Sonya Syed

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...

As we begin to do new things, they always present us with challenges. Much like a horse who hasn’t been ridden by anyone, the horse will do everything in its power to stop the rider from controlling it but once the rider gets the control the horse becomes his slave. Its only 10.30 pm and there is so much silence on the roads with very few vehicles passing and that too probably due to some necessity. However, this silence is peaceful unlike the usual times when such quietness feels uncomfortable. There is something different about this month of Ramazan, but one has to be centered within to fully absorb these subtle moments. Most of the time there is so much chaos and noise in the mind that ones become oblivious to the outside.         Television these days is filled with religious and spiritual programmes and the good thing about all this is that one does get to hear some wonderful new information about religion.        ...

How quickly time passes by in Ramazan, I woke up at 3.30 in the morning had sehri then had some sleep time followed by the working hours. Entire day goes by managing chores and when it is the time for Iftaar everything falls right into place. Only yesterday I did a balanced Iftaari so by night I was in good working condition because if there is too much intake of deep fried food then sluggishness is your only fate. Come to think of it Ramazan schedules are actually the best routines; there is definite and fixed time to do everything, and your sleep-wake patterns get perfected. Recently I have taken up the task of teaching law at university level. I cannot say what a truly satisfying experience it has become for me, to share what I have learned is amazing. It is surprising that I, who through out my student life has been proclaimed as one of the shyest person when it came to public speaking is now actually teaching adults. Speaking/ arguing cases in courts was a d...

Wishing all my dearest readers and their loved ones a blessed, peaceful & prosperous Ramadan. May all your dreams come true, may you enjoy the love of your loved ones, may you have all the health… We waited and waited but the moon wasn’t in the mood of showing up so easily, although we knew that clouds were not willing to leave the skies but something inside quite strongly said that tomorrow is definitely going to be the beginning of the Holy month of Ramadan. Once the final decision was announced, then began a series of text messages from near and dear ones. It is such a delightful feeling to experience the connectedness with so many people some of them are not even close relatives. It is definitely a blissful feeling. I have to give my deepest gratitude to all of you for all the best wishes and love you have showered me and my family with. I pray that all of you be blessed with the same love and prosperity. I shall be brief and quick today because its w...

Sometimes it feels good to deliberately keep yourself in fantasy or in false hope; however, when the reality hits you then the obvious outcome is pain and disorientation. Faith in relationships shakes up, and you cannot understand what to do and where to go. This is the time when people run for some sound advice, somebody to tell them that its all going to be fine. No wonder the fake spiritual gurus take the undue advantage of innocent people. Sometimes the problems do get resolve by such attempts but in most cases people have to go through the challenge and only as the time passes one gets peace.     It is during these times that our faith is tried, and everything that one preaches and practices is put to test. Most spiritual teachings say that a man only experiences in life whatever are his dominant thoughts and feelings; but then you ask yourself, is that theory always applicable? Or our destiny is already written? Irrespective of our prayers, good deeds, or po...

The weather is getting beautiful by the hour, if you wake up at 7 or 8 in the morning to feel the breeze and the see the amazing sky you could experience the wonder of life. So today is lazy Sunday but more than lazy it is a tired one, nobody wants to do anything just waste time by becoming a certified couch potato. There was a Julia Roberts movie “Eat, Pray, Love” shown on the cable, other than her I couldn’t find anything interesting in the film, most probably because I watched it from the last part. However, the movie is based on this book Eat Pray & love by Elizabeth Gilbert which is a best seller. Although I haven’t read it yet but its on my list, especially because this book is highly recommended by Oprah Winfrey. If Oprah say it’s a must-read then it becomes my moral duty to read it. All the books that are on my favourite books list are recommended in Oprah shows and I cannot that thank her enough for showing me that invaluable treasure. It is strange how ...

Bored from resting, bored by doing nothing. Sometimes even to write few paragraphs become a challenge, like it is happening these days. I sit to write but there is nothing to say; I think and rethink, stare the computer screen, get up and start to walk around the room yet still everything remains blank. I wonder what could be the reason for such blockage have I changed or is there nothing to talk about. When I began blogging back in 2009 I was going through a lot emotionally, in fact I was over-whelmed by my thoughts and feelings then. I couldn’t sit with my Mom or friends and repeat my wanderings and then there was also some new stuff to be expressed but nobody had either time or energy to listen to my chatter, hence this blog was born. Since then quite a lot has changed and for the better only. I went through my career ups and downs, lot of shaking up emotionally and then finally road to life cleared. Now in 2012 have I said it all? I don’t think so…. As long as we live ...

Health is really our true wealth. There is so much truth in this one-liner because when you are not in the best of health then only you realize the essence of this simple sentence. I have been unwell since last Friday, although it was merely plain old over-work accompanied with flu but high fever was the real charmer. Now thankfully I am feeling much better and its only the weakness which now I have to deal with. It was just bad management of many things that I have taken up on myself to do. I have to realize that I cannot do everything at once, when my poor body was giving me signals to stop and properly coordinate everything I ignored them. While I was taking rest I thought it is such a luxury to be able to get all the medical help I need, proper care by all family members, the timely nourishing food so I can regain my strength, and especially the fact that I can take a break when ever I need to. Yes bodies can get ill but you have to look deep and find every single thing t...

Woke up today around 5 in the morning in fact I hardly slept last night thanks to the gigantic coffee I had yesterday. Since there wasn’t much to do at 5 am so I went ahead with breakfast. I have a very special routine for my mornings and my breakfast is always the highlight of my day. I don’t have the normal habits of a mortal to have bread or egg in morning I prefer a proper meal consisting of chappati/ roti with whatever curry available in the fridge. Nowadays I have turned into a vegetarian for my breakfast because they are lite on the system and give ample energy throughout the day. I end it all with green tea and a pinch of lime. However, if one could take any fruit on an empty stomach before having any breakfast then that would do miracles for the digestive system. The soft lining around our stomach called mucosa gets sensitive if we fast for long hours and in that sensitivity if tea or heavy food is taken directly then it could be disastrous for the stomach. ...

Paranormal activity the name itself raises curiosity. We as humans are always intrigued by the idea that there are other energies or entities around us whom we cannot see with our normal senses but could feel their presence through our sixth sense. Be it teenagers or adults this is all quite fascinating to all of us.   Nowadays there is bombardment of TV shows about the presence and working of Jinns (Genies/ Spirits). Sometimes there are also claims that Jinn can permanently reside in the human bodies, especially in females. Like everyone else I too have heard hundreds of such stories since my childhood but I hardly know what is the extent of truth in such stories. Being a Muslim I cannot deny Jinn or their presence, in fact we are not even aware as to how many other forms of energies are living around us. Then there is new line of knowledge about mind sciences which is gaining popularity these days. I cannot say how these things work but I can say that before putti...