The Creatives (July Issue 2019)

The

Creatives

July 2019 Issue 4 Vol2

Bullying: A Social Issue

Defying the Odds

Young Poet’s Corner Winning Stories from On the Spot Competition A special edition featuring

Summer School @ LUMS

Mental Distress of Troubled Teens An Interview with Dr Muhammad Mujtaba Consultant Psychiatrist

The Creatives is a publication by Ray Academics for children and young adults.

Learn to Reimagine your Future

Special thanks to:

Contents

Summer Editorial Board:

4

Verdict from Society

5

Taking the Other Path

Ryaan Mirza Aleen Basit Abdullah Ejaz Ahmed Ejaz Maleeha Haq Urooshah Shahzad Mahru Syed Hamzah Chaudhry Damia Nauman

6

Winning Stories On the Spot Competition

16

Bullying: A Social Issue

17

Defying the Odds

18

Young Poets Corner

21

A Human Being, Being Human

23 Million Pieces of a Promise 25

Mental Distress of Troubled Teans Interview with Dr Mujtaba

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EDITOR’S LETTER Dear Readers, It has been an exhilarating experience teaching Creative Writing at Ray Academics and as well as at LUMS. Summer Camp at Ray Academics has always been a rewarding experience as usual. Various age groups always pique your interests in a creative environment. This was further augmented by the experience of teaching creative writing and poetry at LUMS Summer School.

At LUMS, the poems of the young writers eventually evolved into thought provoking poetry. Many of these poems have been published in this issue as a special feature. Our journalism team from our “Hot Off the Press”course benefited greatly from the educational experience of putting together a magazine. This is a real student project that helped them to understand the writing process that leads to professional publication. Both summer campers at LUMS and at Ray Academics have contributed tremendously in this issue.

Last but not least our interns also helped out a great deal in our summer activities. I was pleasantly surprised to see that they exhibited professional work ethics in many situations. This summer experience will definitely help them in their future professional lives.

Patron-in-Chief Parveen Akhtar

Editorial Board Aaiza Zafar Ryaan Mirza Amn Zain Zainab Imran Maheen Salman Damia Nauman

Distributed by Ray Academics 21 Bank Square Market Model Town Lahore, Pakistan Ph: +92-302-8556771

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Happy Reading!

Bushra Ehsan Editor-in-Chief CEO of Ray Academics

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Verdict from Society

by Urooshah Shahzad

Do you ever just stop and think about how often you are told to change your appearance? How often do people around you, tell you either you have gained or lost weight? You begin to feel so insecure in your own skin because of what people say.

You’re doubtful because people point at your physique and make fun of it, they utterly and completely, ‘body shame’ you.

you down.

Making yourself strong and comfortable in your own skin is essential to your self-esteem.

Love yourself so much that you don’t crumble at the words of other people. Carrying yourself proudly and showing the people that you are proud of yourself is a part of building confidence.. At a certain point you will realise that the people encourage hate speech and The practice of making critical and potentially comments. When you will not let them humiliating comments about a person’s body affect you they will not be able to hurt you. size or weight is called body shaming. Come When you will not ponder over it it they will to think of it, our society doesn’t accept not mean nothing to you. However every anyone. You are either too fat, lean, curvy person has a breaking point and sometimes but you can never be perfect. The society we start hating ourselves for looking like in body shames anyone, unknown of the fact a certain way. But what matters is that you if someone is going through some medical have to stay strong otherwise people will issues or any similar reasons. start walking all over you. You must know how to respond to such comments and tell them you love the way you look. And that is Do people realize the effect when they how you will exude confidence that will lead comment on others and tell them that they are too fat? A person who gets body shamed you to success goes through a lot. It affects their mental health tremendously. A person who has been

By Uroosha Shahzad called fat is susceptible to skipping meals 14 years old and questioning themselves incessantly. Is this what people wanted? They want young girls to think that they are fat? So that they feel so bad about themselves that they might even question their existence all together.

People have set a definition of “beauty” which is defined by standards of skin colour, body dimensions, hair length, or the kind of clothes someone should or should not wear.

One of the biggest frustration is that young girls suffer from is getting judged on something that you cannot change. People who tell you that you are not perfect and you don’t fit in their standards of beauty are the most judgemental people in the society.

Getting labelled about a certain way you look is not your fault. But you can not stop people commenting about you. The best way to deal with such people is to ignore their comments because they have no right to put

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Taking the Other Path Dr. Amina Ahmad pursued her career in Medicine despite all the obstacles she faced in life.

She represents strong women who have made their place in society and professional life. A proud mother of a child suffering from Down Syndrome she pursued her career relentlessly.

She completed her education from Cambridge University and became an Associate Professor in Medical Education at Universiy of Health Sciences. Dr Amina is now the Director of the Department of Medical Education at Fatima Memorial Hospital.

Q. Why did you choose medicine?

In fact, I never chose this profession for myself, it was chosen for me by my mother. I never wanted to be a doctor, I wanted to be a mathematician, like my mother.

Q. Did you oppose your parent’s decision of medicine for you?

After my pre-medical, I began to prepare for an additional examination in mathematics.

I was promised that after I completed my medical education, I would be given a chance to pursue a career in math. After I got a scholarship to medical school, my parents wanted me to continue pursuing medicine.

The promise was forgotten.

Q. How did you build your way up?

I was pushed into studying medicine. I studied at Nishtar Medical College, Multan.

Q. What is I was married in the third year of my MBBS. I your secret to success? had to stop for a few years. Being a woman, I had a lot of work at home and a child to take I think it is predominantly my internal care of. motivation and determination to achieve something in life.

My mother wanted me to complete my education and so I began a house job. I Q. Is there something you would like to completed my house job. During this time, my son was also unwell so I had to care of him share with others going towards this career path? too. It was a challenge but I was successful.

Q. Who was your ideal or motivation through this path?

I wouldn’t say everyone should follow my footsteps, career-wise- we should follow our dreams.

My mother was my motivation as she kept encouraging me to continue studying and working.

I believe every woman should have a very high self-esteem because we play an integral

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role in the household. With this privilege come several obstacles but we must withstand them.

Q. Was there a particular incident that made you decisive about your career?

No, there was no particular incident but after my marriage I had realised how important it is for a woman to be independent. A woman should always be on her toes and try to stay financially secure.

By Mahru Hassan Syed 14 years old LGSi

Winning Stories

The Super Invention

“Come on, it’s time to go to sleep!” yelled mum. It was time for me to go to sleep so I sped to the bathroom, brushed my teeth and went into bed. In a few minutes, I was snoring away to glory. I walked into my dreamland. I was playing in a grand house when unexpectedly, a maid burst the door open and shouted in excitement, “ the inventors from the Super Inventor’s shop invented a new machine. It’s amazing! It only works by a remote. It’s called a laptop but it’s special. It can walk, talk,giggle and sleep like a human being. I stood up immediately, grabbed my coat and phone and head to the Super Inventor’s shop. In no time I was in front of the enormous store.

I walked inside and saw thousands of laptops. Some were new laptops and some were old. I searched for the laptop for an hour or two but it wasn;t there. Suddenly, a man appeared in front of me and asked me what I was looking for, I told him about the invention. “It’s not available yet,” he retorted. While I was listening I heard my mother calling me, furiously. I woke up, did my morning chores and got ready for school. I was very much determined to figure out whether my dream was true or not, At school, I told this to my friends. “ We want to help you solve this ‘mystery’ whispered Zaara and Anaaya, my best friends. “Are you sure?” I asked. They nodded adamantly.

After school, my friends and I went to a library. We found a corner which was labelled with the word “Technology”.

We walked further and chose a book each. Zara found out that the same invention will be invented in 500 years!

By Meerum Babur 7 years old LGS 30-Main First Prize Sub-Junior Category On the Spot Competiton

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It was so Funny!

While walking back from school one day with my friend something really funny happened. Hi! My name is Sophiya! I have a very unusual friend, she’s an alien! She’s friendly but kind of aggressive too. Okay, so one day I was walking with her on our way home. Her name is Lousie. She’s purple in color and has aqua green eyes. She has purple prickles all over her back. Her tongue is black, She has spots all over her body. We were very tired so we stopped for a drink. I forgot to tell you that Lousie is a goofball, and so am I. So I had left half the bottle for Lousie to drink. She started drinking, I put my clips on my nose and clipped them. Then I pretended to put my finger in my nose. Lousie started roaring with laughter. She rolled on the ground.

Do you know what happened next? The water came out of her nose and it was purple! I shouted “Yuck!” and started laughing sooo hard. When this happened Lousie held the purple water that looked like slime. She told my friend Zubdah that it’s slime and asked if she wanted it. She said thank you and took it home. After that we started roaring with laughter and we didn’t stop till the day ended. I also caught myself laughing in my sleep.

By Sophiya Chaudry 8 years old LGS 30-Main Second Prize Sub-Junior Category On the Spot Competiton

On the 15th of February, 2018 it was movie day! We were about to watch the movie “Aquaman” and I was so excited, I had been trembling with excitement. My class and I went to our school’s basement. There were mattresses scattered on the floor. There was also a canteen where we could buy food and snacks. I sat on a mattress with my crisps and popcorn. First there was an announcement from the principal that the movie would be two hours long. We ate snacks throughout the whole movie. My friends had a lot of fun and really enjoyed the movie. While we were exiting the movie theater, we were shocked to see that the room started flooding and water was covering the floor.

All lamps had fallen down because of heavy wind. The wind had been so strong that one of my classmates fell and almost flew away! After he fell, he injured himself badly and he could barely even walk.

We were holding on to our surroundings as hard as we could, the wind was blowing us all away.

The rain was pouring down from the windows sills. When we entered our class everything had fallen down and it was all topsy turvy.

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We decided to climb up the stairs. The stairs as they were extremely wet and slippery. We could not leave or go back down to the basement. We were stuck and eventually found our way out of this crazy mess! Thankfully we had survived the flood!

By Haris Asad 9 years old LGS DHA Third Prize Sub-Junior Category On the Spot Competiton

The Adventure to One Chance Land When I went to school I saw that all my friends going inside a gigantic book. I was so surprised and shocked. I ran to the book as fast as my feet could carry me. I started reading the book without taking my eyes off it. The wind pushed me inside the book.

I landed in a very odd area. I saw lots of people stuck in cages but I couldn’t find my friends anywhere. I saw my school’s best cook passing through a huge gate. His name was Mr. Goop. So, I followed him close at heel. Mr. Goop’s hands were locked with chains. I felt very sorry for him. When I passed through the gate he was already gone.

I saw some large ice cubes on top of a rope,that was hanging in the air. I shivered and jumped onto an ice cube. The ice cube broke into pieces and I fell down. “Phew!” I survived because I was still on the rope. I balanced myself on the rope and passed through another gate. I saw my friends and Mr. Goop was about to go in the cage. I soared into the air and caught my friends and Mr. Goop. And quickly said a magic line in the book and we were back to school “Yay!”. My friends hugged me tightly and the book was never to be read again.

By Rania Mehmood 7 years old LGS 30-Main Consolation Prize On the Spot Competition 2019

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Sanctuary for My Soul My head is a beaten-about scurry of words, orders, pleads and requests, school drama, friend’s arguments and the list goes on. I want to let it all escape, and let go of all the pressure, but my ego holds me back. It’s torturing my mind to fit all daily hurry-scurry, to-do lists in five hours I get after school. My brain doesn’t cool down. I don’t let it.. I overwork it, and tire my hands. Twenty-four seven cutting and pasting, scrambling entries for a million competitions, trying to fit in homework, weekly texts, housework and alongside, the dark shadow of the approaching exams with the nearto-impossible goal, topping the entire grade. No one understands my pressure, they say I only exaggerate, and a lack of attention is all I need to fire-up my soul, and explode the preparation facts in my clogged mind. Yet, again , I try to hold my anger back. So I won’t be reduced to suffer the shame of being capable, independent. My pride will never let me reach out for help, but will only stoop low enough to tighten my grip around myself.

To my friends and family, I seem like a maniac, to spend all my allowances on hoarding up ten shelves to the brim, with papernacks, hardcovers, titles from every region of Earth. Science-fiction, eighteen hundreds of classics, Shakespeare’s plays, books borrowed and never returned gifts of square flat dictionaries. I sometimes think if I am completely nutty preferring petty papers over real company, but books! My shelves! I would not give it up for anything! It’s one of the things that stabilize me and puts me in action for another sweat breaking day. Oh to escape inside a world of people with abilities, romances and tempers. To sympathize with heartbreaks and anger with villians. I let go of all the stress and for a blissful fraction of the day, am completely oblivious to my surroundings. Words, they are so much easier to communicate with. They grasp your heart, and tingle your vessels, clouding your brain and calm the blood pumping in your body. The tension of flipping a page, finding what’s around the corner, feeds my curiosity. I drink in words and books and leave nothing to spare. I misuse my body to soothe it only with paper. Books, people don’t realize are far more addictive than drugs. They are my sanctuary, my haven, and my guilt buckets of stress.

They are my world’s bliss, and my soulmates for eternity. They are fading, but I can still catch the little glimmer left, and gulp it in.

Yet the thing that angers me and makes me fume is being pulled out of the cover, and brought back to this reality that only understands overworking for jobs, and schools. I survive each other second of my life, as I am still thirsty for the books left to come and so I waited and endured my stress. All for books. They are my life, my strife, my oxygen. Asking me if I like reading is like asking me if I like breathing.

By Amn Zain 13 years old First Prize LGS 55-Main Senior Category On the Spot Competition

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Cruelty My hands were shaking with anxiety. The car sped towards the red brick building. I felt like screaming, screaming for my dad to stop the car, to turn back around, so I could go back to my dwelling, my bed, my safe haven. My messed up mind and the racing heartbeat was making me lose composure.

The car came to a rigid halt, outside an old British building. I gave a sigh, I never knew what was coming my way. “It is a fresh start, maybe,” I mumbled to myself and opened the door of the black car. I scurried towards the huge gates of my school. I made my way towards my class. I glanced up to see the three formidable creatures, roaming the hallway, blabbering.

Agony and nostalgia started to make me feel weak and numb. Taking my eyes off them, I tried moving past the three girls, but it was of no use. A loud scream of pain echoed through the hall. The halls of the school where we learn to communicate and socialize, but it’s the place where I get beaten up, for helping a suicidal woman, for being generous and kind. I was thrown in a wall, the sudden impact, made me lose my senses. The pain and the anger was so much that I thought that I would lose composure, I would hit one of them really badly, but then how would I be different than them? I knew that I did not have any self-defense skills. I could not feel any punch or any of the kicks, but I knew I was going to have to cover up the bruises before anyone would know.

The pain was usual, but the words they’d say to me made me go numb, to not feel anything. But is this what schools teach? Is this what they do, to neglect bullying? I guess people should take steps against bullying. Bullying sabotages mental health leading towards even suicidal thoughts. It takes a lot to keep yourself stable after being bullied, but taking some measures can help.

I survived the bullying and now looking at the faces of the girls who used to victimize me, makes me furious. I’m pretty sure someday I might punch them in their faces if I lose my calm. But then there will be no difference between us.

By Uroosha Shahzad Second Prize Senior Category On the Spot Competition

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“If you fall down, then get up again” She used to see her mother in the kitchen, working really hard and putting all of her heart into delicious meals and desserts. Every night half an hour before dinner, Brooklyn would come downstairs and help her mother by chopping all the veggies and fruits for the salad.

This made her fall in love with cooking and baking.

One fine morning, Brooklyn’s mother was ill, so without a moment of hesitation, she raced downstairs and went straight to the kitchen. She wore her yellow apron which said, “Follow your Dreams”, and she closed her eyes. She thought of cooking the most luxurious dishes and making the finest desserts. This thought put a wide smile to her face. Brooklyn quickly took out eggs, break, milk, turkey, fresh fruits and other stuff needed for making breakfast.

After adding all the requirements for pancakes, she added a finest pinch of this and that and started to make them. The store turned on easily as Brooklyn had seen her mom do that everyday. She poured some batter on the pan and took a deep breath. ‘I can do it,’ she thought and continued with her work.

Suddenly, ‘Oh my!’, what was that smell? Brooklyn burnt her very first pancake! It was disastrous. Oh…what would she do? Instantly her parents and older brothers came in and helped her clean.

She did not lose hope though. This incident made her more eager to try something new. She baked cakes and failed, almost overtime, but did not lose hope. She got more experienced and after sometime, she started getting better. Two and a half years passed away and Brooklyn had baked so many desserts with flying colours. She never lost hope and tried again. Brooklyn became a professional. She was awarded, ‘The Best Baker Under 20’. She also made cakes for many important people.

Brooklyn became a worldwide known baker and many people used to look up to her. Soon she officially opened her own bakery, which was number one in New York City. People would ask about how she came so far and she used to say, “Never lose hope”.

If you fall down, then you get up again. Try hard, put your heart and mind to it, and follow your dreams.

By Minha Salman SCIL Junior Category Third Prize

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Existence “I stood on top of the mountain that overlooked the countryside, then I wondered about existence.”

Unlike other people my age, I enjoy the gift of nature. Ever since I was a child, I was told to stay in the boundaries set by my parents. Whenever I wanted something that I could not have, I was told to be patient. At that time I felt it narrowing but today, I thank them for it.

Now, when other people of my age group play with their gadgets, I enjoy the beauty of nature, patiently waiting for the time that I will get social media; the right time. After all, there is an age and time for everything!

On one such occasion, my friends got together in one of my classmate’s house. She lived on the mountain top in Murree. They all sat and amused themselves with their gadgetry while I decided to wander outside. I found myself rooted to the edge of one of these mountains. I silently gazed at what lay before me.

A long, endless stream, stretched its fine fingers, across the valley as if it was reaching out to the trees standing at me another end. We, humans are cruel, harming the harmless. At that very moment, a thought occurred in my head. We are just ants on a platter. Earth being the platter for us. It would take just one flip of the tray to end our uncontrollably lavish existence. We need to make most of our deterrent existence. Nature has given us several gifts, they are all to eventually benefit us somehow. Depending on the way we use it.

That is when I realized, my parents’ restrictions will pay off.

We are nothing but creatures who walk around squashing ants with our shoes. Those that we look down at.

Imagine yourself in that position. We are the microscopic organisms we study all the time.

Maybe there I’d s power stronger than us studying us, who knows?

Life is just a dream, waiting to end, a miracle waiting to happen or maybe an ant under a humansfoot. Our remorseless existenc

By Mahru Hassan Syed 14 years old LGSi Junior Category Consolation Prize On the Spot Competition 2019

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Being Late “Bzzz,” the sound of the alarm clock droned in my room. As I raced towards the school bus, I was late for school. I quickly entered the school bus as the worn out leather seat greeted me. I was the last student in the school bus.

I was having goosebumps because I was scared and thought I would get a punishment. Meanwhile, when I arrived at school the classes had started and I was one hour late for school. My teacher was also furious at me and she said that the principal is very strict about punctuality. She doesn’t allow children to come in the school after dismissal time. My heart was beating like a drum at that time.

I clumsily went to my seat and sat down for my lesson to being after break time, my principal called me into her office. I waited, nervous with anticipation, while knocking the door. She called me inside and told me to have a seat. I sat down and then she opened my file and she seemed so surprised. She said that you are such a good student but why do you come late to school.

Then she politely told me that she could make this into a very serious situation for me but she said she would not. I promised myself that I will never be late.

By Hamzaah Chaudhry 11 years old First Prize Junior Category Aitchison College On the Spot Competition 2019

The Garden of Tranquility The sun awoke and the clouds hustled aside for the mighty sun to shine, it’s rays upon the world. The first thing that came in my mind was my garden of tranquility, my happy place, my spa. The light smell of rosemary and nutmeg was in the air. The soft leaves rustled against eachother as the cold breeze kissed them gently and the flowers, oh the flowers! They were painted with shades of pink, blue and purple. The birds sang gentle songs which brought my mind to peace. I took out my secret ladder and climbed down my window into my garden. Its entrance was so grandiose and left anyone who looked at it flabbergasted, wide-eyed and speechless.

The garden was looking fresher than ever today, the grass looked greener, the flowers looked brighter, the birds chirped louder and little drops of dew tickled my bare feet, barely wetting them.The air had a different type freshness today a new one, a better one. The trees provided shade for me as I sat on my bench, wondering how does this peace reach the depths of my body. A robin flew and sat on my fingertips slightly falling asleep. The vines of grapes grew around the fence entwining itself into and intricate pattern, my skirt slightly flowing around in

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playful wind. The braid of silky hair was plain until I took the pretty jasmine and pinned it up in it.

There I sat peacefully, my soul resting, my energy restoring as I hadn’t had a good night’s sleep. This is the best place that brought me peace, tranquility and this was the place I cherished the most, the place where I belonged.

By Roshane Rahim 11 years old Second Prize LGS 30 Main On the Spot Competition

Wishing Waterfalls There was a place that I had never told anyone about. It was specifically a sacred and secretive place. Nobody had ever known of such a place besides me. It was very far from where I lived. I would only go there when I would feel very sad, disappointed and when I would feel miserable. I had named the place “The Wishing Waterfalls.”

I had been feeling sad and pensive due to my brother fighting and arguing with me. I ran from my house and to the Wishing Waterfalls. Once I reached there, I told the well that my brother had been arguing with me and made me feel very sad. I sat in the waterfalls so the fresh water would pour over me. The fresh water poured over me as if it was a miracle and it had cheered me up. ‘This place is a miracle’ I told myself. I ran back home in a hurry to tell my mother of what had occured today. ‘My mother would be very happy’ I had thought.

Once I arrived home, I saw my mother waiting for me.

Once I went inside my house, I told my family of the Wishing Waterfalls.

When they heard the story, they were all surprised and wanted to see the Wishing Waterfalls themselves. Now the place crowded with many people and many people come to see it. The people who go there tell their wish to the Wishing Waterfalls and then their wishes become true. This place is considered as the best place in the world and this place is the closest to my heart.

By Abdullah Sohail 11 years old Third Prize Junior Category On the Spot Competition 2019

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Peace can be CRAZY! The sun was shining and had brightened the environment. The wind was blowing and the leaves were dancing with the gush of the winds. It was the perfect day to go out and read a book in the park. I grabbed my book and dashed to the park.

When I reached my destination, I sat down on my favorite branch and started to read. I had just started the most interesting part when I was interrupted by some noise. It was the chatter of the people, the barking of the dogs and shouts of the people running and stalls.

“Uhh”, I groaned. I was about to leave when I heard a voice say, “Zarmeen, come here…”.

I turned around a fairy! Her skin was gold and she was drappen in green colored silk. She giggled and beckoned me to follow her. I followed her into a bush and I was shocked by what I saw It was a beautiful garden. The walls were dropped in creepers and there was a waterfall running into a gleaming lake. The water looked fresh as ever and was adorned by rainbow colored rocks. There rocks shaped like bean bags. I sat on one of the rocks and began to read my book. I sighed, leaned back and allowed myself to fall into my books world of mysteries. I was so serene and peaceful.

When I finally awoke from trance, it was really late. I decided that I should leave and got up to go towards the exit. When I was nearly at the door I was held back by something tugging at my arms. I looked at the source of the tugging and realised it was a fairy. I pleaded with her to let me go and she said,”NO” and took me away.

We arrived in a pink room full of girly things, Yuck! The fairy ordered me to sit and I obeyed her. She gave me a cup of tea and I held it tightly, while thinking of a plan. Eureka! I knew what to do.

I spilled my tea and asked for more. The fairy went to get some more and I dashed out the pink room. When I entered the peaceful room, I grabbed my book and ran to the exit. When I finally left that crazy place, I heard the fairy scream and hoped to never go there again.

By Zarmeen Fakhar

Third Prize Consolation Prize Junior Category On the Spot Competition 2019

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BULlying: A Social ISSue Bullying never has to do with you, is the one who is insecure. If you dig deeper, you can find that the bully desperately seeks love, attention and appreciation.

As they say “A man always does more when he feels appreciated.” The desire to be appreciated is innate in human nature and if I may say so myself, this desire can be recognized as a human need. Thereby, this lack of appreciation propels the individual to go to the extreme.

It not only affects the victim, but also those who witness bullying as well.

It negatively impacts the mental and physical health of the person exposed to it and it also further induces insecurity in the environment. Bullying exists of every level starting from the individual level to a global scale. Bullying seems to provoke anti-social behavior in communities.

There are various types of bullying that take place.

The most common kind of bullying is which that children face in school.

There are usually two types, verbal and physical.

In physical bullying, it includes such things like punching, kicking, pushing and also tripping. While verbal bullying deals with name catcalling, teasing, insulting and also verbal abuse. Bullying can

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cause stress and affects a person mentally, in some extreme cases it may lead to depression. In extreme cases this may also lead to suicidal thoughts or even suicide itself.

We should accept our “B it’s ullyin differences rather than th a cr g is attacking each other based If ying to uel annever off them. We should accept it is ou ar do t d te fun, o r people as they are and live one not ye bein somerible bul des our g b on in harmony. lied erv fau ulli e. , ev es t lt. N ed, Rai er.” o be o ni R o dri By gue z Ahmed Ejaz 11 years old LACAS nst e agait actually b t ’ n You caing withoung about bullyg somethi doin it. ten eingar W i d n Ra

Defying the Odds I have experienced two extremes in relation to gratitude in society. Some people are convinced that they are leading perfect lives.

On the other hand there are people who think they have the hardest life with situations like being homeless, living in poverty or even getting bad grades! The latter is more common than the former.

But to Michael Crossland this was better than what he was going through. Michael Crossland as an infant was diagnosed with incurable cancer. The doctors asked his family to take him home and try to spend as much time with him as possible. They predicted that these could be the last days of his life.

He was told that there was only 4% chance of surviving and that is what his mother focused on.

Michael tried every treatment but there was no success. One day Michael tried a new type of medicine which had never been tried on anyone before. Michael was part of the group of children who tried it, but the result was horrifying.

but by a miracle Michael survived this horrendous drug trial and started to improve.

This only proved the saying, ‘When you hit rock bottom the only way in life left is up.”

I have seen people with cancer, some of them survived, some are still fighting and some are unfortunately dead. Honestly people should stop feeling so ungrateful for the little things they don’t have and value their life.

There are so many people who don’t even have food to eat yet you see people who are just throwing their uneaten food away. People are complaining that they don’t have this or they don’t have that, while there are people fighting for their lives. Some people are going through the hardest chapter of their lives yet they still have a smile on their faces. This shows the person’s true strength and courage And that is what matters!

Day by day Michael and his mother saw children being taken away on their deathbed,

By Maleeha Haq 13 years old LGS

Watch this GoalCast video here: https://youtu.be/vqvFrBZS00c

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Young Poets Corner Road to Recovery

unfamiliar, It’s dark and desolate street, This old and be brave, You want to etting cold feet.

But you’re g completely, I understand aggressive, is Your heart een through a lot, But you’ve b is impressive.

Your progress

ng back, So stop looki ay those tears, aw e ip And w it further, Just a little bto your fears.

The solution irection, in the right d You’re going u are, You know yo ey of loneliness, This is a journ scar.

It will leave a make it, But you will hat weighs you down, w r te No mat my friend, Now chin up d to the crown.

You’re heade

Laraib Zaidi

Lunatic Beings

Humans are They have the dystopian of la Mimicking ruled with every bit nd, Surpassing the laws of physics, of sand, mother na ture’s basic s.

Transcendin g Our eyes g into the tranquil Or reflectiolare into the past, sea, n And demo that was meant to b lition that is deep in e, the sea.

Hamza Najam

Route to Freedo

m

The stor Aren’t t ies I narrate, Sometimhe ones I’m forc so the p es you just hav ed to create, lant of y e our free to let it all out dom spr , outs.

Some pe Always s ople live their life in a taying a dou way from the crow bt, d.

They jus their lov t don’t know th Sometimed ones proud, ey’ve made, es I look at the w all and s “Do you hout: w a nt to liv Then I th e a ll And sud ink, I don’t car your life in self e denly ev doubt?” erything, become s fair

Aq sa Sultan.

s s e l r e d or B

, ferent ordersuck on a dif b o n re are ple each st ell ps the t as w h ig m Perha ifferent peo e or - w Just d ass, ht. e harb w s t is rig m ie a d h g w lo lan r o o ide d up f All thearders, n stan io is o v h ith be ose w But th ders, ent or rant bliss, brass, r r u c g, e efy th kin to in igno rimmin They dis a beauty durability awill all be b There purpose, a ur mouths But in e one day o ht.

Mayb he same lig with t

i h s e r u Q m Ibrahi

The Captives To the captives in the tower, The witches and kings were all the same.

To the royal and the privileged, Anything below gold put to shame.

Collision You are so close to me, Yet millions of miles distant, Your eyes do not shine anymore, They are to me, ever so poignant.

One of us chose heart, one of us mind, It is no wonder, we were meant to collide, I just stood there, my eyes wide, Damage done, it all died, Her heart, darker than night, Her smile, as sweet as sin She knew no one was go,i,ng to win, Yet she was not going down without a fight

Ahmad Nawaz

The Storm

The mounta They almo ins are up high, st reach th e grey sky.

The river is It’s soothin vivid and clear, g sound, y ou can hea r.

The grass is Dotted wit lush and vibrant, h flowers, that are fra grant, But the he a v y clouds Indicating the storm, are gloomy and dull , that yet to come.

Humnah Ar moghan

They stood in courtrooms, Or was it something else they called them?

They held their rendezvous, And talked about issues to decide if it was worth it to solve them.

They resolved on laws they’d make to pick and choose, To smear them with hatred, It was a disguised form of abuse, Only the bold or the oppressed withstand.

They debate for people they cannot understand, They decide the struggles for those in no man’s land, They film the drama and laugh about strife, Only because they’ve never experienced it in their life.

And those oppressed, Those who take a stand, They’re forced to sit back down, Told to wait and encouraged to disband.

Zuha Fatima

The Sound of Silence

In the dark A time wheest hour of night, When crea n all is quiet, Have surre tures big and small, There mov ndered to morpheus’ darkness, es a shadow cloaked might, in Along the a ll e y s, a world of A sound is bla It’s the sou heard, realization st ckness, n d o f si lence, it’s th rikes of silence. e sound

Eishma Har oon

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“Death in the Guise of Man, I have seen soils turn red, From all the blood that is shed.

I have seen sounds of gunfire and painful sighs, Replaced by children’s sweet lullabies.

I have seen the human spirit when its vulnerable, The axis of their world upturn, no more stable.

I have witnessed human suffering reach a crescendo.

I have seen man become his own deadly foe.

Fear in the eyes of the bravest men, Guns in the hands, that should be holding a pen.

I have seen Death so closely, as if it mirrorred myself, Roaming my lands, a native, unto myself.

My people became orphaned and widowed, Seeds of infallible, hatred being sowed.

So much of pain, as if it were a consort of my people, I have seen it court them, leaving them hopeless and feeble.

Their will crushed and lost in an abyss, The human conscience gone amiss.

My people beg for mercy, but to no avail, The courage of man shatter and fail.

The grief of my ancestors that have gone, As I try to find yo I have seen the shadow that will haunt my unborn. u but I fail, Why is it alway so hard to accept I still remembers th fate.

I have been torn apart so many times.

When my face tu at day, rned pale.

My countenance marred with every sunrise.

I have been stripped off of my own self, Like someone ex periencing in That I can no longer tell myself apart, emotional distre ss could relatetense From who I am , and I who I used to be.

I am the Kashmir, trembling in flames.

I might never acce pt that this was de I am the Palestine, wounded to death. to prevail stined I am the Myanmar, rife with discord.

I am the Syria,suffering in dark.

Yet, this will be I am one of the many stars, story to date. the most heartbreaking That catch fire everyday, I am one of the many moons, That explode everyday.

I am the one who has seen so much, That I can no longer tell, Whether I have seen man in the guise of death, Or death in the guise of man.

‘Losing your loved one

Jaziba G hadeer

Areej Akhtar The Creatives|20

A Human Being, Being Human When I was a child, my father told me that the disparities in a human and being human made all the difference in the world. At that time, I could see little difference than a slight jumbling in the sentence order, but twenty-seven years later, as I flew to the States, I think I finally understood what he meant. However, while it took me a long time to comprehend the philosophy behind my father’s lesson, it took almost none at all to understand my mother’s lesson: a good woman always compromises over everything. I do not find it surprising that while both lessons were intimated to me at a very young age, I understood and accepted my mother’s more readily. Perhaps it was because of the countless manifestations of her lesson, wrought in my everyday life, that it became deeply ingrained in me and I never questioned its validity. And so, when Shereyar raised a hand at me for the first time, like a good woman, I compromised my dignity and selfesteem, and let it go.

Of course, a few weeks later, he did apologize to me. We were having our lunch, in utter silence, as we had been doing ever since our quarrel, when he suddenly put away his spoon and said, ‘’ I did not mean to hurt you, I am sorry.’’ I was delighted, perhaps even flattered, since I knew Shereyar rarely, if ever, owned up to his mistakes or apologized to the person concerned.

However, before leaving the dinner table, he fixed me with a glare, and, carefully enunciating each word, he growled,” Don’t you ever argue with me again, Mahira. It’s not your place.”

He also swore he’d never lay a finger on me again, and he never did. My late husband was many things, but he was not a liar. The next time we had a

disagreement, he struck me across the shoulder with his belt. For the sixteen years we remained married to each other, he kept his word, and never laid a finger on me.

I remember relating the incident to my mother, and even more distinctly, I remember her response; ‘’You must have brought him to that point, Mahira. You must have asked for it.

I am your mother, I know you. You always argue, you always talk back, and I have told you a million times, men don’t like it. And didn’t you say he apologized? Well, what are you making such a fuss for then? Do you have any idea how many times your father has upset me, and never apologized, because his ego doesn’t allow it? Listen, if he does it again, I will…..um….I will do something about it, okay? But he wouldn’t do it again unless you give him a reason to, right?

So, don’t.”

“Would

you care for some chamomile tea, madam?”, the air hostess snaps me out of my thoughts. I tell her I have airsickness, so I try to keep my stomach empty during a flight.

She politely smiles, and leaves. This small encounter piques yet another memory huddled away in my mind.

When Shereyar and I were flying abroad together for the very first time, he noticed me staring intently out of the window. “See something out there?”, he had asked. I had told him that flying made me feel queasy, and looking out from the window made me feel a tad bitter. “Oh, why didn’t you tell me before? You shouldn’t be in the aisle seat. Here, come sit in my seat, you can look out the window all you want”, he had said, while exchanging

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seats with me. From that day forth, whenever we travelled by air, Shereyar always made sure I got the window seat. And I think, this is what I will never forgive him for. Neither for ruthlessly hitting me multiple times, nor for treating me as an unequal in our marriage, but for simultaneously caring for me, and consequently, never giving me a reason for condemning him completely, and indefinitely. For being neither the archetype vindictive husband, nor the ideal one, but such a perfect blend of both, that I could neither bring myself to leave him, nor completely learn to live with him.

men who believed that it was crucial to rein in a woman, every once in a while.

Its been two years since Shereyar passed away, and I still haven’t decided what kind of a person he was. But I understand this much, sometimes it is too difficult to categorize someone as specifically good or bad, some things are too complicated to be wholly black or wholly white, and some people can never be identified as completely wrong or completely right. And this is what I will never forgive Shereyar for, for being one of those people, for giving me as many reasons to stay When after six years of our marriage, with him, as he gave for leaving him, we found out that I was incapable of never more, never less. For always bearing a child, I thought that was the being in the grey area between right last straw for him. That he wouldn’t and wrong. For always making sure put up with me anymore. But much that all the times he had wronged to my surprise, he had held my hand, me, never outweighed the times he and said, ”Its okay, its not your fault, had been considerate towards me. whenever you are ready, we can For leaving me stuck in a perpetual adopt.” My parents had thought he’d whirlpool, forever wondering, “Should remarry, and I had too, but when I I leave, or stay?” brought it up with him, he assured me he wouldn’t, that he understood I was If my mother were alive today, I am as much grief-stricken as he was, if not sure, she would have thought of me more. And he did understand. For a as a “good woman”, but I would whole two months, I barely got out of never be able to tell whether Shereyar my room, and meanwhile, Shereyar had been good or bad. He had been did all the house chores, called from neither. And whenever I think of him, his workplace several times to check the words of the famous Persian poet, on me, and even brought my meals Jalaluddin Rumi come to my mind; to our room, when I refused to come out of the bed. One Sunday morning, “Out beyond ideas I told him that I wouldn’t have been a good mother, so I couldn’t be one of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there’s at all. And with a promising look in a field. his eyes, he said, “ You would have been an amazing mother, Mahira,” and I think I did believe him, because I’ll meet you there.”

I knew he would never lie. And yet, I don’t know where “there” is, but this was also the man who wouldn’t Shereyar might be there. And so I hesitate to hit me, if I so much as end the way I began, with my father’s disagreed with him, or argued with lesson, that the difference in a human him, because he was one of those

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being and being human, makes all the difference in the world. But with Shereyar I could never tell, was he a mere human being? Or had he transcended above that? Was he a human? Or was he being a human?

By Areej Akhtar

Million Pieces of a Promise Ever

since their mother passed away, Elle and her brother Caleb have been joined at the hip. They can read each other like the back of their hands, know when the other isn’t feeling good and overall have a bond worth envying. At least, that’s what Elle thought, but clearly she had missed something. The sight in front of her, logically, made perfect sense. It seemed her heart was having a hard time catching up to her brain though, because she stood with her mouth agape, completely floored.

Caleb turned to her then, their mother’s honey gold eyes staring back at her. The eyes they shared, clouded to the brim. In her youth, their mother’s eyes and raven hair was a reminder that a part of her was always with them. Now however, she felt nothing but the sting of betrayal. “ Elle...”,he started, the shock of seeing his sister causing sobriety to crash down on him like a tidal wave.

“Save it”, she said through clenched teeth. The bright lights and blaring music were already overwhelming her. She had expected finding her brother and telling him she was going home. What she hadn’t anticipated however, was finding her brother under the influence. Eyes

stinging with unshed tears, she turned away. Her bro..... No. She can’t even say it, can’t even think it. Her brother had seen her cry on multiple occasions. But that liar wasn’t her brother. He lost the right to witness that.

Feeling the humidity in the air stick to her skin, Elle tried her best to breathe through the plethora of tears that threatened to fall at any moment. It was too much.

“Elle!” a voice so familiar yet completely unrecognisable stopped her in her tracks.

Caleb rushed to her side, pleading all the while.”Elle, please. Look I’m sorry. I’m sorry, okay?”

“How could you?”, venom dripping from every word,” how could you do this to me? After what happened to Mom, after everything..” “ I know.. I know. It was terrible of me and.....”

“You’ll never do it again?” Elle interjected sharply, “ How many times have you said that to yourself this week, hmm? How can I trust you now?”

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The guilt was written all over his face. She scoffed at him, “That’s what I thought.” Her voice gained power, “You betrayed me! You lied to me! You broke an oath! And for what? A temporary escape that is the reason our mother is gone. I hope you’re happy.”

“You have to understand sis, it’s all just too much..” he remarked in his innocent voice.

“Elle, come on.. don’t say that. I’m still Caleb. The same Caleb who put a bandaid on your scraped knee when you were six. The same Caleb that used to hide your chocolate bars. I’m still him. I’m your brother.”

“Stop it! Just..stop!” she screamed, a mixture of agony and ferocious anger coloured her tone. How dare he? How dare he use her childhood trust against her. The audacity.

“The only thing you are is a disgrace to our mother’s memory,” Elle spat out “You could have spoken to me. You know bitterly. that. You chose to run away from your He stood there, unable to say anything. problems. And that cowardice is not a His sister walked away from him, and he trait of any brother of mine.” watched, heartbroken, as his entire life collapsed around him with every step she “ I made a mistake...” took. He looked at his shaking hands and fell on his knees.

“And look where it got you,” her voice cracked. She hated the fact that she was “Oh, what have I done?” crying.

By Laraib Zaidi As a way to honour their mother’s memory, the siblings had made a pact.

You would think a mother dying of an overdose would be enough to make one steer clear. “Apparently not,” came the bitter thought as the girl turned to leave again.

Caleb caught her arm,” Elle, let me explain please.” His tone was guilt ridden and pleading. She almost felt sorry for him. Almost. She forcefully yanked her arm away.

“Get away from me. I don’t know you.”

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A Column for Parents and Teens

Interview with Dr Mujtaba MBBS, MCPS (psych), FCPS (psych), MSc Biological Psychaitry (UK), Advanced Dip (HPE).

Dip. Mental Health Policies & Services (Portugal) Consultant Psychaitrist at Hameed Latif Hopital Associate Professor & Head Department of Psychaitry & Behavioral Sciences Aleem Medical College Ghulab Devi Hospital Lahore

Dr Muhammad Mujtaba, a renowned psychaitrist, provided us with pertinent information on the topic of mental health issues that teens are facing today. This in depth interview uncovers the underlying issues leading to psychological distress for young adults in our society. This information is intended to help parents and teens develop a deeper understanding about mental health and consequently help improve the quality of their lives.

to resolve these issues by advising their children to fight out these thoughts or to pray extensively etc. They try to avert their child’s need to go to a mental health professional which leads to even more frustration.

Q. How can parents ensure that they are taking their children to good health care professional?

Now with time, it has become easier to check the competency of a doctor through reviews. There are platforms such as Marham.pk which people can use to locate A. The biggest misconception about medical services and see the reviews of psychiatry is that we give medications to the patients. Patients should come to the patients only to make them sleepy. We give doctor’s office with an open mind. They them these meds to get them hooked for should not have a judgemental approach life on these meds. and be more accepting to be able to see how the treatment works out for them.

Q. What’s the most common misconception about psychiatrists?

Q. What place does mental awareness for teens have in Pakistani society?

Q. What is the most common factor in the psychiatric illness in young adults Teens are not yet adults and are dependent today? on their parents for them to take them to a mental health care professional. The The biggest challenge that the young parents are generally very protective adults are facing today is the high pressure over their children and often disregard to perform well. The parents are sending their mental issues. Often, parents try their children to the best possible schools

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and expect exceedingly high academic achievements. Compounded with that there are no physical activities to help them to balance these demands. Many children are restricted to their homes and they are usually not able to engage regularly in any sports etc. It has become more and more difficult due to the security reasons in larger cities where parents are fearful about the security of their child.

extent that only 2 percent of the entire budget is allocated to mental health.

Q. How can we know if some one has an eating disorder and is starving themselves?

Anorexia is an illness which is very noticeable and weight loss is usually very drastic and very noticeable. The more worrisome eating disorder that goes Teenagers have a natural tendency unnoticed is Bulimia. Bulimia is not easy to explore new things. Consequently to detect because the girls do stress they may start using drugs for new eating and then starve themselves out of experiences. A recent research study guilt. Then they engage in binge eating shows that 61 percent of teens have and then start depriving themselves of already used drugs at some point. food all over again. This sickness can go undetected for a long time as the patient Q. Why are parents reluctant to take does not show any visible signs of weight their children for mental assessment to a loss. Sometimes, patients may also selfmental health care professional? induce vomiting which results in the loss of minerals. There is depression, anxiety Parents usually have their own inhibitions and impulse control disorders that lead to about psychiatry and they feel that this is more complexities in the disorder. not the right path for their children. They feel that a child’s mental health condition Q. What mental condition is most may be due to bad parenting. But, in prevalent in teens? truth, they just need to get a sound mental health assessment so that they know what Anxiety, depression and drug abuse. is wrong.

Q. Should mental health awareness a Q. What is more detrimental, cyber part of the curriculum for young adults? bullying or bullying in person?

Why? Pride is adversely affected when bullying Throughout the world Mental Health takes place in person. On the other Professionals are available to students hand, cyber bullying has a huge impact in their schools, colleges and other on the victim. It affects their socialization educational institutes. Maintaining good because the victim is afraid of using mental health is a strong predictor of any social media accounts. In fact they better health. South Asian countries are might be frightened to even access not very keen on this notion. They are not them. The problem with cyberbullying very receptive to mental health awareness. is that whatever content that the victim mental awareness is neglected to the finds disturbing will remain there on the

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internet. This is why cyberbullying has a long term effect on people. They may also develop a condition called Cyber PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder caused by cyberbullying) which is a disorder that takes place due to the extreme stress they have endured because of cyberbullying.

Q. What message would you like to give to the readers?

I would like to say that we should give our brain as much importance as we do to other parts of their body. For instance, if we care so much about our heart, lungs etc. then we should also recognize that if the brain malfunctions in any way it can have a grave effect on the body.

The nervous systemof the brain is responsible for coordinating every moment or action your body takes. We must take care of our brain as much as possible to lead a healthy life.

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