Delusions of Grandeur

So long, WordPress!

Umer Latif — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 09:43:04 +0000

To be short and precise, for several reasons, I’m shifting to the blogger. You can find me here:

http://www.theumer.blogspot.com

See ya!

Prologue

Umer Latif — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 19:21:28 +0000

“Lord my God died in a fatal car crash on 1st July 2008. From his death till mine, I am and will remain a staunch atheist!”

How’s this for a prologue to a play?

A Beautiful Mind

Umer Latif — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 17:02:37 +0000

Professor Abdul Hafeez Sheikh is amazing, both as a professor and as a man. He’s one of those very very few teachers/instructors who really earned my respect. With a profound knowledge on his subject, Mathematics, he has religious knowledge more than most of the so-called scholars and mufties. His lectures are usually divided into two parts (that’s an unsaid sort of rule). One part is devoted to Mathematics related concepts while the other part usually consists of ethical instructions and religious discussions. He’s a religious devout.

One of the most interesting things about him is his style of delivering a lecture. He accompanies the lecture with examples from everyday life and those examples usually we never forget. There’s nothing very special about them but may be it’s his style that makes them eternally remembered. Now, coming to the actual matter.

Today, while discussing Numerical Analysis, he gave us an example from the life of the prophet of Islam, Muhammad. He told us that Muhammad used to be extremely efficient in his decisions and that’s what matters in numerical analysis. Now don’t worry, Maths is not the thing I’m going to talk about, no. Proceeding further, the incident just came in that it was Khudaija who proposed Muhammad and not vice versa, as is the norm. Now, the quotes for which I said this whole story (I’ll write his words):

“You see it was Khijaida who proposed the Prophet and not he. So, it’s perfectly fine if a lady proposes a gentle man and if she openly declares her liking or disliking for someone. And what do we have in our society? Men reject women because they are short, or fat, or black, or ugly or for countless other reasons. They need a perfect women and they are considered to be perfectly justified in this demand. But when a women even thinks to do so, she’s worthy of being hanged!”

Usually I’m not interested in his religious examples and sermons, but this thing almost stunned me. If a man has right to carry out ‘trials’ for a platoon of women, why can’t a women? Isn’t this what the religion of this society says? Take a look at religious people: They will preach the hadiths of prophet like parrots, with infinite iterations which order to be good and kind to daughters and women but when this comes as a practical matters, their so-called ‘honor’ plunges in and the ultimate fate of the poor creature is death for the deed which is considered an ordinary, and in fact permissible matter, for man.

Has religion only made people hypocrites? Or does their nature stubbornly insist to follow the distorted interpretations while neglecting the noble teachings? Eastern and religious traditions are a part of our society and I’m not againt most of them but it’s the selfishness and self-righteousness of people that really ails the society. There’s something seriously wrong with this religious society of ours.

Cartoons….

Umer Latif — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 11:33:11 +0000

I LOVE cartoons and here are my favourite cartoons of all-time. Just found em, on youtube. Favourite since my childhood!!!

(I’ll be writing on cartoons in detail soon! =P)

Pakistan Urdu School

Umer Latif — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 00:26:35 +0000

It’s 5 am and just when I was planning to go to slumber while giving a final aimless browse to Facebook, I unintentionally came across the Pakistan Urdu School group and next instant I was reading the message board. Shit! all those golden memories from good ol’ days came flooding in and I almost wept!

I miss my childhood days in Behrain, but I miss Pakistan Urdu School more than anything else. I wonder where to start from? Those sprints at the ground near the bus-stop while waiting for the bus, the riots and games inside the school bus or playing football and exchanging WWF stickers during game periods and recess. Those stickers were indeed an obsession!

My first teacher was Mrs. Aarzoo Wadood and I can vividly recall her motherly face. She taught us English. Among my early friends were Waqar (my best friend), Aaftaab, Salman, Fardan Butt etc.

I would never forget the day when I, along with a friend of mine, Nasir, plotted to escape after the school time and instead of school bus, go home on foot! It was indeed an adventure for two 7-year olds to go on foot all the way around 5, 6 miles. We had worn jogging suits under the uniform which we took off so that any passing school-bus won’t recognize us. That was awesome, though I won’t relate what happened with me at home after that! =P

After the school time, we used to play again at the stop in the scorching heat of mid-Summer days, even though we almost always got scolding for that.

The memories of P.U.S are among the most precious recollections for me and I hope one day I would be able to pay back a little part of the fete that PUS honored me with!

God of Self!

Umer Latif — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 21:35:15 +0000

I want a heart of stone

with frozen petty emotions

surrounded by the eternal thrones

above all the lowly deeds crimson

to overcome niggling Self!

To enjoy

the extreme arrogance of vanity

to savor

the utmost madness of insanity

above all the creature scurvy!

I want the lofty temple of ego

to be worshipped eternally

amidst the dreary existence

up and above to transcendence

to be a God of Self!

Concept of Choice.

Umer Latif — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 16:25:27 +0000

“The concept of choice is much debated about in philosophical discussions and so I would like to clear my thoughts on it.

In my opinion, the concept of man having or not having complete choice is, to quite much extent, related to the concept of his being free to act i.e Free Will. While I believe that man always has a choice, he does not always enjoy free will related to that choice. This statement may seem contradictory so I would try to explain it a bit further:

When I say that man always has a choice, I have in my mind, more or less, Sartre’s existentialist concept of choice. Taking a little extreme case, a man being robbed forcefully has a choice to get robbed off his possessions and go home without any further trouble or he can choose to refuse to let go of his belongings and instead get killed. This is my concept of choice. Man always has a choice, no matter what the circumstances are, but the matter that puts restraint on this concept is that man is not always free to choose among his options with total consent. One option, returning to the above case, is expedient and beneficial financially but it can cost him his life. The other option, although depriving him off his material belongings, may safe his life. There is another man who wants to choose the best school for his son. This man has the freedom associated with his choice. He would obviously want to choose the best school and he is free to do so, provided his financial position. No one is forcing him in adopting any particular choice. This is choice with freedom. The former was choice with force. Options are there in both kinds and man can choose one among them, but he will have to pay the ultimate price. Though in the former case, less responsibility would rest on the chooser than in the latter case, although the might have to pay equal price.

Some may still call both men ‘free’ but I do not consider the former case of choice with freedom. This is force and coercion, not freedom and free will. This would be akin to religious concept of free will where a man, broadly speaking, is given two options: Enjoy all sorts of pleasures in this mundane existence od few days and then bear the eternal damnation, or lead this life within the bounds of the divine law and dwell among the blessed in the heaven forever.

So what I believe is that while choice is always there, this is not the case with freedom. There can be either choice with will, for which man is free or there can be choice with force, for which he is coerced.”

-Initial Meditations, Umer Latif.

Yearning….

Umer Latif — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 19:39:28 +0000

“I teach you the overman. Man is something that shall be overcome. What have you done to overcome him? “All beings so far have created something beyond themselves; and do you want to be the ebb of this great flood and even go back to the beasts rather than overcome man? What is the ape to man? A laughing-stock or a painful embarrassment. And man shall be just that for the overman: a laughingstock or a painful embarrassment. You have made your way from worm to man, and much in you is still worm. Once you were apes, and even now, too, man is more ape than any ape.”

-Frederick Nietzsche, Thus Spake Zarathustra

Nick of Time….

Umer Latif — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 18:48:47 +0000

I had such a nice plan to visit ‘Readings’ today and after a pretty good last exam, I was in good high spirits with cheerful company. But all got ruined due to this ‘disqualification of Sharifs’ mess and after that the inevitable outburst of the funny mob. Justice here at my part of the world is a vicious chasing of one’s own tail - complain if they dawdle and assault if they decide. So I spent the evening with good-fellas watching movies and cursing big time.

I do find it funny. Damn, I had such a perfect chance to get my hands on some HP Lab top in Hafiz Center!

Deciphering Kubrick.

Umer Latif — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 17:59:25 +0000

The art of cinema is a superior and exquisite form of art and direction is the undisputed crown of it. A good direction possesses this unique capability to turn an average script and just-about-the-mark plot into something which can be categorized as a masterpiece. Every once in a while, we witness such strokes of genius on the screen.

Whenever the term direction and good direction pops up, a handful of names emerge in mind right away. Stanley Kubrick, Martin Scorsese, John Ford, Sergio Leon and Alfred Hitchcock are among the godfathers of modern art of direction. Among them, Kubrick’s genius and unique style glisters bright and high. Although most of his masterpieces were controversial yet they depict the depth of his imagination and the vastness of his vision. His sci-fic masterpiece “2001: A Space Odyssey” happens to be, undoubtedly, one of the greatest movies of all time. I don’t think so any other movie has ever sparked such heated discussions and debates. I personally have seen hundreds of movies, positively the number exceeds 500, but I don’t recall any movie that almost involuntarily compelled me into deep meditations, both from scientific and philosophical aspects. It happens to be one of the most enigmatic, mysterious, thought-provoking, original, imaginative and visionary movies with ground-breaking special effects and score. Beginning from four million years ago and culminating at 2001, this is the story of mankind’s evolution, mental and intellectual more than physical. A tribute to restless and boundless human spirit. Interestingly, the movie contains only 45 minutes of spoken dialogues over a running time of two hours and twenty minutes!

Amidst the countless ramblings and renditions, Kubrick never offered any ‘official’ interpretation of the storyline of 2001:ASO. In an interview, he remarked:

“… If the film stirs the emotions and penetrates the subconscious of the viewer, if it stimulates, however inchoately, his mythological and religious yearnings and impulses, then it has succeeded.”

Clockwork Orange, and ultra-violent film, takes us deep into human nature, morality and complex psychology and the consequences of it being supressed by force. The movie was so controversial that once it was nominated for Oscar, no one was willing to come up and announce the nominations and the winner for best picture, as none wanted their name associated with this controversy. Jack Nicholson, however, an ever-dare-devil, finally plunged in.

Kubrick is not for those movie buffs who seek pure entertainment or action. His movies are food for positive though, an intellectual nourishment. And that, to me, is the most important purpose of the art of cinema.