Zahra speaks

Every picture narrates a story and this picture is one of the most special pictures of my life. It is clicked in front of the Governor's house, Lahore. I went to meet the Governor and convey some of my suggestions regarding rehabilitation and accessible education for the PWD's. This meeting did not happen magically nor I had a connection with any politician. One of my good uncles read my blogs and shared it with the human rights advisor for the Governor. She organized the meeting and was very supportive throughout the procedure. It was one of those events when I felt empowered. In the room that had the Governor of Punjab, his team, and the Human Rights advisor, I felt that I found my voice. Although I was very nervous about the meeting, after all, it was an important personality that I was going to meet and who might have an influence in bringing the change that I am working towards. When I entered that room and I started talking, I felt that much more confident than ever. Even...

PC: MALTA TODAY Rape, this word triggers everybody, but nobody is ready to address this issue in this country. 3881 rape cases were reported in 2019, this figure includes the child sexual abuse as well. The recent case of a woman being gang-raped in front of her children is horrifying but this inhumane act is not something new. The nation has much lately witnessed another act of brutality when a 5-year-old girl’s torched dead body was recovered. The cases would go on and on but the government and officials would still not act. Pakistan has become a banana republic. Women, children, animals, and even transgenders are not safe anymore. This year, two mind-blowing cases were reported, a cat was sexually assaulted by a few teenagers and some policemen molested five-six transgender, they were forced to strip. I watched the video of the latter incident and it cringed me to death. This week, a trans-activist Gul Panra was shot dead by anonymous people. This issue is much neglected and not tak...

Self-isolation is the new norm. We are keeping a 'safe' distance from more than 3 months now. The thought of being isolated is usually very daunting but as we are in quarantine for such a long period, a sense of patience has predominated in most of the people. Everybody is putting in their 100% effort. This particular period reminded me of a very bittersweet time of my life.  I have been in a wheelchair for almost 10 years and we know there is no facilitation of rehabilitation in Pakistan. I was discharged from the hospital within a few weeks of my surgery. To be clear, I had spinal decompression surgery. I had a giant cell tumor on the C7-T1 level on my spinal cord. I will not be going to details but I was pretty stiff when I left the hospital. It was difficult for my family to actually seat me in the car. I was sent home without any instructions as to how to manage neither myself nor my parents were an expert in managing a paralyzed patient. However, the good thing about the ...

I have been gutted from the past few days. It is important to vent, I have a lot of things in my mind and I have to put it out there. Image Courtesy: Wikibio Firstly, it's not about a particular person, it's about the mentality that is widespread on social media and nobody is addressing it. We are the dead-worshipping generation. Nobody talks about mental health when everything is fine but suddenly, every person begins advocating its importance once somebody commits suicide. Why? Why do we have to praise people when they are gone? Why can't we support and coexist when they were alive? Half of the people who are discussing mental health on social media today are the ones who are active online trolls. They go on the social media handles of every celebrity and spill filth. Just lately, Mahira Khan posted a picture of a cup of tea and she was called shameless for doing so. Who is answerable for such people's behavior? If today we are blaming several people who may have pus...

  Comedy is the most difficult thing to do. It is very challenging to make people laugh especially in these times when everything is so grave and tensed. I have immense admiration for the people who can make other people laugh. It is an inbuilt talent and not everyone can master this craft. It takes years of practice and dedication to be able to bring a smile on anyone's face. However, the people who possess this skill are very sensitive and recondite in their approach towards life. They understand the realities of life and the precise details of the simple aspects of daily life. They are intelligent, skillful, and blessed.  Some people are born comedians. They don't need to invest any efforts to make people laugh, it comes naturally to them. They don't have to showcase their skills on a platform such as television or movies. They practice their skill in real life. They make us laugh when it is very difficult to smile. We all have someone in our surroundings who is witty an...

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...

کسی بھی معاشرے کی سب سے بڑی کمزوری عدم برداشت ہوتی ہے. جو معاشرہ برداشت کی قوت کھو دیتا ہے اس میں ترقی اور بہتری کی گنجائش نہیں رہتی. برداشت ایک ایسی قوت ہے جو معاشرے کو جوڑ کر رکھتی ہے اور اس کی مکمل غیر حاضری میں افراتفری کی صورت حال پیش آتی ہے. حال ہی میں ہم سب نے عدم برداشت کا نتیجہ دیکھا جہاں عام شہریوں کو لوٹا گیا اور پورے ملک کو پامال کر کے رکھ دیا گیا. یہ قوم بہت عظیم ہے اور اس کے اندر کا ہنر کسی ہیرے سے کم نہیں مگر عدم برداشت اس کو تانبے کے برابر بنا دیتی ہے. کسی بھی شخصیت کا سب سے خوبصورت پہلو اس کا اپنے مخالفین کے ساتھ رویے ہے کہ کیسے وہ اپنے مخالفین کی تلخ باتیں اور تنقید کو برداشت کرتا ہے. یہ بات اگر پاکستانی قوم سمجھ جائے تو بہت سارے مسائل کا حل نکل سکتا ہے. اس کی سب سے عام مثال ٹریفک ہے. ہر کوئی جلدی میں ہوتا ہے کسی کو گھر پہنچنے کی جلدی، کسی کو کام پر پہنچنے کی جلدی، کسی کو بلاوجہ ہی جلدی ہے. یہ جلدی اصل میں بے صبری ہے اور ایک دوسرے کو برداشت نہ کرنے کا نتیجہ ہے. کیوں کوئی گاڑی میری گاڑی سے آگے نکلے یا کیوں میں ٹریفک کے سگنل پر کھڑا رہوں یا کیوں زیبراکراسنگ پر لائن س...

دو دن عوام کو یرغمال بنانے والے یہ لوگ کون ہیں؟ کیا یہ عشق رسول صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم ہیں؟ میری کنج عقل کے مطابق تو یہ لوگ صرف اور صرف اشتعال پسندی اور دہشت گردی کی عکاسی کرتے ہیں۔ عام شہریوں کو لوٹنا اور ہراساں کرنا کہاں کا احتجاج ہے؟ Image Courtesy haqbaattv.com بے شک احتجاج کرنا ہر شہری کا حق ہے مگر احتجاج کرنے کا بھی ایک صحیح طریقہ ہوتا ہے۔ اگر احتجاج کرنے کا اصل مقصد صرف اور صرف ملک کا پہیہ جام کرنا ہے تو اس طرح کے احتجاج کا اصل مقصد سمجھنا بہت مشکل ہے۔ پچھلے ہفتے عوام کو دو دن تک اپنے گھروں میں محصور کر دیا گیا اور باہری دنیا سے کسی بھی طرح کے رابطے کو بھی منقطع کر دیا گیا۔ ٹیلی ویژن کے علاوہ باہر کے حالات جاننے کا اور کوئی ذریعہ نہیں تھا۔ میں لاہور کے جس کے علاقے میں مقیم ہوں وہاں ان احتجاجوں کے شدت کچھ زیادہ تھی اس لئے موبائل سگنل اور انٹرنیٹ سروسز دو دن مکمل طور پر بند رہیں۔ پورے ملک میں کئی تاجروں کا اربوں روپے کا نقصان ہوا اور کی لوگ اپنے مقامات میں محصور ہو کر رہ گئے۔ میری ایک سہیلی مری گئی ہوئی تھی اور واپسی پر اسلام آبادآباد میں اکر ان دھرنوں کی وجہ سے پھنس گئی۔ اسی طر...

Ahmed Shah who is a kid from apparently is setting the internet on fire. Numerous memes and his videos are being shared all over the internet. In the video that went viral initially, he was misbehaving with the teacher. Clearly, his tone and voice were very displeasing and socially unacceptable to be used with a teacher. His bad behaviour was propagated by social media. It is true that the kid is very cute with the spectacles and funny voice but the point is that nobody noticed his misbehaviour and that too in such a small age. I cannot imagine what made this kid so much harsh at such a young age. Image Courtesy: SocialPakistan.pk It was pretty obvious that this social media stint was going to gain attention from the morning shows and news channels. The kid was invited by all the major channels who are always hunting for the cheap tactics to gain trps. It is humongous that the host was getting readily insulted by the kid in the show. The aspect that gains my attention was that ev...

We all have our own respected paths, destinations and we all follow them through our own perceptions. The need to identify with your own self is not a new concept and it has sustained for many years. A lot of poets and writers have written about self and how it is so impactful. Recently due to some academic priorities, I had to study Iqbal. I had never been so interested in Urdu language and poetry, however, I had heard about Iqbal's ideologies and how they were so great. I had the chance to explore Iqbal just a little bit and I was blown away. Iqbal has the mindset that was way above the normal thought process, he was actually a thinker. His emphasis on the struggle of Muslims in achieving independence is exceptionally outstanding but his perception about the human abilities is extraordinary. His work actually reflected the value of immensely powerful creation by The Almighty, humans. The humans are called Ashraful makhluqat, which means superior to any other creature but som...

14 August 2018, we commemorate the 71st Independence day today. With the grace of God and efforts of the valiant martyrs of this nation, we achieved Pakistan. It’s not just a country, its a momentum of the transcendent sacrifices that were made during the war of independence. This was a very elongated war and made the world witness the greatest migration ever. This country is a gift from God and it took more than just the lives of people for us to actually breathe freely in our own country but I don’t think most of us comprehend this reality. During the war, many families were destroyed, aspirations were fragmented, lives were taken, separations and heartbreaks. War is appalling and always ends up in sufferings. The sacrifices are not only physical but emotional as well so when you tribute the martyrs of this glorious cause don’t forget to say a prayer for those who left behind their everything for a huger ground, Pakistan. We all have heard the stories and watched movies about ...

Outrageous yet outstanding blossom of a budding nation. This one line sums up the general elections of 2018. This year the elections were a game changer for PTI. PTI swaying most of the national assembly seats came as a surprise to many of the critics out there but keeping all those impressions aside, Pakistan now has a fresh government with the very weighty responsibility of progression, development and the expulsion of corruption. Imran Khan struggled for 22 years to achieve this milestone and now he has a very intricate bunch of responsibilities on his hand to prove his competence. His exceptional stand against the status-quo gained a lot of appreciation from the youth and educated sector of the society. In 2011, like many of my peers, I began following Khan and a major reason behind this was his determination and passion for the country's prosperity. I remember before 2011 youngsters were never really involved in any of the political activities but Imran Khan was the man wh...

"By voting, we add our voice to the chorus that forms opinions and the basis for actions." -Jens Stoltenberg The general elections of 2018 are just around the corner and it is a very important time for any country. It is a high time for the citizens of any country to decide their future with the power of a vote. Voting is not just a responsibility, it is the right of every citizen to express their opinion and actually make a change, for good or bad that depends on the choice.  People sitting in the Assemblies and Senate are directly or indirectly chosen by the public. The public has the power to change their fate and this is the time to do so. There is a new trend of not voting at all because nobody is "worthy" but this type of mindset should be discouraged because voting holds an immense significance.  "Not voting is not a protest. It is a surrender." - Keith Ellison A vote can bring change but its significance is somewhat underestim...