The color Pink!

"The feminine woman is forever static and childlike. She is like the ballerina in an old music box, her unchanging features tiny and girlish, her voice tinkly, her body stuck on a pin rotating in a spiral that will never grow" By Susan Faludi

For the past 18 years, I have been taught as a girl to be shy, honest, loving, caring and at the top silent. Loving as a human but silent as a commodity, a commodity which serves and serves and nothing is there which in return it deserves.
The atmosphere, the environment, the movies, and the relatives all guided me to be a subordinate because I’m a girl. A girl who studies to serve, marries to serve and who if earns is also to serve, her life should be spent to make others happy no matter what she gets as an outcome.
And the most weird thing is that I followed these norms, the norms of the so called experienced, the norms made from but against religion. The norms which sometimes make our women feel not human. I followed them blindly like every girl does in our society. I played with dolls, made houses, dreamed about pink dresses and tried to be a master chef. I didn’t care if this was what I wanted to do, didn’t bother if my instincts, my passions were suppressed somewhere dying to perspire.
Then I passed school, went to college but life didn’t change. Same old girls obsessed with the way they look externally. I began life there with an effort to pursue admiration for beauty, clothes, jewelry and desire to look the way they did. I forced to live a life where no body will call me a manly woman.
But as the time passed by I realized that I’m not one of them. Not the one who loves jewelry, who wears pretty bright clothes and certainly not the one who looks at the eyelashes and complexion rather than the real soul and expression. And yes! That was the time I discovered myself. I didn’t love the color pink, I didn’t wish to live a fairytale and find my prince charming who will climb up my braided hair. I wanted a life filled with adventures; I wished to explore my inner self. I’m not an object to be dressed and utilized rather I’m a full-fledged member of the human community. That was the time I started following my dreams.
Since then I have been challenging myself at every point of life and testing my stamina to the maximum. When people see me deviating from the stereotypical “girlish” standards they call me manly, when I cut my hair they call me insane, my efforts of independence are seen as obsolete by them. Thus they try hard to break my confidence and make me feeble. But I can see the hidden fear in them, fear that one day I will discover those strengths that every woman is supposed to repress, fear that my denial will encourage others to breakthrough these shackles of rules webbed around us. But don’t mistake this as my desire to break my religion rather it’s an effort to rule out those norms made in the name of religion.
I’m neither a feminist nor a member of male hatred community instead I like to have my share of space in the world, the space that every woman deserves just like any man. Briefly, I do whatever I feel like doing instead of whatever others want me to do. And if after going through this article you find me tomboyish or a manly woman then surely you’re influenced deeply by those stereotypes created by our ancestors to degrade anyone who dares to survive in this wretched world.

Foundation of relationships: Trust or Distrust?

We're never so vulnerable than when we trust someone - but paradoxically, if we cannot trust, neither can we find love or joy” Walter Anderson
Life revolves around either those you love or those you don’t. The foundation of love is trust and the foundation of hatred is distrust.
Human beings are born bonded, trapped and webbed in relationships. These bonds are strong and inflexible. Once these relations are clearly defined, begins the true tale of struggle. Struggle to satisfy your loved ones, to come up to their expectations, the effort to never lose the faith they have in you. Your whole life begins to twist and twine around them. Each and every second spent is a moment with fear of being left alone by those whom you love and the fear of uncertainty. This fear of betrayal makes the insatiable human to search for more. And then you wander and look for friends. Friends who without any conditions, any expectations share your sorrows and cherish your company. But the key to friendship is unfortunately also trust. You trust your friends, believe their each and every word and spend the best moments of your life with them. But the fear of being betrayed remains, the fear of being alone in the dark, of being left out and the key to this fear is distrust.
Again human nature takes a step further to eradicate this fear and there begins the search of that someone special. You leave those who love you in the search of love. Search of someone who will give you respect, will support you throughout your life and trust you for whatever you do. But the tarnished human nature strikes again in the form of infidelity for someone more lovable than the one we have. This time opposite sex attracts for an unknown reason and you blindly follow. The trust is broken and this time we name our uncontrollable desires as true love.
Thus we spend our whole life searching for someone to hold our scattered life together. We define different terms to make new relations and also to break the old ones. But in this struggle to find someone dependable what we are left with are only some broken hearts, horrifying memories and abraded souls. The search of fidelity when combined with human’s treacherous mind just leaves marks of distrust which accompany us till we perish.

Symbolic value of ancient symbols in 21st century

Some symbols have been inculcated in people nowadays in a way that we assume these as well established facts.
One of these symbols is the symbol of kingship; the main characteristics of throne, large proportion, rigid position and higher ground remained almost similar which are assumed about kings till date. In Sumerian art the image of the king was portrayed as the one seated on a throne larger in proportion to other human figures. E.g. the standard of ur (2600 B.C.) depicts the king as a tall figure whose head even crosses the upper bound even if seated. Egyptians even used special canons to depict heroic rigid figures of the kings. The seated sculpture of khafre (2600 B.C.) shows a king with a headdress, throne, rigid posture and a heroic body while the sheikh el-balad’s sculpture (2500 B.C.) is depicted without the canons because he was an ordinary man. The concept of sovereign kings can be seen in the victory stele of Naram-sin (2300-2200 B.C.) who larger than others stands in a heroic victorious posture above others. The awe and reverence has always been created either by large scale/proportion or the throne. The four seated ramses figures in the temple of ramses II (1257 B.C.) on a throne with a headdress and the huge scale show that the king has always been a reverent not an ordinary civilian, his feet placed above the ground to highlight his status. Similarly in persepolis (518-460 B.C.) in apadana the seated figure on a ground higher than standing figures shows the rigid posture and courtiers are some characteristics which we assume about a king or higher official today. The modern day’s president is a person whose special than the civilians, the concept of god as kings might have changed but the sovereignty after god still lies with him/her even in a democratic state. Like the kings, president gives a speech on a center space stage higher than others. The rigid posture of prince Charles, the throne and embellished headdress of queen Elizabeth II are a modified version of the ancient symbols. The high status is depicted with large president houses which replaced the ancient palaces . The reason why a president is not expected to socialize among other civilians is because of the inculcated eternal supremacy granted to kings since ancient times.

The other ancient symbol is the concept of sacred water present in religions today worldwide. Water was considered as a god in Sumerian period (2600 B.C.). The Egyptians believed in the sacred lotus flower which bloomed from the sacred water. This flower was considered the origin of the re the sun god which created the world e.g. the osiris sits on the eternal waters in the final hall of judgment depicted by egyptians (1290 B.C.). The great bath of Indus valley also shows the religious affiliation of people with the sacred water probably used for ritual bathing . The concept of sacred water is prominent in Hinduism which considers water as the source of lotus flower like egyptians. Hindu texts describe that water represents the procreative aspect of the absolute, water represents piety, purity and Vishnu in bhagwand gita is portrayed as sitting on eternal waters (Goel ). The ganges river in India supposedly carries the blessings of Vishnu and hindus take a dip in it to cleanse their ills and souls much similar to the bath at Indus valley. In Islam the holy water zamzam well is revered because of its historical significance. Zamzam well is the site from where Hazrat Ismail (R.A) son of Hazrat Ibrahim (R.A) drank water when he was left with his mother Hazrat Hagar (R.A) in a desert. In Judaism the sacred water and bathing ritual is highlighted by construction of mikveh which is collection of spring clear running water. It is meant for cleansing from leprosy, semen, childbirth and menstruation. In catholic churches the sacred water is used for blessing and rushing away evil spirits. The holy river at Jordan is believed to be the place where Jesus was baptized and bathing there preaches forgiveness from sins (Altman). Thus all religions have highlighted water as a sacred element for purification of soul since ancient societies of Egypt or Indus valley though backgrounds have been changed in every religion.


Work Cited

Altman, Nathaniel. Sacred water. Washington: Hidden spring, 2002.

Goel, Anil. “God’s favourite flower.” Jul. 1999. Lotus Sculpture. 25 Jul. 2009.

Metallurgical techniques of Indus Valley Civilization

Excavations uncovered the remains of highly urbanized and modern towns at Harappa, Kot dijji, Mohenjo-Daro etc integrated as Indus Valley civilization (2800-2600 B.C.). This era is generally praised for its seals, jewellery and town planning; also shows great progress in metallurgical techniques of bronze, lead, arsenic bronze and Copper. Although main emphasis was on trade, but the artisans adopted several exquisite techniques to manipulate different alloys for usage in sculptures, ornaments, tools and also created motifs which are still being used in customized versions in various South-Asian regions.
Indus valley metallurgists used metals such as copper, lead, gold, bronze and silver. Several crucibles of copper slag are discovered which marks the beginning of metallurgy. Most of the beads found are coated with copper glaze which must have been melted in a 1000 degree temperature kiln (Mcintosh) and perforated with thin copper wires. The beads are used in various areas for stylization purposes till date in sub-continent. Gold and silver were employed as ornaments in this era. Globular and jasper beads of gold found are still being used in Gujarat by women for hairstyling. Gold necklaces even less than 0.25 mm in diameter are some of the technological advancements in gold (Lothal) Fig1. The gold pendants found with inlaid gems are still quite common in sub-continent generally referred as “Tika” Fig2. Silver was separated from lead and hammered into sheets. The art of hammering gold and silver in thin sheets is visible even till date in the sub continent where people use Silver and Gold foils to garnish their sweets Fig3. The evidence also shows that lead alloy with copper and bronze was utilized in Indus valley (2500 B.C.). Credit for development of various alloys in the south-asian countries also goes to Indus Valley civilization. They vigilantly made alloys such as Tin, Arsenic bronze and bronze by smelting copper with other metals (Claus). Bronze was extensively used in making sculptures. Bronze was also used by mughals for making pots and copper for basins and are quite common till date Fig4.
They introduced metallic sculpture casting techniques for the first time in South-Asia. One of these is the french “Cire-Perdue’ meaning ‘Lost-wax’. This technique uses Bronze alloy to cover the clay mold (Bronze). The symbolic bronze sculptures of this era seem to be an inspiration for different cultures where they are worshipped and have been modified into complete religious characters.
One of the finest examples of Bronze Sculptures found from layers of Indus valley is the “Dancing girl”Fig5. The dancing girl is a masterpiece in terms of fluidity in curves and lines. The girl symbolizes a woman in a dancing posture made from Bronze, solid and compact. Bronze sculptures were later used extensively in various periods for religious purposes. Most of them seem to be an inspiration from the Dancing girl in terms of technique and the Yogic postured deities found on Indus seals in terms of depiction. Thus an amalgamation of religion and metallurgy can be seen in them. People suggest that later in 9th and 10th century Chola bronze period, Dancing girl was used as an inspiration in the form of Cosmic dance of Siva (Mankind) Fig6. Similarly, Yogic figures of Mahavira from 6th to 12th century are made by using Lost-wax technique and the posture is quite similar to yogic-deities of Indus Valley Fig7. Various forms of lord Shiva and Vishnu bronze sculptures are also found at Thanjavir from Tamil Nadu from 8th to 16th centuries Fig8. All these figures use Lost-wax as per the technique is concerned. Motif of dancing girl and Yogic deities seems to be source of inspirations for these religious characters.
Thus, Metallurgy developed as a skill in Indus valley civilization. Various forms of Gold and Silver Ornaments found are quite similar to what are used even now. Copper, Lead and Bronze were a sign of an extremely sophisticated metallic system for making tools, sculptures and pots. These sculptures were may be modified and utilized by different regions of the sub-continent for religious purposes. But the highlight of the region’s metallurgy is that the techniques introduced by Indus Valley metallurgists e.g. copper glazes or the Lost wax method were used in the sub-continent even after 1000’s of years. Thus Indus valley paved the way for Future metallurgists and artisans for creating masterpieces.

Work Cited
“Bronze Sculpture.” Indianetzone Sculptures. 18 Jul. 2009.


Claus, Sarah Mills and Margaret Mills. South Asian Folklore. Taylor and Francis, 2003.

“Lothal”. Wikipedia. 17 Jul. 2009.


“Mankind’s metallurgical Heritage”. 18 Jul. 2009.


Mcintosh, Jane. The Ancient Indus Valley. ABC-CLIO, 2007.

Fig 1: Jewellery (Left) Fig 2: silver sheet

Fig 3: Dancing Girl (Left) Fig 4: Mughal bronze pot (Right)

Fig 5: Cosmic Dance of Shiva

Formation of unconventional gender roles in Social Classes

Abstract
This article basically discusses the existence and formations of unconventional gender roles opposed to the gender stereotypical models in social classes. Deviations from stereotypes have been proved through variable level of literacy, supremacy and income in different classes. It has been proposed that although people tend to expect stereotypic behaviors from males and females but deviations from these gender models are existent and unacceptable by the common man causing social disharmony in both extreme classes of the society. Firstly income is taken into account and proved via analysis that in lower classes it causes disharmony and in upper classes it causes deviations from home-making in females. Then literacy and gender gap in lower classes has been discussed while in upper classes higher literacy rates is shown to be a cause of digression from stereotypes. The third point discusses nuclear and joint families and their impacts in social classes. Conclusively, gender norms have been proved to be the cause of gender biased behavior and flexibility in norms is suggested to cater to the increasing unconventional roles in the society.

Formation of unconventional gender roles in Social Classes
The role of a” Man as a Provider and of a Woman as a Homemaker” has been persistent in all the societies for many centuries. In ancient times this role was more pronounced due to the majority of tasks requiring physical labor which gave males a plus point over the females. Overtime, increasing replacement of physical labor by intellectual tasks accompanied with the notions of “female empowerment” is still unsuccessful in changing the definition of a man as a breadwinner and of a woman as a homemaker as presented in the Male breadwinner model (Pascall). A fixed set of characteristics are commonly related to males for example power, aggression, practicality, emotional strength etc and similarly to females such as gentleness, nurturance, impracticality etc in all parts of the world, disregarding minute inter-cultural deviations. This has led to the formation of stereotypical gender models. This uniform behavior across borders is the implication of social cognitive theory presented by Millar and Dollard in 1951 which suggests a continuous influence of environment over society and vice versa (Social). Thus, these models are regarded the criterion for perfection. But these “Stereotypes” ignore the variations in these characteristics by the changes in socio-cultural variables such as education, income and family systems etc. (Matlin). The major flaw in these fixed roles is highlighted when both the sexes display characteristics of opposite sex depending upon the degree of change in socio-cultural variables. These changes are more highlighted in the two extremes of the society i.e. the lower class with lower income levels and the elite with greater concentration of wealth. This simultaneous existence of stereotypes and digressions leads to incapability of certain members of the society to accept the divergence from perfections. Although certain perfect characteristics are assigned and expected out of males and females by the society, but variables related to different social classes lead to formations of unconventional gender behaviors and thus, flexibility should be brought into gender roles to ensure acceptability which would enforce social harmony.
Social classes are defined by income differentiation, which is a leading factor behind formation of unorthodox gender roles. Females in most of the poverty stricken households earn a major portion of the income which makes females the Breadwinner in lower classes. A survey conducted in Ghani concluded that female headed households i.e. FHH counted for almost 39% percent of the total 20,000 sample and made up 46% of it below the poverty line. Similarly in Jamaica male headed households i.e. MHH constituted almost 9% people below the 10th percentile of poverty line in comparison to 11% of the FHH (Quisumbing, Haddad and Pena). This role of a female as an earner is regarded as the “failure of a man” in the lower classes due to the norm of patriarchy. Males due to insecurity and shame resist on sharing powers of an earner with the female and force females to manage the household tasks despite of working hours. The conventional role of male breadwinner changes because of economic circumstances. But it also distorts the traditional definition of a feminine homemaker, as woman are forced to face the world like a man to earn livelihood thus they deviate away from the centuries old image of introvert, timid and dependant homemakers. Thus, just a mere income factor causes social disharmony amongst men and women.
In elite class, the situation is different because the defined gender roles are although rigid yet comforting. The excess of wealth is often related to the success of a man as a breadwinner and men are comfortable with their respective positions of a decision maker. Due to no pressure regarding financial matters, males promote liberal thoughts for gender equity and females engage themselves in activities in accordance with there aptitudes (Ostrander). The atmosphere is peaceful and working females are not forced to maintain the household work due to the affordability of servants again deviating from the norms. But still complete power of decision-making rests with the male which shows that in case of a failure in the role of a “Supplier” the outcomes could be the same as in lower classes. Thus in both the situations, fixed gender roles are not followed and females significantly tend to diverge from their role as a house-maker. But in lower classes unacceptability causes household disputes and distorts the social serenity.
The second differential in the social classes is education. Gender biased behavior is often linked with literacy. People in lower class are usually more illiterate and unskilled while upper classes consist of highly educated and knowledgeable people (D’Amico). Illiteracy breeds Patriarchy (Walker and Barton). The narrow-mindedness towards “female empowerment” due to ignorance leads to the increased gender disparity in education in lower classes. E.g. in India there is a 2.5% difference gender literacy gap in richest classes and 34% gap in lower classes (Filmer). As per biased uneducated males, education appears to be a luxury for “boys only”. Take the example of Pakistan where the enrollment of girls in school is 77% in lower income quintile while it is 100% highest income quintile (Khan). Thus, the unacceptability of deviations from centuries old gender norms leads to disharmony of the society in terms of illiteracy of not only girl child but also of future mothers and generations.
In elite class, the case is opposite degree of gender discrimination is low due to higher literacy. Girls and boys enjoy equality in terms of literacy. Educated parents emphasize on gender equity and prefer getting their girls educated at parallel level with their boys. Education opens avenues of certain unconventional occupations for each gender. E.g. males are opting for fashion, cooking, and interior designing and females are actively pursuing law, engineering, surgery, architecture etc. But despite of higher education, people opting for such unconventional occupations face cultural and social unacceptability issues (Walker and Barton). In both classes lives of individuals are hampered due to stereotypical roles. In lower classes illiteracy breeds discrimination, while in upper classes informed but unconventional career choices leads to social unacceptability. Both these factors have a lasting impact on society and future generations
The third factor is the existence of nuclear vs. joint families. In lower classes presence of joint families complicates the situation. In a combined family: male sovereignty is unchallenged, there is pressure of females to give birth to children especially in the absence of a male child. All this leads to poor health. In lower classes the problems are related to affordability of health and increasing trends of mental stress, alcohol, infant mortality, depression etc. Male sovereignty leaves little or no room for females to decide about birth-control which results in a bad health of a female. Almost 585,000 women die every year due to pregnancy and child birth (UN). In Asian-African countries where the per capita income is less, the infant mortality rates are recorded to be 13.63/1000 in 2005 which is one of the highest in the world (O’Connor). E.g. in Pakistan, in rural areas the birth rate per thousand is 199.6 for girls between 15-24 years of age and neo-natal mortality rate is 52.9 as compared to 142.1 and 39.3 in upper classes respectively (Pakistan). On the other hand it is observed by Gender health questionnaire that disorders of disassociation and somatization i.e. multiple personality disorder and posing divination respectively, are prominent among females and it could be derived that these disorders are an outlet for females to convey protest and distress by posing divination and command. Psychopathological problems are 2.5 times more prevalent in lower classes than in elite classes (Mukhopadhyay and Sudarshan). In males on the other hand, alcohol and violence is also a form of mental frustration and jealousy due to earning females. Disability in men is almost 26% due to alcohol and drugs as compared to only 6% in females (Mukhopadhyay and Sudarshan ). A survey conducted in lower classes concluded that 60% of females in Sri Lanka, 50% in Bangkok and in Mexico 1 out of 3 poor women are victims of violence (Mukhopadhyay and Sudarshan). While in upper classes because of the nuclear family all these problems are not highlighted however the incidence of cardiac and stress related diseases is high. Reason is that nuclear family as an entity struggle hard to deviate away from the existing societal roles. This creates an unnecessary psychological pressure (Klever). On the other hand biological and reproductive disorders are less due to use of contraceptive, affordability and less fertility rates. Thus problems due to fixed gender norms in joined and nuclear families are catastrophic for men and women in distinct ways.
On the contrary pro-breadwinner model countries take the stance of granting specific roles to males and females within the welfare regimes. This principle of addition in const. is based on the assumption of familism i.e. restrictive roles in families and to ensure welfare for males bearing the responsibilities of households. Countries which follow this familism and conservatism include Italy, France, Portugal, Germany, Austria, Spain and many others (Minguez). These welfare regimes try to promote and grant special rewards for working males. Females are granted special roles of nurturing and home-making taking in account of their biological tendencies to be vulnerable (Pascall). Women are thought to be intellectually weak and uncompetitive for the males in the society. Gender equity is disregarded on the basis of eternal dominance of men to-be-in-control by testosterone levels and female headed households are rejected on the basis of vulnerability due to hormonal imbalance and oestrogen (Anitei).
The arguments presented by the welfare regimes and biological stances can be negated on the basis of the continuously evolving different sex roles within the society. If women are biologically intellectually weak then increasing trend of working women could not be possible. Social restrictive behavior imposed by the welfare states and breadwinner model doesn’t take into account the violence, insecurity and psychological degradation in women which are the outcomes of restricting women within marriage and home-making. The eternal dominance related to males has given birth to social disputes regarding house-hold decisions.
Thus, conclusively it is clarified that gender disputes in social classes
specifically in females are the outcomes of gender stereotypical models which are blindly followed by the society. Literacy and Income are the major variables which lead to unacceptability of digressions from the gender norms and social disputes are the outcomes. This unacceptability has direct influence on health of the households, and psychopathological disorders are also a prominent outcome. Thus in order to cater the increasing trend of working females and diverse occupations in males, fixed stereotypes of genders must be broken and flexibility must be brought and promoted in the society.





Work Cited
Anitei, Stefan. “Male dominance is determined by teststerone.” 14 Dec. 2006. Softpedia. 18 Feb.
2009.<http://news.softpedia.com/news/Men-039-Competitiveness-is-Determined-by-Testosterone-Levels-42342.shtml>

D’amico, Deburah. “ Race, Class, Gender and Sexual orientation in ABE” NCSALL
6.B(2003):Chap 2. 17 Feb. 2009.< http://www.ncsall.net/?id=203>

Filmer, Deon. The Structure of Social Disparities: Gender and Wealth n.p.: World Bank,
November 1999

Khan, Shahrukh. An overview of basic Education under the SAP in Pakistan. n.p.: Sustainable
Development Policy Institute (SDPI), 1999.

Klever, Phillip. “ Multigeneration stress and nuclear family functioning.” Contemporary family
therapy. 27.2 (2005): 233-250.

Matlin, Margarate. “The cognitive basis of gender stereotypes.” Eye on Psi Chi 3.2 (1999):13- 14,16. 16 Feb. 2009. <http://www.psichi.org/pubs/articles/article_112.asp>

Minguez, Almodena. Familism, employment and Family policies. Spain: University of
Valladolid. n.d.

Mukhopadhyay and Sudarshan. Tracking gender equity. Canada: International Development
Research Center, 2003.

O’Connor, Patrick. “ US infant mortality rate.” 18 Oct. 2008. Wsws. 20 Feb. 2009
< http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/oct2008/mort-o18.shtml>

Ostrander, Susan. The women of the upper class. Philadelphia: Temple University press, 1986.
Pakistan Demographic. Pakistan demographic survey. N.p.: Pakistan national demographics,
2005.

Pascall, Gillian. “Male Breadwinner Model.” N.d. International Encyclopedia of Social Policy.
16 Feb. 2009 <http://www.routledge-ny.com/ref/socialpolicy/male.html>

Quisumbing, Haddad and Pena. Gender and poverty Washington: International food policy
research institute, 1995.

“Social Cognitive Theory.” 9 Sept. 2004. University of Twente. 18 Feb. 2009.
<http://www.cw.utwente.nl/theorieenoverzicht/Theory%20clusters/Health%20Communication/Social_cognitive_theory.doc/ > Walker and Barton. Gender, Class and Education. N.p.: Taylor and Francis, 1983.

Formation of Gender Stereotypes in Hollywood

This is a video a part of our group project regardng Formation of gender roles in and through Hollywood. The group includes:

1. Anam Saeed
2. Syeda Sabika Rizvi
3. Hamza Humayun
4. Omer Zaheer

It depicts that how these stereotypes are incluclated in children's minds and certain characteristics of motherliness, home-making and nurturance are attached with the females. Males are always expected to be macho, violent, strong and dumb in Home-making.

Last day of Quarter and The streets of Lahore!!!

On 2nd March 2009, it was the end of the quarter for Luminites. So we thought to get ourselves out of the hectic University shell. We went out on the streets of Defense, Lahore.
The hot Sun, dusty roads, heavy traffic and crowded streets of Lahore challenged our morale and energy, but as they say the stronger the tide the mightier the fight...so our morale actually was being boosted with each challenge.
We took a bus to reach the nearest market and reached there in about 15 minutes.
Here it was the lovely y-market with loads of new stuff to check out.
After having a meal at McDonalds and some doughnuts we were stuffed and almost full to death. So now was the right moment to start our “window shopping”.
The pathetic laced designs were a little too girly for me too handle so I went to the next shop. There I found a couple of awesome bands and accessories. The next shop was filled with cargo pants and jeans but I already had a lot of them so it was better to leave this one. The next one had some cute tops but oh man! We were already very late and our bus was about to leave so we rushed to the stop and went home.

Life; what is Life?

Everyone defines it in a different but innovative way , which is sort of an amalgamation of their deep thoughts and their whole life .May be, from these little words we can assess their whole life, their miseries , their mistakes and their deep down soul .Sometimes this point also strikes me that what is life ? Is it a mere test taken by Almighty Allah or something deep down hidden within!
Some people have deep religious terms to define it and some have few infallible theories to prove it. But yet I haven’t seen or discovered any theory which can satisfy all my deeply carved queries. I don’t truly feel that the whole reasoning behind our birth, the creation of this world was only for the fact that God wanted to test us or (he desired to be bowed or his ego to be satisfied may be I’m using some wrong words here) anyways I find that He could have tested us simply by checking our souls or may be through any method as He knows better. But I think that He made us with a great logical reason .It is may be to empower our souls with the power to explore this world and to support us by creating some relations greater than creation itself, the whole world exists because of these relations isn’t it ?
Then may be God thought only good and loving relations will make man more powerful and self indulged or may on the top most self conceited so He created evil and iniquity to lower the ego of this selfish creation. So in a way he empowered us yet didn’t let us forget us that we are dependent after all!
Thus I find it quite disgusting to define life in just one sentence!
Like Shakespeare said,
“Life is like a stage and we are like characters (may be not the exact words)”
In the above given definition don’t you feel that he makes God kind of a selfish character?
When at least I read this definition given by one of the greatest learners on this mother earth I felt like a Prisoner acting on God’s orders which makes me feel rebellious!
But when I myself ponder upon life’s definition or its need I find God a very gracious being, He who made us or let us be so selfish if he wanted he could have imprisoned us here but he didn’t na? This shows that he not only owns us but he loves us.
For example in normal life we people also have the opportunity to have our children whom we treat just like God treats us. We believe we have true control over our children but, What if our children say that we treat them like actors working in our plays? We will of course feel miserable. Similarly, God must have felt so bad when we regarded Him as a selfish owner neglecting His graciousness, His love towards us, isn’t it? In fact, if He just wanted to satisfy his enormity by our religious practices why he would have let us free in this world.
My friends in fact, we people have become so selfish by the time that we forgotten the true meaning of our life. Thus, it’s not possible to define life because it’s not possible to even name the benevolences bestowed upon us by God, who I don’t know how is still feeding our selfish and eternally hungry bellies and lustrous minds! (Well even this is enough to show His graciousness and warmth)

World Bank: "The Real Agenda"

Under the Supervision of John Maynard Keynes World Bank evolved in July, 1944 as an institution to eliminate World Poverty in post World War II era. Its main purpose was to provide loans on concessions to under-developed countries and to encourage Private Foreign investment through guarantees. It is supposedly an unprofitable institute with no involvement in politics and provides access to developed economies to maintain the flow of funds (Danaher 1). But this is a scrutinized version of World Bank; in fact, this financial institution has played a calamitous role for under-developed countries including Pakistan due to its association with the US (Danaher 20).Although World Bank has provided Pakistan with loans for developmental purposes but due the indirect impact of certain negative American agendas concerning the World Bank, these loans led to the destabilization of Pakistan’s political fabric and thus, proved destructive for the Country’s economy.
Ever Since the involvement in Pakistan’s economy, Political agendas of the US are dominant in majority of the policies and structures created by the World Bank. During 1977, under Zia-Ul-Haq’s dictatorship World Bank sponsored institutions in the name of “Free Market” and supported dictatorial activities due to which a majority of the financial systems were taken over by Western countries. This led to an increase in the debt of the country which forced the government of Pakistan after Zia’s regime to follow the policies dictated by US. During 1980’s, US and the World Bank because of its increased role in the Government provided aid to Pakistan for training of the Militants in the Cold War Era (Chossudovsky 1).
Among these policies the main aim reflected is to destabilize the country’s Political situations for US’s motives. The status of Pakistan since 9/11 attacks is of a frontline ally in the War against terror. Pakistan has received $3 billion loans from the World Bank and is expecting to receive a $6 billion, to ensure its support in the War on terror (Rajghatta). Recently, Pakistan has been announced a non-creditworthy country due to its dubious role in the War against Terror after Mumbai attacks by the World Bank(Ejaz), thus the funds are manipulated upon country’s role in supporting this War
Political agenda of destabilization can also be reflected in the sponsorship of Kalabagh Dam which led to a major controversy against the Musharraf regime in 2005. The announcement of a Tenfold increase in all such contentious projects after Kalabagh dam reveals the concealed aim of the US(International Investigation). Thus Pakistan’s vulnerability due to the debt which is almost 64.9% of total Foreign Exchange of the Country (Rizvi) helps US to weaken Pakistan internally. The US and the World Bank invisibly control the financial system of Pakistan leading its withered economy to annihilation.
World Bank basically promotes free market and labor in Pakistan and plays a major role in helping Developed countries to takeover Pakistan’s economy in the name of Privatization. Free labor by the World Bank has shrunken the Government’s role in safeguarding rights of the people aggravating the rights of the working class. Due to Privatization, the financial markets are dominated by few Western Interest Groups and the role of the Locals is diminishing (Lloyd and Weismann). In the Action Week against International Financial Institutions, the facts revealed that the extreme class inequalities are due to the disappearance of Government structures (Lloyd and Weismann).
The negative effect upon natural resources is another major loss for Pakistan. According to Oil and Gas journal, Pakistan has about 25.1 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves and 300 million barrels of oil reserves in Balochistan. Pakistan with an external debt of almost $40 billion is forced by the World Bank to sell-off these oil and gas facilities at rock-bottom prices to foreign agencies due to the compulsion of privatization (Chossudovsky 2). This exposes the fact about World Bank‘s role in the indirect US agenda to pave the way for economic crisis and extreme inequality in Pakistan. Thus, these policies are a source of demolition and economic vulnerability in Pakistan.
The fact which provoked World’s Economists to discuss the Negative Effect of World Bank’s role in Pakistan is the unimaginably worst outcomes of a Majority of the projects established. Pakistan is amongst the countries with “high failure of projects” because the success rate of the projects in Pakistan is 55-50% only as compared to 86-90% in China and India (Yousafzai). These failures are due to World Bank’s lack of concern towards actual development in Pakistan. National Drainage Program i.e. NDP funded by the World Bank overlooked the catastrophic outcomes of 6 violations of safeguard policies. These violations led to water logging and salinity which affected the livelihood of 10,000 people in 3 districts of Sindh. The floods in Badin and Thatta resulted in a loss of almost 300 human lives and damaged almost 1.5 acre of land (Inspection panel).
World Bank decided to finance the Kalabagh dam, a $300 Million mega project 2005. This dam was a controversial initiative because of the expected floods in villages around Makhad district near Indus Valley. Almost 5,000 activists, who rose to expose these disastrous effects, have been missing ever since (Sherpao as qtd. in Bosshard). Similarly, President of the World Bank Praful Patel suggested the Iranian Pipeline Project which is expected to result in a loss for Pakistan because the World Bank forced Pakistan to decrease its rent from $1.5 billion to $0.5 billion (Editorial).The detachment of the World Bank toward these outcomes has resulted in a hazardous situation for the Pakistan.
Contrary to the negative effects a World Bank report claims that the funds have played a significant role in increasing the rate of Progress overall. In 1960 World Bank backed the Indus Basin treaty and provided $800 million funds for this purpose. It also granted a loan of $1.2 billion for Tarbela Dam. During the fourth five year plan, agricultural growth increased from 2.3% to 4.4%, a long term framework under OGDC for the Oil and Gas resources in northern Sui was also presented (Pakistan and World Bank partners in progress).
World Bank has also played a major role in poverty alleviation by providing $75 million loan under PPAF and by training almost 200,000 people in various skills (Pakistan:). In the emerging financial crises the World Bank is vital for the existence of Pakistan. Due to the increasing budget deficit the World Bank is the only lifeline for Pakistan (Lieven).
Although World Bank has provided Pakistan with Developmental Funds to initiate projects but at the same time these funds were linked with indirect US policies. The fourth five year plan also resulted in an increased Privatization and inequalities. Similarly despite of the framework by OGDC; there has been an energy crisis due to the foreign dominance on these resources. Poverty alleviation plans have not been successful due the class differences and still 30% of Pakistani population is still below the poverty line. Forced Fulfillment of US’s agendas and destabilization are the costs Pakistan has to pay due to the “debt trap”. Thus, the dictatorial policies are weakening the central government which is a cost higher than these projects.
Conclusively, the arguments clearly point towards the dwindling role of the Government of Pakistan which is over shadowed by the World Bank or indirectly by the US policies. Majority of the projects funded have a hidden link with the US’s agendas and have hindered the path to prosperity. The World Bank through the policies has thus, surrounded Pakistan in an inescapable trap. This trap of dictatorship by the US makes the role of the World Bank catastrophic for “Pakistan as an independent state”.

Work Cited
Bosshard, Peter. “World Bank shuts out dissident voices.” 6 Oct. 2006. FPIF. 23 Jan.2009.
<http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/3570>
Chossudovsky 1, Michel. “Pakistan and the global war on terrorism.” 22 Feb. 2008. Ibitans. 23
Jan. 2009 <http://www.ibitians.com/2008/02/22/pakistan-and-the-global-war-on-terrorism/>
Chossudovsky 2, Michel “The Destabilization of Pakistan.” 25 Jan. 2008. Ibitans. 22 Jan. 2009.
<http://www.ibitians.com/2008/01/25/the-destabilization-of-pakistan/>
Danaher, Kevin. “50 Years Is Enough: The Case against the World Bank and the International
Monetary Fund.” Questia journal (1994): 1-2
Danaher, Kevin. “50 Years Is Enough: The Case against the World Bank and the International
Monetary Fund” Questia journal (1994): 20-23
Ejaz, Manzur. “Washington Diary: Conditional Aid” 14 Jan. 2009. Daily Times. 23 Jan.2009.
<http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009%5C01%5C14%5Cstory_14-1- 2009_pg3_3>
“Editorial: How real is the Iranian Pipeline” 03 May. 2007. Daily Times. 21 Jan. 2009.
<http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C05%5C03%5Cstory_3-5-2007_pg3_1>
“Inspection Panel Pakistan investigation Report.” Pakistan national drainage Program project.
n.d. 21 Jan. 2009.
<http://72.14.235.132/search?q=cache:yp9ESw8jTIQJ:www.boell.org/events/documents/NDP% 2 520Inspection%2520Panel_IRN% 2520comment_eurodad.pdf+articles+on+world+bank+negative+impacts+in+pakistan&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=pk>

“Internal Investigation World Bank project destroys Livelihoods in Pakistan” 25 Oct. 2006. 23
Jan. 2009.<http://www.internationalrivers.org/en/south-asia/pakistan/internal-investigation-shows-world-bank- water-project-destroys-livelihoods-pakis>
Lieven, Anatol. “Power cuts fuel Pakistan’s power struggle”. 04 Sept. 2008. The Times. 21 Jan.
2009.<http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article4669574.ece>
Lloyd and Weismann. “Against the workers How World bank and IMF undermine labor Power
and Rights.” Multinational monitor. 22.(2001): 9
“Pakistan and World Bank partners in progress”. Washington D.C.: The World Bank, n.d.
“Pakistan: World Bank provides more support to poor people in rural areas.” 11 Oct. 2007.
World Bank press release. 23 Jan. 2009.
<http://www.worldbank.org.pk/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/PAKISTANEXTN/0,,contentMDK:21506676~menuPK:50003484~pagePK:2865066~piPK:2865079~theSitePK:293052,00.html>
Rajghatta, Chitanand. “US congress cuts Pak aid, Bush nose” 12 Jun. 2006. Times of India. 21
Jan. 2009. <http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1637691,flstry-1.cms>
Rizvi, Shamim. “The Debt Trap” 12-18 Feb. 2008. Economist. 22 Jan. 2009.
<http://www.pakistaneconomist.com/issue2001/issue7/i&e1.htm>
Yousafzai, Iqbal. “Pak among countries having high failure rate of WB funded projects.” 16 Apr.
2006. Asia Tribune. 22 Jan. 2009.
<http://www.asiantribune.com/oldsite/show_news.php?id=17651>