Eid is on the horizon. Explore Paperazzi’s curated selection of top picks for the ultimate Eid gift guide.

Platters to die for: 

• Cakery’s French Platter: 

Overflowing with Mini Boston Cream Doughnuts, Patties, Vol-au-Vents, Mini Tarts, Nutella Profiteroles, Turkey Club Sandwich, Cheese & Mushroom Quiche, Croissants, Parfait Bowl, and assorted spreads, it’s a feast fit for royalty. An ideal gift for Eid celebrations!

• The Lotus Fold: 

Mahjabeen’s Lotus Food offers a tempting platter comprising Fajita Croissant Sandwiches, Katsu Chicken Wraps, Mushroom Vol au Vents, Hummus with Pita, and Carrots & Cucumber Sticks, all priced at Rs.4500, inclusive of gift wrapping. It’s an exceptional option to elevate your Eid festivities.

Kurtas: 

• KAYA by Maria Basit Malik: 

KAYA by Maria Basit Malik offers stunning summer Kurtas featuring geometric designs, paired elegantly with silk scarves, making them an ideal present for celebrating summer Eid!

• Generation: 

Generation has consistently been a beloved choice for Eid festivities. This GUL MEENA PHOOL KURTI, available at PKR 2,898, is another great Eid present choice. 

Jewelry: 

Project Rich Jewels makes exquisite, handcrafted pieces. The ultimate choice for an unforgettable Eid gift.

Khussas: 

Ethnic offers the most beautiful khussas for Eid, making them the ideal gift for the occasion!

Home decor:  

The Mughal Art Tray by Custom Creations is an ideal Eid gift blending heritage and elegance.

Charitable donation: 

Make this Eid memorable by sharing your blessings with those in need!

• Shakarganj Foundation: 

The Shakarganj organization is dedicated to advancing education, healthcare, home economics, arts, and crafts for the underprivileged communities across Jhang and Bhone. Support their endeavors by donating today!

Donate Now:

Shakarganj Foundation

MCB Bank Account #: 0124301010014225

• The Giving Nest: 

The Giving Nest, formed by a group of nurturing mothers, strives to involve children in charitable acts, teaching them the value of making a positive impact. Join their cause by donating now and nurturing a generation of compassion and kindness.

Art: 

Renowned for its display of contemporary and modern artworks, The Gallery offers a stunning painting by Bandah Ali, an ideal Eid gift for art aficionados.

Eid Cards:

 This Eid, transport your loved ones back in time with retro-style cards from Nine Lines, ensuring they feel like the VIPs they are.

Beauty: 

• Makeup: Searching for the perfect Eid gift for a beauty enthusiast? Consider Zahra Naveed’s Shiny Nude Lip Gloss, suitable for both Eid and everyday wear.

• Spa/Salon: Rene Aesthetic Spa/Salon, is offering exclusive Ramadan vouchers. An exquisite Eid gift for relaxation and rejuvenation!

January

Cristiano Ronaldo joined Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr for the “biggest salary ever in football”, leaving Manchester United after criticizing it publicly. 

February

Residents of adjacent Palestinian villages knew from long experience to expect periodic acts of retaliation when a Palestinian shooter killed two Israeli settlers in the northern region of the occupied West Bank. However, few predicted the methodical wrath that night’s crowds from neighboring Israeli settlements would display.

Initial estimates from Israeli rights groups and Palestinian officials indicated that settlers destroyed and damaged at least 200 buildings in four Palestinian communities. One Palestinian source also claimed that one Palestinian had been murdered in the settler attack.

March

A 60-minute daily screen time limit for users under the age of 18 was introduced by the social media site TikTok in response to complaints about its dangerous and addictive algorithms. Young people would need to submit a passcode in order to continue using the service that day if they reached the new limit. 

April

The Royal Institute of British Architects awarded Pakistani architect Yasmeen Lari the Royal Gold Medal for 2023 in appreciation of the humanitarian efforts “she has undertaken since her retirement”.

Lari, the first female architect in Pakistan, is the second woman after Zaha Hadid to be awarded the honor on her own. After leaving the professional business, she was honored for her socially conscious work and for building homes for the most marginalized groups in the nation.

May

The UK’s fertility regulator confirmed that a child was born using three people’s DNA for the first time. The remaining 0.1% of their DNA comes from a third donor woman. Their two parents make up the majority of their genetic makeup. The innovative approach was an attempt to prevent children from being born with potentially fatal mitochondrial abnormalities.

June

In the wake of Cyclone Biparjoy, more than 180,000 people were evacuated from India and Pakistan as it made impact as a category 1 storm near the Gujarat coast. In both countries, hundred​​s of thousands of evacuees were relocated to makeshift shelters. Low-lying coastal areas might be submerged by tidal waves as high as two to three meters, according to India’s Meteorological Department.

July 

In Geneva, Switzerland, the world witnessed its first robot-human press conference. Questioning during the AI For Good UN summit, several humanoid robots were asked if they might rebel against their creators.

August

After 14 hours, eight people were spectacularly saved from a cable car in the northwest Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The eight people—six of whom were teenagers—were hauled to safety after a sophisticated operation involving at least four helicopters and a team of zip wire professionals, fourteen hours after the cable lines snapped.

September 

Chioma Nnadi, a fashion journalist, was appointed as the new editor of British Vogue, becoming the first black woman to lead a major fashion magazine.

British Vogue is a British fashion magazine based in London and first published in 1916. It is the British edition of the American magazine Vogue and is owned and distributed by Condé Nast.

October 

In Iraq’s largest Christian town, a fire broke out during a wedding, leaving at least 94 people dead and 100 injured. The catastrophe occurred while hundreds of people were having a banqueting hall celebration in Qaraqosh, Nineveh province.

Officials from civil defense and witnesses reported that fireworks let off during the wedding and the groom’s dance started the fire. The blaze was fueled by highly flammable composite panels made of plastic and aluminum that coated the hall. 

November

Russia launched the biggest artillery assault of the year on Ukraine, as the Ukraine’s commander in chief admitted that the conflict had come to a standstill.

December 

More people have reportedly died in Gaza than in any earlier Arab confrontation with Israel in more than 40 years, possibly even since Israel’s foundation in 1948, during Israel’s 10-week-old war in the region.

The death toll from Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon has topped 20,000 for the first time, according to the Gaza Health Ministry’s announcement on Thursday. This figure is slightly higher than one of the most reliable estimations.

Meet Sana Waqar; educator, mentor, mother, and entrepreneur. She’s a one-woman army and the force behind the Lahore based bookclub, The Reading Nook.

The Reading Nook is a Lahore-based readers club with one mission; to make reading cool again. It is a book club dedicated to fostering learning through literature and inculcating healthy reading habits across the spectrum. ” I set out with a clear goal in my mind. In the first 5 years, I wanted to establish a community of readers that celebrates books.”, says Sana. “Most people don’t enjoy reading because it is not a communal affair – at least not in our part of the world. We don’t celebrate books, we don’t celebrate writing talent in our own country, and we don’t have enough spaces where we can just learn without any targeted learning approaches. Our libraries are redundant, and we don’t have enough opportunities to talk about the things that matter to us”. It has been 5 years since The Reading Nook first took flight and there has been no stopping since then. 

Today, The Reading Nook is a thriving space for readers, learners, writers, and thinkers. Sana hosts book clubs for children of all ages throughout the week where they can read, learn, discuss, and debate over issues that allow them to develop perspectives at a young age. 

“Literature is a medium that has the ability to shape individual thinking processes. When children read, it builds their critical thinking, empathy, comprehension, compassion, and academic potential. We work on all these aspects in our book clubs to ensure learning is a two-way process and education is not just a percentage or grade on your child’s report card. We value real learning to build a society that is civilized and educated in the true sense” says Sana.

She traces her love of books back to her childhood and having been a reader all her life, she understands the value of books in shaping young minds. Sana encourages parents to provide a variety of books for their children. She strongly believes that there is no child who isn’t a reader, and she helps each child find the right book for them and gets them to read a variety of quality, contemporary literature that has the power to resonate with them.

Having been in the field for over 15 years now, she is confident that the only way forward for Pakistani education is through books. “Education today is very different from what it was 20 years ago. Our children are going to live in a hyper-mechanized world, a world we cannot possibly imagine today but one where humans will be working alongside humanoids, smart machines, and AI. Our education system can only prepare our children for the world of tomorrow by enabling independent thinking that rewards creativity and critical thought. Today, there is an increased emphasis on the importance of problem-solving, creative thinking, and individuality all of which comes with having grown up on a healthy dose of books to drive and stir your imagination”. 

According to Sana, reading is the only form of active learning that requires your child’s mind to be actively engaged during leisure and helps limit screen time and other passive modes of entertainment. At The Reading Nook, each child is encouraged to think, interpret, and learn independently and parents swear that the book clubs have helped their children build a reading routine and display creative thinking at school. Children look forward to their weekly meet-ups where they often come dressed up, ready to engage, learn, and create things that take their learning to the next level, but that isn’t where it ends. In addition to hosting book clubs for kids, Sana also organizes book clubs and learning spaces for adults. Her book club thrives on reader participation and through the years she has hosted and interviewed global best-selling authors like Marian Keyes, Susan Abulhawa, Alka Joshi, Ashley Audrain, Zanib Mian, Sairish Hussain along with many other local authors. She believes in the power of the pen to change the world, one mind at a time.

 She regularly hosts book parties, launches, and panel discussions for adults which have become free spaces for learning and discussion, all fueled by literature. Their last book on Mindful Parenting also served as a launch vehicle for life coach Iram Binte Safiya’s debut book, No One Taught Me This. The book spoke about the importance of a Taqwa mindset and mindfulness in living a happy life.

With hundreds of readers strong, The Reading Nook is a book club that only wants to grow bigger. They want to meet more people, read more books, and learn more about the world and the many ways in which they can contribute towards wellbeing. Sana is determined to make reading an enjoyable, communal experience and to expand her community of readers to educate, enlighten, and enrich lives. 

Have you ever seen Magnolia Home tea trolleys? If you haven’t the slightest clue what we are talking about, let us educate you on one of the finest things we’ve seen in a long time produced locally by this brand called Magnolia Home.

Recently, whilst hunting for a present for someone we decided to see the fine home wares of Magnolia Home. Brainchild of Zahira Said, with a commitment to perfection and dedication to crafting unique designs from scratch, Magnolia Home has emerged as a quintessential luxury brand for those with a discerning taste for the finer things in life.

Magnolia Home understands the essence of exclusivity. Each design is meticulously curated to reflect the unique personality and style of its patrons, ensuring that every piece seamlessly integrates into their lifestyle, elevating their living spaces to a new realm of sophistication and grandeur.

The team was really easy to deal with and provided a fast delivery service with immaculate packaging.

Here are some of our favorite pieces from their range.

Relationship red flags are warning indications that your partner and you may have unhealthy patterns of conduct.

It’s common knowledge that we should avoid people who show red flags in relationships, but what specific warning signs should we be looking out for?

You might not be aware of the warning signs whether you’re dating someone new, have a long-term partner or are even married. Let’s look at some typical warning signs that can appear in every relationship. You can stop toxicity before too much harm is done by understanding what they look like and why they are dangerous.

Constant lying

It’s not a good indicator if you have to catch your partner lying all the time. We’re all guilty of white lies, but if you discover that your partner is lying frequently or getting caught, it’s a warning sign.

Being lied to repeatedly might make it challenging to establish a strong foundation for the relationship or tear one apart that you’ve already established, which can result in a shaky future.

Controlling Behaviour

If your spouse is envious, this could result in controlling behaviour. For instance, if you have a social life outside of your partnership, they can become envious. A jealous partner may also try to regulate your behaviour by making a lot of calls or texts to you.

Attempts to control normally begin gently but soon get more intense, leaving the person feeling as though nothing they do is “good enough.”

Lack of communication

In a healthy relationship, both partners can express their emotions freely without worrying about being judged or criticised.

A partner who resorts to blame-laying, passive aggression, or hostile emotional expression is engaging in poor communication. Since healthy, open communication is the cornerstone of a successful relationship, issues will arise if you and your partner are unable to do so.

Physical, emotional, or mental abuse

In any relationship, signs of abuse—physical, emotional, and mental—are obvious. It’s simpler to start practising physical abuse. However, long-term harm from emotional and psychological abuse can be just as bad. PTSD can also result from emotional and mental trauma, much like physical violence.

Gaslighting

A blatant red flag in any relationship is gaslighting. A typical form of manipulation is gaslighting. It is a deceptive sort of emotional abuse when the manipulator makes you doubt your judgement or sanity. Gaslighting victims are made to feel guilty even if they didn’t do anything wrong.

Anger issues

If someone close to you struggles with controlling their anger, confrontation may make you feel intimidated or dangerous. Lack of emotional control is a major relationship red sign.

With a companion or partner, we should all feel secure enough to discuss challenging topics without worrying about our safety. Anyone who intimidates others out of rage is acting in a destructive way.

Narcissism

A psychiatric disorder called narcissistic personality disorder shows a false sense of importance and self-obsession. Narcissists think that they are the centre of the universe. And if someone challenges this conviction, unrest and chaos frequently follow.

It can be draining and upsetting to become emotionally linked with a narcissistic, ego-driven person. Their requirements will always be given precedence over yours.

Cheating has always existed, from high school students to millionaire actors. However, the year 2022 witnessed several high-profile cases that brought cheating to light.

It can be terrible to learn your lover has cheated. You may experience hurt, rage, sadness, or even physical sickness. But more than anything, you might be asking, “Why?”

Cheating is rarely an easy process. People cheat for a variety of reasons, and the patterns are more nuanced than typical stereotypes would imply. A thorough investigation turned out eight main causes: resentment, low self-worth, lack of love, lack of commitment, need for variety, neglect, sexual desire, and setting or circumstance. These reasons not only affected why people cheated, but also how long they cheated, how much they enjoyed the affair, how much emotion they invested in the affair, and if their primary relationship ended as a result.

In general, the thrilling sensation of being in love with someone doesn’t continue forever. When you initially fall in love with someone, receiving a text from them could cause you to feel passionate, ecstatic, and dopamine-rush. But these emotions typically lose some of their influence with time. Yes, there is solid, enduring love. However, those butterflies from the first date will only get you so far. You may conclude that the love simply isn’t there once the glitter wears off. Or perhaps you realize that you love someone else.

Even the opportunity of cheating increases the likelihood of infidelity. This does not imply that everyone who has the chance to cheat will. The desire to cheat is frequently increased by other conditions, albeit not always.

Intimacy demands in a relationship can occasionally be unsatisfied by one or both partners. Especially if the relationship is otherwise gratifying, many people decide to stay in it in the hopes that things will change. Unmet needs, though, might cause frustration, which might get worse if things don’t get better. This might encourage you to find other ways to satisfy those demands.

In some circumstances, cheating may be more prevalent in people who struggle with commitment. Additionally, not everyone defines commitment in the same way. Two people in a relationship could have quite different perceptions of the status of their union, including whether it should be considered casual, exclusive, etc.

Cheating can be terrible and even damaging, but it can also be a gift. It could be that you’ve been valuing your connection less than you should have, or you’ve now realized that your relationship has been broken for a long time. In any case, it’s time to give yourself or your partner more attention.

It can be difficult and even overwhelming to move past a loved one, especially if the split came as a complete surprise. After all, it can be heart-breaking to let go of these emotions and move on with your life when you care for someone so strongly.

Fortunately, there are tried-and-true methods for moving on for real in all senses after losing someone you love. Just keep in mind that healing takes time and there is no specific pace you need to maintain.

Cut off contact

This must be done initially to protect your physical and mental well-being. You don’t have to be aware of their location or their companions. Eliminate any contact with your ex.

Keep in mind that any type of communication with them, whether direct or indirect, may bring back unpleasant memories and possibly even induce dreams. These are the things that will cause you to turn around when you ought to be concentrating on moving forward.

Accept the reality of the situation

Accepting the truth of what happened is the first step in moving past a loved one. For instance, it’s time to accept the possibility of unrequited love when the person you’re in love with doesn’t feel the same way about you and stop holding out hope that circumstances would suddenly improve.

When you accept the fact that this person doesn’t feel the same way about you as you do about them, you can make this the turning point and start the healing process.

Love yourself more

You’re at a very vulnerable point right now, questioning your ability to receive love and whether you’ll ever meet someone who can compare to your ex. Instead of turning inward for the solution, focus on strengthening your inner core.

Love yourself more. More accurately understand, accept, forgive, and empathize with yourself.

Get rid of any negative thoughts and remind yourself that you have everything it takes to make someone else’s life better, and that person will do the same for you.

Rely on your support system

As you heal from a broken heart, don’t be reluctant to ask friends, relatives, or a qualified professional for assistance. You don’t have to handle this challenging relationship scenario by yourself and having friends and family members who care about you can be crucial to moving on and letting go.

Be willing to ask for and receptive to receiving assistance. You can escape that funk and realise that you have a lot to be grateful for when you surround yourself with people who have your back and only want the best for you.

Get Rid of the Physical Memories

Getting rid of the lingering reminders that are still in your vicinity is a critical step in moving on. If you still have pictures of your ex in your apartment or if their belongings are littered throughout your room, they are still very much a part of your life.

 Clean and organise your personal space to make way for sentimental items and memories with someone new when you’re ready to move on from them.

Look forward

It’s critical to focus on the future rather than the past if you want to move over a split that seemed to come out of nowhere and get over someone you love. You won’t ever be able to move on from this individual if you keep rehearsing every interaction in your head and analysing every chat to figure out what went wrong.

 Getting over this person will be lot easier if you opt to look forward and concentrate your energy on what lies ahead because you won’t be continuously thinking about what happened in the past. Healing requires both time and space. Give yourself enough time to move on from the past so you can develop in this new phase of your life.

A relationship is an essential aspect of life. As a result, it needs to be protected and nourished to make sure that it continues to be beneficial to all parties. To establish a good relationship, it’s also critical to understand what those elements are.

We’ll talk about seven essential components that are necessary for you to build and sustain a fulfilling and healthy relationship with someone.

Respect:

Respecting each other’s opinions should be the first vital factor to consider. It involves being kind and empathetic to your partner even when you don’t agree with them. Giving and receiving respect are the two axes around which life revolves.

Communication:

Any connection must start with communication. When both parties feel free to openly express their thoughts, feelings, opinions, and beliefs as well as their joys, sufferings, and concerns they connect intimately and come to a mutual understanding.

Communication can be challenging at first, but as you both become more familiar with each other’s likes and dislikes, secrets, etc., it becomes simpler.

Trust

Being able to trust your partner is crucial; else, the relationship won’t last. When you trust someone, you are prepared to rely on them even when they are not present. Additionally, it implies that you are at ease and confident in their ability to protect you from harm and betrayal.

Autonomy

Having your autonomy, or being able to make decisions on your own, is one of the most crucial aspects of a partnership. If both or all partners have the freedom to run their own lives, you have a solid basis for creating room for each other and developing as a couple.

Working through disagreements

Conflict and disagreements are inevitable in any relationship. It’s common to disagree with our significant other’s tastes, opinions, and values. Couples that ignore or avoid disagreement frequently end up with higher tensions and unfulfilled demands.

Any relationship—whether it’s with a friend, relative, or significant other—benefits from having healthy conflict resolution techniques that involve respectful communication and active listening.

Consent

Giving consent indicates that you agree with what is taking place and that no one is pressuring you or using guilt to make you do something you don’t want to. Giving consent once does not obligate you to continue giving it in the future; consent can be revoked at any moment.

Understanding

Understanding in relationships is essential on several levels and is the key to unlocking many other crucial aspects of a successful partnership. Understanding relationships enable you to empathise with the other person, give them room to express their thoughts and feelings, and recognise what they are going through.

The excellent and unique leader Imam Ali (AS) distinguishes out from all other leaders. Along with believers, several non-Muslims also loved his character and unique features. They tried to emphasise facets of this unending leader of ages’ persona and have published hundreds of books and research papers about him.

By the manner he made decisions in every situation that came across his concept of justice, historians consider him to be one of the most just rulers and an exceptional model of social justice.

Respect and Humility

He encouraged people to treat one another with kindness and to spread peace and love to all people. Many times, humiliating and vilifying others makes people joyful. Even his adversaries received Hazrat Ali’s words with deference and respect.

Human Rights

Human rights had the highest priority under his caliphate. They included the freedoms to live, to speak, to be treated equally (across racial groups), and to act.

Loyalty

At a period when everyone was a disbeliever, Hazrat Ali (R.A) was deeply devoted to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). He stated, “Blessings are for the man who earns honestly, distributes alms in the name of Allah, has good tongue control, doesn’t oppress others, doesn’t add new laws to Islam, and has a great character.”

Knowledge and Wisdom

Hazrat Ali’s (R.A) life taught us many lessons. He was a fountain of information, yet he never took credit for it. It’s all because, according to the following hadith about him, he was the only one to receive Hazrat Muhammad PBUH’s insight and understanding. “I am the city of wisdom, and Ali is its doorway,” the Holy Prophet (PBUH) remarked.