When the lights go out

A power failure at midnight on the eve of July 29 didn't really cause a furor. After all, it had just started to drizzle. "I thought it to be typical KESC behaviour," said Haris Ashraf, an IT consultant, with a shrug. "I was attending a wedding at the time and the minute it started to rain, the lights in the hall went out. Thankfully, there was a standby generator," he added.

Little did he or anyone else for that matter know that they were in for a long night. It wasn't a routine power shutdown which all Karachiites are used to during the monsoons. News reports revealed that there was a massive breakdown in the transmission system of the KESC, which led to almost 75 per cent of the city reeling without electricity for a long stretch. Almost all areas around Karachi were heavily affected.

At this point, it is important to note that when anyone mentions a power breakdown, especially in the more up-scale areas, the first response is: "So what? They probably had a generator or UPS!"

But a generator needs petrol or gas to work and a UPS is actually is as limited as it can get. A UPS needs a certain amount of time to recharge its battery and when the battery runs out, well, its back to the dark ages in the truest sense of the word. "I live in Askari IV and we were without electricity for about 10 hours," complained Sana Siddiqui, a business student. "We tried calling the KESC but nobody answered the phone. Our UPS ran out after two hours," she added.

"Our electricity went out around four in the morning and the UPS went dead after two hours. The power was restored at 7.30," said Meena Ahmed, a resident of F.B. Area.

Mahwash Ajaz, a psychology teacher at a private university, also expressed her disgust at the state of affairs. "We (in Defence Phase 2) were out of power for a cumulative 24/48 hours. The UPS kept tripping since it never got the chance to charge. And on the night of July 28, it was gone for eight hours. I called all complaint numbers but three of those numbers were busy and no one picked up on the other four," she said.

"I live in Gulshan-e-Iqbal and we were without electricity from one in the night to 8:30 a.m. in the morning. And during this time, both our generator/UPS stopped did not work for five hours," said Hira Jawed, a professional.

The downpour on Tuesday evening last week only made matters worse. While rain was a welcome relief in the suffocating weather which has been plaguing the city for the past week, it also gave the KESC a good reason to shut off electricity for an even longer time.

"We had a five-hour power failure during the rain," said Sana. "It had just started drizzling around 7.30 p.m. when the KESC disconnected the power supply," she added.

"In Gulshan-e-Iqbal we had a power failure of about four to five hours during the rains. We had generator which we had to keep on starting again and again," complained Fizza Hassan, a student

Since power breakdowns are so common in the city, what can one do to deal with everyday crisis?

"Whether this is a result of a rift between KESC's top people and the government's stand to privatise it or a genuine shortage of power, the government needs to realize that we need an effective measure to this solution," said Mahwish Ajaz. "People are suffering as much as they possibly can. Life for an average Pakistani is tougher now than it ever was. With inflation and the bleak economic scenario, we add power shortage to the mix, how in the world can we not expect Pakistanis to shoot each other on-spot, with all the frustration? The heads of the government, power management committee and now the Thar coal reserves committee needs to find effective measures to use the reserves to make life easier for the people," she elaborated.

"I don't think there is any short-term solution," said Hira. "The authorities should focus on reducing transmission losses in the distribution network. This will involve investment but the return should be worth it. Also, I feel that Independent Power Producers (IPP) should be encouraged."

Other solutions include power generation from alternative sources. It is interesting to note that very few people actually consider kunda connections as something which puts a load on the power supply and causes the system to trip routinely.

And that is where the role of the average Karachiite comes in. Yes, the KESC may be inefficient and no one enjoys prolonged breakdowns of electricity but at the end of the day, one must think about who is putting extra load on the distribution systems. It is only when average citizens are conscious of the electricity connections in their own house that they can actually demand quality service.

A virtual feeling

A large number of activities, which are a part and parcel of everyday life, now come with the prefix 'e' for electronic, for instance, e- banking, e-mail and e-shopping to name a few. However, one aspect of personal communication, which has now fallen by and large to the electronic domain, is the trend of card sending and receiving. Yep, in this day and age, e-cards rule.

Previously, if one wanted to give someone a card on any occasion, whether it was a get well soon or Eid card, the process was long and required a lot of effort, like, going to a shop, browsing through all the cards available, reading the messages on them and then finally deciding upon the right one, writing down a personal message and then either giving the card in person or sending it by post.

Electronic cards make this process faster and more convenient. There is a much wider selection of cards available on various websites around the cyberspace. All you need is to browse the different websites, make your selection and enter the contact details and your message. The card will be instantly delivered to your recipient's mailbox and you will get an instant notification whenever the e-card is viewed.

Not only the e-cards but also their websites are quite attractive and appealing. Many websites allow you to edit and customise the card according to your preference. This flexibility to choose one's own colour scheme and in some cases, the text of the e-card itself, is one of their merits over conventional paper cards.

Another major advantage of electronic cards is that they are economical. Posting a card through mail would mean a drain on your budget plus you cannot even be sure if it will reach them on time or not. An e-card is free of such hassles.

However, as with everything else that is online, e-cards have their flip side as well. First and foremost, a lot of people feel that e-cards are just that - virtual. They are devoid of the real feelings with which a "hard copy card" is given. Electronic cards are considered by many to be highly impersonal.

But of course if one starts looking at it from that angle, then even the real cards can seem like mere wordiness. However, the effort that goes into sending a "hard copy card" does make the whole thing seem more real. Whereas an e-card by comparison is a mere point and click affair, which hardly takes more than five minutes.

One major issue related to e-cards is the numerous "mirror" websites, which have started to appear in cyberspace. There are now two categories of e-card websites. There is the "parent" website which is the genuine website, and then there are these "mirror" websites which contain almost the same layout as the parent website but they are faster to load and you can easily see the logo of the parent website imprinted on individual e-cards.

Some of these mirror websites are indeed harmless. But one major thing to keep in mind is that the mirror website can easily be a very sophisticated means of collecting email addresses, which means that you would be getting twice the amount of junk mail that you normally do. The best course of action is to be vigilant. Instead of giving out your personal email address here, it would be best for you to have a separate email address purely for sending out e-cards, so that even if you are spammed, at least it will not affect you that badly. After all, if that email address is purely for sending e-cards, then it's highly unlikely that you will be checking it that often.

While e-cards can be used as a means of spamming, they can also be used for phenomena called "phishing." In this you receive an email saying that says that you have received a greeting card. You click on the link and are told to enter your email address and password to access your card. And if you are naive enough to do that, then you will be given an assortment of e-cards to send them elsewhere rather than having access to any e-card sent to you. If any e-card website asks you to enter about your details to access your e-card, then warning bells should go off in your head. However, in spite of the cons, e-cards are quite popular.

Hijabified Concerns during Weddings

When one talks about hijab generally, it is mostly to do with whether or not hijab is obligatory, who to observe hijab in front of and is the covering of face essential? Of course, these are all valid questions, which must be and have been answered at length by many scholars. This article then, will move away from these questions and look at a phenomena, which is, to say the least, quite disturbing when it comes to hijab. And that phenomena is the wedding of a hijabified girl.

The wedding itself, of course, is a happy occasion for all. But if the bride is someone who observes strict hijab, then certain guidelines automatically become binding, not only on her family members and in-laws, but on her friends as well. And, unfortunately, these very guidelines are the ones they usually choose to ignore. And sometimes, the fact is, they do not even think in those directions.

So, what are the directions? First and foremost, let's analyse some of our routine wedding practices. If you attend any wedding, you generally want to snap some photographs and take them back with you to either show them or email them to those family members who didn't attend. You also want to keep them with you as a token of good memories. But if the bride observes hijab, and she is dressed up for the wedding day only because the function is segregated, then ask yourself -- should you snap her photographs, while she is decked up?

The answer, of course, depends on who you will be showing the photographs to. If you cannot be careful about what you do with those photographs, it would be better not to snap them at all. After all, if those photos inadvertantly fall in the hands of someone who shouldn't be seeing them (namely your brothers or male relatives), it will be a gross violation of your friend's hijab on your part.

The second of our routine practices is making videos. The reasons are the same as photographs. This has become common especially after the advent of cell phone cameras. Now, everyone seems to have a video recorder on their cell phones, which is used liberally in weddings. Again, the same directions apply. If the bride observes hijab, it is better not to take her video. And in this day and age, when you have no idea when your cell phone might be snatched, it would be a good idea not to store any photos and videos in your phone. You have no idea in whose hands they might fall in and what he would do with them.

Coming back to weddings, one step which some families take is prohibiting photographs and videos altogether at their functions. If you go to such a wedding, and are stopped from taking a photograph, don't take any offence. Some people really do have issues with these things and it would be nice if you respect that.

Let's now talk about what generally happens during the wedding of a hijabied girl, and how, consciously or unconsciously, her friends and family members end up doing things, which are not only in gross violation of her hijab, but are also upsetting to the hijabified girls among the clan as well.

It is generally observed that irrespective of how strictly the bride observes hijab, a whole bunch of people from her own clan as well as in-laws surround her, snapping her photographs at random at a time when she is dressed up to the fullest, courtesy a segregated function. And even though there are girls who choose to be strict at that time and decline to be photographed, at the severe risk of offending even their in-laws, there are many others who don't dare to speak up in fear of being ostracized by their family later. The issue of these girls, of course, is that you don't know who the photographs might be showed to later on.

Another trend, which is generally witnessed during a hijabified wedding function is that the photographs are snapped by a female photographer. This is a positive step, no doubt about that. But then, the family or the in-laws give them to a male developer for printing. That, of course, defeats the entire purpose of a segregated wedding and a female photographer. The question arises, do you really need those photographs in print that badly so as to actually sacrifice someone's hijab on the way? Then, once the photographs are developed, huge albums are made and showed around to family members, whether they are male or female. Again, this amounts to nothing but a gross violation of the girl's hijab. And in this case, it is worse, because in some cases she doesn't even know that her album is being showed around indiscriminately.

Moreover, there are some families who just don't bother taking the hijab of the bride seriously. They end up having non-segregated functions, with male photographers. The poor girl has to pose in front of them for her wedding portfolio, because, in most of the cases, she is too scared to speak up.

At the end of the day, unfortunately, there are a very few people who actually follow a strict code to ensure that they respect the hijab of the girl getting married. Therefore, as a wedding attender, it becomes our responsibility to act sensibly and not only respect their hijab ourselves, but get others to do so too.

Advice for hijabified brides

This is a word of advice to all the hijabified girls getting married.

• Instead of running away when your wedding ceremony is being discussed, take an active part in it and ensure that all functions of your family are segregated. Make sure your family does not book a male photographer/male video maker.

• For the functions of the in-laws, get your parents to talk to your in-laws about having segregated functions and ensure there are no male photographers.

• There are loads of female photographers and female waitresses available. Get your family and in-laws to avail their services.

• Make sure your in-laws know your ideas about hijab and especially the fact that you are strict about it.

• Designate a couple of like-minded friends around you on the day of your functions to keep a watch out around you and politely request people against snapping your photographs indiscriminately.

• Be firm if you have to, and decline having your photograph taken indiscriminately yourself if you have to.

• Have your hijab handy so that you can quickly don it if any male members of your family come in the ladies section. You can ask a friend to hold on to your hijab for you and give it to you the minute you need it.

• If there is no way your family/in-laws agree to a segregated ceremony, get them to make a special enclosure for you so that you don't have to sit on the stage. You can also get a matching hijab stitched with your wedding dress so that your 'satar' is covered at all times.

• Understand that you cannot please anyone. There will be people who will be offended by your adherence to your hijab. Some will tell you off. Others will call you an extemist. Your key is to be firm, yet polite. And, of course, make loads and loads of duas to Allah Almighty to make things easier for you.

• Realise that there may be loads of girls attending your wedding who may look to you as their source of inspiration. If you falter in your hijab at this critical time, these hijabified girls might lose hope. And if you truly respect your hijab, it will inspire them to do the same, or at least convince them that there is such a thing as a hijabified wedding.

• And finally, learn to stand up for yourselves. Once you start voicing your concerns, a very clear message will go out that you are indeed very serious about your hijab and would like people to give it due respect. If you remain quiet, the automatic message that will go across is that you are one of those people who really don't mind anything going on. So, be firm on what you believe is right.

Fooling Around

It was quite late in the afternoon - a time when many people indulge in a siesta after a long and tiring day. This particular household was no different. Everyone there was asleep as well with the exception of Sana Haq, the youngest member of the household. It was not surprising then, that when the phone rang, she went to pick it up.

'Hello?'

'Look, this is an emergency,' said an unfamiliar voice, slightly hysterical. 'Your father's administrator has been taken seriously ill. He is having problems in breathing. You must send your father right away to his clinic.'

Sana felt quite panicky. 'But my father is asleep,' she said. 'And if this really is an emergency, just take him to the hospital.'

The person on the other end hung up. Not quite sure what to do, Sana ran to her father's room and woke him up. Her father was also quite surprised. He picked up the phone and called his administrator on his cell phone. The administrator apparently was asleep and had no idea about what was going on. After a hurried exchange of words which left both Sana and her father in no doubt that he was really all right, the phone was hung up.

Now it was left to Sana to explain who had made the call and what exactly had happened. The entire family was quite baffled at what they thought was a very bizarre incident.

'It wasn't until very late at night, that we realized that it was 1st April that day, and someone had played a prank on us. It was quite disgusting. Imagine what might have happened had dad rushed to his hospital,' said Sana, narrating the incident that had occurred a couple of years ago.

One can easily surmise that this isn't the problem of just one family or one individual alone. Come the last week of March and it is highly likely that quite a few people will become their most vigilant selves, authenticating even the most trivial information they receive to ensure that they are not the victims of what is universally known as April Fool's Day.

April Fool - Quite Ancient!

It is quite surprising to note that unlike the events of Valentine's Day or Mother's Day, which have become rampant mainly because of all the mass media hype they generate, the phenomenon of April Fool has been around for a longer time in this country.

'I remember when I was in sixth grade, girls of my class used to discuss ideas for pranks to play on the 1st of April,' reminisced Maria Hussain. Maria is now in her fourth year of medical school. Judging by this, one can imagine that this idea has been around for, at least, the past decade.

Is Harmless Fun Really Harmless?

Even though 1st April pranks have been around for a long time, this doesn't essentially mean that people have gotten any more mature when it comes to playing pranks. The phrase 'harmless fun' is lost on most people as they indulge in bizarre and sometimes, quite dangerous tricks and jokes. Calling up people to give them unnerving news about their relatives, telling a classmate she has flunked a quiz or making people panic by telling them that their house has been a victim of arson are only some of these 'jokes' that in reality are not even slightly funny.

Over the years, another change that has taken place in the way 1st April is celebrated is that people have apparently decided that the whole month of March should be dedicated to it. Those who have loads of time at their disposal, not to mention a whole lot of their parents' hard-earned money, send out hoax SMSes to everyone in their list of contacts. These hoax news items are then made the subject of feverish discussion right up to 1st April, which is when the 'joke aspect' is revealed.

Confused? Take the following example. Your friend sends you an SMS that she is getting married in 30 days and that she needs your help for the wedding preparations. You sit down with her to make the guest list and decide the menu. At the end of the month, the month that incidentally happens to be March, you find out that it was a joke. Would you regard this as funny or would you term this as downright cruel and insensitive? It's not that hard a guess.

No Time for It!

But quite surprisingly, there are many young people who have now simply chosen to dismiss this day as nothing more than a waste of time. According to these people, they have other better things to do and they only indulge in humour in their own time and not because of any specific day. And, it's heartening to note this sudden change of trend, as revealed by some students.

'April Fool? What are you talking about?' exclaimed Nadia Fayyaz, student of a prestigious business institute. 'We simply don't have time to even think about it. We have our hourlies on 1st April and that's all that the first of April means to us these days.'

The views of Andaleeb Salim, an engineering student, are also somewhat similar. 'This is our third year. We have to take practical courses and form our project groups. I, along with my entire class, am so caught up in these academic activities that we can't even think of any pranks or jokes to play on anyone else.'

At the end of the day then, it does seem that where there are a group of people who will not even consider the nature of their pranks before playing them on others, there are loads of other young people who have decided that it is a sheer waste of time.

What matters is the way you actually think about April Fool's Day. Once you decide that on 1st of April, everything is legal, every joke will seem perfectly harmless, even though it may be dangerous to the nth degree. Of course, no one is saying that you should give up humour altogether. But the fact of life is that humour should not be at the cost of anyone else. And if it is, then maybe it's time to rethink whether all of Us really want this kind of humour to be part of our lives.

Is there a History?

It is quite interesting to note that April Fool's Day has NO history at all. Apparently, no one is ready to trust any historical account after it transpired that one of those accounts themselves was an April Fool's joke.

However, the most popular theory on the Internet regarding how this day came about goes something like this: Before 1582 (in some places the date is 1564), the New Year was celebrated from 25th March for eight days, concluding on the 1st of April and these were all the celebrations dedicated to this day. When the Gregorian Calendar was introduced, the New Year celebrations were shifted to 1st of January.

That was the time when there was no concept of mass media and news traveled slowly. So until this change of calendar became widely known, some people continued to celebrate the New Year on 1st April. Those who did not agree with the new calendar also continued with the old one. These people were labelled as fools by those who followed the new calendar. Over time, this evolved to 1st April being a day when people play practical jokes on others.

Beware of an Urban Legend

1st April has been a subject of many hoax emails. The bad news is that very few people realise that they're not authentic in the first place. One such email regarding the origins of 1st April, which has been widely forwarded, has now been widely refuted as well. The summary of that email is as follows:

The Christian forces wanted to capture Spain, but were unable to do so. To emerge victorious over the strong Muslim rule, they worked hard to indulge them in various vices like alcohol and cigarettes. Finally, when the morals of Muslims had degenerated, they attacked them and captured Spain, ending the Muslim rule. The last city that they occupied was Grenada and that was on the 1st of April. So from that day onwards, they celebrate the day as April Fool's Day - to symbolise that they made a fool out of Muslims to drive them out of Spain.

This story has been aptly termed as an urban legend and refuted by many on the following grounds:

a) As mentioned before, it was after 1582 or 1564 that the concept of April Fool came about. On the other hand, a historical fact is that that Muslim rule in Spain officially ended on 12th January 1492. There is a huge difference in dates, as you can see.

b) Smoking wasn't around at the time when Muslims ruled Spain. In fact, the first cultivation of tobacco by Spain was in 1550, again way after 1492 which was when Grenada fell.

c) There are many authentic and diverse explanations for the downfall of Muslims in Spain. These can be found in many books and articles, and the sources one can trust over a forwarded email.

Of course, the above three points were just the tip of the iceberg of a matter that has been discussed quite at length. Many different Muslim history buffs have collected facts and figures to convince other Internet and email users not to forward this email. Rather they should let the authentic facts be known to whoever forwarded this email in the first place. You can read more about this urban legend at http://www.themodernreligion.com/misc/hoax/april-fool.html