Monday, July 31, 2006

Bring on the Pakoras~!

Its been raining cats and dogs (including, i suspect, a large portion of all other animals) here in karachi since yesterday. And i've loved every bit of it! Even went out for a stroll yesterday with my mother around where we live.

It was beautiful! My mother very appropriately commented "Its like being at a hill station". Now, my community is very green, much greener than a lot of other places in karachi, and the rain, washing away all the dirt everywhere, made the trees and the grass seem all the more fresh!

Plus, China Creek runs just behind where we live... so we have our own little sea side, and it was lovely there with the rain n all.



When we got home, my mom made Pakora's and we celebrated in the evening with them, chilli garlic sauce and Mirinda! The rain was amazing, the pakora's were delicious! and me? I was one happy bacha!

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Saturday, July 29, 2006

The early bird gets the worm

In this case.. my business!

I went out this morning to retrieve some documents from my fathers friend, on the way back.. decided to shop for a new TV. It wasnt something that sudden.. rather it was on the back of my mind for quite sometime. The time when i decided this was about 10:30 AM. I decided to head off to Saddar, specifically Regal Chowrangi, to atleast get some quotes.

What i saw appalled me! Even at 10:30.. almost every shop was closed! I almost turned back to go home, when i saw this one shop open... and thought to atleast have one quote. So i went upto the shop and started asking for the pricing. I was interested in getting a 29 inch Flatscreen tv for my home. Initially, i thought i'd go with Philips, since my last was a philips too.. however, my mother was seriously against it. I asked the shop keeper about it, and his remarks kind of mirrored that of my mother

"Dont go for philips, they're made out of cheap chineese parts, just think that if comparable tv's from other companies are 5 to 7 thousand more expensive, then they must be cutting corners somewhere"

Oh well, so much for keeping going for philips. I asked him what sets he had on hand and he showed me a samsung one, a sony one, and a nobel one. Tried them out one by one.... and what really took my fancy was the Samsung model.

It has really good sound quality, and sharp picture! But what really won me over was the 6+2 year warranty (6 year picture tube, 2 year parts) that came with it. The other models except nobel, which had a 9+3 year warranty, had lower durations, with philips at 3+1 and sony as 4+1.

Why didnt i go for a nobel one, if warranty was such an issue? Simple.. after seeing the results of samsung and sony... it just didnt compete :-D Its very good in the affordable category, and in itself, has a very good picture quality. Where it lagged behind was sound.

So anyway, coming back to the topic! That shop was open early in the morning... the salesman was polite and very helpful, exchanged my previous TV for a very good price, and after a little haggling, gave me a good price on it, and threw in a trolley at a discounted price, which resulted in me buying it from him *on the spot*. Now im a happy owner of a new 29" Samsung Plano TV.

There! that should be a lesson to all other shopowners! Open up early and you'll get a impulse buyer.

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Friday, July 28, 2006

Have i finally lost it?

Three days and counting... i've been head-deep in depression! Why?! even i dont know!

I think it has something to do with the fact that my cousin is getting engaged... It got me into thinking about my own 'plans' for the future... which are basically nonexistent. You see, till now, all of us were single or dating, and the whole marriage concept was pretty much alien!

Then he goes and falls in love, gets the parents involved, and presto! they agree! Thats the 'second' time that has happened in my family... but even thats not the case. Its the fact that he was actually able to do it!

Since yesterday, i've gone out and put comments on no less than 2 blogs asking them if they would marry me! LoL! for the first time in my life... i think i've fallen as low as i could go!

I think i'll go crawl in a hole now...... All of you are hereby welcome to dump shit on me....

And guess what! EVEN JOHN GOT A GIRL!!!! Now i think i'll go dig my whole a little deeper :(

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Thursday, July 27, 2006

Happy Day!

Yesterday, for me, was a very happy day! On three counts actually!

Count 1:
I got my first raise! Yayyyy! I know its against the culture to discuss pay, so i'll just say it was a cool 33% increment! Also had my annual review done. Company policy is that the boss discusses our progresses with us before finalizing the report. This is what was said on my report.

Best Qualities
Techinical Ability
Learning Ability
Communication Skills

Points to work on
Personal Organization (i can live with that :-D)

General Comments
Asset to the company

Overall Result w.r.t Expectations
Above Expectations

The best part was the verbal compliments i got from my boss. You see, when i started this job, i was put in as a test subject. Im working as a consultant, and entered it straight after graduation. Now, generally, being a consultant means you have relevant experience and knowledge. Knowledge i had (having completed six years worth of degrees in Software Engineering) and the rest i learned (hence loved the learning ability in 'best quality'). Now 8 months afterwards, i think the boss is seeing he made a good choice. My employment here was also very sudden, i came to him looking for advice as to where should i apply. He was my teacher (and is also my research supervisor)... and somehow, during our talks, he hinted that there might be an opening here.. and i immediately took it up! Next thing i knew.. i was sitting here two weeks later as an employee. Yippee!

When the complete report was discussed, i was asked "are you okay with this report?", my reply:"....... you kidding! im FLATTERED!!" LoL!!! (i actually said dat)

Now onto count 2:
My cousin is getting engaged this weekend! This is the same one i spent the cousins day with. The bugger didnt even tell me anything about it! Yesterday, his sister comes upto me and says "I have good news".. im go.."what?" and she breaks it to me! I swear i was much more in shock than anything else. The poor girl thought i was dissapointed to hear it or something. LoL! I had to explain that the way i was acting was me being 'esctatic' !! LoL!

Count 3:
My dad came to karachi for two days! Yaay!! I love it when he's around.. i can then get away from the 'holding down the fort' responsibilities for the while when he's around.

Somehow, i maybe knew the day was going to be good. I was up at 7:30 without the alarms, ready by 8, and out of the house by 8:40!! After a long time i was at the office before 9:30! and most importantly, before the boss! Oh, also took dada for a checkup and went to a daawat in the night thrown for my other cousin who had recently got married.

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Calling card woes

I've heard frequent calling card horror stories from people around me, and therefore decided to keep my sanity and start using my mobile phone for all calls. Atleast they connect easily (unless ofcourse, if you have Mobilink).

So anyway, today, i got a call from a colleague to see if i could work the fax machine to send out an international fax. We dont have international dialing on that line, so had to use a calling card. I was given an ARY Telecom international dialing card of Rs. 100 from which to send a 1 page fax. Pretty simple i thought, afterall, being a techie at heart, i just couldnt refuse working with tech stuff.

So there i was, sitting in front of the machine, calling card in hand, thinking that it would just be a 5 minute thing... i dialed the number "1254"...... and got a busy tone. No matter, maybe its just a temp thing (the optimistic voice inside my head told me). Dialed again..... still busy.. hmm.. maybe the horror stories did hold some truth after all. After repeatedly hitting the redial key for around 15 times, i finally got through!! yaay! or so i thought :S I was so much into "hang-up / redial" routine, that when i finally realized i had their system on the other line... i had hung up already! aarrghh!

Once again, i started the routine... waiting to get through, and finally did after the 10th or 12th try. This time keeping my senses about, not wanting a repeat of the previous event. A pleasant(?) voice answered on the other end, asking me to dial in the card number... being restless after so much dialing... i started entering the number even before the voice was finished..... when i finally pressed '#'.... it said "incorrect card number"! Now i was sure i had entered the right number.... but what the hey... we all make mistakes.. so tried again. Again the voice said "Incorrect card number".... and hung up~! WTF !!!!!

Again dialed, waiting to get through.... got through (took another couple of tries..) and waited for the recording to finish, before punching in the card number... pressed '#' very sure that i had entered the correct card number... after a brief (10 second:S) delay (during which i feared that my call was disconnected) i got a playback that i had rs 100 in the card balance! yayy! phase one complete! Then i was to enter the destination number... somehow missed the double zero in the front of the number.... and entered only one zero. The voice informed me i had 2 hours for this call, and i was pretty surprised as i wasnt expecting more than 15 minutes. Infact very surprised at how cheap international calls were now.

Then it happened... I heard "your number is being dialed" and finally "aap ka milaya hua number durst nahi" in such a rude tone i almost sat up with a start.. and the line got disconnected..WTF!!!

since then, i've tried about 5 times to send the fax.. each time a new error popping up... "Connection Error", "Paper Jammed", "Connection Timeout" and what not!!!

The rs 100 card is down to rs. 44, and i STILL havent sent the fax! I dont think ARY service supports sending faxes! So there u have it folks.... Now i have one of my own calling card horror(humor?) story!

On a side note.... ARY is powered by Wateen Telecom... if this is the level of service they're providing.... i shudder at how the WiMax network they're bringing up all over the country will run :(

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Wednesday, July 26, 2006

blogwordoftheweek: Believe

I've joined this new exercise in creativity run by Jammie where she send outs a word every wednesday, to a group called Wednesday Wanderers, and we write something about it.. its fun and makes you think a little as well. Also offeres different perceptions on what a word means to different people.... So here i go with my first blogword entry.... Believe

I keep telling my best friend, N, to believe in herself. She's the kind of person who for whom nothing is impossible and everything can be achieved by a flick of her wrist. Yet, for some reason, she can not.... does not.. want to believe she is capable of that. Sometimes it just gets so irritating... something i *know* she can do, yet shes always asking for advice on how to go about it, and following whatever someone else tells her.....

After 3 years of continously trying to get her to believe in herself, i changed my strategy a little... this time, i wanted her to have little visible successes in her own life by doing things the way she wants... and to know she acheived them cuz she believed in herself!

5 years ago... she was afraid of even *thinking* she could do anything on her own... today, she's taking major life-altering decisions on her own! Now thats the power of believing!

You rock N!!

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Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Not the only ones

It seems that Pakistan is not the only country to have a car-import industry. Other countries such as Vietnam and Ethiopia also face the same problem. However, here are some interesting reactions to it.
Vietnam: Most automobile manufacturers have sharply reduced the prices of
their sedan models as a result of competition from imported second-hand
vehicles, according to the Viet Nam Automobile Manufacturers'
Association
Could our govt. or car manufacturers learn something from them? The merc decreased its price by SIX THOUSAND USD!! Even in vietnam's currency thats a big hunk of change!
Ethiopia: [On how fuel price increases affect imports] “I think this increment in the demand of the consumers will not deteriorate even if the price of fuel increases through time. Most of the consumers that come to me don’t have the capacity to drive the cars daily but they simply want the car for a show. It is hard to find such customers driving around the city every day, since they will not afford the fuel price.”
This hits so much more at home! Lets see where all this takes us. On a side note... Porshe (PORSH-uh) has opened up a new dealership in Karachi! Another international car name comes to Pakistan after BMW and Mercedes-Benz

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And once again...

... we find ourselves in a rut full of trouble for being a nuclear power. Forbes USA has just reported a german magazine saying that Saudia is working on their own Nuclear program with Pakistani help!
It [Cicero, the german magazine publishing the story] says that during the Haj pilgrimages to Mecca in 2003 through 2005, Pakistani scientists posed as pilgrims to come to Saudi Arabia.

Between October 2004 and January 2005, some of them slipped off from pilgrimages, sometimes for up to three weeks, the report quoted German security expert Udo Ulfkotte as saying.

According to Western security services, the magazine added, Saudi scientists have been working since the mid-1990s in Pakistan, a nuclear power since 1998.
Last time, Dr. A. Q. Khan was fired... i wonder who'll be hung out to dry this time...? Its a shame really. Instead of honouring people who actually make a difference in our lives... we tend to send them up the river without a paddle!

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Look into my eyes..

I took "yet another" test, this time about what my eyes say about me. And i must say..... its true :)

You scored as Passion.

You are very passionate whether that passion is good or evil has yet to be determined. You have great power over others and they seem to flock to your service. You are very competative almost to a fault. Perhaps you should let someone else win for a change?

Passion


75%

Mysterious


75%

Diamond Eyes


50%

Eyes full of Pain


42%

What do your eyes reveal about you?(PICS!)
created with QuizFarm.com

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The X in me...

Seems like everyone is taking the X-men quiz, so i thought i'd give it a try too.. The result? Im Ice-man! Cool! i like being in the cold anyway. Also like what it says about me ;)



You scored as Iceman. Iceman is a very powerful but volitile X-man. His ego and reluctance to follow orders means that he often clashes with Cyclops. Despite being immature sometimes, he's very popular with the ladies and is an extremely powerful X-Man. Powers: Can lower the temperature in areas around him. Basically, he has a near limitless ability to freeze things and make massive amounts of ice.









Iceman


85%

Colossus


80%

Beast


80%

Rogue


70%

Emma Frost


55%

Gambit


55%

Cyclops


50%

Jean Grey


50%

Storm


50%

Wolverine


45%






Nightcrawler


35%

Most Comprehensive X-Men Personality Quiz 2.0
created with QuizFarm.com

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Celebrating cousin's day with...

well.. my cousin ofcourse! this one being my father's sister's eldest, who's also six days younger to me.

Actually, it started out as a trip to the tailor... i went to pick him up after work, and on the way i heard on the radio that it was cousins day today..... that started to make my mind work a lil. Hmm.. how do i get him to treat me.. since afterall! its my day too ;) hhmmm....

Anyway, when at the tailors, i came up with a brilliant scheme. Something he couldnt refuse. Muhaha! (mustering up all the evil inside me) I simply stated "Guess what!!! your treating me at KFC today!"

Hahaha! the look on his face was PRICELESS! He was looking at me like i had lost my mind... well, i was feeling a little out of it.. but thats besides the point. The important thing is.. he agreed. I think it was more shock than anything else. LoL!

So there we were, sitting at KFC, ranting out about the worries and what-not of life.. i think we even had a profound discussion in the midst... but i may have imagined it.... i get so high when food finds its way into my stomach. (Note to my future better half: the way to my heart *is* through my stomach!) when i broke the news to him about why we're here. He just started laughin! It was fun! We ate up... and then i dropped him home.

Not bad for a spontaneous celebration. Thankgod i have someone who doesnt need planning! Way to go cuz! Love having you around!

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Monday, July 24, 2006

In a city of 14 million people...

is when a person feels truly alone.

I was talking to one of my colleagues here at work the other day, and the discussion revolved around the fact of how lonely he had become in the past couple of months. With friends who only came to him when they wanted something, people at home generally involved in whatever they were doing, and no one having the time of day to sit down and listen to him... (yea, i do have some pretty interesting discussions at work... *sigh*) and i realized that even with all the people i've been blessed with, my family, my extended family.. cousins and such, school friends, work colleagues, msn buddies and blogger buddies............. even after knowing and interacting with so many people..... my cellphone constantly ringing and sometimes even having to dodge people.... i still find myself, at times, to be lonely!

Does that say anything about me? Is it a fault of my own? My failure to bond with people around me? Or the fact that everyone... all the people listed above have lives of their own as well... where i just dont fit as well as i would've wanted to.

Having said all that.... i've also realized one thing in the past.... i *relish* it! Enjoy it! Want it!!

In the words of Alan Shore on the drama serial Boston Legal
"The only thing i want from a relationship is to be truly and utterly alone".
I know what you feel like Alan! i can totally relate!! I am satisfied.. content... even happy about this state of mind!!

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What do you do with....

1) A Stack of old mobile prepaid cards
2) A Stapler
3) Some freetime & a dose of creativity?

?????? Make yourself a coin holder and a pen holder for your desk drawer!! Came in very handy since i had a lot of coins and pens strewn about and couldnt find them when i wanted to!



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Quite Imaginative.... *dripping with sarcasm* (Brand Power #3)

We seem to have a new security company operating in Karachi.. there are a lot of them here, what with some people having *all the loot* and others trying to get their loot, its a constant struggle to keep ones possessions (and lives) safe.

So coming back.. i was driving down Kh-e-Ittehad the other day.. on my way to Royal Rodale (thats another post....) when i saw these three corolla's all dressed up in stickers proclaiming...
"Homeland Security"
I mean... COME ON!! Couldnt you have come up with something more original than what our fellow amreekans call their (inept?) federal internal security force? Even their phone number is 111-999-911. When will people LEARN!! Oh well.. atleast i got me another post in the "Brand Power" series..

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Modern Machines in Local settings

A stark reminder of keeping your eyes on the road and your speed low while driving! But thats not why i took this picture... i was surprised to see that we even HAVE a small size crane operating here in Pakistan!! Dont know about you, but im kind of impressed with all the new types of machinery we're getting here! What with all the new construction vehicles, cleaning vehicles and now cranes! Afterall.. im a man and big machines make me feel more like a man!! aarrh aarhh aarrrr" (Tim "the toolman" Taylor on the show "Home Improvement")

Oh yea! dont the clouds look good too? ;)

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Sunday, July 23, 2006

why homemakers are more required than career oriented women

This post started out as a reply to PsycheD on an issue of why does society not like educated-career-oriented-girls as wives and the fact that they dont make good homemakers. Ofcourse, there are other reasons involved as well, such as some families having the male dominancy too much imprinted on their brains or having the ego thing... however, this ideal is followed in my family, from the days of my great great great grandparents (that much i know through talks with my grandfather...). So without further ado.. here we go.

The actual post starts here...

One of the major reasons of the societal break-up is the breakup of the family unit.. parents who are not around to educate their kids in the 'soft skills' (ethics, manners, morality etc) of life, hence they get out of hand, and once they grow up.. they lack certain skills to keep morality and ethics of the society in general intact. Its happening, unfortunately, as a society.. more so in our times since the so called upper class is more busy with their work or parties to take care of the kids who are running rampant...

When the mother is around to a) take care of the children b)ensure their emotional well-being and c) teaching them how to respect and be respected, those kids grow up to be better people in their own right! Ofcourse, the role of the father is just as important to the children as well. Just as important as the children seeing him as the breadwinner and supporter of the family. It makes them feel safe, loved and above all.. secure!

When both the parents go out 2 work, or spend most of their days there... these are the three essential ingredients of emotional well-being the children dont get.. and often turn to other sources, many turning corrupt in the process.

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my seven mortal sins..

Got this off PsycheD, who got it off Zag... Its the result of a test of how my sins match up! I've always known this for quite sometime that lust does play a very important role in my life (someone will recognize the term 'benefits' if they visit here..) and as the test reveals, it scores VERY HIGH! Woohoo! that means that either a)i took the test truthfully or b)the test is accurate.

Greed:High
Gluttony:Medium
Wrath:Medium
Sloth:High
Envy:Medium
Lust:Very High
Pride:Medium

Wonder why i didnt score low in any sin.....? time to rethink my act probably..? LoL!
If any of you want to take the test, click here and *do* let me know how u score.

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A glimmer of hope...

I came across this quote by Salman Shah, the Economic Advisor to Pakistans Prime Minister in an article on World Peace Herald, reproduced on Pakistani Defence Forum.
Pakistan's growth rate has averaged an annual 7 percent over the past four years, helping lift almost 20 million of Pakistan's 150 million people out of poverty. The proportion of Pakistanis officially calculated as living below the population has fallen from over a third to less than a quarter in the past five years, [Salman Shah, economic adviser to Pakistan's prime minister] Shah said.
I must say... with all the things wrong with this country, such news really makes the glimmer of hope i have for it... just a little bit brighter!

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Saturday, July 22, 2006

Pew Internet Project Reports on Bloggers

I read this article which carried out a survey on bloggers in the US and came up with different statistics. Although, these stats are for US bloggers, they can still show how the blogosphere is developing world wide. Some stats follow:
These are some of the key findings in a new report issued by the Pew Internet Project titled "Bloggers":
  • 54 percent of bloggers say that they have never published their writing or
    media creations anywhere else; 44 percent say they have published elsewhere.
  • 54 percent of bloggers are under the age of 30.
  • Women and men have statistical parity in the blogosphere, with women representing 46 percent of bloggers and men 54 percent.
  • 76 percent of bloggers say a reason they blog is to document their personal experiences and share them with others.
  • 64 percent of bloggers say a reason they blog is to share practical knowledge or skills with others.
  • When asked to choose one main subject, 37 percent of bloggers say that the
    primary topic of their blog is "my life and experiences."
  • Other topics ran distantly behind: 11 percent of bloggers focus on politics
    and government; 7 percent focus on entertainment; 6 percent focus on
    sports; 5 percent focus on general news and current events; 5 percent
    focus on business; 4 percent on technology; 2 percent on religion,
    spirituality or faith; and additional smaller groups who focus on a
    specific hobby, a health problem or illness, or other topics.

Friday, July 21, 2006

need trainings to ride a cycle?

Yesterday was not a good day for me... basically for a lot of reasons, but most importantly this! While on my way to office... a guy riding a cycle on the middle on the damn side road started looking somewhere else right when i was passing him, lost his balance and fell towards my car scratching its side!

What got me irked was
1) He was riding a bike in the middle of the road!
2) Wasnt even aware there were other things there... bigger things like CARS!
3) Lost his concentration looking someplace else rather on the damn road!
4) Lastly, he scratched my car!!

I stepped out in full mood to blast him! but somehow (being the damn nice guy i am) i started by asking if he was HURT!! i so wanted to inflict pain on this person but couldnt since i started out so nice! So i stepped back in my car and drove off to my office....

Seriously! first i thought motorcycle riders here needed trainings.. now bicycle riders need em too!! whats next? Pedestrians?? where did common sense and safety first go!!?!

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Thursday, July 20, 2006

so confused :|

right now, im sitting at work... with a blank mind!

im so confused as to what to do!? Amazingly, there are no less than three tasks at hand... yet im not able to do anything! I think may be thats the reason.

To compound the problems... im feeling sleepy too :@ aarrgghh!!

Oh well.. back to staring at my screen.. trying to make the brain work!

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The darned phone call again!

I recently blogged about getting the dreaded phonecall. Well... two days back, i received it yet again! Only this time, it was my dadi who was sick!

I was woken up at 8 AM with the call that dadi needed to goto the hospital. Thankfully, my chacha was already there, and he took her. At around 11 i got a call that she's okay, and will be back home. I breathed a sigh of relief.

But then, at 6:30.. just as i was leaving the office.. i got the call again! "Dadi is sick again! We need to get her to the hospital stat!". I rushed from the office to her place, and got her to shifa. She's suffering from diarreah, and at her age, it is really taking a big toll. Cant eat or drink anything, vomitting and going to the washroom every half hour! It was bad.

We got her there, and put her on a drip. The original plan was, that she'll be on the drip after which we'll bring her home. Then things got bad.... when around 12 she still wasnt feeling any better, we took the decision to admit her. It was just impossible to take care of her at home, with little help and no water. At 2 AM, she was taken into the family wing at PNS Shifa, and put on continous drips and anti-biotics. I came back home at 3:30 AM... her whole night was filled with going to the washroom and throwing up and my cousin who was on watch had a hard night...

Now, its been two days since her illness started, and she's feeling a lot better mashallah. Probably be staying in the hospital for the next couple of days, just to make sure she's back to normal. Unlike the previous time, the guys did'nt have to go through the 'watch routine', since they dont allow male attendants. So this time, the females in our family go the watches, and we just provide the transport to and from the hospital.

Last nite, i was so whacked... that went home and slept as soon as my head hit the pillow. That was at 11 PM, which is very early for me. After a 10 hour sleep, im feeling a 'little bit' better. Just hope dadi gets well soon, and things get back to normal again.

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Firefox plugin: Bypass blogspot ban through inblogs.net

My second script for greasemonkey for firefox. This time called "Blogspot to InBlogs Link Rewriter".

It was borne out of the need of our fellow bloggers across the border, after their govt. decided to ban blogspot as well. Its worked very well for me, and i hope it will as well for them.

You do need the Greasemonkey extension for Firefox (version 0.6.4) to run this script. (Available for download from here).

Installation Procedure:
  1. Install Greasemonkey or make sure it is installed.
  2. Open this link in firefox.
    (or copy/paste this link in your browser http://www.geocities.com/mansoor_adenwala/blogspot2inblogs.user.js)
  3. Click on Tools -> Install this Script
  4. Thats it! Now *any* page on the web, which links to a blogspot blog, will be automatically translated.
Enjoy it! Comments/Suggestions would be highly appreciated.

Update: thanks teeth maestro: updated the link

Blogger hack: Change blogspot ban bypass proxy automatically to go through inblogs.net

Following the footsteps of Pakistan, India has also banned blogspot after the mumbai bombings. This generated in a lot of cross border blogger sympathy as us pakistanis have known what its like to be blocked.

Being of the nature that we are, Pakistani Bloggers sprang up to help out our indian brothers and sisters, with the knowledge of what we've gained in the last couple of months. This resulted in a new site being opened, called InBlogs.net which allows indian, pakistani and chineese users to bypass the ban on blogspot. It uses the same script as Pkblogs.com.

My previous greasemonkey script for firefox, which automatically changes all links to blogspot to go through pkblogs, was also mentioned and has witnessed increased pageviews. I'll be publishing an update to that soon, which will make blogspot links to go through inblogs.net.

Then, pkblogs.com ran into a problem.. it just wouldnt show images embedded in posts.. and inblogs.net would... so now, we have to change all our links to make them go through inblogs..... a daunting and nearly impossible task. So i came up with a new solution. A blogger hack if you will. This script will check which URL was the blog accessed from, and then automatically make it go through the Inblogs.net site. Pretty neat no?

Here's how u do it. Simply copy paste the following two lines just under the <head> tag on your blog template, change the variable 'cpu_blogname' to your blog's name, save and republish your template. Voila! Now, all your images will be displayed as well and every user (no matter where they came from) will go through Inblogs.net
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.geocities.com/mansoor_adenwala/cpu.js"></script>
<script>
  cpu_blogname = 'wordofmansoor';
  changeProxyUrl();
</script>
A note: This script will not work if the blog is accessed through blogspot.com in Pakistan, India or China (and other countries where blocking is enabled). It will work if its accessed through either a)pkblogs.com b)some other anonymizer

This script is open source, and you can use it, share it, modify it as you wish. Let me know how it works out for you.

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

The nightmare..

Yesterday nite... i woke up with a start at 3 AM breathin rapidly and sweating hard! I'd just seen a nightmare which could compare with the horror flick 'the ring'!!! Only, it was on my own family... Now i dont normally get nightmares.. infact, the last one i remember was over 15 years ago... but yesterday night, there was something different, it was too real... too vivid! Here's how it went...

For some reason, my brother and mother were fighting on something... and me n my dad enter the room... we all start shouting at each other, and then start throwing stuff! My bro breaks a chair, wields a pointed piece of wood like a stake and advances towards me with a meanacing look in his eyes! The words out of his mouth were 'bhai! u've pushed me one too many times! time for you to take a break'

then the phone rings... and without anyone picking it up... it gets answered, a voice comes over the loudspeaker taunting us... the way it spoke.. it just infuriated us further~! we picked up whatever we could find and just wanted to hurt the person nearest to us! After that, it was all blood and gore... all i can remember is that voice! and the way it laughed!! and i blacked out. When i regained my senses.. im lying in a pool of my own blood. Mom, dad and my brother are lying about in wierd angles.. all of them dead! Its blood everywhere! I've gone deaf.. cant hear a damn thing! i try getting up.. but my leg wont respond... i look down n its not even there! its lying two feet away, detached from my body! And then i hear it.. its the voice again! Its laughing again... i just want to shut it out... drag myself over to the phone..............

but its not connected!! there's no wires going in or out of it...... and it doesnt have a speakerphone! the voice laughs again... "makes you wonder no?.. how can someone call a phone which isnt even connected!"

Thats when i woke up! Literally shiverring with fear! I check my mobile... turn it off, afraid the voice might come out of it... but turn it on again realizing that im finally awake and it was just a bad dream! there's no blood..... and everyone is alive!!

Damn! i hate nightmares!

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Safety... a luxury

Now this is what i call dangerous work! Theres a new elevator being installed in our building, and the guy u see here is trying to fix a beam to its support... 5 floors up! with nothing between him and the ground below but just a board! No safety net, no ropes attached.. nothing! And he's so confident working up here! Thats just how work is done here in Pakistan i guess.. safety is a concept which interprets as extra expense than anything else.. afterall, the only thing cheaper than dirt here is human life!

The guy working on a beam



This is how high up he is.. within nothing underneath!

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Soon!

We'll be able to eat chicken without fear again!! not that i stopped mind u ;)

What im going on about is this new vaccine against bird-flu (specifically targeted to H5N1 virus, which is deadly for humans) produced by an Indian Lab, which has a very good immune response (above 90%). They say that trials are still underway, and expect the vaccine to be released commercially very soon. The rest of the article was very biomoleculartech-like.. and went over my head like a boeing 747 flying at the speed of a fighter jet....

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Sunday, July 16, 2006

Scenic Route

Driving down the streets of karachi, its very hard to find 'green roads' or densely tree covered roads. (Not saying there arent any). This was one such road, and i just love driving up/down it. Doesnt the sky look wonderful!

Saturday, July 15, 2006

how GPRS saved my ass today

Today, (and tomorrow) i am on a training course by my company. The training material was designed by me, and im attending it as a support to my boss, who will be delivering the course.

This morning, just before the course was about to start, he comes up to me and says...

him: "mansoor, what does IPW mean?"
me: "IPW?"
him: "yes, as in the IPW model you've reffered to everywhere, i couldnt find what it stood for"
me: *almost sweating now* "uum.... i read that up.. but its slipping my mind..... it may have something to do with the names of the companies that developed it"
him: *looking right through me, knowing im lying* "okay.. sure... "

I open the manual, look over at the IPW model, and to my horror realzie that the companies that developed it.. had NOTHING COMMON with the initials IPW,. Their names were Quint,Wellington, Redmon and KPW. Now im in a fix, since the question will definately come up on what does IPW mean, and i'll be crucified for it......

Thinking about what i should do.. i realized that being a techie, my salvation would lie in the net.... and then remembered i've had GPRS (Warid) turned on! I quickly get online, sitting right there in the conference room, loaded wap.google.com and searched for the aforementioned initials.

Luckily (and thanks to googles exhaustive db) i found the term within 5 minutes... complete with its total history, jotted it down on a note, and left it for my boss on the side of the table..

The slide comes up... and so does the question.. my boss says "Mansoor, do you have some idea on what that term stands for?" then to the crowd "Ladies and gentlemen, mansoor has been very much involved in the development of this course, infact, all of the slides have been made by him", without missing a beat, i reply on the question "International Process Workshop" then a little history on it... after which my boss takes over the rest...

During tea break, the boss comes over,
him: "says good work.. you remembered it"
me: "no sir, i didnt"
him: "acha? then how did you know"
me: "the net sir"
him: "oh okay, but when did you go down to the business center?"
me: "i didnt sir"
him: "then how??"
me: "im a techie at heart sir.... GRPS! oh, did i mention i LOVE technology"
him: *smiling* "you and your wacky ways... atleast they work SOMEtime"
me: *very satisfied*

POC #2: the office air conditioner

The AC unit in our office is a complete POC. It breaks down, on cue, every 2nd day... doesnt cool the whole day, but just around 6:00 starts giving off a blast of cold air!

Acc. to our finance department, we have spent so much on its maintenance in the last couple of months, that we would've been able to purchase a new one, had we waited. As things go, that money is down the drain, we dont have funds to get a new one, and the AC repair guy is making a fortune! A little more time, and im pretty sure he'll be able to send his family on a world tour thanks to us!

The repair guy comes around every two-three days, most of the time when the electricity is out.. so sits, waits for the electricity to come back on... bills us.. and leaves. Thats a problem when u call out service people, they cant work with no electricity, but still charge because they had to make the trip. On occasions where the electricity is actually there.. they make a few fixes (im convinced they make them just enough to last two days, after which it breaks down again!) and leave.

As im writing this, im sitting in my cubicle, that thanks to its contruction, is the hottest one around, with no AC... and a fan blowing warm air down directly on my face! So much for productivity!

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

What a car fuse should NEVER look like

On the left, is what was left of the fuse after a wiring short which happened on my car earlier.

On the right, is a fuse as it should look....


*sorry for the blurness of the image*

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POC #1: My car

My latest term to define a lot of things in my life, POC means a piece of crap. This series is dedicated to the myriad of gadgets around me for which working is considered to be a miracle, hence they as useful as... well... crap!

Starting off... my car! damn thing is a POC! no wait... even a POC is more valuable than it! if i even GIVE it to be scrapped, they'll ask me for money to even take it!! aarrgghh!

As you can pretty well imagine by now, my car has been giving me trouble.. AGAIN! recently i spent almost 3 grand on its maintenance, today, i find myself short of another Rs. 500!

The wiring shorted out last night, after my dumb mechanic (whom i vow never to go2 again!) made a last minute adjustment to sort another problem. Shortly after the fix, smoke started coming out of the bonnet, and i found that the wire powering the fan has burnt to the crisp. The overall current got so bad that it literally destroyed the fuse (next post... What your car fuse should NEVER look like).

This morning, i spent the first half of the day getting all the wiring fixed, this time from another mechanic. He opened up all the tapings, checked the wiring right from the source, and changed all the bits and peices that, in his opinion, were a disaster waiting to happen. Plus, added another relay to cut off any future power surge to help protect the wiring. This brings up the total number of additional relays in my car to 3!

Pak Suzuki, the manufacturers of the Mehran, are IMO the most disgusting people ever to grace the face of the planet! They build their cars just so they run, nothing more.. definately a lot less!

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Monday, July 10, 2006

Laziness


Now heres the perfect explanation for why i sit around all day!
Just loved this cartoon!

the shadi series #7: shadi dress code

Okay, so not excatly part of the shadi series, but this is one look i wanted to share! The kurta was picked by my mother, and was part of a standard scheme of all us cousins. Only the karhai kaam was different in each.
The scheme was as follows:
Brothers: Black kurta with golden brown stole
Chachas: White kurta with off-white stole
Father: Light brows kurta with a little darker brown stole

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Ad Teaser #5 Revealed: Caution - Dangerously Delicious


Update July 10th: This teaser campaign has been revealed on Sunday 9th July. Its about a new breed of hot and spicy food at KFC. I guess they've given in to the local taste, and taken the chilli's even higher! I cant wait to get my hands on that, since i already love the spicy version of it. They've changed the Caution sign to an Attention sign.


Another teaser campaign... this time some sort of a food product has started making its rounds. I like the idea.. its simple, its head turning, and its memorable. Any guesses as to what it is?

P.S. In the background you can see the FTC building on Shahrah-e-Faisal








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Cute Concept - IGI Travel Insurance


IGI Travel Insurance, has started off on a rocking advertising campaign on both print and audio media. Actually, its been going on for quite sometime now. They've used cartoon frogs to deliver the message that your not really that safe while travelling and emergencies *can* occur. So its best to be prepared. This billboard however, really brought the message home! Its cute, funny and being in the city of karachi.. im sure a lot of people can relate to being on the other end of a gun. I know i can!

P.S. i wonder just how much inspiration they've goten from the Crazy Frog song??

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new shoes..

I go out for shopping at most once or twice a year... most of the time though, i think about why is that so.. i mean, i should get more clothes, or shoes, since my total wardrobe consists of just 4 pairs of dresses.

Yesterday, i got a stark reminder of why is that so! I hate the first couple of days of new shoes. They make your feet curl up in pain, stratch and scar them, and generally make walking a discomfort!

Yesterday, for the shadi, i purchased a new pair of sandals from EBH to go with my kurta. After wearing them for just 4 hours, my feet how feel like hell! Pain shoots up even when i try to wiggle my toes!! Thank goodness they didnt cut my feet though.

But overall, the shoes looked GREAT with the kurta!!! so im happy.

Sunday, July 09, 2006

shadi series #6: nikkah and rukhsati

Yesterday, my cousin had her nikkah read. She then became officially the wife.. a landmark moment in anyones life.

The day began with the usual complications, my car was at the garage and i didnt get it back till 7! That put me off by 1.5 hours already in my plans, which included getting new shoes on the way too. After getting my car back, we (me and my bro) finally left home, stopped over at EBH tariq road, and bought two pairs of shoes in record time! then went off to PNS Karsaz to get transport for the evening. This night, we had arranged for two coasters, courtesy of PNS Karsaz and Bahadur. Already running about 1/2 hour late, the three vehicles literally 'burned rubber' on the way back to my nanis.

Then we changed, which means just put on our kurtas.. had done the rest of the getting ready at home while waiting for the car to get back, and joined the others just before they started shouting at us. Whew! the first thing on my mind was.. saved! Now comes the irony, having run through everything to get there on time, i was then made to stay back and wait for the local masjid molvi to arrive, so he could come and read the nikkah, while the others made their way to the hall. I ended up waiting a further half hour!! Ironic no?!

We picked up the molvi, and rode to the hall, where YET another problem awaited me.... it was RAINING!!!!!!! well, not excatly, but drizzling quite heavily, and we couldnt sit outside. The decorator had planned for an open air hall, since it used to be quite hot.. so much for that. The whole outside was renderred useless, and we were all huddled inside the brides ready room, trying to wait it out. I think someone must be praying right then (no, i know everyone was praying right then) and god must've listened, because just 10 minutes before the baraat was scheduled to arrive, it stopped raining! My cousin is very lucky mashallah!! As soon as it stopped, everyone filed outside thankfully that the wedding could be gotten on with.

The baraat arrived, and it was then that i heard for the first time of a rasm called doodh pillai. Where the groom is given a glass of milk by the brides brother to give him energy or something, and then an inaam is passed on. Its sort of like the joota chuppai rasm, but the proceeds are divided between the guys. As soon as the grooms family started up the stairs to the hall, us 5 cousins setup a roadblock in front of the gate and started the doodh-pillai. Then wanted our loot before we would let them proceed. LoL! felt like a pirate or something right there! haha. We managed to get almost 10k out of them this time, divided among 7 brother-cousins. Then we went on to badger our female cousins as they had managed to get about 7k for the joota chupai divided among 7 sister-cousins. LoL.

After receiving our loot, we let them through, and the nikkah ceremonies started. I kept on the outstirkts of it, since i was delegated the responsibility of being the official greeter. I had to stand at the entrance, smile and welcome everyone who came in. Now that was an experience in itself! Since i knew only about 0.5% of the people who came by name and another 1% of people by face. But had to greet everyone as if i grew up with them as chaddi friends. LoL! oh, and this was also the best place to single out any cool chick i'd wanna be fixing my eyes on in for the rest of the night. hahaha. Sadly though, no one caught it..

After that came the food and the photo-sessions. Food consisted of (and i know suga would be eagerly awaiting this part of the post.. so heres for you suga) Green Chicken, Chicken karhai, Biryani, Seekh Kababs, Fresh nan and taftan. For dessert there was pudding and kulfi. Yummy!

Oh, we also had a live band over there, in addition to the music system! Courtesy of PNS Bahadur Band School, and they were good! theres something really different about having live music, that too with actual (i mean non-electrical) instruments.
The band and the music system alternated after each track, and the effect was awesome!

After dinner, there were more photo sessions, till around 2 AM when finally the rukhsati took place. It started with the bride and groom walking down the pathway, to the phool covered car, surrounded by immediate family. The brother(s) of the bride carry a koran over her head, and all of us alternated in that. Along with that, began the waterworks! First off, the brides sister burst into tears since it was official her sister, with whom shes shared everything, was now leaving. Then her mother followed.... the rest remained strong till she was seated in the car, and they had said good byes, that they allowed tears to flow freely.

Its always a strange feeling at rukhsati, where half the crowd is deliriously happy, since they'll be getting a new family member, while the other side is so sad and depressed since their cherished daughter is leaving.

But the night was not yet over! oh no... someone suggested we go to the brides house for some reason! I still cannot fathom the reason *why*!! So anyway, we all went back to my nanis in the coasters, then from there took our individual cars, and sped off 20 kms away to her susral! Stayed there for 5 minutes top.. i managed to check out what her new room looked like though. That was good. As during the ride, i had to take my car as well.. given its situtation, how could it be that it should've gotten there without incident?! My brother was driving it, and the car gave way half-way though the journey. It was a miracle how he managed to bring it to the susral, but somehow he did, and thats where we left it for the night. Came back home with my mother. More on the post "damn you!!".

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damn you!!

This i say, with my whole heart and soul, to both my mechanic and my car!!! Did i ever mention, its difficult to get a even halfway decent mechanic around here?!!!

Well, okay.. he's not that bad! but when your car keeps breaking down after 12 hours of coming back from the shop.. thats who you'd wanna blame. When i say you, i mean me!

My car has a problem with its generator.. for the non-techies, its the power generating unit inside of your car which supplies electricity to all the rest of it. Then whats the battery for you may ask? The battery is there just for the start-up, after which the generator takes over... Somehow, my generator is producing less energy than the car needs (like i have my own personal KESC here!!!) and hence keeps draining the battery. Therefore, no start-up.. and i have to dhakka start it every once in a while (read while as hour). I sent it off to the mechanic today, to have it fixed, but he informed me that i should replace it, since the old one would break pretty soon anyway, i thougth to myself, what the hell.. lets just replace it! After giving him the go-ahead and authorizing a spend of Rs. 1200, i got a new generator in my car and was pretty pleased at myself.

But for only a short while... i learned that the new generator was somehow faulty, and had to be replaced... no problem, i had a warranty which said it would be replaced if it becomes faulty in a month, and i just had a couple of hours on it.. so the mechanic went back and got a new one... tested it.. and brought the car home. i was so excited to see it.... my baby was back home again! and my mechanic assured me that the new generator was good and would run. I gave him the bill amount, and went off to drop him at the shop.

But, to my dismay, a shock awaited me there. The mechanic said that he'll check the outputs once again, just to make sure its okay... and discovered a problem! The 2nd damn generator wasnt working either!! I needed to have the car today, as i wanted to goto the shadi.. and had errands to run, which would've cost me around atleast rs. 500 if done by taxi.. so i said, i'll run the car on as low as possible, and send it back in the morning. He agreed saying he'll replace the generator with a new one in the morning.

It ran fine till about 8 pm, when i parked it at my nanis to goto the shadi hall. When i came back, thats when hell broke loose! the new damn generator just wouldnt supply electricity even when it was dhakka started. Which meant, no car for me anymore! I got a ride back with my mom in her car, so atleast im back home.. .Right now, its 5 AM in the morning, i just got home a half hour ago, and my car is standing outside a banglow in defence and im really pissed off! Hence no sleep and this post!

There goes a perfectly good sunday, cuz i have to wake up in five hours, take the mechanic to the car, get him to start it up somehow, or tow it back to his shop (around 10 kms away) and pray the third generator works!

p.s. the shadi was today, and it went great! i'll post a detailed account of it next.

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Saturday, July 08, 2006

Unscheduled break..

I so love these unscheduled breaks from work. If you've been following my blog recently, you'll know im having a wedding in the family. What i havent wrote about much is that i didnt get leave from office, so i was stuck with going to the office in the morning, then off to my nanis where the parties are taking place.. then coming home to sleep at 3 or 4 in the morning, and the next day, its the same routine all over again. Needless to say, i started getting pretty zonked out.

After the mehndi, i came to sleep at around 5, and the next morning.. woke up well after 3 PM!! This happens to you sometimes, when your not careful. Well, since i didnt have any important meetings (atleast i hope i didnt. LoL), i decided to sit out the rest of the two hours as well, and messaged my boss that i wasnt coming. Thankgod for SMS! Makes leaving a msg so much simpler.

And then spent the rest of the day, huddled with my laptop in front of me, and the tv going on. Didnt even realize when the clock read 3 AM. Only when i couldnt keep open my eyes any longer did i realize.. oh shit! its time to sleep!!

Another coincidence for me was that i took the leave on a weekend where sat. was also off! Now i've finally come to appreciate the line "long weekend" my father used to say. LoL!!

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The difference between rich and poor countries

I received this presentation though email via the Ponder Alliance group. It basically outlines whats the difference between third world (poor) countries and first, second world (rich) countries and why did they get there.

A very well laid out presentation, takes the view through many facts and finally asks the viewer to "reflect, change and act". This is why i recommend it for all to see.

The presentation can be downloaded from here.

Friday, July 07, 2006

the shadi series #5: mehndi

and it finally came! the mehndi was held yesterday night, and overall.. it was GOOD!!

The day started (for me) at around 6 after i left work. As soon as i was out of the building, i was called up by my mamu asking if the transport that we had arranged for them could be made available by 8 at their place instead of the 8:30 originally decided. I made a few calls... and set it up. Then went over to my nani's where i was immediately put to task to bring my other momani from the parlour (typical shadi work.. being the transporter lol). Then went off to get the transport, and came back prompty at 7:59 with it. But dissapointment awaited me, as people were not ready :@ grr! made me really mad!! anyway, after spending the next hour trying to get everyone ready and out of the house.. we finally made it out and to the hall by 9:15.
And now for another shock... the music guys didnt have a CD player!! and all the dance routines we had prepared were on CDs. Me and two cousins of mine rushed back home to get our own CD player and came back in about half hour with it. Finally got the music running. yaayy!

Then came the rasms... which went on for about an hour or so... with both the bridge and groom having seperate ceremonies. That ended with a variation of the 'dhulay kay jootay chupao' tradition.. our variation being holding the hand of the groom, and demanded money before we released it. Our demands started off at 50k. Their side of the negotiation started from just 5, thats right... Rs 5!!! So the shouting, cajoling and negotiations started and the final figure we came down to was 5k. This we had to take, since we were running out of time. Then came the most anticipated part of the night... the dances!

The grooms side started of with a dandya number with 5 girls. It was good... then we came in with a number to the song "jai jai shiv shankar" which had 6 boys and 6 girls in it. They responded with this really llllooooonnnggggg medley (almost was about 20 minutes) by the end of which we were shouting 'buss karo! jaan choro'. Our next number was a small medley by 6 girl cousins, carried off quite well after 6 days of continous practice... their next number was by a couple... we responded by yet another medley, this time by 4 girls and 4 boys. At this time, dinner was served and it became sort of an during dinner entertainment. There were about 6 more numbers after this, before us cousins finally breaked off for having dinner too.

Note: im sorry this sounds so vague, but i just cannot rem the names of the songs :S. i rem shiv shanker, cuz i was also dancing in it. lol!

Back to the description, dinner was kind of okay. The best part being the chicken korma and fresh nan. Other things on the menu were behari boti, kachoris and pullao. After dinner though... we still werent done with the dances and it continued on till around 2 AM! It was very good and very entertaining with some dances really well thought out. Left the hall around 2:30 AM.

There was this one point which kept coming up, as the difference between both groups. Our side had practiced on coordinated dances while the other side were more focused on dramatizations. We had one rule, that all dances were to be kept decent with not even any small vulgar movements allowed. Their side, however, had no such rule, and their dances included couple dances, huggings and so forth. I think they stopped just short of kissing on stage. A bit too influenced by bollywood i would say. That was the only sour point in the whole affair, atleast from our side.

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Thursday, July 06, 2006

Ad Teaser #6: Grab the Fun

The latest in the teasers in Karachi... "Grab the fun" seems to be a product in the league of softdrinks to me... But lets see what it comes out as.

Any ideas on what it can be?

By the way, Extiinct has also started a post on this teaser over at Karachi Metblogs (click here), so you can check out the comments there as well.

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the shadi series #4: dance prepration - day 3 and 4

Nothing major to write about.. sadly. Except that we're now *not* doing the rangeen dramatization routine... since there are just not that many of us! It required three couples to complete.. and we managed to get only two who were ready for it. So now, thats a bust.

My cousins got their routines right.. i think we've got around 10 routines from our side, and expecting about 10 from the grooms side (thats the cap agreed up, due to time constraints). Started up two new dance routines today as well. One with two girls and one with 5 boys and 5 girls on 'dholi taro'. Im so bad at remembering the names of the songs!!!

We had the perfect day today.. it rained a little. I've blogged about it on KMB, so read it up there. However, my mood went down the dump today after the rain... since theres this girl (when isnt there... LoL), a friend of the cousin getting married, who for some reason.. TOTALLY ignores me! Its not that i wanna get to know her or anything.. but it gets to me as to why she does that!! But anyway, its just three more functions, then i prolly wont be seeing much of her anyway... so to hell with that. Oh, and sleep depravation finally caught up with me i guess.. hence my crappy mood.

Tomorrows the mehndi! yippee! Stay tuned for post #5 of this series....

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scratching away...

I hate having 'garmi danas' :( they make me so damn irritable! I've agian got them since yesterday.. and been scratching my back with any/everything i can. Including door posts, a ruler and most recently against my sofa!!

aaarrgghh! even prickly heat isnt working !! what am i to do!! i need to move to a cooler climate... alaska.. or maybe even siberia! anything to get away from this incessant itching!

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Tuesday, July 04, 2006

the shadi series #3: milad / mayon / ghazal nite

We celebrated the mayon rasm of my cousin K on the 2nd of this month. For the uninitiated, mayon is a rasm in which the prospective dulhan is rubbed with ubtan by all the ladies in the house and given duas. After this time, till the mehndi, the prospective bride is supposed to be her holiest period when she should pray for the good life after her marriage and husband. It is said that any dua a girl in mayon does is instantly granted! (I gave her a whole list of my dua's. LoL). Also, the bride is not supposed to come under the open sky, less she be tainted by the evil spirits which lurk around. Now various families have different rituals, where they keep the bride away from all male contact, some even keep her away from any human contact an so forth. Ours is a bit open, so she was only not allowed to come under the open sky, other things were open.

After the mayon rasm, we had dinner which was followed by a Ghazal evening organized by my mamoo's. The singer, Rabia Kanwal, was pretty good and some of the ghazals were pretty hard hitting. There was also a dhamal which incited lots of dancing!. The ghazal came to an end around 2 AM.. after which us cousins decided to go on for a dance nite till the wee hours of the morning! It was so much fun.. with the whole family being pulled into the dance (free stlye bhangra). I came baq home at around 4 AM that night! Overall, it was good!

Stay tuned for the next post.... Dance preparation - day 3.

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the shadi series #2: dance preparation - day 1 & 2

One of the biggest deals in marriage ceremonies in our family are the dance sequences at the time of mehndi. Also one of the most fun parts of the marriage (for the young lot) dance practices receive a lot of attention and is usually done with style.

But there's a problem.... we dont know how to dance!?! just cant seem to make the moves, or even copy the ones we see on the various award shows etc. So wht to do now? On our side, we seeked salvation with a friend 'S' of my younger cousin U. (In no time, im gonna make an alphabet soup with all these references. LoL). Now this friend is also a controversial figure, as my cousin is really into her (and vice versa), the family knows about her relation with my cousin, but is giving a blind eye to it, due to the shaid. Wonder what'll happen after it. Anyway, she comes in, with videos of previous mehndis, and starts instructing my cousins on the various dance moves. Although this girl is a good dancer, she is unfortunately, not a good teacher (as we've come to realize only later). So its been three days, and we're still trying to figure out what to do... the day ends with practicing on 4 to 5 songs, the steps to which keep changing after every iteration.

Now on to day 2, one day after the mayon and two days before the actual mehndi, two new girls were called in (daughters of family friends of one of my mamoo), Now these two know how to dance! its a pity they hadnt been called earlier. The practice continued for about three hours, with the new girls giving vital input, and making the dance a little more fun to watch. Routines were practiced over and over... but yet.. no coordination could be found within the dancers. The problem, in my opinion, was that the dancers were more interested in having the music as loud as possible, and each trying to figure out on their own (without any visual or verbal cues) which moves to do next.... i tried putting a little sense in them, but they wouldnt listen, so they were on their own from there on in. My mom n a cousin then started preparing for their routine (which i had the pleasure to coach) and within 10 minutes, they had almost perfected it. (I was commended as being a good dance instructor.. yippee). Now waiting for day three.. when 6 of us will prepare a routine on Rangeen by Ali Zafar (the only local song in the whole program), which we plan, on making the high point of the whole function. I will be participating as well as coaching on it and intend to make it as good as i can. Wish i could post pictures, but since its a family thing.... i am bound.

Stay tuned for the next posts... #3 - Mayon and #4 - Dance Prepartion - Day 3!

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Sunday, July 02, 2006

the shadi series: jehz

a cousin of mine (lets call her K) is about to get married. Yayy! im really happy for her and her fiance and hope good things come their way.

This is a new series i'll be doing writing on how the whole experience is going. Im a little late here, since the experience started off with the rishta followed by mangni followed by setting the dates followed by selecting the shadi venues followed by the dates and finally the cards. That part, i may write up on later.. but now.. lets start with whats on hand.

Jehz!! Dowry! Every daughters dream and a fathers nightmare(?). Even though im very against the whole dowry system (and thank goodness my mom is with me) each family does have its own traditions regarding it. For K's parents, it was all they thought about during the last couple of decades apparently. Even K's nani was amassing a collection to send her off with on her wedding day as well ever since K was born. This i found out while we were packing up the stuff and the related stories about each item came up.

I was called in to assist in packing, transfer and very soon setup of the dowry from K's mehka to her susral. Heres an (approx) list of what it consists off (apart from jewellery)..

Television set, DVD player, microwave oven, toaster oven, hostess tray, kitchen utensils, 5 dinner sets (4 were imported), juicers/blenders and such, bedroom set (double bed, side tables, cupboard, dressing table).. and about 5 suitcases full of clothes, shoes and other necessities.

It took us about 5 hours to pack it all up.. and a pickup truck to transport it.. there was so much of it. Now im sure you must be thinking, dowrys nowadays consist of cars and banglows and such... but mine is a middle-class family, and in our circles, this is considered the height.

Even though to me, it looked like a waste... since i think the basic necessities of life are supposed to be provided by the husband and not the father.. yet, i have no objections if they wish to do it for their daughter.

Now the next task is to go and set it all up at the susral. Stay tuned for "protocol for celebrating the fiances birthday" followed by "mehndi preparation: dance sequences"

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Saturday, July 01, 2006

Advertising on the move

This new(?) concept in advertising is hitting the streets of karachi with fervor. Huge billboards, on the backs of trucks being carried around the major streets. To date, i've seen this one for Sprite and one more which i think belongs to some electronic appliances company (forgot the name).

Personally though, i dont think they're that useful.. but u never know.

The only thing we lack now (in comparision from lahore) are people wearing costumes and carrying picket signs/etc on the city streets.

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eviction notice

Today, we were 'served' with an eviction notice to vacate the house we've lived in for the last 6 years. Its been "approved for demolition" and no longer considered safe to live in. So now, we'll be moving to another place, setting that up and start living in it till the next shift. Bye bye wonderful community... i'll miss you.

Now a little background.. im from a military family. There... thats the background. Haha. So anyway, we live in whatever accomodation allotted to us for the time being, depending upon where my father is posted.

Being from the military.... home doesnt have the same permanence for 'us' as it does for a lot of other people out there.. We cant make long term plans on decorating the place... you never know when you'll shift out.. There's no alterations you can do.. no enchancements (like adding a new room.. retiling the bathroom, etc), no personalization (coloring your room in a color you like.. and such).

My room consists of one wall-mounted study table, and a mattress on the floor. Thats about the whole 'furniture' in there... when i see other friends of mine doing 'creative' work with their places, or making modifications.. it always gets to me. Like this one friend did his room in a full blue theme and it looks WOW! my room.. its offwhite :(

The shifting program always reminds me of the the saying "home is where the heart is". In my case.. wherever the military thinks its suitable. LoL!

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