Last blog of 2017?

Nine days till end of this year!

Don’t you think its been an amazing year? Alhamdolillah. Here is probably my last post of this year…. though I do have my doubts!

Thank you so much for your response to my blogs. I’m over whelmed. Even though many of you do not comment, I know you have read these. – Whenever I meet you I find out through your comments, and there are the indicators. I hope that these have made some difference in your lives, as you have made a difference in mine.

Thanks to you, my cholesterol has become normal. It was something that was making me feel bad. Now, you have made me feel great.  Your response to my blogs on my parents and the ones about overcoming hardships and challenges are wonderful. Please do continue supporting me, I hope to reach the 40 k hits soon. I’ve got 60 followers now, and I’m very happy you do. I’d love you to recommend this blog to others to follow too.

To express my joy, here is a monkey man, I saw in Japanese Park in Islamabad, enticing the people with his flute tunes…

Please make more comments on my website, many of you make them on my Facebook pages.  Do let me know what topics you want me to write on. – Anything that interests you. Do tell me how you want me to improve or what you think of my spontaneous pictures and videos.

Happily, you responded so well to the books blog, here is a video I made for you about my favorite books on my favorite book shelf. If you like, I’ll do short videos on selected books individually, so you get an idea of what each one is about. This is just a teaser, if you like it we can go a bit deeper into it. Only if you like it!

So, here is my dream come true… Iqbal’s book in the hands of the youth of our times. 🙂

Maaz Hamid and Robert Chan came to find out more about Iqbal from me, and I asked Maaz to come with his guitar; My mother and I enjoyed the music session that followed:

As I sit here, the feeling of global warming is so obvious:

1. At this time of the year, here in Islamabad it is much warmer now than it used to be. The sun is shining bright and the days are beautiful. However the temperatures are not as low as they used to be. It was the same in Seattle when I was there last year. Throughout the two months I was there from September to November, people kept telling me, ‘this is the last bit of sunshine’… yet the sun continued to shine!
2. There wasn’t as much rain as I had witnessed earlier, there across the world in Seattle, nor here in Islamabad. The water level in Islamabad has got lower too.k
3. The garbage disposal system in Pakistan has to improve. I’m told it is horrendous in Karachi. It is time we gave the contract of garbage disposal to foreigners.

Each one of us has been unconsciously contributing to it. How can we improve this? Each one of us can do something on a daily basis to improve the global warming issue:

1. Grow more trees,
2. Manage garbage better,
3. Educate our staff,
4. Save water,
5. Avoid wastage of water, electricity and gas.
6. Better garbage disposal.
7. Use less plastic bags.

I’m planning some interesting blogs for you for next year every month.

I guess –  this is what you can do too – This is the time to make a rough Annual Plan, for the next year. It can have a  rough break down of each month, how we plan to do it.

Another interesting exercise is to go over this year….. make a rough breakdown in your dairy of this whole year. A monthly list of the highlights of each month. Include the good the bad and the ugly too.

What lessons have we learnt this year?

As a Pakistani, I’d say, please do not support anyone who does a ‘dharna’. I’m sorry, this is not the way to go about it. Yet, be ready to support the party by holding placards and standing on road sides with them. The candle light vigils are fine, but do not disturb the public or common man’s system of daily life, by blocking roads. That is not acceptable.

On the 20^th, of December, there was an event at the Nazriya Pakistan, in F-9 Park, Islamabad. Students from schools were invited. They looked adorable in their uniforms, but their behavior in the hall was pretty disgusting. They kept whistling and talking. They refused to listen to anyone, the teachers and management was helpless. However, the chief guest Maryam Aurangzeb stood up to talk and showed her great skill in controlling the almost five hundred students and guests in the hall. Very gracefully, she made them become silent listeners, by offering to walk off – as speaking was no use, till they listened. Suddenly, there was silence. She told them that celebrating the Quaid’s birthday is of no value if we do not value his sayings of having unity, faith and discipline. She stressed the word discipline. She invited Mansoor Rahi the great artist, to come again to the stage to make his speech as previously, there had been too much noise.

I tell you, it was amazing the way she took full command of a very embarrassing situation. I have become her biggest fan. She showed her competence and skill of management and control. Hats off to her!

Here are some more pics of the event, the exhibition, participants of competition of Quaid-e-Azam’s picture,

and ….

Yes, each one of us has to remember three words by our Quaid: Unity, Faith and Discipline. These three words are enough to guide us towards improvement. Sadly, in seventy years, we haven’t understood what these three words mean. Let us start now. Do read my blog on Quaid-e-Azam written last year on his birthday.  A very Merry Christmas to all my Christian readers – and a very happy new year to all! Stay blessed, and happy. Sharing some happy moments of my life these days….  🙂

Happy New Year!