White Charade Mr. Urstruly,
I have never had much appreciation for you before the publication of this story. My previous impressions of you had been predominantly negative and I found our interacts to be exhausting.

Nevertheless, I really liked this article of yours. It was very well written and was thorough engrossing. I dont know what kind of person you are in real life, but if you think like the narrator of the story then hats off to you.

I dont know if you are putting yourself in the position of the narrator, but its as if the narrator does not bear any resemblance to the interactor named Urstruly, as I have experienced him before hand via his posts here on chowk.

It seems as if this story is written by someone with a broken heart. I pray that God may mend it for you and give you peace.

The Apology of Socrates Dear Author.....

Malevolent has nothing to do with violence......

Please get a dictionary!

Indian Scholarships for Outstanding Pakistani Students What I dont get is that some of these Pakistanis and Indians speak as if they represent everyone in their countries.

Its one thing to voice one`s opinion and completely another to hijack a country and become the voice of its citizens.

Last time I checked, India was not a Hindu country....it is pluralistic secular country.

Whats up with some of you Indians.....

Most Pakistanis are not terrorists and do not hate Hindus......they simply dont know any better....they are taught cultural superiority in schools....it is ingrained within them through government sponsored textbooks etc......for example the looter of Indian temples called Mahmud of Ghazni is regarded as a Hero in Pakistani textbooks, and the Mughal Emperor who imprisoned his father and murdered his brothers is almost canonized as one of the greatest mughals who built the Baadshahi Mosque in Lahore...

When I came to America at the age of 17 from Lahore, I had not experienced interacting with Hindus at all. I had no personal experience of what they were like. Meeting Indians, South Indian Hindus at the university opened up my mind to what Hindus are like.....

The true picture of what they are like.....the Majority of Citizens of South Asia are very much alike......
We all want material goods, we all want love, we all want to appreciate music, beauty, art...

We are all spiritual beings...

An exchange student program where Pakistani students go to India and interact and learn from Indian culture would open minds and create dialogue.....

Its a good thing......

Why dont you haters and abusers get it......

The Prophet Muhammad had instructed Muslims.....Seek Knowledge even if you have to go to China....

hello DUH... INDIA IS IN THE WAY!

Indian Scholarships for Outstanding Pakistani Students Re: # 26

Just goes to show that ignorant idiots are abundant on both sides of the border..... Oye Veh!

Indian Scholarships for Outstanding Pakistani Students Re: # 22

What is in Indian Arts?

well,

Bunder kya janey Adruk ka Maza.....

Indian Scholarships for Outstanding Pakistani Students Re: # 11

Imagine Art students going to South India to learn sculpture techniques from the rich sculpture traditions of Chola Dynasty...or perhaps to learn textile weaving techniques indigenous to South India.....

A Silk Weaver`s guild teaching Kanjeevaram silk weaving techniques.....

Architecture Student Consortiums in India.....

There are so many possibilities........

Perhaps establishment of Cross Border Dying Arts Institutes...Metal works, Woodworks, Stone carving, Textile weaving and dyeing.


Imagine Medical Students or Doctors from Pakistan going to India to learn Ayurvedic Medicine.....


There is so much to be learned from India......

Sigh.....

Indian Scholarships for Outstanding Pakistani Students Great Idea!

I would personally love to go to India and get a Masters in Indian Classical Music.....

Musharraf Stirring the Pot in the Tribal Area—Why? Ghori Sahib,
First a quick question? When did you write this article....I ask because of your forecasting of the November 7th US mid term electorial results.

Why do you think it is a bad idea for the Government of Pakistan to meddle in the tribal areas. Perhaps not in the way of bombing them, but better control of the tribal areas would mean that the masses would be liberated from the antiquity they live in and moved to a more modern time.

The Apology of Socrates Re: # 11

The word ``Malevolent`` does not fit here. You are right!

Muhammad and Jesus also questioned pre-established beliefs in their society and their efforts were anything but malevolent.

See Malevolent...comes from Latin word root MAL meaning evil......and VOLENCE meaning wishing or desiring....

APA:
malevolent. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved November 16, 2006, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/malevolent

The Apology of Socrates Dear Author,
Where are your references?

What passages are you referring to?

Where is the bibliography?

Such things might be helpful in lending credence to your postulations and comprehension of greek philosophical paradigm.

The Modern Bogeyman 300,432 children out of school in Larkana



By M. B. Kalhoro


LARKANA, Nov 14: The government has failed to address the grim situation of education as 130 schools are lying closed in the district for a long time.

The number of children of school-going age in the district is 495,684 and 300,432 of them are out of schools.

There are 89 school buildings which have been declared dangerous, but children are studying there.

Sources in the education department told Dawn on Tuesday that the Sindh Education Management Information System had prepared ‘Sindh Education Profile’ of each district which based on information in the 2005-06 census.

The chief programme manager of the reform support unit, Mr Iqbal Durrani, in a letter to the Larkana EDO (education) on October 14, said the district education profile was based on census, therefore, first-hand information be provided to the unity.

But the reform support unit had not received comments which had delayed finalisation of the district education profile.

The sources said that not a single district had sent the comments.

The number of school going children from pre-primary to higher secondary level is estimated at 195,252, the sources said.

It looks quite tricky on the part of bureaucrats that enrolment has increased while the number of teachers has decreased from 5,965 (in year 2002) to 5,842 (in year 2005).

No new school has been constructed since then.

A cursory eye over qualification of teachers tells that only 2,522 teachers had their graduation and 2,362 did their masters.

It means there is an army of 958 non-graduate teachers alone in Larkana district imparting education in government-run education institutions.

The quarters concerned has neglected rural areas in education, which could be gauged from the fact that the number of ‘shelter-less’ school in rural areas was 250 out of 255 in the Larkana district.

It means only five schools are located in urban areas.

The survey said since 2000 to 2006, not a single new school was added to already existing schools.

Instead, one school was closed, reducing number from 1,336 to 1,335. Hundreds of schools are devoid of basic facilities, electricity, toilets, drinking water and boundary walls.

In the district, 1,069 schools, with the highest number of primary (1,016), are running without electricity, 508 are without toilets, 335 has no facility of drinking water and 639 has no boundary walls.

The Modern Bogeyman In DAWN KARACHI TODAY....

NAROWAL, Nov 14: A five-year old girl was hanged to death after ‘rape’ at Talwandi Kahloan village in the Saddar police station precinct on Monday night.

Reports said Zeenat, a student of nursery, went out of her home but did not return until late at night.

Her parents and other members of the family moved from place to place to find her out but to no avail.

On Tuesday morning, they found the girl hanging with a tree outside the village. Her clothes were bloodstained.

The police suspected that the girl might have been killed after rape. The residents of the area have expressed anguish over the incident and demanded that the police should arrest the culprit(s) without delay.

The Modern Bogeyman The article reminded me of the very young and absolutely beautiful afghan children I saw in Karachi trying to sell flowers to cars at various busy tourist and business hubs.

Four, may be five year old girls in rags selling roses.......broke my heart..

Also brings to mind, the young children Pakistani parents send to various Jamiah`s and Madrassah`s to become Memorizers of the Quran so that they can get into Heaven..The maltreatment metted out to these children by the ignorant Mullahs and the lack of a balanced education, coupled with serious physical, mental and sexual abuse bothers none it seems...

These idiotic Mullahs are the first to gather rallies against female marathons, but have they ever rallied for the orphans of Pakistan....Have they ever vehemently acknowledged and spoken up against Child sexual abuse.....

Yet, they are the first to wave the Quran in your face......and the funny things is that they dont even understand the language of the book they are deriving all their authority from.......

Our Children are our future......not the children of our family, but all children.....

until such is realized by the populace......that it takes whole communities to raise good children.....we have lost the battle for our children.... and our future is very bleak!

The Calculus of Miscalculated Human Misery ``Generally Muslims assume to have the margin to vent their anger through ‘jihad’ because they perceive themselves as the only direct victims whose strategic assets and the territories are under occupation.``

The Prophet Muhammad is believed to have said,

``Anger eats through a believer as Fire through dry wood``.

Elah, the Muslim God is rumored to have said in The Recitation, most Wise......

``If you kill one human being, its as if you have killed the whole humanity``.

So, What Jihad?

Perhaps it would behoove the civilized Muslims to conduct some internal jihad and conquer the Shaitaans that rule their psyche and phalluses.......

The Calculus of Miscalculated Human Misery Dear Author,

What I dont get about Muslims is this,

Why do you point fingers at the West?

Please take a Look at yourself?

Apney Gareybaan mein Jhankiye Hazoor!

Lets take the example of Pakistan.......

We, the Pure people of Pakistan are so damn civilized that it curdles my blood.......

The atrocities against women, children, the poor, minorities and the weak are so great that it disgusts me to no end.....

The rise of fundamentalist version of Islam....during the years of Zia the Great...

With the rise of Fundamentalism came Pretentiousness and never before scaled heights of hypocrisy that are the hallmarks of the Pure of Pakiland........

Yes, we like our multiple television channels,

yes, We like to gawk at Indian actresses,

Yes, we like to abuse those with less power be they our children, women, or the poor...

yes, we are so Muslim.....So Pure.......So Civilized......

What clash of civilization......

Civilization, My foot!

Hello, We dont even have Public Bathrooms to serve the Majority of the Pure.......

Hala – City of Crafts I went to Pakistan in 1999 to get things made for my parent`s Pakistani style Haveli being built in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

I went to Multan to order a few hundred Kashi tiles for the house. The author is right, the Kashigars as the artisans of Kashi tiles are called at Daulat Gate Multan was living in abject poverty, and the price he charged me for his tiles was a pittance compared to the shipping costs and customs we had to pay.

The author is right.... Preservation efforts need to be made to preserve the arts of Pakistan.....

Schools and institutes need to be established to promote evolution of traditional Central Asian, Persian, Indian and Indus Valley Crafts that have flowered for centuries underneath the patronage of Nawabs, Maharajahs, Maharanas, Jagirdaars and wealthy mercchant class.

Not just the arts of what is today Pakistan but also the arts of the whole of South Asia......

Lahore is the cultural capital of Pakistan.......and was the Capital of the Great Mughal Jalal ud Din Akbar at one time......Jahangir beautified it..... so did ShahJahan and so did Aurangzed........

We have Qutb ud Din Aibak`s Mazaar in Lahore..........

People who live in Lahore do need to patronize the old crafts and build houses using techniques that were used to maximize the weather, terrain....

Houses need to be built with thicker walls and thin bricks... to keep them cool in the hot weather with higher ceilings.......Yes, the cost is more immediately but saving on air conditioning costs in the long run.....Lots of windows and Roshandaans.... and Houses built on old principles of Cross Ventilation and the list goes on and on.....

Using Kashi tiles as exterior materials as siding for houses.......no need to paint every year or every other year.......instead of using paint and enamel inside houses, substitutes such as wall covering made of natural fibers that dont require painting.......

I mean there is a cost effective way to do all this.......yet be eco friendly and create jobs for the Pakistani Poor.......

Instead of using those hideous tubelights as they are.... covering them with camel hide painted coverings to dim the light a bit and reduce the harmful effects of unnatural light.....

Use of natural stone......for Jalis for privacy...planting of trees around perimeters of houses.......

As much use of natural materials as possible......Use of Bamboo as an alternative for wood to make windows rather than cutting the ever rare Himalayan Deodar.......known as Diyaar.....

and the list goes on.......