Its been a weird week, it began with the publishing of an article of mine in TGK, which I might add is a fantastic new web zine started by the youth of Pakistan and showing all those fuddy old news paper editors out there how to do things the non cliche way. So here is a big thumbs up to Sonya Rehman and their team. That was perhaps the high point of it as soon afterwords Israel declared war on Gaza and specifically Hamas.
As a Muslim who has spent the last few months regaining knowledge about his faith, it was both terrifying and infuriating to see the state of Israel rain down bombs from the sky at everything in sight, hell bent to finish Hamas and their rocket attacks into Israel. So like the rest of the world I watched as absolutely noone could stop the deaths of 1300 people, no one could make sure that at least the hospitals of Gaza had more medical supplies than gauze tape and aspirin except write about it and so I did. I wrote and I put it up here along with my anger and my horror and the pictures that were sent to me by brave souls capturing the tragedy on their lens.
As for the crises, it ended today (Sun the 18th Jan09) and the ceasefire was announced, which was off course followed by 18 more rockets sent into Israel from Gaza by the Hamas, and this has made me even more angry. I am angry because these people do not know what they are doing by irking Israel, I truly realize the spirit of Jihad that they feel, and the wrong that has been done to them in the past days. However to fire more rockets into Israel after the cease fire just goes to prove Israels point to the rest of us. Does it not? Can we deny the fact that they too are under attack? I fear where this will all lead to in the middle east sometimes, the senseless violence just does not seem to stop. Right now it seems like its not only Israel at fault here.
A friend of mine switched off this week as well, no not from this world but rather from the digital side of it that we seem to love so much. Ironically with an email to all her friends stating she would not be back for a week or so as she needed time off with her husband. Is it not weird how claustrophobic our own lives seems to be getting? One of my other friends is hell bent on getting out of this country, as soon they can get a job that’s worth their effort that is. I seriously fail to understand how that would happen, because changing a country to me in today’s time’s is not worth anything.
Not that its getting any rosy back home here in Pakistan. The government seems hellbent on imploding a year after they got the “peoples” mandate and they cannot go a single day without shooting themselves in the foot over some incident or some media briefing or some statement by some spokesperson who should never have a mike in front of them in the first place. As for the rest of us who are trying to scratch out a living over here, its been another week of unrealized opportunity and clinging to hope for better days ahead. Business is in a ditch, I can hardly call this a rut or a slump, jobs are scarce and getting scarcer as the cost of living in this megalopolis just keeps going up.
Still though as I stood with my family in a park close to my house today while they wrapped up the flower show there I couldn’t help but think of how lucky I am to not only be here and at this time but to be able to live my life on my own terms even if it is one week at a time. Sure its tough, but then is that not the biggest lesson that life teaches us, to persevere.
Did they also not say hell is a pretty subjective term?
🙂 Peace…for as long as it lasts please and good luck to those taking time off or time out from this slightly wonky world. My own personal goal for next week is securing a copy of Shantaram and reading it, aside from the daily grind that is. Lets see if I can make that happen shall we?
Faisal sahab.. i know how you can get the copy of shantaram :):)
ahhhhhhhhhh so do i but if your wife finishes reading it at her pace….the week shall be over nai? 😛 steal it from her lol