Friday, February 24, 2012

Shisha – Fashion or Addiction ?

In the last 6-7 years, I have personally noticed the growing trend of shisha smoking in Karachi. I remember I first time I puffed shisha at a friend’s BBQ party, I coughed like for 3-4 times continuously. Maybe the reason was that I don't smoke or whatever, but that gave me a feel of having smoked an entire cigarette with a single puff !


Recently, I was with my friend at M.A. Society near kaybees, where I saw a bunch of class 8 students discussing various things while smoking shisha. The way they were discussing various adult rated issues was kind of alarming and the worst thing was that all of them had bunked their tuitions and collected money for smoking shisha !

Me and my friend were astonished to see such careless attitude towards studies, we blamed media, parents, independence etc but the thing which we ignored was that those kids were ruining their life by smoking shisha.

I believe that this habit has turned out to be a fashion or the ‘IN THING’ these days, rather than addiction. Youngsters usually smoke shisha in a gathering, while hanging out with friends, at BBQ, night stays and picnics etc. and the worst thing is that if an individual don't smoke at a gathering, people tag him as “Mummy-Daddy” or sophisticated etc. So out of peer pressure one start smoking shisha as a fashion and ends up becoming a total addict of it !

 For all those fools who believe that shisha has nothing in common to cigarettes or is less injurious then here are some facts:
  • On an average, each shisha smoking session typically lasts more than 40 minutes, and consists of 50 to 200 inhalations (puffs) that each range from 0.15 to 0.50 liters of smoke.
  • In an hour-long smoking session of shisha, users consume about 100 to 200 times the smoke of a single cigarette, not only this but if you consider passive smoking (i.e. inhaling the smoke) then these figures could be multiplied by two.

Shisha has dangerous effects on the body because it exposes the smoker to a much larger volume of smoke than what would be inhaled from a cigarette. Not only that, but shisha smokers are exposed to other toxins such as carbon monoxide, heavy metals, and a variety of cancer causing chemicals which are no less dangerous than those found in cigarette smoke.


I was really happy when Sindh Govt. decided to ban shisha but as all other laws of Pakistan, this law has been used and abused. I believe that we need to condemn this issue which is settling it’s roots in our society. Our youth is going crazy for this “Cool” stuff but on the other hand our youngsters are ruined through this Addictive Fashion. This could be done by informing our youth and the shisha lovers the side effects of this So-called fashion and let them know that how severe the outcomes are !

 Be kind enough to yourself and your family, who has been spending their lives and money for you. As ALLAH himself informed us to stay away from things which could destroy us:
“And do not throw yourselves into destruction.” [Qur'an 2:195]

Saturday, February 11, 2012

10 Tips to surprise her this Valentine's Day

Some are cliche ideas, some innovative. But your beloved would definitely be impressed if you surprise her using any of these tips:


1. Send her a bouquet at her office or at midnight. Flowers always work!
2. Facebook status update - Write something to show how much you love her. Keep the status intact at least for the entire day ;)

3. YouTube - Upload a video declaring your undying love for her.
4. Cook for her... and cook good.

5. Recreate your first proposal / date scene. If it hasn't happened yet -ask her out now!
6. The evergreen hand written love letter never fails.

7. Send her romantic text messages at random intervals... but not every 5 mins ;)
8. If you stay together, nothing's better than a candlelit room... of course, I mean aromatic ones!

 9. Make one of her wishes come true.
10. Even if you really think so, do not tell her how you hate Valentine's Day if she really likes the day.


    It's true that love's in the air every single moment. But it's also true that we don't feel its presence given our busy lifestyle. Having a day in the year, 14th February, dedicated to it is cute. All right, many debate it being a marketing stuff etc etc and enough controversy is generated on Valentine's Day as well, but then don't we celebrate other days too?



    C'mon, don't tell me you don't feel that people are more romantic and behave better on that one day. Whatever be the 'hype', it does make a sweet difference.

    Let's spread love... we need it at such times, isn't it?