Iron Lady

 

 Photo: AP

A rather eccentric teacher once posed the question that lives on in my mind: "What is it be to be young, from an ethnic minority and growing up in Thatcher's Britain?" I can't quite remember the answer, but what I do recall is that it was a gritty, rather detached and pessimistic time if you belonged to the demographic in the question. Margaret Thatcher is dead; governments and prime ministers have come and gone, but the social changes she started, live on. We live in an altogether more individualistic, ego-centric, and less compassionate world as a result of Thatcherism. Iron Lady she may have been styled, but cold and driven by hubris is how she appeared. There is nothing wrong in reaching out to those less fortunate than you and not everything is about making money and she sorely missed these points. I have to say, she will not be missed by me and quite clearly according to some, I am breaking a general taboo: never speak ill of the departed. The social media is abuzz with negative opinions; there is much more I could say, but for now I will leave that to others:

BREAKING: Wicked Witch dies, funeral procession to follow yellow brick road. huff.to/1487Mwv
— HuffPost UK Comedy (@HuffPostUKCom) April 9, 2013

Pakhwa پخوا

Periodically we need to take a look back and so we do with the lyrics and title پخوا for this song by Ismail and Junaid. They combine rock guitars with the rubâb and blend tradition with a contemporary sound. The appeal factor, for me, however, are the words written by Hamza Shinwari Baba. An excellent ode to the Pashto language.

This video begins with a title slide that is a reminder that many have lost their lives in the turmoil in Pakistan and Afghanistan.  We should not let ourselves forget.

Find Ismail and Junaid on Facebook.

Video Credits:

Pakhwa by Ismail and Junaid
Tune Composition: Ismail Khan / Rafiq Shinwari
Poetry: Hamza Shinwari
D.O.P: Bilal Farooq & Haseeb Shah
Directed by: Shoaib Anwar / Jawad Zeb
Edited by: Shoaib Anwar

عید نوروز

نوروز د نوی کال او د سپرلی اوله ورځ ده ۰دا جشن تقریباً دری زره کاله سابقه لری او د نړی دری سوه مِلیونه خلک دا جشن لمانځی۰

 نوی کال په شاندار مرسمو یادیږي او هغه هیوادونه چې دا جشن لمانځی هغه افغنستان، ایران، تُرکيه، قزاقستان، تاتارستان او ترکمنستان دي۰ داسي دا رنګ نور سیمي پکښې هم شامل دي لکه بالکان، کُردستان، چین، هندوستان او پاکستان۰

 ټولو ته د نوی کال مبارک

تور خان

Cancer

There are some commonly identified causal factors but why exactly some cells begin to grow and invade parts of the body is still not fully certain. What we do know is that the effects cancer do devastate and whilst there are now a number of more effective treatments, a reported 13% of human deaths are still attributed to forms of cancer. The video in this posting is one of hope. One to watch, be inspired and learn from.

"We need less intelligent kids wanting to be lawyers ... We need to fight cancer. We need to fight humanities dark side." Sup Yo From Youtube Comments box

Don't Cry For Me Venezuela

Don't cry for me Venezuela*
The truth is I never left you
All through my wild days
My mad existence
I kept my promise
Don't keep your distance

He made the Time 100 of the Most Influential in 2005, 2006 and 2010 and the New Statesmen ranked him in the 50 People who Most Matter in 2010. The US considered him an irritant at best, and altogether despised him at worst. Maverick or charismatic hero, Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías was born in 1958 and rose to become a vocal, populist president drawing support from the Venezuelan masses and dividing international opinion. The best and the worst usually do.  

Chávez is now dead, having succumbed to cancer. Venezuela mourns a man who captured popular sentiment and public adoration in a way that we have now come to associate with Latin American revolutionary figures - from Eva Peron to Che Guevara to Fidel Castro etc.

If there is a contemporary politician/revolutionary who has come close to mass democratic appeal whilst challenging imperialism and world-wide political hegemonies, then Chávez was one on his own. He used Venezuela's oil wealth to drive reforms at home - leading to higher food outputs and addressing basic health, power, education and housing needs. He extended his support across South America and built up political relations with international players outside the US sphere of influence. He famously fell out of favour with the US when he goaded the US for 'messing with him', referring to George W. Bush as a 'donkey'. Choice description.

Yo Soy Chavez!

(I am Chavez)

 

RIP 

* a slight adaptation, original lyric credited to Andrew Lloyd Webber/Time Rice

Global Footprint

US based think tank, The Global Footprint Network aims to offer a standardised model through which the human ecological footprint can be calculated. The think tank asserts that  until the mid seventies the balance between humanity's use of nature’s resources to "build cities and roads, to provide food and create products" whilst emitting high rates of carbon dioxide rate was well within Earth’s "budget". That is, the Earth was able to naturally replenish and regenerate. Since then, humanity has crossed a critical threshold in that human consumption has began to outstrip what the planet is able to reproduce and regenerate.

According to Global Footprint Network’s calculations, human demand for renewable ecological resources is now equivalent to more than 1.5 Earths. In planetary terms, the cost of our ecological overspending is becoming more continuously evident. They argue that their data shows that unchecked humankind is on track by 2050 to requiring the resources of two planets. Climate change as a result of greenhouse gases being emitted faster than they can be absorbed by forests and oceans is the most obvious aspect. However, the Global Footprint Network point to others—shrinking forests, species loss, fisheries collapse, higher commodity prices, population growth and civil unrest. In short, we are using, or “spending,” our natural capital faster than it can replenish. This is similar to having expenditures that continuously exceed income and the environmental and financial crises we are experiencing are symptoms of looming catastrophe. Humanity is simply using more than what the planet can provide.

Earth Overshoot Day, first observed in 1987, marks the annual point in the calendar when humans has exhausted the Earth's budget for the year, putting our ecological economy into deficit. It is an estimate, not an exact date and is arrived at through a calculation. In 1992, this date was in October. Adjustments of the date that we go into overshoot are due to revised calculations, not ecological advances on the part of humanity. This trend demonstrates a moving back through the year on the annual overspend and for the rest of the year, we will maintain an ecological deficit by drawing down local resource stocks and accumulating carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. I would be amongst the first to admit that there is much scaremongering. That said, if this model is to be considered, then last year, in 2012, humanity went into overspend in August. The rest of our time was living off 'borrowed' time and resources without any plan to pay this back.

Age

The ageing process is something that provokes many emotional responses. In some ways the positive aspects should outweigh the negative. Maturity and wisdom are attributes that are almost always associated with the experience that can come with age. (Note the italic).

But the other side is that age can be cruel. In my case, I have seen both my parents struggle with their general health and I have observed a slowing down in their activities. To their absolute credit they still go about doing as much as they can but the worry and the obvious dependencies are increasingly evident. May Allah continue to keep them strong in faith, body and mind. Ameen.

A year and a half ago, at about this point my parents were midway through a 'sabbatical' year that they decided would be best spent away from Yorkshire soaking in the heat of Pakistan. My reasons thus for being in Pakistan were simple - my mother had not been well and even if only for four hours, I flew to Karachi to see her.

Culturally, my upbringing has me left me hard-wired in such a way so that living in a joint family situation with my parents is a role that I easily slip in to. Simply put, I need to be there for my folks and this has influenced a lot of the decisions throughout my adult life so there have been periods when I have put my own plans to one side and opted to live under the same roof. 

Whilst I wrestle with those moments when duties, ambition and responsibilities pull me in different directions, one of the worst things about watching everyone get older is seeing how the circle of people that my parents had built around themselves, slowly dying away. It is those gaps left behind that I find hard to address. Death stares us in the face and for most of us age will bring its inevitable challenges. Dealing with these whilst trying to fulfil our own individual living dreams is something that I don't think I have had much preparation for. It is not death, but the thought that age can leave others feeling dependent and alone, that troubles me the most.