Mouse away from House: Indian Team

Before the England Tour:

Dravid: Let’s have some practice guys; English tour is round the corner.

Yuvraj: Oh come on man we are tired after winning the World Cup while you were sleeping at home.

Tendulkar: Are you mad Dravid? A player like me does not need any practice. I’ll start making centuries right away in England. You go to Caribbean and play against a low ranked West Indies. I will play IPL and have some rest.

Dhoni: Even I don’t feel like playing against the West Indies but it will give me an opportunity to boost up my average by remaining NOT OUT.

Raina: I am not afraid of Short-Pitch stuff anymore as I hit them out of the park in IPL. English tour is going to be a piece of cake.

Harbajjan: I have over 400 test wickets. We are the number 1 side in World. We need to celebrate our success.

Zaheer: Okay guys since I’ll give my 200% to Mrs. Ambani’s IPL team, don’t expect me to be fully fit for no-so-important English tour. We are the WORLD CHAMPIONS after all.

Gambhir:  I don’t feel like playing without my partner Sehwag L. I can not score without his support.

Sehwag: Even though I am injured, but by the time I return to the side, we will be already 2 up in the series and I’ll straight away blast a Triple ton on my return as I have been doing it on Indian pitches. . Even Ajit Agarkar and Anil Kumble have scored centuries in England. I will score the big ones.

BCCI: Yes boys, enjoy the glamour of IPL, skip the tour of West Indies and go to England without any fear. ICC will make sure our authority over Cricket World. Money speaks after all.

After the Tour of England:

Team India: Walls are supposed to have ‘ears’ alone, idiomatically, but this Wall (Dravid) has a brain too. Perhaps we should have listened to him instead of playing IPL and skipping the tour of West Indies.

BCCI: Sorry guys, English Cricket board refused to take bribe. We couldn’t buy the series like we bought the World Cup. Get ready for the upcoming Champions League though.

Moral: 1) Every pitch is not a batting paradise like Kanpur. You can not play in India forever and claim                     

                  to be the World’s best.  

              2) Arrogance leads to downfall.

England Cricket: A New Era of British Imperialism.

Take a look at this scenario: An uncertain team suffering from a musical chair of captaincy in 2009 just a few months away from Ashes under a coach who used to play for Zimbabwe not so long ago. A team which played a series against a crumbling West Indies and lost to them 1-0 in a 5 match series including a total of 51 all out at Kingston within a session. A team that ranked 6^th in the world without showing any prospects for improvement.

Take a look at another scenario: The same team defeated the mighty Australians twice in 5 match ashes series, both home and away; the same team defeated Sri Lanka, Pakistan, West Indies and drew against South Africans; the same team has recently humiliated the Number 1 side in the world by defeating them 3-0 to snatch the number 1 spot. The rise of ‘British Empire’ in Cricket from 6^th to Number 1 rank in two years time span is a remarkable achievement. This is arguably the strongest English side to have taken the field with equally strong bench-strength. The players are of right age to dominate the world cricket for at least a decade. I know it is a big statement but I have strong analysis to support my statement.

Alistair Cook- the run machine is barely 27 and has played 71 tests already with almost 6000 test runs. He is definitely up for breaking many records in future. Kevin Pietersen has good 6 to 7 years left to serve English Team. Bell and Morgan, two positive and technically sound players are still in mid 20’s while the bowling line having Broad and Bresnan, who can play as genuine All-Rounders too, are also in their half twenties. Andersen is still 29 and the backup seam attack consist the likes of Steven Finn and Chris Tremlett to make up one gem of a bowling attack for future along with the service of Swan. There is a vast improvement in talent that is showing up at county level where players of ages 21-22 are making heaps of runs. They have a big future ahead of them. Matt Prior, the best keeper-batsman today without any doubt, has the likes of Kieswetter and Davies in the waiting list to fill his space.

Rarely will you find such a team which is at Top ranking with almost each players below the age of 30 (except Strauss) along with evenly talented youngsters in the waiting list to succeed the supremacy unlike the Australian side of last decade which ruled the world for almost 10 years by help of all the greats who were over 30 and once they retired, their was not enough back up to fill in the big shoes. Now Australia is ranked 5 in the world. England has enough back up to retain their domination after the retirement of this bunch of players, which is not happening any soon.

I have seen the English test side at the bottom of rankings in 1999, even below Zimbabwe and the West Indies and now seeing them at top of the lot after 12 years, I can do nothing except applauding the English Cricket team, the radiant policies of ECB and most of all, the mastermind behind this success, Andy Flower – the Coach. English supremacy over the original form of the game is not temporary; It is here to stay for long. 

Peshawar Blast and the Massacre of 1947

August 1947 and August 2011 have two things in common; Firstly, the Holy month of Ramadan and secondly, the turmoil in the region of western Indian Subcontinent – now known as the Islamic republic of Pakistan.  The havoc in the region at present, however, is poles apart from the one which was witnessed 64 years back.

Indeed, oceans of blood were being shed at the time of partition. Thousands of entire families of Muslim origin, who were migrating to a newly announced separate Muslim state, were butchered mercilessly by Hindu and Sikh extremists. It was an atrocious time on Muslims and pioneer Pakistani’s, and that too, in the Holy month of Ramadan. It was due to blessings of this Holy month that Muslims of Indo-Pak subcontinent ware given an enormous courage to remain steadfast in their honest motives, without fearing about the apparent deadly consequences.

Today’s situation is no different in terms of bloodshed. However, people who are playing with innocent lives of the residents of this country are not Hindus or Sikhs. They are not Muslims either because a Muslim is not allowed to take an innocent life. These people belong to the brain-washed black sheep community of our society; our own country. Just as I am writing this, I am listening to extremely sad news of a recent bomb-blast by 2 women suicide bombers in Peshawar, which was targeted at a police van, and has killed 5 up till now. This incident has also injured at least 17 people up to latest news; most of them while in a condition of fasting.  

I doubt whether Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of the nation, would have wasted half of his life in a gigantic  struggle to establish an independent country for Muslims, had he knew about the killing of innocent Muslims in the blessed month of Ramadan by their fellow Muslims.

We, Pakistani’s, were being blessed with a country of our own; having freedom to obligate our religion without fearing any intervention by a Non-Muslim in our religious practices. Ramadan of 1947 should have seen the last massacre of Muslim in this land because of the establishment of an Islamic state; which would implement the Islamic law with its people spending their lives according to the teachings of Islam. 64 years later, a person, most probably a Muslim by birth blows up naive people at the time of fasting.  What a tragedy!

Can a Muslim kill another Muslim in this Holy month during fasting time? Is there any difference between a Hindu or a Sikh of 1947 and a so-called Muslim who is responsible of today’s Incident? Can we say that the real motive of acquiring a separate state for the Muslims has been accomplished? Is there any dissimilarity between Pakistan of 1947 and Pakistan of 2011 in terms of turmoil? Have your say .  

Cricket Team India: Number 1 Position at Stake

Lackluster, outclassed, and miserable – All these words can fit in well for Team India after the conclusion of first two test matches against England. Is it the pressure of being Number one which has taken better of Indian team or is it the absence of key players like Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan which has demoralized them? Whichever the case may be, Indian Team is on verge to lose their number one position once they will get out in the field at Edgbaston on Wednesday.

The biggest letdowns for Dhoni's eleven in two out of two defeats are 1) an unsettled opening pair. 2) Consecutive rare failures for Sachin Tendulkar. 3) Mahendra Singh Dhoni's dementia of how to keep the wickets. 4) Harbhajjhan Singh's batting friendly spells. 5) Zaheer Khan's Unavailability and last but not the least, England team's outstanding performance.

As expected, Sehwag and Zaheer Khan are going to play the next text match which will be a huge boost for Indian team as they will be trying to rule the ICC ranking for some more time. Yuvraj has been ruled out of the test match which will be a setback. Harbhajjan's unavailability might turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Sachin Tendulkar has a big score due on him. Dhoni should start consider to play county cricket instead of IPL as his poor wicket keeping has been exposed by English conditions. He needs to step up as a batsman and as a skipper too. India needs to be aggressive like they have been in the last couple of years to give mighty Englishmen a tough competition.

Can India prove their worth as number one side in the world? Can they raise their game to maintain their supremacy over rest of the test playing nations? Indeed, it's going to be a mammoth task. That's where the number one teams step when the pressure is humongous. Let's see if team India can rise to the occasion and play like champions. All eyes on the Edgbaston test.

How I Met Your Mother - 2030 version

It's a mesmerizing summer morning in Glasgow; a perfect one for a holiday. Ah, holiday! What a strange word it seems right now. When was the last time I went on a holiday? I probably must get out of my bed and think about it later as I am already late for the hospital. Following the usual routine, I am preparing a low calorie breakfast as well as a high energy breakfast simultaneously; one for me and one for Danny boy (Danish) – my 14 year old son. I am now going to his room to wake him up and it's going to take another 10 minutes to make him open his eyes. After imposing a compulsion to finish his breakfast, I am reluctantly giving him 20 pounds which he had asked for. I am not going to drop him all the way down to his school since I am already late for the hospital. Being a consultant in UK is a very hectic job. I am missing Danny's mother right now.

Danny is not happy with me as he should be. I hardly take him out because of my work commitments. He has no siblings to play with and in all these years, he has been playing the role of a post man between his mother and his father. It has been 10 years since the separation of Aaliya and me for the reasons which are still not fully understood by any of us. I had to be both father and mother for him. I have done justice with this responsibility, but I could never be like Aaliya.

'I will never make my life hell by having an arranged marriage just like you' Danny says to me out of the blue while playing PS. 'What makes you say I had an arranged marriage?' I am in a state of shock. 'Because I have never seen any love between you both, it doesn't happen in a love marriage'. Danny boy has a logical point. 'Let me tell you how I met your mother'. I've decided to reveal the untold love story to my only son.

It was a summer of 2008; 22 years back. I was a bit older than you. No, I didn’t meet her in school, college or through a friend. I met her on Facebook. Yes! Facebook. She didn't have a profile picture so I didn’t have a clue how she looked like. I used to see her comments in one of my friends wall. Out of envy, I sent her a friend request. Boyhood is an immature stage of one's life so I can only blame my immaturity for such an action. My friend was not that good looking hence I fancied my chances even more with that girl whom I didn’t even know at that stage. 'If this girl can talk to him, she can definitely talk to me'. A few days later she was in my Facebook friend list and windows live messenger. I found her very arrogant and it was always me who initiated a topic of discussion. The case was opposite on my friend's wall. There was a drastic change in her behavior with my friend. I decided to turn the tables in my favor as soon as possible. 2 months after the acceptance of my FB friend request, I asked for her digits which she rejected right away. I didn’t stop trying. On the same very day, I used the tactics of emotional blackmailing that worked in the right way. And now I had her number. Things started to change. Initially she was always in her full attitude but a month later, she used to get curious if I held back myself. Your dad used to be good with words, my son! And girls always fall for such guys who are good at this art. That's so stupid of them. Anyhow, my FB wall started to be invaded by her more frequently. After another month, I asked her out to date me, which she accepted. I was on cloud 9.

Winning a girl from another guy gives you such a triumphant feeling. We attended our high and medical schools together. Life was perfect. We both made the most happening couple of our college life. We got engaged in our final year and were tied in the most beautiful relationship – marriage; a Love Marriage.

That's how I met your mother; a couple of decades ago! I have never been as lonely as you have been watching me in all these years.  I had an impeccable love story, but it was sad for all of us that we could only be together for 5 years after marriage. Perhaps, we spent more than enough time together before we actually got married. Excess of everything is dangerous. So my dear son, it's not about love or an arrange marriage; it's about how you carry on a relationship inside a well-defined boundary. Let's go to sleep Danny boy, may you tell the same story of how you met his mother in the presence of your wife.

Imran Khan and PTI: A revolution we need.

There is a widespread perception that the stauncher you are, the more hardships you encounter. This fact perfectly fits the current scenario of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI); a political party which was launched by Imran Khan Niazi. PTI has been a struggling political party in terms of lack of following just because of one simple reason that it defies the law by flowing against the tide. It defies the basic ideologies of a successful political party particularly in Pakistan where favoritism, horse-trading, double policies and so-called democratic motto are predominant. This is the only Political Party right now which is here for a change; a change in the fortune of this limping country and a change in an uncertainty regarding the country's future. This is a change which is meant to bring revolution and a revolution does not occur every day as Professor Dr. Allama Iqbal has rightly said:

Hazaron saal nargis apni be-noori pe roti hai

Barri mushkil se hota hai chamman mai deedawar paida

This piece of thought can rightly fit into the personality of Imran Khan, a man with a vision and a man who is capable of revolutionize this nation.

Imran Khan possesses all the basic qualities of making a good state leader but alas, the baraadri system has never allowed his party to gain significant voters. Pakistan is probably one of very few countries in which illiterate people blindly cast their votes on the basis of their affection to a dead person or to a person of same caste as their, irrespective of the level of incapability of a representative member of the party of their choice who is standing in the elections. The whole village ends up casting their vote by the manipulation of an influential rich person having a political ancestry without using their own brains and hence they end up in choosing a wrong person every time. This is a reason why PTI has not been able to emerge as a threatening contender for some of the other popular parties in the elections. There are, of course, several other reasons for a disappointing show up of PTI at country's elections.

The masses in our country have not yet accepted Imran Khan as a political leader; rather his sportsman's image is still fresh in their minds. A typical criteria set up by local people for a political leader is that he has to have a strong political background. An ex-cricketer is not yet acceptable to them no matter how capable he is as compared to rest of the so-called inherited politicians. For me, Imran Khan’s greatest victory is right now the biggest hurdle between his successes as a politician but it will not be the same forever. Had Imran Khan not made us win the 1992 World Cup, he would not have been remembered as much as he is now as a cricketer nearly after two decades. Of course he was a world class player even before but winning a world cup is a different thing altogether. If people start to think logically, they’ll find a right person to vote for the next time. Logically speaking, Imran Khan proved the whole world that what a true leader can take out of a highly disappointing and lackluster team by miraculously making them lift the come-from-behind World Cup. Imran used to select players, coach them, appoint their individual roles and last but not the least, he used to lead them from the front.

 I apologize for including too much of cricket here but it’s necessary because it shows his strength and capabilities as a leader. Most of the people will argue that there is a massive difference between politics and cricket but I’ll say that leadership remains the same. A 39-year old captain who made a team on his own authority and took the best out of them when they were down and out completely was nothing less than a miracle. Such was the level of his authority and self believe which he had in his players that during the 1992 World Cup warm up match where Aamir Sohail got a half century, he told the youngster that even if you continuously score zero in next 9 matches and Pakistan qualify for the final, you’ll still be playing in my team at the same batting position. Such was the level of confidence by a skipper which ultimately took the best out of his player.

People should be aware of his triumphing leadership which made Pakistan World Champions in cricket. Why can't we, as a nation, trust him to lead our country? The scenario in our country can’t get worse than this and since we have nothing to lose but everything to gain, we should give Imran Khan at least a single chance. He has shown us a glimpse of his successful miracle-making leadership in a complete different field so why not try him in state affairs instead of tried and tested horses? Has anyone else made a free of cost cancer hospital for this country yet? Does anyone else speak more bluntly and openly against the American policies than him? Does he have any kind of corruption or immoral charge against him? The answers are no. But sadly, majority of public here is either illiterate or unreasoned, which is the biggest hurdle that Imran Khan has to overcome before he can take up the leadership of this wobbling country.

Difference between an Israeli and a Palestinian Psychiatrist

Out of a few sessions that were attended by me in a recently concluded Congress of Psychiatry in Melbourne, It was a coincidence that I got to hear from both an Israeli as well as a Palestinian - people from a region which has always fascinated me for several reasons. A region of immense disputes and a region which is sacred for all three major monotheistic religions of the world. A region which would be the center of final battle between good and the evil according to Islam, Judaism and Christianity. As this region holds such a vital significance in the history and future of the world around us, I have always taken keen interest in this region and its inhabitants.

Jews/Zionists believe that they own a right to 'blossom' in the Holy Land (i.e. Jerusalem) from which they were expelled out twice in the history. They have returned to claim the Holy Land after 2000 years of scattering. The local Palestinians have been a subject to barbaric brutality since then. A stone up against an armed tank gives a complete picture of barbaric injustice.

Since I have been studying a lot about the history and the shaping up of present events into the prophesied future of this region, hearing from both major protagonists (Jew and a Palestinian Muslim) of the region, was a new experience. It was the first time that I attended a live session of an Israeli or a Palestinian - both came from same field - Mental Health.

The point on which I am going to emphasize is the comparison of the mental state of mind and priorities of both the Psychiatrists. Let's start with the Palestinian Psychiatrist. He was younger than his Israeli counterpart. He was understandably weaker in comparison and his face was reflecting the injustice he and his people have been suffering in all these years. He was able to attend the congress at last moment after been held up by Egyptian authorities for two weeks. He started off his talk by describing the current and historical background of disputed Gaza Strip. He carried on his talk by describing the impact of Israeli bombardment on children at school time and what hardships he and his team faced to overcome the post-traumatic stress disorder among the locals. He has an important task of rehabilitating the traumatized people of his community and makes them realize that Allah is with those who remain firm on their beliefs by turning to Him only - A point which he repeatedly emphasized during his talk.

On the other hand, R. Belmaker, A senior Israeli Psychiatrist, had no traumatic issues to tackle since Israeli control is too good for the local Palestinians, at least till the Almighty Allah turn the tables against the state of Israel (InshaAllah). Instead, Mr. Belmaker decided to present his research which, according to him, took the longest duration to complete. The research was about Female Genital Mutilation in Israeli Jews and Bedouins. The research was about how the Arabs and a few Jewish tribes circumcise their newly borned girls to deprive them of their excessive sexual drive, not necessarily in the same way in which male circumcision is carried out which is only physical but not sexual. Since Mr. Belmaker enjoyed a relaxed environment while Palestinians were being treated worse than a cattle flock, he could afford wasting his time by carrying out such a research which would have made no sense if he had to be a Palestinian Psychiatrist working in Gaza Strip.

The conclusion: Although being natives of the land, Palestinians are no more in a state of freedom which can only permit their Psychiatrists to overcome everyday trauma caused by Israeli cruelty rather than publishing research papers like Israeli Psychiatrists. On the other hand, Israeli public and Doctors are enjoying a tension-free life in which they can do whatever they want. Since their mental health workers do not have to face the bizarre situation of mental trauma as the Palestinians have to, they take up a research project such as in which they explore the female sexuality. Had they been treated the same way as Palestinians, their Psychiatrists would never have consumed so much time in carrying out such a research. Good and Evil can easily be judged by comparing the point of view of both Psychiatrists which represents their mental orientation.

May Allah give power to Palestinian Muslims to overcome the Israeli barbarianism. Ameen.