Zahra speaks

Finally, 2018 is coming to an end. Like every year, this year was also filled with happiness and disappointments, success and failure, new relationships and breakups. It has been another year packed with experiences that help us grow and learn. With every upcoming year, we receive 365 days of opportunities to discover and improve. Life is going to throw you down and you are going to have both positive and negative experiences but everything teaches us something, focus on the thing that you extract out of it. You may have had some unfavourable experiences throughout the year and they are a part of your story, embrace them! We all are living a story, we will have the ups and downs, there will be villains to create difficulties for you but there will also be the heroes who will reach to rescue and if the hero doesn't arrive then be the hero yourself, anyhow always try to make your story worth a while. Again, all of these would just be words if you don't think about it. It

One of the most important relationships in a human's life is friendship. Friends are considered to be a family that a person chooses for him or her self. The unique love between friends cannot be defined in words, however, recently, I heard a real-life story that illuminated the significance of friendship in a person's life no matter what they are going through themselves, the friends will always want the best for each other. Image Courtesy: VideoBlocks Ashfaq and Altaf were best friends since childhood but as they grew up, the professional priorities tore them apart. Altaf had to go to another city for work purposes and Ashfaq stayed back in the home city. Many years passed by and they were not in contact anymore but they missed each other immensely. Altaf got married and had a family, he would narrate the stories of his friend to the kids. Ashfaq, on the other hand, could not find a stable job but got married and had kids as well. Life went on and the friendship rema

The Christmas season always makes me very nostalgic for various reasons. I have studied in coeducation and missionary school, Saint Peter's High School, Lahore. That building, the hallways, the cafeteria and the basketball ground, each and every place is clearly pictured in my head. As I write about it, I can clearly remember each and every place of that building. I feel extremely lucky to be a part of such an amazing institution, the time that I have spent there has played a very huge role in my life. The school is always very special for everyone, every child spends the best of his or her time in school. I have heard people dreaming about their school premises even after leaving it, even I have been to my school on several occasions in my dreams. November - December used to be the most fun-filled and busy time of the year. The annual Christmas play assortments used to commence in November, I was picked as an angel three times consecutively. Honestly, it felt conspicuously h

Weddings, a time of joy for the couple and the families. This month, December is extremely popular for two reasons: Christmas and the weddings. Like every year, this year as well, there was some splendid weddings. The celebrity weddings especially garner a lot of attention because of their media presence and influence on their fans. Many people around the globe keep a very strong look at the wedding festivities and try to gain pictures and videos of the events. It is fair to say that these celebrities work very hard to create a fanbase and they deserve all the attention. This year many popular celebrities got married and the month of December proved to be the most phenomenal in terms of wedding “festivities.” Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone. This couple is extremely popular among the masses. Both the individuals have obtained a lot of fame and success with their powerfully impactful performances. This year a very phenomenal movie called Padmavat was released starring

She was wearing a red salwar kameez and a pair of earrings that he had gifted her. Her heart was filled with questions and haunting memories of the time that they had spent together. The chowk was packed as she waited for him on the footpath near a traffic signal. She scanned every car that went by, looking to ascertain him, her first love, the man who made her realize the bliss of being loved. Finally, after 5 to 10 minutes, she saw him in a car. They were meeting after a year, 365 days of not looking at his face, not listening to his voice, not thinking about him all the time. His face was emotionless and expressionless. She sat in the car without even glancing at his face, trying to look away from the past. They did not look at each other for another 5 minutes, there was silence in the car. No words were spoken but the hearts were shrieking. She finally broke the silence, “How are you?” He accelerated the car. There was a clear aggressiveness in his attitude. “I am alive, wit

There are plenty of differently abled people in Pakistan who are doing an amazing job in portraying a positive image of the country to the world. Many people are unaware of some of these splendid individuals. They are the unsung heroes of the nation who have worked tirelessly, despite their disabilities, and forged a name for themselves. It is not an easy task to create your own place in a society where there is an evident inequality in terms of opportunities, it is even more difficult if you are a woman. I have personally met some of the most courageous people with disabilities who have achieved brilliantly in their careers and are transforming their disabilities into abilities. I don't think anyone is disabled, they are just differently abled as compared to everyone else. It is the skill that counts not the physical characteristics. However, it is very true that the society judges on the physical attributes more than mental capabilities but this mindset must change.

One of the many things that we like to waste is our feelings. Just like food, water and natural resources, feelings are another thing that we waste every day, knowingly or unknowingly. Nowadays, most of the problems arise when we invest our feelings into the wrong people. Feelings are also an asset, we need to preserve and protect them for the right people. In our daily life, we meet hundreds of people but how can we be so sure about who are the right people? When we invest in anything, we are basically looking for profits hence eventually your own benefit. How can we imply the mutual benefits theory into our relationships? The world is filled with various relationships and most of them rely on mutual benefits. If you keep on investing your feelings and don't get anything in return then the deal is not going in your favour. The deal is fair when you give a 10% and receive 10% in return, even expecting more can be perilous to the relationships because the balance gets disordered.

One of the worst traits of a bad society is the relentless judgment about each other. We all are judges but my question is who appointed us as judges? If we see a girl wearing revealing clothes, we will simply tag her to be characterless and shameless. Similarly, if we see a man with an Islamic beard, we will sentence him as being an extremist. Most of the times, the reality is very different from what we perceive. Image Courtesy: Spirit Science Somehow, this habit of judging others is inbuilt. We love to judge others without understanding the consequences. The root of gossip is always a judgement, somebody makes an opinion about someone and discuss it amongst his or her peers. The same one-sided opinion becomes a reality of someone's life and character in society. The unfair bickering about anyone in any society takes place because of a one-sided picture being discussed widely. Basically, we do not want to see anything positive in anyone. The expectations keep incre

2018 is finally coming to an end. It has been a momentous year in many aspects. The last month of the year, December is here. Every year is packed with events, stories and memories but this year has been exceptional in many aspects. For me, this year has been very special because I started blogging and sharing my work with all the incredible readers who actually read and appreciate me. Finally, I was able to muster the courage to share my stories, thoughts and views with others so I'd call it a year of change for myself. December is everyone's favourite month because of its festive associations and drastic weather change throughout the world. 21 December the longest night of the year.  As the final month of 2018 kicks off, many people have commenced working on the new year's resolutions. The new year resolutions are essentially not obeyed throughout the year but it renders a sense of spirit for the upcoming year. Some of the most common new year resolutions are losi

“You have to cross this forest and face all the difficulties that you may encounter in order to meet your prince.” She remembers each and every word that the old lady told her at the castle. These words motivated her to travel all the way to the forest and she was ready to face any difficulty as well. The forest was scary but her desire to meet the prince of her dreams made her fearless. As she approached the entrance of the forest, there was a black cat, it remained in front of as if stopping her to enter the forest. She tried to shoo it away but the cat remained steadfast and did not pass. There was a rock on the ground, she picked it up and threw it towards the cat and ultimately, it ran away. The journey was challenging but she was ready for it. Tall and shady trees were intimidating her. She told herself: “I will not look at anything.” She looked right in the foreground and avoided glancing at anything that would make her scared. Suddenly, something dropped on her nec

The government is always under the radar for various reasons but recently it was highly appreciated for the temporary shelter provision for the homeless scheme which is called the Panah Gahs. It will be implemented in Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar. Imran Khan took Twitter to announce this scheme. Panah Gah literally means refuge. It is a very unique scheme which only focuses on helping the citizens. There are innumerable homeless people on the streets and as the weather gets harsh, they face a lot of difficulties. The winter gets very brutal in Pakistan and the temporary tents would be a fabulous haven for the homeless to sleep in during the extremely chilly nights. However, there are a lot of drug abusers among the homeless people and there should be a government based rehabilitation program for the same group of people but this scheme will create a sense of solidarity between the government and the citizens. Such attempts exhibit the government's sincerity and loyalty

We have this constant urge to plan everything ahead of time but when was the last time that everything went just like you had planned? Planning is not something that the humans are made to do and this task basically belongs to the Almighty. Some people may disagree with the fact but this is what my experience teaches me. Spending day and night, thinking about our further education, careers or relationships is simply worthless. This very moment is what you have in your hands. Are you sure that you are going to live until tomorrow or even the next moment? No, then what makes you think that you can plan ahead of time? In this fast-paced life, we have forgotten to live. Living does not include planning for the future but it's about rejoicing the "now." If you are eating something, then completely focus on each and every flavour that you feel on your tongue because, in that very moment, you are interacting with nature through those flavours. Another new trend is to click pi

Mahek's father became Ali's fan. The way he managed to bring Mehek home in such difficult circumstances was really commendable. He was determined to get Mehek married to Ali and was discussing the same with his wife when Mehek overheard them. She was stunned. Mehek did not understand whether to be happy or depressed, happy because Ali was a gentleman who protected her and brought her home safely but in just a day she got acquainted with a few bad habits of Ali as well such as his egoistic attitude and stubbornness. She started thinking that maybe it was fate that because of the riots, she came to know about Ali and their relationship that was being arranged by the elders. But the question endured in her mind, Was Ali also aware of the relationship that was being arranged between them? Perhaps all this was just a selfish act? As soon as the university is re-opened, Mehek got diligent with studies. Whenever she spotted Ali anywhere in the University, she would think about co

Both reached a Dhaba nearby. They ordered lentil soup, vegetable gravy and bread. They were very hungry as they hadn't had anything to eat since the morning. They literally attacked the food when it arrived. They did not even lift up the head and silently ate food for ten to fifteen minutes and then Ali said: "Look, don't take me wrong, I was very hungry and that's why I ate about four loaves. As soon as the university re-opens, I will give you the money back." "That doesn't matter, just take me home safely, that would be enough!" He shook his head and said: "The account is not even with a parent. Inshallah as soon as the University re-opens, I will return the money." In this little span of time, Mehek understood that Ali was a little stubborn and there was no use in discussing anything with him that's why Mehek fell silent. About an hour later, other people started coming there, they seemed suspicious and dangerous.  Ali

It was a usual day at the university. Mehek was going to the cafeteria to grab a bite amidst her classes. Suddenly, there was a chaos and a huge bunch of students were leaving. She was puzzled so she called her friend Maryum and asked, "Why's everyone stirring a chaos?"  Maryum told her that a violent protest has erupted in the city and the situation is not looking good, it may go on for a prolonged period. She also told her that she is going home as well. Mehek got really frightened. She used to travel all the way from Kasur each day only for the University and upon discovering the riots she got very confused on how she would go home. She knew some students who, also, travelled from Kasur to Lahore but everyone had already left. Sitting on a bench, outside the University, she was wondering how she would go back to Kasur and the mobile services were also disconnected for security purposes. Now, things got more complicated. University administration issued a notice th