View from my window

We live in a world where increasingly, the line between good and bad is becoming thinner and thinner and has almost disappeared. Lies are commonplace. Not only are we forced to lie but are often times expected to lie as truth embarrasses people and for us to move forward amicably it is expected that a 'white' lie would be used. At such a time when you hear of someone's honesty and integrity, it may even sound naive but nevertheless it does come like a breath of fresh air.  Spoke to someone recently who works in academia and has a very respected place in his field. He narrated a story to us which I will narrate to you. He was invited by another university for a conference to present a paper. A dinner was hosted in his honour and he was shown around the university campus to familiarise him with the life around the university, it seemed almost, in a bid to convince him to consider moving. Then, the head of the department invited him to his room and told him clearly that t...

Last June I visited India for the very first time. On my return I wanted to write about my observations but the impressions were so close to be almost jumbled up and I felt I needed some time to reflect on my trip. So, even though I had promised my readers a series of blogs I have not been able to write until now. And I feel that it is better this way. A lot of these writings have a context, my point of reference is Pakistan and my impressions are all a conversation with what is the state of affairs in my own country. It is an attempt to point out where we are going wrong. Some of the recurrent themes about India are, over-powering smells, population over-drive and of course extreme poverty. I wasn't disappointed either and I did see and experience all of these, really its hard not to encounter these and there were other not so flattering sights to boot. Like piles of garbage inside foyers, corridors and hallways of offices; hundreds of stray dogs roa...