LIFE UNEXAMINED IS NOT WORTH LIVING

I’ve learned my lesson to not to ever take such type of topics to speak on. Seriously, it took the hell out of me to write this speech! And one more thing: the next time if I’ll particiape in a competition, I’ll make sure that there are not “two” teachers to edit my speech. Believe me, there was so much confusion. One wanted to add that and other wanted to get rid of it and add his own stuff. And it was because of all this I got my speech a day before the Big Day. And I was then not too enthusiastic for it all. Result: I was the only contestant who forget her speech, though no regrets.
Anyway, following is what I had written.

Mr. President,

“Life unexamined is not worth living”, is an unequivocal statement of Socrates made 2400 years ago. Though it is still applicable in this 21^st century, yet how many of us really examine our lives? How many of us self-question ourselves about what our mind holds and what our body carries out? How many of us challenge ourselves instead of just flowing with the river of life?

Sir, it is a pity that the answer to all these questions is that a majority of us spend our lives without scrutinizing it. We are so lost in materialism that instead of filling our lives with meaning and making it worthwhile, we are constantly filling it with the shiny objects of comfort! How pathetic! I mean what matters us the most is money, and money and yes, once again money. We are so entangled in this vicious cycle of avarice that we hardly pay attention to our own selves. In doing so, we keep ourselves at a loss. Let me explain.

All of us know that life is a precious little time full of experiences. It is, as Ralph Emerson Fordyce says, a succession of lessons, which must be lived to be understood. However, if we do not reflect upon our lives, learning the lesson is a far fetched idea, we will not even realize that something new has crossed our paths! And so, all our life will be a mere repetition of our past. Committing the same mistakes again and again, never realizing the failures, we lose the chance to improve ourselves. In my opinion, pursuing such a life is all but meaningless.

Sir, personal growth involves examining one’s life which reveals the patterns of behavior. On further contemplation, he understands how the elements of his life fit together. His example can be taken as a man with a map, who has a better chance to reach his destination compared to the other without any map. He will not be wasting his time in taking U-turns.

Sir, it is not just in philosophy that a man is told about examining his life, some religions including Islam has it that one should spare sometime and evaluate himself, his life and everything associated with it. He should not just parrot the cultural, familial, or generational party lines; rather he should understand the reasoning behind these ideologies. Same goes for his beliefs, values and opinions.

You must be wondering as to why that be?

Well, you must have heard of people who get red-faced when asked the reasoning behind the truths they hold to be a priori. They consider them to be true just because they are true or because the majority is following that belief. They never critically examined it, meaning they haven’t thought about whether their beliefs are true or false neither they want to know. They are just blindly following them and staying willfully ignorant. Now, if we suppose what Buddha said was right i.e. a person’s future is determined by his actions which depend on his beliefs, it would be so awful to be reincarnated into a cockroach just because of the absurd beliefs one is having. Ha!

The point is it will be quite unfortunate to keep ourselves saddled with these dogmas and never know where we would have been without them.

Finally, we should utilize this short period to make our lives worth living by analyzing ourselves. It will allow us to take control of our reins instead of letting others pull it for us.

I conclude my speech with this quote:

Lives, like money, are spent. What are you buying with yours?

I thank you all.

PS: This post is way too long!! 

DECLAMATION CONTEST…!!!

How come I have allowed myself to get into a thing like this!?

I still have to write the speech and I am being too lazy!  Oh God save me! Hey people, do pray for me that I come back to my senses and get done with the job! Or else…..eternal doom awaits me!Nooooooooooooooooooooooo………..

I Like Writing!

The following article was written by me for the essay contest at school. The results are still not out yet. So, enjoy reading!

IF I COULD CHANGE ANYTHING IN MY LIFE, I WOULD CHANGE…

Reading news on internet, I came across this headline depicting Pakistan as the most dangerous country on earth. Though it isn’t new that the world has tagged our homeland as “a haven for terrorists”, but it was saddening for me. I just could not help stop wondering as to where we are going. To me our country’s future was all bleak, full of gloom and darkness. Nothing could be done about it if the existing situation continues to prevail.

Talking about current status quo, our beloved country has descended deep into the political instability and the military regime of General Busharraf-oops! I meant General Musharraf, has further crippled the entire system of governance. Acting as a US puppet, our President is more concerned about staying glued to his chair then paying heed to even the serious matters encircling the nation. For the sake of political mileage, there had been lots of suicide bombing and the people to blame are the so-called Islamic fanatics! Talk of being a cheat. It is not just that. In near future, we are going to have a Corruption Minister-oops! I did it again! I meant the “Prime minister”, Benazir Bhutto. She has strike a deal with Musharraf about power sharing and all her previous criminal records are brushed under the carpet. It is such a bad luck that a country found in the name of justice has fallen in the hands of utterly fraudulent, selfish and treacherous rulers.

It is true that this military leadership has boosted our economy; there is still massive poverty in the country. The rich is getting richer and the majority of Pakistanis have slid even beneath the poverty line. Our staple diet: wheat has its prices sky high. The result of inflation has been that more people have come on to streets, begging for money when they could have been doing something far better. Definitely, this is the example of cruelty in its own.

The story does not end here, there is even more. The rural areas of Pakistan are still not part of the development and the poor, especially females, are still subjugated. When it comes to avarice, the landlords can stoop so low as to rip a female of her dignity to get a small piece of land owned by her family. I was so shocked to read that a girl of my age was sexually abused and all the police officer could say, to close the case and protect the powerful rapist, was that the girl was a “habitual fornicator”! Oh my, God! How can people play with others life? How can our leaders sit with their eyes closed? What has happened to the conscience of those in power? Are they so blinded with the lust for money and power that they cannot see they are devastating the life of an innocent or even more?!

This is all too distressing to even write about. Imagine the suffering of those who are actually meted out with such a fate. Truly horrible, indeed. When I look around myself and brood over my country’s current condition, I so wish I could change it. I so yearn for a chance that will allow me to restore stability to my country and ensure that every single citizen get justice. Also, with a true patriotic spirit, I will make it possible for my country to have a bright future, and the Pakistanis would be once again respected for their nationality, instead of being bullied abroad, or being tagged as a terrorist just because their homeland is Pakistan. And so I am waiting for the chance…

HELP!!!!

Today I broke the burette worth Rs.1400 especially brought in from England!!! The ultimate damage to the school’s property! Now, this is something to be really proud of!
The lab assistant, however, did not take it as something to feel good about and he so not sympathised with my carelessness! He had me sign the register confessing my crime!!! I was tensed earlier. I have just Rs. 500 in my account ( that too by some luck!) and there are still a thousand rupees needed (the option of going to my parents is out of question)! Now what? And then clicked my mind: Why not to follow the policy of Paki people and establish “CHANDA BARRAI BURETTE”?!
So, “Merrai pyarrai naik aur hamdard musalman bhai aur bheno (some buttering had to be done), give your donations to your this Musalman Baihun and save her from the wrath of her superiors! It is a prestigious month of Ramazan and you will be rewarded for this nobel act. So, hesitate not and give “Chanda barai burette!!!”" ………

GOT 1st IN DEBATES!!!

Alhumdulilah, a succes in O level i.e. all 8 As, followed by another success in English debates that comprised of A-1 and FSC classes! Man I rock!

 

INJUSTICE JUSTIFIES VIOLENCE

Presently, the foremost concern of the poeple is to make this world a peaceful place to live in,for it has drowned in the ocean of violence. However, exceptions are always there, and my heart bleeds when i see its my own colleges who are ready to advocate violence. My own people! Tut tut. Anyway, you will find my case entirely different for i am standing here to condemn violence on all grounds;let it be because of injustice or some other thing!
Sir, looking back in time, we see that the past is full of various personnalities who had been unjustly totured, persecuted and yet, they sticked themselves to the moral values, fought peacefully, and succeeded not only in acheiving their goals but also, in wining the hearts of the people. they did not relent to violence for violence, as Isaac Asimor said, “is the last refuge of the incompetent.”
In case you are wondering who these non-violent strugglers were, i give you the examples of a prominent leader. Definitely, all of us know about the great political leader of India:Mahatama Ghandhi. Its pretty clear the injustice he was subjected to, like he was jailed a number of times for supporting the right and voicing out what the Indians had to say, but all the time, he asked his followers to be firm and not to go for violence. he knew it then that if they started carrying out massacres, they would be reaping the same of what they had sown. he had said and i quote,”Victory through violence is tantamount to defeat, for it is momentarily.” And look, the solid proof of his success is the 60 years old India which is thriving and progressing at a real fast pace.
Just to strengthen my argument, i present you with yet another peace lover: Martin Luther King. He initiated movements on non-violent lines against the social segregation the blacks, including him, were facing. And guess what? He too succeeded in a short time.
Now comparing these two figures with Nailson Mundaila of whom we know had unleashed violence, things become crystal clear. although north africa was liberated, but it was mostly beacuse of what was going on in the world i.e. different countries were breathing their first breath after they had been given freedom, and not so much because of nailson mundaila. Also, consider the violent policy of talibaans which has landed Afghanistan in a stone age.
Mr. President, the thing is: when violence is used as weapon, hollow victory is acheived and this too after a long period of time and through great losses of life and blood. now the point to ponder is: why not to make matters easy through peace and get an early success?Or is it that we have become so blood thristy that we are ready to blow the heads of innocents when we have another option?
Sir, that was one aspect of the topic. let me bring your attenbtion to the other side of the story. It is true that we civilians are shown injustice by others. Sometimes, our rights are suppressed and sometimes, we are levied with high taxation that go beyond our capacity to pay. To put it precisely, things happen in life which kindle the fire of revenge in us and make us want to throttle the other person. We think that it will extinguish the fire of rage burning in us- only to be proved wrong in the end.
Sir, it is a fact that a person’s thinking and conscience is clouded when he is enraged.To him the solution lies only in lashing out at his oppressor, which is ofcourse an easy way, not knowing that violence is like a food chain; he eats someone today only to be eaten by someone else tomorrow. this cycle of violence will continue from generation to generation and instead of having a society of humane human beings, we would have serial killers and psycopaths! How terribly cruel! i mean we have a new child and his fate is already decided to become a terrorist! that innocent soul could have become a rightly called human being but instead, he is to now try his sadistic rituals at some other innocent being!How abominable!!!
i think i have made my point and now it is up to you to decide whether injustice justifies violence when violence breeds violence which inturn increases injustice.
that concludes my debate.
thank you for your attention

WHAT YOU PEOPLE SAY: AGREED OR DISAGREED?