Freedom of Speech?

I randomly found this piece of prose on Facebook as different people's statuses and couldn't agree with it more. Very succinctly put. Makes me wonder what is going on in the world.

When you attack black people, they call it ...

Racism

When you attack Jewish people, they call it...

 Antisemitism

When you attack women, they call it...

 Sexism

When you attack homosexuality, they call it...

 Intolerance

When you attack your country, they call it...

Treason

When you attack a religious sect, they call it...

 Hate Speech

But when they attack the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), they call it...

 FREEDOM OF SPEECH

Facing the Facebook Fiasco

What just happened, simply amazes me and makes me wonder if the our government will ever cease to surprise us with its ... well, I don't want to sound harsh!

I mean, one commoner such as me in Pakistan logs on to Facebook and finds that it has been BLOCKED (actually banned)! argh!

Yes, I know what has been going on, on Facebook for more than a week and what has been and is being done as retaliation to it but among all remedies such as boycotting Facebook for a day or for ever, protesting against what is happening, creating independent positive initiatives in the forms of 'events' and 'groups' by the users, blocking Facebook on a national level by the government seems to be not only useless but even counter-productive.

And the funniest in the saddest way ever is the fact that I can still access Facebook, yes, haha. See this ...

(It's 6 pm now, more than half an hour since Facebook had been blocked as you can see the sudden pause of posts from people in my NewsFeed except for me)

C'mon, even kids in junior school now know about Proxy sites! Too bad, those who have blocked Facebook do not have an updated list of proxy sites, with the help of which they could block back door entrances to Facebook as well... which in a way makes me less desperate and angry about the weird logic our government uses in situations such as these.

I am the victim emotional distress, and I am the one who has now been barred from expressing my feelings! So much for the 'freedom of speech' and justice!

*shuts her laptop tight and goes to the balcony to get some fresh air*

PS: Facebook right now feels very similar to what the streets of NewYork looked like in the movie 'I am Legend' - horrifyingly devoid of life!

Update (6:40 pm) : well, I didn't go to the balcony because it had a lock on it and i was too lazy to get the keys from downstairs but look what I found... The Express Tribune, a Pakistani publication, reports exactly the same thing that I talked about; proxy sites and how tech-savvy Pakistanis are still using Facebook making PTA's effort of blocking Facebook only a symbolic gesture. Here is the link to the article.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/14431/pakistanis-turn-to-proxy-sites-to-reach-facebook/

Cute Monsters in the Dark Corners of my Room!

She was walking down the dark alley lost in her own thoughts when she saw it. The very sight of it paralyzed her; her fear froze her. She couldn’t advance, she couldn’t retreat. It was as if one slight movement would set that dark vicious creature upon her. But nature had equipped her with defensive tools and she used it unconsciously – out came a glass-shattering shriek. The shriek, what a kind of one it was. It set the stray dogs in the neighbourhood barking in horror, the baby in the house next to the alley crying and one fine young man rescuing our princess from this creature. Our brave hero found the source of terror, gathered the courage to fight and not to ‘flight’ and gave it a go. And the dark creature was gone in one single stamp of his joggers. Well, it was small lizard right, in the middle of the path, so it just died in a blow.

There was another girl One fine day when she one was washing her eaten up dessert’s dish at five in the morning, she felt something jelly-like under her foot. She raised her foot to find an upside-down turned medium sized lizard lying there dead and all she felt like saying was ‘Ew’. Well, the lizard was dead right, nothing more to worry about, right. But then she thought what if it wasn’t dead, so she shook the mat a little and the lizard actually flipped back in the up-side-up position. So, the girl just left it there and went back to her room.

Well, actually this girl was me, yes, me. Oh please, don’t give me that disgusted look. Of course, I know lizards are dirty creatures but I think we see and touch far dirtier and germy things in our day! So what’s so horrible about poor lizzie baby? Are you scared? Ohh, Okay, THEN, I can’t help you sorry!

But hey may you can help yourself. Look at these pictures I have taken of my dear darlings. Well, I don’t really like them, but just because the cruel society discriminates and marginalizes them all the time, I feel pity for them and feel like speaking up for them as this society can really understand the tongues. So here we go: enjoy the photos! They are meant to show you the beautiful side of my loves. Well, yea, the beautiful side :P

This dear maiden was found right behind the door of the room behind mine, in which no one lives. So one day, when I went there to vacation for a while I found this really old, wrinkled lizard wasn't even moving when I was photographing it! Or may be it wasn't old, perhaps, it just sensed some how that taking photographs is not a mean or offending act as throwing chappals or screaming is, something people do when they spot her.

This dark and handsome fella is frowned upon the society because he is a 'naali ka keera' (Urdu for drain's insect) and he wonders quite often in solitude, what his fault is if his Creator has made him that way. He also takes pride in the fact that his race is one of the oldest on this planet and that the fact that they only had become 'naali kay keeras' After naalis came into existence. Before the humans came, his forefathers used to be happy living in the jungles with ants and their other, seemingly less repulsive-looking species of his race, such as the flying cockroach.

Err, this is just a fried fish's head. If you find this weird or scary or spooky or whatever, then you should get your head checked, seriously!

PS : pictures by the author

Dear Death Awaits Me

Imagine living in this world for ever, knowing you will never die. Not such a pleasant thought for me. For without death awaiting you, what good is life?

A kid is thrilled by the slightest of newness in his surroundings. A new kind of toy, a new book, a new place, a new feel… As this kid grows older he is less and less pleased. He gradually experiences it all. He masters his small irrational fears, doesn’t rejoice on his insignificant achievements, is hardly surprised by little discoveries… in short, he gets de-sensitized gradually, grows numb and number day by day…

Since I was a kid, I was never afraid of death. To me death has never meant the end of my soul or of my existence or the event of my dead body being eaten up by ants in my grave. It has meant totally something else. Death to me is the gate to eternity, the road to a long awaited event, a long pending meeting with my Creator, the hope of seeing Him and of course a lot more.

As the character of Achilles in the movie Troy said

“Everything is more beautiful because we're doomed. You will never be lovelier than you are now, and we will never be here again”

Personally speaking, I have since forever felt that I’d die very young. At 12 I felt I’d die by 16, at 16 I thought I wouldn’t live my 19^th year, and at 20 today I still feel I might live up to just 24 years of age. I don’t really know why but I have always felt this way… Yes, I might die young. How young, I don’t really know. But this whole expectation of dying tomorrow adds joy to each and every thing I experience today.

Facebook's Little Gift

I love this application, Graffiti on Facebook and that's all I feel like saying right now!

But, being the talkative person that I am, I now feel like saying more about it... Well, the application is simply great chiefly because of its simplicity. We have just three parameters to work with. Colours; 180 shades to choose from, Brush size and Brush's transparency and viola there you go! :)

One sweet part about is that once you're done you can press the 'play' button and see your graffiti by an invisible hand ... Basically it fast forwards your drawing session.

So if you are one of the artistic ones, do try this ... Happy Graffiti-ing :)

(one of my few random creations)

Bluey Blue

It’s blue. Dark depressing blue.

I can see blue, I can hear blue.

I can smell blue and taste blue.

Since, when did I start feeling blue?

It makes me float around as if I were nothing but merely a shadow of a human’s existence. It makes me stand in front of the mirror and stare at the stranger at the other side. It makes me gaze at strangers walking past by and yet lets me see nothing but itself.

It makes me feel like a dead soul in a live body.

It rejoices on my numbness, on my restlessness, on my hopelessness.

Then, it does something terribly cruel. It leaves me alone for a while, to let me live again… for a few cheerful hours, with a few good old friends, until the time it can come back to me and grab me again, let me feel the fresh pang of the numbness again.

Oh blue, I hate you!