About the semi-final we lost! :

Salaam Editor!

It does sound very disappointing. After having won so many matches earlier, Pakistan just couldn't go through to the finals to face Australia. But the fact of the matter is, there is no need to be disappointed! Yes, Pakistan did not reach the finals. Most were angry. Countless depressed. Many were in a state of denial. But we shouldn't be hurt!

Because we must look at the brighter side of things: Pakistan defeated; nay, obliterated West Indies and India. We almost won against Australia…

And besides that, our team just played so well! Afridi entertained us with his signature big hits. Shoaib Malik played responsibly, Umar Gul and other bowlers kept the batsmen under pressure. Younus captained well. You could just feel that a concentrated effort was being made.

You win and you lose. That's life. It's all about making the effort and determination. And I believe our team was, in fact, very determined, they just didn't make the right decisions at the right time in the semi-final!

Awais Imran

Nice work!

Ola Ed!

Some of the previous issues were really good. Sorry to say that 'Graffiti' is getting kinda boring. But the articles are going cool. And please, for God's sake, stop printing the poetry page! It's always full of boring poems. And I mean always!

Hey Ed, please do write editorials every week instead of publishing letters full of junk (read praise) :P. I do like reading editorials. And I love nearly all the art works, they're awesome! Overall the mag is great.

Rameen Nomaan, A.K.

AoA Ed,

The issue of October 2, 2009 was good, especially the cover story. 'Letters to the editor' is my favourite page of all times. With reference to Ahmad Xulfiqar's letter, I must say he wasn't completely correct about what he said, as mostly girls avoid going out to markets on chand raat and the reason was best related by Kanza. Secondly, we are now fed-up of repeated criticisms about Us becoming female-oriented mag. I mean if you have something new then do step forward, I am sure Ed will give you space too!

Aminah Pervaiz, Haripur

The true test of civilisation

Dear Editor,

This is in response to the letter titled 'Atrocious' in your issue of September 25, 2009 by 'A Concerned Reader'.

There is no doubt that the deaths of as many as 15 women trying to get free ration in Karachi was a sad event for the disconsolate and saturnine Pakistanis who are already suffering from the ills of power outages, recession, sky-rocketing prices of petrol and diesel and unemployment but still it is hard to fathom the alleged link between these deaths and the ruling government. From my point of view, the only just and right statement by that particular correspondent was; 'What sort of a country have WE turned Pakistan into?' A land where teeming millions claw at one another to get a sack of wheat and afterwards many of these greedy and undeserving people sell these wheat sacks to 'nanbais' at hefty prices, at rates even more than those promulgated by the government. A land where people, even after 62 years of independence, are unable to follow just a single of the many guiding principles of their Quaid - Discipline. A land where no jetty, embankment or floodgate can control the ever-high sea-monsters of greed and avarice. The event caused grief, sorrow and sparked up the blame game but I think it should have aroused shame, embarrassment and mortification.

Emerson once said; ' The true test of civilisation is not the census, nor the size of cities, nor the crops, no, but the kind of man the country turns out.' And it seems that the Muslim civilisation along with the morality-rich heritage of South-Asian civilisation has failed to transform the depravity and moral corrosion of Pakistanis into righteousness. In my hometown Rawalpindi, one could see such despicable scenes during Ramazan around the trucks supplying wheat (at cheaper prices) that the conclusion that perhaps these people haven't seen wheat for about two decades was not difficult to conceive and had it not been for the law enforcing agencies, the vicious greed would have resulted in similar bloodshed and trampling of the weak as ensued in Karachi because of this ravenous and unquenchable avarice of our people.

The only fault which lies with our authorities that they failed to realise is the truth of Woodrow Wilson's words; 'The sum of the whole matter is this, that our civilisation cannot survive materially unless it be redeemed spiritually, morally and mentally.'

In one of his essays, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan opined that greatness and status of any country depends more on its people's conduct, their etiquettes and habits, civilised behaviour and morality rather than the competency of its government.

So, the incident occurred because of the mediocre mentality, ignorance and greed of my country fellows rather than any fault of the government.