Laymans articles
Beyond the veil
This is with regard to comments made by Jack straw about woman wearing Veil. There is a saying when in Rome do as the Romans do & it is apt in this case as well. We need to adapt to the culture & rules of the country when we go to other countries. However the adaptations should be within limits. As regards the argument about the veil, I think since the covering of the face is not compulsory, but a matter of personal choice, one should not have too much difficulty in adapting with the climate of the new land wherever that may be.
I remember reading in the news Michel Jackson wearing Veil to hide from public scrutiny in one of the Middle East countries. I am also aware of many illegal maids wearing veils to hide their identity. What I mean to say is there is good intention & bad intention for wearing the veil. I think to show ones face is not harmful & the person can become identifiable unless the reason for wearing veil is to hide the identity of the person.
The same rule holds true for people from western culture coming in to Islamic countries and adapt as per the prevalent culture of the region. I have seen in one of my trips to Kish Island as soon as the plane lands & the passengers approach the terminal all women passengers where given the cloak to wear and they did. This is accepting the cultural and religious requirements of the country. If it is not acceptable it is better one avoids going to that country and live in a place where one can follow their own culture.
In KSA, all women need to cover themselves irrespective of class & creed. There is segregation of woman from men in many countries. Westerners, if they want to live & work in those countries they should adapt to those situations & similarly we need to adapt when we go to live and work in western countries.
It is for the Islamic countries to blame themselves when one could see western cultural ingress more predominant
Ahsan Ghori
THE ROAD TO THE EXTINCTION OF XY
The telltale sign for the extinction of the male species from the family of Homo sapiens is what we see the way things are progressing in this world. The society is disrupting at a rapid pace. Many men are dying in wars & calamities.The Social fabric is at odds all over the world as we see it in our everyday life. The institution of marriage is at cross roads. The role of males as provider no longer holds good. The females are improving in great strides in all fields. Females have encroached in once male only domains & proving to be if not better at least equal to males.The females can and are able to take care of themselves & no longer depends on males except for procreation. We see in our world many single women nurturing and raising their children with great success with out male support. The advent of sperm banks & designer babies means women don’t need men physically for procreation. If they want babies they can just walk into any sperm banks & choose the baby as per their desire. Stem cell research also in future will lead to a possibility where individuals can produce their own copies rather than sharing it with a partner of opposite sex. Further research can lead to a situation where cells from two individuals of the same sex can be combined to create a stronger organism. All of this favor only female. The future to me seems bleak for male Species. Male will have no role to play & surely are well placed in the path of extinction. On the other hand Females can work and are capable of doing any job a man does and so they also are competent in the role of provider to raise the children. The option to choose the Childs sex at present in poor countries which lead to female foeticide can be reversed and the futuristic scenario of preference only for same sex will lead to a possibility of male extinction. As I see it everything is falling into place for a woman only world. Is it for good or worse we will know only as time passes? Hope there is light at the end of the tunnel to change the things as happening now and live the way we are supposed to live.
Ahsan Ghori
Refine Democracy
Democracy is defined as “Rule of the people for the people, by the people” In democracy many times people vote for who they want not what they want.
But is this the right system? I think not. The main thing that makes democracy wrong is that it doesn’t seek out what is best for its citizens but does what majority wants so what about the voice of those minorities who did not agree or lost out in the vote.
I do agree democracy is the good system in the face of earth at the moment but it needs a lot of changes to make it the best system. It needs to inculcate the best from other systems to gain acceptance by people world over. Democracy transcends boundaries laid down by religions in the name of freedom of speech. I think man should limit himself of his freedom if it is likely to offend others choice. These laws should be in harmony. The real democracy will be when the government is able to satisfy all the people under its umbrella that is those in their side & those in the opposition by consensus. I feel a lot more refined democracy will be the answer & the world will be a peaceful place if all embrace that.
Ahsan ghori
Much ado over language
English still has a long way to go to become the global language though at the moment English is the only language which can stake its claim as global language.
Two-thirds of the world population doesn’t speak English. This may be because the two countries who is population rich are India & China whose national Language is not English. Languages are in the heart of the people, for example in India the provinces are demarcated on the basis of languages. Even a neighbouring country was split on the basis of language & formed as Bangladesh. So the impact of language in the form of cultural identity is far more than just letting it go & embrace another. It is fresh in peoples mind that there are certain languages which disappeared and are not in use except for in books of reference, languages like Aramaic, Sanskrit, and Latin etc. So it is obvious that people like to retain their cultural identity & don’t like to be cut off from the past. I think this could be the reason people are so passionate about their language. Also people are aware that language also brings with it its cultural baggage & people are hell bent on maintaining their own culture ,rightly so.This is the root of resentment to accept forign language ,I suppose.Now after looking at the pros & cons I come to a conclusion which is to accept english as universal language.
The ingress of English language is so powerful that even if you go to the remote villages in India you will find people mixing English words in their native language while communicating & that is the reality.Mixture of english is always there even when educated people converse with their own kind.
One-world language would be a good thing bringing unity and peace and would wash away many misunderstandings especially in the era of globalization. We need a global language, and for historical, economic & political reasons English have seized the mantle. English without doubt is the one language that bonds, because of the universality of this language. English is the main form of communication be it World Wide Web, books or science. So I feel English is the one language for all in the soon to be Globalized world.English is here to stay you accept it or not.
Ahsan ghori
DICTATORS HOLD SWAY
How come dictators appeal to people? How can a tyrannical person hold sway on tens & thousands of people? I find it ironic that Milosevic's coffin was given a public viewing despite the fact that he was held on charges of crimes against humanity. Milosevich was an evil dictator who presided over the deaths of countless thousands. He died a lot more peacefully than his victims. I expect that even Hitler would have had bleeding hearts follow his casket to hell, but it is hard to mourn the killer when the victims are un avenged. How come people support dictators like Hitler , Mussolini, Saddam Hussain. It really makes me sad that some people talk of Milosevic as if he was a man who had some kind of noble goals of keeping Yugoslavia together. He, of all people, is responsible for Yugoslavia falling apart they way it did. He is also known as Balkans butcher.Dictators will disappear only when all the people unanimously reject them.These dictators thrive on weakness of people who support them for their favours to them of power,money & the idelogical brainwashing that they feed into the weak minds of the otherwise normal people.There is hope only when people consiously respect humans irrespective of cast,creed,race & gender.
Ahsan Ghori
Rain Rain Go Away
The recent Downpour exposed the Quality of construction in the emirates to the layman when they had to rush to find buckets and position them to hold the dripping water from roof tops into their apartments.This rain has opened the eyes of the people. They could now see the poor quality construction in the malls & buildings hidden by the glossy finishing & cosmetic cover-up done by finishing works like marbles, tiles, glass, paint etc. These attractive finishing lure the buyer who unwittingly fall into grasp of real estate agents, who display eye catching photos, prespective images & videos of these apartments. The owners of these so called posh buildings will now regret on their decision to have purchased property on impulse. Isn’t the proverb “All that glitters is not gold” very apt in this regard.
The question now arises should people waste their hard earned money by investing in substandard buildings. I say, Of course not & this quality issue needs to be addressed by concerned authorities at the earliest.
The problem I think is accepting lowest offer on the table for construction of these apartment buildings & unrealistic deadlines to finish the job. The quicker the job the more stringent the quality requirements have to be maintained which is not happening.Also there is need for independent third party organizations to inspect the buildings to guarantee the quality of construction. Everyone I suppose will agree that UAE needs more & more rain but it certainly does not need any leaky apartments for sure
Ahsan Ghori
Friday sermons
I feel a large percentage of the people who attend Jummah prayers are passive listeners during sermons. This is because majorities of the people are immigrants & they cannot decipher the Arabic language though they can say the prayers & read in Arabic. Yes, it is important to learn & understand Arabic but given the situation, are we comfortable when what the imam say does not reach out to majority of the people & does that achieve the intended purpose of the whole exercise.
Topics of importance to Muslims are delivered by the imams during the sermons & the people need to know what is being said to have any impact on them.
I think efforts should be made make the sermons more meaningful for maximum number of congregates.Transalate the information delivered for the benefit of those who do not understand. To start with at least the summary of the sermon can be printed & distributed in various languages.
Scholars & intellectuals who belong to our faith would have given a thought about this & I wonder what is stopping them. I feel they should take cognizance of these developments & make all efforts to find solutions to cater to the congregation as per the linguistic needs.
Ahsan Ghori
Scribble Scribble
We all have seen children scribbling in the walls of our house & then as they grow up some of them get into the habit of scribbling in the school desks, park benches, bus stops, trees, rocks, Sub way walls, dusty cars etc. Adults do it on their bodies as art work & call it tattoos. Many scribble on their note pads during meetings & conferences either when they are contemplating or out of boredom. It seems to me scribbling is form of rebellion more than just vandalism.
Graffiti is a sight that can evoke mixed reactions. Public view graffiti as an eye sore.
Why do people love to scribble on the walls especially on public wash rooms? I don’t understand what secret delight it is to write utterly vulgar on the wall. Those who have visited public wash rooms will agree with me that graffiti is all over the place. It is so prevalent in UAE these days. I cannot think of any other reason for this addiction to scribble, other than it giving the scribbler a power of self identity or it could be that the compulsion to put their mark on anything pristine be the reason. As I ponder the issue of graffiti I come across a solution to this problem that is, to change the public perception of toilet graffiti by welcoming it by giving a chance to those rebellions, in the form of having writing boards & marker pens attached in the toilets so they can scribble to their hearts content. The other way to get rid of it is by issuing fines, but how could one catch a person red handed while he is in the confines of the wash room.
Ahsan Ghori
Corrupt Democracy
We all know that corruption is prevalent in the third world. It is one of the important factors posing a serious developmental challenge for the country. However, when a representative of the people elected by the people for the benefit of people accept bribe & not perform his job which is to raise concern or appeals of people in the citadel of democracy it undermines democracy. It betrays trust & tolerance of the people. It takes two or more to create corruption. Giver & taker should be punished to stop this corruption spreading like cancer. They need to pluck the root before it becomes terminal. The government should take concrete action & immediately expel the persons from power until proved otherwise. The country (India) is developing into a regional super power & so corruption which is already prevalent there is dangerous for economic & political development of the country. When the lawmakers become law breakers & misuse power for personal gains the attitude of common person changes. Corruption becomes heavily embedded in the system & people think it is reasonable to give bribes. It has seeped so deep into the system people have stopped questioning & think it as a way of life. Media has highlighted few times before as well, but the problem is that this is easily forgotten as time passes & we are back to square one. The politicians know very well that people have short memory & use this weakness to their utmost advantage. People have seen this many a time & so a system of tracking & follow up should be created to ensure that the people are given justice in a democratic system. The core of democracy is that the people elected are accountable & answerable to the very people who put them on power.I feel this is one part out of many that is lacking in the third world democracy as when the elected representatives are in charge they care less & loot the people. They do this time & again, as they are confident that they can get away with it.
Ahsan Ghori
PROS & CONS: Resident status
Any country should offer permenant resident status to immigrants who come to work or for business. If there is skepticism in offering citizenship status, permanent resident status which can be invalidated, if the person does not suit to the norms of the country can be offered. Immigrants the world over could not resist coming to the best of all countries if the opportunity existed. Now countries that are developing at great pace & are having a vibrant economy should look into the pros & cons with respect to giving resident status. Many international business men & women are investing a lot of money & I feel it’s the right time for opening up. Give them resident status so people will feel secure & put their heart & soul for the country. This I say because the status will bring a sense of belonging to the country rather than a situation where people live there & work just for the sake of money nothing more nothing less.
Most people have no inclination to leave their native soil, no matter how onerous conditions are. Would-be emigrants must fight off the ties of family, the comfort of familiar surroundings, the rootedness in one's culture, the security of being among "one's own," and the power of plain inertia.
Conversely, being uprooted carries daunting prospects: adjusting to alien ways, learning a new language, the absence of kith and kin, the sheer uncertainty of it all.
To get the best of the lot should always be the aim of any country considering how much the country will benefit from the individual. On the negative side of it the cultural conflict will increase. The social cohesion is not easy.
But after weighing the pros & cons the country should decide what is best for them. Countries with less native population should always be open to accept immigrants so the economy is flowing. They should find ways to retain the best lot & this can be achieved by giving permanent resident status in my opinion. The floating population will not help in the long run & going global is the best way forward.
Ahsan Ghori
PARADOX
Censorship in television & media is required for sure. If not people, living within a society will go into disarray. The simple reason is that we are living in a society bound by rules & regulations so we need to be careful not to offend people’s sentiments. What is acceptable for one person is not acceptable for another.
It is not the same everywhere as some call it free society some call it restricted society. The word free is so pleasing to hear but the universal truth is if we are, free to do whatever we want then there will be only chaos & confusion. So somewhere down the line there need to be control & limits.
In mathematics when we have limits we arrive at a formula that helps to solve the problem & when there is no limit, it becomes infinity with no solution in sight. Therefore, the logic is always to limit oneself to arrive at a solution. The method adopted may vary but the solution & conclusion is the same.
Censorship varies from country to country but one should know the limits & follow the rules set by any country. Opinions vary, Values vary, Outlook varies but if one considers & respect others opinion rather than impose their opinions on others, problems could be avoided. Then there will be no need for a solution as there is no problem in the first place.
Only when we do not know how far one could tread we inadvertently cross the line & land up into trouble. Therefore, the simple solution for this complex problem of restriction is to say such & such is the rule & do not say anything more that will land you in trouble. For example, rules need to be laid with respect to morality, blasphemy, freedom of expression & things like that. However, these rules should be clear-cut as healthy criticism is always welcome. If there is no criticism, there is no opinion & when there is no opinion, there is no democracy & when there is no democracy there is suppression. When there is suppression, there is repression. When people are repressed, they are in tension & explosion is the result. This is what is happening in this world.
However, who decides what the limit is? This could be the confusion. No solution in sight.
Is there a paradox in what I say?
Ahsan Ghori
Independence or Interdependence
As I closed, my eyes to sleep a lingering thought that perturbed me slowly crept in my mind & opened my eyes.
It made me ponder about the things we take in life for granted in our everyday life.
We proclaim we are independent & proudly brag about being so. We go on with our life until some sort of calamity strikes us & make us realize how interdependent we are with one another. However, as time passes, our memory being short term soon we forget all that & we are back to our so-called normally abnormal self.
Right from the things we eat, walk or drive to work each & every activity is linked to a system of dependency. Lo! Behold! Even our life depends on other person. Take for example you are driving to work & though you are a good driver, for you to reach the destination safely your life depends on how good the other person drives or follows the system. Nevertheless, if nothing unfortunate happens & you reach your destination safely you feel elated about your driving capabilities. You even proclaim that you no longer have to depend on anyone to reach the place, but the fact is you are dependent on the machine that you drive & so many other factors.
You think you are independent but you are not. You are actually interdependent. That is the reality
A feel good factor is always there when you can satiate your ego by saying I am Independent. That is the irony.
A lot of discussion is going on about independence of women. Independence I think is a relative term. You might have heard your neighbor saying my daughter has become independent now. It means no longer dependent of her father for money, as she is earning enough by working or doing business.
However, she earns only by being dependent on the place of work or business. All are interdependent & are not independent. Independence is a state of mind.
Even after your death, you are dependent on another person to dispose off your body.
The world will be a better place if we all accept the fact that we are interdependent & not independent. I feel the word independence need to be removed from our vocabulary, as we all need each other from the moment we started breathing until we stop breathing & are laid to rest peacefully or burnt to ashes.
Ahsan Ghori
Sexism & Reverse Sexism
Sexism is commonly considered to be discrimination against people based on their sex rather than their individual merits, but can also refer to any and all differentiations based on sex. Sexism can refer to three subtly different beliefs or attitudes: The belief that one sex is superior to the other. The belief that men and women are very different and that this should be strongly reflected in society, language, the right to have sex, and the law.
It can also refer to simple hatred of men (misandry) or women (misogyny). Sexism against women is often called chauvinism, though chauvinism is actually a wider term for any extreme and unreasoning partisanship on behalf of a group to which one belongs, especially when the partisanship includes malice and hatred towards a rival group. For the sake of simplicity I am going to use the term sexism to refer to the belief that women are less competent than men. First Observation: Sexism is equally practiced by women. Now I don’t think I need to prove that sexism is wrong in any way, shape, or form and I also like to think that today women have reached at least some equality in our societies even though there is still much work to make sure that it turns into reality. While I say that most of us believe in equality between sexes, genders and races, very few of us act as such even the most feminists don’t. Actually I think that ladies in our society are as much sexist as they accuse men.
For example when you’re standing in a long line waiting to buy a loaf of bread or waiting to legalize some papers, you suddenly see a healthy lady in her mid-thirties or twenties getting in the front of the line do whatever she came to do, finishes it, and leaves full of grace while you’re sweating like a pig!?!?! And if you’re stupid enough to object you’ll be the unfortunate receiver of stingy eyes’ laser beams and you’ll suddenly be the bad guy… Why is so?? Because she’s a lady and you should be a gentleman enough to let her?!?! Or the fact that the burden of buying a house and providing a descent life to a family is always on the man and the woman is not obligated to, even if she’s a worker, or better yet the idea that man’s money is the family money but the woman’s money is her money. And the ugliest thing ever how women bodies are used in advertising, video clips, pictures, movies etc… It’s not that these innocent women are victims of poverty and found nothing else to do but their employers might also be women too. Now let me get this right if a student asked his roommate not to smoke in their room (which is his right) but after a while his roommate saw him smoke in there, do you think he will respect his wish?? I very much doubt that. Now the same applies here if women asked men to treat them equally in every aspects of life (which is without any doubt their right) and then act as they have some kind of privilege being a woman, or expect to be treated gentler, how do you expect men will come around and treat them equally??
Memorization- a bane in our educational system
No need to Understand, we'll just memorize" One of the things Ive noticed happen here in the education system, is that people are used to memorization as a means of passing. Its actually been encouraged by a team of what seems to be hand picked idiots who stress memorization over understanding. In Indian society, memorization is percieved as a sign of intelligence.If you are able to put down on paper wat exactly is there in the book you get 100% marks.The students intelligence is never tested except for their retaining capacities.Here I am not saying memorization is not good but it should be one of the many that determine intelligence. See, Indian societies are the Type of Low-Information, High Conspiracy and Rumor and Speculation Societies. So instead of encouraging people to think the right way, people have been encouraged to memorize, not think. Now, let me give you an example of this. When creativity is killed, people cannot design, invent or be creative with things. The engineering colleges,it is nothing more than a big photocopying plant, where there is next to zero creativity (except for a few examples) and engineering projects are either copied from someone else, or heavily assisted by professors or extrenal help is provided. How are these engineers going to be the future. Drastic changes in the educational system & mindset of people by agressive implementation is the only solution. Guys scoring 90% but cant explain logic or reason-Havent you seen many of those types.Few extraordinary cases are definetly there but what I am talking about is about general population your comments are welcome..
Ahsan Ghori
Speak English, DAmn it!! Maybe??
For those of you bored at work,like to gossip here is a topic for you. I saw a news commercial. The guy was at a restuarant, the waitress spoke very little english, when the waitress left, the guy turned and said something like only if they would learn to speak english. I am sure that many of you may have been may have been in a similar situtation, where you can not communicate with someone at a business or restuarant because you 2 don't speak the same language. so here a few things to dicuss. It is a fact that immigrants who LEARN english tend to do better economically than those who do not therefore, should they learn english to get ahead in life? I see more and more businesses, websites, and restuarants are posting things in several languages, is this sending a message that it is okay for immigrants not to learn english? Should we expect immigrants to assimilate into the "american way of life" and lose their language and learn to speak english? Dont u think it has already started in india.People who cant speak in english r looked down upon.Jobs invariably goes to those who have better command of the language.
Ahsan Ghori
