iearn123 Earn money 30$ daily is scam

SINCE THERE WERE EVER INCREASING NUMBER OF QUESTIONS BEING ASKED IN NUMEROUS FORUMS REGARDING THE RELIABILITY OF IEARN123, WE DECIDED TO CREATE THIS POST

According to StatMyweb, iearn123 was started on October 13, 2012 (ie. 19 days before creating this post) and it's Subscription is for 1 year only (the website will expire after 1 year if not renewed by the Administrator).

What does it mean? Why you should be concerned about it being just 1 year?

It simply means that the Website can be brought down by the Administrator anytime s/he wants. 1 year is not a "Long Term" period - something which really does make a big difference in the reliability of such Website.

Why you should be concerned if it was started on October 13, 2012?

Paid To Click sites (or should we say "Paid To Visit"? - which is what ultimately iearn123claims/seems to be) are trusted by experienced users only when there is enough and real proof that payments are being made to the Users and that the Site is for "Long Term" and has been since a "Long Time". Periods like a month or two neither makes it a "Long Term" nor "since a Long Time". 

In fact many experienced  users trust PTC Sites only when they are atleast a year or two old.   

It's Page Rank took a huge leap from 9,00,000 to around 1,00,000 in just 2 weeks because of it's unusually high claim to Users' profit.

The Site does not even have a Confirmation Email policy and additionally gives $1 as Signup Bonus (how kind of iearn123, isn't it?). Although it was evident that the site was (is) a scam, we decided to test it first before creating this post. So we made few fake referral clicks on our own and additionally also used our Blog to drive some people to the Website through our referral link: 

According to the website, you should get a payout option after you've exceeded the minimum amount limit (ie. 25$). But after you make it up to 25$ or more, it only results in a "never ending" Survey and thus, is a SCAM.

There are two more interestingly stupid things about iearn123:

1. The first unusual thing about iearn123 is that in most Traffic Referral Sites, the Sites have special security check to prevent abuse of the links ie. They check if you're clicking your links yourself (via IP Address). Most of Paid To Click Sites (like NeoBux) & Pay Per Download sites (like Sharecash) ban the User Account if they find that the Link Owners themselves are clicking their own link/s. Cautious that iearn123 might ban us, we used TOR Browser to hide IP Addressonly to find out later that just clearing the Internet History & Cookies was enough to get more clicks(referral visits) enabled. This is too unusual characteristic to be present in a legit Traffic Referring Site, sites like ADF.LY too won't increase your balance if you start clicking your own link because if the users are allowed to do so, the sites will be Bankrupt.
2. The Second unusual thing about iearn123 is that the Link that you're given to refer to (ie. "share your links with your friends" - according to iearn123) only leads those who click your referral link to iearn123 signup page (instead of the page with Ads which increases some Website's Traffic). This is very unusual and is a "POINT" enough to alarm anyone who has experience with sites like NeoBux that the site in question is a scam.

There was an interesting flow of comments in iearn123 Facebook page:

Please note that even though there was a continuous flow of complains, the IEARN123 Facebook Page Admin did not reply at all.

Still not convinced that iearn123 is a scam?

If you're not convinced yet then here's a "logical proof". If you frequently download files from the web then you must have come across ADF.LY shortened links. 

Do you know why you earn money through your shortened your links which will be visited by others?

It's not because you've shortened your links that makes you money, it's because of Website owners. The Website Administrators who have new Website (which of course, does not get a good traffic) or a Website which is not getting a reasonable traffic (which may be because of numerous conditions) pay sites like ADF.LY and ADFOC.US (there are many other Traffic referrer sites) to get good traffic (which will be helpful in long term to the Website Administrator).

When you shorten links, what your "link visitors" get is an AD which delays the target by about 5-10 seconds and in the mean time, displays the Website they are paid to refer to. Thus, the visitors indirectly view some other website and thus your visitors indirectly visit the Website which paid the sites like ADF.LY for traffic.

So, do you know what the rate per view is charged by ADF.LY is?

NOT $1+ per referral visit certainly, the rate of ADF.LY is 10,000 views per $5:

And the $5 includes the portion which keeps ADF.LY running and on-profit. Just think about it again, $5 for 10,000. Just imagine that you were paying ADF.LY for it, what it means is that you're paying $5 to ADF.LY to get your website visited about 10,000 times from all around the world. 

So which "fool" do you think would pay iearn123 about $1+ ($1 to yourself and balance toiearn123 [assuming that iearn123 is making some profit from remaining portion]) to getJUST 1 visit.

So our question is, would you pay $1+ per 1 view to "iearn123" instead of $5 per 10,000 views to ADF.LY for increasing your website traffic?

If you pay more attention to the iearn123 banner, you will see the list of pay-out methods available:

But there are more points to be noted:

1. The Website does not even have a forum for discussions.
2. The Website gives insufficient details about the Payment Method It reveals the pay-out option only after you make at least 25 referral "visits" (and not "sign-up"). 
3. There Website does not take sufficient details about your identity(no need for Users' real name, Address, Contact Number and Post Box Details, etc)  and your preferred receipt option (except your email address at sign-up). It does not even care if the email is of PayPal or Payza or otherwise during the Sign-up process.

About iearn123 Contact Details:

Like everything else in the website, the Contact given in the Website is ALSO fake.

Now take a look at BetterWhois report about iearn123 and pay attention to the Address:

11400 W. Olympic Blvd. Suite 200
Los Angeles, CA 90064
US

And now read this page from SCAMWARNERS revealing some facts about the misuse of same address forSCAM.

ScamAdvisor's Report:

Read More:http://my-tech-site.blogspot.com/2012/11/iearn123-earn-money-30-daily-scam.html

Read More

Showered with rose petals, Naseeruddin Shah 'comes home'

The veteran Bollywood actor who is widely revered in Pakistan, arrived on a seven day tour of Pakistan during which he will act in a play for the Faiz Foundation.

“We will do two shows of our drama based on Ismat Chughtai’s stories for Faiz Foundation. These shows will be staged on December 1 and 2 at the Alhamra centre,” the veteran actor told the gathered media.

“The love I get here, I do not have the words to describe that. I don’t feel scared at all here. It feels like…like I have come back home,” Shah said.

Shah has previously worked in Pakistani stage and celluloid productions, most famously in the 2007 film Khuda Ke Liye. A few years ago, he had performed in a similar stage play at the Alhamra Theatre.

The good news is that Pakistani audiences may yet see more of Shah than just on the Alhamra stage. The veteran Bollywood actor features in the Pakistani Punjabi productionZinda Bhaag slated for a December release.

“[The film] is in its final stages, it involves filmmakers from here, Farjad Nabi and Meenu [Gaur].”

He aims to return to Pakistan for the premiere of the film.

Read More :http://tribune.com.pk/story/472594/showered-with-rose-petals-naseeruddin-shah-comes-home/

Read More

Vampires foil Tooth Fairy, Santa to claim box office win

After opening with a massive $141.1 million last weekend, the finale of the Twilight franchise brought in a holiday swarm of fans to see teen favourites Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner, pushing Breaking Dawn to $227 million in total domestic ticket sales.

Skyfall, starring Daniel Craig in the 23rd installment of the James Bond franchise, finished second, collecting $51 million in weekend ticket sales in the United States and Canada, according to studio estimates compiled by the box office division of hollywood.com.

Making its debut in fourth place with $32.6 million was the animated film Rise of the Guardians, featuring the voices of Chris Pine and Alec Baldwin as the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus and other childhood favourites who save the world.

Rise of the Guardians, based on The Guardians of Childhood book series by children’s author William Joyce, will be the last Paramount will release for Dreamworks, whose films will be distributed next year by News Corp’s Fox studio.

Anne Globe, Dreamworks’ chief marketing officer, pointed to “the great parent reactions we’ve seen” to the film, and noting it was among the few choices for families through the end of year, said the studio was “hoping for very long legs through the holidays.”

Life of Pi, based on Yann Martel’s 2001 best-seller about a boy who survives on a raft with a tiger after his ship sinks, collected $30.15 million for a strong fifth-place finish.

The Ang Li film, Life of Pi, on the other hand, performed stronger than expected. “We clearly exceeded our pre-release expectations,” said Chris Aronson, president of domestic distribution for 20th Century Fox.

The remake of the 1984 Cold War film Red Dawn finished seventh with $22 million in sales, behind animated feature Wreck It Ralph’s $23 million take.

Propelled by the vampires, secret agents, presidents and nursery school favorites, Hollywood ticket sales totalled $290 million for the holiday weekend, beating the holiday weekend high mark of $273 million recorded in 2009. Hollywood studios often release their biggest holiday films on Wednesday to take advantage of school breaks the day before Thanksgiving.

The continued rush of fans to see teen favourites Pattinson, Stewart and Lautner pushed theTwilight installment to $227 million in total domestic ticket sales, making it the year’s sixth-largest, according to figures compiled by Box Office Mojo.

Skyfall with $221.7 million is just behind at number seven, while the year’s box office champ remains Marvel’s The Avengers, which has taken in $623 million to date.

Read More:http://tribune.com.pk/story/472765/vampires-foil-tooth-fairy-santa-to-claim-box-office-win/

Read More

Life of Pi makes its debut at Karachi Atrium Cinemas

The premiere of the movie, held at Karachi Atrium Cinemas, was graced by the presence of some A-list celebs. The ambiance for the movie premiere was done to capture the essence of the movie with a life size replica of the life boat set up in the passage leading to the box office, making the red carpet event a truly breath-taking experience for the guests.

Speaking at the occasion, Nadeem H Mandviwalla, managing director of Mandviwalla Entertainment said, “Karachi Atrium Cinemas has always been eager to bring in exciting movies for the general public and there can be no bigger attraction than this season’s most anticipated movie – Life of Pi.”

“There is a huge buzz for Ang Lee’s latest epic adaptation of the famous novel around the world with Pakistan being no exception. That’s why in collaboration with 20th Century Fox and Paramount Communications, we have brought this epic visual masterpiece to Pakistani cinemas,” Mandviwalla said about the new venture.

The plot of Life of Pi is based on the magical adventure of a boy named Pi Patel, the precocious son of a zoo keeper, and a tiger adrift at sea. Pi’s family – dwellers of Pondicherry, India – decides to move to Canada, hitching a ride on a huge freighter. After a shipwreck, Pi finds himself adrift in the Pacific Ocean on a 26-foot lifeboat with a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan and a 450-pound Bengal tiger named Richard Parker, all fighting for survival.

The movie has been directed by Academy Award Winner Ang Lee, who has admirably lavished the tale with sheer natural beauty through 3D effects and some excellent camera work. The cast of the movie has some debutants, including Suraj Sharma who plays Pi Patel. Irrfan Khan, Tabu and Adil Hussain are three famous Indian actors who have crossed the bridge from Bollywood to showcase their skills, under the expertise of Ang Lee, to an international audience.

Saqib Malik, a video director, also present at the event said, “Despite its epic scale and visual splendor, I found Life of Pi to be an intimate and poignant film about love against all odds. Suraj Sharma soared as Pi, providing the film with its soul. And Richard Parker, the computer generated Bengal Tiger, has to be the most magnificent beast seen on screen in a while.”

Mandviwalla said, “We are certain that Life of Pi will let the Pakistani audience become a part of a memorable adventure.”

Read More:http://tribune.com.pk/story/473299/life-of-pi-makes-its-debut-at-karachi-atrium-cinemas/

Read More

Revival of Pakistani film industry

Dictatorial rules and lack of studious efforts to strengthen the film culture sent the industry down a spiral of gradual destruction as a result of which “Lollywood,” as it is popularly referred, stands in shambles. Gone are the days of romantic movies starring likes of Waheed Murad, Zeba and Muhammad Ali with chartbuster songs composed by Ahmad Rushdie.

That brand of cinema has reached its creative death and stands almost but over. But that’s not the end of it. While old cinema may have reached its threshold, the new age cinema has started spreading its wings thanks to young upcoming film-makers, whose love for the art of storytelling hasn’t diminished their passion despite the obstacles that come with pursuing a profession in film-making in Pakistan under current circumstances.

The list of problems start with funding issues and goes on to unavailability of technical crew, lack of equipment and absence of distributors or reliable distribution sources. While the idea of working for the big screen and being a part of the ‘film business’ sounds fancy in words, the truth is ‘film-making’ is an unprofitable business right now and one that requires tedious juggling. It is sheer passion, determination and perseverance that drive the film-makers of today.

Waar by Bilal Lashari, Lamhaa by Meher Jaffri, Josh by Iram Parveen Bilal, Gol Chakker by Aisha Lineaa and Shahbaz Shigri; the list of films due to be released in the coming year is a surprisingly long one and these are just the tip of the iceberg. There are several more in pre-production, scripting and production stages.

One commonality that these films share is the departure from typical Bollywood inspired films based on weak scripts, lackluster performances and complete absence of any substantial content. These films are giving rise to a newer, modern mode of cinema that is high on critical content which is more realistic and tackles current issues. One could argue that four or five films a year, don’t make a film industry but the truth is, we are at a juncture where we have to develop an industry from scratch. With minute individual efforts, a film here and there and unflinching support from press and film buffs, we have to kick start the momentum, cultivate the film culture and channel ideas. It will be a slow and tedious process but one that will take a massive movement with inputs by makers and audience alike.

“Ours is not a proper industry right now, but it is the beginning of an industry,” says Usman Mukhtar, an Islamabad based film-maker and actor, who also stars in Gol Chakkar.

But one could argue that all these films, under production right now, are composed of content very non-commercial in essence. Can we revive an industry when most of the work is unappealing to common lay men? Shouldn’t the focus be on making commercial films that appeal to the masses? Usman dismisses the notion by saying, “Every country has an audience of all intellect levels. Your audience will mature with time. If you start off at a low level then your standard will never improve. I am very pleased by the fact that our young film-makers are not being overly commercial. We don’t have an industry yet so we can mould it any way we want.”

Releasing films at foreign film festivals may rake in critical appreciation but the activity is pointless if the local audience doesn’t get to experience and appreciate cinematic endeavors of these film-makers. Most potent problems that these film-makers face are the funding and distribution issues — in a cash-stricken economy it is an uphill task to pull in an investor and the few distributors that do exist, are least interested in developing a film industry and more in making money. This is where multinational corporations and sponsors could come in. Instead of spending millions on mindless, trivial TV advertisements, they could help the film industry and these film-makers by sponsoring them. Take for instance the example of how alliance of “Coke Studio” and Coca Cola benefited both the brand and the music industry. It is the best thing that happened to Pakistan’s music industry in ages and Coca Cola, as a brand is more successful than it ever was and holds a sizeable market share in the cola industry.

Films are cultural archives of a nation. They document, project and channel cultural, social and political ideologies of a country and are resonates of an alive and active nation. Cohort endorsement is what our wrecked film industry needs right now along with sustenance, faith and backing on a national level. This is what it will take to pull it out of this state.

Read More:http://tribune.com.pk/story/473248/revival-of-pakistani-film-industry/

Read More

Book review: Comparative Analysis of Media and Media Laws in Pakistan - a mirror for the media

These are some of the questions that Yasmeen Aftab Ali asks, and attempts to answer, in her book Comparative Analysis of Media and Media Laws in Pakistan. The fruition of years of research in the subject, it comes across as a handbook of sorts for Mass communication students to help them better understand media concepts and laws. Its overarching theme also deliberates upon the exercise of social responsibility by the Pakistani media and suggests steps to improve it.

The book runs through the basic concepts and legislation pertaining to media in Pakistan before evaluating their effectiveness in practice. Ali lays her groundwork by first defining the concept of freedom of information, and then demonstrating the rights and limitations of this under Pakistani law. For better contextualisation, the author also gives a comparison with other countries’ media laws.

In Pakistan, the author argues, a media organisation’s editorial policy is decided by the media owner, which very often gets overridden by concerns for increased ratings amid cut-throat competition. Ideally, this should be based on impartiality, fairness, accuracy and editorial integrity, with the objective of educating the masses and raising standards of information. She blames the electronic media in particular for this ‘ratings syndrome’ and deplores the trend of TV talk show hosts instigating petty bickering among interviewees rather than grilling them on policy matters. She calls on the electronic media to rise above the ‘me first’ mentality in breaking news, which often results in sensational, or sometimes less-than-accurate, reporting.

The book is not just a critique of the state of Pakistani media; it suggests ways to improve their functioning. Her eleven proposals for Pemra and six questions for PFUJ seem logical and merit serious consideration by the stakeholders. She even suggests that the BBC’s revised editorial guidelines are a fitting model for Pakistani media organisations to adopt.

It would have been interesting for the readers had the book contained some analysis of the implications of the recently formed Press Council of Pakistan, an autonomous apex body that would stipulate and monitor good media practices in the country.

Where the author takes the media persons to task for their shortfalls, she also gives credit where it’s due. Ali pays tribute to journalists who report from increasingly hostile environments in Pakistan. But where the book falls short is in open-heartedly acknowledging the role of media in supporting the rule of law, democracy and good governance in the country. It was the media that, in the absence of robust state structures, exposed mega corruption scams in state-owned enterprises like Steel Mills, PIA, NICL and Pakistan Railways, and gave a voice to the common man.

Though beyond the scope of the syllabus for which this handbook is intended, an analysis of journalists’ rights including their protection and welfare would have added to the variety of issues touched upon here.

Nevertheless, Yasmeen Aftab Ali compellingly drives home her point that “We need an independent press, without pre-censorship, but we need rules that make a socially irresponsible journalist pay. Literally. Without the media realising its first and last responsibility lies to the society, it defeats the purpose of its very creation.”

This book is a bold attempt to state the truth regarding Pakistani media in a candid and forthright manner, duly backed by authentic references. For this reason, it is expected to generate a healthy and vigorous debate regarding media affairs in the country, and hence is highly recommended for all stakeholders, including Mass Communication students and scholars, the journalistic community and media owners and regulators.

Read More:http://tribune.com.pk/story/468636/book-review-comparative-analysis-of-media-and-media-laws-in-pakistan-a-mirror-for-the-media/

Read More

Oar—inspiring!

“Oars in the water, 90 degrees catch and row!” commands the coach. “Fixed seat rowing, full body lean, quarter seat, half seat, full seat! Row with 25 per cent power, 50 per cent power, full power! Kill yourselves! Balance! Timing, crew! Clear your oars! Kick power! Square your blades!” he fires.

“Bow side pressure, now stroke side pressure! Set your pace! Check your puddles! Hold, catch, drive, finish, quick recovery and flick! No feathering! No crabbing! Control, crew!” It sounds like a re-enactment of Ben Hur’s famous rowing scene with the galley slaves:  “Ramming speed! Battleship speed!” When we are close to collapsing, it becomes “Easy, crew. Good job! Back to the club. Light rowing.”

So, who are ‘we’? We are Tariq’s Angels and Cherub. We row in winter, summer and winter again, on weekends and weekdays. We row for pleasure, practice and a purpose. We have friendly races between ourselves (not so easy when we all want the same thing, but we manage) and club regattas (by the way, we fall in the Masters category). We have warm ups and cool downs, we have drills and races; we row up to the Native Jetty Bridge and then down to the Pump House, and stop at the Karachi Boat Club (KBC) after a few rounds. The Black Pontoon and the mysterious old Nusserwanji Sea Scouts Headquarters, now almost down to its knees, are milestones in trackless water. Sometimes we row along the six kilometre perimetre of China Creek, around the nucleus of mangrove islands, with Boat Basin up ahead, and then down the settlement of Gulshan-e-Sikandarabad along the bridge and the port, heading back to the club at the end. Once in a while, we would do a special unforgettable traipse into the Karachi Port waters.

We were just some random women coming to row and gym at the KBC. Then entered Coach Tariq, with his passion to take on insurmountable challenges, and we became his next mission: a women’s Masters team.  He recruited us from the boats and the gym. If he hadn’t taken me on board, I would not have been rowing today the way I do.

Tariq brought us together in a team and gave us a purpose. He inspired, enabled and empowered us to believe that we could row competitively and make up a national team (we won gold and silver at the Quaid-e-Azam National Regatta held this year in Islamabad). His passion pulled us out of bed and into the boats armed with sunblock, sunglasses, caps and ORS. Tariq rowed with us and alongside us, sharing tips and tricks. He gave us our rowing, drill and gym circuit regimens and charts. He monitored our progress on the erg (indoor rowers) and the boats. He filmed us to point out areas of improvement. He paired and raced us. He briefed us on a sportsman’s diet, overseeing our early morning intake of nuts, bananas and milk.

At first we were shaky and nervous. It was scary navigating in the water in those small shells. We would constantly be on the watch out, afraid of colliding with another boat.  We would backsplash so much that we would be soaked right through with dirty water in our eyes, ears, nose and throat.  We would row into mudflats when we did not recognise the shallow water ripple effect and then would have to get off into the squelchy sludge to retrieve the boat. Sometimes, we would be driven with the current into the mangroves and, sometimes, into the pillars under the bridge. Some of us collided and capsized. Our hands would be covered with scratches, bruises, blisters and bandages as we learnt to balance the oars. But, slowly and surely, we rose to the occasion.

Now it is sheer joy to command the boat, to make it change direction with just a turn of the oar, to hear the gentle whoosh when the oars dip in water and slice it, propelling the boat with a kick, to watch it glide across the water, and in the end, taking the boat back home to the club (which I can manage better than parallel parking!).

Simeen is our glue and organiser/facilitator/spokesperson; we call her Momma, and she often brings us home-baked goodies. Annabel, the rowing machine, manages to smile — through gritted teeth, I suspect — at the idiosyncrasies of laid-back sub-continental life. Shehla goes for gold like a predator does for the jugular. The club resonates with her effervescent laughter. Sabina, the layman, encourages and guides us with her experience.  Maliha has learnt from life to not sweat the small stuff. Khadija’s relaxed temperament matches my own and we often pair up for drills. Aamir, the cheeky Cherub, lightens up the place with his humour. Harris is our volunteer photographer; his outstanding shots make it look like we row in the Amazon. With my oversized sunglasses and straw hat, I look more like a nature lover than a sportsman, and can easily wander off on an exploration into the mangroves if left on my own.

I can’t help it, really. It’s the creek’s fault. You’ll feel that way too if you see the fabulous early morning sunrise through the mist that glimmers on the sublime scene of China Creek dotted with mangrove thickets. From between the columns of the bridge you get glimpses of Karachi Harbour. The water is alive with shoals of fish creating magical, shimmery and mesmerising patterns just below the surface as they fight to devour loaves of bread thrown from over the bridge by sawab-seekers looking to cleanse themselves of sins.  When flying fish breach the water right next to your little row boat, it’s as exciting as Atlantic whale sightings.

The mangroves are a sanctuary for over sixty species of resident and migratory birds (gulls, coots, terns, pelicans, flamingos, osprey, waders, herons, egrets, stilts and cormorants) that wade in the low tide and vie with fishermen paddling in the marshes with nets trawling for fish and shrimp: Nusserwanji crumbles like the mysterious castle of Shallot.

“By the island in the river

Flowing down to Camelot

Four gray walls, and four gray towers,

Overlook a space of flowers”

Add some rainfall and monsoon winds hurling waves at your boat and you’ll get the picture. That’s not to say it’s Olympic standard. The creek is constantly under threat, and on bad days it looks and smells like a sewage drain. Footwear, used diapers, bottles, the odd matka, bread, Styrofoam, plastic bags, clothes and other such garbage sails down the creek. You can tell when there’s been a holiday and people have flocked to the beach when their trash flows into the creek the next day. Sometimes you can see blotches of oil/chemical and dead fish in their wake. Thankfully, Karachi’s winds soon send off the garbage on a tide to its next unfortunate destination. Sewage and chemical waste have made the water toxic, but the creek continues to fight back.

Arif Ikram, the Master of Boats at KBC, keeps the show alive and kicking. The coaches know everyone by name and train them patiently. The khalasis (port workers) run the cycle of taking the boats out, launching them and bringing them back in smoothly. The rowing calendar is booked chock-a-block with in-house, interschool, national and international regattas. The events are organised by the Regatta Committee, which is a group of dedicated volunteers from a wide range of industries, and supported by the Managing Committee of the KBC.

While the seniors bring their skill, school children bring in fresh blood. Newcomers test the waters nervously while the oldies smile and watch knowingly. They know there will be no turning back. The School Rowing Programme has initiated a growing number of students and schools into the sport, including students from the Karachi Grammar School, Bayview Academy, D.A. Public School, Habib Public School, The Citizens Foundation School, The Lyceum School, SMB Fatima Jinnah School and the C.A.S. School. The fourth Inter-school Regatta, held this year, had more than 200 participants from 17 schools even though it was restricted to only A teams. Through the School Rowing Programme, students have even gained scholarships to foreign colleges like Mount Holyoke and Notre Dame.

Rowing teaches you important life skills. It re-enforces the spirit of teamwork, co-operation, sharing and caring. It teaches you to help others and also to accept and ask for help. It encourages you to reach up to those above you, and pull up those below you. It trains you to watch out for signs of trouble, like mudflats, and avoid them. It teaches you that when other boats leave dirty water that may topple your boat, you hang on to your balance and sit it out, and hence you survive without capsizing. On the water you have to manage with what you have, whether you’ve got a heavy or a light boat, the junior oars or senior oars, a rickety gate, loose seat or oversized shoes. You have to finish the course as best as you can. It takes luck, skill and hard work to succeed, and even if you have all three, somebody else may win. You have to accept it and try again.

Above all, it teaches us the most important lesson: no matter what happens, don’t stop rowing.

Read More:http://tribune.com.pk/story/468631/oarinspiring/

Read More

Sohni dharti: From Heer Ranjha to the gandasa

This question was raised thirty-two years ago by Pervez Malik and Masroor Anwar — members of the same team that had given the country its immortal national song, “Sohni Dharti”.

The glorification of crime and the presence of outlaws in the world of literature and cinema may have started much earlier, but it reached unprecedented height when the character created by writer and poet Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi appeared on screen in Wahshi Jatt (1975) and Maula Jatt (1979). Hence the visionaries of the Sohni Dharti school of thought were compelled to raise a question, and they did that through the movie Rishta, released on September 5, 1980. The lines translated above are taken from a dialogue of the protagonist in that movie, and constitute the central idea of the film.

Of course, an obvious answer to the question could be that the blood-dripping gandasa is a legitimate icon of our culture and civilisation because it depicts our social reality more than the reed of Rumi and Ranjha. Qasmi, students of literature and the creators of goonda movies would perhaps unanimously agree on this point in spite of any differences in their respective social backgrounds.

It is therefore important to remember those who dared to differ from this point of view. These visionaries believed that it was not sufficient to depict a problem but to also suggest the possible solutions. Through Rishta and a series of subsequent movies culminating in the blockbuster Ghareebon Ka Badshah (1988), Pervez Malik and Masroor Anwar evolved and depicted a coherent social philosophy, addressing the relevant issues from a holistic point of view.

Rishta was a story about family vendetta but ended in a climax which incorporated motifs from the incident of Karbala. The heroine of the story was an old woman (played by Sabiha Khanum), whose husband had been assassinated by Shahbaz Khan (Mehboob Alam) due to a family feud. Shahbaz had also sworn to eliminate his enemy’s entire bloodline (just like Maula in Qasmi’s short story). This eventually leads to a head-on clash between the well-armed mercenaries of Shahbaz and the poorly equipped supporters of the old woman and her son, Rahat (played by Nadeem). The woman tries to stop the battle, and gets mortally wounded by Shahbaz. At this point, a few minutes before the ending, the audience learns the first name of this woman, who has been addressed throughout the movie by her title. Her name is Zainab.

Mortally wounded, Zainab announces forgiveness for her assassin. “Neither do I want retribution in the Hereafter,” she declares. “I forgive you in both worlds.” In a dying speech, she explains to Shahbaz that a better world cannot be created for future generations unless we are prepared to offer some sacrifice today. What she has sacrificed is her life and what she succeeds in eliciting from her enemy is the matching sacrifice of the enemy’s base instinct and false ego. Zainab’s son Rahat and Shahbaz’s daughter Saira, who love each other secretly, now receive the consent of Shahbaz to be united in marriage. This vindicates the belief of Zainab that forgiveness and sacrifice on part of one generation leads to happiness and prosperity for the next generation.

Qasmi had depicted the mother of Maula as the instigator of hatred and vendetta, who never stopped nagging her son to spill more blood and demanding that the entire bloodline of their enemy should be eliminated from the face of the earth (and this was the “literary” origin of the famous “mother” of Punjabi movies, whose shout is loud enough to be heard by her son miles away). Hence, the mother in Qasmi’s story becomes the proverbial “temptress” who causes man to commit the “original sin”. Perhaps as a conscious rebuttal of this theory, Rishtaoffers three motherly characters (played by Sabiha Khanum, Nayyar Sultana and Najma Mehboob), whose circumstances are very different from each other but they all define motherhood in terms of love, sacrifice and social responsibility.

The fundamental difference boils down to the fact that Pervez Malik and Masroor Anwar depict the human being as capable of making choices based on principles. On the other hand, Qasmi and the creators of goonda films agree, implicitly and explicitly, that the human being is the prisoner of instinct and social conditioning. In the short story Gandasa, Maula is a creature of instinct. In the climax of the story, he temporarily stops taking revenge but that is because his instinct for revenge has been overcome by some other instinct (and, once again, this new instinct is stirred in him by yet another woman, who has no other function in the story).

Divided by instinct and social conditioning, the educated and the unschooled live in two parallels worlds in the imagination of Qasmi. One of these is the world of the unschooled, to which Maula belongs together with his friends, family and enemies. The other is the world of public servants, of which we are given brief glimpses through the police and judiciary. The unschooled world of Maula seems to be alive with base instinct and various kinds of lust, and the distant world of the educated ones appears to be impotent and lacking in any purpose. Creatures from these two universes never unite and their interaction is based on apathy and mutual suspicion.

The world of Pervez Malik and Masroor Anwar is fundamentally opposed to this conception of the human beings. Regardless of education, characters can rise above instinct. They can embrace principles, choose values, and by the virtue of these traits they may transcend the artificial divisions of social and educational backgrounds. Ultimately, they can become masters of destiny, and not only change hearts but also alter the course of the future through the conscious sacrifice of personal interest.

This, then, is the conception of human being famously incorporated into the second line ofSohni Dharti: “As long as the world is there, may we see you prosper” (Jab tak hai yeh duniya baaqi, hum dekhain aabad tujhay).

Whether we choose the philosophy of gandasa or the world of Sohni Dharti is up to us. However, the choice cannot be made until we have learnt about both. It seems that every one of us has happily, willingly and consciously adopted the national song ‘Sohni Dharti’ as our collective identity. Yet, we have never bothered to find out anything about the poet who wrote it, the stories he told, and the school of thought to which he belonged. This, perhaps, is the correct answer to the question which he asked in 1980: Why has a blood-dripping gandasa become the icon of our culture and civilisation, instead of the reed pipe emanating the melodies of love?

Khurram Ali Shafique is the author of Iqbal: an Illustrated Biography (2006) and offers online courses in Iqbal Studies for Iqbal Academy Pakistan. khurramsdesk@gmail.com

Read More