Sonya Syed

I seriously need to change all my profile pictures because seeing myself with the same smile in same attire for months is literally aching my eyes. I admire people on facebook who constantly update their status and profile pictures, it makes them so present. Whilst people like me who are highly cautious about themselves can never do anything that is remotely connected to socializing. My list of many do’s and don’ts have restricted me. There are quite a few people these days who are telling me to relax my rules a bit. I am always stuck up in what is practical and rational but sometimes it is wise to allow oneself to fly high without any logic, let things be. Why does everything has to be either this way or that way, why cant things just be. I don’t know if leading such a cautious life is feasible or not in the long-run but if I have to assess on the current results then it has both its advantages and disadvantages. Advantage is more on the professional front when caution ...

There are times when words flow without any restraint and then there are moments when thoughts are present but no appropriate words to express them. Something of the like is happening to me, there is so much to say that I’m rendered speechless. Multitasking is revered these days and it has been presumed to have many benefits but in my case its different. Rather than getting any results it had completely overwhelmed me. In August I have to complete two very important assignments because other activities are going to start which would have their own demands. Once committed, I don’t like to escape from my responsibilities so it all needs to be managed beforehand. My issue is that first I jump into situations and then I think whether I should have done this or not. When it should be the opposite, where one plans first and then dive into new adventures. No proper planning can make a person an unguided missile. How swiftly we have reached mid of Ramadan even with long hours ...

What do you see? Glass half full or half empty……. As soon as I saw the above image on my facebook page my instinctive response was half empty, and this is really scary. In all my honesty I admit that I saw the lack. Does it mean that subconsciously I am inclined to see the lack? Thanks Oprah for waking me up from the false belief that I am a person full of gratitude who only sees abundance; rather it’s the opposite with me. Really perspective is everything, because if you see glass half-full then your life would be easy to live. In the half empty scenario it shall always be the lack and wanting, a bottomless pot which shall remain empty irrespective of much you fill it.   I have even shocked myself because I want to be the person who sees the glass half-full. I need to work hard on myself and be more grateful for all the blessings I have. These are little cues or hints through which God shows us the right path and guides us to improve ourselves. Now f...

There is a little girl I know who recently came to Karachi from her village in Punjab. A wonderful girl with a lovely personality but yesterday she said something in her innocence that just resonated deep within.  She said, “ in Karachi there is so much luxury but no peace and in our village there is no luxury but only peace ”.  The moment I heard these words spoken by her I was awe-struck, I couldn’t believe what I just heard. To hear an eight year old speak so articulately and have such insights on life is a phenomenon in itself.   So I asked her to elaborate her statement and with all her simplicity she replied, “ in our village groceries would end suddenly and then we have to travel many miles before we can find a store but in Karachi everything is easily available.   In our village we get fresh vegetables right from our garden and play fearlessly outside our home. While in Karachi its all about money, everyone is running after money trying to ...

There are debates these days on the increasing popularity of English language or in other words its increasing applicability around the world. Hungary is one of those countries which is nowadays preparing its ministers to speak and understand English fluently. Some people there apprehend that this domination of English might suppress their own language. This apprehension is not limited to Hungary only but many in Pakistan and globally share the same fears. Then there is other side of the debate and that is we cannot ignore the fact English is the most accepted medium of communication and its also considered as the path for a successful career. I accept both sides of the debate and each of them has a point. I don’t mind if English is the new linga franca, the new means of global communication. I am not at all unsecured about the future of Urdu because every language is so great in itself that nothing can diminish its worth. Of course in order to make any language popular i...

I opened up today’s newspaper and the front page of its entertainment pages featured a cover story about the Indian superstar Rajesh Khanna who left us recently. The next story was the review of the latest Bollywood movie, then inside on the third page there was an article on our veteran film actor Nadeem. It is so unfortunate that our legends who are still with us, who gave the best of their life to Pakistan’s film industry get such secondary treatment. There is no doubt about the fame and the phenomena that Rajesh Khanna was. His films and his songs shall be remembered till the time there is love for music; so giving him that front page space is understandable. However, there was no need to mention an irrelevant movie at the cost of secondary treatment to our own stars. If we don’t respect and own what is our then there is nobody in the world who would give us that status. I am neither a fundamentalist nor a nationalist but I speak for fairness. If media with all the po...

Awareness, especially of one’s rights is an alien concept in our society. It seems as if we live a blindfolded life. We are content if our work is done, we are content if we acquire what we want. I have seen at a vocational training institute that only few of their machines are in working condition, the students wait for their turn to use the functioning equipment. Nobody had ever complained to the management that those machines need to be repaired and that more new equipments are required. Finally, one out of 100 students requested the management about the requisite equipments and the administration looked surprised at such request. The elder administrative officer argued, that what do you need more machines for when you can learn the techniques here and revise at home. However, the next day mechanic was called in and budget has been allocated to buy new equipments. Moral of the story is that we need to ask for our rights because no one is going to give them to us on silve...