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Mailbox – Newspaper – DAWN.COM

Published

2 hours ago

March 14, 2026

Empowered minds change nations

As a youth born only a few decades ago in the 20th century, I write to convey that I read Dawn Young World fairly regularly.

While the features in general are often interesting, the letters in the Mailbox section, verses in Poets’ Corner and drawings in Art Corner in particular enable one to frequently realise the exceptional range of talent, thoughtful intelligence and creativity of Pakistani children.

And when adults like Ambreen Arshad insightfully advise the youth in her reflection titled “Empowered minds change nations,” published on March 7, 2026, on the eve of International Women’s Day on March 8, the weekly attention given to our gifted and charming children becomes especially apt and motivating.

Her stress on the crucial value of obtaining optimal benefits from education as a lifelong asset is always worth remembering and acting upon.

Senator (r) Javed Jabbar,
Karachi

Everything hurt and yet nothing hurts

This is with reference to the story “Everything hurt and yet nothing hurts” by Zainab Sultan (YW, January 10).

It was a thought-provoking story. Very imaginatively the writer placed the reader inside the mind of someone trapped in a coma.

The descriptions of fear, helplessness and silence in that situation were very vivid and clearly conveyed the desperation felt by the person. At the same time, memories of ordinary moments, like playing with friends, drinking tea or spending time with family, showed how precious everyday life really is.

What made the story more meaningful was its reminder that we often take our senses and simple experiences for granted. No doubt the story encouraged gratitude for life.

Danish Ahmed,
Quetta

Small changes, real growth

This is with reference to the article “Small changes, real growth” by Sania Asif (YW, January 3).

The article gave a realistic message to young readers who often feel pressured to make big resolutions at the start of a new year.

It showed that real growth usually happens through small habits, rather than dramatic changes that people often pledge to make publicly, but hardly ever do so.

The examples of studying again after failure, choosing kindness and avoiding unhealthy comparisons on social media made the piece relatable for teenagers.

Ali Raza,
Lahore

Published in Dawn, Young World, March 14th, 2026

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Magazines

Art Corner – Newspaper – DAWN.COM

Published

2 minutes ago

March 14, 2026

hussainbinnoman3@gmail.com

14 Mar, 2026

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Magazines

Story time: The price of a typo

Published

16 minutes ago

March 14, 2026

hussainbinnoman3@gmail.com

It was a calm, quiet evening. I was working at the local office supply store. My job was to take orders, log them on the website and send them to the warehouse for shipping. Everything was under perfect control.

One day, a customer named Ms Evans placed an urgent order for office and home supplies: papers, cartridges and “one box of pencils”. It was a simple order and part of my routine, so I felt confident about it. However, sometimes what you are most confident about can lead to misjudgement and an embarrassing result. That is exactly what happened to me. A momentary lapse in judgement and a tiny coding error started this whole mistake.

Because I thought of it as a “simple order”, it did not even cross my mind to recheck it. In a hurry, I didn’t realise that although I had typed “1,” I had mistakenly pressed extra zeros, so that “1” had become one with four zeros — 10000! Confident that it was just a simple order, I sent it straight away to the warehouse without even realising the mistake.

In utter disbelief, Mr Dave, the manager, read the orders aloud. “10,000 boxes of pencils for one lady?” he exclaimed. “This is a whole year’s supply!” The whole warehouse had to stop work just for this one order. A bigger problem was that it was marked urgent and had to be ready within a day. The situation was becoming catastrophic, exhausting their pencil inventory. Since the order had already been placed, they had no choice but to start packing the boxes.

I wasn’t aware of any of this. But after a while, the staff could barely muster up a single ounce of strength. The system was almost paralysed, sending high alerts of heavy duty activity. That was when I realised that something was wrong. I wondered what could have caused such high alerts, as I hadn’t noticed any large orders yet.

Just then, I received a call from Mr Dave telling me the problem, his voice livid with rage. I was shocked, but I immediately performed deep scans and finally found the error. I isolated the errant code and the programme slowly restored full function.

Meanwhile, Mr Dave checked the original order, instantly spotted the “one with four zeros,” and stopped the shipping. He informed me as well.

I was so embarrassed that I had no words to explain myself. Then began the tedious job of putting all the boxes back in their proper places.

Unaware of the terrible blunder, Ms Evans received her order just on time, but the lesson was monumental. My programme was updated, forcing me to recheck every order twice. The biggest lesson I learnt was: even the smallest lapse in judgement can bring the biggest headache.

Published in Dawn, Young World, March 14th, 2026

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