Cuba : A Land Of We Not Me.

Cuba is an Island Country in The Caribbean. It is located between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, 150 km south of Key West, Florida. It covers a total area of 110,860 sq km. It has a population of 11,451,652 (July 2009 est). It has been truly said

"Everybody hates me because I'm so universally liked" -Mr Peter De Vries

By using the word "Me" I am for sure referring to The country of Cuba. Verifying my statement, I shall not put you in a vex situation. Cuba is said to be a non-wellfare country, but in my perspective anyone who says so, is unaware that this country has been providing its citizens, every basic necessity of life.

Out of the total population, 99.8% of Cubans are literate. A large number of people of Cuba are considered to be doctors. People of Cuba are known as the most descent people on the surface of Earth. This country was under attack of the American army, this war was known as 'The Spanish-American War' for independence of Cuba.

Cuba is well-known for its Health Care System. This notion is further verified by an Academy award-winning American filmmaker, author and liberal political commentator; Michael Moore. He directed and produced Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11 and Sicko. These movies were amongst the top five highest-grossing documentaries of all time. Michael Moore directed Sicko which was a contrast of the American and the Cuban health care system. According to Michael Moore on a letter at his website,

"Roads that often surprise us and lead us to new ideas – and challenge us to reconsider the ones we began with have caused some minor delays."

The film was the subject of many controversies, when it was known that Michael Moore went to Cuba, with chronically ill September 11th rescue workers to shoot parts of the film. The film is currently ranked the third highest grossing documentary of all time and has received an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature. Michael moore held interviews with the 9/11 rescue workers, who volunteered after the attacks and were neglected completely by the American government, when it came for taking care of the physical and psycological maladies they had developed, including respiratory diseases and PTSD.

These rescue workers along with Michael Moore; in the documentary, needing medical attention, travelled from Miami to Cuba in order to obtain free medical care. The group arrives to Havana, where they purchase inexpensive medicines and receive free medical treatment. Providing only their name and birth date, the volunteers were hospitalized and received medical attention. Before they left, the rescue workers were honored by a local Havana fire station at Cuba.

Cuba has so far proven itself as the land of We not Me. Cuba has one of the highest life expectancy rates in the region, with the average citizen living up to 76 years. Hence, by keeping this country in our mind as an exquisite example of self determination and integration. Through this example, we can improve our sense of living a civilized life, through mutual cooperation and cohesion.

Hip Hop: An Expresso!

Hip Hop shall not be called a genre of singing but, it should rather be known as a style of expressing feelings. Hip Hop is always been disgraced for containing harsh and asperous language, but it is and it will be appreciated because it not based on lyrics channeled through vacant minds, in fact, if you try to understand what the person is trying to express, then for sure it will put a full stop at ones disgraceful thoughts. People say hip hop has no future, but actually they don't really know much about the ghettos which have millions of astonishing hardened up hearts growing in them.

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Hip Hop has an Afro-American root. Davey D has been popularly known as the presenter of the Afro-American reggae music history. Snoop Dog, 2pac(late), Notorious Big(late) are the previously well-known rappers of the music history. Rappers like Eminem, Jay Z, Lil Wayne, Flo Rida and Missy Elliot are popularly known these days.

When mentioning Hip Hop one shall not forget that it is also a genre of dancing. People who do hip hop dancing are professionally known as B' boys or B' girls. B' boying is another advanced style of Hip Hop. B' boying is adapted by a lot of people in Africa and North America. In many countries, especial authorized institutions have been established. In these institutions a large number of people apply to learn different forms of Hip Hop dancing. Mr Robert James Hoffman is one of the famous dancers known everywhere. His dancing is rather magical.

Break dancing is also another type of Hip Hop dancing style. Though it contains the same moves but with different styles. Mr Micheal Jackson is a widely known break dancer. Where-ever you consult the examples of break dancers, B' boys and rappers, you'll find people who you have commonly seen on TV and heard on radios. Break dancing has a number of moves which include Hand sliding, Healing, Head Rolling and many more.

Coming back to Hip Hop music, it is utterly necessary to have an attitude regarding what you present. You might have always noticed that rappers are well-known for their bad attitude towards their work, but it would be a little difficult for people who think so, to understand, that this behavior results in what they are famous for now. We always assume hat their lives might be way different than ours. But they might be living in huge houses and own expensive cars but they are the same as we are from inside. They are just tired of seeing themselves that way.

Hip Hop and Rap has a very bright future. A very famous Punjabi Rap Star Bohemia is known as the best Punjabi Rapper. He belongs to Lahore, a city in Pakistan. So it is a shame for many of us that we are unable to recognize this art of expression as something moderate and important. As it is truly said

"Hip-hop is supposed to uplift and create, to educate people on a larger level and to make a change"

-Doug E. Fresh

Youth Responsibility: An uphill battle!

"What is youth talk?" The basic question shall not be what is youth talk, instead it should be; "what is the purpose of youth talk?" Let me tell you. The purpose of youth talk these days is to show how much you think about youth awareness, to show off how much of awareness you think you are spreading in your country and to bring up new topics for dicussions in public shows. Well, in my perspective, a Youth Talk should always be meant for making the youth realise what their real obligations are, what the point of youth responsibilty really is. This and only this will help in bringing a change in our nation, in any nation.

The amount of youth reached is increasing day by day in our country. Talking about youth in Pakistan, there are 36 million people (estimated in 2004) of ages 15-24 living in Pakistan. Till now they might have been doubled and from these 34 million I assure that out of 100%, 49% are literate and the rest are facing illiteracy. Where did this 49 % got educated? No, the answer is not completely Pakistan. Out of these 49%, a few got educated in Pakistan. The others using the money their parents have earned, study at International Universities, get high class jobs there and are satisfied after gnawing on their parent's money.

When a person turns 18 he/she has to adjust with some responsibilities in his/her life. A person who is 18 or above is illegible to vote, he is capable of selecting the path of good or evil. He has developed a sense of earning for a living. At this very stage is the time to prosper. So at this point the youth gets itslef divided into two separate groups. The rural and the urban. The rural and urban youth just not verifies wether you are a citizen or a villager. It specifies what kind of ruralness or urbaness you belong to.

A person who is well aware of the effects his/her actions could cause is a person who will one day get what he wants. This is where the problem lies, where the difference lies. Proving my point, I would say a person who is illegable of voting does not know who to vote is way binded to failure than a person who knows who to vote and why to vote. In Pakistan, where the literate rural youth should be knowing that which government suites the best of our needs is only busy to know which restaurant suites the best of their standard. These are the people who should be alerted, who should be forced to open their eyes not to see the Pink, Purple, Crystal White, Blue ceilings of their expnsively built houses but to see what they are letting the others out for. To see what the world around them really is like. To see how the youth in the slums is. Who fight to get one meal a day. Who work from the dawn till dust.

On the other hand where we talk about slums, its way different there. All we need is a weekend to enjoy, all they need is a meal to enjoy, all they need is a clean life to enjoy, all they need is some education to enjoy, so they can also know why they are given a 500 Rs bill by the government to stamp on a pieace of paper and put it in a box, so they can know that the bill they get is the misuse of their rights, the paper they just stamp on is a paper which decides wether they will get food for the next year or not, the box they put the paper in is called a ballet box.


Well one of my true friends has always said to me that "Never reach to judgement". But my friend, reaching to judgement is not what we do, it is what we are forced to do. So by the end what we get is not exactly a conclusion but a situation which I bet will cause todays rural youth to hold their head between their hands and say "Its Difficult". Here is what will change our lives completely. The youth will only realize what it is like to live a life full of uphill battles.