Me Against Myself

It’s been about a month and twenty days when I visited Durham, UK, on a trip with my family. Once on a cold night of December, I was sitting in front of burning woods in a traditional furnace trying to keep myself warm and reading a local newspaper in my hands. Suddenly, a heading caught my attention: “Sir Tim Berners-Lee On at Durham Business School, just for you!”

“Oh, Sir Tim Berners-Lee On, the same person who had developed the framework upon which the world wide web was built! How could I miss his lecture?” I thought enthusiastically.

Immediately, I got more information on it and very next day I started off to attend the event.

Finally, I got off a city train carrying a heavy hand bag on my shoulders which contained my lunch box, laptop, books and some important documents.
I looked around to call for a porter to carry my bag. On not finding one, I got upset. But then, I saw a man noticing the worried look on my face. He was wearing a tuxedo and had some hair left on his head. Our eyes met and we smiled to each other. Seeing an inquisitive look into his eyes I inquired,

“Excuse me Sir, could you please help me in finding a porter to carry my bag. It’s getting heavy on my shoulders.”

“Young man, why don't you carry it yourself and save your money?"  He suggested in answer.

I felt uneasy on his reply and said stubbornly,

 “In the first place, it is heavy, and secondly, it is against the pride of an educated person like me to have it on my shoulders. I need someone else to carry it for me."

He, spontaneously, answered me,

"The hallmark of education is humility, not pride. If you cannot carry your own bag, how are you carrying your body? If, however, you cannot carry your own bag, I shall do so for you."

 And, then he carried my bag. On reaching my destination, I wanted to offer him money but he refused and told me,

 "Serving you is my reward".

Then, he walked away left me thinking, confused and impressed at the same time.  I was introduced to a new perspective on life…

Soon, I reached my desired venue. I saw a lot of people, students and staff at the meeting. Finally, the speaker invited Sir Tim Berners-Lee On to deliver his lecture. I was curious to see him feeling myself very fortunate to be among his audience. Suddenly, a man amongst the people at the lecture hall stood up and moved towards the rostrum. The minute he turned to the audience, I was shocked to see my porter there…

BY: Omer Rathore

Sec: Y

Blind Turn…

The cherishable remnants of the memories of his happy family loomed large on the canvas of his mind. Once being the apple of his parents’ eyes he used to have all the privilege and joy in his life; his studies, parent-teacher conferences at school, his participation in his co-curricular activities, family gatherings, friendly get-togethers and outings, all seemed like a dream when his mom and dad were happily together to support him enthusiastically.  

Crestfallen, Ali turned uncomfortably in his bed in the middle of the night. Sleep had escaped his eyes and his nerves were tensed as if they would break under the pressure any moment. The drawn curtains filtered the light from the lamp posts outside. The unimaginable nightmare haunted him- his beloved parents were getting divorced!

Ali had become as weak as a lamb; despite looking fine physically, he was all battered and crushed form inside. Not talking much, staying aloof from his friends and peers, falling behind in studies, all pointed to the fact that the nightmare was eating him up just as termites eat up wood.

Ali opened his eyes in a closely-knit happy family where he found his parents sharing many years of great love, understanding, respect and mutual trust until he become a happy and healthy teenager. But now, very first time in his life, he could sense everything going ruined for him. He was at the verge of losing his parents.

It has been only a year when Ali’s father started coming home late from work. He started missing dinners with the family. He started smoking heavily. What Ali noticed the most was that while talking to him, his father did not meet his eyes as before as if he was hiding his guilt from him. He was surprised to see everyday fights breaking out over trivial matters; why was the milk not warm enough? Who was supposed to pick Ali from school? Why wasn’t the shirt ironed properly, etc. His mother seemed heartbroken, resentful, and even in tears many times until the verbal abuse lead to physical abuse by Ali’s father. Things started getting from bad to worse, until they finally ended up in the decision of ‘divorce’. Then, he was exposed to the truth that his father had an affair with his own secretary and wanted to marry her. He felt as if the whole world around him had crashed down. How could he allow someone else to replace his beloved mother? A turmoil raged inside him. He decided to talk to his father and he did, but there was an endless silence as an answer. Very first time he doubted the love of his parents, unable to figure out if anyone of them really cared about him?

Even at 17, he felt like a baby, longing for the attention and care of his mom and dad that he had been receiving since he was born. In fact, now, he needed them more than ever when he was already going through the critical time of his life; his O-level exams were just around the corner and he was unable to concentrate on his studies. He was afraid and angry to see no one cared what trauma he was going through…But could he let the things drive him crazy and ruin his future? It was a question that brought some strength to him to face the facts and get ready to deal with the coming unseen…Life might be offering him to learn some precious lessons….

Shehryar Nadeem

Sec: Y

In Search of Hope...

He has always treated me unfairly. He has crippled me but I’m capable enough to get back on my feet again. He has broken my heart so many times that I wonder if I would be able to mend it again the next time. He has made me feel hopeless for myself. He has always been inflicting hurt and pain upon me which are the only things that comfort me; sometimes, hurt and pain seem like the most beautiful feelings I’ve ever encountered. Unfortunately, still I’m unconscious to ‘happiness’, the most desired one.

                  I have always wanted to get my revenge on him but I have always been a failure at it. He is so beautiful and me being stunned by it, I have become a desperate fool and his victim. I wish he would treat me nicely just once, but he always throws me away, and, I can’t stand up to my pride because I am weak and he is strong. He is like the ruler of my heart and soul, and, enjoy playing with them just for the sake of fun. And, I let him do anything with me because I can’t do anything otherwise.

                  I beg him every day, every hour, every minute, and every second of my life to release me from his control and from the burden he is to me. I yearn to be a free bird, free from the chains that bind me to him and never let me go. But being too arrogant and  proud, he laughs at my face saying he would not let me go so easily. His laughter hurts my ears making me wish I was deaf to his frightening laugh. I’m afraid of his saying he has got more surprises for me. I am scared of those ‘surprises’, wishing death would come sooner, wishing I would rather be in hell than be his victim and waiting for those ‘surprises’.

                 I know only one thing can free me from him, and, that is death. Everyday, I wait patiently for it, as I’ve been doing my whole life, hoping I’d no longer be at his mercy. And, soon I would be like a free bird, released from a cage, with the most wonderful feeling of ‘happiness’ that would be new to me. Now, I can’t wait to the new beginning…

I don't know if a miracle happens in my favour and helps me out of the closed street!!

By: Zainab Ikram

Sec: D

Cyber Bullying

In today’s fast world, technology has spread its wings rapidly and proved to be beneficial and efficient. However, everything has its side effects. According to the most famous quote, “Excess of anything is bad.” So, same is the case with today’s technology. Many negative or immoral purposes or criminal intention have come in view. Its easy accessibility has, drastically, increased the percentage of cyber-bullying.

Cyber-bulling is a form of online harassment that is considered to be one of the various subcategories of cyber-violence. (Have Wald, 2008).

           Cyber-bullying takes place through blogs, pages and social networking websites. It’s a negative trend that is rapidly increasing among the users of internet. As a teen, I’m exposed to all kinds of online drama and bullying. If you just log on to social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook, it won’t take you too long to find a status, message or comment with an insult or threat in it. I personally wonder why it has to be like this. The bullying continues via SMS and websites, and, the information spreads so quickly that it is hard to remove it from the victim's site. Unfortunately, in most cases, the culprit is difficult to find out. It is always committed willfully in order to annoy or harm the victim through threats, insults or sexual remarks with all the secrecy about the sender’s name.

            Cyber-bullying, like any other form of bullying, may cause great emotional and psychological stress, and, in extreme cases, can also become a cause for any personal damage or loss. In fact, cyber bullying has more psychological effects than traditional playground bullying. Sometimes, it results in suicide which is called cyber-cide. They are not only tough kids who bully, but usually the weak, quiet, shy, type kids tend to be more involved because it hides their identity.

            Cyber-bullying can cause depression, stress and pain to it victims . According to modern research, female victims get affected by it more than the male sufferers through feeling more self-pity and despair, where as male victims feel more angry and vengeful when find themselves unable to deal with the threats, unwanted messages or emails, or, insulting remarks, etc. And, many times, frustration  over powers them so badly that they are unable to concentrate on the real world issues such as academics, co-curricular activities, family matters and responsibilities etc.  Thus, they may end up harming themselves.

Cyber bullying is a social crime that should be rooted out at all possible cost. It’s our duty to save maximum people from the evil by fighting against it. Cyber-bullying has brought attention of media, parents, and law  enforcement agencies, but unfortunately, no specific law has been made against it. I believe that governments should take a practical stand against such criminal activities.

By: Ummamma Pervaiz Siddique

Sec: D

My Personal Statement…

I belong to a middle class but educated family. I did my matriculation and intermediate  from Karachi. I passed my matriculation and intermediate exams with 80% and 70%  marks respectively, which made me and my parents very proud of me. Then, I dreamt of doing my BBA, and my family supported me a lot. Now, my goal is to complete my BBA with a 4 GPA.

As a person, I am very kind hearted and loving. I feel happy to help out others in any kinds of problems. Similarly, I give my mother a helping hand at house chores, especially I love to cook for my family.

This way, my parents and family feel very proud of me and pray for me, which is the biggest reward. In future, I would like to go for higher studies in Business Administration.

By: Azka Manahil

Sec: D

My Personal Statement…

This is 19 years old Rehab Ahmad. I am number 2 among 4 siblings; I have an elder brother and a younger brother and a sister. I have been very bright since my childhood. I remember, those days I used to be very imaginative. Whenever I read a story book, I could imagine all its details.

           In my primary classes at a school in  Saudi Arabia,  I used to enjoy playing with remote control cars, and, at that point I decided to be an Automobile engineer. After a short while, I returned to Pakistan and got admission in Army Public School, Okara Cantt. There,  my day dreams got influenced by the school environment and I thought of joining the Pakistan Army.

            Then, I changed my school for higher classes and got admitted in D.P.S Okara. I did my matriculation and intermediate from there. I was known as a successful all rounder;  I was among the top students and was a table tennis champion at provincial, division and district levels.  Also, I was good at singing rap songs, playing piano and whatever I wanted to do.

             During my  intermediate level studies, I started to spend time on my laptop and ended up in developing my interest in software. Soon, I became famous as a ‘Multimedia guy’ in my college.  In other words, it meant software hacking, video direction editing, or anything related to our computer system. I learnt what I needed to learn. And, I did it all on my own.                  

Now, I dream of getting admission to UCA for further studies in software to become a competent IT  professional.

By: Rehab Ahmad

Sec: X

Future Journalist

My name is Zain Aftab and I belong to a family of landlords residing near Multan city of Pakistan. As an old tradition among landlords, they are least interested in getting educated. Rather, they like their children to take care of their inherited lands. So, the community in which I grew up was strict toward their rules, but by the blessing of Allah, my father was among the rare ones who wanted their children to be educated. Furthermore, I was also interested in studies.

                  That’s how I got admission in school, and in other words, I started a whole new life for myself. There, I got opportunities to interact with others and participate in co- curricular activities. Fortunately, my teachers supported me very much throughout my school life. Later, even at college, I was lucky enough to have the encouragement of my teachers all the way through.

                  On the other hand, I and my parents had to face a lot of criticism and discouragement from my relatives. However, gradually, I started realizing the difference between me and the other uneducated children of my family and our society in terms of the learning and grooming that I received through my education. Then, I felt proud of my parents for their decision of giving me an opportunity to get education and came to the conclusion how wrong it was to deprive a child from his right of being educated.

So, I decided to change the thinking of our society by my own example and provide everyone with the basic right of education. For the purpose, I chose to study Media and Education for my higher studies. I hope this way I will be better able to convey my message convincingly to the larger part of my country in order to bring a social change in our country.

By: Zain Aftab

Sec: D