Good and evil go together
Surely, there exists no country where devils do not exist along with good. So obviously India cannot remain a sole exception in this regard. But despite presence of a crude section in India, there exists an opposite side also which believes in the ultimate truth of humanity. Let me highlight two such bright spots in my home province of Bengal.
Lohaitola village: There dwells a single Hindu family with the rest of the villagers being Muslim. It was during the initial days of lockdown. A member of the Hindu family passes away. Due to strict restrictions on movement with no transportation facilities also, the bereaved family was in dire straits as relatives from elsewhere cannot reach them. On that very juncture came the Muslim neighbours. By discarding all norms of orthodoxy and fear of the dreaded virus, they carried the body to the crematorium and helped the family in performing the last rites!
Bardhaman town: A lady of senior citizen vintage Roymoni Das. She is religiously ensuring iftaar meals and early morning Sehri meals for their temporary tenants —— two shawl traders from Kashmir (Fayaz and Manzoor Ahmed) — getting stranded due to lockdown! Indeed what a beautiful reflection of secular humanitarian culture by transcending silly divisions of religion and region!
If barriers do not exist in our mind, no power in the world can succeed in erecting wall between communities and that have got proved by the gesture of Roymoni Das and the Muslim villagers of Lohaitola whose brain couldn’t get washed or corrupted by vested interests. So the need of the hour remains that we humanise ourselves by transcending all demographic barriers which are nothing but mere accident of destiny. If we treat humanity as our ultimate identity, the hatred-mongers would not find any route to escape the wrath of humanitarians.
KAJAL CHATTERJEE
India
Opportunity
in chaos
In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity”. The Coronavirus pandemic has constrained us to remain indoors. But amid all the stressing news, we have a chance to utilize our time in the best possible way. We can assign this time toward progressively gainful and meaningful activities. This is an incredible time to reconnect with family and friends in a meaningful way.
We can look into new developments, blogs, newsletters, articles and books. We can utilize this time wisely to lift ourselves up intellectually. There’s an abundance of incredible podcasts and YouTube videos that can assist us with personal development, finding out about new topics and keeping abreast of fast-evolving events. We can exercise and practice meditation that can unwind our lives and relax our souls. This time can be utilized to do some gardening or we can create some online business.
We can look at the different online courses and mobile apps to effectively learn new languages. Besides, this time can be utilized to do something creative like painting, learning calligraphy etc. We can learn cooking or baking. In spite of the fact that there is chaos and panic everywhere due to the Coronavirus, however, this huge amount of time can also be viewed as a blessing in disguise that can be used to brush up our own selves so when it’s everything over, we can enjoy an extraordinary feeling of achievement and appreciate that we didn’t squander the valuable moments of our life.
MARYUM SARDAR
Islamabad
Ramazan transmission
In 1974, Tariq Aziz started the “Neelam Ghar” aired on PTV, late converted to Tariq Aziz Show, then Bazm-e-Tariq Aziz. These shows have excellent patterns that spread the knowledge among the viewers or highlight the important features of history. Wherever you watch these shows, the audience have enthusiasm to answer the questions and take part in the contest. This trend is later copied by many TV channels and started their own Ramazan transmissions. If you carefully examine these transmissions, you will observe hundreds of odd activities. Sometimes, these transmissions are antagonist to each other. The millions of people watching these transmissions didn’t get any positive outcome. In this holy month we have to focus on our deeds and involve in more worship. May Almighty give us the strength to fulfil our prayers punctually.
DANISH MALIK
Rawalpindi
Pakistanis
in Malawi
Pakistanis are scattered around the globe. They work abroad and send remittances that become a major contributor to our ailing economy. The Pakistani community numbering more than 20,000 lives and works in various walks of life in Malawi which is one of seven landlocked commonwealth countries and also known as “The Warm Heart of Pakistan”. The Consul General of Pakistan in Malawi Raja Muhammad Ilyas Satti is reported immensely popular in the Pakistani community, having proved his mettle both as selfless human being and true diplomat in this The Land of Love – Ma-Lovi ( Malawi).
At present, there is no facility of NADRA and Passport Office in Malawi and the community people are reportedly facing difficulties for renewal of their passports and ID cards in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi. In this age of Coronavirus crisis and lockdown the renewal of their necessary personal and travel documents has become more serious and for this online system does not serve the purpose.
In this backdrop, the PM Imran Khan is requested to direct the concerned ministries to depute their teams both from the NADRA and the Directorate General of Immigration & Passports so they should go to Malawi issue renewed necessary documents to the community members who earn millions of the Malawian Kwacha/Dollars and send it back home. At least, they deserve this renewal facility. The sooner, the better it is for the Pakistani community in Malawi.
HASHIM ABRO
Islamabad
Modi will
burn in hell
In India, the people are dying like flies due to starvation and Covid-19 and PM Narendra Modi is wasting people’s money from the Modi Cares Fund in buying a private airplane for himself worth Rs 8,500 crores.
He will burn in hell with a lot of demons surrounding him after his death. He is one of the worst and most corrupted Prime Ministers India has ever had since Independence.
JUBEL D’CRUZ
Mumbai, India
Social media effects on youngsters
Social media plays an important role in everyone’s life and provides a platform for young people to communicate with each other through different sites of network. People can express their feelings with each other or do business dealings through social networks. There is not an iota of doubt that the social media has enormous benefits but at the same time it affects the youngsters in unhealthy ways.
There is so many things youngsters need to learn from books and they can learn new things from social media but they spend their time in extracurricular activities. Social media affect teens’ health too. In addition, the very act of using social media has unhealthy results. For one, social media use negatively affects sleep because the artificial blue light given off by Smartphone and other electronics devices activate arousing neurons in the brain.
Hence, these chemicals disrupt the body’s ability to produce melatonin, a sleep-inducing hormone and other underlying issues, such as chronic, stress, anxiety or childhood trauma. Youngsters need to reconnect with nature or their friends and family with the creativity of the offline characteristics.
MAHNOOR GHAZAL
Islamabad
