Transferring from Blogspot

Ladies and Gentleman, My blog from now on can be viewed at

www.holygypsy.wordpress.com

I hope i would be seeing you all over there..

IReport CNN

This week ireport CNN did a report on the Tiananmen Square protest and how people were stopped or how the coverage was blocked. They criticized the strong censorship that the Chinese government has.. But the thing are we criticizing censorship or Chinese Government... cause if we are here to say that censorship i wrong and people should have the right to express their views openly and should have access to news openly.. then maybe even the USA should come under criticism as well...

During the war in Afghanistan and Iraq.. the Bush administration had censored the showing of the casualties and the return of the dead bodies and coffins from the war zone..

What we need to determine is that if censorship is wrong, then its wrong for all nations.. and you cant pick and choose who to criticize.. Or either ..ITS HIGH TIME THAT YOU LEAVE THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT ALONE...


http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jul/29/iraqandthemedia.usa

A MUST READ...

Obama and the 12th Imam

Barrack Hussein Obama should be unanimously accepted as the official 12th imam that was to come upon mankind to save us from the demons of the material world. And I think that his speech in Cairo would help to affirm that claim.

Bear with me as I reveal my thesis on this topic...

In the wake of the 9\11 massacre all of us, Muslims and non-Muslims started as one after the other the towers collapsed, and we sat deciding on how to react to it.. should we rejoice on the fate of the infidels who for so long have interfered in our socio-economic decisions, have overthrown our government, has given us the gifts like the Mujaheddin ( Now with a brand new name, The Taliban) - or should we be sad about innocent lives lost on that tragic morning.

I think that it was important for us to decide - but the decision wasn't that Grey as we made it out to be - it was simply black and white. Are you with the good guys or the bad guys?

Oh.. by good guys I in no way am referring to USA .. but simply mankind.

But this is what is really astonishing... as all of us chose are sides, and the majority being on the side of the Good guys.. We voiced our concerns and displayed our newly selected side everywhere - from media to blogs, from drawing room chats to rallies.. Lots of Muslim religious Leaders also blabbed about how this doesn't represent Islam and these people are not Muslims.. But here is the twist..

When Allama Iqbal wrote Shikwa an epic poem in which he complained to God about the affairs of the world, our same religious leaders in that time, hired a chartered plane.. went all the way to Kab'ah and got a Fatwa against him..

But no one has since the 9\11 bothered to do the same for these terrorist who claims lives every single day. If we have made up our choice that they are the "BAD GUYS" then why not get it done with and officially declare them the "BAD GUY" ..

So what link does that has to Obama being the Imam... See he is the one person who has finally voiced it that this religious war can only be won by taking religion as an arm against these terrorist. And as he is the only one to follow on the epiphany we should all hail before him..

For such a long time, these Taliban's have taken shelter under religious quotes and justifications to make their acts "OKAY" and none of our God-fearing religious leaders have had the guts to say that they are wrong.

But here rises a leader from the west.. hailing from the land of Islam itself.. who is the son of a common man .. and he voices what is necessary and he defeats the evil with he word of GOD himself and using no other rational, than the arms that the enemy has used for so long.

We in the Muslim world had the opportunity to do that, yet we once more were kicked by "THE OLD WHITE LORD".. or the "BLACK LORD" now actually...

So then why not accept this son of Hussein as to be our savior and to protect us from the enemy of Islam ( I am sure that the the majority of us have accepted that we are on the side of the Good Guys . It is he who has taken upon himself to solve our issues of Palestine and Israel and Iran... SO lets all hail the son of Hussein!

Institute of Architects Pakistan - Karachi Chapter is "Celebrating Architecture"

The Institute of Architects, Pakistan's Karachi chapter is currently holding IAPEX 2009 under the banner of "Celebrating Architecture". The Exhibition has studied the latest trends of exhibiting and the big names of the snob land and guest like Ameen J, Yousuf Bashir, Rizwan Beyg are becoming more prominent in this exhibition than architecture itself.

In any country this experiment would have been appreciated.. or already covered 10 years ago.. but the case of Pakistan is that not only are we 10 years late, we are doing something that is completely not of our context.

I don't mean to be a critic.. but the entire exhibition seems now to be a parade of big labels and names and the common man or lets call him - the middle income group- would find nothing that would be able to capture his "BUDGET."

We today are a nation that is unable to provide for the 70 percent of its population with decent housing, and the statistics say that it would take us many more years before we can reach that point. So when exhibition like these display topics that are better suited for some other time and place, it really makes me wonder.. HOW ARE THESE PEOPLE- THE FUTURE ARCHITECTS DOING TO DEAL WITH THE REALITY OF THE COUNTRY?

The program included an opening by Shazia Mari, the Information Minister... and what bugs me about this is did we not have enough great architects to celebrate that we need a politician to inaugurate.. which goes to prove my point..that IAPEX is more becoming a publicity stunt than an architectural exhibition.... Oh the closing ceremony has Dr.(?) Ishrat-ul-Ibad as its guest.

The show definitely had some high points too.. The presentation by Dr. Gulzar Haider of Beaonhouse University, Lahore was no doubt a wonderful way to start off the main program but again it lacked our context which he acknowledged and said that this would definitely make a great presentation.

The rest of the program was a big joint drama of how we are letting the old Karachi slip away from us.. and this has become the central theme of this exhibitions.. No one is ready to propose anything new as in a solution.. this time the mass mourning took a new turn when Najaf Bilgrami and Manizhe Ali showcased a film "One way traffic" - a nightmare of 6 min and 23 seconds which consisted of the famous "Bunder Road se Kemari" Song and very bad camera works.. with no conclusion what so ever.

I wouldn't say that the discussions and there were many.. weren't amazing. They were.The point that Dr. Gulzar made about what we need to do about Muslim architectural issues like the constructions at and around Kaaba should have been given more importance because these are the topics that are the contemporary issue of Muslim Community.


http://ilsul6ana.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/new-mecca-3.jpg

I think that architectural community of Pakistan needs to focus more on the region that they have then finding inspiration from outside world. The arguments of bringing arts and textiles and and fabrics are not our arguments.. 20 years from now they might make sense.. TODAY THEY DON'T.

IAPEX has always been a wonderful experience.. but as time goes by, they are losing their touch. They need to get back to the realities of our context and region.

What is Islam?

It is a sad situation that in a country called - or so called - Islamic Republic of Pakistan..that we as a nation lack the knowledge of our religion. Maybe this is the reason that we haven't been able to fight the war of Talibanization with the weapon of religious discussion itself.

Whenever the argument is given that the Islam of the Taliban's is right.. it really makes me wonder that on what basis is this being said and done. As Muslims we derive half of our interpretation of Quran and religion from the life and Sun'nah of the Prophet.. so then someone needs to tell me that at what point did this happen in the times of the Prophet?

At what time did women cover themselves up the way they do now with the hideous burqas (veils) that they have chosen to drape themselves in now?

At what time did veiling yourself was radicalized to a point where you even had to cover your eyes completely?

At what time did talking to men become wrong?

When were women not allowed to go out in Public during the times of the Prophet?

At what time were women told not to work or study?


The only way that this could be achieved today is by opening up different schools of thoughts, let it be religious or liberal. to come and research together the meaning of religion and what is it that is right or wrong according to the limits of the Quran?

It is only in religion that we would find the remedy for this epidemic called TALIBANIZATION.

we need to change the minds of people,we need for them to understand what Islam is. And that can only happen when we start to understand our religion again.


Recently, Arundhati Roy was in Karachi to be part of a program held under the banner of "Women reclaiming their place in society" and i asked my teacher who also attended the show about her views regarding this program. Her answer is something that we all should be working on. She said that the time for idealism is long gone and it is now time that we start taking some concrete steps to find a solution to the problems of Talibanization. It is now time for us to chalk out strategies.

Turkey recently did the same. To clear up the years of religious junk, exaggerated by wrong Hadiths and Sun'nah, they asked a panel of Religious Scholars to sit down and separate the genuine ones from the fake ones. This would result in clearing the religious understanding of so many people, and might even open up their minds to realize what is wrong with the Taliban's version of Islam!

Is it Karma?

Is it really true that what ever you do in this world will one day come back haunting you? no matter how much you try to hide away from it.. it still gets you somehow. Every thing you do in between simply goes down the drain, you keep standing there staring confused, bemused even sickened at times and just looking for answers.

Its ironic to see how drastically things can change in a matter of few moments, a mere gesture or even a phrase can bring years of trust crashing down. And how painful is it to realize that you were at fault all along while you thought just the opposite and accused others for the resentment.

There are times in life when you just cannot speak up due to circumstances, you believe your act can cause anguish for others and you really do care about them, but how would you tell them that? You question your own judgment and decisions, eventually you loose it till you find a solution. How do you do that? This is where karma plays its role... sooner or later you are on the receiving end of your own decisions.

Regrets become a constant... Need a few answers..

Wishing things

Is it really that wrong to wish for something? In life you wish for so many things and there are some that you do get.. but not all wishes have the same significance... for example the wish that "i want to eat an ice cream" compared to " i want to know where my life would finally take me " simply holds not much significance.

Sometimes you just want something, and the constant disappointment in the matter can be a reason for great concern for an individual. For example, you like some one and you really hope that you can understand how things would turn out with them.

You want to get into a nice university and you want to get in... and you work hard all your life for it.. and then you end up there.. and the question that might bother a few .. or many.. is "was this worth it.

As humans we all want to know how things would end up for us.. we all wish to know if we would get out happy endings.. cause the irony of life is that you work and dream of something.. and it is the joke that life plays on you.. by twisting and turning the entire thing upside down.

Islam, Taliban, Karachi and Me

As the threat of Islam grows increasingly in the backdrop of this country, it is becoming more and more a tool for many to use. It is shocking how groups and individuals within this group have been able to comprehend how they can use it for themselves.

No doubt about it that the events of Swat and the girl being flogged publicly is a great reason for my concern. With the amount of purdah clad increasing fanatically without any reason or know how of religion - thanks to the brain washing propaganda of Maulvi and the much supported project "Wahabism" of Saudi- the insanity has double-folded in the recent years.

In the Karachi University you would find it common for young people associated with Jamiat (student wing of Jamat-i-Islami) to take the responsibiltyof being moral police and deal in their own manner with the students that they think are indulging in "unislamic" activities. There is no one to ask them or check on their definitions of "islamic" and "unislamic"

Dance shows -reference to the recent cancellation of girls dance show at a cultural program in Larkana- are forcibly closed down in the name of Islam. Private Jirgas are being set up in universities in Sindh... But how much of this is happening with the Islamic Spirit or personnal interest in minds or as a result of some other social factors????

Then there is the threat of land mafia disgused cleaverly as Talibinization by MQM... according to their definition all Pathans and Afghans- settled on government lands without any proper documentations since the refugee influx during the afghan war- are now synonymous with Taliban and the MQM too like- any morally upright group of citizens - have taken it upon themselves to clear the "land(s)" of such a threat.

All said and done, Talibanization is a genuine threat - maybe a man-made (read USA) created threat - but it exists and is now too large to be controlled. Its ugly head is popping up ever so often from different places (currently Pakistan). But the threat needs to be seperated from these factors of self propogating righteous men.

Media has also turned out to be a threat in itself.. with the slogans of free media still fresh it is about time that they find out the truth behind these things instead of entertaining people by converting such events into a circus performance.

Freedom is not having the choice of whatever you want.. Freedom also means responisbility.

Attacks on the SriLankan Team

It is incredible that in a country where more than 50% of your budget is spent on army and intelligence - that is excluding the pension of the retired officers - we have, in this age of terrorism failed to stop one plot. What have they been doing with all this money.. what is the use of spending such a monstrous proportion of our budget on something which has yet to show its capability?????

And today was the highlight of our intelligence's incompetence.. Where were they .. how is it that these people .. THESE 12 PEOPLE... are hiding among flowers with rocket launchers and grenades and nobody notices them.. considering that Liberty roundabout is a busy node... HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE... And how did they .. HOW DID ALL OF THEM.. actually manage to escape so easily at such a rush hour.....

I am still baffled by today's events.. how can this happen.. why wasn't there more security personnel...

As for the Sri Lankan's, i apologize to you from the bottom of my heart.. we condemn this as a nation... and do not own these acts of violence.. These people are neither muslims and neither are these acts Islamic.. in case that is the justification given......

This act of today would have ripple effects that we would come to regret.. it is these acts that would destabilize Pakistan ....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LL7HFCzE9GQ

Schindler's List, Palestine and Israel

I had never heard of Schindler's list - that is not until the start of this year. But all of a sudden it was everywhere. The film was being refereed to students by their studio teachers - both of architecture and media.

So it was only curiosity that made me grab the first chance i got to see it. The film started off slow, with your typical hero engrossed in women and parties, but that perspective soon changed.

As i saw the movie - with commentary provided by my mom and sister as the backdrop, claiming that the film is just a propaganda film- i realized that the Jews have come a long way from the days of WW2.

Things that happened to them can never be imagined, their strength in those times, and their hope that they would make me should be saluted, for the truth is that they have survived. Or it should be said that they have not only survived, but that they have made sure that something like that, never happens to them again.

They are a major part of the power play.. but what needs to be realized that today what we see in Palestine is merely a switch of roles.. You have your innocent Jews the Palestinians, as the Jews play the role of the Germans.. not on the same level... but the massacre is there...

A realization has to come.. Many of us - especially in the Eastern World- tend to dismiss Israel as in human bastards. But the truth of that matter is that they do feel for Palestine.

JERUSALEM, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Friday that he wept upon hearing a Palestinian father calling for help live on television after his children were killed during Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip. “I cried when I saw this. Who didn’t? How could you not?,
“When you win, you automatically hurt more than you’ve been hurt. And we didn’t want to lose this campaign. What did you want, for hundreds of our soldiers to die? That, after all, was the alternative,” Ehud Olmert told the newspaper.
-http://goatmilk.wordpress.com/2009/01/23/i-wept-olmert-says-of-death-of-gaza-children/

They do feel for those human being living and breathing in Gaza- I understand that they have been through a lot - But nothing can justify your act.

Schindler helped you. He made a difference, by not judging people on the basis of their religion.

You need to understand the difference too.

The Programs and Manifestos of the 20th Century

Image from : http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51R6J72VZRL._SL500_.jpg

This was the book selected to be the first book for our class... And the discussions that led the reading of this book were nothing short of invigorating..

Reading such a huge selection of thoughts of one of the most dynamic centuries that we have witnessed, it was no doubt a heated debate..

Starting from the roots of the church being the dominant force to Darwin, and "Religion is the opium of people" we finally came to the topic of the book, and discussed how there was in evolution of the thoughts itself in the book... from a very simple idea of "returning to the true forms " like the greeks had been able to .. to actually having a program about how to go around accomplishing it... The book is a must read to understanding the architectural development of the 20th Century.

Back to it..

Today was the first day back to university after a month off... God i felt like i would go insane if i stay home anymore.. somtimes i feel i can never be satisfied with anything in life...

When ur working. u will u would die with the burden of it.. and if ur not, then i feel i would die from the lack of it..

I am an Architectural student and i have just started my 4th year in it. .and my teachers were nice enough to mention it to us that this year they would do everything to break us or to either lead us to the point where we have a great thesis..

So i guess this is the high time that i should start thinking about my thesis and what i intend to do with it next year..