoid it but I crash and my bumper and light is broken. The other guy his car became dented. I step out of the car and it is a man with a big beard, he is blaming me for the accident and i can't believe he can seriously say that. I tell him look my cousins are in the car let me drop them off and ill come back in a few minutes so we can discuss this and sort it out. When i come back after a few minutes the guy has gone. I told this story to my relatives they were laughing at me and saying how could you trust the guy and why were you so simple minded. I was like how did i know people could be such liers with a big beard. I trusted the guy and that is what happened to me. My light costed 70 pounds because I have an imported car whereas his car was Pakistani and any damage would only cost a few pounds. He knew the accident was his fault so he ran away. So blaming others when you know you are wrong is even worse than blaming others when you 'think' you are right.
I would call that type of blaming as hypocricy! A society full of hypocricy wouldn't go that far would it. Where a person tells you oh I am going to do this job for you tomorrow. Tomorrow comes and its not done. You tell the guy oh leave it then. He says no ill do it for you. Days go by and he doesnt do it for you. You feel frustrated and you just wish the person tells you in the beginning look dont mind it but i am not able to do this job for you. I will say thanks a lot and ill try find another person to do it. This is not something that you will mind. But what i always have faced is a person is not able to do something for you and gives you a false sense of hope, but then you realise he cant. How hurtful can that be. It really brings a person down. I was a very positive person and in such a place it really brings you down badly. Everybody would tell me dont get involved too much or bother yourself with how things run, just do as the romans do....that is not me. I am not a person who does what the crowd does. From the very beginning i do according to what i feel is right. Now everybody is telling me to do whatever others do even if it is wrong? Trying to do that makes me sick inside and yet these people its normal for them to lie/cheat and when i lie i cant even try to lie. Even when they lie they speak the truth....thats how good they are. So thats the advice you get, then you wonder why people blame others.
If an argument occurs between two people, one person says I am right and the other person says I am right. Then who is wrong? Can two people be right, the funny thing is that sometimes yes that can happen. Human beings are not all the same, we are very different. If a husband says to his wife there is too much salt in this dish, but she says no it is fine. The argument will go on and on both trying to prove their point. But both are right because according to the taste of the husband the salt is less, but according to the taste of the wife the salt is fine....This is a very simple example of what im trying to say, but you can get an idea...
We have to live with the fact that we cannot always make people believe the way we do or act the way we do. We cannot impose things but we can set principals and this just brings a person back to the Quran. What a beautiful book it is and how it is neglected and not read. I will also blame myself because I haven't read it from a long time. If the Quran was about imposing a belief, it would consist of bullet points or something like the ten comandments. Follow this and that is it....
But no!! The Quran is a huge book, describing many things and explaining things. It asks for the mind to think, it asks the human to read, it asks the human to question and investigate. Why are we different from animals because of this brain we have. It is unique and yet some may use this brain to earn a degree or become a Doctor or an engineer or watever but in reality they are brainless. Because the thought process is really complex, it involves emotions and deep centres of the brain. Whereas memorisation in comparison is not. When a person memorises the Quran that is a big achievement but if you are not able to grasp the meaning of the Quran then you cannot use that memorisation to your advantage. A person who understands the meaning of something he is then able to act upon it. I have to quickly google some saying about this i think it was by Imam Ghazali. I found it...
"Knowledge without action is insanity, and action without knowledge is vanity..."
Now why have I mentioned all these things, it goes back to the root of problems. When you live in a society where few question what they do and where creativity is looked down upon then you end up with people who are vain. At the same time when you see the knowledgeable people not acting right, then you have a society full of insane people. If a normal person were to live amongst such people they will keep on saying these people are crazy...What I saw/experienced in Peshawar just destroyed me completely in the beginning and I became so depressed. I had painted a very beautiful picture in my mind of how my people were back home based upon reading up on their history, based upon going on holiday over there, based upon external looks and so on.
You see simple people, less wealthy living, bearded men and women covered and mosques are full. From the outside it looks like the retreat for a person fed up of the busy materialistic western life. You hear the adhan from the mosques. This is a culture and not a religion (im using thing idea for those who just follow without knowing why). Many people use culture and religion in the same context, both you can say is a belief. But to me culture is something which does not involve the heart or mind whereas religion involves the heart and mind.
To wear shalwar kamis because everybody wears it doesn't mean anything. For a woman to wear a hijab because that's what the society requires them to do, doesn't mean much. For a person to pray just for the sake of praying means something, but not as much as the person who prays due to devotion. A person who lights up his house and lights fireworks on the Prophet (saw) to me doesn't mean much compared to the one who follows his teaching. This list can go on and on. That is why in the west when a man goes to the mosque instead of going to the nightclub down the street or the pub down the street means a lot. A person who fasts while everybody around him is enjoying eating means a lot. This is what true faith is about. When the going gets tough you stick to your beliefs. When some shopkeepers are worried about the inflation they start blaming the leaders being corrupt and think well I will be corrupt as well. That is the easy way out for them, which reminds me the shopkeepers increase the price of goods during Ramadan can you believe that.
You know what the next experience im gonna write just explains well what my beliefs were before and how simple i was.
I was driving on a main road in Peshawar and there is a junction coming up ahead. But its not like the west where you have traffic lights. The cars should wait and cross the junction only when the cars have passed on the main road. But im relaxed and driving on the main road, when all of a sudden a car pulls out from the junction and I try to avoid it but I crash and my bumper and light is broken. The other guy his car became dented. I step out of the car and it is a man with a big beard, he is blaming me for the accident and i can't believe he can seriously say that. I tell him look my cousins are in the car let me drop them off and ill come back in a few minutes so we can discuss this and sort it out. When i come back after a few minutes the guy has gone. I told this story to my relatives they were laughing at me and saying how could you trust the guy and why were you so simple minded. I was like how did i know people could be such liers with a big beard. I trusted the guy and that is what happened to me. My light costed 70 pounds because I have an imported car whereas his car was Pakistani and any damage would only cost a few pounds. He knew the accident was his fault so he ran away. So blaming others when you know you are wrong is even worse than blaming others when you 'think' you are right.
I would call that type of blaming as hypocricy! A society full of hypocricy wouldn't go that far would it. Where a person tells you oh I am going to do this job for you tomorrow. Tomorrow comes and its not done. You tell the guy oh leave it then. He says no ill do it for you. Days go by and he doesnt do it for you. You feel frustrated and you just wish the person tells you in the beginning look dont mind it but i am not able to do this job for you. I will say thanks a lot and ill try find another person to do it. This is not something that you will mind. But what i always have faced is a person is not able to do something for you and gives you a false sense of hope, but then you realise he cant. How hurtful can that be. It really brings a person down. I was a very positive person and in such a place it really brings you down badly. Everybody would tell me dont get involved too much or bother yourself with how things run, just do as the romans do....that is not me. I am not a person who does what the crowd does. From the very beginning i do according to what i feel is right. Now everybody is telling me to do whatever others do even if it is wrong? Trying to do that makes me sick inside and yet these people its normal for them to lie/cheat and when i lie i cant even try to lie. Even when they lie they speak the truth....thats how good they are. So thats the advice you get, then you wonder why people blame others.
Roots of most evils
I fail to understand why we all complain about others yet we ourselves are not right. We've heard it all before if you point fingers at others four point back to you...(i think thats how the saying goes) but this is such a strong statement. Just think about it, we might complain about how somebody has treated us wrongly. Fine, this might be the case. But then at the same time we have wronged many people ourselves. How bad does it feel when somebody lies to you, but you constantly lie about others.
Well this is the feeling I got especially living in Peshawar where everybody blames others except themselves. This was on every level. People blaming Americans for everything, they have done this and they come out with all kinds of conspiracy theories. You see a shopkeeper he complains about the government and then the next minute he is ready to rip off his customer with huge lies. No doubt I see the mosque full on friday prayers, but then when everybody goes back to their business they continue the same routine of fraud, lies, tricks and so on. Why is that? I thought when you pray it is supposed to clean your heart, it is supposed to stop you from evil. The fact of the matter is that those people don't really know why they pray. They don't know what prayer is, it is just a ritual to them. It is like telling a non-muslim pray just for the sake of it, he will copy the acts of prayer but it doesn't reach his heart if he doesn't know why or what is the significance of what he is doing.
Anywayz I think I have written a bit too much...thats it for now
Well this is the feeling I got especially living in Peshawar where everybody blames others except themselves. This was on every level. People blaming Americans for everything, they have done this and they come out with all kinds of conspiracy theories. You see a shopkeeper he complains about the government and then the next minute he is ready to rip off his customer with huge lies. No doubt I see the mosque full on friday prayers, but then when everybody goes back to their business they continue the same routine of fraud, lies, tricks and so on. Why is that? I thought when you pray it is supposed to clean your heart, it is supposed to stop you from evil. The fact of the matter is that those people don't really know why they pray. They don't know what prayer is, it is just a ritual to them. It is like telling a non-muslim pray just for the sake of it, he will copy the acts of prayer but it doesn't reach his heart if he doesn't know why or what is the significance of what he is doing.
Anywayz I think I have written a bit too much...thats it for now
Thursday 15 July 2010
How my life started in Peshawar
Its my fourth year in medical college but the experiences I have gained from it is just beyond imagination. The reason for this is that living in the west is a completely different life when living in the east, where the east for me is Peshawar.....
London being a place of opportunities, order and moderate climate. When I was living in London I would take all these good things for granted. I think thinking about it now I was really negative. To be honest Peshawar wasn't an unknown place for me as I used to go on holidays every year and meet with my relatives. It was a welcome break from the dull weather of London and seeing the usual stuff. Peshawar was really hot in the summers, it was an adventure just going on the local buses, seeing your own people and interacting with them in a different language (my mother tongue pashto, which I was not very fluent in). Everything was chaotic but when you want change from your normal life, you enjoy such chaos because its different.
So I was expecting the same things when I decided to start my study in Peshawar...However that was definately not the case and seeing the real side of life over there was something different when compared to a holiday over there....
Just started
Assalam Alaikum
This is my first time starting with this blogging thing. I dont know wat to write at the moment, but later i might just start writing something useful about my experiences and my opinions on many things.....
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