Mein CEMB

It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important.

–        Sherlock Holmes

 

During the latter half of the 20^th century, the focus of science shifted towards molecular biology. Although late, Pakistan joined the bandwagon of research with the establishment of its first research center namely Centre of Excellence in Molecular Biology (CEMB). It is one of the best research centers in the Islamic World attracting students from all over Pakistan as well as abroad.  Situated on the west bank of the picturesque Canal Road Lahore, it presents a mix of modern and Islamic architecture. During its 25 years of existence, it has contributed a lion’s share to research in Pakistan.

Higher Education on Trial

Prosecutors
Sen. Mian Raza Rabbani and others representing Parliament of Pakistan and other non-parliamentary political parties of Pakistan.

Defendants
Dr. Atta-ur-Rehman, Dr. Javed Laghari, Dr. Sohail Naqvi, Vice-chancellors of all Pakistani universities and students.

Jury
180 million Pakistanis

Judge
N/A

A Success Story

After drinking the potion, the maid fell to the ground, unconscious. The six-year-old boy looked at her in disappointment. He did not expect this. He had made the potion by grinding different insects. The whole idea was that since birds could fly after eating insects, there must be something in the insects. Instead of making the maid fly, he nearly caused her death. And as usual he was beaten by his parents. This was not the first time. A little while ago, he had lit the whole timber warehouse on fire to see what happen to wood after burning!

A Miracle that Lives

Sherlock Holmes said: “I am a brain, Watson! The rest of me is simply an appendage.” He may have said it metaphorically but after a century, we can see the practical manifestation. Stephen Hawking, the celebrated physicist and author of the famous book A Brief History of Time, has been paralyzed almost completely by a disease but yet he has made discoveries which most of us can only dream of. A cursory look at his life would convince you that he is nothing short of a miracle. But I am thinking of a more obvious yet unnoticed miracle that is happening around us.

The Incredible Adventures of a Fashion Guru

It was around noon on Christmas Day last year. The weather was particularly pleasant that Sunday. In the Country Club, some kids and youngsters were trying their skills at the newly installed mountain hiking point. In the ground the boys were playing cricket and in the lawn at a little distance from the barbeque stall were sitting a a few girls. They were in a cheerful mood, gossiping and capturing the memories in their mobile phones while sipping their tea. In the midst of all this, there was a mysterious group of serious looking people dressed in black. The ladies in the group were not in black but they were equally serious and looking at their boss at the head of the table. Who were they? What were they doing dressed so formally in the club on a Sunday? And then to the horror of all, there in the middle of the group was one person who was the complete antithesis of the rest, dressed in the informal Shalwar-Kameez.  Was this some kind of a meeting of the shareholders with the board of directors? Or may be a mafia family? It was surely not a funeral. The people gathered around this mysterious group.  

Who Wants to be a Wordsmith?

A few weeks ago, there was an essay competition. There were many topics but the one I chose to write on was “Rights and Obligations of Parents”. I submitted an entry and with your support and prayers, I got 80,379^th position amongst 80,380 participants. Relieved, I wondered who the one person could be whom I had beaten. And to my surprise, it was me. They have entered my name twice! I shall post that essay on the blog sometime in the future for you people to read. And before that competition, I participated in another essay competition about science fiction and as usual, I came last. So my friends, an ingenious idea came into my mind. I should announce to hold an essay/post/poem/writing competition on our blog. Next I would submit an article with a pseudonym (Forensic Biologist) and then after thoroughly reading every post, I would declare Forensic Biologist as the winner of the competition. So in order to do this exercise, I request you all kindly submit your writings if you want these to be posted on our blog as guest posts. And if I won, I will treat you all with a lavish party, all expenses paid by yourselves. Following are the rules.  

Birthday, Acknowledgment and Stats

Background

Look at the picture below. What can you see? A baby with a mother, and you can feel the emotions, compassion and the love of a mother for her child. So what is special about this picture? The baby is symbolically the 7 billionth baby born in the World. But does the mother care? To her the baby is worth more than the 7billion minus 1 people around the world. It was April 12, 2011. Time was 11:37PST and I got the computer generated reply from the Newspaper to which I had submitted my article for the 10^th time. Somehow, I remembered about a friend having a blog and his requesting us to comment on it. It was a long time ago. So I thought why not try to have my own blog. And hence, I posted my first blog exactly 1 year ago. Even though there were around 150 million more blogs already online but still I wanted to have my own. Just like the mother of the 7 billionth baby loving her child, I love my blog.

Please Pray for Her...

“main apni sis ki profile pai hoon... kabhi vo bhi yahan shouq say aya jaya karti thi.... ajj vo hum main hotay hoay hum main nahi..... she is in coma.... plz all frnds ..pray for her ..........”.

(I am on my sister profile. At times, she would come here with zeal and zest. Today she is not with us even though living. She is in coma. Please friends pray for her)

I got this status update on a friend’s FB wall. And by this I thought that a sister of my friend is in coma. So I would pray for her. Through texts and FB we were in touch. And yesterday she asked, “Who are you?” I shot back, “Who are you?” She replied I am her sister. And suddenly everything was changed. I was in shock. I asked where is my friend and she replied that don’t know where is she please pray for her. I came back to the FB page and re-read this update and now I think how dumb I was. It was clearly written that it was my friend who is in coma. She is in coma for at least the last couple of weeks. Doctors are not sure what to say. I request everybody who visits our blog that please pray for her.

Thank you.

Life is a Thousand Miles Journey; Let's Start Today

Years come and go. During the course of years a lot of things happen in life. So many things go unquestioned and a lot of questions go unanswered. Some of the questions have the great influence in our lives and sometimes they play very important role to survive they are not based on the consumption of oxygen per day but they are more important than oxygen. There are few words which remain unsaid while others go unheard. Some dreams are buried alive while some are born dead. Happiness and gloom walk together hand in hand. Things that sometimes make us laugh become a reason to cry and then life moves on. This is what life actually is.

Hujra – the Oldest Social Club

Hujra is considered to be the most important part of the Pukhtoon culture. It can be loosely translated as a social club. From the western mountainous terrains of Pakistan to the heart of Afghanistan and throughout the world, where there are Pukhtoons, there exists the Hujra.  Exclusively for the male population, it serves host to all parts of social life of the Pukhtoon society, from resolving internal community disputes to the ceremonies of wedding.  Being prospered for centuries, the very existence of Hujra is threatened, due in part to modernization and in part to the Western democracy.