What I saw in the Emergency Room
I have grown up watching “ER” and later “House MD“ because medicine in every form has never failed to captivate me. George Clooney looked like a Greek god in blue scrubs while running for surgeries in ER. So when I, a doctor was told that my next 12-hour shift is going to be in the Accident and Emergency department, I was a little too excited and scared. Patting myself on the back, I reassured myself that it was extremely wise to be trained in major and minor emergencies because we live in an emergency hub. I told myself it was nothing ...
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Keep your hands to yourself, Maulvi sahab
One day while I was travelling on a public bus on my way to university, I felt a hand on my backside. Startled, I turned around in an attempt to catch the culprit. However, the only person standing behind me was an old man. Clad in a white shalwar kameez and topi, this man’s pure white beard was long enough to reach his chest. He couldn’t have been less than seventy-years-old. I doubted myself, thinking that I was just being paranoid and it was probably an accident. The old man probably had several grandchildren my age. He would never commit such ...
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What’s the worst thing that can happen in an examination hall?
What is the worst thing that can happen to you in an examination hall? That you are caught cheating? Or, that you prepared for the wrong exam? No. Of course those things are pretty bad, but the worst thing that can happen to you in an examination hall is to be sexually harassed by the invigilator. Picture this: you are busy thinking about some weird biology term or phenomenon that could ruin your grade if you jumble it up. You are drenched in sweat because the fans are out of order. The windows are broken so the sunlight pierces through and hits your ...
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Seven children were raped today, but nobody cares
According to a report in The Express Tribune, an NGO called Sahil claimed that 2,252 children were sexually abused in Pakistan in the year 2010. This shockingly large figure shows that children are falling prey to the hunger of sick and twisted people. However, 2,252 sexually abused children is not a large enough figure for anyone to take action to stop these acts from taking place. And why would it? Clearly the goverment has more important things to spend its resources on like putting the future of the youth in jeopardy by abolishing the HEC, fighting with doctors and ending up causing ...
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Countering harassment: My eyes are up here
Not long ago, at an informal get-together of friends in Karachi our conversation turned to harassment in the workplace. One of my friends mentioned a recurring problem she was having with a male colleague, who seemed to always keep his eyes at a particular location on her body instead of looking her in the eye when talking to her. She could not avoid it as their respective job roles required a lot of communication between the two. This was particularly uncomfortable yet she was unable to raise this either directly with the person in question or with anyone else at ...
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Do we need to rethink segregation?
We often hear rhetoric condemning western culture for being lewd and too open towards sexuality. We accuse it of objectifying women and accrue this as to why they have high cases of rape and child molestation. But take a look at the source of these accusations – the ones pointing the finger, our religious clerics have made headlines of their own for all the wrong reasons. Clerics and prayer leaders in Pakistan made news when they were found guilty of child molestation, victimising young boys and girls who were their students in madressahs. Although Islam strictly mandates harsh punishment to perpetrators, the ...
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The man who taught us to be afraid
Learning that adults aren’t always as virtuous as we expect them to be is a rite of passage. One teacher exemplified this lesson, presenting himself as a patriarch. He told his students they were like his children and he would lecture them on morals. His tarnished reputation preceded him and this was his way of overcompensating. One girl dropped his class because he made her uncomfortable. When she asked a question he would come around and “accidentally” brush his hand against her. He’d pick up a book, place it on a lap and write with one hand resting on a ...
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Say no to Mathira: Ban vulgarity not art
A few days ago, someone forwarded me a video of the very famous VJ, Mathira. The clip showed her being abused and harassed by live callers. At first, I was quite annoyed with the live callers, but when I watched closely, the live callers weren’t the only ones to be blamed, were they? After all the lady does dress very cheaply and at times, uses indecent facial gestures during her live call sessions. The only thing I can praise her for is the way she bashes rude live callers very confidently. Some media people tend to drop offensive live calls the moment ...
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Where Dr Aafia Siddiqui will die
Dr Aafia Siddiqui’s sentence to 86 years by New York judge Richard Berman sent shock waves around the world. Many of her supporters felt that it was just one step away from the death penalty. Sadly, this might be closer to the truth than they imagine. Not only did the judge impose an unprecedented sentence, he also personally intervened to make sure she would serve it in one of America’s most brutal institutions. In short, Dr Aafia Siddiqui was sentenced to death – because if she remains in the innocuous sounding Federal Medical Facility in Carswell, Texas, like many others who ...
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Comfortably inhuman
If you are a regular follower of the Pakistani blogosphere and mainstream media, chances are that you have come across these three stories – the fake degree scandal, Fox News declaring the countryPornistan and a heartbreaking rape incident of a nursing student. It is amazing how the stories that appear completely different are in one way correlated. Starting off with the Fox News story, which claims that Pakistan tops Google’s chart when it comes to ‘Sexy Searches’ (Though personally, I find nothing sexy about horse sex). Frankly, Fox News is infamous for its special love for Pakistan and the Muslim world ...
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