The Industrious and the Indolent

Yes we have a lot of mettle but we use it quite frequently on feats of thick-wittedness.

Its the era when people are either dazed or venomous or both.

The fact that we, as a people are industrious and achievers is not overstated. We don't lack in intelligence or capabilities. But there is some link missing somewhere.

The brain drain over the last 2 decades has not helped the country. Most students, selfishly and perhaps rightly, flee the country to other parts of the world. (They face difficulties in both regions. Perhaps they are racially discriminated outside but at least they aren't killed in common places.

At least there are laws that can help one get justice... real justice. You dont get mugged at every nook and corner. You can carry your cell phone and Ipod and no dwell in trepidation of it being stolen the very next minute.)

The few brains that are left, sense the need and urgency. However there are very few mediums left for them to convey this message.

The schools and universities that have mushroomed all over the urban areas, although opening doors to the masses, provide no quality education (getting marks and grades is not the same thing as getting education and learning).

Books are a man's best friend. And facebook has replaced it. Reading a book is the most tedious of entertaintment. It asks the reader to indulge and get involved. It demands your time and thought. And if its a race between time versus information, 'the tv box' wins.

Since the Musharraf era, we have also seen a boom of television media. This has been in my opinion one of the best and only real sources of information transaction. But a criticism to note is that when the masses are not properly educated, what the media feeds is what the masses ingest. They lack the capability to digest it.

The links of the machine have been looted, or rusted or broken. Will there by any new strong links? Will the journey make that decision or will we make that decision before the start of the journey?

I read this joke last night ....
*Lots of groaning laughter*
See what you make of it.

Pakistanis in Heaven and Hell :)

The angel Gabriel came to the Lord and said ‘I have to talk to you. We have some Pakistanis up here in heaven and they are causing problems. They’re swinging on the pearly gates, my horn is missing, they are wearing Dolce and Gabana saris instead of their white robes, they are riding Mercedes and BMW’s instead of the chariots, and they’re selling their halos to people for discount prices. They refuse to keep the stairway to Heaven clear, since they keep crouching down midway eating samosas and drinking chai. Some of them are even walking around with just one wing!’

The Lord said, ‘Pakistanis are Pakistanis. Heaven is home to all my children. If you want to know about real problems, give Satan a call, in Hell.

Satan answered the phone, ‘Hello? Hold on a minute.’ Satan returned to the phone, ‘OK I’m back. What can I do for you?’ Gabriel replied, ‘I just wanted to know what kind of problems you’re having down there.’ Satan says, ‘Hold on again. I need to check on something.’ After about 5 minutes Satan returns to the phone and said, ‘I’m back. Now what was the question?’ Gabriel said, ‘What kind of problems are you having down there?’ Satan says, ‘Man I don’t believe this…….Hold on.’ This time Satan was gone at least 15 minutes. He returned and said, ‘I’m sorry Gabriel, I can’t talk right now.

These Pakistanis have put out the fire and are trying to install air conditioning! !

Speeding it!

"Why aren't you here!?!?! Get here ASAP!"

I was lazing around reading The Pilgrimage and my husband had just come back from work when we received a panic phone call from an acquaintance. We weren't due at our destination for another 2 hours but conjectured maybe there had been a mix up.
In a zipzap of hurry we left our house. For being a woman, I broke all time records at getting ready and we were out in less than 5 minutes.
My husband jammed his foot on the pedal pushing the car to a 140 km most of the time. 15 minutes into the journey, we got pulled over at a checkpoint (They have these in Saudi at strategic places over the city). Now this was a first 'cause we had never been stopped. Any person with moderate intelligence would know what came next...

Yeah yeah .... we got a ticket!

Somewhere along the way we were spied upon either by a police car or a speed gun, still not sure which. There were a whole lot of suckers just like us standing there getting their nice lil rickety tickets.
My husband came and handed me our first ever one. The paper shouted 300 SAR!!! That's like $80 !!!
And the next thing I heard him say adamantly : " That's the way it should be!"
I chuckled away silently the rest of the way thinking he is what every father would want for his daughter....

Saudi Arabia has a record of having the most vehicle accidents-- the most deadliest and horrid. Just go to YouTube and type Saudi Arabia accidents. Don't do this right after you've eaten.
The reason? Speed and Stupidity. The whole country is laden with highways which run across cities as well. The speed limit is a 120 km/hr which is usually followed very closely. Well almost everyone except the BMW's, the Mercedes, the GMC's and all the other 4 x 4s. It would be an insult for them to go at ignoble speeds. And since this is an oil rich country, the percentage of these type of cars is only a meek 85 percent or so.
On an another note, Saudi drivers are stupid. They take needless risks for needless thrills; at times even resorting to playing target practice with innocent pedestrians and at other times doing overtaking contests. Their sagacity for their lack of intelligence is quite great.
Hence the government is resorting to putting fines, speedguns, cameras and checkpoints all over the country to curb this menace.

For speed, one can resort to finding ways to control.

But how do you tackle stupidity?

The Best Job in the World!

"Sun, sand and surf... And a lot of fun!"

"All for free!
And guess what? We throw in a lil pocket change too... something like a 150,000 AUS dollars."

We all saw the hype created by the Australian Tourism Agency over a year ago. Their website crashed in a matter of moments.
And now in about less than 24 hours the 'Island Caretaker' who is to spend 6 months on the Queensland island is going to be selected.
His/Her job?(according to the website) ...oh only to take snaps and throw in a paragraph or two here and there. Feed the fish ?!?? Clean the pool and collect mail!

At first I thought.... hmm. There has to be a catch to this...
I searched around and found that there really is NO catch here. There are 16 men and women from around the world that have finally been selected. And 'one' of them is going to reign over the island doing the exact opposite of what Tom Hanks was doing on CastAway.

Damn! * looking starry eyed*
Anyway for those of you who didnt make it.... the Next Best Job came up. This was a campaign started by the Canadian Tourism something... only that the Job has now taken a vacation and gone recessioning.

As for me? ... I am still fishing in the backwaters of Saudi......

Money is the Root of All Good

I was reading Atlas Shrugged this past week. It is a long and difficult journey through the book. But every second of reading it was worth it. When I finished, I was exalted.

I am posting an edited excerpt from the book. This was being said by Francisco de Anconia , one of the books' heroes ; addressing a general gathering but directing it towards Hank Rearden.

"So you think that money is the root of all evil?"

Have you ever asked what is the root of money?

Money is a tool of exchange, which can't exist unless there are goods produced and men able to produce them. Money is the material shape of the principle that men who wish to deal with one another must deal by trade and give value for value. Money is made possible only by the men who produce.

When you accept money in payment for your effort, you do so only on the conviction that you will exchange it for the product of the effort of others. Those pieces of paper, which should have been gold, are a token of honor--your claim upon the energy of the men who produce. Your wallet is your statement of hope that somewhere in the world around you there are men who will not default on that moral principle which is the root of money.

But you say that money is made by the strong at the expense of the weak? What strength do you mean? It is not the strength of guns or muscles. Wealth is the product of man's capacity to think. Is money made by the intelligent at the expense of the fools? An honest man is one who knows that he can't consume more than he has produced.'

To trade by means of money is the code of the men of good will. Money rests on the axiom that every man is the owner of his mind and his effort.Money demands of you the recognition that men must work for their own benefit, not for their own injury, for their gain, not their loss--that the common bond among men is not the exchange of suffering, but the exchange of goods.

Money demands that you sell, not your weakness to men's stupidity, but your talent to their reason; it demands that you buy, not the shoddiest they offer, but the best that your money can find.

But money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver. It will give you the means for the satisfaction of your desires, but it will not provide you with desires.

Money will not buy intelligence for the fool, or admiration for the coward, or respect for the incompetent.Only the man who does not need it, is fit to inherit wealth--the man who would make his own fortune no matter where he started. If an heir is equal to his money, it serves him; if not, it destroys him.

If so, then your money will not give you a moment's or a penny's worth of joy. Money will not serve the mind that cannot match it.

Alarm Clock!!

I admit I have been sleeping. I knew I had been sleeping.

Its so easy to sleep than to be awake in this age and time. My country is sleeping. I see it everyday in the news, I hear it from the people. The country I right now live in, which conjures up the fallacy that to be a woman is a sin let alone let"allow" her to vote or drive a car. The pain is too much. And hence, its easier to not think. To not struggle.
To just watch that episode of 'Desperate Housewives' or watch some neurons-killing Indian film. To not just escape but to stay there. To just be still.
But isn't that what means death?

To not think is to not exist. To not want, is to not live.

and I choose to live.

We have lost many of our virtues. The first one ....thought; the other reason and another laziness.

Reason without thought is stupidity. It is senseless, baseless _ a fallacy, an acceptance of darkness...saying yes to a void.

If we act on something without reason, without thought, it holds no value. Because it was acted without reason...without spirit...without TRUTH.

The contradiction to reason is foolishness, laziness, cowardice and all that is vice.

The question here is even when we know the truth and gain the wisdom of reason... we lack to act. The lack of action is an action unto itself_ its an inaction.

When we decide that we are going to act upon inaction, we are making a noose for our own self; making a wreath for our own funeral.

I will not fashion some frivolous speech or pump you with Red Bull.

Just this that :

Think, Reason, Pursue and Triumph!