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Conflicts, causes and remedies CONFLICT is suffering. Nearness of an unwanted person is suffering. The absence of a loved one is suffering. To get what one does not wish for, and, conversely, not to get what one desires is suffering. Suffering is universal...		Portrait of a Gaullist soul MANY years ago, asked by this writer, then a young university professor, what in a nutshell was his philosophy of life, Jacques Chirac, then an out-of-work politician, retorted without a blink: “You have to know when to lose, or rather...
Relations never end OUR society has accorded ethical and social values the paramount position in our cultural hierarchy. These values form the core of our inter-personal relationships. Adherence or lack thereof to the social...		Celebrating the golden jubilee of the Queen’s reign THE queen’s birthday celebrations have always been a big event at Runnymede, in Clifton of course. Gone are the days when Pakistan was a dominion and the governor general used to...
Stranded at the crossroads I HAD come to a fork on the road. Which path would I take? We like to believe that it is our choice. Sadly, it is not. I had been...		English is left high and dry PAKISTAN clergy has played a key role first in creating distance then dislike and then hatred for English language, the most spoken and written language of the world, which was not...
Time talks PEOPLE keep many a things in their bank vaults but timebanking is a concept that intrigued me a lot. In February 2000, a movement of timebanking was initiated in London. The idea was simple but is gathering momentum. In the countries of West where massive changes have taken place, old traditions have died and replaced by extreme...		Assumptions and speculations SPECULATIONS are undeniably the most popular sport in the national capital. Even delicate details of people’s personal lives and conduct do not escape the speculator’s attention. Reports and interpretations — never...
Exploring the Attock Fort AS I entered the Attock Fort my heart leapt with joy. It was great to see the legacy of a grand era. I had finally made it. A visit to the Fort is restricted. It becomes more restricted when people are under trial there. Erected on hilly terrain above Indus, from where...		Lives of commuters are at stake TRAVELLING by coaches has become a very dangerous and risky task in Karachi. Unfortunately, there are few economical options for the citizens to reach their destinations except getting on these dangerous...
A developing dynamo “I ONCE asked my history teacher how we were expected to learn anything useful from his subject, when it seemed to me to be nothing but a monotonous and sordid succession...		Overrun by people THERE was a time when silence and serenity of Edwards Road (now Bank Road) of Rawalpindi Cantonment would be disturbed by the rare passage of an odd motor car, while we...
Fascination of a foreign degree THE marks I had obtained couldn’t get me an admission in any good institute, so I was left with no other choice but to go for a newly-opened university. The advertisement...		The alternative life of dreams DREAMS are the royal road to unconscious. We dream to forget. Dreaming reduces the fantasy or obsession. Dreams are more perceptual than conceptual. Dreams are not disguised as a consequence of repression, their unusual...
The master conqueror THE family of Ayyub (father of Salahudin) lived in the Armenian town of Dvin. They were the descendants of the Kurds and they settled in Dvin with Jews and Christians and lived in complete harmony. Later Ayyub with his brother Shirkuh, moved to Iraq where he was appointed Commandant of the Castle of Takrit. On the eventful night...		The Rajaji Formula THE first Congress’s official reference to the Pakistan demand came in its Working Committee’s resolution on the Cripps’ proposals on April 11, 1942. Inter alia, it said, “...Congress has been wedded to Indian freedom and unity...
Say it with books FROM the Klashankov culture to the bookfair culture is indeed a laudable journey. While strolling in the book fair held in the Punjab University’s New Campus, I found myself in the...		Battle of cyberspeed THE angry young man, brimming with latent energy at the challenges he has set himself, turned after hurling one of the fastest balls bowled in cricket history. On the boundary...
Uncertainty hits Pakistan cricket WHAT a pity! Everything was ready. Everyone was geared up. The hype was there. The arrangements were all there. The teams were just about to leave for the National Stadium where...		Fast and fabulous Shoaib Akhtar talks to Dawn about his passion for pace and life as he sees it. It seems Shoaib is not the rude, wild stallion many make him out to be....
Palestine and Arab nationalism – II ISRAEL broke the modus vivendi in 1956 by attempting to annex Sinai in collusion with England and France. However, USA forced it to retreat as part of its general policy of evicting the British influence from the Middle East, though the war forced Nasserist Egypt into re-arming with Soviet assistance. But its policy towards Israel did not change....		Flown out of the nest THE most happening thing these days in Pakistan is bidding adieu to the country. It is considered most triumphant to tell others that you are leaving Pakistan on such and such...
Delaying age DO you want lots of energy? Do you wish to be free of the aches and pains synonymous with aging? Who doesn’t, you ask? But how?...		What makes the difference? I READ Shazman Sharif?s article, To wear or not to wear, on whether to wear or not to wear hijab in April 21 issue. I want to share my views...
MOSAIC: Back on the web WALLACE and Gromit, the Oscar-winning animated characters, are making a comeback for the first time in six years in a series of short films that will be available free on the...		Newsmaker FORMER US president Jimmy Carter’s globe-trotting adventures have taken him to the extremes of this war-ravaged world. But his latest escapade to communist Cuba holds more significance than any of his previous attempts to bring peace....