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In no particular order.

Now it so happens that I harbor no

exaggerated notions of my physical appeal.

Back in fifth grade, my pals found the absolute

necessity of associating each other's

appearances w i th those o f D isney

characters. I was Pocahontas, who is

incidentally, not Belle or Aurora. But I thanked

my stars that I wasn't Mowgli. So I will clearly

fail to charm my future husband with my

imperfect dead cells, unless he is a John

Smith or blind. Besides, my mental prowess is

quite unenviable. I was smart enough to

choose SS over Econ because I was too

dumb for math. That makes me weak at

objective analysis, and uncomfortable with

numbers. Thus, I will be of little use to my

prospective husband for corporate matters

and business endeavors…

Those were the good old days when all the girls 'oohed' and

'aahed' upon seeing an army officer, and getting married to

one was a dream come true. The Queen of Melody sang

beautiful songs in praise of the Dhol Sipahiya, great poets

like Aleejee wrote beautiful lyrics to highlight their bravery.

The handsome young Captain of the Armed Forces

became a point of envy of all my friends and classmates.

Even his name was envied – often linked with the great

Muslim General of the early Islamic era, before the notoriety

of OBL surfaced. “Fit for an army officer,” as a 3-star general

had once remarked…

I remember reading in a magazine some time ago that every person has a child hidden beneath, coming to think of it the child in me is a little 'bouncy'. I have reached an age when facilities for senior citizens have opened new vistas of joy for me. The reality check came when I was standing in a queue to get my passport re-issued. The line was getting longer by the minute and as is the rule in our country, ladies with a 'parchi' (a piece of paper, probably from someone important, that lets you get away with stuff) were allowed to stand in front of me….

What is reality but the categorization and organization of

subjective events into an objective way of life defined by

our society? The unification of various experiences of

different people; an attempt to give coherence and

meaning to why the world is as it is. Does this make

reality any more real than any subjective experience?

Does categorizing reality as objective make it absolutely

true? Let's see what reality truly is: reality is the way we

express all that we observe from our senses. Everything

we perceive that makes logical sense is our definition of

reality…

My Knight in Shining Armor - by Nusrat OsamaThe Bouncy Baby in the 60-year old Me - by Nusrat Osama

Is It For Real? – By Sajawal Javaid

http://www.ideasevolved.com/a-rishta-it-is/

http://www.ideasevolved.com/the-bouncy-baby-in-a-60-year-old-me/

http://www.ideasevolved.com/my-knight-in-shining-armour/

http://www.ideasevolved.com/the-simple-things/

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A Rishta It Is - by Faiza Rahman The Simple Things – by Hashir Khan

I'm from Punjab, India and growing up here, I've noticed how we've all been

made to believe, not intentionally but indirectly through the actions of the

governments and media- that Pakistan is our 'Enemy'. Fortunately, I had the

opportunity to participate in a program called 'Saanjh' (meaning 'Coming

together in Peace') that tried to bridge this gap through cultural means. I and

my classmates interacted with kids who visited our school from Lahore and

needless to say friendship blossomed. Almost 2 years ago I was teamed up

with 12 girls from Lahore and together we worked together as one unit for

an international competition. After working for a fair amount of time with

them I realized this: How hard is it really to get over our past historic

differences?

See, personally I don't get involved in politics and the government and am more

inclined toward the romantic arts. Peace is what I thrive for. Peace is what I sing

about. How ironic is this that today my best friend is a girl from Lahore while our

governments are arguing over petty instances that most citizens don't even care

about?

And so I pose this question? Why do I have to be an Indian, or a Pakistani or

American or BELONG TO A BODERED LAND? These are but manmade borders

after all.

There are too many unanswered questions and sometimes I feel helpless and then

get frustrated, but then I think of how I can make a difference and this gives me

some hope. Hope is what keeps us all going isn't it? My solution is to propagate

peace through any medium. I create music that carries a message and I write about my experiences with Pakistani's and share them with

others across the border. I keep on doing my part and just HOPE that others

are doing theirs. For now WE can make the difference- the new generation

who knows better. In this way we can not only save millions of innocent lives

but make a difference that will resonate through the entire world. Once the

Pakistan-India issue is solved, other countries will look up to us to solve their

political trysts and this world will become a better place.

“Love would never leave us alone” ~ Bob Marley.

Barun Deep Singh is currently studying Biomedical Engineering at the University Of Virginia. He's a multi-talented individual who has just recorded his first song.

When We Bleed, We Bleed The Same By Barun Deep Singh

Youtube page: http://www.youtube.com/user/baaarrooon

From a Seed of PeaceBy Narmeen Adeel

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Narmeen Adeel is a sophomore at LUMS. WHile maintaining a perfect GPA she also keeps up with debating and has been awarded the Best Speaker award at the Riazuddin Under 19 Pakistan Debating Championship.

The time I spent at the Seeds of Peace Camp has been one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life. At camp, we were made to participate in activities that included dialogue every day with the Indians. During dialogue we would talk about serious topics ranging from political to social differences between Pakistan and India and what our take was on them. But it wasn't only during dialogue that we realized things that made us change the way we think. We lived in bunks with the Indians, played all sorts of sports and even competed in challenges with them. This is when I realized that they are more or less like us and the friendships that bloomed have remained intact, if not stronger, four years later.

According to the Indians I met, many Indians wouldn't harbor a grudge against someone simply because they are Muslim or Pakistani. In fact, they disapprove of the way their government tends to accuse Pakistan of any mishap that happens. But there are still those who believe Pakistan is illegally usurping Kashmir. One of the campers insisted that Kashmir rightfully belonged to India and the only solution would be India getting all of Kashmir. Though not all Indians hold this view, we cannot ignore this particular opinion as it does represent a certain community in India.

But while learning about the Indians, I got the opportunity to reflect on myself. I wouldn't have called myself patriotic before camp but now I truly am proud to be a Pakistani. Yes there are many faults within our country but sometimes we as Pakistani's make them out to be worse than even what our so called enemies think. We tend to constantly complain about all that is wrong but we rarely stop to appreciate what is right. Nothing can be done about these problems if all of us just sit and wait for someone else to act and take the first step. We all think, 'What difference can one of us make?'

I found this answer at camp and it continues to be my stance. All of us as individuals count, every little step makes a

difference and that there is no shortcut to prosperity and peace.

“Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of

others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope,

and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and

daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest

walls of oppression and resistance.” ~ Robert F. Kennedy

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be

lived forwards.”~ Soren Kierkegaard

Learn more about seeds of peace at www.seedsofpeace.org

Beyond BordersBy Ali Hassan

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IDEAS 1.04

IDEAS 1.04

th thOn the 11 and 12 of June, Theatre Hub conducted it's “Annual Play Auditions” for the year 2011 at Ciro's Pomodoro restaurant in Gulberg, Lahore. This play is expected to be staged in the last week of July. Theatre Hub, being renowned for it's popular plays such as Khatra-e-Jaan, Jaal and Ishq with a Twist, has now embarked on it's fourth theatrical production, while continuing to stick to it's native tongue and staging yet another Urdu comedy play.

Ahmer Zaman Khan, Marketing and Promotions manager/Co-Founder Theatre Hub said: “It's very convenient staging an English play; access to English scripts is easy; actors do not have any problems; reading and comprehending the script and neither are there any issues with dialogue delivery. But it's time we stop pretending to be someone we're not and promote our own culture and heritage.”

Meanwhile, the auditions received an overwhelming response, with over sixty people turning up for the auditions and over a dozen reportedly could not make it or were unavailable due to other commitments. Talal Ali Jan, the director, said: “I have been directing plays and conducting auditions for many years, but this is the first time in my career that I have had the opportunity to choose from such a massive pool of talented actors, each of whom had left a fabulous impression. It just goes to show how far we have come towards achieving our objective to revive theatre in Pakistan once again."

Eye SpyAuditions by Theatre Hub

By Talal Ali Jan

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The auditions were well-organized, with participants simply having to fill a form and wait for their turn before being handed a few lines to read out and act in a variety of ways. Moreover, interviews were also conducted for the backstage team such as costumes, sounds and as well as for the marketing team.

iE adds: Theatre Hub is all set to wow the audiences one more time, and Ideas Evolved will be there covering it when that happens. See you there, theatre-goers =D

ndThe first edition of MUNPK kick started in Lake View, Lahore on 22 of June, 2011. A team of brilliant individuals from eminent institutes like LUMS and LSE put in remarkable effort to pull of the event, despite the blistering heat of summer. Delegates, too, as always, displayed their penchant for the increasingly popular MUNs by debating and 'socializing' enthusiastically, the weather being an ineffective damper on their effusive spirits. The line of social events added all the more color and noise to the event, the EP concert being a glaring high-light. The one social event, probably the first of its kind as far as such events are concerned, was the 'Pool Party,' which was the perfect stage for unwinding, with dance and music and – well, you get the picture.Ideas Evolved covered the 5-day convention, whose reporters and photographers covered the daily proceedings to help co-produce the MUNPK Newsletter. The events' photographs were uploaded on the websites and can be visited HERE http://www.ideasevolved.com/munpk/)We present to you some of the many flashbacks from the event.

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“Do you know what it feels like to become insane?

It's a war between being told who you are and

knowing who you are... Which do you think wins?”

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All Art Pakistani - Truck Art: This indigenous form of art in

Pakistan has suddenly found fame. Intricate details flowing and

swirling with colour adorn Pakistani transport vehicles and

transform our roads into free-admission art galleries.

Interestingly, Truck Art has its own fascinating history and comes

forward in many forms. To learn more about Truck Art, visit

or pick up this book at Readings- 'On Wings of Diesel' by Jamal

J. Elias.

http://pakistaniat.com/2008/06/18/pakistans-indigenous-truck-art/

All T-Shirts Pakistani: Who says T-shirts are not patriotic? Shirts

emblazoned with I <3 Pakistan are all the rage nowadays. Though the

Cricket World Cup may be over, still it is not uncommon to meet with

people proudly displaying nationalism through the World-Cup shirts

that took the market by storm. Also meet with UthOye- the new thing

that everyone's talking about are their t-shirts with a twist. Our

favourite is this 'Dude. Where's my country?' featuring our very own

Quaid-e- Azam. Genius.

All Media Pakistani: For the first time ever, Pakistan is

leading in sub-continental media. Rather than 'Ready',

'Thank you' and other cinematic nightmares produced by

the other side of the border, our very own'Bol' is leading

the charts. A beautifully layered film that depicts the

difficulties in our current patriarchal system is a must

watch. Needless to say the first seven shows of the film

were booked straight in cinemas all across the country.

Similarly, Coke Studio has brought our talent to an

international pedestal and continues to make us proud.

Move over American Idol- desi beats are sung from the

heart.

26 DESIGNED BY: WALEED WARIS