Willem Young, The Shack

Do you think humans were designed to live in the past, in the present or the future?

Self-representation

The topic of self-representation on internet (especially ater death), though morbid, is quite intreguing. Would you want your facebook wall to disappear after your death and your account shut down or would you actually prefer that people continue to leave you a messages.

The first time I gave though to this topic was after the 2005 earth quake in Pakistan which left around 75 thousand people dead. I saw many messages being forwarded to me on Orkut ( a popular social networking site in pakistan) from friends of the dead asking to leave a message of condolence and a prayer for the person who passed away. At the same time there was quite some bickering on the profile of the deceased by people saying its disrecpectful.

Recently I came acorss a photographic exhibition dealing with the same topic called 'The travelers' part of the 'Ik RIP' project. The photogapher took portrait photos of deceased people to try and distinguish what traits make us alive. I have not gone to the exhibition ( not sure if its something I would liek to see) but the photos I have seen online, the people seem to be in a calm sleep some even look like they are smiling. The photographer not only snapped the pics she also learnt about the person's life story from their realtives. Their story is not inclued in the exhition, I think that would have been more moving ( also disturbing) to have the life story with the pic. If the stories were there I might have considered to see the exhibition.

As part of the project here is a website where you an let the webmaster know what to do with your online profile afte you are dead. But how do they find out you have passed away? It seems quite an extensive project with different aspets e.g teddy bear and football shoe shaped coffins.

To read more about the exhibition visit the following links.

http://www.mediamatic.net/page/69624/en

http://www.mediamatic.net/page/67716/en

I havent decided what I would want to happen to my online profiles....I think if im gone im gone its not something I need to think about. But if someone close to me passes away I would prefer not to see their profile anymore, a profile is only representative as long as someone is acitve and using it. if the person is gone forever it would only serve as a bucket of immense sadness.

21 Economic Models explained with Cows

SOCIALISM
You have 2 cows.
You give one to your neighbour.

COMMUNISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and gives you some milk.

FASCISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and sells you some milk.

NAZISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and shoots you.

BUREAUCRATISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other, and then throws the milk away...

TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell one and buy a bull.
Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows.
You sell them and retire on the income.

SURREALISM
You have two giraffes.
The government requires you to take harmonica lessons

AN AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows.
Later, you hire a consultant to analyse why the cow has dropped dead.

ENRON VENTURE CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows.
The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island Company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company.
The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more.
You sell one cow to buy a new president of the United States, leaving you with nine cows.
No balance sheet provided with the release.
The public then buys your bull.

A FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You go on strike, organise a riot, and block the roads, because you want three cows.

A JAPANESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk.
You then create a clever cow cartoon image called 'Cowkimon' and market it worldwide.

A GERMAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You re-engineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and milk themselves.

AN ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows, but you don't know where they are.
You decide to have lunch.

A RUSSIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You count them and learn you have five cows.
You count them again and learn you have 42 cows.
You count them again and learn you have 2 cows.
You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.

A SWISS CORPORATION
You have 5000 cows. None of them belong to you.
You charge the owners for storing them.

A CHINESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You have 300 people milking them.
You claim that you have full employment, and high bovine productivity.
You arrest the newsman who reported the real situation.

AN INDIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You worship them.

A BRITISH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Both are mad.

AN IRAQI CORPORATION
Everyone thinks you have lots of cows.
You tell them that you have none.
No-one believes you, so they bomb the **** out of you and invade your country.
You still have no cows, but at least now you are part of Democracy....

AN AUSTRALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Business seems pretty good.
You close the office and go for a few beers to celebrate.

A NEW ZEALAND CORPORATION
You have two cows.
The one on the left looks very attractive

Heer-Ranjha’s Ishq

The region of Punjab gave birth to four popular tragic romance tales, one of them being Heer-Ranjha. The most popular account of this epic tale is the prose written by Waris Shah in 1766, who immortalized Heer and Ranjha and in doing so became a household name and the most praised poet in the subcontinent. Heer is the most widely read and recited folk tale of Punjab; the fascinated minds have taken it upon them to uncover the reality of this tale and has led them to pursue PhD’s on the story.

The word Ishq embodies the authenticity and intensity of love and in poetic context Ishq elevates love to the more spiritual level.

Heer is documented as a courageous and daring beauty, born in a wealthy family. Ranjah, the youngest of four brothers leaves home after a dispute over distribution of the family land and travels as a lonesome soul playing his flute. On his travels he encounters a Mullah who does not allow him to spend the night in a Mosque saying that ‘lovers, insects, baggers and dogs are not allowed to enter the mosque’ during this debate one of Heer’s servants agrees to take Ranjha across the river to diffuse the situation. On the boat Ranjha sleeps on the comfortable couch decorated and reserved for Heer. When Heer comes to know that her couch has been defiled by some unknown traveler she rushes to the river side to scold and taunt Ranjha, but her anger evaporates as soon as she lays eyes on him. “Ah Waris, nothing can help when eyes meet on the battlefield of love!”

Heer offers Ranjha a job to take care of her cattle. Ranjha tells Heer that life is only a dream and she must abandon the pride of youth and beauty and be prepared to leave the world. Heer becomes mesmerized by Ranjha’s words and his melodious flute and falls in love with him. They meet secretly and until they were caught by Heer’s jealous uncle Qaido who conspires with her parents and Heer is forced to marry Khera. Brokenhearted Ranjha leaves to walk the face of earth until he meets a Jogi and voluntarily becomes an ascetic. Heer could not forget Ranjha and with the help of Khera’s sister she elopes with Ranjha. When Heer’s parents learned about the elopement they repented and asked Heer to return so they can arrange her wedding with Ranjha. The lovers return and on the wedding day, Qaido ( the uncle) poisoned Heer so the marriage could not take place and she was buried in Ranjha’s absence. Upon learning of Heer’s death, Ranjha grieves over his beloved’s grave and prays to be with her, miraculously the grave parted and Ranjha laid down beside his beloved Heer in their eternal sleep.

Tomb stone at Heer Ranjha's grave

Heer and Ranjha are buried in a Punjabi town in Pakistan called Jhang. Lovers and others often pay visits to their mausoleum and pray for offspring, love, happiness and prosperity. Some tie a strip of cloth to the iron bar above the entrance to remind Mai Heer [mother Heer] of their wish. Young girls also bring bangles in various colours and tie them to the wooden frame around the gave, asking God to help them with their love. One has to visit the mausoleum to witness the inner emotions pouring out and to see the wounds from shattered love, these visitors become lost in trance while making their wishes and telling Mai Heer of their ordeals.

Below is an account of Umair Ghani a traveller and photographer who writes of his visit to the Heer Ranjha’s mausoleum.
“A simple man, Syed Abid looked at me with gloomy eyes, “Is God not a lover?” he said, “Is universe not created out of love? Ishq has uncountable colors and forms. Is everything not Ishq?” I agreed. Ishq was everything, it was everywhere. “Can my love for a woman lead me to God?” I asked. “Sure it can! But only if it is true. Ishq is always divine in its essence. If you enter the realm of Ishq, sure it will lead to unknown dimensions. I’ve seen people coming here everyday for many years now. Few of them are true and commit to be burnt, bruised, tortured, and tested by their love. Very few, I assure you!”

Inside the mausoleum

A few paces away the young girl sat curled up with her head against marble slab of the grave. She had stopped sobbing somewhere in the middle of caretaker’s narration of Heer-Ranjha’s tale. But her eyes were still soaked with silent tears flowing down across her neckline. She kept staring blankly into something unseen.“I searched for faithfulness everywhere”, her choked voice echoed inside the tomb, “I was betrayed. I come to tell mother Heer . Only she can understand!”With my back resting against the tiled wall I witnessed everything.A bare-footed old woman walked in. Went to the grave and kissed it affectionately. Wrinkles filled her face like deep trenches on dry land. She performed some secret ritual by closing her eyes and clasping her hands for several minutes. Then like a whirling wind she began to dance in the tomb. Her bare feet struck the floor with a loud thud, providing beat for her dance. But I could see that the rhythm was from within, not from without.“Two bodies in one grave but body is nothing”, she talked as she danced. “Soul is everything. Soul is dance. I am a soul and I will dance!” Another loud thud and another swirl within her soul and another thud of the feet and so on. “Only two bodies are here!”“And where are their souls?” I asked.“Their souls have become Ishq and spread everywhere!”“Why do you take my photos?”“I am trying to capture Heer-Ranjha’s soul.”“I know where you can find it” she said with a mysterious smile. “I am Mai Saleem, from the family of Heer [her maternal grand parents]”. She dropped down her dopata and threw her thin hair in the wind. “Look! The women in our family never tie their hair.”“Ishq is God!” She said and whirled around like a feather in the wind. Only a woman could know better, I though. Annemarie Schimmel [professor of Indo Muslim culture at Harvard University] in her book “My Soul is a Woman: The Feminine in Islam” describes the spiritual experience of a woman’s love, “Women setting out on a long journey during the course of which they are separated from the world more and more everyday until their entire being is transformed into their lovers.” "


Waris Shah’s Heer is a long prose consisting of around 630 stansaz with 6-12 lines each. In the rural Punjab the prose is read and acted out in evening gatherings of the village elders. A you-tube performance of a Sain reciting the Heer can be seen below. These Sains/Jogis/Ashiqs can be found near the Heer Ranjha’s mausoleum among other parts of Punjab. This man sings Heer with an extreme pain and anguish in his voice, he might seem to be under the influence of toxic substances but he’s merely in a trance.

"You have probably heard the joke about other countries having armies but Pakistan's army having a country. Nobody in Pakistan finds it funny."

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-3932145,prtpage-1.cms#