Zamaan
1 year ago
The Language We Seek!
Following is a text, a comment on YouTube, by some reader who had some catastrophic experiences with standard language as a kid, perhaps it made him or her to sallow a bad medicine at that time. And as a consequence of those psycho-commotions, they provided us some reason to cry for them. The article, which treated the abuses of our dear language, is named "Ten YouTube Comments Translated into Standard English". Here are a few samples for your consideration:
Subject: Slipknot is Emo?
o, gawd...ya dont kno how retarded you ar do you!!??haha...emo...maybe tats wat you ar and tats why yur sayin tat...yur jus tryin to deny it huh!? im surprised you even kno the word 2000!!! haha!!! n00b!!! SLIPKNOT PWNZ and MAGGOT 4 LIFE!!!!!!
What We Think They Meant:
With all due respect, good sir, I must hereby declare your statement to be highly objectionable. In fact, your comment causes me to speculate whetheryou are afflicted with a learning disability so severe that it prevents you from fully comprehending your diminished mental capacity. I further theorize that you could be described to by today's youth as "emo", and by calling out others as such, I have concluded that you are in denial about this "emo" lifestyle, subject to the cultural stigmas and stereotypes associated therewith. I also believe you to be several years my junior and have little memory of the year 2000, which implies a sexual and cultural immaturity on your part. Newcomers to this website are often subject to ridicule and mockery because of their unfamiliarity with the it, an unfamiliarity I find to be intensely amusing. Lastly, I would like to state that I am a fan of the rock band Slipknot. I hereby pledge my support to this band – a band that endearingly refers to its fans as "maggots" --for the rest of my days. The words I have written above are to be conveyed with great enthusiasm and vigor.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Miley Cyrus
wel sed. u dont ave 2 answer or owt but i just wna say i totally agree wiv u. every1 is so mean bout her wen she asnt actually dun anyfin 2 hurt YOU! so y dont u just leave her alone if u dont like then dont bother wacthn the videos. duh. peace xWhat We Think They Meant:
Even though I do not expect a return of correspondence, I must heartily concur with what you have said. Furthermore, I would like to commend you on both the veracity of your statement and your well-crafted phrasing. Capital effort, indeed. I, too, am thoroughly and continually puzzled by the resentment that some parts of our society (although sometimes it feels like the whole of the world) directs toward Ms. Cyrus, especially considering that she has done nothing personally to impede anyone, at least to the best of my knowledge. If certain people find Ms. Cyrus to be distasteful, then I believe their efforts would be better spent viewing sites they actually find enjoyable, rather than subjecting themselves to content they do not care for. It befuddles me to think that someone would endeavor to waste their time on something that angers him/her so. I would also like to take this opportunity to convey a universal message of peace and love.
Read more here (reconstructions)
I do not intend to relate it to any of my readers. Or, perhaps to everyone, who is accustomed to such habits in the use of language. But, is not the plight of educated masses? These people, as I expect, belong to those societies where literacy rate is supposed to be 100%. 100%. And yet this much insanity....
thought of the day
.gif)
'Taoist Yin-Yang'
Sometimes, we behave in the way black colour does: Being silent. Deep. Invincible. Dark. Cold. Lost. Dreadful. Quiet. But these are partial aspects of life. Try to complete them, or in other words, be a knower of parts and wholse. Taoist Yin-Yang is very profound in this regard. It symbolises wholness and unity of multiplicity. I like to think of it as something "intellectual" which guides me, and creates balance and harmony in my life.
Clouds that Absorbed the Tears
'Smoke from three days of Israeli air strikes against Hamas militants blends with brewing storm clouds to create a dramatic sunset over the Palestinian territory on December 29, 2008 viewed from Israel's border with the Gaza Strip'. (David Silverman/Getty Images) Source.
Terrorist Attacks in Pakistan: Past 3 Year's Figures
In the following chart is the data on terrorist and non-terrorist attacks (security forces, operational etc.) and causalities due these attacks taking place in Pakistan during the past 3 years combined. It should be noted that all these attacks and causalities are a direct result of the "war on terror" going on for past seven years in Pakistan's neighbour, namely, Afghanistan. The highest number of attacks took place in NWFP, 1,009 (the province which shares a borderline with Afghanistan), followed by Balochistan, 682, and the Tribal Areas, 385.Only 35 took place in Punjab, 25 in Sindh and 7 in Islamabad.
Total Attacks and Causalities During Last Three Years in Pakistan:
| Year | Total Attacks* | Annual Increase (in %) | Killed | Injured |
| 2005 | 254 |
| 216 | 571 |
| 2006 | 675 | 159% | 907 | 1,543 |
| 2007 | 1,0503 | 129% | 3,448 | 5,353 |
| 2008 | 2,577 | 43% | 7,997 | 9,670 |
Ironically, the military operations by security forces of Pakistan against terrorist organizations have done more harm than any good. These operational attacks alone have killed 3,182 people, according to a report. And, this death toll surpasses the number of killings by terrorist attacks.
This chart has been published in the Pakistan Security Report 2008 by the Pak Institute for Peace Studies, or in short, PIPS. The PIPS is an independent, non-profit nongovernmental research think-tank. Its office is located in Islamabad. You can visit their official web-site at www.san-pips.com.
* The attacks combine "causalities in clashes between security forces and terrorists, sectarian clashes between tribes, border clashes and incidents of operational and political violence."
Luh Bhi Tu Qalam Bhi...
I regret I do not have any English tranlsation of this poem (actually a ghazal) by the poet-philosopher Iqbal. If any Urdu reader can translate it into English, I would love to request him to provide me with one.
Logic - A Definition
Umer: What is Logic?
Master Khuram: It is refinement of thinking towadrs its validity and consistency. Having a logical mind, you start feeling inconsistent and self-contradictory things as invalid. Invalid things don't satisfy your mind. Rules of logic however are not rules of thinking. Rules of logic can only analyze product of thinking, i.e., verbally or written expressed thinking in the form of statements. In technical terms, we use word "propositions" instead of statements. A proposition is a statement which asserts or denies something.
Do you agree with his definition? If you do, then to what extent?
Wiritng & Experience
1. Writing aptly measures and gives form to the depth and intensity with which one experiences life, not just how much he experiences. Thus it points to the fact that experience alone is not 'life', its the depth and intensity with which you experience it, for only that can provide an understanding of it.
2. - Answers the questions: Where now? and why?
3. - Makes us conscious of even flashes of memory, they may not be of great value since lacking any noteworthy consequences, but very significant to the memory.
4. - Excellent medium for the transfer of experience(s) - the way it was felt - expressed even if in partly comprehensible way, to others.
5. - As a whole, is just a part of life. Helen Keller, an American writer, was deaf and blind. At the age of 7, she for the first time came to know on one eventful day that 'every thing had a name'! Before which she never knew anything about language.
6. - Everyone finds and seeks his own way of language, the language he wants. He can only learn from others and find others' research useful to him. But imitation is only superficial, excessive and disproportionate. And it simply negates the quality of unique experiences of the individual. Or, to be specific, the language I want and seek, and eventually write is centered on my unique Selfhood.
The Traditional Way
Muslims repeatedly claim that their faith Islam is such a code of life which delivers peace, inner and outward, following the order, to general humanity. But in the present times, when they often lean forward to justify their claims by referring to their glorious past and golden cultures, like of al-Andulus - they seem to be failing in convincing others. And, what is more a fabrication of truth than the suggestion that the mayhem they've brought to themselves and their environment is fault of a second or third party. Aren't these societal evils equal to mayhem - barbarism, injustice, religious animosity (not merely intolerance), wide-spread corruption, absolute illegality. What we actually need to recognize is to live in the Traditional way of life, and to tap the incentives it contains in its core which promise a life of well-being and harmony for humanity in general. Nasr makes the re-statement of this idea in this way, in his 'The Heart Of islam':
"Muslims must remind themselves again of their responsibilities to God, to human beings, and to the natural world and also of their basic rights, the most important of which is the right to be God's servant and vicegerent here on earth. They must extend their hand in friendship to followers of other religions as ordered by the Quran and to live and let live with regard to those who have moved away from the world of faith altogether. they must even extend their hand to those Christian and primarily Protestant evangelists who express ignorant, hurtful, and even malicious and egregious views about Islam. Muslims must in this case turn the other cheek and prove in their actions that for them also Christ is sent by God and his words revered."
What Seyyed Hossien Nasr, world's leading Islamicist and expert on East and West, wants to say is this:
Let me free so that like the Sun I shall wear a robe of fire,
And within that fire like a Sun to adorn the world.
Rumi
Poverty & Opulence
I observed a very peculiar but shocking difference between the life of luxury and the life of extreme poverty. That difference is rarely realized by those brought up in the lap of luxury, because for them the idea of total helplessness which issues out from an empty pocket doesn't exist. And they are justified for their insensitivity, as experience truly is a provider of wisdom. However, their lust for more never dies (exceptions are there); and poor man's helplessness fails, yet trying so hard to materialize itself.
Of Rationality
Umer: What is rationality?
Master Agha: Rationality is the feature of man which demands that man must use his mind to know about the cause, purpose of creation of his and the universe. This is the first step to know what 'iman (belief) is.
Ishq, The Higher Form of Love
1. How do I know what is ishq and its historical roots, the higher form of love? I am unaware of the commotions and my thoughts are stagnant, more than any metaphor that can be applied to my situation. For that reason, Sir, I cannot ever analyze what is ishq, if the situation persists. So I tried to consult the poet-philosopher Iqbal. But his explanation of ishq can better be described as a part of a thought-system aimed at the unification of human personality and its self-realization.
1 (a). Self-realization (what's hidden in his or her breast, the initiative that is to be taken, ego-integrating and disintegrating factors and stuff like that, you know). It is difficult to realize the nature of it. Especially while taking naps frequently throughout the day. So where do I start from? Not self-actualization, rather ishq, the higher form of love.
1 (a1). Perhaps two or three times I repeated this phrase-cum-clause: ishq, the higher form of love. I should clarify it as to why 'why' is answerable in this particular domain. To Mr. Iqbal, Ishq "means the desire to assimilate, to absorb. Its highest form is the creation of values and ideals and the endeavour to realise them. Love individualises and the lover as well as the beloved." (Quoted by Dr. R.A. Nicholson, in The Secrets of the Self.) Rather than asserting importance on where to start from? I deem it better to let the flow freely flow and to be non-linear somehow.
2. Self if made strong...ego integrated and saved from disintegration...growth, development...The bargains...And...The heights...Visions from the top....Mar'fat...Knowledge of the nature of things...'Prayer as a form of knowledge'...Mar'fat...This is gonna be huge...
3. Sir this ishq, the higher form of ishq, and not the love of physical bodies, transcends my imagination, despite the lure of bar-gains. Even if I in some distant times become successful in imagining things a little better while writing, I surely can imagine that it is transcendent to my imagination: The love-meditation, a source of positive emotions; the songs you've to sing; miracles that ought to happen and the dwelling - hefty tasks. Here I fear to tramp!
When the self is made strong by loveIts power rules the whole world
I believed Iqbal to be an eccentric in the light of the verse I just quoted. I thought of giving up this so-called search for self-realization. I objected this notion of winning over the nature and world as ridiculous, pointing to the fact that isn't the world within man enough to be dominated? Now I wish to break the idols. To unfreeze them. Just for creativity and higher purposes I propose.
3 (a). Although I am a man of a weak will. Love will fortify it. Let me burn myself. Let me unite with my teacher, not Iqbal, neither his teacher, Rumi, the best-selling poet in America today, but love, but Iqbal and Rumi, thus.
By love it is made lastingmore living, more burning, more glory.
Self-Consciousness
'He's a control freak'.
'He forces everyone in his team to work according to his will'.
'Of which chakki's (wheat grinder) bread do you eat?'
'Stop asking questions you brain maniac'.
'Oh please! forgive our souls'.
Voices that are ought to haunt me. Of my friends they're, if you like. I do not doubt their intentions. Many of them are specialized food experts that's why he did not ask whether I am inclined towards eating crows (a common metaphor for excessive talkers) or not. I didn't believe any of them. Because I am a self-conscious being! I can see and visualise where do I stand in relation to these out-of-proportion projections. These voices should not haunt anyone. These words of Mr. Shrek rescued me and helped me harmonising my perceptions and subsequent behaviour:
"...Despite my obvious charming looks and wit, people thought I was a monster. And for a long time I believed them. But then you start to ignore what people call you and you start believing what you're..."
I started believing in what I knew of myself, and of what I didn't know about the tastelessness of Roman architecture in the Church of churches in Rome.
The Question
For centuries Eastern intellecthave been absorbed in the question -Does God exist?I propose to raise a new question- new, that is to say, for the East -Does man exist?
- Poet-philosopher, Muhammad Iqbal.
Daily Reflections: Evil & Society
Umer: What is NATURAL?
Master: Strictly speaking, whatever is free of human artificial interference. "Artificial" word comes from "artifact" i.e. hand made, manufactured etc. Only human interference can make things "unnatural"... "Nature" may not always be beneficial. It is better to construct 'bands' along river banks near population. It may be better to try to find new breeds of wheat, may be in some 'artificial' way. Natural way for a wound may be to let it untreated. But medical treatment is better! But if humans make fun of nature like homosexuality etc. Or such things, then it becomes EVIL. Here natural construction, growth etc. is being blocked therefore it's evil.
There have been and still continue to exist self-made and so-called, or let's call them independent intellectuals who are solely driven by the notions of freedom (to do) and independence from all the norms and conventions, preserved and passed 'by generations over centuries'. Expect them (i.e., thought patterns, conventions, etc.) to be faulty and obsolete, eliminate them. That's growth. But I am often amazed, and it's a funny thing to hear from such quarters arguing in defense of unnatural and evil, not amoral, practices. A rational person always sees things in a broader perspective, strives to integrate all colors in the same canvas and thinks beyond his or her personal likings and impulses. If our society discourages homosexuality (even though it persists to exist), it does so on the ground of its being unnatural. In a welfare society people seek to protect themselves and others from the evils which, obviously, go against human nature and reason.
Divine Power
Everything is said and observed to follow a law or perhaps the law. Our physical existence; the trees and plants; the sun and the moon - what else isn't subject to its will than a conscious human mind?
What is that law, this eternal truth? I think of it as nothing but Divine Power.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
MuddleHead Signs Off!!
