Editors' Note:

Greetings, Today, on New Years occasion, we would like to gift you the very first IPFC Magazine. We are proud to launch the only magazine which features writers from both nations. The mission of IPFC magazine is to promote Unity in Diversity, eliminate misunderstandings, augment friendliness and harmony among the fellow people of India and Pakistan, increase awareness of the IPFC, and help IPFC achieve new heights. This special issue will walk you through the history of IPFC, introduce you to the changes IPFC brought in ones life, enlighten you with an old but relatively less popular field of the medicineHomeopathymake you smile with the poetry, make your nerves fire rapidly with the mind boggling games, and last but not the least strengthen the bonds between the people of IPFC from both countries. Our special thank goes to the IPFC writers, Aminur Rashid, Anurag Chaturvedi, and Arsalan Jamshed, without whom, this publication wouldn't have been possible. We hope you will have fun reading YOUR magazine! Sincerely, Kashif Khundmiri and Vipin Gupta

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CONTENTS
IPFC Speaks: Events shaping the IPFC & the Maintenance of the Common Environment of IPFC Flashback 2007 Across the Wagah - A journey from Lahore to Bangalore Plane to Pakistan: and 35 minutes to land! Unleash India-Pakistan friendship - A student's plea Viewpoints Poetry Fun Facts Have you ever been curious about Homoeopathy? Cross Country Expedition Movie Reviews Puzzles and games 3

7 10 13 14 15 16 20 21 23 25 28

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IPFC Speaks: Events Shaping the IPFC & the Maintenance of the Common Environment of IPFC
RUK (Rukh) JAAYENGE NEHI (Nahin) KAHI (Kahin) HUM HAAR KE (Mein) KAL YEH JAHA (Jahaan) BADLAYENGE (Badlenge) HUMYEH WAADA RAHA HUMARA (Hamara Aapse)! (Rahul Mukherji, community description of IPFC on Orkut). Translation: We will never stop in any situation Tomorrow, we will change this world This is our promise to you!

Change is in the human nature, is a reason for

wars, a cause behind the formation of countries, a motive to live, and the only thing constant on earth. An idea for a change was sparked in the mind of Rahul Mukhergi, the owner of the community India Pakistan Friendship Club, on Orkuta Google based networking site for people around the worldwhen Orkut was launched by Google in January 2004 (Wikipedia, search term Orkut). Today we are familiar with that change in the name of India Pakistan Friendship Club. Rahul was studying in Thailand when he met with a Pakistani. They both were partners in a project based on surveys in India and Pakistan. Soon enough, they became good friends and realized the common elements in the cultures of both countries. When Orkut came into existence, the friendship between two individuals took the shape of an online community where similar people from India and Pakistan can interact with each other from the comfort of their homes or offices and eliminate the misunderstandings. The India Pakistan Friendship Club was created on May 9, 2004. The first two days, there were only two members. As time passed by, new members were attracted to the IPFC and the population of IPFC started to increase exponentially. By January 2006, the IPFC successfully recruited more than 15,000 members from both sides of the border and by June of same month, IPFC crossed 20,000 members. Now, there are more than 97,200 members and soon enough the population of IPFC will surpass the 100,000th mark. This rapid increase only portrays the change of hearts and emergence of love for the person from the other side of the border.

Similarly to any major organization, IPFC also went through times and events which shaped the IPFC that is visible today. The formation of IPFC SNOBS in November 2004, the hacking of the community in January 2006,the fight between the moderators in April 2007 and the return of the common environment after each event shaped the IPFC. All these incidents were seen as the Berlin Wall which was presumed to be the permanent divisions of IPFC but never the less, the love across borders brought down these walls and things at IPFC returned to normal. The beginning days of IPFC were dull and uninteresting, like every new community. New threads were rarely started. By the start of August 2004, new threads were formed on a daily basis. As days passed by, new members started joining the IPFC and this in turn increased the thread count. By the end of September 2004, the new-thread count increased to an average of ten new threads a day. As members increased, the threads increased however, the spamming of the community also increased. People from both sides started grouping together in IPFC. One such group named IPFC SNOBS was formed in the IPFC. They separated themselves as serious debaters. These active debaters were regularly interfered by the hijackingposting long blank posts with an intention to annoy peopleof their threads. Orkut was not very well developed at that time and it only allowed only the owner to act like a moderator. Because owner was not able to log in round the clock, there was difficulty moderating the threads to stop the hijacking.

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The hijackers had fun interfering in the discussion of the IPFC SNOBS members. Frustrated with these hijackers and with the lack of moderating, this group of individuals went on to create a new community in the name of IPFC SNOBS which has strict criterion for membership. This separation was seen as a partition of IPFC. Nevertheless, more people joined IPFC and things returned to normal. Like always, there were threads directing the other country and people started arguments over the deficiencies both nations had. People became good friends of each other, love stories were observed between many IPFCians, and again the groups were formed. In February 2005 a group separated themselves from IPFC in a new community named Ripples which was eventually deleted by the owner of that community. Things came back to normal again and the force of IPFC kept increasing. New members became active and some old members were hardly spotted. No matter how busy a life of the IPFCian became, IPFC was never inactive. Soon after the separation of the RIPPLE, the IndiaPakistan region observed a major earthquake which left thousands homeless. Members at IPFC formed their local extensions and helped the victims of the earthquake in every form. A member of the IPFC, Malaika Raza, came forward by forming a IPFC London chapter known as Londonmet Indo-Pak Society and collected donations to go to the victims of the IndoPak earthquake. During this time period, IPFCians got closer to each other, formed stronger bonds and kept the spirit of IPFC alive. On one fine dayJanuary 27, 2006IPFC was hacked with a simple phishing website. Rahul, as usual was in his office, carelessly logged in to Orkut using a phishing website. His ID was hacked and the IPFC was transferred to a person with the screen names Bad boy and King Khan.

This event shook everyone in IPFC. Earliest members like Anurag, Aminur and Abhinav received hundreds of messages and calls with the same question: who hacked the IPFC? These members were determined to get IPFC back from the ill-minded hacker. They spoke to people at Google Inc. and were asked to register a complaint in Orkut and get a case id number. The next day on January 28, 2006, Rahul issued his statement on IPFC in a thread named IPFC or No IPFC: Mission Remains! and fortunately, it was not deleted by the evil hacker. His statement was as follows: . IPFC or NO IPFC: Mission Remains! Well, it is unfortunate that someone has hacked my password to change the ownership in IPFC. It happened during my office hours so I was really careless about putting my password in the fake website. Lessons learned and now onwards I will be more careful on things on net. Somebody throwing me out of IPFC community, which I created, will not stop me from the mission of India Pakistan Friendship. IPFC community does tell us that there are thousands across the border who want solution to problems and peace in the subcontinent. Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, this might be small but surely one of the means by which we arrive at that goal. I am still not aware why was a friendship community hacked. The purpose of the hacker can only give you feeling that he can destroy the spirit of the community. Hacking is a criminal offense. Google has been informed and Orkut support will look into the matter next week. We have been given a ticket #45079920 from Orkut help desk. IPFC is a friendship club. Its a meeting ground of people across the border. I might have been invisible in creating threads but I did moderate anything, which is hitting friendship with IPFC members help. I know sometimes some not so important threads get popular. Not everybody wants to discuss serious issue. SUCCESS OF IPFC IS IN MAKING PEOPLE INTERACT AT VERY GROUND LEVEL. Serious topics do take place at IPFC but sometimes due to large no. of members posting large no. of forum it disappears from the top 5 very fast. But again sorry to those who feel I moderated poorly. Well, all I can say I am such a point of my career where sitting on for 24 hours will put me out of IBM.

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I have always asked people to send me links in case you find some abusive or anti friendship comments. I always made sure it was deleted and the member was banned (after a warning of course) from IPFC. In case you are just looking for serious discussion I had always suggested you join community like Ripples, IPFC Snobs, India Pakistan and Kashmir. I have no issues on that. In fact since these communities are better moderated I want them to grow as well. MY AIM IS FOR INDIA PAKISTAN FRIENSHIP. I DON"T CARE HOW IT HAPPENS AND WHERE IT HAPPENS... AS LONG AS IT HAPPENS. I started working for Indo-Pak friendship since 1999 but it was 2001 when I really got attached to the movement through PAKISTAN INDIA PEOPLES FORUM FOR PEACE AND DEMOCRACY. www.pipfpd.org. Though my work life makes me an inactive member but I am a supporter of the great cause and mission that PIPFPD has taken up. When I started the IPFC community in May last year I never expected this kind of response from the Orkut members.This just tells us that our generation has realized the importance of peace and friendship. We need to keep our goal and mission slow but steady. We should also try and come out of OUTOF-THE-WEB and try to do some thing substantial. We together should dream of the day when we will bury the hatched of the past and share a smiling future together. The day when we will able to give a solution to the Kashmir problem and see the Dal lake filled not with blood but the Shikaras. We all should look forward for the day. It might take some time but I am sure it will happen in our lifetime somewhere soon. I dont whether I will get back the ownership of IPFC or not but thank you guys for the support. IPFC or no IPFC our mission remains the same. Peace! 'Rahul Mukherji'

Some people lost hope to get back the

community and went ahead to create a new IPFC named India Pakistan GenNext Club. Anyone who raised his/her voice against the hacker in the IPFC was banned from the community. Because this hacker was of Pakistan origin, many Pakistanis who were respected because of their interest in Friendship showed their true color under the guidance of the hacker. Some Pakistanis firmly opposed the hacker and were martyred their membership from the IPFC. Members from both sides of the border who used to fight against each other became one soul and fought the hacker. After many efforts the IPFC was back to its rightful owner, Rahul, on March 3, 2006. The hacker was banned and people who thought the IPFC will never be back to normal were left embarrassed. People celebrated the victory against the hacker. Things came back to normal and the bond between IPFCians was strengthened. Months passed by and the normal environment of IPFC was kept alive. Just after the first anniversary of the defeat of the hacker, on April 17, 2007 the personal grudges of the moderators turned into a fire which burned down many fine members of IPFC. A simple decision by Anurag caused the great IPFC fire. Anurag banned a member named Xia for his comments about IPFC and Hindus outside of IPFC and for his past abusive activities. His decision was questioned by other moderators. A moderator, Smitha, went on and un-banned Xia. Her act brought in egos of the moderators. Anurag issued a fine statement in response asking other moderators to not to interfere or try to reverse the decision he took.

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This issue of IPFC was turned to the battle of egos of all moderators. Mass banning was done without any reports in the Mod-only thread, many threads were deleted, people raised there voice against the dictatorship and few who acted boldly became heroes of IPFC. Arsalan Jamshed went on to ban Anurag for his dictatorship and he resigned from the moderator post. This Great Fire of IPFC took away members like Arsalan, Smitha and many more with it. Few people were brought back from that fire and few are yet to come back. Even the Fire of IPFC was not able to intervene in the mission of IPFC. Again, the relations strengthened, people from across the borders became good friends, and the common environment came back to IPFC again. IPFC went through phases which were each seen as a dissection of the mission of IPFC but the same divisions only reinforced the bonds between IPFCians. Today, the mission of IPFC reached new heights with the launch of the IPFC radio, the IPFC Magazine and many other real life advancements. From the very beginning, we all have contributed to the changing relations between the India and the Pakistan and we will only increase our contributions to this change. Truly, since the launch of this forum on Orkut, we are following the opening description of the community: Yeh Jahaan Badlenge Hum, Yeh Waada Raha Hamara

Citations: Launch of Orkut on Wikepedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orkut IPFC community description: http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx?cmm=55961 Chit Chat: IPFC History: http://www.orkut.com/CommMsgs.aspx?cmm=55961 &tid=2467743704123443663&na=1&nst=1 Banned People from this Community, started by the Hacker after hacking the IPFC: http://www.orkut.com/CommMsgs.aspx?cmm=55961 &tid=2444544676636110640&na=1&nst=1 Rahuls statement a day after the hacking of this community, IPFC or NO IPFC: Mission Remains!: http://www.orkut.com/CommMsgs.aspx?cmm=55961 &tid=2444814228776008687&na=1&nst=1 IPFC SNOBS: http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx? cmm=709633 Moderators Only Thread, a look in to the Great IPFC Fire: http://www.orkut.com/CommMsgs.aspx?cmm= 55961&tid=2495365753348032975&na=3&nst=372&nid= 55961-2495365753348032975-2527179840977545875 Breaking News, Smitha quits over Anurags words, a thread from the times of the Great IPFC Fire: http://www.orkut.com/CommMsgs.aspx?cmm=55961 &tid=2527336027473755242 IPFC Mission in your hand!, Rahuls plea to end the battle of the egos: http://www.orkut.com/CommMsgs.aspx?cmm=55961 &tid=2527880264227732463 Malaika Raza once ran the Londonmet Indo-Pak Society, which she believes to me a real life extention of IPFC: http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx?cmm= 762567 Private Chat with Anurag and Aminur is also a source of information.

- Kashif Khundmiri

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Flashback 2007 - Insight India

While

india accelerated its march towards

economic prosperity ,pakistan made some decisive leaps on the road to democracy. Here we take a look at some of the pathbreaking developments that occurred in 2007. 1: Surge of the Sensex: The Sensex shot from around 14000 in beginning of the year to cross the magical mark of 20000 on 29th October 2007.It was a long slow journey, as the indian economy shed its socialist baggage and underwent reform. It took 20 years to rise from 1000 to 10000, but only 20 months to make the next 10000.The total value of the stocks making up the BSE Sensex is Rs. 2838000 crores, enough to buy 47300 Boeing 777 dreamliners! 2:Indo - US nuclear deal President Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced an unprecedented agreement that would provide U.S. nuclear power assistance to India while allowing the country to substantially step up its nuclear weapons production. The agreement, which marked a significant break from decades of U.S. nuclear policy, highlighted the increasingly close relationship between the world's two largest democracies and enabled both leaders to declare Bush's visit a success. However there were oppositions in both countries to the agreement, and the Indian government could not carry forward the agreement, mainly due to disagreement with the left parties that support it. 3:20 -20 cricket world cup India won the inaugaral 20 -20 world cup held in south africa after a close match against Pakistan in the final.

4: India Inc. comes of age: Tata Steel acquired Corus in the largest ever outbound acquisition by an indian company. The $12 Billion deal announced to the world, that indian multinationals had truly arrived, making Tata steel the worlds' 5th largest player in an industry led by Lakshmi Mittal owned Arcelor-Mittal. Subsequently Kumaramanglam Birla's Hindalco acquired Novelis in a $6 Billion deal. Suzlon snapped up Areva in a $1.5 Bn deal. Tata tea completed a succesful bid for Glaceau whereas the UB group acquired the liquor giant White & Mackay. Tata Motors has put forward a strong bid for Jaguar. Indian economy grew at 9.4%, its fastest rate in 18 years. 5:Democratic process: Pratibha Patil was elected the first female president of India. Elections were succesfully held in the states of Gujrat and HP. 6: Date with terror: Indian doctor Mohammad Haneef is arrested at Brisbane Airport, Australia, in connection with the Glasgow Airport attack. Indians are implicated in the terror attacks in Glasgow. Dr. Haneef undertook a long and much publicised court battle against the government of Australia to finally win back his right to stay and work in Australia. 7:The AIDS bugbear did not turn out to be as scary as the doomsayers had predicted. The 2006 estimates predicted 2.47 million people with AIDS in india as against the 2006 estimate of 5.7 million. The National AIDS control project 3 was launched to scale up testing, prevention and treatment.

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Road to Democracy in Pakistan.

Events that shaped Pakistan's march in 2007,

bearing a constant hope of normalcy, yet proving to be a mirage at times. Equally enigmatic are the actions and designs of the general turned president at the helm of Pakistan's affairs. Jan 9 : Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf dismisses Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry over serious allegations including abuse of power. May 12 : Pakistans suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry abandons Karachi rally after clashes leave 30 dead. July 20 : Justie Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry is reinstated after being suspended from his position for four months and 10 days. August 29 : General Pervez Musharraf agrees to resign as army chief and appears to be sharing a pact with former premier Benazir Bhutto September 10 : Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is arrested and deported to Saudi Arabia, four hours after his return from exile. October 6: President Pervez Musharraf wins the election for another five-year term. October 18: Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto makes a tearful return to Pakistan after eight years of self-imposed exile. Two major explosions hit the convoy of Benazir Bhutto, killing more than 115 people and injuring at least 200 in Karachi. November 3: General Musharraf declares emergency rule and suspends the country's constitution. November 14: Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan is arrested and charged under antiterrorism laws. November 20: The Pakistan Election Commission announces January 8 as the date for parliamentary elections.

November 22: The reconstituted Supreme Court dismisses the last challenge to Pervez Musharraf's re-election in uniform, paving the way for him to be sworn in for a second term as the president of Pakistan. November 25: Former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif returns to Pakistan after seven years exile in Saudi Arabia. December 5: The Pakistan government retires 37 judges including Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, the former chief justice, who refused to approve President Pervez Musharraf's emergency power. December 15: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf lifts the 41 day emergency rule after making amendments to six articles. December 27 :

Benazir Bhutto assassinated.

Bhutto was often hailed as the all-important figure in that return to a parliamentary process. She waited eight years to go back to Pakistan in an alleged power-sharing deal with the military ruler, signed and sealed by the US. As head of a party that is more about people at the grassroots level, she was hailed as the hope who might deliver Pakistan into a more modern and democratic environment, despite corruption cases still pending against her. Groomed by her father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, as she was grooming her son Bilawal, Benazir became prime minister of Pakistan for the first time in 1988 but was removed from office 20 months later, on alleged corruption charges. She returned in 1993, to fall prey again to similar charges in 1996. There were those disillusioned by her over the years but as the decade turned, the strident politician slowly evolved into a voice for dialogue. A tough woman, protective mother, an astute politician, Benazir spoke about the need for a joint solution to the Kashmir conflict between India and Pakistan. She was also a vocal proponent against terrorism, a reason for America choosing her as their golden bid. With her death, there is a strong leadership gap in Pakistan's transition from military rule to democracy.

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Sports Roundup:
March 18: India and Pakistan make first round exits from the world cup in west indies. Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer found dead in hotel room. March 19: Inzamam-ul-Haq quits as Pakistan Test captain and retires from One-Day international cricket. April 2: Indias Viswanathan Anand is formally crowned the world No. 1 in chess with 2,786 rating points, replacing Veselin Ropalov of Bulgaria at the top. September 7: Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Akhtar is expelled from the Twenty20 championship after hitting his teammate Mohammad Asif. September 19: Indian left-hander Yuvraj Singh stormed his way to the record books after clobbering six sixes in one over off Stuart Broad in the Twenty20 World Cup against England at Durban. September 24: India clinches the inaugural trophy of the Twenty20 cricket World Cup after beating Pakistan in the finals held at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. September 29: Vishwanathan Anand is crowned world champion in chess after winning the marathon tournament in the 2007 World Championship in Mexico. November 15: India beat Pakistan by six wickets to win the fourth One-Day International and clinch the ODI series by 3-1 in Gwalior. Ace star Aisamul Haq Qureshi brought laurels for Pakistan tennis after achieving top honours in national and international circuit in the year 2007.Along with a series of wins in ITF tournaments, He also became the first Pakistani player to appear on Wimbledon main draw singles after 32 years. Aisam, whose ATP ranking in 2006 was 484 in singles and 380 in doubles, jumped to 125 in singles and 90 in doubles in 2007.

World View:
January 11: Bangladeshs President Iajuddin Ahmad resigns as the head of a caretaker administration following imposition of emergency but retains hold as titular head. January 13: China and Russia veto a US resolution in the UN Security Council calling on Myanmars military junta to stop persecution of minority and opposition groups. March 14: At least 14 killed and 39 injured in Nandigram in India as police open fire to quell mobs and retake area they lost in January after unrest over acquisition of farmland for industry. April 6: The US acknowledges the global challenge posed by climate change after a report by UN experts warned of devastating damage to all continents from global warming. 7 Johnny Hart, a famous cartoonist and regarded as one of the best, dies of heart attack at the age of 76. He also cocreated The Wizard of Id, which won numerous awards. April 26: President Vladimir Putin launches an attack against foreign interference in Russian affairs and threatens to withdraw from a key defence treaty in response to a planned US anti-missile system in Eastern Europe. June 7: Leaders of the Group of Eight industrialised nations agree on the goal of halving emissions of dangerous greenhouse gases by 2050. June 24: Storms and torrential rains lash Karachi, Pakistan, killing 228. August 4: Heavy monsoon rains which caused rivers to overflow in northern India kill more than 250 people. September 4: Two successive suicide bombings rip through the city of Rawalpindi in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing 25 people and injuring 68. September 24: More than 100,000 people flood the streets of Yagon, Myanmar's biggest city, to join the Buddhist monks' protest against the ruling generals.

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Across the Wagah - A journey from Lahore to Bangalore

Written by Asma Bashir Monday, 26 February 2007

It was May 15

th

of 2005 a usual day in my life. I

was busy with my office assignment when I got an invitation from Art of Living Foundation India to participate in their conference for women rights at Bangalore. I just gave up the idea due to the strained relationship between both countries and registration fee for the conference. My friend Masoora had a different view and she asked me to search other options for funding. We talked to the Naem Zameenda representative of Art of living Foundation in Pakistan and he gave us a green single. He talked to his colleagues in India and they agreed to waive our conference fee and offered us for advance course of Art of living foundation at free of cost. Now Masoora and I got together to gather our resources for our trip to India. Problem was this that both of us couldnt afford the trip to Bangalore by air. It was around about 50 thousand Pakistani rupees from Islamabad to Bangalore. I told her that train and bus are the two other options to go to India. My relatives are living in India and my family goes there almost after ever 3-4 years by train. But none of them could give us any advice regarding our travel from Islamabad to Bangalore via train. Another big problem was this we both did not want to tell our families that we are going alone to Bangalore. We told them that from Delhi another group would accompany us to Bangalore. My parents were too scared and they resisted against my decision but I already took it so they just warned me about the results. Luckily we did not face any problem in getting the visa and we got it just in one hour. Not only this but next day they again granted us an extension of 10 days. My friend and me were pretending to look very confident but within we were worried as we were going to India without any train reservations. On 28th May at 4.00 am we left Lahore for Delhi. Before leaving my family advised me to take care of the family values while talking to my relatives in India, as they all are very conservative. Furthermore, our one senior friend advised us to live together not to talk to Hindus too much dont take anything to eat especially from a Hindu.

We reached Delhi at 5.30 pm. All roads in Delhi were crowded badly. It was my first time in Delhi and I was anxious to see the glamorous and old part of Delhi about which I heard so much since childhood. We both were happy that we reached Delhi alive and without any big hassle. But we didnt know that worst thing was going to happen. We quickly reached at Delhi station after buying our return tickets for Lahore. Rickshaw driver dropped us at the office of a private travel agent; he took our passport and 3400 rupees for getting the seats. After one hour he told that there is no seat for Karnataka express but he can try for other trains, which were expensive. He advised us to stay in Delhi for one night if we still wanted to go through the same train. I quickly called my relatives in Himachal and asked about anyone staying in Delhi they told me that everybody was in Himachal for summer vacations. Travel agent asked us not to tell anybody that we are Pakistanis as we did not have visa for Delhi and then we can be held liable for illegal stay, though our entry and exit point was Delhi. This was the time that our whole motivation to visit India and the realization that we are at a foreign land started biting us. Masoora asked me to contact conference organizers. I looked at her surprisingly as it was 9.00 pm but we did not have any other option. I called the conference organizer in Bangalore with speedy heartbeats. Surprisingly the lady was too much supportive and gave us another number of a women living in Delhi. We called that women and she asked us to wait for some time. We called her again after a few minutes and she gave us the phone number of another woman called Rashmi Paliwal living in Vasant Vihar. We were a little bit relaxed after talking to Rashmi. She informed us that her driver would soon pick us. It was 11.30 pm and there was no sign of Rashmis driver. Masoora and I were trying to console each other but we both knew that we were in serious trouble. The market at Ajmeri gate was closing down. Masoora started crying and praying. Travel agents were really very good and they were consoling that see if nobody will pick you we can arrange your stay but we were uncertain about their sincerity. It was 12.00 am now I called Rashmi again and she told that driver had left two hours before. Her driver did not have any cell phone so it was really hard to trace him.

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Imagine two single, alone girls standing outside Ajmeri gate with no hope of finding any trustworthy place. I started crying that why the hell we were so foolish to came into this country without any information and link? We were also uncertain that whether we would be able to go back to Pakistan to meet our family? Whether we would be alive till tomorrow? These hotel agents might take us to some brothels or anywhere else from where there would be no way to come back. Suddenly the boy standing outside at the PCO told us that there is one car with the same number for which we were waiting. The Driver Jyoti Singh was finding us on Railways travel office for foreigners. He was returning back to Rashmi when he suddenly thought to check at private travel agents offices. We were so happy that we did not say thanks to the travel agents also who took our care during that hard time. We just took our passports and money and jumped into Rahmis car. After 30 minutes the car stopped in front of a beautiful house in Vasant Vihar. Rashmi received us and asked for food but we were so happy and tired that we just asked for a bed. The AC in our room was not working. Rashmi was quite concerned about our rest. Though we told her that we are habitual of living without AC it does not make any difference. But she did not listen and sent us in the basements lounge to sleep, which was quite cool. We slept and got up early in the morning with some familiar chants of Bhajans. Rashmi was playing with Sitar and we listened to her. She told us that there would be a short gathering of Art of living people to have Long Karya (exercise). We participated in that exercise, at the end Rashmi requested all people to see if they can arrange any ticket for us through their links to Bangalore. People were surprised that how come two girls from Pakistan came to Delhi alone? They were more surprised to see that none of us was wearing Burka and we both were already working in our own fields actively. At night we met Rashmis mother and her elder sister. Rashmis mother was born and raised up in Rawalpindi my home state. She was badly missing Pakistan and wanted to go their again. She was asking about old areas of Rawalpindi and quickly recognized the area of Masooras residence. She asked us to stay with her again upon our return.

It was 7.00 pm and we were supposed to leave. Rashmis cook was used to make small chappatttis. We told him that your 7 breads are equal to 2 Pakistani breads. For our food he put more than 25 chappatis in our lunch box. We both slept quietly at night. Early in the morning I saw Masoora was sitting with some other family playing antakshari. I also took part in it and suddenly my team was almost winning. The other team was surprised as I was singing Pakistani songs and they never heard that songs. They blame our team for singing unknown songs. Then we explained about ourselves and their response was quite surprising. Again they were surprised to hear that we both work in the offices and we dont wear Burka or scarf. Finally we reached at Bangalore on 1st June 2005. We exchanged phone emails with all the people and left the station in a happy mood. We got an auto rickshaw. I stopped at a post office to post some paper of my one friend to Delhi and to call my relatives in Pune. one of my cousin lived in Bangalore; his mother was surprised to hear that I reached so quickly in Bangalore and alone. The auto Rickshaw asked from Masoora Are you Muslim? Masoora was scared and she said NO. Later on we came to know that he was also a Muslim and he saw Masoora praying silently in rickshaw. We met a girl at ashram who showed us our room, which was quite good and airy. The girl was too much excited about Pakistanis and wanted to see this land. Everybody was so helpful and friendly at the ashram. We were famous in the whole ashram by the name of brave girls who came alone to Bangalore. We were worried about our tickets to go back to Delhi and I asked my cousin but he was too much busy and he apologized to help in this matter. We both decided to go again to the city. Again we did not have much money so we took the bus towards the city got our seats and decided to roam around the city. Everybody in the shop asked us from where we are? Because we were speaking Urdu/Hindi and we thought that they can recognize us. We were too scared to roam in the markets. We did buy some small things and came back to Ashram.

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On 11th June at 3.00 pm we left the ashram to go back to Delhi. I met my one net friend at Bangalore station who was a journalist. We waited for him for 2 hrs. He promised to be there at 3.00 but reached at 5.00pm. Masoora was quite angry due to these things. We both decided that as we have to stay for one day in Delhi so we would not tell anybody during the journey about our whereabouts. There were two young guys sitting in front of us who passed a smile to us but we ignored them. There were two other old Bihari men sitting near us. There language was totally unknown to us. We were scared from these Bihari men. I suddenly remembered old Indian movies where a young girl is traveling alone in the train and somebody kidnaps her and leaves her at brothel. We both did not sleep till 4 .00 am. Finally they left after 4 in the morning and then we slept. When I got up the other two young guys said hello to us again and this time I forcibly replied and started reading newspaper. One of them asked whether I am a student. I told him that I am a student who came to Bangalore to attend that conference. I was not interested in talking to them. One of them offered us biscuits and Masoora who was too hungry quickly accepted it. I was shocked because last night we both vowed that we are not going to talk anybody in the train. But then we finally started talking to each other.

Both guys Sudhir and Manish were too friendly and they were working in Bangalore. We enjoyed our travel with them in till half of the way. We talked to several other travelers also who were very happy to hear that we are Pakistanis. My uncle and cousin from Himachal came to pick us. We went to stay with them in Najaf Garh. Next day I called Rashmi and told her that we have got our stay in Delhi her mother was very sad to hear that we will not meet her again. On 15th June we left Delhi early in the morning at 4.00 am for Lahore. We were missing our home badly. When we reached Wagah border we both started jumping happily that we did it we did it. It was really the most memorable and challenging journey of my life. I would say that until and unless we will meet each other face-to-face we would believe media and politicians emitting venom against each other. There is lot of myths on both sides of border against each other. In India people think that Pakistani girls are oppressed badly they are illiterate, do not study and are just imprisoned at home. The situation is quite different women living in metro cities are totally different from the ones that are living in rural areas. They also thought that Pakistani girls get marry at a very young age, which is quite wrong. Our Indian friends were quite surprise to hear that we both wanted to first settle in our career and then about marriage.

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Plane to Pakistan: and 35 minutes to land!

Written by Smriti Vij Saturday, 17 February 2007 translated into actions. From, "lets switch beds, mine will be more comfortable for you", to, "don't take out any money please, I'll pay for the snacks", as though our friends were trying to make up for having grown in a world with strained relations and the onus is on our generation who havent grown witnessing the gory partition, only heard and read stories of the same. Most conversations with one another revealed that people across the border were willing to talk, well aware of the fact that though we do lead similar lives in many aspects, differences too, did exist. Wajeeha Javed, was twenty, my age, engaged to get married on completing her graduation.I held most of my fair and frank, one-to-one discussions with herranging from Islam to Hinduism, from why she couldn't care less to "slap hard any man acting funny on the street". Her views seemed familiar. I also got to sneak out for an exclusive shopping trip with her a day before we had to depart, travelled with her on bus, where there were separate sections for women and men, and yes got all the discounts I wanted. All through the seven days I tried my best to replace Hindi words with as much Urdu as I could, and it was heartening being in another country where there was not much of a language barrier, at least when you spoke. But were there any barriers at all? On my way back to what we call 'home' this was a question I was still hoping to find an answer to. But my idealistic self made it clear that when you interact one-on-one, personto-person it should be without the burden of politically erected barriers created on land or textbooks, for, we exist as individuals after all, irrespective of which cultural ethos or religion we represent. So on our flight back home when the Pakistan International Airways plane was to take off and the prayer was being read I didn't wonder as to why must they say a prayer before a plane takes flight, instead I closed my eyes and realised , it's yet another question of the universality of faith and we must appreciate one another and our respective beliefsbeyond that we are all individuals, representing the diversity of the same planet.

It was my first stay in a hostel; my first visit

'abroad' and I brought back memories of an experience to be cherished for the rest of my life. I had heard stories of my father's family shifting from Pakistan to Srinagar and from there to Jammu each time India and Pakistan fought on the battlefield in the 1960s and 70s. Stories about where you belong to often entice you towards taking on journeys to trace your roots. As I stayed in Delhi all through my life, having grown up hearing that my father's family moved from Muzzafarabad, a visit to Pakistan would be a special one. After a flying time out 35 minutes, we were out of the plane and on to the road, welcomed warmly by students and teachersthe first rendezvous with our hosts. We were travelling on the brightly lit Lahore highway and it took me a while to register in mind that it was not Delhi, not even a different city but a different country altogether. It was night, the air was cool, the people were warm.an entire family of women our age waiting to receive us. As we reached Kinnaird College for Women, our home for the coming week, familiar red walls welcomed us (familiar because Lady Sriram College for Women, which we represented has red brick architecture too). I was the lucky one amongst our group of 11 who was put up as roommate with two of our hosts from Kinniard, that meant I could spend more time interacting with the 'other'. Post midnight sessions on issues ranging from what we want from life and whether we get it, whether our societies permit us to dream and what kind of dreams do we see for ourselves. This I felt, was a true exchange. An honest exchange of ideas, thought, perception. At one level, it was two college students talking, at a closer level, it was two women talking. While leaving for Lahore, my mind was too full with questions about the place and its eoplethey will be receptive surely, but will that be out of diplomacy or will it be genuine. A week tightly packed with site seeing, discussions and copious amounts of food, passed and I felt that it sure was..genuine..as what I saw was selfless hospitality

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Unleash India-Pakistan friendship - A student's plea

Written by Naveen Raju Thursday, 12 April 2007 What do a hindu student from India and a muslim worker from Pakistan, both in Malaysia presently, have in common? Common opinion on human values! I, Naveen Raju, study in a college in Seremban (65kms from the capital Kuala Lumpur), Malaysia and I come all the way from Coimbatore, India. I work part time in a shop where Naseer Ahmed, who hails from Chiniot, Faizalabad - Pakistan, also works. I can remember well, when, on an autumn evening, we became acquainted on the very first day we met in this shop. At first, it was a casual self-introduction which slowly lumbered up to become friendship. And by the time when winter broke out, we were closest friends going through the rough and tumble of life. I call him bhaiya (elder brother) and he too calls me back as bhaiya - even though I am more than 20 years younger than him. In the beginning, I barely managed to communicate with him since I knew a little Hindi and his way of communication was Punjabi and Urdu - the languages that mostly resemble Hindi. To mention, I come from India where Hindi is widely spoken, whereas, I speak Tamil and Kannada back home. Now, I have picked up a lot of Hindi words and amassed a whole lot of ways to express my thoughts in that language, courtesy my relentless pursuit to communicate well with this Pakistani bhaiya and, of course, the Hindi films which I watch on many occasions. He, also a big fan of Bollywood Hindi movies, has a small collection of them which we often watch in leisure. By observing the way he works, I learnt a lesson or two. I could imbibe that he works hard to send money to support his wife and three kids in Faizalabad. He is very thrift and stretches every cent of money as far as it goes that, sometimes, he even starves himself to save money. All my previously held beliefs about Pakistan faded away because of my friendship with this man. I developed a kind of empathy upon this Punjabi man from Faizalabad, Punjab - Pakistan and, to recall, it was surprising that our countries, India and Pakistan, have fought three bitter wars against each other. Some times, he cooks food by himself and heartily invites me to his dinner. He makes such tantalizing Pakistani (or Indian, of course!) rotis coupled with keema or chicken, or mixed vegetable sabjis on some occasions. On some days, I buy him food from restaurants. I came to know a lot about Pakistan and its people through him. We exchange jokes and a lot of stories about each others cultures.Alright, I am an Indian and he is a Pakistani.Any third person would uncontrollably get curious and wonder - What about Kashmir? Whenever this name comes in our long conversation, we suddenly become cautious and pause for a while not to hurt each others attitude. Even when others mock us up saying that India and Pakistan are eternal rivals and how could we ever get along well as close friends. We just reply that we are brothers who have some little fights against each other at times. I will go back to India in a couple of months once my studies finish; but my time spent with this Pakistani bhaiya will be an enduring memory etched in my soul auguring well with the quote remembrances embellish life. This bhaiya will go a long way in keeping me reminded forever that the spirit of humanity will spontaneously and eventually diffuse into humanitys hearts and emerge victorious in a world where people are divided by differences in their minds. To many, a student like me speaking about forging India-Pakistan friendship might sound like a kid talking about quantum physics. I dont think so, and I strongly believe only the youths mind can be molded easily. When we converse, we express thoughts like how united were we before 1947 (before the India/Pakistan partition) and why in the world should we have a difference in opinions against each other later on? We have so many similarities we speak similar languages, have unique art and music, dress alike, we have a cuisine that is same and we were one family before we became neighbors. Then how in the world did we ever let our paltry differences outweigh our ubiquitous similarities? Naseer Bhaiya and I unanimously agree that we have our common enemies in various manifestations like poverty, illiteracy, economic and scientific backwardness and much more Lets fight these common enemies And not each other In the end, all the religions of the world will not bring eternal peace to mankind, but strong human-bonds will. In this flat world of globalization, the day is approaching fast when people will realize that People are more important than policies and that the spirit of humanity will rule eventually.

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Viewpoints
Pride and Parochialism; Only in the subcontinent!
Written by Usama Majeed Saturday, 24 November 2007 How can we be proud of the sheer blatant poverty we have in our part of the world. How can we tolerate the images of the young children rummaging through rubbish in the streets of Karachi, Bombay, Calcutta or Dacca, with no access to education or the minimum of human decency, and still be proud; proud of what for crying out loud! If my sentiments are felt to be confronting by some who log on to this site, I empathise but refuse to apologise. I plead all those with rationalistic minds to please help put an end to all the non-sense that has plagued our world for so long; let us help each other pick up the pieces and make something for our future generations that they can really be proud of.

I read with interest some of the contributions on

this site. Being of Pakistani Muslim background, I can understand some of the resentment I note in the language in a few comments of articles. I have struggled with contradictory emotions myself in the past until a voice from deep inside came up with the answer; "Ask what you can do for humanity not what humanity can do for you" (I am sure Kennedy won't mind!). I understand that there may be (mostly perceived I might add) grievances on both sides of the border, but the cause is by no means unilaterally instigated. Unfortunately, (and I say this with a great deal of regret), the "experiment" (as Maulana Azad described it) has failed miserably. When people can't be allowed to have an open discussion on this subject in my country, I am afraid no progress in any fruitful direction is possible. When we are denied the right to be a part of OUR HISTORY going back thousands of years of human civilisation, how can anyone be expected to rise above silly parochialism. When there is this inherent tendency to shun the "other", regardless of who it is, having a strange sense of national pride (what nation!) based on hatred of the "other" (whoever that might be), what sense could come out of it. I say this in the Pakistani context as that is the reference closest to me; I am sure the Indians have similar tendencies of their own to be equally ashamed of! In this 60 years history, based on denial of the past 5000 years, what exactly do we have to be proud of; that we are both "nuclear"! Is that our best achievement as the inheritors of an ancient civilisation. Is this the best we could do! Is there a human dimension to this all! Now we have the capacity to destroy one another and we have joined ranks with the handful of nations around the world who possess this "distinction"; what a shame! Shame indeed for what could have been and what has become of us; ancient parochialism reborn; well done!

Who is the enemy?

Written by Raza Rumi Sunday, 01 July 2007

I am pleased to find this club hidden away in the

labyrinths of the internet. I would like to share a translation of a poem "Kaun Dushman Hai" by Ali Sardar Jafri - someone had sent it to me some time back. Unfortunately, the name of the translator was not sent with the text. I would be grateful if a reader would like to clarify this. You were slaves till yesterday, so were we. And then came the season of freedom bathed in showers of blood Between you and us rage rivers of fire Tall frowning barriers of hate With a mere glance, However, we can tear them down; We can forget, forgive the cruel part; And again embrace you, yes we can But first you will have to break your swords, And cleanse these bloodied garments; After that we shall become no more strangers. You bring us flowers from the gardens of Lahore, We bring you light from the dawns of Banaras, Freshness of the Himalayan breeze; And thereafter we ask each other:

Who is the enemy?

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Poetry
A Voice of my Heart
Written by Mahreen Wednesday, 07 March 2007 A beautiful poem about the need of peace between India and Pakistan.

Sarhad kay Paar tumne Ghar banaya hain

Written by Magnus Sunshine Tuesday, 10 April 2007

Is se pehlay kay bahaut waqt guzar jaye,

Tum aman aur pyar ke liye kuch kaam kardo. Is se pehlay kay yeh pyar wali shaam kabhi na rahay, Tum ek nayi subah is aman kay naam kardo. Is se pehlay kay hum lartay lartay mar jayeen, Tum mera ek chota saa kaam kar do. Apne dil ki har dhadkan pyar aur aman kay naam kerdo Apne dil ki har dhadkan pyar aur aman kay naam kerdo Is se pehlay kay hamara naam layne wala koi naa rahay, kyun na hum ek acha kal apne aanay walon ke naam kardein. Is se pehlay kay yeah dunyia hum logo pe hansay, Hum kyun na in logo ka munh hamesha ke liye band kar dain. Is se pehlay kay apne ye log ghurbat, bayrozgari se mar jain, Kyun na hum apna aaj in logo ke kal ke naam kerdain. Is se pehlay kay hum lartay larte mar jayeen, Tum mera ek chota saa kaam kar do. Apne dil ki har dhadkan pyar aur aman kay naam kerdo Apne dil ki har dhadkan pyar aur aman kay naam kerdo

Itni taqleef main hain Ghalib,

K Mahek phoolon ki bhi nahi aati! Khusboo hain fizaaon main, Saanson sa kiyun mehroom rah jaati ? Sarhad k Paar tum ne ghar banaya ha, Humse tumhe milne ki ijazat kiyun chin li jaati? Khauff hain itna waadiyon main, Masoom bachhon ki siskiyaan sunaai kiyun nahi deti? Dard hain dafn itna seeney main, Ashq palkon k neeche kiyun nahi aati? Jubb kahte ho k dosti hain humare beech, To siyasati zanzeerein kiyun nahi toot jaati? Jubb alam muhabbat ka iss qadar hain uss paar, To khhwab"humare aman ka" muqammmal kiyun nahi ho paati?

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Koshish
Written by Naresh Rana Saturday, 17 March 2007

Nahi, yeh arth-heen Sangharsh nahi ichhati janta Bharat ki, Aur yeh khauf ki zindagi nahi chahta banda Pakistan ka, Aao saabit karein sarkaar ko, kya abhilasha hai hum logo ki... Aao yaqeen dilaye hukumaat ko, kya iraaden hai hum awaam key! Aaj hraday ki chot bhulakar, harday se lagein hamare in yaar ko.. Sarhad aur mazhab ko chhor, aaj mauka de is pyaar ko... Phir Pakistan ki maitrayi par garv karega ek din Bharat, Aur Bharatiyo ke saath par naaz karega, usi din Pakistan. English Translation :Horde of global colors, is India; And mark of mystic beauty, is Pakistan. Rhyme of tradition, flow of virtues, is India; Chime of verses, and holy hues, is Pakistan. Where sanctifying hymns divulges glory, is India; Where muezzin echoes embarks the mornings, is Pakistan. Land of wars, martyrs, which make us proud, is also India; Land getting nukes and the hype getting loud, is Pakistan. Sadly, we ego men who died in war, that we waged.... Imprudently, we prance with bombs that we engaged.... Duh! Lets hush this explosions once completely! Either fight and finish, or rebuke the show of folly! Because the sound of sage is heard no more, Restrains of innocence is suppressed by uproar, Because we want to live and not die and pain, Because we want friends still, and we're not insane! Lets brood over the balance sheet of this futile enmity, And compare it with friendship, a bright possibility, And then not impugn the mess we just made, But wipe it off the shoulder and start ahead! Lets conspire, lets desire, lets admire, lets get higher, Lets make sure that best friend of Pakistan, is India; And the perennial strength of India, be Pakistan...

Rishto me esi kaai jami ki aaj shbab madhosh hai

Dilo me esi padi darare ki mudto se juban khamosh hai ek jaise ham ek fiza ek hi juban Phir es dil me fark a gaya kahan Milta hai sangeet, milte hai rasmo rivaaz kya sarhde banne se bat jata hai jahan Hoti ek jaisi sham, ek hi subah Phir kyu badal gaye dil ke arman Chahte tho hai ham girana ye deewar magar lambe hai fasle -e- darmiyan Dekh rahi hai rasta khamosh ye nigahe shayad kahi juk aaye ye aasman

"Khwab" - a poem
Written by Shadow Thursday, 18 January 2007 A touching Hindi poem about India and Pakistan, alongwith English translation.

Sansaar kay dher rango ka samanvay hai Bharat;

Aur duniya ki khubsuratiyo ka ikhtilaat hai Pakistan. Suvichar, susheelta ka kaavy hai Bharat; Tou haseen ghazalo ki maslihet hai Pakistan. Apaar santo ki praarthna, maulviyo ki bhavna hai Bharat; Lekin aawam ki ibaadat, khuda ki bakhsheesh hai Pakistan. Par yuddh se asthhir, nirbal bana hai yeh sadradh Bharat; Aur usi jang se faatir mukaam par pahocha hai pukhtah Pakistan. Phir kyu aatank ke ghatao ke paav pasarta hai Bharat? Na jaane kyu fasaadi abr ki khwahish karta hai Pakistan?

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Partition
Written by Gurpreet Singh Tuesday, 29 May 2007

Hum gandi galiyoon main pallay

Written by Mohammad Faraz Wednesday, 30 May 2007

One land was divided into two parts,

it is a matter of sorrow, not of art. Some were crying and some laughed, and many underwent blood bath. Children were seperated from their parents, it was in no way less than a world war. No one could trust the other, as anyone out there might be carrying their death. Many were hiding in their houses, saving there lives and holding their breath. It was a horrible scene outside. People were fighting with each other, whom they had once, loved from their hearts, May god, neither in hell repeats the past.

In ujlay mahloon ke talay

Hum gandi galiyoon main palay soo soo bojh man par liye.. Mail aur mati tan pe liye.. Dukh sahtay, gham khatay rahay.. phir bhi hanstay gaatay rahay. hum deepak, toofan mian jalay.. Hum gandi galiyoon mian palay.. Dunya ne thukraya hummay.. Rastoon ne apnaya hammay.. Sarkain maan, sarkain hi paata.. Sarkain ghar sarkain hi chitta.. Kyun aaye, kiya kar chalay.. Hum gandi galiyoon mian palay.. Dil mian choor kuch bhi nahi.. Hum ko parwa kuch bhi nahi.. Chaho tu nakara kahoo.. Chahoo tu awara kahoo.. Hum hi buray tum sab ho bhalay.. Hum gandi galiyoon main palay..

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Remembering Partition
Written by Sikandar Wednesday, 13 June 2007

I Told Her A Lie!

Written by Rahul Mukherji Thursday, 22 February 2007

I met a little girl

searching for her parents, from the wilderness of the world. I took a paper and I pointed to the sky. Rolled it, and through it I saw a star. I told her that there they were and looking happy. They will come back soon. She stared at me I was on my knees to see a smile on her lips and it happened. She was happy, there was no doubt. But I tasted some salt in my mouth. Through my wet eyes I could not see. As I knew it was a lie. Words from my eyes did start. Blood burnt around my heart. Will loves bed be always snowing here? She seemed to hear my silent voice. But deaf were the mature. Not love appeals to know peace.

Taarik Shab hai Larzat-e-Khaab-e-Sahar Gayee

Sarpar Hamaaare ek Qayaaamat Guzar Gayee Ghar Jal gaya mera, mere Ghar ke Chiraag Se Aatish Bajaan Fiza hai Jidharko Nazar Gayee Khanjar ne Mere, Mera Jigar Chaakh Kar Diya Takleef Chaara Saazi-e-Zakhme-e-Jigar Gayee Israar Zakhm-e-Dil na Dikhaayen tho Kya Karen Qaatil ka Kaam Apni Talwaar Kar Gayee Taarik Shab hai Larzat-e-Khaab- e - Sahar Gayee Sarpar Hamaaare ek Qayaaamat Guzar Gayee

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Fun Facts
1: The art of Navigation was born in the river Sindh 6000 years ago. The very word Navigation is derived from the Sanskrit word NAVGATIH. The word navy is also derived from Sanskrit Nou. 2: The Taj Mahal is so proportionately constructed, one never imagines that it is taller than the Qutb Minar, the tallest minaret in the world! The Taj is 243 ft. in height while the Qutb Minar is only 239 ft. 3: India is one of only three countries that makes supercomputers (the US and Japan are the other two) 4: In a case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, an Indian-American woman scientist, Dr. Ananda Chakrabaty, won the argument that persons may be granted patents for useful manufacture of living organisms. She defeated the U.S. Patent Office, that argued that living things may not be patented, thus establishing the legal foundation for the biotech industry, (Diamond vs. Chakrabaty, 1980). Dr. Chakrabaty invented a microbe that eats oil spills. 5: In the tower of the famous Se Cathedral in Goa, which houses the holy relics of Sa. Francis, there is a bell which can be heard in Panjim, 14 Kms. away. And yet, when one stands next to the bell, its soft melodious tones fall lightly on the ear. 6: The World's first university was established in Takshashila (modern Pakistan) in 700BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century BC was another great achievement of ancient India in the field of education. 7: The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing. 8: Benazir Bhutto, who was assasinated in Rawalpindi recently, was buried in her hometown Larkana. Larkana, in the province of Sindh, is only 15 miles away from the ancient city of Mohenjodaro famous as the showpiece of Indus valley civilization from 5000 years ago. 9: Benazirs last name Bhutto is a modified version of the original family name Bhatto which is actually a village in the Indian state of Haryana. Benazirs grandfather moved to Pakistan before Indias 1947 partition, and settled in the Sindh province. Benazirs father Zulfiqar, who was educated in California, changed the spelling of his last name to Bhutto. 10: Benazirs mother Nusrat Bhutto was Iranian-Kurdish whose family are descendants of Saladin (Salahuddin Ayubi), the famous 12th century ruler of Egypt and Syria who defeated the Christian crusaders and conquered Jerusalem. 11: On seeing the hopeless condition of one tenth of India which was living in a hungry and half-starved state Mahatma Gandhi pleaded with them to cease bringing children into a world filled with, so much misery and want. 12: Pakistan has some very special wildlife including the Chiltan Markhor, (a mountain ungulate) and the Balochistan bear. Lions, tigers and one horned rhinos used to live here but are now sadly extinct. 13: The world's highest cricket ground is in Chail, Himachal Pradesh.Built in 1893 after levelling a hilltop, this cricket pitch is 2444 meters above sea level. 14: Pakistan`s national flower is Jasmine. That of india is the lotus. 15: Varanasi, also known as Benares, was called "the ancient city" when Lord Buddha visited it in 500 B.C.E, and is the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world today. 16: The four religions born in India, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, are followed by 25% of the world's population.20% of India's own population does not belong to any of these religions. 17: Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to humans. Charaka, the father of medicine consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago. 18: Chess (Shataranja or AshtaPada) was invented in India. 19: Ronald Ross, awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1902 for his work on malaria, was born in Almora, India, in 1857 . 20: The game of snakes & ladders was created by the 13th century poet saint Gyandev. It was originally called 'Mokshapat.' . The game was played with cowrie shells and dices. Later through time, the game underwent several modifications but the meaning is the same i.e good deeds take us to heaven and evil to a cycle of rebirths.

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Have you ever been curious about Homoeopathy?

It is no secret that Homeopathy is more a mystery to most of us, than medicine. This article by Dr. Kaur gives us a sneak peek into the world of Homeopathy. It removes the veil shrouding this important system of medicine and places it into our comfort zone. IT IS THE MEDICINE OF FUTURE FOR SAFE CURES.

Homoeopathy: Ideal for children and Infants

Being safe and natural, Homoeopathy works excellently in kids who are spared from vast sideeffects of treatment by other systems of medicine. Apart from being very effective in common ailments of children, it also shows beautiful results in their behavioural problems such as irritability, stubbornness, phobias (fears), temper-tantrums, thumb-sucking, nail-biting, bed-wetting as well as in physical and mental retardation.

Homoeopathy is an alternative method of

treatment, founded by German scientist Dr. Samuel Hahnemann M.D (Allopathy) in 1796, and has been verified experimentally and clinically for 200 years. Homoeopathy is the revolutionary, natural medical science, the remedies being prepared from natural substances to precise standards which work by stimulating the body's own healing power. A Homoeopath doesnt believe in curing individual diseased parts or organs of the body rather he tries to bring harmony into the whole system and strengthen it to the extent that body starts its own curing process and repels the disease. Human body has enormous capacity to heal and regenerate and this fact has been exploited by Homoeopathic science in its endeavors to cure. Why should Homoeopathy be the first choice of therapy? Homoeopathy is completely safe, has no side effects (which are rampant with conventional system of medicine) or toxic effects. It provides long term to permanent cure of the disease and the treatment is very cost effective as opposed to other systems of medicine. Homoeopathy is also a better substitute to Antibiotics which are being so indiscriminately used these days. Homoeopathic medicines never cause gastric upset and other common side-effects while still doing the job perfectly plus it does not stand the risk of fading out, as 1st generation or 2nd generation antibiotics do, when newer ones arrive in the market. The medicine which benefited you 20 yrs back would still be as effective.

Homoeopathy can help you avoid Surgery

Homoeopathy is not against surgery. Surgery is an art and science by itself. Surgery is called forth in the conditions where medicines have limited or no role, and where surgical aid (operation) can cure or improve the condition. But certainly there are number of diseases which are labeled as 'surgical, but where homoeopathy works curatively and can avoid surgery. Some such ailments are : Septic recurrent Tonsillitis, Piles, Fissure-in-ano, Fistula, Appendicitis (except gangrenous), Chronic ear discharge, Vocal cord nodules, Polyp in nose-ear, Kidney & Gallbladder (small) stones, small size Uterine Fibroid, Ovarian Cysts, Warts , Corns, etc

An answer to psychological and psychosomatic ailments

Stress, irritability, depression, paranoid behaviour, all these are fruits of modern life-style and we have no escape from these. They have become integral part of our life. Homoeopathy is an answer to these demons of modern living. These conditions can be very effectively cured by homoeopathy thus enabling us to take life in a positive way as it comes and make us able to handle our problems with a cool mind which is the primary need to thrive in todays world.

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Busting the Myths

1: Homoeopathy is slow to act.
Homoeopathy is not at all slow in acting. Rather it shows faster results than allopathy or any other system in many instances where case is handled properly. Fault of perception and inability to act in the required manner lies with the physician concerned and not with the system.

3: Homoeopathy: Not a last Resort

To obtain the best results and full benefits of homeopathic science, one should resort to homoeopathy in the early phase of sickness. Because of ignorance and lack of awareness in general public about the usefulness of homoeopathy in all kinds of diseases ranging from Common Cold to Cancer, many patients approach homoeopathy late. By this time the disease process advances to an incurable stage and homoeopathy (or any other system of medicine for that matter) can offer little then, to the otherwise curable disorders. However timely given homeopathic treatment could be a blessing to the ailing humanity.
Dr. Manvinder kaur M.D

2: Homoeopathy is a placebo system of medicine

Biggest Bullshit that can ever be imagined. If it were a mere placebo, it wouldnt have traveled all the way from Germany to spread all over the world and still not only surviving with dignity but growing for more than 200 yrs.!

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Cross Country Expedition

Swat (Pakistan)
Location: Northeast in the N.W.F.P province of Pakistan Altitude: 975 meters Best Time to Visit: May to October Swat is the most historically interesting valley in Pakistan. It is also one of the most beautiful ,green and fertile places on earth. In Lower Swat, the valley is wide, the fields on either side of the river are full of wheat and Lucerne, and the villages are prosperous and surrounded by fruit trees. The valley of Swat sprawls over 10,360 sq. kms at an average elevation of 975 metres. The maximum temperature in July is 38 C and minimum (during January) is 1 C. The normal temperature is maximum 21 C and minimum 7 C.
Aesthetic beauty of Swat

Swat Valley

For the historical and amateur archaeologist, Swat offers several hundred archaeological sites spanning 5,000 years of history. In 327 BC, Alexander the Great fought his way to Udegram and Barikot and stormed their battlemens. Around the 2nd century BC, the area was occupied by Buddhists, who were attracted by the peace and serenity of the land.In the beginning of the 11th century AD Mahmud of Ghazni advanced through Dir and invaded Swat, defeating Gira, the local ruler, near Udegram. The land of enthralling beauty, where Alexander of Macedonia fought and won some of his major battles before crossing over the plans of Pakistan. Swat was also the historical land where the Muslim conquerors, Mahmud Ghaznavi, Babar and Akbar fought their battles preparatory to conquest of South Asia. Popular Attractions: Madayan Valley: An exact replica of the glorious Alps in Switzerland. Like the Alps several mighty and high mountain ranges surround this expansive and enthralling valley. Chail Valley is also a picturesque embode easily accessible from Madayan . Shanku . Bashigram Valley and Mankial Valley are also frequented by visitors.
PTDC Motel and Ski Resort

Buddhist Shrines In Swat: The report of Sung-Yun, who visited the enchanting valley in the 6th century A.D, saya there were 6000 images in the sacred monastery of Talo (Butkara). The most famous of all the Chinese pilgrims, Hsuan-Tsang who graced the valley by his presence in the 7th century A.D, mentioned 1400 monasteries in Swat, which eloquently confirmed the extensive remains of the Buddhist period. Even today over 400 Buddhist stupas and monasteries may still be seen in ruins in Swat covering an area of about 160 square km. The populer Buddhist stupas are: Butkara, Shingardar Stupa, Nemogram, Amluk Dara Stupa, Najigram Stupa & Monastery,Janabad Seated Buddha, Gumbatuna Stupa, and the Colossal Statue of Buddha.
The Colossal Buddha

Daral Lake

The valley can truly be called the Valley of Lakes, which not only feeds the emerald Green River Swat but also provides ideal camping sites for adventurous people and nature lovers. Most of these lakes are hidden from the eyes of the common people due to their far-flung locations and take three to seven hours trekking to reach from the last village on the road. The frequented lakes are:
Bashigram Lake (Danda), Daral Lake (Danda),Mahodand (Fish Lake),Saidgai Lake (Danda) and Kundal Lake (Danda)

Swat is the perfect package of enthralling natural beauty , opportunities for adventure, archaeology for the curios, and piousness with its rich collection of religious signature , as well as a cool and romantic hangout

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Kerala (India)
Natural beauty, clean air and primordial greenery amidst the vast expanse of water and sky, typifies the state of Kerala better known as God's own country. If the strain of urban life has your nerves jangling, Kerala's popular Ayurvedic centres will help you unwind and drain the tension out of you.The state's rich cultural past finds expression in dance forms like Kathakali and Mohiniattam, while Kalaripayattu the traditional martial art form of Kerala has been practised for ages.

Kovalam beach

Monuments: Kerala is replete with monuments of historical and aesthetical significance. Bolghatty Palace, Cheraman Juma Masjid, Cheruthuruthy, Alwaye palace, St. Sebastian Church, Bekkal Fort, Hill Palace Museum (Ernakulam) and Palace and Jewish Synagogue (Mattancherry) are some of the must visit destinations. Forts: Kerala had been the hub of much political activity in the past and has witnessed the influx of various foreign powers, providing it a rich architectural heritage. Pallippuram Fort, Palakkad Fort, St. Angelos Fort, Bakel Fort and Dutch Palace are some of the beautiful forts. Hill Stations: Situated along the western ghats, kerala is a land of vast number of hill stations. Ponmudi, Nelliyampathy, Lakkadi and Malampuzha are a tourist's delight. Lakes: There are 34 lakes in the state. Sasthamkotta Lake, Vembanadu Lake, Lakes of Alappuzha, Pookkode Lake and Ashtamudi Lake make for ideal tourist destinations.

Kerala tourism offers a great variety of travel experiences. Whether it is about backwater tours of Kerala or a combi travel package, vacationers are assured of a great holiday in Kerela. Beaches: One of the unique features of the beaches of Kerala are the clean sands bound by incessant rows of palm trees. This adds to the magic created by sunbathing, boating and swimming in these waters. Kovalam Beach, Papanasam Beach, Alleppey Beach, Kappad Beach, Bekal Beach, and Lighthouse Beach are the famous ones. Backwaters: The only way to discover the real Kerala is to cruise along its backwaters. As you sail along on a houseboat you drift into a land that time forgot and watch picturebook towns and ancient trading posts float by.

Chinnar wildlife sanctuary

Ponmudi hill station

Wildlife: Kerala is the perfect abode for wildlife lovers. An abundant number of wildlife sanctuaries and bird reserves, inluding the famous Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary are present here. Temples and churches: A large number of temples and pristine era churches make kerala a great pilgrimage detination. Guruvayoor temple, Sabarimala temple, Malayattoor Church are the famous ones. Waterfalls: Enchanting and serene waterfalls, located at Athirappally welcome you at the entrance of the Sholayar ranges. Thommankuth waterfalls is another marvellous wonder of the nature situated at 74 kms from Cochin.

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Movie Reviews

Taare Zameen Par

Director:Amir Khan Music:Shankar,Ehsaan and Loy along with Shailendra Barve Lyrics: Prasoon Joshi and Amol Gupte Starring: Amir Khan, Tanay Chheda, Darsheel Safary, Tisca Chopra

Very rarely do you get to see a movie like Taare Zameen Par, which forces you to
ponder over the issue. This is a beautiful movie, sensibly made to appeal to all sorts of audience across all strata of society. Hats off to Amir Khan for giving us an exceptional movie. Exceptional because it serves a higher purpose of art, cinema in this case. Amir Khan has rocked it again ,not as a hero but as a director! The real hero of this film is Darsheel Safary, who plays the role of an eight year old kid, whose name is Ishaan Awasthi. This naughty little kid is least interested in studies and sees a totally different world around him. He has already spent two years in third standard, contrary to his elder brother who is very bright! Frustrated, his father sends him to a boarding school as a punishment. Already struggling with studies, Ishaan now has to deal with the pangs of separation. In school, he goes from bad to worse, but no one seems to know the reason for his dilemma. The truth is, he is dyslexic. In short, Ishaan has a learning disorder marked by impairment of the ability to recognize and comprehend written words. But then Amir Khan(Ram Kumar Nikumbh) comes to rescue as his new arts teacher. He spots the silent and brooding Ishaan and decides to help him. The rest of the film is about how the shattered confidence of Ishaan is restored and how he overcomes his disabilities and how he even surpasses his teacher in his favourite passion painting. Darsheel Safary, for an eight-year-old gives off an excellent performance worthy of a standing ovation. This is one bright lad who has understood the character very well. Everything about Ishaan is perfect, from his body language, to the way he delivers his dialogues to the expression in his eyes which shouts for help. The background score and music by Shankar Eshan Loy and Shailendra Barve is excellent. Over all a great movie. Rating: Must watch

- Rashmi Patwardhan

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Movie Reviews

JODHA AKBAR
Director: Ashutosh Gowariker Lyrics: Javed Akhtar Music: A R Rehman Starring: Aishwarya Rai and Hrithik Roshan Release Date: 25th January 2008

From the makers of Oscar nominated film Lagaan, to the critically acclaimed film
Swades, its Ashutosh Gowariker back in action with Jodha Akbar. It wouldnt be an exaggeration if it were said that, its the most awaited film since months. And why not?! The crew is fantastic and technically speaking, should be a blockbuster of the year. People have already started flooding the blogs with their reviews, suggestions and expectations. The official trailer of the movie is already a big hit, so is its background score. The sets, the costumes everything looks great! But is this good enough to satisfy the public? Will the trio ( Gowariker, Akhtar and Rehman) create magic again? Or will it be the Hrithik-Ash Jodi who will steal the show? Well, all these questions will be answered only after watching the movie. Till then we keep our fingers crossed!

Music Review: Looks like the music maestro has done it again!! The background score Azeem-o-Shehenshaa and Baharana Are already big hits among public. The music release of Jodha Akbar was suppose to be on 18th of December 2007, but got delayed due to some problems. Its said that Rehman has made a hindi version of one of the songs from his album Heaven and Earth which was earlier in Chinese and English. Instrumental tracks have also been added in addition to the five audio tracks. With lyrics to match the music, we can definitely expect great things! Music Release: Some time in February 2008 (as the music release date keeps changing).

- Rashmi Patwardhan

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Movie Reviews

Welcome
Producer: Firoz Nadiadwala Director : Anees Bazmee Music: Himesh Reshammiya, Anand Raj Anand,Sajid Wajid Lyircs: Sameer, Ibrahim Ashq, Shabbir Ahmed, Anjaan. Starring: Feroz Khan, Anil Kapoor, Nana Patekar, Paresh Rawal, Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Mallika Sherawat.

WELCOME is a funny move by Bazmee. Its a kind of movie where no logic, no

sense is required. The humour is pretty basic and even absurd at times, but it does tickle your funny bone but the director stretches the joke too far. He overshoots by almost half an hour! There are a lot of funny moments with well timed comedy. But again, with such a good star cast one definitely expects more. The basic story line: Paresh Rawal is in search for a perfect bride for his nephew, Akshay Kumar. Unfortunately, Akshay falls for Katrina who is the sister of two notorious thugs in the city, Nana Patekar and Anil Kapoor. Meanwhile Anil Kapoor has spotted Akshay Kumar on the streets and thinks that he is the perfect match for his sister. Music is average. Tracks are repetitive with distinct Himesh Reshmiyya flavour. Definitely NOT worth buying a Cd. I would suggest this movie if you are damn too bored to do anything else. One time movie and good entertainer in all (again considering the fact that you are not logically analyzing it!).
Rating:

- Rashmi Patwardhan

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Puzzles
DOWN 1. All of the people inhabiting a specified area. 3. The lowest layer of the atmosphere, about 6 to 12 miles thick, in which nearly all the weather and clouds occur. 4. Most of the worlds energy comes from -?- fuels. 5. A path, passage, road, channel, or way through; something that gives access. 7. A great cloud of dust and gas in our galaxy, visible either as a dark obscuring cloud or as a luminous cloud. 8. Any region of low air pressure. If the air pressure over tropical waters continues to fall, it becomes a tropical storm or, lower still, a hurricane. 11. In the United States, the -?- Mountains are higher than the Appalachian Mountains. 13. The -?- Desert is the worlds largest desert at 3,500,000 square miles. 14. The -?- effect: A force produced on objects moving on a north-south line on the Earths surface because of the angular velocity of Earth as it rotates from west to east. 16. Referring to high mountain (mountain areas). 17. A starlike source of radio waves - their red shift shows they are very far away, which seems inconsistent with the strength of the radio waves that reach us. 18. Precipitation consisting of generally transparent frozen or partially frozen raindrops; a mixture of rain and snow or hail. 21. A hill or ridge of sand that has been deposited or piled up by the wind. 22. Because of the Coriolis effect, a projectile fired directly southward from the North Pole would be deviated to the -?-. 23. The -?- is the prairie grassland of central Argentina one of the best farming areas in the world. 25. Iquitos, Peru, marks the uppermost limits of navigation on the -?- River. 27. The direction or side, for example, of a mountain range, sheltered from the wind. 29. The -?- is a desert area between India and Pakistan. 30. Spain and Portugal occupy the -?- Peninsula. 31. Areas of soft, waterlogged ground; marshes; swamps.

34. An imaginary line through the center of the earth, from pole to pole, around which the earth rotates. 36. A system of parallel, criss-cross lines, each line of which is identified by numbers or letters, for example, on a map. 37. A narrow, deep valley with steep sides - many have a river on their floor. 38. A -?- valley is a long, deep valley marking a major crack in the earths crust. There is a "Great" one in Africa. In oceans, they tend to run along the crests of oceanic ridges. 40. The capital of Portugal is -?-. 42. Cape -?- is the southernmost part of South America. 43. Because the word -?- pertains to producing (or caused by) heat, it is used in reference to clouds and nuclear reactions. 44. A large area with either level or rolling land - often treeless. 46. The capital of India is -?-. (two words) 49. The bed of a stream or river; the deeper part of a river or harbor - especially a deep navigable passage. 50. Grassland; any of the open grazing areas of southern Africa. (also:----t) 52. An island, especially a small one - used poetically, and in place names

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ACROSS 2. Land which is not deep or high; having a smooth, even, level surface. 6. Until July, 1997, -?- was a British colony in East Asia. (two words) 9. Hurricanes and -?- are two names for the same weather disturbance. 10. The -?- circumference of the earth is 24,901.46 miles. 12. The constitutional capital of Bolivia is -?- some 260 miles southeast of La Paz, the administrative capital. 15. A large peninsula on the east coast of Russia is the -?- Peninsula. 19. A raised area of land lower than a mountain. 20. Floating masses of vegetation that often obstruct navigation on the White Nile River. 24. The largest country on the -?- Peninsula is Saudi Arabia. 26. A fine-grained metamorphic (any of those rocks changed from their original form due to large changes in temperature and pressure) form of clay or shale. 28. A particle of rock or iron from outer space that has not been completely burned up by its passage through the earths atmosphere and hence has reached the ground. 32. Rio de la Plata: The estuary on the southeastern coast of South America, extending

225 miles between Argentina and Uruguay, formed by the merging of the -?- and Uruguay rivers. 33. The latitude of 0 degrees from which other parallels are measured in degrees; is exactly halfway between the North and South Poles. 35. A body of salt water or ocean partly surrounded by land, generally considered smaller than an ocean. 37. The beautiful faint glow seen around the sun during a total eclipse. 39. The capital of Algeria is -?-. 41. The water area off the coast of Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Congo is known as the Bight of -?-. 42. The large bay north of Ontario, Canada, is -?- Bay. 47. The capital of the Philippines is Manila on -?Island. 48. A mass of frozen gasses including small rocky bits and dust traveling around the sun, with a gaseous tail made visible by reflected sunlight when it is closest to the sun. 51. The earths -?- is the region starting 20 to 30 miles beneath the surface and extending down some 1800 miles. 53. Winds blowing from west to east are called -?-. 54. Maps using the -?- projection have little distortion near the Equator. 55. This result is produced by the violent expansion of the air caused by the tremendous heat of lightning.

The Sudoku Challenge

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