Our Youth-A blessing or a Curse

In a country, where 63% of the total population is concentrated below the age of twenty five years, formulation of political policies that support the youth are in one word-essential! The proportion of younger generation in the country is at its peak. While this would generally be something positive for any other country because it would mean that there would be presence of a larger working class; for a developing country like ours the situation is quite alarming.
Due to the slow economic growth coupled with inefficient political policies on behalf of the government for the future of our youth, Pakistan now faces another major concern. We do not have enough employment opportunities for our massive younger generation. In November 2009, the New York Times (NYT) while citing a report, commissioned by the British Council, wrote that “Pakistan will face a ‘demographic disaster’ if it does not address the needs of its young generation, the largest in country’s history, whose views reflect a deep disillusionment with the government and democracy.” Even though, this change in the country’s demographics can serve as a ‘demographic gift, ’in the form of a surge in the relative size of the working-age population and the youth within the working-age population for Pakistan, mismanagement on government’s behalf can turn this blessing into a disaster. Unemployment along with inflation, corruption and lack of power and gas facilities can force this huge population to exhort to extreme measures resulting in an overall increase in the countries unrest. Unemployment is not only an issue for the uneducated lot but also for many educated people. There is a huge pressure in the job market as there are lesser employment opportunities and greater number of graduates. Also, an inability to find employment for long period creates a sense of vulnerability, uselessness and idleness among young people and can heighten the attraction of engaging in illegal activities. There is also a proven link between youth unemployment and social exclusion. In both rural and urban areas, young people who complete education and are from socioeconomically advantaged backgrounds are likely to make the transition to work more smoothly, while the economically disadvantaged and socially excluded may face greater difficulties. Furthermore, employability of Pakistani youth in decent livelihood activities is also not very promising. Very few opportunities exist in the formal sector, which has been shirking for some time, for educated youth. Given this situation, the informal sector stands as a leading absorber of the labor force in the country. However, socio-cultural factors exert a strong influence on individuals' career choices in Pakistan. There are powerful norms around what economic roles an individual can or cannot perform based on his or her wealth, education, caste and gender. By and large, our society is averse to manual work and jobs involving "sweat and grease" are considered undesirable. Such perceptions are particularly strong among the relatively wealthy and educated, who prefer "clean jobs" (desk-based, clerical, supervisory or administrative positions). It has often been observed that the educated can remain voluntarily jobless for long periods of time in their search for the right form of employment. Thus, this further complicates the issue of unemployment in the country.
This youth potential if properly harnessed can bring a socio-economic revolution in Pakistan. All over the world youth is being given prime importance in future policy making due to rapidly evolving knowledge base; new and emerging technologies; ever growing potential of social and economic networking in modern times; and livelihood challenges .Thus, proper and timely management by the government can turn this ‘nightmare on the street’ to prosperity.

Unique Education System

A country which harbors discrepancy not only in its social system but also in the education system for the various socio economic classes does not hold much room for positive change. Education is the basic right of each and every citizen, whether he or she belongs to the elite class or is from the slums around the country. However, it is also important that the education system provided is a fair one. Taking note of this point, it should be realized that the more we privatize our educational system, the gap between the level of education provided for the rich and the poor increases. This results in a certain level of unrest and dissatisfaction amongst the masses. Here, I would like to point out that I am by no means against the private educational institutions because they are doing what they can to improve our deteriorating levels of education. However, in this way only a specific group of wealthy individuals who can afford to pay the hefty amounts can afford the high level of education. The question that needs to be addressed then is that what about the remaining people? Having a population of eighteen crore people, it is no easy task to make sure that they are all literate!

However, to ensure that the kids in the” peeli wardi” get the same level of education as the kids in the private educational systems, we have to make some very fundamental changes in the way things are monitored. Our perceptions play a vital role in shaping our image of the world. Perceptions about things start to develop the moment we take a step out in this world. It cannot be denied that schools play a strong part in molding children’s perceptions. The process of thinking is without doubt something that should be free and unique to an individual but the skills required to think should be inculcated in the core syllabus in schools. In this way, the difference between what is right and wrong can be judged by children themselves.

A unique syllabus should be assigned in all schools whether they are government institutions or private. The child studying in a private school should by no means have an advantage over someone studying at a government institution. There should be patience and a certain level of respect amongst the youth for each another. They should learn to consider others opinions with an open mind. This would further enhance the sense of equality between children. It is important that the sense of obeying rules should be infused in students at a very young age. Things like not breaking traffic signals and observing the speed limit etc should be laws that should be mandatory to follow. Again the perception that rules are meant to be broken should be treated like long gone clichés.

Our future generation should have the guts to stand up for what they think is right and condemn the evil doers. They should not be fearful of failure in life knowing that each end gives us an opportunity for rebirth. Thus, making sure that all the students receive the same education can help our country in the future because these children are what our country depends on for its prosperity.

Blink!

Some places don't need any explanation. The message is best conveyed through the picture itself<3

'Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining'

I came across this beautiful poem written by Coelho, and thought it was important that i share his insights about life. The beauty with which the words flow with each other is enthralling. It is for all the people out there who have been hurt, cheated upon or slandered-Learn the art of forgiveness. And believe that whatever hardships youre facing now would help to make you into a better person tomorrow. Have faith and hope for the best. And believe in the saying that every cloud has a silver lining. Sometimes things even though they get cliche never lose their value. 


Prayer Of Forgiveness


The tears I shed, I forgive.
The suffering and disappointments, I forgive.
The betrayals and lies, I forgive.
The slandering and scheming, I forgive.
The hatred and persecution, I forgive.
The punches that were given, I forgive.
The shattered dreams, I forgive.
The dead hopes, I forgive.
The disaffection and jealousy, I forgive.
The indifference and ill will, I forgive.
The injustice in the name of justice, I forgive.
The anger and mistreatment, I forgive.
The neglect and oblivion, I forgive.
The world with all its evil, I forgive.
Grief and resentment, I replace with understanding and agreement.
Revolt, I replace with music that comes from my violin.
Pain I replace with oblivion.
Revenge, I replace with victory.I will be able to love above all discontentment.
To give even when I am stripped of everything.
To work happily even when I find myself in the midst of all obstacles.
To dry tears even when I am still crying.
To believe even when I am discredited.

Are We Alone?

I walk a lonely road

the only one that I have ever known

Don't know where it goes
But it's home to me and I walk alone...

These lyrics harbor this mysterious charm for me. Maybe it is because of the fact that they are true that they have made it into my heart. And i'm not referring to any broken hearts or screwed up relationships here-I am simply mentioning our lives in this context. We come alone in this world and eventually make it away from earth all alone too. Some people might argue that we are born to our parents and into loving families so we are not alone. But truth be told our parents, our families, spouses and children etc are all there because they support this system of life. Man has been created as a social animal so that he can support the way this life goes. They make this cycle go round and round. In reality, we are all alone. Though we make friends and have relationships but eventually they are not eternal too and like everything else in this world, they come to a fullstop and we are left alone once more.

My story, Your story, Our story

And isn't it strange how a single apple can make us discover something that was oblivious for thousands of years! An apple that changes the course of history and defines our future in that one instance! Because truth be told, without it we wouldn't have come so far. Our men would have never made it to the moon. And well we wouldn't have any alien mythologies in our lives:P
An apple falls in everyones life in one form or another-those who identify it and analyze the story of their fallen apple get the fame. Those who don't, they die without having fulfilled their true aim.

CHEERS FOR NEWTONS APPLE!

What Is War-A Child's Perspective

In the down trodden abject meandering streets of the Afghani City Kabul, a little girl of about six years sat with her face placed down on her lap on the door steps of a dilapidated building. Someone observing the scene from a distance might have mistaken her for a dirty rag in the middle of utter state of quietness; for all around her, the once gay and bustling with life cocoon of a city had now turned into a mere state of wretched disaster. Blood puddles had given the streets a red hue, there was rubble all around and the odor of rotting human flesh made the place quite unbearable. But still amongst this debris, the little creature sat still-looking very frail indeed!

 The big black hound down the street who was feasting on the remains of the once alive inhabitants of this town looked up, observing this epsilon of a creature with great interest. He had been used to little girls shrieking with disgust and fright when they saw him but this one did not even nudge a little. God had not blessed him with enough grey matter to give the subject much thought so he went on to fill his appetite, shoving what seemed like a shin with his teeth.

The little girl looked up as the sun shifted angles so that bright light emanated her cherubic face. The glow that lighted up her large hazel eyes was shocking! She picked up a large metal rod-probably some part of the destroyed car on her left- and threw it with all her might at the black devil that was heartlessly ripping apart the shin now. He howled with pain as it gashed his hind leg and leaped towards the girl ready to take her down!

The girl shouted at him, saying something in a language foreign to his ears. But the fury that possessed her soul intimidated him. He stopped short of her, looked up at her ardently furious face; howled loudly and ran off. Soon the strength in her gave way to the overwhelming amounts of agony and bitterness and she bowed down on her knees, darkness enveloping her slowly.

She fainted!

The sun was setting down when she opened her eyes. "Ama", she shouted. "AMAAA", the girl retorted again restlessly, expecting her mother to come and pick her up!  She was about to shout the third time when the ugly realization dawned upon her and she got up with despair raging against her fragile lungs. Seeing herself sprawled down over the rubble and her once beautiful house destroyed to smithereens, she started to cry. Gushes of tears rolled down her angelic mud stained face. She cried for everything.... It felt as if someone had sucked the soul out of her leaving her in this chaos to figure out her own future! The plump kind face of her late mother came before her eyes and she toppled over in her anguish. Her father’s loving remarks, her elder brothers jeering taunts and then the 'ladoos' that he used to bring for her when she was sad reeled in front of her eyes. "Bhai, rashaaa", she screamed again and again in her native tongue pushto, still crying. She wanted him to come back, her parents to come back. She could endure a lifetime of fights with him, only if he would come back. Where did everyone go? Why did they leave her, Sarah, in this mess all alone?!

All that she remembered was how her mother had shielded her when "agha" had rushed into the house screaming that they were about to get bombed and hidden her brother, Sultan, behind him. In a flash of a few seconds, she had heard the bombs being dropped, the shouts of her neighbors, Sultan, Ama and Agha and the crashing down of the buildings until their own house came down right before her eyes. Her loving Ama had sacrificed her own life for Sarah by towering her own body above hers. Ama had died. Agha had died. Sultan had died. But Sarah had survived! Sarah still had the little ragdoll that Ama had made for her when she was a little baby. Sarah had called her "Anzah" when she was one, which originally was just a baby mumble of hers but over the years everyone started to associate it with the dark haired woolen doll of hers. Sarah had never slept without Anzah.  And now Anzah was still there in her hand, but the woman who made her-her beloved Ama- was dead!

It had been on the news for months that the Americans were at war against the talib people, but she had never cared about all that stuff. In her world all that mattered was her Ama, her agha, the rude Sultan, her school and her friends. She did not know what bomb was. Neither could she ever imagine that the people she loved could die. War, pain, death were just another couple of foreign words in the dictionary: only until yesterday! It was when her world had changed. Changed forever!

She knew as much that her agha had been a friend to the American people. He wanted the Al- Qaida rule to stop. He advocated peace! But then why was he killed by those same allies of his. Her little brain searched for answers, but for a girl of six understanding that his father had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time and her family had been killed because of a mistake were ideas that never occurred. To the innocent soul, who could not even hurt a fly, the idea that people could perish just because of someone’s mistake were alien mythologies. She ravished for answers but could not come to a conclusion.

In her world, only the bad people died. The villain always got killed in the stories like in lion king and Aladdin! Her agha had been a good man. She had seen him helping the poor and the destitute many a times when she had gone with him to the bazar for shopping. She had seen him speak kind words to the sick. He had been an emblem of goodness and high morality for her.

It was night by the time she walked out of her array of thoughts. She Shivered! The cold winter winds were blowing past her and freezing her to the bones. The little warmth provided by the bright afternoon sun had diminished. She tightly wrung the worn out burgundy shawl around her shoulders and got up. It had been two days since she had a single bite to eat. The tears, pain, loss and cold of the past forty hours had squelched the little remaining life out of her. She needed food, water, a warm fire and some clothes - in short she needed a home!

The ruins of her own house brought back the wonderful memories to her mind but she was too exhausted to even shed a tear. She rummaged in the ruins and found a stale loaf of bread for which in the present circumstances, she was thankful to Allah. Then she scrambled inside the ruins of her home and lied down on her broken cot. A deep slumber overcame her and she drifted off in her dreams......She saw Ama, Agha, Sultan! But this time they were there for real, for the little innocent soul had joined her family in heaven!

Next morning, when the paramedics arrived they saw her lying in a rusty old cot. Her lips had gone blue due to the cold and the thump of her little heart had stopped forever. The wild cold winds had vacuumed the soul right out of her weakened malnourished body!!!