Pakistan's Road to World Number 1

The pictures and descriptions have been taken from ESPN Cricinfo and this is not an original article.

Dubai, Oct 22-26, 2014: After a 2-0 defeat in Sri Lanka, Pakistan returned to the UAE to face Australia. Tons for Sarfraz Ahmed and Ahmed Shehzad - and twin tons for Younis Khan - were buttressed by heaps of wickets to the spinners as Pakistan marched to a 221-run victory

Abu Dhabi, Oct 30-Nov 3, 2014: Misbah-ul-Haq basked in glory against Australia in Abu Dhabi - he equalled Viv Richards' record for fastest Test hundred (off 56 balls) and led his side to a 356-run victory, their biggest Test win to date in terms of runs

Abu Dhabi, Nov 9-13, 2014: Ten days later, at the same venue, against New Zealand, Pakistan recorded their third straight win and Misbah became the country's most successful Test captain (15 wins). They ultimately had to settle for a drawn series, though, as New Zealand hit back to win the third Test by an innings

Mirpur, May 6-9, 2015: After a draw against Bangladesh in Khulna, Pakistan were under pressure to win the second Test. Azhar Ali slammed a double-century to set up a 328-run victory, and the series was theirs

Galle, Jun 17-21, 2015: After an Asad Shafiq ton handed Pakistan a 117-run first-innings lead, Yasir Shah ran through Sri Lanka with 7 for 76 to help his side breach the fortress at Galle with a 10-wicket win

Pallekele, Jul 3-7, 2015: Sri Lanka had hit back with a win in Colombo, and Pakistan were under the pump in the series decider, with an improbable target of 377. Improbable, that is, until Younis Khan's unbeaten 171 got them through to a seven-wicket victory

Dubai, Oct 22-26, 2015: After England gave Pakistan a scare in the first Test in Abu Dhabi, the home team romped to a 178-run victory in the second Test, with Wahab Riaz and Yasir Shah serving as the destroyers-in-chief

Sharjah, Nov 1-5, 2015: Then, in the third Test, Mohammad Hafeez struck 151 to help Pakistan overcome a first-innings deficit and ultimately post a 127-run win

Lord's, Jul 14-17, 2016: At the "home of cricket", Misbah scored a ton, Yasir took 10 wickets, Mohammad Amir made a Test comeback, and Pakistan posted a famous 75-run win. How does one celebrate all that? With push-ups, of course

The Oval, Aug 11-14, 2016: Having suffered two heavy defeats after that memorable win at Lord's, Pakistan came to the Oval 2-1 down. But a fine team effort delivered a 10-wicket win to level the series. The No. 1 ranking was now within sniffing distance. It would be theirs a week later

The Story of Younis Khan (Part-6)

The answer to a lot else is Malir Gymkhana, an old, established club that has given Karachi some of its finest cricketers, including Taslim Arif, Saeed Anwar, Latif, and a host of first-class champions. It used to be more than just a club, serving as the most lucid expression of the city's cricket. Malir Gymkhana prescribed philosophies, about how batsmen should bat, how individuals fit into collectives, how younger players should be nurtured, how individual causes subjugate themselves to the team's purpose. It was the kind of club where the captain would impart such lessons after games at, say, Nannay ka Hotel, a famous teahouse in Khokrapar (a Malir locality). Once, after returning from a tour of Sri Lanka with the national side, Latif came to play. He was by then an established international. He arrived at the ground, opened his kitbag and told the players to take whatever they wanted. It was that kind of club.

Younis was taken there in 1993. By then he had shed youthful flirtations with legspin and, as he got more opportunities with a club in Steel Town, turned himself into an opener. Pakistan Steel Mills had a team that played Grade II (a grade below first-class) in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, and one of its players, Mohammad Ali, also played at Malir Gymkhana. He liked what he saw of Younis at a trial and took him as well as another player, Nazeem Abbasi, to Malir.

Waheed Mirza was club captain at the time and his name still resonates around Karachi's club circuit, so influential was his leadership. You might remember him as one half of a first-class world-record opening stand. His problem was that he could only register one of the two as a player.

"I was asked whom I will pick. I said Younis. They asked why, that other guy was hitting so well, he scored a hundred. I said I liked one thing about this Younis. What? I liked the boy's reach. The other kid doesn't have it. So I picked him."

His reach. Come on this brief detour. This is an unexpected trait to have identified, at least to a non-technical eye. Cricket rarely scrutinises reach, though clearly it must be an essential part of a batsman's game. Until Mirza told me this, I had always struggled to place Younis' batting in technical terms. He is not a classicist, though neither is he unorthodox. He is not a cavalier stylist, though neither is he a dour accumulator. Often it has just been easier to talk about his batting in terms of personality - he has character, he is brave, and so on.

It is difficult to describe that idiosyncratic bodily strain that produces shots in unusual areas from an unusual combination of movements that leave him, ultimately, in unusual post-shot positions. Now it makes sense - Younis is shaped by his reach. It gives his batting that distinct elastic quality, stretching out into shapes it shouldn't, utilising a catapulting force. See those cover drives when, even though his front foot is not that close to the ball, he stretches those long arms and torso out to reach it. Against spinners he drives balls that are not even full, because he can reach out that far. It is actually more important - and noticeable - than his footwork.

The best effect of his reach is seen in the shot he picked up from watching his brother Ayub. There is no better player of the sweep in the modern game than Younis, and his reach is why there are few better players of spin. Google "Younis Khan sweep shot" and study the images. He does play it conventionally, where his upper body remains upright as he goes down on one knee. The images that really stand out though are those where his left leg is planted further out and upper body is bent forward so low that his left knee must be touching the chest. Already that is a yogic stretch. But the bend allows his arms to go even further so that he can sweep lengths and lines others simply cannot. It allows him to slog-sweep, to sweep straight, to sweep fine, to lap, to roll his wrists over, and to reverse. It is a shot, he told me in Abu Dhabi last year, he never practises specifically.

"If I have to play the sweep, I just play it. I trust my ability to play it. Sometimes if a fielder isn't there, if a game is being played with me, the ball is coming in and if the bowler thinks he can get me out sweeping, I will start playing it. I compel him.

"I don't [always] premeditate. I look at the body language of the bowler and I work out what might happen. Will he bowl slower, quicker? Sometimes, I can identify. Sometimes I have decided what balls to sweep, if I feel the bowler has relaxed a bit or he goes outside off stump."

Famous Greek Theater and Dramatics.

The ancient Greeks loved live theater. Every town had at least one open air theater. These theaters attracted crowds of 15,000 people per performance. Each town bragged about how wonderful their plays were and how marvelous their actors were. The Greeks were very competitive. They had drama contests between towns. Winners were treated with great respect, nearly as much respect as the Olympic winners.

The Ancient Theatre of Delphi.
The Greek architects built theatres on hillsides. That let them position long benches in rows, one above the other, so that everyone could see what was happening on the stage. The stage was located at the bottom of the hill. They could also hear. Greek theatres had great acoustics by design.

Types of plays.

The ancient Greeks invented three types of plays.
1.      Tragedies always had a sad ending.
2.      Comedies always had a happy ending.
3.      Satires poked fun at real people and events.

(In ancient Greece, it was illegal to poke fun at the gods. Punishment for mocking the gods was death.) Comedies and tragedies entertained, but a well written satire could sway public opinion.

Famous Play Writers.

Aeschylus.
The first great tragedian, Aeschylus, was born around 525 b.c.e. He produced his first dramas in 498, and he had his first victory in 484. He died in Sicily, having returned there sometime after 458. His tombstone mentions that he was an Athenian and that he fought at Marathon, but does not mention his plays. His life linked the Archaic and Classical ages, and Aeschylus' plays reflect that fact. Considered even by the ancients to be difficult and old-fashioned, Aeschylus was also quite innovative in the structures, personnel, and even subjects of his plays. He wrote around 89 plays, of which we have only seven.

Sophocles.
Sophocles, was born 497/496 b.c.e. He won eighteen victories at the Great Dionysia, and he never placed lower than second. He was strategos (one of ten elected generals) with Pericles, an office he probably held more than once. He was also personally involved in bringing the healing cult of Asclepius to Athens. He died in 406. Aristotle admired Sophocles (and particularly his Oedipus the King) because he wrote good plots about important people. Many people share Aristotle's point of view and consider Sophocles the greatest Greek playwright. He wrote a total of 123 plays written by Sophocles, of which a mere seven survive.

Euripides.
Euripides was the youngest of the three great tragedians. Born in the 480s b.c.e., Euripides first competed in the Great Dionysia in 455. He competed twenty-one more times, but won only four times, including with the tetralogy that included Bacchae and Iphigeneia at Aulis, produced after his death in 406. Most of what has come down as Euripides' biography is pieced together from jokes made about him in comedies, and thus is not particularly reliable. He seems not to have taken part in public life; he may have had a bad marriage; and one of his sons (or a nephew) was a tragic poet, too. There is also some evidence that he may have been an intellectual loner, and he perhaps had a large library. There are nineteen plays by Euripides.

Aristophanes.
Aristophanes, the most famous writer of Greek comedies, was born in the 440s b.c.e.
Many of his plays comment on the long war—perhaps the most famous is Lysistrata. He often made fun of tragedy and the tragedians: Aristophanes' Frogs is one of the best ancient critiques of the other playwrights that we still have. He produced his first play in 427. Before his death in the 380s he had written 44 comedies, of which we have eleven.

Monsoon is all set to rock Pakistan

Written By: Tanzeela Ahmed

(She is a lecturer and writes for different online platforms such as Dunya TV and ARY )

Monsoon shower lashes, soothing smell of earth, crispy samosas, pakoras and a cup of hot tea / coffee... What a fantasy… In fact, it’s our ritual and that’s how we cherish cloudburst here in Pakistan.

Interesting fact is that despite the high probability of catastrophe, monsoon is thoroughly adored in Pakistan.

No hotter days and nights, the curse of scorching heat waves is about to end. Hot spells and dearth breaking rainfalls are anticipated to reach Pakistan very soon.

Pakistan Meteorological department has revealed the outlook for summer monsoon 2016. The good news for all the rain lovers is that the annual rainy season is forecasted to embark in Pakistan from the 3rd week of June comprising the spell of 3 months from July till September. 

The prediction is that it will rain 10-20% more this year. So be ready to witness more than average showers in all across Pakistan. Excited? Me too.  Let’s be thankful to the climate change!

Current oceanic and atmospheric conditions are demonstrating good summer monsoon season in the country. It will kick off water deficiency and certainly will tremendously boost up the Agricultural and water needs of the country.

Pre-monsoon activity has commenced in upper and central divisions of the country. It’s all set to portray rain-thunder showers along with dust-storm and strong gusty winds are likely to crop up at isolated places of North Baluchistan, AJK, Punjab, Sindh and KP.

The awful news is that “Heat impression in Chitral, upper KP and Gilgit Baltistan is causing glaciers melting and thus accelerating the tendency of Glacier Lake Outburst Flooding (GLOF) and landslides”.  

Another dreadful report is that the amplified percentages of monsoon rains will leads to flash flooding. Flood warnings have already started buzzing around...

Considering the high probability of extreme downpour, there are eminent chances of flash flooding along Suleiman range as well as urban flooding can also grasp big cities of Pakistan like Karachi.

It’s already drizzling in Karachi. Foretell is that Karachi must experience heavy downpour. Ineffective and improper system of rain water drainage in Karachi may pose urban flood situation. 

As a consequence of monsoon rains, ponds of water left in many areas of every city are responsible for the outbreak of manifest diseases like Malaria and Dengue. Stagnant water provides the safe breeding habitat for mosquitoes, many species of bacteria and parasites.

National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has chalked out the work plan at Federal and Provincial level in order to diminish the impacts of potential floods. In a meeting held on 9th June 2016, they have examined all the preparations to streamline the rescue and relief measures and flood rehabilitation plans.  

Looking forward to a treasure safe and sound monsoon in Pakistan! 

The Story of Younis Khan (Part-5)

So this is what it was three weeks after the innings of Younis' career, one that put him on the verge of becoming, statistically, Pakistan's greatest batsman. The 171 not out was his 30th Test hundred, already five ahead of Inzamam-ul-Haq. His average at the end of the game was 54.07, one and a half runs better than Miandad. The only significant record that was not his was of most Test runs by a Pakistani, and he was only three sixes away from equalling that.

Pallekele was much more, though. Of Younis' many exceptional innings, it is difficult to pick one through which you could explain to someone with sufficient accuracy the meaning of Younis. Not the 313 in Karachi because on that pitch Coldplay's Chris Martin could have scored runs, let alone New Zealand's Chris Martin. The 267 in Bangalore maybe, but that was in the tone-setting first innings of a match. A pair of 190s against India - meh, dead tracks in dead Tests in Lahore and Faisalabad. The unbeaten, chase-completing 67 in Port Elizabeth is close but not quite it.

If the scorecard of the Pallekele Test was the only one you ever saw, you would not need to see any more to be able to understand Younis' worth. Did he usually arrive with his side tottering, like in this case, at 13 for 2? You bet. Was he expert at batting on the final days of Tests, as he did here, thriving in the last two sessions of the fourth and the first two of the fifth day? Yessir. Was he daunted by distant and difficult match objectives, like chasing 377 or batting out for a draw? Kidding, right? Was he good to bat with, because I see two pretty big stands with him in it? Hell yes. I see young Shan Masood got his maiden hundred - that happens often in the company of Younis? Damn straight. In short: Younis Khan? See Pallekele '15.

In long: see Slumdog Millionaire. Or that, at least, is how Younis - an avid movie-watcher, Bollywood and otherwise - understands his life: as a neat construction of episodes and experiences, each of which provides the answers that, collectively, reap the prize that is his career.

So the first answer is his brothers. In 1979, Yusuf Khan secured a managerial position at the state-owned Pakistan Steel Mills, moving from Mardan in the country's north-west to the eastern outskirts of Karachi, a migration of more than 1500 kilometres. Younis, the youngest of six brothers, and the rest of the family followed a year later, settling in Steel Town, a serene mini-city built for employees on the edges of this larger, less serene city. Younis and much of the family have lived there since, as citizens of Karachi but not its sons. When I asked him whether he thought himself to be a Karachiite, he didn't pause before saying no. "Inside, I still think of myself as a kid from Mardan. A Pathan." This despite having hardly lived in Mardan, though he did move back briefly in the mid-'90s, in part for cricket, in part to fulfil the obligations of a son: his retired father had returned and had only the women of the family around him. Younis' "no" was so unhesitating that the identity needed no further probing: a Pathan, goes the beloved stereotype, is a kaifiyat, a state of mind, impenetrable to piddling forces such as geography.

His brothers played cricket with unfettered spirit. "My eldest brother Ayub Khan, and after him Sharif Khan and Shamshad Khan, were real shaukeen [fanatics]. Sharif bhai was an allrounder. Ayub bhai was a wicketkeeper and a very dashing batsman. He used to sweep really well, even fast bowlers, and the faster the bowler, the more he would sweep. I used to watch him a lot. He had a formula. My father used to say, 'Watch out, you will get hit on the face.' Ayub bhai used to say, it has to bounce first to hit me in the face. He was so quick and fast - he used to play hockey as well - he used to sweep before it even pitched."

The brothers took him to their club games around Karachi. None of the grounds had dressing rooms, so young Younis was in charge of looking after team kits and other valuables. Young Younis also loved eating food that was not the food he ate at home. Lunch, even at this level, could get fancy: niharis and chicken kormas with hot naans. As he grew older, his duties expanded. He became responsible for knocking bats. Then, when he was 11, he started substituting as a fielder for those who didn't like fielding, of whom there were plenty. On dusty, uneven grounds he often fielded entire innings, developing such love for the duty that he resolved to always do it with so much commitment "even the ground enjoys it, that this guy was diving on me". See why he's the only Pakistani with over 100 Test catches?

Stop Provoking Planet Earth

Written By: Tanzeela Ahmed

Honestly, we humans are responsible for the caveat signs which are happening from the North Pole to the South Pole and the entire region in between. Human activities are the salient cause of “Global Warming”.

Global warming is the result of increased pollution and emission of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases concentration act as a blanket, locking the sun’s heat & solar radiations and cause the planet to warm.

We must understand that the balance is the essence of earth stability and excessive greenhouse gases discharge is provoking the ecosystem equilibrium. We all are suffering from hotter days and nights, increased air pollution and changed pattern of rainfalls and snow.

Our Planet is heating up at very faster rate than ever before. Average temperature of planet earth is rising day by day. Temperature rise is vulnerable for natural environment and for world’s climate.

Excessive use of technology, electronic gadgets, oozing of greenhouse gases, pollution, cutting of plants is collectively leading towards climate change at an alarming rate.

In today’s world climate change is the biggest global health threat mainly for children, elderly and for those who are easily prone to allergies, infection diseases and asthma.

Climate change is the potential threat to the water supplies as well. Be ready to meet scarcity of water within next few years. Future shortage of water will affect food production, accessibility of drinking water, sanitation dearth and blemished ecosystem.

Extreme warm climate craft an atmosphere that collect, retain and plunge more water and let the wet areas become damper and dry areas desiccated.

Let’s have a look at what activities are causing global warming, what price we are paying because of it and how we can play our role to slow down climate change. 

Causes of Global Warming

• Burning of fossil fuels (coal, gasoline, natural gas) for generating electricity release massive amount of CO2 into the atmosphere.
• Decay of food, vegetation and paper wastage deserted in landfills releases carbon dioxide and methane.
• Industrial processes like cement production, liquid natural gas creation, coal mining etc are also accountable to produce and emit variety of greenhouse gases.
• Deforestation – Cutting of wood for commercial and household consumption. Plants inhale carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen. The act of deforestation let the stored carbon to convert back into carbon dioxide.
• Burning gasoline from transports.
• Concentrated livestock production leads to the release of methane in the atmosphere. Methane is one of the extremely potent greenhouse gases.
• Chemical fertilizers intensive use for cropland. Nitrogen rich fertilizers effect on the heat storage ability of the cropland.

Outcomes of Global Warming

• Increase in intensity of severe storms, hurricanes, cyclones and dust storms.
• Coastal flooding as a result of rising sea levels, melting glaciers and ice sheets.
• Longer and destructive wildfire – Because of hotter and dried climate.
• Intense and frequent heat waves – That are posing serious health risks, heat exhaustion and heat strokes.
• Widespread forest death
• Severe droughts in certain regions of the world
• Widespread extinction of species
• Rise in sea levels worldwide – surface of occasions is rising due to excessive heat.
• Change in seasons – winter is very short, summer is prolonged, spring arrives early, and snow melts early too. It’s changing the animal and plants behavior and many species wouldn’t be able to survive in the long run.
• Disrupt food supply may lead to starvation, driving the cost of food production high.

What we can do?

We need to take drastic corrective measurements in order to save our motherland for us and for coming generations. Yes, together we can bring a halt to global warming. What can make difference is to diminish the emission of greenhouse gases. We can do little yet impactful deeds at personal level to cope with global warming.

Clean and renewable energy resource. Discourage extensive fossil fuels burning for electricity generation. The best option is the deployment of environment friendly solar panels.

Blaze less gasoline by driving fuel-efficient cars. Though such cars are expensive as compared to their low profile counterparts but when it’s about environment make no compromise.

Preserve energy. The most profound solution to climate change is to save as much energy as we can. Plug off electric devices and chargers when not in use. Never leave them at standby mode, especially before stepping out of home. Practice to turning off unnecessary lights and replace the ordinary light bulbs with energy-savers.

Plant trees on regular basis and facilitate “Photosynthesis”. An acre of grown up trees have ability to supply oxygen enough for 18 persons and absorb as much CO2 as produced by a car when we drive it 26,000 miles. Moreover trees have miraculous potency to purify polluted air, decelerate water evaporation and climate change.

Go for energy-efficient appliances that curtail electricity consumption. We can compress electricity bill while being environment friendly.

Drive less and smart. Evade unnecessary driving. Prefer public transport and carpool/sharing. Don’t forget to switch off car’s engine while getting out of it to fetch something.

Reduce waste and recycle anything you can. Don’t straight away trash used containers. Keep the environment clean and reuse the plastic bottles, cans, cartons etc as much as possible.

Conserve water. Be ecosystem and society friendly. Recoil from water wastage and therefore save energy as water is pumped by employing electric pump/motor.

In the land of misinterpreted terror

From ayatollahs railing against the Great Satan (aka the United States) to whip-wielding policemen on motorbikes, Iran hasn't presented the most inviting face to the outside world over the last few decades. But a few days ago the UK Foreign Office stopped telling travellers to avoid non-essential trips. So what's it like for a visiting foreigner? Amy Guttman shares her experiences.

I'm fairly fearless in far-flung places, but arriving in Tehran made me nervous. As a single, white female, I stuck out. I scanned the hall for my guide Amin, and didn't relax until I spotted his placard with my name on it.

British, American and Canadian tourists must be accompanied at all times by a guide. This meant Amin, short in stature, but long in kindness, would spend the next eight days with me - many of them stretching from dawn until late at night. Amin, with his warm smile, sharp sense of humour, and gentle nature became like a brother to me. He also became my accountant. Hotels, food and souvenirs are roughly on a par with American prices, but for an outsider working this out can be tricky - Iran uses the rial, but prices are often in toman, which equal 10 rials... Let's just say there are several zeros to contend with, and long-division skills are a necessity.

Cliché but not so Cliché

It is not easy to stand alone and be recognized when you don't want but then you have no choice.

There is no shame in admitting that I am not good with people when it comes to asking them to stay and time and time again this thing has cost me some dearest people in my life. But then, I just don’t get the point of people leaving. They should not. Maybe they have their own reasons, or friends are influenced by something that I do, but still that is not a good excuse.

One thing that I notice is that they will be kind to you for the first time, they will be nicer the next time but the third time they will become the usual rude and show their true colors. Unfortunately, that is something I have observed a lot. That old Cliché.

I have to maintain my privacy but are so good at fooling themselves and don’t seem to be trustworthy enough, which leaves me no choice. It is so hard to stand alone and feel the world crumble under your feet. There is no way I am going to compromise on anything that can harm the peace in my life, I have struggled a lot to obtain it.

But I still believe, that no matter what, people who want to be a part of your life will always come back to you. Sooner, rather than later and I am not giving up. I will wait.

These have been some happening days for me. My semester result was the best I have ever had. That has more to do with me being on my own instead of me studying properly. When you just have one thing to focus on, you are able to perform well. The more I am studying, the more I realize that Bachelors level degree does not have that much importance these days. I don’t want to study more, but then I don’t really see what else the option will be.

Ramadan is supposed to be good, a blessed month for everyone. It has been nice, but there has been something bothering me. I don’t know what it is, and I don’t know why I feel this way, but always some sort of unknown tension on my mind is doing me no favors.

I am badly in need of some cricket, be it playing or watching. Still more than a month to go in the series between Pakistan and England. Football is there, and it is a good time pass, but when your favorite team gets to play a minimum of three games throughout the tournament, it is had to maintain the excitement. One the flip side, going out with friends at a pub (not to drink okay) and enjoying football the British way has been an amazingly different experience.

I have this fear that my habit of writing will finish very soon just like the habit of reading completed all of a sudden. I really can't afford to do that since that is the only peaceful activity along with photography that I can do. I need a way to balance all my routines and give some time to writing. I mean, I can write very few lines every day instead of trying to write a complete article in one go? Maybe that will help.

Happy Ramadan to everyone! Along with following the cliché ways of reading Quran and Namaz and thinking your fast is complete, try to pray in a different way. Try to help people I am sure there are several other sunnah we can follow instead of the typical ones. Holy Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) was versatile like that. 

Bird, Colors, Everything

Birds! There is a lot about them which excites people. Colorful. They are free, they are pure, and they always return back to the ones they love. They fly as if there is no burden, they chirp in the most beautiful melody, and they always care for the ones who are important to them.

People come and go in everyone's life. Same is the case with my life. Nothing exceptional. Everyone has good and bad experiences in their life. There have been people in my life too. Some stayed. Some left. Some while shouting and some without saying anything. All of them taught me about life in different ways. But you hope, wish and try the way you can, for some of them to stay in your life.

Then some people enter your life, totally unexpected. The moment they do, you know this is going to be something special. You are so careful in everything, trying not to mess anything up. But when you know what you want, and the intentions are right, you aren’t afraid of taking risks. This journey with you has been that way.

I've absolutely loved this ride with you. You aren't like others, and that is the thing which attracted me to you the most. The way you were so careful in the beginning, how you noticed things about me to make a judgment, the way you still trusted me with all the doubts and assumption. I loved it. I loved the way you were careful. I took it as a challenge. Because I knew. I'll win this challenge.

You're beautiful. From the outside. Prettiest girl I have seen. Cute. Soft. Delicate. There have been times when I just wanted to hug you while looking at your pictures. Too adorable. I feel like kissing your cheeks. They give that refreshing feeling. Your lips. Incredibly soft. They are worth kissing. I imagine how it will feel placing mine on yours while holding you close. I love your eyes too. Mesmerizing. I could look into them for long. And then your smile, worth dying for.  It makes me want to close my eyes and imagine you in my arms.

You're beautiful. From the inside. Like the sunshine. Your heart is precious. I feel like making a place in it for myself forever. You're sensitive. It suits you and makes me want to care for you. It makes me want to close my eyes and imagine you in my arms. I like how you are so responsible and caring at such a young age. You are humble too. The first thing I liked about you was that you have a strong opinion on most things. Bless you! You never get angry. Oh and not forgetting the fact that you are absolutely crazy. Your sense of humor is something I never thought I would get to see. I enjoy every moment of it. 

Just know that you're valuable to me. You've become very precious. You're the first person I actually want to tell all my secrets too. You're the person I'll always want in my life. You're the person I know will stand by my side no matter what happens. Most importantly you are the person that adds happiness and excitement in my life. 

Just know that you are the bird I have always wanted, the one thing in life I never had and the everything that I have ever wished for.

The Story of Younis Khan (Part-4)

One last bit. Towards the end of the 35-minute recording, Hussaini asked him why he does not get the respect the other great Pakistani batsmen do. I wondered: 1) was it even true? And 2) see 1. It was designed to perpetuate Younis' victimhood, to force a seed deeper into his mind, that Pakistan does not respect him enough.

Maybe, Younis laughed, if he went on TV more to say he should get more respect, then he would. But he won't do that. And then he narrated an anecdote showcasing the respect he was accorded, about how the South African franchise Dolphins wanted to sign him as a mentor-player for their young side at the same time as he was banned by Pakistan.

Just before the recording, when we had begun our interview, I had put it to Younis that, as prolific as he had been in the last five years after the ban, his on-field presence had changed. He smiled and mingled less, looked more alone. He agreed. "You are saying I have become a bit reserved, yes? If you look at the last four to five years, whatever has happened, the way the management behaved, either I fight with them or stay silent.

"I can't fight anymore. Now I'm getting closer to Javed [Miandad] bhai's records, I'm thinking I don't want to fight. The energy I have I want to use towards my fitness and work. Because if you look at the last four to five years… "

We can skip this bit because it segued into extensive, discursive and blinkered venting about his exclusion from the ODI side. He spoke quickly, gobbling up whole words, relying on popular Urdu and English phrases. Then he came to the point, namely that he could not believe, after all he had done, that people still questioned his place in the Test side.

"Now I am seeing that when Younis Khan doesn't perform in a couple of matches, they start comparisons, that he is like this, like that, that he should leave now. I get very surprised by this. If somebody comes and says this, I say, look at my performances, my records. It's like if somebody in India says to Sachin, 'Sachin bhai aapne pichle match me kya kara?' [What did you do in your last match?] I get surprised by that."

I didn't know what to make of this illeism, or drawing equivalence with Tendulkar, so I asked him whether people really did say stuff like this to him.

"Very often."

"Does it prick you still?"

"No, because the day I started playing for Pakistan, my seniors and elders told me this. My mother always said to me something even I didn't understand at the beginning.

"She said: 'What is the love of a donkey? When he falls in love, he starts kicking.' So I have taken that formula and I move on. Anyone can do or say anything, it is no issue. When matters are in my hand, I will do what is right. I will not see what people are saying about me, I see what I have to do. Not even what they have done, I look at what I have done. I see how Younis Khan has reacted and what Younis Khan has done. If someone throws rubbish at me, I don't ask why, I have to see what reaction I give. That is why I smile so much, I smile at myself, at other things, sometimes even I wonder what I'm smiling at."

In that Village of Thailand

Written By: Flora Baker

Mama watches the hole for red ants, chewing on a betel nut. She bends down to lift the upright log buried deep in the hole’s centre. She’s 67, worn to the colour of mahogany.

The log is an old buffalo’s yoke. She and Papa first worked their rice fields with water buffalo 40 years ago; half their equipment is still scattered around the farm in the small Thai village of Nong Weang, waiting for harvest to begin.

Nong, their daughter, has five brothers; two older, two younger, one lost to the army in his 20s. His photo is framed on the cement wall, beside the obligatory images of the Thai king and queen. Papa named his daughter after their village.

Now in her 30s, Nong laughs to remember that he almost gave her up for dead. “I was always a sick baby. One time my daddy buried me because I wasn’t moving. Two days and my heart goes ‘jump!’ He feel the rhythm in the earth, and dig me up!”

We sit like mermaids on the tiled patio, toes pointing daintily away from our bodies, as Nong tidies up the last of the fragrant curries and sticky rice, waiting for her father to finish eating. Papa, sitting cross-legged like Thai men are allowed to do, chews rice absent-mindedly.

I rearrange my aching feet as Nong speaks about the Khmer Rouge invasion. Their village, close to the Cambodian border, was first in line for attack, but Papa didn’t leave when his neighbours fled, pleading with him to follow. Instead, he dug a hole. Nong gestures to where Mama stands, surveying the upright log. The hole is broad and deep.

“We were hidden there, lying under branches.” Papa never hid in the hole. He stayed on the patio with a machete, guarding his livelihood against an unseen enemy, while his children lay buried in the dark, wet earth. Nong doesn’t remember how long she stayed hidden.

The air is close and thick. Despite an earlier soaking in the rain, the earth still radiates heat. It’s the middle of the Thai summer, almost time for the monsoon. My palms are clammy with sweat. We listen to damp leaves falling loudly onto the patio’s tin roof. As I watch Mama, she spits, the red stream hitting a column of red ants emerging from the hole’s centre. Dead straight.

Just Another Souvenir

Teary eyes, grief inside.

Heart and soul with despair.

I thought I knew what was there.

Smoke, cigarette, ashes and smear.

I held his hand out of fear.

Clueless due to his veneer.

I burned myself.. 

to become his another souvenir!

                                        -Written By: Zainab Shah

Love Endures

Good poets like precision, real art is
an economy of words that define.
That is why the subject of love will mess
up even the wisest of poets that line 
that sounds more like lust most of the time.

Up to talk much of unrequited love,
True love may not be eternal or above
nevertheless because it endures in the coffee
ordinary humans but found to be divine
made each morning, resides in the same bed

Sickness, health and death, life's distracting lures.
every night, lasts through mistakes and daffy
misunderstandings, diapers, children fed,
When loved ones work at it, love endures.

The Story of Younis Khan (Part-3)

Younis' World Cup had become an unwitting homage to his ODI career: in and out of the XI, prompting questions about whether he should have been there at all, shuffled around the order, and no outstanding performance in three games. In 2013 he had been dropped from the ODI plans, seemingly permanently, and replaced by younger batsmen. It became a wound, which grew as he was dropped one game into a recall a year later. After that he asked the selectors whether "a player like me should shoot myself?" Their response, presumably to avoid culpability in suicide, was to bring him back into their World Cup plans.

At the World Cup, Younis began with 6 and 0 against India and West Indies, both heavy losses. He was then dropped for the next two games. "If you were captain instead of Misbah, would you have picked Younis Khan in the next match [after the West Indies loss]?" Hussaini asked. Younis said yes, ignoring the longer sequence of which these poor numbers were a part: since the start of 2013, he had nine scores of ten or less in 17 ODIs and just one over 50, a 103 against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi.

What now of your ODI future? Nothing, said Younis, bemused, I still have one. Did I run badly? Do I field badly? Would I not have performed better than some younger players, he asked. (Not really: of the 18 batsmen, Nos. 1 to 6, who have played ten or more ODIs since the 2011 World Cup for Pakistan, Younis' average is 14th on the list.)

Hussaini moved to Sri Lanka, not to the century but to calls for Younis and Misbah-ul-Haq to retire after the loss in the second Test. This was a major exaggeration. Only Asif Iqbal said it, and in the hierarchy of sniping former cricketers, Asif Iqbal is pretty low. If there were others, they were not important enough for history to note and band together as a movement. Younis ignored Hussaini's lit match, and next to it started his own fire.

"One thing I want to make clear here," Younis said. "Don't compare me to Misbah-ul-Haq. I've been playing cricket for a long time. But I have big performances, a lot of them, everywhere. I'm the only Pakistani with hundreds against every country. My style is also not like Misbah-ul-Haq. So please. I'm also four years younger than him. Everyone knows my style also, I am of an aggressive frame of mind. [Cut to a shot of Hussaini giggling heartily, as if at some in-joke.] The kind of player that he is, the kind of person he is, that is in front of everyone. So please don't compare me."

His expression oscillated between being offended by the thought of the comparison, and being bewildered by it, like why compare an apple to an orange in the first place? It never occurred to him that nobody, not even Hussaini, was actually comparing, just grouping them for the purposes of a question about the two oldest batsmen in the Test side, which they are.

Hussaini had his headline and, exultant, immediately aimed for another. Playing on names, he asked whether batsman Younis and coach Waqar Younis were on the same wavelength. Who knows what might have happened had he not scored in Pallekele, Younis said. He smiled his way through that, and because there is no such thing as a fake Younis smile, it is often difficult to know how to read such responses. Separately he told me that the amount of pressure he felt from team management, having gone five innings without a fifty, "Aap ki soch hai" [You can only imagine]. It is one of his favourite phrases.