hush O autumn breeze...

The onset of autumn is always accompanied by change, the winds change direction, trees change their color, the weather changes its harshness. A slow yet cool breeze unlike the gusts of summer blows, it carries with it the final marching orders of all those withering leaves, who for so long have clung on the branches with all their will and might. No matter how much they want to stay till spring gives them a new life, they have to go. They have to surrender their will and their existence to the flow of time, they have to become a memory of what once was for the greater picture to be completed. It is time for them to perform their final act and leave the stage, but the show must go on, it always does. Autumn tells us how every journey has an ending and how every ending leads to a new beginning!
   On a cold evening in Misrata, Colonel Gaddafi could have thought the same. He might have felt the winds change direction. Their slow dance might have signaled that times were changing, that a new spring for him was not meant to be but like every withering leaf, he held on! Wouldn't you, wouldn't I? And  then the time came when he could hold on no longer, what happened afterwards as they say is history!

  What is done cannot be undone, the leaf that has fallen cannot be green again. Libyan people danced, rejoiced and felt relieved that a great evil had ended, Libyan people cried for their hero had fallen. That is, and always has been the irony of life, one mans hero is another mans villain. People wrote that he may be a tyrant but he deserved a private death, others will argue that a public spectacle ensured that no one in future will question the wrath of the people. I cannot judge them, for i have not experienced what they have, i have not been through anything.
   But what i do know is that this end will lead the Libyan people to a new beginning. A new begging for all those who rejoiced over his death and all those who cried. Me and my countrymen have seen this scene played out so many times, yet we have but gone from one betrayal to another. Death has great power, it can either unify or divide, this divine force can either invigorate or silence all hope. Today the Libyan people stand at the very same point. When you throw a stone in a stagnant pond, all of a sudden waves appear but unless their a force sustaining them, all too soon they die down and once again the pond is stagnant and quiet. Today the Libyans face the same dilemma.
     A few years down the lane, when they look back at the cool Misrata evening, will they make the same decision if given a second chance. But then it would have been too late, what is done cannot be undone. The winds will blow and will carry marching orders every season for the withering leaves, spring will bring with it rebirth only if the tree lasts that long.
       When a few years down history lane, the autumn winds will blow once again in Misrata, Tripoli, Cairo, Damascus, Tunis, Lahore, Karachi and all over the Muslim world, will we be strong enough trees to shed a few leaves to make room for the fresh spring flowers? Or will we say ,

hush O autumn breeze

there exists no tree 

for whose leaves you call

"come with me its time for fall"

The decision is up to us all, i do not judge for time will reveal what was true and what was false!

Betrayal...

Betrayal has been n will always be one of the greatest sources of grief and hurt for mankind. Not because it leaves a person lonely, but because it takes away the courage of a person to be with people due to the fear of finding one’s self alone and cheated again. I don't know if it imbalances personalities or not but it surely imbalances nations and their behaviors.

This imbalance is what makes mobs run amok and decimate everything and everyone. It takes away the judgment of good or bad. The immense feeling of hurt that stems from betrayal soon turns into a rage which if not addressed turns into an uprising. In the life of an individual betrayal may bring an end to all urges but in the life of a nation it brings the will to change the source of the betrayal, the method can be anything that the majority chooses. But the application of that method is swift and relentless.

On the streets of Gujranwala, in the sprawling metropolis of Lahore, from the mills of Faisalabad and from the fields of Sheikhupura masses emerged like a tsunami to sweep away what they thought as symbols of betrayal. Arson and show of civil disobedience is the method they chose, and when the mob forms it has a mind of its own. Not controlled by logic or compassion, it is a force that only loses its cutting edge when enough anger has been vented.

For generations promises were made, dreams were weaved only to be shattered again and again. Castles were built in the sky only to fall flat on the ground. People waited for the promises to come true, for the darkness to end but as time passed all hope was swallowed by the black holes, whose never ending hunger has taken even the last shreds of light. When the night seemed endless and enough people had been betrayed the hurt soon evolved into anger. When no compassion was shown to this pain, it all became a huge heap of explosives waiting to go boom. Warnings were there but when everyone is considering their individual gain more worthy than collective improvement, then all it takes is one moment, one occurrence or one voice and the flood gates open to unleash wave after wave of anger.

What is happening around us as a result of betrayal cannot and can never be justified. But when you put water over fire in an airtight container and don’t remove the heat then either the steam is going to leak through some small opening from time to time or its going to build up till it bursts open the walls. Our leaders and politicians were relentless in betraying the people, we the educated stood quietly and watched. The fire never went out, the small opening of hope and compassion never came, we waited and watched and now the steam has burst open the walls. The wheels have started turning, the mob has its own nature which leaves it vulnerable to be hijacked by anyone. It is time for everyone to make a choice, for the politicians to turn their promises into reality and for the betrayed people to think for a moment and look beyond the hurt. Anger has great energy associated with it which can make you do great things or things you would regret. It is the time for the people to decide they will not be hijacked by ill found and opportunistic compassion, blinded by the hurt of one betrayal do not expose your vulnerability to be lead towards another promise and yet another betrayal! It is the time to make a decision, the time to do what is right and what is required. The time to become hope and to provide true compassion is now otherwise this rage will sweep away everything. Time for the change that we want and need is now. Let us mature as a nation, as a people and let us not be betrayed again!

Beginning...

A clatter of thunder...
A sparkle of light...
Though worlds apart...
I'll never loose sight...
From the storm swept beach...
Watch this shooting star...
That burn's to shine... Comprehend its plight...
Surreal darkness eternal sojourn...
I have shed my fears...
Behold my flight...

Controversial...

What is controversial? what shakes my notions? or is it what questions the proven answers I have? or is it just something related to my judgement? I never stop judging, I do not sit back and observe. I jump in and judge, that is a very bad habit of mine but for now I'm only at loggerheads with it. With time i will overcome it, hopefully sooner than later. Now coming back to the question, what is controversial... The other day i was watching somebody talk about a person being controversial because of the way he was thought of by others, not because of what he is! and I was thinking and searching for an answer when i had that eureka moment.When suddenly the most obscure things start to make sense and you see the alternate reality of something. My answer to what is controversial and i am by no means an authority but this is what satisfied me.
 On a dark stormy night, all dark and wet, suddenly a clatter of thunder and the blinding lightning with it! A person can be as controversial as that clatter of thunder as it instills fear in some hearts and may seem like the ultimate voice of excitement to another. The amazing shine accompanied with that clatter may be blinding for some while it enlightens all the dark corners for some. It may instill hatred for some because it may be the hurdle in getting somewhere and it may be a gift for some who wanted to stay just a bit longer.
 But detached from our feelings, choices and wills it is just a clatter of thunder doing what is does and being itself.  To see its true being all i have to do is detach myself from my ego, from my will and my choices and then i will see its true face, feel what it is going through... feel it being the clatter of thunder and shine of lightning and at that moment it is not controversial at all!!!