Strangling Corona

In the current scenario, when whole world is screaming to avoid social gathering, we in Pakistan are adamant to go against it and are on the path to prove the world wrong. Plight of those who are dependent on daily wage to make their end meet is understandable, and on a limited scale they should be allowed to earn living. However, gatherings be it social or religious should strictly be avoided. Government may not be in a position to ban all religious gathering but as a responsible citizen we should understand that "Corona Virus" do not distinguish between social classes and belief.

If a person do not care of his own health than he should understand that he may come in contact with virus and will end up in transferring that to his family members. He may become responsible for the death of his loved one. If you are not worried about yourself, than do think about your parents who may be above 60 and as per global statistics are among the most vulnerable group, think about your children who may have to suffer due to your negligence.

Being a Muslim, we believe in the importance of Huqqoq-ul-abad (Right of people), considering that it is our duty that irrespective of what is going on around us, we should be more cautious and adopt an approach which help in curbing the spread of Corona. It is our duty to adopt measures which prevent us from becoming a virus carrier, this is to save those who are related to us, this is to save society.

Learn from the experience of worst hit areas, try to avoid mistakes which they committed, and follow the guidelines recommended by the health experts. 

Giotto Di Bondone - Artist of Early Renaissance

My blog published by Dawn News (Urdu) . Highlight the work of Giotto Di Bondone and comparison of his work with artists of that era.

LINK

https://www.dawnnews.tv/news/1053324/europi-nishate-saniya-kay-awleen-mussavar-giotto-di-bondone

Pieter Aertsen, Northern Renaissance & Still Life Paintings

Blog on development of genre painting and still life painting by Pieter Aertsen. This blog is written in Urdu and was publish by dawn News in Pakistan on 3rd February 2017. LINK http://www.dawnnews.tv/news/1051460/

January In Good Old Days

Going back in time, back in that cold January noon, a dark noon, walking on the side of road, careful steps, hands in pocket, scarf around neck, bowing neck to feel warm woolen scarf around nose, nostrils are red, air around them feel frozen. Phone rings, Damn it ! Kept ringing, can't remove glove to use this new touch screen. Got to the stairs, home, looked up, falling snow flakes, felt so good, warmth of the room.

State Atrocities & Censorship

ریاستی جبر

خوف کے سائے میں زندگی بسر کرنا اک تکلیف دہ احساس ہے، اور خاص طور پر وہ خوف جس نے پورے معاشرے کو اپنی گرفت میں جکڑ رکھا ہو اور جس کی وجہ سے افراد اظہارِ رائے سے محروم ہوں. ایسے خوف میں ہر سرسراہٹ، ہر آہٹ کسی انجان تکلیف کا پیامبر بن جاتی ہے. اس خوف میں جینے والے افراد ہی ساکت ہوا کے احساس کو سمجھ پاتے ہیں. یہ خوف کن سے ہے، شاید مقبرے بنانے والوں سے، یہ مقبرے بنانے والے کون ہیں؟ اربابِ اختیار ! اربابِ اختیار جب کتبہ فروش بن جائیں تو خوف کے بادل کیونکر چٹھیں گے. دل میں جب خواہش ہو کہ  آنکھ کھلے تو برسوں سے ساکت ہوا کو محسوس کر سکیں اور آنکھ کھلے تو خوف کے بت اور اس کے حواریوں کا وجود نہ ہو،  تو بغاوت کا پہلا بیج پھوٹ آتا ہے.  اس خوف کے احساس کا مناسب سدباب نہ ہونا،  بغاوت کے بیج سے پھوٹی کونپل کو تناور درخت بننے میں مددگار ثابت ہوتا ہے.

معاشرے میں بہت سے ایسے افراد ہیں جو اسی خوف میں زندگی بسر کر رہے ہیں اور یہ خوف ان کی ذہنی اور نفسیاتی نشوونما میں منفی کردار ادا کرتا ہے.  اہل اقتدار جو اس خوف کا باعث ہیں، ان سے اس کے سدباب کے حوالے سے کسی اقدام کی توقع نہیں کی جا سکتی. ان افراد کو اپنے رعب تلے رکھنے کے لیے ان کو عموماً بنیادی ضروریات زندگی سے محروم یا ان سہولیات کا حصول ان کے لیے مشکل بنا دیا جاتا ہے. گو کہ حکومت وقت ایسے کسی بھی اقدام کا اقرار نہیں کرتی،  مگر اگر کسی خاص علاقے کے لوگوں کو بنیادی سہولیات اور حقوق  کی فراہمی کے معاملے میں حکومتی رویہ غیر سنجیدہ ہو،  یا صرف کاغذوں کی حد تک عوامی فلاح و بہبود کے کام ہوں تو یقیناً وہ علاقہ اور علاقہ مکین پسماندگی کا شکار رہیں گے. وسائل کی تقسیم ایک ایسا ہتھیار ہے جس کو بروئے کار لا کر حکومت ان لوگوں کا استحصال کر سکتی ہے جو حکومتی نظریہ سے متفق نہ ہوں.

افراد میں یہ احساس کے اہل اقتدار حقیقتاً مداوا نہیں بلکہ غاصب ہیں،  ان کو اپنے حق کے لیے آواز اٹھانے پر مجبور کرتا ہے.  یہ شور غاصب کو ایسا ناگوار گزرتا ہے کہ ان افراد کو نہ صرف غداری کی تہمت کا بوجھ اٹھانا پڑا بلکہ ان کے اہل خانہ پر بھی زندگی تنگ کر دی جاتی. حاکم کو اس صورتحال میں یہ نہیں بھولنا چاہیے کے اگر تکلیف اور پریشانی مشترک ہو جائے تو یہ افراد کو ایک مضبوط رشتہ میں باندھ دیتے ہیں.

ایسے بہت سے غدار زندگی کی بازی ہار گئے اور بہت سے کوئی نشانی چھوڑے ایسے غائب ہوئے کے پیچھے رہ جانے والے دربدر کی ٹھوکریں کھاتے رہے اور اپنے پیاروں کی زندگی کا سوال کرتے رہے. اس امید پر جیتے رہتے ہیں کہ زندہ نہیں تو موت کی خبر ہی دے دو،  کوئی آخری نشانی ہی دے دو،  اس دکھ میں کڑھتے ہیں کہ ہم سے اچھا تو قابیل تھا کہ جس نے بھائی کو قتل کیا،  گناہ کیا، مگر اس کے پاس بھائی کی لاش تو تھی،  یہاں تو بہت سوں کو لاش بھی نصیب نہ ہوئی اور بہت سے ایسے ہیں کہ جو اپنے پیارے کے دیدار کے بعد اس کے چہرے پر موجود کرب کو بھلائے نہ بھلا پائے.

یہ جو اپنے پیاروں کی تلاش میں سوالات کرتے ہیں، ان کے سوالات کا جواب وہ کیوں دیں کہ ان کا مفاد اسی میں ہے کہ طاقت کے بل پر حکومت کی جائے. یہ طاقتور تعصب کی عینک اتاریں،  اور یہ مت بھولیں کے جہاں خطا ہے وہاں سچ اور خلوص بھی ہے.  ایسا نہ ہو کہ اپنا دامن بچا کر چلنے والوں کے معاملات میں ان سے کوئی خطا ہو جائے.   

اہل اقتدار جو حکومت قائم رکھنے کے لیے ظلم کی راہ اختیار کرتے ہیں اور دشمنی اور بدلہ لینے کی آرزو میں حد سے تجاوز کر جاتے ہیں،  وہ خود ہی اپنے لیے ایک ایسی راہ متعین کر لیتے ہیں جو دیکھنے والوں کو ان کے زوال کے آغاز سے آگاہی دے دیتا ہے. مظلوم کو بھی یقین رکھنا چاہیے کہ بدبختی سدا ساتھ نہیں رہتی.  وقت کے ساتھ اس کا اثر زائل ہو جاتا ہے. اس حقیقت کو بھی تسلیم کرنا چاہیے کہ انسان جتنی بھی کوشش کر لے اس کے لیے بہترین پناہ گاہ خدا کی زات ہے، وہی چارہ گر ہے اور منصف اعظم ہے.

 First Published by DunyaNews

 http://blogs.dunyanews.tv/urdu/?p=2204

Muslim Miniature Artist

Here is a link to my blog published by DUNYA NEWS, Pakistan. Language of blog is urdu. This blog was published on May 26, 2016.

LINK

http://blogs.dunyanews.tv/urdu/?p=831

Summary
Styles and techniques of miniature art developed by the Muslim artist of Persia, Ottoman Empire and Mughal Empire of India.

1. Techniques of Illumination, Gilding, Color development, Calligraphy, Border work and Binding are briefly discussed with sample work by great artist of that era.
2. Among Style one which was adopted by Muslim miniature artist, was to hide any mark of identification which can help in tracking the artist who did work on that particular piece of art.

Inspiration
Blog is inspired by the novel 'My Name is Red' by Orhan Pamuk.

Journalism & Flattering - Social Evil

Awad ud din Anwari was a Persian language poet, he was born in modern day Turkmenistan. His famous work is 'Tears of Khorasan'.

He is known for his panegyric poetry, it is said that he once told Sultan Sanjar, that if he appoint him his court poet, he will never be bored. Anwari was so skilled in eulogies and was confident of his laudatory poetry required to please Sultan. He once said to Sultan

"To sing praise and laud for someone else but you Is like performing the ablutions with sand at seashore"

Unfortunately majority of our Pakistani journalist are doing the same thing, few are writing laudatory essays on the performance of our politicians and few are writing panegyric for military. You can feel that in their programmes, very few gives the impression of neutral opinion.  Some are unduly praising the work of military and other are blindly defending the politicians.
Anwari once said to Sultan after being offered stale vinegar

"I asked for wine and you gave me stale vinegar
Such that, should I drink it, I should rise up at the resurrection like pickled meat".

Under all conditions they will defend their worldly Gods.

First Change Yourself

Hillel, a famous Jewish scholar was once visited by group of pagans, and they told Hillel that they will convert if Hillel can recite whole Torah standing on one leg.
Hillel stood on one leg and said "do not do unto other, what you would not have done unto you, this is whole Torah and rest is commentary, go and learn"
Religion is not only about believing on things, it is about believing and then practically implementing those things in your life. If you preach people to speak truth and you, yourself do not bother telling petty lies then first you need to look into yourself.

(Karen Armstrong quoted Hillel in one of her interview)

A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

Book: A history of God
Author: Karen Armstrong
Info: God as explained by philosophers, mystics of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Review:
I took a lot of time to finish this book, and truth is that it is not an easy book to read. Parts in the book which highlight work of Muslim philosophers, mystics and other personalities were easier as there names sound familiar to me.
To enjoy this book, either you should have good knowledge of historical figures who contributed in  Judaism, Christianity and Islam or else you should prepare yourself for a lot of googling.
I must say that after reading this book, i learned many new things and it made me think about God in a different way, it helped me in better understanding of my God. Those interested in the religion, philosophy, Mysticism should read this book. For the first time i realized remarkable similarities in the three Abrahamic religions, and specially the similarities in Islam and Judaism.

Here is a review by Gohar: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1413757549

My Name is Red- Orhan Pamuk

BOOK : My Name is Red
Author: Orhan Pamuk
Info: original version is in Turkish, My Name is red is a English translation. In Pakistan Urdu translation is available 'Surkh Mera Naam', Urdu translation is by Huma Anwar
Review:

For me this was the first time reading a novel written in a style in which every character is speaking to you, and i liked this style, as it helped me in building a better connection with every character.
I believe this is not a book which you can finish in two days, it requires time and careful reading and as in my case where i am not at all familiar with painting and other related stuff, i had to keep my focus to absorb the fine details.
To enjoy the book you should picture yourself as someone having a cup of coffee and listening to a friend across a table. This is a must read novel for all those who have interest in painting/ sketching etc. Specially young artists growing up in central Asia, middle east and south Asia must read this. I am sure they will understand few things quicker than many other.
This book introduces reader with Islamic style of paintings and how that is different from western style or as in the novel it is called Venetian style. Before reading this, i saw miniature art many times but i never realise the depth in them, i never thought about the reason behind the development of this form of art. i never thought the stories hidden in them, it has introduced me to a wonderful form of art and for that i am grateful to orhan.
In addition to a book on art, i also consider this a book in which the concept behind the use of certain color, certain way of sketching, certain style of painting and use of certain tools is explained in a different way.
after reading this i realised that majority of artist across globe now follows Venetian style which was presented as something substandard and against the Islamic principle throughout the book.

Here is a review by Gohar: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1386793271

Surkh Mera Naam Bu Huma Anwar

Right choices for Right destiny

Do you believe in destiny, or do you believe that everything is in the hand of an individual, and its the person himself who make his/her destiny. Its an old question, but there can be only two answer, either you believe that some supreme power is holding the strings of your destiny or you do not believe at all on any such power and firmly believe that it is your own effort and struggle that will make your destiny. If you are an atheist most probably you will go with the later thought, else if you are a traditionalist in religion, you might prefer the former.

I consider myself in second group, but i also believe that destiny to much extent is in our own hand. God has definitely marked two end points i.e. our beginning and our end, He has also marked various paths that leads to that end point, but He has left the decision to choose the path upon an individual. In the end we will reach that pre-determined destiny but the path to that destiny is all dependent on our choices. It is extremely important for any individual to make the right choices, because ultimately he will get what is there in his destiny, one way or another. 

Right choices varies from person to person, it can be considered as a mathematical equation with more variable than number of equations, there are absolutely no definite right choices, its a very subjective term. Important is to study, to explore, to observe, to read, to ask, and then determine right choices in the light of your own thoughts.

Start looking at choices you have made so far, and the choices you'll going to make in near future. Doesn't matter you identified yourself as an atheist or a believer. 

Inter-religion Similarities

Today when we look at prevailing rituals in different religions, we realise the similarities between them, irrespective of the monotheistic or polytheistic religious philosophy.
I believe the reason behind it is that every religion which exist now or the religions which are dead now, they all got the basic learning of their belief from one common source, a source which is known by different names in different religions.
Monotheist believe in one God, and that one God of monotheist is also at the core of polytheistic religion, only difference being that human since birth are prone to believe on things which they can physically see, to make them sound more confident of their belief they started creating Gods and Goddesses for their every need. This lack of faith gave rise to mythical stories related to Gods, which ultimately paved way for mythical religion of past and present.
Going by the concept of monotheistic belief i can say that since beginning of time there was only God, and that God conveyed the same message to every human through His prophets, messengers, saints etc. Human due to their lack of understanding and faith, started creating their own Gods and forgot the teaching of that one God which were conveyed to them by their ancestors.  I feel this is the primary reason that today we see the similarities in various rituals performed by the followers of different religions.

Car Registration Renewal, UAE

From financial point of view last month was worst for me, my car registration was expired and i thought to renew it, i paid for the insurance and over speeding fines before going for registration, in fact it was due to fines that i didn't go for renewal in time otherwise registration do not costs you a lot.

At the registration office i got the token and left my car in the inspection & testing bay and went inside the waiting lounge to get my test certificate. A shock was waiting for me, the woman handed me the test report and told its fail. This was the news i wasn't expecting. After reading the report i found it was due to rear tires both needed to be replaced.

I went to the tire replacement shop and asked them about the price, earlier i thought to change only two but then i decided to change all four. Got four new tires and went back again for inspection. I was praying to get a pass certificate this time, which i did. Later i waited for almost two hours for my turn to get to counter and get my new registration card.

Before i left for registration office i expected to come back in two hours but unfortunately it took me six hours.

My advice is to avoid over speeding, always look for speed limit when you go to a new road or when you are unsure of speed limit, inside city do not go above 80 in all cases you never know where is the camera. Before entering any city like abu dhabi, fujairah try not to go above 100.
For tire replacement better to go to ENOC, Emarat they have tires in different price range and they offer tire change and balancing after every 10,000km.

I got my insurance from RAK bank, i guess many other banks also offer car insurance and price range is almost same for all except those who getting from Zurich insurance which is super expensive.

With time we change

وقت انسان کو اپنے حالات سے سمجھوتہ کرنا سکھا دیتا ہے، ایک دور تھا جب دل میں کسی ذمہ داری کا خوف نہ تھا،کسی فیصلہ سے پہلے اس کے اپنی زندگی پر اثرات اور اپنے سے جڑے دوسرے لوگوں پر ہونے والے اثر پر کبھی غور نہیں کیا تھا، خواہش تھی کہ زندگی ایک آزاد پرندے کی مانند ہو،  ایسی زندگی جس میں کوئی معاشرتی و معاشی قید نہ ہو،  زندگی جس میں کوئی سوال و جواب،  کوئی روک ٹوک نہ ہو،  مگر وقت بہت بے رحم ہے یہ جہاں زخموں کو مندمل کرتا ہے تو وہاں بہت سے خواب ٹوٹنے پر اپنے حالات سے اکتفا کرنا بھی سکھا دیتا ہےاور ایسی ہزاروں حسرتیں انسان دل میں لیے زندگی کے کاروبار میں ایسا مصروف ہوتا ہے کہ وہ خود اپنے ہاتھوں سے اپنی بہت سی خواہشات کا قتل کر دیتا ہے اور یہ کہ کے اپنے آپ کو تسلی دے لیتا ہے کہ یہ شاید میری قسمت میں ہی نہ تھا اور جو ہوتا ہے اسی میں کوئی بھلائی ہوتی ہے.

Pearl in Ash

عقل اور محبت دو مختلف مادہ سے بنے ہیں، عقل لوگوں کو آپس میں باندھتی ہے اور کچھ بھی داؤ پر نہیں لگاتی،  لیکن محبت تمام الجھنوں کو تحلیل کر دیتی ہے اور ہر چیز داؤ پہ لگا دیتی ہے،  عقل ہمیشہ احتیاط برتتی ہےاور نصیحت کرتی ہے کہ خبردار بہت مزے کر لیے بہت خوشی منا لی،  جبکہ محبت کہتی ہے کہ فکر نہ کرو اور اس خوشی کے سمندر میں ایک اور ڈبکی لگا لو،  عقل کو اتنی جلدی زیر نہیں کیا جا سکتا اس کو توڑا نہیں جا سکتا، جبکہ محبت بنا کسی مشقت کہ پل بھر میں راکھ کا ڈھیر بن جاتی ہے،  لیکن خزانے اسی بکھری ہوئی محبت کے ڈھیر میں بکھرے ہوتے، اک ٹوٹا ہوا دل بہت سے انمول جواہر چھپانے ہوئے ہوتا ہے.
(ایلف شفق)

Holy Cow

Pakistan is a place, where if you say a word against the Army, you will be labeled as a traitor. It is understandable that one should not malign the national institute, but then what about the other national institutes, which every one in this country love to ridicule and bash. Surprising thing is i have seen serving military personnel making fun of there own supreme commander i.e. Prime Minister on social networks, and if any politician or analyst or a common person say anything against the policy of military in Pakistan (remember commenting on a policy is different from mocking any individual ) these so called flag bearer of patriotism jump on to that person with all there propaganda of patriotism, loyalty and national interest.
Tolerance level have reduced to alarming level, we are always ready to put a label of traitor or kafir on any one whose ideas are slightly different from us. We should seriously try to make our new generation tolerant and resilient enough to listen to alternative view point with patience.
Discussing ideas always open up new arenas.

Mongolia- Time to invest

Mongolia is a land locked country, extremely cold with large area and very little population. It is a peaceful country and has abundance of natural resources. Most of us have heard the name of chengaiz khan who was a Mongol warrior and later his successors founded the most brutal era of human history in which millions of men and women were killed.

Later successors of chengaiz conquered India (modern day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh) and ruled the region for centuries. So in a way we have some connection with modern day Mongolia.

Now a day Mongolia is one place which has a lot of potential of  growth and development, more than 60% of population is below 30 and these young people growing up in the age of internet have much more knowledge and desire to succeed than their ancestors. They are getting themselves acquainted with the western society and aspire to be like them which is driving them to improve there life style and have a better life .

Mongolian Nomads

Mongolian are moving from there traditional life style to urbanized way of life. As a general rule when societies grow new business opportunities comes up, which make Mongolia one of those places in world which require foreign investors to come and fulfill the demands of developing society. Although there are many developing countries in the world but if you will look around you will find most of those are already conquered by big corporations, which makes it hard for small business man to penetrate in it, but Mongolia is one such place where even small investor can invest and make big money.

Mongolian Capital- Ulan Bator 

Being an engineer i can say, there is a lot of potential for even small engineering design and services companies to make big money, as Mongolia is rich in minerals and a lot of business opportunities are available in mining, power, oil & gas and petrochemical sector. Now is the time for countries like Pakistan and small entrepreneur to start looking for opportunities in such countries, our companies can go over there and explore possible opportunities. Its like British used to conquer different territories about 300 years ago, and make use of that by doing business with them, now off course new way of conquering is to develop economic bonds.

Chabahar, Gawadar Port & Gas Pipelines

India is making huge investment in Iran, along side the more popular news, circulating in media of development of chabahar port in iran by India, India and Iran are planning to build a gas pipe line via Arabian Sea and it will bypass Pakistan. Other than this India is developing a road and railway network from south of Iran to Afghanistan. This link will provide an easy route to access landlocked countries of central Asia. The good thing about Indian foreign policy is that they have not limited there economic ties to few countries like Pakistan did. India have very good trade relation with China, they might have some territorial differences with them but both the countries have realised that it is worthless to fight for those barren lands in north rather it is much more important to develop strong trade and economic relations. Similarly when it comes to defence Indian unlike Pakistan have come out of this mentality of Soviet block and US block, now they have signed defence deals with Russia and at the same time they are dealing with US and many other European countries as well. On the other hand Pakistan is still sticking with the old ways, i cannot understand what our foreign policy makers or defence analyst and economic gurus are doing, why they cannot convince the government to adopt a neutral policy and go for the option which is good for the people, if India can bypass the international sanctions and do business with Iran, then why can't Pakistan do that. Why Pakistan have to go and buy Qatar LNG, when a gas at lower cost is available next door, if India can fly in and start infrastructure project in Iran, then why can't Pakistan start same project that will provide high quality road and railway between Balochsitan and Sistan, and if Pakistan intend to start and work on such projects, it will be at a much lesser cost.
It is important for us to know that Gawadar as portrayed in media is no special port, it is no different from Chabahar which is few miles away, tidal and climatic conditions are exactly same, but it can only be made special if we start developing strong relationship with our neighbour, rather than looking some power thousands of miles away.

Pakistan Should Give Top Priority to Baluchistan

Growing up in the urban area of punjab will never help you in realizing the fact that people in baluchistan do not even have access to resources that originates in there land and you thousand of miles in islambad are enjoying its benefits. We did the same mistake in bangladesh when we treated them as worthless and did not give them their due share in government, administration and other affairs of the country. Unfortunately we are committing same mistake in baluchistan, it is the largest province in pakistan, with abundance of natural resources and still the poorest among all. Educational, health, road networks, transportation are poor in that part,  majority of natural gas in pakistan is supplied from Sui and other gas fields in baluchistan, still there are many areas around Sui and most part of baluchistan,  which has no natural gas. Just be honest with you and ask yourself whether punjabis ( which are in majority in Pakistani military, government and bureaucracy) have done justice with baluch, and then you blame them of starting a freedom movement,  muslims of india started the movement for Pakistan because they felt that they are not given the due share in any matter of state and it happen every where in world, where any ethnic group of people are sidelined, a time will come when they rise against the dominating ethnic group in that region, and they adopt every mean (peaceful dialogue or a brutal war) to get there rights.
Majority of people living in Punjab cannot even name more than two cities in baluchistan, if you ask them to pinpoint a city like naushki on a map they will take a while to do that,yet they enjoy the wealth of that land and if someone speak against this unbalanced distribution of resources ansd wealth he is labeled as a traitor and an agent of foreign powers.

زندگی

خوشی کے چند لمہے اور اذیت کے ناختم ہونے والے لمحات، یادوں کا عذاب اور ان کے ساتھ جینا، سوچ کا نہ ختم ہونے والا سلسلہ اور ہر شے میں ان گزرے پلوں کو ڈھونڈنا،   زندگی کی تلخ حقیقت میں سے ایک ہے.