Drift Away

Drift Away, originally uploaded by !ShTiaQ Ahmed (Job Hunt Mode).

Some of the dearest moments ever spent are those on the road I didn’t want to travel. And some of the most magnificent doors I’ve ever passed through are where before there was no way.

Tears I have wanted to shed have turned to happiness because for a moment I could see beyond them. And hope has saved everything when I wanted most to give up in despair.

Many people have known the wisdom of safeguarding their health and security by taking time to analyze, not in the role of fact sifting, but by allowing the mind to amble, to drift openly from thought to thought. This sitting idly on the sidelines and fishing quietly in the mind can catch many a solution that casting would never hook.

When there isn’t time to go fishing, remember the words of American author William Mathews: "Knowledge is acquired by study and observation, but wisdom cometh by opportunity of leisure. The ripest thoughts come from a mind which is not always on the stretch, but fed, at times, by a wise passiveness."

Take a time out. Drift away to far away land, fish, meditate, enjoy.

Taken: Khania, Kaghan Valley, Pakistan

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Break Free

Break Free, originally uploaded by !ShTiaQ Ahmed (Job Hunt Mode).

Let me start with the notion here:

“Seek the wisdom that will untie your knot. Seek the path that demands your whole being” – Rumi

There’s a difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in doing something, you do it only when circumstances permit. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.

Each of us has a purpose in life whether we’re aware of what that purpose is or not. Once you begin to make clear decisions about discovering and understanding your mission and purpose and fulfilling that purpose, and then follow through on your decisions by taking appropriate and consistent action, your subconscious mind will start to “freak out”. Forms of fear, doubt and worry will arise to hold you back and keep you where you are, where there is "the known", the familiar, your comfort zone. This “freak out” is a mechanism of your subconscious mind to keep you “safe”; it’s completely normal and par for the course, but these thoughts and beliefs do not serve you and your purpose or the world because they often keep you from moving forward.

If you are feeling any resistance to moving forward, your limiting beliefs are attempting to hold you back from stepping into the power and glory of Who you really are and what you’re here to do. Until you can break free from these beliefs, you will be using much of your energy to counteract those beliefs and you’ll never be completely open to allow Spirit to work through you. As a result, life and work will always take hard work to succeed. Yet, when we uncover and disarm these beliefs, the horizon opens up and the wind is at our back making the road ahead much easier.

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Taken: Driving through Upper Kaghan Valley, Between Burawai & Jalkhad, Pakistan.

Mystery Remains

Mystery Remains, originally uploaded by !ShTiaQ Ahmed (Job Hunt Mode).

Early morning, when sun was about to rise, there is something mysterious in the air. Mists & clouds are just waking up off their mountain beds. A small amount of rain kept me under the shade. There was so much happening around me. Step by step concealed things are being revealed to my very own eyes. Light and visibility playing the dance of life before me. The rhythm of blowing air was like the sweet melody I never heard or felt before. And then from nowhere, there was a glow of light, I was unable to understand the source of light but things start to glow up.

Above the centuries old Baltit Fort, there was a monument called Victoria Monument. It was just revealed and the background Peaks are playing hide and seek. The clouds started their journey to some other lands… And the Scenery took me into the trance. I stared into the view, trying to reveal something more but the mystery remains for the time.

There was much to enjoy about the trip to the Far Away Kingdom of Hunza. But what impressed me most was how valley welcomes its guests with the stunning view of some of the most amazing and out of the world gorgeous mountain ranges.

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Taken: Karimabad, Hunza Valley, Gilgit Baltistan, Northern Areas of Pakistan.

The Mountain Soul

The Mountain Soul, originally uploaded by !ShTiaQ Ahmed (Job Hunt Mode).

It seems that no matter how much climbing we do, it always seems there’s more climbing to do to get to the top.

As I trek around a large curve on the trail, with my head down, there was a sense of something magnetic before me. A cold chill in the air, as sun was on its way to set in an hour of so. I was nowhere, companions were lost on the way. May be I have been struggling to get to the height, and all other thoughts just slipped away.

The mountain before me seems to have a soul of it own. The view taking me back to those daring ones, who would have done that climb which seems to be impossible to me. My charismatic imaginative sense of being on the top mesmerized me. I lay down over a rock, opening up my backpack to get something to energize myself, and to wait for clouds to disappear. But time seems to be stuck for that Giant Soul, for half an hour wait, this was the best I got.

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Taken: Trekking in Kaghan Valley, Pakistan

New Discoveries

New Discoveries, originally uploaded by !ShTiaQ Ahmed (Job Hunt Mode).

This is the primary reason I like to walk so much. Focusing on sensory stimuli is one of the best ways of relaxing the mind. Not that we can make our problems go away by ignoring them, but setting them aside for a few minutes, an hour or an afternoon can help us approach them again with a more constructive attitude. It might even give the subconscious time to process and propose some alternatives.

One of the advantages of communing with nature is that it tells an endlessly changing story. From season to season, the woods, rivers and fields offer scenes of transformation. The arrival of a new singing bird, the ripening of wild berries, the flush of fall colors or the formation of ice crystals on a pond ensure we will not grow bored from day to day. The Earth offers new discoveries every day.

A larger, A Better

Taken: Kaghan Valley, NWFP, Pakistan

Being Engaged

Being Engaged, originally uploaded by !ShTiaQ Ahmed (Job Hunt Mode).

Being engaged means promising each other that you will love each other for eternity, be loyal, true, and commit. The event normally involve a precious ring, which always reminds me of the movie "The Lord of the Ring".

The history of engagement ring is more myth and fantasy than the actual fact. Most people believe that "The ring" is a symbol of everlasting love, purity, devotion and commitment between two people.

Here in our part of world, the engagement period is a critical one for every couple. It’s time for meeting the parents. Both partners going through strict monitoring and at then it’s customary for the man & sometime woman to buy an engagement ring. The ring is a circle that has no beginning and no end, which is how marriage should mean.

Rabia & Danish knows each-other since their school age, and its not an easy task to keep & take the commitment to the next level. But love is a strange phenomenon which can make the world go round. May Allah bless them both with a wonderful life ahead. I am so happy for both of them.

Taken: Rabia & Danish’s Engagement Ceremony, Islamabad, Pakistan.

It was an Exception

It was an Exception, originally uploaded by !ShTiaQ Ahmed (Job Hunt Mode).

Do not know nothing about wedding photography, always trying to skip my attendance and mostly found outside the rush zone. But this time it was an exception, as I have to attend an engagement in the family… with-out any flash-light, I have to struggle through people & kids popping up through nowhere…

Last weekend, one of the cute cousin Rabia, got engaged to Danish… Here is one of the shot. I know not a very welldone, but thats the way it is.

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Taken: Engagemet of Rabia & Danish, Islamabad, Pakistan

How Much We Know

How Much We Know, originally uploaded by !ShTiaQ Ahmed (Job Hunt Mode).

We know much about the Egyptian civilization, thanks to what it left behind – those impressive monuments like Pyramids and temples, tombs and other structures. Even thou that time is long gone, and most of those structures were made by slaving a whole nation.

Now tell me how much we know about our history, our culture, our heritage. Yes, we may think we know much more than others, but its the other way around.

I have been through many heritage sites, but the knowledge always remain limited and the view, unlimited. Every brick in the wall has to tell the story, story of hundred of years of culture which has passed away. Either its in the hustle bustle of the city of Lahore, or vastness of Rohtas, or remoteness of Shigar & Baltit Fort.

It’s not very often that a monarch willingly relinquishes his own castle, but Ghazanfar Ali Khan II, a descendant of the ruling Mirs (or Kings) of Hunza in Pakistan’s mountainous north, believed that his ancestral home, the Baltit Fort, would be better off in the hands of someone who knew how to take care of it. Seven hundred years’ worth of earthquakes, avalanches and neglect had turned it into a rubble-strewn heap, prompting the Mir to turn it over to the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, embarked on a restoration, which took six years – and the results are stunning. Taken apart stone by stone and rebuilt using both modern and traditional methods, the fort has risen from its ruins. Once a British traveler described Baltit as "the most amazing fortress ever built." Today, it would be fitting to describe it as the most amazing fort ever rebuilt.

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Taken: Baltit Fort, Karimabad, Central Hunza, Gilgit-Baltistan, Northern Areas of Pakistan.

Hope when all else Fails

Hope when all else Fails, originally uploaded by !ShTiaQ Ahmed (Job Hunt Mode).

We are at a crossroad of our life where we all want the After to be better than the Before. We feel as though life is not on "purpose", scared of what the future may hold for us or angry at what has happened in the past.

To me, life is about living each moment as it comes and not worrying about what has taken place or may happen in the future. It is about being certain that each moment of your life is being lived exactly as it is supposed to be to learn the lessons you were brought here to learn.

But, for past couple of years, as I believe that we create our destiny through our thought process… This myth or whatever you may call it has been shattered and cracked so many times… The dust & debry around me make me wonder about how to live a peace filled life. Why there is so much pain, suffering, bloodshed & wars happening around us. The more I think "Why", the deeper in thoughts I go behind the memory lane. Scattered bodies, smoke & shouting people create a wetness in my eyes.

But, at the end it all comes down to hope.. "Hope when all else fails." Hope is something you should have no matter when, not just when things are failing, but all the time. Hope gives you options and can change all of those bricked walls surrounding your into ones with doors.

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Taken: Camp at Jalkhad beside River Kunhar, Upper Kaghan Valley, Pakistan.

Your Own Private World

Your Own Private World, originally uploaded by !ShTiaQ Ahmed (Job Hunt Mode).

In today’s distracted world, with its emphasis on incessant business, the art of just being alone with one’s own thoughts has been lost. We always have to be doing something. Take a look round any lounge or bus station, and you can count on the fingers of one hand the number of people who are just sitting there, waiting. Most people will be thumbing on their mobile phones or fiddling with their mp3 player. Even when sitting at home, I sometimes feel that I should be doing something.

Solitude becomes a difficult state to attain. Just sitting by yourself in the park, you are distracted by traffic noises, kids and general passers by. There are few quiet places, perhaps far-away mountain is the only one left in an urban environment.

Out there, the sense of solitude and inner well being becomes much easier to experience. Being alone gives you time to think, as there is normally very little else to do. There is true silence, apart from the sound of the blowing air coursing along the side of the ears, and even that is more therapeutic than annoying. Just watching the endless views calms the troubled soul, and leaves you in your own private world. You are well away from the constant time poor burdens of everyday life.

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Taken: After spending a night in heavy rain, just got the time for a morning walk around a camping spot at Middle of Paya Meadows, Kaghan Valley, Pakistan.

One of the photographic soul met me there, camped beside us… Mudassar Ahmed Dar. Do visit his photostream at

Mudassar Ahmed Dar’s Photostream