Game of thrones, Season 7, Episode 2 & us

It is interesting to observe that how the second episode of the ongoing 7th season of Game of thrones is relevant to our prevailing political scenario.
First the weather of Dragonstone is pretty much like that of Islamabad, it is raining in both.
Varys address to Daenerys reminds one of the establishment and their ideology of loyalty.
Jon naming Sansa as her replacement while he is gone to Dragonstone, is ditto what Nawaz Sharif did after his disqualification, that is, he named his sibling as his replacement.
Qyburn showed Cersai a crossbow weapon to kill the dragons and we also learned that what article 62 and 63 can do.
Theon jumps-off the ship instead of defending Yara, is a bit like the Nisar-Nawaz saga.
The Supreme Court pretty much like Sam is attempting to cure a deadly, infectious disease though the treatment is hard and painful but the end result is expected to be good.
Missandei and Greyworm making love pretty much depicts our relationship with democracy. We and Greyworm, both cannot consummate the relationship.
That is all. Thank you!!

Madhoo!!

Madhoo, do you know why there is a lot of thunder when it rains in the night because the clouds protest on raining at night, they say in the nights the girls are asleep dreaming but in the day when they are awake, we soak them and make them to sing songs for their loved one, drenched, they embrace each droplet of rain in a way, of which a thirsty grain of dessert can never think of. 
Madhoo, you know these prairies or water bodies never get satisfy or fill, their thirst is infinite but these beautiful maidens gives us some purpose or a sense of accomplishment or a feel of finally achieving something.
Madhoo, you know these drops of rains are like the very cells that make up your being, so when it rains we give away our existence and soak them and make them to endure a pain that is not excruciating enough to kill them but to make them hard enough to wait. It is this purpose that makes us to collect our fallen cells again and rain once again to make them to sing and dance and miss them who they cannot meet for now.

Some words after the Lahore blast!!

What I am going to write here may deem to be insensitive to many or racist to some.So, the above lines are a warning to all of them to leave this post right here, right now.
A bomb blast has struck Lahore and the death toll has reached 22 already. But how much I think of this incident as brutal and barbaric, deep down, I have a feeling that is a mixture of content and satisfaction. To feel like this after such gruesome event is inhuman to say the least. I do not want to hide this feeling with a cosmetic condemnation. However, there is a reason behind this callousness.
Every time a blast hit a city, anywhere in Pakistan other than Punjab; unfortunately it happens more often. From certain sections, Punjab bashing starts. They say senseless stuff, which I do not want to copy here. May be it is not them but their emotions and grief talking but it hurts. So, every time any blast takes place somewhere in Punjab, I feel that we are no longer different, I feel that we are equally insecure and I feel that for them (the terrorists) we are no different. They hate us irrespective of our ethnic identity; there is no bias there.
However, the fact remains is, blood anywhere, of anyone innocent, shed is a crime against humanity. No reason can justify an act of terror.
So, if those morons do not see any difference, then why should we. Life of a Balochi, Sindhi, Pakhtoon or any other ethnic group is of equal importance and value. Discriminating it is like strengthening and abetting the extremist elements. These are hard times and only the realization of each other's pain and loss can give us the strength to bear all this and defeat our common enemy. May Allah protect and guide us all. Aa'meen

The imperfect and broken things

Why to perfect something that is innately imperfect? Why to say words that no one wants to listen? Why to finish a story whose characters do not deserve a closure? When the journeys is beautiful then why finish it? Why we all have to reach someplace? Hitler and Amelia never finished what they started. Stalin and Lincoln finished what they never started. A broken window still gives fresh air. An out of tune guitar still makes sound; a melody of its own. You still hold love for the girl who does not reply. NAFAK is still relevant and Madhubala is still beautiful. Perfection is not always alluring. Imperfection is not always ugly. People are people. Things are things. They are not meant to be perfect. They are not meant to be complete. To be or not to be, that is the question. That was, is and will be the question. 

To salute or not to salute

The Panama JIT is in town and it is making headlines for all the right and wrong reasons. By now almost all of the ruling Sharif clan has visited it. The latest and hopefully the last to make an appearance before the JIT is Mrs. Maryam Safdar, the daughter of the prime minister. Many call this as a launching of her political career. However, the news that subdued this news was of a salute, made to her by a lady police officer. The same lady police officer also accompanied her to the JIT meeting as all JIT members are male and seem to be unfit to question a woman alone but are fit to run an investigation of such national importance.

 The lady police officer saluted Mrs. Maryam Safdar when she came to appear before the JIT on Wednesday. The salute drew the ire of many. Like always what ensued was that the social media got divided into two groups; one condemning her and the other defending her for her action. My earlier reaction to the "salute" controversy was similar to that of many, with her being a CSP; I was expecting a much more dignified demeanor from her. However, since then I have done some thinking of my own and I think that she did the right thing. I have narrowed it down to five possible reasons. Before enumerating my reasons below to support my argument, I would like to clarify here that what you are going to read below is based on my personal rationalization of the incident. I believe that the lady officer must have her own reasons. So, below is more of a fly on the wall assessment of the episode in question here.

Firstly, my earlier reaction to the incident like many was based on my own dislike for Mrs. Maryam Safdar. Our irony here is that how much we long for power; we abhor the powerful if not equally than more. So, how much I detest Mrs. Safdar, it does not change the fact that she is the first daughter and heir apparent. Again, how much I call it to be rigged but Muslim League (N) enjoys public support and represents their mandate; good or bad, is a different debate altogether. In simpler words, like many my problem was not with the salute but was with the fact that to whom she saluted.

Secondly, keeping in mind how narcissist and egoistic our leaders are with no exceptions, unfortunately, a mere salute is good enough to soothe their enlarged egos and as the dialogue goes, “you do not salute to the person, you salute to the rank”. I remember a town Nazim from Faisalabad from Musharraf’s era, who use to move with his own private protocol and once when Governor Khalid Maqbool saw his protocol and was left amazed as his protocol was outnumbered by the protocol of the town Nazim. Our history is full of such instances.

Thirdly, in our culture getting saluted represents power more than respect and when a police officer salutes you; it has an even higher intrinsic value mainly because the police itself is a symbol of power. A salute from the police officer also reflects control and superiority.  

Fourthly, she is a witness to whatever happened in that room, between Mrs. Safdar and the JIT. Her saluting Mrs. Safdar, may be is her way of assuring her that she is worthy of being entrusted with such responsibility.

Fifthly, It is difficult to swim against the tide but then so is swimming with the sharks. I have great respect for what Nekokara and many like him did before but were they able to change the system? The answer is a big “no”. Our political elite, more or less is similar. They like the same things and share the same tantrums. Serving with or under them is not an easy task. But if you want to change the system, it is important that you become a part of it because from outside, this system cannot be changed, whenever it will change, it will change from within. Here by no mean I am favoring the status quo or trying to discourage the “few good men”. I put the example of the officers of the JIT here; they are doing their job honestly and diligently but all this is due to the free space provided to them by the Supreme Court, not every officer is that lucky. So, in such times it is easier to pull-off a Nekokara than staying, surviving and doing your bit to better the system. So, if a salute helps you to do it, then it is a meager price for a cause that is much bigger and greater.

Our system lacks accountability especially of the powerful. So, until we make our powerful accountable and that accountability should be across the board, we have to bear with such trivial things.
( A version of this piece has been published by Express Tribune in their blog section on 7th of July 2107 on 6:06 PM)