Light Within

Chasing Life

Eman Fatima - A New Chapter Unfolds...
Thursday, 25 April 2024


Eman has always been eager to go to school. She had already been in Aly Muhammad's School, Laila Ke School Main, and in my school. On 25 April 2010, she joined Garrison Junior Academy Lahore - one of the best schools in the city famous for good education and gardens - her own School. Today she had an orientation day. She was given a long list of books and other stationary items to bring. She even made some new friends. She calls them Doots. Images here show her enthusiasm and zeal and also tell that she was happy at School. We all wish her the best in life and education.



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posted by S A J Shirazi @ Thursday, April 25, 2024, ,

At war with myself
Tuesday, 23 April 2024

You seem to be doing odd thing all the time – sitting in sun and avoiding cold water during summers, sitting in shad and having chilled water in winters, keeping awake during nights, eating less and walking the streets despite having the facility of transport. Everyone else goes to gardens whereas you go for wilderness.

I am all right. Only I am at war with myself.

What for?

To conquer myself!

What will you achieve by this?

I will be able to get what I want done by myself – creation of a new world.

Translated from Sitaroon Ki Bastiyan by Abbas Khan

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posted by S A J Shirazi @ Tuesday, April 23, 2024, ,

No complaints. No emotions.

posted by S A J Shirazi @ Monday, April 22, 2024, ,

Justice
Sunday, 21 April 2024

The Republic in which Plato presented concept of the state starts with a query. “What is justice,” sitting in his academy Plato asks students who were all experts in their own respective fields.

As per Plato every thing in the world should be given its appropriate place. Biologically human body can be divided in three distinct and incompatible parts. Wisdom comes from head; stomach is responsible for distribution of calories to the whole body through intakes; hands and feet work for the body and act as guards. Humans die when this appropriation is disturbed. Head cannot act in the place of stomach or hand and vice versa.
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posted by S A J Shirazi @ Sunday, April 21, 2024, ,

Dolls, Toys and More
Saturday, 20 April 2024

How have the topics been selected?

Dolls, Toys and More is a story of two decades of work by NGO in a village called Thatta Ghulamka Dheroka. How change has come in the village?


Large number of volunteers have worked in the project since its inception. It would have been less interesting for the readers, if we were only to describe project in detail as they would know less about the location, the background and the history of the local toys in the Punjab. The life in the village is definitely interesting from the point of view of literature, but this topic may be discussed separately. An idea can be obtained however by reading the three short stories taken over by me and written by Ulrike Vestring. It would also be inappropriate to discuss and describe at this point the concept of Mud Housing and the Appropriate Technology, both of which can be discussed separately.
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posted by S A J Shirazi @ Saturday, April 20, 2024, ,

Flood Economy
Thursday, 18 April 2024

Pakistan faces economic catastrophe after the devastating floods that have wiped out farmland and ruined infrastructure, with feared losses of billions of dollars likely to set back growth by years.

The country's worst ever-humanitarian disaster has ravaged an area roughly the size of England, affected 20 million people, exacerbated a crippling energy crisis and raising fears of social unrest.

"It seems we're doomed to walking through a dark tunnel. We're on an unending path of misery," said Morio Pahore, a farmer from small town Thul in southern Pakistan who is now living in a tent on a highway.

Shirtless, his face burnt dark by the sun, the greying 50-year-old said he lost everything when the rains fell and the river burst its banks.

"We had goats and buffalo and a wooden hut. We had grain to eat. The river ate everything, leaving the whole family hungry and empty-handed.

"I don't think we can start again for many years. Everything is under water and even if the river recedes, the water will be there for a long time."

It is a tragedy repeated millions of times over for farmers and peasants across the country who saw their livelihoods washed away in minutes after the floods first hit three weeks ago.

Agriculture accounts for 20 percent of Pakistan's gross domestic product. President Asif Ali Zardari said it would take two years to provide farmers with crops, fertilisers, seeds and food. Experts say it will take far longer.

On top of that, floods have inflicted widespread damage on infrastructure. In cities, flood waters have destroyed electricity installations, roads and phone lines.

The World Bank, which has announced a 900 million dollar loan for Pakistan, expects the economic impact to be huge, indicating that direct damage was greatest in housing, roads, irrigation and agriculture.

It estimated crop loss at one billion dollars, saying the full impact on soil erosion and agriculture could only be assessed when the water recedes around mid-September.

"We have lost around 20 percent of our cotton crops. The destruction of corn, rice, sugarcane, vegetable crops and fish farms are enormous as well," Ibrahim Mughal, who heads the independent Agri Forum organisation, told media.

Damage to cotton, rice, sugarcane and maize will hit the export sector, the main source for Pakistan's forex reserves. Textiles and agriculture account for about three quarters of Pakistan's 21 billion dollar export target this year.

"The floods have eaten three million tons of cotton -- over 20 percent of our 14 million bales for this year. It will negatively affect by 25 percent large-scale manufacturing and ultimately impact on exports," Ashfaq Hasan Khan, a former government economic adviser, told media.

There are fears that Pakistan risks running up a higher fiscal deficit which would lead to increased government borrowing.

Before the floods, the country had a healthy forex reserve of 16.45 billion dollars, thanks to a 11.3 billion dollar IMF rescue package meant to stave off Pakistan's worst balance of payment crisis and 30-year-high inflation in 2008.

After recording its lowest growth in a decade, GDP had been expected to grow by 4.5 percent in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2011, but the floods could shave at least one percent off growth estimates.

"Our assessment suggests Pakistan could achieve about 3.5 percent GDP growth rate this fiscal year," Khan said. "It means a loss of around two billion dollars."

Pakistan's UN envoy in Geneva, Zamir Akram, has said reconstruction in northern areas alone could cost 2.5 billion dollars.

Food prices are already rising and there are fuel shortages in some areas.

The director general of the Pakistan Electric Power Company, Muhammad Khalid, told media they faced losses of more than four billion rupees (47 million dollars) due to the floods with some grid stations wiped out.

Around 1,000 villages in flood-hit districts of southern Punjab are without power, said Jamshaid Niazi, spokesman for Multan Electricity Supply Company. "Our two grid stations are badly affected," he said.

"The loss is huge. We have to install new poles, wires, feeders etc."

Experts have urged the government -- already weak and unpopular -- to move quickly, warning that the losses could fan unemployment and social unrest.

"The peasants are our lifeline, so by not helping them we are in fact committing suicide," Agri Forum's Mughal said.

"Jobless people can become criminals if they can't get employment. In this case, the number of such people is in the millions."

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posted by S A J Shirazi @ Thursday, April 18, 2024, ,

Have a Blog or a Printing Press
Tuesday, 16 April 2024

Who all should have a blog? The answer depends on who is being asked this question. Given my personal interest, I say everyone should have a blog.

For marketers, public relations professionals, writers and all those who need to reach out with their ideas and or products and services, blogs are a must; easier, cheaper, convenient. But think outside the box and you will find people have experiences to share, stories to tell and put the things on record. They all need a blog.
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posted by S A J Shirazi @ Tuesday, April 16, 2024, ,

Attitude Tourism
Monday, 15 April 2024

Attitude tourism - to be distinguished from, say, adventure or seeing the sights - is generally not a particularly satisfying activity. Ideas and those who hatch them tend not to leave behind things large or attractive enough to ogle. So you may go to a place of great historic value but find nothing worth the visit. Lasbela tract is a case in point. Usually, you are left, if you are lucky, with a plaque or just an intrinsic thought. So I expected, more or less, nothing in Lasbela.

What I got was signs in lieu of plaques, hot wind, remnants of crumbling columns, and a long view of the undergrowth of thorny bushes, some wildflowers, functional Persian wells and rocky hilltops covered with camel and sheep droppings. It was all prosaic and quiet and yet real enough to propel me into another fit of wonder: I was driving on the tract where Alexander and Muhammad Bin Qasim had treaded.
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posted by S A J Shirazi @ Monday, April 15, 2024, ,

Invention of calligraphy script
Sunday, 14 April 2024


To understand the magnitude of the invention of a new calligraphy script it is important to remember that after creation of ‘Nastaleeq’ by Mir Ali Sultan Tabreezi around 1400 in Persia, no script of Urdu, Persian or Arabic, has ever been invented, with the exception of Mirza Muhammad Hussain who developed the running the running hand version of Nastaleeq called Shakistan in 1616 and Mirza Sultan in Heart who came up with a similar style called Shaffiah in the middle of the seventeenth century. Ibn-e-Kaleem stands alone in the feat.
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posted by S A J Shirazi @ Sunday, April 14, 2024, ,

Growth as a criteria
Saturday, 13 April 2024

Prof Dr Norbert Pintsch, SES, SPARC, FPAC

Is a future with further growth thinkable, plausible, imaginable,- or is it better to restrain oneself , and if yes, at the cost of whom would this happen.

So are approximately the widely-separated opinions about the future.

It is of course good and important to contemplate about the future. But this is quite difficult because there is no space available for understanding of realities. Clearly, the production of academic talent is industrial friendly and growth oriented. The parents desire a rosy future for their children. The magic word Education, as basis for a secured future, appears to be all popular for solution of all current and future problems. If everyone thinks and does in the similar way, it is of course positive, but it indicates how obscure time is. One almost feels like living in middle ages, about which it is claimed that religion replaced thinking at that time. If one could go into the time gone by, one would realize, that life then was quite normal. Analog to the present time is therefore valid: Education is the solution to all problems!
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posted by S A J Shirazi @ Saturday, April 13, 2024, ,

Chillianwala Chase
Friday, 12 April 2024

To-ing and fro-ing, at times zigzagging, in Punjab introduces wonders and legions of what may be called the middle ground of cultural fusion of the present Punjab. The area is a gold mine for history seekers, and spiritual and curious travelers. You may find much more than what you hear or read. It pays to get out into the countryside and talk to ordinary people.

People of the area are eager to help “at their own expense – when you ask anybody. One finds volunteer ‘guides’ who are forthcoming with a wealth of information. Chillianwala is a historic village that played an important role in the history of South Asia. It was a battleground where British and Sikh forces fought one of the decisive battles in the history of the Subcontinent in 1849. The quiet village has not changed much since then. Only slowly old agricultural methods are changing and tractors and wheat threshers are seen in place of bull-driven ploughs. Painted double-story houses are coming up where used to be conventional mud houses. The land is excellent with record carrying capacity and the display of seasonal crops is very powerful.

The Battle fought in the fields of Chillianwala (not to be mixed with the Jallianwala Bagh massacre) was possibly the turning point for the British. Had the British lost to the Sikhs on January 13, 1849, it is difficult to see how they could have sustained their hold over the Subcontinent.

Oddly, both the British and the Sikhs consider Chillianwala as their victory. The Sikhs say it was their victory because they broke the British force and the myth of them being invincible, who were forced to retreat. The British did retreat, but three days after the battle. The British admit that had the Sikhs realized they had the advantage and continued the battle after fighting ceased at night, they would have overrun the British who were exhausted, seriously depleted, and in unfamiliar terrain. As it was, six British regiments lost their standards at the battle. The Sikhs instead celebrated victory; three days of incessant rainfall prevented them from crossing suddenly flooded irrigation drains and streams, and the British, picking themselves up, marched away in reasonable order. Since the Sikhs appear to have disengaged first, the British claim the victory.

Of the Sikh forces, history knows little, except that the British estimate of 30,000 enemies was significantly exaggerated. The Sikhs had little if any superiority to the British force of 13,000. The artillery was about equal, with 60 guns on each side. The British handling of their artillery was much better than that of their opponents, and this was a winning factor in all the battles for the Punjab. The Sikhs were led by Sher Singh Attariwala and were deserted by some of their allies such as the Rohillas, and the Dogras under Colonel Stienbach, a former employee of the Sikh government, who turned coat to fight for the British.

The British were led by the 70-year-old Lord Gough, a fiery fighting general who was replaced despite the victories. Blame for the high casualties seems to be one reason. The list of military disasters that the British suffered in India is long, but most of these were rationalized by British military historians by highlighting situational factors that made British defeat certain and inevitable and was in many cases due to circumstances involving overwhelming numerical inferiority, excessive battle exhaustion, adverse weather and terrain.

The Battle of Chillianwala is, however, one odd exception and stands out as a battle in which the British failed to defeat their opponents despite having the advantages of the weight of numbers, ideal weather and terrain, and superior logistics. A succession of British military victories since 1757 barring few exceptions like the Battle of Pollilore (September 10, 1780), Siege of Bhurtpore (1804-1805), Monsoon’s Retreat (1804), Kabul Brigade’s Retreat (January 1842) which were dismissed as exceptions (to the general rule of “European Superiority) by virtue of exceptional numerical or other odds; it was assumed that no native army of India, Nepal or Afghanistan could stand a determined bayonet charge by the Red Coats. A feeling of superiority was produced accompanied by the natural attitude of overconfidence and rashness, and most British commanders felt that simply a direct march to the sound of guns and a simple frontal assault using “Cold Steel” was enough to disperse any native army however tough or well trained. The use of maneuver and the fact that a British army could ever be surprised was dismissed as impossible. Thus once the British suffered a rude reverse accompanied by heavy casualties despite having all the advantages; public opinion in Britain was shocked.

British Army despite a high European troop component, sufficient artillery, and two heavy cavalry brigades to ensure that no one could surprise them, little campaign exhaustion having fought no major battle since assumption of hostilities, winter weather negating the possibility of heatstroke and cholera the worst killers of white soldiers in India, failed to defeat the Sikhs. This is why Chillianwala stands out as a battle that changed Indian perceptions about British military effectiveness? The damage done at Chillianwala to the prestige of British arms was enormous and played a major role in changing Indian attitudes about the British. Though defeat at Chillianwala was forgotten soon enough and Gough again became a hero. Thanks to “angling” by the British historians.

In fact, the Sikhs did ask for a ceasefire and for terms after the battle, because they could see their end was near. Their requests were rejected; thirty-nine days later, the Battle of Gujrat was fought. The Sikhs lost. Those who were captured were killed; those who still refused to surrender were hunted down and killed. Of course, what happened to the defeated Sikh army was nothing compared to the wholesale atrocities inflicted by the British on Muslims during the war of Independence of 1857 and the civilians who happened to get in the way, but that is another story. After Gujrat, the vast area passed from the heirs of Maharajah Ranjit Singh to the sons of John Company, and ten years later, to the Imperial crown. At Chillianwala the Sikhs offered the fiercest resistance; yet, once defeated, they willingly entered British service, becoming, along with the Gurkhas, among the Empire’s most faithful servants.

Nothing is left of the history on the ground now. The only sign right on the Kharian-Mandi Bahaud Din Roadside is a British cemetery, commonly called Gora Qabristan, outside the village. Among the dilapidating graves, stands tall memorial Obelisk, like an obelisk built at Killa Kohna Qasim Bagh in Multan, and a Cross in the memory of those British who were killed in the Battle. The boundary wall of the cemetery too is falling apart and is used by the villagers for drying dung cakes. The children are seen playing Gulli Danda – local cricket in the parameter.

Nearby, there is an ancient banyan tree where busses plying on the route stop and from where villagers, oblivious of the past history of the place, board the overloaded busses to go to the town for exchanging commodities. The Union Council can hardly be expected to take care of the memorial or the historic graveyard. Maybe someone should think of preserving the past relic. It is part of our history.

The ionic counterpoint is the lack of attention to maintaining the bits and pieces of unique heritage. The neglect may be attributed to a lack of awareness, education, coordination between authorities, economic constraints, and or simply natural hazards. There is a need for information in the form of travel guide writing, pure travel journalism, travel book writing, and geographical description in the form of maps. No ordinary coldness of phrasing can express the surprise and delight, with which one makes acquaintance with the sites. Their perspective gives you a wonderful sense of being there.

Also here (photo from here)

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posted by S A J Shirazi @ Friday, April 12, 2024, ,

Fine Art of Mud Architecture
Thursday, 11 April 2024

The future lies in mud architecture. Though this sweeping statement may sound prehistoric, but it is very relevant to modern times. Building living spaces with mud is a tradition dating as back as the start of civilization. Some excellent examples from the Great Mosque - the world’s largest mud building and UNESCO’s World Heritage site – to the oldest surviving mud specimens found in the Harappa, Pakistan, show the continuous use of mud buildings.


Having grown up in mud house myself (before I moved to urban center), mud buildings have a special place rooted deep in to my cultural consciousness and this personal bond encourages a more intimate relationship between me and the mud as the material transformed from formlessness to form. Hence my interest in mud architecture and how I see its future in Pakistan.

Why use Mud? Mud – a mixture of earth and water - is economical, practical, functional and attractive. It is easy to work with, and it takes decoration well. Mud is especially useful in humid and hot climates like we have in Pakistan. Mud is a natural material that is found in abundance, especially where other building materials such as bricks, stone or wood are scarce due to affordability and or availability. In Pakistan, use of mud has evolved from local necessity. Which is why the use of extremely sticky mud deposited found along river banks or elsewhere in Pakistan combined with appropriate technology makes an excellent material to build functional and climate friendly buildings.


Work has already started and many experts are critically analyzing the more purposeful use of mud as a building material. Dr. Gus Van Beek of the Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History is working on a book in which he is examining methods of construction and varieties of designs in contemporary as well as ancient structures found at many places. Dr. Gus Van Beek’s research started when he uncovered arch and vault construction at Tel Jemmeh, Israel. Dr. Gus Van Beek is covering major types of construction in Morocco, Egypt, Yemen, Israel, Syria, Iraq, Iran, India and Pakistan.

At local level, Society for the Promotion of Art and Culture (SPARC), registered in Lahore since 1994, is undertaking the task of revival of much needed mud architecture in Pakistan. SPARC planning to hold workshops at different art and architecture institutions in order to restart the traditional building with mud in rural as well as urban areas of Pakistan. These workshop will not only create awareness and initiate a thought process at gross roots level but will also train SPARC employees in mud architecture. Dr. Norbert Pintsch from Senior Expert Service (Bonn, Germany) is planning to present new techniques of mud building to adapt the construction technique mixed with appropriate technology in Pakistan.

Prof Dr Norbert Pintsch is an experienced architect by profession and mud enthusiast by choice. Since completing first building project as an architect at the age of 18, Prof Dr Norbert Pintsch has been in various activities as an architect and civil engineer all his life. One of the best starting point for Prof Dr Norbert Pintsch may be a mud building that stands in Peerzada Festival Area, Green Acre, Lahore. Renowned Pakistani architect like Ghayyoor Obaid are also keen on mud architecture there. Any other example that I know of is remains of Sher Shah Suri built mud fort in historic village Sher Ghar near Okara.

The mud architecture is a great resource that focuses on architecture constructed of mud brick, rammed earth, compressed earth block and other methods of earthen construction. The proliferation of concept to use mud and improved techniques in order to raise the level of living in the population is a very welcome idea and we in Pakistan need that. This can go a long way not only in the form of changing the look of population centers, rural as well as urban, but also in solving environmental problems and problems related to use of energy and other finite resources.

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posted by S A J Shirazi @ Thursday, April 11, 2024, ,

Bloggy fusion
Monday, 8 April 2024

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posted by S A J Shirazi @ Monday, April 08, 2024, ,

Battle within
Sunday, 7 April 2024

There are no chances of this horrible battle coming to an end.
UN will sure manage to end this.
No, no. I am not talking of war that has been imposed upon us.
Which battle are you talking about?
The one waging within!

Translated from Sitaroon Ki Bastiyan by Abbas Khan.

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posted by S A J Shirazi @ Sunday, April 07, 2024, ,

"Happy Birthday Nana," Emaan Fatima
Friday, 5 April 2024

To the man I know is the bravest, the most creative, and the one who loves talking about the army and his experiences and his burning passion about everything, from how he passed his army test to his cigarette-quitting journey. One wants to listen to his stories all the time because of the details he gives. My grandfather who's more like a father to me has 8 grandkids, but I think I'm his fav🤫 but that's not the point, from him bringing snacks (of junk food) every day after work to his taking me to his office and spending the entire day with me and helping me feed the peacocks. Memories just flood in as soon as I start thinking of you. Someone who means the world to me and someone who asks me how I'm doing and how my studies and my life going...


Giving me everything I ever wanted. I ADORE him so much and the most I ADORE is all the memories we have and will make in the future and his stories. I'll never stop listening to them and will always cherish these memories. I love you so much and hope the coming year brings you happiness and great health and that you cross the 13,000 steps per day benchmark inshallah. I love you more than you love your black coffee and we will celebrate after my CIES!! 

HAPPY 70 to the best father and grandfather in existence!! So lucky to have you❤️❤️❤️

posted by S A J Shirazi @ Friday, April 05, 2024, ,

What it takes to be happy?
Thursday, 4 April 2024

In some way Ashiq Mang knows so much more about life that anybody else does, about grief, about happiness, about pretense and falseness of life. There is nothing in his own life, which he would like to hide or not talk about.

Ashiq has been working as a cleaner at our home for two years. My friendship with him developed when brought me laddoos on the birth of his son. It was a very pleasant surprise though later my wife and children hesitated to share the sweets with me. I offered him a cup of tea over which he started talking and gave me the chronological narrative of the life, experience and reminiscences. Then we used to talk whenever got chance to meet on holidays mostly, when he was late doing his job at our place or I came home early. He may not be a good communicator, but has definitely enriched my vision. He is so candid and honest about every thing.
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posted by S A J Shirazi @ Thursday, April 04, 2024, ,

Every thing is in the name
Wednesday, 3 April 2024

Pervaiz Munir Alvi

The way a society names its cities and places says a lot about its cultural history and social values. Pakistan is no exception to this either.

The cultural history of Pakistan could be traced from its naming practice. The names of its ancient cities like Peshawar, Lahore and Multan have no resemblance to the names of the newer cities like Islamabad and Faisalabad. Similarly the name of the newer Qasim Port has no resemblance to the name of its sister Karachi Port or for that matter Gwadar Port. In the field of naming names Pakistani society has come a long way since the days of ancient Indus Valley Civilization of Harrapa and Moen-jo-Dero. Even the days of the names like Texila and Ghandara are long gone.
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posted by S A J Shirazi @ Wednesday, April 03, 2024, ,


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