Induction

As the end of december drew near I started to wait for word of the  school that would be assigned to me and my group of rahbars. The email I was waiting for arrived in the first week of January and we set off to a small little village right behind the airport here in…

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Orientation to hope

I still remember it as clear as the morning was on 14th August 2010. That was the day volunteerism was born in me or shall we say kindled, this was also the day me and a few friends set out towards the interior of sindh to help provide relief for flood victims.  Before that I…

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Male writers tend to get asked what they think and women what they feel. In my experience, and that of a lot of other women writers, all of the questions coming at them from interviewers tend to be about how lucky they are to be where they are – about luck and identity and how…

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Understanding not banning is required

This October the government of Sindh proposed a three month ban on whatsapp viber and skype, citing concerns of security as voice over ip calls made on these social media applications could not be traced or monitored They claimed that nefarious elements are using these networks to conduct criminal or terrorist activities. Obviously this has…

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Why I got an S4 and went back to an Iphone

So it happens to be that my I5 was  taken from me at gunpoint before Ramzan Eid, quite a common occurrence in this neck of the woods mind you & so i thought i should now give the S4 a whirl as I had been hearing great things from friends about it for a while….

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Elections & social media in pakistan

During the last year, we have seen immense political presence in Pakistan’s social media. It started with leaders of almost all political parties garnering an online presence to realising how to market a party as an online brand. It has not been an easy ride for these political parties because our politicians tend to be more…

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The power of one Pakistani

We have never given a toss about education in Pakistan. This is not a blanket statement but a fact pretty easily verified if you look at statistics of literacy in this country or the work done on education in our 65-year history. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) puts our literacy at 56…

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Farrukh: an inspiration for us all

I first met Farrukh when I was speaking at an International Education and Resource Network(iEARN) event in Karachi. I saw him sitting there on his motorised chair, smiling and listening attentively. As soon as I was done speaking, I stepped down from the podium and went straight over to him, to sit down and talk. Farrukh…

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The Bhc social stream

The tasks of high commissions and embassies in foreign countries is usually to improve strategic ties with the host country, process messages in between governments and to look after consular services of its citizens based in the home country and visa services  for people who wish to visit the consulates home nation. Therefore consulates in…

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