How the mighty dollar weakens the rupee
Money only holds value because there are goods and services available to buy with that money. It is the goods and services that create a value for that money. Coconut water would be more valuable on a treasure island than kilos of gold. In that circumstance, it’s not the value of coconut water that has increased, but the diminished value of gold that is being reflected. The fewer goods and services available, the lesser the value of money – even if it is a pile of gold. Pakistan currently produces cotton, rice, fish, fruit, vegetables, pulses and much more. These ...
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The choice between excelling and growing up
I taught A’ Level law for a good 8 years, and then I quit. I was dejected because I think I always ended up seeing my students as my children and I was appalled at what the system was making me do to them; focusing on just getting the much desired ‘A’. Lately, some students (not all) would start rolling their eyes or looking at their watches the moment I would talk to them about anything that might entice them into becoming better people. No, I did not preach in class but I did expect them to think about their ...
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Sex for sale: Where are we heading?
On a recent trip to a juice shop in Lahore, my husband and I noticed a huge black Cygnus car stop at the turn across the road. After closer observation, we saw two women, both around the age of 25, dressed in bright silk step into the jeep that careened off. Two other women were left behind. After some 20 minutes, they too stepped into a Camry and sped off. My husband and I looked towards each other simultaneously – we knew what we just saw but did not have the guts to admit what was going on so openly at ...
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A dummy’s guide to morality in Pakistan
Like everyone else, friends on my e-mail group became very active while discussing the recent media hype about Veena Malik. While the opinions came from a diverse group of people, one irritated friend questioned why people can’t seem to follow basic ‘Pakistani moral standards’. Reproduced below are the top 10 rules on Pakistani moral values that came out as actually being followed in modern day Pakistan: Pakistani moral values 101: Top 10 rules If a Pakistani man dates more than one woman, he is a Casanova. If a Pakistani woman dates more than one man, she is a “loose woman”. If ...
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Attacking shrines: The new fundamentalism
The explosions at the shrine of the Sufi saint Abdullah Shah Ghazi are yet another glaring testimony to the belief that a new-fangled brand of ‘Islamic’ fundamentalism has emerged as a force to be reckoned with. But under the garbed reality of civilian genocide, intelligence failure and staggering chaos which have devastated the lives of the Karachites, a more scathing assault has been launched on the Naqshbandi Sufi order. Upon glancing at Trimingham’s The Sufi Orders of Islam some months ago (the contents of which have been sourced mainly from Taj al-Din ibn Mahdi Zaman al-Rumi’s Risala fi sunan al-Ta’ifa ...
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Robbed by the morally bankrupt
It was broad day light when four men broke into an elderly woman’s house in Defence. Two held the only occupants of the house, a lady in her 80’s and her maid, at gunpoint while the others searched the house for cash and jewelry. When the robbers did not discover anything worth stealing they began beating the old woman black and blue, accusing her of hiding valuables. The woman, a patient of arthritis and weak eyesight, suffered bruises on her face and a possible fractured jaw. She was rushed to the hospital in a state of shock and the trauma ...
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Help, I have selective morality syndrome
Hi, my name is Manal, and I suffer from selective morality syndrome. … And you may suffer from it too… Remember when you were stopped at a red light on Ittehad last week, and it was late and no cars were on the road and there were still 20 seconds left on the traffic light timer so you thought, what the hell, might as well go, and you did, you ran the red light and got to wherever you needed to, safe and sound. Ok now, remember earlier on in the week, when you were trying to get to the Mobilink office ...
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