Welcome to this week’s 5BF: the newness of Urdu literature,
the importance of being aware of our happiness, learnings from the 5BF, and
more…
1 – what I am reading
Aag ka Darya (Sea of Fire) by Qurat ul Ain Haider – this book
was time and again recommended by my teacher and mentor, who describes Haider’s
thick novel as the ‘War and Peace’ of Urdu literature, and with the end of
Ramadan and my agenda of reading books on religion, I have now started my new
reading agenda, which is reading Urdu literature, with this promising book.
First thoughts after reading 20 pages: it feels new, foreign to read an Urdu
novel, and require a slower reading pace; yet it’s philosophical and I shall
continue to finish it.
2 – this week’s article
How evil happens @aeon – the author Noga Arikhi, being one
of the victims of evil actions where her grandfather was beaten and killed during
the holocaust, explains with the help of neuroscience how does evil actually
takes place. Although it ignore the more important question of why, this
article nevertheless helps us comprehend the dynamics of evil actions that confuses
us so much whenever it happens.
3 – what I am writing
‘5 Bites Friday: 50th edition special’: something
I was keen and excited to write, and is now being written, in this lengthy article
not only do I reflect on the short legacy of 5BF, but also extract out a
statistical data of 5BF and as well as 50 learnings from my favorite 5BF bullets.
When finished within this week, I’ll be as glad and proud about this article as
I was when I wrote ‘A Love Letter to Myself’.
4 – Eid amidst tragic global situations
One of the perks of being a religious person is the long-continuing
and profound cultural events, of which Eid is Islam’s celebratory one, where
the message is of joy, love, and closeness. But with the recent attacks at the young
students of Kabul school and the recent rising tension between Israel and Palestine
which has taken a bloody form, poised the otherwise pure celebrations of Eid.
Come to think of it, one of the reasons behind such timely attacks from the
terrorists is to destroy our opportunities of celebration and happiness; it is
their way of fighting also a psychological war along with guns, bombs, and
terror. So, while mourning with our fellow Muslims and humans is the least we
can do, it is equally necessary for us to hold on to the positives, the happy,
in order not to lose hope and let despair run us over, which is the ultimate
defeat.
5 – this week’s quote