Smile-A Bliss Divine

Among the countless blessings of your Lord
This is the one
That makes its own way
That flows like stream
That relieves an exhausted soul
That soothes a heart broken
That brings courage, to the one who failed

Nothing but a gentle smile!

It might begin for untold reasons
Uncertain as child's dreams
Be it a lover's sight
Or kittens' playful fight
Be it a flower sweet smelling
Or a kid's adorable smile
Be it pride for being someone's smile
Or a memory deep down
In the most cherished things' pile

It might be a dream
That you ever strive to materialize
Or thought of a day so important
That will change your life.

For any of the million reason
That ONLY you know
You smile...
Feel the warmth
Feel the joy
Of a bliss Divine!

Azadari, as I learnt.

Since the time when I got to know that I am a Shia and mourning the tragic incident of Karbala is part of my faith, I am observing people expressing hatred for Azadari and I used to think what makes Shias and Azadari so hateful by others.

Time passed by and I resolute to know what is Azadari, what is its objective and what do you learn from it. How is it related to the Legacy of Imam Hussain a.s. ; which is no doubt the Legacy of TRUTH. Here is what I learnt from Azadari and I believe there is a lot more to explore.

Azadari is no doubt the School of Hussain a.s, the school where newborn kids to feeble, old people sit and learn. Azadari is not only helping us to earn knowledge without discrimination of age and gender but also recalls us the lesson of equality. Equality which is among the fundamental principles of Islam. Equality, which makes us all to sit on the same ground without the discrimination of social status and wealth. I witnessed the presence of highly knowledgeable scholars to the government officials, young enthusiastic minds to the kids who don’t even know to walk, all sitting on the same Farsh-e-Aza and learning about Prophet (s.a.w.w) and his beloved people.

Azadari teaches me the real human values, when I cry for calamities of Hussain a.s and the oppression he faced, I learn to feel pain of every human that faces atrocities in any form. Not only this, I learn to react to this with the best of my abilities and if I am unable to do anything about it, the least I do is to pray for them with teary eyes.

Azadari teaches me to follow principles of Allah always, the principles which raise you to the peak of Human values. The values of being faithful, grateful, brave and disciplined, even when you have lost your beloved people. I witnessed the moment when a bomb blasted outside the Aza Khana and not even a single kid left his position, fearlessly sitting in their place with the strong conviction that life of the world is nothing in the way of TRUTH.

Azadari taught me how to think and answer the questions without being biased. It welcomes me to ponder that why Hussain a.s stood against Yazid, why Zainab s.a found the day of Ashur as a ‘beautiful sight’, why the meek companions of Prophet (s.a.w.w.) came from various parts of world to join Hussain’s Legacy a.s. and why a single drop of Hussain’s pure blood caused a foul-smelling wound on his murderer’s body.

Azadari teaches me to analyze my character, find my faults and compare myself with the companions of Hussain a.s. Azadari teaches me to stand for TRUTH with courage and steadfastness. Azadari teaches me to follow Hussain a.s., to be submissive to Allah even when nothing seems to be on your side. Nevertheless Azadari provides me a chance to repent if I ever leave the path of TRUTH and disobey my Lord.

Azadari teaches me to forget my pain and sorrows and remember the sorrows of Hussain a.s who was killed brutally while being innocent. It teaches me to say “Rizan be qazaehi wa tasleeman le amreh” . (We are happy with His will and carry out His command)

Azadari reminds me the duty of following and spreading the message of TRUTH. It is not a ritual which is performed every year, rather it is a responsibility as a follower of Hussain a.s to remember his stand always. For me, it is merely an obligation to do my bit for nurturing the cause of Hussain a.s. Indeed Azadari provides me an opportunity to give back for what Hussain a.s did for Muslim Ummah and whole Humanity.

Azadari as I observed is nothing but a methodology of communicating Imam Hussain’s message and nothing else. It was initiated by Zainab s.a to communicate the truth about Progeny of Prophet s.a.w.w. and their brutal murder, while thousands of misconceptions were created to hide their innocence. Even in this era, when enemies disguised in a friend’s face try to harm the spirit of Azadari, the prayer of Zehra s.a saves it from being affected. 

Point to Point by a point..

Third day of FE, I stepped into one of the points for the first time and to my surprise there were no vacant seats.  Some were reserved by keeping bags and on the remaining NED’s staff was seated. I stood silently behind the driver’s seat. First week in NED no experience of travelling in a point before and there I was, with no idea of what’s waiting for me.

By the time, more and students got in and the point turned into a honey comb; crowded, buzzing and suffocated but still the conductor was not satisfied and was shouting on the students to get even closer  to adjust more students.

To my relief, finally the point started. The fresh air from windows relieved me till the point took its first turn and I suddenly realized that I had nothing to hold on to. The girl behind me fell over me and I fell over the girl next to me. I felt if I was in a ‘roller coaster’ with no seat belts.                                                                                                                                                                                                          

In a few minutes we had reached the Point where a girl or two got off; which was a blessing in disguise. For the poor old conductor who could now stand up straight on both feet instead of hanging on to the door half suspended. The driver had to change the route because of a road -jam ahead.   Somehow we made it to point B in time but still couldn’t get rid of traffic -jam. I was getting irritated by the noise of sirens and gossips around me ‘Dekha!? Kaha than a main ny k she’s interested in him.’ This was the one of the crispy ones I tried to listen to.                                                                                                                                                     

Then started the best part of my trip: ragging. Now the seniors have identified the freshies in the point. Poor boys! The seniors made them do silly things like asking for money and lip gloss from the girls and blah blah blah… This was the most entertaining period of all; listening to all those seniors’ and juniors’ responses I was able to forget the crowd, the suffocation and traffic jam. I said to myself: ’Yar, it ain’t that bad.’

‘Spoken too soon’, some would say because just then we heard firing noise in close proximity. Everyone got frightened, the laughter just vanished, gossips stopped; the point was full and everyone was eager to go back home. The terror in point was frightening me. One of the boys told that some politician has been murdered and there’s probably going to be a strike tomorrow. Ringing phones were creating more panic. We could do nothing to relieve ourselves except praying.

At last, my prayers (or probably my parents’ prayers) were answered and the point after passing many points reached my stop. ’Ah! ’, What a relief!’. But now I’d to carry out the most complicated task: getting off the overflowing point. I just managed to bring myself to the gate but wait! It wasn’t over yet. I had forgotten my bag on the dashboard. The girls at the anterior helped me out. And finally I was lucky to get off the point messed up from head to toe.

After that day I appreciate the patience and courage of girls traveling by points because the trip in NED’s point made me realize: No matter what NEDIANs are the most tolerant of all.

My Religion used against me!

No matter what religion you follow, or which sect you believe in, religion is undeniably a power that holds together your thoughts; it impacts your perspective towards life and realities of life. Surely Islam, the best of the religions has the true power to turn a group of Bedouin into world’s greatest nations of culture, language and knowledge. Again, it was Islam that united the Muslims of Indo-Pak to unite and acquire their own homeland. Our religion, is no doubt our strength. But one’s strength could become his weakness if not handled properly.

I do not say that Islam is our weakness rather I say that our attitude towards Islam has become our weakness. That’s what I observed since I started analyzing things. History marks that whenever a politician wants to motivate the crowd, it starts referring to our Beloved Prophet (s.a.w.w), his companions and his family, specifically Imam Hussain (a.s) and his companions in Karbala. Be it be Tahir ul Qadri’s long march or Imran Khan’s motivating speeches about “Inqilab”, Dr Zulfiqar Mirza’s LIVE pledges on Quran or Altaf Hussain’s LIVE calls from London, it’s been a trend among politicians to stimulate the masses by their beliefs. And at the moment they can make you believe things that are not true.

Well, as far as these politicians follow their light of wisdom and their virtuous path, it’s an honor for the leaders and his supporters. But, unfortunately it is not the case. Very often, these politicians, who barely follow the Islamic politics, are using the names of these Holy men for their political benefits.  They use our STRENGTH against us.

A very clear evidence is the controversy of GEO Entertainment morning show, Utho Jago Pakistan. The blasphemy of Holy people is definitely a crime that should be punished but is that the love of these holy men why all competitors of GEO news are standing united? Isn’t there something fishy? Well, if you think you’ll find that there are a number of people taking advantage of the situation, raising points that are irrelevant and that goes in their favor. When I observed I concluded that people are being used as puppets, our love for a holy person is being exploited for their benefit. They light the match of extremism and wait for the consequences.

But WHY? That’s because we have stopped thinking impartially. Allah says in His Holy book Quran: “O ye who believe! If a wicked person comes to you with any news, ascertain the truth lest ye harm people unwittingly, and become full of repentance for what ye have done.” (Surah Alhujurat, Verse no. 6).  Allah clearly says that one should analyze the facts before he/she reacts. Before you come on roads for a religious or political cause, better identify if this act is justified or not, is it stimulated by someone or that’s what you really believe in. Simply think and anticipate before you act. Sadly most of us find it easy to follow others blindly.

I fear the day when this non-serious attitude of nation towards their beliefs will be exploited by our enemies for our own destruction. Think before you act, rightly said!

Don't underestimate the power of an engineer! Do never!

So often people call engineers as the ones who construct buildings or mend machines. Some say they are close to nature and other says they stick to robotic machines only. Many vague introductions of engineers and engineering have prevailed in society. It’s evident that a common man do not understand the role of this profession completely, at least not in a country like Pakistan. Even if someone asks an amateur engineer what his profession is, he/she might not be able to summarize the broad meaning of engineering in simplest words.

It’s an ultimate truth that the modern world is an astounding achievement of engineering. But was it possible to be where we stand today with the help of builders or mechanics only? Engineering is far ahead than these small things. Yes ENGINEERS do much more than that!

Engineers define engineering as a combination of knowledge and art of various sciences to solve a real time problem. Engineering is aimed to minimize the problems that humanity is facing presently or it might face in future. It creates means to make world a better and safer place to live in. Formally speaking, Engineering is an innovative application of the principles of Mathematics and natural sciences so as to design structures or apparatus, or to develop methods to achieve desired results with the best use of available resources while fulfilling the requirements of safety for humans and environment. Hence an engineer is the one who keeps an eye on all the mentioned things to crack the problems he or his customer is confronted to.

So where engineers actually work? Well, from skyscrapers to space crafts, speedy Ferrari to jet planes and submarines, great barrages to strong bridges, UPS at your home/office to huge power plants, electronic appliances in your kitchen to X-Ray machines to the prosthetic organs, Super computers to mini gadgets in your hands, Google to Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp; all the non-natural things around have been passed through the hands of various engineers before they come to you. They have worked out the theory to implement these great inventions.

Engineers have been an inspiration for themselves and for the rest of the world. They create things that scientists dream about. They study what has never come into existence yet. Be it be NASA Engineers or the one working in a small consultancy firm, an engineer creates solutions in its own capacity. Albert Einstein, the famous scientist, says: “Scientists investigate that which already is; Engineers create that which has never been.”

Couldn’t understand engineering yet? There you go! Engineering is the art of making a yummilicious milkshake with the ingredients of knowledge of Sciences and available technology, sweetened by Economics and garnished with the love of Nature. Of course the recipe remains incomplete without adding chunks of Mathematics. And the people who possess this art actually, are called ENGINEERS. 

P.S:If you are not a great engineer, you might say it exaggeration but that’s a reality. Don’t underestimate the power of an engineer! :p