Quill to Scroll

  You all might have heard about the راستے کا پتھر and may have come across many spanners in works.  For instance, a black cat crosses your path of superstition, forcing you to turn back home, as there might be a terrible danger awaiting you. On the contrary, as you cross its path, the cat might be equally terrified and prone to getting into an accident. Another راستے کا پتھر that you may encounter and combat in your life is the necessary nuisance; sneaky relative. Not necessarily poor, but your relationship can be as poor as the beggars around the nook. Now, whatever you do, it's their utmost duty to intervene and have their unnecessary say about you and your life choices. Bear with them and keep your life as invisible as you can. These are superstitious spanners, hauling your growth, task, or work. However, there is another extraordinary kind of spanners in work that you may bump into. And believe me, bumping into these spanners will make your heart bleed. In fact, they may ...

 You might have read the first part of The Past Of A Journey , where I was stuck between space and time in a van. Not that I was stuck in the concept that recognizes the union of space and time or the spacetime curve. I was stuck in the limited space of the van with the "Coke ki botlain." and had limited time to make my journey successful. I had no choice but to look back at the long road on which the van was moving as delicately as a fat seal, strolling down a trail. After eons of waiting, we finally landed at the Faizabad station in Pindi. Oh, behold, it's just as you're about to dive in a sea of people and vans everywhere. Making your way through this crowd is an arduous journey itself. One can see people standing with vans yelling at the top of their voices about their transport services, which is no different from the one I took to reach here. Moving forward to the metro station, there are kids selling masks who stick to you like leeches and do not stop following...

Ever wondered what a one-day trip could be like? Well, let me take you through one. Not having had an adventure for quite a long time, my stomach started growling, as it was also bored of being the only victim of my boredom (eating, of course). And I was also bored of eating, given that I was mostly eating to evade boredom.  So, one dawn, it dawned on me to pay a visit to my sister's without breaking the news to anyone in the house. Hold on!! I am not alone on this journey; we all have a crime partner in our lives who stands with us through the silliest of things that we do ( here I'm dismissing the fact that most of the things that we do are not normal anyway). So, boredom and the urge for an adventure compelled us to plan to go out and have fun.  Boredom makes us do the craziest and most creative of things.   As I was asleep like a vegetable, dreaming about being on a fantastic trip, someone shook me out of that slumber to the real world, reminding me of the fact t...

So taking a stroll near Masjid Mohabbat Khan; I saw this wretched, derelict hideously deformed man with a hump on his back, who was using his hands in attempt to move, as his legs seemed incapable of bearing his weight. "Allah k nam per de do!" this voice rose after every second, and his urn would clang with the money dropped by people passing by and those entering or leaving the mosque. So I stood on a side to see how it goes on for the "Hunchback of Mohabbat khan". Soon his urn was filled with money, which he deftly, emptied in a sack lying next to him and resumed his begging routine "Allah k nam per de do!" till the end of the day.  As the lingering light of the day was obliterated by the rapid falling night, transforming the sky into vast expanse of jet black that engulfed the town, This "Hunchback of Mohabbat Khan" started wrapping up his goods and chattels, and started dragging himself with his hands to a new destination, unaware of being w...

 "In my end, is my beginning" and "In my beginning is my end", heard a lot of people saying this, with the meaning and time of it yet not known. As the last leaf detaches from autumnal boughs and fall to earth as gently as feathers: that's where the end is. That's exactly when you know; it's time to start something new; that it's time for a new beginning. And that's when the new leaf grows.  At the end of 2020 is the beginning of 2021. However, as the last month of 2020 is coming to an end, with leaves carpeting the ground, trees brushing  all the imperfections away, ready for a change, are we brushing anything away to bring a change within?  2020 had been a very difficult and different year for each one of us. Many of us lost our loved ones, many of us started a successful career, many of us suffered anxiety and depression, a lot of us overcame our phobias, a lot started off with something that was on our to-do list for a long time. It was this ...

“ If only I could switch places with Ms. Stacey, life would have been so much better ”, muttered Mona, ripping another paper out of her notebook, where she was trying to solve a question of linear Equation, since 3 PM. “ I bet it’s a very cushy job, sitting on the other side of the camera, explaining the concepts through a few questions, and assigning the rest of the work to students. Just playing sage on the stage and chilling the rest of the day, gossiping over cups of tea, just a bit of working online and that’s it!! I wish I could do this instead of sitting and solving these sums, which seems to be a never-ending task. ” It was 9 PM, finally after completing all her assignments, Mona laid down in her bed, looking outside the window of her bedroom. The sky presented a wonderful sight, Moon came to the sky as a mother comes to sing a soft lullaby, to ease her children’s weariness, gracing the sky as if it had some bright idea. “Brrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnn...

"Why did you make her cry? Now just wait until I get home, I'll put you in the right state of your mind..... Just wait until I reach home!! Why do you have the might to fight with everyone? Let me get back..."  Alina ended the call furiously with these words, sat back in her chair, waited for a while, and then picked her phone again to make a call; this time it was her husband. She informed her husband of the dispute at home and requested him to head back home as soon as he can, to solve the matter. Alina was a mother of three kids and was working in a private school for the sake of her children's education and welfare. She had a deplorable experience from her first marriage which unfortunately ended in divorce. After divorce, it has been quite a labor for her to take care of herself and the children all alone, as the desi culture in our country would always have their claws sharp and fingers held in suspicion towards all the women who are separated or divorced. With ...

The hunchback of Notre-Dame is a beautifully written story, in which Victor Hugo has delineated the beauty, grandeur, and history of Gothic architecture. The novel is a result of the author's careful examination of the cathedral of Notre-Dame. The cathedral of Notre-Dame forms the center of the novel, and the lives of several characters, who live in or around it including Quasimodo, the hunchback; bellringer of Notre-Dame. The constant presence of Notre-Dame in the novel and lengthy descriptions of the Gothic architecture of Paris suggests that Hugo believed that it was an art form and should be preserved and appreciated.  In this novel, various themes and issues have been targeted by Hugo one of which is how people are primarily judged on their appearance, rather than their internal character. In the story, by presenting different scenarios, the author argues with the reader, that the appearance can be deceiving, and judging people based on their looks would cause people to be ill...

There came the most awaited guests of the day. A woman of age about 50, whose poise was visage, stepped out the car. I gathered to be the mother of the boy, followed by a coquettish girl who was in her mid-20s of life. Finally, stepped out of the car, the chief guest of the day; dark, slender, tall about 30 years of his age, wearing black shalwar Qameez and polarized sun shades. The whole scenario of their entry in our house looked like a scene from a Bollywood movie, where the hero makes his first entry. While I was watching them entering our place, I was all tired and sweaty because of working in the kitchen and of the scorching heat. So I went back to my room and decided to take a shower again, to feel fresh. When I came out, I had no time left to do the frosting all over again, as I had been summoned to the legendary task of presenting tea in front of the guests. The ritual cascading down, generations to generations, where the guests and the hosting family present a completely diff...

"Wake up Javeria! Get ready, clean up and don't forget to apply whitening serum on your face; a family is coming to see you for marriage proposal. " Lying on my bed listening to all of this and pondering on the fact that this whitening serum might make my dark complexion a little better but would it erase the darkness of my unfortunate life, and would it work the same to erase the dirt and darkness of people's minds. Whilst I was pondering on the miseries of my life and of those created by community,  I heard an uproar again,  "Javeria! Get up already, you have a lot of work to do."  So I finally gathered courage to leave my bed, get ready for the adventure coming my way. At the same instant, the door of my room struck open and my mother entered, with some Ubtan in her hand.  "Javeria ! Please apply this on your face. I don't want you to miss this chance again." She handed me the Ubtan and left the room. The Ubtan in the bowl smelled terrible a...

" Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truth. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult, once we truly understand and accept it- then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters. " The Road Less travelled, an extraordinary book on life's meaning and spiritual growth, written by M.Scott Peck a military trained psychotherapist, writer and influential spiritual guide, is an outstanding read about life's journey and the rewards of travelling on the path of spiritual growth. The writer has beautifully divided the book in four sections i.e. Discipline, Love, Growth and religion, and Grace. All these sections interlinked and well explained about spiritual growth. The first section of the book as stated in the first line, is about pain and suffering. Pain and suffering give a true meaning to the life. It explains a...

Pandemics have always desolated and scourged humanity, often bringing major changes in the course of human life and history. The Bubonic plague had a devastating effect on the population of fourteenth century. This plague killed about 30% to 60% of European population , yet by bringing major changes in the lives of the rest. As the population shrank, and laborers became scarce, higher wages were offered and demanded which alleviated the living standards. More profitable use of land and resources was practiced by offering wages in form of money instead of labors, hence decreasing serfdom.  Covid-19 since its outbreak has affected and paralyzed human life and daily dealings eminently, locking and blocking almost all type of industries and businesses completely, where governments are duressing social distancing and curfews. However, this pandemic has changed our lives in its own way. First of all the virus as it has stopped everyday tasks and routine working of every organization, the...

Since the Outbreak of Covid-19, every sector and every type of business is facing numerous challenges. It has created a disruption and uncertainty in global business and economics. In this situation, companies are taking solace in online communication with their customers and staff to keep the work going. As most of the countries are observing complete lock down, different businesses are suffering. The sectors who had accepted the IT and modern technology as part of their lives and had started inculcating their everyday dealing with IT are now in relieve. As during this lock down the only savior of these businesses is internet. However, those not having managed IT in their lives are finding it proactively hard to manage their business during this global pandemic. Now Companies and firms have been focusing to bring on the newest technology to make their work faster, but have been neglecting the maintenance of the systems. In this time of pandemic allowing managed IT services can expand ...

All the Light we cannot see Review All the light we cannot see is an emotionally gripping and totally absorbing story, which keep the reader hooked by engaging all the five senses. It's set in the time of world war II, however the story moves in 5 different parts moving back and forth in time describing different scenarios. The theme of the story as evident and interpreted by the name is the untold tragedies of war, the devastation and  loss caused during the WW II. At some point the story questions the reader about the power they have to choose their own destiny.  The story is divided into 5 parts, and has two stories going in parallel. Werner a bright and inquisitive boy, who dreams of becoming a scientist and quenches his thirst of knowledge by exploring and fixing radio transmitters along with his sister Jutta. He gets a choice to work in mine or dedicate his life to Nazi cause, where he chooses the second one. The story going in parallel to that of Werner's is of Mari Lau...

The Kite Runner Plot overview The Kite Runner is an emotional and gripping story of betrayal and Redemption. It's a story about two boys Amir and Hassan who are bestfriends, where Amir is a Sunni boy and Hassan his servant's son, is a Hazara boy. The two boys live in Kabul, the Capital of Afganistan.  One day Amir and Hassan are playing, where they run into three boys Assef, Wali and Kamal who threat to beat Amir for hanging around with a Hazara , but Hassan jumps in and uses his slingshot to stop Assef. Later the story skips to the Kite Flying tournament which they both are determined to win. This was a chance for Amir to forge a close relation with his father and win his love. The tournament ends with Amir's success and an unfortunate event of his betrayal against Hassan, who has been sexually assaulted, to prevent Amir's Kite, in front of him and he does nothing but to stand in a corner and watch it happening.  After this event Amir's behaviour with Hassan change...

The Metamorphosis Plot The Metamorphosis! This book hold a special place in my life and an absolute favorite.  The story revolves around a travelling salesman Gregor Samsa, who is the only breadwinner of his family and has dream of sending his sister to an art school, for her talent of playing violin.  However, one day, he wakes up finding himself turned into a monstrous vermin. He still tries to get up and get ready for work, but his new body doesn't allow him to do so.  Not to scare his family and neighborhood, he remains locked in his room, until his supervisor shows up, inquiring about Gregor's absence at work.  Compelled by the circumstances, Gregor unlocks the door and reveals his new form to his family, trying to apologize for not showing up at work, but eventually scares the supervisor to leave. Throughout the story Gregor's father remains very aggressive towards him, whereas his sister Greta seems to take care of him. Later, when Gregor enters during Greta...

Writing challenges  writing challenges. Writing is still very new to me or the more appropriate sentence would be, I'm still new to writing. We all are forced writers, one way or another, where we are compelled to write assignments, reports and a number of things. However, writing creatively is yet another area to explore and new. I have never been so conscious about my want to write before. So along with this want to write can come, shyness, disquietness which I'm going to fight with experimentation and excitment. So I have decided to set a different writing challenge for myself everymonth. As May has already started so the writing challenge that I'm setting myself up is : writing the short reports of each book that I have read recently. I'm going to share each report on blogspot so you can check that and decide whether or not to read that book. At the end of each month, I'll post a blog to share summary and thoughts about last month's challenge...

How to cultivate the habit of reading. A lot of us want to read books, which implies establishing a habit of reading. For some of us just starting to get in reading or developing the habit of reading becomes difficult, at the beginning. And because of certain reasons most of the people give up the idea of reading. There are a number of benefits to reading. Reading can upgrade your mind and helps you see the world in a different and better way. It makes you empathetic, and an essential way to help you out in any action. Through reading, you build a more solid foundation of communication. When you’re reading, you’re actually gaining experience, as books are the essence of someone’s lifetime experience. And you learn from that experience just by reading.  If you want to explore the benefits of reading you can read: https://quilltoscroll.blogspot.com/2020/05/reasons-why-you-should-start-reading_3.html Let’s begin with some powerful techniques to develop the habit of read...