“DEATH OF THE SOUL” FORCED US TO “THINK ALTERNATIVELY”

Hello everyone! We have recently been busy with a lot of different projects ranging from documentaries to weddings. Thus, I was unable to update the blog due to time constraints. In the midst of so much work, I pondered over the importance of work life balance.

The irony is that we study through our entire lives to be able to have a good life. When we have studied, the definition of what is a good life becomes muddled. Can we only identify ourselves through our work? Is there anything else beyond this temporary illusion termed as a “career”? All of these questions got me thinking and I decided to delve into the intricacies and mysteries of the most difficult quest for any human, the quest for truth.

As I have evolved into a photographer in my journey with Pi Studio, I have met different people from diverse backgrounds, which have considerably opened my vision and understanding. However, there is one observation in most of the people I have met, that they do not know their purpose in life and most of them simplify their lives into the humdrum of waking up, earning, sleeping and retiring. It is as if most of them do not want to get out of the box they have confined themselves into.

However, Pi Studio always aims to diverge and go onto the road less travelled. Thus we began a series of shoots on the theme titled “Think Alternatively”. The series of this shoots is called “Death of the soul”. The basic concept of this series is that how we humans tend to kill the inner child within with the excuse of life stress due to family and work pressures.

A dedication to Mansoor Al-Hallaj's famous quote أنا الحق Anā l-Ḥaqq meaning "I am The Truth"

Thus, Pi Studio shot a series of images dedicated to the quest for truth. Some images are interpretations of the various ways in which truth has been revealed in the society. We were also amazed at how great people had sacrificed their lives for the quest of truth.

As the name implies the album “Death of the Soul” is still an ongoing project, as a lot of introspection is pending in the quest for understanding one self and the search for the ultimate Truth. We hope all of us start to think in a divergent manner so that new ideas can add fuel to our nation and the society’s growth.

For the album please click here

The Poor Little Rich Boy

There was once a clichéd poor little rich boy in the city of Karachi. The poor little rich boy had all the candies in the world.  One can safely say that he was he was raised as a staunch hedonist. Yet the poor little rich boy was forlorn and ignored. Everywhere he went, he was treated as either poor or rich as a little boy.

He was not accepted in his entirety at all, the core of his identity being that he was a paradox of different economic subcultures and familial influences. He delved into the intricacies of business and also into the intricacies of the world of art at the same time. But the poor little rich boy could never comprehend that like him, art and business do not go hand in hand.

So the poor little rich boy wandered around the concrete jungle of Karachi in search of acceptance and love. But the poor little rich boy had one more problem, he could not feel anything. No matter what perils of the world hit him, he thought that by not feeling he would become stronger. This error of perception had turned him into someone akin to a zombie.

While the poor little rich boy was wandering around he stepped into a puddle. The puddle was coming from a dripping pipe of a house of a female banker. The puddle was hazy and his steps had created a gentle ripple in it. When the poor little rich boy stared in the puddle he saw a hazy reflection of a good looking man.

He was awe struck and continued staring at the unfamiliar persona in the murky reflection of the puddle. He continuously stared at it till his mind conjured all sorts of names for the person in the reflection, but he could not find any. The poor little rich boy now still wanders the streets in search of similar puddles, which tease his brain and heart, but eventually dry up. But who is to explain to the poor little rich boy that the search for puddles must also stop for him to reach the next level of consciousness.

Alif Ailaan All Parties Educational Conference on Key Issues of Education in Sindh

Hello everyone! It’s been a while since we have posted on the blog due to the crazy busy wedding season. The team at Pi Studio is in full swing and is working day and night to give you the best content that enhances your thought spectrum.

Yesterday we visited Hyderabad to attend and photograph the All Parties Educational Conference organized the NGO Alif Ailaan. It was conducted in the Mumtaz Mirza Auditorium of the Sindh Museum and was attended by students and notable dignitaries.

We did not know before this conference that how alarming the educational situation is in Sindh. The facts we learnt from the conference, has made us realize that this situation needs immediate work so that the future of the children of Sindh can be secured. The following is a brief listing of the facts in the brochure provided by Alif Ailaan:

-    Half of all children in Sindh are not in school (i.e. 6.1 million children out of 12 million children).

-        More than half (3.4 million or 56%)of the children out of school are girls.

-       The government supply of education is inadequate (47,934 government schools are in Sindh, of which 91% are primary schools and 1% are higher secondary schools).

-   There are too many children dropping out of school (approximately 0.5 million children out of 0.72 million children enrolled in Class 1 drop out by class 6).

-   The attendance is low i.e. 67% compared to other areas in the country whose attendance is about 80%.

-         Learning outcomes are poor i.e.

·        59% of class 5 students cannot read a story fluently in Urdu or Sindhi, 

·        75% of class 5 students cannot read a sentence fluently in English and

·        71% of class 5 students cannot do simple two-digit division.

-   Educational spending is not rationalized i.e. Tharparkar contains 0.8% of the total children in Pakistan but has the largest number of government schools in the country (around  3% of all the government schools).

-     Where schools exist there condition is abysmal. Across Sindh, 77% of government school buildings are in an unsatisfactory condition, according to the Education Department, whereas elsewhere in the country this figure does not exceed 50%. The following are some details:

·      Almost half of all government schools in Sindh are missing the basic facility of a toilet,

·        Three in five government schools in Sindh have no drinking water,

·        One of every three government schools in Sindh is without electricity and

·        Only one in seven government schools in Sindh has a boundary wall.

-      There is a serious problem of ghost schools. According to the recent survey of non-functional and ghost schools by the Supreme Court of Pakistan, there are at least 6,152 non-functional and ghost schools in Sindh. Thus, every 7^th school in Sindh is either a ghost school or non- functional.

Moreover, 3 out of every 4 non-functional or ghost schools in Pakistan are in Sindh / Thatta and Tharparkar have the highest number of non-functional and ghost schools in Pakistan (897 and 858 respectively.)

A famous teacher addresses the conference

The above facts are a slap on all our faces my friends! We all are to blame for this state of education and we all must work to resolve this. Let us all make a pledge that we all will contribute to the betterment of education in our country!

Pakistan Zindabad!

For the pictures please click here

Visit to the Syed Zahoor Shah Hashmi Reference Library in Malir, Karachi

We recently visited the Syed Hashmi Library in Malir, thanks to our friend Mr. Waleed Sikandar Baloch. The Syed Zahoor Shah Hashmi reference library was formed by Professor Saba Dashtyari. It is the world’s largest library on Balochi literature. He funded this library with his own salary. The name of the library was after Professor Syed Hashmi.

It is situated on main Shahrah-e-Faisal just after Malir halt and Anwar Baloch restaurant. On our arrival we were greeted by the administrator of the library Mr Ghulam Rasool. It consist of a small garden, two small office rooms and the main library hall, which is quite small due to the lack of space and Mr. Saba Dashtyari’s office containing his pictures and books.

Students at the Syed Zahoor Shah Hashmi Reference Library

On our request the administrator of the library gave us a brief account of life history and the services of Professor Saba Dashtyari. Mr. Dashtyari is regarded as a leading Balochi language writer and intellectual whose literary works appeared in leading journals and magazines. He had authored several books and laid the foundation of a premier Balochi language academy in Karachi. He held a Masters Degree in Philosophy and Islamic Studies and taught Islamic Studies in Balochistan University. He was fluent in English, Persian, Urdu, Arabic and Balochi Language.

He was killed while walking in Quetta on June 1, 2011. We also found his blood stained clothes hanging in his office in the library. We were told that his belongings were kept, especially his blood stained clothes, to keep them reminded and motivated about Mr. Dashtyari’s struggle and his contributions to the people of Balochistan and their rights.

To sum up, we would like to reproduce Jinnah’s words from his speech on August 11, 1947 for those who realize:

“You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place or worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed -- that has nothing to do with the business of the State. We are starting in the days where there is no discrimination, no distinction between one community and another, no discrimination between one caste or creed and another. We are starting with this fundamental principle: that we are all citizens, and equal citizens, of one State”

For the pictures please click here

Protest at Numaish Chowrangi against the bomb blast in Mastung on Shiite pilgrims

Last night we attended the sit-in (known as “dharna” in Urdu) at Numaish against the violent killing in the bomb blasts in Mastung, Baluchistan on Tuesday 21^st January 2014 of Hazara Shiite pilgrims. I belonged to a different background and had never actually visited or participated in such sit-ins before and I was filled with anxiousness at how the protest would actually turn out to be.

When I reached Numaish Chowrangi (with my friend and former accountancy student Musawir and fellow Pi Studio member Hussain Zaidi), I was overawed that how non-violent means can actually put the government to a standstill. The protests showed that people still stand up for their rights, with countless women; children and men were gathered in a disciplined manner protesting against injustice.

Little girls holding placards and demanding justice for the victims of the Mastung blast

In the current attack on the Hazara Shiites, the entire bus carrying Shia pilgrim returning from Iran was blown away and 28 people were martyred and around 40 people were wounded. The Hazara community has been continually targeted by terrorists in Balochistan, thus countless innocent lives have been sadly lost. Yet, the terrorist attacks continue unabated in Pakistan. Innocent lives are being lost on a massive scale now.

We all must stand up and protect our nation against this maniacal wave of terrorism whose fires have spread to every corner of this country and have now permeated our daily lives. My heart cries out for sanity to return back to my beloved nation, where everyone can coexist in peace.

In the end I would like to pray for the martyrs of the Mastung attacks and other countless attacks recently, such as the one on our armed forces, the bomb blast in royal artillery bazaar in Rawalpindi, the bomb blasts in Peshawar. In the end I would like to leave all of you with the following words, over which we all should ponder:

“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”

Nelson Mandela

For the pictures of the protest please click here.

Inner conflicts

There is a conflict. A conflict of the heart and mind. A conflict of hope and reality. A conflict of who we are and what we have become. A conflict that engulfs family, friends and everything I have held closely to my heart.
This conflict is the conflict of money. The one soul ingredient which can destroy everything and anything which crosses its path. I am saddened by my country's economic system, which forces us to think about the basic necessities of life everyday. I am saddened and hurt that there is absolutely no safety net for people like me to fall back on.
What saddens me the most is that even though I stand up for my country, everybody else is right in their decision to migrate, in search of a better life for their families, so that the family does not need to struggle. I sincerely hope I can pass this economic challenge too.
I used to be a fun person eons ago. I had good friends or so I thought I did. Yet the brazen realities of life took their toll and one by one, the economic system took away all that I loved and cared for. Now it threatens my existence again in its unique and charming manner. But I will continue to fight and stand up just like I always have.
Maybe someday, people of our country can dream of a secure future. Maybe someday, our talent will not be washed away under the dredges of slavery. I will continue to try my best and work for this dream to come true, for I cannot bear to see my country's future generations engrossed in what we are currently busy in today, paying our bills and trying to survive.
Pakistan Zindabad!

To be or not to be

There comes a time in every man's life when he begins to ponder over various questions and issues that have bogged him down in his life until now. Thinking and pondering and creating an imaginary bubble seem to be the only source of solace.

What I have dreamt has started coming true, all the proverbs and philosophical works that I have read pertaining to mental strength and the power of grit and hard work are turning out to be true. Now I am wondering whether my rebellion was worth it and do I really want to live a different existence. My insides want me to fade away into oblivion and follow the rut which the rest of the world is following. Yet I am clinging on to hope, the hope for a better future, the hope for progress, the hope for freedom and the hope to be remembered.

I have been hurt in my life, left to rot at the whims of the unjust social system and also been downright broke quite a few times. Yet I have refused to surrender and bow down to the society. I have started testing how the system reacts to the stimuli which I instigate against it. Most of the times the results are ghastly and the psychological damage is permanent.

However, I have cleansed and improved my lens of perception through the cleaning power of pain, hurt and loss. The power of true love and the beauty of willpower have taught me many lessons in my journey. Yet the question within me remains that if I am ready to dive deep down into the tumultuous waters of my soul or that this mere shallow depth snorkeling was enough!