How I Chose My Pen Name

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 :)

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.    

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.    

  

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.

Ode to Sammy

Sammy, I'm sorry i had to let you go but it's time for us to move on. I hope you understand that you need a new owner and i need a new device. We had a lot of fun together. You introduced me to a whole new world of technology, kept my secrets, connected me with the world, captured memorable moments for me, became an excellent source of entertainment and kept me technologically upgraded. You will always be my first ever smartphone love. May you go in good hands. Peace!

New Year

Happy New Year!! And so begins a new year. Big deal (and that’s not sarcasm). These major transitions of dates fascinate me. I dunno why. Like my birthday and new year. I just love watching the date change. Sometimes I even find myself watching everyday dates change and the clock striking 12.

Last New Year’s eve I was at my boss’s farm party and then we went to a mall and hung out for a while there and I returned home sneakily ;) It was fun. This New Year’s Eve was ordinary. I really like the idea of celebrating the change of years but never quite have done it except in 2011 I guess when a cousin was over and we did the countdown, cheered and hugged each other. This time I’m on my own, sitting in my blankie, tapping away at the keyboard. I always want to do something special to celebrate New Year. Perhaps I will get to celebrate it at least some time in my life. Joking about being at Times Square on New Year, maybe one day I will be there.  

So let’s have the year 2012 in review. It started off good as I got an excellent increment. After that, it was all downhill from there. Things at work place were out of control and crazy, getting better only around October. Had a tough time at the university, getting nothing much in return. There were some things which hurt me badly, with no words to describe what I passed through. Some revelations which shook me through, tore at my heart. But I did survive so I guess what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. And that’s what has happened. I have learned about people more than any other time in my life, even more than 2011; about different kinds of people, about how to be around them, about how to deal with them. I have not perfected everything I’ve learned but at least I have some additions in my knowledge. This has been the most educational year of my life. I have had grim experiences which have taught me a lot and I have learned to tough all of them out. I feel old but not wise because I have made mistakes and bad choices. I’m hoping there are other things too which I learned in this year and they do me good later on in life. Unfortunately, I do not seem to recollect any major achievement in 2012. But I guess if I have survived another year, I did achieve something after all and even the worst wasn’t too bad.

A friend asked me what my New Year’s resolutions were and I told her I’ve been trying to think of some for two days now but honestly I have not really succeeded. Even if I did, they wouldn’t really work anyway. Besides, if there is something life has taught me, it’s that I cannot plan anything. So if I say I’ll do this in 2013 or I want to do that in 2013, that’s sort of planning, expecting, wishing – all the things I try my best not to do. But here’s a word ’try’. That I can do – for everything I want and everything I wish.

I don’t know what this year holds for me, I’m not really looking forward to anything, not really planning anything. Just hoping I see good times for myself and my family, achieve something, be good to people, try to be a better person, have fun, work hard, learn more, explore, groom myself, experience new stuff and last but not the least, find a better purpose to life. I will continue to dream big, will keep on fantasizing no matter how absurd because there is no cost and no harm in that. I will also make a lot of mistakes and I will somehow justify them like always, but not without learning from them too. Lastly, if there are lemons in store for me this year, I have a lemon squeezer ready in my hand to make lemonade. If there is any achievement or happiness waiting for me, I’ll cheer for it, cherish it and be grateful for it.   

Toast to an eventful 2012, and to a surprises-filled 2013.

God bless us all!