err?

Of dominating friends and indifferent strangers

I am really sick and tired of friends trying to act cheesy but infact dominating people. I mean, get a life. You possibly cant influence other's decisions, and you possibly cant go around spewing shit and think it would make an impact. Look, its not really very hard for normal people to fathom why email passwords are exchanged. Its not about privilege, and its not being abused. If couples do exchange their passwords, its a sign of trust. Sorry if you never had such privilege bestowed upon you, I tell you, you're missing a whole lot of fun! And that doesnt come as a surprise... I just hope you never have had a male friend, if you think that female friends only console their male friends because they want to be the next in line. Just think for a moment who has the chipori zehniat here? I sincerely advise you against making male friends in the future too! She wouldnt care? She dumped him? She cringes everytime she thinks she went out with him? Actually, you're right, people are so full of themselves that it IS beyond stupid! The next moment you talk about "friends" and "acquaintances"... Girl, first get a hold on what you want to say! If she would have been so disgusted that she was going out with him, she wouldnt have been frequenting this blog... Stop twisting the crap. To the ex: We talked and quit like decent people, none of us wanted the shit to hit the fan. But as it has, I have to clean myself out. I so wish you stop being subservient to other people's whims and wringle your way out of domination! To the friend: If he asked her out, there must be something in her. There are girls who have never been asked out, and now I know why! And I thought I was being stupid!

A reason - for me?

I'm not a perfect person
as many things I wish I didn't do
but I continue learning
I never meant to do those things to you
and so I have to say before I go
that I just want you to know

I've found a reason for me
to change who I used to be
a reason to start over new
and the reason is you

I'm sorry that I hurt you
it's something I must live with everyday
and all the pain I put you through
I wish that I could take it all away
and be the one who catches all your tears
that's why I need you to hear

I've found a reason for me
to change who I used to be
a reason to start over new
and the reason is you

I'm not a perfect person
I never meant to do those things to you
and so I have to say before I go
that I just want you to know

I've found a reason for me
to change who I used to be
a reason to start over new
and the reason is you

I've found a reason to show
a side of me you didn't know
a reason for all that I do
and the reason is you

The Reason
The Reason, Hoobastank

Bang bang!

I feel like banging my head repeatedly against a wall!!

 

Allah, give me strength to bear with these hard times, and grant me forgiveness! I truly repent!

Vaanya's BACK!

So it's been insanely COOL that Vaanya's coming back home!!!! TOMORROW! Yummmmmmmyyyy... I am looking forward to her visit, oh I so adore this little girl! Meanwhile let's make do with her pictures. And great ones at that =)

I am comfortable with cell phones since my birth *snooty*

And that's soooooooooo funny! The *Geek* Vaanya, like her uncle (minus the glasses) Hmmm, the food looks good here, lemme check what I want to eat... And Vaanya at Masjid-e-Nabvi

And now she'll be back for more than a MONTH! I am sooo delighted :) We'll have FUN all day round!!

:)))))))))

Fast Turtle

You may know that the snail was one of God's slowest and oddest creations ever. They probably serve some purpose, but it's hard to imagine what. But do you know what the snail said when it got on the turtle's back? "Wheeeeeeeee!"

Sari Rat Jaga

So its officially been two days since I am awake. Matlab I havent slept a wink. Okay, you dont count various dozes as sleep.

 

Finally got through the FYP Presentation and demo, with the examiners, Mr. AA and Ms. AA (they are two totally unrelated persons, except perhaps they were our examiners) smiling and joking and generally kidding, rushing their way through the whole prez. Oh, and they weren't particularly stumped by our project, they liked it though, but no marks for guessing...

 

Mr. AA even said the best part of the whole affair was my little piece of work in Flash (prez. that is), and that he could spend his time looking at the movie only... How cool is that :P

 

Umm now I am not too positive he is too impressed, and that means, I'll have to pay a visit to him. No marks for guessing the purpose of the visit ;)

 

Khairrrrrrrrrr, thanks for bearing with my incoherent (and possibly unlinked) rambling, I need to sleep badly, and I am going to do that right now.

 

So lets go to sleep. Going. Gone!

 

:)

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

bahhh!

Just when you get the PDA...

And travel in the bus with it neatly tucked in your bag... You miss three calls from a potential employer : Screw you cell-phone snatchers!!!

Face of the Decade, Vaanya. Part 1 Act 1.

Okay. Looks like I am a little late presenting this thing up. But then, all good things are late. This one goes even better :P So lets cut the crap, and get on with the show. To all the relatively new readers of my blog, Vaanya is my sweetie janu. She used to feature prominently on this place, but several complications resulted in her choosing to discontinue the limelight. But, she has very graciously agreed to make a star appearance every now and then, to keep us all amused, and a few of us, satuated. Now lets find out what she is upto now!

I am sooooooo sweeet!

Presenting the *new* Shower Gel :P

Nobody could punish me, I am so cute

Who said mafioso were only Italian?

Okay, the mafioso are tired, they need to sleep

More mischiefs are on the way, keep hooked!

Presenting Face of the Decade - Part 1

The LifeDotCom proudly presents: Face of the Decade - Vaanya. Part 1.

Exclusively for two days. Friday, December 09, and Saturday December 10, 2005.

Find out what the dame is up to this time. Get amazed. Fall in love.

Just dont miss it.

Pakistan burst England's Ashes bubble!

Whoa! What a performance!

Shoaib ripped and Kaneria spinned through England's pride. This is what demolition is like!

Okay so comprehensive review will come later. I didnt get to watch the match on TV! ;)

GET Results

s!d: Read about the GET results on the GET post, The LifeDotCom offers a special* appearance. Find out, get amazed.

:)

Edit: Read the results here.

*Not so special anyways

Grand Finale 05

Sportics presents: Grand Finale 05! Catch the excitement as it soars, watch your favourite teams in action! Football, Volleyball, Cricket, Basketball and Table Tennis. Cheer for your mates, get into the groove! Dont miss it, there are no bytes this time around!

Jeenay ke liye

Gulshan ki faqat, pholoon say nahin
Kaanton say bhi zeenat hoti hai

Jeenay ke liye iss duniya mein
Gham ki bhi zaroorat hoti hai

[The beauty of the garden is not only from roses, thorns are equally beautiful
To survive in this world, sorrow is important too]

Ponder, ponder.

Why, oh why!

TallGuy, you might be a close friend of mine. You might have supported me in countless endeavours, endured my constant bitching, advised me through the messes i usually create, and generally proven to be someone called a friend. I have no doubt in agreeing to it.

But, I am sorry, when it comes to it, you must leave my work to me. Everybody in this world is not perfect in everything, and when there is someone perfect (or part thereof) in something, let him do that. You can try your hand in it, I dont mind, but here it is a matter of professionalism. After we make the presentation, after we hand over the project, you can do all of the tweaks and revamps you want, but not before it.

Just think of the impression it'll give when they'll be holding something else and watching something else, all the professional approach will pop with a loud BANG!

So please, stop being a jerk. You can go make the ERD and leave these things to me. Please!

GET 2005

Okay so the title would probably sound like the title of an earlier post, or that I am going to preach something or the other about how to get the better of you or how to conquer time etc, its not that. Its GET time again! The coolest event about FAST! (Well, not so cool, but cool nonetheless) Here is the logo: So the Gaming Extreme Tournament (GET) officially opened today for the intra-university matches. The inter-university matches will take place tomorrow. Coupla universities are sending their teams in to claim domination in Counter-Strike. They include CBM, SZABIST, IBA, NED, SSUET, TIP, CAMS and PAF-KIET. The intra-university matches included Fifa and Need for Speed: Underground as well. And there are 2 (or possibly 3) teams from FAST itself that shall take part in the inter-uni. So its gonna be totally cool and totally hip event, we even get to show the matches LIVE on wide screen at the auditorium :P How cool could it get :) So those who can accompany their respective teams tomorrow, do so! You dont wanna miss this!

Get Original!

Okay, so I know I haven't come up with something original for the last couple of days. But that's primarily because there seems to be a lull in the blogosphere, and the few people that I read regularly are either sleeping or have taken a sabbatical from blogging. That said, I had another reason not to post, that being the Compiler Construction Project Phase II - Syntax Analysis. To all those not-so-geeky around here, a compiler is a software that recognizes and translates programs written in a particular language to stuff that the operating system can understand. We're making a compiler for a subset of Pascal, that doesnt have anything with pointers and the original types are only integer and real :) That done, yesterday, when the program was supposed to work fine (in front of the TA), it just wouldnt recognize constants placed in it! Murphy Murphy... where art thou?! Damn. The TA asked us to fix the problem and that he'll be back in a few minutes and will continue thenceforth. But what the heck. It was Jia's birthday and we had a plan to eat out, so we ate out. Matlab leaving the TA wondering where on the earth are we. Matlab pestering the TA again tomorrow or on Monday to have a look at the project. Matlab having ultimate fun with Chicken Makhnie Handi and Chicken Green Tikka at Tandoori Hut at 4 pm :P Oh, and the Gelato Affair's Ghareeb wali icecream without the money, and the drinks that were never chilled. And how can I forget the 500 wala note that the TH people thought was fake, or it wouldnt be accepted or something like that. All in all, it was a great day :) Thankyou, all of my friends.

Happy Budddddaaaaayyyyy Jia!

Keep happy and keep us all smiling The undoubted Gossip Queen :)

Raaz

Samay yunhi chalta hai Sama rang badalta hai Chupa chupa rehta hai Meri yaadon mein koi Din ke saray pehron mein Shaam ki udaasi mein Raat ke andheron mein Yaad ata hai koi Jhuki jhuki aankhon mein Ruki ruki saanson mein Kaisay janoon yaar pyaar ke kaisay kaisay rang raag hain... Chahta hoon pochoon ke Tu kaun hai kya naam hai Khwabon mein jo ati hai Mujhsay tera kya kaam hai Teri aankhon mein jo raaz hai Merey dil ne us ko paa lia Tere hontoon pe nahin kyoon aya Wohi geet jo meinay ga lia Jhuki jhuki aankhon mein Ruki ruki saanson mein Kaisay jaanoon yaar pyaar ke kaisay kaisay rang raag hain Jhuki Jhuki Jhuki Jhuki Shiraz Uppal

Kiss the new father!

We Won!

Image Copyright: AFP, Modified Copyright: LifeDotCom

So Pakistan won, finally. By a *huge* margin of 22 runs. Everybody deserves strong thumps on their backs. Yayyy! It was sizzling to see Shoaib in action, and Kaneria spinning the ball magically. Even Inzi was diving enthusiastically... Talk about team spirit. :)

Only for JonyDada :P

And you there. If you dont know who he is, visit his blog here, and look what I am talking about, here. :P

Happy Blogiversary

Well, so it marks a year now since this blog was estabilished. I am not gonna rue on how much I've lost, or wasted my time thinking about all the frivolous things I have written here. No. I am content with what I have done. I have made many friends in this short span, through this teeny-weeny piece of the large pie called the Internet. I have discovered buried friendships, reinforced my affection, and turned out to be a better person. So thats it. Wish you my bloggy, a happy wappy birthday :) [This post was supposed to be published on November 11, 2005]

:\

Encountered at a pc at office today:

"Error 305: Keyboard error or no keyboard present, Press F1 to Continue"

Priceless!

That's hilarious!

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Now who has got a running nose here???

If you listen to Strings' "Sar kiye yeh pahar" really attentively, you can hear someone sniffing constantly in the background throughout the song.

Weird. Now that's what I call art!

Kya shaandaar naak payee hai aapney hazrat!

Oh! And here is more!

Whoops, did I forget? Thats really, weally stupid of me. I am so sorry, guys, blame my overworked mind!

To phir Eid Mubarak to you, and you there, and holla, to you too!! EM2u all then :P

Allah aap ko apnay hifzoaman mein rakhay n bless you with lots and lots of more happy eids with hordes of sheer khurma and shahi tukray :) [this is what I sent as a msg ;)]

Ab to koi maray ga nahin na mujhay? :P

No I am not ghussa. I am sad, and heartbroken, and possibly upset.

I hate myself for not being clear enough. I am sorry. I need therapy.

Visual Studio .Net 2003 Blues (and greens)

So there, it had to be. Murphy has to intrude everywhere. He and his stupid law; I am fed up of them both. How I wish I could get my hands on his neck... But then, I should get my hands on the necks of all the greats out there, including Newton, Einstein, Archimedes, Galileo etc, and that makes a long list. Mein to thak jaaonga! So the problem now happens with the execution of Visual Studio. It would build the programs, but wouldnt run it. There was a stupid error that something went wrong in the FPU, and its mask was reset (if it all feels Greek to you, please bear with me). The (stupid) error said: An unhandled exception of type 'System.ArithmeticException' occurred in system.drawing.dll Additional information: Overflow or underflow in the arithmetic operation. And nothing else. So I searched around, and came across Aaron's* (somebody at Microsoft) blog. I fired him a mail explaining my plethora and asked him for help. Poor guy, even his angels didnt know of such error. And he wrote to me: "I've done some searches on the internet and in some Microsoft discussion aliases and couldn't find any info that I thought would be helpful in this scenario. Any steps I suggest to you to try to fix this would end up being guess work and I'm afraid they may not work and would end up wasting time." OMG! If you guys cant, then who will? Ahh, I knew I had to do it myself. So I made my search extensive, and then stumbled across the solution!!! Fired a mail to Aaron again (this was the wicked me): Dear Aaron, I am surprised, but not disappointed. I searched through, and finally discovered that this kind of error would occur due to some malfunctioning device driver/program. In my case, it was Yahoo! Messenger's latest version. I uninstalled it and installed an older version, and now VS works fine.

I got to learn from it. Hope this would have been enlightening to you too.

Regards uXuf

LOL. I am sorry Aaron. I couldnt be sarcastic enough!

*Names are changed to protect privacy

Cheesy!

Please bear with my NEW header image. Ofcourse this is a transient phase and the good ol image would be back again. I just couldnt stop laughing at this funny quirk and had to communicate it to all :) So what do you think of it?

Tag

Okay, so I found this thing on Samar's blog pretty interesting. But I had no plan to do it on my blog. Khair, I have been tagged for it, so guess I have to do it! What I had to do: Go to Google, and search for "my_name needs". And post the results obtained. Principle one: The results should be hilarious. Principle two: No madeup results. Principle three: In doubt? See principles one and two... Here is what I need: Yousuf needs to be careful of the following (follows a long list of gibberish) Yousuf needs to be treated with respect. Yousuf needs an opening pair to provide a platform. Mr. Yousuf needs to get more of his colleagues involved in his plans to establish rule of law in Somalia. (???) Yousuf needs to stay there the whole way for us to have a chance. (Really!) Yousuf needs knowledge to reach these lofty goals. Yousuf needs 154 runs more to reach the 4000 Test runs mark. Yousuf needs another 2 catches to reach the 50 Test catches milestone. (I didnt know I played Test Cricket!) Yousuf needs fresh ideas for guests. Yousuf needs to work on that. Yousuf's garment needs to fit like a glove. (sheesh!) Yousuf needs the judiciary to be free from any kind of discrimination! Yousuf needs a snack & drink. Yousuf needs to flaunt the latest. Yousuf needs the water bottle to stand out. Yousuf doesnt need your permission. And the best: Yousuf. For all your shopping needs. I am tagging: s!d Raheel Extiinct (hey, u werent tagged! :P) Gul And everyone else :)

I am hooked

My house is being repainted. And I am drifting in the sweet aroma.

 

Looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong gone! ~

Disclaimer

This is to inform all of you that from now on, this blog might contain explicit contents. They may range from sub-standard, sub-human things to expletives. The author could not be held responsible for any trauma arising out of such views. What you read is your choice, and you can leave the blog any time. Finally I decided to show the real me, as Samar says that all blogs portray the nice sides of the bloggers. So here I am, all in my glory, in my real self, nice as well as evil. I am finally shedding the be-good posture that I have been wearing all my life. Bear with me if you can, or bid me adios. P.S. did I tell you I was a Gemini?

Weird

If listening to Mar Dala from Devdas is weird, then I am exactly that!!!!

 

Matlab, I have started liking that song. It's got that odd feeling, that touches something deep inside.. strikes some long forgotten chords.. makes stuff well up again that were long deemed drowned!

 

Sometimes such songs help forget the miseries of the present. Living in the past is not necessarily a good thing, but then, it isnt worse either. That way atleast you get to ponder over your mistakes, if any, and shayad, somehow, you'll resolve never to repeat them!

 

Its great, and for a good measure, throw in a couple of MHB songs, and you can have a serene (and nostalgic) evening!

To those this might concern

• There is no such thing as full scape papers. There are only fool's cap papers, or you can call them foolscap. That's it. Please!
• Refrain from wearing too-revealing clothes, atleast while its Ramadan. You know, us guys' rozas go down the drain!!
• People will look whenever the show is on. So dont make a show!
• The prefix 'www' in a domain name is only needed for the top level domains. No need of using them in subdomains. Save your time by striking out the 'www' from 'www.someone.blogspot.com'. It would work as fine.
• My nick is supposed to be u'X'uf, not 'U'xuf. So please?

More of them coming, had loads to share but couldnt place the things now that I am here :P

Aur haan! My friends, the DC (disciplinary committee) meeting was initiated for the tour. Ya know, the joke is on... "TC ki DC!"...

Dont know yet what those people have decided, but I am positive it won't be too harsh. Only if we d have known that they will treat us like this when we get back, we'd have given the students a raw deal!

But, life goes on...

The firsts!

Subject:   Disciplinary Meeting
From:   "Abdul Saeed" 
Date:   Mon, October 24, 2005 6:25 am
To:    "S2057"
 "S2035"
 "S1836"
 "S1863"
 "S1885"
 "S2114"
 "S2071"
 "S1871" 
Cc:   "Hasina Khatoon"
 

Dear Students,

You are advised to appear before the Disciplinary Committee on Tuesday
i.e. October 25, 2005 at 11:00 AM.

Abdul Saeed

From Director's Office

I'm bored!

Got nothing to do these days, everything is, umm, boring. I'm bored of university, of office, of home. What I need to get me back into the mainstream "fun" is a substantial project. Yeah, I know I sound odd, but I need to work! Naah, study is not work for me. Infact I am bored of studies as well... Got any ideas? And did I tell you, I've got this nasty cut on the fore-side of my palm, that occurred when I was disembarking from my point? Well, its not that nasty!! But its cool! Talk about guys nursing nasty cuts just to show people how brawly they are ;)

Whoa week!

Ah, and another week comes to an end. Seems like Murphy postulated his law with the technology people in mind, especially the computers related ones. For those who are still ignorant about this wonderful law, it goes something like this: If something can go wrong, it will. There is it. The philosophy of life, captured beautifully in a few words. And yet, it proves true more often than not for all us Computer Science undergrads! What would you say when on the night before submitting the first phase of the compiler project, the front end and the back end of the applications just wouldnt connect and fail to co-exist amiably? What should be done when on the day of the demo, I couldnt even manage to display the file in a little window? And then, treat J# as similar to C#? Or when the application goes bang right in front of the TA when he runs it for the first time? The most embarassing part is that there was a teensy thing overlooked that wouldnt let the file display in that little window, and that I came to know of after the demo. Ah, life. The TA was lenient enough for postponing the demo till the next day, as I squarely lay the blame on the computer. Ofcourse, there wasn't any problem with my application. There just couldnt be! And finally, the demo went smooth. Murphy's law can go pop in his face, for all I care!

How many?

How many balloons can you spot in this picture?

The correct answer will get a surprise gift.

Living in 2005

YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2005 when... 1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave. 2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years. 3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3. 4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you. 5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses. 6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries. 7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen. 8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it. 10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee. 11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. :) 12. You're reading this and nodding and laughing. 13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message. 14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list. 15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on this list. AND NOW U R LAUGHING at yourself.

Fastian Relief

Assalamualaikum ladies and gentlemen, I am quite glad to inform all of you that FASTians have achieved their first objective in our struggle to provide relief to our Muslim brothers and sisters, our fellow countrymen, struck by disaster in the wake of the earthquake. Today, i.e. Thursday, 13th Oct. 2005, at 3:15 PM, FASTian relief operation members handed over a consignment of 15 gasoline generators, worth Rs 64,500, to the Base Commander at PAF Museum. They were very well recieved and the commander thanked the FASTian Community for their contribution. However, FASTians had another gift for the people. At 5:45 PM a consignment of Intravenous Anti-biotic Injections (Gen. 2 & 3), worth Rs 35,000, was handed over to the authorities at PAF Museum. This vital consignment was immediately sent for shipment amid much thanks. The students at FAST NU Karachi have displayed unflinching determination to the cause so much so that when Tahir Khan, who heads the PAF Museum Operation along with Fakhr, thanked the volunteers he specifically thanked FASTians for their contribution. I would like to add that FASTians were the first students to arrive at PAF and in the largest number and have been working tirelessly at the site everyday. Congratulations all of you. You make yourselves and each other proud. However, the fight does not stop here. We have to continue this spirit for a long time because those in need will require our assistance for a long time. Very soon a presentation will be organised and plans for continuing this operation will be laid out. I will share with you the core point: You all have been donating generously. However, I would like you all to set upon yourself an obligation that every one of you will donate Rs 10/20 everyday. There are approx 1400 students. At this rate we will be able to generate Rs 14,000 to 28,000 on a daily basis. This will allow us to send daily consignments to the victims. I don't want you guys to overburden yourselves. So answer this call as I have requested you. I would like to mention that our next target is to send a large consignment of tents. Let's work together for it. Anyone who wishes to question the transparency of the operation will find every paisa accounted for. However, even then, if you do not trust your fellow students then contribute in any other operation you like but please be a part of the struggle. Additionally, we have decided to unofficially name our relief operation "FAST Rescue" and every FASTian, student or teacher, current or ex, is a member. Let's unveil the truth in this name. Yours in Fellowship, Bilal Ahmed Khan (s2043) Team Member. This mail was received as our effort was unofficially given a name. All fastians, please be a part of it. All of the other guys, help in any way you can.

Precautions

Tremors were felt in Karachi late Tuesday night. Although the Met department says the tremors only measured 4.0 on the Richter scale, people were sure panicked. I rang up Beyzar last night only to find out he with his family was sitting outside the apartment block. Assured him that it must be safe to go inside, but advised him to wait atleast 15 minutes more. The Met department says these little shocks are of no danger and people should remain calm. Moreover, these shocks werent related to the quake of Saturday (Balochistan and Sindh lie roughly in a different fault than do Northern Pakistan and Punjab). Whatever the Richter scale says, we must equip ourselves against any kind of shocks. Here is a list of precautions to be taken in the event of an earthquake (or tremors): Indoors:

• If you're indoors during an earthquake, the best thing to do is to crouch and cover yourself. Better still if you can get yourself under a table or desk, and stay there until the shocks have subsided. You can also stand in the door frame, or take shelter against an inner wall of the house. They are less likely to collapse than an outer wall of the house.
• Dont try to run out of the building. You can be hit by falling debris from the building.
• Stay in your safe place until after the shocks. Keep on the lookout for fires. Fires are the most devastating aftermath of earthquakes.
• After the shocks, if you do have to evacuate the building, use the stairs rather than the elevator, and get as far from the building as possible.

Outdoors:

• Stay clear of buildings, electric poles, trees etc when you're outdoors.
• When the shocks occur, crouch and cover. Stay in one place.
• Seek out a clear place.
• While in a car, stop the car immediately, and wait patiently with your seat belt strapped.

With these little precautions a lot of damage can be avoided.

God help us all.

The students at FAST-NU Karachi campus have managed to raise up a sum of Rs. 38,000 in the last two days. They have also set up a relief camp in the university, where the goods collected each day go to the PAF Museum. The faculty has announced that it will donate its salary of one day towards the relief effort.

Alongwith the goods, I went to the PAF Museum yesterday. On Monday, we took around 250 people with us (yes, all FASTians!), and yesterday, there were around 170. Its always heartening to see when people forget all their differences to work towards a cause. At the camp, there was no rich or poor, guy or girl, hindu or muslim. We were all Pakistanis, and working towards the relief of our fellow Pakistanis.

Stayed there from 1.30 to 5.00, and till then I was cramped that I couldnt even walk. But eventually, I did, warna I wouldnt be home in time for iftaar!

Decided to go back at around 10 pm. Turned out it was a tall order, it felt that the whole Karachi has arrived there to help! It took us 45 minutes to inch towards the camp setup at the Sharae Faisal entrance, a distance that takes normally 5 minutes to cover.

I am impressed by Pakistanis, especially Karachiites. I used to think we didnt have that much fervour left in us. But this tragedy, has made me thinking otherwise.

Yes, I am proud to be a Pakistani!

Tremors in Karachi!

I've just heard that tremors were felt in the areas of DHA and Clifton tonight.

 

God keep us all in His hifz-o-aman.

 

Please pray, and beg mercy for your sins, deliberate or undeliberate.

Help!

Mobilink and Ufone customers can now help their calamity-stricken brethren by texting DONATE to the number 436. A paltry sum of Rs. 3 will be deducted from the balance and will be donated to the earthquake relief fund. For that matter people residing in Karachi can take up their donations to the PAF Museum's parking lot. It would be a lot better if you can take supplies rather than money. Different companies have put up stalls their and are selling their products at a discounted rate. If you do take money, prefer to purchase something from there and give it to the relief people. PIA is also arranging relief efforts. You can deposit your goods at the nearest PIA center. Camps are also set up at all the Edhi centers. You can also help being online, just visit HelpPakistan and click on any of the advertisements. All the revenue generated from the ads there would be donated to the relief fund. But be cautious, and don't go overboard in helping your friends. A few clicks too many from the same IP would alert the Google people and they would shut the whole thing up, rendering the effort useless. Donate, help them in any way you can. Maybe this would be the only worthwhile thing we would do in our entire lives!

The Quake

Image copyright BBC International

The epicenter of the earthquake was approximately 96 kilometers from Islamabad. The quake hit the cities at 8:50 am. More than 500 deaths are reported in Pakistan alone (including Azad Kashmir).

The tsunamis, the floods, the hurricanes, and now the earthquake. God is testing the world in major ways this decade. Pray that we keep steady in our faith, and emerge from these tests with our heads held high.

My prayers for the affected people from the earthquake. May God give them strength to bear with the calamity.

Update: If anyone is having problems siging on to Yahoo!, try this link, its guaranteed 96% of the time to work...

link

Especially my cablenet people! (dont worry it isnt a trap)

2006

Phir....?

Shaamein ab, dhalti nahin Aanchal jo tera simat jaye Aap yahan, hamesha rahein Doori rahay na woh faaslay Jaagay hain, soye nahin Aisi hai meri yeh bechaini Din bhi wohi, raatein wohi Saanson mein saansein hain nahin Ab agar tum miley to Itna yakeen hai Hans dein gay hum to Rona nahin hai..... Yakeen Atif Aslam - Jal Pari

GotTaggedAgain

This time, JonyDada did it. And since, I still have nothing better to do, I am continuing the Tag game. The rules: 1. Go to your archive. 2. Find your 23rd post. 3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest) 4. Post the text of the sentence with these instructions. 5. Tag 5 people. Indeed, a tall order, considering the number of posts I've written, and the utter lack of basic mathematical skills. Still, here is the fifth sentence from my 23rd post... And then there it was reminding me of how can I leave it out! Pretty mysterious, hey, you can read the post here! And the five people I am cursing with this tag:

1. 9j
2. s!d
3. Extiinct
4. Manav
5. Khargoshh

Just look a little closer

I'm here with my confession, Got nothing to hide no more, I don't know where to start, But to show you the shape of my heart. Shape of my heart Backstreet Boys - Black & Blue

Parse Trees made easy

NoClasses -> exams | chutti

 

exams -> mids | finals

chutti -> strike | IllTabiat | NoMood

 

So 9j, we can construct a parse trees for these days as follows:

 

NoClasses -> exams

exams -> mids

 

Yes, I have mids starting from Monday!!!!

Mids

The Mids are starting from tomorrow. And here I am, playing CS, chatting away, wasting my time in general. Its Compiler tomorrow, then Marketing, Software Engineering II and Psychology. All in a week's time. Would somebody enlighten me on the correct word for the plural of Midterm? Is it Midterms, or Midsterm. Know what I am talking about? Ponder over it, and you'll eventually get to the puzzled state I am in. PS: I am only wasting my time because I've studied this time around! ;) So CS, here I come!

The people of yore...

They aren't exactly what the title suggests yet, but soon, they will become the people of yore. The Senior year at the university (yeah, JonyDada, I study at the university!!), will pass in a blink of the eye. And all that would be left are memories. Memories of the good, the bad and the pretty....

So here are some of my pals, excluding the girls :( They'll always be in the better part of my memories. Anybody, if left, need not to worry because you have a place in my heart and will soon find some in a future post.

The mazloomest dud, the only guy I'll marry if I turned gay ;)

The Vamp, Tension Singh, whatever you may say, this guy's got a nerve (really?)

Punjab da Munda, Gandasa-bearer (atleast looks so, but he isn't)

Mein maafi chahta hoon judge saaab!

Yeah, what you wanna say? Uhumm?

Mr. Nice Daddy, Bunty and Bubbly wala Bunty :P

Jack of all, master of none, and looks really ruddy!

Murghiiiiiiiiii! Where's my fair n lovely?!!

And last, but not the least, the Cheetah (informally nahin, formally!) He is actually what he looks like... with a 3.9 CGPA!

And if anyone of you seem to know any one of these, please dont feel free to contact them. Please dont inquire about me, as I am invisible to them, and they are invisible to me. Hehe, just kidding :)

Holla there Miss Balance!

Called up Warid Balance Check. The ever sweet lady comes up: Your account *pause* balance *pause* is *pause* eighty-six *pause* (A smile creeps on my lips) paisas! Turns out the balance was all nullified by the bold attempts. Khair, forget it. Hope the Warid people get some sense and fix their system so that people might not get heart attacks :(

This is one of my favouritest picture from the tour.... Friends are like these!

And, our Chinese friends, at the world's highest border, skittled among the most scenic of all places, better than Switzerland, or Germany, or whatever. This is Khunjerab Pass on the historic Silk Route.

Ahhh, so now on more important things. This would be my 150th post. So bid me luck. And no thanks, I am not being introspective, nor I intend to shoot off emails to Mr. Blogger or someone :P (I know he wouldnt reply in any case ;))

And that brings to mind that JonyDada's blog isnt working. Or I am getting redirected to some Mobile Resource Management site. So finally we hear a case of a blog getting hacked :P

Interesting... Ahan!

WhoTagsMe?!

Well, somebody did. And since I have nothing on my hands (and mind) right now, and that I must break through my self-imposed fear of relaying information about myself, so here I am succumbing to the tag-o-mania... 5 years ago: A college going kid, who believed in himself. A computer whiz, a little bit of intelligent maneuvering of the computing abilities (called hacking, but a little on the better side). Had firm belief in the goodness of everything. 1 year ago: A computer whiz, still. Improved skills, yet the interest has waned somewhat. An ardent gamer (CS Rocks!), confused about his future, and his companions. The belief was still strong. 5 songs I know all the words to: Hmmmm, lets see... These number more than 5, lets talk about my some of the "most favourites". They'd be Yaad nahin kya kya dekha (Jagjit), Koi yeh kaisay bataye (Jagjit), One Love (Blue), No I (Raghav), Desert Rose (Sting), Dekho Kaisay (Strings), Woh Chali (Bombay Vikings), Tehzeeb & Yakeen (Atif), Rabba (Meekal Hassan), and the list goes on.... 5 Snacks I enjoy: Chaaat! (especially chana chaat from the thelay wala and the fruit chaat that my mom makes!), KFC's Zinger (recently developed addiction), French Fries, Nimco, and Chips!!! 5 Things I'd do w/ $100 million dollars: Buy a BMW M5, buy a Lamborghini, buy a webfarm, build a villa somewhere near Skardu, invest and live off (thats another) the earnings :P 5 places I would run away to: Karachi! Okay, Skardu, Babusar Top, Shaucer Lake aka Deosai Plains, Kashmir and Paris! 5 things I would never wear: Anything sleeveless, anything skintight, anything chamakdaar, anything with Salman Khan on it, anything shocking pink/golden! 5 favorite tv shows: Dexter's Laboratory!! Kon banega Crorepati (The English & Hindi versions), Fear Factor, America's Most Wanted, Friends. Another hot favourite was MTV Select with Nikhil (Remember anyone?) 5 greatest joys: My life is constant enjoyment :) 5 favorite toys: My Nokia 3220, my Apple iBook G4 (yeah I ve got one! :P), Bhaiyya's 6600, my pc, 9j's 6030 (I am starting to love it)! 5 People I am tagging: 9j, Extiinct, JonyDada, Manav, Khargoshh (Are you alive?).

What you wanna?

So girl what you wanna see Wanna see my get down on my knees Wanna hear me begging, "Baby, please" Wanna see my crying for mercy? So what you wanna see exactly?

Rain, rain!

Rain, rain, go away, Come again another day! OMG! What is with this outpour! Everything is drenched! Nature has a way of playing nefty games with us. First it was the hottttt weather, with temperatures climbing steadily upto 38 degrees Celsius, then making us long for rain with sporadic cloudy days, and now, in the middle of September, when you have finally given up hopes of rains, it rains! And it rains, it rains, it rains! (Yeah in that order, put about a half-hour, an hour gap in between :P) Although it came as a welcoming relief in our lives, there were a little annoying things. The first drops falling, and the Internet connection goes *bang*! Called up to the cable wallah only to get the response "Bhai, barish ki wajah say switches jal jatay hain, isliyeh band kiya hai. Warna 6-7 din ki khuwari hojati hai!" Oh my God! Thankyou for the far-sightedness, Mr. Cable Wallay! Endure a little for the larger good. That's your logic. But please, when would you upgrade your systems? Make them rain-proof? Typical Pakistani! Khair, annoying things aside, its time to enjoy the rain! Imagine waking up in the morning, only to find gray clouds all over, bidding for rain. And just when you finally get ready to get off for the university, it starts to pour! Pour like it has never before. So that happened on Saturday. I called 9j up and told her that I am not coming, turned out she cancelled her plan too! Enjoyed the rain for a while, and then, went to sleep! Ahh! The benefits of bachelor life! The rain is fine if there aren't ankle deep puddles on the road, and the cable wouldn't go pop. I love barish too :)

The Ghost Train

It would have been a gruesome sight, when the three trains collided at Ghotki. Well, not exactly collided, but still the destruction was one of its kind. There is a little station called Sarhad, just a few miles off Ghotki. Sources say the accident actually happened there. When we reached Ghotki we actually saw one of the victim trains. It was exactly what the title suggests, the Ghost Train. Dont believe me? Check out the pictures yourself. And its odd, I've been trying for the past few days to blog about it. Every time there occurs some problem, the electricity going off, Blogger not responding, connection problems; its eerie. The train itself was eerie. I didnt get the chance to record its name, but here it is. You must pass this on, or refer 10 people to this post, to escape the wrath of the Ghost Train. The more people you refer, the better are your chances to get the student's discount on this ride. So don't hesitate, or this train will haunt you for years to come...!

A new start

Same old faces, same old places. Same old feelings, same old grudges.

Same old people, starting a new life...

Is it that easy?

I hope so, and if it isn't, we're still gonna go through it. Together. Forever.

Tour ki kahani...

Finally, the tour pics are here. Talk about the fast-paced world, information at the fingertips, digitizing everything, blah blah blah! I got the *digitized* (there were absolutely no conventional cameras, only digital ones!) pics after three weeks. Hrrrrmmmppphhh! So in the phirst fase (or is it the other way round? I am sleepy) I am going to put up a few of the pics taken by me, by my very old and faithful, Nokia 3220 (sheesh, it aint that old anyway!). And I had forgotten my camera at home. :P

The Shah-Faisal Mosque. Grandeur.

Again! We offered the Isha prayers here. TallGuy, Murghi and Khatri. Lower Kachura Lake; the little red huts are the part of Shangrila Resort.

Believe me, the place is stunning!

Upper Kachura. This place is unmatchedly serene, peaceful and beautiful. Could sure live here, but the track to this lake is a half-an-hour hike.

There are more, but I think they'll have to wait till the context in which they were taken is under discussion. Watch the pics, and let me know how'd they turn out!

More on the way!

:(

Aaaarggghhhh! I just hate myself!

New skin!

So here it is! The long awaited, hotly anticipated, duly feared new skin. Lol, just kidding. I liked the layout on some site, but it took a coupla hours to tailor it to my blog's needs. And I think its pretty much done now. What do you guys think? Its cool, right? And if you dont like it, then shut up. I dont want to hear I've wasted all my hardwork! Hehe, kidding again. I know I can improve on the header image. But still, if anybody thinks there are any flaws (font, colors etc) can just tell me. I ll pretty much try to improve on it :) Tell me its nice naaaa!

Inside story!

Its not that inside a story, but still, if anybody of you people is hooked up on huqa.com, then try to start forgetting it. They are launching the site (officially) in a few days, and WHAM! It will be off for all Pakistani/asian users. Shocking? Yeah. Atleast for the time being. They build the site in Pakistan, with Pakistani talent, hardwork; and they close the doors on Paksitanis! All Pakistani IPs will be blocked, and it will be launched in the US, cause they say, its made for US! Duhhh! *speechless* PS: If you havent yet seen the site, dont bother at all. Its pretty crappy.

Ghazal Freak!

Confession: I am a complete ghazal freak. I can listen to hordes of them, and never (NEVER) get bored. Be it Abida Parveen, Jagjit, Nusrat Fateh Ali, Ustad Amanat Ali Khan etc. Jagjit's ghazal "Koi yeh kaisay bataye" triggered this, and I had nothing worthwhile to post about. The tour pics aren't in yet (Damn Ash!), and I want to talk about the tour with the pics! So here is one of my all time favs:

Rukh say parda utha dey zara saaqia Bus abhi rang-e-mehfil badal jayega Hai jo behosh woh, hosh mein ayega girnay wala hai jo, sambhal jayega Tum tasalli na do, sirf baithey raho waqt kuch merey marnay ka tal jayega Kya yeh kam hai maseeha ke rehnay hee say maut ka bhi irada badal jayega Rukh say parda utha dey zara saaqia Bus abhi rang-e-mehfil badal jayega

Lollywood Rawks! Absolutely!

Last night I was forced to see a Lollywood flick due to the insistence and rock-hard determination of the maid. Although the story was pretty bearable (sic) I was particularly amazed by the movie itself, and it made me rather nostalgic about STN and the Shabnam/Mohammad Ali movies. They were waayyyy better than the stuff Lollywood is churning out now. So what does it take to make a movie that people will instantly recognize as a Lollywood flick? (Glaringly stupid mistakes/ways to accomplish things):

1. Title: Choose the stupidest title you can think of, like Gujjar Badmaash, Haseena 420, Puranay Mujrim. The movie last night was called "Mr. Fraudiay"!
2. Stuff as many lead actors/actresses as you can and your budget allows. Anything below three couples is highly susceptible to failure.
3. Get the weirdest choreographer and ask him to bring his weirdest best out, so that there is some interest in the movie. Come on, the Pakistani audience isn't decent.
4. Emphasize on all your actors to talk in Mustufa Qureshi/Sultan Rahi accent. Even actresses, yes. Everything should be "Roabdar" for the movie to succeed. Anyone who attempts to do a natural act, should be stricken off from the cast.
5. Project the villain as a Dr. Evil type, with superhuman abilities.
6. And the hero, as a superhumannatural (new word!), larger than life prude.
7. Use computers (in the movie) to show the actors are doing really important work, but make sure that they keyboards are not connected and screen savers with "PAKISTAN" written are activated.
8. Shoot everything indoors, and use age-old boards for sky-effect.

So these are only few of the things I think are necessary for a movie to be called a Lollywood flick. For instance, in the movie last night, Meera was supposed to be stranded in a boat in the river, shouting for help, and I couldn't help seeing a very distinct rope tied to the aft of the boat. So much for authenticity!

I saw a Lollywood movie after a long time, and I hope I wont have to see another one for a long time too! God help me!

KFC Pakistan!

Date: August 12, 2005. Venue: KFC, Lahore. The restaurant is decorated very lavishly in green and white buntings. The servers and managers are wearing the Pakistani flag on their shirts. There is even a special deal on the event of independence. "Free Nation, Free to choose". But there is a problem right there: Me: (beckoning to the lady who seems to be the supervisor) Excuse me? She: Yes! Can I help you, sir? Me: Ofcourse you can. You see, I am a little puzzled. (Meanwhile my friends are surprised why exactly I am talking to her.) Me: (in the most innocent of tones) Why is your restaurant decorated? She: (eyes me suspectingly) What do you mean? 14th August is coming up. Our Azaadi celebrations! We are proud Pakistanis! Me: Ahhhh! I see. Aur yeh gaanay konsay chal rahay hain? She: (looks stumped) Errrr, Indian! Me: Wow! We are proud Pakistanis! She: (is obviously stumped and embarassed) Just wait a minute, sir. I'll go change the songs. And the songs get changed from "Dus bahaney" to "Dil Dil Pakistan". She comes back to me, "Is it okay?" I guess yeah, it wasn't really a problem with me, girl. It was your image that was getting tarnished. So yes, its very easy to brag, but very difficult to hold to values. To actually do what we say. Let's try to be a little more honest. Let's love our country as it should be loved. Let's be Pakistanis, and proud ones at that.

I'm back!

Yes, I am back. To my city, to my love, to my home. Karachi is heaven, believe me. I've realised its value on this trip. There'd be no place in the whole world I'd like to live but in Karachi. So how was the trip? Um, thats a difficult question to answer. It was fun, it was tiring, it was hot, it was dusty, it was rainy, it was gloomy, it was full of life. And yet it was sickeningly sad. These kind of tours always teach a lot about life. And I learnt a lot. Many funny things happened along the way, and many sad things, too. I'd update all of you in a few days, a day-by-day account, inshALLAH. For now I think I should take a nap. If you read this, and can call me, then do call. See ya all!

Getting Back

16 days have passed. The tour is finally coming to an end. The sights and sounds of rural Pakistan have subsided and the hustle bustle of metropolitan Pakistan have taken their places. And so it heralds the start of my miseries. The realizations that I am not perfect. That I am the one at fault. That I am not convincing enough, and that you need proofs that I really have some feelings for you. So that it is. You got the proof. And I am miserable. I hope you deduce the correct results from them. I am waiting till then. God bless us all!

Tour de Pakistan '05

25-Jul day 0 Depart from Karachi 26-Jul day 1 Karachi -> Islamabad 27-Jul day 2 Islamabad -> Muree -> Patriata -> Islamabad 28-Jul day 3 Islamabad -> Besham (Night Stay) 29-Jul day 4 Besham -> Gilgit 30-Jul day 5 Gilgit -> Fairy Meadows (Rama Lake optional) [Jeep Track] / camping 31-Jul day 6 Gilgit -> Naltar Lake ( Shaucer Lake) -> Gilgit [Jeep Track] 1-Aug day 7 Gilgit -> Sost (hunza) 2-Aug day 8 Sost (Hunza) - Rest Day 3-Aug day 9 Sost -> Khunjerab Pass (China Border) -> Karimabad -> Sost 4-Aug day 10 Sost -> Gilgit 5-Aug day 11 Gilgit -> Skardu (night stay) 6-Aug day 12 Skardu - Rest Day (optional - Shigar Valley) 7-Aug day 13 Skardu -> Shangrilla Resorts (Kachura Lake) 8-Aug day 14 Skardu -> Deosai Planes [Jeep Track] 9-Aug day 15 Skardu -> Sadpara Lake [Jeep Track] 10-Aug day 16 Skardu -> Abbottabad 11-Aug day 17 Abbottabad -> Lahore (Motorway) 12-Aug day 18 Grand Dinner (Lahore) 13-Aug day 19 Lahore -> Karachi So thats it! I am leaving tomorrow morning, 9 o' clock. Although I soooo much want my friends to accompany me! And I soooo much don't want to leave them here. But I guess, in the line of duty. Really, I am torn between go and no-go, friends and duty. But I am sure they'll understand. So friends, keep hope, I'll be back. Meanwhile I might not blog much, or for that matter, blog at all. But I am sure my friends will miss me. I will miss them too.

*Piya bin muhey naahi rehnaa*

The Half-Blood Prince

"Prime Minister, I am very sorry to have to tell you that he's back. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back." "Back? When you say 'back'... he's alive? I mean--" The Prime Minister groped in his memory for the details of that horrible conversation of three years previously, when Fudge had told him about the wizard who was feared above all others, the wizard who had committed a thousand terrible crimes before his mysterious disappearance fifteen years earlier. "Yes, alive," said Fudge. "That is--I don't know--is a man alive if he can't be killed? I don't really understand it, and Dumbledore won't explain properly--but anyway, he's certainly got a body and is walking and talking and killing, so I suppose, for the purposes of our discussion, yes, he's alive." Just got an e-copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince from an acquaintance in my mail box. And it seems a little interesting. But still, there are a few questions that always pop up on my mind whenever I read a Harry Potter book:

1. Who are the rulers/monarchs of the Wizard community?
2. Where is the government? And who is the prime-minister?
3. If there is no government then how could there be a Ministry of Magic or a Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures?
4. Why only Potter has enough courage besides Dumbledore to call He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named by his name? Why couldn't Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic do that?
5. Why am I bothered by these silly questions and misgivings?

Lol really I think the Potters must be left for my little 10-year-old cousin, she wouldn't get any of these questions. I am better off with my Forsyths, Grishams and Follets. Thanks Rowling!

Precautions

Sorry guys. Due to some security (read health) reasons, I am removing all the pictures of my little gurl Vaanya from my blog. And I am discontinuing her dedicated blog too. No offence intended, and I am not too superstitious either, but one has to take all precautions when it concerns they very near and dear ones. She's a little ill, you guys can pray for her that she gets her playful self quickly. I am not restricting you at all. You are welcome to visit my place and see her whenever you want, and whenever she is available. Whenever. And puhleeez she is *only* my love, okay? Anybody listening?

We're going jogging!

My shoes are cool, they seem a little big though :S Hey Dad! I am ready to go!!!

Nike: Rule your senses!

Yes I would...!

If I could change I would Take back the pain I would Retrace every wrong move that I made I would If I could Stand up and take the blame I would I could take all the shame to the grave I would Linkin Park - Meteora Easier to Run

I need help

It's not that I am not troubled by all of this. It is as much on my effing mind as yours. But, you should realise that, instead of helping me out, supporting me at this delicate epoch in our lives, you're actually doing the exact opposite. It should be very evident that I could not possibly handle two fronts at once, or maybe they're becoming three. I want your support, I need your support. There is only a certain point up till where things can be bent. After that, they break.

Could Pepsi get a better model than her?

Could it?

38 dead, 700+ injured

Seriously, I am fu*king tired of all this politicks. Seriously. And I am seriously tired of everything being blamed on Al-Qaeda, and again, seriously tired of Al-Qaeda if it's really behind all these things.

Whosoever is behind this all, they'll never care about anyone. No, you're not doing Muslims any good if you're Al-Qaeda and you're behind it, nor this is Allah's war. No, killing innocent people is NOT jihad. Allah doesnt likes it either.

If you're another capitalist mob trying to further your aim, then I must salute you. Killing your own people for benefits that wont last long? Salaam aap ki azmat ko!

Or if you're just a splinter/liberation group, like Irish/Palestinian people, then I just might understand your apathy. And then I must invite you to come in my very own city and plant a bomb at my very own home. Please!

Let us live in peace, let us live in one piece!

Bhao ....... Bhao .....

Miaon .... Miaon ......

Hooking up

These days I am hooked to Meekal Hassan Band (MHB). Their songs "create a deep connection with my spiritual self". Getting sufi deep inside? I so loove these alternative tracks. And in the same breath goes Nusrat Fateh Ali, as well as Abida Parveen and Pathanay Khan and Ustad Amanat Ali. And I just came across the "explanation" for MHB's "Rabba" video: "The concept is about a person who is not normal by regular society's standards. The director chose to exemplify the character's unique nature/gifts by giving him a globe covered with newspapers as part of his head. This contraption literally sets him apart and the video is about how individuals who are unique are treated by 'normal' society. The newspapers are indicative of how any person is flooded with the media telling us what is good or bad and what is acceptable or unacceptable. The character goes through four or five different actions wherein he attempts to adapt to normal everyday experiences,yet at each attempt he is left bewildered and hopelessly out of place. His ultimate resolution is to take the newspapers, make paper planes of them and throw them away,because to him the messages they are sending are irrelevant, since any individual has to find the truth of their existance for themselves and not rely on other sources to tell them well them what they are or not and what they should be or not." This could be VERY irrelevant to you, but you see, everybody has a right to information. And I was thinking, why make a video when a layman couldnt grasp it on the first view?

A new method

This guy boards the bus, looks like a Sindhi but accent says he is not. Starts begging, you know, the usual rant of how six kids are waiting at home, they are hungry and all he wants is to buy some mattresses for them etc. Seems this does not work. Tries a new gimmick, pulls out a paper from his pcoket. Proclaims that he had just turned Muslim, and we, being Muslims, should help him since he has just converted to Islam. Recites loudly "La Ilaha Ill Allah, Mohammadur Rasool Allah". Waves the paper in the faces of the passengers, a letter from some madressah announcing him as a Muslim, proper with dates (Islamic too). A few people hand him some coins. There was this elderly person sitting next to me, looked degenerate. He fumbled in his pocket, and came out with a two-rupee coin. The newly-turned-Muslim/beggar saw this, and sort of lunged towards the money. Now this elderly person beckoned him, and in a shrill voice bellowed: "Mussalman hogaye?" The NTM/B replied: "Haan!" EP: "Kalma sunaao!" (in the same shrill voice) NTM/B: (repeats the kalima again) EP: "Rasool Allah nahin, Rasool Ullah! Rasool Ullah!" I am confused for a while, but it dawns on me that this EP is right. Its not "Rasool Allah", it is "Rasool Ullah" meaning "the Prophet of God". And now when I think about it, I just realise that how many of us (including me) use the phrase "Rasool Allah", without understanding the literal meaning. Remember how elders (and maulvis) used to scold us on proper pronounciation of Arabic? That a little mistake of zer, zabar, pesh can change the whole meaning of the word!! I am marvelled at the works of God. How you can be taught so important things in such trivial events! God bless us all. And what I think about those that beg on the name of Allah (they all do, dont they?): Why dont they just realise that Allah has promised that He would not let any soul sleep hungry? On a side note, I stumbled about this post about "Blogging: an Islamic Perspective", and I must say, its very enlightening. A little excerpt: In essence, blogging about one’s personal life is similar to writing a journal entry and then posting it outside one’s house or at a street corner for all to read. There isn’t anything really wrong with doing that (if one wishes to be so public about one’s private life), as long as one doesn’t divulge any information that doesn’t lead members of the opposite gender to envision and imagine the author, and doesn’t let their hearts and minds become impressed and eventually lean towards the author. Now, that may seem simple, but the fact is that nobody can really ascertain as to what may cause the above in the minds of the opposite gender. It may seem tempting to write-off this whole notion by saying that what goes through the minds of the readers is not the responsibility of the author. While that may hold true for truly objective pieces of work and in matters of true need, the onlookers would not be completely to blame for not “lowering their gaze” if a muscular, handsome man wearing boxers and a t-shirt were to unnecessarily walk through a group of women. The bulk of the blame would fall squarely on the shoulders of the one committing the unnecessary action, though the onlookers would be responsible for continuing to look even after they knew they weren’t supposed to. Yes, its pretty accurate. Sadly there isnt a permalink provided so anyone interested would just have to find it on Pseudo-Genius's blog. But I recommend reading it, although its a bit long. Rabba Merey Haal Da Mehram Tu....

Urdu: Our National Language

The other day I was travelling in the bus and there was this Afghan teenager sitting beside me. He was the usual poke-my-nose-in-everything kid. As we approached Schon circle where the underpass construction is in full swing, he asked me in the meekiest voice possible: "Bhai jaan yeh kya ban raha hai?" I immediately started to say "Underpass...", but realised that he might not know what exactly is an underpass, so I had to explain him what exactly was going to be built there. It dawned on me that although Urdu is our national language, we often willingly neglect it, and that I didnt see any board depicting what exactly was going on there in Urdu. There are two huge boards displaying the plan of the "ramps" and the "underpass", but one is at a loss of words when it comes to explaining these things in Urdu to a thirteen-year-old Afghan kid. I remembered reading the words "Balai Guzargah" on some flyover construction, and my immediate instinct was that these people should put up a board proclaiming: "Yeh rasta balai guzargah ki tameer ki wajah say band hai, please mutabadil rasta ikhtiar karain. Zehmat kay liye ma'azrat khuwa" But there is a board that proclaims it in English: "Sorry for Inconvenience" Where do we live? Have we forgotten that our language is Urdu, not English? That more than sixty percent of the population couldnt read English? Treat Urdu as the step-language, and we perhaps can never achieve greatness. Our uniqueness is gone. And I remembered that perhaps Balai Guzargah wont work, the underpass should be called "Nashebi Guzargah"!

Gender Inequalities

I admit men are not suited for the jobs women are supposed to do. Unfortunately, I am in that category of men too. Take last night, I was trying to carve something which someone does so fine, but heck, I couldnt do it right. I suppose women are also inequipped for the tasks of men?

Chilling hot!

The past week has been very telling indeed. Its excruciatingly hot, and then, somebody's car AC won't work. :S The ride to office leaves me very much drenched in sweat, so I have to run to the bathroom first thing at the office. And that leaves my colleagues wondering. Heck, whatever! I noticed the Angelina Jolie signboard at submarine chowrangi, and I must admit although I am not a huge (or for that matter a teensy weensy) fan of her, that signboard left me absolutely stunned. The passer-bys might have noted someone staring wide-eyed (mouth agape?) at the signboard. I dont even know what the signboard is of, am so immersed in admiring her. :S But still... People are mentioning to me that my blog looks less like a blog and more of a cellphone advertising website. Lol, it was just a phase, and it has passed by. Now I wouldn't be putting up pictures of cellphones, atleast for the time being. No, and that's a "No". And this is what I saw at a local mosque: "When Our Signs are rehearsed to such a one, he turns away in arrogance, as if he heard them not, as if there were deafness in both his ears: announce to him a grievous Penalty." Luqman: 7 Felt it went straight through my heart. Allah forgive me for my sins.

Taking on the world...

Truly Global?

Discussions on tharki-pun and homosexuality

uXuf: han bhai my clad-in-red toiling-hard serving-little-kids dost uXuf: kya horaha hai A$iM: sonnay ki koshish keroun ga uXuf: oh gud uXuf: hamara to abhi time nahi nhoa sonay ka A$iM: is ur orkut working? uXuf: umm yep uXuf: it was a lil while ago uXuf: u see, i dont use orkut much uXuf: i think ab woh tharkion wala bangaya hai A$iM: yeah rite, uve realised tht going to desi baba is a lot better than wasting time on orkut uXuf: lolz uXuf: actually the thing is uXuf: i dont go to desibab uXuf: cuz their speed of updating is lot slower than my devouring their stuff A$iM: freakin..... bad bad server A$iM: it doesnt even signs in uXuf: lol uXuf: haan yeh horaha tha the last time i was tryin to sign in uXuf: abhi nahin hoga A$iM: Mobilink thrown away? uXuf: takreeban uXuf: cuz i culdnt find the sim uXuf: waisay bhi i ve heard that their service is deteriorated since i quit being their user A$iM: im off uXuf: ohk A$iM: want to sleep badly uXuf: i can understand : P A$iM: bbye darlz uXuf: cya then A$iM: muah uXuf: lahol wala quwwat uXuf: bee-z k sath mat raha karo uXuf: u re getting crooked A$iM: whts bad in it uXuf: theres nothing bad uXuf: but everything s BAD A$iM: im just showing my brotherly love for u uXuf: oh sheesh uXuf: muah then A$iM: lol A$iM: bye uXuf: bye uXuf: (k) uXuf: P

The saga ends

In the end: I got the Nokia 3220. And since it feels a little old to me, I got to let it through a major overhaul. Here is what it looks like:

CB gave me the cell, because he got him a new cell. The ultra-slim, uber-cool, Motorola Razr V3. Isnt it stunning?

It has got perhaps everything under the sun that a cell could have. With 4X VGA Camera, aluminium finish and stunning resolution, it makes a bold personality statement.

I handed the 1100 to Abba. Waisay bhi that was meant for him. I was going to buy a new one anyways, but think 3220 will work :)

The saga continues...

But we wont listen...

I finally bought a cellphone. Actually I bought it day before yesterday, but the crooked person within me usually finds a way out at times like these. And decides to play equally wicked games (9Gurl?).

So finally, I bought Nokia 1100 as a temporary arrangement. But since I am such a freak for simplicity, maybe I ll keep it, provided I wont get bribed into taking the 3220 (read earlier post).

This is what 1100 looks like:

And since I couldnt find my Mobilink sim (they would have closed down my line anyway), I took a Warid sim that I found in my house. The service is nice, although it gets "Network Busy" a few times.

But the most amazing part is the customer help center. For example, if you want to change the language, you call them, and are presented with choices. So select the choice. But the lady only says: "Please select your new language" (in Urdu, ofcourse). And then nothing. Nothing at all. Based on previous experiences you might be tempted to press 1, but then, "This is already your selected language". Encouraged, you would press 2. Voila! "Your selection is wrong!"

???!!

And then there is the endless loop if you want to hear about the new Warid offerings. You are always sent back to the same destination. Needless to say, its crappy, the lady's voice is kafi odd, and the sentences are always disjointed. Heck, they even use the word "mubligh"!!!

Where is the toilet??

I certainly dont wanna get stuck in here.

There is no place to do it Paki style either!