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On luck, being lost and the self.

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I have been beyond lucky in life to get that which few people do. Genuine, kind hearted and well meaning friends, a supportive family, the opportunity to lead and have people put their trust in me and then experience the world beyond the limits of where I was born. For the longest time I spent time over thinking why. Not knowing that it is not our job to necessarily know. At times, pure gratitude is enough. For some time exercising gratitude and not introspection has helped me stay grounded - more forward thinking.  I am coming around not trying to prove - to others, to myself, compensate and justify what I have to someone and anyone. It has ultimately taken the joy that I once felt when I started both my work and my adult life. When I had nothing, I was driven by the ambition to have. Now that I've acquired some, I no longer think wanting is enough. Somewhere down the line I complicated life thinking I was making it easy. The irony is both a source of embarrassment and relief. 
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Losing faith?

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Recently, a friend of mine shared an article titled 'Are Arabs turning their backs on religion?'. After going through it, I couldn't help but draw a few general parallels that are telling of the entire Muslim geography as a whole. In a world that registers change more rapidly than it ever did, nothing, not even faith can sustain without playing constant catch up. In the case of the Muslim community, if there is even one coherent enough to be labeled so, the catch up really hasn't happened. It's still struggling to find its feet let alone be stable enough to respond to emerging trends, crisis or opportunities. For me, that has played a critical part in the dissatisfaction of the youth from religion in general. Capitalism is another reason I feel faith has taken the backseat. With a steady perpetuation of consumerism and people's lives revolving around material and in pursuit of maintaining or improving one's lifestyle, there's very little time to dedic
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The mess that is life

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I think the speed of everything in life has increased tenfold since the advent of modern day technology. Before you know what you're experiencing, it expires and all you're left with is the hollow corpse of your unmitigated emotions. Living as it is takes a toll and this new form even more so. Its noisier, dustier and too damn quick. Somewhere, however, the fault is equally mine. I should know better than to expect the world to fit my pace. That is not how it works. We have to make sure we're better enough to fit the pace of the world and as far as possible, to do so on our terms.  This process of individualizing one's living is tough yet necessary.  I just hope I don't get muted in the crowd.  Thats all.
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Adulthood

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Revisiting one's root and origin is quintessential especially when the world around you is moving a little too quickly. Time's being stubborn as it always is and refusing to pace the way you wish it to and slipping as sand does from hands. The company of friends and enemies is blurring between the two and the juggling act of not giving up your personal safety and peace for the profession is becoming hard. You're hoping, wishing, nay almost praying that your sanity does not wash away as quickly as the firmness of your skin is. You create divergence at first. They wear off as quickly as your patience does these days. You realize you need solutions. Long or short not being the focus. Just solutions at this point. So you contemplate. Contemplate. Contemplate. You fight between complaining, experiencing the pains of your past, regrets, and denial. Fighting to find rhyme and reason. You're lucky because you struggled to know better. So between you and utter disappoin
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"The world's your oyster", said London

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Recently, I had the privilege of visiting London (Thank you, British Council). The eight-day visit brought with it a spectacular learning experience, heaps of personal growth and much-needed optimism. For a little background information, the visit was part of British Council's Active Citizens Program. In a nutshell the program is about building community cohesion. Their tagline 'Globally Connected, Locally Engaged' does well to encapsulate their belief, aim and structuring. They work with a multitude of entities ranging from universities to civil societies and government to forward the importance of citizenship engagement, durable community service and the hope of a better today and tomorrow. Their focus is to validate the forgotten importance of community building through informal education. With their vast network in Pakistan, I got lucky with the launch of their pilot project at my university. My professor, also one of the facilitators of the program, forwarded a fe
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