From the Editor

Hi readers,

A few days back we were having a discussion on the dearth of people that can be classified as 'real heroes' for Us. But then, what is that stuff heroes are made up of? What makes them so special? Easy enough to answer both questions, isn't it? A cool looking dude, brandishing sleek looking guns and proficient in hand to hand combat would fit the bill. We want heroes to be bigger than life. The reality, however, is otherwise; heroes are ordinary people like us who elevate themselves by performing deeds that make people remember them.

Readers, it is sad that there are very few people who have performed deeds making them worth remembering. Very few of our people are making Us proud by their achievements. The name of such persons can be counted on fingertips.

But it happens that just when you start becoming disappointed with your own people, some incident uplifts your morale…

We bring you the account of one such person this week who has made all of Us proud. And the deed he has done is not an ordinary one. He sacrificed his life to save the lives of many bright, young students. We are talking about Raja Jahanzeb, a brilliant pilot of the Pakistan Air Force. Read on Ali Paracha's tribute to learn more about this selfless, courageous young man. Like Ali, we also salute him.

Hafsah Sarfraz seems to be suffering from avariciousness, and wants to spread this highly contagious disease among our readers. Her cover story is about money making. In Western countries, it is routine for students to earn while they learn and the trend is catching up here too. Do let Us know what you think about this issue; should students support themselves, partially of course, or should they concentrate solely on studies. Very soon you will be taking the entrance examinations of various universities. We understand your anxieties and tensions in this regard. To help you prepare, we have Kanza Tariq writing on how to prepare for entry tests.

Jawwad Ahmed gives you tips about messing up your interview, and we are sure you'd like them! For 'Ground Reality' this time, we have Aqeel speculating on Ronaldo's career. He hopes the burly Brazilian will be back stronger than ever.

Till next week,

Bye.

Dear Editor

Three cheers for Us

AoA Ed,

I have been a silent reader of your mag for about 4 years and I really love it. Well! I just wanted to request for posters of Zac Efron, Ashley Tisdale, Vennessa Hudgens, Corbin Blue and Lucas Grabeel. Hope you will not disappoint me. Keep rocking. Three cheers for Us!

M J, Quetta

More praise for Waqas!

Dear Ed,

In the issue of Feb 15, 2008, I really loved the article 'Kaun banega prime minister'  by Waqas Hassan Sharif. I was at home when I read it and started laughing like mad. I read it to everyone and we all really enjoyed it. Please do convey my appreciation to Waqas. He brought some fun into the horribly monotonous life of people like me. The 'Graffiti' page is also doing well. The jokes and quotations printed in this section are quite witty and nice. Keep publishing the entertaining and funny stuff that we enjoy, and can relax while reading. Us is simply the best.

Hissam

Dear Ed,

This is my first mail to any mag, so I hope you will print it. I have been reading Us for the last five years, but the issue of 15 February made me write to you. It was a very nice issue, especially both the articles by Waqas Hassan 'Shareer' :P. They were fabulous. Well done, Waqas!! 'Graffiti' is improving day by day. 'Poets' Corner' is also doing well. Well, I want to praise Saad Javed for his work. But, Ed, where is Iqra Asad? Why has she stopped writing for Us?

Please don't disappoint me by not printing my letter.

Arsh Azim, Peshawar

How?

Salam Eddy!

Firstly, I wanted to thank you for publishing my poem in the 'Poets' Corner' which I wrote on the theme of winter. My family really appreciated my poem and gave me a handsome sum, all thanks to you. It really was uplifting and I got encouragement to write more. Secondly, I wanted to ask you something and I really want an answer. You said you'd give all the participants of the story writing competition a certificate and so far I haven't received any, although I actively took part in it. Do I have to send you my I.D card's copy or something? How do I get it? Also, please be a dear and tell me how to send you my articles. Should I send them as attachments or directly mail the whole article? I used to mail you directly, but so far you haven't published any. So, I thought I'll ask before sending.

Rabia Tanvir, Lahore

You can send your article either way. You'll see it in print if it is good enough :)

A valid point

Hey Eddy,

I couldn't resist replying to Mehwish Mukhtar's letter, published in 15th February's issue. She wrote a stretched story on disintegration amongst Pakistanis; just because she was bluffed by some shopkeepers in Peshawar. That is what Pakistanis usually do, isn't it? I am a Pathan and have lived 17 years of my life in Peshawar. Mehwish said shopkeepers discriminated on prices just because she was a Punjabi and didn't know Pushto. I have my side of story to present. In the past two years that I have been living in Lahore, I have been 'thugged' by taxi drivers everyday. Was it my fault that I'm a Pathan? No! Just because I didn't know the place, they charged me double! The thing is, when you are not a 'local', you are befooled. You take a cab from one place to another in any alien city and you don't know how far the destination is, and so, you are charged double. The same thing happened with Mehwish. Shopkeepers know that locals won't buy the stuff at the sky high price they demand. When you converse in their language, they are forewarned that you won't fall for their trap, and you get reasonable prices. It's quite surprising to know that the shopkeepers didn't sell things to her because she was a Punjabi. The only market where they discriminate on prices is Barraa Market. But why go to such places in the first place? If you promote smuggled and tax-free products, you definitely have such consequences. The sad fact is that half the people come to Peshawar to shop for these duty free products and the shopkeepers can't afford to lose their market.

Abbas Khattak, Peshawar

All about Us!

Dear Editor,

Over the years Us has undergone several changes. From its inception to the present day, five editors have taken it to where it is now. But it is sad that all except a few persons have chosen to forget them.

In my opinion, a lot of credit must go to Najma Hazir, the first Us editor, because she was the pioneer. She did well although it's not always easy to do a task successfully when a mag and newspaper is launched. It was really sad that she died of cancer. Saman Naveed was the real life hero and set an example for everyone. Muneeza Kidwai was liked by all because she had great work ethics and made the mag what every young reader wanted it to be.

Each editor had her own ideas about the mag and it has evolved into what it is nowadays because of the efforts of all of them. So it is important to remember all of them in our prayers and good wishes.

It is easy to comment or make suggestions for Us and every reader has his/her own ideas. Us is doing a very good job nowadays as it did in past, but it is still not perfect. It's that pursuit of becoming perfect that makes us put extra efforts. And responsibility, in this regard, lies with every person who writes anything for Us, apart from the Us team.

However, the standard of contributions getting printed in Us has never been as good as it is nowadays. One of the important reasons behind that is you have raised the bar for all the writers. It's a good thing in my opinion because it keeps everyone on their toes and brings out the best from them. It's also good that you allow everyone to express their opinion fully and are tolerant about all the angry readers and writers, too. But I have always believed that the feedback you get should relate to the content of everything printed in Us, and nobody should make personal remarks on the writers or their personality. I may be wrong so I am hoping that you can shed some light on that. Is your policy of feedback so open and flexible that anybody can come up with personal remarks on anybody while discussing and making comments on his/her contributions?

I liked the Us issue relating to elections. M. Asif Nawaz did a great job because it is not easy to collect all that information about previous elections, arrange it and summarize it to stick to the word count. It was so nice to see Waqas back, too, because he is the best in political satire among all Us writers. To say that his articles were better than his previous ones would be doing injustice to his previous work because he has maintained his high standard throughout. Though I feel more thought could have gone in coming up with different political parties in 'Contesting Parties for Ill-Actions 2008'! In 'Poets' Corner' I liked the poem by Fakiha Zabit the most. Naeema (or is it Nabeela? :p) has done a great job with maintaining a great poetry page over the past few years. She and the writers of your regular pages like Sameen and Arees don't always get the praise they deserve for the great work they are doing from the readers. I really miss Hafsa Ahsan's contributions in Us mag because she is probably among the best freelance journalists around.

And on a lighter note, I would like to request you to take me as an internee in your team. Actually, I plan to poison your assistants and become your first assistant. (Sorry dear assistants, it's nothing personal. It's just business! :p)

Arif Iftikhar, Lahore

Dedicated to Us!

Dear Ed,

Us is a brilliant and fantastic mag. It's always a treat reading your mag, so hats off to you. I have a good advice for you guys, please tear away the 'Greetings' page. It's just a piece of junk and a waste of page, nothing else. If people have to send each other messages, they can SMS each other which is much faster. Nowadays everyone has a mobile phone, even a person who is poor. So it is just lame to send greetings and also to print them. The rest of the mag is doing great. Please print the poster of Jeff Hardy, as he's famous nowadays. Keep rocking!

Hamza Masud, Mirpur (A.K)

Where is Bilal?

Dear Ed,

The issue of Feb 15, 08 was quite good. Especially Waqas Hassan Sharif's article. It was simply mind blowing! Hats off, Waqas. Ed, please start the 'Tongue 'n' Cheek' section again. And where is Bilal? I really miss his articles. Keep up hard work.

Atikah Raza, Karachi

Well done, Us!

Dear Editor,

This is the first time I am writing to Us. In fact, I am writing first time to any mag. I was a silent reader of Us for a year, but the cover story of February 15, 2008 (General Elections of Pakistan – A Flash Back) made me write to you. It was a brilliant cover story because our new generation is almost ignorant of the political history of Pakistan. I would request you to keep publishing these kind of articles every week in order to make the youngsters aware about the history of Pakistan. Us can be a useful source for this purpose. In the end I would simply say, well done, Us!

Ikram Ullah Khan, Abbottabad

Be careful!

Dear Editor,

I am a regular reader of The News and I really felt shocked when I read the article 'Contesting Parties for Ill-Actions 2008' (Feb 15, 2008). "The Mulla Party?" Was that a joke? For me, it was disgracing those members of our society who want to live within the religious boundaries. Nobody has the courage to write against the women who dress vulgarly, or against those who make fun of 'naats'! In my opinion, the article was a shameful piece of writing rather than a humorous one. It made me embarrassed instead of making me laugh. I hope that next time, you will read the article well before publishing it.

Asad Farooq Niazi, Peshawar