Does eBay sells identities

Beginning of winter, standing outside my house I witnessed the migration of hundreds of birds, flying to new territories in search of food, water & a cozy shelter. The quaky voices of these birds were either full of joy for moving to a new home or tears for missing the home they have built over months with endless efforts.

We humans are not very different from these birds, we move from country to country in search of what we say 'a good future' but with the same aim, food, water & shelter. In last couple of centuries, we have populated barren continents, which includes US, Canada, Australia & many other countries that never existed on the face of world. We settled to these new lands & ultimately created new identities.

But this doesn't apply to every one, specially to those, who moved to Gulf countries. I am a 2nd generation expat, born, brought up & spent my entire life in a country that doesn't accepts me & would never even accept my next generation!!! So what should I do, move back to the country I am identified with, due to my passport? a country I have never even spent a month on my own.

This reminds me of the story of a lion who had spent all his life in a zoo & when released back in the jungle, was alienated by his own kind & ultimately killed by hyenas. That's what I am & the hundreds of thousands of other 1st & 2nd generation expats who have dedicated their lives to the development of Gulf countries, but have no identity. One fine morning we can be sent back to our countries by the (legal) sponsors with a 'No Entry' stamp on the passport, left in hands of hyenas to kill us.

It has taken us a generation to establish our selves in this new territory & built a house, which we call home & am not ready to leave this place so cheaply. So tell me if eBay or any other online portal sells identities, 'coz I need one & am ready to pay any price to get one.

Better be idiot then hypocrite

Before I go on & paste my views, let me tell you this write up is dedicated to idiots.

Idiots hold a very important place in human race, if we people were demarcating boundaries based on race, then let me assure you that idiots would have build a nation even bigger than China. Like Chinese they are every where, almost one in every house or atleast couple of them in every neighbourhood. They speak different languages, practice different religions, but all have some thing in common, idioticity.

Hypocrites are different, more like hidden cult societies, they are every where but few of them are influential enough to turn things around. The difference b/w idiots & hypocrites is, idiots are told by every one what they are but they don't accept; on the other hand hypocrites accept but no one dares to tell them.

I met a Couple some time back, one an idiot while other an extremely hypocrite. As usual, got pissed by the idiot & chose the hypocrite. It took me just over 2 weeks to realize the truth of the hypocrite. Easy tears though claiming their existence unveiling virginity for me (virginity of tears), sudden change of emotions, ufluent sage of words to escape situations & trying to be assertive when loosing the battle. Idiots on the other hand are normally honest, possessive, caring, courteous enough to look back & ready to accept their flaws but certainly are no brainer.

Ask yourself a question, one I have asked myself & answered; who among them is better, a hypocrite, with a Panadol Extra type of personality or an idiot, the regular Aspirin. Both let your headache to go off for a while but is back later. So if you are a believer of what comes quick, goes quick go for the hypocrite, otherwise, the idiot is the best solution, who works slow but stays longer!

I have a soft corner in my heart for idiots, as they are the least recognized people around. Look at the history, every king's court, parliament or army had plenty of idiots but no one remembers them, whereas every successful hypocrite made its way into books. Hypocrisy is like an addiction, the more you succeed, the more you indulge yourself & the best part is if you are caught, you are instantly famous, if not you play your role like an undercover cop & go ahead. While idiot what ever great thing he/she does, is ultimately is forgotten.

If I got a chance to re-write the history, I would dedicate a couple of chapters to the idiots, as being an idiot is not addictive, its a curse & a curse could be only broken via spells written in mystic books.

To heaven & back, with 'enlightened moderation'

Last week out of blue, dropping my plans for Egypt & Turkey, I decided some thing different, some thing for no reason I was hesitant to go for, a vacation in Pakistan. My concern was never terrorism, as I don't fit the profile either ways. So packed my bags, took what ever flight available & started my trip.

The natural beauty of the country, I tapped in 1 week was much more than what I had seen in my whole life. In 6 hours, climate changes from 30*C to 0*C, scenery changes from barren grounds to lush green mountains & elevation reaching up to 7000 ft. But the most interesting part was the people!!

I had read alot about prosperity reaching the country & enlightened moderation changing the political scenarios. First impression, I was surprised; but it lasted in 15 minutes & after crossing the hi end colonies, life changed & changed to bitter realities. Broken roads, dusty atmosphere, noisy 3 wheelers & top of all shattered faces. Every face has a story to tell, some sound pleasant but mostly bitter; bitter enough to tangle your thoughts.

A 20 minutes ride in the downtown city is good enough to intake pollution, you would absorb in a city like Dubai in 6 months. Commodities are expensive & utilities not reachable every where; schooling either shabby or expensive. If clean water is available, then the question is how clean is clean. Dyrea, H-B & Typhoid cases are every where, but Doctors! what can they do???

What ever good or bad I saw is baseless, coz 5% of the rich social class is living a Best In Class life, great roads, excellent schools, state of art facilities & cafes second to non. Guys wear Armani's & gals ofcourse wear traditional dress 'Shalwar Kameez', which is modified short enough to call Shalwar a hipster & the long Kameez a blouse. This is called enlightened moderation, happiness of 5% at the cost of 95%.

I am confident one day Pakistan would be a prosperous nation, a nation made for the survival of a niche bunch. But, what would happen to the rest? Either they would learn to live a dejected life or blood would find its way out.

Let's hope for the best.....

So can I up-size my kids!

For most of the evils today, we blindfoldedly blame US; so lets start this article in the same way. The trend of up-sizing started from US fast food chains, where for few extra cents you can get a gigantic drink & fries, which ultimately lead to a whole generation of up-sized people.

When this trend reached here, our people took it to a new dimension, a level you would have never imagined a few years back. Last week, on a discussion over children, a friend of mine said, "I love kids only when they are newly born or grown upto 6 years of age, in between that, I hate them & am better off to adopt a kid then to see that stage".

These words left me a thought, next generation family life is like dirty laundry, you know how to get your clothes dirty & love to wear them back, once they are clean, but the effort of cleaning them you don't wanna be part of it.

Have you ever thought why in South Asian culture, children still have parents on their top priority, even ahead of career at times. It's all because of the hardships parents face to bring them up & when the child sees that, he/she acknowledges it! & some where in the mind that respect always stays. In rural parts of Pakistan, mothers lactate their children till the age of 4!!! eat the food after feeding their children & work in farms to get basic necessities.

On the other hand, if some one deals the real investment age of their children as a useless time & think that, at the age of 6 or 10 they will get fully trained robots, then I know one thing for sure; the future of these people is either in old people homes or alone in a dark corner.

To me, this is the new side of up-sizing; getting a fully integrated, ready to roll family. But wise men say, no pain no gain. Think about it!