Songkran: Thailand Water Festival.

Songkran means 'astrological passage' and is the event which announces the new Thailand year. In the modern calendar it is celebrated every year from 13-15 april. Interestingly enough these three days are common new year starters in the Southeast Asia.

A Brief History:

The date of the festival was originally set by astrological calculation, but it is now fixed. Until 1888 the Thai New Year was the beginning of the year in Thailand; thereafter 1 April was used until 1940. 1 January is now the beginning of the year. The traditional Thai New Year has been a national holiday since then. Mostly this festival was celebrated in India and is thought to be originated from the Holi festival as previously in the 1900's color was used. It was just recently that water took over colors and it was given a separate identity by the Thailand people.

How is it celebrated:

The most obvious celebration of Songkran is the throwing of water. Thais roam the streets with containers of water or water guns (sometimes mixed with mentholated talc), or post themselves at the side of roads with a garden hose and drench each other and passersby. This, however, was not always the main activity of this festival. Songkran was traditionally a time to visit and pay respects to elders, including family members, friends, neighbors, and monks.

Mostly Thai people have the pictures of monks and dummies in their homes which they consider a sign of good luck so on this very day, paying a visit to the monks and temples is also a common tradition. 

From where has it originated:

In the past when the monks used to wash the buddha dummies, the water which flowed afterwards was saved by some of them and they used to wash themselves with it, considering that it will help them earn a place in heaven and will wash away all their sins.  Among young people the holiday evolved to include dousing strangers with water to relieve the heat. Nowadays, the emphasis is on fun and water-throwing rather than on the festival's spiritual and religious aspects, which sometimes prompts complaints from traditionalists.


Traditional Greeting:


The traditional greeting is "sa-wat-di pi mai"  basically "Happy New Year". Sawatdi is also used for "hello" or "goodbye". Pi and mai mean "year" and "new" respectively in Thai. Another greeting used is suk-san wan pi mai" , where suksan means "happy".

Cheating and Caught!

I was talking with a friend on twitter, Laraib Asif and she told me that she never cheats in exams, In my life this was the second person telling me this, all others used to answer "Ohh yar cheating tow fashion hai, Ohh yar normal baat hai, sab kartay hain tow ham kyun nahi" ... I told about this girl to Papa and he instantly reminded me of something, of the bad old memories :D

I was in the 10th grade and my board exams were in progress. It was my Mathematics exam and there was no concept of choice with 70% of paper constituted objective questions. I attempted the objective part quickly and waited for the examiner to collect the paper when the boy sitting behind me started asking the solution. I refused, refused again, refused thrice. on the fourth time I stood up and told the examiner that the boy wants to cheat! 

After 5 minutes, one of the examiner came to me and asked me to pass my objective paper to the boy sitting behind me. I was shocked and I refused instantly.

When the subjective part started, the boy started to bug me again. I ignored him for an hour or so, the invigilator stood beside me, trying to see what I was writing so that he can help that boy, but I hid my paper. This went on for 30 minutes but when the examiner saw his tries were unfruitful he asked that boy to leave the paper and write his phone number on the answer sheet and go. He also told me rudely "Tum se ziada number na aay iskay tow mera naam bhi ***** nahi ".

My exams finished and I passed with good marks. Just one day after the result while reading the news paper I came across a strange news. When I read the description I couldn't believe my eyes.

There was the news about a boy who had written his phone number on the answer sheet. A week after the exams finished, he got a phone call, someone asked him to visit a particular place with 20,000 rupees. He went there with his father. It was an old shop. He entered and the shutters were put down, he was asked to fill the subjective paper, which he graciously did. 

Result was out and the boy got 25/30 in the subjective part, but thanks to his poor show in the objective part, still failed the exam. His paper while on rechecking, was caught and he was disallowed to appear in the board exams for the next 5 years. 

Mysterious Yonaguni Island !

Yonaguni Island is one of the few Islands which tell us about the early Japanese Civilization. These are situated 68 km away from the Eastern Taiwan coast.

This Island is 10 km long and 4 km wide. Its atmosphere is clean and gives a refreshing feeling and thats why people from all over Japan visit this place often.
When you visit these Islands you will see these are still surviving in the old way manner, away from the busy city life. Its population is only 1684 and most of them are the old traditional Japanese tribesmen who are very welcoming, even though they don't have much resources, they are famous all over the world for their welcomeness.

These Islands are also famous for their natural and strange monuments. These are near the southern coast of the Island and are hand made ones which makes them even stranger. with the dimensions of 100*25*50 meters, this art craft is a wonder in itself as over all these years it is standing in the exact and correct mathematical dimensions.

These rocks are estimated to be 8000 years old and without a doubt it is difficult to imagine how could people in those times build something with such precision without the modern instruments and techniques.  There are many theories about who created this masterpiece.

Some historians say these rocks are the remaining of the MU civilization, while the others say that these rocks have originated due to the natural disasters over the period of time. But when we see the rocks closely it is obvious that these rocks have been carved technically and no natural disaster can originate such precise rocks with equal dimensions.

These rocks are still under research and will take lots of time to discover the truth about them. 

Overconfidence cost Pakistan.

" Before you attempt to beat the odds, be sure you could survive the odds beating you. " Pakistan were clearly overconfident when the ODI series between England and Pakistan started but forgot that overconfidence precedes carelessness. Perhaps they underestimated the English side as did everyone else, they lead the four match series 2-0. Who would have thought things will turn around within a week.


For Pakistan the problem lies with the team selection and poor planing. England didn't bring drastic changes to their team for the ODI's. Just including the specialists Ravi Bopara and C. Kieswetter while one all rounder  Samit Patel. 

And when Shahid Afridi swung and missed at James Anderson, Pakistan's chase was over (Cricinfo 2nd ODI)

Pakistan on the other hand had to clue with the team selection. Shoaib Malik was included in the squad on the request of Misbah ul Haq, and to accommodate him Pakistan shuffled the whole team for the first ODI match. They went in with Umar Akmal as a wicket keeper, Dropping the inform Abdur Rehman, and Playing Wahab Riaz to make up for Malik's position as a spinning all rounder who was batting as low as number eight. 



Even if Malik had to play, Pakistan could have gone in with Abdur Rehman instead of Wahab Riaz, as England's vows against spin bowling were obvious during the test match series. Pakistan did play with five spin bowlers during the third ODI against Bangladesh, who looked playing spin better than England.


England scored 260/7 in 50 overs, Wahab Riaz was totally out of sorts, Shoaib Malik bowled just five overs and scored 7 runs of 23 balls, Umar Akmal came to bat with a backache and Pakistan lost by 130 runs.


For  the second ODI Pakistan dropped Wahab Riaz, Shoaib Malik and Asad Shafiq bringing in Aizaz Cheema, Abdur Rehman, and Azhar Ali. Last two were sensible moves which Pakistan should have taken during the previous match but they still went in with Umar Akmal as a wicket keeper.


With four top class spinners in the team, Pakistan played a nonspecialist wicket keeper who was poor behind the stumps, dropping two catches, one of Cook, who was at 28 but went on to score another century and the other of Eoin Morgan who scored a crucial 25 not out. 


While selecting the team Pakistan also forgot that they had Hammad Azam in the team who is a right arm medium pace bowler and a handy lower-middle order batsman and would have served well instead of Aizaz Cheema. Pakistan had 7 batsman, four pure tailenders but nothing in between. 


When Shahid Afridi was bowled by James Andersen Pakistan required 44 of 34 balls, but had no one to support Misbah ul Haq and lost the match by 20 runs which they could have easily won. 


Pakistani management for some reason has been hesitant to play Hammad Azam in the team, maybe because he is capable enough to take over the all rounder's slot which has been occupied by under performing Abdul Razzaq, Shoaib Malik and on some occasions Sohail Tanvir. They are a well balanced test side, but look totally imbalanced when it comes to ODI matches.


There are a few slots that need to be filled especially the opening partnership, they need someone who can stay there and play long. A young performing all rounder in the lower-middle order who could bowl economical overs and score precious runs, but more importantly and a quick genuine fast bowler who could rip through batting line ups on these slow low pitches.


All is not lost. They still have two ODI matches to go and can level  the series but this for sure is a wake up call for Pakistan. 

A Valentines Day Letter.

Please Note: This is not me wishing anyone a Valentines Day, In fact it is the way I would Imagine a sincere boy should wish a girl. Just random thoughts.

Dear Girl,

Never had I Imagined my life will change so much, Never had I thought I'll love you so much. You have changed my life, you have changed the way I see life. I LOVE YOU more than anything and everything, I love you without any conditions and relations.
Yes, you are the bestest gift I could have ever wished on a valentine. You are like a rose to me, red one, fresh one. whose fragrance makes my day. Without a doubt you are the most delicate and fluffy cotton like girl I have ever seen. Your voice makes my day, your laughs make me laugh, your smile makes me happy, your cuteness and beauty makes me feel as If I'm the luckiest person on this planet. Well In short, you are the BEST! All I want you is to stay happy and keep smiling forever. All I pray to god is that there be no place for sadness and sorrows in your life and I promise I'll try my best for that to happen and  be a part of it. Never doubt, I trust you more than anyone, I need you more than anything. I'm sorry If I've hurt you unintentionally or made you sad. To me you are all the good things in this world, call it a tasty strawberry, call it the most beautiful Princess, call it the tweeting bird of the morning, call if a garden full of colorful flowers, call it a Candy, call it a Doll, call it Sweetheart or maybe call it the sunshine, the morning time which makes me excited about a new day awaiting, or let me say it, call YOU mine. Stay the way you are and never change, with lots love, hugs, kisses, Happy Valentines Day!

Forever yours,

A sincere Boy.

Not Answered.

By Maham Shahbaz.

How more ironic could this life get?

Crying while smiling,

Dying while living,

Scared while boldly claiming,

Lying while telling the truth,

Blessed? yes , if that means cursed

Loved? Yes , if that means hatred

Noticed? Yes , if that means ignored

Cared for? Yes , if that means ignorance

I’m happy with you but that is wrong

I’m not alone , yet no one is around

I can see the light but its all so dark

I can see the white but its all so black

Why give the power to dream,

when its just a fantasy ?

Why make a dream world when

reality is where every one has to live ?

Why are we in this hell,

when we didn’t ask for it? Did we

do something wrong?

Ungrateful ? are we all not ungrateful?

For we were not given a choice,

Helpless we are , but there is no other option,

But who can question?

We don’t want to be called as traitors

Doubt no one while every one can doubt you.

Life changes, Life goes on !

There come such people in you life who change you forever. change you for good mostly! You try your best to resist, you try your best to keep a distance, you try your best to ignore the facts but then there is a time when you just can't.

Its a 360 degree change, Isn't it!

Life turns upside down, you can't stay away even for one day, all you want to do is to talk and talk with the person who has brought sudden, pleasant change in your life. The sweetness of their voice makes your day, All you do and think is them. All you wish for is that angel, all you want is their love, All you dream is staying with them forever.

Then two possibilities appear...

1) Your dreams turn true, become reality, and life goes on with a new spark.

2) Reality sets in, you wake up from your dream and life  still goes on, the usual way.

Which option does your life has?!