work

Time to get back to work seriously, hopefully in next fifteen minutes - umm?

T-rex Hours

Blogger Attitude

It is sad, when you have to concentrate on studies, you start finding nice blogs, your interest develops even in the most boring stuff on the internet. For example yesterday i found many nice blogs, websites of a Karachi based NGO The Second Floor and an excerpt of Dancing Girls of Lahore. Needless to say i hate science and Islamablah (typical attitude of a blogger).

ps: If you have a complete copy of the book do share.

Disorder in Room

Nothing new except time is running fast and i have a huge pile of papers to study, completely understand them and memorize many things too - it's Physics of something not so interesting.

Anyway, let's take a quick look at the disorderliness in the room, starting from table it has a bunch of keys, pen, books, a glass, a tea cup with two used tea bags and a tea-spoon in it, an orange that Tolu, my flatmate, gave me a couple of days ago as a gesture of goodwill between Pakistan and Nigeria, and since then it lies on that table in a far left corner. Had he shared his big pack of ice-cream with me, it could have served the purpose better. Also, on the table are three packs of juice resembling mini-skyscrapers, one yet to be opened, the other half consumed and the third one is an empty pack as bin is already full. Towel is on the back of chair, cupboard half open with a pile of clothes in it since i did the laundry third time after putting on all the fresh clothes, a few clothes on clothes' hook on one side of cupboard, the top is occupied by a suitcase, a laptop bag, and a Jaeynamaz, Bedsheet must be replaced with a fresh one, duvet needs a cover which is somewhere in that washed pile of clothes but i am afraid it's too late for this duvet to have a cover now. Now the new duvet-cover needs a new duvet. Did i mention, it (the cupboard) has a nice wooden surface and polish? What else? Yes, i have to put the camera back in the drawer, at the moment, it rests on the bed and connected to laptop with a cable - often i remove the cable from one end only, obviously from computer's port. Also lies a chair in the room i brought from dinning a month ago and now treating it like personal property. On seeing this, Tolu also did the same by moving another chair from there when his girl friend and many other guests started paying frequent visits. Now dinning can serve two people only. But ... i don't have any objection on the number of chairs left behind. Rest everything is in order. And two patakha urdu posts are in a queue as i am waiting for the university to open so that i may scan those pages and publish here. I have wasted a lot of time today. Must open books again. Magar pehlay chai ...

Angry Iraqi

Bush said:

Let me talk about the guy throwing his shoe. It's one way to gain attention. It's like going to a political rally and having people yell at you. It's like driving down the street and having people not gesturing with all five fingers.

lolz ... i am sure Bush knew that actually it was the hatred which surfaced that way. I have sympathies for that reporter.

Follow the link for details.

CNN: Bush in Baghdad

Eid

It's Eid here today. So,


Eid Mubarak.


4:00 am and listening to Geo live audio. A blessing in ..? Whatever it is. Just trying to convince myself to open books.

Key to ... Laundry

Fried Eggs

It wasn't colic i was suffering from as i misjudged, it was my empty stomach actually, protesting for being treated with several cups of tea and vanilla flavored muffins since evening. Sighs -- at the moment, my stomach and freezer, both are empty and a bit noisy . Eggs aren't a good idea either, as i already had three in the breakfast -half fried, fully covered with a thick layer of black pepper. Now the only available options are 'tea with muffins' or 'muffins with tea'. Grumbling stomach is a bad thing. It makes you feel that mercury has fallen below another four or five points on the scale.

khair, kartay hain phir say koi chai shai ka ah'tamam.

Listening to: Gallan (Ali Azmat)

page2 page1

Click to enlarge

Randomness

Sometimes, I forget to finish my tea or coffee, as i get involved in work or other things; these online activities are too addictive sometimes, and fifteen or twenty minutes later when i get a glimpse of the tea cup hidden behind the books only then i discove that a quarter cup of tea, now cold, is still to be finished. I dislike draining cups of tea and coffee in washbasin, so i mix it in the pan when i make another fresh cup of tea. (don't ask why not to put it in microwave)

For last one week, i am on omelettes and bread. Someone told me that to cook once in a week and freeze the food is an ideal approach and to eat bread, jam and eggs is a practical way. I went to the shop to get some halal meat today, though all the shops in the lane were open but they were not letting the people in as police was searching for some weapons or may be drugs there. So, today again, it will be omelette. I have bought mushrooms to add to the recipe, hope it will change the taste. if you have a taste for cold tea and coffee or if a you have a better recipe for omelettes do let me know.

Time for another tutorial, getting late, so better to end the post and leave.

wallpaper - Autumn Fields

Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean.
Tears from the depth of some divine despair
Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes,
In looking on the happy Autumn-fields,
And thinking on the days that are no more.

(Tennyson)

link

No one wanted to talk about careers! Well, i have something for you people.

Surprise , Surprise!

.

Career Comics 1

Just thought to start a new series The Career Comics. Below is the first of the series. I believe that creativity and crazy ideas bloom more from personal experiences instead of observations alone. As far as career is concerned, I faced many harsh realities in past two years and may be that's the reason for how this balloon popped into this first comic. If you opt for a wrong job with a professional degree of your choice and stick to it, i would call it a career suicide.

update:
Doing What: Green head is trying to understand the Green's Function.

Saein aik arz thi, "Agar White House ka naam Benazir Shaheed House ho jai to ... "

Not so dear.

Terry, believe me, I have the guts!











Should i inform the big cheese?

Wallpaper Link






Listening to: Ya Rab (Marwan Khoury ft. Carole Samaha )

Currently playing: Adeek E'reft (Elissa)
.

Nothing is more upsetting and exhausting than nostalgia and depression.

.

Random Thoughts at midnight: It seems that in future it will be mandatory for everyone to own a blog! Though, it may sound weird, but, it might become true. Just a few years ago, the first thing people used to do, after familiarizing themselves with internet, was to sign up for an email account either on Yahoo!, hotmail or both! Even it is true today with a few more things to sign up for e.g Facebook and Orkut, though, now, i personally dislike both. But, to me, these web portals won't be too popular unless my browser's dictionary starts recognizing them. And it will take another half decade or so to see these words in dictionary! Nevertheless, dictionary.com has references to some of these terms and there might be many other online dictionaries too, containing those references.

Majority of the people today, who use internet, blog! Either it is a literature, photography, or a ghost blog, they own at least one. As an intellectual once said, ''just like the empty houses, blogs that are not updated for a long time become haunted too" And that wise man was no other than yours truly. Bogging is becoming mandatory and a necessity. Some blog for maintaining a personal diary while some use it as a powerful tool to advertise - either it's their own work or a paid promotional service.

If in America, a student of grade one is required to own a blog, our Desi's will also try to follow the trend. And the situation would be somewhat funnier Just imagine, summer vacations homework requires a child to sign up for a blog and write ninety blog posts, one per day, throughout the vacations. Funny but may be useful. People are happy to shift the working habits from paper and pen on to a computer. What if we don't have a single watt of electric power in the country five years later from today just because of the dishonesty and insane policies of our politicians? Some people might disagree at this as Obama takes oath as a 44th president.

No wonder, if a few years later, you see a 'blogspot points counter' at McDonalds or KFC. Got a blog at our website? Get one point every time you buy a meal worth 200 Rs. On fifty points you will get a blogger key fob, a free usb on next 100 points, on 2000 points enter into our lucky draw for a laptop and so on. Being desis' from inside these free things always attract us. Do you remember scratching the inside of caps, off from bottles of Pepsi and Coke for a bumper prize of five lakh and a Suzuki Mehran, bought from your schools' canteen for rupees five only? As we grow up things like scratching cards and inside of the caps for 'one or two rupees off' offers become less attractive than winning an iPod or a laptop.

Anyway, think about future, what if these services like blogger, facebook, emails etc are not free anymore just because of increasing security threat felt by Americans. What if they require many dollars and your passport number to sign up? Monopoly trends are not always the same. Doesn't matter if technology today is cheap and everywhere. And if you are using pirated software it's not cheap for you though you have access to it! Perhaps it is too common but not cheap. What microsoft and intel will do in future? Laptops today are more common than they were five years ago. So, to stop piracy they are selling you laptops! How many are there who buy a notebook without operating system and other necessary software? To stop piracy now they will sell machines with software through authorized dealers and otherwise they won't. You would like to remind me about unlocking, decoding, hacking etc. Yes, but what if they won't sell you their product? Bring your passport to buy a notebook, use your passport number to sign in on a computer in internet cafe.

I started writing the post with something else in my mind and i am ending it up with something totally different. I am a procrastinator by soul. I always fear starting work. I feel millions of units of resistance to start work. So i just prolong and waste time. I can't forget that in first year at college, just one night before paper, i was reading my notes for the very first time! But, those were the days, when just going through the text only once was sufficient for me to produce the ditto copy of notes! My mind is totally rusted now and i don't know what will happen to me in exam which is due in a few days in case i keep on publishing posts like these and watching pirates of dark water. I suspect, it might be the worst i have faced ever.

No sympathies dear readers. The comments on blogspot are still open, free and don't require an original passport to log in. So, have your say and drop a comment, you are free to say anything irrespective of the posts' topic, either it be a joke, a quotation, your phone numbers, prizes you won from Pepsi and Coke schemes, your mobile models, and believe me you can mention here without any fear that your laptop was a gift from the cousin of a cousin of your father and its' software are all legal, and you own a cat as a pet that too was a gift from ... and that after reading this post you suspect that i am totally insane. Locate the comment box yourself, technology isn't that automated at the moment! Between if you want to send some gift vouchers , please keep mind i will not accept these. Just send me cash - i'll buy a legal copy of MS Office as its' free trail is about to expire. Thanks for your patience finally you made it to the end of the post and below are a couple of links that might be of some interest, do check.

Pirates of the Dark Water on YouTube.

TED


.

Humara, Tumhara, Hum Sab Ka Obama :P

Pakistani bloggers ka bas ni chal ra kah Methai bantnain, Bhangray dalain ore Galay lag kr mubarakbaad dain : Mubarak ho, Hamara Obama Jeet gaya. What the ....? Yes, really, wt*?

Aaway E Aaway
Saaada Obama
Aaway E Aaway

*Some fireworks *

Jeetay Ga Bhi Jeetay Ga
Obama Hamara Jeetay Ga

*Some Bhangra *

Obama sada khota aay
Tay Baqi hayR PayR ayy

Some blogger commets:

Timmy Mistry (a sort of famous blogger/critic) *Performs bhangra* "44th 44th 44th, history has been created. Use Dentitex for good breath"

Crazy Toad (A Burger Blogger) in Americanized accent, "Fantastic, yeah! Waiting for live speech; i have got a new UPS for it!"

Many Conditions (Just a blogger), "This victory is worth mentioning- Popcorns and a glass of Roh-Afza for all, Cheers! And i am waiting for Obama's Book ... Hurray!"

Patakha Awazain (Oey Allah Blogger), she is busy doing some Oey Allah sort of stuff, bhangray, Indian ganay. Among those unfortunate bloggers who don't know what the heck is going on around them. The whole world is celebrating 'Saada Obama' victory but a few people are too busy partying and hence missed those amazing world changing moments. How sad and unlucky - ChCh. Oey Allah.

*Some more celebrations in the background * Fireworks * Indian Bhangra Songs * GulabJaman * Laddu * PPP Flags * Posters of Obama, Bilawal Bhutto and BB Shaheed *

*The celebration continues*


At the moment, my mind is stuck with a bundle of class notes i have to go through, otherwise it would have been another great and hilarious post. Much for your exasperation? Drop comments below.

• It's -2 C outside; otherwise i was thinking to go to the metro to get a cold drink.
  
• Watching old PTV dramas and shows on youtube isn't fascinating anymore. No benefit in recalling something that can't be rewound. I realized it after i watched three parts of Marina Mornings - Dhoop Kinaray.
  
• The workload in my first job was less if i compare it with the present studies load and that was easier too.
• 
  
• The bullet above was intentionally left blank to get your attention, in case you were reading with a wandering mind! Please continue reading. Buying a 'pay-monthly phone deal' is expensive than buying a new sim free phone.
  
• Electricity cost we are paying here is around 1.5 pounds per day per person . And it's likely to increase in harsh winter up to 2.25. Since the day i arrived here, my brain remains busy in pounds to rupees conversion.
  
• It was surprising to know that 'Geo web TV' is available in Pakistan only.
• On my first two days in university, I had been strolling with a pink campus map in my hand. That pink paper was enough to spot a newcomer in town! Interestingly, i didn't see anyone else with a map in hand, maybe because i arrived here two weeks after the freshers' week.
  
• Yesterday, i was telling Ijteba Sahib why i didn't start smoking when i was in university during my bachelor's degree, despite the fact, most of my class fellows and my roommate were chain-smokers. It was simple, i didn't have extra money for that! This was only reason that kept me away from smoking. And, today, i don't have that company!
• Time now is 23:19
• Teaching of first module is almost over and date of exam has also been announced, after 28 days, on first day of second module, it's 1st December. An old story, as always, i have to prepare everything from scratch.
  
• GapingVoid is a nice website with cartoon jokes on blogger attitudes. GreenH would be the next. Kehnay main kia harj hai.
  
• Blogskin is changed again and the song Kahan by Rung is playing now.

All for now, adios my open, declared, hidden or unknown foes and all friends till next post.

Present State of Affairs

A footage by students of LUMS

Time really runs here. How fast the day ends is very surprising and upsetting. May be it's because i am still living in two different time zones - struggling to synchronize and to stay connected with the both simultaneously. The day ends there five hours earlier and at eight o clock here, i also feel like it's 1 am. Then it's a pin drop silence in the hostel and a chilly weather that starts to develop very unpleasant feelings.

Despite cold weather (6C outside), i have opened the window to let some fresh air in. And also I can smell the aroma of Asian food wafting into the room, maybe its' from someone's kitchen on the floor above. Or may be i am hungry and because of that, my sense of smelling good flavored food has increased many folds. Otherwise it's an odour of haram ghost that gora restaurants keep frying till mid night as their huge-kitchen exhaust pipes are mounted on a wall twenty-five feet away from my window. That is also a bit depressing. And about McDonalds, i am sure they fry pork and fish in the same fryer.

Listening to: Khod Balak Alai'ya (Alissa)

Current Wallpaper:

time stamp: 00:00

Whenever i find someone's blog who is elder to me i really feel happy to know that i am still young!

In the kitchen today, due to a strange odour that comes from a burning piece of a cable or just burnt electrical appliances, i found out that Mr. C had been trying to operate the microwave oven with a metallic pot inside. Luckily, oven and C, both are still doing fine!

ps: C told me that the oven dish did't rotate because of the friction (the pan was too big to rest on the dish easily).

An Old Story Gone Older

While i was emptying folders in my mailbox a while ago, amost 175 emails dating back to 2006, i found this email (below) , composed two years ago, when i resigned from my previous job. A few days ago, by accepting the offer to study further, i closed all the doors behind. No U´turn, no turning back. Meanwhile, i left everything on Allah, as, with honesty, i did all the necessary paperwork for admission and visa procedures and simultaneously, with the same full honesty and depths of my heart i prayed for the something else, the only justification for this odd behavior was i wanted to remain honest with everybody concerned and myself too. So, i accepted the outcome. Ok, a new path, where it would be nearly equal to sin to think about the past. And, i know, one day, unnoticeably, these old stories will become long forgotten tales from the past. Though i am 27 today but i feel like 37. Quite strange, isn't it? What modern psychology would call it? Don't know, but today, just by chance, i got an answer to a question of physics which was bothering me for quite a long time. Anyway, the email goes as:


Hi All,

Well, as obvious from its' subject, it's a goodbye email! Today is my last working day as I'll be leaving my position in ** department at **. Recently, I got an opportunity to join ** and after giving it much thought I decided to avail it. Although my stay at ** was short but still sufficient enough to miss my associations here -a place with a healthier working environment where I met a fine staff of professionals.

I would like to thank ** sb for giving me the opportunity to serve in this company and **sb for his kind guidance and help; not only at times when I needed it but at times as well when he himself judged that i would be in need of a help. Indeed a nice manager - Hats off for him!

And I would like to say thanks to:

* Danish - He really helped me in carrying out the official tasks from time to time and I have learnt a lot from him. My prayers and wishes will remain with him. Muchas gracias!

* Noor - I am thankful to him for all his help & support from letting me know that it's 'Alt+Ctrl+Ins' to discussing very useful ideas on How-to-Break-a-Software! Thanks a lot!

* Adnan, AliJ, Farooq, Fareed, Mustafa, Imran (both!) and Tanveer - For their nice company.

* Majd and Waqas - For their 'Oh-so-helpful' presentations on Auto-it!

* Asim for placing CAD Licenses in my snapshots folder, YBQ for designing a comic on my personal request, Farrukh for sharing photographs from his album 'The Candid', Sajid for taking care of my tea times ... and this long list goes on. In short, Thanks everybody.

just for the sake of a 'random thought', I see that almost every member of ** owns a PC, except Sajid. What about seeing a desktop on his shelf lying besides that white microwave oven? :-)

I can be reached at my personal email address: **@yahoo.com. May you all have a prosperous and sound future.

Regards.


So, folks, that was a point where life took a second twist. Seems things in the past never happened or never occurred. Has this too, something to do with the modern psychology or classical physics? Another question that will haunt me for an umpteenth time. The violin played in the youtube video below is a must listen and a delight for ears. Adios.

ps: Has anybody played the video below? Any comments?

Awesomely Beautiful ...!

Nicos - Secret Love




I had been searching for it for the last one year.

Time Stamp

00:10

Today's Quote

MAKE SURE YOU'RE MAKING

THE DECISIONS

RATHER THAN MAKING

COFFEE!

Listening to: Mungagan (Ali Azmat)

Memories we dump in the numb, cold, and silent corners of our unconscious since we start knowing things, rust too badly as seasons keep on changing and one day when we try to recall those moments of contentment we shared with our family, friends and colleagues, an utter disbelief strikes to reveal that those impressions were so alien as if they never existed or had never been a part of a mutual time and space. How easily those impressions and their associated feelings wash out, i am really surprised, slightly sad and nostalgic.

For example i can still vaguely recall the first rain and the first rainbow i saw years later, the day i made soap bubbles, the day i saw a real frog in a cloudy summer evening, my first unsuccessful try to fly a kite, and how panicked i was when drama serial Tanhaiyan reached its' crescendo as Zara (Shehnaz Sheikh) was hit in a road accident at the end of an episode and my happiness when i recognized Sanya and Qabacha in the advertisement of Frost Juice printed in Akhbar-e-Jehan (in 1987, right after the drama ended), my first and the only Umrah, First tuition before schooling, first (in class 4) and last day in school, college (1997-1999) and then university (2000-2004), first cup of coffee and the time spent with everybody in between- then the first job interview (Feb 2005) and first day at job (25 April 2005) it was a time when Na ray Na was just released, and then moving to Islamabad (Aug 2006) are just a few things to name as its' a chain with uncountable connections.

It can either be a pleasant weather evening, particular taste of a food or aroma wafting from a cup of hot tea or the smell of old books, rain and dried rose petals to remind us the long forgotten tales from our past lives and the roles we played in the chapters of life called history.

Wallpaper

Link to site

Present location: Campus Library.
State of Mind: Dull.
State of Stomach: Empty but not grumbling.

The room i have moved in is really very small. Insufficient illumination, small size of room and pin drop silence makes me feel like in prison. The only good thing about flat is its' large kitchen and a lounge comparable with our large tv lounges in Pakistan.

Thinking about getting something to eat and the first tutorial which is starting tomorrow.

university accommodation

Finally after visiting a studio flat, 5 minutes walk from main campus, i decided to shift in the university accommodation as the flat's initial deposit, estate agent's fee and legal documents charges were a lump sum exceeding my present budget though i had somehow convinced myself to pay 395 pounds rent plus 50 pounds for utility bills per month.

Now, the room i have acquired is small but furnished and meets all the basic requirements. Accommodation office didn't allow me to visit it before signing the contract but they did tell me it was small in size and that they had only two spaces left in the hall - i had no choice but to accept the offer. I signed the contract and collected the keys from another office, 10 minutes walk from main accommodation office - i followed the map, printed and provided free of cost by the university with the accommodation forms, registration pack and perhaps on request as well - they have boxes full with these. Another 10 minutes walk took me to the hall of residence, i just checked the room and came back planning to shift in a couple of hours. But since then, it's been six hours and still there are no signs of shifting as i had to go shopping first for food and other essential items with the guy whose flat i am stying in. He went to a movie with a promise to return before 11. I think now all this will be possible tomorrow morning.

Regarding the Barclays episode, I received their apology email and four phone calls claiming they would inform me about the outcome of their investigation into the matter. So far, after so many days i haven't heard anything from their side. That shop is nothing but a great boast and a haram roast.

Last week, three days before Eid, i got my passport back from Gerry's with visa endorsed on it and hence enabling me to reach the university in time before the commencement of class. And then it was a race against time, as i had to do packing and hire a truck to shift everything back to home. Worth mentioning here that i still had to do some necessary shopping. It took us (my wife and i) two days to pack and move back to home. Due to Eid holidays and unavailability of labor and trucks, the goods transport company charged me almost double for transportation.

On the second day of Eid i went to Bahawalpur to say goodbye to some relatives and in-laws. It was a hectic return trip which took 34 hours. The next morning i had to go for some shopping and thanks to my wife, who, meanwhile, did all the packing for me. From putting toothpaste and ear-buds in my shaving box to ironing all my clothes she took every care not to miss anything.

The next day, on 5th Oct, i took a direct nine hours flight from Lahore to Glasgow. In the same flight i met one of the professors of my university - the place from where i did my bachelors four years ago. He, too, was going for post doctorate from The university of Dundee at an hour distance by road from Glasgow city. A cockroach also flew with us from Lahore and i am sure his forefathers had also been enjoying these free flights and and so will his coming generations - this generosity of PIA deserves appreciation. Lunch was insufficient in quantity and as pathetic as you can imagine. Eight table spoons of vegetable rice, one small chicken boti, a bun, butter, salad and kheer. Lunch served in routine in the domestic flights of AirBlue is far better than the lunch PIA served on that international flight.

At the airport, after encountering an egg-head immigration officer, i collected my luggage and exchanged some currency at higher rates from American Express, called in to an acquaintance and reached a spot near his residence from where he picked me hence solving the problem of my initial settlement and food.

Still i am staying with that friend and i hope by tomorrow i'll be able to shift, either in a private flat in case i find it or in the university accommodation otherwise. And i am not sure how long will it take me to send for my wife. Depends on the availability of the reasonable accommodation with a reasonable rent. People here told me that cost of living is low but rents are higher - Around 450 pounds for a flat inclusive of all bills and for food it's 100 pounds per person. And remember so far i haven't talked anything about studies.

Weather is cold and it had been drizzling here since morning. It's 4 pm and i am missing everybody at home. This homesickness is a reflection that i am here for a longer duration and thousands of miles away from home.

Let's see what's next. I have many tough challenges ahead.

Well the Barclays experience was worst in a sense that its' staff was impolite and even lacked mundane civilities. So, dropping the idea to avail its' services wasn't the only instant reaction but it also forced me to register a complaint against the concerned person. Let's see, what it's complaints management center has to say.

Below is the text of the email for readers to get a complete picture of the story:

Dear Sir,

I want to draw your attention towards the poor state of services offered by your bank located in Jinnah Super, F-7 Markaz, Islamabad.

The name of your bank was recommended to me by many people for opening a student account, which I enthusiastically pursued. To get some initial information through a phone call, I had to face several unpleasant pauses before the call was finally taken up by the concerned officer. Not having significant information, the lady advised me to contact another officer Mr. Umair and gave me his cell number (+92 321 5696005).

Upon contacting him, he too was unable to reply to my basic queries and committed to get back with the relevant information within an hour, which he never did in the next twenty-four hours.They next day, when I contacted the same officer, his behavior was unreasonably rude and aggressively addressed with a blunt reply that he was busy yesterday. He went on to display his impolite behavior during the whole phone call.

In organizations like banks, where public dealing holds a key role in determining the quality of the services offered, it came to me as an utter surprise that ‘the officer’ was unaware of the mundane civilities and didn’t know how to address people on phone.

It has left a complete negative impression of the well renowned multinational bank, which I intend not to visit in future for availing any type of services, as its employees are unaware of the ‘Customer Relationship Behavior’ basics. I also firmly believe that Barclays Bank holds a strict recruitment criteria for its employees, but what it lacks is the wise scrutiny of well-mannered, well -conversant and polite individuals. And I hope this will be taken care of in future so as not to lose its anticipated customers.

Regards.

------------------

And a video on YouTube is worth watching.

In the morning today i made a phone call to Barclays Bank, Islamabad. I tried all the four telephone lines but nobody picked up the phone. "They too, have closed just like Gerry's?", I thought to myself. After 15 minutes i tried again and the call was answered. Below is that short conversation cum story.

me: I want to open a student account in your bank. Can you please tell me the requirements.
guy: "OK, please wait, let me transfer the call." The guy puts me on hold and after a silence of about one minute the line drops. I had to try again.
me: A while ago i was on phone with you and the line was dropped while you were transferring the call.
guy: "Ok, hang on."

This time the call was transferred to a lady after a short pause. All this gave me the feeling of a desi environment in the bank. After listening the detail she told me to contact another guy and gave his cell number. Why didn't she transfer the call to the desired extension? That can be a poll with the following options:

a) The guy didn't have any extension.
b) He was absent.
c) He was out of bank to buy an eid gift .... No, don't take it wrong.
d) There wasn't any such guy in reality and she gave me the number of his younger brother, who, by chance, happened to be there when i called.

Anyway i contacted that guy and told him the story. In response, despite answering my queries, he told me what i had already learnt from their website. He promised me to call back after an hour but now it's three hours since i spoke to him. No reply yet and i am sure there won't be any. Either he has forgotten or he was really her brother.

The early morning encounter with the BC wasn't a pleasant thing to see as i was thirty minutes late. Noticing this, he advanced towards me but my sixth sense warned me of the approaching danger and the admonishments brewing-up in his mind, i preferred to ignore everything and kept walking while unnoticeably slowing down my pace for a while but then i picked up and entered the building. I didn't stop for a hello-hi. And why the **** should i exchange these mundane civilities when i knew that BC was approaching with a calm looking face while composing his mind to heap abuse on me. It's always better to escape for one sure reason that i would never like to lash out (at BC). For me how fatal it would be in terms of committing a career suicide, i have a very clear idea about it. I hope that these days wont last too long. 'This' way or 'That' way, but certainly not here at this T junction.

Life Goes On!

The author of the blog remained busy in a seminar throughout the last week. No, please don’t infer from your imagination that he was one of the organizers. He was merely a patient listener with empty stomach and an unpredictable mindset that continued to change its’ states like your most familiar example of grade 1 science, “Bachoo! Maaday ki teen halat’ain hoti hain.” “Achi halat, Buri Halat, ore … oreeeee … Chalo Kharay ho jao”. That mindset was almost the similar; heavy, light and only a couple of times it showed some generous sparks of endowment … a disappointment for the green-eyed monsters present there. There was a sigh of relief from the guest speaker whose ‘claimed’ intellect wasn’t tested!

To be punctual and to be on the right time are two different things. Author demonstrated an excellent example of this by reaching the venue daily thirty to forty minutes late after completing his daily chores with complete easiness. Only this wasn’t sufficient to prove the abilities and punctuality. Avoiding ‘Big Cheese’ and his nasty questions was also an art show. Defining a radius and staying out of the circle? Wrong approach my dear readers - Confine others in the circle. That is the proper way. I hope your professional approach will agree.

On the closing ceremony author received a ‘Certificate of Presence’! He can recall that they called it ‘Certificates of Participation’ – I suspected the whole series of lectures was harmful for the ‘Fasting Muslims’.

Heavens didn’t fall when yesterday I was given a task to prepare a report on the same (recreational) event. The issue was quite serious but the demand ‘what to include’ in it was completely revealing the worst effects on all the six senses of the honorable participant. The writer doesn’t hold any grudge with ‘the honorable’, the statement above was just an instant message conveyed by his intellect. Without giving any thought, quite mindlessly, he agreed to prepare a report. As we all know, “Jhoot kay Paon Nahi Hotay” so the report is still on my desk.

That was the story of the week. Life is going on in a usual way and time never stops and whatever the circumstances be we have to face. Since 2006 life and everything associated has become a big struggle, a disappointment (sometimes) and a heartless effort to drag and to get out of the situation eventually. These have badly affected rather almost killed the literary capabilities of the author. And he thinks he is going down day by day. But at the moment the question is whether he will be able to have Eid with his family or not? Waits for the outcome of the decision that has almost/already been made.

Hope to see you all soon again with a better state of mind. Have a happy Iftar and Sehar!

Just another random weekend.

Such a drift in the tone from deep sarcasm & humiliation to the sugarcoated venomous artificial politeness didn't come as a surprise to me. This was expected. May this all end soon.

For the last few days, every morning i check my email account with a hope ...

Our General

The most interesting comment of the day on the hot issue of Mush's resignation was by one of my colleagues:

After a couple of months Mush's picture in army uniform could be seen painted on the backside of our trucks with a catchy line: Teri Yaad Aey Tairay Janay Kay Baad.

But one thing is for sure, these politicians will be more harmful to the country than Musharraf. Zardari has only one thing to say: BB Sahiba Ka Mission. What that mission was they never/don't define. Another chapter of sham democracy and economic downfall is about to start - whole nation is feeling happy, satisfied and proud; they are blogging, sending emails, sms and watching Terry Rehman on their TV sets as they have won the battle of 'Justice', gotten rid of a General and fallen into the hands of bandits-in-politician's-clothings at the cost of load-shedding, poverty and inflation! Today nation (the whole lot of politicians) will distribute Methai and celebrate 14th of August in its' real essence.

Headache
Disinterest
&
Hatred

I am waiting for the proper time to get rid of the deal.

This blog skin makes me feel better by rewinding the tape two and a half years back.

Nothing is appealing much today with empty stomach. Waiting for Mr. F who has to bring lunch for us.

And a new profile pic, publishing it here for the sake of a reminder of this day, as one day I'll remove it too, without uploading or saving anywhere.

The episodes of 'BBC Master Chef Goes Large' ended unceremoniously. Steven Wallis was declared the MC, as he, unexpectedly, performed well in last couple of MC Tests. Hanna (or Anna?) performed splendidly throughout the competition - and she was most likely to win. But as luck would have it - things were on Steven's side - who, once in-pressure cooking test, lost his nerves and started weeping when he had almost spoiled the food while it was to be served in a short while to the guests, a group of legend chefs from different top hotel chains, and John Torode, the host, had to pat his shoulder to convince and encourage him to continue. And at that time i was sure his is not the winner by any chance.

Anyway, finale could have been more ceremonious in terms of declaring second and third position winners despite picking one winner and tossing a glass of wine with him. What i believe is, all three finalists were equally good - they all had demonstrated an exceptional command over cooking under stress, developing flavors, presenting and garnishing well while equally keeping in mind the nutritional values and quantity of the food they were to cook, whether it was a single serving of a three course meal or a two hundred servings of 'pizza' or 'fish & chips' in a school canteen! Their performance was excellent!

The most remarkable comment in all episodes was by John Torode on Hanna's dish, "The idea of Blueberry (pause) Saffron (pause) Duck (Pause) Lavender (Two Pauses) REPHELLS ME! (Repels me)" - though the dish looked quite mouthwatering! These were his comments of approval or rejection and his perfect British accent that made the program really lively!

One of the finalists went to an Indian restaurant to learn Indian cuisine recipes and spices. And funniest for us and tragic for him was, when he, later in MC kitchen, forgot to add salt in his potatoes - a dish that resembled more like Aalo Matar! (Now that really repels!)

-~-

Ending the post with a SMS joke:

A man kiled a deer, cooked it and didn't tell kids what it was. He gave a hint "It's something that your mom calls me!" The son shouted, "Na Khana ... Kutta Hai"

Cheers and have a nice weekend!

The Bus Ticket

A reminder that i was in Lahore on this weekend.

This weekend was quite uncomfortable due to electricity shutdown, which, on Saturday evening, started at 7.10 pm and lasted for twenty-two hours, with only two phases on the meter alive that allowed me to keep only the ‘TV lounge’ meagerly illuminated by two dimly lit hundred watt bulbs – until on Sunday evening, our poor-in-resources wapda arranged a working transformer for replacement.

While I am jotting down these lines, I am continuously bothered by the flies, untiringly buzzing around me, trying to rest on my forearm and knee. And also bothering me is the noise of kids playing cricket in the street, in front of my house – the noise of bouncing the tennis ball off the ground, their bats - as they strike them repeatedly on the hard surface as a part of their habit, and their consistent yelling and shouting out over minor acts of unfair game play. And a next door neighbor, who shares a ‘common wall’ as a mark of separation of two houses, is also bugging me with his loud speech volume and irritating pitch – while he is involved in a ludicrous conversation with a girl of a ‘paindo’ accent younger to him, which, I judged from her voice.

To some amazement, it’s a sort of monologue - the girl is rather listening and not talking much. Imagine – she, twisting her fingers, rolling and unrolling her ‘dupatta’ on her thumb repeatedly, blinking her eyes more than normal without blushing so much - fully aware of her accent (and/or maybe due to her un-brushed teeth!), considers it wise to keep her mouth shut and remain environment friendly in all possible respects.

Meanwhile, my gate knocks. I know, it’ll be a kid on the door, claiming his tennis ball, which crosses our boundary several times in the evening. Sometimes I do respond, but most often I just turn a deaf ear to the ringing door bell. I inform the kid with a diabolic contentment that his ball is not here; it might have fallen through the fence into the basement where I have no access at all. I pick up today’s paper from the garage and return. It is 4.45 pm. Early morning showers had caused a delay in the delivery of newspaper – but it was too late to deliver it in the evening.

There aren’t any signs of electricity despite phone calls to SDO since yesterday, who, on my both calls assured me of his understanding of the problem and the readiness of his workers awaiting the availability of a spare transformer.
Well, electricity has just been restored. I send a sms to say thanks to SDO for bringing the whole area back to life –but he didn’t respond back. May be he had smelled the hidden hypocrisy in my message.

When I started this post I actually wanted to write how troublesome the previous night was. I had kept the doors open in the evening – attracting and inviting the mosquitoes to the lights inside. I only realized this terrible mistake when I hit the sack at 12 in the night.

‘5 balain, 3 runs’, the boys are still shouting. As the new transformer is fixed and set to working, kids in the neighborhood are celebrating and playing again. ‘Jaldi Aao, Jaldi Aao’, I can hear them through the widow and the opened door of side-gallery.

The night was worst, most of the time I kept scratching my face, arms, and feet. Around 2 am, I decided to drag the ‘char-pie’ into the garage. Had I hardly laid the ‘khais’ over it, it started to downpour all at once that I feared it would not be safe to sleep there. I pulled back - and do remember it rained continually till 6 am. A phone call woke me up at 10.30 am. Now it’s 5.30 pm, weekend is almost over. Nothing much to mention except that tomorrow is Monday. I have to calendar clothes, complete some paper work and type this post for publishing with some necessary editing.

--
Reading Now: Putli Peking Ki by Mustansar Hussain Tarar. Read it's review here.

Things i normally do these days:

1) Make plans and/or timetables
2) Then a few more plans to execute the already queued.
3) Read Light Within, Crazed and Bi-Conditional. The loyal Blogspot users like me.
4) Think that i should read Hunch Back of Notre Dame, but i can't - i worry about point 1.
5) Often forget to take tea when it's hot and then pour the remaining quarter cup, cold like water, in my stomach in a single go.
6) Procrastinate
7) Play NFS UG1 and Copter.
8) Regret on an old issue over and over.
9) Normally watch Dirty Jobs, Master Chef, Extreme Engineering and News (a recent interest) and abnormally watch Local Dramas.
10) Wait for a Rainy Day.
11) Forward cell phone messages which i normally don't.
12) Believe that my cell phone is far behind in the race of latest gadgets.
13) Know the importance of getting up early in the morning and reaching office in time.

water park - lahore

Despite my all headache-triggering efforts it is not working out for me. In depth analysis is neither required nor would it yield any benefit in terms of getting an instant solution – In reality things are not always a pack of ‘Knoor kay Instant Noodles’ and ‘K&N kay Bun Kabab’ ads that are seldom aired on TV channels these days while most of the time slot is given to an intolerable ‘her cheez Mezan main achi lagti hai’ cooking oil add – you zap through the channels once again after watching a five-minutes-drama-episode between a series of ads and several sponsored time checks like Mobilink ka Time check, Kala Kola ka Time check, Tapal Danedar ka … blah - And you continue until electricity shutdowns for next one hour and sometimes for fifty-five minutes acutely just like 1699.00 Rupees tag on shoes.

Offices are not blue on Mondays only. Sometimes whole week is like that. Putting my full-hearted efforts which then underwent transition from a half-hearted to a head-smashing-into-wall feeling I almost gave up. A red tape as per tradition. Let us start with one of the many novels I have saved in my hard drive and GBs of songs I seldom listen to and a tin of chilled Cola. Lunch, post-lunch break, tea, biscuits - so many things. Let’s recall the old times, recall the mistakes and admit that these were mistakes indeed ...

Blog Chain

Have you ever met a blogger who rather than adding links in the sidebar due to his sluggishness follows a chain of links from one blog to another to reach to a certain blog by recalling his memory? If 'No' then you are on the right page! Ladies and Gentlemen meet the legend:Green Head! And a simple chain would be like:

www.asma.eomag.com --> UTP --> http://www.umarpirzada.com --> Ghazal.

How does it feel to search for the old blogs once you used to enjoy reading?

Somewhat nostalgic.

Radom Images

Drawn by Aks on my facebook wall
months ago ...


I* Got married a few days ago.

Simple chocolate cake

Office Tales

I’ll depart at nine tonight. Where? It shouldn’t be a question. Since morning, at office, I am distracted and absolutely reluctant to think about work. And I am playing a flash game ‘Copter’. Believe me, I have found it very addictive after ‘crazy taxi’ on mind jolt games. I drop the choppers and get new ones without saying ‘Bring me a new chopper.’ – do you remember Swat Kats? I hope so! :-D

Twenty two minutes to off. I have a firm belief that black sheep have installed key loggers on the PCs dedicated for web surfing. So, here I am - just taking a risk to publish.

Yesterday, I was given a slight hint that this year they want me to appear in GRE. Last year, on their demand, I had to take TOEFL :-). This time, preparation on such a short notice is difficult. I, too, have given them a slight hint. - Not possible. :-D

Next update tomorrow. Rahay Naam Allah ka!

My father remained in CCU for three days after he fainted with heavy sweating on last Saturday. He was discharged from hospital on Thursday. The doctor suspected it was minor heart attack but even in three days of observation they didn't find any of its symptoms again except in the first couple of ECGs and a cardiac test which i think had fake readings by the lab wala, and of course on the instructions of doctor. Today we have an taken appointment from another doctor. Lets see what does he say. I hope it is not a cardiac problem.

And i am searching for a violin ring tone - i don't know the name but somebody told me it was Radio break violin or Record break violin. It was actually a background music i listened to on FM100. Please leave the link if you know which ring tone it is.

I have many things in my mind but only a limited set of words. Three years ago i was at my best. Though i had it,s slight realization but actually i took it all wrong. I made some decisions on my own and forgot that it is the supreme power of Allah Almighty that decides everything and i don't have anything in my hand. Now that i want to stay at home it is not possible. I have to go. I won't say it's a crisis or a worst situation. But there is a feeling that my heart can go bang. Silent and empty minded - this is what i am now.

Khair, yesterday i was thinking that people on blogs don't do anything positive or practical except criticizing the political and socioeconomic crisis in the country. They make forums, initiate discussions and request people to paste tags on their blogs to demonstrate a protest. And that's it. Is this of any use?

What crap i had been writing in my previous post ... whoof ... there are signs that things will get better. Another chance ... Let us see. A positive change or another dip or nothing ... praying and waiting. But the thing is i will stick to this blog ... though i am simply publishing crap here but it doesn't matter. Nobody is reading.

must change the blog skin. will find a site and switch to something classic. was listening to bunny a while ago. may be these are the vital signs. a step towards life and change. but again it is all conditional. a few more ifs and thens.

Maloom nahi yah aazmaish kab khatam ho gi --- abhi kuch dair pehlay mujay asiay laga kah shaed mera dil is boj ore gham say phat jaey --- Allah na karay kah is kay baad bhi mujay kisi ore aazmaish say guzarna paray --- Laikin kuch gair-unjan say khoof is bay tarah mujay pareshan keay daytay hain kah unka bayan na mumkin --- In waswason kay darmeyan yon akalay baithna parashani ko mazed do-chand keay dayta hay --- Andayshay hain kah barhay chalay jatay hain --- yon na ho jaey --- woon na ho jaey --- dil ajaeb tarah pareshan hay --- andayshon ko zuban per latay hoay darta hoon --- kah Khudanakhoasata --- dil per is boj ko kab tak bardasht karon? Ujab baychaini hay --- Ab mazed kuch bhi bura sunny ki himat nahi --- Allah karin kah is mushkil waqt ka jald ikhtatam ho --- ore mayri aazmaish jald khairat say unjam ko pohunchay.

ps: ab mayray aasaab taqreban jawab day chukay hain --- 1.5 saal aasab ko tornay phorany k liyay koi kam ursa nahi hota --- in sab haalaat ka zamadaar kon hay? Is sawal ka sahi jawab mayray pass nahi hai --- ore shaed kabhi ho bhi na --- kia pata main khod hee??? aj 1.5 saal baad khala main takti howi mujay apni in ankhon main nami bohat kuch jitati howi mahsos hoti hai --- is baat ka saboot hai kah bas --- ab mazed ki taab nahi muj main --- tot phot chuka hoon --- mazed nahi sah sakon ga ---

Ah ... the last 1.5 years ...

Perhaps one and a half year long period of difficulties is about to end. Things are shaping up - but until yesterday i was feeling almost completely shattered. These waves of depression squeeze every drop of life from the body and leave you with a pale face, sunken eyes, gray and dry hair ... And sometimes you skip your meals .... sit silently and forlornly without uttering a single word in whole twenty-four hours .... uncomfortable and partially sleepless slumbers ... periodic cycles of diversion towards religion or totally away from it .... the waves of depression which normally don't ebb off - where only a few waves are enough to shatter the already weak castles. Many things like these ... hard to explain and hardest to bear and survive through them. May be tomorrow is a better day for me. I can pray only.

HOPE

Worst

When all this will end i don't have any idea but so far this surely is the worst.

Sunday Morning

The day quite kicked off quite early despite the fact i hit the sack after 5 am. Could be the longest day in past several months.

Skipped office and had been to Dentist in the evening today. It was a ten minutes scaling session only. "You must use braces, it's cheap and costs sixteen thousand only - ten thousand advance fee and remaining amount in monthly installments which would be deducted from your salary", she told me as she picked up a needle from a stainless steel box. I lifted my head from big green chair i was almost lying on and looked backwards where she was standing and without showing any interest i told her that this piece of advice was never given to me before. Perhaps my answer or tone had annoyed her a bit.

It was the equipment in the clinic that impressed me more than her skills as a good surgeon. After the treatment she wasn't much interested in answering a couple questions regarding my problem and told me to be patient and wait till next scaling session. Earlier she had suggested braces as an ultimate solution. May be this was the reason for her lack of concern.

One of the lenses in my spectacles was loose in the frame and it slipped out, fell on the floor and broke into three pieces as soon as i picked them from the front pocket of my shirt while leaving the dentist's room. I felt a little bad while sliding the broken pieces towards the wall with my left shoe and wished i hadn't picked them out that moment. And now my left eye sees a blurry picture as i am wearing the same specs. I'll get them fixed tomorrow. Interestingly, in Lahore it costs only two hundred for a pair of lenses and in Islamabad this price starts from five hundred rupees. The quality of glass is same everywhere whether you buy it for five hundred from Karachi Company or from F10 for one thousand rupees.

And it's chicken curry in dinner tonight. Recently our cook has been changed and the taste of food has improved. I hope this quality and taste will be maintained as he (the cook) is quite
experienced and willing to work properly and stay here for a longer duration.

A Silent Return

My love for blogger will always remain there. After a gap of almost a year on blogspot and a total absence of more than a year has brought me back to blogging- may be this time it's a loyal blogger. (though there were some posts in that silent past). Maybe (Read 'actually') i wanted to avoid mob (a few people) around me. But for how long and who gives a 8888? Right?

GH, this time, is more sensible than he was in his past. He turned 27 this December. 27?? Yes. Wisdom tooth appeared long ago but wisdom and maturity were just following by. They shew their signs a bit late. Apart from it he has grown somewhat more gloomy and silent. Learning process has been stopped. This thing dreaded him so much that he was compelled to jolt his mind again. so here he is ... writing again. He forgot simple 'is, are, am' and even 19x19 was a big ? for him. An obvious downfall and a slow progression towards mental degradation - an ultimate death? And this is his greatest fear these days.

Another change he noticed that now he prefers clean humor. (ah dry throat ... picks up the 1.5 liter bottle of coke filled with water and guzzles). Well i have forgotten what i had had in my mind. Umm ... well ... ok let's start a new story, new paragraph.

Bloggers who inspired me once in the very early days of my blogging - it dates back to 2004, sighs, four years since then, are either not into blogging or have changed their writing styles or have simply said farewell to blogging. I wish some day they restart blogging the way it was.

There were many ups and downs in 2007 - an year of loneliness. My best companion was my PC throughout the year. Financially, it was a perfect year. I made several plans about several things and wasted time properly! 08 will be a year of many good changes, inshaAllah.

Now some goings on of the day: A person from previous company called in and offered me to join again. No doubt it was a lucrative job but then i wanted to move forward rather than taking a step back. Softly and respectfully told him that i was satisfied with my present job - that plain and prompt reply was a bit unexpected for him - and i could image the change in his facial expressions from normal to a slight disbelief. What an opportunity loser i am, he might have been thinking this for next one minute or so.

I don't want to go back and waste my time, life and everything associated. It hurts me - it really does, believe me.

And ten minutes before off time today, in my manager's office, seated in a chair where i was trying to read a letter placed on his table in a stealthy manner while he was on phone waiting for the call to be picked up from the other end, he just noticed my activity and nodded 'yes?' just to tell that i wasn't supposed to read that letter, i felt a bit ashamed of myself. Yes, i wasn't supposed to do that. But sometimes, we do such childish things.

Have an appointment from dentist tomorrow that required me to get blood tests again so that she can use her surgical instruments without any fear that the patient is not a carrier of HIV and Hepatitis. There was an HCV test too, I guess i have produced the correct name.

I've a plenty of work piled up on my office desk which requires a big brain and a plenty of hard work. Sometimes i badly realize that i am back to school again - where we don't have summer or winter vacations and no BATA kay Black school shoes and heavy school bags! But we have books. And pencils - as i still prefer them and feel a certain type of satisfaction when i sharp a pencil and hear the sound of sharpening, its fine and soft round flake that comes off the pencil and an attempt to sharp without segmenting the flake in a single go ... and then blowing away the sharp black filings from the sharpener blade - this habit was so strong that even today i keep it and try to sharp the pencil same way i used to in my childhood where we were forced to write with pencils despite our greatest charm-of-that-time 'fountain pens'.

Time in office hangs. 8 to 4 is dead slow while time from 5 to 9 flies at a very fast pace. I think i will always remain a person who feels difficulty and hates to get up early in the morning no matter how early he sleeps. And i recently came to know that this laziness is also by fate.

Allah Willing, In next posts i will try to share something more from my childhood stories. It is nice way to remember the time that can't be rewound back.

Almost 12 pm on the dial. I must end the post. Although it's a random ending today but i hope in the days to come there will be improvements.