tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24313287324619011442024-03-20T08:07:24.952-07:00Random RamblingsSualeha Bhattihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03323292009496375845noreply@blogger.comBlogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2431328732461901144.post-89588932121298597582018-08-27T05:21:00.003-07:002020-03-21T17:19:27.790-07:00Love Does Not Require The Mirror of Hate<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The wonderful thing about
life is that on every turn it poses a new question and it is in our struggle to
find the answers to them that our growth takes place. I shudder at the thought
of a life where I wouldn’t struggle with these dilemmas and mysteries. How
boring our lives would be. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I never want
my life to be a straight highway, I like to travel on curving bending roads
clinging to the mountains. The views are great but you never know what the next
bend will bring. I simply love it and on that note the latest question I am
struggling with is precisely that - Love!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">First let me clarify that I don’t
mean romantic love, which one falls in and out of. I am talking about the more
persistent and permanent kind of love, the kind we feel for our parents, kids,
country etc. This is a deep seated emotion in humans and we cannot function
without it. The absence of love especially in our formative years can lead to psychological
problems which persist throughout our lives and prisons across the globe hold
evidence of this. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We are reasonably good at
loving people. Our love is not dependent upon contrast. Contrast is nature’s
way of making us appreciate something by placing it next to something which is
its absolute opposite. For example we appreciate light because of darkness, we
crave for justice when we see injustice, we focus on abundance when we come
across lack in any area of our life etc. But we don’t love our kids because we
find our friend’s children disgusting. Our parents don’t tell us to show our
love for them by showing hate for all other parents of this world. Then what
happens to us when we apply the same love on concepts, ideas or the
intangible? Why does our love for our country have to be demonstrated by hating
another? Why does love for your religion mean that you hate people of other
religions? Why must I protect my ideas and paradigms by exhibiting a repulsion
for those who have a completely opposite thought process? In short why is love
so dependent on hate? I struggle with this especially when it comes to
patriotism. I am a proud Pakistani and one who refuses by choice to live in any
other country but why must I hate all Indians to prove my love for my country?
Frankly I don’t care about my neighbor, they can do what they want in their
house and I will do what I want in mine. Obviously if the people in my next
door apartment do anything which violates my privacy, freedom or safety I
should and I will retaliate. But unless that happens I will not go on telling
everyone how much I hate them. Same rule applies to countries and religions
etc. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">If we want to change the
world then we have to teach our children to love. You and I are not world
leaders, nor are we revolutionaries, but in our homes running around and making
incessant racket is tomorrow. Its these kids who will in a few years inherit
this planet from us, if each parent taught their kids how to love without hating
the opposite, in the next couple of decades this would be a different planet
altogether. We need to let them know the mirror of hate does not reflect love. Alas no school teaches this and no parent thinks of it. In fact at
home when we crib and swear about how much we hate the politicians, our boss,
our colleague etc. we are teaching our kids that to love one means to hate the
other. By the time the child is 3 years old his/her <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>world map is almost complete, largely drawn by
what he/she hears regardless of their language skills. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So if you do nothing else the least you can do
is shut up about your negativity when your child is within earshot even though
that child is simply a drooling, gurgling baby right now.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Sualeha Bhattihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03323292009496375845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2431328732461901144.post-20805616837363589452015-11-09T01:58:00.000-08:002020-03-21T17:16:50.406-07:00Bouncing Back From Failure<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">Failures are a normal event in most people’s lives, however
there are some who seem to get more than their fair share. Each time they ask
themselves “why me”? Each time their self confidence takes a battering. Each
time the sense of helplessness becomes stronger, and each time it becomes more
and more difficult to bounce back. But there are ways to recover even if you
have had a series of failures and think you have no energy left to fight back.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<strong><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">Step 1 - Get it out of your
system</span></strong><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">Keeping it bottled up inside does not help. You end up feeling
miserable and making everyone around you miserable as well. Many people
especially men are conditioned to maintain a ‘stiff upper lip’ no matter what,
but not only does it affect your emotional state your health also takes a big
hit. You are of no use to anyone including yourself if your are sick or worse –
dead! Do whatever you have to in order to get it out of your system. If you
want to cry - do it, if you want to scream – then scream, if you want to put
your feelings down on paper – then start writing. Most people secretly blame
others for their failures, their friends or family, their colleagues, their
stock broker etc. Blame everyone you think is even remotely associated with your
failure. But this should be a completely private exercise, it does not mean
that you actually seek out everyone and tell them how you think they have
contributed to your misery. This may seem a very negative thing to do but
believe me it works as it helps you to bring to surface any residual
resentment, so that nothing is left festering inside you anymore. One may say
that this exercise will make them feel worse, yes it will but you have to hit
rock bottom before you can bounce back. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<strong><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">Step 2 – Acceptance</span></strong><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">Once you have everything out of your system, then you can take
the next step. Realize that you are powerless to travel back in time and change
your life. What has happened is in the past, dwelling on it will not change the
present outcome. Whoever or whatever was responsible cannot change your
present. Your “what if” thinking is not going to have any bearing on a past
event – What if you had not listened to x,y,z and invested your money? What if
you had taken the other job offer? What if … what if…. Pointless and a total
waste of time, you past is permanently part of your history. But your future
starts in this moment right now. The choice is yours whether you want to keep
thinking of all that happened and ensure that it happens in your future as well
or do you say ‘enough’ and put it behind you once and for all.</span></div>
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<strong><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">Step 3 – Get over it</span></strong><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">There are millions who are in the same situation as you and
there are several millions in worse situations. Big deal! Nobody can make the right
choice each time. Everyone ends up at the wrong time at the wrong place at some
point in their lives, success depends upon what you do after a choice that
didn’t go according to plan. The world is not conspiring against you. None of
us is that important! Be thankful that you survived a really bad patch in your
life. The act of being thankful is important and extremely powerful. We have
grown up hearing that ‘Allah always knows what is best for us’. In fact many
religions subscribe to this theory, and when a statement is echoed over
millennia by completely opposing religions, then it can be considered as a
“universal truth’. So understand the wisdom of this truth and internalize it.
Our problem seems to be that we become fanatical about the rituals of the
religions we follow and use its wisdom only as quotations which we spout in
public. If God does know what’s best for us then He must have purposely put us
through this situation to teach us something. What were your most important
take-aways from this period of your life.? Did you find out who your true
friends were and who were not?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<strong><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">Step 4 – Take responsibility</span></strong><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">If you have realized that this failure was no more than a life
lesson, then its time to understand what it was trying to teach you. You put
the blame on everyone else but what about yourself? What did you do to attract
this situation? This is not about beating yourself up and telling yourself that
you are a loser. This is about taking stock of your own areas of improvement.
Are there any attitudes or beliefs you are holding on to which seem to be at
play here e.g. a refusal means that they don’t like you? Do you feel that you
were lacking in some key skills which led to this failure e.g planning,
budgeting or getting work done from people? Are there certain habits which
contributed to this problem e.g. procrastination? By doing this you will be
taking a positive step for your future as well as realize that putting the
blame on others was somewhat unfair.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<strong><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">Step 5 – Take action</span></strong><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">Make a list of lessons learnt and identify what you need to do
differently next time. By taking action in the present you change your future.
Start working on your areas of improvement. Get ready for the next opportunity
and have belief that it will come. The outcome of your future opportunity will
change because you yourself have changed, if not history will keep repeating
itself. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Sualeha Bhattihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03323292009496375845noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2431328732461901144.post-61675847517002806712015-09-04T03:33:00.000-07:002020-03-21T17:20:46.278-07:00Courage - the basic ingredient<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I have always wondered what is that single most important
thing that parents need to teach their children? Seems like a pointless
question for someone like me to ponder over considering that I don’t have any
myself, but that’s me, always pointlessly pondering over the pointless. One does
that when one has all the time in the world and nothing really important to
think about.</div>
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Like most people I started with a list of attributes that
any parent should inculcate in their child. The ability to differentiate
between right and wrong was at the top of this list. Obviously if parents don’t
teach this to their children, who else will? And where will civilization be
without this basic human quality? Confidence was the next item on my list. When
parents encourage and appreciate their children even after a failure, children
learn to believe in their abilities - such an important trait during their
educational years and later and their adult life. Curiosity and asking
questions was also very important. If parents try and answer their children
rather than shutting them up, the children grow up with a learning mind-set. As
they grow-up their curiosity leads them to ever expanding horizons and growth.
Of course there were other characteristics as well such as, compassion, faith,
responsibility etc.</div>
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But something was
missing. I could not put my finger at it but felt that some underlying value
was missing, something which was so important that it acted as the foundation
on which all other values stood firm. You see experience has taught me that
most parents do ensure that their children learn to differentiate between right
and wrong but most adults seem to forget that basic lesson. It is not that as
adults we become evil or all tread the wrong path, but most of us learn to
ignore the wrong around us, hence encouraging it to grow. In our own lives we
zig zag between right and wrong telling ourselves that this is being practical
in today’s world.</div>
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Our confidence also seems to waver depending upon who we are
with. With equals and people less powerful than us we are like strutting
peacocks ready to display our colours to the max, but when we are with those
who are more privileged or powerful we tend to fold into ourselves. </div>
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Curiosity and willingness to ask questions also seems to
diminish with age. Let me correct
myself, the willingness to ask stimulating questions goes down, our need to
know the intimate details of other people’s lives on the other hand goes up
exponentially. </div>
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So what is the magic ingredient that acts as a long term
stabilizer which preserves all the other values? I came up with courage. The
etymology of the word courage is the old French word <i>corage </i>meaning the heart or innermost feelings. Don’t confuse
courage with heroism. While heroism requires courage, courage need not always
be translated into heroic deeds. </div>
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Knowing right from wrong is one thing, but it requires
courage to stand up for what is right and an even greater amount of courage to
be on the right side ourselves and listen to that inner voice which constantly
guides us. </div>
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Confidence too requires courage – the courage to brace ourselves,
steel our nerves and hold our ground in the presence of others. We know our
abilities but it requires courage to keep believing in them when others don’t,
that is what confidence really is. One does not have to be cocky to be
confident, one can be very unassuming and yet confident. One of the definitions
of confidence is ‘assured expectation’ and that assurance requires courage to
first know your capabilities, admit what you cannot do and have belief in your
abilities to deliver what you can do.</div>
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To ask questions is to invite exploration and the trepid do
not make good explorers. When you start asking difficult questions you usually
end up with unsettling answers. The truth is not always what is familiar and
accepting that is not easy. Even more difficult is to adopt your newly
discovered truths into your life and change your hitherto familiar life map. So
most people give up this quest the moment they hit the boundaries of uncharted
territories. Such a shame, because at that moment they stop living and start
merely to exist, inside they die early on although physically they may inhabit
this planet for another half a century. </div>
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Life has ups and
downs and problems are the norm rather than the exception. We each have our
share of challenges but to overcome these tribulations requires courage. Living
life on your own terms requires courage. To love requires courage. To grow
requires courage. To fully explore that adventure that is life requires
courage. Courage then is the one thing that parents must teach their
children, because this the basic ingredient which makes everything else possible.</div>
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Sualeha Bhattihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03323292009496375845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2431328732461901144.post-3437255059826476522015-02-28T06:29:00.000-08:002020-03-21T17:23:31.759-07:00It's Complicated<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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If God intended our lives to be simple He would have made us
earthworms. But instead He chose to make us his supreme creatures. We are by
design complex so how can we expect our lives to be uncomplicated? It would be
like buying a brand new refrigerator and using it as cupboard! The utility of
everything is hidden in its design. There is no waste in God’s design, nothing
surplus is added simply because He had the choice to do so. It upsets me so
much when people around me pray and expect their lives to be simple and
uncomplicated – we are asking God to ‘waste’ His resource, which of course He doesn’t.
And that is the source of our unhappiness.</div>
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First I think we need to differentiate between lifestyle and
life. Lifestyle is the paraphernalia we gather around ourselves to make life
materially comfortable and life is the experiences we have as we move on our
path from birth to death. Lifestyles should be simple, that is what religions
have been telling us all along, but don’t confuse lifestyle with life itself.
Our trials, tribulations, gains and losses are all part of the educational
syllabus set for us so that we can grow mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
It is only by going through our worst phases that our best emerges. </div>
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There is an inherent thirst in all of us to search for the
meaning of life and most do so by searching it externally and through religious
texts. But the meaning of each individual’s life is different and it can only
be found in analyzing our own life and trying to understand the twists and
turns of our own particular path. Nobody else can do that for us because only
we know what we went through.</div>
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I never write about anything unless I have experienced it
myself, only then do I feel I have the right to try and influence someone else –
to do otherwise would be hypocrisy, which I abhor. My life was a true fairy
tale. An only child of an only child, I was the centre of the universe for not
only my parents but the entire extended family. The magic continued as I grew
up, I travelled the world and had experiences most people just dream about. And
then it all changed. My mother was diagnosed with dementia and I had to curb
all my travels and move my office to my house. The bills kept piling up and my
energy kept sapping – care giving for a dementia patient drains us emotionally
and physically. Like most people I started thinking that life as I knew it was
over. The fairy tale was over and the harsh reality was the nightmare I had woken
into. My self-defeating thinking kept growing and I started looking outwards to
find the answer to ‘why’? Like most people I started thinking this was the
result of something I did wrong. This was retribution for my sins. But I was
wrong.</div>
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This dark period was not a punishment at all, but proof that God was really taking a bit of
extra interest in my growth. I realized in this phase that I had nerves of
steel, even when the mountain of problems grew to a seemingly insurmountable
height, I treaded on always knowing that this had to end sometime. I realized
that my joy centre was inside me, I did not need people to make me happy
instead I could always find reasons to smile within myself. Many of my friends thought I had become a
recluse, but I had found my company in the form of books and writing became my
chief form of expression. If I was sailing through life I wouldn’t have
discovered the cathartic joy of writing. This alone time gave me plenty of time
to reflect and get ‘intuition’ i.e. going inwards for tuition, and I am
thankful for this period of my life. Hopping from one flight to another as was
my lifestyle a few years ago, I wouldn’t have found myself.</div>
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I realized that my life was ready for a leap. At the moment I have made my mother the only
priority of my life, but this phase sadly will end soon, what then? Does my
work really give me so much joy that it can fill the void that will be created?
The answer was No. During this phase one sentence kept popping up in my mind “connect
the dots…” and I began to see connections between seemingly unrelated
philosophies, mythologies and events from ancient history. I began to
understand that my purpose, my particular meaning of life lay in this phrase.
This was what life was training me for, this is why I was forced to go through
this period. What I did not really know at that time was the wherewithal of translating this intangible concept into my
physical reality. One day out- of- the- blue that idea came to me that I can’t
really go further in my ‘connecting the dots’ till I have authentic knowledge. And for that I need to get a formal education
in history and work to get my PhD in ancient history. The very idea lifted my
mood, it made me excited and I knew this was the course I was meant to take. I
knew that when it’s time for my mother to make her transition from the physical
world this pursuit will fill the void. What the universe requires from me
ultimately I don’t know yet, but I am sure that the next stage will also become
clear when the time comes. </div>
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Each one of us has a destiny but it is up to us to uncover
it. If we can’t read the clues and pray for life to be simple we fail to
uncover it and go unfulfilled from this world. Not all of us are born to be
great philanthropists or highly successful business tycoons, but we are all
certainly all born for a reason, a unique destiny which only we can manifest.
There is no honour in living like earth worms! The past must be reflected upon
to understand the future but wanting the past to return is our biggest source
of unhappiness. The job of our past is to shape our future not be our future!</div>
</div>
Sualeha Bhattihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03323292009496375845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2431328732461901144.post-27760440927445731162014-09-29T09:10:00.003-07:002020-03-21T17:25:25.451-07:00Allah Om - The Keys Of A Vibrational Universe<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I am excited. The kind of excitement one feels when a key
piece of life’s jigsaw puzzle falls in place. The process of discovery is
strange and never really linear, one unrelated concept can lead you to discover
an answer to the most pressing question on your mind. There is but one condition
for learning and discovery - keeping an open mind.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The other day someone was describing the meaning or rather
the philosophy behind the Hindu chant ‘OM’. Now before I go any further, OM is
a word made popular as a meditative chant in the western world, but actually it
is the foundation stone for the religion we know as Hinduism. What is
interesting is that OM precedes all prayers, all mantras. Whether someone is
paying homage to Shiva, Vishnu or any other deity, it always starts with OM.
Hindus believe that OM encompasses the entire universe. Not many know why, but
as is the case with all religions on this planet they have been told so they
believe, the process of discovery in most religions has been stunted a long
time ago by dogma. OM is above and beyond the gods and goddesses they worship. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Anyways, coming back to the original track of this article,
what caught my attention was when they started describing the vibrations
emanating from this word. OM as it is written in Sanskrit comprises of 3 parts
aa, oo and mmm. Now let’s conduct a little experiment – say aaaa a few times
and identify where you feel the vibrations, you will feel a resonance in your
belly. Now say ooo, now the vibrations can be felt in the chest. And last, say
mmmmm and you will feel the resonance in your throat.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This got me thinking. As a Muslim, Allah is the name by
which God prefers to be addressed. Surely the name of the Almighty cannot be
simply a word derived from Hebrew and Aramic languages. It has to have a far
greater significance than that. So I started
experimenting with the vibrations of the name. The vibrations for aaaa were the
same, obviously in both OM and Allah, centered in the belly. Then comes
LLLLLAAAA, strangely, I felt the resonance in my chest, just like oooo in OM. In
anticipation I tried AHHHHHH and guess what? The throat was the centre of
resonance this time. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I was floored that the vibrations of both words were
identical. But this was not the end of the discovery, but the start. Over the
years I have spent many hours reading about Law of Attraction and one of the
basic tenets is that our thought vibrations attract our physical reality. If
our thought vibrations are at a low scale i.e. fear, anger, helplessness etc.
we attract those realities. If on the other hand, we are able to raise our
vibrations to happiness, faith, love, compassion, then we start attracting
realities which give us more of such experiences. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It is a vibrational universe, and the String Theory of
Quantum Physics confirms this. In a lay man’s words, the universe is comprised
of one-dimensional objects called ‘strings’. The variations of oscillation or
vibrations of these strings give rise to various particles. Simply put if
strings vibrate a certain way they become electrons, if their vibration is
different, they could be neutrons etc.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So thoughts are vibrations and it is a vibrational universe.
The Master and Creator of the universe is God.
This means the name of God must encompass within it the key to accessing
the higher vibrations. If His name does not bring you peace, joy, love and
compassion, then it can only mean two things; one, it is not the real name; or
two, you are chanting it wrong without feeling the vibrations. I believe that
Allah and OM are not just words, they are the key to unlocking the universe.
They are designed to help you reach the highest vibrations possible, hence
enabling you to manifest in your reality all that is positive, be it health,
wealth or happiness. In other words your
prayers are answered.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I have not really experimented with any other names by which
God is known in other religions simply because I really don’t know much about
them. If you practice other religions
please do feel free to experiment with the title by which you address God. In
the meantime, if you are working on the Law of Attraction and working on
raising your vibrations try chanting OM or Allah. Obviously it is easy for
Muslims and Hindus. We don’t have to select, Muslims will chant Allah and
Hindus will chant OM. But the rest of the world will need to select one which
appeals most to them. Don’t keep
chanting without feeling the vibrations, it won’t have any affect at all. But
if you do it right, you will feel a kind of inner cleansing that is hard to
describe. The negativity seems to fade and it is hard to feel hopeless and
stressed. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It may seem strange that I am taking examples of two
seemingly opposite religions. One worships multiple gods and the other is the
absolute bastion of monotheism. Perhaps
because the fundamental texts of both these religions have not undergone
editing and transliterations like the others have, which is why it is easier to
identify the core concepts of these religions and arrive at the truth behind
them. The truth cannot be changed. The
truth is absolute. So if one finds the truth in one religion it is then easy to
try and find parallels in others.
Religion is enduring and that which endures cannot be just an amalgamation
of rituals and stories. For something to endure it has to be based not only on
universal principles but also mysteries which can only be understood as mankind
evolves its understanding of science and the nature of the universe we
inhabit. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Never in the history of mankind have we been so knowledgeable
or have made such strides in science. We are perfectly poised to seek the
hidden codes of our religions. It is now time to seek out the truth. We may not
understand everything, because our knowledge is still limited and as it expands
so will our understanding of religion.
Unfortunately, we have become so obsessed with our rituals and trying to
prove to each other why they are wrong and we are right. We have defied the
very reason why religions were sent our way – peace, harmony and love for all.</span></div>
</div>
Sualeha Bhattihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03323292009496375845noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2431328732461901144.post-1142882567005303072014-09-15T06:25:00.001-07:002020-03-21T17:27:27.002-07:00A Book Waiting To Be Written<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I have always wanted to write a book, but books are written by people who have answers or who have something original to contribute to the world. Books share knowledge and wisdom. A reader's world view expands with every book. Unfortunately I have no such thing to share. All I have are questions. I have an incredible desire to understand my life but every time I introspect I come up with more questions.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Everything happens for a reason is a mantra I have lived by all my life. Nothing is really random. All experiences, good or bad, are building blocks for future events. I am blessed to have really unusual childhood experiences. I grew up in a house where 5 languages were spoken and where religious tolerance was not just something my parents talked about but a living reality. My mom is Muslim and her best friend for now nearly 55 years is a Hindu. Although it has been 30 years since my aunt moved away to India, the bond between these two women is just as strong. Even my mom's dementia cannot dim her love for her best friend. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The friendship of these two incredible ladies is so strong that our families grew up as one. They are sisters and their friendship is embraced by the entire family. My aunt's siblings consider my mom as another sister. The entire extended family on both sides takes it for granted that they are sisters. I have yet to come across another example of such strong and pure friendship. When one was worried or had a problem the other automatically knew it even before they spoke to each other. It was a unique telepathy.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The beauty of their relationship lies in their religious tolerance. Growing up, I saw that both ladies were strong in their own religious practices and yet never once have I come across an incident where one tried to convert the other. Nor did I ever see an occasion where one offended the other due to insensitivity. My aunt though not a vegetarian, does not eat beef obviously, so it was never cooked in our house. Simple. No beef, no issue of contamination. They kept life simple. Perhaps that is why they enjoyed their relationship.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
All festivals were celebrated together, be it Eid or Diwali, we had a blast. My dad used to bring the fireworks for all the kids on Diwali and it never occurred to us that it was unusual. They taught me and my other cousins that you can remain true to your own beliefs while respecting the customs and rituals of others. We worshiped Allah and never bowed to any idols, but then we never showed any disrespect either. Few people are so lucky as to go through their formation years in such an environment.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The biggest issue I had as a child was that I was jealous of my cousin that my mom considered her perfect and wanted me to be like her and my cousin was jealous because her mom doted on me a bit too much. Sibling rivalry of an only child. It was a weird but wonderful childhood. Which is perhaps why I have so many questions now. At the back of my mind is the feeling that there is a higher purpose I have to fulfill and these childhood experiences were meant to build the foundation for it. But what? I don't think that merely an open mind is the purpose. That is my world view, but to do something concrete with this world view is the purpose. And I struggle each day to discover it.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Also I find it very strange that have experienced such friendship firsthand, why am I so aloof and disconnected with people? Surely with such an example in my life I should have long lasting and deep connection with people, or at least one friend. But strangely I find it very hard to hold and maintain friendships. I have friends yes, some I've known for nearly 30 years, but for some reason I can't seem to make the effort to keep in touch and invest in those relationships. Strange! How can a positive experience lead to such an opposite outcome?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Each chapter in my early life leads to more questions. I should be able to make sense of them but I can't. And till the day comes when I have clarity of understanding I cannot really write a book. After all, no reader in the world wants to end up more confused at the end of the book than when they started reading it. </div>
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</div>
Sualeha Bhattihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03323292009496375845noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2431328732461901144.post-36677213493950193852013-12-06T06:07:00.000-08:002020-03-21T17:30:12.093-07:00Born On The Cusp - The children of the 60's<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In astrology a cusp
is a transitional point or time between 2 astrological signs – it is a time
when one sign ends and the other begins. For the 20<sup>th</sup> century, 60’s
were the cusp decade. It was a decade when the world didn’t simply slide into
change, but jolted itself on a new cultural level. The staid modest world was left behind forever
as the mini skirted world set its sight on space. Although each generation has
its own challenges, triumphs and disappointments. As a 60’s child, I feel that
possibly the biggest chunk of disillusionment fell in our laps and the
Pakistani 60’s child was probably hit the hardest.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We were born in a
decade when the first human landed on the moon. What an elation that was. We
were perhaps too young to remember the details but many of us do remember the
excitement and the total awe of that event. As we grew up our expectations of
the future were in part formed by the ‘Jetsons’. We expected that the world we
would grow up in would definitely be a wondrous, super convenient, space
exploring paradise. Little did we know that by the time we hit middle age our
country would actually be in the Middle Ages. Forget about fantastic gadgets
which would make life easy, we would not even have electricity to run the most
basic appliances. We certainly never thought that gas would ever run out and
many would be forced to use oil and wood burning stoves to cook their meals in
the winters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">When my generation
started going to school, we were taught about our country’s fabulous 5 year
plans. Its mind boggling to think that by the time we grew up our country would
become incapable of forming the simplest of policies on the most trivial of
matters. What happened to us? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We are a generation
whose grandparents had witnessed the Partition first hand and their memories
were as vivid as when it was happening. They had lived through the British Raj
and for us it was almost as if they were talking about the Moghul Era, after
all anything we read in the history books had to be ancient. Talking to them
made us realize how much he world had changed, our present was so much better
and of course our future had to be brilliant. If only we had known that the
days of the Raj never really went away. Somewhere during that time was a group
of children who were listening to the same stories and were dreaming of
bringing back those days and they did!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Many of our parents
remember living in old houses without electricity and even those with
electricity didn’t really use much of it because our grandparents were mostly
afraid of switching on the lights lest they got electrocuted. But surprisingly
these were people who even if they were illiterate, were highly educated
because throughout the ages wisdom has been passed orally through stories,
songs and fables. However there is a requirement for this tradition to continue
– 2 people willing to talk and listen. We have now stepped into the
communication age, anything we want to learn about, all knowledge is now a
click away. We are now connected with everyone we know, and many we have never
met, through social networking sites, but you will have to really search long
and hard to find really educated people. Literate, yes but educated? Not
really. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“It was the best of times, it was the worst
of times”…these words aptly describe the political scenario we witnessed in our
growing up years. We went from total admiration and respect for our Armed
Forces during the 1965 war with India to almost a pathological hatred of the same
during the Zia regime. We went from utter dejection and national depression
after the fall of Dhaka to feverish motivation during the 1974 Islamic Summit. Little
did we know that our national emotions would flat-line to constant state of frustration
by the time we reached the 21<sup>st</sup> century.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We thought rather naively that wars were only
fought with enemies and it meant air raids and soldiers fighting to keep the
borders safe. We could never have imagined that every time we would step out of
our homes we would be walking out on the battle field. We were stupid enough to
think that the value of every innocent human life was the same – how were we to
know that every single human from the Western world would be important while thousands
of us would end up being collateral damage. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Some might say we are lucky that our lives
have been so rich and I agree we have been blessed to have witnessed a changing
world first hand. But I wish that this richness of experience was because our
expectations were met rather than the disappointments which seem to define us. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Sualeha Bhattihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03323292009496375845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2431328732461901144.post-28453664544607331372013-09-25T05:44:00.000-07:002020-03-21T17:31:16.366-07:00Islam and Hinduism - Different religions with common elements<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">There are 2 problems when
writing about ancient religions – first they are ancient and second they are
religions. Over millennia the mythology of ancient religions becomes more important
than the core of the religion itself. Its followers adhere to these myths as if
they were real and the followers of other religions target these very myths as
the basis of their claim that their religion is nothing more than a bunch of
lies. This problem takes on another dimension when the ancient religion is
Hinduism and a Muslim tries to understand the truth behind the myths and find
common truths between Hinduism and Islam. This is what I am attempting to do
and hence opening the door to criticism from both Hindus and Muslims.</span></span></h2>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I have always maintained that
every major religion practiced on this planet had one Divine Source. If that
was not the case Allah would not have said that He sent 124,000 prophets. They
were sent to every civilization, every community starting from Adam and ending
with Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). If this is the case then the source of every
religion has to be Divine inspiration, and if this is so then not only the
message but the components of all religions also have to be the same.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Let’s just examine one aspect
of Hinduism – the concept of multiple gods which are known as Devtaas. For
practitioners of monotheistic religions especially Islam this is the very basis
on which it is rejected as a false religion since our belief states that God is
one and one only. But we need to go beyond the current belief system of
Hinduism and examine what a Devtaa really is.</span></span></h2>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Devtaa simply means ‘the shining
ones’ i.e. ‘of light’ and they basically control every aspect of our natural
world such as fire, wind, rain, crops etc. According to Hinduism there are
about 330 million of these devs. The ancient Aryans starting worshiping these devs
because to appease them meant that the natural order of their world was
maintained. Whether they should worship them or not is another debate, but what
I’m interested to know is if devtaas really exist and does Islam recognize
them? I came to the conclusion that Islam also recognizes devtaas.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Devs are known in Islam as Malaaik or angels as we
commonly refer to them in English.</span></span></h2>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Islam tells us that angels are made of ‘light’
which is precisely what dev means. In Islam too we are told that the angels
have been assigned specific tasks by Allah in order to keep the universe in
order. Muslims believe that angels are too numerable to be able to count them.
The 330 million figure does not really mean that someone sat and made a list
and counted all devtaas physically, its simply a number which emphasizes that
they are too many to be counted by us.</span></span></h2>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The concept of Jins is also
present in Hinduism, there they are called Asur. These Asur are the beings
which are forever at war with the devtaas and spread malice, doubt, greed and
general evil in this world. In Islam too the ‘shaitaan’ or evil jins are
responsible for causing human beings to plunge into doubt and darkness, the
chief shaitaan being ‘Iblis’ or the Devil as the west call him.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">If we know of angels and jins
through Quran and our Prophet (PBUH), then how come the Hindus have been saying
the same things for thousands of years before us? This would mean that the
source of their knowledge would have to be the same i.e. Allah. Which means
that some of His prophets must have been responsible for the establishment
Sanatana Dharma (or Hinduism as we now call it).</span></span></h2>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Muslims and other followers
of monotheistic religions can argue that the practice of worshipping these
multiple devtaas is wrong and which is why they need to convert to their
religions. Actually their religious texts also point to one God or Ishwar, but somehow the worship of devtaas became the established practice. But when a religion comes into being before writing
itself, then chances are that the message will get contorted over the millennia.
Which is why God kept sending his messengers to ensure constant updation.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Next </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">time someone dismisses Hinduism as complete
fiction they should remember that it isn’t. Religion itself has nothing to do with what its followers do to it.</span></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></h2>
</div>
Sualeha Bhattihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03323292009496375845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2431328732461901144.post-52541226032078743842013-08-30T04:35:00.003-07:002020-03-21T17:32:45.387-07:00Waiting To Grow Up<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">They say you are as old (or young ) as you feel. Some people
feel that one should never allow the child in them to grow old because as long
as your spirit is childlike you will be young at heart. There are others who say
that one should act their age – so if you are 50 and behaving like a child
there is something wrong with you. In other words, one should be a hypocrite
who feels one way but acts to the contrary.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Like most people I too have struggled with this hypocrisy. I
feel like a kid but must act like a mature grown-up. I have been trying to
figure out what about me has changed ( apart from the physical aspect ) which
is different from when I was a child and really nothing comes to mind. I seem
to be lumbering through the years but
the spirit seems to be the same as it was when I had just started to discover this
world many decades ago. I still love amusement parks, I still love to day dream
just as I did when I was in school and most of all I am still full of
anticipation. More than anything else childhood is about anticipation - waiting
for life to unfold when we grow up. A child observes the grown-up world and
wonders when they will be able to participate in it. Childhood is all about
waiting for the future. Strangely enough I seem to be doing the same.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
At my age people are usually done with the ‘living’ aspect
of life. This is when retirement is a reality looming on the horizon and people
start mentally preparing themselves for illnesses, sedentary life styles and
winding down for the inevitable. I should be doing the same. That’s the
sensible approach to life, but I can’t seem to shake this feeling that there
are many more turn on this journey.</div>
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Probably this extended childhood is due to the fact that for
my mother I am still her little girl, and for me she is still the grown up of
the house. It doesn’t matter that she doesn’t remember anything I tell her, I
still seek her permission for even the smallest matters just as I did in my
childhood. I don’t need her permission, nor does she really fully grasp the
situation, but it makes me feel better.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Having a parent alive is perhaps the most important factor
for a prolonged childhood. It doesn’t matter how old you are, as long as there
is even one parent alive you are officially a child. By the same argument, it doesn’t
matter how young they are, children who do not have any parents tend to grow-up
at tender ages. They may be physically small but they carry inside them the
maturity of years.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I know my childhood will not last much longer. Unlike a
child who can’t wait to grow-up, childlike grown-ups can’t bear the thought of
it because it means the loss of parents. We are Peter Pans who never want to
grow-up. And herein lies the dilemma. On one hand I am still waiting to grow-up,
while on the other I want it to continue as is.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
<o:p> </o:p></span></div>
Sualeha Bhattihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03323292009496375845noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2431328732461901144.post-53962350761825560792012-08-30T05:09:00.000-07:002020-03-21T17:34:34.242-07:00Restoring Humpty Dumpty<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
My last post was pretty dismal and some of my friends were
genuinely concerned about me. I assure you that there is nothing to be worried
about and I am now out of that dark mood. My blog is not really about promoting
my business or establishing myself as an ‘ expert’ in any given area – it is
simply a means of catharsis. Sometimes I need to just simply put down in
writing the connections I make on various subjects such as mythology and
history because unless I do they keep swirling in my head and keep me preoccupied.
Sometimes I write because I am frustrated at what’s happening in the social and
political arena and as an ordinary citizen I put my concerns on my blog simply
as a way of registering my protest. And sometimes I write because I need to rid
myself of all the negative emotions that are welling up inside me so that I can
be functional again.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
My strategy of coping with negative feelings is a bit
radical. Rather than just try and divert myself when I feel sad and depressed I
take that darkness to the extreme. If I am unhappy then I take my unhappiness
to the point of sheer misery and once I have worked it out of my system I can then
move on to healing myself. As they say once you hit rock bottom there is no way
else to go but up. All emotions, good or bad, should be experienced to their
maximum otherwise they never truly go away. For good emotions that is not such
a bad thing to happen but negative emotions remain with you like that lingering
residual cough one gets after a particularly nasty bronchial infection – just when
you think you are OK the cough attack comes on to remind you that you aren’t. So
my last post was my attempt to hit rock bottom and I’m happy to report that I
did and now I’m on my way up again.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
After I read my post I realized that I was indulging in
self-pity. Who was this whining person? Me? I wasn’t like that and if I was
becoming this way then it was time to take corrective measures. So I went on a little journey of introspection
and knocked on doors within me which had been so far kept firmly shut. Most of
these doors had bits of benign junk that I found easy to clean up but every
time I did the junk kept coming back again, it just refused to go away for
good. In the end I figured that the door with the biggest padlock and which I was
avoiding for so long held the broom which could clean up all that was behind
the other doors. I knew that once I opened that door I would have to pass a
test to get that magic broom and that test would be daunting to say the least.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
When I finally opened that door I found fragments of myself
and the test was to put myself back together again like Humpty Dumpty. I tried
for a long time but even though each piece was my own all of them were distorted
so that they didn’t seem to quite come together in a neat fit. But what had
distorted them so much? Why wasn’t I myself anymore? And then I remembered an
old CD I had once left on my car’s dashboard out in the sun and which had
become warped just like my own self was now warped. The culprit was an external
force in both cases but the blame was mine because I was careless and did not
take care of them. The CD was damaged by the sun’s heat and I was damaged by
all the negative input I was allowing people to send my way. Slowly over a
period of time these minor inputs had managed to chip away at a substantial
part of my self-esteem. For someone who teaches other people about self-esteem
this was not just shocking it was also shameful. I felt like a fraud – what right
did I have to stand up in front of a group and talk to them about a subject in
which I had myself failed? But then I realized that this was not really a
failure it was a big lesson. I learnt that even if your strength is left
untended for some time it will start to weaken. Atrophy is never far behind. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Once I realized this I could use my secret chants and
potions to restore all my pieces and assemble myself once again. Having passed this test I was then handed the
magic broom with which I proceeded to
clean all the mess behind the other doors. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Moral of the story? It doesn’t matter how hard you try to
improve yourself and it doesn’t matter how many self-development books you
read, if you don’t work on improving your self-esteem nothing will work. Also, while working on your areas of improvement
do not neglect your strengths otherwise they too will become weak. And on more
thing that I learnt from this experience was that the root of all our problems
lies within us. Circumstances and people are neutral, how we respond to them
gives them negative or positive labels. I am happy to report that since I
started working on myself, even my mom’s situation seems to have improved. Her
dementia is not better but now I keep her preoccupied with jokes and light
conversations so that she doesn’t keep going around in circles and asking the
same things again and again.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
Sualeha Bhattihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03323292009496375845noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2431328732461901144.post-29366782298573550932012-08-12T06:54:00.004-07:002012-12-04T03:19:51.408-08:00Life In A Loop<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
‘Ground Hog Day’ seems to come to mind whenever I try to
describe my life. Every morning I get up
to relive the same day again and again, nothing changes, no surprises. When you
are the only person living with a dementia patient there is not much room for
anything else in your life. Their life and their reality becomes the dominant
factor so that at times you are incapable of anything else but to get trapped
in their world and it is a world that plays over and over again in a loop. My
mother’s dementia worsens with time and now it seems that there are 4 or 5
questions she keeps asking all day over and over again and I have no choice but
to keep answering them over and over again. The fun and friendship I once shared with this
woman is now gone forever – there is no conversation anymore just the same
questions and the same answers. So instead I talk to myself.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Being an only child talking to myself is something I have
done pretty much all my life but now it is my means of survival. One advantage
of this self dialogue of course is that one does not have to hold anything back
– you can be completely honest about your emotions and your fears with
yourself. No need to keep up the mask of politeness or norms of acceptability.
The disadvantage of course is that sometimes you ask yourself questions for
which obviously you have no answer and then you try and reach out to someone
who might. I find it hard to talk to people so I write instead, in the hope
that someone may have an answer.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
They say “good things happen to good people” if this is the
case then am I a bad person to have been put through this situation? Some people
tell me that this is a “trial from God” and good people are given this trial
period as a test of faith. But both these statements seem to negate each other.
I you believe the first one then bad things should not be happening and if you
believe the second then if life is happy and good you are bad because you are
not being tested. Somehow I am not able to reconcile these statements in my
head. If someone else can please let me know. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
There is another pet statement that most people make in
order to make me feel better – that I will be rewarded with Heaven as a result
of the care I am giving my mom. Frankly
after a while this statement makes you feel worse rather than good because you
realize that nothing good will come from it at least while you are alive - and
when you die? Who knows? This may sound heretic to many but when life becomes a
living hell your faith in an undisclosed destination starts to falter. At least
mine has. Besides implying that you take care of your parents because you would
be rewarded makes this act so selfish and greedy. If there was no Heaven or
Hell then would we still do the right thing? I think the test of humanity is to
try to be good and do the right thing not because you expect a reward for your
labours but because you cannot perceive any other course of action. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
In the beginning I used to think that I am doing this out of
love, but I had to face the harsh truth that it wasn’t love that was my
motivator, it was responsibility. The love is there but this person is not the
person I once loved – she only inhabits her body. Her personality is gone, she
is only half a person – the physical is present but the spirit which made her
unique is gone. You cannot love half a person completely. But there is a strong
sense of responsibility which has taken over and all my actions, decisions, and
will power now stems from this. I wasn’t a very responsible person so that
comes as a bit of a shock for me. I am
too shallow and too selfish to really have a strong sense of responsibility.
Being an only child I never really learnt to think for anyone else but myself.
Perhaps this sense of responsibility is really a mask to hide my selfishness? I
realize that once she is no more the house will be very very silent – no one to
even ask these 4 or 5 questions. Perhaps that is why I endure this spin cycle
of emotions every day. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I go through a daily cycle of resentment, guilt, frustration
and remorse. I resent the state of limbo that my life is currently in and I
feel guilty about having these thoughts. I feel frustrated that my life is on
hold and then feel remorse at allowing these thoughts to come. Each morning I get up with a resolve to be
happy and each night I go to sleep completely spent and drained. Perhaps the
one emotion I feel most often is that of loss. What happened to all the dreams
I had? Where did all that promise fade away to? Sometimes I feel that my life
is nothing more than a utility for my mom. I was sent so that she would not be
alone in her old age and I’m of use only till she is here. This thought used to
make me feel angry now I’ve kind of reconciled myself with it. The image of a
flat lined cardiac monitor comes to mind when I think of my own life. No spikes
at all just the same constant flat line. I grew up thinking I was destined to
do something big something important so perhaps the hardest thing for me to
accept has been that I will probably amount to nothing. There is no sudden bend
in front of me which will take my life on another path. I am blessed that I was
able to travel and have new experiences early on in my life and perhaps an
attempt to recreate those days is futile but no one has ever really been able
to control their wishes. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
My most important question remains unanswered – why? Is
there really an explanation for why this is happening? Or is life just random
and we conjure explanations just to make ourselves feel better? Am I good or am
I bad? Is this a lesson or a trial? Am I being blessed or is this my
punishment? Is the present a consequence of actions in my present life or is it
the karma of a previous one? I realize that I am going round and round in
circles and perhaps I too am now trapped in a little world of my own like a
person in a maze from which they cannot find their way out. </div>
</div>
Sualeha Bhattihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03323292009496375845noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2431328732461901144.post-33584685708668519702012-07-24T03:53:00.000-07:002012-12-04T03:20:47.341-08:00Law of Attraction and Religion<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Recently there has been a lot of focus on the Law of
Attraction especially since the book ‘ The Secret’ was published. The basic
tenet of this philosophy is simple – you manifest in your reality that what you
think about most. In other words humans have the power to create the reality of
their lives just by thinking about it. This usually causes great alarm to the
religiously inclined, because what it means is that the power lies within
humans rather than an external force i.e. God and that of course is heresy.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
However Law of Attraction is not actually about thinking and
manifesting, it is about thinking (stating a desire) and then allowing it in
our lives and the bulk of our work is in the allowance not the thinking aspect
of this law. But still the question remains, is it contrary to our religious
beliefs? When I first started to study the Law of Attraction, like most people
I too had many questions and concerns. Over time as I studied it more in-depth,
I found that religion actually provided a medium for this law and rather than
being at cross purposes, they complimented each other.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The first big question that emerges in everyone’s mind is if
all we have to do is think then where does prayer come in? My counter question
to that is why do we pray? It is of course to ask God for something – be it a
material desire, salvation or just a state of protection. In fact whenever we
pray we fulfill the first step of the Law of Attraction i.e. stating our desire
– we let the Universe know what it is that we want. The act of praying or asking God is of no use
whatsoever unless you really and truly believe in God. It is our belief that
gives strength to the prayer. When we pray in essence we hand over our requests
to God knowing that He will somehow make them true for us. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
This process of letting go or handing it over to the
Universe is critical for desire manifestation according to the Law of
Attraction. As I mentioned earlier the bulk of our work is to allow our desires
to manifest. To the novice this may seem like the easiest thing in the world
but to the initiated it is the most difficult aspect of LOA. You see the
Universe does not respond to our words but to our emotions. In other words we
don’t attract things in our lives by thinking about them rather we attract circumstances,
things, events which closely match our predominant feeling. The most important aspect
of allowance is to feel predominantly happy, optimistic or joyous. The longer
we are able to maintain this state of joy, the quicker the manifestations will
be. Vividly imagining as if your desires have already manifested and seeing
yourself enjoying them also helps but on the flip side constantly thinking of <i>when</i> they will materialize actually
delays the manifestations because the predominant feeling is that of waiting
and the attention is on the absence of what you desire. Waiting and focusing on
the lacking will generate more waiting and lack. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Now let’s get back to religion. You see the whole point of
praying is to let go of things and let God take care of them. If our belief is
truly strong then the act of praying should bring us relief from all negative
emotions and make us content in the knowledge that our prayers are being
answered. However, most people are never able to cross this line of faith. They
constantly worry about when and if their prayers will be answered thus actually
delaying the allowance and then wondering why God does not answer their
prayers. He will if you move out of the way! If you don’t really trust Him then
why go through the motions? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Every religion has a set of rituals designed to bring
contentment, peace and joy. Being a
Muslim the act of Salaat 5 times a day for me is Allah’s way of ensuring that
we not only take stress busting breaks but also that we completely forget our
worries during that time and enter into a state of bliss. After all if your
faith in God and your rituals do not make you happy then there is something
very wrong in your personal belief system – I said personal belief system because
religions cannot be wrong, people who follow them usually are. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
If you truly practice religion the way it was meant to be
then you use the Law of Attraction to your advantage if not the Law of
Attraction will keep working against you. Just look at the state of our country
and the Ummah as well. We spend most of our time in blaming, being angry,
hating, and being generally unhappy and what are we manifesting as a result? We
are attracting and manifesting circumstances which make us angrier, more
miserable and helpless. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Of course even for those who are masters of the Law of
Attraction sometimes seemingly random events occur in their lives or they are
faced with unforeseen challenges. The avid LOA fan will tell you that at some
level of your sub-conscious you attracted these things in your life. However my
take is slightly different. I believe that God puts us in these situations so that
not only does our resolve and character strengthen, but that our desires grow
as well. Life would be pretty boring if we all had the same level of desires,
usually a tragedy in our lives provides the spring board for noble and grand
desires. Therefore these events are what
is sometimes described as ‘ contrast’ or situations where we can come to a
decision as to what we want next in our lives.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
It is easy to discard any idea without the slightest
investigation, usually because when we are faced with two seemingly contradicting
philosophies we become extremely uncomfortable emotionally. The easier route to
take is just negate the one that is causing the turmoil. The more difficult and
noble approach is to go through this discomfort, examine your own beliefs, find
the truth behind both ideas and then build a bridge. </div>
</div>
Sualeha Bhattihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03323292009496375845noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2431328732461901144.post-39189122062117042952012-07-13T07:58:00.000-07:002012-12-04T03:23:01.008-08:00Its All A Myth<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
All religious traditions have 3 things in common; they all
help their followers find inner peace through a path of righteousness, each has
its own rituals and they all contain their own specific mythologies.
Objectively speaking no one really has a problem with the core essence of any
religion i.e. the central message. Every religion teaches its followers to
adopt the noblest of human characteristics – truth, serenity, justice, peace,
sacrifice and simplicity. I have not come across a religion that teaches
anything to the contrary. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Rituals are the identity badges of every religion. It is the
rituals that people follow which enables us to differentiate between these
traditions, hence they are unique for every religion. When followers of one
religion criticize others they usually launch their attack on the basis of the
rituals that a religion follows.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Mythologies are stories that are associated with a religion
and can be loosely termed as the ‘history’ of that tradition. I would like to
clarify here that contrary to popular belief a myth does not mean a lie – a
myth is a traditional story usually involving supernatural characters. Many
rituals are spawned from the mythology of that particular religion. A number of
rituals are designed to help preserve these mythologies so that people never
forget their origins. But mythologies are much more than just history passed
down through the generations in a narrative form. They embody the wisdom of the
ancestors passed in an easy to remember narrative. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Of all the ancient mythologies I find those of the Vedic
tradition i.e. Hinduism the most interesting personally, simply because unlike
the Greek and the Romans, Hinduism is considered to be the most ancient of all
practiced religions and since I am from the sub-continent I find it easier to
understand and study. What fascinates me about these myths is the attempt of
the ancient people to pass on their knowledge of geography, medicine, history
and the arts to their descendants through fascinating imagery.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Take for example the story of the sacred river Ganga. Ganga
was the daughter of the king Hemavat ruler of Himalaya. All his daughters were turned into rivers
except Parvatti who became Shiva’s consort. Ganga was taken to the heavens to
purify it after the Asuras had polluted it.
She was asked to come down and flow on earth by Bhagirtha. The sins of
Bhagiratha’s ancestors had polluted the land and there was chaos and famine
everywhere, after years of prayers and meditation he finally managed to bring
Ganga down from the heavens. But if Ganga were to come straight down earth
would not have been able to sustain its force hence Shiva intervened and Ganga
first flowed onto his head and then made her way down to earth through his
hair.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
For non-Hindus this is fantasy at its peak, but look more
closely and you will find a complete lesson on basic geography. In Sanskrit Hem
means snow and hence Hemavat was snow king whose kingdom was Himalaya which
means snow abode. All his daughters were fated to become rivers including
Saraswati and Ganga, which as any school going kid now will tell you makes perfect sense as we know that these rivers
start in the Himalayas as snow, therefore in essence these rivers are the
daughters of king of snow who rules over the snow abode. The river Ganga does
not really start as a large river from a single point of origin, although the
main river can be traced to Gomukh where the glacial melt water flows down into
a stream which down course becomes the mighty river. However there are several
streams and rivulets along the Himalaya which contribute their waters to Ganga.
So to say that Ganga flows down from the locks of Shiva is a metaphor to
describe the hundreds of streams which flow down to the river. A geography
lesson narrated with imagery.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The sins of Bhagiratha’s ancestors had brought a terrible
plight to his people who were dying of starvation due to famine. Again this is
a way of not only making people understand that water is essential to life but
that our reckless behaviour can have a long lasting effect on our future
generations a lesson we still haven’t learnt
unfortunately). Clean water nourishes the land and provides a balance essential
for its sustainability. As with all religions the ritual surrounding this myth
has become more important than the real meaning of the story. Each year
millions of people ritually ‘cleanse ‘ themselves by bathing in the waters of
Ganga which itself is now fast becoming the most polluted river on the
planet. The ritual has become bigger
than the lesson and this is not just in Hinduism, in every religion we see
examples where rituals are being adhered to with fervour without a real
understanding what they are meant to commemorate. Muslims pray 5 times a day - the ritual is
supposed to help focus their thoughts, relieve stress and surrender themselves
to Allah but little of this really happens, while the body is postulating the
mind is thinking of what one is going to be doing after the prayer is over, all
worries, all problems all thoughts are still very much in play and surrender is
the last thing on people’s mind.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
There is no getting away from the fact that as long as we
are alive we will be living in a diverse world. Religious diversity is a fact
and those who either ignore this or try to eradicate it are living in a fool’s
paradise. We have to understand that to believe in a religion and to respect it
are two different things. I may be practicing one religion but that does not
give me the right to negate or be derisive of others. If we take a little bit
of time to understand the mythology of any religion we will be able to
understand the wisdom behind it and no one can really argue with wisdom.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
None of us can really deny the essence of any religion
because they are the same. We can all respect other religions if we try and
understand what their myths are really trying to say. And as for rituals - we
can all agree to have the right to be different from each other. Perhaps then
the world will become a more liveable, beautiful place. But this is only
possible if we all take a step towards understanding and respecting each other
rather than running in the opposite direction every time we come across a
belief that is contrary to ours.</div>
</div>
Sualeha Bhattihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03323292009496375845noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2431328732461901144.post-76791116641492304042012-07-02T06:11:00.001-07:002020-03-21T17:36:02.352-07:00Nostalgia Attack<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">When you catch yourself spending more time indulging in
nostalgia than dreaming of the future you know you are getting old. I guess I’m
getting old. Childhood memories, snapshots of places and people long gone, seem
to creep up out of nowhere. My parents were the Partition generation i.e. they
were witness to the excitement as well as the ensuing misery as people
migrated, got killed and separated from their loved ones. My mom lost everything
- her father, her property, her childhood, her joy, so it is not strange that
she would spend the rest of her life looking back, saddened by the turn of
events and what could have been. As a reaction to her attachment to the past I
lived my life with one hand on the delete button. A lot has happened in my life
but I really don’t remember things with clarity, I have always looked ahead. So
it is doubly strange that suddenly I have become nostalgic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I belong to a generation that straddles two completely
different eras. My early childhood was spent in a time when Karachi was still carrying
the vivid impressions of the ‘Raj’, where things were built to last a 100 years
and where change occurred infrequently. My adult life has been part of the IT
revolution where each day brings a life changing innovation. Perhaps that is
why even my earliest memories seem to be like old black and white photographs –
slightly faded and tinged with sepia. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Karachi was such a different city back then. One of its
most defining features was the tram service which ran right down the middle of
the roads of Saddar and M.A Jinnah road
(or Bunder road as it was known then). I didn’t see the trams run for very long
as their era was almost at an end by the time I was old enough to notice them.
I remember people getting off and on these trams as they slowly made their way
up and down and most vividly I remember the clanging of the brass bells as they
warned people to get out of their path. The city was filled with the sound of
bells and occasional horns rather than the pressure horns of the public
transport which took its place. Where Gul Plaza now stands on M.A Jinnah road was
the central depot of the trams or Tram Godhi as it was locally known. It was a humungous
structure with corrugated metal sheets as roofing and though it was no more
than a very big shed, it was still architecturally more pleasing to the eye
than the ugly monstrosity that has taken its place.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The 60’s and 70’s saw an explosion of property
development where beautiful building were torn down and replaced by eye sores
which as time passed by became more than just sores – they became puss infected
wounds which unfortunately we have no choice but to suffer each day. The area
of Soldier Bazaar had grand stone bungalows, each of which had large gardens
filled with ‘peepal’ and banyan trees. In fact these trees were all over Karachi and perhaps the best known characteristic of the city. As we started
tearing down the structures we also cut off all the trees barring a few that
remained on M.A Jinnah road, and the task of tearing down the remaining ones
has been taken up by nature through gale force winds during the monsoon season.
We are a nation which is addicted to shortcuts and quick profits, therefore no
one ever bothered to plant new peepal or banyan trees since they take a very long
time to grow. During the 90’s we started to wake up to the importance of trees for the environment and massive plantation
drives were undertaken. Karachi now had little space and no patience to allow
these trees to take roots, so instead of these slow growing trees we saw hundreds
of eucalyptus trees being planted, hence
changing the character of Karachi once and for all. The oases of shades in a
concrete desert were no more.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Of course most people will wonder why I am not
reminiscing about the peace, and tolerance of the city. I too miss those
qualities of the city but then the city itself has gone through a physical
metamorphosis or I daresay, mutation. And this new city has a personality
befitting its new looks. A city that looks harsh and scarred has a personality
which is hard and enjoys scarring others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</div>
Sualeha Bhattihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03323292009496375845noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2431328732461901144.post-20664101722948744112012-06-28T07:22:00.001-07:002020-03-21T17:38:18.558-07:00Death Wish<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It has taken me a long time to accept the fact that I’m
not really an ambitious person. For someone who has spent most of their life in
corporate corridors training people who can’t wait to get to the top, it is no
easy fact to accept. For a long time I felt there was something wrong with me –
some form of mental illness perhaps? I look around at the people I know and
they all seem to be in a hurry to get somewhere, to gain something, to be
something, and I seem to be the only one just strolling down this path, having
no burning desire to achieve anything specific in my life. I could find nothing
in my life to which I could attach my happiness – when I get …I will be happy,
when I become…I will be happy or when I go ….I will be happy. No such
statements really spring up in my mind. It’s not that I have achieved utter
bliss, there are a lot of things wrong with my life but somehow I know that in
spite of all the imperfections I will survive and I although I want things to
change, I can’t really find the fire within me to make an all our effort to do
so.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Since this ‘condition’ was not normal I tried to analyze
what exactly was the root of this problem. During this psychoanalysis I
discovered one thing – I really believe in my immortality. I believe that the
soul is eternal and I’m currently on a journey in this physical body. Since
this is for me a transient phase I don’t really have the pressure of getting
things done within my lifetime. I’m a tourist and as such I’m just soaking in
the experiences of this journey, I am not putting the pressure of an itinerary on
this trip. Having made this discovery about myself I realized that I was lying
when I said I had no ambition – I did, but not one for this current physical
life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Now some of you may think I’ve gone all religious and
have started to collect reward points which will get me to Heaven. Not really.
I want 3 things to happen when I die. First I hope that there will be that
moment of clarity when I can finally understand what my real place in the
Universe is and why I was made to undertake this journey. The second is a free
pass to roam the Universe. I wish my spirit could journey through the vastness
of this Universe and witness its wonders. I want to see galaxies spiraling in
space, I want to see a nebula where new stars are being formed, I want to see a
Quasar in action in short I want to see first hand everything that I cannot
while I’m in this physical body. The last thing I would like to happen when I
die is to be able to answer questions which have been baffling scientists for
so long – what are the other dimensions which exist other than those of time
and space which we experience? What was before the beginning of the Universe?
What happens after the end of our Universe? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Most people would say that I should be more concerned
about making it to Heaven and making sure I don’t end up in Hell, but perhaps
my definition of Heaven is a bit different. Sitting in a garden eating and
drinking all day long is not really such a motivator for me, my idea of Heaven
is knowledge. There are those who would be quick to term this as heresy or blasphemy
since the religious texts specifically mention a garden as the final destination
of the good and pious, however, I have a different take on this. We spent years
trying to understand poetries written by masters and yet we are stupid enough
to think that a text sent down by God himself can be understood at a literal
level? If as we Muslims believe that Allah himself has promised to preserve the
Quran till the Day of Judgement, then isn’t it obvious that as our civilization
evolves we would understand the depth of the layers that each word contains? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The success of a religion is dependent on the validity of
its message through the millennia and its ability to speak to mankind as it
keeps evolving its level of knowledge. For people who lived 2000 to 14000 years
ago in an arid and barren land an incentive of lush gardens ample water, milk
and honey would be the best to entice them towards good – that is what they
could relate to, what they could understand, hence that was the description of Heaven. However that doesn’t really mean that
Heaven is a particular location somewhere up in the skies. For all we know, we
may just end up as pure consciousness in another dimension, a concept we are
only now beginning to marginally understand. Anyway, this is not really about
Heaven or Hell, this piece is about my desires.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So my life is without ambition, but I have a few desires
for after I die. Having said that I realize that to say I have no ambition is
not entirely true. My ambition or burning desire is to get to the truth and
that perhaps is not possible while we are in this physical existence. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Lead me from untruth towards the truth<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Lead me from darkness towards light<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Lead me from mortality towards immortality<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This is a beautiful prayer which perhaps defines my
desires very well. The fact that it is in Sanskrit will make some squirm, as they
will immediately jump to the conclusion that if its in Sanskrit then I’m
leaning towards Hinduism. However these lines do not really mention any god or
goddess, in fact it is a plea from a student to his teacher. Besides, belief in
a religion and understanding other religious texts are 2 separate things.
Surely if just by reading about other religions your own belief starts to
waver, then your faith was weak in the first place. The Sanskrit version is:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Asatho Maa Sad Gamaya<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Thamaso Maa Jyothir Gamaya<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Mrithyor Maa Amritham Gamaya<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br /></div>
Sualeha Bhattihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03323292009496375845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2431328732461901144.post-27840424669244890842012-06-26T06:18:00.001-07:002012-06-26T17:42:27.754-07:00The Greatest Gift<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I’m back after a long period of silence. It’s not that I didn’t
have to say anything for so long – but rather too much. All the ideas were
fighting for supremacy and the result was complete incoherence – just chatter.
There was no shortage of subjects but I couldn’t find the words to give those
ideas any form. Everything was getting jumbled up inside my mind, leaving me
bewildered. It was a strange feeling, perhaps the closest analogy I can find is
that of someone in a coma. They say comatose patients can take inputs from their surroundings but they are
incapable of reacting to them. Such was my case. I knew what I wanted to say but
felt helpless when it came to actually finding the words to give form to the
idea. This phase made me realize that words are really magical. Human beings
are alchemists who turn the ether of their thoughts into the base metals of comprehensible
ideas through words. Without words what are we?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I used to think that when various religious traditions
talk about humans being God’s supreme creation it is because He gave us free
will – the right to make choices and consequently change our life paths.
However there is one more thing that makes us different from all other
creations of God (at least the creations that co-inhabit this planet with us)
and that is the gift of words. We have hundreds of languages and each language
has thousands of words and each word is important for self-expression. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Without language we are nothing. We need words not only
to communicate with others but with ourselves as well. If we didn’t have words
how would we think? How do we ascertain how we are feeling unless we give that
emotion a name? How do we reflect on our
lives without words? How do we
plan for our future? How do we contemplate on all our mistakes? We need words
to know our selves. Some would ask what about the deaf and mute people? Even
though they cannot speak to us through spoken words they do use sign and even
those who don’t use sign I’m sure they have developed an entirely unique language
for themselves, the meaning of which is only known to the individual who
created it and through that language they understand themselves and others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In fact if God hadn’t given us languages He could not
have sent us any messengers nor any religious books. He needed to give us
language so we could get to Him. We tend to think of ancient man as being primitive
but actually our ancestors were closer to the truth than we give them credit
for. Since the dawn of mankind ritualistic chanting has been an important aspect
of religious ceremony. Be it the tribal chants of the jungle tribes, the hymns
of the ancient Aryans or the current practice of reciting out loud the Quran or other religious books and hymns.
When ancient man heard the ‘sacred’
words and felt their power, it was not because of what words were being
recited – rather it was the awe of the sound of words i.e. the reverence of
words, of language itself. Over the
years, like with everything else, the core truth got ignored somehow and the
rituals honouring those truths have taken centre stage. We are caught up in fighting over who speaks which words - we have forgotten that the very fact we can speak is the greatest gift of God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>Sualeha Bhattihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03323292009496375845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2431328732461901144.post-13896864306550945532012-02-16T04:00:00.000-08:002012-02-16T04:00:09.533-08:00My Epic Struggle<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The most epic struggles of human beings are those in which we battle ourselves. When the conflict is between not just the heart and mind but also that of what we feel is right and what the world tells us to do. I was recently involved in one such battle.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">For years I have been teaching my participants that one’s personal values are the compass by which one should take decisions. Any decision one takes contrary to their values, no matter how sound it may be on face value, will eventually result in unhappiness. Of course in order to have this compass one needs to take a very long and hard look at themselves and find out what their values are. What defines them? What principles do they hold dear? Over the course of many years of introspection I have come to the conclusion that the one value which is of utmost priority in my life is ‘</span><st1:city><st1:place><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Independence</span></st1:place></st1:city><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">’. Everything I have done or not done has been to protect this value.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I was recently offered a job and on the surface it would have meant that I would have been free of the pressure of self-employment. It seemed like a good offer and my friends suggested that I go for it. But for some reason I felt a constriction in my chest every time I thought about accepting this position. I knew that this meant violating my value and I was not happy about that. However if the situation was this simple I would have ended the dilemma there and then. But there were other more important underlying questions for which I was struggling to find answers.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Was this offer a signal from the universe to move on to another level of my career? Was Law of Attraction at play here and this had been manifested as a solution to my problems and stress? Or was this a test from the universe to see if I have the power to remain true to myself? How would I ever be able to stand and deliver my message with congruence ever again if I myself was going against it? The more I deliberated the more confused I became. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I have always maintained that growth requires getting out of our comfort zones and since I was getting uncomfortable with this situation perhaps this was the next chapter in my life’s education curriculum. Logic dictated that I say ‘yes’ but the heart said ‘no’. For every answer another question popped up. And each day I became more and more miserable. I felt as if a heavy weight was bearing down upon me. Each time I imagined myself in that office my heart started pounding. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Being a student of NLP for over 20 years, I have developed a fairly strong bond with my sub-conscious and I’m usually quite receptive to the signals it gives me. When my discomfort wasn’t helping me arrive at a decision, thankfully my sub-conscious took the matter in its own hands. During one of my meetings with my potential employers I suddenly got a massive headache. That headache lasted for over 24 hours and no amount of medicine had any affect on it. It was the worst headache I have ever suffered in over 25 years! Our sub-conscious is much more powerful than our conscious mind. It is always a step ahead and I believe the statement from the Quran that God is closer to us than our jugular and if this is the case then I think He communicates to us through our sub-conscious. Many people unfortunately have become very adept at ignoring this communication. The communication comes as ideas, thoughts, flashes of images but when we pay no heed to these then it resorts to more tangible means like a child saying ‘hear me, hear me’ and when we don’t he tugs our shirt to get attention. The sub-conscious does exactly that…when we do not hear what it is trying to say it sends its message as a physical sensation. The more ignored it feels the harder it tugs i.e. the sensation becomes painful just like my headache.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In the end I listened to my sub-conscious, I went the way of my heart and refused the job. The immense relief I felt let me know that I was right. I had passed the test life had thrown my way and in the process I had validated everything I had been teaching for so long. Some people may find it strange that a simple employment offer could trigger such a conflict, but I believe that every major decision we take in our lives requires us to take a long hard look at ourselves. This whole episode taught me one very important lesson – sometimes temptations come into our lives masked as opportunities. We should definitely avail opportunities in our lives but not at the expense of our selves.<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>Sualeha Bhattihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03323292009496375845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2431328732461901144.post-49151088709406681372012-01-26T01:28:00.001-08:002012-01-26T01:28:26.974-08:00Celestial Beings<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">If there is one sight that brings out emotions like awe, peace, inspiration, curiosity and humility in us regardless of our age, culture or religion, it is a starry sky. It has the capacity to evoke pure and positive emotions in us. No matter how tense we may be, how angry or hopeless, the night sky soothes us, makes us realize the insignificance of our problems and fills us with wonderment.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Our fascination with the night sky is as old as the history of mankind itself. When early man looked up at the glittering universe it was perhaps the first instant when humans became aware of Divinity. When we realized that there was a Higher Power. As our civilization evolved we developed mythologies to explain our relation with the stars, we became fascinated with astronomy and religions from the earliest times to the present day allude to God, hell and heaven all being ‘above’. From time immemorial humans have always felt a sense of connectedness with the visible universe, it has always been for us the place where we ‘go’ after we die. Somehow the thought of returning to the universe after death makes it easier to accept the finality of our physical existence.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">What is surprising is not why we feel this way towards the universe but that for thousands of years we have instinctively known what science has recently confirmed – we are celestial. Every element on this earth including every single molecule in our bodies comes from stars in their death throes – the Supernovae. We are literally made of star material. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The glory of a night sky is all but hidden for all of us who live in cities. The light pollution prevents us from seeing the stars. Our opportunities to look up and gasp in wonder are non-existent unless we go out in the wilderness. The layer of pollution not only blankets the planet it also stands as a barrier between us and our true selves. Just like we are unable to see what is above us, we have become unable to see what is within us. The more we lose touch with the universe the more we are losing touch with all that’s pure and good in ourselves. The more light we have the darker the night sky appears. The more ‘advanced’ human civilization becomes the less visible human beings are becoming to each other. The haze within us is that of intolerance, greed, fear, manipulation and compromises on values and principles. We find it difficult to see people as they really are only as how we want to see them.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">We are celestial in our composition and therefore connected with all that is in the universe, and by the same logic we are also all connected to whatever there is on this planet – especially other people. Just because we can’t see the stars doesn’t mean they have disappeared and just because we refuse to see good in people doesn’t mean that people are not good. <o:p></o:p></span></div></div>Sualeha Bhattihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03323292009496375845noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2431328732461901144.post-24211997407928172172012-01-13T05:36:00.001-08:002012-01-13T05:36:52.190-08:00Thank You Life<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">After spending nearly half a century on this planet, hosting my non-physical self in this physical body, it is perhaps time to take stock of some of the lessons I have learnt so far along this journey.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">Perhaps my greatest lesson has been that what you shun most has a way of manifesting itself in your life. Whenever I have been judgemental and by that I mean having put a negative label on anything or anyone based solely on ‘instinct’, life has somehow thrown that very thing in my path and invariably I have changed my initial opinion. It has been life’s way of teaching me to be non-judgemental and open to perspectives different from me. I take this as a blessing – for indeed only a good teacher will make such an effort to teach an important lesson rather than just giving up on the student. So thank you life saving me from bigotry and fanaticism.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">My life has been mostly magical. I have traveled extensively, met a multitude of people and have had many exciting experiences. So it is no wonder that when I hit a bad patch it seemed like the end of the world and many a times I really wanted it to be so. But this was another important lesson that was slowly unfolding. At the end of this chapter I learnt that in the scheme of things a rough ride for a couple of years is really insignificant no matter how bumpy it may have been. The most important thing I learnt is that there is always a solution to the worst of problems, one just needs to keep searching and if you do not give up when you hit the point of desperation, the solution will come to you. So thank you life - for teaching me that even when I have nothing else, if I have my will-power and wits I can survive. And another thank you for introducing me to the strength within me – it will always remain my most cherished possession. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">Most people find it unusual that I am single. They think there must be either something wrong with me, or that I am nursing a wounded heart or there has to be some dark secret behind this state of affairs, many even feel sorry for me! Let me dispel all doubts once and for all – I am this way because I choose to be so and believe it or not I’m happy. This has been another lesson life taught me – the difference between romance and marriage. Like most people I have been ‘in love’ many times but none of these relationships seemed to materialize into marriage. At first like most women are conditioned to think, I too started wondering what was wrong with me? Then I took a long hard look at all the people I was ‘in love’ with over the years – and you know what? They were all wrong for me – every single one! Which means that I was deliberately seeking out people with whom I knew sub-consciously that there was no chance of getting into a life long commitment. Upon further analysis, it dawned on me that I really did not want to share my entire life with anyone. Being an only child and extremely independent from an early age I was too selfish to really allow so much space to anyone in my life. I am not saying it is right, but it is me. So thank you life for having given me the wisdom to realize my own limitations and preventing me from making a mistake which would have had disastrous consequences not only for me but at least one more person.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">Most people know that my mom suffers from dementia and anyone who has to deal with such a person also knows that living with them is an agonizing experience. My mother has transformed into a person who is so far removed from the person who raised me that at times it is like living with a total stranger. In my worst times when I wished nothing more than to end the whole thing the one thing that prevented me was my mother. Without me there would be no one to take care of her, and that one thought gave me the courage to keep on fighting. So thank you life for teaching me that no matter what the circumstances may be parents are always a blessing for their children. They don’t just give you life they protect it too.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">The say ‘when the student is ready the teacher appears’. I am ready and I know my teacher will continue to teach me many more valuable lessons.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div></div>Sualeha Bhattihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03323292009496375845noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2431328732461901144.post-20496507553108875702012-01-10T05:12:00.003-08:002012-01-12T15:29:06.683-08:00My Defining Books<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;">The most important book in my life is ‘Noddy’s Car’ a picture book which my father gave me when I was three years old. Since I hadn’t learnt to read at that time I badgered others to read it aloud to me and soon I knew the story so well that I could just flip the pages,look at the pictures and follow the story. Nothing remarkable about that – but then one day magic happened. As I was flipping through the pages I started to read the story, at first I didn’t realize what was happening but then suddenly I realized that I WAS READING! That instant of realization, that moment of wonder is frozen in my memory as if it just happened. I had acquired the single most important skill which would shape my life forever in that very moment. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;">Over the next few years I became an avid reader. Being an only child I found companionship in books. Perhaps the single most important influencer in my life other than my parents was Enid Blyton, whose books I grew up with, and many of the values I carry to this day came from her characters. Of all the books I possess my most cherished collection is the Enid Blyton books which sit at the top couple of shelves encased with a glass door. There was a book shop near the house we lived in at that time and I was its most regular customer, in fact after a while I didn’t even need to go to the shop myself I just sent the money and the store keeper knew which book was next on my reading list. The characters of those books became my friends and I spent hours talking to my imaginary friends. You could say that books saved me as a child, if I did not have them in those early years of my life I wonder how lonely my childhood would have been and what effects would I have suffered as a result of that solitude.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;">The next milestone on my significant books journey is a book on social anthropology entitled ‘Faces of Mankind’ which I was given at the age of 9. I became fascinated with the different races and tribes that I hadn’t ever encountered before. I came across the term ‘Neanderthal’ for the first time and found that humans evolved out of ape like creatures. That was the time the history bug bit me for the first time, I wanted to know more, I wanted to uncover old bones and go on digs, in short I announced that I wanted to be an archaeologist. However my parents had other ideas for their little princess and certainly did not want her digging up old skulls – so that career choice never materialized, but my love for ancient history is still going strong.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;">Over the next few years I read many books, mostly fiction and management titles Then one day a book was recommended to me by a mentor ‘The Road Less Traveled’ by Dr. Scott Peck. It is a book on psychology and discusses love, values and spiritual growth. This book opened a completely new path for me. A path of self discovery. I started to examine myself and my relation to my world view, I understood my own emotional fracture points, I realized that life was so much more than mere ambition. In short I started understanding myself and examining my relationships – a journey which still continues. This book enticed me to read more self-help and spirituality material. Paolo Coelho’s ‘AIchemist’ is definitely one of my favourite books, but I cannot categorize it as a milestone since it was ‘The Road Less Traveled’ that brought me to it.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;">Then one day I stumbled upon Robert Bauval’s ‘Orion Mystery’ in which he describes how the Pyramids of Giza are a depiction in stone of the Orion’s belt and how the ancient Egyptians were in fact emulating the cosmos on earth. My love for ancient mysteries and especially </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;">Egypt</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;"> started with this book. Subsequently I started reading anything and everything I could find not only on </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;">Egypt</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;"> but books on a multitude of topics concerning ancient civilizations including the Judaic history and the Ark of the Covenant, the Christian search for the Holy Grail and other ancient mysteries. I read about the Knights Templars, the Illuminati, and other secret societies. In short by the time Dan Brown came out with ‘Davinci Code’ I had already read the background research material on which it was based. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;">It was but natural that having my mind saturated with history of the rest of the world, I would start looking closer to home i.e. the </span><st1:place><st1:placename><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;">Indus</span></st1:placename><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><st1:placetype><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;">Valley</span></st1:placetype></st1:place><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;"> and Vedic civilization. Many people find it strange that I have the Upanishad, Rig Veda, Bhagwad Gita on my book shelf. Some have tried to let me know in not so many words that it is ‘not right’ but for me they are a source of knowledge and history. My focus is currently on the myths of Hindu religion and trying to analyze how they may have emanated and what historic events could have over the years snowballed into such fantastic tales. To study a religion does not mean one has converted to it. My grandfather used to say “if you do not study other religions, you cannot appreciate your own completely” wise words indeed. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;">I have no idea what the next pit stop of my knowledge journey will be. Which book will take me on which path next is anybody’s guess, all I know is that books have been my surrogate parents thus far. They have played as important a role in my character development and life choices as my real parents. But one thing is for sure from ‘Noddy’s Car’ to ancient history the journey has been not only exciting but also one of expansion and extreme satisfaction.<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>Sualeha Bhattihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03323292009496375845noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2431328732461901144.post-25903135189223713732011-12-30T02:11:00.000-08:002011-12-30T02:11:16.652-08:00The Myth Of Respect<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">In Pakistan we nurse many delusions and one of them is that respect is a quality which is the hallmark of our culture. If it were true then it would be a great asset of this nation, but in fact we confuse respect with courtesy.<br />
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Respect means to honour, value and hold in esteem. I believe that respect is a mindset that we either have or don’t. If we have the ability to respect, then it is not just confined to our family but the society as well. The society is a combination of laws, heritage, culture and people. If we respected our society we would not take pride in breaking the laws and showing off that we did. I’m not talking about crime here, just look at the way we drive on our roads, we don’t care what happens to the rest of the traffic as long as we can get ahead. We break signals, we drive in the wrong lanes, we speed and before we say this is lack of education, most of the educated class driving in luxury cars is just as guilty as the bus driver. Is this respect? I don’t think so!<br />
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The way we treat some of our most precious national treasures is appalling. Go to any historical site and you will find disfigurement, trash, and no effort to preserve it for posterity. The plight of Mohenjodaro is a tragedy which we should be ashamed of. The government may not be doing anything to preserve our heritage but that doesn’t mean that we should use ancient monuments to carve out our names. We respect our heritage? I don’t think so!<br />
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The way we attack public property every time we are excited is again evidence of how we disrespect the communities we live in. Our treatment of people who have points of views contrary to ours is also a case in point. Respect for human beings means we acknowledge and honour their right to be individuals and free thinkers, but the level of intolerance in our society tells a different story. <br />
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There are people who say that when we go abroad we become model citizens and it is the lack of law enforcement which is at the root of our problems. Perhaps so, but I feel we confuse fear with respect also - to do something out of fear means it is not our natural tendency to do so and given the chance we will revert to our original behaviour. <br />
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Whether we like to hear it or not, we are a supremely selfish nation. If our politicians only think of their own wealth it should not shock us. We too only think of our selves. We need instant gratification and for that purpose it doesn’t matter who or what we destroy. We don’t like to talk about these things and we find external reasons for our behaviours. But the problem lies within and that’s what we should examine with brutal honesty.<br />
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</div>Sualeha Bhattihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03323292009496375845noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2431328732461901144.post-60223478523751543822011-12-19T04:53:00.000-08:002011-12-19T04:53:10.017-08:00Confessions Of Craziness<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I confess that I am crazy and I’m quite happy about it. There is a difference between insanity and craziness (at least according to me). To be insane means to not have any boundaries between the real and the imagined. Insane people are unable to censor their thoughts and actions. Crazy people on the other hand do have defined boundaries however they choose to push them beyond the norms of acceptance and hence ‘normalcy’. <br />
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To be normal simply means doing what the majority does and hence accepts. The question of right or wrong does not arise because the majority finds a way of justifying their actions somehow. Take the example of the difference between East and West - living with your parents and taking care of them in their old age is normal for the East but a grown man living with his parents is definitely not normal in the West. Different cultures will have different codes of normal conduct. So when I say I am crazy, perhaps that is not entirely true, rather I should say I am crazy in reference to the culture and society I live in.<br />
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There is a myth that crazy people do things that are ‘in-your-face’, deliberately trying to provoke the society into a reaction. Some do – yes, but at times that simply stems from a desire to be noticed and heard. However there is another type, the category to which I belong. My type lives their life ruled by the heart. I think life means much more than following a pattern which takes us from the cradle to the grave. My life is not a painting which you can step back and admire, rather it’s a collage and you need to come up close to see each element in order to understand it. To some I may seem unstructured in my approach, but I believe in collecting experiences. <br />
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I’ve made many mistakes that no ‘normal’ person would, but I cherish each one because it has taught me valuable life lessons which I can proudly claim to be my own. If my life is in a mess I have created it all on my own accord and have no one to blame since I asked no one before I made my choices. My own happiness is paramount to me but that doesn’t mean I’m selfish – I simply seek to remain true to myself and therefore be honest with the people who matter most to me. I am a recluse and people think its not normal, but I find empty chatter abnormal. To each their own. <br />
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I experience every emotion to its fullest. Sometimes I get morbidly depressed and find solace in the possibility of death and at others I am so elated that its sublime. My views may not be popular, but they are mine and I don’t dilute them to conform. I spend a lot of time understanding myself and though I know all my faults, weaknesses and delusions I have yet to discover who I really am. People have an end game in mind and they have a plan for how their life will pan out, me on the other hand – I just live day-to-day. I cannot see the road ahead with the clarity that others can but my life is filled with the expectation of what’s around the next bend. Usually there is a disaster waiting for me but I have never given up hope of finding the enchanted forest. I don’t reminiscent about my childhood, I keep it alive within me. Who I am and who I see in the mirror is the same person but stuck in different ages. <br />
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Some say it takes courage to live life on your own terms, but I disagree. It is a lot more difficult to live according to the expectations of other people. Often people spend their entire life making others happy and end up being miserable themselves and then spend the rest of the time making every one else pay for their negativity. What a sad way to live! When you are joyous only then can you make others happy. There are people who don’t even know what values are important in their lives, they take on popular values because they are subscribed to by the majority. I know what I value most in my life and though it may not be noble it defines who I am – independence. Every choice in my life has been made through this filter. The outcome may not have been desired, but I have no regrets – I experienced, I learnt, I moved on. The worst thing I can think of is to be on the death bed and say “I wish…” <br />
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When I die my epitaph will not read as the chronology of my birth and death date it will simply say “She refused to exist”. If I manage that then I can pat myself on the back and say “Sualeha life well lived”.<br />
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</div>Sualeha Bhattihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03323292009496375845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2431328732461901144.post-39379720735427346932011-12-16T02:29:00.001-08:002011-12-16T02:29:53.001-08:00The Evil Within Us<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">When we think of the word ‘evil’ it conjures images of murder, rape, blood and mayhem in short all heinous crimes. We all have an opinion about evil but few of us truly understand it. Yes the most extreme manifestation of evil is all of the above, but there is a more common ‘garden variety’ of evil of which most are oblivious to and one which to which most of us succumb – knowingly or unwittingly. <br />
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The word EVIL is LIVE spelt backwards, hence in its broadest sense evil is anti-life. The question of course then is what is life? Does it mean the involuntary actions of all our organs such as blood pressure, breathing and digestion that our brain controls? Technically they say that once the brain ceases to function the human body dies. So what about the people who are on life support systems? Even in their most vegetative state, their brain is still functioning even though it may be with diminished capacity. Hence they are technically alive. But when we pray for a long life do any of us wish such a life for ourselves and our loved ones? Definitely not! Therefore, life has to mean more than that.<br />
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Is life the soul that exists within us? But the soul is immortal, and life in this physical form comes with an expiry called death. So let’s focus on what it means to be alive in this body that we are currently inhabiting. There are people who pray for death everyday, not because of any debilitating physical illness but simply because to go on living is a dreary and painful thought. These people have lost one precious quality that defines human life – hope. Hence we can safely say that one aspect of being alive is to have hope.<br />
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When we visualize a good life for ourselves there is one element which is common to us all no matter how big or small our dreams may be – happiness. We cannot imagine life without the ability to smile and be joyful. Regardless of whether we are rich or poor, are alone or have a large family, live in cities or in the middle of a jungle, for 7 billion people the essence of being alive is to be hopeful and happy. By this argument, evil is anything which takes away these 2 essential qualities of life. <br />
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When we cause the smile to disappear from someone’s face – we are being evil. When we bring despair into someone’s life – we are evil. When someone falls and we make them believe they can never get up again – we are evil. When we spread gloom and negativity – we are evil. When we use the ‘practicality’ card and ask someone to discard their dreams – we are evil. None of us can claim that we are not evil. We cannot control or change anyone else, but we can change ourselves by becoming aware of the evil within us – and all around us will also change.<br />
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</div>Sualeha Bhattihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03323292009496375845noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2431328732461901144.post-21218297996714823682011-12-09T01:47:00.000-08:002011-12-09T01:47:30.377-08:00Where Democracy Is Not Desirable<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Democracy is undoubtedly the most desirable form of government and there is no denying that. However the problem starts when we start using this model in all our decision making at the personal and professional level. <br />
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Basically a democracy is a vote where the majority ends up with what they want and the minority gets stuck with what they didn’t want and probably never will. In an event of a deadlock this is probably the simplest way of arriving at a decision. And therein lies the problem – it is the simplest way. We are a nation hooked on short-cuts and taking the easy way out. The better but tougher route is to arrive at a consensus, which means that we take a decision which may not be everyone’s first choice, but once taken everyone supports it and no one opposes it. <br />
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One may argue that when so many people seem to agree on a course of action then surely they can’t all be wrong? The problem is that the voice of sanity is usually the softest and the cacophony of fools drowns all sounds. In our society he who speaks loudest gets heard even though he may be wrong. Those who dominate our discussions by virtue of sheer volume intimidate those who cannot. Another reason why we don’t engage in unfiltered and open debate is because we may feel insecure and vulnerable. We have been conditioned to behave in a manner that pleases everyone, and by airing our views about a subject there is a danger that we may offend some and lose our popularity. We end up being ‘liked’ by others perhaps, but something inside us erodes each time we take the easy way out. That “something” is our self-esteem. <br />
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We lose our self-esteem every time we take illegitimate short-cuts in life. These short-cuts do not mean simply doing what is illegal, but also not doing what is right. Over a period of time our self-esteem hits such a low point that we need others to validate our existence. The usual commonly heard phrase ‘do you know who I am?’ is an indication of this phenomenon. We may think this is a result of the VIP culture in our country, but then doesn’t VIP also stand for Very Insecure Person? We only have to go out on our roads to see how it pervades our society – each one is trying to get ahead somehow to ‘prove’ they are better, even though there is no competition. <br />
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There is only one way through which consensus on any decision can be arrived at – by logical debate. If one person’s logic and reasoning is stronger then the other gives in. It requires time, patience to listen to others and the capacity to accept that we may not be always right, 3 things we seem to have a dearth of. <br />
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</div>Sualeha Bhattihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03323292009496375845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2431328732461901144.post-32126709751349744702011-11-30T00:24:00.000-08:002011-11-30T00:24:17.220-08:00Change? What Change?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">There is an anticipation of change in the air. Analysts, politicians, ordinary citizens, the old and the young are all certain that change is eminent. Expectations of a political reform are at an all time high. People have started to believe that there is a possibility of reclaiming their land from the clutches of corruption. But I wonder what will change for me and millions of women in this county? If the country was being run by people who put the country before their self-interest the result would be a stronger economy, more job opportunities, better health and education services and security for sure. But my question still remains what will change for the women?<br />
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We’ve had a woman Prime Minister twice – and nothing changed, we have women in the parliament – and nothing has changed. A bill, a legislation, a law has not helped so far and won’t in the future. We seem to be a nation in love with short-cuts and our eagerness to put a label on the cause of problem is unparalleled. Every problem this nation faces is categorized under 3 labels – corruption, poverty and lack of education. I agree that these are major contributing factors of most of our issues, but by jumping to these conclusions we close the door for further analysis. The 3 pet labels of Pakistan have become the carpet beneath which we brush all our problems.<br />
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Usually when we discuss national problems we start at the macro level and work our way down to the micro. But for a change let’s start at the micro level, let’s talk about the problem of women in the narrow band of population which I inhabit. There is no issue of a lack of education in this group of people nor do we have poverty. Yes corruption does exist here as well but for the moment let’s keep it aside for argument’s sake.<br />
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Rape, wife battering and other forms of physical violence are present but well hidden in this group but there is another issue which is quite common – the basic right of a woman to be an individual. This may seem mundane to some and you may think that this is just Feminist mumbo jumbo, but it cuts down to the heart of the matter. The overt physical abuse stems from this root problem. <br />
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If a woman decides to live her life on her own terms she is quickly labeled as a nut-job, when a man does so he is brave. When a woman in this group decides to stand by her own convictions and principles she is arrogant, when a man does the same he is confident. When a woman starts to wonder what her life is all about and what truly makes her happy she is depressed, when a man asks these questions it is maturity. When a woman passes a comment she is frivolous, when a man does so he is witty. When a woman says she doesn’t want children right now she is vain and irresponsible, when a man makes the same statement he is behaving responsibly. When a woman says she doesn’t want marriage she must be hiding a dark secret in her past, when a man states this intention he is merely eccentric. When a woman is all-of-the-above she is a great topic for discussion and ridicule, when a man is all-of-the-above he is someone to respect and learn from. The list is endless but truth is that the yardstick for men and women is different even amongst the educated and well off. <br />
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Better education and more financial security will not change this disparity and no political change will put an end to this. I agree that this is not an issue just localized to Pakistan, it is a global pandemic but its manifestations in our country have become intolerable. The rise in violence against women is an indication of how deep seated this problem has become in our country. If we are to bring a real change for women in this country then we need to get out of our comfort zones and discuss these issues in depth. We must get over our tendency to over simplify issues in order to put a neat label on them. To solve the problems of women men will have to bring a change in themselves and doing so is both painful as well as scary. It is easier to apportion blame on a faceless bogey rather than take a long hard look at ourselves. That is why although I am just excited at the prospect of change in the country I am not holding my breath for things to change for the women of Pakistan.<br />
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</div>Sualeha Bhattihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03323292009496375845noreply@blogger.com3