Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Safe Space

I propose safe space. A special space where everyone can go to feel safe. Such spaces could exist in public parks, shopping centers, schools, beaches and many more places of interest that can become safer. People can go here to feel safe and enjoy an environment that's designated for their enhanced safety. Safe space can become a wonderful reality for cities that are ridden with high crime, or urban centers that have poor safety standards. Anyone can enter safe space and feel a sense of security, a place where they can feel totally safe, and an environment that promotes their personal safety and well-being. In such a place they can be comfortable around others, be able to read or sit on benches, or take a pause from the hectic pace of the world that can sometimes feel unsafe. Safe spaces can be dynamic places equipped with Wi-Fi access, safety signs, and safety guards, to ensure a high level of safety for visitors. Local precincts and firehouses can sponsor such places with events on safety and assign Safety Officers to these spaces. Disabled and retired individuals can benefit most by using safe space as a comfort zone, and these can be a wonderful place for meditation and healing. Had a bad day or too much on your mind? You can visit safe space to relieve the stress. There can be live music or special kiosks that play music for meditation and relaxation. You can have a meaningful experience and meaningful conversations with others without ever feeling threatened or a sense of safelessness. When there's too much to do and too much on your mind, safe space can be the answer for all your worries. In safe space, your safety always comes first such as a right to safety. Everyone can feel safe and no one can make you feel unsafe or intrude on your safety. These spaces can unite communities to promote safety and restore a greater balance of safety in our world. There is no risk of fire, there is no risk of natural disaster, there is no risk of personal harm or injury, violence or drugs, and you can feel totally safe and at peace with yourself and among others. Please vote (by + 1) to help spread the safety.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Merah Yaar

Merah yaar,
Bahar seh ayah aur deghyah pyar,
Kuch kah keh, kar keh, ho keh sahar,
Kareeb seh guzreh, woh har bar,
Jassai raat meh rotay hai pahar,
Aur yaad meh jaalteh hai chiraagh,
Kaabi nah ho wo mujseh paar,
Merah yaar,
Bahar seh ayah aur deghyah pyar.

Translation. My Friend.

My friend,
From the mountains,
who showed me love,
Doing this and that, giving me his aid,
May he always pass by me here,
Like mountains that cry at night,
And memories that glow in lamps,
May he never live far from me,
My friend,
From the mountains,
who showed me love.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Always First

The first kiss,
the first touch,
the first breath,
the first hug,
the first look,
the first word,
the first laugh,
the first love,
the first win,
the first chance,
the first step,
the first glance,
the first job,
the first boss,
the first home,
the first born,
the first moon,
the first star,
the first night,
the first car,
the first day,
the first dawn,
the first sigh,
the first morn,
the first come,
the first serve,
the first time,
the first girl,
the first wish,
the first verse,
the first light,
Always first.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Always Learning

Learning to talk,
Learning to walk,
Learning to see,
Learning to touch,
Learning to care,
Learning to share,
Learning to stand,
Learning to speak,
Learning to read,
Learning to write,
Learning by sight,
Learning by night,
Learning to give,
Learning to take,
Learning to let go,
Learning for sake,
Always learning.

Merah Ghar

Merah ghar,
Sapnoh seh bhar,
Koi ho nah kabr,
Nah choru woh dhar
Merah ghar,
Aaj aur kal,
Jah pehroh peh chal
Woh zameen hai samal,
Merah ghar,
Asmanoh seh jhar,
Jah sitaroh peh char,
Aur pahadoh keh paar
Jah lahtu har baar,
haar yah lahr,
Wo hai merah ghar.

Translation.

My Home

My home,
Full of dreams,
Know nothing else,
Refuse to leave this sacred place,
My home.
Today and tomorrow,
Where my feet may walk,
On soft ground
(on rose petals),
My home.
Affixed to the sky,
Where I can climb stars,
Astride mountains,
Where I always return,
in defeat or victory,
That is my home.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Essay Questions

Do you have a favorite family member that you absolutely adore?  Write an essay describing him or her (500 words or more).

My Brother-In-Law

We met only for a short time and only a short while ago but he's absolutely wonderful.  He is also my cousin and the brother of my fiance.  He is nice, has a sweet personality, is kind and knows how to treat people with respect.  He's a great person.  When my fiance and I were engaged, he was very kind, and showed us a great deal of hospitality.  We had traveled a long distance for the engagement and he made us feel very comfortable.  He lives in Multan, Pakistan.  In short, we hit it off right from the start.  He's only sixteen but is very mature for his age since he lives without his father, who has to be overseas for business.  He is loving, caring and sharing and looked very handsome at the engagement ceremony.  He was the first person I noticed when I stepped out of the car to enter the engagement hall.  I think of him like my brother.  He also drives a motorcycle, which makes me nervous since the motorcycle seems too big for his size and makes me even more nervous when my fiance rides in the back.  But it's pretty customary in Pakistan for even younger adults to drive a motorcycle.  He made a big impression on me since he was the first person to greet me outside at the engagement ceremony and the first person I seemed to notice, since he looked very handsome and had a big smile on his face.  That made me feel at ease and meant a lot to me since he seemed so excited.  He also looked very chic and has a great sense of style.  That's something we have in common since I also love fashion and clothes.   He's a very special person for that reason and even afterwards, he was very nice, and made me feel very happy and relaxed.  We're now best friends and I find it easy to talk to him.  I hope we'll always remain friends through the ups and downs, especially since it's a long way until the wedding.  His name is Ahmad.  My cousin explained to me that we are descended from the same clan, or have the same family name.  I am very proud of him since he is the only male presence in their immediate family and shows a lot of maturity.  He reminds me of many people who I admire.  He has a lot of heroic qualities like superman when he was a teen.  I hope to bond with him more and talk with him and learn more about him.  It was a monsoon engagement of sorts and went by in a flash but we have the rest of our lives to know each other better.  I only plan to marry once and he is my sole brother-in-law so I am not overwhelmed by the idea of having a younger brother-in-law.  I hope he also considers me as a best friend and with me being overseas, I hope I can be a positive influence for him, someone he can rely on and buy him lots of gifts that he might enjoy.  Thanks Ahmad, for welcoming me into your family.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

The Man with No Memory (from our series on Fixed Time)

There was once a man who enjoyed life.  He was married, had friends, had a happy home and a happy life.  He enjoyed being with people and being around people.  He was close to his family and friends and shared many likable moments and experiences with them.  He was an original but plain and ordinary, a simple man with ordinary values.  Then, one day his life changed in a tragic twist of fate.  While driving to work, he was hit by a car and taken to the hospital.  When he awoke, he couldn't remember who he was, why he was at the hospital, could barely recall people he knew, or what he was doing there.  The doctors diagnosed him with amnesia, or partial amnesia, or partial loss of memory.  When he was taken away by his family and friends and returned home and they asked him questions about anything he could remember, he was vague.  They tried to describe events to him to help him recall certain experiences but to no avail such as being with friends and family at home or at work, attending parties, going out, taking vacations, and work and other activities.  He could barely remember who they were and why he knew them or did the things that they described.  The people he knew loved him but could not understand why he could not remember them.  This is interesting since this man and his partial loss of memory can further illuminate our discussion on fixed properties of time.  When the man lost his memory, he couldn't remember the people that were once familiar to him, why and how he knew them, or took part in their lives, and their memories of him, while real or not, are still memories and sights of knowing, and while he remembered them, his amnesia had obscured his memory of them.  Thus, he only possessed a physical memory of them, or he only remembered them in a physical way, or the physical time that he spent with them, that was ultimately forgotten whence he was inflicted with amnesia.  All his interaction, moving forward, is now stilted to plain memory, such as knowledge of his friends and family but no intimate knowledge such as being able to greet them but not know them in the spiritual sense.  Thus, the value of time for him that has passed seems superfluous or extra-natural.  That he knew these individuals in a physical time but barely knows them now in a comprehensive way as a result of his partial amnesia, such as a comprehensive time.  This man, it can be said, is a time agent, or time carrier, such as a property of time that is fixed due to his partial loss of memory of a time that has passed, that he can't fully remember or know why, since his memory of the former time has been obscured, thus time has cloned itself.  Who is this man that knows and does not know?  Are the proponents of his memory that know him, owe him; alas, they are not suffering from amnesia, and have experienced time commensurately to him, the man who only remembers them or that experience faintly, through memory, or unreality or unmemory; but is acquainted to them through sense experience, a knowledge of them, a memory, a time that has passed that is unlived or undone, is incomplete or unreal.  Has he lived an unreality, a memory of time and not time as it should have been allotted.  His friends' memory of him while whole is undermined by his partial amnesia, a point of time that has come full circle to become a future time, a past time, a current time and all time.  He seems to love his friends, and remembers them but can't remember why he remembers them.  If they are a memory to him and he can't remember them is he a cause of that memory and unremembering.  The thought is staggering.  Are they truly his friends or are they fitted or unfitted for his time consumption that is eternalized by his sudden amnesia, that he can't remember them but knows them and knows of them but can't remember why?  In this state, he is immortalized by his unremembering, and they become for him a form of mortal attraction, and they are once more and remain his friends as a condition of his knowing them and unforgetting.  What they think of him, know of him, and remember of him, seems extraneous to their new knowledge of him as a man with partial loss of memory.  The clock has been reversed or unwound but much time has passed and memories absconded and abandoned.  Thus, the man with no memory shows us that all properties of time are points in time and are fixed properties.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

The Law of Shapes and Fixed Properties of Time

Shapes are all around us.  They control much of our lives.  Everything has a shape except for nothing.  The world all around us is dictated by shapes.  Shapes have attributes but are fixed values such as the shape of my bowl, coffee mug, refrigerator, desk, bed, lamp and chair.  Some are odd shapes with obtuse angles, some are even shapes such as a square or a circle, and some are inordinate shapes that we see in sculpture museums.  What is the significance of shapes?  The earth is a shape; it is round.  Trees have shapes, leaves and even a blade of grass resembles a shape.  My carpet is a square, which I can stand on, sit or walk across.  It can be oval, circular but it is a square.  Shapes help us to define our lives such as containers that hold contents like milk or water.  The shape is nothing by itself but its shape.  The shape of a glass often defines the quantity of the water it can hold, but a gallon is always a gallon and the size of a gallon will always be the same no matter what shape of container we use.  But a gallon will look different in a cone-shaped bottle than an ordinary supermarket container.  The mathematical values of all shapes are almost always definite.  A ring of a specific shape can wrap around my finger or anyone else's finger if their finger is the same size.  When we look at time, we learn that shapes are immortalized by their definite values, such as a square or a circle of a specific perimeter or circumference.  If I can conceive a shape of a definite mathematical value, it is an immortal aspect of my being and non-being.  Shapeless matter often requires form to give it a definite shape.  Matter is shapeless but shapeful, mortal but immortalized through its determination of shapes.  Life is ultimately meaningful but what gives shape and bestows shape to a formless being.  Is it an eternal, shapeless power that comes to being through natural forces to give shape to the world or vice versa.  No matter the source, the interconnectedness of such powers that give and take away shape, is consistent with our discussion on fixed properties of time.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Gratitude

If I ever wanted to thank someone, I would thank them for their time.

Life

What is life but a waiting.

Koi Baath Ti

Koi baath ti,
Koi nah ti,
Koi saath ti,
Koi chaat ti,
Koi paas ti,
Kyah raat ti,
Jaab saath ti
Woh hawaa ti,
Uski joh saans ti,
Kuch raaz tah,
Jaab paas ti,
Nah baaz hu,
Woh pyaas ti,
Kuch ahsaas tah,
Koi awaaz ti
Nah naraaz ho,
Woh mujseh,
Woh tho kuch khaas ti,
Yeh tho alfaaz hai,
Uski tho koi aur baath ti.

Trans.  Some Talk

Some talk,
Some not,
Someone's here,
My desire,
When she's near,
Some night,
When she's here,
A wind, 
When she breathes
She has a secret,
When she's near,
I can't stop,
She is my thirst,
Some concern, 
A beautiful voice,
Never be angry,
With me,
She is special,
This is just a word,
She is much more.

Friday, June 3, 2011

The Law of Zero and Fixed Properties of Time

It's been awhile since I've visited this subject.  Let us look at the law of zero and fixed properties of time.  Zero signifies nothing.  When we add zero to any number such as 1, 2, or 3, we get that number, 1, 2 or 3.  If we subtract these numbers from zero, we get zip or negative values since a positive integer is subtracted from a non-value.  Consider two identical bookshelves.  They are each 1 and 2.  Since no two things are completely identical such as numbers or bookshelves for that matter, we consider the universe as fixed.  Each bookshelf is one since a zero can be added to equal itself.  If we added another bookshelf like it, we would gain an excess bookshelf that is also not identical to its preceding self as a fixed value that can be subtracted by zero.  Time is ultimately the zero sum game.   Because of the addition of one such as one unit of time that can be extrapolated by itself but is not identical to the multiplication of that self, we consider all properties of time as fixed properties.  I can have two identical cups of coffee but they can't be categorically identical because of their autonomy since they occupy time and space, respectively.  If you multiply the cup of coffee by itself, it would still be autonomous, because of its inherent value, as an entity that can be subtracted itself by zero to equal itself.  As a matter of identity and autonomy, all entities can be subtracted by themselves to equal themselves, thus preserving their fixed values.  Zero seems to stand alone and seems to be the start of all life.  The number one, that is added to zero, and multiplied infinitely and autonomously, seems to indicate a fixed value.  According to Wikipedia, the word zero is derived from the Arabic for "it was empty".  Indeed, zero is like the glass jar containing the sands of time, that are infinite and autonomous and can be multiplied and added to themselves and by themselves to equal themselves.  Time as the zero sum game tells us that all things come from zero and can revert to zero since they are free of themselves or self-identical.  Zero is the monstrosity that occupies and overrules their existence.  Since they are a derivative of zero, they should be signified by the number zero.  We have one sun and millions of rays of light.  The rays of light can be traced to the sun, which is one but is also zero, if it ever burned out.  Thus, it's position is one, zero, and fixed.  Ironically, the latter consumes the former to equal itself.  The number one cannot consume itself because it would only add the number one to itself.  Only nothing can consume itself and be itself as fixed.  Life seems to fade with age but is also immortal as it gives itself away to itself by adding or multiplying itself by zero, in small portions or in droves.  Does zero ever die or fade away?  Indeed, zero is also dying and preserving itself by multiplying or adding itself to itself as with numbers.  In fact, it is already dead since it has no value.  We've hit a stone.  What is the meaning of life when such a sequence is interminable?  What is paradise if it is not a departure from life to a perceived or more desirable life?  Or is it simply an immortal life without the capacity to die.  What is death when properties of time are fixed and what is the meaning of the death of a natural life.  Is it a gateway to an abstract world or the Paradise of the Gospels.  How can we better cope with reality?  Here's hoping that more will come to light as we continue our series on fixed properties of time.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Mujeh Jeenah Hai

Mujeh jeenah hai, yah marneh doh.

Trans.  I want to live or let me die.

The World

One thing I've learned in life, is that you can't control the world.

Trees

As a child, I always enjoyed watching the tops of trees.

Nah Badi Nah Choti

Nah badi nah choti,
Wo hai akloti,
Tang hoti, roti,
Palakti wo choti,
Jaab chalti wi hoti,
Nah badi nah choti,
In ankoh ki moti,
Jaab kwaaboh meh soti,
Woh hai akloti,
Nah badi nah choti.

Trans.
Not big, nor small,
She's all alone,
Annoyed, perturbed,
Having no concern,
Whenever she passes by,
Not big not small
A diamond in my eyes,
Whenever she is sleeping,
She's all alone,
Not big, nor small.

We're seeking Hindi, Persian, Urdu translators.  Please email us at theknowingcafe@gmail.com