The hoof that tramples my rights

Lo and behold, it is that time of the year again. When bells and bleats can be heard in the streets, heralding the return of another Eid-ul-Azha.  Members of prestigious herds, in all their glory can be seen filing into the homes and hearts of many.

But hang on for a second, there is something rather unpleasant that accompanies this Holy Holiday every single time it comes around. Unpleasant though is a light word. Stronger words like ‘utterly revolting’,’ undeniably criminal’ and ‘perfectly blasphemous against the laws of social propriety’, would be rather fitting.

It is not the concept of the slaughter that I am against. I do believe in notions of vegan-ism or vegetarianism. But I do believe one thing. That I have a right to walk through my neighbourhood without having to clench my nose and protect myself from the smell that pervades the air. That I have a right to walk through the streets without fear of stepping into something unwelcoming. That I have a right, as a citizen of this country, to walk freely on Eid day without having to avoid streams of red colour. (Okay so, it wasn't one thing)

My rights are being trampled under a hoof of tyrannous oppression ladies and gentlemen. A hoof that is symbolic of a violation of everything that my constitution grants me. Freedom of movement, unimpeded by something an animal decided to do. Freedom of getting my regular 8 hours, uninterrupted by bleating and mooing. Freedom from the chore of having to wash my tyres because someone decided to open their gates during the qurbani.

Seriously.                                                                                                              

What right do individuals have to park their goats and sheep where I would want to park my car? What right do they have to pollute the streets with blood so that they don’t have to clean up their own porches and gardens? Show me some clause, some amendment, some article of our constitution that permits people to discomfort and inconvenience others due to the reasons mentioned above.

I fully believe that people should not lower the sanctity of the sacrifice by forgoing rules of propriety. Keep your beast where it won’t stand in my way. Clean up after your animal and try to keep it as less vocal as possible. Common sense dictates a local community setting up some enclosure where all the sacrifices can take place with minimal fuss and bother. Minimal repercussions for others. But what is that cliché about common sense not being very common?

So if you are one of those criminals, indulging in the aforementioned transgressions, kindly quit it. Or if you aren't and know someone who is, then get them to kindly quit it. Share this and further the noble cause of “Insan Ban Kar Qurbani Karo”. And make Eid-ul-Azha a momentous and joyous occasion for one and all.

By Imaad Hasan

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Love Stories

So this was prompted by the loads of junk also referred to as chick flick novels that have become the rage these days. To be honest, I couldn’t stand another minute before writing on this because apart from a chosen few, cliché love stories are seriously starting to get on my nerves.

Each starts off with a bad boy and a timid goody two shoes who’s never let loose, never gotten drunk, never skipped class. But then she falls in love with the ever popular and everyone’s desired bad boy and voila there’s a connection! (If life were that easy for the rest of us, rishta aunties would go out of business) Now the boy falls for our heroine who is the geekiest girl you could ever imagine and drops not-so-subtle hints blatantly right in her face to which any girl would immediately react to but no! Our heroine will be still seeing him through the glasses of ‘Can never happen’ and therefore chooses to ignore it thinking he’s out of her league. (Which to be honest, he is.)

Oh, but then they catch themselves in random situations and stolen moments which render them both breathless and the girl spends nights lying awake in her bed smiling at the ceiling, (but no dark circles ever appear because duh love is the cure for everything perhaps even Ebola). Yet even after numerous encounters nothing happens and here the writer builds up a tension between the two and attempts to intrigue us. After about ten more chapters of beating about the bush, it finally happens and we would rather be spared the excruciating details thank you very much. If I wanted to read that, I would have gone elsewhere.

Anyway, the best part is that the bad boy whom we were introduced to in the beginning has entirely vanished at this point and has been replaced by an angel sent from Heaven above. Just a few days of being with the nerdy girl converts the guy into a Saint. Of course they become a couple but since it all cannot be that easy, the author involves a hurdle between the two, maybe a misunderstanding, or a secret untold till this point but together the Terrific Two get over that as well and continue with their happily ever after.

N.B.-I’m not against love stories. I’ve read countless good ones but fact of the matter is, originality is something rarely found these days. It is a sad world indeed.

Written by Roha Sitwat

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