Sonya Syed

There was a time not too long ago when the Maghrib time or sunset used depress me. I could never understand why people go to beach to enjoy those last moments of the twilight. Nevertheless, today for no particular reason I went to the balcony and was mesmerized by how beautiful and full of life everyone and everything appeared during this time. Twilight sky had such beautiful shades of light and dark blue, orange street lights were shining and brightening up all around them. People are returning from work and mosques, children are going home from tuitions, shops have brightened lights to attract customers. I just stood their in awe of what I was seeing; with all the chaos on the roads I felt a certain silence and peace in the background. The trees, plants, the sky also stood as a part of that silence. Suddenly I was aware of life all around me which I was never before. Today the sunset rather than despairing me gave me solace and urged me to be in awareness of what I have; as if it w

After months and years of keeping myself conveniently in denial about my expectations, my hopes, my fears, my wishes, and my unwarranted attachments I have today allowed myself a space to breath. When we are too much engrossed in our fears and wishes, we tend to loose perspective. We see things that are not there thus we actually take our own emotional projections as the ultimate truth and reality. It is tough to come face-to-face with yourself, to stand arms-less in front of your rather strong demons and to throw away the blanket of denial which has beautifully kept us away from seeing the truth. Facing your true self is far more scary then facing a well-equipped army on the borders. Like many others, I have also made myself falsely belief in many things which I secretly knew had never existed, so that I can keep myself stuck in everlasting wish-worry vicious cycle. It is rather easy to keep yourself in denial and sabotage your own life than to face the pain and distress of the Trut

A sad day indeed with the passing away of two legends of Pakistan Moin Akhtar and Liaquat Soldier. Liaquat Soldier who left us earlier this month and Moin Akhtar who passed away yesterday. Both amazing artists, great comedians and even greater human beings. Moin Akhtar whom I had the honour of having as my neighbour, though was brilliant in all his performances but his long-play “Rozy” is one of my all time favorite and a true classic. Besides a magnificent performer, he had a generous heart, most of the days outside his residence we use to see lines of people in need of charity and none of them ever left his house empty handed. Artists like Moin Akhtar and Liaquat Solider are once born in ages and we shall always feel the void in hearts which has been left by their passing away. We all pray that Allah (swt) grant him maghfirah and patience and perseverance to his family, friends, and colleagues. Sonya.

I am not even surprised with the kind of breaks which I’m taking to write my posts but it is becoming difficult to stay on the PC for long hours mainly because of my sudden cervical pain. These past few days were tough; there were headaches, nausea and slight fever. Probably something is wrong with my posture while sitting or there is some kind of muscle spasm or it is good ol' ‘stress’; stress of God knows what. Sometimes not to have any stress becomes the sole reason of feeling stressed. By the way finally had the haircut on 5th April, when entire Karachi was shut down due to the strike. What can I say except that I am a brave person, with so much of instability I still managed to travel to the other end of the city. It was pretty interesting while I was sitting on that purple chair scared like a child on the first day to school. I was unsure of what to expect from my hairstylist Nabila (an immensely simple, down-to-earth person and a true genius) but I knew it has to be funky

I don’t know what keeps on happening to my post today, I have been trying published it for the last 3 hours, either it’s the wifi connection or something is not well with my PC because I loose my post while on its way to the blog. Last time when I wrote the post, like million other Pakistanis I was hopeful and excited for Pak-India Semi-Final and today I feel depressed and lethargic. Due to some strange cosmic connection which we all share, I can fully feel the sadness of everybody around me; when I am not even a cricket fan. However, time is a wonderful healer hence we are almost recovered. At last, after a long interval I got appointment for my haircut on Tuesday and I am a little apprehensive of how my hairstylist would react to my hair color. I have gone a little creative and did a thing or two on my own, however whatever I did is far better then having orange and pink highlights in my hair; which by the way were my initial plans. I can understand this is a bit of unusual piece o

Just as I was sitting down to write today’s post I got an update of my dear friend’s sister Sana having a baby girl. So many hearty congratulations to both Sana and Omer and a most loving welcome to their daughter “Meethi.” Children are such a joy and blessing to have, a time when new life enters our life patterns. Everyone in the family suddenly wants to be around the tiniest member, sharing the delight together. Cricket fever is taking its toll on both India and Pakistan and pulses are running high. Even the government has announced a partial holiday for tomorrow; no exams, no university no courts and no work. It appears that an entire country shall come to a standstill for tomorrow’s semi-final. All the news channels are having debates about the strategies, strengths and weaknesses of both teams. Television is bombarded with cricket, at Geo TV they have called on a panel of both Indian and Pakistani cricket players hosted by Mandira Bedi and Kamran Khan respectively. It might so

It is such a bizarre phenomena that Karachites prefer to have their coffee only in winters. I am surprised to know that my favorite coffee brand Maxwell has limited supply and is available during winter season. Everyone can drink tea throughout the year, and I cannot have my coffee. So using this prestigious platform, I register my protest! I have not returned from one grocery store infuriated and without my coffee; this is the same case with several supermarkets in Karachi and they all had the same reply. Few of the stores didn’t have Maxwell ever in their stores. Personally, I have nothing against the Nescafe (a brand which has possessed Karachi) and its owner must be a nice person but I just cannot bear its ultra flat taste. The other “imported” brands which are available are far too strong for my humble soul, and they make feel as if I have just drank a crushed cigar. My father (Abba, may his soul rest in peace - my love to you) bought for me a couple of extra-large family jars o