Finding Neverland Blog

09/06/2023

In grade one, it was six-year-old Khaula’s first day of school. She was overjoyed that she had finally joined her siblings instead of staying home. It would be her only day at school. Eighth-grader Uzair Ali saw the attackers and leapt to shield his friends by lying on top of them. He was killed; shot 13 times, but he managed to save his companions. Fourteen-year-old Fahad Hussain opened a door so his friends could run out. He stayed by the door making sure everyone was evacuated. He was gunned down while doing so.
They would become three of the 144 names—most of them children’s—on a long list created by a group of terrorists that day at the school. The incomprehensibly high body count combined with the vulnerability of the victims make it the most horrific attack in Pakistan's history. And while this number, 144, is a story unto itself, the 144 stories within it have to be told.

So the pages of this book are the 144 accounts of courage and sadness of children, women and men, as told by their loved ones, whose absence will be forever painful, but they will be always remembered.

~ Raafay Awan

11/02/2023

A League of Our Own: The Detailed history of Pakistan Super League from that scoop shot of Misbah in 2007, to ICL, to IPL, to Pakistan Premier League to Pakistan Super League to Cricket Comes Home to all the controversies, spot fixing scandals, background politics to where PSL is today, the biggest sporting event in Pakistan.
The Road to Inception (Part 1: 2016-2018)
The Struggle to Survive (Part 2: 2018-2021)

31/01/2023

You can kill the flowers,
But you cannot stop the spring,
You can possess all the powers,
But you cannot over power the King.
You say it's justified,
but you know it's wrong,
We've been through this before,
we'll come out even strong.
You destroy lives and families,
In the name of Islam,
It's a promise one of us will be crushed,
And that definitely won't be my Pakistan.
~ Raafay Awan

19/01/2021

So I wrote about the life and ways of Amish People of America, who don't use cellphones, computers, electricity or drive cars. Haven't watched sports or movies in their lives, wear single colored dresses, speak German and call rest of the world as outsiders or 'English'.

Life and ways of Amish People of America who don't believe in using any technology, speak German, travel by horses and call outsiders as 'English'.

16/12/2020

Thank you, Martyrs of Peshawar Attack. (raafay-awan.blogspot.com)

This is my thanks from to the 6 year old Khaula Bibi, who was the youngest and only female student martyred during Peshawar Attack, it was her first and sadly the last day of school life to the 64 year old Tahira Qazi, who was the principal at APS Peshawar, She maintained a very sober exterior but was in fact a very soft-hearted person, her family says. According to a student injured in the APS attack, Tahira’s last words were: “They are my children and I am their mother.”

https://raafay-awan.blogspot.com/2015/12/thank-you-martyrs-of-peshawar-attack.html

Thank you to everyone from the 6 year old Khaula Bibi to the 64 year old Tahira Qazi for sacrificing their lives to make Pakistan a better and peaceful place to live.

15/11/2020

When I started writing back in the university days and created this blog Finding Neverland, it was always my dream to not just be a writer, but be an author, of a book. It has taken a long long time but finally, I have published my first two books (another one just coming). They are available on Amazon Prime in both E-book and Paperback format if anyone is interested. Links are provided below.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08M5HVZ32
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08MD7VRZT

23/06/2020

He was sitting next to me on the flight from Multan to Sydney and the moment we started talking it was obvious that he was one of the most indecisive persons ever. I decided to start a conversation..

Leaving home for another country is not an easy thing to do, this is my story of how I felt leaving Pakistan for Australia.

24/05/2020

Eid Mubarak everyone!

It is in the month of Ramadan, when we don't eat and drink for 12-18 hours that we realise how it must feel to millions, perhaps billions of people around the world who sleep hungry every night, not knowing if next day they'll be able to feed themselves and their families. We are blessed that we are able to break our fast with delicious foods every evening. We're even luckier we celebrate Eid with even more food, new clothes and loved ones.

Therefore, plase remember the less blessed ones on this day, who can't afford as much, who don't have loved ones, and then continue looking for them, throughout the year. Look around, you'll find many. Helping someone even a little will be the best, most satisfying feeling ever. Just like the one you get when after a hot summer day, you take the first bite of meal or the first sip of water after 18 hours of fasting. Have an enjoyable Eid - Raafay

12/05/2020

The God of Everyone.

06/05/2020

17/04/2020

Hello, Doc. 😂

16/04/2020

Pakistan, we will get through this. ❤️