Surgery is tough. Requires lots of work and staying in the ward long hours. Yet it is enjoyable and addictive. As in my case so addictive that you start volunteering for extra calls--->what am I INSANE?

sing the song 

Blogging is a full time job. It demands persistence and consistent hard work. This I have realized in this time , while off from school. While I had all the time to keep myself abreast of the latest developments in different areas I wrote and wrote pretty regularly. Now that I am back in the hostel and have many other things on my mind I can't find things to write about. It seems that the posts will turn more and more personal again till the time I have reprieve from this place and a little peace of mind.
   One more thing can be said about blogging_it requires a full stomach. Yes it does! You simply cant think of writing if your tummy is not full and constantly fed over and over again.

Almost magnificant.
   Got a chance to see the mens hockey match between Pakistan and South Korea. It was a treat to watch. The whole game was full of speed and enthusiasm on the part of the players from both the teams. Pakistanis wer the better of the two and deserved to win. We won 3-0. If we keep on playing like that i would predict a gold in these olympics. One more suggestion, please don't commit the mistake of watching the match on PTV network.

Shaukat Aziz Winning.
As already expected Shaukat is winning from both constituencies. Interestingly BBC urdu on radio set the news in this way, 'By-elections are being held in the two constituencies in Pakistan to get the PM-Designate Shaukat Aziz elected...'
   Three opponents were assasinated in Attock just before the elections. This shows that the dictator is ready to kill to get his candidate to win. No arrests have been made. FIR has been sealed. The car used for the assasination has remained in police use. The accused in the assasinations are the District Nazim of Attock city, who, is In-law of the Current Prime Minister. Even the Pakistan Election Commission secretery addmitted that the assasinations have undoubtedly spread fear in the voters. Voters know that if they vote against the appointed candidate they will meet the same fate.
   Supporters of the opposition candidates in Mithi were held captives for long hours and then later released. Opposition says that
read the latest here and here
In soe other news Qari Noor Muhammad dies in police custody. He was apprehended by the law enforcement agencies on thursday night from a mosque in Faisalabad. Noor was an active member of MMA Faisalabad. The body has been taken to the local hospital for postmortem and all. Read about it here.

Oval heroes.
   The other day I was watching this programme on our national network. The programme was dedicated to the cricketers who comprised the team which one their first ever test against the english in England. The home team was then very strong and had many renowned players in its 11 member squad while the touring team was a collection of amateurs under the captaincy of Hafeez Kardar, the legendary disciplinarian. The hero in the oval ground was our fast bowler Fazal Mehmood. This, then, young blue-eyed, feary and enthusiastic young man took 12 wickets in the test for 99 runs. It is said that he was in such magnificent form that he would mark the place for the field to stand saying that next bowl will be a catch right at this place, never failing in what he said.
   The win brought the Pakistani team in the limelight and the people of the world came to know that we as a nation have a potential to excel in every field, given a fair chance.
   I have all my praise for the heroes of the oval for their team work and dedication to the game brought good name not only to them but to the whole nation.

United we stand.
   I was watching the late hour news on the PTV network the other day. In the trading and economic news section there was this news report on the Sialkot International Airport. This is an under construction project for both domestic and cargo purposes. The amazing thing about the whole affair is that it is being built not by any govt. agency but by the inhabitants of the city themselves on self help basis. The Sialkotians are indeed coming up to the expectations of their great philosopher and poet Allama Iqbal.
   Since Sialkot is majorly an industrial city with major exports in sports goods and surgical instruments there was a dire need for a way of quick delivery of these items to their destinations abroad. As our govt. has decided never to take the right initiative the people of the city took it upon themselves to build an International airport which could cater to their needs of cargo shipment. Thus a group of industrialists got together and formed a company named Sialkot International Airport Construction Company limited. The company has about 200 members in its board of directors. Each member has contributed a sum of about Rs. 5 Million for the construction purposes. The runway is almost complete and the terminal building is being constructed. There is one more distinction to this already distinct project. The runway is 3.2 km. long, the longest in Pakistan. It has been prepared keeping in mind all sorts of airline traffic.
   Similar efforts have been taken in terms of building road infrastructure in the city. The business council of the city decided to self tax its members. The tax imposed was 0.25% of the income of every member. With the money thus collected roads worth Rs. 64 corore have been built or upgraded. This is being done under the Sialkot City Project.
   This shows two things. One that people are the real power. They can do whatever they want to do. Only you are the master of your own destiny. A positive change can come if we want it to come. No one will give us relief unless we get it for ourselves. Second that people are ready to invest money in any project that is transparent. They are ready to empty their wallets into those treasuries which are used for their betterment and not for any other purposes. Citizens of other cities need to take lessons from this example and try to improve their own condition.

Nirma Narma.
   The film actress Nirma is probably the sweet heart of the media these days. She has been covered on and off the set more than any other actress on our filmy scene. She was featured on the Geo programme 'Aik din Geo kay sath' where she was presented as the prototype of a filmy diva in lollywood. Today she was the guest in the PTV's breakfast telecast 'Rising Pakistan'. When Nirma is there how am I supposed to change the station or abandon the TV. She is such a magnet in terms of her IQ level. The whole interview was one hilarious episode of pretension upon pretension. I suppose thats what these artists are made to do, to pretend. She would tell a lie upon a lie and the anchor, who was enjoying himself, would keep on asking her humiliating questions, to which she had no answers. But my problem is different. My problem is that these people are not worthy of being portrayed by the media as ideals for our young generation. What is the take home message from a discussion which has an IQ level of -20. We must bring to limelight personalities who have really given something to this country. Who have worked hard to achieve something big inn life. This will encourage others to do the same. We don't need lame ass artists who can't speak a complete sentence in correct english and yet insist upon answering every question in the language.
   When I saw her on Goe she was shown waking up in the afternoon at 2 pm and while she left for her work(guess what that was) her mother brought a black chicken and circled it over her head to ward of evil. I mean for God sake we live in 21st century don't do this to us.
   She is one unlucky chick in the sense that when I first saw her on the Private channel I wrote a full fledged email to the programme editor telling him to introduce intellectuals instead of actors in his programme. I got a computer generated reply telling me that my suggestion has been noted and will be passed onwards. This time again she has caused me to dedicate this long post to her.
   Coming back to the caption 'Nirma Narma'. In my mother tongue Punjabi cotton crop is also known by the name 'Narma'. As this is the season for the crop and vast fields stand outside the place I am blogging this post from I thought it would be a nice idea to dedicate narma to my favourite nirma.

The atrocities committed by the coalition forces in Iraq remind me again and again of the fact that United Nations has become a redundant organization. A tool in the hands of the powerful nations. The coalition forces are murdering hundreds of innocent Iraqis, in broad daylight, yet the UN is a silent spectator. All they can muster up is a few words of regret here and a few of caution there. I would blame the world powers for bringing the organization to this level of pity and uselessness.
   The condition of the United Nations can be compared to any of the govt. run institutions in a country like Pakistan. Where all the people of the world keep on harping on the tune that United Nations doesn't do this it doesn't do that and that it is weak here and useless there they don't realize that it is us who make these institutions weak or strong. These institutions are there to help us but only if we accept there help. USA could have gone to uprooting Saddam with all the mandate of the world through United Nations, in an appropriate way, but Bush chose to do it otherwise. In doing so he weakened the roots of the organization. But the bully that he is he could not have done better. Similarly in the case of Palestine the consistent bullying of USA has done nothing more than uprooting the very fundamentals of the United Nations.
   Now the organization pays no more than a role of a silent spectator. Actually this is to the liking of the world powers they don't want any other power to interfere in their plan to colonize the third world. We can see USA building its colonies in Afghanistan and in Iraq and no one not even a single country from this planet of 6 billion rose in protest. I fail to recognize why we fail to stand for the truth.
   Similar is the case with OIC which many like to pronounce oh I C. This Muslim platform has lost all its value(not that it had any in the first place). All because it is not used by its member states effectively. If it were used more and more it could become a fore runner to a dream like united Muslim world on the pattern of united Europe through European Union.
   If these designs are not stopped and organizations with stronger and more forceful mandate are not created I fear a long standing chaos in the world politics for the times to come. And this might culminate into another world war. we all know that if so happens humans will be washed away from the face of this planet. This is a dangerous game and man must, at all costs, refrain from playing it.

14th August 2004.
   In this hour of joy we must remember our muslim brothers and sisters in Darfur, Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Palestine and Kashmir, who are at the mercy of brutal savages. May Allah help them in these roubled times and grant them their much needed freedom and may Justice be served.

A very Happy Independence day.

Youth day, day before yesterday.
   Youth day was celebrated all over the world day before yesterday, they say, with full vigour and vim. Same must have been the case in Pakistan because we are a part of this world believe it or not. An important part since our dictator decided to side with might instead of abiding by what was right.
   I am a part of Pakistani youth; being a part of this section of society is a completely different experience. Experience that our elders have passed through and children are yet to gain.
   The question is whether the Pakistani youth is being up to the mark in helping this country prosper and progress against all odds that surround it. The answer is neither simple nor short. Rather the question is much more primaryin nature, 'Does Pakistani youth know what needs to be done to help Pakistan?'
   I think making our youth realize the need of the hour is the need of the hour. Our youth is in disarray and distracted. Everyone I see around me asks everyone else the same question, 'What am I doing here?' No one seems to have the answer. In these 57 years of our existence our elders have failed to provide us with sense of purpose and failed to inculcate in us the idea of our existence as one nation state. How could they have done this when they themselves were busy in cutting each others roots and conspiring against all those who sought remedy for the disease. The result is this present state of utopia that the Pakistani youth is living in. We can see definite divisions among our youth similar to those that we see in our society. One reason could be politicizing of the youth into unhealthy political system of our country and the other can be the already existing monetary difference in the society and still one reason could be the wide cleavages in the provinces based on petty differences of language and interests. All these factors and many more, along the short history of this country, have added to the problem and very little has been done to negate their effects.
   Whatever efforts have been made to outline the problems, faced by the young generation of the country, have suffered from lack of interest from all corners of the society. No one is ready to help the youth in their times of trouble. All seminars and workshops are held in the cozy comfort of five star hotels with top elite in attendance. The remaining 90% population is almost always neglected.
   We need to take much broader based steps in order to convert the docile and disheartened young man of today into a productive and enthusiastic person to the society tomorrow. For this we need to educate masses. It goes without saying that education lies at the center of all progressive activity. New and effective methods of providing education, of highest level, to everyone need to be introduced. At the same time quality of education must be ensured.
   On the other front the whole nation is afflicted with the curse of divisions and docility. Good leadership needs to come up front and start a movement to re-energize the souls. Our young men have all the potential we only need a good leader to steer us to the point of emotional high where we all work not for ourselves but our country.
   If we need to build our nation into one which doesn't bow to the dictates from outside we need to work for economic and moral progress, day in and day out. For this we need to build a momentum to the likes of the independence movement in 1940's. This will assure our success at all fronts. Feelings of patriotism are important and much needed.
   Then again we must look at the cause of confusion in our ranks. We have completely severed our ties with our past. We don't have any connection with our ancestral values. This in my opinion is one of the primary cause of our failures. We see that our young man is ready to listen and talk endlessly about Western heroes and ideals but feels hesitant or incapable of discussing Saadi, Rumi, Ghazali, Ibn-Sina because he has been kept unaware of their important contribution to our society. Most of our culture is best represented by books written in Persian and Arabic and regional languages. Our young man has not been made to realize the importance of referring to those books for guidance. No one right now likes to read any of the famous writers of our past. ask any student about any of the books of over 300 by Ghazali alone and the predominant answer would be, 'How would I know.' Here I don't suggest completely reverting to our past but to take anecdotal messages from what our ancestors have contributed to the literature. This makes us feel secure psychologically and help in defining our image as an individual.
   There is a need for a book revolution in the country. Publishing houses must be set up to translate and reproduce works in familiar languages and at reduced prices. With the help of libraries reading habits must be improved in the society. Such a movement will have a many fold benefit both in short term and long term.
   Steps must be taken seriously to limit the population growth of the country so that resources can be used more effectively and where they are more needed. The logic is simple, you sleep hungry one night and you are more prone to stealing the next day.
   And in the end initiatives must be undertaken to help confused people like me.

Why I did that
   One day a man came to the great teacher Bahaudin. He asked for help in his problems, and guidance on the path of the teaching.
   Bahaudin told him to abandon spiritual studies, and to leave his court at once. A kind hearted visitor began to remonstrate with Bahaudin. 'You shall have a demonstration,' said the sage.
   At that moment a bird flew into the room, darting hither and thither, not knowing where to go in order to escape. The sufi waited until the bird settled near the only open window of the chamber; and then suddenly clapped his hands. Alarmed, the bird flew straight through the opening of the window, to freedom.
   'To him the sound must have been something of a shock, even an affront, do you not agree?' said Bahaudin.

This, Too, Will Pass.
   A powerful king, ruler of many domains, was in a position of such magnificence that wise men were his mere employees. And yet one day he felt himself confused and called the sages to him.
   He said:
   'I do not know the cause, but something impels me to seek certain ring, one that will enable me to stabilize my state. I must have such a ring. And this ring must be one which, when I am unhappy, will make me joyful. At the same time, if I am unhappy happy and look upon it, I must be made sad.'
   The wise men consulted one another, and threw themselves into deep contemplation, and finally they came to a decision as to the character of this ring which would suit their king.
   The ring which they devised was one upon which was inscribed the legend:

THIS, TOO, WILL PASS

Want to read about modern day slavery in United states of America read this three part story 1, 2, 3.

Rain Rain come some other day!
   Its raining here and temperatures have dropped down to comfortable levels. This year round monsoon has been extra gracious on the people of Punjab and elsewhere. There have been rains the whole summer and the sun has had little chance to spread its sizzling heat. It is good in one way as the provinces will defer their quarrels over water for a little longer now.
   We here have this joke that whenever we need rain we don't have to do anything but ask Abbu to order pesticides be sprayed on the cotton crop. I don't know if it is mere chance or what but every time our cotton crop is sprayed with pesticides it rains almost instantaneously. As if the clouds have this way of knowing when it rains death on the pests of the crop so it can come to their rescue. This has been going on for last one and a half month now. Wouldn't say it has pleased my father much as it incurs a heavy loss on him every time a spray goes to waste like this.

Fear spiders do you?
   Well spiders though small in size have large tendencies to freak humans much larger in size. People fear spiders to an extent of obsession that impairs their daily functioning. Scientists might have the solution to this crippling phobia of spiders and other similar phobias in the shape of virtual reality programmes that take their user to a place where he/she can befriend the eight legged freak gradually coming to terms with its existence and thus lessening the unnecessary fear.
   Researchers are trying to find ways to lessen the perception of pain in patients who have painful long recovery from severe burn injuries. According to one approach our brain can process a limited number of inputs at one given time thus if we provide our brain with some virtual activity while a painful procedure is being done on the patient the brain will remain distracted towards the virtual world and have very little perception of severe pain. Many studies have been conducted to assess the usefulness of this approach and it seems to work pretty well. Studies conducted at Harbourview Burn center, Seattle, University of Washington, William Randolph Hearst Burn Center at New York Weill Cornell Medical Center, Shriners Hospital for Children in Galveston, Texas, University of South Australia, University of North Carolina at Charlotte and elsewhere have shown that this approach can be used in number of scenarios with comparable efficacy and success.
You can read the detail account here on Scientific American.

Faking an assassination.
   This is something our leaders have gained expertise in recent past. Those who planned to kill Musharraf on the Lai pull in Rawalpindi one fateful evening were mere fools for they detonated the bomb after the convoy had crossed the bridge. Even I know this that when you have to blow someone on a bridge you do damage in front of the car not on its tail. Well this is not a valid argument a passionate lover of the regime may argue and I give up on convincing any such gentlemen. Then there comes the second attempt at the precious life of the dictator. This time around it was even bigger fool who made the attempt. The place, if you have seen it, is a one way road with a barrier of rock solid cement about foot or so high between the two opposite lanes of the road. That banished fool who tried to ram the explosive laden car into the motorcade of the dictator was on the other side of the barrier. There was no way that his car could have made across the lane and hit General's motorcade. But it did some damage so I give up on convincing the die hard fans once more.
   Then comes the attempt, failed as it was planned to be, on the life of the Prime minister in waiting. A clean shaven fool with explosives tied all around his body approaches the car of the PM and raises his hands and is blown to pieces, killing the driver of the reinforced Mercedes in the process. A complete idiot. Was he trying to kill the driver or the passenger who sits on the back seat of the car not the front seat. When will these fools at Al-Qaeda headquarters learn these intricacies of suicide bombing. well he has saved the Prime minister in waiting hassle of going to his constituencies and speaking to the people. He instead delivers lectures over telephone quite similar to another traitor of the country who does so from the comfort of foreign land.
   Well the ordinary man has every right to be frightened at all this. In a country where a Prime minister has been reduced to the confines of his fort like home and can no longer appear in public what right does an ordinary man has to ask for his safety?

Pakistan and India seem to be on the road to progress. talks on all issues EXCEPT Kashmir are underway and more or less meeting success atleast to the delight of the Indians. Our coward dictator is leaving no stone unturned in leading this nation of 14 crore into dungeon full of darkness. Our leaders are trying to make us believe that we are the weakest and most positionless nation on the face of this earth and thus have no right to stand for and by the truth. At least this seems to be the story in the case of talks that were recently held between the two countries on the issue of pulling back forces from the Siachin glacier. Siachin, the highest battle ground in the world, is mostly Pakistani territory into which Indian forces sneaked in in Zia-ul-Haq's time. We have sovereign right to that piece of land this is a fact that can't be denied nor can it be dispelled by any amount of argument that is kept under the parameters of logic and sanity. Why does Musharraf call himself a soldier if he doesn't have the heart and wit to defend the sovereign frontiers of this country. This is not the first time that an army dictator has been found guilty of doing exactly opposite of what a soldier is bound to do by the law of the land he serves. Musharraf's predecessor Zia conceded this territory to the Indians in the first place and Ayub, the old man, could not oversee the fare transfer of lands after the '65 war. I regret to say that these army generals are the most incompetent of the lot. They have nothing better to do than drink and then play polo. The Kargil incident which has gained much attention in recent past was also a brain child of these generals who failed to forsee the long term consequences of their move in the broader world scenario.
   Recent talks on the Siachin issue have ended with an understanding between both sides. India insists that the present positions on the glaciers be made permanent boundary and Pakistan thinks that forces must move back to the positions hey were before shimla accord and the land thus emptied of the two forces be made no man's land. I think this is totally unfair on India's part to ask for making the present positions permanent as the Indian army is actually sitting on the Pakistani territory. Again Pakistan must take heart and claim the whole territory back from the Indians instead of proposing that it be made no man's land.
   Similar situation exists on the issue of Sir-creek. India is not ready to reach any settlement that is not in its favour and Pakistan is afraid to ask with detrimental force what is rightly its own.
   Why have we turned such cowards is beyond my comprehension. We are a nuclear capable nation if India can press us to the brink of nuclear conflict on the issue of Kargil why can't we be assertive enough in asking atleast for what is rightly ours? What hell is going to break loose if Indians don't agree to our demands. I think nothing. They know and we must know that they can do nothing if we stand firm.
   I can understand two major reasons for this failure in foreign policy. First as I have time and again mentioned that a General a mere soldier of minimal education is in no way fit to make political decisions on the scale as large as a country. Someone who has not been trained in the field of politics doesn't stand a chance against the wickedness and shrewdness of Congressmen. The dictator is thus incompetent. Secondly as I understand anyone who comes to power through unfair means and doesn't have any legitimate standing in the eyes of a fair judicial system can never be powerful enough to lead a nation to success in any field. Thirdly our leaders have been goaded into submission to the foreign powers and they have been amputated of their ability to think and decide independently.
   May Allah give us courage to fight all evil and dispell all beliefs that are based on wrong notions. Ameen!

While nothing better to do at my home I was going through this really old edition of this local magazine. the edition was interestingly a special feature edition on doctors and malpractice in Pakistan. 20 odd pages were full of text which told of stories from all the corners of the country about mishandling of patients by the doctors. I had some idea of the situation before coming across this text but after reading it I am a bit alarmed at the prevailing situation. Cases of neglect are not rare occurrences, as one might like to think, rather they seem to be an essential part and parcel of Pakistan doctor's daily practice.
   Medicine is a respectable field. mainly because when a patient comes to a doctor he entrusts to him his most precious belonging that is his health. Nothing can be more important to a person of ordinary means or otherwise than his own good health. It is thus a doctor's moral as well as professional duty to respect this trust and help his patient in every way possible. A doctor should do everything and anything in his/her capacity to alleviate the suffering of all had who come and seek alleviation. All doctors are bound by their code of conduct and hippocritic oath to perform their duty to their best capabilities.
   Then what is it that converts them from harbingers of good health to portals of death and destruction. Why such a contradiction in what they are supposed to do and what they actually do. Why are most of doctors in Pakistan bent upon blemishing the name of their profession for the sake of their own vested interests.
   Well if we try to seek answers to these questions here this may take up pages of discussion and still more will remain out of black and white than will be covered by the printing capability of this machine, we call computer. To me some thing is more important than the rest. something that needs to be done right away if we want to see some change in the picture. something done urgently and honestly. And that is to try to inculcate these principles of moral ethics into doctors of future. While most can be done to set right all those doctors who do evil to mankind still better can come out of the plan of teaching future doctors not to side with that evil. If I can say with some authority and surety ethics as a subject has taken a back seat in our present curricula. Teachers don't want to teach and students don't want to learn, what is most important to any human being; good moral and ethical values. Well what can one expect from a nation of menials. If at all something is taught in this context it is redundant and out dated. Nothing practical.
   Well serious discussion aside, I started to write this blog to quote from that text some interesting facts. so here it is

Medical mistakes are not a modern phenomenon, as most people may think. They have existed since Florence Nightingale's days! In 1959, she published the first study of hospital death rates in the world, in which she demonstrated that high death rates in large hospitals were preventable.
   Following that , numerous such studies have been done, all showing that negligence has not abated.
   It was once reported that in 1976 when doctors in Los Angeles went on a five-week strike, the weakly death rates in hospitals dropped below the normal. Once the strike ended, the death rates rose and stayed above the normal for several weeks!
   In a 1985 experiment in Israel, an observer places at the patient's bedside to observe clinicians in the medical surgical intensive care unit of a university hospital found that clinicians made 544 errors over four months, or 1.7 errors a patient a day.

Via Consumer wise