Fariha's Quest: Finding an answer to the question "Why can’t Utopia be a reality?" Wish to add some colors of Utopia to this world because I dare to dream and strive to turn my dreams into reality!
It was lovely morning today with a partly cloudy weather. I was on my way to office with a peaceful mind, excited to have yet another busy and lively day.The route that my van takes is usually not a busy one, however, at one of the signals, the traffic policemen made us wait for unusually longer today, and at last we figured out that it was because of a VIP movement - which is not really unusual. While I was irritated at first, I immediately decided not to let it get on my nerves because I wanted to stay in good mood for the rest of the day. Van kept moving at it’s usual speed and I kept observing the outside world with trail of different thoughts in mind when suddenly some car started honking on us and by the time I turned around, all I saw was a speedy Parado with jet black glasses overtaking us from left side (yes the wrong side) , slamming into the side view mirror and moving ahead at a high speed. While I was trying to understand what happened, I saw another Parodo crossing us and then pushing sides on us while a Habshi(Arabic) looking guy from inside uses foul language while looking angrily at our van driver.
My van driver uncle had to finally al most stop the van in the middle of the road to let the jerks go and just then I noticed that both the cars had international number plates. It was then I felt really really sad on being harassed in my OWN country by/because of those who were not even Pakistani nationals. It made me realize how simply a Parodo with an International or for that matter green number plate can make you the most respectable and powerful person. It can give the license to humiliate anyone who does not have a Parado or a similarly expensive car.
It saddened me extremely on how I got treated like a 3rd grade citizen in my own country just because I’m a COMMON Pakistani like million others! While the incident that I narrated above may seem simply another example of road rage to many, it was not just disturbing for me but also left me wondering if I would ever be able enjoy status of a 1st grade citizen in any part of the world!
PS: The driver of the jet black car may not be foreigner and the guy speaking foul language may not be real Habshi either and may be a member of the Makarani community who resemble Habshis a lot but still I would stick to my opinion that the kind of attitude they showed was because they were driving a Parado with an International Number plate and knew that laws are not meant for them - Slap on the face of a common Pakistani NATIONAL like myself!
PPS: My last wish - I would want to drive an ultra expensive car on the roads of Karachi and feel how it is like being a RESPECTABLE Pakistani National!
PPS: I still love my country and ‘am living to see THE change. Pakistan Zindadbad!
Disclaimer - This post is not meant to show any racism.
Hey all, I’m live blogging from the National Strategy Workshop organized by Bytes4All and P@SHA to devise a national strategy for Women’s Strategic Use of ICTs to end Violence Against Women.Here’s the live blog from the workshop:
The system clock showed it was 21st January and I felt my heart beat increasing - just 9 days left, yes “JUST” because I wanted everything to be perfect. On 29th January I was traveling to Lahore after about 18 years and this time to move a tiny little step ahead in bringing about the change that APC WNSP, Bytes4All, P@SHA and millions of women across the globe are waiting to see - a world where every women feels safe and secure in offline as well as the online world. With this intention, Jehan Ara from P@SHA and I were traveling to Lahore to conduct a seminar on “ICTs and Violence Against Women - Policy Implications”. Shahzad Ahmed from Bytes4All was coming from Islamabad to join us and the SUPER WOMAN Nighat Daad - a lahore based advocate who was our Aladdin lamp to get all things organized at Lahore
We were all super excited as this session was being conducted for the female advocates from Lahore to discuss with them MDG3, Pakistan Electronic Crime Ordinance and its fallacies and TakeBackTheTech Campaign. While Shahzad and Jehan were to talk about MDG3 and PECO respectively, my job was to introduce to the legal community what TakeBackTheTech is.
Even though I had done initial brain storming but I was still not feeling relaxed because the more important part of deciding how to present it without making people sleep, was left. I did not want it to be yet another dull and boring presentation that makes people sleep and oh, the light bulb lit “boring…presentation…sleep”…oh yay! I recalled how a person once managed to fall asleep and started snorting loudly while I was conducting a workshop But hey I always thought only stories make one fall asleep so if i have to make the audience sleep anyway, why not tell a story and bingo! I came up with this presentation:
It took me quite some time to create the graphics for the presentation and the tweaking continued till even an hour before the presentation, the last hour was spent freaking out because when I roamed around the hall filled with about 80 female as well as male advocates, a few educationalists/NGO representatives and 2 senior judges Justice Nasira Iqbal - President Lahore High Court Bar Association and Mian Allah Nawaz - Ex Chief Justice Lahore High Court, I came across a lot of people who told me with raised eyebrows, “You are so young, we were expecting someone senior” :O While I told them that looks can be deceiving and ‘am actually not too young, I got worried thinking if they are going to tag my presentation a piece of junk as well because of the wit it was supposed to contain :S
With a racing heart, I walked to the rostrum to present and then I all remember was telling the story which ended with claps and a lovely smile from Justice Nasira. Alhamdulilah majority liked the presentation and found it useful.
Shahzad’s presentation about MDG3 gave them a good understanding of what MDG3 is all about and Jehan’s presentation about PECO and it’s fallacies, made them all realize the importance of having an unambiguous and comprehensive e-crime law. This even lead some of them propose an idea of having a Technical Committee and to have the topics such as Cyber Crime Law as well as Cyber Crimes be introduced to lawyers, judges as well as law students at the Judicial Academy.
As always it was heartening to see a positive participation from a lot of male members from the legal community as well who emphasized the need to draft a comprehensive law for the betterment of women.
As some educationalists were also present at the session, so they highlighted the need of conducting such awareness sessions for students too where we enlighten them about the importance of ICTs while introducing to them the dangers of it as well and telling them how they can use ICTs safely.
So, all in all the session went great and I think we really managed to change minds of at least few who I’m sure will change a few more and that’s how the chain reaction will continue…
You can read more about the session on Jehan Ara’s blog here and Shahzad’s post on behalf of Bytes4All here.
PS: For those who do not know what TakeBackThetech is? Check out my blog post: Let’s TBTT!
Disclaimer: This note by NO means aims to bring a bad name to the bearded individuals or religious clerics in general and the purpose is solely to share a story of two nasty mullahs.Also both these stories come from my dear and near ones who have been so close to me that there is no room for questioning the veracity of information provided.
Tale 1:
She was in her early teens and was waiting outside her bungalow for someone to open the gate as she had just got back from school. It was then that she heard a sound as if someone’s calling her and as she turned, she saw a flying kiss coming her way from a Mullah going on a bicycle. From the looks of him, he seemed to be one of so called “Maulvi Sahibs” who provide home based teaching of Quran to kids and are often seen going from one home to another on their bicycles. While it’s a SHAME for a person engaged in such a noble profession to be doing such acts of disgust,the next story makes one feel even more shocked!
Tale 2:
She had just started learning to read Quran and was barely 8 years old or so. Her Maulvi Sahib whom she used to respect a lot was also a young guy in his late teens or early twenties. Days went by and she kept getting her lessons regularly,however, one day, while she was revising her lesson infront of the maulvi sahib, she felt the maulvi sahib is staring her instead of looking on the Quran-e-Pak. As she raised her head to look at the Maulvi Sahib sitting right beside her,she found him smiling at her.She felt a bit uncomfortable and confused but what came ahead left her dumbfounded. Maulvi Sahib said to her with a smile “Kya aap k dil main meray liye mohabbat hai?” - “Do you feel love for me?” The 8 year old who was probably not even aware of the terms “romantic love” didn’t know how to answer but she sensed something is wrong so just to get herself out of the situation, she said “I will call you bhai (brother) from tomorrow”. Her answer changed the expressions on Mullah’s face but thankfully brought an end to the torturous lecture session.Right after the lecture, the 8 year old ran to the washroom and cried her heart out, she wanted to let everyone know what maulvi sahib had said to her but she felt embarrassment, she felt fear, she just didn’t know how to say it out. She wiped her tears and decided to remain quiet.
Next day came, the maulvi sahib came right on time and 8 yr old went to take her daily lesson but this time unwantedly. She wanted to quickly recite till the given Ayat, get over with the lesson and run but just when the lesson ended, maulvi sahib told her again with the same wicked smile “You did not call me *bhai* today?” and poor 8 year old again found herself trapped in the same situation that she had barely got herself out of a day ago. Today, she does not even remember what she told maulvi this time, may be something like “I’ll call you bhai now” or something, she does not remember exactly but all she remembers is feeling extremely uncomfortable, scared. After the maulvi sahib went, she again ran to the washroom and cried a lot, she was feeling shame.Note that victims of child abuse/female harassment often feel shame even though it not their fault to be a victim but somehow in the absence of proper guidance, the psychological changes triggers a sense of embarrassment in them and this 8 year old little girl was no different. After trying to figure out how to solve this problem, she finally decided to talk to her mother about it. So, she ran to her mother, and told her the entire story while bursting into tears. Her mother comforted her and asked her not to feel either bad or worried about it. She told her that she won’t have to get any lessons from the Maulvi Sahib now and the very next day she fired the mullah from his job.
While the 8 year old was wise enough to get her mother intervene and come out of the situation without any major harm, everyone young kid might not be this lucky! In my next note, I will discuss a few tips on how to secure kids in your family or surroundings from such nasty men (and sometimes women too).
PS: For those who do not know what TakeBackThetech is? Check out my blog post: Let’s TBTT!
My dear friend Ramla Akhtar put together a few interesting tips regarding different facebook app invitations; and was generous enough to let me share it as part of TakeBackTheTech campaign. So here it goes:
Listen up, people: there is no such thing as a free Facebook phone, enhanced Facebook chat (well, mostly not), applications that will tell you who’s visiting your profile, and applications that will somehow allow you other sneak functions. THESE ARE STEALING YOUR INFO! Don’t be greedy!
Before adding an application, read its reviews. Hundreds of reviewers already disclose that the application being added is a scam or a malicious code.
Instead of blaming Facebook for stealing your info, or reverting to conspiracy of international collaboration against your info, know that engaging on FB is discretionary. You don’t want your info all over? Don’t share it on Facebook. You think Facebook is part of a covert ancient international cabal? Seek therapy. You probably also believe that you had a bad childhood, were treated unfairly at school and work, and have a secret disease no one knows of. (OK, the last part is true.)
Manage your privacy controls. Do not add suspicious folks. Do not add applications that promise you free illegitimate functions. Do not follow unusual links and emails from friends. … See More
There are no get-rich-quick schemes. Women with over-sized assets displayed in their profile pics are Chinese hackers, for heaven’s sake! Any link with .cn extension is also by Chinese hackers.
Use your common sense. If you feel good, it’s good. If you have a wicked or ill feeling about something, pass up.
Thanks!
- A public service message from The Voluntary Committee of Promotion of Common Sense and Anti-Hallucinatory FB Behavior
PS: For those who do not know what TakeBackThetech is? Check out my blog post: Let’s TBTT!
So, it’s Dec 10 today - the International Human Rights Day and this day also marks the end of official 16 days campaign to condemn and fight VAW(Violence Against Women) by TBTT. The past couple of weeks have literally been crazy for me with loads of work at office and loads of events after office and they all kept me so busy that I did not get a chance to blog much about Take Back The Tech. However, if you are thinking that the Take Back the Tech is ending today, it’s not quite so, the 16 days campaign was just the beginning for us, a warm up session, we have planned to take it forward on a regular basis and a lot is in store regarding this campaign.So, expect more posts regarding take back the tech to come
For now, I’m saying out loudly:
VOW NO VAW
Won’t u repeat after me?
PS: For those who do not know what TakeBackThetech is? Check out my blog post: Let’s TBTT!
It’s the 6th Day of Take Back The Tech campaign today and today’s plan was to share some tips on how to be safe while having online chats and while using shared computers. Here are some of the quick tips:
1. Rule of thumb - Avoid having a chat with those you do not know as much as you can. DO NOT accept any chat invitations unless the person adding you introduces himself/herself and you know that he/she is not yet another stalker.
2. Know that online personality of every person is not the same as his/her real personality so do not fall in love with the person you are chatting with just because he chats nicely. This is the MOST common trap that women fall in unfortunately and majority regrets afterwards. Avoid cyber relationships as much as you can.
3. Do not share any personal information in IM chats unless you know the person you are chatting with.Don’t put your own pic as the display pic too while chatting with a stranger and also never share your pics with anyone you do not know.
4. Block/Delete the person who abuses/harasses you while chatting IMMEDIATELY. DO NOT get blackmailed(emotionally or otherwise) in any case. If things seem to be getting out of control, share with an elder (parent, teacher, sibling anyone)
5. Be extra cautious while having chats on shared computers. Avoid have personal chats on shared computers as much as you can. Also make sure the option to save chats is disabled before chatting on shared computers.
6. While using shared computers, disabled all options that enable automatic saving of passwords.
7. When you complete working on a shared computer, make sure you log off before getting up so that your account cannot be used of any unauthorized activities.
8. If you were using a web browser on the shared computer, clear all history,cookies,passwords etc before closing the browser.
9. Do not leave the shared computer unlocked while you go to get a cup of coffee or something. It takes a moment to press (Windoes+L) to lock the computer.
10. Change passwords for all your accounts as frequently as you can.You never know which computer you used had got a key logger so stay safe always!
I’m sure there are many more points to add to this list but this is all from my side for now. Please add to them so that together we make it safe for all women to chat and use share computers freely.
PS: For those who do not know what TakeBackThetech is? Check out my blog post: Let’s TBTT!
It’s Day 5 of Take Back the Tech Campaign today and for those who have been bored of reading long posts on safety here and there, we decided to spice things up. Today’s agenda was to share MUSIC related to #women. While I came across many beautiful women empowerment songs, here are the ones I liked the most and so picked up to share:
Sisters are doin’ it for themselves
This song focuses on independence that women have achieved over the years! While you watch/listen the song below, don’t forget to check the lyrics here
Stand in the Rain
This songs urges women to hold strong!
So stand in the rain
Stand your ground
Stand up when it’s all crashing down
Stand through the pain
You won’t drown
And one day, whats lost can be found
Complete lyrics here
But hey I always thought only stories make one fall asleep so if i have to make the audience sleep anyway, why not tell a story and bingo! I came up with this presentation:
