MUNIK 2011

Much as I'd like to believe that I've been blessed with literary talent, the belief is often challenged by my inability to find the right words for transcribing events onto paper. Or perhaps, life is sometimes just too rich to be confined to mere words.

MUNIK '11 is the perfect example. To describe the seriousness of the debates, the companion ship amongst delegates within regional blocs, the camaraderie within committees and the sheer festivity of the last day, is beyond my limited scope.

Even in this digital age of pictures and videos, concrete memories are hard to hold and already MUNIK '11 has become as fleeting as something my imagination would conjure. But no amount of time will erase such epic moments as Maha saying, "Pretend Ehab is a pole and dance around him", or the delegate of USA announcing "With great power comes great responsibility" (EPIC) or Brazil's desperation to find out who sent the "Brazil is sexy" chit. (XD)

The length of this reminiscence is a testament to how fast time erases memories, even if they are as rich as the acronym MUN itself.  

English inspirations

After years of exhilaration every time there's a hint of rain, and looking at forests in England it's not hard to see where masters like Tolkien and C.S. Lewis get their inspirations from. Rainy weather has brought the best in my poetry and I'm just an amateur. The epics seem to be as much a product of their surroundings as of their mastery of words and unrestrained imaginations. Its not just the English, everywhere it seems, the wilder and lusher the scenery, the greater the stories. Now if only I could find a nice cave up north to complete my epic in....

One of a kind New Year Resolution

This lovely image shows THE DOLDRUMS. Which is where my brain seems to be right now. My very unique, highly individualistic New Year's Resolution is to jerk it outta this vegetative, slowly decomposing into shit state and bring it back to its former glory of a poem a week and more ideas than i know what to do with. Or maybe i could revert to the comforting refrain of 3 idiots: All iz well. I am, after all, supposed to not have existentialist problems at this age. How comforting.

Ecosytem of women

A few days ago, out of sheer boredom, I went to pick up my little brother from school. FPS. Maila-burger school. Teeming outside were WOMEN. Lots of them. And so fake they made me want to either vomit or kill myself for fear that I'd grow up to be one of them. Like the title says, they were like this ecosystem where the dominant species were women, attracted to each other by lieu of their similar clothes and similar over-done makeup or repulsed if one of them turned up looking plain. What made them flourish? gossip. Talking in fake accents. Pretending to be all western and high-class. Seriously. Somebody needs a reality check. Bleagh.

Food for cynics?

I had a fit of patriotism plus social awareness a few minutes ago so I went reading today's dawn online, and stumbled across a pretty hilarious article in which dear Nawaz offers his esteemed advice to President Zardari (if only there was some cyberspace pathway to project sarcasm in that) on governance. I quote "Prime Minister Gilani in his speech in the National Assembly on Nov 3 had remarked that he would welcome suggestions and recommendations from those who had misgivings about the government`s commitment to good governance. It is in the spirit of his offer that I want to share some of my thoughts with you, as I have done in the past with all sincerity" Yeah, that's what "Mr. Sharif" says in his letter. Seriously, the name "Nawaz Sharif" in itself is an oxymoron. Now I'm wondering if this new letter will be fresh fodder for the cynics who've come to believe Pakistani politics are doomed or maybe an extra point for the ones who argue there's still hope. Either way, I just think it's funny.


To read the full article: Nawaz offers advice to zardari

Star Wars Hybrid

welwitschia merabilis. Yes, it's a plant. That thing is actually alive somewhere on this planet. Pretty cool isn't it. Botany can be so much more interesting if those droning, learned-everything-by-heart people were replaced with someone slightly more human. Happy plant viewing ;)

Living through history

Karachi. Pakistan's biggest metropolis with over 16 million residents and one of the most dangerous cities in South Asia. You'd think we were all jaded survivors by now, but I happen to be among the lucky, clueless ones. Agitation like this is nothing new: zia, benazir...just recall their times and its history's repeating itself. Which means one day people will write about these events and we're actually living through history. Its so surprisingly uneventful. Which is sad because in the future someone like me will write a history of something which someone in his/her position won't even dream of experiencing. And the actual biographies are the ones nobody sets up as a syllabus. Which is sad.