Jon Snow did everything right, duty to his family, to the night’s watch and to humanity. Jon deserved all the applause and reward but received none.
Westeros didn’t deserve Jon, the Starks didn’t deserve him and neither the Targaryens. Jon literally died at the hands of his own men to save the people, fought for Sansa against Ramsay, went North to capture a white walker and Bran and Sansa sent him to the wall because some unsullied warrior wanted his justice? Justice for killing the queen who burned an entire city. Even Jaime didn’t get punished for Aerys and he was a kingsguard. I had tried to be optimistic for this season, but David Benioff and D.B Weiss are absolute shit, and if George RR Martin has this same sort of fate defined for Jon, he is full of himself and started to write a story he didn’t know how to end. Why would you resurrect Jon from the dead, reveal him as Aegon Targaryen when you wanted to give him a bastard’s end?
Firstly Sansa, wow D and D butchered Sansa, she turned from shit to awesome to shit in no time. Sansa swore to Jon that she would not tell anyone and yet broke that promise and told Tyrion about Jon being Aegon. But when she promised Grey Worm, a mercenary, that Daenyrys will get justice by sending Jon to the wall and then Grey Worm leaves and SANSA KEEPS HER PROMISE LIKE IF GREY WORM WAS THE KING OF THE WORLD and becomes queen in the north and asks jon for forgiveness?!? Because she couldn’t do anything?
Secondly Tyrion, again wow, he literally told Jon to kill Dany, and when he did he sent him to the wall, after his ass was saved and he became Hand of the King. I mean HOW HYPOCRITICAL IS THAT? HE is the hand of the king and can easily pardon Jon.
Finally, Bran is the King of the Six Kingdoms and can easily pardon Jon, but no he lets him go to the wall. Hey three-eyed raven, your ass would never sit on the throne without Jon. Tyrion can amend his mistakes by making them right, yet Jon does something unacceptable for once and he must face the wall
The writing is so poor, I mean the early tribes in Africa could write better and they hadn’t even invented writing or letters.
Jon did not deserve this end, I’m sorry but they ruined the show. They developed Daenyrys and Jon from the start, groomed them, made them go through hell to come out to fulfill their destinies and you write them off as if they were extras.
Furthermore, instead of giving us a original ending they tried to copy Lord of the Rings, Jon saying goodbye to the Starks at the harbor was ripped from Frodo saying goodbye to the Hobbits. Writing the series/movie in a book form and naming it by the title of the books.
Last thing, Varys was such a central character but where did his role go? What about the letters he wrote, the letters he died for, the master planning with Illyrio of Pentos. Oh Dear God the writing was abysmal, they tried to butcher a carcass with a spoon.
This aside, everything else was perfect, the casting, the direction, visual and the best was the music.
All good things must come to end – This thought circled my mind as the End credits of the show’s finale rolled. All those years, all those memories, Ned Stark’s honor, conversations between Varys and Tyrion, Little Finger’s cunning, Tywin Lannister’s Wisdom and authority, Arya and Hound’s adventures through westeros, Daenerys’ journey from being sold to a horse lord to being the mother of dragons and finally Jon Snow, the bastard boy to Lord Commander of the Night’s watch, resurrected to become King in the North and Azor Ahai. When the Starks say goodbye to Jon at the port, it was like our goodbye to Jon and the rest of the characters. The journey was perfect, Game of Thrones became part of my life, the characters, their names, their personalities that struggled against each other. Despite all the shortcomings of season 8, I will not let it ruin my admiration and love for the show. It was like watching Lord of the Rings again when I was 10. This show at its peak was one of best story/series ever.The story that started from the humble beginnings of the Starks to this war of the throne that defined the destiny of so many characters we fell in love with. The end of an era – Winter has come, What is dead may never die and now their watch has ended.
Review
via Review
King’s Quest (2015)
Imagine it’s a cold winter night – the first holiday of the winter break. I make a cup of tea, sit in a cozy blanket with my laptop and decide to play this title called “King’s Quest”. The game looks like a fairy-tale indie/puzzler/plat-former by glance. Anyways I start the game to be greeted by this menu screen:
This exquisite fantasy interior of a medieval king’s bed-chamber took me right back to my Disney, Lord of the Rings (2001), The Sword in the Stone (1963) filled childhood. Seeing this elegant menu with the most graceful soundtrack that sent soothing pumps to my heart and goosebumps up my back made me realize I was setting on an adventure that I would never want to end.
King’s Quest is divided into 5 chapters narrated by an aging king to his grand daughter entailing his adventures throughout his glorious days, stretching from being a young adventurer to the glorious king of Daventry.
King’s Quest is a beautiful blend of nostalgia with a modern makeover. The game retains it’s play-style from the original Kings Quest (1984) similar to the likes of Lucas Arts’ Indiana Jones and Day of the Tentacle. The game has a emotional and adventurous story line filled with clever yet fun puzzles, fetch quests and decisions that will affect certain aspects of the story.
King’s Quest was a breath of fresh air and old school gaming pureness amidst the overwhelming rule of AAA titles.
King’s quest is set in the fictional fantasy medieval world of Daventry. The world is inhabited by goblins, dwarfs, bridge giants, witches, dragons and (of course) humans. What brings King’s Quest to life is the gorgeous and artistic world, the forests, green fields and architecture give an exquisite aura and ambiance to your game experience. I was amazed by the artwork, color and lighting at every corner my character turned. The 12 year old fantasy nerd version of me was jumping with sheer excitement.
The setting of King’s Quest is straight out from the epic fantasies we read, the game is defined by the beautiful world filled with characters that bring it to life, even the grim parts of the story are made bright by the lovable and loyal friends we meet and make in the game. A special group of characters in the game are soldiers, these soldiers are all alike in look but have different traits, one has a sharp voice and declares orders and makes announcements, one reminds the others of the silly amendments in Daventry Law that always favor us. A particular pair of soldiers ride around on each others back, like horse and rider. The soldiers, along with other NPC’s have a hilarious humor level and the analogies, jokes and limericks leave you laughing and in awe of the detail of dialogue writing.
Much effort has been put into the world to make it real; character background and development are common. There is lore about Daventry, that is not tied to the story but essential to make the place have history and give it a heartbeat.
The characters and character dialogues are witty, fancy and full of goofy humor. The whole game is being narrated by an old and weaker Graham to his granddaughter Gwendoline, an enthusiastic child with fascinations about dragons, treasure, knights and adventure. The aging Graham is voiced by Sir Christopher Lloyd, who has such a crisp and mesmerizing voice that makes for the perfect story-teller. The best moments of voice acting is when the elder Graham makes puns after an accidental death, or during light moments.
In terms of game play, the puzzles are not particularly difficult even for players new to this genre. This makes for a fun experience without the frustration, for those seeking a challenge, other elements of the game make up for the less challenging puzzles. The pace of the game keeps the player enjoying and somewhat hooked. The only weaknesses of the game were: one small fetch quest, the fact that there are no clear hints or option to get hints. Chapter 4 was a weakness too, being just an exploration stage with repetitive puzzles in an icy setting was a tad annoying.
In essence King’s Quest is a sort of point and click game with a story defined by puzzles, exploration, a strong plot, love-able characters, humor and an absolutely gorgeous world. King’s Quest is a game for everyone, it has heart, beauty and pure adventure go check it out if you haven’t played it yet. The adventure had me smiling throughout and in tears when it ended.
Here is the legendary soundtrack I mentioned.
Respecting Faith and Beliefs
Last year, a prominent politician from the Netherlands, Mr Geert Wilders organized a “Draw Muhammad Contest”, this was a contest where people could send drawings or sketches of The Holy Prophet (Peace be upon Him). This competition was cancelled due to protest and resentment from Muslims all around the world especially from Pakistan. The protest was so intense that our government had to ask Mr Geert Wilders to cancel the contest. Who was at fault here? What was the motive behind all this? and what should be society’s reaction to it?
I don’t know the real intentions of Mr Geert Wilders, whether he did it to promote unrest, taunt muslims, or did he do to for the sake of freedom of speech and expression like he claims.
I would like to address that we Muslims are very serious about our religion, in the sense that we have utmost respect for our faith, prophets and practices. Yes, we falter, none of us are perfect, we make mistakes, we sin, we misjudge, get misguided, some of us are weak, some of us are immoral, cruel, greedy, disrespectful but so are a lot of people from every religion. Being born in the house of a Muslim, Christian or Jew doesn’t make you a Muslim, Christian or Jew, acting like one makes you so. I don’t believe that people are perfect, we Muslims are not perfect as individuals, but yes for us, our faith, our God, our Prophet and our Holy Book are perfect. This is our sacred faith.
Most people have faith in some deity, phenomenon, relationship, person, guidance, philosophy or ideology and they attach a certain sacredness to that faith, and when we humans do this we develop a sense of love, reverence and obedience to it. When someone disrespects, violates or abuses that sacredness we (humans) get hurt, feel offended and unhappy about it.
Freedom of Speech can easily become hate speech, freedom of speech doesn’t mean that we should say things to ensue chaos in society, or that we can offend anyone because it is our right (this is not the purpose of free speech). Criticism and free speech are good if they lead to the truth. Tell me how would you feel if someone made stories about your father/mother that weren’t true? if there was no proof that they were true, you would feel disrespected towards your parent, his/her identity and all he/she stands for. Besmirching his/her honor/pride/stature, making him/her look like some thing or someone he/she is not will make you feel bad, wouldn’t it?
The same goes for all other things that we believe in, have faith in and attach a certain sacredness to. My argument here is that there is no authentic drawing, sketch of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him), each of us have this revered image of him in our minds based on little details found in the Quran and in the prophet’s companions’ reports mainly based on a sacredness attached to his personality. This revered image is built up by what is taught to us about our prophet. His mercy, kindness, piousness and sacredness are built on the qualities and Holiness we attribute to him. We see the act of trying to draw him as act of disrespect to our faith, not because we feel insecure that it would bring any harm to him and his legacy, but because we don’t want the world to classify him to a certain drawing sketched by some human who never saw him, we don’t want people to depict him in a wrong way.
When humans image a person, idea, character in their minds they associate a certain glory and uniqueness to it, that is only in the mind of the one imagining, it is impossible to convey it a 100 percent accurately in any sketch. When you read a book, and then it is made into a movie or television show, the person you imagined and the actor they chose to portray are always different, and in popular opinion people’s version of the character in the book was better than the actor they chose to depict the character and sometimes it is the opposite but in both cases, both depictions can never be equal.
A small kid loves his/her father, he/she thinks his/her father is the best superhero and he/she thinks or wants people to look at his/her father with the same glorification he/she sees him with.
There have been several “Draw Muhammad” contests in recent history and the sketchers always sketch a stereotypical Arab figure influenced by western art and media, with a turban, a scimitar and unfortunately an evil or cruel face. This is inaccurate and racist and certainly not freedom of speech, this is an attempt to target a faith with poor intent and lack of knowledge because all of them are based on western stereotypes about Arabs and narrow mindedness.
Drawing the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon Him), like I said is disrespectful and unjust to our faith, we want people to look at our beloved prophet, the way we look at him and with proof. All old history books, all descriptions written in the book of different faiths, both western and eastern literature have the same personality descriptions of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him). So trying to draw him as a weapon for freedom of speech is of no value, because it doesn’t achieve anything, or it doesn’t lead to the truth.
Why is it so hard not to offend others? Because our actions are fueled by a certain desire to assert our power by bullying others. Like wise how difficult is it not to make jokes about Jesus (Peace be upon Him)? Most memes, jokes, limericks I have read are made about Jesus and this media has created so many versions of Jesus in people’s mind based on stereotypes, conspiracy theories and lies. Or some people make fun of the Hindu faith because they attach sacredness to the cow. This is not funny, neither is it good sense of humor. Most people think sense of humor is always based on tragedy or sarcasm and that it does no real damage, what we fail to realize is that non factual or offensive humor can easily over time form stereotypes, social pressure, movements, resentments and damage society in so many ways we don’t comprehend in the present.
My main point of discussion here is that respecting everyone’s faith is necessary or at least courteous, saying something about someone’s faith may hold no value for you, but it holds at least some value for them. Understanding the mindset of someone else is perhaps the most difficult thing in life, We can’t just judge others according to our life style, there are 7 billion people of different faith, color, climate, language, norms, moral values, culture, upbringing style, wealth, aspirations, society and education. Is it impossible to understand what a person believes in? why he/she believes in it? and why he/she does what his/her belief tells him/her to do. I know that freedom of speech risks being offensive, it is virtually impossible to critique something and not offend someone, but critique and questioning are good if they are in search for truth(answers) and done with the intent of seeking the truth. If you don’t respect someone’s faith and values, don’t expect them to respect yours.
Melody of the Week
I decided to started this section because:
- I always listen to music whenever I read or write, some people think it diverts concentration, but I think it soothes the soul and puts you in a place the article you are reading or writing wants to.
- Music is food for the soul, I think everyone should enjoy music and I want to share what I hear and like so that other people can listen to it too and enjoy it as much as I did.
- I want to appreciate the people who have helped me grow as a person and writer on my fairly new blogging journey, honored to have known all of you.
P.S. if you look at my blog’s header you might see the shape of a guitar.
Ar Éirinn Ní Neosfainn Cé hí
This is a rendition of “Ar Éirinn Ní Neosfainn Cé hí” sung by Maria Mccool. I was introduced to this an year ago and fell in love. I always loved bagpipes, Gaelic music and folk. This is a beautiful masterpiece.
The video belongs to Maria Mccool, uploaded by her, I will just share the link. Do listen to this, this will bring you near to heaven, or really down to earth. Not bad for a song right?
Whenever I hear this, I always feel lost, lost in the Irish or Scottish countryside. I believe that music is just as natural as the cold crisp air, the smell of lavender or wet soil. You will agree that when you hear this, it will always alert the part of you that loves nature and all its beauty. A very special mention to Katherine, a dear friend and a great blogger.
She is a genius blogger and a beautiful soul, her posts are unique, fun to read and honestly brilliant.
Check out her amazing blog by clicking the link below:
https://wordscat.wordpress.com/
The english translation for this song is here:
Liebster Award I
Q & A
Q.What do you think happens after death?
- Our Souls go to a special place created by God and they rest there until the day of Judgement.
Q.What’s your favorite sport?
- Football (Soccer), I always feel relaxed and forget all my worries watching or playing Football.
Q.What would you say to your 18 year old self?
- Forget what society will think, don’t worry about the future, or money, just do what you are passionate about. If you choose what you’re passionate about you may earn a little less but will live happy and proud, but if you choose whats financially safe, you may be rich but you’ll never be truly happy.
Q.Are you an insomniac? If yes, what keeps you up at night?
- Yes, thinking about the past sometimes, regrets over bad decisions, especially the one about choosing the wrong career. Worries about the future, about life or usually the feeling that I am wasting my life and could be much much more than I am right now. Sometimes even when I can’t keep my eyes open, I stay up all night afraid of the new day thinking that I wasted all the previous ones.
Q.Do you think introverts are better thinkers than extroverts?
- No, they just spend more energy on logical thinking rather than emotional thinking compared to extroverts, plus I believe extroverts are as good thinkers as introverts if not better in the regard that they understand other people better and in several cases make emotional conclusions rather than logical ones and sometimes that helps.
Q.How would you prioritize the following (beginning from the thing that tops the list to the one that comes last) : Money – Family – Love – Career – Friends.
- Family – Love – Friends – Career – Money
Q.Narrate any incident that you’ll never forget?
- Since there are several sad and happy ones, I’ll narrate a happy one. In Fall 2014 I had applied to a few Universities in the US, it was March 2015 now and I had not heard from any of the universities till yet. Then on one one fateful day, 28 March 2015, my birthday I woke up and the first thing I did was check my phone, there on the top of my phone screen was an email notification from Furman University. Goosebumps on my arm, I read “Dear Osama, Congratulations for being Accepted….” this was the only line that mattered, I ran to my parents room, gave them the news, they were ecstatic as I was, it was a mixture of congratulations with Happy Birthday, this was the best birthday present ever. That was one of the days, I had no worry, regret and not a drop of sadness, I was happy, just pure happy.
Q.What’s your unpopular opinion?
- One opinion I have that I feel would be unpopular among most people since most people act the opposite way, is that you should no have no public pride about your religion, nationality, wealth or social status compared to others. Yes, being happy or feeling lucky to be born in a certain social set is fine, but being proud that you are better than others just because you were born in a rich or religious family or just because you have a certain nationality you are better than the people of other countries is just your ego and radical thought speaking, believing that just because you just belong to a certain group makes you a better individual. No it doesn’t, your individual actions despite what group you belong to should make you good or bad.
Q.What’s your MBTI personality type?
- ENFP (The Campaigner), a psychology professor gave this test to my dad (this is when this test wasn’t free and wasn’t on the Internet), it was like magic for me then, so accurate, I just wish I had taken career advice seriously from it too.
Q.Define adolescence in one word based on your experience?
- The day I found out that my sister would be getting married soon, I realized that we weren’t kids anymore, life’s responsibilities and expectations were just at the doorstep.
Questions
- What is your dream in life?
- If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be?
- What is your favorite travel destination and why?
- If it were possible, which era in history would you like to experience and why?
- Would you prefer dying as someone who is famous and admired or someone who is unknown but loved?
- What belief, philosophy, phenomenon, tradition fascinates you the most?
- Which fantasy/science fiction world would you like to be a part of?
- When or how do you think does a person achieve maturity?
- Which person inspires you the most?
- Mention one social norm that you think shouldn’t exist.
My Nominees for Leibster Award :
- Kate Frantz
- Rameen
- Jaya Singh
- The Fella Twins
- Sindhuja Manohar
- Esoterica
- The Sparkling Words
- Samantha Rose
- Fariha
- SheBeShe
I would firstly like to apologize to Nameera, who so generously nominated me for this award two months ago. I was delayed in thanking her and posting this due to University Course Work and a long episode of depression. Nevertheless, I feel truly honored and humbled to have been nominated, this nomination is much more than I deserve as a blogger.
The Questions were very interesting and I tried to answer them to the best of my understanding.
Thank you so much for this wonderful nomination Nameera
She is an insightful and very talented poet and writer, do check out her amazing blog for beautiful and soul stirring poetry.
Rules
[Leibster Award]
- Create a new post thanking the person who nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
- Include award graphic.
- Answer the questions provided.
- Make a new set of 10 questions for your nominees to answer.
- Nominate 10 bloggers and share your post with them so they see it.
Verse of the Week
“I sit beside the fire and think
Of all that I have seen
Of meadow flowers and butterflies
In summers that have been
Of yellow leaves and gossamer
In autumns that there were
With morning mist and silver sun
And wind upon my hair
I sit beside the fire and think
Of how the world will be
When winter comes without a spring
That I shall ever see
For still there are so many things
That I have never seen
In every wood in every spring
There is a different green
I sit beside the fire and think
Of people long ago
And people that will see a world
That I shall never know
But all the while I sit and think
Of times there were before
I listen for returning feet
And voices at the door”
―
Melody of the Week – In Dreams
I decided to started this section because:
- I always listen to music whenever I read or write, some people think it diverts concentration, but I think it soothes the soul and puts you in a place the article you are reading or writing wants to.
- Music is food for the soul, I think everyone should enjoy music and I want to share what I hear and like so that other people can listen to it too and enjoy it as much as I did.
- I want to appreciate the people who have helped me grow as a person and writer on my fairly new blogging journey, honored to have known all of you.
P.S. if you look at my blog’s header you might see the shape of a guitar.
In Dreams – Lord of the Rings
This is “In Dreams” composed by Howard Shore and his wife Elizabeth Cotnoir, sung by a boy church choir for The Lord of the Rings films. The Lord of the Rings has a great part to play in my life, I grew up watching it, it introduced me to the world of imagination and fantasy, I owe my interest and passion for creativity and fantasy to Lord of the Rings, the characters, the music and for the story. This for me is one of the best songs ever. This is eternal bliss and beauty.
I edited this video with lyrics and pictures of my choosing to show what goes through my mind whenever I listen to it. I hope you like it as much as I do. Watch it in HD for the best experience
Whenever I hear this, I always feel like a pure romantic, lost in the beauty of nature, winter and separation. I believe in the idea that the beauty and magic of reuniting with something you love (a person, a place, a state of mind) is only as good as the separation, the greater the separation the more powerful the Reunion.
A very special mention to Holly , a dear friend and a great blogger.
She is a genius poet and a beautiful soul, her symbolism and wordplay is the finest I have ever read.
P.S Holly, the red leaf trees symbolize the wildness and beauty of your hair, personality and poetry.
Check out her amazing blog by clicking the link below:
https://houseofheartweb.wordpress.com/
Verse of the Week – Cassandra Clare
“Whatever you are physically…male or female, strong or weak, ill or healthy–all those things matter less than what your heart contains. If you have the soul of a warrior, you are a warrior. All those other things, they are the glass that contains the lamp, but you are the light inside.” ― Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Angel
Understanding Children
Children are people at the peak of their curiosity, wonder, excitement and their ability to learn, develop habits and adapt. Children will ask questions of every nature: funny, insightful, innocent and sometimes they will have these genuine moments of brilliance and ingenuity that will often surprise adults.
The way society is shaped up and the unfortunate firm belief of adults that they are “mature” has always supported the notion that the decisions and problems of adults are more important than those of children. Since the advent of family structures, values and the importance and responsibilities of human relations, children have always been at the bottom of the food chain. Adults always consider what kids do or say as childish behavior, they poorly generalize all the potential and intelligence of a curious young human being to a set of behaviors they expect him/her to have.
I know that children are of course inexperienced and naive, but that does not mean that what they do and think is any less important to what adults do or think. How many times do we attribute a child’s action to just childish behavior? “oh hahaha he/she is just a kid” or “Don’t worry, kids always do stupid and funny stuff”. These are the moments adults neglect their children’s actions and think that their negligence won’t have any long-lasting effect. I often wonder that do they forget how it was like to be a kid? During childhood you are in this ultra sensitive period where people create their impression on you. I will never forget the cousins who didn’t play with me just because I was a kid, the cousins who laughed at me when they caught me doing something stupid or when two of my elder cousins were bullying me by saying that my dad was short in height and their dads were tall and consequently I would be shorter than them. Just for curiosities’ sake, I am taller than both now, but not that it matters because something materialistic like height doesn’t matter to the wise.
I remember when I wanted something and how my parents couldn’t afford it and they would still try to manage the best for me. People think children don’t realize things like this but they do. A child may not know he is being fooled at the time he is being fooled but he realizes it later and may resent you. People think that always stopping a child by making a “harmless” lie or story is a legitimate parenting technique, they need to think it over. Yes, telling your kid’s that when they were born, the angels came to drop them off from the sky is fine because they will discover the truth when they grow up and telling them how a baby is conceived would mess up their childhood and they wouldn’t probably understand. But telling a kid something like don’t go outside “the old man” will kidnap you, or sleep early or the ghosts in the closet will come out. How many of you still race to your bed after turning off the lights? to hide under your blanket so that the ghosts won’t catch you? Some children are afraid of ghosts and the dark and carry these fears even into adulthood, due to the negligence of an adult, who just thinks telling the kid stuff like this will not affect him because he is just a kid.
I am my parent’s only son and I have a younger sister, childhood was tough to me in the sense that I did not have anyone to play with and my parent’s were really over protective of me and didn’t let me play outside (I don’t blame them for this, because both my parent’s parents had raised them in certain ways, my mom was always fearful and my dad’s father was strict and my dad was brought up with the feeling that “you should enjoy time with your family instead of with people outside, good people don’t spend time out on streets, they study and keep it simple”). So I always looked forward to playing with my cousins, I had only one cousin who was my age, others were older and they were friends with each other and not me, I was always trying to find their favor so that they would give me time or consider me as their play friend. I was never fully accepted by them and I would get needy and jealous. The thing is that, we always make excuses to kids, that we are busy or this is not for kids and every kid has a limit of being neglected, we shouldn’t neglect a kid beyond his/her breaking point. I will always remember the cousins who treated me nicely and who didn’t.
The point is, no one takes anything related to kids fairly seriously, “it’s a kids fight”, “kids always cry”, “He is such a spoiled kid”. I don’t think people understand that kids can have psychological problems like stress, depression, anxiety or social pressure. I don’t blame older parents because they were truly oblivious; they thought kids don’t face psychological problems not because they were arrogant or careless but because of the assumption that “kids are weak and act on impulse and desire and that all they do is because of the childishness in them”. This assumption has become a part of our social common sense feeding upon the passing of time. This by far is the worst thing to assume about kids, instead of talking to kids and helping them, parents scold them or beat them. When an adult makes a mistake, he/she just says “Oh sorry” but when a kid does it “stupid, naughty kid, didn’t I tell you to behave?”.
Most kids are misunderstood, I have seen numerous times that a parent was scolding their kid for being naughty but the kid was either trying to do the right thing, or at least he/she thought he/she was. Once my aunt was sick and my cousin who was 5, realized that his mom was sick and in bed so he decided to be the responsible man in the house and he started cleaning the house. While cleaning he dropped a plastic bottle, spilling the liquid inside, he couldn’t reach the napkins so he decided to carry the liquid by cupping it in his hands, it took him 5 turns to carry the liquid from the floor to the sink in the other room, he left a trail of spilled liquid and his mom scolded him when she found out he had made a mess. The poor boy only tried to do his best to care for his sick mom. If an adult had spilled it, his mom would have asked how it had happened first and probably ignore it as an honest mistake, but in the case of kids it is always considered a naughty act at first impulse because kids are “always meddling and wreaking havoc for them”. The irony is that the same adults who think kids are impulsive, are the ones who judge kids impulsively.
Kids are completely developed personalities which adapt and grow as they become adults, the key to understanding children is the same as understanding anyone and that is to see and judge them by putting yourselves in their shoes. Kids have ego, humility, self-respect, expectations, ambitions and perception. When you scold a child in front of his/her friends, he/she would feel equally humiliated compared to a grown human being disrespected in front of his friend and colleagues. The assumption that kids don’t get depressed or stressed just because their problems are small compared to yours, or that their social interactions and what they face are easy and childish. Let me tell you, you are wrong and this is affecting your kid, being a nerdy naive kid and trying to be accepted by others is hard as any other thing. Don’t just tell your kids to stop complaining or crying, ask them what’s wrong and help them as a friend. If they do something harmful to themselves and they are sad, don’t scold them, console them. Would you scold a person who is unhappy or would you sympathize with him/her? Kids who are irritating and needy are always unhappy inside.
Lastly, the problem with society is that it needs to recognize that psychological pain is as grave as physical pain. Most society doesn’t acknowledge this for adults, they probably don’t acknowledge this even a little for kids. Children face stress and depression more grave than ours. I was relentlessly bullied in school because I was fat and the boys would make fun of my “fat ass”, I was scared, naive and didn’t tell my parents about it, fearing that if the boys found out they would bully me more or worse beat me up. I got irritating and hot-tempered at home then, I didn’t want to study, I didn’t want to meet anyone. Video games and books were my only salvation back then. My parents scolded me for not studying, I was so weak that every time I tried to argue back I started to swell up and didn’t argue further. They misjudged me, like all adults misjudge kids, not because they didn’t care, but because they didn’t know, because kids don’t know about therapy or that they should disclose their problems, they only know fear and when adults scold them or caution them for every mistake, how do you think a kid would learn to accept his confess his mistakes and accept them? Just because a kid is a child and apparently has no big worries in life, like you do, doesn’t mean he doesn’t have weight on his shoulders like you do. No problem is bigger or smaller for the one who is facing it.
I am 21 years old and my best friend is my 14-year-old cousin, we have been best friends since he was 5. His mom and brothers think I am a loser who doesn’t have any friends his age, maybe I am a loser for others in this sense, because I really don’t have many close friends my age, my past has scarred me but not damaged me enough that I would give up my principles by abandoning the innocent for the fun and ecstasy of the misled and become like the people I always hated(the one’s who only cared about height and status), I enjoy the innocence of his company, the insight-fullness of his questions, his love for me. I feel proud to make friends with a happy innocent soul. I understand him, give him advice. He has the same situation I had, he has brothers way older than him, and no cousins his age either, I was the friend he needed and came to. I will always be his friend so that he never feels like I did. Be your children’s friends, hear them out as you would hear out a person’s last wish on his death-bed, answer them as if their question was as important as the one that would win you a million dollar lottery and try to understand them as you would try to understand a wise scholar.
P.S I love my parents, I am nothing without them, whatever I have, I owe it to them. I don’t blame them for anything, because it was not their fault that I was bullied, they always did the best for me according to them and the way they were raised. It was the bullies fault and of society, that we have not developed or matured enough to understand children properly.
Melody of the Week – Yadegare Doost
I decided to started this section because:
- I always listen to music whenever I read or write, some people think it diverts concentration, but I think it soothes the soul and puts you in a place the article you are reading or writing wants to.
- Music is food for the soul, I think everyone should enjoy music and I want to share what I hear and like so that other people can listen to it too and enjoy it as much as I did.
- I want to appreciate the people who have helped me grow as a person and writer on my fairly new blogging journey, honored to have known all of you.
P.S. if you look at my blog’s header you might see the shape of a guitar.
Rumi’s Yadegare Doost by Shahrem Nazeri
This is Rumi’s poem named “Yadegare Doost” (Persian, it means either ‘To rememer a friend’ or ‘In remembrance of a friend’) sung by Shahrem Nazeri, this is in Persian and sung in their dialect. I don’t know it’s translation and couldn’t find one. I am currently trying to translate this into English with my father’s aid, who knows persian very well, the only constraint is we don’t get much free time together. If any native Persian or anyone does know its translation do share, I will be very grateful. This is very beautiful and unique even for a fan of Oriental, Arabic and Persian music and literature, give it a hear, you will love it.
Whenever I hear this, I always feel like sitting in the window of an old Spanish or Arabic tavern, with the morning sky, the sunrise over the minarets and domes of the mosques dominating the skyline and an old man singing this loud and playing the instruments right down the street.
A special mention to Rameen, a dear friend and great blogger, check out her awesome blog by clicking the link below.
