The Word of mAn[S]o0r

its a strange feeling when your so busy during the day, that you forget to have lunch! The rest of the day, your hounded by this feeling that you havent had anything to eat all day, and proceed to eat as much just food you can lay your hands on. (Atleast i do that). This is also applicable when you have a light lunch.. For the last couple of days, my lunch at office consists of one naan and a little dahi. This is part of the wierd lunch routines me and an office colleage of mine are in whenever one of us decides we're getting too fat for our own good. (Psyched, Suga.. your not alone). Sometimes, we have fruit chat for lunch.. sometimes its one roll from the corner bakery and then sometimes its binging times when we go for biryani or chicken cheese rolls or club sandwiches.

So anyway, yesterday was dahi n naan.. which meant that when i got home, i was plauged with this feeling of being 'empty' and proceeded to have two sandwiches, and a full dinner and topped it off with another sandwich.. all in the name of being 'empty'.

Today, i skipped lunch all together.. being so ingrosssed in work that even forgot to drink water.. now its 6 PM.. and im thinking i'll have a light snack before i get home... since im feeling empty again.. after which dinner will await.

Now that this post is complete.. i forgot what was the point i was trying to make.... hhmm.. reminds me of this line i saw in a TV serial yesterday "keep track of your rants" when the character started off ranting about one thing... and ranted about a lot of other things in between. LoL! Looking forward to having a sandwich... yummy!!

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 6:11 PM | Permalink | |

And here's another ad campaign throwing out teaser's. This board is also on Shahrah-e-Faisal after crossing FTC.

It reads "Music Goes..."

Now im guessing it has something to do with Sony Erricson, since Orange is their color of choice nowadays. Lets wait and see.. Any guesses?

Update 29th June 2006: Well, we were right! it was a teaser for Sony Erricson.. "Music Goes Mobile" which is their campaign for the new Walkman mobile phones k770i and k580i. So much for the mystery. Though i think they dragged it out a little long.. since i had all but forgotten about their teaser myself. All in all, not a good teaser campaign.

Labels: ad campaigns

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 6:21 PM | Permalink | |

How many times have you seen an ad or a billboard which made you think almost subconsiously about how cool would that product be on you. Most of the campaigns i see around here try to force theat message on you, like the Samsung radio ads "Check out the cutie shes going out with.... and the ear thing! just check that out!", the Axe Effect and so on. However, every once in a while, you come across an ad thats actually done tastefully and sends out the message both clearly and subtly. The JasJar ad i've managed to capture does just that. If you just look at how the girl is looking at the guy (all googly eyed with a touch of wow) you'll understand why so many guys (present company included) now really need to get a JasJar!

Its these sort of things which win customers! Im pretty sure no one likes products shoved down their throats, but if you can manage convince them they need it just by suggestion then the fruits are all the more sweet. Now when the heck will i get my limit upped on the card so i can go and buy it.

Labels: ad campaigns

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 5:26 PM | Permalink | |

It was the best of times.... well maybe not, but it was definately the worst of times today by far! Reached office at 8:40 this morning. A feat by my standards, but only to be welcomed by the news that we dont have any water today. Not only dont we have drinking water as Fontalia's distribution/bottling network is pretty much screwed over, they say that their bottling plant is bone dry for almost a week and they dont have water to distribute, but also no washing up water. The buildings water pump has broken down. What a wonderful way to start the day. But wait!! there's more! We're out of petrol for our generator here, and in-case KESC decides to live up to its reputation, we wont be having any electricty also. Guess what? KESC lived up!

All this started clearing up at around 11 PM when our deligent accounts and adminstration manager managed to score not one.. not two.. but FOUR gallons of drinking water! God bless him! A colleague with a bike also came in, and they went out and got petrol for the generator.. so we only had to endure no electricity for half an hour..

Its now 3 PM, and electricty has been on the fritz since 1 PM now... our generator runs only about 3 hours on Rs.500 worth of petrol (thats the size of the can we have), and im expecting it to stop working any moment now...

The heat is slowly starting to get at me... accompanied with a big dose of sleep and general bitterness! Productivity has gone down the drain (it being the only thing going down the drain today, since theres no water) and the clock seems to be ticking even slower than usual... Please just let this day end!!!!

Labels: my life

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 2:37 PM | Permalink | |

I read this article here on how, after we graduate college and get a job, our spending mindset doesnt change. We still view lunches of Rs. 50 or more as expensive and compare other items the way we used to while in college. I agree with this alot, as the first thing i changed after getting a job, was started treating myself to a little better life. No longer would i have to make do with having a Rs. 10 roll for lunch, because my spending money was limited.

Many of my friends however, did not change their mindsets even after we've been working for almost 1.5 years now... why? I dont know!

"We have to realize that people earn money now," she said [reffering to being invited to a birthday party where the minimum entree was of $30 to $40]. "We're not college students any more. It's ok to spend money on some things."

I hadn't thought of it that way before. Things have changed--most of my friends have great jobs and $30 or $40 isn't a huge hardship. Yet a bunch of us (myself included) are still in the college mindset sometimes. That's good for a lot of things, but not everything.

I used to be jilted by my friends than im too loose with my purse strings... this article is my vindication!

Labels: speaking out

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 1:16 PM | Permalink | |

Billboard advertising started in karachi, with these huge neon signs in the shape of corporate logos back in the 60s or 70s i believe. I've been seeing them since i was a child. Then recently, thanks to the ever advancing technology of printing, panaflex signs came cropping up, promising a much more colorful and appealing way to reach out to customers.

Then Karachi was hit by the electricity problems its been facing and it no longer became feasible to have those panaflex hoardings since they requried powerful lights to light them up. (At times upto 10 high power lights are needed). For atleast one company now (Pepsico), its going back to the basics, they're lighting up their old neon-based signs once again in addition to the newer ones.

Does the world truly does go around in circles??

Labels: ad campaigns

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 11:11 AM | Permalink | |

Why??! Oh WHY did i have to get stuck with the most "gharelu" friend group EVER!! These are the type of people who would just love sitting @ home, talking (gossiping) their hearts out, and for fun... do some cooking and housework!! Oh by the way, im talking about both guys & gals in the same group.

We had a get-together the other day at this friends place in clifton. First off, they got there about 2 hours late.. which i guess was pretty acceptable, given prior history... but what was really mind numbingly boring was the fact that after they got there... two immediately tried going off to sleep.. one had brought a digital camera (complete with tripod and all) and he started taking snaps.. while the rest just sat around... doing NOTHING! that continued for about two hours (aarrgghhh!) after which i had to leave to pick up another of my friends. I tell you, i wasnt ever that happy to be out in the searing heat EVER than at that moment! oh yea, during those two mind numbing hours, we also had to decide what we were going to have for lunch! Now this group, all training to be high-power(?) executives and managers took that long to decide that they'll have biryani for lunch!! (God help this country!!)

Lunch was a pretty okay affair, with everyone complaining about just how much food was on the table, and how they couldnt eat it all(did i mention these ppl like to complain about anything they can get their hands on?!) and berated the poor guy who ordered and paid for the food to be an extravagant fool! (i felt so sorry for him).

After lunch, we had a bit of a down time.. while the digestive systems took over.. and sleep threatened to overcome each one of us. Originally, our plan included going for a visit to Mohatta Palace for soak up a little history and culture. But the post-dinner euphoria would not let us even get up from whatever positions we were lying in. At this point, the procrastinators in my group voiced their opinions that we should postpone the tour since they dont feel like it (read: since its not a home and we cant be gharelu there :@). Then ensued a long battle between the two groups (those willing to go, and those not willing) on whether to go or not. The former eventually won after having a little support from an unexpected ally.. the KESC. They switched off the electricity right at that moment, making the latter group even more willing than the former to go visit mohatta palace.

The visit was a pretty good time. Seeing artifacts with your own eyes is much better than seeing them on TV. More on that in my upcoming post on KMB. After the visit, we went off to Park Towers for... of all the things... water!! It was very hot and we forgot to take cool water from home. Stayed there for about 1/2 hour before returning back, and going our seperate ways back home.

All things being relative, it was a pretty good outting, especially after hitting Mohatta Palace. We've scheduled another visit there soon in winter when temps are a little more bearable, and now decided to hit Quaid-e-Azam museum and National Museum too in the upcoming year! Hows that for a different sort of outting?

Labels: my life

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 10:27 AM | Permalink | |

I was reading this news item about an Alim being arrested on charges of raping one of his muridni (ardent follower) in Daily Times... and this one line really got me all riled up!

The police have arrested Qasim and Samina on rape charges.

Samina was the woman who was raped!! why arrest her? what was her fault?! i now seriously believe there is something substantial behind the media hype against pulling down the 'Hudood Ordinance'! If this is the sort of actions it perpetuates then im all for "down with Hudood!".

Labels: speaking out

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 11:23 AM | Permalink | |

Ever since mobile companies started operating in Pakistan after the initial ban, they've had one thing in mind. Make as much money as possible by giving as little choices to the consumers as possible. Way back then.. i made a prediction that one day, mobile companies would put *consumers* first someday!

Seems like the day has come! With such intense competition going around among the six mobile companies we have here, and the impending buyout of Paktel by China Mobile, new innovative mobile packages were bound to make their way which would benefit a particular class of users, such as smsers or callers.

First it was Jazz Octane.. a haven for sms'ers... by making sms's very cheap. Consequently, they souped up their call rates on the package to make up for the deficit. Next Telenor came up with their Djuice package (i think Jazz just were quicker to market their product, trying to beat a big bad foreigner to the punch? by releasing Octane first) which was very similar to Octance and very good for people sending/recieving smses.

Now, finally to complete this stage of growth, Telenor has started a new Talkshalk package, which is geared towards people who call a lot, especially the smaller calls. SMS rates are higher in this one (at Rs. 1 against the Djuice rate of 0.2) but calls rates have come amazingly down. Finally telenor has implemented 30 second billing, and to one up warid, applied it to *all* networks instead of just its own and PTCL.

Paktel, one the other hand, has also introduced a new package in which you pay Rs. 500 a month, and all calls from Paktel to Paktel (upto 15 minutes) are FREE. Technically, you would need to make atleast 4.5 hours of calls (18 calls of 15 minutes each) to breakeven, and from then onwards its savings galore.

The other two companies, namely Ufone and Warid are till now focusing more on their value added service, rather than adding new packages (though we still have to see).

So overall, i think the market has now come out of its initial kid-phase, and has to really provide some benefits back to the consumers on whose back they make the tall claims of "x million customers". In times to come, im pretty sure they'll actually get serious about making the lives of the people better.

Labels: speaking out

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 1:30 AM | Permalink | |

This was the thought i woke up today with! you see, theres this project i have to complete and deliver (im already one week late with it) and decided that i'll spend this weekend finalizing it! Saturday, i spent the whole day trying to start work.. (its true what they say.. the most difficult step is the first) which was a big disaster, since i couldnt pull myself away from the other distractions, these primarily being blogging, replying to comments and reading my fav. blogs.

So much for that resolve! its almost midnight, and throughout this day, i've put up no less than THREE posts on my blog!!! while replied to as many as 15 comments! (A shout out to all the people who took the time to comment! u ppl make blogging a much more pleasureable experience!).

But on the flip side, got some work done (yippee), and hopefully, if i keep at it.. might even be able to deliver this project in a couple of more days.

Labels: my life

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 11:45 PM | Permalink | |

It never ceases to amaze me, the love-hate relationship siblings develop during their childhood which continue on throughout their lives. My brother is a darling! a total darling! Theres nothing i wont do for him... from changing my routine whenever he asks for the car, providing pick/drop on other occasions, providing a ready bank (my wallet) to even picking fights with *anyone* stupid enough to say something to him, yet.. he manages to antoganize me so much that its all i can do not to tear him limb from limb!

Psyched recently posted on her relationship with her sister, where shes missing the constant "tu tu mein mein" with her, as shes gone off to karachi, on the weekends over the tv remote and internet.

However, this post was inspired by this very dear friend of mine and a line she told me regarding her brother, whos just 5 years old and is a total darling! While chattin on msn told me she was really pissed off at that moment, and when i inquired as to why.. she said cuz of her bro... "mera buss chalay to usse boarding mein daal doon" This from a sister who gave me the silent treatment just cuz i said somethin about her brother's interruptions while we were talking on the phone one time!

It truly is special, this bond we develop while growing up. The few people in this world who we have to make do with without having a choice.

Labels: speaking out

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 11:39 PM | Permalink | |

At my home, im one person which usually braves the heat in all its wrath, cuz i didnt sit in an air-conditioned room, instead just under a fan..

All this changed today! when the heat became TOO much! The temperature inside my house was about 35 degrees! So now, im sitting in my brothers room... with the AC turned on.. and thinking why didnt i do this sooner :D lol!

Personally though, i still like to be out of the AC rather than in it... but there are times when that is just not an option....

Labels: my life, rants

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 7:58 PM | Permalink | |

i dont know what to do right now.. im sitting at home.. i wanna code a little (techie at heart) but cant seem to make sense of anything. I've done everything possible in trying to delay it.. i had lunch, i watched TV shows, i've eaten all the chips and biscuits i could lay my hand on... talked with mom and dad on different issues... gone to the washroom dozens of times.. even blogged and replied to all the comments.. but now what?! aah the good old days when the ol brain actually used to work on weekends.

Labels: my life, rants

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 8:27 PM | Permalink | |

In continuing with my series on the power of brands and how small, local businesses are using them for a marketing edge here, im posting this little furniture shop on the baloch colony bypass, i think its called akhtar colony or something(?), which has taken the use of the brand name of Sony. As i keep on spotting these little gems here, the series will continue.


Oh yea, this pic was taken by my mobile camera while travelling at 60 kmph. Am expected some comments from checkmate :p

Labels: brand power

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 4:26 PM | Permalink | |

A very different view of sunset i took while on my way home. The pillars are the new(?) flyover being built near mai kolachi bypass connecting two sections of M.T. Khan road.

The picture is from my camera phone, which i think managed to capture it quite well. The actual view was just a little bit better.

Labels: world through a lens

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 4:16 PM | Permalink | |

Yesterday was a very.. very long day for me! Orginally, i thought that maybe it was because i was tired, or maybe sick... lack of sleep.. or maybe it was just that work was getting to me...

Apparently, i was both right and wrong.. yesterday was the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year! Sometimes.. there really a very good explanation for what your feeling. LoL!

Labels: rants, speaking out

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 10:29 PM | Permalink | |

Day before yesterday, i went to deliver my second Executive Training Course at Regent Plaza. It was one hell of an experience! The day started off nicely, with the radio blaring my favourite songs as i set off for the venue. Reaching there just in time, and hardly having any to setup, we (my boss and i) started off on delivering the course. In my last experience, i had about 1 hour of material to deliver, and basically sat the remaining 7... this time however, i had to my credit 4 hours! And it was so much FUN!

Personally, i enjoy the look on people's faces when things start dawning upon them and their understanding expands.. Also enjoy the questions being thrown at me, sometimes out of confusion, and yet again, sometimes out of evilness! LoL! In this course (thankfully) we didnt have any of the evil kind, whose sole purpose for the day is to ruin your presentation!

After the course was over, we distributed feedback forms, which had a different section this time around to evaluate my performance. What i got back was... i have a lot of room for improvement.. thankfully, most of the ratings were in Average to Very Good, with some excellents thrown in for good measure. However, this one Very Poor and two Poors got to me... in the categories of "Clarity of Thought". So next time, im going to have to prepare EXTRA HARD so as to not to get these ratings again.

Another thing in this course was, that one day before my boss took me through the 'strategy' of delivering a course to an executive audience. The strategy being.. use your body language as well as verbal language and you'll be more successful! Im happy to say, this worked! and my performance, as judged by boss and a colleague, was miles ahead of my last stint! Still.. the road is long and the journey is hard.... but the resolve is stronger!

Labels: my life, rants

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 2:34 PM | Permalink | |

"bring on the butter jerry! cuz im cooked!!" said Kramer in an episode of Sienfeld.

Thats excatly how i felt today, after venturing out in the heat of the day for only a couple of minutes! After quite sometime, summer has hit karachi with full force. A friend aptly remarked "feels like the oven's been turned on"~!


Technorati Tags: karachi, weather, heat, summer

Labels: my life, rants

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 2:26 PM | Permalink | |

After a long stay at the hospital, my granpa is now finally home. He has some problems with his heart n liver, though im not really sure what... the medical stuff is taken care of by my cousin. Suffice to say, gramps says he "fit n fine and ready to fight!"

A great big thanks to all who asked about him and prayed for him! Psyched, Checkmate, Sid, Umar and Ayesha.

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 9:49 PM | Permalink | |

Often, the most interesting stories floating around are those from the workplace. And that too especially about bosses who are too eager to bolstering the bottom line rather than taking employee rights into consideration. Working America, a website for non-union office workers in america recently put up a contest for just these sort of stories, with a grand prize of a one week vacation.

Some of these stories are heart-breaking, some are sad, some funny and some downright hilarious! A must-read for all office workers everywhere. You are *not* alone.

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 9:06 AM | Permalink | |

Today, im going to perform a feat i havent in a very long time... im going to go off to bed.... at 12 Midnight!!! i wonder how much time i'll be spending tossing and turning there though.. i had a "little" eventful day today, i'll post more on it tomorrow.. so till then.. here's mansoor saying... Good night reader!

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 12:21 AM | Permalink | |

Everyone is coaxed into drinking milk, children are fed milk from birth since they learn how to bypass that dreaded glass by the watchful eyes of their parents and so on..

Till today, i thought milk was good for you.. that was before i came across this article written by Larry Saunders, an herbalist and certified natural health professional from Charlottesville USA, which has made me see otherwise. I'll have to research it further but thought i should reproduce it here for others benefit. I'll quote some facts from the article here, however, I would encourage you to read it completely.

• Nearly 40% of the food consumed by weight is dairy products [in americans]
• Unfortunately for the dairy industry and for all those people consuming milk, it’s not [a good source of protien in]. The protein content in milk, even skim milk, can actually accelerate the loss of calcium from bones. The byproducts of the digestion of milk are acidic. The body uses alkalizing calcium from bones to neutralize these acid byproducts of milk.
• Milk protein, known as casein, is difficult for humans to digest and stimulates the production of mucus (the body creates mucus to get rid of the undigested protein). This can aggravate conditions such as asthma, bronchitis and sinusitis.
• Buttermilk, the fat in milk, is the most saturated fat in the American diet..
• Cheese is often 70% (or higher) fat by calories.
• Even "low fat" 2% milk is actually 24 to 33% fat as calories.
• Milk is a principal contributor to high cholesterol and artery-clogging artheroscherosis.
  

Suddenly the term "Lactose Intollerant" makes much more sense to me.

If you are interested in a much more detailed explanation, pick up the book called Milk, The Deadly Poison by Robert Cohen

Another source, Mark J. Occhipinti, M.S., Exercise Physiologist/Nutritional Consultant and President of American Fitness Professionals and Associates who wrote an article titled "Does Milk Really Do The Body Good? Calcium and Protein: A Mixture for Disaster" writes

The medical profession and the media encourage the public to drink milk and eat dairy products because "it does the body good". Nothing could be further from the truth! Higher calcium and protein intake is purported to lower the incidence of osteoporosis, according to the Dairy Council and those dietitians who refuse to study the medical literature that is not in accordance with the Dairy Industry's Commandments.

In February, 1995, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) lodged a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, stating that ads for milk and milk products are deceptive in that they imply that calcium in milk is the answer to the bone loss caused by osteoporosis.

According to the research conducted by PCRM, milk consumption later in life actually contributes to calcium loss

Guess Good Milk would have to change their ads since they say Drinking a glass of milk a day is good for you.

Technorati Tags: milk

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 1:37 PM | Permalink | |

This is a very good article sent to me by a friend. It was published on Daily times and i think the word should be spread around in order to create awareness! It concerns people getting medical examinations before they get married so that they do not give birth to children with life threatning diseases. The tests cost only around Rs. 4000 (read the end of the article) and could lead to saving a child a life of misery.

Im reproducing the article here. Click here to view original version

Save children before they are born
By Rana Kashif

LAHORE: Prospective couples’ medical examinations — costing a few thousand rupees — before they get married can save innocent children from leading a crippled life because of diseases like thallesaemia, HIV/ADIS and hepatitis. Blood tests before their marriage can also help prevent one spouse from being infected by the other, who could be a carrier of a virus. .

The father of a girl suffering from thallesaemia said his daughter would have to undergo blood transfusions for the rest of her life. He said he was told his daughter was suffering from an incurable blood disorder, thalassaemia major, when she was born. “My daughter will now have to pay the price for me and my wife’s negligence because we did not go through medical tests before her birth”, he said, adding that he and his wife were carriers of thallesaemia minor. “Had we known we were carriers of the disease, the innocent child could have been saved from leading a miserable life”, he said, adding he and his wife had decided against having any more children since they had found out that they were carriers.

Iftikhar Hussain told Daily Times that his 12-year-old son had been suffering from severe liver problems since his birth, and his wife was also suffering from a similar infection. Twenty-five percent children of parents with thallesaemia minor are born with thallesaemia major and fifty percent with thallesaemia minor while the remaining are healthy.

People however pay no attention to medical tests before getting married or before children’s birth, perhaps because some of them consider it an un-Islamic act or because of lack of awareness. Almost seven percent of Pakistan’s population carries genes of thallesaemia minor but such people do not need blood transfusions, whereas couples suffering from thallesaemia minor give birth to almost 4,500 children with thallesaemia minor or major every year.

Sources in the Health Department said parents with hereditary diseases like Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and hepatitis could infect children if they were suffering from the viruses, but medical tests could identify such viruses.

Dr Muhammad Rehan Sajid, a pathologist from the Aga Khan University Hospital, said medical examinations of couples, especially in case of marriage between cousins, should be compulsory, and such marriages should not take place if it was revealed in medical tests that one of the spouses was a carrier of a harmful virus.

The doctor said couples should also go through proper medical checkups before their children’s birth, and the birth of a child should be aborted if one of the spouses is suffering from a disease which could affect the child’s life.

According to fatwas, medical examinations before marriages are not an un-Islamic act and a child’s birth can be aborted in 120 days of pregnancy, the time before a foetus’s maturity, on the basis of medical reports, he said, adding that an abortion after 120 days was considered murder.

He said that people should have liver function tests, HIV tests and other blood culture tests for their own and their children’s safety. The doctor said the government should legislate on making it compulsory for people to have medical tests.

Rehan said all the tests cost around Rs 4,000; LFT Rs 700, HIV Rs 900 and blood culture Rs 700.

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 12:16 PM | Permalink | |

Having a decent rss news reader especially one which integrates with your browser seamlessly is , for me atleast, a hard find... having tried and discarded many readers in the past.

I was, however, pleasently surprised to find this gem of a plugin for firefox called fizzle. It integrates with the feeds in your Live Toolbar and  displays the content in a seperate window.  Clean nice interface, not too feature packed, but not underpowered either.. this little tool has made keeping up with my blogs a very pleasant experience. A must for anyone who reads rss as frequently as i do!

My rating: 5 (out of 5) thumbs up!

p.s. for those of you still stuck with using Internet Explorer.... get firefox!! its much much better!


Technorati Tags: firefox, fizzle, plugin, review

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 12:02 PM | Permalink | |

I recently posted on about McDonalds trying to make us even fatter by introducing two new burgers to their line up.. the Double Quarter pounder and Triple Beef and Cheese burgers..

Little did i know then, that on the exact same night, i would be feasting on the double quarter pounder. Heres my take on it.. in simple terms, its ONE BBBIIIGGGG ASS burger!!

Just imagine eating 1/2 KG of beef in one go! It was honestly an effort trying to consume it.. so much that by the end, it became a challenge! But so totally satisfying. LoL! Finally, McDonald gets
something right with their menu!

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 9:56 AM | Permalink | |

Today i think i may finally breath easy a little... but just a little though. These last four days have literally been hell. Getting by on 2 hour naps instead of a proper sleep, stomach gone way south, and rushing from place to place can really take it out of you! Im just not built like that anymore!!!

It started on thursday, after a gruelling day at the office.. i went over to visit my nephew n niece (little jaanus) had dinner with their parents and my grand parents, and came home at 11.. ready to hit the sack as soon as the clock strikes 12.... Then it came.... the dreaded call.. the one which one should never recieve.. EVER!

caller: "mansoor, you have a car ready?"
me: "no, bro's taken it"
caller: "get a car and be ready to leave ASAP"
me: "uumm.. everything okay?"
caller: "no.. grand dad's blood pressure has dropped way low and its not coming up.. we may need to take him to emergency, im telling you as a precaution so that you get ready"
me: "ill be ready in 2 minutes"

The caller is my cousin, 5 mintues later he calls again...
caller: "mansoor, SOS.. leave now"
me: "ill be there in 5"

I take my moms car, literally fly over to grand dads place, and together with my cuz, take him to the emergency wing of the hospital. The time is now 12. My other cousin (mother of nephew n niece) also arrives there.. and a little while later, as soon as grand dads back is turned, she breaks down... sobbing. I calm her down a little.. try to atleast. Not feeling too hot myself..

Gramps is in the detention room at emergency for about 2 hours, getting various tests done.. a specialist is called in at 2 AM (thankgod for doctors) and its decided my gramps would be admitted for observation... his bp is coming up after they set him up with a drip, but its still not where it should be, and we have no idea why it dropped. Time now... 3:15 AM.

I go through the admitting procedures, fill out the forms and we get him a bed.. then i go home, drop my cousins on the way back, change and come baq to spend the night with gramps. Time: 4 AM.... the next morning i have 3 meetings coming up.. damn!

somehow, i get through the next day, all the meetings, not screwing anything up (too much), and finally get home to sleep.. for two hours... get up and go back to the hospital to spend the night.... the third day, i have an added complication... a very good friend of mine has his birthday that day... and i just have to attend! he goes out of his way to make sure mine goes well.. n i couldnt leave him out this year... so after office, i head over to his place and we go have dinner at McDonalds.. by the time i reach home... im so whacked out that i literally crash into my bed... couldnt even get up to go2 the hospital, my brother had to go that day... i didnt wake up till 12 noon the next day.......

Sunday comes... a usually relaxing day, but not this time.. i have to attend a course all the way on the other side of town (22 kms away) :S which i do eventually go to.. only to find that the damn instructors gotten sick n wont take the class.... i swear under my breath a little, but basically am thankful that its not happening.. from there, i goto my dada at the hospital, where i stay for a while... just a while though, cuz my momani calls me and says that i just have to come to her place, as they're packing up her daughters dowry (shes getting married.. more on this later).. so i make my way over there.... do back breaking manual labour (i was the Designated Donkey LoL) for about 4 hours... and finally come home at 11.....

But no.. theres no rest for the wicked.. then i had to leave again to spend the night at the hospital... and there i met an old classfellow of mine, with whom i chatted with about 40 minutes, catching up on old times.... finally when i hit the sack.. its almost 2 AM!! and im up again at 6:30... go home, change, shave and now sitting here at office writing this blog!

Hopefully gramps will be discharged today.. hopefully. He's feeling a lot better now and ready to get back to his own place and his own routine.

Labels: my life, rants

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 9:35 AM | Permalink | |

Yesterday, while surfing the news channels, i saw this piece which i just had to share! A wedding took place a couple of days ago, with the reception at Central Jail. Why? Because the parents of the bride (or groom, didnt catch that) were incarcertated for life and couldnt attend their child's wedding. Even given the venue, it was a festive occasion, with dowry on display and people dancing away outside the gates.

Apparently, it was arranged by the jail authorities for them. The news item ended with the line that Central Jail has now started making efforts to have such activities for their life imprisoned criminals.

Its a start.... hopefully in time, human rights would also be provided to those imprisoned and especially those imprisoned falsely.


Technorati Tags: karachi, jail, wedding, life imprisonment

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 9:03 AM | Permalink | |

that now McDonalds has decided to add two new items to their menu here in Karachi. A double  quarter pounder.. and a tripple beef burger!!

Personally, i think McDonalds here sucks.. and the only reason i think they're still in business is thanks to all the dating crowd for whom they've provided a great place to *hide*. Nonetheless... a double quarter pounder does sound tempting.. that and a chance to win a Tissot watch they've got going as a promotion...

Anyone had a taste of it yet? Guide a fellow blogger to make the decision of parting with hard earned cash for this indulgence...

p.s. for all the reasons McDonalds sucks, atleast they got one good thing on their menu; the chocolate shake! yuummm.

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 2:29 PM | Permalink | |

Check out these pics! They are absolutely amazing, seamlessly blending two different ideas into one. A pleasure to look at!

http://haha.nu/2006/05/17/seamless-pictures/

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 2:17 PM | Permalink | |

Im posting this because im confused.... actually.. im hoping against hope that im right..

Are karachites becoming resilient to the ever going terrorism here? What with the bomb blasts and shootings and strikes... i was thinking that the first thing to go (along with peoples confidence) is the stock market...

Now mind you, im not an investor or even a finance graduate... but i do follow the KSE index and try to relate it to various happenings around the country. I started noticing this trend after the last bomb blast near the amreekan counsulate... the stock market index stayed pretty much where it was.... then came the bomb blast which took out the Sunni Tehreek leaders and the ensuing strikes.. the market stayed pretty much stable.. now with the latest killing i reported on yesterday... i was expecting the market to go even faster in its downward trend, when lo and behold.. i found out that it actually *rose* almost 4.8%!!! and it continued that way today as well..

so... is it that people have actually started getting confidence that these events will not shake the city's roots like it did in previous decades and life will continue to go on no matter what... or is it some kind of govt. conspiracy?? (i just added that in cuz everything eventually does get classified as a govt. conspiracy. LoL).

Labels: speaking out, thoughts

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 11:32 PM | Permalink | |

Everytime when it appears that karachi is coming to a peaceful time.... something happens which ruins it !! GODDAMN YOU!! GODDAMN ALL YOU RUINING THE PEACE OF MY BEAUTIFUL CITY!!!

Deputy Superintendant of Police (DSP) Central Jail was shot dead near Electronic Market, Saddar this afternoon, together with 3 other policemen. One innocent passerby was also shot dead, while 11 others are reported to be injured.

It is YET another sad day for us in Karachi today..... :(

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 3:14 PM | Permalink | |

Today, we had a very cloudy evening here in Karachi, with a cool breeze blowing about.. absolutely LOVELY!

I took this picture just as the sun was about to set.. dont the clouds look just beautiful!

I fell in love with my city again today!

And it appears that i was not the only one... Saba over at crazedinsomniac posted a poem for it today (which im assuming she wrote). Give it a read here.. its called Magic..

Labels: world through a lens

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 1:54 AM | Permalink | |

It appears that everyone has been bitten by the outsourcing bug these days. This time, its Cantonment Board of Cliftons Garbage Disposal work, which has been outsourced to a company aptly titled "Waste Busters". I saw these revamped dumpsters today at defence and was totally impressed! Just hope they work as well as they look.

The website listed on the trucks www.wastebusters.com.pk is still not running, but lists an address of lahore with a UAN number.

Well, after outsourcing the cleaning services in Karachi to a private company, (especially the sea-view area) im totally in favour of these moves.

We need more initiatives like this here, and some enterprising people to take up the contracts. Anybody else hearing "Business Opportunities" here??

Labels: world through a lens

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 1:46 AM | Permalink | |

Labels: brand power

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 11:55 AM | Permalink | |

Today promises to be 'one of those days'!

Couldnt sleep last nite (and i have no clue why). Then didnt want to wake up this morning... (follows from the last statement). Finally did, and found out my brother had swiped off my early morning wake-up helper.. the last one i had :@ (oh well.. lil brothers are like that i suppose... no wait.. i've conditioned myself to accept it) .

So anyway, in my hazy state, i washed up and changed for the office... went out, only to realize that my idiot maid (shes a pathan, complete with the state of mind. No offence to pathans everywhre) had not made my breakfast.. it was already 8:50... i was running late, and she takes about an hour to prepare 1 cup of tea, one fried egg and two toasts (i mean whats up with that!!!). So i scold her n tell her to rush n get me my breakfast.... still, i had things pretty much under control... fires were being kept at bay..

After having breakfast, i left with my bro to come to office, and he managed to bring up the topic of the 'wake-up helper'. This was after the incidents with bikers i had this morning.. and i was the end of the fire-controlling... i let him have it!! short of screaming at him and acting like a total lunatic... i 'conveyed' my dissapointment over his actions and finally came to office! Damn, i wonder what else is instore for me today :S Now im sitting here.. having a bad hair day as well (did i not mention that?) waiting for the proverbial anvil or piano to fall on my head.

Technorati Tags: rant, rave, bad day

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 12:15 PM | Permalink | |

here in Karachi.. its the people riding bikes! This morning, i just about had had enough, and was almost tempted to tip over atleast 3 bikers!!! Why? well.. cuz on main shahrah-e-faisal.. these idiots want to ride on every side of the road!! Coming on at a speed of 80 kmph.. (sharah-e-faisal can afford those speeds, since its now almost a signal free corridor) you have to break hard because this idiot is driving in the middle at 50 totally oblivious to the fact of a speeding car behind him!! I keep hearing that traffic cops here make it an issue to harrass the bikers... i say.. your not harrassing these idiots enough!!! Make em PPPAAAYYY!!

My brother, sitting with me in the car this morning after recently having attended a lecture of civic rights, says to me "you have to understand they might have other problems and maybe thats why they're driving the way they are.." my reply.. "how the $%$#@! is that MY problem? MY PROBLEM is them driving down the middle of a fast lane at slow speed! they drive on atleast on side of the street (the left!!! ultay haath per!!! bikers get a hint) and it ends both our problems"

p.s. damn i feel much better now!

Technorati Tags: karachi, motor cycles, problems

Labels: rants, speaking out

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 12:14 PM | Permalink | |

I was reading this report by Gulf--Times, a Qatar based newspaper and i was *shocked*! to say the least....

One of the most crucial budget documents of Pakistan containing details about overspending during the concluding fiscal year has a lot of secrets to be unveiled.

These secrets include the spending of hundreds of millions of rupees on the maintenance of a VVIP plane and the payment of import duties on bullet-proof Mercedes Benz cars.

The document, which is to be circulated in the Parliament on June 15 but has exclusively been provided source, gives a detailed account of billions of rupees spent by the government during 2005-06 above its budgetary allocations.

The overspending includes Rs15mn additional pay given to federal and state ministers.

When asked, Minister of State for Finance Omar Ayub Khan told this correspondent that the document - Supplementary Demands For Grants and Appropriations 2005-2006 - would be presented before the National Assembly on June 15, which he said was a normal practice.

Read the article for more details on how the budget was overspent, and what new appropriations are required by various ministries...

Technorati Tags: budget, pakistan

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 12:12 PM | Permalink | |

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 10:36 PM | Permalink | |

Google has launched another addon for the popular browser Firefox, which can sync firefox settings across multiple PC's. As im a google fanatic, and will jump at trying out anything that has the google logo on it (actually.. i'll try pretty much anything new on the net anyway ;) ) i downloaded and installed it on my Office and Home pcs... with the hope that i would have atleast my bookmarks and the live bookmarks synchronized.

Notice i said 'hope'.. till the time of actually writing this entry.. this is still a hope! the damn thing just wont connect :S it took me about 5 hours from the office of re-trying and re-tryin to get it synced once.... and only then did it even connect.... for once, im kinda pissed off at Google!!

Also, the google toolbar for firefox is a total flop as well :S i dont know why.. but it made firefox installations on both my office and home PC's run so slow that i was almost gnawed off my knuckles waiting for typed text to appear on the screen!

Anyway, incase you *do* wanna check it out yourself, and try your luck at it.. here's a link to an article on Vunet.com and a link to download the extension itself.

Brian Rakowski, when announcing the plugin on the Official Google Blog said

"What could be worse than forgetting to
bookmark the obscure page you found that maps out the perfect walking tour of
Venice?

"Having it bookmarked on the computer sitting on your desk back at home, 6000
miles away, instead of on the laptop you brought along. 

"These sorts of frustrations inspired us to build a Firefox extension that
keeps your browser settings for all your computers in sync."

I would have rewritten the last line to say "These sorts of frustrations inspired us to build a Firefox extension that replaces your frustration of not finding your bookmark, with the frustration on trying to connect to our servers".

okay... thats the end of my rant... probably in a while this extension will connect and google will again be in my good books, and i'll look at their products all 'googly-eyed' again. But this wasnt something i was expecting from them.


Technorati Tags: google, google browser sync, rant, firefox

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 10:13 PM | Permalink | |

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 1:08 PM | Permalink | |

Some people say there are no jobs in the market, and that joblessness is on an all time high (i dont know who says this now.. but im pretty sure some people do). Yet there are others who say that they just cant seem to find people to work for them. Now theres a new cry going around (atleast in the states), how to keep people from leaving you once they join and go work for the competition? (employee retention).

Well, companies in the US are deciding to pull out all the stops and keep luring employees back day after day to work for them, and giving them all sort of benefits. Reported today by the Daily Times, companies are now giving their employees on the job massages and yoga classes to make them happy.

More companies are offering employees the on-site pleasures of massage and yoga, not just to make their staff happy but to be competitive and even boost the bottom line.

Such programs, once the provenance of nontraditional companies but now popular in bastions of business, help retain employees in a job market where they might easily leave to work for a competitor, companies say.

and

Companies are digging deeper into their pockets to pay for such benefits, said Meredith Stern, a partner at Infinite Massage in San Francisco. A survey by Massage Therapy Journal found at most companies that offer massage, more than half added it in the last five years.

In New York, a number of hedge funds offer employees massage or yoga during their work days. “It’s wonderful, it’s a stress reliever, it’s good for employee morale,” said a worker

Hmm... I think i should email this piece to my boss. ;)


Technorati Tags: massage, job benefits, benefits, yoga

Labels: speaking out, thoughts

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 10:42 AM | Permalink | |

While stating a protest, one should try to raise the shock factor in order to get people to notice them. Some block traffic (like in karachi), other bomb buildings (like other places :S) and yet... some stage 'peaceful' protests by taking off their clothes. This time the protest is against cars. Europeans do have this thing about being in the nude.. i guess the clothes they're getting are not good enough or something. The reason for this post is this news item i read off yahoo! news this morning.

Nude cyclists peel off around Spanish cities
MADRID (Reuters) - Hundreds of nude cyclists pedaled around Spanish cities on Saturday to protest against car-clogged streets and demand greater respect for pollution-free transport.

With slogans like "one car less" and "bio methanol" painted on their backs, the naked cyclists staged Spain's third annual Ciclonudista or "Nudecycle" in Madrid, Barcelona and Pamplona.

The protest was part of world-wide naked bike riding events on Saturday across Europe, North America and South America.

I wonder what will be the 'shock factor' when a bunch of ladies dressed in burkhas stage a protest somewhere in europe? Will they actually be heard? or be arrested for terrorism? Damn, it has indeed become a strage world, this one!

Technorati Tags: shock factor, news, yahoo news, spain

Labels: thoughts

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 10:02 AM | Permalink | |

What would the world be without engineers...? We (the engineers) being the people realizing the dreams which make peoples life much much easier... so much that they take it for granted. Thanks to Agilent Technologies (www.educatorscorner.com) we dont have to think anymore... See what are the things we for granted, and how different life would be if we didnt have engineers.

Without Mechanical Engineers

Without Computer Engineers

Without Communication Engineers

Without Civil Engineers

Without Electrical Engineers

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 11:22 PM | Permalink | |

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 2:04 PM | Permalink | |

Karachi Events: Manzil Educational Organization presents a Movie show fund raiser at Royale Rodale on 24th June Saturday.

Manzil is a youth based organisation which is running a school in a basti & we do not believe in donations. We support our school through fundraising activites like movies shows etc.

The movies are:
Program 1: Ice Age II from 1500 to 1630
Program 2: V for Vendetta from 1700 to 1900

Tickets are for 200 each.

Hope to see you there. Have fun & support a good cause on the way.

For tickets contact
Rasha Tarek
0300 9278274

Sajjad Parmar
0300 2304272

or email us at
rasha.tarek@gmail.com


Technorati Tags: movie show, philantrophy, karachi, pakistan

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 3:20 PM | Permalink | |

Of all the ad campaigning going on around here, the worst i think are those which try to get people hooked onto their products. From rexona deo (find mr right) to sunsilk (picture on the bottle) every company is trying to make you addicted.

Topping the list of addictable products, are energy drinks. These cans promise to make you full of life and energy (even though for a little while) and make you work wonders. Since no one was interested (except for maybe the high-class crowd) these two companies Red Bull and Blue Ox (what orginal names?! hai na psyched?) thought of giving out free samples to students so that they can understand what the hype is about. So they go around schools/colleges and universities here handing out thousands of free cans, just so people can buy more of them. Also, they've invested in customizing cars, The Chevorlet Joy, with their color schemes and huge cans on the back. Plus, they've got real cute girls riding around in them. (wonder if any of them is interested in dating a blogger? LoL).

We had the Blue Ox team come over to our university one day while we were having our final semester exams. Midway through the paper, these three girls burst into the exam room, carrying backpacks filled with cans and start distributing them to all the examinees. (Yours truly being one of them). I must admit, i was feeling a bit drained after studying hard and then attempting the paper, so was glad to have it. A couple of my friends dont drink them (allergic to caffiene n all) so i had their cans too. ;)

The thing about these energy drinks is... they give you a rush for a couple of hours.. and then you go through a major down afterwards while your body recovers, so in my opinion its not worth it, unless you have the time to recover.

While thinking of this post, i came across this post by suganspice relating her experiences with an energy drink. What a coincidence. Maybe we think alike.. damn! there goes my originality and uniqueness. Check it out.

P.S. I learned a very important lesson that day.... dont drink more than one can at a time and especially not FOUR back to back... even if it *is* free! LoL!

Technorati Tags: energy drink, blue ox, karachi, ad campaign

Labels: rants, speaking out

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 2:34 PM | Permalink | |

Now here is a sight, you'll see in Karachi quite often. Busses being overloaded!

Personally, if your doing it for fun, travelling like on a bus is a truly exhilirating experience! The danger, fun, wind in your hair! WOW. But if its an everyday thing.. then you should find some other way to move around.

Labels: world through a lens

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 2:32 AM | Permalink | |

... a battle of nerves!

Its like where ever you go, your in a battle with the car in front of you, or coming at you, or trying to cut in front of you. Especially when your driving down a narrow road, with car's parked on either sides and two way traffic moving in the middle (like the side roads on Shahrah-e-Faisal). You weave in and out sometimes just centimeters from hitting the other car which if you'll hit, at the very least, you'll take its side mirror off, swerving to miss motorbikes moving in and out like ants.

Other times, both drivers will look at each other, not stopping or moving to a side, eyeing each other, almost willing the other person to stop! Eventually, the weaker driver does and the stronger one claims victory by passing by first!

Yes, your constantly in a battle of nerves and the goal is getting to your destination with your car (and body) intact.

Labels: speaking out

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 2:27 AM | Permalink | |

Although supposed to be implemented on the 15th, this law has now been put into
effect by the Sindh Govt. Labour Department. I saw the effect of this law while coming home from the office (at around 9), where Ashiana Mall, Uzma Center and Gulf shopping center's were closed. However, many shops were also operating under half closed shutters with subdued lighting, including Mottas, a department store here in clifton which should've been exempt?



I wonder if this will do more bad than good. On the top of my head, i think social life in Karachi might go up a little, with nothing much for people to do in the evening/nights, they might actually visit each other a little more. Husbands will definately be happy about it. LoL! No more boring shopping trips with the wife haha! maybe it'll bring back some intimacy into their lives? Any other pros or cons you can come up with?

More on the story, not all shops have to be closed as a number of establishments have been exempted from the rule. According to this news item in the dailytimes,

The department has exempted various shops and establishments from complying with the order, including the offices of federal and provincial governments, trusts or local authorities and the Pakistan Railways, shops or stalls in public exhibitions, clubs, hostels, and establishments for the treatment of sick persons etc.

According to the notification issued by the department, the closing hours of shops and establishments are announced under the West Pakistan Shops and Establishment Ordinance, 1969.

The order does not apply to clubs, hostels and messes maintained for either profit or not, stalls and refreshment rooms at railway stations, streamers and launch stations, docks, wharfs and airports, trains, steamer or aircraft.

The shops dealing with vegetables, meat, fish, dairy, bread, flowers, tobacco, cigars, cigarettes, biries, pan, liquid refreshments sell retail for consumption on premises, ice, newspapers or periodicals have also been exempted from the notified working hours.

Similarly, the order would also not apply for shops dealing mainly in medicines, surgical appliances, bandages and articles required for funerals, burials or cremations, automobile services stations (not repair shops) and petrol pumps for the retail sale of petrol.

Public entertainment places such as cinemas, theatres and other places would also be exempted from the new schedule. It would also not apply for persons employed as managers, travel agents, canvassers, messengers, watchmen, caretakers or conservancy staff or any person employed exclusively for the collection, despatch, delivery and conveyance of or custom formalities on goods.

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 1:46 AM | Permalink | |

One of the lastest fad's of keeping pets here in Karachi is to keep a flock of ducks. These creatures though dont provide the love and / or affection that cats or dogs provide, but they're fun to look at and sometimes do very funny things. If you ever see a duck trying to dry itself after taking a dip in water you'll know what im talking about. And overall.. they're CUTE!

But beware, sometimes, if you cross them the wrong way, they *do* bite back.

Oh by the way... i dont have a clue why they are even *on* the road, let alone why they wanna cross it.

Labels: world through a lens

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 6:37 PM | Permalink | |

It seems like people in Karachi have finally found reason's to have milk in their diets. This seems to be suggested by the number of new milk brands popping up all over the city. First the House of Pakola launched their Pakola Milk, then came Olpers.. and now Shakarganj foods have launched their brand of milk called "Good Milk" with their slogan "Roz Roz Good Milk Piya Karo".Among all the three, i think good milk has come up with the best ad strategy. Even though Olper's has managed to associate a greeting with their product "subha bakhair zindagee", their ads were not as fresh nor inticing as good milk's are. It seems they're also targetting a much younger and sporty audience with boards. The models they've gotten are very much identifiable, and the color scheme of white and red is noticible yet not too overboard.

Technorati Tags: ad review, ad, karachi, pakistan

Labels: ad campaigns

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 6:26 PM | Permalink | |

Labels: ad campaigns

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 12:58 PM | Permalink | |

When i joined the working population of this fine city, i was told of being careful about a lot of peope who will try to ruin your day. Especially the support staff (peons, drivers and such) who usually make it their mission to do just that (at the same time, remaining within the guidelines and avoid being fired) by being rude, slacking off, or biting back.

Its been almost 16 months since i have been working, and thankfully, i havent seen that behavior yet. Over discussion with a close friend, who is havin the same bit of luck, we disected what the reason could be and here's what we came up with.

Greet people (especially the support staff) with a salaam and smile.

Yes, amazingly, thats all it takes. People tend to remember you in good words if you greet them like this in the morning, and all it takes on your part is acknowledging them when you walk into building. Trust me, they'll respect you in return, go out of their way to do stuff for you, and make your life generally happier.

I'll share with all of you, my experiences with using this method.
My previous house maid: She was usually a very *bitchy* sort of a woman and got into a lot of fights with the other ppl in my family (hence the reason shes the previous maid). But i always greeted her with a salaam and a smile first whenever i called her, and then asked her to do stuff. The end result, i started getting preferential treatment. My food was always on time, always hot. Cold water/tea always available for me, even without asking and so on.

My boss's driver: He's usually sitting at the reception of our office when the boss is here, and i always come in and greet him with a salaam and a smile. Now he goes out of his way to make me comfortable, asks me if i want anything everytime he goes for lunch, brings me water whenever i'm having lunch in my cubicle, and on occasion has even cleaned up the dishes (all without my asking).

I've had similar experiences with a variety of people in my daily life. A very positive side effect of this habit is that usually you get a smile back in return too. In the dreary and stressful life of a metropolitan city, this has become such a rarity that it should be treasured. Makes the day go much much easier.

Note: Im writing this article from karachi, where the salaam is the norm. For your own use, change it to whatever greeting is more suitable to you. e.g. Hi, hello, how u doing, namaste etc.

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 12:53 PM | Permalink | |

Driving down Sharah-e-Faisal, just as your cross the Hotel Regent Plaza, this new billboard greets you on your left.

it reads "duniya ka sab say bara plant"

Funny story though, given the strength of our urdu nowadays, a friend of mine remarked... "duniya ka sab say bara planet?" LoL!

Labels: ad campaigns

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 8:30 PM | Permalink | |

... to be political on my blog, nevertheless sometimes i come across stuff which is truly gold! This post happens to be posted by Anwar Hussain at Fountainhead titled "The United States is Terrified". Now that's not the reason why i like it (though it does rank up there!), its the following passage i'll quote by Noam Chomsky, a MIT linguist, while speaking at the United Nations recently. It reads..

* As for the economic option [of controlling other nations], that's being lost, too. The most dramatic case, perhaps, was Argentina. Argentina was the poster child for the IMF. And following IMF rules, it led to the worst economic disaster in its history, totally collapsed. Then, violating IMF rules radically, they pulled out of it and have had rapid growth. And the international investing community and the IMF, which is a branch of the Treasury Department, couldn't do anything about it, even the refusal to pay debt. And Argentina -- in fact, the president of Argentina said, ‘Well, we're ridding ourselves of the IMF.’ That means of U.S. economic strangulation. And worse, he was helped in that by Venezuela, which bought a large part of the debt. Bolivia is probably doing the same. Brazil had already done it. Well, you know, you rid yourself of the IMF, meaning the Treasury Department, that's seriously weakening the measures of economic strangulation.

As the future leaders of this country, maybe we should take heed from what's going in the world. Taking IMF loans just to survive is very good and all, but that's like inviting the wolf into your house.

Technorati Tags: politics, fountainhead

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 7:29 PM | Permalink | |

What is it with robbers these days? Cant they just rob a bank the old fashioned way? Walk in, subdue guard, show gun, take money, make getaway. I mean.. is it really that hard? I think there's some competition going on somewhere for the zaiest way to rob a bank! Read on and you'll know what im talking about...

Would-be robber asks bank how to do it

TOKYO (Reuters) - A would-be Japanese bank robber asked staff how he should carry out the crime before meekly obeying a request to leave and then accidentally stabbing himself in the leg with a knife he was carrying.

The 58-year-old unemployed man went into a branch of the Saitama Resona Bank in the town of Kumagaya, north of Tokyo, on Wednesday, intending to rob it, a police spokesman said.

According to local media reports the man first asked a bank teller, "Any idea how you rob a bank?" The teller alerted another member of staff, who asked the man to leave.

"He left quietly when asked to," the police spokesman said.

Man accused of trying to rob bank with fake bomb

MESA,AR - Police said they arrested a 46-year-old Apache Junction man Monday after he used a simulated explosive device to rob a Bank of America branch at Southern and Power roads.

The suspect, whose name was not released, entered the bank about 3:20 p.m., told an employee and manager that he had a bomb and demanded cash, said Holly Hosac, a Mesa police spokeswoman.

There were about 30 people inside the bank when the suspect went behind the teller counter and shoved cash into a duffel bag. Meanwhile, a silent alarm and calls from people inside the bank alerted police.

And finally, someone has the right(?) approach to it! Read on..

Polite robber has recipe for success?

TORONTO (Reuters) - A Canadian bank robber, who politely presents a hold-up note on a recipe card, has hit 29 banks in four months, police said on Thursday.

The unidentified man is the main suspect behind two bank heists in Toronto on Wednesday and 27 other robberies in the region since August.

The suspect waits his turn in line and, once at the teller, quietly makes his intentions known on a recipe card. He has never shown a gun.

The clean-shaven robber, who looks around 30 years old, usually wears a baseball cap and sometimes sunglasses.

On the local front, a bank guard thought up of a novel idea to rob the bank he guarded. At nite, he called up his buddies, and they sat inside the bank after disabling the camera's. They waited till morning, where the guard let in the staff one by one till they were all there, all the while keeping the shutters down, and turned away customer's saying they were having an inspection or something.. the manager steps in, they take make him open the locker, and get away with all the cash in the bank. Now that's using their brains.

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 8:48 AM | Permalink | |

One of my favourite blogs is written by Scott Adams, creator of the comic series Dilbert. Most of the time, his post's are very enlighting and contain insights (mixed with a dash of his zany humor). One recent post really got me thinking.. its along the lines of everyone's different, hence they think differently. Scott posted his own theory along these lines based on Einstiens theory of relativity, which i think is a much read. Even though you may not agree with it (because ur bubble is different than mine), to me it makes a lot of sense. [The bubble will make sense after you read the passage below]

Im quoting some passages below, for the complete post visit his blog here.

Einstein’s great insight was assuming reality was not fixed, and
that everything was relative to the observer. If the observer moves at
nearly the speed of light, not only does reality appear different, it
actually IS different. You would literally age at a different rate than
your twin that stayed in place relative to you. We don’t notice the
differences in our tiny, slow-moving life. But it’s there. The universe
simply doesn’t exist as a single objective reality. It’s smeared all
over the place.

I have extended that thinking to people. Let’s imagine for the sake
of my new theory that people are always rational within their own
reality. It only seems as if they are not because we all live in our
own bubble of reality, with our own rules of what makes sense. Within
any given bubble, everything is perfectly rational and logical and all
the dots connect. It’s only when you try to send an argument from one
bubble to another that the logic breaks down.

In my theory, it could be completely true for a Muslim that Allah
exists in that individual’s bubble of reality, and completely true for
the infidel skeptic that Allah doesn’t exist in his bubble. This is an
extension of the old argument about whether people perceive the color
red the same. For all practical purposes it doesn’t matter for
questions of color because we’re all happy with our own perceptions and
we can’t see what other people see. But for questions of God, it
matters, because when you describe the reasons for your belief, and
those reasons leave your bubble, they arrive as complete nonsense when
they enter my bubble. And if I feel the need to point that out, you
might feel the need to bore me or kill me.

Now you know what a bubble of thought is.. think about it, and let me know how different (or similar) the views expressed in this post are from your own bubble.

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 2:25 PM | Permalink | |

A number of girls/women i know have been harrassed at sometime or the other by miscreants getting hold of their numbers and trying the 'aap mujh say dosti karein gee' game. While i think many girls/women may welcome such call's and even know how to work them, a number of those affected do not wish to get them. A cell is a 'personal' device, and as such, should be used for personal things!

The Prophetess (another pakistani blogger) posted this on her blog A Lust For Life sometime earlier titled "Kulsoom & CPLC: Beating Harrasment Together!" which i'd like to share with everyone. She describes how, together with the Citizen Police Liason Committee (CPLC), she thwarted a very incessant and irritating caller from harassing her by calling her at all times of day / night.

I'll quote some passages from her post here, for the entire thing, please visit her blog.

I called up Rescue 115. The dispatcher on the other side was ready for
gun & smoke action. He was disappointed at the report; but I
persisted for help. He asked me to get to CPLC – Citizen Police Liaison
Committee. I called 17 and got CPLC’s contact. Then I called CPLC –
never getting tired of the trail.

The CPLC told me they indeed deal with matters of harassment, and the process was to make a written complaint. I got their web address,
and got on to beat crime together. Using the contact form, I sent an
email with accurate details (misreporting is serious, and just below
ethics). Within about ten minutes, I got a call from a gentleman who
surveyed the situation. He has told me to send in a written application
which will be used to send a verified complaint to the cellular network
of the harasser. We briefly discussed the harassment situation in
general. He told me that in cases similar to mine, they would normally
give a warning call from CPLC to the guilty party. Failing heed, the
party’s phone would be blocked. If there was actual threat (i.e. the
caller made a threat to life, honor, money, etc.) it would be dealt
with accordingly. I didn’t press for details on this one.

Shortly
afterwards, I got an apology on SMS [from the harrasser]: suddenly I was Dear Sister, and
not Kulsoom. I replied that he must explain to the police who’d be very
interested in the details. He called, and it was a near whimper that he
pleaded in. It was not him, but his friend, he explained

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 1:39 PM | Permalink | |

The wonderful experience of experiencing the early morning! I finally made it to the office on time (i.e. before 9:30 AM) hurray!! Left home early at quarter to eight... and enjoyed the benefits of having totally clear roads all the way! Tested what my car feels like when driving at a 100 kmph too. (it feels great!!) Shahrah-e-faisal is one road in Karachi which affoards high speeds, especially after so many flyovers and all.

There are two things i've been meaning to blog about, which i havent been able to get pictures of so they've been delayed. I still dont have pictures, but what the hell.. i'll just write the thousand words instead! haha.

They both concern ad wars here in karachi, the first being between chips manufacturers. After the success of the Lay's marketting campaign (didnt Zee TV and Star Network have a hand in that?) many new chips manufacturers have entered the market with their definately foriegn-sounding products trying to capture the appetites of the junk-food generation. The competiting products are Kurliez (from Snackcity), Veezo (dont know who owns this brand, but they've been sponsoring Traffic police signs too) and Kryzo. Havent tried any of them (im a biscuit person. lol) but lets see if they'll have any success. Karachi is literally littered (pun intended) with billboards of these three chips.

The second concerns ad's for tv stations, in which without a doubt TV One is going far far ahead (since their parent company owns half the billboards in karachi i think) with ARY Digital network in tow, and being followed up by Indus and Geo. There was this wonderful board about this new drama, i forget the name of which, by Geo, made really artistically.

Labels: ad campaigns, thoughts

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 9:38 AM | Permalink | |

WHY ME?!?!?!

Just when you think things cant get any worse... they DO! (stupid murphy!) I almost had a bashing at work today... i blogged about that two posts ago... needed to get it out of my system.... then about an hour ago.. my brother calls up and says "im in trouble! the car wont start! What sort of a mess heap do you have here" (aargghh!) so i tell him ways to troubleshoot the problem, and he goes on his way... then my mother calls up and says "thank you very much! you didnt put water in the car radiator again and my car overheated!! what sort of a idiot person are you! why cant you remember even such a little thing!!!!" there! that has officially sent my week down to hell! now i welcome more tensions at home since my mom would refuse to talk to me and just fall short of disowning me because i forgot! She doesnt give her car to me to go get fixed... and then complains that its not fixed!! what the hell am i supposed to do!!!!! P.S. i know it was said in a fit of anger, but u dont know my mom...

Today.. the devil really is on a roll (6/6/6) !!! I just cant wait to get it over with! wonder what'll happen next? Honestly.. i'll be looking out for an anvil or a piano to fall over me ~!

Labels: rants

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 1:57 PM | Permalink | |

**wwwwhhheeeewwwww*

That was a sigh of relief! The relief which comes when something you know is going to happen finally happens.. and your done with it. For many, its an upcoming deadline or upcoming exams... for me, it was being berated by my boss! LoL! funny thing to anticipate no? He's a nice guy and generally gives me a lot of leeway.

My problem is i cant get to office on time... and am typically 1 hour late everyday... my boss on the other hand, gets in 15 minutes early. (how!!!???). Anyhew's... i was waiting everyday to have an earful about my coming to office habits, and everyday i used to setup a whole list of excuses that i would give him... only to take the excuses back home with me (did i mention my boss is a nice guy?).

My excuses are as follows

• My brother, who typically takes an hour to get ready in the morning (i.e. just to wash up and put on clothes!) So im usually ready to head on to the office at 8:45... and then have to wait around for my brother till 9:45 cuz we go together (if i dont take him, he doesnt go2 uni.. its weird i know, but that kid would rather sleep than go2 class by bus!), i get dropped to office while he goes onto his university.. and it takes about half an hour to get to the office.
• Then the other excuse, which is true somedays, is that i have to do certain things around the house before i leave... since my dad's not in the city, and im the 'man of the house'.
• Another one (which is not really an excuse as it a reason), i get late due to having breakfast!
  
• And last but not the least excuse, i woke up late because of <enter suitable reason here, out partying, taken medicine, attending a shadi etc.>.

So today, i walk in at 10:30, since i had to wait for my brother to get ready, and here's what my boss had to say

• Boss:"Did you sit here late last night?
• Me: "No, i left at 7"
• Boss:"Then? Why are you late? I dont understand what your taking liberty off!"
• Me: <Head down in shame> "....."
• Boss: "You come late on mondays and you will never come on time then.. okay fine.. but why the rest of the week"
• Me: <Head still down> "......"
• Boss: "You have to do something about this! and i mean SOON!"
• Me: <Slightly raise head to gauge boss's mood, he's not fuming....> "yes, sir"
• Boss: "Now lets get down to business..."
• Day starts....

So now that i've gotten that over with, i feel a lot better, i was waiting for this to happen for atleast two weeks..... Im thinking of making my brother take the bus a couple of times (muhahaha), maybe then he'll get ready on time(?) As for waking up late....... i need a MEAN alarm clock!!

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 11:31 AM | Permalink | |

Every year there's this one date which is really different. Today happens to be that day. Its the 6th day of the 6th month of the 6th year of the new millenium!

So what are you gonna do to remember it? Me? Absolutely nothing! HaHa. I'll maybe do something different tomorrow.. who know's.. one of those spur of the moment things..

Funny story though, i rem the date of 8th August (8th month) 88. Because thats the day the doorbell of my grandfather's house went bezerk and started ringing on its own. Such an ordinary thing to happen.. two wires fused together cuz of over heating.. but what was so funny was... that it happened on 8 / 8 / 88 at 8 PM ! LoL

And so said mAn[S]o0r at 12:52 AM | Permalink | |