Beauty is in the Eyes of Beholder!

I simply love walking at the shore. I love the waves as they fall back touching my bare feet, the calm of the shore, the song the wind plays along with the sea, the endless blue sea stretching from left to right, the soft wet sand more beautiful and softer than any carpet hands could ever weave, looking back at the footprints that I left in my wake, watching them being swept away or fade by the waves. All of It soothes my soul, my mind and always gives me a lot to think about (well I said sooth not rest ;))

I also love collecting pebbles and shells that interest me during these walks, shells because they are pretty and pebbles... Well it all began when I spotted a beautifully round, smoothed pebble on one of these walks, it was a hue of different colours - blue, brown, white- all blended artistically with so much beauty that I couldn’t help marvelling at the grace of almighty and pocketed it up.

 Yesterday was no exception. I gathered as many pebbles and shells as my hands could carry before leaving the shore. On my way back as I looked at the pebbles, smoothed and curved by the ageless waves that keeps washing the shore, pebbles of all colours (yellowish brown, greenish blue, a marble textured one maroon, a dim purplish and all sorts!) and shapes, I couldn’t help wondering why is a stone portrayed only as a symbol of cold heartedness, selfishness, difficulty and misery in poetry and literature.

Why a poet compares the heart of an uncaring sweetheart to a stone, why it’s said that all a person have gathered in their lap are stones, when talking about the hard share of fate. I agree stones are hurtled at someone to cause pain but we overlook the action of the person in causing pain and characterize the stone with pain.... stone might be hard but it’s beautiful as well, stone might look ugly and cold but in it home many of creatures of land and water, to moss and fungi and much more. Rocks and stones also live with time as does the trees and the seas. When a sea can be beautiful and lovely in spite of being ruthless, I feel a stone has every right to be so.

I'm not advocating the cause of stones and pebbles here;) I am  merely comparing our perception of stones with our attitude towards people we met and see. How prejudices of color, cast ,creed and appearances makes difference in our thinking. We are reluctant to befriend a simple person, a quite or shy fellow, or a person observing different religion. How easily we tend to neglect those who fail our glittering criteria of cool friends and company or how we don't feel the need to make friends at all, or sometimes we only socialize for incentives.

We judge and evaluate people on their outlook and don't bother look into the person, the heart and soul behind the cover . And in doing so, we sometimes miss the beautiful people, some true and everlasting friendships and relationships we could have earned rather than gathering  fake jewels that fade with time.

So I think it all comes to your love of nature, how you look at it. And I thank God for helping me stay away from this shell of prejudice we have cast around our minds....

Because its not wrong when we say that "Beauty is in the eyes of beholder". 

Shakespere must have thought the same when he said in Love's Labours Lost :

Good Lord Boyet, my beauty, though but mean,
Needs not the painted flourish of your praise:
Beauty is bought by judgement of the eye,
Not utter'd by base sale of chapmen's tongues

Margalla Crash -- A tragic injury

28th July 2010 was the day when the deadliest air disaster of the nation became inevitable. The Margalla plane crash brought tears to many eyes and grieved many hearts across the nation.
I was at office when I heard the news from a colleague of mine. I hurriedly connected to a local news website to check the news myself.
What I learned was no good, it was shocking! It was all flames, smoke, fog and wreckage.

It only was a month ago that my father went to Islamabad with my sister. It was the same ill fated plane ED202 that they boarded, unaware that shortly they were going to hear about the terrible loss of 152 lives in the crash! The pilot and some of the crew were also the same they had during their flight. My father was ill when he went to Islamabad. The crew was very helpful and caring, they took all possible measure to ensure that his journey should be a comfortable one. We all felt deeply for the tragic loss, for the loss of all those who cared and were cared for.

All the news channels were debating probable causes of the crash. Boasting that they were the first to give a full coverage. Allowing rumors and speculations to spread. Causing hope to burn by saying that there are survivors left and extinguishing it the next moment. Please stop humiliating ourselves as a nation further, rise from the stooping fall we are going to land in. Stop the race for brand for once and mourn and help those in suffering rather than wasting resources making 3D videos showing the crash. The need is not to place the blame but to put balm on the burning scars of those who've lost their everything in these catastrophes.

In all this time if I find something commendable, it was the unwavering spirit and support and help the locals gave to the rescue teams throughout their operation. We are proud of you all who rushed to aid the victims and extended their help. God bless you.

May the souls of the departed rest in peace for eternity and their loved ones have the strength to bear the loss and carry on. Ameen.

Haste Makes Waste!

Sometimes in haste we tend to make ridiculous mistakes, a similar thing happened to me today.( Well actually they do happen often with me...)
I have resolved an issue that was reported to me yesterday and was mailing the client so that they can verify and check it.
Before mailing the client I tried to call the IT person there, to discuss a few details regarding the resolution.


After several tries with the numbers I was successfully transferred to the operator. With a lot of difficulty I made the operator understand the extension and the person I wanted to talk to, when he finally understood me, he transferred my call to the required extension. I was glad that at last its over and pulled my notebook towards me to note down any important point that may come along during the call.


But I was wrong in thinking that my trial was over, there was yet more to happen!

Lean on Me...

This is one of my favorite songs from Micheal Bolton, its called "Lean On Me". i feel so much like sharing it today. I dedicate it to all my friends, on whom I've leaned on and for whom I am always here!

Here it goes...

Sometimes in our lives

We all have pain

We all have sorrow

But if we are wise

We know that there's

Always tomorrow...

Lean on me,

when you're not strong I'll be your friend

I'll help you carry on

For, it won't be long

'Til I'm gonna need

Somebody to lean on

Please swallow your pride

If I have things you need to borrow

For, no one can fill those of your needs

That you won't let show..

Of Dreams, Love and Sacrifice...

Some time ago a friend share a story on Facebook from Paulo Coelho's blog about a dream of a traveler.

Abd Mubarak was on his way to Mecca. One night he dreamt a conversation between two angles, that goes as follows....

" “How many pilgrims came to the holy city this year?” one of them asked.
“Six hundred thousand”, answered the other.
“And how many of them had their pilgrimage accepted?”
“None of them. However, in Baghdad there is a shoemaker called Ali Mufiq who did not make the pilgrimage, but did have his pilgrimage accepted, and his graces benefited the 600,000 pilgrims”.
When he woke up, Abd Mubarak went to Mufiq’s shoe shop and told him his dream.