My pen name Lady Asma is inspired from a fictional character of the same name from Tariq Ali's Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree. I came across it while i was reading the book. Lady Asma from the book was the young wife of the patriarch of Al-Hudayl family. She was a Christian convert and given the name Asma on her conversion. She received the title 'Lady' because of her marriage to the patriarch; Abdullah was his name as far as i remember. I liked my name mentioned in this Moorish Islamic book. The title 'Lady' is self-proclaimed :)
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Sad
One day you come across something and realize that you may look and feel as much of a high schooler as you want but there will always be some things for which you are over-aged and/or short of time. And all the times you wanted to grow up quickly flashes through your mind; all the things you could do but didn’t do or didn’t get a chance. But you’re an adult now… and it’s all grim, downhill from here.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Born Again
You must have heard the expression
“every day is a new life” or something like that but have you ever wondered that
might actually be very true? That it is not just a motivational saying? Compare
the process of a day with the life cycle of a man. While you are sleeping, this
is you in the womb; resting and waiting. Dawn is your queue of going out in the
world. You wake up; leave the bed (i.e., the womb) and are cut off from the umbilical
cord; which, in this case can be your warm blanket. The time until you reach
the place of your routine activities (college, workplace) is the time till
preteens while you are figuring out your surroundings, getting used to it,
finding new stuff. The time until noon is the teenage. As the day progresses,
so does your life and you enter adolescence. Dusk is you turning forty; your
energy fully utilized but still you try to make the best of this time before
night approaches. And then you feel tired after working all day, wanting rest
and peace. In life, that is when you get old. Some don’t sit back even at this
time… but then there are so many different kinds of people and we are only
sticking to the basics here. And while you are lying on your bed, ready to call
it a day, you look back on how your day went, very much like how when you get
old you reminisce on your life. And then slowly but surely, sleep (or on the
bigger picture, death) takes over and you give yourself over to it gladly.
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
My City Part 2
Lahore is a changed city.
Apart from the changes in time, situation, economy or the infrastructure; there
is something else going on within the city’s upper-middle to upper society that
has contributed to the change and needs our attention. Consumerism.
Advertisement channels are
flooded with promotions of consumer items luring masses with attractions that
are nothing but worthless. My focus here is on three kinds of such items in
particular; mobile networks, clothing and eateries. Every other day there is a
new package offered from the major mobile networks claiming lowest call rates,
fastest internet connectivity and as much as unlimited SMS. Each one of these
packages is advertised grandly; and by grandly I mean TV ad every two minutes
and on huge billboards all over the city. What’s most disturbing is youth as
the target audience of such mobile networks specifically. It’s almost cheap and
cunning.
Flashing beside a mobile network
advertisement you see a billboard announcing the launch of a lawn collection.
What started as an exclusive thing by a few of the oldest and the most
reputable brands like Gul Ahmed and AlKaram is now expanded to a large number
of people calling themselves designers; launching crazy expensive volume after
volume of lawn collection multiple times during a single season. The same can
be said for clothing lines and brands of all kinds.
And where do you go wearing
your ‘branded’ outfits? Well, it’s all settled for. Every other day there is a
new fancy restaurant opening with food prices that can make your eyeballs pop
out. But the restaurant business thrive and flourish no matter how high they
set the prices of their food because eating out is probably the most popular
source of entertainment for us modern Lahoris.
All of this makes you think
what’s becoming of us. It’s like two alternate universes; one has a sheer deprivation
of energy resources, basic human needs and peace while the other one revolves
around how best to blend in and keep up with the rapidly changing trends. The
contrast is absurd and random. And we are the pawns in the game of consumerism
– glad and oblivious. It’s surprising how we don’t as much as bat a lash before
taking out an outrageous amount of money paying for such stuff. Because we are
doing as Romans did in Rome.
All around, there is a race
of keeping up with the changes. No one minds it. We’re all in it. But this move
towards modernity is making us materialistic. This wonderful city is shifting
rapidly away from its roots, struggling to find a new identity while making no
effort to hold on to or preserve its chastity and originality.
Meh..
So i came up with this randomly at work while i was thinking about the weekend. Its crude but its a great metaphor :)
A week is like having sex. Weekend is the orgasm. You keep waiting for it, its great when it comes but passes too soon. And then you just look forward to the next one.
A week is like having sex. Weekend is the orgasm. You keep waiting for it, its great when it comes but passes too soon. And then you just look forward to the next one.
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