The Cognitive Backyard

Category: Life & Society

Things I Want Her to Know

She calls this room my “hujrah” (cloister / man-cave).

This is my operational room. This is where I monitored the entire 2013 elections, and in the words of my cousin Sidra, “as a one-man army”. This is where I read, I write, I cozy up in to my lonely self and spend time thinking, smoking, taking tea or coffee, use internet, go “social”, do multimedia of all types depending on my mood and just be with myself – most of the time just sit and do nothing. Continue with reading

A Life of Adventure

All my life I had desperately managed to achieve what everyone would hardly call average grades, I always felt like a donkey with a pile of books on his back. But the evil spirit within me endured the years upon years of torture; I endured this educational brutality. Thanks to “gaaliyaan, jotay and thudday” of my parents, and sometimes by elder, finer, and brighter siblings too, for helping me endure this grinding process. Continue with reading

The Tree of Life

When I originally watched Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain back in 2006, except for its magical music, I did not really like the movie. The non-linear narrative always confused me and seemed irreconcilable and incoherent for my little brain. The sporadic cuts and flashbacks were not just the only reason I did not quite liked the movie, as a dutiful devout Muslim, I felt really appalled for its Semitic references; the tree of life and the obvious connection to Genesis and Kaballah.   Continue with reading

First Impression; the Last Impression

There is this famous English saying, “first impression is the last impression” which used to be the only reason I gave myself when people did not really like me. Like every other selfie-obsessed person out there, I would often pause and reflect in my mirror and confess that the saying is so true. I never quite liked what I saw in the mirror, how could others? Continue with reading

How I Lost My Heart

My dearest love,

I know that after all these years we had spent together, I just abandoned you, and left you alone without saying a word, or even a goodbye. I doubt you would want to hear from me anymore, but there are things I just wanted to say to you, I wish I could tell all this to you face to face but I do not have the heart to face you one more time. Continue with reading

Carving a Dream Profession

A few days ago I was having a routine chit chat with two closest friends I have. The three of us have so many failures and shattered dreams between us that the usual topic of discussion is causes of our failures in, and possible strategies for, landing a dream profession. We have done odd jobs; jobs that did not suit either our aspirations or qualifications, and all in all the experiences have been as heart breaking as exhausting. The fundamental point of our every such conversation is the question, “how to carve out a dream profession?” Continue with reading

Great Expectations and Comfort Zone

I have never truly understood what Charles Dickens might have conveyed to us in his Great Expectations, never! Even the 2012 movie based on the novel, starring Jeremy Irving and Helena Bonham Carter, actually did not help much. I am quite slow at processing things; it often takes me days and weeks or more to process an idea. There is a silly joke about it in Urdu language that explains the full potential of my mental abilities. Continue with reading

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