Bounded Freedom (Flash Fiction)

The grass feels soft under my feet. The tree bark digs gently into my back as i lazily recline. The wind whispers silenty in my ears. The birds chirp rhythymically echoing my pulsating heart beat. The green fields run freely into the horizon. The golden rays of the sun peak from the clouds and shine down creating the heartwarming glitter in my eyes. The fallen autumn leaves rustle softly and take flight, carried by the wind into the unknown. The blue skies clear my tunnel vision. I look around. Endless boundaries. My spirit is free. My memories light my day and warm my night. A solace amongst the sins.


In the distance, a shrill whistle cuts through my purple haze. As the sun shrivels to hide in the horizon, the skies darken the spirit of the birds. The leaves disperse like fallen soldiers. The clouds blanket my tunnel vision. I get up hesitantly, pick up my spade and adjust the chains around my legs and walk slowly back to my 7 feet by 8 feet reality

The passion run

Remember how our parents always bring up stories about how relaxed, carefree and interesting life used to be. I cant help but agree with them now. It seems, the more the global market place continues to grow, the more interest people continue to lose in what they do. People now define life as a static, perpetual routine of daily mechanical tasks. They seem devoid of any motivation and enthusiasm. Every day, millions start their day with the sole intention of grudging it through the 8 hours in robotic mode. This could not be any more evident than during the weekly traditions of Friday lunches in my native land. Friday lunchs bring out a large population of young corporate executives. They converge in diversified groups where a very popular topic is the one sentence question, how’s work going? The most common answer seems to be that work is work. People simply cannot find anything special to say about their work. Are we all this bored with something we spend our most productive hours on? Yet at the same time, my peers are quick to measure their success by aligning it to the amount of their paycheck. Hey not being hypocritical, I am part of this very same group as well. But I would certainly like to change this. I think my brain cells are rotting away by simply being under the illusion that my current job description is failing to stimulate any creative thinking No, this is not my success. Rather it is my failure.  An old Chinese saying states that real interest is the key to success. Absence of interest in what you do would make everything a mere obligation which will only end up killing any motivation and drive to grow. There are times when a person needs to take charge of situations. This applies to one’s employment. Either you can cave in and simply take things as they are and be happy with your limited success. Or you can turn things around and find success by being passionate about what you do. I believe we are all hidden geniuses with unique talents and we all possess an inherent passion which just needs to be unleashed. I know it’s easy said than done. But that’s the beauty of young age. This is the time to go knocking on every door and try opening as many windows as possible. Each may hold a different outcome. But success is having the passion to take all these risks to reach the ultimate goal. Take this spirit and go for gold at your work place. Even if a boss holds you down, stand your ground and find a way around. Go ahead, be passionate and make your own corporate success story. Everybody backs a winner. The good thing is that this ideology can be applied to your professional life as well as personal. So whether you are looking for corporate success, by coming up with the next big idea or even starting a revolution, or divulging in some personal glory, make sure you continue to dance with passion and determination along the way.

We come in peace

Globetrotting is always such a passionate adventure. Indeed a foreign destination’s physical beauty and landscape are a major attraction. However true adventure begins the moment we leave our country’s boundaries. Every time we interact with the global environment, we act as goodwill ambassadors of our homeland. We carry with us the culture, the values and the idiosyncrasies that come to brand us.   Our most valued brand collateral being the friendly green colored official documents that serve as our identity and prove our connection to a country which has no doubt enjoyed quite a lot of free publicity(although not beneficial) over the last couple of years. The interesting and mystifying fact about these branded documents is the special treatment it has bestowed on everyone owning it. It starts the moment one flashes this green book at the immigration counters. All of a sudden the world’s best cutting edge scanner technology suffers a minor technical defect and we are politely ushered to a side counter for clearance. Sometimes they call it random checking. But we are never the ones to let it get us down. We rise above because we come in peace. So with a quick friendly thank you for carrying out their civic duty, we move along the way. Soon we are in a new place, vulnerable to the perceptions of the locals. The first taxi driver we encounter is quick to guess our origins. Upon a quick redirection to a slightly eastern country, we gear ourselves to answer a question which would be repeated several times during our journey. Is it safe out there? We think the taxi driver has heard a few too many breaking news. But wait! He actually genuinely seems concerned with our country’s safety and plight. We are deeply touched. So we rise above and try to add some color to the otherwise grim picture the media has painted. We are passing through on the wings of peace. The next day we sign up for a tour package. Along the road to a touristy destination, we come together with a group of people from Continental Europe. Brief customary introductions follow. We seem to pick up a not so friendly aura around us. So we fall back from the group, exploring on our own. We are near an entrance of a temple when a Swiss couple approaches us. We can just sense the pride and security the Swiss nationals carry with them. Yup those stiff upper lips. We can only guess what they would want to talk about. The Swiss couple introduce themselves as avid trekkers. They then excitedly tell us of their journey to the Karakoram / Himalayan range in our own homeland. Soon our ambassadorship takes on a whole new dimension. The mountains ranges become more majestic, the rivers become more splendid and the people become more gracious. In those thirty minutes, we take a proud journey through the wonders of our homeland through the eyes of two strangers. Two strangers who rise above and remember Pakistan in a way different than what the world has been forced to perceive. Perhaps this is the very foundation of the wings of peace and bonds of solidarity that holds the global citizens together. The greatest are those who rise above. Their belief in people goes beyond ethnicity and culture. To them boundaries don’t mark a man, color does not define a man and religion does not make a man. We are equals. We, together form mankind first and then individual citizens of a particular country. We come in peace. One for all and all for one.

Traveler's Check

Travel is defined as a movement of people or objects between relatively distant geographical locations. Many travel for recreation, tourism or vacationing. It begins the moment you lock the door to your home and get dropped at the airport. You brave it through the transit and arrive at your destination. Instantly you join the global avid league of tourists. By this time you would have spent weeks researching your chosen destination.   There you stand armed with maps and guidebooks hailing a taxi from your hotel lobby.  You appear like a typical tourist with the latest digital camera slung around your neck and a pouch containing the essentials around your waist. You take pride in your efficiency of having marked out an itinerary covering all tourist destinations. Your taxi driver is a professional who has predetermined that 20 minutes is more than enough for you to take in the beauty or awe of that classic monument or landmark. It gives you enough time to stand there and read out a brief description of the tourist attraction under focus, to your companions, and ask another fellow tourist to take a quick picture of yourself standing next to the attraction. Of course if the fellow tourist is equally high on “touristy spirit”, he will allow you to indulge in some creative yet clichéd poses such as the angled pose next to the Leaning Tower of Pisa. No doubt it will make an amazing profile picture for your facebook and twitter accounts. You sail through your tourist stops having filled your camera with pictures of the attraction occasionally capturing a cultural street show. You pose with the star of the show who dressed in his royal flamboyant costume seems to represent the entire historical heritage of a civilization. Of course in midst of this, you do take the time out to indulge in some delicacies. You rejoice at the sight of the nearest Burger King. Later at night, you arrive back to your hotel, exhausted but pleased with having explored the foreign land exactly the way the guide book outlined. You have been a successful tourist.   But is this what you spent all your savings on? It seems like that traveling all the way to the new destination and following the same systematic routine is a far cry from the relaxation you had sought. I mean what’s the point of going abroad if you’re just another tourist carted away around in taxis and buses surrounded by other sweaty and uptight tourists. You spend so much time standing in queues for taxis, admission tickets, attractions, burger king etc. that you forgot the real essence of travel.   Travel is meant to allow us to reinvent ourselves over and over again. It gives us an opportunity to open our eyes and hearts to a new place and embrace it for all its glory. Every destination that you visit is like a Pandora box full of adventure and mystique. You just have to learn to travel with your eyes and mind open. You have to go beyond the tourist in you and embrace the inner traveler. Once you take in a new destination as your new home, be it temporary, only then will you let your inner self loose and allow the destination to change you from the person you were when you left home.   True we are all tourists. Or at least we start out that way on any journey. We take tours to see all the sites but yet we miss the sounds. We see the streets yet we don’t notice the lights. We buy souvenirs yet we don’t share the bonds.  How is this travel adventurous or even authentic if you don’t learn anything about the culture and heritage of the new destination. Do you really achieve anything productive from your travel other than albums full of self portraits and perhaps a t-shirt confirming your presence at the travel destination. I know some of you may be thinking, who am I to judge. A travel experience in an unknown place is a very subjective experience defined by each individual in a way he deems right. I just wish to help you realize that the goal of traveling is to learn about the world and about yourself. It’s about being open and accepting new cultures and the different ways of living. It’s about moving away from being a tourist and enjoying the mystique of being a traveler. Travel and be the person who changes the location and sees it as a second home.   As a traveler, go beyond the surface of a destination and seek out bondage with the local culture. Go deeper and explore the culture, the people, the traditions, the food, the lifestyles and inner workings of a new place. A traveler gets involved. When traveling through an ancient trade route city, you follow the guide book along the ancient bazaars but then pack the book into your back pack and let yourself get lost in the maze of intertwined narrow walk ways paved with street vendors calling out to you to smell the exotic scents. Stand in one corner, close your eyes and transform yourself back in time and watch the ancient bazaar come alive once again and you will see the ancient merchants with their caravans lining the same narrow walk ways. You continue walking and you stumble across a tiny door. It doesn’t seem to be marked in any way. Being the traveler you are, curiosity gets the better of you and you walk in.  You can’t believe your eyes as you seem to have found an ancient inn and barracks. It couldn’t get any better than this. You saw history come to life as you let yourself reach out deeper   Your travels can take to you diverse destinations. Some beckoning you with rich culture and heritage, while some with their breath taking natural beauty. You followed the advice of your co-workers and booked a trip to Switzerland. As always, you sit in the plane on route reading up the guide book. It outlines the cities of interest. You stand at the bus ticket counter hoping to purchase tickets for a tour. You catch a local watching you. You get a bit jumpy but then you realize interacting with him might enable you to obtain special information. You strike up a conversation and soon you two appear as old chaps from school. You break down the barrier. He welcomes you and is able to direct you to a better option. Soon you have a 4 day travel pass with access to bus, train and ferries across the country. You are able to avoid crowded tours and embark on a life changing journey across the magnificent country taking in splendid views, strolling across the lake, eating croissant by the side of Mount Blanc. All because you embraced the spirit of a traveler and let yourself get involved.   True, the above accounts may be a few pages of my personal travel diaries. I started out as a tourist. Somewhere along the way, I broke away and saw travel as a way to understand the world that we all live in together. I saw each destination as a source of infinite possibilities and endless stories. No matter where you go, remember to go beyond the surface and never accept the visit as an end in itself. Every destination becomes the next departure, every culture a new maze, every sunrise a new beginning. Travel to mix with locals, eat from street stalls, ride around in those local three wheelers. Encourage your own curiosity. Develop a sense of belonging to every destination you visit. Leave with a longing to return with lasting memories and stories. In the end, come as a tourist but leave as a traveler.