Archive for February 2010

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Modernism vs Existentialism

Article by Nadia Ghaffar I know that the topic I want to write about is somewhat unique and seems to be difficult to understand apparently. But its just a matter of in depth analysis of the things going around you. Its related to your own world and nothing else. A layman definitely doesn’t know what existentialism is. Existentialism was actually a philosophical movement of 19th and 20th centuries. This philosophy was pessimistic and somewhat atheistic in nature. The major exponents of this philosophy were Jean Paul Sartre, Martin Heidegger, Soren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche and many more. It has to be kept in mind that all the major themes and features of this philosophy are cynical. The reasons of this pessimism also will be given due consideration. The advocates of this theory hold the view that anxiety is part of human nature. Generalized uneasiness, fear or dread which is not directed to any specific object is an essential ingredient of human personality. According to them, to exist as a human being is wholly absurd. The existentialist philosophers thought that each human being is just thrown into this time and place but nobody knows why here and why now. Our existence has no meaning. Sartre exclaims:

“All existing things are born for no reason, continue through weakness and die by accident… It is meaningless that we are born, it is meaningless that we die.”

Human Limitations is another theme of the movement. Human beings are caught in the boundary of human situation. They come into the world for a specific time and they leave it at another specific time. We don’t have any choice of our own. They supported the idea that individuals are responsible for their own actions. Kierkegaard said that a feeling of fear which everyone experiences is God’s way of calling each individual to commit to a personally vivid way of life.

Sartre states: “Once thrown into the world man is responsible for what he does.”

Moreover existentialists also suggest that we all are alienated from each other, from our society as well as from our own selves. In the same society, the wealthy landowning class and the large class of poor workers are alienated from each other. Like wise the growing scientific progress has alienated us from nature. The modern industrialization and new technologies have come in the way and have adversely effected our contact with nature. Existentialism had a profound impact on the thoughts of the great writers like Eugene Ionesco, Harold Pinter, Samuel Beckett and many more. They produced great pieces of literature on the basis of this theory. If we throw light upon the reasons of the emergence of such a pessimistic group of ideas in the creative minds of the philosophers, we will come to know that it was the feeling of depression that was lurking behind all these thoughts.

Modernism is a term which is precisely defined as: “New ideas or methods in contrast to the traditional ones especially in art and religion.”

These days however modernism mostly includes denunciation or rejection of moral and religious values, promotion of vulgar fashions and ideas, trying to be as westernized as possible, loud and nonsensical music and emphasis on money rather than feelings or emotions. Every modern man who has adopted all these “golden virtues” is unconsciously suffering from loneliness, anxiety, agony, hopelessness and despair. If we analyze it carefully all these so called modern things are making us empty from inside. Just be objective and analyze. Loud music, rash driving, action movies , they all give entertainment for a short while and after that it just adds to your inner noise, never gives you peace. What kind of soul food it is? We just try to copy either Indian actors or the western ones, no identity of our own. Through out the life we keep on copying them and even then we say: “We are proud to be Muslims and Pakistanis.” Wow! What a sharp contrast of action and words. We often try to disown our religion by ignoring the demands of it. We regard our religion as conservative and we pose our selves to be broadminded, even when we don’t know the meaning of broadmindedness in its fullest sense. This is a term which is widely misunderstood. Broadmindedness doesn’t actually mean the open mixing of boys and girls or of copying other nations. Broadmindedness means looking at everything with a broader perspective keeping in mind all the factors, and sensibly analyzing what is good and what is bad for you. It is your thinking that you have to broaden up not only in the things of our own choice but in everything. When we get indulged in all the immoral activities which keep us apart from God what happens to us.?? We get mentally disturbed, unaware of the reasons behind. It’s quite automatic and by now it has been tested and well experienced. It is a commonly known fact that depression is a characteristic disease of the modern era. The group which is most adversely affected by it is the Youth. A depressed young man or woman can give nothing to either his family or nation. When the innocent youth unconsciously goes in depression the result is obvious. The feeling of anxiety and despair over powers us all the time. Then a sense of dread and fear emerges which horrifies us. Everything appears as absurd to us having no meaning and a dreadfully sad end. We think as if we are a prisoner of fate. The sense of loneliness alienates us from everything around. We feel like to do nothing. We feel ourselves unable to put our heart in anything we do. These disastrous symptoms of depression prevent us from doing well in any field. This is the matter which was basically behind the Existentialist movement. The purpose of finding a relation between an old movement and modernism is just to draw the attention of the readers to the fact that depression lead to the existentialist movement which was a body of pessimistic ideas. The negative trends in modernism are also leading us towards depression. Unconsciously or indirectly we are again moving towards existentialism. Modernism if adopted carelessly can prove to be a way to existentialism.

0

Who Is Not Insecure?

Article by Nadia Ghaffar The other day I had a visit to my doctor. He diagnosed one new thing about me. He said:

“You feel too insecure.”

This word “insecure” forced me towards a sea of thoughts. But there was only one sentence which came out:

“Who is not insecure?”.

If I look at my self, I belong to a blessed home. Allah has always been very kind and merciful. Living with parents, having own house, no financial issues, loving and caring family. Admittance of the blessings that I have been blessed with, forces me to think of the people who don’t have these blessings; yet they also have to face the insecurities which have become part and parcel of the environment. People who go out every day to earn their daily bread, which means the majority of our country these laborers, street vendors, fish mongers, shop keepers even beggars , are they secure in this pathetic condition of peace prevailing in our country? Naturally it not only effects their psyche but also their earning. Poverty has always been their basic issue and now these unstable and least predictable political and socio-economic conditions over all are like an added misery to them. Just like adding fuel to the fire, blazing in their lives. So the future is more insecure than before for them. Then I think of the promising youth, just graduated, full of hopes and enthusiasm, coming to the job market but neither getting good jobs nor dependable business because of the suffering economy. Are they not insecure of their future? Another thought makes me think about the children who are being brought up and taught in the same insecure environment. My child hood was pretty much clean of these things. At least no suicidal bombings, no killings, no missing persons, no local war zones and no frequent kidnappings were there. Life was not jeopardized by killing inflation and the fear of the prophesized famine. If still I am insecure then what about the future of these children who are growing up in this scene and scenario of destruction and devastation. Will they grow into a psychologically healthy young generation to take all responsibilities of the country? Then my thoughts floats towards the mothers and wives who see off their sons and husbands every morning and then finds their hearts in great anxiety and discomfort and keeps praying all the time for their safe return until either they come back or the news arrives. And they go through this practice every day. Are they not insecure too? All these thoughts leave me in utter disappointment. For sometime I feel there is no ray of hope. Then just like a lightning something flashes on the screen of my mind.

ALLAH says: “ Nahi hay insaan k liyae , magar wo jis ki os nay koshish ki ”

My brother often says that we are responsible for most of the things that happen to us. I often disagree with him, because miseries like diseases and major catastrophes are not our faults. But when I ponder upon what he says I partly agree with him. Allah has given most of the things in our own hands. The credit of what ever happens mostly goes to ourselves. The sole purpose of writing all this here is not to diagnose that we are all going to be psychologically insecure patients but to say that it is in our own hands. Instead of just pondering over social issues we need to break our silence. We have to take steps to secure the future of our generations and discourage every feeling of insecurity. Even little steps taken by us will make a difference somehow, as it is said that “Small gains make a heavy purse”. Its we who are going to change the things and start by making little differences, not the masters. So better come out, express your self in one way or the other, if not for the sake of the mother land then, for the emotional stability of our future generations.

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Book Review | The Incessant Struggle

Book Review by Nadia Ghaffar Author: Dr. Khalid Jameel Book: Teesra Janam

If you are one of those readers who read not only for the sake of enjoying immediate literary pleasure but also want to learn and gain something from the books written by wise men, then this book is the right selection for you.

Autobiography is a form of literature which gives you the widest room to learn something really practical and worth adding in your life and thoughts. It gives your mind enough food for thought and to get trimmed and polished as a result. The book under review is a heart touching autobiography “ Teesra Janam” (urdu) by Dr. Khalid Jameel Akhtar who is popularly known as Big Brother. When the title comes at sight the reader does not get any idea of the depth the book contains. The book is divided into three parts named as Pehla Janam, Doosra Janam and Teesra Janam. It is only after the first reading of the book that the reader gets the clear idea that how these three Janams are categorized according to the ups and downs that had been a part and parcel of the writer’s life. In the preface the writer has made it clear why he selected this title for his book. The Doctor says:

“Jub kisi wakayae ya saanhae k baad insaan ki soch aur ehsaas tabdeel ho jaen tou phir wo eik nayee zindagee ka aghaz karta hay. Aisee zindagee jis main wo yaksar badal jata hay aur wo eik nay tashakhus k sath bilkul nae andaaz say jeenay ki shuru vaat karta hay. Mayray nazdeek ye dar asal os ka naya janam hota hay.”

Starting with “Pehla Janam” the first part of the book refers to how the writer’s life was filled with unmatched flavour of constant success. The reader gets the idea that the success was actually a continuous follower who kept on chasing the author of the book through out this part of his life. The whole account is quite entertaining and joyful for whoever reads this part feel himself mesmerized. It has the power to drown the reader in it self. The book begins with the child hood memories of the writer when he enjoyed his life with his parents and siblings and moved on calmly with his life. The very name of the chapters under all sections give a clear idea of how the progression in his life takes place. The second part of the book “Doosra Janam” relates to how the writer’s life changed after the severe accident in his life. The beauty of the account here is that the author seems to be holding the hand of the reader and gets him through the realms of his mind and the soul’s inner conflicts. He has artfully exposed how his mind, soul, thoughts and consciousness were reacting to this major change in his life. The disastrous accident changed his life tremendously and this is how and when his thoughts, feelings and inner self went through a transformational change which is like a rebirth (i.e, Doosra Janam) smoothly leading him towards more development of his soul (i.e, Teesra Janam) which is the account of further and constant growth of his mind and soul. In the last part , Teesra Janam (which is also the title of the book) the writer adopts a didactic style. Like a polite and humble teacher he teaches us lessons about our own selves. He gives the examples of many of his patients and friends whose stories are another source of inspiration for readers. He has discussed the social problems and their solutions which are only possible if we bring a change in our thinking. The language and style of the author is quite informal to the extent that the reader’s flow of thought is never interrupted or confused and exactly moves with the progress in the story. This colloquial style has the breath taking control on the readers until the very end of the book. At some of the places the reader however feels that some details about the writer’s life after the accident are quite missing which could be there and would have added more meaning. Their absence is but skillfully covered. The concluding chapter of the book has sad over tones but keeping the whole book in mind, the reader feels himself inspired and full of motivation to bring positive changes in his life. The author Dr. Khalid Jameel is a physician by profession practicing in Lahore. He is not an old writer and this is his first book but what ever he has written has proved him to be a wonderful scholar and a worthy writer. Teesra Janam is an account of Dr. Khalid Jameel’s life which is not only undoubtedly different but also inspiring for common people. The way he has reacted towards terrible situations and incidents in his life has actually made him a great hero of hearts, an example for other people. It is a remarkable and inspirational autobiography of a brave man whose adamant determination and resilience is a paradigm for people of all times.

2

Developing Study Skills

This is a post by Nadia Ghaffar of Decent-Talk It is a common observation in our country that mostly the students who can not be successful at college or tertiary level think that they lack the necessary intellectual ability to study. Being dejected most of them change the subject and still facing troubles even become ready to leave the idea of continuing their studies unaware of the fact that they only lack well developed study skills. Although, students just like all human beings are different from each other and different strategies work for them in improving their skills however, the subsequent ideas will be helpful in the successful development of your study skills. Although they are minor points but you will notice that they would help you tremendously. State of Mind: The fore most important thing is your state of mind. Inspite of the well known fact that human mind can only concentrate for about fifteen seconds and then gets distracted automatically, tell your self that you are studying and doing the course to “LEARN” which is definitely going to be beneficial for you in future in being a professional. Keep in mind that the more you learn, the more you will understand the world around you and the more self reliant you will be. “Try to make your mind ready and willing to learn”, which will definitely improve your concentration. Maintain Your Concentration: While studying one thing, do not even think about the other course contents or subjects that you have yet to cover. Only concentrate on the one you are studying at that moment. The thoughts of the remaining work load has been proved to be a source of anxiety for the students which effects their performance by distracting the mind and making the studies stressful and worrying. Always keep in mind that studying in stress will make you tired much earlier than normal. Focus Your Self by Setting Goals: An effective way of focusing your mind and energies is to set goals. Goals will help you stay focused and monitor your progress. Simply sitting down to study has little value. You must be very clear about what you want to accomplish at the end of each study session. Time Management: Fix a time for study. It will make studying or reading a part of your daily routine just like sleeping and eating. When that scheduled time comes up during the day you will automatically be mentally prepared to study. Avoid Even Minor Interruptions During the Study Time: It is very important to keep your attention focused and avoid all kinds of distractions. Even minor distractions like SMS and missed calls on your cell phone matters a lot. Firstly they distract your mind and your tempo is interrupted. Secondly, calls or messages from your friends may talk about things that will distract you from what you need to do. The simplest solution is to turn off your mobile during your study time and keep your room locked from inside Take Small Breaks in Between: Do not exhaust your mind and body in one go. After every one and a half or two hours take a small break to freshen up your mind. Go out in the lawn, take a deep breath. Eat something that is of your choice and is readily available. Then after fifteen to twenty minutes start again with a fresh and bright mind. This is very effective for those students who find their studies to be very boring and dry and have got no other option than taking that course. Small breaks give you spanking new energy to cope up with the dry material you have to deal with. Difficult Assignments First: Work on your difficult assignments or course contents first because that is when your mind is fresh. Your difficult assignments require most of your effort. Your fresh mental energy will help you in doing that. Flow Charts and Diagrams: Flow charts and diagrams help you a lot in understanding what u study at a quick glance. Make a flow chart of the text that you are studying if it goes with it. According to Educationists and Psychologists, illustrations, flow charts, maps and diagrams takes a quick and deeper place in the human mind as compared to simple texts. Reviewing and Discussions: Reviewing and discussions have a lot of value in studying. Keep reviewing your notes that you take during the lectures, in your study time. It will clarify what are the points which are not clear in your mind about a topic. Do not feel hesitant in clearing your confusions and taking help of your instructor or friends. This is your basic right as a student. This is basically what discussions are meant for. Discussion is a case when “two heads are better than one”. They are sometimes even more beneficial than attending mere lectures and taking notes. So keep arranging discussions or combine study sessions from time to time. Self Analysis: Analyse yourself by writing what ever information you have in mind about a topic. It will give you a clearer picture of how you will perform in the exam. Secondly, review and carefully analyse your mistakes in your tests. What were the correct answers and how you missed them? Discuss with your instructor how can you improve your studying and test performance. Also discuss your tests with your friends who performed better. It will help you a lot in doing better next time. Just remember, “everything and every one can help you in learning “something”, only if you are eager to “learn”. .

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Happy Valentine's Day! Umm Yea...

Oh well! Hello every one. Hope things are dragging you in the right direction or I should say that you are dragging  things in the right direction. It was 12 am in the clock, 14th February crawled in the calender silently. I was heads down busy typing some documents and was deeply involved in it. Then stuck one and two and three... I lifted my head from the documents and notes when the clock was showing 3:27 am in the morning and that time I was really thinking, where the heck all this time went! A quote came in my mind

"My night has become a sunny dawn because of you." --Ibn Abbad

14th Feb. is known to be a day to express love before the beloved. Today's writing is a gratitude post for my beloved too And my beloved is my work which takes major time of my daily schedule and I love this. The romance does not complete without three words; Passion, dedication and energy. Well they may seem small words yet they have great impact having very vast prospectives! So guys, who is your beloved?