The trip to Islamabad, en route GIKI, KPK

Good day to all,

So I am posting after a year now. Things have changed a lot lately. Everything, and everyone has changed. It's really amazing how time flies by and take all your good moments, preserving it as a memory. A crystal-clear, glass-like memory that you would love to walk into, but that which grows shadier as the time passes.

Back in Fall 2012, I was lucky enough to go on a trip to Ghulam Ishaque Khan Institute of Engineering with a couple of really good university friends. And it happened all of a sudden. One moment we were comfortably sitting, waiting for a no-traffic-because-everyone-has-left trip home, next we were cornered by our Corporate Manager, being conveniently coaxed into undertaking this trip. And we were easily influenced.

What followed was a series of bull fights back home with a constant fluctuation between "going" and "not going" status. In the conservative society of Pakistan, it is highly improbable for girls to roam about the country without a male family member at hand. In the middle of chaotic tears, anger and frustration, a miracle happened. The families gave in. The trip had to happen. The exhilarating joy that bubbled in all of us had no boundaries.

The bags were packed as lightly as possible. The goodbyes were said. We gathered at the friend's abode who lived nearest to the airport. And then we all got heavily constipated when things began to fall apart. The dues had not been cleared. The tickets had been purchased on friendly credit. Without satisfying the credit, it would be meaningless to board this trip. At the very last moment, a post-dated check saved the day. For the first time in a couple of days, we were all joking, laughing, discussing exactly how each of us felt we'd be tugging our luggage home in a few hours. The flight to Islamabad took about 2 hours. Sadly, we were all seated separately. The flight was rather uneventful.

The next hurdle was to reach the hotel. Grabbing a taxi was easy but their fares, unnecessarily high. It was too late before we realized the airport was a small one, and the tariffs outside the realm of the airport would be acceptable. We reached the hotel, everyone still in absolute disbelief that we were four friends, miles away from home, and we were actually together! For the next 24 hours, we were treated to a life of absolute bachelorhood - each of us laid sprawled on the floor and on the beds, none bothered by the fact that there were 2 men and 2 women in the room. We had been besties, and we knew we could trust each other. The television was on, and on high volume. We had taken a tablet laptop and portable internet USB with us, so Facebook and Mails and everything else on the online world was within reach. We felt hungry, we got up and left the hotel for a dinner in a nearby restaurant, no worries, no scurries. Things were like - a real worthy bachelor life..!

We all slept late that night - males in a separate room, females in another. As long as we were awake, the show went on, pictures were clicked, fun made of everything. Life was blissful. But the next day wasn't so.

In the morning, all four of us gathered again, this time to tackle the issue of breakfast. Again, we took a few necessities and left the hotel, searching for the traditional Pakistani "halwa puri" breakfast. We walked, and walked, inquiring about a breakfast restaurant. We might have walked a kilometer before we spotted what we were looking for. The breakfast was amazing. Even today, all four of us remember the taste and the texture of food - it was simply amazingly soft and tasteful! The trip back was a short one - and it was then that we realized we had gone in a circle! The restaurant was just a couple of meters away!

A couple of moments later, the news broke on us. We had to catch a bus to Ghulam Ishaque Khan Institute of Engineering in a couple of hours. The bachelorhood was suddenly interrupted and effectively over. We rushed through the changing and the packing. Just as we were waiting for the green signal from our Event Coordinator, we were informed - the dues were still not cleared. And we effectively had no cash to carry on with the trip. Most of us were on extremely tight budgets, already ruined by the last day's party. We looked at each other, worried. Were we stuck?

* To be continued *

Peace :)

Why the Pakistani Transport system does not upgrade?

Greetings!

Today, after an exceptionally long time though, I would like to share a personal image shot by my cellphone during my adventurous trips in public transport. What makes it even more exciting is that it does not focus on the bus. In fact, the image is focused on the bus' windscreen. Check out the following images:

I hope everyone can spot that bullet hole easily. I myself had no problems in identifying it. Yet, that is the perfect explanation of why in the name of God will the Pakistani Public Transport system never upgrade. The reason is simply that some improvements are just not welcomed by the public. Two days following a thorough renovation, the city is likely to be struck by some political instability where the young outrageous individuals would relentlessly proceed to target these over-depreciated beauties, some even ending up in flames.

Change - not as easy as the word sounds. The current developments in Pakistan since my last blog has been simply enormous. If work grants me the time, I'd love to be back here to discuss some of these which are on my mind. Till  then,

Peace.

Wars need not only be fought with weapons

Greetings!!

As recently as yesterday, we had an interactive class where we (the coach and students) discussed about how countries fight, how countries can employ what all treacherous strategies to annihilate the existence of their enemies from face of the map. Suprisingly, the strategies all seemed to be in practice already by a handful of so called powers in the world.

However, notably, every strategy we discussed regarding destroying the other nation significantly involved inflicting severe damages on the favored country too. If ten damages were incurred on the foe, it inevitably involved getting five damages on self too. In the end, we saw both the countries were dissolved - the one under attack a little earlier than the attacker. Nevertheless, none benefited or survived.

One of the strategies included mutating the foes' culture and confusing them regarding their own beliefs. Once this happens, a broad division will be created within the smaller strong and sustainable units comprising the society - the family institutions. When the families will not be able to converge on any opinion, the divide will worsen causing the split up of the only units which are the building blocks of any society. This will inevitably result in the degeneration of the society, bringing the ultimate downfall on them.

What i witnessed today morning during my public transport trip to the university was utterly shocking. The bus i boarded had an LCD fixed towards the front of the bus, right over the heads of the women. Though initially i was impressed with its existence in a bus, the idea looked all the more pathetic and nauseatic when moments later, typical bollywood 'rain-oriented' songs started playing along with their absurd videos that make the censor board look futile. Suprisingly, no one minded the playing of such explicit stuff in someplace as public as buses! Is our nation already dead? No one bothered to get such atrocity shut down. It was one of the worst things i witnessed in my country. Food for thought: What can be more heartbreaking than having a bunch of stratified people with dead conscience flogging a country that was allegedly brought into existence for the sole purpose of cherishing the wisdom embedded in our religion? Have we lost the war already?

Peace.

Robot with feelings

Greetings!!

Recently, i watched a bollywood movie by the name of Robot starring two of the legendary bollywood artists, Rajnikant & Ashwariya. With the rotten bollywood masala integrated in the movie to an unbearable level, i was lucky to see only the core 10minutes of the movie which held the entire crux of the story.

The part i viewed involved the hero Rajnikant dictating emotions to the robotic Rajnikant. Presumably emotions was the only thing the robot lacked to be qualified as safe for the public. After endless efforts on behalf of the hero, the robot developed feelings. This was where the bollywood masala stepped in with the robot falling in love with the heroine of the movie Ashwariya. The rest is what i can declare as a known expected mystery no one in their right minds would waste time pondering about.

Though not remotely a positive experience, the movie made me realize emotions is the only thing that keeps the humans apart from machines and makes pieces of metals subservient to flesh and bones. If machines can be taught to feel, humans can never tolerate these inventions and would instead spend time devising ways to destroy these inventions.

The movie though exclusively drama material with no reality attached, existing for the sole purpose of providing entertainment, subconciously has a rather thoughtful element attached with it. If robots developed feelings, i wonder how many individuals will then be convicted for brutality against machines!!!

Peace.

Fairness-Madness

Greetings!!


The race for innovations and for gaining fair skins might never end. These days, however, men have also fallen prey to this madness. What was earlier considered, "Strong, Dark and Handsome" has now been replaced with "Fair and Lovely"!!

This image shows our beloved cricket star Mr. Shahid Khan Afridi. This ad has been showcased on a number of billboards across the country. Evidently, the advertisers of Fair and Lovely men's range of products have tried to extend an impression that Mr. Shahid Khan Afridi actually uses the product himself which is why he is all fair and radiant.


I am at a complete loss to understand how fair can fair, good-looking pathans get, even with the use of such creams! Mr. Shahid Khan Afridi, being a pathan, is pretty fair by default. This ad actually makes me question the capability of this cream - if it works only on fair men, then it is useless for the dark, under confident individuals ashamed of their skin colors.


For a fact, the madness for fair skins have developed looking at the starchy western beauties, even though the dark women and men seem to have more attraction. A need for whitening products have been created by advertisers by building on the hypnosis that "white is beautiful". I believe people have been misled into believing so, since the saying has forever been, "Black is beautiful"


We have been designed by the Almighty in the best of architectures. Aiming to change something in ourselves is like challenging the perfection of the Almighty. We need to realize we are annoying our Creator when we act foolishly trying to alter our features.


Peace.

Quote

Greetings!!


"I Have Not Failed, I've Just Found 10,000 Ways That Wont Work" - Thomas Edison (1874-1931)


If this is the spirit people live with, it will undoubtedly turn despair into experience.


Anything said further about quotes will ruin their meaning.


Peace.

"Cool Boy With Handsomes"

Greetings!!


No, this is not my grammar. I haven't lost my brains anywhere. The title is merely a statement I read during my morning travels written on the back of a car. Weird, but true. This statement gives an eerie "gay-ish" feeling, even though in the conservative Pakistani culture, such freedom is nowhere entertained. In their smart attempt to pose "cool", some naive people also end up writing nonsense on themselves under the pretense that they hit a jackpot!


Car painting, and more recently wall painting, has been the illiterate's futile attempt to pose sophistication. People often print catchy phrases in similar liquidy font in order to distinguish their cars from other "ordinary" cars. Though not very attractive, such car painting is given a special status here in Pakistan.


Though admittedly, not all car paintings are a series of senseless words. At times, the phrases are indeed adorable. A long time back I read a phrase, and because of its beauty, I still happen to remember it:

"I don't drive fast, I fly slow"

This phrase has truly touched my heart. Being quite a racer myself, I find this phrase close to myself.

Peace.