Good visuals excite me.
The beauty of nature mesmerizes me.
Memories of Pakistan nostalgia-te me.
Position of women worries me.
Chauvinists exasperate me.
Preachers of false dogmas enrage me.
Terrorism sickens me.
Extremists frustrate me.
Moral policing infuriates me.
The lost community baffles me.
Racism saddens me.
Political bastards need to get a life!

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Saturday, August 28, 2010

Moral Police Love Women in Bed that Moan



OMG! If I come across such amazingly stupid people, I just can't stop laughing! Especially when they are caught. LOL. What a retard this one that I came across. So a man called Nazrir Ahmed (whose privacy I absolutely do NOT care about) just sent me a private message a while back saying, " U r just chalenging the islamic laws for the sake of publicity and money" and that, "U shd mend ur words abt religion." Now. Considering my situation, I would really say I wish I was earning some money, was a millionaire, and had a massive villa on a nice hilltop somewhere in Marseilles. Unfortunately, that is not really the case. And also that those of you who really understand what I am talking about in my blog, or otherwise, it's nothing against religion, but more a true understanding of it. And just cursing some real bastards on the way. And man do I love God. His mercy doesn't stop sending those my way. Otherwise I'd be having a dead blog right here. And no I don't want that. My therapist has strictly advised against it. hahahhahahaha.

Moving on. I asked the man what exactly has disturbed his existence, so I can talk a bit more seriously about the issue, and help him understand my position. While I was thinking all angelic to help this poor soul out, I thought, why not check his profile out. Of course, such men don't have balls enough, and there was hardly enough present on his wall to be stalking. But just enough *evil*. There was a link about a post he made on a "Sexy Women" fan-page. Still being all angelic that I am, I thought man he must've cursed or something on there. And to my surprise. What a generous man he turned out to be. ahahahahahah. To quote his post, "It is fantastic to have sexy women in bed because they moan a lot."

Now. Tell me. What would your reaction have been if you were in my place? All I know is that there was a massive earthquake of laughter within me. I spilled my lazily prepared cup of afternoon coffee all over the table and floor. I had coffee coming out of my nose. My mouth. I was coughing the last drops of this divine caffeine out of my lungs. Tears were like this herd of loose big bulls. And I have a feeling something went silent on the top floor; my neighbors probably stopped to make sure they were only hearing someone laughing hysterically and not .. oh well, you get the point. ahahahahah.

And to prove this is not made up, and such $%^%^&^ do exist, here's a screen-shot of the conversation:







And a screen-shot of the Sexy Women fan-page:




Now that I feel a lot more calm. LOL. Getting to serious business. Who has the nerve to now tell me that I should look at the positive side, and pay heed to those that have a clear focus? How can I concentrate and not get mad when such blokes pop up every fortnight! How can I not talk about such creeps of our society when it is precisely this sort of people who have messed our system inside out?! It is not a recent or new height of hypocrisy that has been touched with the sudden boom of internet and cyber-sex over the past decade. But I thank cyber-sex for allowing me to pin-point such hypocrisy and show it as proof!

Monday, August 23, 2010

The Horror that Pakistan is Becoming

I tried, but I just could not resist from speaking my mind about this. It's about the murder of the two brothers in Sialkot. So many things are going on in my head and I can't seem to make coherent my chain of thought. I've watched the video a couple of times and it is absolutely heartbreaking to watch the interviews of the family members of these boys.

First of all. What I can't seem to make sense of is the public that is casually watching and getting a kick out of this real-life/realtime bloodshed. Apparently there are two boys being killed by two other men, there are a couple of policemen, and quite a large audience. Why isn't anyone screaming against this atrocity and trying to toss some sense into the so-called saviors of the public? Oh wait, didn't I hear the police in fact telling the murderers to finish the boys off? What kind of society is this? Here I am going on about women not having any rights, but then this is precisely the problem! How can anyone have rights in a country where the law is the biggest enemy of the public? How can there ever be justice in a country where the public is too scared, or too lazy to ask for justice? How can a people or country progress, when this is the rate and speed at which we are aching for change? What can I expect from people when they've lost their sense of reason and the ability to distinguish between right and wrong.

In a news bit that I was listening to, they were saying that all policemen and murderers will be caught in two to four days time. What precisely do they intend on doing in two to four days? This action should happen overnight! In a matter of a few hours! What selfish pigs are we that we only get ignited and hasty when it is "my" blood that is lost, when it is "I" that is suffering? It is not even a question that human life is so fucking invaluable. We've been taught and indoctrinated to accept it like so. This repeat-process of the killing of the aam insaan has made us insensitive towards it. Who is scared of a roadside shooting incident or a bomb blast anymore? No weddings are postponed, no restaurants are shutdown. One holiday to relax, and then you're back on the road. Life goes on. Big deal. This is our attitude now. And this is precisely what is turning each and every one of us barbaric. We sit, relax and enjoy life till it slaps us across the face. And the next day we tie a band around a forehead and take part in the next shooting. Screw that!

People sitting in the government calculate their power by the amount of murders they've got on hand and the number of cases they've got in court. People on the road calculate their power according to who can speak the bigger word. Who's got more land? Who won the lottery? Who's going to spend their vacation in their farmhouse in Ireland! Who went shopping to Dubai this season? Who's got a private security force in their house? Am I talking about the same country here where millions of people have gone homeless? This amazing contrast in the kind of people that make up Pakistanis is fucking amazing. Third world country? I don't think so.

What is Pakistan? What are Pakistanis thinking? What do they want? Are they even serious? Or is it just that the life of the aam insaan is so unimportant to consider, that it is security enough that officials have a bank account or a house elsewhere on the planet, and that is enough?!

Regardless to even point out that we are in the middle of Ramadan! I am no one to point at someone's piety, or how seriously they take Ramadan. But does it not soften ones heart to just be going through these holy days? I know it has an effect on people. You hold yourself from becoming angry or getting into a fight or being unreasonable. And it is a very conscious effort. Regardless of how Muslim you are or are not. Then what got into these people that they've summoned the absolute wrath of God in the holiest of the months?

For myself. Even if I said that there is no god, then it is precisely at such a moment that I would say, I hope there is a God. And I hope He is writing names down.




Astaghfirullah.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Error 403: Forbidden Love (Disrupting Systems)





Alright. First thing first. The initial driver behind this slow regression from my blog was this exhibition that I was working on. Disrupting Systems was the 2010 Masters graduation exhibition of the Piet Zwart Institute of the Willem de Kooning Academy, and I was part of this. No, unfortunately just barging into an exhibition doesn't get you a degree, therefore, this reality still renders me an under-graduate. The exhibition was at the former Fotomuseum (future WORM) in Rotterdam between the 2nd and the 19th of July. It included works by four graduating students and about seven of the 1st year students.

Anyways. Of the four graduating students was Farrah Shakeel, an international student here from Pakistan, and with whom my interest lies. I met Farrah completely randomly through this monstrosity of the virtual web, as I have a few other nice people as well. Through our initial talks I got to know what she was working on for her thesis, and that kind of led me into becoming more and more interested in somehow becoming a part of it. It was very me-relevant; it was about the Pakistani immigrants in Europe, specifically focusing on women and this whole issue of migration and integration. We had lots of talks around this, and she was also concerned about the vastness of the subject, and mutually we sort of landed on a focal point that was interesting for the both of us. We presented the idea to her course director and the external juror, and it was super well received, and that is how I hijacked a graduation project :P ... oh well ..

Farrah recently married a Dutch man, and they have a beautiful relationship, not only together, but with their families as well. And for me, the reality is opposite. Those of you who've read my earlier posts can understand where I am coming from. Those of you who haven't, my life dilemma revolves around the marital choice I want to make as a result of my life experiences as opposed to my migrant parents and the strong bonds they hold with a country and culture they left behind a couple of decades ago. This is what brought us together: the desire of one, and the accomplishment of another. Of course the more ironic part stands the different worlds we come from, and for whom this should've been possible. So, bottom line, we combined this into a single project: (Pakistani)Muslim girls in the West and Interfaith Marriage, and called it:
Error 403: Forbidden Love.










The project is basically an effort to voice inter-faith marriage between Muslim women and non-Muslim men. To voice the hardship of girls in my predicament and showcase the cold attitude of my community - the Pakistani migrant community in Europe.

At the end. We received a really positive response. It was great to have met people who had a similar story to share, or were just glad to see this issue up. Of course, what I would've wanted more would be to have a larger Muslim or Pakistani audience. But seeing the kind of dull response earlier on anyways towards some form of an enlightening dialog, was disappointing. Nevertheless, I also understand why that is. Farrah's thesis Pakistani-Muslim Identity & Migration and the Rules of Interfaith Love puts further light on this. It's a very comprehensive, interesting and gutsy thesis, also since it's always nicer to read brain-tickling material about yourself from your own people as opposed to foreigners. Anyone interested in it can scream now.

The thesis covers the following topics: early migration, creation of Pakistan, Pakistani migration, first and second generation, Islam and the female, Pakistani women in love, interfaith/bi-racial issues, comparison of the issues Muslim women face as opposed to men, and the public view.

It is nothing new to say this, but it's never enough to do so either: a compatible partner is what makes a marriage work, not a single religion. A similar approach towards (whatever)religion, life and people is what will make a marriage last, not just the naive idea that the presence of a single religion will do wonders. Within religion there are so many divisions, people are so much more learned now, both men and women, everyone is so much more opinionated than they ever were, globalization has made it so much easier to coin one's own world view and live by that ... however on earth can you imagine to make it work just because some basic facts match? It has to be a lot deeper than that. It has to be a lot specific than that. We are responsible for the situation we stand in today, this multi-culti-ism that we've decorated around ourselves. Not that it's a horrible place to be at, but now that we're here, this is what we've got to work with, and have got to make it work. I firmly believe in the idea that whatever position we're in right now, at this very moment, is a result of a chain of events that has been happening from the beginning of this world. Sure we've encountered cross-roads, sure we had choices, but the choices made were a result of who we were becoming, what held more worth at that point in time. And here we are today. What are you going to do? Pull a stunt and make everyone believe we're back in the 1st century? That definitely ain't happening darling. But what can happen, is work towards getting the best out of what we have, make the right choice at the crossroad we are at today.

To see more pictures of the project you can click here.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Lost in Self

So it's been an eternity since I last posted. I've been away for so long, it's hardly funny. I don't really consider myself a public figure, so is a public apology really my obligation? Or perhaps there are one or two people who do deserve my apology. So here I am. On the World Wide Web, humbly apologizing for my selfish escape.

But Ramadan is here. Which basically means a quick way to put on some weight. Firstly, Happy Ramadan all of you. Blessings for everyone, including myself. The greed that we desis have for food is unmatched anywhere in the world. Hands down. You cannot win over a desi's appetite ... unless I guess it's some McDonald's obsessed American . So, in this massive greed for something fried, my desiness urged for some Ramadan pakoras .. and viola! A whole bunch of sadistic oil drops splattered across my face and neck, leaving horrible marks and balloons. Everything is much subtle now, but women really don't like such accidents you know


A lot has happened since and I don't think one blog would be fair, or enough to cover all that. But to mention some highlights: I collaborated with (now) a dear friend and worked on a project that ultimately was presented in the form of her graduation exhibition. Took a little stroll under the Eiffel tower. Some desi stories that totally flipped me out. And of course, to discuss the results of the poll. So stay tuned for all this, and more.

I would also really like to state here the wonderful increase in the amount of people joining my facebook page, Freedom of Marital Choices for Muslim Women. Before creating this, I really didn't think many people would support this idea, as the underlying basis of it includes freedom of religious choices as well; freedom for women to choose compatible men over binding themselves with religious restrictions. I am absolutely thrilled about that. But I am truly looking forward to some more (and substantial) Pakistani support. If you haven't already joined it, but support the cause, you can click here, or find a link in the right column.

To have a looksie at my project you can follow this link that'll direct you to my facebook album.

As for France, it's lovely :)







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