World Affairs And Beyond

Somewhere at a distance The sky touches the earth Somewhere in the sea You can see the stars reflecting Somewhere on the prairies The winds blow by And in the morning birds Singing to the sunrise The pleasant breeze gently whispers Some secrets in my ear There’s beauty all around me The sky, the earth and in the air © Sobia Nosheen (7th September 2008) From, my 2nd book, "The Self, You and I" You can buy the second edition of my first book HOPE on Amazon .

Every exercise is doing you some good. Exercise is overall a very helpful and healthy activity. Whether its body fat that you want to lose, or want to become psychologically strong and be able to cope with stress, Exercise can help a lot. Exercise can help you lose weight, and it can help the skinny ones gain weight. It can also help you defeat stress, depression, and disappointment. Exercise is the best remedy. The easiest exercise is “walk”. It is very much effective, even for the Olympic athletes. You can walk for a minimum of thirty minutes, and a maximum of 1 hour every night after dinner. You need to keep a balanced diet schedule, with your exercise; otherwise, it would not be much effective. Exercise makes your blood circulate faster, so your body needs more oxygen and your metabolic rate increases. Your body starts burning fat. You should drink lots of water, at least 3 liters a day and eat a little of everything everyday. Water is good for your skin too, and it helps...

There was a bomb blast in Peshawar Saddar moments back. My little sister, who is one of the contributors' on this blog, studies in a highschool in saddar, and she is still there. The blast was near that place, on the main Saddar road, Peshawar. These cowardly acts by the so-called talibans is never going to scare our fearless and brave Pashtoon nation. So far, 6 people are reported to have died in the blast and some over 30 injured. I hope they recover soon. There have been several such attacks in peshawar, by these multi-national terrorists, in the past few months. These coward terrorists will never succeed in their evil plans, and we will never surrender. They pretend to be some religious groups, but, in real, religions have got nothing to do with spreading terrorism. So I guess this is the "terrorists" vs. "Pashtoons". These multi-national terrorists are only trying to spread chaos, but it will take them much more than that to defeat the brave Pashtoo...

Buner is a district in the N-W.F (Pukhtoonkhwa) Province of Pakistan. Some of its union councils were severly damaged by the talibans, and during the Operation "rah-e-rast", in the battle against the terrorists. Here are some pictures of the damaged houses (taken by Gohar Jamal) in the union council "Kauga" which has a total population of 28,000 where 8 houses were completely destroyed, while 60 partially. Union council Nawagai has a total population of 20,900 where 10 houses were completely destroyed while 20 partially damaged, and union council Gagra with a total population of 30,000 people, was left with 8 houses completely destroyed, while 105 were partially damaged. In union council Dewana Baba, having a total population of 15,000, had 8 houses completely destroyed while 18 partially damaged. According to our correspondent, Gohar Jamal, most houses were only partially damaged, and a few were destroyed. Though there were many casualties, yet, since most o...

Picture taken by Gohar Jamal. The remains of a truck carrying cattle was hit by a missile in Buner. Following are the other unfortunate vehicles' remains hit by the Taliban missiles and mortars.        Pictures taken by Gohar Jamal .

Ayla sent me a letter thanking those who commented on her sketches.

At the park outside the "Army Stadium", there were only a few people, when I was passing by. The next two, you've got to guess. (Fireworks???) This was outside Chaman Ice-cream. This below, is not a ghost town, it's the road outside Chaman Ice-Cream. But we had a lot of fun, I bet we were probably the only people out that night.

Ever felt like the most precious ideas pour out of your head only when you are having that "moment of solitude"? Tell me about it.

The Prophet (PBUH) said, Whoever stands the nights of Ramadan in prayer out of faith and seeking reward shall have their previous sins forgiven. (Al-Bukhaari and Muslim) I'tikaf is a great experience, it's like therapy, for your mind and soul. The way a student confines himself/herself to his/her study room, and stays there during preps for exams, to avoid unnecessary contact with the world, allowing him/her to concentrate a 100% on his/her preparation for exams. Similarly, the sole purpose of Seclusion, for prayers, is better concentration, better communication. When you confine yourself to one place, be it for a few minutes, or for hours or be it days, and with all your concentration, offer your salāt, and perform zikr/dhikr. It will benefit you, in many ways. It will connect you, to your inner self and to Allah. Distractions and preoccupations corrupts the heart. These moments of solitude help you find and rediscover yourself. The Prophet (PBUH) sa...

Ayla Nisar, a 14 year old student at Presentation Convent School, ninth science, is a God gifted girl. She has made these and many more beautiful sketches. They are really very impressive.

An event at Convent. (Photo above) The new badge of Presentation Convent High School Peshawar.

3rd September 2009