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.