Bloggers On Blogging In Pakistan....!

I am not arrogant enough to assume that the world will change dramatically just because a few of us are writing blogs. On the other hand, I am convinced that at least for those few of us who write and read these things, a world with blogs is different from a world without – at the very least, it is different in how we interact with that world.

To blog, at least for me, is about conversation and about community. The magic moment comes when you realize that there are others out there who want to be part of your conversation of your community. For us at ATP, that has always been out motivation. This is why I chose the photogrpah above (I do not have a full reference for it, but it is an AKRSP photograph from the Gilgit area). The photograph too – just like blogging in general and certainlyATP – is about conversation and about community.

As I said during the show, at the very least this becomes a way of catharsis – But when your thoughts echo back to you and you realize that there is someone out there who is not only listening to you, but maybe even nodding their head. It is then that you realize that this is more than just bhaRass nikalna. And it can be – not yet, but one day – it can be much more.

Easy steps to bring a revolution..

How to bring a revolution in ten easy steps:-

1) For starters, wear a lot of sunscreen if you plan to bring a revolution in the summers (because skintone is if not more, as important as the said purpose itself).

2) Wear either Nike’s or Adidas sneakers, Servis joggers don’t cut it when the cause has so much international importance.

3) Make sure you keep your latest iPOD in handy so that when the Naara’s go out of tune, you can listen to revolutionary songs by Lady gaga and Justin Beiber. John Lennon? John Lennon who?

4) Eenie meenie minie mo between Imran Khan and Zaid Hamid, one is a confused apologist, the other is a state of the art fighter sent to the world to rid the world of all Zionists, regardless of their nationality.

5) Watch a lot of star plus before you go out in the scorching heat to fight for justice.

6) Believe that everything wrong in the country is because blackwater wants it to be wrong. Yes, your alarm clock didn’t go off in the morning because blackwater wanted you to be late for class so you couldn’t learn and bring change in the world.

7) Revolution doesn’t come overnight, so ask your mothers to pack you supplies for at least two days, sandwiches, lollipops, orange juice and a good bedtime story.

8) Go to protests with the opposite sex in numbers, because while you’re ridding the world of evil and social disorder, you might even score, how cool is that?

9) Before heading out, twitter, facebook, text message your friends that you’re going on the mission of your life and if you don’t return, they should forgive you for all the wrong doings that you’ve done and return an hour later and re-do the process with, “I almost died for the country”…

10) After the protest, tell everyone that the country has gone to the dogs and then take your dogs out for a walk in the evening.

Tale of FBISE and the Online Result Inquiry

The result if Secondary School Certificate (SSC) Part I of Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (FBISE) is out. It means that the tense wait for the class ninth students, who had appeared in their final exams under the flag of Federal Board, is now over. Their result is out and their fates that whether they passed or not are written.

The good thing is that FBISE has a web site from where the kids (and their parents and relatives and all) can check the result. The web site is http://www.fbise.edu.pk/. The result can be searched out based on the Roll Number, Student’s Full Name or through the name of the institution. This can save everybody time and hassle of waiting in physical queues in the markets or at the school premises.

Thinking all this I also happily accessed the web site to look for the result of an acquaintance. The ordeal I had to go through in doing this was tremendous. The first was the “Server is too busy” blow that I got on my initial access. I kept getting this for quite some time. When the page with a field to enter in a Roll Number along with a Submit button appeared, I forgot all my troubles and considered the worst to be over. I entered in the Roll Number and hit the Submit button, only to be put through the torture of witnessing an “in progress” cursor which eventually ended on a “run time error”. Darn web site!

I did not lose hope and kept on receiving the “busy server” and “run time errors” for more than an hour. During that time I had tried all my options of searching the result; i.e. via the Full Name, the Roll Number and even the name of the institute. Alas! I failed again and again and AGAIN.

Just when I was about to pull out my hair, scream and punch the monitor, I was greeted by a surprise. The result page of that kid had mysteriously appeared on my screen without any errors. I thanked my stars, noted down the result and hurried away from the horrid web site.

I request the FBISE personnel to kindly take notice of this and get the web site upgraded so that people can actually benefit from it without going bonkers.

Mahmud of Ghazni

Sabuktigin's son Mahmud inherited the throne at his father's death (AD 997). He needed vast amounts of money to protect his central Asian empire, which was very profitable because the trade routes from China to the west ran through it.
 Whoever controlled these roads could tax the merchants. Mahmud made his capital the most beautiful city in the world after Baghdad. Craftsmen from all over Asia were paid to build huge mosques, palaces, universities and libraries. He encouraged artists, scientist, writers and poets to settle there. Although he raided many lands, he was very ing and loved beauty, learning and knowledge, Mahmud fought for the Islamic faith and tried to spread it wherever he could.

The Civilization of Islam, Arts and Buildings

Buildings

The central structure of Islamic architecture is the mosque. The larger mosques usually have one or more domes, arches and tall slender minarets. Although often quite plain on the outside, inside they are generally full of light and colour. Unlike the holy buildings of most other religions (such as Christian churches), mosques contain no statues or pictures of God or the prophets because these are forbidden by Islam. Instead there are often brightly coloured geometric patterns of flowers, plants, abstract designs and above all, quotations from the Quran written in the Arabic script in many different styles. The floor is covered with rugs, and the walls pierced with patterned or stained glass windows in a variety of designs. This blaze of color many have begun in the earliest religious buildings in Arabia, thereby providing a pleasant change from an otherwise drab wold of dry dust, sand bare rock and heat.

Gardens

For the same reason gardens, plants and water have always been important in Islamic art, both in real life and in paintings. Richer people had enclosed gardens with fruit trees, shrubs and flower beds arranged in geometric shapes, and there were always fountains or streams of running water.

Even the homes of poorer people had, whenever possible, a few plants, shrubs or vines, often in posts arranged round a small pool. Many Muslim emperors relaxed not only by resting in gardens, but also by designing and cultivating them.

Textiles

Fabrics were an important part of Muslim art. As wooden furniture was not part of Islamic culture, people sat, ate and slept on cushions or rugs on the floor. There were woven hangings on the walls, too, and all of these were covered with the rich designs and colours that decorated the mosques. Textiles were also a very unlike ceramics, fragile jewellery or decorative articles, they were unbreakable, light  and easily carried. Today, carpets from Islamic countries are still the most highly=-prized in the world.

Painting

Early Muslim art was limited by the ban on the painting of people and animals. In strict theory, this ban still exists, especially in the illustration of sacred works. But gradually animals and human beings began to creep in to paintings particularly after the 12th century AD. These paintings were not hugs like the ones in Europe but were generally small or appeared as illustrations in books. These were usually found in the homes of wealthier people. The paintings of Persia and of Mughal India glow like jewels and are among the most beautiful ever created.

Literature

Poetry seems to be the natural language of the Arab peoples, and we saw (p. 20) how the tribesmen held poetry competitions at Makkah before the time of the Prophet (PBUH). This tradition has been kept alive to this day.

In the early days of Islam there were some prose works, but these dealt largely with religion and were often commentaries on the Quran. From the 8th Century AD, animal stories appeared but were used for teaching rather than for entertainment. Slowly people began writing books for pure enjoyment. These were often a mixture of poetry and prose. Many were love stories or 'novels' as we know them today.

Music

Although music has nothing to do with Muslim religious ritual prayers, it has been present in Muslim societies, and the Sufis also adopted different forms of it. All kinds of instruments harps, lutes, guitars, trumpets, flutes, tambourines, drums and castanets were used from early times as entertainment and for warlike purpose. Musical notes were not written down as they were in the west. The tunes were played from memory.