http://awais.tigblog.org/ What's on the minds of young leaders from around the globe? en-us http://awais.tigblog.org/post/219851
http://awaisaftab.blogspot.com/

From now on, i'll writing there. You are all welcome to visit and comment. Thank you.
TIG has been a great place, and the people i have met, and the love i have received has been enormous. I'll never forget it.]]> Sun, 17 Jun 2007 08:34:00 EDT http://awais.tigblog.org/post/219851 31.5497222 74.3436111 31.5497222 74.3436111 http://awais.tigblog.org/post/218357 Wed, 13 Jun 2007 12:41:00 EDT http://awais.tigblog.org/post/218357 31.5497222 74.3436111 31.5497222 74.3436111 http://awais.tigblog.org/post/218355
King Baldwin IV

* "If we do not burn these bodies, we will all be dead of disease in three days. God will understand, my lord. And if he doesn't, then he is not God and we need not worry."

Balian

Kingdom of Heaven]]> Wed, 13 Jun 2007 12:17:00 EDT http://awais.tigblog.org/post/218355 31.5497222 74.3436111 31.5497222 74.3436111 http://awais.tigblog.org/post/217925 Tue, 12 Jun 2007 11:45:00 EDT http://awais.tigblog.org/post/217925 31.5497222 74.3436111 31.5497222 74.3436111 http://awais.tigblog.org/post/217921
"Her name sprang to my lips at moments in strange prayers and praises which I myself did not understand. My eyes were often full of tears (I could not tell why) and at times a flood from my heart seemed to pour itself out into my bosom. I thought little of the future. I did not know whether i would ever speak to her or not or, if i spoke to her, how i could tell her of my confused adoration. But my body was like a harp and her words and gestures were like fingers running upon the wires."

James Joyce, Araby]]> Tue, 12 Jun 2007 11:30:00 EDT http://awais.tigblog.org/post/217921 31.5497222 74.3436111 31.5497222 74.3436111 http://awais.tigblog.org/post/217551 Mon, 11 Jun 2007 11:07:00 EDT http://awais.tigblog.org/post/217551 31.5497222 74.3436111 31.5497222 74.3436111 http://awais.tigblog.org/post/217161
[From the article 'Study hints that fruit flies have free will' by Charles Q. Choi]

So what is free will? Can an action be partially determined?]]> Sun, 10 Jun 2007 11:57:00 EDT http://awais.tigblog.org/post/217161 31.5497222 74.3436111 31.5497222 74.3436111 http://awais.tigblog.org/post/217155
MULDER: Scully, after all you've seen... after all you've told me you've seen. The tunnel with medical files, the, the beings moving past you, the... the implant in your neck, why do you refuse to believe?

SCULLY: Believing's the easy part, Mulder. I just need more than you, I need proof.

MULDER: You think that believing is easy?

(They stare at each other. She sighs. The fax machine beeps.)

X Files, Nisei]]> Sun, 10 Jun 2007 11:55:00 EDT http://awais.tigblog.org/post/217155 31.5497222 74.3436111 31.5497222 74.3436111 http://awais.tigblog.org/post/216839 And Lo! The Philosopher is brought forth before Him by the angels. This is a complicated case... the decision is difficult... the scales of balance fluctuate between his virtues and heresies. He deliberates and finally decides, "Take him to paradise!" The angels move but he stays at his spot... firm, confident... he looks up and says, "I don't want your paradise. If you want to reward me, give me annihilation. Bless me nothingness. Purge me of this existence. I only desire Death."

I don't know what happens after this.]]> Sat, 09 Jun 2007 12:10:00 EDT http://awais.tigblog.org/post/216839 31.5497222 74.3436111 31.5497222 74.3436111 http://awais.tigblog.org/post/216825 Sat, 09 Jun 2007 11:49:00 EDT http://awais.tigblog.org/post/216825 31.5497222 74.3436111 31.5497222 74.3436111 http://awais.tigblog.org/post/216345
"In every man, of course, a demon lies hidden- the demon of rage, the demon of lustful heat at the screams of the tortured victim, the demon of lawlessness let off the chain, the demon of diseases that follow on vice, gout, kidney disease, and so on.

"This poor child of five was subjected to every possible torture by those cultivated parents. They beat her, thrashed her, kicked her for no reason till her body was one bruise. Then, they went to greater refinements of cruelty- shut her up all night in the cold and frost in a privy, and because she didn't ask to be taken up at night (as though a child of five sleeping its angelic, sound sleep could be trained to wake and ask), they smeared her face and filled her mouth with excrement, and it was her mother, her mother did this. And that mother could sleep, hearing the poor child's groans! Can you understand why a little creature, who can't even understand what's done to her, should beat her little aching heart with her tiny fist in the dark and the cold, and weep her meek unresentful tears to dear, kind God to protect her? Do you understand that, friend and brother, you pious and humble novice? Do you understand why this infamy must be and is permitted? Without it, I am told, man could not have existed on earth, for he could not have known good and evil. Why should he know that diabolical good and evil when it costs so much? Why, the whole world of knowledge is not worth that child's prayer to dear, kind God'! I say nothing of the sufferings of grown-up people, they have eaten the apple, damn them, and the devil take them all! But these little ones! I am making you suffer, Alyosha, you are not yourself. I'll leave off if you like."

Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov ]]> Fri, 08 Jun 2007 11:50:00 EDT http://awais.tigblog.org/post/216345 31.5497222 74.3436111 31.5497222 74.3436111 http://awais.tigblog.org/post/216285
Personally, i have classified the happy attitude into two types:

Negative Happiness: This consists of a relative psychological indifference to the problems of your life, such that they cease to bother you. You fail in an exam... you just shrug your shoulders and say, "So what? Its not the end of the world." This is negative happiness.

Positive Happiness: This consists of the feeling of pleasure derived from a variety of actions; success, romance, physical pleasures such as having a good tasty meal, aesthetic pleasures such as listening to music or appreciating art, having some sort of an adventure or a thrilling moment.

Of course, in real life, these two types exist in conjunction, though the percentage of their contribution is different in lives of different people.

I would define happy life as one in which happiness dominates over sadness [no life is absolutely happy, ever]. However, i believe, that to lead such a life, the attitude of negative happiness is of greater importance... although it doesn't increase your pleasure, it acts to decrease your feelings of grief, and hence, contribute to an over-all positive balance of happiness over sadness.]]> Fri, 08 Jun 2007 08:15:00 EDT http://awais.tigblog.org/post/216285 31.5497222 74.3436111 31.5497222 74.3436111 http://awais.tigblog.org/post/215427 Wed, 06 Jun 2007 11:47:00 EDT http://awais.tigblog.org/post/215427 31.5497222 74.3436111 31.5497222 74.3436111 http://awais.tigblog.org/post/214503
Ward Cunningham]]> Mon, 04 Jun 2007 12:35:00 EDT http://awais.tigblog.org/post/214503 31.5497222 74.3436111 31.5497222 74.3436111 http://awais.tigblog.org/post/213285 Kahlil Gibran, Sand and Foam

Oh, how i wish it was so! How i wish! But sadly, memory can never be a substitute for the actual meeting. ]]> Fri, 01 Jun 2007 11:24:00 EDT http://awais.tigblog.org/post/213285 31.5497222 74.3436111 31.5497222 74.3436111 http://awais.tigblog.org/post/212737 Find the right lines
What do I have to tell you

I'm just trying to hold on to something
(Trying to hold on to something good)
Give us a chance to make it.

Don't wanna hold on to never
I'm not that strong
I'm not that strong.

I, I don't wanna say it
I don't wanna find another way
Make it through the day without you
I, I can't resist
Trying to find exactly what I miss
It's just another day without you.

Why can't you stay forever
Just give me a reason
Give me a reason.

[From the lyrics of 'Just Another Day' by Jon Secada.]]]> Thu, 31 May 2007 12:16:00 EDT http://awais.tigblog.org/post/212737 31.5497222 74.3436111 31.5497222 74.3436111 http://awais.tigblog.org/post/212179
J.M.Coetzee, Disgrace]]> Wed, 30 May 2007 11:42:00 EDT http://awais.tigblog.org/post/212179 31.5497222 74.3436111 31.5497222 74.3436111 http://awais.tigblog.org/post/211767
'There is a mean streak in anyone who will destroy another's faith.'
[Quoted in a letter to Einstein]]]> Tue, 29 May 2007 12:02:00 EDT http://awais.tigblog.org/post/211767 31.5497222 74.3436111 31.5497222 74.3436111 http://awais.tigblog.org/post/211669 know he's goin' to come back. S'pose you didn't have nobody. S'pose you couldn't go into the bunk house and play rummy 'cause you was black. How'd you like that? S'pose you had to sit out here an' read books. Sure you could play horseshoes till it got dark, but then you got to read books. Books ain't no good. A guy needs somebody-- to be near him." He whined, "A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody. Don't make no difference who the guy is, long's he's with you. I tell ya," he cried, "I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an' he gets sick."

John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men]]> Tue, 29 May 2007 07:28:00 EDT http://awais.tigblog.org/post/211669 31.5497222 74.3436111 31.5497222 74.3436111 http://awais.tigblog.org/post/211363 Drawn by Saad Javed

Is my love life really so complicated? Hmm... that's not so complicated! :D]]> Mon, 28 May 2007 12:28:00 EDT http://awais.tigblog.org/post/211363 31.5497222 74.3436111 31.5497222 74.3436111 http://awais.tigblog.org/post/210615 Moth Smoke. With the richness of historical symbolism, the novel describes the decline of Darashikoh, a person on the fringes of upper-class elite in a Pakistan suffering from economic crises after the 1998 nuclear explosions. Daru’s deterioration is best described by Hamid’s own metaphor: a moth spiraling around the candle, seduced by its flame, revolving, falling, until it makes contact with the fire… the moment of union, and… the moth has been reduced to smoke and ash. The novel explores Daru’s obsession with drugs after losing his job in a bank, his affair with his best friend’s wife and finally his entry into the world of crime. "The book explores the idea of how you arrive at truth with conflicting narratives, which is what you do in law," said Hamid in an interview, and these multiple narratives are one of the best features of this novel. Hamid talks of arriving at truth, but me, I didn’t find a single truth anywhere… I just uncovered different versions of the truth. Is truth just the totality of these versions? The novel begins with a trial, and you are the judge, and the novel ends without a sentence, because it is you who has to decide whether Daru is guilty or not. And unless you are a 'fundo' (a word oft employed in the novel), you would not be able to answer this question of innocence. The life which Hamid describes is dark and gloomy, but his style, with which he does so, is charming and gripping. A highly recommended novel.]]> Sun, 27 May 2007 11:25:00 EDT http://awais.tigblog.org/post/210615 31.5497222 74.3436111 31.5497222 74.3436111 http://awais.tigblog.org/post/210533 Agar main koi larki na phansa saka tu main saree zindagi apnay aap ko maaf nahi ker sakoon ga!"]]> Sun, 27 May 2007 06:22:00 EDT http://awais.tigblog.org/post/210533 31.5497222 74.3436111 31.5497222 74.3436111 http://awais.tigblog.org/post/210271 Reminds me so much of—
The void within me

* In his silence—
Is the love, he can not
Show in his talk]]> Sat, 26 May 2007 13:13:00 EDT http://awais.tigblog.org/post/210271 31.5497222 74.3436111 31.5497222 74.3436111 http://awais.tigblog.org/post/209819 Awais and Saad

'... one tall and slender, the other short and fat. The reflections of the same soul in the cosmic house of mirrors, or uncanny coincidence?'

Mohsin Hamid, Moth Smoke

]]> Fri, 25 May 2007 11:07:00 EDT http://awais.tigblog.org/post/209819 31.5497222 74.3436111 31.5497222 74.3436111 http://awais.tigblog.org/post/209247 Christopher Morley

I tend to agree with it and accept it as a provisional definition of success. But the question arises: what if the way you want to spend your life is 'wrong'... say, if a gangster wants to spend his life killing people, and manages to do that, would we still call it 'success'? In other words: Is success independent of moral considerations? If it is, then shouldn't such 'success' be discouraged.
The biggest problem with this line of thought is that there are no absolute ethical values... everything is relative. When you can't even decide properly what is ethically 'wrong' and what is 'right', the whole issue crumbles.]]> Thu, 24 May 2007 07:56:00 EDT http://awais.tigblog.org/post/209247 31.5497222 74.3436111 31.5497222 74.3436111