Creating a Meaningful Life i would like to know,if its ok to view in a blur all these words-empty, void, meaningless without purpose;or give them a sharper and deeper meaning directed to the person who is saying any of them.for i have had my upsetting share of proximity with people who go on ranting about how empty life is, and then go off filling it zooming around in circles in their cars at unearthly hours; horns and brakes musically noisy and unmusically screeching respectively;thudding and banging their two door speedos.also some of the people call up their like minded friends and fill their emptiness with the noisiest parties ever!and after all that agitation they become peaceful and content while their neighbors walk around like sleep deprived “zombies.�
on the other hand those who try to find meaning in life are made of more “solid’ stuff.their quest must be made successful.

Pakistan’s Universities: The New War Within Pakistan' s universities ;The local vis a vis the universal scenario. some more developing trends.watch out Quality minded folk.
how many scholars are heading towards the universities? many, among which are the older groups.specially women who took a break from higher education earlier,got settled, have a family life, and when their children left for abroad, they decided to continue their studies.now age, in Pakistan is respected, revered and venerated.thank goodness for that.however in certain arenas, where young misses happen to be lecturers ;or supervisors for practicals, they target such comeback students, with brutalizing frankness, to show that they are forces to contend with, and any other student or staff member, (especially the menial) would be warned.they relish playing to the gallery, and in the name of education, chastise the older ladies.
the older ladies are literally cowed down.of course they are at fault.they come late(household duties),the other lady professors show understanding, if they themselves have children and families to look after.the menial staff salutes them because they see status symbols;like chauffeur driven cars picking and dropping their “begum saabs�.the junior students get an older sisterly shoulder to cry on, and they run errands to please their sympathy laden “bajis’.
the “bajis� heavily bank on the ‘legwork� of their young colleagues, for their research work;assignments, reports, notes and so on.sometimes, those not so willing to oblige are also dragged into this peculiar academic social servis,because of being ‘shamed into it�.�How can you not cooperate with someone older to you, especially when they need your help?�
the bottom line is, research in this age and millenium cannot be taken lightly.individual students must be fully into it.if they do other folks work peer or older, they might find it being at their own expense.it is the survival of the fittest.so the trend ought to change.
kindly, female students finish your studies without taking a break;or gear yourself towards doing your own research work when you resume higher studies.otherwise youngsters will grow more and more rude with that older generation which tries to burden them with their workload in the face of growing, transparent and exacting requirements of universally modern research.

When Will You Return? nice translation.gratifying end though along the line one cannot help thinking is there anything like obsessive questionings? and are these unconsciously designed to produce an haunting effect on one' s partner?

India’s Nuclear Fizzle i read your very thought provoking article.the danger is not only imminent but senses very close.in this scenario we cannot afford to let go of values that bind humanities with eternity.in your article thank goodness you have not let go of the word education.basic be it, we must use it to make your last line true-
“and creating a tolerant society that respects the rule of law and does not discriminate between citizens�.
let me add ‘respects the rule of law and respects all members of the society’.
the following anecdote, though not at all intense like your article, will help to show how rests our mindset, at which “setting� it will never be able to recognise the enemy within.

I would not like to call it a typical Pakistani phenomenon.i hope not .but it happens in Pakistan.the other day,we were reminescing about how the graduates when they got their PhD, must have felt.when we came to one particular female it was said of her, that as soon as she achieved her PhD degree, she zoomed off into the world of cloud nine.her immediate family, the support of which was squarely placed on her shoulders, welcomed and subscribed to her cloud nine status with adulation.she then wanted adulation/adoration everywhere she went, especially from those who had not done PhD yet, be they her former colleagues/department workers, clients or her previous teachers.she would not tire of mentioning after formal "salam alaek’ that she was a PhD.she now looked down upon her MA University teachers, whose remarks/questions in the “common world of seminars and workshops, she did not bother to even give a thought.saying of one female lecturer who was her guide and mentor in her MA university long forgotten and maybe it did not- happen at all- course, that she had not yet completed her PhD, which she was trying to do in instalments.and asked that she herself must be looked at in comparison-she was a recent PhD!
on many an online group,blogs, when one reads about school/college days.it is heartwarming how full of thanks, warm regard, and nostalgia so many students have about their school, college and university teachers.whatever they are now, they feel they owe a lot to their favorit teachers, in shaping their present self.and yet there are some like these cloud 9, people who forego having such good, warm feelings, the moment they get the highest degree which just turns into a pointer and keeps pointing at their selves.is this in the tru spirit of higher education?or maybe some are born just intractable to the efforts of inculcating such spirit into them, by their dutiful, devoted and self sacrificing teachers.

Secular Spirituality http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/Default.aspx

Pakistan Crisis - Seven Problem, Seven Solutions Re: # 42
refreshingly apt!especially the last one.also it is the freedom to wear what one likes.

Pakistan Crisis - Seven Problem, Seven Solutions just the other day i had read something by a prominent Pakistani actor,to the effect that he does not want any Indian films showing in Pakistan.patriot.i cannot help agreeing with him.not that i felt transported to my school days, when patriotic zeal was at its peak.i am sure if anyone would have said in those days, that we are banning Indian films we would have shouted ‘yaaaayyyy’!!not that we cared for Indian films, rather we were used to comic books and movies, that showed popular cowboy heroes on the silver screen.but the real reason is, Pakistan is experienced both before and after the ban on Indian films.before, it was the older folks clinging to their identity on nostalgic grounds only, that is all.after the ban, Pakistani movies did prosper and were good!after the days of Waheed-Star-Murad, the film industry floundered.
the atmosphere in Pakistan is not conducive now, to shobiz.now the important question is-is it statistically tru that most of the BPDs(borderline personality disorder) and Dyslexics find their way into the movie world?if so, what about the bpds and dyslexics in Pakistan, what is their future if they will not be encouraged.already some people are sadly calling dyslexi a -the rich man’ s dis-ease.meaning only the rich can afford its remedy.what about the jobless poor will they starve to death?surely Mental health care societies must gear up to prevent this.all those who are already in the shobiz, i would not mind if they reach out around the Globe to find a market for their talents and find a good livelihood for themselves.bpd and dyslexics have a statistical list of proven successful treatment.wake up people to psychotherapeutic care, to avoid the vicious circle of suicides and violence.if you cannot give him a field for his talent, give him a treatment and remedy, to make him a better man adaptible to other jobs notdictated by his talent.

Hindu Mathematics – How Original Was It? Re: # 293
after the first para of the above, i'd like to quote this:
"But, all said and done, mathematics is mathematics. The bottom line is that a quadratic equation solved by whoever and by whatever means has to give exactly the same solutions. "

Hindu Mathematics – How Original Was It? the far eastern neighbor of India,certainly seems to have the edge as far as the ancient story of maths goes.the former may very well be more ancient, according to the statement in your article.someone or the other is always vying for something.
another thing which equalizes any imbalance forseeable, in maths versus the people who use it is ;
the other day i was reading online comments by IT professionals.they did not belong to pakistan.i gathered,that when it was new, there were many people pouring into the field, and found it lucrative.but now the same people who are senior and very experienced find that when their contract ended, it was not renewed.they had the experience but were not getting jobs in their field because of age.coming to the present day, fresh graduates in the field of IT are not given jobs because of lack of experience and real world training.the object of their envy are immigrants, with IT qualifications who work for less remuneration.also outsourcing giants like India, which seems to have suffered little setback owing to its giant scam, also seems to be the source of envy.one of the senior IT onliner remarked, that IT should not be taught as an exclusive course in an IT teaching institution anymore.he suggested a combined degree. i cannot picture what this means.but i got an idea and liked it, that it must be taught at different levels; from school to college to university with other subjects.especially medical colleges and universities.where different packages would be available depending on the duration, short courses, long, and full fledged ones where you could get a bs or msc or PhD in it.also all those medical students studying the subject of IT, could take up research, and software designing and production according to the medical needs at the industrial level, medical interpersonal level, at adminstrative, at equipment, LAB investigativelevels, at staff, patients, student, and teachers level.
another point raised by the foreign ‘onliner was-the level of IT teaching.i understood that he meant 2 levels, already exist, according to the types of students.one is the short, familiarisation level where the students only want to know about computer/internet basic, mostly the software and applications part, so that they can rush and get up to their social networks and stick there.mostly chatting or may be making up for their absence at school, by taking missed notes or doing online homework.and the other level is the advanced level, where the brilliant ones in the IT field are left after the scum has spilled over to limn the internet with its twitter/chatter.these young people can really take to the advanced IT.in hi school, colleges and universities and go in for hi IT research innovations and developments and products used for their own professional subjects which degree courses they are also pursuing in the same institutions!a doctor a scientist ,engineer, lawyer, banker, artist, innovator, entrepreneur, administrator who is himself an IT expert -is indeed Master of all he surveys!

When Faiz was Imprisoned After reading about Faiz in your article,i could not help but update myself on Depth psychology.i can ‘t help thinking that depth psychology is the ornament of a qualification that a psychotherapist can wear as the ultimate declaration to the world;proclaiming that his “brains� have developed to the highest perimeter, with which to appreciate the highest most sensitive form of human intellectual activity of the Arts.
but thinking of Faiz in prison, helped me to see that depth psychology can become an all powerful universally Acknowledged probe to help the psychotherapist reach the innards of any prisons that torture many a sensitive genius with gentle souls;a tool to empower the psychotherapist to set them free.for after all, all the talented inmates are not like Faiz.he did not need psychotherapy.he mastered his own self and will and came out a better man.this is a pure case of "Stone walls do not a prison make�....but the others lie in a shell of shock of physical torture exposing their sensitive brilliance in the uselessness of utter helplessness. they need psycho therapy to heal this wound of exposure.the poor gentle souls just wanted betterment for humanities’!! sake.theirs was a seamless vision.not patched with ugliness of either politics, creed,or money. and here these poor souls made enemies out of the powerful lot without even knowing!in understanding them (and their work which requires a big calibre of understanding) depth psychology is indeed therapeutic.we need more humanists and psychotherapists armed with depth psychology.

Blow Daddy “whatever happened to Islamic socialism?� by nfp in Dawn images Sun may 30 2009.thanks for writing this article.particularly.so ends the story;ofa case of ‘socialism’by any other name smells just as sweet.poignant end.epitaph.as long as there is the West and for that matter east,the twain shall never meet.that is capitalism and socialism.the series read as lessons,but what exactly is the lesson we have learnt.tell me are the urban elite ready to be overtaken wealthwise by guerillas who know nothing about things like privatisation and corporate business.do you think their present show of support will wax eloquent in times of a big urban upset?to understand our presnt we need to know our past.thanks nfp for history the journalism way-easy to read, easy to understand and (remember?i wont say that.what you wrote about made headline news some decades back.memory is short, did anybody remember those days?

How Greed Ruins Academia i had not yet finished lamenting and empathising with the lot of our research scholars at international venues,congealed in a state of shock in "outer space", left in lurch by hec' s not being able to honor its committment to them for lack of funds!!;when i was brought back to earth", to see the hallowed "earth"of the University being encroached upon without check, as revealed in your article 'How greed ruins academia".and some pieces of Universityland being sold!!talk about illegal, the council does not see this as illegal and they have the heartlessness to call open lectures as illegal!they are planning to sell off university land, in such haste, why are not they waiting to see their "fast served fossil fuel" the one which atta ur Rahman got for them, by top heavy funding exclusive for PhD, to be run out of, first?
the standard will definitely be hanging at an angle down from the mediocre to definitely inferior.i would like to see where this herd of run o the mill phd professors are going to get their lac rupees per their own successful phd student, of which there will be a bigger herd i am sure.in the vast universe, the univs of pakistan will stand isolated as "black holes".the good bright students will have the only option of going to the other universities in the universe, which have a life, and care that they have bright students, who feel proud to take quality ensuring testslike GRE.i am sure even ata ur rahman wanted his enriched (no pun intended)phd students/teachers to have a sure test of quality to vouch for them!he did so much to have a good image presented to the International scenario......

Blow Daddy Re#50 article by NFP DAWN SUNDAY 22 March 2009
[from'in a terrific new documentary called' the revolution will not be televised',director kim bartley...'to....'private television channels that are owned by the country's elite.']
All I can say is remarkable!if we were talking of the country as here and ours,the elite would have differed and disagreed such a lot among themselves that the 'string of private tv channels would have got done up in knots, with their own pointillistic views.there is so muchinfighting and lota-ism that our channels would be changing their direction ever so often, and the colors too would be flashingwith change.and the series would befull of elite groups-backed 'populist' faces telling our tv world and beyond how am I doing and jus' hear me talk!me, me, me.
And for the series of theories and questions....whoa!ONE AT A TIME PLEASE?

Re;#50 "SO WHAT MADE".....and TV spectatorship I mean viewership is no exception.generally people appearing on the tv expect an intelligent appreciationof what they say.but here at masses level, you know our nation still has the crowd mentality.feeds on sensation!
If accidents happen-crowd gathers -gape andgulp, no one helps.if into the foray hero jumps to save a girl from harassment ,crowd gathers to G AND G.hero wins; good.hero gets bashed up.good.now we have 2 versions.
Donkey cart races on roads[not leading to elitist clifton beach]-VVIP movement traffic closed, crowd gathers to G AND G.
TV SHOWS "convoluted" vociferous analysis only of why people blow themselves up, crowd gathers to gulp and gape.new sensational !
AND this has created the monster which feeds the electronic media, and is fed by what speakers say turning it into fodder for sensation .AND when speakers find themselves getting more popular by this feedback anyway ;then they themselves turn into fodder for the monster -an image fodder.and the vicious circle goes on.

Re;#50 CHAVEZ_the play of the word you have created with vowels changing about!put all alphabets in the soup-Alphabet soup.then it will have its own taste.

Blow Daddy shows where the idiot box has reached.an excellent follow through of the schism which has developed between the world(politico-religio-technical world) of parents and children.it is m ore difficult for parents to keep an eye on their children because of internet,(parents are ignoramuses technologically speaking)and now tv is going widely digital too!your article cobwebs....see you later...

Humanity at a Crossroads A good scroll down of "historical evolution", with examples of homo sapiens only no other aliens, who are exceptional from humaniy' s point of view.
Yes,humanity is at the "chowk" of life.and it is at its adolescent stage , it does seem.it is getting taller, day by day, at the expense of food and clothing, therefore it is short of both, in these trying times.it is gawky, and awkward looking and feeling awkward."feeling awkward", very sensitive, easily victim to feelings of guilt and shame.very confused about, and at the same time craving to reach out to the most high values ideological!its parent figures are mostly inconsistent as setters of good examples.its peers are drawing it towards the escapism of drugs and disrespect to social norms, as a reaction to society' s political games playing havoc with humanity' s normal basic rights.hence joblessness and suicide cycles.hence the make or break of low and(when it dawns)high, self esteem-and then the massive mental energy which is released all round the globe, culminating in blind acts of violence.just like a natural catastrophe.nothing to cry about the adolescent says.for it is natural.humanity needs to be told, of course it is natural, but you are not a falling rock, nor an unstoppable torrent.that storm is emanating from you o humanity!and you have the power to control, channelise and construct with it.for humanity' s sake, be master of your own mental energy, and be at peace with yourself and the world.
no matter who you are, just see to it that everyone gets their normal basic rights.just see to it with word, thought and deed.that is the side you would be on, no matter what.

World Bank Help For Pakistan’s Education – A Poisoned Chalice? you said,"But all serious academics know that what matters is not how many papers are written but how good these papers are."i would like to augment this with the following;re;
dawn Sunday jan 18 2009 not an ideal goal you have said,"On the other hand logic and science are universal-everyone will agree that 2+2=4,or that water can be shown to be a composite of hydrogen and oxygen."with the above in view, i just want to illustrate something on similar lines which happened a number of years ago-at the BMSI located in karachi."two co-research workers i knew, post graduate students to be exact, were preparing to present their papers at an afternoon seminar, that week.one of them had found just the piece of scientific research work bibliography; a monograph, from the library.that piece supported precisely a point made in their research discussion.his partner rejected it.his objection was that he did not care for the person who had written the monograph.he belonged to an inferior caste that was reason enough for him to discard his work.he would rather that his own research work would make no impact as a result."
now we see more and more international diverse names in science and research, in topics which are bound to get interconnected in a greater way.does that mean some bias will cause a number of people to give up chunks of interconnected scientific facts and figures?irrespective of caste, color and creed some other non-biased people will take up this scientific information technology for their own benefit.good for them!