Durrani Blogs

The "Dirty" Khan

2011-11-16T00:07:00.001+05:00

Ever since Imran Khan pulled the crowd to his October 30 rally, it seems that everyone is taking sides. While taking sides, his critics are trying to be critical at everything. Everything from his party to the family has come under the spotlight. His scandalous past along with his marriage and present family life is questioned. While one half of the critics criticize his aloofness with his party affairs, there is an another half which hellbent to show Khan in bad light.

Indeed, Khan has nothing but been scandalous in his youth, but is it too hard to accept that to err is human and one grows up over the years. It is about time that we separate the wheat from the chaff. Khan's frivolity during the epitome of his youth is not something that would disturb the matters of governance. It should be taken as a blessing that everything about Khan is almost black and white.

The matter that gets the most eyebrows raised is Jemima's association with Imran Khan. For this, let us travel back to 1995 when Khan married Jemima. Jemima was (and perhaps, still is) a Muslim when she married Khan. She readily moved to Pakistan and lived here for almost a decade. During her almost decade long stay in Pakistan, she tried her best to adjust into the society. In her public appearances, she was usually seen in Shalwar Kameez. She actively participated in the activities for Shaukut Khanum Memorial Hospital. Due to her efforts, Diana the Princess of Wales visited Pakistan twice. With Khan, she bore two sons: Sulaiman Isa and Kasim, both are now in London with their mother. During the 2010 floods, she took an active part in gathering funds from all over Europe. On various occasions, she has spoken against the American drone attacks. The sudden divorce in 2004 did raise some controversy, but for a woman who considers Pakistan her second home, we should all think before we speak.

Over the years, due to her philanthropic and journalistic work for different organizations, Jemima has garnered the respect of the British media. She had been the Associate Editor for The Independent, and currently is the Editor-at-Large for the European Vogue and the Associate Editor for the New Statesman. In 2008, she was given the right to interview former president General Pervez Musharraf on the eve of the elections. Her recent visit to Pakistan was perhaps more of a professional nature. It should not to be taken in different light.

One more matter that is always raised is about Khan's children who unlike their father live in Britain. It should be noted that sometimes a leader has to make sacrifices in to make headway for his followers. The divorce between Khan and Jemima occurred because Khan did not have enough time for the family. He wanted to focus on his political career. It is better for the children that they stay with their mom. Jemima being a British woman preferred her home country over Pakistan after her divorce. As Khan thought the boys would do better with their mom, he let them go. But be assured that Khan's boys would be far better than some of the other foreign living descendants of our famous political families. Furthermore, I do not see that Khan would let his boys have it easy. He would make his boys work if they wish to become anything popular like himself. Furthermore, he regularly visits them especially in the presence of their mom. Jemima, on the other hand, is upbringing the boys as Muslim (as far as I know).

Khan and his family is not your average political dynasty and the chances of them become into one is fairly less. Playing around on these cards would not benefit anyone. Only time would tell when the great Khan will get his turn but his critics, especially those who are politically backed, should speak with a note of caution. Criticizing him on these trivial lines only makes them look immature.

With Nusrat Bhutto dies the People's Party

2011-10-24T11:15:00.001+05:00

Nusrat Bhutto, former First Lady and mother of Benazir Bhutto, died yesterday in Dubai at the age of 82.

Like Zardari, Nusrat had to step into politics when her spouse died, but unlike him, she kept the party together. For almost a decade, she kept the legacy of Zulfikar Bhutto going in letter and spirit. Though her life with Zulfikar was not a bed of roses, she stayed behind her man and kept her appearances. She hid her emotional scars—as well as the ones she received from her abusive husband—gracefully. She held so many tears back.

After the death of Zulfikar Bhutto, she took the reins of the party and prepared it as a potent democratic power. Born in Iran, it could have been easier for her to leave but she stayed. She stayed because she knew that the ideology that her husband gave was a sacred trust for the people of his country. She feared less and strives harder. She marched along against the military dictator, General Zia-ul-Haq. She got both the leftists and rightists talking about democracy. She became a force to be reckoned with. Sadly, she got nothing but grief. In her life, she witnessed four deaths; one difficult than the other. Till this very day, the murders of her son, Murtaza and her daughter, Benazir, have not been arrested. She was almost forgotten too till the very afternoon when she died. The actual Bhutto family received the information from the television reports.

The party she handed over to her daughter was her blood, sweat, and tears. Sadly, her hard work is now going to waste. The People's Party where it stands today was not the one she aspired to be. She was known for her close relation with her workers. She used to bread bread with them. The present situation is far bleak; the party is getting distant from the good influences of her time.

Later today, her body will be flown to Larkana. She will get buried in Ghari Khuda Baksh. However, with her body, the People's Party—of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto—will also be laid to rest.

September 11: Ten Years Later

2011-09-11T20:08:00.000+05:00

It was a usual September evening; hot and humid. My mother and sisters were getting ready to visit a book-fair, and I was going with them. Around 0530pm, I saw the ad of the New York Stock Exchange,and thought life never stops there. Rain or shine, the city of New York just continues. I wondered if I would ever see it in my lifetime unless something awful happens there like an airplane crash.

Minutes later, the BBC interupted its regular programming for a developing story. The news anchor said that an airplane crashed into the World Trade Center. My mother sat down with me to watch the news. And, our trip to the book-fair was called off. My mother did not have the heart to go. The event that unfolded before our eyes was simply dreadful.

Ten years forward, I work for a company associated with that book-fair. A lot has changed, but yet a lot is not fixed.

ZulfiLeaks: Pot, Kettle, Ghairat!

2011-08-29T03:54:00.003+05:00

Whatever Zulfiqar Mirza said today was almost similar to something that I said to a friend who is an ardent MQM supporter, some days back. However, trusting Zulfiqar Mirza's word on this would not be a smart move.

Courtesy: pyfpakistan on YouTube

In the video, the anchor Naseem Zehra reads a excerpt from one of Zulfiqar Mirza's speech. In the excerpt, it is said:

"We wanted to break Pakistan, we were against Pakistan. ... If Mr. Asif Ali Zardari would have not chanted the slogan of Pakistan Khappay (Stays), then we would have left Naudero and would have chanted the slogan of Pakistan Na-Khappay (Stays Not)..."

Upon which Mirza replies that his quote is taken out of context, and he apologizes. This kind of reasoning is nothing new, especially for Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leaders.

ZulfiLeaks: First Peceptions

2011-08-28T20:19:00.000+05:00

Like it or not, Zulfiqar Mirza is officially the Grinch. Thanks to him, Eid may be a horrible event.

I might shed a light on his "resignation" speech, sometime later but one thing I can see clearly that he looked provoked. Why Mirza reached to such a drastic step? One can only guess. As far I can analyze, there are three possibilities.

First, we all know how Zulfiqar Mirza clings to Lyari and considers himself to be their savior. The surgical operation around Karachi are being done on the orders of Senator Rehman Malik. Earlier this week, it was Mirza who reminded Malik that Malik was made Senator from a Sindhi seat even though he is a resident of Sialkot. This whole event unfolded before the Prime Minister's eyes. Last night, as Mirza was in Badin, Malik took the chance and conducted the operation. 80 people were arrested and torture cells were unveiled. Hence, there was a fallout on Rehman.

Second, starting this Monday, the Supreme Court of Pakistan will start hearings related to Karachi violence. It is common that there is blood on everyone's hand. However, this whole debacle will cost PPP a lot. It needed someone to save their face. Zulfiqar Mirza is the perfect candidate. The amount of revelations made in his press conference shows that the pointing game has been taken to a new level.

Third, Mirza has been in the flood-hit area of Badin last night. Badin is supposed to be his hometown, and it has been affected by a flood since the middle of the month. While his hometown was drowning, Mirza was in Karachi tongue-lashing. His last night visit to Badin might have made him see the writing on the wall. Due to mishandling of the floods by their elected representatives, people in Sindh are now looking towards newer options. Mirza's presence in Karachi rather in Badin might have hurt his followers. This might be spelling doom not only for himself but his party as well. This resignation might be an attempt to renew his losing political power in the area. Moreover, the recent strike by MQM was observed in the areas of Interior Sindh, especially in Nawabshah, the hometown of Zardari.

All in all, this will end up in more bloodshed. Good thing, I did not buy new clothes for Eid. Who wants to celebrate when your hometown is burning?

WeakyLeaks?

2011-08-24T03:42:00.001+05:00

Scottish novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott once wrote:

Oh! what a tangled web we weave
When first we practise to deceive!

The quote may not be very appropriate for the topic I am going to write on, but somehow, I feel deceived. Last year, in November, WikiLeaks, the whistle-blowing website, revealed a hefty load of information from U.S. Diplomatic Cables – popularly known as "Cablegate." These cables hold a lot of candid information, and a considerable amount of it was quite new. This release of information made the U.S. insecure. Intellectuals around the world were amazed by this revelation. Julian Assange became a worldwide sensation. it was considered that the U.S. would be in a lot of trouble after this event, however, it seems that nothing happened.

Almost nine months after the "Cablegate," it seems that a lot of the information revealed in these cables, somehow, resulted into events. I know that I would be called a "conspiracy theorists." However, the release of information and the event afterwards seemed so coordinated at times that it does nothing but fuels the fire of curiosity and suspicion.

When the first releases were made public to the media back in November, one of the most obvious ones was about Gaddafi and his "voluptuous blonde." The world raised an eye-brow over it. In February 2011, after the fall of regimes in Egypt and Tunisia occurred, the people of Libya started a movement against thier leader, Col. Muammar Gaddafi. Due to the stubborn attitude of Gaddafi, a war broke out. In the last week of the same month, the "voluptuous blonde" named Galyna Kolotnytska left Libya and returned home. She spoke about Gaddafi in the high regards. However, till this day, I cannot decipher the reason of bring this particular women in the scene. It is common knowledge that Gaddafi has an army of 40 virgin women protecting him but why a foreign nurse had to be pulled in. Furthermore, the stress on the word "voluptuous" is more than ordinary. Maybe, it is a case of "sex sells."

Moving on, in the last week of April this year, WikiLeaks released the Gitmo Papers. It was then reported that Khalid Muhammad Skeikh, one of the detainees and a senior at al-Qaeda, said that the death of Osama bin Laden will result in a "nuclear hellstorm." Almost a week later, on May 2, the U.S. Navy Seals fly into Abbottabad, Pakistan and killed Osama bin Laden who was living in a mansion almost a kilometer away from Kakul Military Base. Readily, questions about "nuclear safety" were risen. This month, almost all of the Navy Seals involved in the mission were killed by a missile shot by a Taliban soldier. Days later, the Taliban soldier was killed by the U.S. Army. This coordination is far too amazing to be left unnoticed.

In May this year, DAWN and WikiLeaks brought out the "Pakistan Papers"; the diplomatic cables related to Pakistan. In this revelation, there is one very peculiar. Filed under the Reference ID 09KARACHI138, and titled as Sindh – Gangs of Karachi, the Counsel General Stephen Fakan wrote in 2009 about the Gangs in Karachi in which he asserts that the police is outnumbered. In his report, he gives elaborate details about the gangs. Come August, the situation becomes quite like the one he has reported. The police looks out-numbered and powerless while tackling the Karachi unrest.

The way the information is presented is somehow amazing. These cables look as if they were constructed to benefit someone. Much to my surprise, these cables have done nothing for the world. It made the whole unsafe as well as opened new war-fronts, not one real-time but also online. The assumed affected, i.e. the U.S. Government, is not affected at all. Many a time, it looks as if WikiLeaks have benefited the superpower. I guess it might not be so leaky after all.

Let there be sobbing!

2011-08-15T18:55:00.002+05:00

First, this video:

Courtesy: Zohaibji0 on Dailymotion

And then its response:

Courtesy: thedaxxling on YouTube

Oh! Sob, sob. "Dr." Amir "Tunni" Liaquat Ali is in controversy – again, and I rolled my eyes again. Mute the first video and see the mouth diarrhea happening. It is evident that the "Tunni" is guilty of his doings, and he claims in the second video that he did insulted certain Islamic personalities accidentally. However, there is more than that meets the eye in these videos.

Mooning Around!

2011-08-01T19:53:00.004+05:00

Pardon my language but every year there are two occasions when it gets as embarrassing as having your pants pulled down. The two moons (no pun intended) of Ramadan and Shawal have been controversial for decades, and it seems never-ending.

Every year, in the areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan, a controversy arises that whose moon is more accurate: the one of the local Maulvi or the one sighted by the government-appointed Maulvi? The practice was less exposed in the 1990s but as the electronic media grew in the last decade, the "divide" has become more evident than ever.

One with a million!

2011-07-30T00:54:00.055+05:00

Well well well, someone is not happy after all that posing. Pakistan's new foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar does not like to called "Fashion Icon" as reported by the Indian newspaper, The Hindu. However, she has no one to blame except herself. Ever since her nomination was announced, there have been discussions about Hina Rabbani Khar. Her credentials, though impressive, have been blown out of proportions. Time and again, it is reminded that she is a foreign graduate – a creature higher than local graduates. Her first trip after holding the office was to India, and ever since, she has landed she has been catching the eye.

Dressed in seemingly simple clothes, Khar has simply loaded her with accessories. You name it and she's got it. Limited edition bags and expensive shoes, she even owns South Sea pearl jewelry. For a safe estimate, only her shoes are almost worth a full-year salary of a daily wager in Pakistan. Who knows? These shoes are really made for walking.

Nonetheless, the argument behind it is that they are personal possession. However, let's not forget that this is no joyride. One can strut her stuff when she is on a personal trip, but this is business. She is on a state visit to India where she is representing a country which is still recovering from the floods that hit last year – one of worst natural disaster in the recorded history.

So much for her credentials – and the aura of being a foreign graduate – as she fails and fall flat on her face – with her Jimmy Choos – when it came to representing her people. I thought that foreign graduates knew how to make better impressions for their client but this is a failure. Her bad choice of accessorizing herself shows that Pakistani leadership live in a world entirely different from the one their public lives in. The aftermath of her actions are best put in a headline by The Guardian:

Pakistan foreign minister bags attention on India trip

That pretty much sums it all up. By the way Ms. Khar, are those Jimmy Choos good at tossing around?

Bilawal may (or may not)... stay tuned!

2011-07-28T01:24:00.004+05:00

Time to toss a shoe or two as it seems that Pakistan People's Party (PPP) likes it that way. While it had been a ongoing nightmare to live in Karachi, the world's most populous city, because the law and order torpedoed as soon as "frenemies" aka MQM left the Government. Zardari gloated something about his boy wonder Bilawal:

"Bilawal is your future MNA and despite being away he is keenly monitoring developments in Lyari."

As reported by Dawn, the co-chairman of PPP Asif Ali Zardari, who happens to be the President, has asked National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) to tailor-make an "interactive program" as his name-changing son would like to "track events and developments of the area." Why cause such distress "Mr. President" when this can be done with the thugs who carry out "your orders" so effectively? How about buying you ask your little champ to read some Urdu newspapers? Bilawal cannot even survive a day in Defence, let alone in Lyari. The place is filled with gangs which are busy in their turf wars.

However, like everything PPP, a denial has to come. In response to his father's promise, Bilawal tweeted (mind you from London):

"took my first breath in lyari. special place in my heart for lyari. want so much more 4 lyari. still not running in next election."

Just like last year, when daddy dearest was out frolicking and scotching in France and United Kingdom, and promised that his son will "launch" his political career, Bilawal stepped back from the plan on the last minute and rather started a fund-raising movement for the flood victims.

It kind of shows that Bilawal might never be interested in the pie that is Pakistani politics. Never after the death of his mother, he has shown a keen interest in the country's affair. Yes, there have been a speech here, a conference there but there has never been direct interaction with the people, like the one his mother and his grandfather were famous for. A son, whose father stays near the sea and slaughters black goats for his life's longetivity, would need a lion's heart if he does the election process properly. If his father thinks that Bilawal can be jetted inside Pakistan then he should think it again. Not visible yet but very soon, we might see real competition for Zardari Jr. Young Pakistanis are now waking up to the fact that they need to play a part in their country's politics.

But then again, Lyari might not be a bad choice. With nightclubs, pubs, drugs, and sluts (male or female) available in the area, Bilawal might not notice any difference.

Time to fix Kashmir

2011-07-14T02:47:00.002+05:00

This Monday, the Senior Legal Coordinator of my company said:

"Jo roti aj kal apko saath rupay ki milti hai, woh sub Kashmir ki wajah se hai." (The bread that you get for seven rupees these days is all because of Kashmir.)

Two days later, triple "terrorists" bombings in Mumbai killed twenty and injured several. By tomorrow morning, India will be pointing fingers on Pakistan for the trouble without any proper investigation. The accusation of "India being manhandled" would be talk of their media. However, no solid efforts would be made to reduce tensions.

Like it or not, Kashmir has been a bone of contention between the both of countries for almost six and a half decades. The countries spend exuberantly on their military forces only to keep "peace" intact. The problem has pushed both countries into wars and war-like situation, in almost every decade. Whilst the money goes to "peacekeeping", the poor of both countries are denied of their basic education and healthcare rights. India while being bigger is managing a bit better but the same could not be said for Pakistan.

An amicable solution to Kashmir will surely help both the nations. It will free up the reserves that are being used by the military forces of both the nations. It will make things better for the peoples living in both the countries. It will pave the way for better economic and cultural ties, and competition would more to better things than war. A majority of terrorism related issues will also be solved, especially for Pakistan where hardliners see Kashmir as a shortcut to heaven. A solution to Kashmir can be bring much needed peace in the region.

Here I would also like assert a point that Kashmiris (I presume that they are in their third generation) are now fighting for separation rather than being annexed to Pakistan. Furthermore, over the last decade, a lot of Pakistan have accustomed the idea of a separate Kashmir than it being a part of their country. And, a separate Kashmir would be as much beneficial as it being a part of Pakistan. Kashmir is a land-locked territory. The industries that would develop in this region would require seaports to ship there goods. The closest port for Kashmiri industries would definitely be the one in Karachi. Furthermore, a peaceful Kashmir would have the chance to get bigger investments from the neighboring China and India. The access for India to the markets in Central Asia and Afghanistan would be easier too. These might be the few apparent positive outlooks of a separate sovereign republic in Kashmir.

However, the status quo from the Indian side is a big hindrance. India needs to come of the delusion that it could benefit from Kashmir by keeping it occupied. It needs to do a little soul-searching and should give it away for the benefit of its people and the people of this region. Together, the republics in Pakistan, India and Kashmir would be far better than it being hanging in the balance between the two military.

But then again, what the military forces would do without Kashmir. Sit idle? All in all, time to rethink, reassess and fix this situation before it gets out of hand.

We do not only need better leaders.

2011-06-18T02:03:00.002+05:00

We need better teachers as well.

Recently, I was going through a preface for one of the upcoming books. In the preface, one of the co-authors acknowledges her teachers and writes:

They believed in their students.

I wish I could quote the whole thing here but as the book is unpublished, it would be unethical. But in its essence, this one simple line says a lot. Quite unusually, it tells you about the society as well. As the time passed, good teachers faded. The quality of teaching has gone down in the country. The once supposed quality of private education is going downhill faster than ever. More and more teachers are teaching subjects that they have not specialized. Furthermore, special education is under severe neglect.

As more and more teachers are not specialized trainers in their respective subjects, they turn to teachers' manual for help. I have personal experiences where teachers have demanded for the teachers' manual as they do not have a clue about the "right answers". Quite regularly, teachers dictate or "enforce" the answer from these manuals on the students. These answers are often considered as "benchmarks" by their student which are learned by them through rote-learning. This effectively kills the creativity of the students. When teachers do not believe in their own ability to tackle problems or plan lessons, they cannot extend the privilege of "being believed in" to the students. This totally destroys the learning curve.

The fun in learning lies in the "believing in" part where a teacher allows its student to make mistakes. This trial and error exercise effectively enhances the brain power of the student, making him or her to think and analyze. When an answer is forced upon the students, their minds stop to question information, and the cognitive process comes to a halt. A country filled with such students leads to doom. Indoctrination is thrn easy and mind strays very conveniently into the hands of evil. The beauty of human mind is to think, to ponder, to inquire but current-day teachers are not helping it to function that way.

In order to fix this issue, an urgent attention is required to be given on teachers' education. Neglecting the training of a teacher is one of the sin that we are committing out of our folly and ignorance. We need to quickly and very swiftly inculcate confidence in our teachers before it gets too late. This can be effectively done during the period of annual vacations. Schools need to take initiative as the responsibility of quality education lies on their shoulders. This pressing issue needs to resolved before DOOM is spelled out for us.

Cola is cheap and dangerous!

2011-06-17T04:38:00.008+05:00

Well. This is what happens when you drink too much soft-drinks. The caffeine gets to your head, and the sugar gives you a rush, making you end up writing or doing things that you never should. On June 16, 2011, Sharmila Farooqi's opinion article, A Look at the Budget 2011-12, was printed in Express Tribune -- not a surprise there as only Express Tribune would print such frivolous nonsense.

In her attempt to impress everyone, Ms. Farooqi writes:

When the budget for 2010-2011 was prepared, the price of oil was expected to be in the range of $70-75 per barrel but rose to $125 per barrel during the year.

Upon her statement, a person named "dextor" rightly said:

If you cannot forsee the prices of oil then you does not deserve to rule or make budget. If you cannot foresee the future requirements then how could you rule.

And, I think that person has a point. While you are governing, you cannot excuses. Governments are required to be prepared for any fall-outs. The sudden oil-price hike is not something new, and is sometime forecast-able if the Government would have kept an able financial forecasting team as well as consulted people that work on these subjects.

She does not stop there and tries to mention one supposed achievement which is "Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP)". She writes:

... The Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) has received widespread acceptance from development partners. It uses technology so that the possibilities of corruption are limited. This year, the government spent Rs35 billion for providing a monthly stipend of Rs1,000 to low-income households and next year this amount will increase to at least Rs50 billion. If additional resources are available, this amount may be increased to Rs65 billion.

ohreally? I wish Ms. Farooqi and her party should take heed from this Chinese proverb:

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

We indeed have a very smart friends but alas, it seems that Pakistan Peoples Party is too hard-headed to take notice that. BISP is only feeding the fire of the poverty. As a student of business management, I know that a thing or two about the economy. All modern economists agree that cash handouts would never feed the country. They drain the economy unnecessarily while making people more depended on its government. The money on BISP and Sasti Roti Program (Inexpensive Bread Program) will never yield results. These program are a burden on an already sick economy. This money has better uses in the sectors of education and infrastructural development. It should be noted that HEC, the educational board that runs and regulates universities in the country, has been given Rs.10 billion less than the previous year.

In the end, Ms. Farooqi ends her article with the following lines:

It does not care about the propaganda campaign started by the PML-N, which was evident during the budget session. Rather, it believes in constructive criticism.

Clearly, Ms. Farooqi is a deluded women. She and her party has to come out of the perception that it is a "People's Government." Ever since, the PPP came into power it has not released any poverty number and neither it has released any tax numbers of the influential people that are a part of the National Assembly. Criticism of all sorts have been thrown at them and at the opposition, but it seems nobody is serious about the economy. The antics played by PML-N during the Federal budget were paid back by her party during the Punjab budget session where PML-N is in the power.

The current budget may look rosy on one side as it reduces tax and duties on certain items but it is also noteworthy that it does not talk about any solid austerity measures. It apparently looks like the government has planned the budget while keeping in mind the price hike of Ramadan. Strangely, luxury is cheaper than common commodity. In a country where bread is getting expensive, the government's priority was to make cola drinks cheaper. It cannot get more bubbly than this, perhaps.

With Neighbors Like These, Who Needs Enemies?

2011-06-14T00:16:00.005+05:00

Pakistan and India has a hate-and-love relationship. It stays cool and then it gets cold. In seemingly the past six and a half decades, both neighbors have tried endlessly to make peace but it gets destroyed every now and then. But as of late, it is seen that India likes to jump on the wagon on every issue related to Pakistan. Be it any issue of any importance, Indian media has a lot to reveal. Recently, Mohammed Hanif, the author of the novel A Case of Exploding Mangoes, gave an interview to the Economic Times where he gave a piece of advice that India needs to take heed of. Here is an extract from the interview:

ET: What should Pakistan's neighbours do to help?

MH: Learn to shut up at critical moments. Stop gloating ...

Indeed. The undue tongue-lashing that has been going from India, for decades, needs to be curtailed. The kind of talk that Indian government and its media does, only fuels the fire between the two countries.

Piece of Cake?

2011-05-07T03:59:00.002+05:00

On Monday, May 2, 2011 at 0745am, President Obama annnounces the death of Osama bin Laden in his late-night speech to his nation. He said:

"Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body."

On Tuesday, May 3 2011, DAWN which is the largest English newspaper in Pakistan, publishes a piece from Reuters about the operation that took place in Abbottabad on May 2nd 2011. The following is an extract from that report:

"'They (Pakistani officials) are expressing as great a surprise as we had when we first learned about this compound, so there is no indication at this point that the people we have talked to were aware of this, but we need to dig deeper into this,' White House counterterrorism chief John Brennan said in an interview with National Public Radio."

Rather than addressing his nation at this crucial moment, Asif Ali Zardari (not going to call him President from this day onwards) uses all of his language skills and vocabulary to write an op-ed piece for the Washington Post in which he said:

"He was not anywhere we had anticipated he would be, but now he is gone.

"Although the events of Sunday were not a joint operation, a decade of cooperation and partnership between the United States and Pakistan led up to the elimination of Osama bin Laden as a continuing threat to the civilized world."

Furthermore, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani rushed to France for three-day official trip. During his trip, Gilani addressed a gathering of business leaders where he exclaimed:

“Certainly, we have intelligence failure of the rest of the world including the United States. There is intelligence failure of the whole world, not Pakistan alone.”

Spot on! Had I been in that gathering, I would have presented a pair of shoes to Mr. Gilani for a such statement. Maybe the cake got into his head because only a soft-headed person could have said something like this. It seems that Pakistani civil leadership has other things on the mind. The Prime Minister takes a joy ride to France and achieves nothing whereas "the President" does not find the words to talk with his people but finds the time to jot down an opinion column for Washington Post. What this situation leaves the public in confusion.

What a waste of TIME!

2011-04-21T22:53:00.001+05:00

The TIME 100 list of Most Influential People in the World is out. This year, rather than honoring our Army Cheif Gen. Pervez Kiyani, TIME has honored the Intelligence Chief Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha. Now, that is what we call a class example of narrow-mindedness and self-serving attitude. The write-up for Pasha was written by Michael Hayden, a former CIA director. In his write-up, Hayden has portrayed Pasha as a cause of all troubles in the South Asia. The article of Hayden is also a nice example of bigotry - in his open lines, he ran Pasha down the mud and in the ending lines, anticipating him to play "nice". Having Lt. Gen. Pasha in that list is no matter of honor. It shows that the centers of influence in American cannot see anything other than their ongoing 'constipation' aka The War of Terror. Later this year, a decade would end for the war in Afghanistan but it seems that the war will never end. The war would have been won if Bush would have not meddled with Iraq. Waging two 'genocidal' wars not only destabilized the region but his act of cleansing out the evil-doers backfired. Furthermore, the war against terror has turned into the war feeding terror as the most causalities in this war have never been Americans, they have been Pakistani. Our public and government is considered 'a partner' but it never shows like that in the American media. The American media is been fairly unbiased and unfriendly in this whole blood game of war.

On the flip side, the question arises that are we producing influential leaders or not. My answer to this is "Yes" and "No". Pakistan has its share of its good influence. We have examples like Edhi who helps people not only in his country but also outside Pakistan. We have the example of Imran Khan who energized the much required relief efforts in Pakistan and prohibited to make much of an political issue out of it. We have the example of Shahid Afridi who united the country, locally and internationally, and brought the cricket team back into the semi-final against arch-nemesis India and even after losing against India, he handled defeat. Thanks to Mr. Afridi, there is more cricket on the streets and on the grounds more than ever. How about mentioning Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi along with Rohan Bopanna? Both of the guys showed a perfect example of co-existential harmony. Sadly, nobody will see these in these lights because us Pakistanis would like to talk about the good we have. Indeed, Pakistan is a troubled country but it still has the pocket of goodness. The reason of I said "No" because not a single write-up has been written by a Pakistani in the TIME 100. If music producer like B.O.B can write a appraising piece for Bruno Mars, why can't we? Surely we would have better example and TIME would not have to include Justin Bieber and Blake Lively in the list for the sake of 'influence'.

Express all you want but the News is that it never DAWNed upon you that the real name is TRIBUNE.

2011-04-21T01:44:00.008+05:00

One year ago, Pakistani English newspaper scene became suddenly different when Express Tribune entered. The promise was good and it had weight. Coupled with the esteemed International Herald Tribune, the paper made a lot of sense. However, as the time passed, the paper just became empty content-wise. Celebrities were writing op-eds about why they should be burgers. George ka Pakistan gave all his critique but never gave any solutions. Very few of Express Tribune op-ed writers give very honest advice to solve problems. Other than that, it has opinions for the sake of having opinions.

The second week of April was the celebratory week for Express Tribune. A celebratory supplement was released and a separate section was given on the website for this very purpose. But, in all honesty, Express Tribune were not humble. Rather than reflecting on what they have achieved, they were getting a bit too full of themselves. While getting full of yourself is not a major sin but loosing track of your reality is tradegic. On their website, the section of Jobs next to Anniversary has not been updated for quite a while; as I have observed, there have been no entries since April 8th.

Drama kar kay GEO!

2011-04-20T03:32:00.004+05:00

Just like the Fukushima nuclear plant, Pakistan is just so unstable these days. The economy is failing, the governance is bad and people die every day. Everything is such a mess and it is all government's fault because we were pious enough as we do not vote properly. And then when we thought, we had a chance in the game of cricket. We found out that they "sold" us. And to top it all, GEO Super was "closed" followed by AAG TV. Haye! Pakistan ka ab kia hoga!

Yes, two weeks ago, Pakistan suffered a mini-apocalypse of epic proportions. GEO Super was "closed" and all hell broke loose. It was as if the whole moral fiber of our society just dissolved. From humans, we have turned into animals or maybe aliens. GEO Super was the reason why we played sports. Did we? Bolo, jawab do. Give a license. Sign a petition. Kuch karo!

And if that seemed not enough, then the poor, very innocent AAG TV, the NAUJAWANO ka channel (channel for the YOUTH), was pulled off-air. Yes, it is an attack on youth empowerment. No one has the idea how much people will miss Baaji Online? Not to talk about how ~~Indian~~ Pakistani was with its music line-up. Haye! Bhuj gayee aag!

I want my Aleph Bay Tay

2011-04-14T04:03:00.003+05:00

Recently, a blogger on Express Tribune wrote:

A BBC News report stated that USAID has made a grant of $20 million to Rafi Peer Theater group to create a local version of Sesame Street. The setting is a rural village and the protagonist a spirited little girl named Rani.

This report should be in the Onion or get a rotten tomato.

BBC News reported something like this:

The remake will star a puppet called Rani, the six-year-old daughter of a peasant farmer, with pigtails and a school uniform, according to Britain's Guardian newspaper.

In her blog post, the blogger complained that USD 20 million is a big price to pay for a show like Sesame Street. She retorted:

But why does one need $20 million to make a culturally specific Urdu version of a show? These are expensive episodes and must be studded with diamonds. A cost breakdown would be intriguing to audit.

It seems that the blogger missed out on some minute (sort of crucial) detail, there was a link to Guardian's report in the BBC News report that she mentioned at the start of her blog post. If she would have clicked the link, she would have read the paragraph that I am quoting next:

The USD 20 million grant will produce the Pakistani Sesame Street for four years, with 78 episodes in Urdu and 56 in regional languages, a radio show, mobile TV vans to show the programme in remote areas and a travelling Muppet roadshow.

Now, lets do the math here. A USD 20 million grant for four years which means USD 5 million per year. The grant is not only for the TV show but it is active-literacy program. Furthermore, as an employee of a publishing company, I know that producing children content is the most expensive.

Simsim Hamara (Our Sesame) would not be just copy-paste idea. It is being developed from stratch, which means it will require a lot of new things. There would be new sets, new puppets and new people. There would be training costs involved as well as special writers would be commissioned. Developing children content is not very easy as it seems. In a world of television filled with sauce, blood and bomb, this localized Sesame Street might be the only outlet of entertainment for the children of Pakistan.

Sesame Street is not just a TV program but it has turned into education resource tool. Localized Sesame Street programs have worked all over the world. Simsimpur, the Bengali version of Sesame Street, was also commissioned by USAid in 2005. A Dhaka-based study in 2007 concluded that Simsimpur worked as children who watched the show had better socio-cultural skills than the ones who did not watch it. Galli Galli Sim Sim, the Indian version, was also financed by USAid along with the local partnership of ICICI Bank. It has been proven to help India with pre-schooling and reinforcing local traditions. Furthermore, Koche Simsim, the Afghani version which was developed in Egypt, is shown in school. It helps schools with the teaching of Dari.

I do not see where the doubt should lie when this system has helped all over the region. Furthermore, a rapid-developing country like China has also re-introduced a version of Sesame Street in order to propagate the Mandarin language. Indeed, schools with breakfast is good alternative but it does not work in a country where school buildings are used as stables or barnyard. Furthermore, food-based programming have been started numerous times but they never seemed to work due to corruption. Feeding children as a reward for going school might not be the answer for this country. Moreover, the ongoing war against terrorism has caused a lot of communities to shift. We saw the same thing when the floods came last year. Simsim Hamara would be able to address the educational needs of these children, more clearly.

For years, we have seen bombs and business coming in for our country from the US. However, the true benefits of it never reached the grass-root level. It is the first time that a very serious approach is taken for the progress of the society. Being critical is best; but not at the start of the project please.

The Gambhir Case of Shahid Afridi

2011-04-08T02:29:00.003+05:00

Yes. Gambhir, very very Ghambir. Why? Because India is Gambhir (complex, not simple).

On April 2, 2008, hours before the Cricket World Cup Final, Indian batsman Gautam Gambhir vowed to win the cup for the Mumbai 2008 victims.

On April 5, 2008, Pakistan Captain Shahid Afridi lashed on Indian media and towards Gautam Gambhir's statement.

Minutes later, the Indian and Pakistani media went hay-wire to sell the new "controversial" story, and the honeymoon was over.

The Red We Want in Pakistan and India

2011-04-07T01:54:00.003+05:00

It is Red. It is thick; and both sides of the people want to have it. No matter what the season is, this red liquid is popular.

Earlier today, Soumojit Basu, one of the guys that I know from India, stated on Facebook:

The best thing about the Indian summer is that its predictable for 3 months.

This status of his, started an sort of argument on the lines where Summer extends longer; India or Pakistan. Like most of the comparison topics, it was a silly argument. However to end it, I gave up by declining my intentions (not reals one) to move to Delhi.

An hour later, during my lunch time, I saw a push-cart with a banner that had glasses full of red liquid. The first thing that popped in my mind after looking at that was Rooh Afza.

Somewhere in early 1900s, Hakeem Hafiz Abdul Majeed formulated a potent potion which was as red as blood. He called it Rooh Afza where Rooh means 'Spirit' and Afza means 'Nourishment'. This syrup consists of herbal and fruit extracts. It is a popular syrup for making a variety of drinks and delicacies. Milk mixed in Rooh Afza is always appreciated on both sides of the border. Mix it with water and some lemon juice; and you get a drink which makes your heart jump for joy on a very rainy day.

As time has passed, Rooh Afza has kept its special place in our South Asian hearts. Fruit concentrates like Tang never replaced it entirely. Furthermore, a new array of fusion drinks have popped up. Rooh Afza is not just syrup for making summer drinks. The drink is being used to make Indian alcoholic drinks. Furthermore, it is used to flavor cupcake frosting as well.

The syrup was invented by a Muslim in a Hindu-majority country during the time when Muslims were not doing good. When borders were drawn in 1947 between India and Pakistan, Hakim Mohammed Said (Shaheed-e-Pakistan) crossed the borders to expand the business of Hamdard Laboratories. Meanwhile, his brother Hakim Abdul Hameed handled the Indian arm. Similar things happened when Bangladesh got its independence in 1972.

Rooh Afza is not only a product, but it is source of inspiration as well. This product shows that once you understand the heart, the mind gets nourished itself. People in all the three countries have accepted this product in their own lifestyles. Even with our major and minor differences, a common man of these three countries would love to have this red liquid. It symbolizes that an investment in the region for its people is beneficial. Hamdard is one of the largest and most recognized South Asian brand in the world.

Hence, next time if the leadership of both countries sit down to talk something, how about they do it over a glass of Rooh Afza drink. It is the shade of red that the public like.

The Arti-What?

2011-04-05T03:26:00.003+05:00

On the April 4 2011, the Express Tribune published these lines which are a part of an op-ed:

A concise look at the history of Pakistan suggests that if Quaid-i-Azam, Muhammad Ali Jinnah was the maker of Pakistan, then Quaid-i-Awam, Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was its architect.

Yes. Wash your eyes, folks. The sentence is a masterpiece; it contains both Jinnah and Bhutto in the same sentence. This sentence arrives from the mind of Sharmila Farooqi, one of the mouthpieces of Pakistan People's Party. Her usage of words made me run for my dictionary because my sense of vocabulary failed when I saw the word 'architect'. As I consulted the internet (you thought I would check it on a paperback) for the meaning of this word, I found out the The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language has an alternate meaning. The meaning was:

One that plans or devises.

Indeed, Mr. Bhutto was an architect. Everyone remembers what a terrible mess that he along with his PPP leadership created for Pakistan. His plan was to be in power at any cost, and he got in power by costing us Bangladesh and many precious lives.If I ever end writing the alphabets describing the Pakistan's People Party, I think B would the worst letter to deal with. Yes, I can use the word "Bhutto" but that does not sum up everything that this party is currently and has always been. The "B" that I would use would be Baloney.

2011-04-03T02:18:00.003+05:00

مبارک ہو انڈیا!

کرکٹ کا ورلڈ کپ مبارک ہو!

آج ذرا دو ٹوک بات ہوجائے. انڈیا جیت گیا اور ہم ہار گئے. یہ ایک سچ ہے اور اب اسکو تسلیم کرلینا چاہیے بنسبت اسکے کہ ہم اس بات کا تعین کریں کہ کس نے کسکو کتنا دیا اور آیا کہ یہ فائنل پہلے سے طے شدہ تھا یا نہی. مجھے پتہ ہے لوگ میرے جانی دشمن ہوجائیں گے جب اس بلوگ کو آگے پڑھیں گے.

دیکھئے، بات بہت چھوٹی سی ہے. دشمن ہم انڈیا کو مانتے ہیں مگر نقصان اپنا کرتے ہیں. انڈیا سے میچ ہماری ٹیم ہاری اور ہم نے اپنے ٹی وی توڑے. بجائے اسکے کہ ہم اپنی ٹیم کا دکھ سمجھتے، ہم نے نہ آؤ دیکھا نہ تاؤ شروع کر قیاس آرائی کہ حکومت نے پیسے لیے ہیں. مانا کہ حکومت اچھی نہی مگر کیا ٢٠٠٨ میں ووٹ ڈالنے گئے تھے جو اب اتنی تنفید کر رہے ہیں. بیچارے لڑکوں نے محنت کی ہے کہ ملک کا نام بہتر ہو مگر ہم تو خود اپنے دشمن ہیں.

جی ہاں، انڈیا نے ہم سے دشمنی کر کے ہم کو فائدہ ہی دیا ہے. اگر انڈیا سے تعلقات اچھے ہوتے تو کیا ہماری فوج اتنی ترقی کرتی. بلکل نہی. سیاسی دشمنی تو انڈیا سے ہے ہماری مگر سماجی طور پی ہم خود اپنے دشمن ہیں. پاکستان دنیا کا گیارواں غریب ترین ملک ہے جہاں ٥٠ فیصد بچے ایک سطر تک نہیں پڑھ سکتے، جہاں ہر منٹ ایک بچہ انتقال کر جاتا ہے. پاکستان میں خود کوئی ذمداری نہیں لیتا. ذمہ داری سری حکومت کی ہے اور پڑھا لکھا طبقہ ووٹ ڈالنے جاۓ گا نہیں. اگر پوچھو کیوں تو جواب ملے گا سب چور ہیں. پوچھو کہ کسی ایماندار آدمی کو تلاش کرنے کی کوشش کی تو جواب ملے گا کہ نہیں. اور اگر پڑھا لکھا طبقہ یہ کرتا ہے تو جاہل طبقے چھوڑ دیں. وہ بیچارہ قسمت کا مارا، اسکو صحیح اور غلط کا کون بتائے. وہ تو وہ کرے گا جو سردار کہےگا.

انڈیا ہم سے اس معملے میں بہتر ہے. جب وہاں انتخابات کا وقت آتا ہے تو وہاں کی عوام ووٹ ڈالنے جاتی ہے اور وہاں کی حکومت کو پتہ ہے کہ وہ عوام کے نمایندے ہیں. ذرا ہیر پھیر کی اور اگلی حکومت میں انکی بری نہیں آئے گی. وہاں کا آدمی جانتا ہے کہ علم میں اسکی اور اسکے خاندان کی بہتری ہے. پندرہ سال پہلے تک انڈیا اور ہمارے مسائل ایک جیسے تھے مگر انڈین عوام نے ہمیشہ سمجھداری سے کام لیا اور موقع ملنے پر اپنے ووٹ کا صحیح استعمال کیا. آج جہاں انڈیا موجود ہے وہاں جیت اسکا مقدار ہے. یہ سب محنت کا کمال ہے اور میں یہ جانتا ہوں کہ پاکستان سے زیادہ محنتی قوم شاید ہی ہو.

اگر ہم ایک سال میں طوفان اور سیلاب کا سامنا کرکے اپنی مدد کرسکتے ہیں تو پھر تھوڑی توجہ اور ذمہ داری سی کام لے کے ہم بھی اپنے ملک کی قسمت بدل سکتے ہیں. وقت آگیا ہے کہ تنفید چھوڑی جائے اور کچھ کیا جاۓ. دو سال کے اندر نئے انتخابات ہونگے. ابھی سے چند ایک ایماندار لوگ تلاش کریں اور انکو آنے والے انتخاب میں ووٹ کریں.

Let's cook up a conspiracy!

2011-04-02T02:22:00.003+05:00

Very recently, a Pakistani doctor claims that our society has gone nuts. He claims that we see conspiracies everywhere. At start, I thought he was a crack-pot too but then it seems that he might be right.

Yousuf Raza Gilani ne 7 arab rupey liye hain Pakistan ki haar k liye jis mein Misbah, Umer Gul, Kamran Akmal and Younus Khan shamil hain!

Yousuf Gilani adhay adhay ghantay tak Afridi ko convince karnay ki koshish ki match kay dawraan kay woh match harjayein par woh nahi mana baaki sab maangaye jinhon nay perform nahi kiya

Yousuf Raza Gilani ki baat na manney se jab Afridi ne inkaar kiya tu us ki family ko maarne ki dhamki di gae, is k bawajood bhi us ne kohshish ki magr nakaam ho gaya! Or phir wo apni nation se sorry karne k baad dressing room mein ja k ro parey! We are proud of you, Afridi!

[Translation: Yousuf Raza Gilani has received 70 million rupees in return for the loss of Pakistan (author rolls eyes). Misbah, Umar Gul, Kamran Akmal and Younus Khan are all involved (author's reaction: omg! yawn!). Yousuf Raza Gilani talked with Shahid Afridi for half an hour but he plainly refused. Ones who took the offer are the players that did not perform. When Shahid Afridi refused this offer from Yousuf Raza Gilani, Afridi's family was threatened (in India, orly!). He tried his level best but he failed (RESPECT!)! And then he apologized to nation (NOTHING but RESPECT!) and when to his room and cried (He must have been scared of the thrashing he would get from the 'Jihadi' lot).]

First, whoever wrote this must have spelt in his or her school days. Furthermore, people who forwarded are jerks too. Why? Nobody saw that Pakistan was written with a small p. Writing your country's name with a small alphabet is blasphemous. It shows disrespect.

Second, I know India is filthy rich but they are not going to spend 35 billion Indian Rupees for a stupid cricket match. Especially on a match that they could win easily. Thank God, we did not have Shoaib ~~Mirza~~ Malik as the captain. People would have said that the captain threw the game to make his Indian susral happy, or Sania promised to get pregnant if Pakistan loses. We might be 'oh so proud' with Afridi but lets not forget, he made mistakes too just the way Misbah, Kamran, Younus and Umar did. Afridi did not use the Power Play efficiently. He sent Umar Gul once and again, even though it was not working. Furthermore, if Afridi was offered to rig the match then he would have suspected unusual behaviors. Why didn't Afridi use the replacement wicket-keeper? Why did only Kamran's name appears in the message? Why not his brother Umar's name, who gave 30 important runs? Why did Misbah-ul-Haq stuck till the end, if he was included? Honestly, everyone should realize that they need to quit pointing fingers. Our team was not the one for this World Cup. This team was very young and quite inexperienced. Some of these guys were playing their first ODI against arch-rival India.

Third, Afridi had the reasons to cry if he ever did. Afridi has turned out to be a great leader. He took responsibility not only for his actions, but for the entire team. He accepted failure when it was due. No excuses or anything; he just apologized. He showed great posture in front of the cameras, even after losing. He has been going under a lot of pressure and then he knew that there would be people back home talking utter non-sense about him and then team. Certainly, the man would break in his privacy.

Fourth, all the haters: FUCKING GROW UP. There is no gossip in here. Did you see any Australian television station throwing mud on their players? England has the world-renowned tabloid, News of the World; the gossip of the English side failing miserably in the World Cup would have been a great story. But did we see anything from there? No! Great nations support their teams even if they have failed. I wish I would have skipped these lines but the role that Mubashir Luqman (Dunya TV) and Rana Mubashir (News ONE) have been very irresponsible. Instead of having a sound discussion about the team's performance, their stories were to find the controversy and sell it. Furthermore, the "OMG! My Life is in Danger" Wicket-keeper Zulqurnain Haider should come clean now. That dude's intention are now looking fairly shady. If he has some evidence then he should put it on the table, rather than yapping away.

Thankfully, there have been a vast majority of people who understood why Pakistan did not win. A lot of people that I know understand that this Pakistani team was destined for good things but not great things. There was a lack of exposure and experience. However, one thing strikes out in this silly gossip-infested SMS. Our leadership has no credibility left. Whoever it gets associate with, the other party is known as corrupt too. Rather than scandalizing our cricket team, shouldn't we look at the unity and the hope it got us. No, why should we... those things are for 'versus India only'.

Cricket FTW!

2011-03-31T01:28:00.002+05:00

First thing first, India, congratulations.
Next, Pakistan, awesome that you made this far.

Color me traitor but it does not matter if India won or we lost. In February, we all were joking about our team. We all were in doubt that they would ever come into the quarter-finals. We are all so skeptical about it. It guess it served us right for being mean. We only support them when they are winning. Furthermore, in true sense, we lost the match but we won a lot of other things. Out of one of those things that we won was hope. Yes, we hoped for the best. We looked towards a better day, and it did not stop there. We hoped and then we got united. In reality, we have never been this united unless there was tragedy. We should thank Allah for this chance that he showed that Pakistan is still a united force.

In days to come, we will hear that the match was fixed. The bookies were sleeping with our cricketers everyday and honestly, we should ignore this crap. Our team, in all fairness, was not as good as it should have been. The team was made of guys who were playing the World Cup for the first time. Furthermore, there had been seldom times when we had cricket with India in the previous three years. Most of the time when we met, it was on a neutral ground and in a 20-20 match. Furthermore, our batting line sucked. We have yet to establish a potent partnership. I am going to skip fielding. Pakistan never fields well. However, we showed that we are not talent-less. A little controversy does not result in a failure.

However, we should not be disheartened by this defeat. This match showed that we are one. Furthermore, it has given a new hope to peace in our troubled region. It was fairly nice to see that the (corrupt) leaders of both the countries were sitting there and watching the game. There were a mood of utter jubilee on both side of the borders. Even though we were competing, both the countries were happy for their own self. It showed that a healthy competition is always helpful. It puts attention towards healthier purposes. Indeed both countries have political issue to deal with but why halt the healthy stuff.

As a Pakistani, I am very proud of my nationality. Especially today, I think a big number of people have shown some sanity. There have been few who are spelling match-fixing out to cope up with their disappointment but there are others (I guess a growing majority), who thought that India won by defeating Pakistan in a nice, clean game. We still were trigger-happy when the match ended, and there were some fireworks too. The game that started as a "battle" turned out to be a display of progressive, mature Pakistani society which does not hold any grudges for its neighbor. It wants to be a well-wisher of its neighbors.

However, I am truly disappointed in India though; not the people but the leadership. When South Africans hosted FIFA 2010, they hosted it as an African event. The Cricket World Cup was hosted by three countries; India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. India, being the most developed in the region, should have stepped up and could have played a role of an elder brother. Instead, they overshadowed the whole event. If India has too progress ahead, it needs to re-think its position in the region. For example, rather than having a cheesy Bollywood track, it would have been great if India would have invited the other hosting countries in the process of making a good World-Cup song.

Last but not least, we should all remember this day and try to live like it more. Pakistan Zindabad!

Our Earth...

2011-03-29T03:15:00.004+05:00

Past Saturday, it was Earth Hour during 0830 to 0930 in the night. Pockets of sanity in Pakistan understood the importance of this event and did not argue. They turned off the lights at the stated times. They did not turn the generators and they waited for the hour to end.

However, Pakistan will never be complete if one does not make a rant; and rant one shall

"WTF? This is PAKISTAN!!! You burger... we have [beep] loud shedding... we spend less energy than countries with a [quarter] of our population... We are 100 years away from celebrating "Earth [Hour]".
This is like a [bleep, again] cancer patient taking a break from his chemotherapy session to take part in a marathon to celebrate World [Health] Day!
Get Real and [please] spread this [message]."

Khali-afat?

2011-03-25T02:08:00.001+05:00

Well it is that time in Pakistan when we get ourselves accustomed to newer "jargons". This is year - the word on every mouth is either Revolution or Khilafat. We learned the word 'Democracy' in 2008 but thanks to a famous interpretation by "today Zardari, tomorrow Bhutto-(sort of) Zardari", it equals to Revenge.

While there has been talk about the sexy word "Revolution" and its serious implication, there is an alternative popping up too. It is called 'Khilafat' or Caliphate. Khilafat is being termed as "the potent solution to all our problems". The people behind the call of Khilafat have been talking about Muslim unity. It seems that they have not been following the world's politics and have been living under a rock. Even though Muslims are world's second largest religious community, the Arab countries have never tried to take non-Arabic countries on board for a unity movement.

The people behind the movement retort that Democracy is moving us away from Islam. For their information, Khilafat which they are proposing is in line with Democracy. At the start of the Khilafat, the Khalifa was chosen with consensus from the elders of the tribes. These elders of the tribes were called the Shura. Exact things happen with Democracy. The Prime Minister gets elected by the Parliament. If the processes are similar, then why disagree? Democracy is a very reformed version of Khilafat.

Furthermore, Khilafat did not succeed in the long run as it turned into dynastic legacies. We all know the history pretty clearly. For power, there were wars among brothers and Muslims. Unity was thrown out of the window, and a divide emerged between the Muslims. Furthermore, if we are going to use Khilafat, whose side of Islam are we going to follow? The religion has too many interpretations and the followers of some of them are very intolerant among others. Be it Shia or Sunni, there are pockets of intolerance on both sides. Furthermore, a Khilafa is supposed to be someone of good repute. If you read your constitution clearly, the same conditions apply.

The fault with Khilafat was that the leadership extended into perpetuity and that has been the main cause where it fell and got disintegrated so badly. Earlier Khalifas were more tolerant and understanding than the ones that came under Rashiduns, Ummayyad, Abbasids, Fatimids, and Ottomans. The later Khalifas were known to be hard on his critics. It created a trend of "elite families".

Currently, if you see around the world, the most successful Muslim nations in the World are Democratic nations. Indonesia, the world's most populated Muslim country, is a democracy. The country saw a economic growth of 6% in 2010. Malaysia too, is a democracy. It has become an epicenter for research for Islamic banking and finance practices. Mahatir Mohammad, a renowned Muslim leader, belongs to this country. Surprisingly, he ruled the country for more than 3 decades but instead, he gave economic prosperity. His vision of making Malaysia one of the first developed Muslim nation will soon come true.

Calling for Khilafat is like calling for trouble. The whole affair might incline to one side of intrepretation which might not be not acceptable to a lot of people, and if there is sudden urge to have Khilafat, it would be best that these movements make a political party and contest elections. If they get the Parliament's majority, they could hold a Referendum in order to ask the public if they really want "Khilafat" or not. Rather than ruining the game for everyone, they should understand that Khilafat is not a feasible solution at this point. It might create a distorted Islamic nation, resulting in bad exposure to the religion. What we have currently is quite close and reformed interpretation of Khilafat. We should keep it this way. However, showing distrust towards your leadership in a respectful is not wrong.

Furthermore, does anyone know during Khilafat you might not be able some liberties like a very favorite past-time in Pakistan. I'll say, get some sense: reform your energies into a better idea.

So it starts...

2011-03-24T04:28:00.000+05:00

For almost a month and a half, there has been talk about the Facebook-clicking youth of Pakistan. The effect of the Revolution is somehow catching on. The movement that started in Tunisia has been spreading far and wide. It crossed the borders to Egypt and then spilled over the Middle East. However, not every call for revolution is justified but it should be given heed.

People are tired of their two-faced leadership. They want to enjoy more liberties and they want to be heard. They want their leaders to act like leader and not followers to their personal agendas. Countries in North Africa and Middle East, indeed, require liberties. However critics argue that Pakistan does not really need a revolution. The basis of the argument is that we are a democratic nation.

Indeed, Pakistan has liberties that certain Middle Eastern do not have but it does not mean that we should not ask for change. Three years ago, Pakistani people chose the present government to lead into better times. However, it turns out to be a revenge. In these three years, the standard of living of average Pakistani has gone down. There are more jobless young graduates out there than there were in 2007. The financial meltdown in 2008 did play its part in ruining things but our leaders should accept the fact they also have been not very wise with the economy. Furthermore, the law and order situation has gone to the dogs. Pakistanis do not only face terror attacks but they also face drone attacks -- the same attacks that our Prime Minister endorsed, claimed by WikiLeaks. It is the same leadership who was unable to give the respect to the Governor of Punjab after his death (please note, he is not my hero and neither is his killer). The same leadership that was also unable to protect its Minority Minister, even though he openly claimed that he was under threat. The same leadership could not pursue the case of public vandalism against two Sialkoti boys. The same leadership who failed to prosecute a foreigner with dubious intents. All of these situation leads to a point of frustration.

The reason why Pakistan might be very similar is to Egypt and Tunisia is that the leadership is corrupt. The whole lot which is in power is corrupt. Their credibility have been questioned far too many times, and they all have been hiding under some sort of immunity. Furthermore, it seems that a lot of them do not have the qualification that they claimed when they submitted their papers for elections. Some of them were not here when we needed them, and some of them looted Hajj pilgrims. Term it anyway you want but it all happened under the current leadership.

In the second week of February, I was invited to a event called 'Inqilaab-e-Pakistan'. They proposed a protest on the lines of the one which was done on Tahrir Square. Over the last month, they carefully picked places where they would demonstrate. They prepared a line of action and a set of demand.

Come March 23, while Pakistani cricket team was sweating in Bangladesh for World Cup glory; 200 (more or less) people gathered in the city of Karachi. Similar amounts gathered in Lahore and Islamabad. Even though, their Facebook group have nearly 60000 people; a very small fraction showed up. This shows that at one hand, it is not as easy as it looks. However, rather than telling them that they failed, we should tell them that it was a brave try. I agree that Inqilaab-e-Pakistan is not the wisest of ideas our generation could come up with but it is a start. It is a start that shows that Pakistan is now changing. It has more intellect. It has more courage.

I am sure that few of these 200 guys would have ever met each other in life but these guys have shown that it can start here as well. The call for new elections given by these guys is not something out of ordinary. Governments around the world tremble when the youth comes out on the street for a cause. If these 200 were out on a cause, it seems that there are unsolved problems. There are grievances that should be addressed. Their protest was for Pakistan. They did not represent any political party. They are concerned not about their future but also about the future of Pakistan, a country which feels more divided then ever. Their act not only showed that it can start anywhere but it also represents the unity this country has when it has a cause.

I am not in the fullest of support for these guys but I am not going to stand in their path either. I will try to facilitate them and I would advise our elders to guide us. It is time that we should think about our country. Revolution is a sexy word but it has scary implications. If we all build up concusses upon our issues, it would be good. A lot of blood would be saved but if the situation remains at status quo, I can only pray for all of us.

Shall we laugh on this?

2011-03-21T03:07:00.000+05:00

Well, this particular video is going VIRAL on Facebook, these days. It comes from Islamabad. While a lot of us will sit and joke about this one, we should all ask ourselves some questions. Why a guy like him is on the streets? Why are we here joking?

Yes Pakistan, it is easy to joke. It is easy to make fun. It is easy to laugh off things. It is easy to blame it on "conspiracies" but then again why this guy was on the streets and why we were not there.

I saw this video from a friend. The remark from him was "HAHAHA! Agaya Inqilab! (Here Comes Inqilab!)". I am sure that my friend would have been staying inside his cool office on that Friday afternoon, continuing with his hobby of making OneNote books of 'Why Shias are not Muslims?'.

I believe it would not be wrong if I say that I am equally guilty of not coming out as well. Past Friday, I was not working. I should have been out as well, protesting.

Guess what guys?

سالا برگر جیت گیا! ممی ڈیڈی ہوتے ہوے بھی مردانگی دکھا گیا!

I am not going to translate that one line. It is not for the world to read but it is for Pakistanis to read, especially those who live in the urban centers.

This video is a mirror for a lot of us. For people like you and me, this guy shows that the courage Pakistan has. He showed that for the right cause, with the right voice, he can make a point. With all the "oddities" in his life, he is responsible for his actions. Even though, he complains about the weather and the "harsh" conditions, he is there.

There is a message for a people who will every day write how Pakistan is a mess. This guy shows it is not. Pakistan is different now; it has a different young mindset. A part of the last generation who lived in urban area has pushed the future to study. This new generation is young but it is waking up and it has logic which is louder than rants.

There is a message for the people sitting in the Parliaments. An elite kid is out on the street; something is going wrong. Quick, fix the situation or this elite kid would not support the Bilawals, Hassans and Mounises. Then again, it is kinda too late. I hope you will buy him an iPad 2 but I think he is not going to accept it.

However, there is a point which impressed me when he asks the crowd if he is lying. The crowd agrees that he is not and he is not lying, indeed. Had the Raymond Davis being caught by the Punjab Police, he would have been released in a matter of minutes. Raymond Davis was caught by the People of Pakistan and he should have not been let free that easily. The 'bloody money' smokescreen is bullshit. We do not care if the family wanted to prosecute or forgive the killer but we would like to know why Raymond Davis was carrying a 9mm Glock in Pakistan. Even if he had the gun by any chance, where did he get the ammo from. It was the responsibility of the state to do that. Furthermore, if the families have forgiven him, why the sudden urge to disappear?

I guess the Davis matter will be forgotten as time passes by. However, it would be best that we take a note of inspiration from this guy and do something.

Brain... and then... Brain Buster...

2011-03-08T03:31:00.002+05:00

Well... 25 years ago... I was born! YAY! But 11 months before my birth, 'Brain' was born.

Of course, I am not talking about my brain but what I am talking about is something REVOLUTIONARY. Two brothers in a small town of Lahore created the world's first PC virus. They called it 'Brain'. It infected 360 kb (kilobyte) 5.25 inch floppy disks and is considered to be the world's first full-stealth virus. The virus used to copy itself in the memory and then transferred itself to other floppy disks meanwhile, it did not effect the hard disk. It changed the disk's volume label to (c)BRAIN as well.

Intentionally, Brain had no intentions of harming computers. It only slowed down the disk access or cause timeouts due to which floppy disks failed to work in some of the cases. As the virus marked its 25th year of inception, F-Secure went out to track the original creators and made a documentary out of it.

If you think that trailer is dramatic, then I agree too. I am not sure what was F-Secure's point behind the orchestral chanting music with half dialogs but it surely makes the virus look bad.

Indeed, with all the bad things going around in Pakistan, having the title of being home to the world's PC virus adds to our glory. However, it seems that there are several points which we do not cater to look at when we talk about this. Had this been created in the West, the whole outlook would have different.

N00bilink

2011-03-07T02:30:00.001+05:00

Aray! Mobilink is burning... its hot... bewares bixches!

If you were in Islamabad (or in Northern Pakistan), chances are that Mobilink has gone all the famous "MaybeLink" on you. Apparently, there was a fire at the Mobilink databank at I-10 in Islamabad which kinda killed the network for all of the Northern Part of the country. Some blogs are telling that the network throughout the country is affected and they are reporting it as a second incident in this month.

During the past decade of of service, there has been a number of times when "Pakistan's favorite cellular company" turned unfavorite in seconds. Somewhere in 2002, I even remember them that under a Court ruling, they had to compensate their subscribers for incompetent service. Overcrowding and overcharging has been a practice of this company in the past as well. Furthermore, it is the same company which promises a "treasure chest" in their ongoing SMS-based promotion (for the 5th time).

Koi pregnant ho ya naho... Dhol bajay ga! (Let there be pregnancies... There would be drumming all along...)

2011-02-23T02:10:00.002+05:00

First thing first, Meesha... Sexy lady! Congrats on starting a family. We hope that the creative genes continue in your off-springs.

Second. EXPRESS TRIBUNE! Get some fucking talent on your panel who can do fact-finding (and maybe some proofreading - there is a em-dash and hyphen together in one of their sentences). Gwen Stefani never left No Doubt. They were on a hiatus and are now planning to have a new album, later this year.

Third. Overload just off-loaded their chance to be something more than a "one-hit wonder". We all know why Meesha was fired. She got some mainstream attention when she did Coke Studio. I always had my doubts on Meesha but that girl can sing. Farhad Hamayun, the God-father of Overload earlier this week, announced that he is firing Ms. Meesha and her hubby and daddy-to-be Mahmood Rahman. Farhad and Mahmood are cousins and their family dawats will be a such a sweet affair from now. Oh the dramz!

Such...

2011-02-07T19:53:00.002+05:00

Bilkul Such! Mobilink will never learn or maybe its employees would never learn. There has been a story out about the new Jazz Jazba logo being "not a very original idea". The logo is inspired by the logo of a company called Zagora. Check www.zagora.com.br for a look and it has been in use since 2005. However, in 2008, the original creator of the logo released a tutorial. This tutorial has been online since January 2008.

Come 2010, Mobilink Pakistan comes out with a new Youth brand called Jazz 'Jazba'. The whole brand identity was launched and people started whispering that it looks too close to Warid's Glow idea. Earlier today when Propakistani.pk reported about the Motorola FLIPOUT coming under Jazz Jazba, a commenter commented the link of the tutorial which brings into the notice that the logo is "copied".

Veena ki Jiwani!

2011-01-18T02:04:00.003+05:00

Chalo, we all thought we would have seen the last of her at the Bigg Boss 4 finale. Alas! The whole commotion has not stopped. She is still making headlines and like the nation we are, it is necessary for us to over-react. Veena Malik has been called everything in almost all the languages which we speak here.

Someone once told me:

Good girls go to heaven, bad girls go everywhere.

The "what?"

2011-01-13T03:56:00.001+05:00

Aray dekho koun bola! It is Bilawal "Whats my name?" Zardari, and somehow, it feels like 2008 all over again; a recent murder followed by mourning and memorials while there is too much finger-pointing going on rather than proper investigation, and it would not stop here. There has to be a punch-line to all of this, and it came from the party (what party? new years!) chairman's mouth: "The Real Blasphemers" (after the immense success of "Democracy is the best Revenge"). Wow! A big one from the little Z (or should I say B-Z or boozy).

Sitting in a warm, cosy room in London, the chairman of the Pakistan People's Party Bilawal "Say My Name" Zardari used all of vocabulary and British accent to make a point. The speech drove every liberal wild, and PPP-followers went nuts. Oh the bravery! Oh the daringness! Oh the bullshit!

Had the people of Pakistan could see with their eyes, Mr. Taseer was abandoned by his own leadership. The president of the country and the co-chairman of his party, Asif Ali Zardari stayed in Karachi and sent his sister, Faryal Talpur instead. The reason of being which is that he was advised by his astrologer that Mr. Zardari's life is in great danger and it would be better if he stayed near the seashore. Furthermore, a statement given by his son and the chairman of the party was followed by a statement by the "nanny" of Pakistan Yousuf Raza Gilani in which that he announced that the government is not making any changes in the law. Which makes you wonder if PPP would ever be serious about anything? One minute they say "this", the second minute they say "that". This goes on for months and a quick stance is taken if their government is in danger of being toppled.

Coming back to the Bilawal "That's my name" Zardari's speech, it has no use. No matter what he does, he cannot seem to have that "name" charisma for which he altered all of his legal documents. Furthermore, he started his speech without a "Salam" or "Bismillah" and then why he was giving an awkward pause before mentioning the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him). Further on, he says, "My mother embraced martyrdom while defending our faith." What? Last I knew, in his address to a procession on August 4, 2009, he said "Salam from Shaheed Muhtarama Benazir Bhutto! From her blood which gave us freedom, from her blood which gave us democracy." Hmm. Interesting! He grew up to be just right. A very befitting leader, very close to the manifest of his party (no, David Guetta is not the DJ).

At the start, I thought that this whole father and son clan would work but sadly, it has been a disappointment. If Bilawal wishes to be an active part of this dirt we call "Pakistani politics", he has to learn the local language, he has to dwell among commoners and he has to rally up support on the streets. He may have received this party (with loads of booze) on a silver plater but not everything would be that easy especially after the circus, his father and his father's faithful friends are running in the name of democracy. Or wait, was it supposed to be a revenge?? My advice: stay in London, Bilawal.

Ulti-what?

2011-01-11T02:58:00.003+05:00

"Look! Revolution!!"

Jan 4, 2011: “The prime minister should tell us within the next 72 hours if he can do it. If he does not tell us or says he cannot do it, then we will part ways with them in Punjab also,” Nawaz Sharif said.

Jan 4, 2011: Salmaan Taseer assassinated in Islamabad, Sharif adds 72 hours more in first deadline.

Jan 10, 2011: “I have told Mian Sahib (Nawaz Sharif) that we are positive about his demands and he replied, ‘if you are positive then we will not part ways with your party in Punjab’,” Gilani told the media after spending a hectic day calling almost all national leaders.

Jan 11, 2011:

Oh that fellow is so funny! All this commotion for what? My advice to Mr. Nawaz Sharif that he should stop consuming those "oh so cheap" naans. They are not only ruining the reserves for Punjab, which could have been used for better purposes, but also they are messing with his brain. Or maybe, it is the hair transplant. Whatever the reason was? Mr. Sharif has been nothing but very illogical in his principles of politics. He still lives in 1999 and still quotes the prices of his era. He is obsessed with Musharraf while forgetting that he, himself, is not a pious "cow".

Meera, Veena, Black?

2010-12-27T02:42:00.001+05:00

"Veena is cheap," said Meera when she was interviewed about Veena on the set of the Indian flick "Om Allah" (Yup! That title is controversial).

Lately, everyone was talking about Veena Malik and her 'colourful' performance in Bigg Boss 4. 'Ghairat' brigade got all wrapped in joy as they got a new issue to protest upon. Now, she is out of the house and would be arriving in Pakistan any day. Soon, the whole affair will turn into a noisy ugly circus. It seems that Veena Malik has all of a sudden turned into a big threat to our "Islamic" society. Before we all start pointing our little finger at Ms. High-heels Malik, we should all remember that there are bigger threats to our religion than a silly actress. I agree that she is quite a bombshell but at least she is not blasting into smithereens.

Much to my surprise is the reaction from the self-acclaimed superstar (and "joke of the day") Meera. In her recent interviews, she has called Veena, superficial and cheap. Had she got her facts straight, it was Meera who went across the border to shoot a steamy movie for our "Nazar". Furhtermore, she defended it by saying that it was like two countries falling in love. Yeah right!

While it is a case of "the pot calling the kettle black", it is also a case of jealousy, I think. Veena has not only stole Meera's spotlight. She stole Ashmit Patel too, the guy Meera kissed in "Nazar". Can it be that Meera still wants Ashmit? Or maybe she is afraid that Veena might play "Meera's" role in the sequel of (Meera claimed it as a hit, Ashmit said its a flop) the movie "Nazar". Who knows? Meera says that Ashmit Patel is a very innocent guy and Veena is a very sly.

Veena and Meera have been in a tussle for years now. Veena accused of Meera being wicked. According to Veena, Meena has tried to burn her face through Acid-Spilling Attacks. Furthermore, Meera claims that the superstar is, she never got the time to do Bigg Boss even though she was approached. And to top it all, Meera said Asif is a good guy.

I hope Meera knows what she is talking about. She has been known to give credit to wrong people for their work. As far as I know, nice guys do not dope or make MMS of their private moments and then send the phone for repairs without deleting stuff.

Indeed, Veena has not been a very "innocent" lass on the show but to me, it is not an issue. She is an actress and Bigg Boss is a television show for failing celebrities. If she plays a character in there, is she wrong? Not quite but Meera's response is highly uncalled for. This is the kind of attitude which has made our film industry suffer. Rather than dissing about Veena, Meera should have supported her for the sake of the country.

YAY! S̶a̶n̶t̶a̶ China is here!

2010-12-19T03:40:00.005+05:00

Aray wah! Look who is here? It seems like Christmas already. And when Santa arrives, everyone should behave. We all know that Santa never gives presents to naughty children. No wonder "nation's best well-wisher" Nawaz Sharif and his "sasti roti" clan have gone a bit mute since the ~~Santa~~ Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is here.

China and Pakistan have been on friendly terms for 59 years, almost six decades but it is strange that we only remember China when it comes to us with a boatload, or in this case, an airplane-load of money. This time round, China is coming with goodies more than last year. If China had to be a TV show, it would have Oprah's favorite things. That friend of ours is just giving and giving and giving. In return, China sadly gets nothing but JOKES.

If you see someone Chinese on the street in Pakistan, possibilities are that he would be looked upon. His appearance would be made into a joke especially there would be whispers about his short eyes. Furthermore, not even one university in Pakistan teaches Simplified Chinese as a subject (either elective or core). Furthermore, Chinese language is considered a bunch of nonsensical phonics together, again perfect for jokes. It does not halt here, it is a growing trend where Chinese girls are seen as candidates for "bedtime adventures" for young Pakistani boys.

However, this is not the case in China. Pakistanis get more respect than any other nationality there. Urdu Language is provided as a 4-year Bachelors degree program at Beijing Foreign Studies University. Debates in Urdu language also take place there as well as China Radio International has dedicated 4-hours programming on Shortwave Radio. Furthermore, China has been investing in Pakistan for decades now. The Karakoram Highway which is the highest paved international road in the world was made in cooperation with China. The Chamsa Nuclear Power Complex is also made with the help of China. Not to mentioned, China has allegations that it helped Pakistan in becoming the World's First Muslim Nuclear Power. Moreover, during the Kargil war, a friend of my father told that China sent military aid for Pakistan as threats for mainland attacks were rising. I rememeber that China books almost a chunk of displaying space when it comes to exhibitions in Pakistan. Though it promotes business for them but it also emits positive vibes for the potential Pakistan has. It was once reported in 1990s, China volunteered to deliver scientific television programming for Pakistani viewers when they saw the mediocre state of programming being aired on PTV2. Moreover, China Mobile saved the disaster that was Paktel and turned it around to make ZONG, one of the fastest growing cellular companies in Pakistan currently. In 2008, Pakistani delegation was cheered loudest among all the guests during the Parade of Athletes at the Beijing Olympics.

It is not that Pakistan has been a gold-digger too. It was the first nation in the world to accept the People's Republic of China and still promotes the idea of One China. In 2008, when the Olympic Flame landed in Islamabad, Pakistan threw a festivity fit for the upcoming occasion as well as asked the world to support China and the Games. It showed that Pakistan was truly happy for Beijing to become a host. During the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake, Pakistan almost emptied its tent storage to support China.

Indeed, China and Pakistan have a relationship which is beyond governments but the time is here to make more closer than ever. The first thing we could do is that we treat Chinese living in Pakistan much friendly. We should see them as our equals. We should learn their language, rather making a mockery out of it. Furthermore, a supply of good quality of Chinese music and movies should be introduced to the public through its translation in English. When we could import Hollywood flicks and get them translated in Urdu, why not get something 'Made in China' for our cinemas too? After all, we buy everything 'China' from fruit juices to medical equipment. Furthermore, Simplified Chinese should be introduced into our education curriculum, especially, it should be made available for Business Studies students, either as elective or core courses. Though, these steps are very small but it is the little things in our lives that matter. It is high-time to adopt more Chinese things than their food.

Rounding up the 10, Part 3: Facepalm

2010-12-18T03:02:00.002+05:00

Lo jee! I think these two are a like a peas in a pod. Last time, I started my last post with Fatima and this time, its Jemima. Oh Jemima! I was very sad when you and Imran went bye-bye. Still, I think Jemima has more sense than Fatima. She is keeping Imran's boys Muslim and still does a lot of good work for the country which was once her second home. I love to read her tweets and she is so open for feedback at times. Just this evening, she tweeted:

Julian Assange to launch new social network for diplomats, Twofacebook

Now, I have no idea what Jemima is trying to imply here but if she is throwing one on the TIME magazine who named Mark Zuckerberg as the Person of the Year then I am with her. The Person of the Year is a newsworthy person who impacts the world in a significant manner. Naming Zuckerberg as the Person of the Year makes very little sense. His website has been there since 2004 and it was not going anywhere for a couple of years. The only significant impact Mr. Zuckerberg makes on our lives is when he makes a new Facebook layout which is compulsory to use, no matter how sucky it might be.

Yes. If they are thinking that Mr. Zuckerberg made an impact during the "Draw Day" controversy then we should all not forgot that it was an event which last only a month. Curiously, it was the same time when technology enthusiasts in US rallied support against the use of Facebook due to its non-interest in user's privacy. Much to my amaze, this was the same time when "Draw Day" controversy erupted and even to much surprise that Facebook did not delete those pages even though you cannot support Hitler on the same platform. As I turned my Zaid Hamid mode on, I smell a conspiracy in there. As Muslims flocked to report those "Draw Day" pages, it might be a possibility that many of them have made multiple accounts to make sure that "Draw Day" page is banned. More accounts means more ads here and there. More ads means more money for Zuckerberg. However, the real dent came when it was banned in Pakistan and Bangladesh for more than a week. The user base dropped and the ads went away (some of them are not coming back).

The guy who really deserved the title was Julian Assange. He owned the year. First he released the Afghan War Diaries in July of this year and then came the Cablegate. The nature of these documents show that how world diplomacy is working and how leaders of the world can be two-faced. His organization, WikiLeaks, really showed that the people of the world care about whats going around them. As soon as there were attempts to bring down the only host sites, volunteers around the world worked together. In less than a day, WikiLeaks had 350+ host sites or mirrors. Furthermore, the whole WikiLeaks website is available on BitTorrent for people to keep. Even the events that unfolded after the Cablegate showed there was a great impact. It showed that countries, which boasted about Liberal Speech, in reality, did not support it when their actions were questioned whereas TIME Magazine placed the last nail in the coffin as it declined the readers' opinion and chose a millionaire who might be not that influential to our lives. The Cablegate was a true global which covered places where a computer might not exist. TIME by skipping Assange as the Person of the Year showed that the editorial team is scared of accepting realities.

And if they did wanted Mark Zuckerberg on your cover so bad, couldn't they get a real photographer to take his picture?

Rounding up the 10, Part 2: Burqa-lesque

2010-12-16T18:56:00.003+05:00

Bhaee! I used to like Fatima Bhutto because she is part Afghani. But ever since she has released that bloody book of hers, she has been doing a lot more finger pointing than one could have for. Earlier this year, Sara Taseer (baby-girl of "now you see me, now you don't" Punjabi Governor) threw a rant on Ms. Bhutto, calling her "a sheep in wolves clothing".

Talking about clothing, Express Tribune ran a story on how those Bhuttos (the regular kind and Zardari kind) dress up, and while keeping the same topic on, recently, Fatima Bhutto tweeted:

What are they supposed to wear under their burqas? Burqas?

She is talking about Somali women who are being flogged because they wear PANTS. Loose or tight, pants are a big no-no in Somalia. They are a ticket to "indecent exposure". Fine, I agree that tight pants can be indecent but what about loose one. They are okay to wear as they will not show any part of your lower body. I wonder what kind of Police they have in Somalia. Is it not indecent to peek into burqas?

However, it does not stop there. Here in Pakistan, a couple of male staff at work went to Quetta for marketing school books. When they returned, they told their boss that it was safer to be in Shalwar Kameez. Earlier this month, when my boss took a trip to Quetta to train school teachers for Army personnel's children, he was ordered that he cannot wear Pants. They added if anyone saw him in Pants, chances are there that he would be dead in a few minutes. To be on the safer side, my boss had to wear Shalwar Kameez along with a Turban.

This year, the Burqa was in a lot of debates, especially in the French ones. It was banned in France and they did have a point as a Burqa could be a potential threat; both to security and maybe to the French Fashion. Inside a Burqa, you can never tell if there is a girl or a guy and a bomb can easily be carried. This French ban is widely unpopular in Pakistan but it is gaining support in elsewhere Europe.

As in Pakistan where Burqa is widely popular, the overall tunic dress is causing problems too. The women who wear Burqa feel superior. They stare at you as if you are naked. They are low when it comes to manners and being ethic. Usually, when I am buying something at a crowded shop, these Burqa-clad women will bump into you (and they will never apologize or say "Excuse Me!") and bend to pick things from the lower aisle without checking that if there is space or not. God forbid if you bump into one of them accidentally, she will shout and shout till you are not beaten into a plump. I am not saying the lot is corrupt but significant number of them are.

Moreover, the whole cause of wearing the dress should be looked upon too. Burqa was supposed to be worn over a dress to hide body features but nowadays, more fitting versions are popping up. It does not stop here. One of my friends told that his ex-girlfriend sometimes was wearing nothing under her burqa and I know he is not lying. Roam around in Hill Park Karachi during an afternoon and you will find a lot more that might be inside her burqa than her body. My late grandmother told me that during her times, there were strictness but Burqa was never there.

Now a band of religious fanatic would say, "Burqa is Islam". In my point of view, it is not. Islam while asking women to dress modestly, it also asks men NOT TO STARE. The fault does not lie in the piece of clothing but it lies in our attitudes. If French think that ban Burqa is making them feel safer than they should ponder why in a society so modern women are still wearing Burqas. Indeed, there is a fault in their system. Furthermore, its goes the same way for our country too.

Khair, my point of view is that this whole Burqa thingy is creating a real problem for the women who wear it for security reasons. First the illegitimate use of Burqa and then the ban in France, it makes the world for these women less secure. It would be better that we find out a way to make things secure for them. A more secure world will eventually result in less Burqa. Or maybe, I should drop dieting as I am hallucinating.

Rounding up the 10. Part 1.

2010-12-15T00:56:00.001+05:00

Hayelo! Whats this? You sent an innocent email and someone emails back in RED FONT and uses strong language. Not a very nice incident to start a morning.

Khair! The poor little website administrator at my work was so happy that finally, our company was moving into a more mature web-presence. He finally managed to get the Facebook Page up and running, and he emailed people to follow through a newsletter. In a day, the numbers went from 13 (mostly mine, thanks everyone who 'liked') to 66 fans. However, there was one gentleman who was not quite happy. He emailed back and he used language that even angels would tremble if they would have read it. Indeed, the whole "Draw Day" controversy made Facebook evil but was it necessary to include all those nice words that rhyme with "duck".

The gentleman while immersed in total emotions forgot that swearing is a sin too and a simple email saying "no thanks" would have helped but he showed that he (and a lot of similar Muslims like him) cannot handle things without the right sentiments. It is our over-reaction to some important issues which makes us look stupid and even leave us vulnerable for further attacks. Most of my friends did not use Facebook in the summer this year, and I know quite a few who still are not using it. I appreciate that some guys out there tried to make an alternative but there were no originality in them. It would been have a punch to the face if we would have gathered our resources and would have made "Facebook" alternative, fit for us. Rather to capitalize on our glory, we made several sub-standard pages which perished in no time.

If anyone thinks that I am defending my company's Facebook presence then I would say that you would be disappointed to know that I am not doing that. My point here is while we express our sentiments, we should keep do it in a classier manner. Being offensive is all right but it is time to do more. It is time that we all learn to attack and do some good damage, if someone dares to tarnish something sacred to our beliefs.

A.I.D.S. (Am I Doing Something?)

2010-12-01T03:00:00.006+05:00

Chalo janab. The day is finally here to do some activism. It is the first day of the final month. Today is December 1st, World AIDS Day. Now everyone would say that Mr. Durrani is a such a party-pooper. He would now ruin all the fun by telling us not to have sex just like he did for sexting. Well, yes I would poop in your party just telling that if you are so keen to do it, use a condom please. They are dead cheap (nobody is asking you to buy Durex all the time) and they are for your own good.

The theme this year for World AIDS Day is "Universal Access and Human Rights". As Pakistanis have a canny ability to stigmatize the victim rather than tackling the evil, the theme cannot be more befitting. We need to understand that AIDS patients are as human as we are. They may have special needs and they deserve a chance to universal access to life-prolonging drugs but we should remember that they are humans with hearts. We should not pity them or leave them out of our society. They can be good employees, good friends and even good spouses and parents. Recent scientific procedures have helped HIV-positive mothers to produce HIV-negative children. Extra care does not hurt anyone. We need to change the public thought on this matter.

Bhayee, if you say AIDS in Pakistan in any of your sentences, people make a run for changing the subject or you are suddenly in the butt of a joke. We have just swept this problem under our "Islamic" rug. Once I mentioned it on a forum and some guy made a wise crack that they need a live demonstration on how to use condoms (he meant from start till climax). An year later, I tried to talk it out with one of my friends and he replied that it is Zionist conspiracy to ruin our generation and make them more sex-oriented as it was not a problem in his parents' time. That explanation made me dizzy for a good two minutes. Such ignorance does not help the cause. An acquittance of mine would not use any condoms as he fears that it would make him impotent. Another guy thought that using condoms is just "cheap" and makes you look like a "professional" sex worker. When I asked them that how do they know that their partner is clean, they replied that they pick people from good families and they can tell that they are "clean". Rarely, I have been able to talk it out with girls but I remember that during my last year projects, two girls accompanied to a term paper on AIDS in Pakistan. Another girl of my university took the initiative last year and arranged a seminar on AIDS awareness.

During my term paper, I found out that Pakistan is located at a very tricky position when it comes to AIDS. Our neighboring countries India and China have alarming rates of infections whereas on Afghanistan has the cheapest retail rate for drugs in the world and yet to have a credible source of data on AIDS infection. As travel with India is more relaxed then ever, there is a chance of epidemic travelling into the country. Needle sharing during drug use is also a great cause of this disease. As cheaper drugs flow from Afghanistan, the epidemic can rise as well. These are plausible situations. It does not mean that we stop people with AIDS from both sides of the border to travel. In order to combat this threat, we need to improve our prevention strategies. We need to ensure that proper sex education is given to our children and not only just biological stuff but as well as the logical religious stuff. We need to crack down on drugs and disapprove its use in our mainstream lives.

Poverty has also been a indirect cause of this menace. In order to make the ends meet, both men and women indulge in prostitution. The client would pay less if he or she would be able to get it the way they want it. This does not only prevail in adults. I have been told that children are also "up" for sale. In Lahore, a child sex-worker would be available at even Rs. 50, sometimes lower. These children usually do it to buy glue. The scenarios for eunuchs is not much different either. International agencies like UNAIDS and USAID have been trying to safeguard children from this menace and rehabilitate their lives with the help of local NGOs. Gender Interactive Alliance and New Light Aids Control Society are also playing their part to spread awareness and help in rehabilitation among transgenders and homosexual men. Government of Pakistan has been keeping it under a priority and due to efforts by the government, blood transfusion are much safer than they were a decade ago. Advertisements campaigns in 90s have helped the numbers to be low.

Currently there are 97,400 HIV/AIDS cases in Pakistan and the number is rapidly progressing in drug users and male sex workers, possibly in homosexual men. These number are only reported cases. The estimated number of cases are much higher, sometimes touching the 200,000 mark. I know that quite a few people will accuse me of doing armchair activism but with AIDS, doing that is a tough thing. I have been doing trying to this since I was 17 years old and every year, I have faced more "jokes" than motivation. HIV/AIDS is a global problem and instead of looking what someone is doing, we should all ponder about A.I.D.S. or "Am I Doing Something?" You can start by making a pledge: http://bit.ly/hnzh4E

Leak that (universally) ruined the week...

2010-11-30T03:02:00.002+05:00

Chalo jee. I never expected this when I was growing up, and of all the days in the week, it had to happen on Monday, the start of the week. I thought when I will grow up, everything would be nice and dry. Unlike childhood which is filled with embarrassing memory, I thought things would get better with time but then came school life where a lot of things leaked. Secret leaked, exams paper leaked, and even the results leaked. Finally, you step into your adult life (or like in 90s, they used to say "practical life") and you find out there are more leaks. Leaks that made adults leaks. If the world is really ending, I think its leaking towards the end.

WikiLeaks has surely made a quite mess for people. The problem lies with that USA had forefathers. Had they got any mother in between them, she would have told them that sharing is good. At least sharing honest opinions would have helped them and the world.

The Cablegate has made quite a tangled up mess. It has made leaders around the world, worried. Very worried, indeed but I guess nobody will learn anything from this leak. And if there are countries who are wise enough to investigate the actions mentioned in these leaks then Pakistan might not be the one in them. These leaks would end up on talk shows at dinner where they will cause nothing but sound pollution. The lack of confidence that our brotherly nations' leadership has shown towards Zardari and Sharif should make us ponder and question about the options we have for our next election. Picking any of the two would be grave mistake for Pakistan. Furthermore, we should really think about our stance in this "War against Terror". In 10 years, we have sacrificed a lot but we have never received any appreciation.

The information in these leaks are quite scary. Had they been printed as fiction, it would have been a bestseller in no time. These leaks are a true of reflection of time; a point upon which the leaders and the people of the world have to notice that there is too much hate prevailing in our hearts. We need to sort out our priorities, for our children and their children.

Khair, what happened, happened. In order to stay free and peaceful, the leaders should ALWAYS use a far-sighted sensibility rather than short-term greed so that their people can all have a happy period.

Sexting, Arresting...

2010-11-29T00:49:00.004+05:00

Chalo. Last night when you are about to sleep, you hear that a plane crashed in Karachi and you get curious if my city is under a curse of some sort. All the three flights that have crashed in Pakistan in the past five months were linked with Karachi somehow. Allah bless all the departed souls and the people who got injured or lost someone in these accidents.

Khair, you go to sleep only to be disturbed by your little sister and your mom who tell you that there is police near your house and to remind you that a plane has crashed. The first thought in my mind is that the religious political group at the end of your street has something to do with planes going down but then I learn the police has cars parked outside my house. I got scared, I thought Zardari post of mine was read and I am going down for blasphemy). However, the police were for my neighbors which gave my active imagination to search for new theories until I heard the real story, this morning.

It seems that old habits die hard. The Punjabi neighbors of ours have sons and one of them tried to threaten a girl and thought he would get away with it. The girl must've been smart and told the police. The police with all of its glory (I mean, those shiny new Hi-Lux) came to our neighborhood to investigate at 0400am. Thanks to a stupid move, almost everyone in the neighborhood was awake. It seems that guys in Pakistan love it learn it the hard way. Under new laws, women have the right to complain about anything which can threat them.

Sexting can be one of them. Recently, a friend told me that he has girls for "doing" it on MMS (and it gets better if you have a touchscreen phone). With hormones all charged up, both parties send each other pictures in their birthday suits. Those "for your eyes only" pictures are usually stored in the phone memory and then "sharing is good" happens. If things get messy, there can be a chance where a girl can report the police about the "indecent exposure" and the complaint would be taken seriously. It can make a guy end up in jail and thats not one very cool place to hang out. Guys can do the same thing but they would not because they think they are plenty fishes in the water.

This topic is meant for guys out there who are acting very irresponsible. These guys forget that they would "kill" their sisters for sexting but they would encourage other girls to do it. They should also know that times are changing and girls are now empowered with law than some years back. The topic at the same is for girls too. They should think twice before making bold steps. It is a fact in the "girl world" that guys are jerk and then they would be stupid about it. It is better for both of girls and guys to keep their shirts on and belts tight on this matter. Sexting is fun but doing it with pictures, it can go severely wrong.

P.S.: My neighbour never "sexted" and later I was told he was investigated for a suspected part in robber (wtf). WOW! What a good bunch of buddies he has.

Lunch with free add-ons...

2010-11-28T02:26:00.001+05:00

Chalo jee. There are times you go to restaurant for lunch and you wish that you could have a nice time eating. You want to consume your afternoon meal without noticing the harsh realities of life because at dinnertime, you know Kamran Khan will tell you that apocalypse would come any second and we all are goners. Thanks to him, I have gained weight over the last time as I might be binging.

Khair, lunch is where I need peace so I often eat at an eatery near my office. Today was sandwich day. As I ordered, it turns out there was a brawl in the kitchen over the wrong set of buns offered with an order. The consumer wanted round ones rather the long ones (I am still confused why). Muhajir supervisor threw the long buns on Pathan cook and then it all started. Without thinking that there was a restaurant to run, the supervisor and the waiter started with verbal abuses of all family kinds. All the other waiters started to reduce the emotional temperature, leaving only one behind to tackle all twelve tables.

The things cooled down for a second but then they reappeared. Apparently, the Pathan cook talked with his Pathan friend and the Muhajir supervisor heard there was something going on Pushtu which was enough start Round 2. This time, Muhajir supervisor targeted the "Superman" t-shirt wearing better looking Pathan cook who looked fairly younger. The supervisor was quite offended by the use of Pushtu language. He was so crossed that he threatened him with ready-to-find weapon, a raita bottle and promised to throw a plate on his face later. Meanwhile, I was half done with my sandwich but there were hungry costumers waiting for their orders to be either taken or delivered. The Pathans were ready to attack as well.

The funniest bit is that the whole brawl cooled down when a Bengali interfered.

Now everyone would think that I am being racist and in my defense, I would say I am human. This whole brawl was quite amusing to look at but it was a harsh reality that got served with my lunch bill. We as a nation are now getting very intolerant. We quarrel on small non-productive issues at a time when we have big issues on hand, and most of our quarrels are cooled down with some type of interference from external sources. It shows that the actions of our politicians is doing nothing but creating a mess.

As for me, I think Kamran Khan may not be wrong, the world might be really ending.

Hush Zardari, Shoe Zardari!

2010-08-08T03:32:00.012+05:00

Guess who went on a vacation. Our President, the beloved Asif Ali Zardari. First, he went to Paris, and borrowed a French Army helicopter for trip to his château. I hope he had some French wine and the scenery must be real great because he needs that. A President and his false-named prince needs to be pampered. Everyone should hush up as President is a father and a vacation with his children is due. He lost so much time in the jail and never had the time for a vacation until now when half of the Pakistan is flooded. So vacation it is. When Pakistan calls its President for help, they might get to hear the melody close to the following one.

Indeed hooray! Hooray for Hyatt Regency London to be the most frugal option for our President. Hooray for Lord Nazir Ahmed who declined to meet the President. Hooray for the Labour MP Khalid Mahmood who reminded that the trip is pointless but our little old President had a country to save as he was "protecting" national interest. As it is taught in business schools all over the world, an investor should always protect his interest, and we all know the 10% interest that Mr. Zardari has on basically anything interesting.

Wise is that son of our President. He plainly refused to launch his political career and became a pauper for the devastated people of Pakistan while the President was proclaimed a "King". President Zardari and his pals in UK thought that a party would be a great end to his vacation. They made plans and they made lists of people who should be invited. You know a King's Ball is not open for all and you have to be special to be invited. So, they booked a hall in Birmingham and made sure that the party starts fashionably late. But what's a party without a Cinderella moment.

Off came the shoes! The rest is pretty much history. If Mr. President is of sound mind - a story for another day, he should know by now that he has been shooed not by the British Government, or the Overseas Pakistani but from people inside his circle. As for the people like Qaira and Babar, they must be sleeping as it is a habit of PPP leadership to doze off whenever they feel like. The footage from PTV indeed shows that there was something fishy, and the crowd was lesser than expected. The Telegraph quoted a number of 1000. The whole PPP needs to wake up and smell the Java. The reality on ground has changed. The leadership is faulty and the communication inside the PPP is worse than ever. They need a new face and a new vision. It would be best if it came from someone mature and not young, especially the ones who have drunk photos on their Facebook account.

Later on TV, Sharmil Faroqi gave a statement that Prime Minister is the Chief Executive, and he was here. According to her, President Zardari gave all his powers to Prime Minister. However, she overlooked one tiny detail, President, unlike the norm, still runs the PPP and Prime Minister is a part of the party. So we still have the same thing in a new packaging.

Oh well, as I suggested PPP needs a new leadership quotient but if they are thinking, Bilawal as the next big thing. Then they should use the following song as their new hip anthem.

As for Mr. President, he had a trip to Europe with his boys, took a joy ride in French Army helicopter and in the end, an "admirer" gave him new shoes. Not a bad trip for Mr. Even with all the hush and the shoe going on, not a bad trip for the President and for the puppies. Hush hush, Durrani. Don't get carried away now.

Chrome is not shiny, but its very useable...

2008-09-03T17:17:00.003+06:00

Google announced its own browser called Chrome. It is a competition to IE, Firefox, Safari and Opera, and it looks like it is hear to stay. Like Talk, it looks promising and has a simple feel to it. Its kinda easy on memory as well as on eyes. It has a privacy mode called Incognito Window, which lets browse without leaving any tracks anywhere.

Last night, when I was looking at the Google Chrome Comic Book, they went with all the details over how JavaScript works like a miracle on the new browser but all is not sweet. The browser is not in good term with JavaScript being used on Facebook. Sometime, the browser tells that JavaScript has been disabled which is kinda strange. Its still in beta, and like all beta products from Google, you may expect outage.

Here is one of the example I found on Facebook:

From Drop Box

2008-08-18T12:48:00.001+06:00

President Musharraf to address the nation in less than 15 minutes. We all knew it was coming sooner or later. It is definite that he will resign.

Year After...

2008-06-25T15:09:00.003+06:00

This blog looks sad, indeed. It has been long since I have talked here. Its a strange thing, i always wanted to write something or the other but it never happened. So, I took out sometime (from my Internship hours that is, LOL!)

Today, I took out the time to read the past entries on my blog. All of them looked so silly, but they were all so helpful during that weak period of mine. Life has moved on, I made new friends who are less drama than the some of the last bunch. I gained my respect back in the past bunch. Over this past year, I learned how strong I can be and still I don't know. Its better that some things are left to be discovered.

"One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt, and pillars of sand"
- Coldplay, Viva La Vida

Moreover, the stories of "Yeh Mausam Jawan" (both 1 & 2) are on a stand still. I would begin "Yeh Mausam Jawan 1" soon. Its time to get it done with. Eventually, I have been writing two newer stories, "Wide Blue Yonder" and "All That Shines". "All That Shines" would be coming up very soon on a blog.

And, I am still single.... woohoo!

2008-06-17T21:28:00.000+06:00

There She Goes...

2008-03-22T02:18:00.006+05:00

Well, she was a beauty and yes, she was cherished but at times, you need to move on and let someone else appreciate the beauty. I am talking about my Motorola C168. I still remember that phone when I bought it. I thought it was achievement. Most of the cost for my phone was covered by me as well as a bunch of friends lend me a hand into it. A strange thing is that the departure of that phone should be an emotional one but it seems that it doesn't matter much. Its good to see that I have moved on.

I bought Motorola C168 only for its so unusual features. It was an FM handset with GPRS/MMS capabilities. I never sent a single MMS from it but I did use a lot GPRS. My total time on GPRS exceeded my talktime hours. I found cool ringtones for it, I loved the Robert Miles' Children as well as He's a Pirate from "Pirates of the Catribean 2". It had the most stupid Football game which lets the user win on Level 1 and yes how can I forget, it was my first color screened phone. Here is a pic:

Meanwhile, I am using another FM phone which is very recent. Its Samsung C160.

All in all, C168 would be missed. She was different from all her brothers and sisters. Later people!

2008-03-03T17:09:00.004+05:00

They went from Panic! to Panic but still they rock. I cant wait for their album coming on March 25th.

Whoa! Things are tricky...

2008-03-03T16:49:00.002+05:00

Now look at that trick... If I would have been using an older version of MSN Messenger or Gilly Messenger, I would have been fooled into unwanted message. This pop-in had the same mechanics of an MSN pop-up message. Gosh, martketing people are getting really tricky now. People keep your eyes peeled for things like these...

t.A.T.u. is back...

2008-02-09T02:09:00.002+05:00

The girls are back with a bang... a much better effort than the last album... The new album to be out on April 29th named as "Waste Management"

Being Jovial...

2008-02-06T01:23:00.000+05:00

Thats the best compliment I've got in a while but being jovial has a lot different meanings. It might hide a lot of mess for myself or it maybe a step to remove mess from someone's life. It may show the positive side of life or it might be that I am lying. Indeed, being jovial is not a simple think to put up... Try guessing the meaning for a person whose jovial all the time... You find interesting things... With me, I am jovial for the moment I cherish to live, with people who are around.

See ya around!

Moments of Stillness...

2007-12-05T02:45:00.001+05:00

In our lives, we all have our moments of silence and stillness which we need to face by ourselves but not all moments of silence are still. They somehow indicate something. Sometimes silence indicates a feeling of fullness or a sense of fear; it may show hope of a good future ahead or despair of the past left behind. It shows calmness in one's mind or a plot being planned silently. Indeed we should all learn how to enjoy our serenity but then again, its always calm before a storm.

Emergency Imposed - Independent Media Gone Off-Air

2007-11-03T19:32:00.000+05:00

2100 PKT: Benazir coming back to Pakistan, Musharraf to address the nation at 2300 PKT (1100 pm). GEO TV website unaccessible due to high traffic. AAJ TV website works fine. Internet speeds slashed, video streaming is impossible.

2000 PKT: Chief Justice Chaudary Iftikhar Ahmed has been sacked along with 10 judges.

1930 PKT: HUM TV, Masala TV and Wikkid Plus is back on-air; at least government thought about entertaining people.

1800 PKT: PTV announces State of Emergency. GEO TV website nonfunctional. MAST FM103 nonfunctional.

1715 PKT: WORLDcall unplugs all independent TV stations including Cartoon Network, Wikkid Plus, HUM TV and other entertainment channels.

Dido - Thank You [Deep Dish Remix]

2007-10-23T02:25:00.000+05:00

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eSnips Social DNA

2007-10-17T18:22:00.000+05:00

God Bless Those Good Souls...

2007-09-28T15:08:00.000+05:00

If we look around and notice, there is a lot of good in this world. Some are good some of the times, other are good all of the times. Some are good in their work while some think they are too good for some people. But when we notice good, there is always one who stand out; the good people. They are good in nature and good in conduct. They make this world a good place to live. God bless those good souls.

Shopping...

2007-09-10T01:13:00.000+05:00

Oh! what joy shopping brings. We all shop; boys shop, girls shop. Everybody has to shop for something in their lives. The interesting thing is that shopping not always happens in a market or a shop. It happens online and off the market, and there is always a thrill of shoplifting. This happens everyday. Someone goes to shop for something; some finds their things but it might be too expensive while some find real good bargains but there are always a few who love to shoplift.

This is just how things happens around us or maybe I am talking too much...

Contorversy behind the Pakistan Idol

2007-08-14T02:10:00.000+05:00

"Sindh High Court on Friday restrained a local TV channel from airing the “Pakistan Idol” programme in a Rs.50 million lawsuit filed by M/s Independent Media for injunction on its franchise right.

The plaintiff submitted that it has acquired franchise right to air the localized version of the programme “Pakistan Idol” from its owner Fremantle Media for broadcast in Pakistan.

The plaintiff’s counsel Mohammad Ali Mazhar contended that his client has invested millions of rupees to acquire the right to air this programme, which is also being aired in 43 other countries, but the defendant encroached such mark and idea which was actually the plaintiff’s right.

The counsel expressed the fear that the defendant (Fortune Marketing) was trying to infringe such rights and it appeared that it may first air the program on August 13. He sought interim injunction restraining the defendant from telecasting the program in question.

SHC’s single bench granted interim injunction restraining the defendant from telecasting the program till next date of hearing."
- The News, August 13th 2007

This explains why there is no Pakistan Idol on DinTV anymore. It is the first time when there is a fight over rights airing a show in Pakistan. GEO TV owns the right to air "American Idol" in Pakistan but it is not yet confirmed if it really owns the rights to Pakistani Idol. I tried to find a contact from the parent company, FremantleMedia but they do not have an email address on their website. Din version of Pakistan Idol is very sloppy. The judges are rarely known celebrities and they do not have that Idol ambiance.

There can be an ideal judgement for this case, GEO TV gets the primary airing rights where as DIN repeats the program on its network. I hope Pakistan Idol makes a successful series as Survivor was a total burnout.

Celebrating!!!

2007-08-08T01:00:00.000+05:00

Yes we are celebrating these days but Telenor is celebrating much more. LOL. Last week, me and some my relatives received SMS messages saying that Telenor is quite happy to give double balance if we put a certain code.

Whoever wrote those messages, they were not written in a good manner. They had awful English. Seriously, they should have a worked a bit harder on this.

Here is an example:
"777"@Telenor ke traf si khush kabri, Holiday ke khushi mai ***1**1**923461234567**0044*# ye code melakar balance double kerein/wwwTELENOR/com@

Another one:
Dear Customer: we are celebrating summer season, NOW get Telenor gift. This code dial *1*1*923441234567*45*#
Your Balanc will be double

From:
Telenor 777

Such load of baloney. LOL!

Shoaib & Saad present 10 Hot Women of the August' 07

2007-08-07T00:14:00.000+05:00

Starting this August, Shoaib, my rapper buddy and I will determine who we think is on the hot meter. This is important, lol. We have a surprising list of ladies.

10.
EVA LONGORIA

The hottest in the "Desperaste" bunch, Eva is dark, husky and very nice.

9.
ADRIANA LIMA

Ms. Lima has blue eyes but no blonde hair (not in this picture) but still she is very hot. Somehow she looks very innocent yet playful.

8.
SCARLETT JOHANSSON

No wonder Loreal asked her to be a brand ambassador. A guy would love to kiss on lips like hers. Yum!

7.
KATIE PRICE aka JORDAN

Mrs. Peter Andre is, as good as his husband. Both have good bodies and good looks. Don't tell this about Brangelina, they might get jealous.

6.
MELISSA JOAN HART

Playful, chic and smart.

5.
ANGELINA JOLIE

We all want to play with Lara Croft. Don't we?

4.
DONNA FELDMAN

She started from a model "Deal or No Deal", then moved to a actress in "Fashion House", and now she is the new Enrique Iglesias video "Tired of Being Sorry".

3.
ABI TITMUSS

Yup! The old-fashion American kind.

2.
MONICA BELLUCCI

She is Italian and like all Italian things, she is wonderful to look at.

1.
AVRIL LAVIGNE

She is young, hot, energetic, sexy and still she wears clothes (most of the time). No wonder she is a boyfriend stealer.
Wow! What a bunch of amazing ladies. See ya next month with more amazing ladies.

Jihaad

2007-08-04T12:21:00.000+05:00

For past few weeks, I've been reading and watching those terrible disasters which are taking place in this very world... ha!! I mean what is this I cannot get it till now that why people are so illiterate that they don't even know about there religion they kill people and they say they are "Jihaadi's". Jihaad is not to kill those babies who just came out of the utrus man what they did to you its just because they are not muslims, they we have to put "Jihaad" rule on them. Thats plain bullshit!

Well in this image I've shown awl those kinda realities what is happening in this world
and I've tried to put feeling that stop killing people in the name of Jihaad please!!!
I might not reach those people who are doing this kinda stuff but still I diagrammed my feelings
& this is not what people think, this is what I think.

-Shahrukh Kazmi

Baby, baby, what country should I choose? 1

2007-08-03T01:16:00.000+05:00

This is a new series here at my blog. I am such a dreamer and in my dreams, I travel the world. I have never been out of my country but I would like to visit some places in the world. One of those destinations would be Malaysia. When I was in school, I learned that Malaysia was 3rd world country which struggled to come to a more developed status. I was truly amazed when I saw Malaysian Tourism Ad in 2000. They had everything perfect in it which made me wonder to find out more about this country.

This was the first ad about Malaysia and it truly shows how diverse and fantastic it is. Once my dad traveled to Singapore through Malaysian Airlines and he brought a children activity book from the flight. It was truly fun. The true face of Malaysia appeared when Survivor came on the screen. I was in love with the jungles of Borneo. They looked mysterious and this ignited a fire in me to find more about Malaysia. Internet has been such a great help. It helped me to see Malaysia in different perspective. I prefer to travel to Malaysia for vacation over any place in world as it looks like Malaysia has so much to offer. From beaches to cities, it is full of exciting adventures and how can I forget, Malaysia is home to Orangutan, one of the most cutest creatures in the world.

The year 2007 is truly special for Malaysia. It is celebrating its 5oth anniversary of nationhood. Clearly it shows that how Malaysia evolved from just a Muslim country to an international tourism attraction. It accepts diversity and there have been rare reports of disturbances. Pakistani can learn great things from our friends Malaysian. Both countries have enjoyed a good relation. Seven years later, Malaysia has achieved a status in the economic world as a newly industralised country. Instead of vacation, people think about tiring in Malaysia.

Happy Independence Year. Remember Malaysia, Truly Asia.

TOMORROW: Another fantastic destination.

Thats good, real good

2007-08-01T01:21:00.000+05:00

Hey everyone,

I hope everyone would be doing great. Today we will talk about something different. I realized that there was too much of "ME" in the board. Lately, I have been following up with Indian Idol 3. The first two seasons were amazing. People were glued to the screen when the show was on-air. SET Asia somehow decided to move the show to Summer rather than Fall, so between there was 15 month gap between Indian Idol 2 and Indian Idol 3.

Indian idol 3 has not been very impressive. The lineup is very weak, specially the girls weren't that special. Guys excelled in the Piano round but somehow they lost their zest in the galas but the wild card contestants turned out to be true gems. Amit was chosen by the public where as judges chose Ankita.

Both of the wild card contestants are my favorite but Amit Paul is amazing. The guy absolutely talented. He sings as if he is the "Indian Idol". The video below truly shows that he is superb. I heard this song for the first time in my life and I was so moved with it. I am placing my money on Amit. If he wins, I will buy his album.

Jaxtr is so freaky!

2007-07-23T01:26:00.000+05:00

Send free voicemails, make free calls:

http://www.jaxtr.com/saad.durrani

Play with the website and you will figure out how it works. I will also tell you how it works.

Who knew that?

2007-07-22T01:37:00.000+05:00

Who ever knew that? This is Tickle thing is so near to the truth. I am truly amazed.

Your Birthdate: November 22

You tend to be understated and under appreciated.
You have a hidden force to do amazing things, doing them your own way.
People may see you as strange and shy, but they know little.
Your unconventional ways have more power than they (and even you) know.

Your strength: Standing up for what you know is true

Your weakness: You tend to be picky and rigid

Your power color: Silver

Your power symbol: Square

Your power month: April

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Tired...

2007-07-06T01:53:00.000+05:00

Maybe you were right
But baby I was lonely
I don't want to fight
I'm tired of being sorry
-Enrique Iglesias "Tired of Being Sorry"

Wow! Sometimes some songs define your time so correctly.

Do you know...

2007-07-06T01:18:00.000+05:00

Do you know what it feels like loving someone that’s in a rush to throw you away.
Do you know what it feels like to be the last one to know the lock on the door has changed.
- Enrique Iglesias "Do You Know (The Ping Pong Song)"

Sometimes we should try to place ourselves in other's shoes. You may see that grass is not greener on the other side.

There is...

2007-06-22T00:39:00.000+05:00

some good news and some bad news. Uzair and I had the worst fight of our friendship. I started it and he ended it. I am sorry about it but I guess it is fine to see the thing wrap up. I am very sad - this is how it ends but it happened.

Good news! I am in LOVE! She is the best help I can get. She is the most beautiful girl ever. She has an emotional baggage but I will handle it somehow. I am just concerned that we may ended up breaking each other's heart but only time can tell.

Imran lost her grandma and I seriously know how it feels. I loved my grandma very much, I never cried on her funeral as I thought she was in a better place. I wish she was her to see my love but I am sure she will like my new girl.

More soon!

I Write...

2007-06-15T00:53:00.000+05:00

Apart from this blog, I try to write scripts for television dramas. I guess, I am not good at those but still they are a good help to kill some time. These days I am writing a story based on my University experience. I hope I am able to write it good so people can watch it on their TV.

Blogger BLOCKED!

2007-06-06T01:38:00.001+05:00

Well I dont get it. Why do they have to block the whole website? My blog never said anything about the military or government but still it is inaccessible. I am not against censorship but this step is stupid. It destroys a lot of good blogs which may help in promoting the "softer image" of Pakistan.

"The Taboo" - Click the image to see a larger version

2007-04-07T13:00:00.000+05:00

This image is beautiful done by Shahrukh Kazmi, a dear friend of mine. It is indeed very unfortunate that Shahrukh is moving out his place or else he would have been posting it. The theme of image is "Dangers of Abuse" in our societies. This image does not cater to only one part of all but it tends to show how we are unable to solve this common issue world over. Women in all societies are being targeted for pleasure; dirty pleasures. During those pleasure, the victim gets more than just getting 'hurt'.

The counter-theme of theme of project is "Menaces of AIDS", AIDS is destroying our societies. It is estimated that every 6.4 seconds, one person gets infected with AIDS. India is high alert for this epidemic and South Africa saw 1 percent decrease in their population due to AIDS. The situation in Pakistan is unclear.

Now how this picture has two themes. If you clearly see the right side, there is a girl embedded with hands approaching and she is scared from them. Moving right, we see a girl and a guy going into some action; you can clearly notice that there is forceful intensity. Last now the least there is a mask which represents that 'Taboo' and 'Society'. The society is looking upon the taboo. If you see the image from right to left, the hands try to molest the girl and she gets raped where as if you see the image from left to right, the couple went into action and the girl gets infected with AIDS and society pulled away from her.

This is my views on the image, kindly share yours as well.

Save the 'best' for the last

2007-03-30T23:59:00.000+05:00

This afternoon I got a message from a friend that tuned into ATV, we are on-air. I told my family to check it out as I had to take a bath for the Friday prayers.

Well, the program was actually recorded almost 2 weeks back at one of the ECG exhibitions I did. Everyone's favorite - Mani was the host of the program and the format was years old, 'get a mic with a camera and bug people with questions when they are hanging out'. Mani talked about Bob Woolmer's death and he came to us after some girls ran away from him "shyly". He sat with Hassan, me and Yasir and started talking about the cricket. Hassan was the most knowledgeable, Yasir was the most braggy one and I was the "other" one. During the whole link, I sat quitely and expressed my ideas in the end.

Now lets come back to today's afternoon, I went came out of bathroom, I saw my mom and sisters laughing. They said you talked something "enlightening" and I was shocked when I heard that they edited out all the good part and saved my cheesy stuff as the comment of the show. LOL.

Well, I guess it is pretty much important to think before you speak or else you end up in jokes. See ya soon. Bye.

P.S. : The program was called Road Romeo because Mani was wearing a cowboy's hat and boy, he is very unattractive.

Under Customization

2007-03-27T18:27:00.000+05:00

The blog is going under sever customization. You might suffer some glitches during browsing.

I Learned,

2007-03-26T14:00:00.000+05:00

During this month, I learned a lot from people we tend to ignore: Our Juniors or people younger than you. Seriously, we tend to think that they do not how things work and you have an edge over them. Juniors might not give you a professional workup but instead they make you go back to your roots. I was working on the reception at ITIF Asia 2007 and Textile Asia 2007 where I met two very distinct people.

At ITIF Asia 2007, I met Amna; a First Semester student from Bahria University. I must say she was one confident and energetic girl. When I looked at her, I saw that ambition which I had when I joined Textile Asia 2006 as a Receptionist. She was eager to learn as well as she was a team player. It was very much fun to work with her. The only problem I think I had with her is that she complained about food a lot.

At Textile Asia 2007, I met Ziad; a Second year student from Sir Syed University. He was a tall, fair and handsome guy. He was the part of Press & Media. He usually came around and chat with me to kill some boring time. Unlike other of his kind, Ziad was very polite and straight in his approach. There were times where we had some conflicting ideas about some issues. He was truly a gentleman kind.

Although, every team member has a special place in my heart but these two stood out due only one reason.

How much they reminded me of being myself?

They both remembered to communicate with me after the events. Both of them made me remember that the things which made me special. I think I was very lucky to meet them as I will try to keep those traits, forever with me.

Good luck to you both!

The first post of 2007

2007-03-08T00:23:00.000+05:00

Surprisingly, today it seems that there is no restriction on Blogger. I can log in just like that. In the previous two months, a lot happened and I would love to tell about it very soon. I hope this ban is permanently lifted, or else it might take me another two months to post. :)

A month after my birthday!

2006-12-23T23:30:00.000+05:00

Hello again!

Hows everyone doing? Sorry I was busy in my new cellphone that I forgot to update this space here. Well my new phone is a brand spanking new Motorola C168 with built-in FM radio. Cool, aint it! Well I think I got a deal. It was all because of my good friends: Hassan, Yasir, Uzair, Imran, Eahtesham and Sarwar.

Here is a pic of my new phone & specifications:

Isn't she a beauty and the FM radio works great. So now I have a good useable phone, I am thinking for a newer and sexier phone like the new Motorola ROKR E6. Have a look here at the specifications and the pic:

By the way, if someone knows where to download stuff your mobile for free. Please let me know.

My Birthday!

2006-11-22T01:22:00.000+05:00

Its my b'day!

A Day Left...

2006-11-21T14:30:00.000+05:00

It is a day left to my Birthday (almost).

Here is the countdown via TimeandDate.com

By the way, I have a temporary phone, a Nokia 3220. I think this phone is a fun device. It has lights all over, has a camera and lets you surf Internet.

I love it. See ya around!

When someone good leaves,

2006-11-20T13:00:00.000+05:00

There is officially 2 Days left to my birthday and someone is leaving me before I turn 20. It was July 2005 when I met her. She was the sexiest of them. She was my dream. I needed someone just like her who can move my world. She is black and very sexy.

My first "bought" phone: Motorola C115

Seriously when I went to the mobile market at Saddar to buy myself a new phone. I never thought I would be able to buy this fone. It was kinda expensive and out of budget but no one can stop you if your luck is with you. We (me and my friend Hassan) went to a vendor and he showed me this beautiful phone. The phone had nothing extra attached with it. No warranty; no original charger - nothing. It was good clean handset but it was still kinda expensive. We searched the whole market for a cheaper better phone but we didn't find anything. So we went back to the vendor and told him that we want to buy the phone. I tested the phone, it worked like a dream. We paid Rs. 1500/- cash and went out the market.

When I came home, I studied the phone was great but it lacked one feature I wanted, "Vibra-Ring" - the phone doesn't vibrate when it rings but then again it was cool to "Vibra&Ring", it vibrates first and then rings; that was cool as sometimes you had the option to turn the phone during the class. This phone has been a great pal. I still remember that this phone was so much fun, people said it was useless and crummy but it is not. If you look around you will find, all those nifty thing you need. By the way, you can have customised ringtones for it.

So my beloved C115 is leaving in a few hours for a third-hand user. I hope he/she looks after it very carefully. I will always remember these 16 months and 1 week of loyal service of this phone. Who will replace it? You will know it in a week.

Check This Out!

2006-10-21T06:57:00.000+05:00

I love taking test like these! Tickle is the best site for that. If you know more links please post.

Buttons!

2006-10-15T06:33:00.000+05:00

I'm tellin' you to loosen up my buttons babe (Uh huh)
But you keep frontin' (Uh)
Sayin' what you gon' do to me (Uh huh)
But I ain't seen nothin' (Uh)

I'm tellin' you to loosen up my buttons babe (Uh huh)
- "Buttons" - The Pussycat Dolls (2006)

Yeah! I have some new buttons on the right side. First is the search button from ASK.com (I dont think it works :S), secondly there is the ad button (which you should click once in a while) and lastly, there are "Add to" buttons. I hope you find them useful.

Saad Durrani

P.S. : I totally forgot to tell you that you can have the song from esnips.com, click here.

I am Anonymous!

2006-10-10T07:15:00.000+05:00

Well, you can blog from Pakistan anytime you want considering the fact that you are usig your own space and not a blogging site, Blogger. But then again, if you want to blog from Blogger, no one can stop you, not even the government can halt your services.

Presenting Torpark , the world's newest anonymouse browser powered by Firefox. Torpark is quite neat and it used the TOR network to connect with. This browser is amazing, it is so small that it can easily fit in your USB drive and comes with 35 downloaded language packs including Chinese and Arabic. Acoording to Wikipedia, "Tor aims to protect its users against traffic analysis attacks. Tor operates an overlay network of onion routers that enables two things: anonymous outgoing connections and anonymous hidden services". Even though, TOR had been reported to be used in a child-porno case but the technology is still safe and anonymous to use unless you know what are you doing.

Torpark is slow to work with if you are not on a good connection and even slower if you are using it through your USB. Even if you get it connected to the network, you may have sluggish services that is why I recommend that you read the manuals available with it. It also takes over your Firefox as well which is a bummer. But the fun part is that you get to fool with some website like Google, RapidShare or many more. Torpark maybe slow and aluggish but it is definitely a useful app to have. This app helps me in blogging using Blogger although I can use site like Anonymouse.org or Kproxy.com but having a browser for blogging is a different thing,

You can download it from here and below is a screenshot.

I am back!

2006-10-09T01:46:00.000+05:00

I am back and this thing is gonna be sexier. Why?

Well first Google Accounts in now attached with it, second I can blog and make people view it as well. I wonder if someone going to view this anyday. OK, I remember that I am posting exactly an year late but I made the history go away.

I wish I can be more regular. Let's see how things turn up. I would be talking about things around the world. So join me anytime and read "Durrani Blogs".

Saad Durrani