In 2007, as my ‘A’-level exams were nearing an end, I was confronted with that inevitable question: what to do in life? That’s when I began to assess my options. Engineering wasn’t my cup of tea. I’d be having a laugh if I thought of becoming a doctor. What was I left with? The ‘easiest’ option available: pursuing a BBA degree. Till the time I got into a business school, my life had been a roller-coaster ride as far as choosing a career was concerned. There was a time when I wanted to become an aeronautical engineer. Then, physics happened to me and that plan went down the drain. During my ‘O’-Level days, I thought of pursuing computer engineering, courtesy my newfound craze for technology but by the time I reached ‘A’-levels, I was told computers had become stale and there was ‘no scope’ left. I was back to square one. Through these changes, there was one passion in life that remained constant — my passion for sports. I watched, read and wrote about sports. Call it a lack of knowledge but I never thought of pursuing sports journalism. I graduated from university with a major in marketing. Without sounding boastful, I was deemed as someone who’d make it big in the field. I also landed a dream job as a junior brand manager at a multinational. I was confident I was on the right path. But that is when this thing called ‘passion’ intervened. I landed an opportunity to work as a sports journalist at one of the biggest newspapers in Pakistan. I discussed the offer with people I trusted and, unsurprisingly, I was laughed at. They thought the idea of getting into sports journalism, while heading towards a successful career in marketing, was outrageous. However, I gave the offer serious thought and realised that this was what I always wanted to do and there, I chose passion over career. I took the job and to date, I’ve had the time of my life. I’m doing something I love and am passionate about. I don’t know what my professional life ahead has in store for me. For now, I am just glad I chose to follow my passion. Who knows, one day, you could be seeing yours truly on TV bashing the Pakistan cricket team alongside Rameez Raja and Ravi Shastri? Read more by Emad here, or follow him on Twitter @EmadZafar

It was our first day back at school after the election holidays. Everyone was anxious and impatient to share their stories. Amidst the rowdy crowd, my classmates and I sat in a laboratory and exchanged our political views on what had happened and what could have happened when we noticed something strange. One of my class fellows, Jehan* sat next to us unusually quite. She lived on campus and had gone home to cast her vote during the holidays. Her abnormally silent behaviour worried us, so we asked her what was bothering her. Upon our inquiring, she said that the last few days had been very tough for her family. She had lost five family members - both distant and close - in the fire that consumed LDA’s building in Lahore. One of the victims was her first cousin who was like a brother to her, related Jehan. This cousin had lost his parents at a very early age and he had the responsibility of taking care of his siblings - a duty he performed well. He was married. Thus, not only did Jehan lose her cousin, a wife lost her husband and companion in the LDA fire. According to Jehan, her cousin was in a meeting when the fire broke out. My friend assumed that he died of suffocation as he suffered from asthma, but all that was found of him was his lifeless body on a chair. His face was charred beyond recognition; he was identified by the tag on his shirt and was later confirmed to be indeed, Jehan's cousin, by the distinctive way in which he kept his money in his pocket. Jehan's story didn't end here. She tearfully related how just one of her family members that worked in the LDA building was able to make it out alive. As this lone survivor and another relative of Jehan’s made their way out of the torched building, they were reminded of the cousin they had left behind. One of them went up to get him and never returned. For my friend, the last few days were nothing less than torture. The bigger tragedy, however, is that nobody is bothered. Imran Khan's fall and the alleged death of PML-N's white tiger took precedence over a fire that raged for over 36 hours and reportedly claimed more than 23 lives. News channels have been flooded with updates related to elections and little attention has been paid to the LDA fire. No questions have been raised as to what triggered the fire and the victims have not been consoled. My friend, and what remains of her family, have been following news channels with growing frustration, clinging on to every piece of information that comes their way. They have been particularly infuriated by the prompt announcement of the amount of money that will be given to the victims’ families as compensation. Truth is, money cannot bring back a person from the dead. So who cares? These families need more than financial compensation, they need closure. They need to know the truth of how it happened, why it happened and who made it happen. Jehan's brothers, upon hearing the news of the fire, had rushed to LDA plaza to rescue their cousin and other family members. The scenes that were narrated to us were horrifying to say the least. The rescue department simply did not have the infrastructure to extinguish a fire of this scale. The workers worked day and night but still many lives were lost. Another junior university mate of mine lost her paternal uncle in this incident. These were not the only victim here. When my Jehan's brothers had gone in to retrieve their relatives’ bodies, they had seen over 40 bodies lying around in the room- all horrifically burnt, and that was still the story of a single hall. Just to think that LDA has many such halls sends shivers down my spine! We were all surprised to hear this as reports on the media had quoted the death toll of around 22. The death toll appears to be under-reported and this is grossly unsettling to all of us; it definitely brings the credibility of the media in question. Following the tradition, those in authority have demanded an inquiry report, and the issue has been dismissed but we have been left with many questions. Are we being misled by the media? Will we ever get to know who was responsible for this incident? What were reasons for downplaying the extent of loss in the incident? And the most important one of all: Are we safe? *Names changed to protect privacy. Read more by Sahrish here.

The historic elections are finally over. A significant majority of Pakistanis exercised their right to vote for their favoured parties and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has emerged as the leading party in the national assembly followed by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and  Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). Predictions made by most analysts have been proven wrong in the wake of elections as Imran Khan’s PTI has emerged as a big political force winning a considerable number of seats in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and in the national assembly. At places where it did not win, it emerged as the runner up with a sizeable number of votes. A lot of Pakistanis cast their votes for the first time in their lives and PTI was the clear favourite of the urban middle class educated Pakistanis. As the results started pouring in, however, there was a widespread display of shock and dismay. Psychology tells us that the first stage of grief is usually denial. Here, this manifested in allegations of massive rigging by the youth on social media. This anger and denial was channeled into hatred of the winning party and all sorts of disgusting memes appeared on the internet in the last 72 hours. The following are some pictures that showcase the ‘sore loser’ and utterly disrespectful attitude shown by a majority of PTI fans. 1.  This map was widely circulated on social media. It depicts the point of view of PTI supporters and how they perceive Pakistan as a whole. If anything, it essentially represents the original apolitical side of today’s youthful PTI voter whose hyper-idealism remained confined largely to their urban hang-out places and was rudely awakened by the pragmatism that is bread and butter of electoral/constituency politics. 2. This picture reflects the people of Punjab, who according to PTI fans, prefer qeemay walay naan (bread stuffed with minced meat- a popular meal) over ‘truth, justice and wisdom’. Just because someone exercised their right to vote according to their will, does not mean they are greedy and stupid. This is a shameful expression of anti-Punjab bias shown by Insafians. Ironically, PML (N) won more seats from the districts with top 10 literacy rates in the country than any other party. Lest we forget, the reforms in education system done in Punjab in the last five years have been highlighted by the World Bank. 3.  This picture spells out the words, “I belong to a dead nation”. It depicts the loss of hope by disgruntled and self-righteous followers. All the hype and media glitz surrounding the election campaign deluded voters into a false sense of infallibility and the loss of hope is a result of a failed ambition, particularly in Punjab. Educated masses should know that persistence and hard work leads to change. Rome wasn't built in a day and this attitude of giving up promulgates a very negative message to the youth of the country. 4.  This is a screenshot of a message written by a PTI fan to Mr Nawaz Sharif’s daughter. Here, the author mocks her and her father for providing taxis to unemployed people. Now what is so bad about helping the less fortunate? This is also the case with most other urbanite PTI fans who think giving incentives to the downtrodden masses (i.e. the actual majority) of Pakistan is shameful. Sadly, this shows that this young generation has A LOT to learn about politics. Is this the sort of bullying they want to see in a ‘Naya Pakistan’? 5.  A fake column was written and attributed to a leading writer in Urdu Press, which alleged rigging on part of PML (N). It was later clarified by the writer that he never wrote any such column. This has been a trend with tweets too by some famous journalists. They were manipulated on Facebook and later turned out to be completely fabricated! I understand that supporters are upset that their hero Imran Khan did not come to power, but isn't releasing fake tweets and columns taking it a bit far? Talk about desperation for attention! Better was expected of the educated class. I can’t even begin to mention the countless abuses and cuss words hurled at anyone disagreeing with PTI’s narrative on social media. If you exercised your right to vote for PML-N, you are automatically labelled as a nihari loving paindoo.  Why? Do Insafians want a "Naya Pakistan" where people are not given the right to differ from the mainstream opinion? Pardon me if I am wrong, but isn't this the purana Pakistan? Furthermore, numerous caricatures of Nawaz Sharif and his family have been tossed around on the internet, crossing the barrier of decency by a mile. The modern, educated and upper middle class supporters of the ‘party of change’ should not be disgruntled with the fact that Imran Khan is not prime minister. The mere fact that a large number of previously apolitical people are willing to claim their stake in the system is reason enough for hope. Attacking people and insulting them is not a change and I strongly condemn this sort of bullying. The kind of change one should aspire to is a gradual change, patient change, and practical change. Idealism often tends to be rudely awakened by the bitter truth and we must cope with it. Only hard work, persistence and shrewd decision making can make democracy the best revenge towards corruption, nepotism, and misrule. So, to all the disheartened PTI supporters, your party did not lose; in fact, it did very well. Buck up and keep vying for change in a way that is tolerant of other peoples' choice. Read more by Abdul here or follow him on Twitter @abdulmajeedabid        

Yesterday evening, at Teen Talwar Karachi, thousands of protestors showed up, making their presence felt for what was at least five colorful hours of dancing and chanting, and calling for reelections over alleged vote rigging. Not only were there a sea of PTI flags, but national flags, as well as flags proudly bearing the stag symbol of popular independent candidate, Mohammad Jibran Nasir were also seen at the protest. Also, there was PTI candidate DrAlvi, who while chanting from the top of a van scored many cheers with his clever pun, “Is Hal-kay ko halka nahee layna!” (Don’t take this locality lightly – ‘lightly’ and ‘locality’ are similar sound words in Urdu) Sadly, late into the night, na maloom afraad (unknown people) came to the rally with weapons, using aerial firing tactics to intimidate the peaceful protestors. It was a pity to see this at an energetic rally packed with families, including women and children. Why certain sections are resorting to violence over peaceful protests is quite confusing, (unless you watched a certain TV address last night) but what is more bothersome is how voters of other parties also seem quite threatened by these protests. Certain people in authority have accused displeased voters of not accepting defeat in good grace. These comments are quite perplexing, especially with an overload of evidence that rigging may have actually occurred. Perhaps these people in authority are taking things personally, because for them to acknowledge some of the overwhelming evidence would be to admit a failure of ‘free and fair’ elections. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="625" caption="An aerial view of the protest at Teen Talwar. PHOTO COURTESY NADIR TOOSY"][/caption] As a PTI supporter, I would like to congratulate Nawaz Sharif sincerely. I don’t believe (at this moment in time) that rigging affected the ultimate outcome of the elections. But why are we being asked to stay quiet, especially by other citizens? It almost seems like some Pakistanis have become so accustomed to the corrupt elements in the system, that denying them disturbs a basic element of their psyche. Others seem to comically think that because the wave has started in the affluent sectors of Pakistan, the protests hold no legitimacy. Perhaps the affluent in Pakistan are the freest. Consider the farmers and bonded laborers in Pakistan, who are so victimised, they will sell a vote for merely Rs100. These are the people who continue to give old political parties a respectable number of votes, even after such parties have utterly failed during the past five years. Some of these people are little better than modern slaves, and are the folk who free and fair elections should have actually freed. After the election results, many, including members of PTI, raced to social media to say that we should accept the election results gracefully. What grace is there in accepting unfairness? Correctly identifying a wrong doesn’t make one a ‘sore loser’. Voting is our basic right. Even if rigging cost any one party 15-30 seats, it has had a huge impact on the balance of power. ‘Free & Fair Election Network’ is pointing out that in NA 242, there was a 186% turnout. Considering that most places had a 60% turnout, where did all these extra votes come from? Were new voters suddenly born after voter registration? Here are opinions of two respectable Pakistani journalists: Here is a link to 15 rigging videos. Considering that it is abnormal for someone to have caught even 10% on camera, one can imagine how many actual cases there are: Well, one has to stop imagining. According to The Express Tribune, out of 3,500 polling stations checked so far, nearly 700 reported irregularities. Let’s let that sink in. 700 so far reported irregularities. That’s 20%. Let’s also keep in mind that these are only the numbers reported. Who knows how deep the rabbit hole goes. If 20% have reported irregularities, how ‘free and fair’ were these elections? Even if one polling station was rigged we need to investigate these irregularities for the integrity of the democratic process in Pakistan. If people don’t believe in the democratic process, then democracy is dead before it starts. Everyone should feel outraged if the alleged rigging took place, not as members of any one affiliation, but as Pakistani citizens. I have personally had many first-hand accounts of domestic helpers from countless families, who have claimed that they weren’t allowed to vote the way they wanted by force (by na maloom afraad!). My request to all Pakistanis is that you wake up for this nation. Saying that rigging didn’t take place is to live in denial. It doesn’t matter with which leader your loyalties lie, because in the end your loyalties should be with Pakistan. It doesn’t matter what party you support, or even if your party won, because you should be fighting for your countrymen’s basic constitutional right to vote without being under duress. Free yourself of party alliances and fight for the basic rights of your fellow Pakistanis. For the people of Karachi, there is a fresh protest tonight at 6:30pm on Shahra-e-Faisal at the Nursery. Another protest is apparently taking place at Do-Talwar. At Laik Chowk, Lahore, protests will continue today. Meanwhile, at D-Chowk, Islamabad, protests are taking place as a show of solidarity. Now, there are rumors of protests happening at embassies overseas by international Pakistanis. Naya Pakistan is an ideal that starts only when we want it to. This land will always remain the same. We, the citizens, are the ones who need to change. We must become Naya Pakistan. Our leaders have done their job. Let’s take it from here. Let’s show them that we can be free citizens of this great nation. Read more by Noman here or follow him on Twitter @Pugnate  Correction: This blog earlier had screenshots of fabricated tweets. They have been removed. The error is regretted.

A sudden lull is seen on social media as the results trickle in. Shock. Disbelief. Disappointment. After all, we were called the “PTI trolls”. Our enthusiasm and excitement, and often confrontational attitude of taking head-on collisions with the old players of the political field irked the intelligentsia and the liberaati. A truly centrist party, we were attacked by everyone: the left and the right. However, through it all, as a young party, we held each other’s hands and were fueled by hopes of a Tsunami.

PML-N is in a clear lead - no question about it - and we are all devastated, me and my fellow PTIians. A bit sheepish about our often naïve enthusiasm which others mistook for arrogance, I hear the youth, our strongest voters, saying:

“Nothing in this damned country will ever change."

To all those, I would like to say:

"Look around again; it already has. We are already living is a more awake, Naya Pakistan."

Not knowing the ultimate result of NA 250, here’s what I saw today in the infamous constituency. Women flocked, empowered by passion, realising they had a say and a role in the politics of this country.   The disabled, the elderly, the sick - everyone knew they had a role to play. I saw people on stretchers and children on wheelchairs. They were all out to support PTI, that too when we knew we were up against namaaloom afraad. In a city where we would, once upon a time, take the name of a certain political party in hushed whispers, yesterday we, the women and the youth, battled it out peacefully by exercising our right to vote. We sweated it out for eight hours to cast a vote in the May heat. We remained peaceful and shared water, but did not let anyone break the queue. Our youth realised they were a power and had a sense of ownership in Pakistani politics. We spoke out against hooliganism and intimidation. Hope came alive yesterday. We have emerged as Pakistan’s second largest party, a force to reckon with. We are the biggest threat to the status quo, with no reliance on replays of our assassinated leaders or laptop give-aways or any prior serious political experience and with a leader who is neither a feudal, nor an industrialist, nor a “seasoned” politician who knows the bad game that politics is like the so-called stalwarts. All my leader has is a dream and pure ambition, and my heart swells with pride and joy when I call him that. He dreams of an awake Pakistan - one without the status quo that he has managed to threaten; one without disparity between rich and poor. He dreams a dream of a Pakistan where expats long to come back to and the youth does not want to run away from; a dream of justice for every Pakistani: left, right and centre. Are you kidding me, everyone? This is a proud moment for PTI. In the face of criticism, opposition, backlash from all quarters and no billions in our accounts to support our campaign, we have become a force that cannot be ignored. We have not used violence or insidious ways to get here. At the most, we said a few irksome things on Twitter and Facebook in our over-zealousness, but used no arms or weapons to force our way through. We are not backed by dynastic political support. We did not dig out photographs of any opponents romantic escapades and use them to win popular support. All we had was the ideology of our leader and we have stuck to it because we believe in it. As a mature, aware PTI voter, I believe we did this is for the best: the serious PTI supporters needed this time to mature. The fickle ones will ebb away. What will remain at the other side will be a true force of change. While a nationwide Tsunami may not be here yet, it would be unwise for gloating opponents to write that off in the future. We have done pretty well for a young party, and the change may begin from our problematic frontier where PTI's positive impact will, no doubt, be felt. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf has definitely arrived and is here to stay. Above all, we may not have a Prime Minister from our party (yet) but we have a leader who is a hero who wins hearts. Additionally, Imran Khan is now head of one of Pakistan’s biggest and most original political parties. To you, I say this,

Khan, as you continue to heal and gain strength in that hospital in Lahore, rest well so that we may get ready for the next innings. This is a great beginning. We will see it to the finish line together. InshAllah.

PS: It is a privilege and honour, Sir, to be led by you.

Something strange happened when Imran Khan fell off the forklift during his rally yesterday. Not only was I concerned for his safety, but I stopped in my tracks at the realisation of the fact that we cannot lose a leader like him. He is an upcoming leader who paved his way in to the broken hearts of millions. With or without Khan, people have decided to vote and demand for a new system, a new dream and a new risk. It was as if everyone felt what I felt as tweets, statuses, and love poured in from all corners of the country. It was a good feeling to see that we all prayed for something together, other than the results of a Pakistan-India cricket match. The feeling of unity, all for one man, is something we have not oft experienced before. It did not matter whether you supported him or not, you knew he worked hard and something kept pinching your heart till you knew he was out of danger. Nawaz Sharif began his address at Liaqat Bagh with prayers for Khan, Rehman Malik prayed for his safety via twitter and Sheikh Rasheed announced that all corner meetings were cancelled. That is just what a true leader should invoke in the hearts of people. His address from the hospital bed cannot be brushed aside as a pre-polls political tactic. It was heartfelt and you could not only see but feel his pain while sitting far away. His injuries cannot be taken lightly either as doctors have advised one week’s rest for the Captain of Hope. In pain yet beaming with passion, he uttered the following words through his video message,

“This is not my war; this is your war for your country.”

“There is a saying that goes, you cross the bridge when you come to it. Your mission changes you and you change according to your mission. I had not asked a soul for money in my life but when Shaukar Khanum was being built, I went in to the streets asking for money.”

“Whatever it takes you have to achieve it” he said.

 “It’s all misinformation when the media claims I am not well. Sure it is hot, but I am absolutely fine”, Khan smiled and casually continued to pack for his next destination.

“These days, it’s a lot work.” he said with a fervour that did not match the fatigue of his words.

 “Chase your dreams and live by your passions. Whatever can be envisioned is possible.”

 “No, absolutely not. There is no question of a coalition with any of the existing status-quo parties.”

“I say that because the people of this country have decided what they want” Khan said confidently, with the sound of a final zip on his hand-carry in the background.

India and Pakistan are two angry nations. Every now and then, there is an unfortunate incident, or two, that makes them mad at each other -- really, really mad. Currently a great deal of tension is mounting on either side of the border. Although I find myself ineligible to be commenting on the current state of political affairs the two countries are embroiled in, there is this one message I want to send across the border. On May 3, 1913, Dadasaheb Phalke, an Indian director, producer and screenwriter, released India’s first full-length feature film titled Raja Harishchandra. I did some quick math, failed, tried again and in due time figured that this happened 34 years before the partition. For over three decades after its first release, the Indian film industry produced numerous films many of which originated in Lahore, present-day Pakistan. For a complete list of films and Pakistani film artists who started their careers before partition please direct yourself to the data graciously compiled by the Pakistan Film Magazine. As the Indian film industry completes 100 years of cinema this year, quite certainly an achievement of mammoth proportions, I as a Pakistani who is also a direct descendent of a citizen of United India and a Bollywood fanatic, have every right to partake in the celebrations. This is a rare and rather unique event where both nations have the opportunity to be jointly proud of achieving a milestone together, even if the team work to attain this goal comprised 34 per cent of the overall effort. I have often seen Pakistani and Indian fans fantasising about a cricket team had there been no partition. The thought of a team which has Wasim Akram’s genius bowling attack and Sachin Tendulkar’s master class batting power makes us quiver. Does this duet sung by Madam Noor Jehan and Mohammad Rafi have the same effect on you? It does on me! What is even more interesting is that this song is from the movie Jugnu starring Madam Noor Jehan alongside probably the greatest actor of Indian cinema Dilip Kumar. That is not it; Jugnu, which is credited as Dilip Kumar’s first hit, was produced and directed by Shaukat Hussain Rizvi, Madam Noor Jehan’s husband and a Pakistani-to-be. Now the fact that Yousuf sahib’s first major hit was an Indo-Pak collaboration which, ironically, released in 1947, is enough reason for me to take ownership of the Indian cinema. That or the fact that filmmakers B R Chopra, his brother Yash Chopra, Govind Nihalani and lyricist Gulzar have their homes in Pakistan; but no, let me prove to you that my love and association with the Indian cinema does not end on the day Pakistan was born. The fact is that I have followed Prithivi Raj Kapoor’s each step from the first time he took one in Lyallpur in 1901 till the time he was taken to New York by his sons Raj, Shammi and Shashi for treatment and later when he breathed his last in 1972 in Bombay. I have seen his son Raj Kapoor being greeted by hundreds of his Russian fans as he lands in Moscow in the 50s and later when his sons Randhir, Rishi and Rajiv took him to his final resting place in 1988. I have watched Raj’s brothers Shammi and Shashi win and rule over the hearts of millions of women. I have seen Madhubala who sill rules over the hearts of millions of men, 44 years after her death. I have seen Salim take a stand against Akbar for love in Mughal-e-Azam. Love that I have seen in Rajesh Khanna’s eyes as he sings “aatay jatay khoobsurat awaron sarkon pay” standing behind a mic, scarf in hand, in the movie ‘Anurodh’. I have followed the journey of Dev Anand the ‘guide’, and the journey of the several beautiful female superstars he has given to the Indian film industry. I have seen Dharmendra ride horses like a knight that he is, and Amitabh Bachchan ride motorbikes all the way to the halls of fame. I have watched Sanjay Dutt, I have watched Anil Kapoor, I have watched Sunny Deol, and I have watched them all. I have also watched Pakistanis Mohsin Hassan Khan, Zeba Bakhtiar, Talat Hussain, Abid Ali and Salman Shahid working hard to entertain the audience of the Indian cinema present in all corners of the world. I have seen Nazia Hassan sing for Feroz Khan the style icon, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan sing for directors Rahul Rawail and Dharmesh Darshan and more recently Adnan Sami, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Atif Aslam and Ali Zafar give huge blockbusters to the Indian cinema. I have seen Shah Rukh Khan write history from the time he first appeared in Fauji in 1988 and will continue to see him till either of us is breathing. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="409" caption="PHOTO: SHAH RUKH KHAN"][/caption] I know Salman is currently busy shooting for Mental; I know Ranbir was in London last week and I know Aamir is on Time’s list of this year’s 100 most influential people in the world. I have a crush on Kareena Kapoor and one on Katrina Kaif, and I’ve tried emulating Madhuri’s dance moves several times and have always been in love with Sridevi. Karisma Kapoor and Juhi Chawla’s smiles have brightened my days many a times while Kajol’s performance in Gupt gives me goose bumps every time it I watch it on TV. And last night, as I watched a failed rock star kill himself for the love of the nightingale of India with the lines “sun raha hai na tu ro raha hoon mein” echoing in my ears, I couldn’t stop myself from penning the following message: I am watching you, India, and I love watching you, the same way you love watching Pakistan destroy that middle stump with a fierce yorker. Let’s try and control our anger. Happy 100 years of cinema to us! Read more by Hassan here or follow him on Twitter @hassanchoudary

Imran Khan fell off a forklift. We all saw the tumble and the footage of him being rushed to the hospital; we saw the blood gushing out of his head, splattered all over his forehead. My political affiliations aside, I was heart-in-mouth and worried for the health of the Captain. When I got home, still distraught, I logged into Twitter to see what people were saying about the incident. Along with thousands of prayers and sympathies with Khan, I was surprised to see many hate tweets too which went along the lines of this: There was already a picture circulating on social media, with Imran Khan falling and a lion standing behind him saying something like “Run! The lion is here!” I found this extremely distasteful. After Khan's address from the Intensive Care Unit, the attacks only got worse. People were calling for the Kaptaan's head, alleging that this farce is only to gain some sympathy votes! But Khan is a national hero and thankfully, the accusations were not too many (or they escaped me). The same thing happened when the blasts at the Awami National Party (ANP) and Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) election camp offices occurred. As I tweeted wishing the best to the parties, I had a lot of people replying to me, telling me

“Oh God, you’re naive. This is just another political tactic to gather sympathy votes. They are known for doing this.”

“Now Mr Gilani will know what terrorism is like” said one of the tweets.

Social media advertising has gone places where no medium has ever gone before. With a wealth of personal data from social networks, marketers now bombard potential customers with content while they interact with their loved ones. The best part about it is that unlike billboards, organised events, TV and radio commercials, advertisers find out the response to their campaigns within a matter of hours, along with intimate details of the people responding to their initiative. Advertisements on social media, however, can have creative as well as malicious uses. The case of 'love per click': Picture this. Megan is a high achiever. She just got promoted for the third time in seven years; she has started her M Phil in Marketing and has earned a name for her articles on environmental issues. At the age of 29, she feels that it is time to settle down. However, she is unable to find someone. With all her friends married and even their friends having tied the knot, her choices are limited. Furthermore, she doesn’t want to appear desperate when meeting potential partners. She just wants to meet new people, get to know them in a casual setting and perhaps take it from there. She joins a local Toastmasters club in the city for this purpose; an international forum where people come to improve their public speaking skills. After attending her first few fortnightly club meetings, she is disappointed to find that the club mostly consists of men who are married, committed, or belong to a different orientation. This is when an idea from her experience in marketing hits her.

 “Why should I go looking for potential partners, when I can make them come to me?”

• Changing the dynamics of any physical forum which relies on Facebook for more members to bring in individuals that may exert pressure on changing its purpose. A right wing party can be turned left wing or centrist, a club dominated by men can soon become a club dominated by women. A horticultural society being run with people with a stronger religious orientation can be taken over by individuals with more secular ideals.

• Luring supporters of heterosexuality to a page supporting same sex marriage in order to disrupt its online campaign.

• Directing feminists towards pages with misogynistic content so that they may raise the issues and instil change

• Attracting citizens of one country to a page where citizens of an “enemy” country are making fun of their country, in order to flood the space with their rhetoric and eventually take over.

• Diverting religious fundamentalist towards Atheist forums to drown their ideologues and vice versa.

It was early morning. I was browsing through my daily newspaper when I came across this grotesque story. The news flashing before my eyes read, “A six-year-old lost her life begging for food at a wedding ceremony in Rujahna”. Her name was Kalsoom, a beggar child; little did she know that begging for food could be as fatal as starving to death. Her empty stomach forced her to spread her tiny palms in front of a waiter who was looking after the food at this ceremony. The waiter asked her to leave several times but her bloated belly got the best of her and she continued to beg for some mere leftovers. Annoyed at her constant pestering, the furious waiter plunged her into boiling water. The poor soul could not sustain the wounds of a merciless waiter and that marked the end of her life. The day she died she was just six-years-old; I can count that on my finger tips. Imagine the pain this minor suffered in her death. Should she have been punished so severely for being hungry and unlucky enough to be born poor? When someone dies so young you can only imagine the countless possibilities they could have had if they were given the chance to live. Her life could have been a struggle, a battle to make ends meet. Yet, she could have had numerous moments of joy and happiness if she were only given a chance. Just think, Kalsoom could have had children of her own. She could have even lived past 60. I can’t say- I can only imagine. Alas! It seems that a single plate of leftover food was worth more than Kalsoom’s life. Sadly, we live in a country where human beings crave violence. Think of the lust for blood that must have come over the waiter when he threw boiling water over a little girl. Forget literacy, what happened to humanity? What savage could have possibly done this to a child? Society has failed and we are all to blame. Why, you might ask? Did you even know of the barbaric death of this child? No. Nobody cares for the poor; they have become mere scenery for us and their pleas, background music. While you might be sitting under an extravagant tent in your best clothes, a child might be outside that very tent waiting for a bite to satisfy her growling stomach. Your priorities might be to build a new, happy life but is it fair to get so consumed to forget the other half of the population that may not even ever have the slightest chance to live that life? I would like to see politicians think beyond their pot belies to those who might have not eaten for days. Stand up for those who nobody speaks for. My request to all of you: Before you sit down for a meal today, feed one poor child and be vigilant of others who try to harm the defenseless. I once read:

"Any man's death diminishes me because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. . . ." John Donne.