Zahra speaks

Jok Role.  Jok Role's Parents. Last week, one of my very beloved pet pigeons died. His name was Jok Role. A very interesting story is associated with this name. I was scammed by an online employer, I found him on a freelancing website and he posts to be from the United States of America. He made me write over 10k words and the payment was due after a week. On the day of payment, he stopped replying and on that very day, Jok Role was born hence we named him after the fraudulent employer. Well, it was an accident because we would set our pigeons free and later in the evening get them back into the cage. Now he was roaming around on the floor and somebody left the roof door open. I was away, eating my lunch when a cat came into the room and took him away. When I came into the room, he wasn't there. Everyone looked around and tried to find him but later we only found his feathers on the roof of our neighbours. It was heartbreaking. I really loved him and for the first ti...

Life as a disabled individual in Pakistan has various aspects. There are many things that need consideration and improvement but one of the things that recently got my attention was the media presence and representation of the disabled individuals. Media is undoubtedly a powerful tool and very crucial in any social change, moreover, it has a very high impact among the masses therefore many of the social trends reach the public through the media. Is the media actually portraying every aspect of society? The answer is no, it's not. Have you ever seen a disabled heroine or hero? Can you recall a high budget movie based on disability?  It is very unlikely that any person with a disability would be considered as a hero or heroine but why is that? The movies are supposed to be a reflection of the society, however, there are a few examples where the people with disabilities have managed to gain some media presence but either they are portrayed merely as villains, motivational speakers...

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...