Reflections It`s unbelieveable that all of you feel this way...very few people tend to appreciate the small things in life.

#5-Dr_Riq: Routine can be very bad for the soul. Everyday should be filled with something new, something different. But frankly, to do that can be very difficult. Right now I am going through a phase in life where I have to choose between the rational and my passion. The latter attracts me but the routine bug is preventing my escape. I hope my passion wins.

#6-fiz:There are very few people who can actually motivate you and encourage you in doing things away from the ordinary. Trust me, its not easy at all. One has to have a strong will and much determination. More than that, one needs spirit and guts for doing something wild, or different.

This article was an effort to mobilize myself and hopefully, to make others get up and going to. Right now, I feel I need to paste this article where I can see it every single hour of every single day.

I need to get going too!

Farheen Zehra

River A beautiful tale spun in a manner that said all without saying much, especially the title.
A wonderful read!

The Responsibility of Students
Competition is a vital part of student years and beyond as well. Not only teachers, but parents too, instill this trait in their child from day one so as to make him/her work harder and beat their collegues; be it at school or in the playground.

Some students are very competitive. Others, and these comprise a vast majority, are not. Not that the latter are any less studious or get bad grades, but its just that they don`t cry if they get a 99/100 in a paper instead of a 100.

I`ve grown up in an environment where competition was greatly encouraged. As a young kid, it was competition among cousins and when I stepped into school, my parents would encourage me to compete with my classmates. But I have never felt hostile towards another collegue whether he/she was more or less competent than me. And most of the students I`ve come across in univ have been this way too. Infact, some of the bright studnets in univ were those who would be at every univ party and yet manage to score well in an exam.

Healthy competition does not result in a feeling of superiority. It does to some extent but not so much that you look down upon homeless people. That`s stretching it a little too far.

And students always stand united. What I found lacking during my univ years was a leader who could use this unity for the students` benefits. The sad part is that even though students in my univ would be united against the establishment, yet very few would be willing to actually stand up and fight for their rights. There have been times when, under the guidance of the right person, students have been able to voice their opinion, but this was very seldom.

Students will only be able to stand up against oppression and injustice when they stop attributing their success to the misery of others. Otherwise, most successful students around the globe would find Iraq, Aghanistan, Chechnya and Palestine responsible for their success.

Bulleh Shah Umair,
A most interesting article. Though I have read Rumi, my knowledge of Bullay Shah`s poetry is very poor. As you rightly mentioned, if it wasn`t for Abida Parveen and Junoon, his poetry would have remained unknown to many of us.
Thanks for the wake up call.

Trailing End of the Middle Class at Shaadi Online Your article highlighted a very important issue Raza. A very good read indeed!
I remember when Shaadi Online had started, people had taken it as an entertainment show where the could sit back, comment and have fun at the expense of others, as you so rightly mentioned in your article.But over a passage of time, Shaadi Online has proved to be more than a matchmaking site.

Firstly, it addressed a somewhat sensitive issue of marriage. Which isn`t so sensitive but has been made so in our society. Women came on this show, not showing their desperation to get married, but their will to break out of the barriers of the society and find a better and happy life. Initially many thought that bringing women into this show and asking them about their marriage plans and their hopes etc was vulgar. But it is anything but that. It is a way to empower the middle class women of our society and Geo must be commended much for this effort.

Issues like `Jehaz` and `joint family systems` are also addressed in this show which is healthy too. Its about time that people in our country stood up and spoke their minds about these things. Through Shaadi Online, these issues are coming forth and being discussed in households where there are girls and boys of marriageable age.

As far as having an online community is concerned, I think it requires much more effort.
But as somebody on chowk had written once, websites like naseeb.com are bringing together people from all sorts of classes on one platform. And yes, chowk happens to be one such place too!

thanx Raza for providing something for us to ponder on!

We Don’t Need You Shaukat Aziz Firstly, there is a thing called freedom of speech and everybody has a right to exercise it. Naeem did just that. He felt disgusted by the entire process that made Aziz PM and he vent out his feelings through writing at chowk. What`s wrong with that?

Secondly, I don`t think at all that chowk is becoming an anti-paki site. And btw, what good things do we have to write about? Oh yea, the progress...how can I ignore a couple of flyoves and roads that are being built in Karachi (finally!!!). If building roads and flyovers and parks is what we term as progress then we deserve to remain a third world nation.

Thirdly faisaluno, Aziz won`t resign...I doubt if he even knows about chowk. So, don`t worry yourself over that or the fact that chowk is run by expats who also let interacts such as yours be posted.

The Incurable Bedding Flu! What is this world coming to?
An article on bedding today...wonder what will come next..
Righter, your aticle started off on the right note, lost its charm in the middle and ended too abruptly.
Hopefully, you are still allowed to sleep on the `made-up` bed!

A Matter of Destiny Desi Orkut...
balay!balay!

An Urgent Appeal to all Pakistanis #28-ana
No ana, I was not including ferozk in the list of expatriates. I just wrote the first line for him!
But don`t worry, we have many non-expatriates as well who are not aware of the ground realities-atleast i meet a few everyday.

When I-Day turns into D-Day #21- dawgusa

Now, now dawgusa- take it easy. Please don`t let this article make your imagination run wild. We`ve survived 57 years-we`ll manage 57 more. Hope, my friend, is a remedy of all our current problems.

The Girly-boy Really good piece...
It took time for me to figure out the identity of Ranni..
Made me think of my younger brother who used to cry in his room secertly when the goat/lamb was sacrificed on Eid.

An Urgent Appeal to all Pakistanis #15 ferozk
You are so right about his influential friends ;)

But really, just because Cowasjee supports the lesser of the evils (army) doesn`t mean that he is a coward or that he fails to speak up on social/political matters.
What`s sad is that all of you people (expatriates) who talk about the `rape` of our constitution and country at the hands of the army don`t even have a clue of the ground realities. You come to Pakistan for three weeks and talk about democracy and all. Try to live here for a couple of years-go to mosques and imambargahs, tehn you would realize the gravity of the situation.
I`m not a supporter of the army or Mush, but what I do know is that this country is going through the most sensitive period of its existence and a leader like Mush is the need of the day.
It`s easy for all of us to sit in front of our computers and write what all these politicians and generals should do-but what we fail to realize is that all that has happened in Pakistan from Bhutto till Mush was the need of the day. Pakistan is like a chameleon, we change our policies and stance according to our environment.
And the constitution? It had been raped a long time back.
And we have Bhutto to thank for in destroying all forms of institutions and discipline in our country.

When I-Day turns into D-Day All i could hear on 14th August was the sound of silencer less motorcycles and blaring horns.
The Quaid must have turned in his grave. (yet again).

Does Wagah Have to be This? Or Could it be... #3 by kaurasach
Unfair!
Till the end, I thought the dog had devoured your `expensive NIKON`.

Illiteracy (Ignorance) After Education Part II By Gad einstenwalla...you seem to have taken a fancy to the 35 yr old woman!

Bride in the Wilderness Rahul!
You have talent dude!!!
The poetry was great...really ;)
And now that you`ve mentioned it, I have realized that this story was not just your average ghost story, it carried a message (that I have not been able to decipher yet, but I will hopefully)....and you`re right. how many us have come across ghosts and have lived to tell the tale!?
And yea, thanx for all that love!