World Affairs And Beyond

"The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, or not to anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly." The Buddha --- a spiritual teacher How many of us go through the quotable quotes, and then don't remember any an hour later? The point is not to learn them by heart, only to impress others, but to learn something yourself . I know many such people who learn from the quotable quotations of the wise and noble ones in the past. When you're lost, and have nowhere else to turn to, for support, (regardless of religion) you can turn to these quotations. It's like the wise people a click away, or across the corner. You must have noticed that it's not just these quotes from the books that we quote, but even sometimes, some friends may have advised us on something, and some worthwhile statement may have lingered in our head, (which was their own) and...

Last year, I was on my way to Lahore on a bus, when I met a girl from the National College of Arts. She belonged to Hunza (The Northern Areas), but lived in Lahore. We talked the whole way on a lot of issues and topics. One of them was "Spirit Calling". It was the first time I heard about spirit calling, and the girl told me about how she and her friends used to call the spirits to answer questions for them. She told me about her experiences with the spirits. I learnt how to call the spirits, and the whole calling thing involved a paper and a glass. She asked me to write the alphabets from A to Zee on a white paper, and then write a Yes and a No in the center, and encircle them. Then put a glass inverted in the center of the page, and call the spirits, but don't go about doing this alone. There should be at least two people there. Place your index finger on the inverted glass. All you have to do is, say out loud, "Any kind and good spirits passing by...

Venessa Hudgens (Gabriella Montez) and Zac Efron (troy bolton), in "Can I have this dance?" from High School Musical 3. I love this song. For those who don't know Zac's full name, it's Zachary David Alexander.   High School Musical, a Disney Channel Musical was released on the 20th of January, 2006. Followed by sequels "High School Musical 2, in 2007 and High School Musical 3 (Senior Year) in 2008. There is more to come! Yes, the High School Musical 4 (East Meets West) is announced to be released in 2010. Ashley Tisdale (Sharpay Evans) and Lucas Grabeel (Ryan Evans) are twins in this movie. They are the antagonists, while Venessa Hudgens (Gabriella Montez) and Zac Efron (troy bolton), are the protagonists. One of my friends' asked me if it was actually Zac singing in the movies, and not Drew Seeley. As far as I know, it is zac, though there could be some blending of voices; but Drew Seeley has denied that rumor. Coming to the songs of H...

There are people who, when you share some idea with, will always discourage you. Nothing for them is ever possible. They are always negative about everything. They are the people, that, once you get trapped with, will never let you succeed. They will keep pulling you back. They will make you think your life is over. While on the other hand, there are people who are positive. They love life. They are optimists. Even when you’re down, they will lift your spirits. They will always encourage you. When you’re around them, you will feel energized. With them life means something to you. Nothing to you seems impossible. With them you "live", and with the pessimists you "die"!     

Sung by Miley Cyrus ! The teen pop sensation !  Originally this song was written by Robert Hazard, and he recorded a demo of the song in 1979. It was later re-sung by Cyndi Lauper in her album "She's So Unusual", released in 1983. It was a big hit in 1984. Here is the Miley Version of the song. I love this one ! Lyrics By Robert Hazard I come home in the morning light My mother says when you gonna live your life right Oh mother dear we're not the fortunate ones And girls they want to have fun Oh girls just want to have fun The phone rings in the middle of the night My father yells what you gonna do with your life Oh daddy dear you know you're still number one But girls they want to have fun Oh girls just want to have - That's all they really want Some fun When the working day is done Girls - they want to have fun Oh girls just want to have fun Some boys take a beautiful girl And hide her away from the rest of th...

I was never into pop or rap music. Though I did listen to a few of the local pop singers on TV, but never even felt like becoming a fan of any. I've always been into heavy metal, rock and hard rock music. Though one of my friends' plays trance, but I'm not at all following it. And when you're not into the art, you're not much into the artist too. So here goes how I got interested in knowing about the King of popular music. Two days before Michael Jackson's mysterious and tragic death, I was surfing the YouTube and came across news of Michael Jackson's conversion to Islam. I got curious to know the truth behind it. I shared the news, which was pretty old by now, with some of my friends for confirmation. They said it was true. I went through almost all of Michael Jackson's videos, his songs, his history and the news bit about his conversion. I watched almost all of his interviews. It was the first time in my life, I ever actuall...

Yeah everybody, It's Hannah Montana time! Miley Cyrus plays Miley Stewart in a Disney channel comedy sitcom series, with her real life dad, Billy Ray Cyrus playing her dad "Robby Ray Stewart".  Miley lives a double life. Miley is an average teenage girl, who goes to school like any other girl, has friends, hangs out with them, does her homework and lives a normal life. On the other hand, she is a famous teenage pop star, which even her own friends don't know in the beginning. Miley's birthname is Destiny Hope Cyrus. She was born on November 23rd, 1992. On Hannah Montana, she has two BFFs, Lily and Oliver. Emily Osment plays Lily, while Mitchel Musso plays Oliver. Then there is Roxy, who is Hannah Montana's bodyguard. And how can one forget Miley's funny brother, Jackson? He is a mess. He's funny, and turns everything upside down. Miley and Jackson have their share of fights on the show, which are quite funny actually. Watch out...

Glass painting is a beautiful art, where the artist uses different techniques to paint either a looking glass, plain opaque glass, stained glass or glass windows. It's not necessary for you to be a professional artist in order to paint glass. Glass painting can be one of the many wonderful, creative, healthy and constructive hobbies that you can adopt, to relieve stress. A few of the many reasons why I paint, is, to get my mind off of things that give me stress. Needless worry is a liability, and not an asset. It is what costs you a lot, but does not give you any benefit. When I need to escape the unnecessary tension. I just grab a paint brush, some paints, and start painting. No matter what is bothering you, if you cannot find a solution to it, even after consulting many of your friends, and even professional help cannot make it better, then you seek shelter; and one of the healthy shelters you can find in "glass paintings". ...

My little sister and I were out for a walk last night. The sky was clear around 11:00pm and the stars were shining brightly. She looked up, saw the North Star, and asked me which planet it was. I told her it was Venus. Then I went about telling her how the planets reflected light, and appeared brighter, while the stars emitted light or radiation. She kept asking me questions about the universe. One of them was, that if to us, all the heavenly bodies appear up above in the sky, does it mean, that to anybody on those planets, we would appear down under in space? I said No, the way we are attracted to our planet's center of gravity, so we walk with our feet on the ground, and heads toward the sky, and that’s true for anywhere around the world; the same way, anybody on other planets would be walking, due to their planet’s center of gravity, feet on the ground and heads toward the sky, and so to them, we too would appear up above in their sky. Then she asked if God only made eart...

This cafe lies to the left of the ring road to Hayatabad, Peshawar. Yeah, that's Pakistan. I haven't yet tried it out, but am sure it must be as good as it looks from the outside. This whole structure is quite attractive. Never thought I'd see a design like this in Peshawar. It sure does add to the beauty of this area. Anybody been there? Do let me know !

Yeah, once upon the roads of Peshawar, not so far ago in time, I still remember when I used to wake up early in the morning, get ready and set out for office on foot. I would walk to the nearby bus stop, and would hop onto a public bus. It was fun being on the bus during winters. I loved the walk, to and from the bus stop. I would walk for as much of the distance as I could, not because I couldn't afford a transportation, but because I thought this walk was good for me. There would be so much traffic. It was always hard to cross the road even in the mornings. The whole walk for me, to and from my workplace was approximately one and a half hour a day. I enjoyed it a lot. Watching people sitting on top of the buses, hanging from the buses, and so many people inside the bus, that it seemed as if they were stuffed in. I would climb the bus early in the morning, would sit in the women's area inside the bus, though when I got late sometimes, I'd love to st...