How crazy is that?

What’s natural for one person cannot be natural for another & yet we see rules & chains everywhere. It seems as if there is only one route & everyone must follow it. Those who don’t are called crazy or abnormal. If you ask me how crazy is that? My answer would obviously be: Very.

Many a time, I’ve seen that the hurdle we face is the people around us. I believe acting on your impulse is something that’s worth it. However, being spontaneous has mostly been taken as a negative trait. Everyone ought to do the same thing & that can be utterly boring.

The problem is…we live once & life is worth all the trouble. And the thing is…we can’t make everyone happy.

This common friend of Umar, Zara & I is about to get married. We have been friends with him for more than 20 years. Unlike his brothers, he doesn’t want to leave his family & so he has decided to settle down with a girl of their choice. And he was saying that he doesn’t even have time to think about this marriage. I really don’t know what to say to a friend who is about to do this. But I have been thinking that men do get married no matter what. And besides that, I’ve also heard from women that a man can never be so helpless.

Whenever I think about marriage, the example of Adam & Eve comes in my mind. Although I’ve heard some very terrible cases, but I do believe in marriage. Maybe that’s why it’s difficult to get married in the first place.

Few years ago, I used to read these letters that were basically written to highlight how single women over thirty were suffering. I’m sorry to say but they seemed quite desperate to me. I just couldn’t sympathize. If men were giving so much shit to these women, why were they putting up with it? Then I also read in this magazine that some women these days don’t want to settle down as they don’t want to change nappies. Please give me a break! It seems some people are hell-bent on depicting a sorry picture of women.

I think women have the right to be strong & I’m sure they must have some good reasons for staying single. The fact is…everyone does not meet the right person at the right time. In fact, you usually meet wrong person(s).

I’m not a young person either & I admit it seems like something is missing, but it doesn’t mean one should grab shit just because one is growing old.

Although I had something else in my mind when I started writing this but then I couldn’t help thinking about a friend who is about to tie the knot & yet he has no time to even think about his marriage. And there are countless people who get married, because this is the usual pattern followed by everyone.

Killing of dogs in Karachi

Dogs are being killed on a daily basis in Karachi. And guns are being used to kill them. Not just adult dogs but also puppies including new born babies are being killed ruthlessly. They just want to wipe out dogs from this city.

DHA society came up with this idea in Lahore few years ago. In posh areas, they didn’t allow dogs & the only way to stop them was to shoot them. Most of the shooters aren’t even good shooters. Many a time, the animal suffers for too long & then he dies.

I used to give food to some dogs & their puppies. This year all those dogs & their pups were being shot. I don’t expect much change in this bloody system that doesn’t know any educated way of dealing with a problem, if stray dogs & their puppies are a problem, to begin with. Well that’s how I see it - humans are the ones who are torturing & brutally killing them! These are the posh areas where the minds of humans are totally plagued. Actually these minds are far worse than the garbage sites.

There is also this myth that dog is impure. So far I haven’t read it in the translation of the Quran. But I know that Caliph Omar said that even if a dog went hungry by the banks of the Euphrates the lord of the Hosts would hold him accountable on the Day of Judgment. I also know that there was this prostitute…she came across a thirsty dog by the riverside & she filled water for him from the river & fed him. It has been said that all her sins were forgiven & this incident was narrated by none other than the Holy Prophet (PBUH). By the way, the Holy Prophet also had cats as pets. These are the things which are never being mentioned.

Coming back to those killers & the ones who came up with this bright idea – naturally I don’t think much of them & I don’t want to understand them either. These are absurd rules & what hurts me the most is that no one even files a suit against such acts. In fact, when we say that strays are being treated badly & these killings are wrong - we always hear this rotten argument “But humans are killed in the same manner & you are talking about dogs & cats.”

Well the killing of any being is wrong & that includes both humans & animals. Just because animals can’t protest, it doesn’t make their murder any less of a crime. All those people who are involved in this crime…I would say why don’t they go & kill Taliban residing in Karachi. Oh no but where these fucking Afghanis live, even the police cannot enter in that area! I don’t know if people would ever wake up. I don’t know if there’s ever going to be a change. I’ve just reached the conclusion that humans are cowards. Even those who keep mum when these killings are going on are cowards. When you allow intruders to stay in your city & to kill you & to terrorize you in the name of something that they do not know of– yes, then you are a coward!

Most of you know that we look after some cats on a small scale & we have kept them as pets & everyone who is related to us or who is a friend or who knows us by any means…he/she always has this advice – why don’t you guys get rid of these dirty cats? They are making your house dirty. You guys have to clean the shit & all. What I’ve seen is that people themselves don’t do any good & if they see anyone else doing a little bit of good work – they also have the audacity to ask that person to stop it. Now I can’t expect anything of such people. I know for sure that they can’t protest for animals, & I’m very sorry to say if ever time would come, they won’t be able to protest for themselves.

I’m extremely sorry for humans – the elevated apes. They don’t have any idea as to what is compassion. If they had any, animals wouldn’t have been murdered & tortured. Since God doesn’t guide the ungodly, so I don’t know where is the solution & I don’t know if this atrocity could ever end.

Nadira Rahman