August 18, 2007

Wrong career choices

This is with reference to Fatima Ali’s article ‘Wrong Career Choices’ (YW, July 28). I agree that parents do sometimes force their children to opt for subjects which are not of their interest and maybe they do it because they think it’s good for their child’s future but even elders should try and understand the fact that when their child doesn’t have interest in a specific subject how can he/she excel in it and pursue it further.

Even the students themselves should not opt for a subject just to be with their friend if they don’t have any interest in the subject.

In the end I would like to request the parents that though your decision about your child’s future would obviously be for their benefit, you should at least take a suggestion from your child.

Sindhya Choudhry,
14 years, Karachi

Are machines making us lazy?

This is with reference to Samreen Lodhi’s letter ‘‘are machines making us lazy?’’. I totally agree with her on all her points and want to express my feelings on this topic.

Science has reached its peak and is getting more sophisticated and advanced day by day. Science has made people’s life more comfortable and easier as they are getting used to all the luxuries and now they don’t want to work at all. Obviously machines are making us lazy day by day. Nowadays due to more sophisticated and advanced technology people usually depend on these rather than applying their mental and physical efforts.

In older times people used to climb stairs to reach the required floor and also claimed stair climbing as an exercise to keep oneself fit, but the new generation do not care about this and instead of climbing stairs they use lifts.

Sitting at the computer and Playstation for a long time also affects our health and also reduces our physical activity. Watching TV for long hours also makes us dizzy and prevents us from doing any physical activity; hence a sedentary lifestyle contributes to weight gain.

So we should realise that the use of more machinery has made us lazy thus causing us to fall prey to many dangerous diseases.

Mahnoor Nadeem

Rubbish dumps

Asim Khan’s letter on ‘Rubbish dumps’ (YW, July 28) grabbed my attention, as a similar problem is being faced in most parts of Faisalabad.

Faisalabad is a major city of Pakistan, yet no action is taken to prevent this city from turning into a garbage dump. Most parts of Faisalabad are badly polluted. Except for the main roads, almost all roads have heaps of rubbish and dung besides them.

In most localities, there is no proper sewerage system or a place to discard rubbish. People have no choice but to dump in the empty plots at the sides of their homes. The empty plots are also used as outlets for sewerage. This adds to the horrible smell of rubbish, dung and sewerage and makes life miserable for all people living in the locality.

We have to pay tax on everything ranging from an SMS to a cake of soap. But what do we do? Is it to live in the midst of mountains of rubbish and lakes of sewerage water?

I request the city authorities to do something before Faisalabad turns into a real living hell.

Huda Jilani,
Faisalabad

Help us!

The increasing traffic is creating a lot of problems. Roads are full of vehicles and everyone wants to go first and that is why accidents take place. I agree that these vehicles are the need of the day but they are very dangerous too. The smoke of cars, rickshaws, motorcycles can cause great harm to our environment and our health. Due to the excessive pollution the ozone layer is thinning. Because of the hole in the ozone layer the sun’s harmful ultra violent rays are attacking our surroundings and us. But we tend to overlook this problem.

There is a need for the government to take some necessary steps to protect our environment and us. The use of CNG in place of petrol and diesel should be encouraged. More trees must be planted in the city, which will lead to a better and healthy environment.

Mahrukh Khan,
13 years, Lahore