u/CopyWrong2779

This story reminds us of so much…

Freedom, war, revolution every courtyard has a story. The story of every rebellious girl like Chammi, every sensitive soul like Aliya, every politician with thoughts like Jameel, every woman like Kareeman Bua sitting by the stove and baking rotis, and every bitter-tempered Gandhi worker like the elder uncle.

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This is Khadija Mastoor’s famous novel Aangan. Published in 1962, the novel portrays the inner life of a family against the backdrop of the Indian subcontinent in the 1940s, the independence movement, and the Partition of India.

The central character of the story is Aliya. She belongs to a family whose members gradually grow distant from one another because of political ideologies, class differences, love, and personal interests.

Aliya’s father is imprisoned because of his activities against British rule. Due to the circumstances, Aliya comes to live with her mother at her uncle’s house. This house is, in fact, the “aangan”, the courtyard of the novel, where family relationships, loves, rivalries, and political disagreements all come face to face.

Within the household are Chammi, Aliya, Jameel, Safdar, Tehmina, and other characters, each carrying their own beliefs and desires.

Chammi is a bold and emotional girl. She loves Jameel, but Jameel’s attention eventually shifts toward Aliya. Aliya herself is very cautious when it comes to love and does not easily accept Jameel’s affection. Of the three, Chammi suffers the most.

Safdar, meanwhile, is a young man with a very different political ideology. The male characters in the novel represent different political paths: Aliya’s father is anti-imperialist, Safdar holds communist views, her uncle supports the Congress, while Jameel is inclined toward the Muslim League. In this way, the disagreements within the household become a reflection of the wider political divisions of India.

Aliya’s sister Tehmina also experiences a tragic love story. The restrictions imposed by the family, the limitations placed upon women, and the stories of love left incomplete leave a deep impression on Aliya. The central character of the book is Aliya, and I became quite frustrated with her at times, wondering, “Why doesn’t she ever say anything?” You shouldn’t keep everything bottled up inside; sometimes you need to let your feelings out.

I really liked the character of the elder aunt. (I wish we all had an aunt like her.)

Then circumstances deteriorate further. Political tensions, Hindu-Muslim riots, and the storm of Partition engulf the family as well. Mazhar Chacha is killed while trying to promote Hindu-Muslim unity, and the household begins to fall apart. Shakeel leaves home, Jameel finds himself caught in difficult circumstances, and Chammi’s life takes a painful turn as well.

Eventually, Pakistan comes into being.

Aliya and her mother migrate to Pakistan, but for Aliya, this journey does not mark the beginning of a joyful new life. The relationships left behind—Jameel, Chammi, and the entire old courtyard remain part of her memories. After reaching Pakistan, she realizes that although the country has gained freedom, not everyone has gained the freedom to pursue their own desires.

Later, through letters, she learns that Shakeel has left home, Israr has disappeared, and Jameel and Chammi have married. For Chammi, this marriage is, in a way, the return of the love she had been waiting for all along.

So, what is Aangan really about?

It is not merely a story about a family or about love. Perhaps the most beautiful aspect of the novel is that while the country is moving toward independence, the women inside the home are constantly struggling for their own small freedoms. This is what makes Aangan such a significant novel in Urdu literature.

The reason I wanted to read it was to learn about people who lived through those historical circumstances and to understand what life was like for them. Aangan shows us the circumstances in which women lived within the confines of a household. It does not teach history in a textbook-like manner; rather, it shows us how political circumstances affect the lives of ordinary people.

For clarification, this is not a hate post. I myself found my way to Islam through the Shia sect, but I want to clear up a few things because, from my question, you can probably already tell that I grew up in a Sunni household. Believe it or not, what we believe in also shows in how we act in our daily lives.

Again, I do not hate Sunnis either, because that would mean hating my entire family, and the Ahlul Bayt loved their family deeply. I just have one difficulty that I am unable to follow on my own, and that is breaking my fast. The rest is done privately, as I am learning about it on my own.

I’m learning equity research and decided to make Haleon my first proper deep dive. I’ve tried to approach it like an actual institutional-style report: investment thesis, five-year financials, a DCF with defended assumptions, risk factors, catalysts, and, ultimately, a clear BUY/SELL call.

I’ve also gone through the annual report, MD&A, risk factors, and notes to the accounts rather than just relying on the headline numbers. Basically, I tried to read the stuff people usually skip.

Now I’d really appreciate some brutal, honest feedback from people who actually know equity research.

A few things I’d specifically like you to tear apart:

1. Valuation I’m using a 7.5% WACC and 3% terminal growth. Are those assumptions actually defensible for Haleon, or am I being too aggressive/conservative?
2. Thesis Is there anything important I’m missing? Particularly risks, catalysts, or something that could fundamentally undermine the margin-expansion story?
3. Structure Does the report resemble a proper equity research report, or is there too much unnecessary stuff and not enough of what actually matters?
4. Data Do any of the numbers look suspicious or inconsistent? Are there particular figures or sources I should cross-check?
5. Overall quality What would I need to change to take this from “student learning equity research” to something that looks genuinely institution-ready?

The basic thesis is:

Haleon owns brands such as Sensodyne, Advil, Panadol and Centrum. Revenue growth has been relatively weak, but margins have expanded significantly, with operating margins around 22.5% and gross margins around 64.8%. FCF is around £2B annually, while net debt/EBITDA has been coming down toward 2.6x.

My argument is that the market is overly focused on the revenue growth miss versus management’s 4–6% medium-term target and is underappreciating the margin expansion, cash generation and potential H2 2026 recovery.

My DCF gets me to roughly $11.50 versus a current price of about $9.70, so I’ve landed on BUY.

I’m still learning, so I’m much more interested in someone telling me where the analysis is wrong than telling me what I did well. Haleon_first_equity_report

If someone were to ask me to prepare a list of the best novels written in the Urdu language, I would place Mirat-ul-Uroos at the very top. After finishing the novel, I kept thinking for quite some time about how I had come to read such a magnificent book only after so long. I was so impressed by it that, among all the books I have read so far, I completed this one in the shortest amount of time. I even encouraged my family members and some female friends to read it. In my opinion, every girl should read this book; in fact, this book should also have a definite place among the recommendations given to girls as part of literary education.

Before reviewing it, let me briefly introduce the author and explain why this masterpiece was written. I will also shed some light on a few of its most prominent aspects. Deputy Nazir Ahmad was an important literary figure of the Urdu language. He was born on December 6, 1836, in a village in the Nageena tehsil of Bijnor district. Professionally, he served as a teacher. It is said that Deputy Sahib searched for books on the subject of raising his daughters and teaching them household skills, but could not find a suitable book on the subject in any library. He then decided to write one himself, and thus laid the foundation for novel writing in Urdu. For this reason, he is regarded as one of the earliest novelists of the Urdu language.

Mirat-ul-Uroos, meaning “The Bride’s Mirror,” is indeed a mirror for brides. In the book, Deputy Sahib conveys his message through two vivid central characters, while the supporting characters also hold considerable importance. The main characters of the novel are Asghari and Akbari, sisters born to the same mother who are married into the same household. The only difference is that Akbari has been spoiled by her grandmother’s excessive affection, whereas Asghari, because of her intelligence, wisdom, and good sense, manages household affairs with order, skill, and sound judgment. After receiving an education, Asghari also helps other girls acquire the “jewel” of education and plays a positive role in society.

Akbari’s character, on the other hand, is quite the opposite. She is humiliated wherever she goes. Because of her stubbornness, she faces failure in almost everything she does. Her relationships with her husband and in-laws remain strained, as a result of which she encounters numerous difficulties in her married life. Nevertheless, her absurd ways of behaving will make you laugh. Despite the time period, it felt really familiar to something we have now: “I’m just a girl” was not a silly excuse for irresponsible behavior; behaving in such a way was a recipe for disaster. I think there are one or two things we can learn from Akbari’s character.

Not to start a personal rant, but I’m just appalled that some women are trying to erode the progress feminism has made with stupid TikTok trends. You’re not just a girl. You’re a woman, an adult. You can do so much more than you think, and you don’t need to hide behind girlish ignorance to make up for your shortcomings. I really dislike consumerism and capitalism being repackaged as empowerment, self-care, or feminism. It’s sadly common and shouldn’t be trivialized. Some women are working overtime to help us become respected, equal human beings in society. Negative self-talk, even when done in a comedic way, can cause your brain to reinforce those negative beliefs. It makes my blood boil to see this nonsense being repackaged. Which is something Akbari does frequently, but according to the fashion of her time.

Nevertheless, it’ll make you laugh because we take those times as really harsh on women, as they were. It’s not about what you can get away with. I sometimes wondered myself, how did she pull that off without getting beaten up, which was pretty common even 10 years earlier, even in very educated households of major cities of Pakistan, let alone at that time.

In short, through this novel, Nazir Ahmad encourages girls to pursue education, acquire useful skills, and put them to practical use in life, even when opportunities are scarce. Unlike his time, however, women today are increasingly encouraged to contribute to household income as economic pressures and rising costs of living make dual-income households more necessary. While this may strengthen household financial resilience, the poverty looming over our society could also drive a broader cultural shift in the traditional structure of family life a shift that, if avoidable, I hope our nation never has to undergo.

Shaukat Siddiqui’s novel Khuda Ki Basti is regarded as one of the novels that received widespread acclaim in the world of Urdu literature.

The novel was published in 1957, and because of its success, it was awarded the Adamjee Literary Award in 1960. The novel has also been translated into more than 40 languages.

The central theme of the novel is the life of the oppressed and impoverished classes, contrasted with the arbitrary behavior and bullying of the capitalist system. Alongside this, there are romantic episodes that keep the novel from becoming overly heavy.

There is an extraordinary seriousness to this novel. You will rarely find an opportunity to smile while reading it, but your interest will continue to grow rather than diminish.

One of the novel’s most remarkable qualities is how completely the reader becomes absorbed in it. While reading, you become so immersed that it feels as though the events are actually happening to you. At one point, I even skipped through a couple of pages because of the effect the injections were having on Sultana’s mother.

The novel’s writing style is extremely simple and fluent, so there is no difficulty in reading it. The prose flows easily and naturally.

The novel also vividly portrays the living conditions, customs, clothing, and general atmosphere of Karachi. It describes, among other things, the practice of inviting guests into the house rather than having them sit in a separate sitting room, as well as guests becoming overly familiar with the women of the household. The consequences of such practices are also presented by the author within the novel itself.

As for the characters, each one appears to represent and reflect the circumstances in which they live.

The central character, Salman, gives up his love, Sultana, for the sake of the welfare organization Falak Paima, and serves his community by becoming a “Spy Lark.” Sultana is the novel’s principal female character. She is constantly frightened, anxious, and timid.

Bahadur Ali is the shrewd capitalist of the novel, known for his influence and wealth. He manipulates and misleads people under the guise of religion. Ali Ahmed is the president and “Spy Lark” of the welfare organization Falak Paima. He is an intelligent, sensible, and farsighted character who is constantly thinking about the betterment of society.

The author has also demonstrated remarkable skill in describing scenes and settings. His descriptions of hot and cold weather, the movement of the winds, and the surrounding atmosphere create an enchanting experience for the reader.

The novel has also been adapted into a television drama and broadcast twice on PTV, where the drama received tremendous popularity as well. Due to the unavailability of a physical copy of the book, the novel was read on a laptop.

Currently studying at ICMA and lately I’ve been wondering if I’m actually making the right decision by continuing with it.

I’m already running into things that honestly surprised me. I’ve been asked to meet deadlines without even having all the information needed to complete them, the portals have basically no useful technical support, and even the WiFi can be questionable. I’ve also had to chase people around for basic information that I thought would just be provided after admission.

Then I started looking up reviews and found quite a few people mentioning rude academic staff, uncooperative accounts departments, and students getting passed from one person to another whenever there’s an issue.

I’ve also spoken to a few seniors and some of them basically told me they can’t quit now because they’ve already spent years on it. And honestly, that made me more worried rather than reassured 😭

I understand that every institution has bureaucracy and annoying administration, but ICMA isn't exactly cheap, so I don't want to spend years and a huge amount of money on something just because I've already invested so much into it.

For anyone who has actually studied at ICMA, was it worth it in the end?

How has your experience been with the academic/administrative side? Things like registration numbers, exam information, study materials, portals, accounts, etc. Were these occasional annoyances or something you were constantly dealing with?

And more importantly, did the qualification actually help you get a decent job? Was ICMA useful once you entered the job market, or did you end up having to build your career mostly through experience and other certifications anyway?

I'm especially interested in hearing from people who were paying for it themselves and couldn't afford to waste money. If you were starting over today, knowing what you know now, would you still choose ICMA?

I'm not trying to bash ICMA or convince anyone that it's bad. I'm genuinely trying to figure out whether what I'm experiencing is just normal institutional bureaucracy that I should get used to, or whether these are actual warning signs.

I'd much rather find out now than get halfway through and realize I should've gone somewhere else.

Would really appreciate honest experiences, good or bad.

I’m a student living in Pakistan and I receive around $100–200 a month from my family abroad through Western Union. I’m honestly starting to despise WU because having to go to an agent every time just to collect the money is such a hassle.

I want to switch to having the money sent directly into a Pakistani account, but now I’m stuck between a few options and honestly don’t know which direction to go.

As for Meezan, I’ve heard people recommend it quite a lot, so I was initially thinking of just opening a savings account there and letting whatever money I don’t spend earn some profit. But lately I’ve also been hearing more people talk about UBL, and their app/UI honestly looks way better to me than Meezan’s. My experience with Meezan has also been that they’re much more geared towards bigger accounts and smaller customers can sometimes feel like an afterthought.

I’m also a little paranoid about putting my money somewhere and then finding out later that there was some issue with the bank or that smaller customers weren't properly protected/handled. I’ve seen discussions about past incidents involving Meezan that made me a bit cautious, even though obviously I don't know the full story.

Then there’s the remittance side of things. I’ve seen people mention fees/deductions eating a surprisingly large chunk of their incoming remittances, so I’d really like to know which banks are actually transparent about what you’re getting and what you’re being charged, which Meezan clearly isn't.

A friend also suggested the HBL Freelancer Account, but I’m not actually freelancing. This is just money my family sends me as an allowance. I keep seeing people mention HBL asking for proof of work, client contracts, PSEB registration, etc., so I’m not sure whether opening a freelancer account would even make sense for me.

I was also considering NayaPay, but I’ve seen so many people here celebrating finally getting rid of SadaPay/NayaPay 😭 and then stories about how annoying it can be to close the account or get things sorted out. So I’m hesitant to make a fintech wallet my main place for money just because the onboarding is convenient.

At this point I’m basically looking for a bank I can stick with for years. I want my money to earn a decent profit rather than just sit there losing value to inflation, but I also want the bank to be straightforward about fees, remittances and documentation.

More importantly, I regularly need to pay for things online in USD, and I want to be able to receive the dollars my family sends me without turning every transaction into a whole project. Ideally I want something where the USD/PKR side, PRCs, transfers, online payments, etc. are all reasonably painless.

So for someone in my situation, what would you actually choose Meezan, UBL, HBL Freelancer, NayaPay, or something else?

I’m much more interested in people who have actually been using these accounts than generic “X is the best bank” recommendations. What has your experience been with remittances, fees, app/online banking, USD payments and customer service?

Basically I just want to stop dealing with Western Union and put my money somewhere I don't have to constantly worry about it. 😭

Salam everyone,

I’m currently a student living in Pakistan, and I receive around $200–$300 per month from my family abroad via Western Union. I’m starting to absolutely despise WU because of the hassle of having to go to the agent every time. I can’t really complain about their exchange rates because I’ve never used anything else.

I want to switch to receiving the money directly into a Pakistani bank account. I have a few specific questions and was hoping someone here has practical experience with Meezan Bank’s Savings Account.

I’ve heard about Meezan quite a few times, and I figured I might as well earn a little profit on whatever money I leave in the account. Do they require a crazy amount of source-of-income documentation? Or can I simply tell them it’s family remittances and be done with it?

As for the HBL Freelancer Account, a friend recommended that I open one, but I keep reading horror stories about HBL asking for “proof of job,” “client contracts,” and “PSEB registration” even for small amounts. Is that actually true? I don’t have any contracts because this is just pocket money from my family, not freelance income.

I was also thinking about using NayaPay to receive the dollars and convert them, but doesn’t their application process go on a random tour of Hell? Does anyone here use NayaPay just to receive the money, get a PRC, and then show that PRC to a traditional bank like Meezan or HBL as proof of the source of funds? Is that a valid workaround, or would the bank still ask for additional documentation?

Finally, which of these options has better profit/interest rates and lower transaction fees or deductions when withdrawing or receiving the money? I’m particularly interested in minimizing things like withholding tax or other deductions.

Would really appreciate hearing from anyone who actually uses these services for family remittances.

Salam everyone,

I’m currently a student living in Pakistan, and I receive around $200–$300 per month from my family abroad via Western Union. I’m starting to absolutely despise WU because of the hassle of having to go to the agent every time. I can’t really complain about their exchange rates because I’ve never used anything else.

I want to switch to receiving the money directly into a Pakistani bank account. I have a few specific questions and was hoping someone here has practical experience with Meezan Bank’s Savings Account.

I’ve heard about Meezan quite a few times, and I figured I might as well earn a little profit on whatever money I leave in the account. Do they require a crazy amount of source-of-income documentation? Or can I simply tell them it’s family remittances and be done with it?

As for the HBL Freelancer Account, a friend recommended that I open one, but I keep reading horror stories about HBL asking for “proof of job,” “client contracts,” and “PSEB registration” even for small amounts. Is that actually true? I don’t have any contracts because this is just pocket money from my family, not freelance income.

I was also thinking about using NayaPay to receive the dollars and convert them, but doesn’t their application process go on a random tour of Hell? Does anyone here use NayaPay just to receive the money, get a PRC, and then show that PRC to a traditional bank like Meezan or HBL as proof of the source of funds? Is that a valid workaround, or would the bank still ask for additional documentation?

Finally, which of these options has better profit/interest rates and lower transaction fees or deductions when withdrawing or receiving the money? I’m particularly interested in minimizing things like withholding tax or other deductions.

Would really appreciate hearing from anyone who actually uses these services for family remittances.

Heyy everyone,

I’m helping my mother start a new chapter. She’s an experienced teacher who is fluent in Urdu and Hindi (for communication) and wants to teach Islamiyat and Quran online to international students. She’s great with kids and has a lot of patience, but we’re a bit lost on the business side of things.

We’re looking for solid advice on three things:

1. How to find the right students?

We’re not sure where to start. We know we want to target international students (maybe in the US, UK, or Gulf countries) who need a teacher who can explain concepts in Urdu/Hindi. Where do we find them?

- Are Facebook groups or WhatsApp communities a good shout?

- Should we try freelancing platforms, or is that too competitive for someone just starting out?

2. Which apps should she use to receive payments?

We’re based in South Asia, so we need something that can handle international transfers without eating away the fees. She’s not super tech-savvy, so we need something simple to set up. I’ve heard of Wise and Payoneer, but what’s the easiest for a new tutor?

3. What is a fair rate to charge?

This is the biggest question. We don’t want to undercharge or overcharge. We’ve seen rates all over the place. What’s the current market rate for a teacher who offers:

- Nazra Quran with Tajweed

- Basic Islamiyat (Duas, Seerah, Fiqh)

- Taught in Urdu/Hindi

Do you charge by the hour or per month? I’ve seen some tutors charge between $5–$10/hour or around $50–$100/month for regular classes. Does that sound about right?

Any advice, tips, or even warnings about scams would be hugely appreciated. JazakAllah Khair!

I came across a student's learning roadmap recently and it got me thinking about what's actually happening in European schools, what's just hype, and whether this kind of deep technical education is genuinely useful beyond just getting a tech job.

Software & Full-Stack Development:

- TypeScript, Next.js, Tailwind CSS, ShadCN UI

- Git & GitHub, CI/CD

- Full-Stack Application Development

- Figma, Sanity CMS, E-commerce Website Development

Python & Backend Engineering

- Python, FastAPI, UV Package Manager

- PostgreSQL / Relational Databases

- Docker, Image Creation & Containerization

- Introduction to Kubernetes with Minikube

- Hugging Face Deployment

Generative AI & Agentic AI:

- Generative AI, AI Agents Development, Agentic AI

- Prompt Engineering, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)

- MCP Servers

- Working with Multiple LLMs & CLI Tools

- Workflow Automation using AI

- OpenClaw, The Four Layers

Modern AI Engineering & Development Methodologies:

- Spec-Driven Development, Reusable Intelligence

- Markdown, AI-assisted development

- Building systems around intelligent agents

Currently in Progress:

- Loop Engineering, Harness Engineering, Graph Engineering

- Trusting the Checker, Leave the Laptop, Hermes & General Agents

In European countries, at what grade/age is this kind of thing taught to teens? Is it random or is there a structured curriculum?

And what opportunities does this open up if it's not just on its own but applied in different roles? Is this actually useful in the real world or is it overkill?

I have to be honest, where I am, the person handling the government-based initiative for this is a grifter. They use news headlines to get funding, spin it into something impressive for the media, but the actual program is shallow and not worth the money being poured into it. So I'm trying to separate real value from performative hype.

Is this student's roadmap the real deal? Or is it another case of impressive-sounding buzzwords that don't translate to anything meaningful?

Would genuinely appreciate thoughts from people who actually work in or around these fields in Europe.

I came across a student's learning roadmap recently and it got me thinking about what's actually happening in European schools, what's just hype, and whether this kind of deep technical education is genuinely useful beyond just getting a tech job.

Software & Full-Stack Development:

- TypeScript, Next.js, Tailwind CSS, ShadCN UI

- Git & GitHub, CI/CD

- Full-Stack Application Development

- Figma, Sanity CMS, E-commerce Website Development

Python & Backend Engineering

- Python, FastAPI, UV Package Manager

- PostgreSQL / Relational Databases

- Docker, Image Creation & Containerization

- Introduction to Kubernetes with Minikube

- Hugging Face Deployment

Generative AI & Agentic AI:

- Generative AI, AI Agents Development, Agentic AI

- Prompt Engineering, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)

- MCP Servers

- Working with Multiple LLMs & CLI Tools

- Workflow Automation using AI

- OpenClaw, The Four Layers

Modern AI Engineering & Development Methodologies:

- Spec-Driven Development, Reusable Intelligence

- Markdown, AI-assisted development

- Building systems around intelligent agents

Currently in Progress:

- Loop Engineering, Harness Engineering, Graph Engineering

- Trusting the Checker, Leave the Laptop, Hermes & General Agents

In European countries, at what grade/age is this kind of thing taught to teens? Is it random or is there a structured curriculum?

And what opportunities does this open up if it's not just on its own but applied in different roles? Is this actually useful in the real world or is it overkill?

I have to be honest, where I am, the person handling the government-based initiative for this is a grifter. They use news headlines to get funding, spin it into something impressive for the media, but the actual program is shallow and not worth the money being poured into it. So I'm trying to separate real value from performative hype.

Is this student's roadmap the real deal? Or is it another case of impressive-sounding buzzwords that don't translate to anything meaningful?

Would genuinely appreciate thoughts from people who actually work in or around these fields in Europe.

It's a wild blackberry that our elders have long recommended for diabetes and immunity. Green and red, it's tart. Fully ripe, it's black and sweet.

https://preview.redd.it/4280iozk6dih1.jpg?width=1151&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4c474ece9d5204013938287b5a8fa0edfcd517ce

When I began reading Bano Qudsia's novel Raja Gidh, I was extremely curious. By the time I finished it, however, I was deeply dispirited and disappointed.

The novel has three sections. In each section, Qayyum recounts a story of love. His first love is with Seemi Shah, a modern, highly educated, and exceptionally intelligent woman. Their love begins in the mixed-gender environment of college, flourishes beneath a camphor tree, and eventually dies on a hospital bed.

Seemi Shah is in love with Aftab, but Aftab marries another woman. Qayyum is in love with Seemi Shah. After Aftab leaves for London with his wife, Qayyum becomes a source of support for Seemi. She imagines Aftab in Qayyum and spends the night clinging to him beneath the camphor tree in Jinnah Garden. Their relationship eventually becomes physically intimate. In the end, Seemi dies in a hospital after taking an excessive quantity of sleeping pills.

In the second section, Qayyum becomes involved with a married woman. She is related to him through his sister-in-law's family. She is older than Qayyum, respectable and simple-natured, but unable to have children. She constantly complains about her husband and repeatedly expresses her longing for a child, trying to draw closer to Qayyum, although conventional modesty causes her to retreat each time. The relationship, which develops within the confines of the household and through whispered conversations, eventually becomes physically intimate. After some time, the woman leaves with her husband for her in-laws' home.

In the third section, Qayyum unconsciously becomes attached to a prostitute named Amtal. She is an older, worldly-wise and perceptive woman. She insists that Qayyum accompany her to her residence for a short while, but he becomes so fascinated by her conversation that the two end up spending the night there. Amtal prepares a clean sheet on the bed for Qayyum and asks him to sleep there. Qayyum quietly changes his clothes and lies down, while Amtal remains exhausted on the sofa. When Qayyum cannot sleep late into the night, he asks Amtal to sit beside him. She gently massages his feet, and eventually they become physically intimate.

This relationship with Amtal also reaches its conclusion beneath the camphor tree in Jinnah Garden. Qayyum tells her his life story, after which Amtal tells him about her own life and advises him to get married. At this point, the two decide that they will never meet again. The following day, a newspaper reports that Amtal's son has killed his mother in what he considers an act of honor.

Now, exhausted by repeated failures, disappointments, and misguided choices in life, and frightened by his profound sadness, Qayyum turns toward religion in an attempt to find spiritual solace. On Professor Sohail's advice, he begins visiting the hut of a spiritual mystic. Around the same time, he develops a desire to marry a virgin, chaste, respectable woman and lead a morally upright life.

His parents have already died, while he maintains a respectful relationship with his elder brother. He expresses this wish to his sister-in-law. One day, she arrives with good news and, emphasizing the word virgin, tells Qayyum that he is going to marry an extremely respectable, virgin, and virtuous woman.

Qayyum begins happily imagining his future, believing that his life is finally about to change. However, on the wedding night, he discovers that the woman is already pregnant. Qayyum nevertheless exercises considerable restraint and swallows this bitter disappointment. He then divorces her and, according to her wishes, secretly and deliberately arranges for her to be reunited with her lover. In doing so, he saves her from public disgrace. The woman leaves with her beloved, crying tears of gratitude at Qayyum's feet.

Qayyum is once again left standing alone under the harsh sun of life.

One day, he meets Aftab, who has changed completely and is now the father of a child. The child is abnormal, perhaps presented as a punishment for illicit sexual behavior whose consequences have been passed down to the next generation.

The novel ends here, leaving behind a sense of disconnectedness, incompleteness, brokenness, and melancholy among its characters.

In my humble opinion, this is a romance heavily preoccupied with sexuality. If there is any philosophy in it, I believe it is essentially the idea that the consequences of illicit sexual behavior automatically pass down to subsequent generations. As for the material near the end concerning the mystic, conversations with spirits, spending nights in graves, and similar elements, I consider it little more than nonsense, rambling, and mythology.

Been diving into security testing on AI-generated apps lately, and I'm genuinely shocked at how many critical vulnerabilities keep popping up so far I've personally encountered hardcoded credentials everywhere, not just API keys in the frontend but full database URLs and Stripe secret keys sitting in plain sight for anyone with dev tools to grab and spin up your backend for free while you foot the bill; no rate limiting whatsoever, meaning unlimited requests can spam your endpoints into oblivion, crash your API, run up your cloud costs, or brute force their way in; zero input validation, so malicious queries and random payloads are happily accepted making SQL injection trivially easy; and broken access control with numeric user IDs in URLs that let anyone change the number and access other people's private data. It honestly feels like these apps work well enough to fool you into thinking they're production-ready, but in reality they are held together with duct tape. What other vulnerabilities are out there that I'm missing? Curious to hear what else the community has observed, and for the dev folks here, have you noticed any patterns in how AI models generate insecure code beyond just context blindness? Drop anything you've seen, trying to build a more comprehensive picture of what's actually out there. Salam!

I've been trying to read more Urdu literature beyond the usual recommendations and would love some suggestions.

So far I've read:

• Makli — Nazia Kamran Kashif
• Shahab Nama — Qudrat Ullah Shahab
• Taubat-un-Nasuh — Deputy Nazir Ahmad
• Khali Ghar — Anwar Aligi
• Raja Gidh — Bano Qudsia
• Manto's short stories — Saadat Hasan Manto
• Zinda Mummy — Maqbool Jahangir
• Hikayat-e-Rumi (Urdu adaptation of Rumi's stories)
• Mantiq-ut-Tayr — Farid ud-Din Attar
• Alipur Ka Aili — Mumtaz Mufti

I'm mainly interested in literary fiction, psychological novels, philosophy, history, Sufi literature, magical realism, or atmospheric/gothic works. I'm not really looking for digest romances or commercial fiction nor anything from Umera Ahmed.

What are some must-read Urdu books or authors you think deserve more attention?

Many people express support for causes such as Palestinians, Rohingya, Uyghurs, Kashmiris, Sudanese civilians, Congolese civilians, Tigrayans, Kurds, and Iranians facing repression or conflict. However, public attention and media coverage often vary significantly between different humanitarian crises.

Some argue that human rights advocacy has become selective and influenced by political interests, media incentives, strategic alliances, or cultural narratives. Others argue that differences in public attention simply reflect differences in available information, proximity, or perceived relevance.

Discussion Questions:

1. Is it realistic to expect people to apply the same level of concern to all humanitarian crises, or is selective attention inevitable?
2. To what extent do media coverage and social media algorithms influence which conflicts receive public sympathy and activism?
3. How should people distinguish between criticism of governments, militant groups, or religious institutions and prejudice toward broader religious or ethnic communities?
4. Can support for causes such as Palestinian rights, Kurdish self-determination, Rohingya protection, Uyghur rights, or Iranian protesters be framed within a universal human rights framework, or do political realities make that difficult?
5. What responsibilities, if any, do activists have to maintain consistency across different humanitarian causes?

I see a lot of discourse online, particularly from certain traditionalist or literalist camps, where people claim that rulings are based on "objective fact" derived from the texts. I find this fascinating because I think it fundamentally misunderstands what the texts actually are and how jurisprudence works. If a fact is based on your interpretation of a text or your specific moral framework, it is not objective. It is simply your subjective reality presented with theological certainty. Saying "the objective fact based on my values" is basically a meme at this point because it conflates empirical reality with personal conviction.

To claim that the codified rules of faith are wholly contained within the Mushaf, the Uthmanic text, is frankly ahistorical. The Quran is the foundational source, but it is not a legal codex. The number of explicit, unequivocal legal rulings in the Quran is surprisingly limited when it comes to the details of everyday life. Everything else, including the extrapolation of punishments, financial transactions, and social norms, is the product of ijtihad. By its very definition, ijtihad is the subjective exertion of a mujtahid's intellect based on linguistic understanding, cultural context, and logical reasoning.

Even the concept of consensus, or ijma, is not free from subjectivity because there has never been universal agreement on what actually constitutes ijma. Is it the consensus of the scholars of Medina, the Companions, or the entire Ummah? Different madhhabs define its parameters differently, which means the very mechanism people use to claim objectivity is itself built upon subjective methodological choices.

I suspect the root of this disagreement is a fundamental difference in how we view the Sunnah as an authoritative legal source, and that is a theological disagreement we can simply acknowledge. However, as Muslims and students of history, I think we have a duty to recognize that fiqh has never been a monolithic or static legal code. It was intentionally developed to account for differences in time and place, and I believe that is part of its beauty. The Sharia practiced in a Moroccan village does not look identical to the Sharia practiced in tenth century Baghdad or eighteenth century Indonesia, and historically that was considered a strength rather than a flaw.

So, if you claim that fiqh contains objectively correct rulings, how do you reconcile the inherent subjectivity of ijtihad with that claim? If scholars such as al-Shafi'i, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and Abu Hanifa reached significantly different conclusions on major legal issues, does that not demonstrate that what people call "objective fact" has often been the product of sincere but human reasoning?

I see a lot of discourse online, particularly from certain traditionalist or literalist camps, where people claim that rulings are based on "objective fact" derived from the texts. I find this fascinating because I think it fundamentally misunderstands what the texts actually are and how jurisprudence works. If a fact is based on your interpretation of a text or your specific moral framework, it is not objective. It is simply your subjective reality presented with theological certainty. Saying "the objective fact based on my values" is basically a meme at this point because it conflates empirical reality with personal conviction.

To claim that the codified rules of faith are wholly contained within the Mushaf, the Uthmanic text, is frankly ahistorical. The Quran is the foundational source, but it is not a legal codex. The number of explicit, unequivocal legal rulings in the Quran is surprisingly limited when it comes to the details of everyday life. Everything else, including the extrapolation of punishments, financial transactions, and social norms, is the product of ijtihad. By its very definition, ijtihad is the subjective exertion of a mujtahid's intellect based on linguistic understanding, cultural context, and logical reasoning.

Even the concept of consensus, or ijma, is not free from subjectivity because there has never been universal agreement on what actually constitutes ijma. Is it the consensus of the scholars of Medina, the Companions, or the entire Ummah? Different madhhabs define its parameters differently, which means the very mechanism people use to claim objectivity is itself built upon subjective methodological choices.

I suspect the root of this disagreement is a fundamental difference in how we view the Sunnah as an authoritative legal source, and that is a theological disagreement we can simply acknowledge. However, as Muslims and students of history, I think we have a duty to recognize that fiqh has never been a monolithic or static legal code. It was intentionally developed to account for differences in time and place, and I believe that is part of its beauty. The Sharia practiced in a Moroccan village does not look identical to the Sharia practiced in tenth century Baghdad or eighteenth century Indonesia, and historically that was considered a strength rather than a flaw.

So, if you claim that fiqh contains objectively correct rulings, how do you reconcile the inherent subjectivity of ijtihad with that claim? If scholars such as al-Shafi'i, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and Abu Hanifa reached significantly different conclusions on major legal issues, does that not demonstrate that what people call "objective fact" has often been the product of sincere but human reasoning?

I'm looking for paperback copies of the following books in Karachi, or a reliable print-on-demand (POD) service in Pakistan that doesn't cost a fortune:

• Heart of a Dog — Mikhail Bulgakov
• The Shadow of the Wind — Carlos Ruiz Zafón
• Dark Matter — Blake Crouch
• Chicot the Jester — Alexandre Dumas
• The Last Days of Jack Sparks — Jason Arnopp
• The Three Musketeers — Alexandre Dumas
• Self-Portraits — Osamu Dazai

I'm mainly looking for personal recommendations. The last time my sister ordered books from an online seller, the paper quality was awful and the covers arrived scratched up, so I'm trying to avoid that happening again. If you've had a good experience with a bookstore or a POD service in Karachi or elsewhere in Pakistan that offers decent print quality and reasonable prices, I'd really appreciate your suggestions. Thanks!