CHRISTMAS PRESENT – DHOOM 3 – Almost died.

Christmas is the time when the whole of EUROPE goes quiet. Everyone visits their families and for two days the whole EUROPE becomes solace to peace seeking lot.  This also prompted me to visit my set of cousins who live near the GERMAN border which somehow is the part of NETHERLANDS.  After two hours long drive when I reached my cousins place I was entertained with delicious food, which they kept serving me until I was stuffed to the point of no return. Soon I realized the highlight of their two days holiday was travelling to Brussels. I was chuffed to know about our upcoming trip to Brussels but soon when I realized this exercise of travelling all the way to Brussels was only to watch DHOOM 3, it left me cheerless.

The next day in evening, after hour and a half drive two SUVs stuffed with more than ten people reached the Kinepolis Cinema in Brussels. Not to my surprise the DESI crowd of Brussels flocked in big numbers to watch DHOOM 3. Because of which our seats which they reserved were all located in the front row of this big IMAX screen, which was pretty much depressing. One literally has to rotate his neck by 180 degrees both sides to be able to watch the movie. Now this movie DHOOM 3 which is a sequel of previous DHOOMs is everything but a good movie. But before I prove how badly and poorly this movie was directed I like to tell my readers here that I like all kinds of movies. I specially enjoy foreign language movies. I happen to be a huge fan of Korean movies. The amount of time an average Korean movie spends in developing and evolving the characters of the story is much more than any other movie industry of the world. But DHOOM 3 is a movie which is made for special set of people who would like to see drama, action, romance, thriller and musical and all other possible genres in just one movie. This is the main problem of INDIAN cinema and its viewers that they fail to distinguish between all these genres. And another basic flaw in INDIAN cinema which is evident in all their movies is the magnified entry of their main characters. DHOOM 3 actually utilizes 30 minutes of its script just on the mere entry of the four main characters.

DHOOM 3 is still a decade old concept a serious cop, a funny cop, a thief and a beauty flaunting actress. GOD knows better why such movies even need actresses, a sizzling still image of a female will do an equally good job. The cops in the movie look like anything but cops; and thanks to the generosity and celerity of the thief that he not only robs the bank but somehow manages to sprinkle all the money over the city as well, before the police can even see him. Watching DHOOM 3 was such a terrible experience that this stolen concept of twin magicians from the Christian bale and Hugh Jackman movie "The Prestige" couldn't even save the movie from being in my list of most horrible movies. The much lousy and crummy actions scenes make it more unbearable. The BMW did sponsor DHOOM 3 and the rumour is such they’ll now claim for the damages it bring to BMW. This transformation of a BMW bike into floating boat and that too all in the air, then the bike becoming an almost underwater submarine and then thrusting out of water like a rocket and again transforming back to a motor bike was a little too much to digest. It actually reminded me of 1962’s James Bond 007 of Sean Connery where he used to defy all physical laws of gravity.

The biggest of all evils was the ending scene of  DHOOM 3. The ending was so abrupt that it actually made me feel that the cinema authorities made it cut short. All the robberies the thieves the chasing of thieves, the great Indian circus in the movie was in Chicago, seconds before last scene, Amir Khan escaped Indian police in Chicago. But in the last scene somehow Amir Khan was found between two police vans in the middle of the great contra dam of Switzerland. This imprudent direction and script writing can’t be forgiven. DHOOM 3 is basically a collection of different short scenes put together haphazardly to make it look like one complete movie.

DHOOM 3 gets 2 out of 10 for its non-existent script, deceased direction and its unfounded action scenes.   

Wish we could live another day

I cut this slice of time to hold it in my hands,

I go on my knees but the sullen crowd doesn't understand,

The unsaid words and the repudiate belief,

All come together to celebrate our defeat,

Do you hear me my flawless pride?

 I shout out loud to commemorate our fallen love,

The sullen crowd is felicitous with its remarkable triumph,

A word to you has become an offence,

Let this crowd has its say, let us gift it another thousand days,

Let me be weary and old so I can bury these grievances,

Then allow this crowd to immortalize another victorious day,

My screams will come as whispers; my wishes for you will always be silent,

Rarely I speak to me and unfold the acerbic prevarications,

Better our world crumbled better the home was burnt,

Better the crowd lacked empathy, better we got fleeced,

For what it matters is not the beginning but the end,

Yet I wish we could live another day, just another day.

TUQracy or Democracy?

Democracy at best can be summed up in a simple yet old saying “Slow and steady wins the race”. The best socio-economic development is always through evolution which is a deliberate obtuse process. The societies are glob of people living together under a certain set of rules and regulations. These rules and regulations known as social justice system is prescribed by the people themselves. So any legislation made by the society is the outcome of how the people are being evolved inside that society. It must be understood very carefully here that it is not the legislation which is developing the people; it’s the people who are developing the new legislations as a result of their social evolution. It’s analogous to a phylogenetic process where the accumulation of different events helps the individual to transform systematically. The maturity of understanding certain legislation and how it will affect the society in the long run comes with time. It must be people changing the people rather than some law changing the people. One can implement the most ideal system which will guarantee the virtues such as social justice, zero corruption, religious tolerance etc, but the question remains are the people willing to accept it in the long run. Those who implement the law and those who abide by the law both are people. There is no point of having some ideal legislation when the people on both sides have not evolved enough to adapt it. This is why democracy is a slow self evaluating process. 

That was all about democracy, let’s now discourse to TUQracy. TUQracy is actually the name given to the narrative of Tahir-ul-Qadri who is a famous religious scholar turned politician. This article is definitely not about Tahir-ul-Qadri but it is about that robust and ideal change of system that many advocate in Pakistan. The post elections 2013 scenario in Pakistan was such that people were frustrated for change because of the corrupt regime and worsening economic conditions. Yet again the ‘change’ itself had changing definitions for different sects of societies. Hence there was never one absolute definition of ‘change’ and that was why the possibility of chaos remained always in the back garden. TUQracy was at its peak for three days in the month of January, 2013 when Tahir-ul-Qadri staged a protest in Islamabad for ‘change’ in the system. TUQracy predicted that the Elections 2013 will be rigged, and based on this forecast TUQracy wanted to bring the country to halt and postpone the Elections 2013. TUQracy was of the view that present electoral system will bring the same corrupt regime back into power. Based on the earlier predictions TUQracy further suggested the complete overhaul of the system. The phenomenon was such bring masses on the roads, challenge the writ of the government and occupy Islamabad secretariat. Hence TUQracy believed in fast and robust ‘change’ and rejected the slow self-healing democracy. TUQracy asked all the political forces including status-quo to join hands and to support this ideology. This was itself contradictory because one cannot simply fight the system by asking the system to fight against its own self. TUQracy enticed the emerging political force Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf which perhaps was the biggest stake holder in terms of corrupt electoral system. But thanks to almost 60 years of deprivation of democracy, people of Pakistan wanted democracy so bad that they couldn't care enough even if it ends up handing power to same old corrupt regime. This was evolution. So the luxurious idea of having our very own Tahrir Square passed away before even touching the reality. Perhaps Pakistan never needed a Tahrir Square and the ‘change’ it promised. 

What Pakistan actually needed was not the ‘change’ but the commitment to change. And following this commitment to change; all political forces and the people of Pakistan achieved a milestone, the first ever civilian transfer of power that is Elections 2013. Though Elections 2013 was a milestone still they are considered to be the most rigged elections ever conducted in Pakistan. But nevertheless Elections2013 has created a dividing line in the history of Pakistan. This means all those 60 years will now be remembered as pre-elections2013 history. 

It must be said here with clarity that TUQracy predictions were right. Elections2013 had been rigged but it does not mean that we as a nation repent over Elections 2013. A system can only be changed when the people have seen worst of it. People from all walks of life condemned any possible rigging in elections 2013. It can be said with full confidence that elections 2018 will be much better than 2013 and this cycle will go on. This is how nations evolve gradually. We must understand there are no short-cuts to happiness and prosperity. If TUQracy had been adapted instead of Elections 2013 the country would have ran into unthinkable and never ending chaos. Even the rigged elections are better than these cushy revolutions. 

It’s about time that we learn to be patient with the present on going system and let the system complete its tenure. Tahrir squares are fancy flabby revolutions which lose their essence very rapidly on a mere foreign interference. Whereas gradual change is more resolute and long lasting and unlikely to be diluted by the outsiders. One must never confuse the desperateness of the people for change with their acceptability to change. The Arab spring had been an eye opener for many who thought a single protest or a single event can change people forever. It’s a universal narrative change must come slow. There shouldn't be any illusions about absolute change; there is no such thing as absolute change. The fact of the matter is the moment you commit to change, you have changed actually. Pakistan has set out on a path of change; and Elections 2013 was the commitment to this change.

Such is the story of my thousand moments - Part-I

Dovish sky and the silver gate

A gentle touch and a golden haze

Such is the story of my thousand moments.

Walked the green carpet with the bare feet

Heard the heart of GOD with a gentle beat

Such is the story of my thousand moments.

I saw her standing near a beamish lake

Frozen were the footsteps and weary breathe 

Such is the story of my thousand moments.

The trees were falling the wind was seized

The cosmos roaring still she paid no heed.

Such is the story of my thousand moments.

She was wearing majestic white,

A symbol of her flawless pride.

Such is the story of my thousand moments.

A noble monk affectionately held my hand,

Apprised me to walk towards the flawless pride,

Such is the story of my thousand moments.

                                                                                                       

With steps belittled and infinite space

I covered a mile in a hundred decades.

Such is the story of my thousand moments.

With an angelic joy the fear crumble my heart

Will again the endless enmity of time take away my flawless pride?

Such is the story of my thousand moments.

The gaze of monk and this state of my anxiety

Made him wonder about my orthodox sobriety

Such is the story of my thousand moments.

In his wise words he made an astounding remark,

Our fears shall further advocate the sanity of our love.

Such is the story of my thousand moments.

Eyes will freeze hearts tend to cease,

On a mere thought of meeting my flawless pride,

Such is the story of my thousand moments.

A 1000 shout outs on this Independence Day,

• Today we shout out loud no to religious, ethnic and political racism.
• Today we shout out loud no to sectarian killings.
• Today we shout out loud against social injustice towards every human living in Pakistan.
• Today we shout out loud against the politics of terror and lack of freedom of expression.
• Today we shout out loud against all odds depriving us of a social security homeland.
• Today we shout out loud against religious intolerances.
• Today we shout out loud against sexism that deprives us of quality individuals.
• Today we shout out loud against any form of bribery any step taken to diminish the prevailing system of meritocracy in our country.
• Today we shout out loud to be better humans than anything else.
• Today we shout out loud against the monarchy of rich and elite.
• Today we shout out loud against rude attitudes of any person holding the public office.
• Today we shout out loud for the rights of our Baloch brothers. They are our brothers in blood and flesh in kith and kin.
• Today we shout out loud against terrorism that swallowed thousands of Pakistanis.  
• Today we shout out loud against TTP and their fake threats.
• Today we shout out loud for the terrible security situations faced by 180 million Pakistanis.  
• Today we shout out loud to pay homage to our heroes.
• Today we shout out loud for Abdus Salam the Nobel laureate.
• Today we shout out loud for Malala yousafzai.
• Today we shout out loud for unjust killing of Salman Taseer.
• Today we shout out loud for the complete freedom of our print and electronic media.
• Today we shout out loud for our alarming education situation in our country.
• Today we shout out loud for a stronger federation.
• Today we shout out loud for the price this nation paid for the rule of democracy.
• Today we shout out loud to our Prime Minister for one single unanimous security policy.  
• Today we shout out loud to our Prime Minister for one single unanimous foreign policy.  
• Today we shout out loud for better relations between Pakistan and India.
• Today we shout out loud for a better energy policy, for a better tax regulation policy.
• Today we shout out loud against money laundering and all means of corruption to deprive this nation of its basic rights.
• Today we shout out for humans living in Pakistan, not Pakistanis, not Muslims, not Christians.  
• Today we shout out loud against the politics of ethnicity, against divide and rule policies.  
• Today we shout out loud for one Pakistan.
• Today we shout out loud for our warriors.
• Today we shout out loud for all our security personnel who lost their lives protecting us.
• Today we shout out for peaceful relations with all neighboring countries.
• Today we shout out loud for one Pakistan.
• Today we shout out loud to vow never again we shall be played at the hands of hate mongers, and religious manipulators.
• Today we shout out loud for one nation.
• Today we shout out loud for prosperous and strong Pakistan.
• Today we shout out loud for our independence, our freedom and our dignity.
• Today we shout out loud for the father of the nation Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
• Today we shout out loud for the day history was made 14^th August 1947. 

Letter to Fauzia Kasuri – by an Insafian

Dear Kasuri,

It has been our pleasure to have you in Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf for long time. The pleasure has not been much endearing for the past six months. Your grievances were such that you were being played inside the party.  Sometimes you attributed this to lack of attention given to you and sometimes you not being given the party ticket or any post inside the party for that matter.

We Insafians are seriously sick of you lot, you join the party and then you talk of it as you own the party. Later you leave if your demands are not met then you go to media bash all of us. Make huge claims and then after sometime you find yourself some weird reason and then again you join the party. If you think after doing all this you become important for the party then you are clearly mistaken. To tell you the truth we’d give you and mazari both on any given Sunday if not only for Imran Khan. In the case of Mazari her process would be speedier thankfully to her hippie desperately trying to be blonde daughter.

It’s about time that your lot should leave the high school and think of being a graduate. I must remind you lot here that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf is not only Imran Khan. It seems that you think that the only person you have to work with or you have to listen to is Imran Khan. From Republicans to Democrats every party has lobbyists inside them. There are always groups within the bigger groups. If you can’t fight them politically then it’s your incompetency. From the first day you only wanted to work under Imran Khan. You never worked on your relationships with other party members and you still don’t. How would you expect anyone to lobby for you then. It’s time for these “founding members” to actually learn that a political party is full of internal politics. If you can’t play it well it’s your fault, everyone is on its own. If you have to cry in front of media because you are house wife, and a mother and some other stuff as well then we’d honestly suggest you concentrate on that. There are quite a number of women in PTI with all those traits and still working for the party without claiming a bigger carpet for them.

From now on it’s my humble request if you go out on media stop whining about what happens inside the party. You haven’t done any better in your first interview with Kashif Abbasi, and your whining still continues. In order to be in politics you need to have thick skin, and if you can’t have it, it’s about time you can choose a different career path for yourself.

 And lastly, do not please for the sake of this good earth use the term “Mother of PTI”. I don’t know if you realize it or not but it is itself is a big LMAO. A piece of advice for you is to concentrate on the internal politics more than the external politics because clearly the former is of more importance to you.

P.S Nevertheless Welcome Back.

Kind Regards,

Ali Waqar

The Moderate way

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Jamat-e-Islami – A Case Study

Note: - The seat adjustment between Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Jamat-e-Islami is only chosen as an example to study the general phenomena for the creation of a moderate society. The Author is fully aware that the two parties are no more accommodating each other for seat adjustment.   

The liberals and the conservatives, the leftists and the rightists shall all be given the immunity towards communicating their opinions in a democratic society. Any negation of such rights is actually negating democracy. Societies over the time learn from all these cliques they have inside them. This sectionalization of societies is essential towards the evolution of a moderate state. A leftist only exist because he is anti-rightist. The distinctness of liberalism will languish if the existence of conservatism is brought to question.

Pakistan is warming up for democracy, and we shall all see the shining democracy of the world after Elections 2013. But the maturity of understanding this phenomenal solution called democracy for the civilizations will prevail over time. In Pakistan the debate is not about leftists or rightists it’s more about liberalism and conservatism. And this debate has conflagrated after the seat adjustment of Pakistan Tehreek-e- Insaf with Jamat-e-Islami.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf is an emerging political force in Pakistan and seen as the party of progressive minded people. Its ideology and its name are not religiously endorsed. Therefore it is able to attract different segments of the society. Whereas Jamat-e-Islami has been an old political player. It is the first religious political party to ensure democracy within itself. Clearly its name and its ideology come in a religious packing, which is not agreeable to those who dream for a secular Pakistan. Now these two aspects may sound like antithetical but it also depends on how you look at them. The perspective of looking at them shall come later.

In the wake of recent events over the past years the society has become highly polarized. The killing of Salman Taseer, shooting Malala Yusuf Zai, intolerance towards minorities, killing of Shias all these events have further stretched the two portions of society apart from each other. The ones who were not to be blamed were also blamed and hence fostering the conflicts. Both entities see each other as a probable menace towards their ideologies. That is why the overly done reaction over the seat adjustment of two political parties is no surprise. 

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf does not want to have an alliance with any political party who had their involvement in the ex-government. Jamat-e-Islami on the other hand does not want an alliance with those political parties who have corruption charges on them. Because of almost the similar reasoning both of them opted for one another. Now in this whole line of reasoning one cannot think of any nascence of dispute between the two ends. One can further cogitate to ameliorate the reasoning on which the dispute between two streams of society can rest.

Imran Khan after his clear opposition of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi became an iconic merit figure and most of the liberal chunk of the society assumed Tehreek-e-Insaf to be a liberal political party. This was the time when the liberal section of society extended its support towards Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. But the picture became tainted after the announcement of seat adjustment of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Jamat-e-Islami.  Jamat-e-Islami other than being religiously endorsed also has another controversy in its sleeves. This is related to the comments of ameer of Jamat-e-Islami on the issue of the rape victims. This became a main shout out for the liberal section of society which opposed this alliance and became a reason of bedlam. 

This reaction on this seat adjustment is not only related to these two political parties but it defines a mindset which the people of Pakistan have developed; either its good or bad it is not for us to judge. The only thing which can be done is emphasizing the evolution of a moderate society. One must empathize that any section of society being left alone will only lead it towards more extreme ideologies than it ever had before. This will only grant the right of manipulation to those who take the advantage of this deprivation.

The liberal section of society did vent their anger out on the statement about female rape victims. But the same section denied any chance being given to work together so that they can moderate the opinions which they find extreme. This seat adjustment between the two political parties could be seen as a bridge to minimize the polarization of our society, though it did not reach its conclusion but nevertheless it’s a good example to study. Such political alliances give the chance to both liberals and conservatives to work with each other and to moderate each other opinions.

Since the humanity up till now is unable to find an alternative solution to democracy therefore one must stick with the rules of democracy. The conservatives are in mass numbers in our society so they must be given a fair chance to represent themselves. And liberals should take the lead here as they stand out for freedom of speech. But unfortunately both are in the same water and equally soaked. The reaction over this seat adjustment is an example to this inability of these sections to work together. The existence of both these divisions is requisite to ensure a moderate state.

Moral: - The working together of all sections of society with different beliefs, ideologies and opinions is the only way forward towards a moderate society. 

Beta apki Namaz nai hoi ....! [Part 1]

Every now and then you come across elderly people who love to pass judgments on you. And our desi elderly people excel somehow in this marvelous art.  Well I complain not, for they are genuinely sweet and lovable. But when you are young and specially in your teens you just hate most of the people around you. And for me I hated everyone in my teens to the point of no return.

The short story which fills up my mind at the 12th hour of the night still somehow manages to put a smile on my face. When I was in my teens I was an avid namazi. I use to offer salat 5 times a day and that too in the mosque. Now this all seems like an accomplishment to me. I was always dressed in a casual way, whenever I went to mosque. Sometimes I even sweat terribly, because I used to go to mosque with friends just after playing cricket in intense summers. In the mosque the young people hardly ever noticed my ill-state but for the elderly people I was always the subject of their criticism. My weary jeans my short t-shirt never looked agreeable to them.

Among elderly people there were different classes too. Some of them were so much grumpy that you couldn't even dare to stand with them during jammat. And some of them just used to converse with us about our cricket game. In our mosque there was a flock of elderly people who were always together. Some of them were even grandfathers of my friends. Everyone was somehow linked to each other as we all lived in the same block. These elderly people were always hard on us when it came to our salat.

Once me and my friends were offering Asar Salat and because of something we missed the jamat. But before we could offer our salat, we had to answer all the questions of these elderly people who used to spend most of their time in the mosque. You have to be prepared to answer their questions as it can be of any type.

Among that group of elderly people Meer sahab (R.I.P) was a very gentle soul, though he used to get annoyed very easily, if you see him and you don't offer a salam to him. So if you saw Meer sahab somewhere in the block an assalam-e-alykum shake hand is must even if you have to walk a km to shake hands with him. If you somehow did not offer salam to him the next time you see him prepare yourself a very good explanation of the crime you committed by not paying salam to him. I have always thought that how Meer sahab use to remember the exact time and date of the day when he was ignored. He must had some kind of notebook in which he used to write the name of the person the moment he ignored him. But this all was not the reason of Meer sahab popularity in our block. It was actually his golden tooth which was of prime importance. It was just right there at the center when he use to smile and indeed it was a worth seeing site.

Another must mention personality of that flock is Mirza sahab. A long white beard person, always dressed in white shalwar qameez. He was so famous for his whiteness that he eventually ended up being called as surf excel. These short names were the code names between the youngsters. Mirza Sahab also kept a sharp eye on all the affairs of our block. He can see the guy in the eyes and tell what is going though his mind. Mirza sahab was not judgmental but he just somehow happens to know the truth of us all. You have to have a nerve in order to plunge yourself in religious discussion with Mirza Sahab because then be prepared to sit in the mosque from Zuhur to Maghrib.

Agha jee was the spice of their group. He had a story on everything you name it. He once even told us that he had traveled on the time machine as well. He was not a hardliner at all, may be he was just there among them because he was given a central position in the group. Agha jee knew all the heroes of pakistan and in his stories he had been there to help for almost everyone. Seldom he advised us to offer salat unlike others. May be he knew that he must not go hard on us and instead he was the one joking with us all the time. Agha jee once told us that he was right hand of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto though he never took any party positions. Agha jee had a great sense of sarcasm when it used to come to Mirza Sahab, but they were really good friends. They remained good friends till last.

The next guy in the line was siddique uncle. He also had a white beard but shorter than Mirza Sahab. Siddique uncle was the scholar of our block and an avid supporter of the imam sahab of our mosque. His height of faithfulness was such that he even went to jail once because of Imam sahab, but that is a long story which just cracks me high. Siddique uncle had a philosophy and according to that philosophy calling him uncle was haram. He wanted to be called as brother siddique. According to him he was our brother in Islam not the Uncle. Everything we did was almost haram in the eyes of siddique uncle. Entering mosque with jeans and t-shirt was haram, not wearing a topi was haram, whispering in the mosque was haram. We had so much haram in our lives that in the end we named siddique uncle as brother haram. He was the source of great laughter and fun we use to have in the mosque. Smiling with a bit loud noise was just unacceptable for siddique uncle and exactly at the point when we used to see him we couldn't ever stop not laughing loud.

We always used to sit in the last rows in the mosque. And many a times Agha jee used to come to us and told us to go to the lines in front just to tease siddique uncle. Siddique uncle also had a philosophy that without proper beards we must not put ourselves in the front lines. According to him, we must improve our Imans as we terribly suck in that, and for that he had a way ..

[TBC] ~~

Little I know

Little I know,

The wickedness of the soul, which defeats me ever so often
Little I know about it,
Little I know about the campaign of prevarications inside me,
Little I know how to win over the fears I have,
Little I know these astounding whispers in my ears,
Little I know this unweary person who stops not, 
Little I know this gratitude of the Lucifer,
Little I know his hope in me,
Little I know his deadpan smiles,
Little I know the attractions in his eyes,
Little I know his ways,
Little I know his love for me,
Little I know the act of treachery for the love of the Lucifer,
Little I know his love for you,
Little I know impuissant me,
Little I know your calls for I hear them not,
Little I know your forgiveness for I love you not,
Little I know your guidance for I want it not,
Little I know your strength for I see it not,
Little I know your knowledge for I accept it not,
Little I know your rewards for it attracts me not,
Little I know these people for their chaos harkens me,
Little I know their cries for it saddens me,
Little I know their schemes for forever we live not,
Little I know your creation for creating its worth not,
Little I know this act of quizzing me for which I pass not,
Little I know this state of denial for I deny you not,
Little I know you my GOD for you described me not,
Little I know myself for in real I exist NOT.