A question of identity....

What makes a you a Pakistani? Or how do you "perform" your Pakistaniat other than using Inshallah and Alhumdulliah in every phrase... I learnt recently that you also have to show your hatred of the Kafirs like Indians/Americans/Israelis. I also learnt the same goes for many Bangladeshis who "perform" or prove their Bengaliness by Pakistani bashing/hating and holding all Pakistanis accountable for 1971 atrocities... It is a nightmare they do not want to wake up from! As for Indians I don't know who their favorite "others" are, other than Pakistanis.

A Day in the life of a Dhobi

A Day in the life of a Dhobi in Karachi!

Youth of Pakistan: Herald 2009 survey

Youth Speak

By Madiha Sattar


Surveys conducted by Razzak Abro, Irshad Akhtar, Qazi Asif, Asif Akhtar, Muhammad Badar Alam, Ali Hazrat Bacha, Bashir Baghi, Hassnain Ghayoor, Ali Hassan, Hameedullah Khan, Mohammad Hussain Khan, Muqaddam Khan, Shahnawaz Khan, Sikandar Bakhtiar Khoso, Nasir Rahim, Verda Adil Shah and Shahzada Zulfiqar



Herald February 2009 Issue If you arranged all 176 million Pakistanis in a line according to age, the person in the middle of the queue would be about 21 years old. This is fairly remarkable, given that the average citizen of this country lives to be 64 — there are as many Pakistanis in the first two decades of their existence as there are in the next four. So while the world’s current geopolitical focus means the country as a whole has been polled on its political opinions time and time again by international and domestic surveyors, what is not really known is how the country’s massive pool of young people – the majority of its future voters, consumers, producers, parents and civil society – will shape Pakistan.

Is this country becoming more conservative as it grows older? Is our future electorate politically engaged enough to make meaningful voting decisions? How has the recent spate of terrorism affected their lives? Will they demand a secular state or a religious one? Will they be able to contribute to the economy? Have they found role models among our major public figures? Are they likely to change family structures, sexual mores and the nature of social interaction between the sexes? What keeps them up at night? And, ultimately, how do they feel about being citizens of the complicated and challenged country they live in today?

Source: Herald Pakistan

Also read Husham Ahmed's analysis of the same on Dawn Blog.

EWCPA cookbook

I am so frustrated with the recipe collection process for the EWCPA cookbook.. there is no desire and excitement from our so called community to submit recipes, have potlucks etc. Even the people who were initially very excited about the project are lukewarm and are providing only lip service!!

How I spent my time today!

First of all, today was not a "typical day" for me. At least if a researcher asked I would not refer today as a typical day which could be used as a reference day for a time-use study. However, just for funʻs sake let us assume today was a typical day in my life as a women who is a doctoral student. How did I spend it? How productive was it?
Well, I got up this morning around 8, checked emails and face book (first thing in the morning). then brushed my teeth and had a boring breakfast... then i thought about sending some emails which have been pending for a while, like 6 months... So i set about looking at my gmail email TAGs (labels) to see which emails needed action... It was like a black hole.. I disappeared into the whirlpool of the cyber world for several hours and after reading my emails, favorite blogs, twits, FB statuses, news etc. and tweeting, sending emails etc. it was already past noon. Lunch time, so I go for lunch. Reheat old food and come back to the strong pull of the internet on my laptop.. Then I disappear once again into the cyber world and wake up to real world when the phone rings... It was 4:30 already... I did not go for work or anything else. I left the room 3 times to get food or use the bathroom!! Now I am going to go visit a relative who is in hospital. When I get back it would be dinner time... After dinner, I doubt I would have any energy for any "productive" work!!!

My tardinesses and impulsivenesses

I am paying about 3000$ for being tardy and impulsive.... It is painful to take out that hard earned cash from savings account and give it to the University of Hawaii cashier, but I have no other choice left... I could have prevented this by being more organized... But anyway, have no choice now.. Better get it done and over with and plan for the future...

What was pain for mother

21st July 2009 was my mother's 3rd death anniversary, as always, being the bad daughter I forgot about this. I never realized how depressed I would become doing so! Anyway, as part of growing old I am able to understand lot of thins about mother which did not make sense when she was alive!

I learnt why she could bear the pain of being beaten up by her husband but finding out that he has been sleeping with his young secretary broke her heart and soul!!

For her the triple burden of working, managing the household, bearing children with almost no support from anyone was difficult but she did not complain... It was perhaps not as painful as lack of attention and affection from her husband was!!!

I was the bad daughter, always. Always selfish and just took care of my own self but managed to get some education and go ahead in life.... Never took care of her when she was sick!! My younger sister was the one who always looked after her whenever she was sick, but her life was in shambles and she was not doing anything about her... Mother was always upset with her... and to my surprise was ok or even pleased with me... Now, I know why.. For her she did not care if her child took care of HER, for her more important was if the child was able to take care of himself/herself!!!

Before she died, she was in extreme pain and I could see that she felt helpless because of so many reasons (mostly for being cheated by her own brother on her land)... But in that condition, when talking was a big effort she wanted to know if Raazi had uniform for school.....