nov-dec2011

Sporting up a storm

LIFE

AS

WE

KNOW

IT

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Editor-in-Chief

Ahmed Kapadia

Editor

Dosti Zahra

assistant editor

Fatema Imani

editorial support

Osman Ansari

Art Direction & Pre Production

Muzammil Ibrahim

Visualization & Design

Maira Hasham

Kanwal Mansoor

ONLINE Illustration

Azkah Khan

Manager Sales & Marketing

Zaki Baig

Assistant Manager Sales

Kamran Gilani

Circulation

Mairaj Malik

Web design and graphics

Shayaan Masood

Web Programming

Asif Iqbal and Ayaz Ahmed

TEAM BLAH.Sporting up a storm

Life as we know it

Emo Sapien

Reflections

Cheetay

Travelogue

Hang Out

Going Literary

Unresolved Differences

Tech know

What not to do

Rewind

Supernova

Social Calendar

Turn Offs

Pir Sain

CONTENTS

EM

O SAPIEN

It can be unarguably said that Pakistan has no dearth of talent and potential. Be it academics or extra-curriculars, the youth of Pakistan are exceptionally skilled and have managed to affirm this with achiev-ing incredible laurels that makes the whole nation proud of them.

One field where the youth of Pakistan have estab-lished their prominence is sports. The founder of Pakistan – Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a great advo-cate of sports and was of the notion that sports instil a sense of discipline amongst common people. Taking this paradigm forward, our nation has managed to produce a superfluity of sports talent.

Cricket and Pakistan are synonymous. Majority of Pakistanis have grown on a staple diet of cricket, and it is one game that despite facing and being involved in various controversies time and again that has served to deteriorate Pakistan’s name in cricket, still holds a special and reserved place in every Pakistani’s heart.

Yawer Malik is an ardent 22-year old cricket player and has numerous credits to himself in the field of cricket. He started playing when he was 13 years old in an inter-school competition, the opponent player hit him 6 sixes on 6 balls and consequently, he was completely

slammed as a cricketer. However during the same year i.e. 2003, he went to London, where he

joined a local club and improved his cricket and managed to make it to the Junior Team’s Attacking Bowler in England. He got an offer for the League Cricket the next year and his career took off from there. Yawer has played interna-tionally in Scotland, Ireland, Holland, and is currently playing for Surrey County League in Premiere Division in England. He was declared “Player of the Year” in 2010, and has also been announced as the man of the match in tournaments several times. Despite receiving grants and perks

in England, Yawer’s top most priority continues to be Pakistan for playing cricket.

Clubs such as Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool have established the football sensation everywhere, even in our own native land, where we have the likes of individuals, who have really managed to make it very big in this arena, despite lack of professionalism and resources. Sana Mahmud currently serving as the captain of the Women’s

Football team in Pakistan started her journey by trying out in Islamabad Beacon House School’s trials for football in 2007 where she was selected. It so turned out that the trials were actually for forming a club, which was being sponsored by the U.S Embassy, and was named as Young Rising Stars of Rawalpindi. The club won the National Champi-

onship in 2008 and came third in 2009.

Sporting up a storm

And the crowd goes wild!

Between the wickets

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CONTENTS

Squash has enjoyed unparalleled success in Pakistan since the last 5 decades. It is noted that Pakistani squash professionals dominated the sport for a number of years. Legends such as Hashim Khan, Azam Khan, Jahangir Khan and Jansher Khan definitely made their mark in the game. However, in spite of the fact that Pakistan produced a number of talented squash professionals following Jansher Khan's retirement, we have yet to see a player to have made it big.

The Pakistan Squash Federation aims to promote Squash in Pakistan, apart from arranging extensive training for players and organizing an assortment of tournaments. Additionally, Jansher Khan stepped in to coach Pakistani players, hoping to bring about a positive change, helping the players improve and progress.

Despite the fact that the Federation is work-ing hard to promote Squash throughout the country, there are generally very few women that choose to pick up the sport. Currently, female athletes such as Maria Toor, Zoya Khalid and Muqaddas Ashraf are nationally ranked. As far as the men are concerned, Mansoor Zaman, Waqar Mehboob and Aamir Atlas Khan, amongst a few others are ranked at the top, nationally. Nevertheless, the players need to improve their international rankings, as most of them are presently ranked between 150-300 on the table.

Notwithstanding, it’s gratifying to know that this sport is not just popular amongst the youth male population, but is also being pursued by females, though maybe a little less proactively than their male counterparts. Farah Khan, a 22-year old Islamabad based squash player said that she has always been wound up in sports of all sorts, and thus welcomed the idea of picking up squash, when presented with the opportunity. “I started off with the sport back in 2001, under the teaching of my father, who had been playing squash throughout most of his career, as an

officer in the army. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to play consistently, mostly being on the go, as my father would get

stationed to different cities all over the country on a fairly frequent basis. How-

ever, on the plus side, I got to interact with all sorts of coaches and players that helped

me improve my game in an innumerable amount of ways.”

She added that this squash still has to be played avidly amongst females, since she is

currently the only female who plays squash at Islamabad Club, and therefore has to battle it out against opponents of the opposite sex.

Farah has mostly taken part in tournaments on a smaller scale. However, she did win a regional tournament in Islamabad in the year 2006, defeating a player who hailed from Taxila. Her inspiration is Malaysia’s Nicole David, who is ranked No. 1 in the world.

Tennis is one of the most dynamic sports to be played in Pakistan and aces such as Aisam-ul haq Qureshi have undoubtedly averred Pakistan’s proud status in the field of tennis. Despite there being lack of resources and facilities to develop this sport,

Pakistan has still managed to do a good job of producing many tennis stars.

One such is Samir Iftikhar whose tennis journey started in the year of 2008. Samir comes from a

Crosscourt maestros

In 2010, the club again won the National Champion-ship, also won the Fair Play Trophy, The Best Goal Keeper and also the Top Scorer. In 2009, there was a national team that was formulated, and Sana was

selected in the team to play at the South Asian Games in Dhaka, which she couldn’t do so, due to an unfortunate injury.

Catching it on the rebound!

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Rowing is a growing sport in Pakistan and every year there is a rise in the number of rowers at the annual Inter-school Regatta, which is the most popular rowing competition.

Azeem Naeem Adamjee, a 19-year old proactive rower when interviewed said that: “Although rowing cannot be compared to other established sports in

Pakistan, like cricket and hockey; it is certainly a well known sport all around the world. Currently, rowing is a sport for the upper and middle classes, who can afford to pay for the rowing membership at Karachi Boat Club. Although, KBC along with The Citizen's Foundation are promoting the sport among underprivileged children studying at the TCF schools,

prominent family of tennis champions. His grandfa-ther, Khawaja Iftikhar was a renowned Indo-Pak Tennis legend, his father, Tayyab Iftikhar was a former Pakistan Davis Cupper and tennis ace, Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi is his first cousin. Samir started tennis at the age of 9 years and did not have any formal coaching. Within a span of few years, he started winning local junior tourna-ments in UK and got his first break in April 2007, as his playing came to the attention of the then President of Pakistan’s Tennis Federation, Syed Dilawar Abbas, who invited him and gave him the opportunity to compete in the National Trials for Selection of Pakistan’s Junior Davis Cup team where after beating top juniors, he was selected to don Pakistan’s flag.

Despite having British Nationality and several perks offered by the British Lawn Tennis Association, Samir chooses to play for Pakistan.

Samir has played in several tourna-ments and after being evaluated in the High Performance Evaluation Camp held in Bangkok Thailand in December 2010, The Asian Tennis Federation honoured Samir with the “Fittest under 20 Asian player” award and recom-mended him to US universities for scholarship. Samir’s futuristic goals include working hard to finish his education, and then following the footsteps of his cousin, Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi in tennis.

He cites that the current tennis scenario in Pakistani Tennis is not very bright, since there is no profes-

sionalism and proper set up, which is necessary to compete at top levels. He dearly hopes that the New Federation will take proper steps.

However, Saba Ahmed, a passionate female tennis player contradicts this notion. She believes that the current future for tennis in Pakistan is very bright. Especially, ever since great national heroes like Aisam-ul-Haq, Saeed Hai, Haroon Rahim and many others have walked Pakistani tennis grounds. “They are not only an inspiration to us, but

also give us a sense of pride. The current status of tennis on a national level is very vibrant; a lot of youngsters are participating in inter-clubs, schools

and other such platforms. To take this hype to an international level would require sometime; however it is still very bright.”

Saba represented Pakistan at the National level in the year 2005 (December). It was an All-Pakistan Intermediate Tennis Tournament and it took place at Bahria Complex, Islama-bad. They were many participating cities, and she got the chance to play with Sara Mehboob, who is currently Pakistan's leading female tennis player. Saba ended up winning a bronze medal. She has currently taken a sabbatical from tennis, due to university workload,

however she plays it every now and then, given the time and chance. Furthermore, she coaches her younger sister, which is again a privilege for her, as her younger sister takes Saba as an inspiration. Saba plans to represent Pakistan one day, if not in the grand slam, then at least on some other ground.

Paddle up

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by giving them a free rowing membership. It is also a popular sport in other cities of Pakistan, including Lahore and Islamabad. All in all, rowing needs to be supported and funded by the government; then only will we see talent emerge in Pakistan. Pakistan in this sport to compete with the top rowers in the world from Europe and Nort America.”

Azeem Naeem Adamjee has been rowing since the past 2 years, having started his rowing career during his first year in A-Levels at The Lyceum School, at the age of 17. He was coached by various individu-

als, which include Asad Qasim, Maherdil Babai, Asghar Ali and Imran Khan. Arif Ikram and the Captain of the Boats at KBC have also helped him

tremendously throughout his rowing career. His rowing idols are Sir Steve Redgrave and Sir Matthew Pinsent, both ex-Great Britain Olympic rowers.

Azeem has taken part in 3 international regattas and plans to represent Pakistan

at the World and Olympic level in the future.

Not only the conventional sports, but also some of the more unconventional games enjoy importance in Pakistan. Bridge is a very popular sport played in Pakistan. The only disadvantage as asserted by prominent bridge player, Oosman Bashir is that it cannot be considered a profession in Pakistan. Even if one rises above social norms; it would be hard to make a living from it.

Oosman’s entry into this particular game is highly amusing. Back in Aitchison College, he was bunking class with some of his friends, and they then proc- eeded to play some random card games. One of them knew some bridge basics and was busy trying to teach the others when a teacher walked in on them.

“That’s it!” they thought, “we’re dead... detention... suspension...” and were in complete shock when she said,“Are you guys playing bridge?? Let’s start a club!”

It turned out that she was a world class bridge player herself and a few months down the line, they had a proper bridge club that would meet after school to learn and play.

Along the line, they had some excellent teachers and eventually started playing in the regular bridge circuit. Eventually some of them made it to the Pakistan Junior team, and ending up representing Pakistan at Junior World Championships.

Oosman, as part of the Pakistan Under-21 team has played 3 World Junior Championships: Sydney 2005, Bangkok 2006 and Beijing 2008. He also played (and won) the FifthChair.org World Collegiate Online tournament playing for “Team Yale+Stanford” as a college freshman in 2007, and came 2nd in the American Collegiate Nationals in 2010 captaining team Yale.

Needless to say, our rising sports stars have the ability, talent and potential to go a long way still and compete with all the international forces, provided they are given the resources, support and necessary funding. We, on our part, should laud them for their spectacular achievements, giving them the much needed boost and encouragement to go forward.

crossing the bridge

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08LIFE

AS

WE

KNOW

ITBy: Zehrah Yakoob

THE DAY THE

As a teacher often puts it, there was pin drop silence. Only literally this time. In that dead silence I sat. I had done something wrong that day. The guilt was killing me. It was past midnight and everyone at my place was asleep. I sat completely lost, unable to concentrate on the pile of notes in front of me. I had exams up in a few days. The guilt was more because of the feeling that life had a good chance of getting back at me by messing up my grades. Let’s admit it; we’re pretty materialistic even when it comes to committing a sin. As my mind was going through the process, my door suddenly moved. I get REALLY creeped out even by the usual night ‘tak’ sound of any equip-ment, furni-ture at our place (you have no idea to what extent). The sounds are pretty normal for the rest of my family. They come every night and I discovered a few days back that most of my friends complained they hear chairs ‘moving ‘or footstep sounds from their neighbour’s place every night. My brain has the neighbour’s place stored as haunted for my conve-nience. Anyways, so the door moved.

I would quickly tell myself at such a time that it’s because of the fan, but this was different. And I would have screamed my lungs out, if it had registered in my brain even for a micro second that there was some-one or something there causing it (okay no, that would just tell the ghost/thief I am up, so I wouldn’t dare, I would just quickly pretend I am asleep). But again this wasn’t that too, I knew. Don’t know how, but yeah. And I am glad everything went fast then, and I didn’t have the time to think ‘Paranormal activity?’

The door movement was followed by the sound of my mom’s bed room door shaking. I could hear it till my room. Kept vibrating and just as it started coming to me what exactly WAS happening, SOME-THING passed below my bed, something inside the ground and my bed went UP and came DOWN. The bed MOVED, my God! The window

slammed and then one after the other I heard tons of windows slamming, ‘THUD THUD THUD.’ Earthquake. Okay, I was so gone! I went com-pletely motionless. So life wasn’t going to wait to get back at me during exams; it was gonna show me now. ‘Oh Allah I am so sorry!’ I cried

Knocked and squeaked ‘mamaa’. ‘I think there’s been an earthquake’. And finally the door opened. Phew, I wasn’t alone in this world now. She switched on the TV and we

watched, no news. But I was pretty sure. After a minute or so, the

news flashed and the typical HU HA on the news channel started, the kind that would put even the ones who lay snoring, in depression, for

missing out on ‘a great event’.

GROUND SHOOK...

inside my head. NOW I remember Allah. Now that I thought that any minute the whole building was going to collapse on me and I was going to die on a day I had done something bad. I started reading my prayers. Everyone was still sleeping. Why won’t anyone wake up? The earthquake seemed to have passed and everyone at my place and neigh-bourhood still lay snoring. What the hell? I sat staring at the fan. I’ve always been scared of the fan falling on me. Today seemed like the day. You seem to end up with things you have always been scared of. How movie-some.

Anyways, so after what seemed like ages, I slowly managed to get off my bed. As I kept my feet on the floor I kept glancing at it and walked very gently, so that it wouldn’t crash. Reached my parents’ room finally (oh yeah!). Knocked and squeaked ‘mamaa’. ‘I think there’s been an earth-quake’. And finally the door opened. Phew, I wasn’t alone in this world now. She switched on the TV and we watched, no news. But I was pretty sure. After a minute or so, the news flashed and the typical HU HA on the news channel started, the kind that would put even the ones who lay snoring, in depression, for missing out on ‘a great event’. I slowly crept away from the room. Prayed and thanked Allah I was alive, texted a few friends and discovered that most seemed to have woken after the earthquake.

I really couldn’t study after that too. I just sat thinking now, for many days after and even now sometimes…. what if the fan had really fallen that day, what if the building DID collapse, what if I had died, where would I be now? Would I have died with the guilt of my follies within my heart? Above all, it was a chance for catharsis. Why did it need God to shake the ground beneath my feet, to

bring me to senses? Why did I repent only at the face of extreme fear? Why not because I genuinely felt sorry for something I had knowingly done wrong? Why do we all? Think about it.

Knee deep in guilt

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Hey Emo Sapien,

The problem lies with me and also with her. First of all, we are just acquainted with each other through a student society. Our institutes are same, but then again, our fields are different. Having said that; there are very meager chances of "us" meeting up. There is no casual topic that has been discussed between us, or even if there has been any, then her response is very reluctant, as she is a very serious type, always talking about "the revolution" in Pakistan and other stuff like helping the poor and all. On the other hand, I am a pretty normal guy and socially, I’m very active. My problem is that I am unable to go and advance my feelings of love to her because I care a lot about my self-esteem. She respects my take on social issues, mostly; our perspectives about the issues match, but I don’t say "the real thing" to her as I am afraid of being rejected. I am waiting for the right time with no hint of its occurrence. Sometimes, I feel that since she respects my opinions, she would also respect my feelings, but I am just CLUELESS of what to do. Can she see me as I want her to see me? HELP!

Dear Lover,

While this is indeed a ghambeer masla; it’s not gham-beer enough to be solution-less. Emo Sapien can see three obstacles to your happily ever after, so let’s take a look at each one by one.

First, let’s consider the most important one of all, your ego. You have to decide, which will hurt you more: being rejected, or wondering what would have happened, if you had been true to your feelings? If you value your self-esteem and fear, you’ll break down, if she as much as says the “N” of nahi, then sweetheart you better stop reading. There’s no love without a bit of risk, and while there are no guarantees that things will always turn out for the better; it’ll save you from a lifetime of painful “what ifs?” As for her somber nature, jaan, there isn’t anything you can do to change that. You’ll just have to trust your own personality to win her over.

Now, the next-to-none meetings. Since they are supposed to be related to matters of the society; it would do you good to steer clear of expressing your feelings for her. Because she’s the serious-type, she

will definitely not appreciate you mixing work with pleasure. So first step, try to meet her outside the meetings. If she’s in a different program, then try to find out her schedule of classes, so that you can talk

to her. Maybe subtly fall in step with her. Show her that you

want to talk to her, and if she persists with her save-Pakistan views,

then by all means, express yours as well. You, my dear child, are blessed with the

one thing that is the precursor to most success-ful relationships: a common interest. Build on that, find out more about her views and don’t be afraid to disagree. The more she opens up, the more likely she is to trust you. In the entire process, don’t forget to make her like you for who you are. Emo Sapien is strictly against pretending to be something you’re not, so even if an inkaar is headed your way, at least, you’ll know you were true to yourself.

Dear Emo Sapien,

I have a very typical, every-girl-faces-this-in-Pakistan problem. Basically, my parents are forcing me to get married because they think I’m old. They think if I say no, I won’t get another rishta. I don’t what to get married. What do I do?

Dear Flying Solo,

Sigh. As much as Emo Sapien wants to change the mindset of the entire Pakistani population; it’s nearly impossible. So, beta, you’ll just have to endure your parent’s nagging. You haven’t mentioned how old you are, so I really don’t know where your parents are coming from. Regardless, if you’re absolutely sure you don’t want to get married, then don’t. Getting hitched unwillingly will only make you more miserable than your parents’ nagging has made you (or so I assume). Talk to your parents, tell them your reasons for not wanting to get married, and weather the storm that comes. Tell them you’ll only end up in an unsuccessful marriage (that’s bound to make them go “Khuda na karay!”) Hopefully, they’ll understand your sentiments, and pray for more rishtas to come later on.

Have a problem that you would like advice for? Send them to Emo Sapien at editorial@blah.com.pk

EM

O SAPIENGROUND SHOOK...

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I have often pondered over this peculiar idiosyncrasy – “I’m different from others” in fact, it’s something that has plagued me for a very long time, and it’s only now that I’m able to come to terms with it. I used to wonder what people essentially meant when they said they are different. When I was young and juvenile, this phrase seemed uber-sophisticated and mystifying and I would always feel intimidated by the person who would tell me this, thinking they have an edge over others. But deep inside, I would still not be at rest, because I could not understand what exactly they were trying to make themselves out by saying this and most importantly why? Despite being a very mundane thing to contemplate over; it plagued me for the longest time.

As I grew up, I heard this phrase with a stronger potency than before. If I were to get acquainted with a person (read: guys mostly); it would be customary to hear this, and then it got me thinking: are they just insecure or too full of themselves; hence the need and the urgency to set themselves apart from others, even when it’s totally uncalled for. I struggled for a long time, ruminating over this, before I managed to piece together the puzzle. Trying to say you are different is just redun-dant and futile, because inherently we all are different in our own unique way. Everyone has their individuality, then why try to establish it by proclaiming it in an affected and elusive manner and more importantly by throwing it in someone’s face rather than letting them gauge you. Through my experiences I’ve observed, which I also find highly

amusing and superficial to an extent that if people think they favour classical music over commercial music, they are different. Huh? Also exacerbated by the fact that people think if they are reserved and introverted, they are different? Doesn’t quite hit home. If you like some particular art or type of music, which is not a commercial choice or is more sophisticated, that’s because you like it, that’s your own taste and preference, why do you think that gives you self-importance or the need to assert yourself as different, because it’s intrinsically differ-ent. What really really makes me go off the deep end is when people say it with a superior air, making

themselves out to be intense and mysterious, whereas it’s just plain shallow.

Make no mistake. I’m not denying the fact or patronizing with even the most subtle innuendo that people aren’t different. In fact, I’m a thorough advocate of individu-ality. What I’m trying to say is that in an environment, there

are all sorts of people and all of these people possess

different characteristics, which naturally cultivates a person’s

individuality. It does not need to be declared; neither does it need to be affirmed in a pompous fashion.

“Let the world know you as you are, not as you think you should be, because sooner or later, if you are posing, you will forget the pose, and then where are you?”

Fatema Imani is a student of Social Sciences at Szabist. Writing is what provides her solace, when everything else fails her.

By: Fatema Imani

“Let the world know you as you are, not as you think you should be, be-cause sooner or later, if you are posing, you will forget the pose, and then where are you?”

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Blah. Tell us a little about yourself.I am 21. Love creative stuff – designing, writing, drawing, painting and the likes. I have a knack for personal and profes-sional development. I am the sort of a guy who’s never at rest. I am going to University of Karachi for my Bachelors in Mass Communication. Love the fact that I am studying what I am passionate about – so many people in the world today are living ‘trapped by dogma’ as Mr. Jobs put it. That’s just sad! I am a passion driven individual who loves people living according to their own rules.

Blah. You are one of the brains behind KarachiTips. How did it start off? June 2nd, 2011 – about 10:30pm, I got online – only to discover that LahoriTips, a rather funny page that I loved had dissed Karachi, claiming that, “If you think Lahore is better than Karachi, you bet it is.” I posted it on Bilal’s wall and went off with “this is war” and suggested we should make a page. Bilal agreed. Baakh joined the conver-sation and we started making tips. Next thing we know, I set up a page, few of our friends suggest some funny one liners about life in Karachi and we

share them. Things immediately picked up. I slept after a couple hours – only to wake up at a massive total of 700 something fans who were crazily commenting on the wall about life in Karachi.

Blah. Has the response towards KarachiTips been only positive, or were you met with some negativity/criticism as well? Free advice, suggestions and support – that part has been beyond our expectations positive. But we’ve made some mistakes too and paid heavily for it. Our sense of humor is a little twisted, and sometimes we crack jokes that people don’t really find funny. But overall, there hasn’t been any negativity.A lot of people target us on the fact that we should be pro-Pakistan and not pro-Karachi. Through Blah I’d like to reinstate

the fact that being pro-Karachi doesn’t mean we’re hitting on the nation’s unity or trying to create a division. We’re just celebrating our lovely culture of the city of lights. Pakistan is still there. Pakistan hai tou hum hain.

Blah. KarachiTips is a huge rage all over the city. Do you have any future plans for it? We want KarachiTips to be the ultimate platform that promotes the love of Karachi among Karachiites and exposes it to people who aren’t living in Karachi. Few of the upcoming things include exhibitions, short films, contests and other events that promote the love of Karachi.

Blah. Do you have any message for the youth of Karachi, who might be seeing you as a youth icon? Life is really all about under-standing yourself, discovering who you are, your passions,dreams and aspirations. Don’t let anyone ever tell you that you aren’t good enough; or you aren’t worth it. Know thyself. Know what you want and go after it. And above all, love the place you belong to.Pakistan Zindabad!

Muhammad Abdullah talks about KarachiT ips, the uproarious page on Facebook that affirms every Karachiite’s love for their

wonderful city of lights.

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The Roof of the WorldThe Roof of the World

Travelogue

I remember how elated I was after giving my last Cambridge interna-tional exam on June 10th, 2011. The very thought of summers and a relaxed agenda was unfathomable for a while, as A level studies had dominated my life incredibly. Just like several ‘A level victims’, I too longed for a break or a blissful summer vacation. That opportunity arose in the very first week of July. I was utterly bored, thanks to our enterprising KESC for the frequent electricity breakdown every time I signed into my face book account. As I oscillated on my comfortable rocking chair in my living room, waiting for the electricity issue to be resolved; I randomly texted a friend of how we could just make a visit up North to elude the scorch-ing heat and constant electricity breakdowns in Karachi. The very next second, my friend’s name flashed on my mobile screen, surprisingly replying in the affirma-

tive! I jumped in a sudden state of euphoria and had a word with my parents in apropos to my ‘random plan!’ and hey presto; I was stuffing my bag, as I had to leave in a day. We left for the Daewoo bus stop at 7 in the morning with a wave of sheer joy and excitement. My friend and I entered the bus and jostled to find our seat. We were part of a group who were strangers for us in the beginning, but the ‘awkwardness’ was interim. The amazing road journey lead us to our destination i.e. Rawalpindi. Our tour guide instructed us all and accordingly we gathered at the hotel lobby the next morning, since we were to leave for Islamabad & the Northern areas. After a long bumpy road journey, we finally reached the beautiful Naaran Valley with lofty snow-clad moun-tains at great altitude. I was lost in its scenic beauty, which was simply breath-taking. Everyone instantly started taking photographs and videos of the heaven-like landscape. The next day we

traveled to the adjacent village named Shograan at a height of 2362m above sea level. This was

another spectacular place worth visiting and here, we enjoyed the scrumptious food served in special mud vessels. The hotel at Shograan is also worth mentioning as it was intricately built on a mountain at a great height. Everything seemed so magnificent & aesthetic that describing it in mere words won’t do justice. From Shograan we visited Lake Saiful mulk in the upper Kaghaan Valley, which is another instance of ‘heaven on earth.’ After a 5-day stay at Naaran, we left for Rawalpindi in a coaster, after which we took a Daewoo Bus service back to Karachi. The 7-day trip was worth it, as I had an undeniably amazing and awe-inspiring time of my life! Conclusively, for all you folks out there reading this, “if you haven’t visited the North yet, you haven’t actually lived yet!”

Naqiya Hussain is currentlypursuing her Bachelors inSocial Sciences and Economics.

By: Naqiya Hussain

Beautiful waterfall on the way to Naraan

Lake Saif-ul-Mulk - highest lake in Pakistan at an altitude of 3224m

Malika-e-Parbat located adjacent to Lake Saif-ul-Mulk

Who hasn’t heard of Port Grand yet? If you’re in Karachi, then I’m sure reading this piece would be of no use because you must’ve already visited Karachi’s latest gem! But here it is, folks. A review for those of you non-Karachiites who’ve been wonder-ing what Port Grand is all about! The first thing to touch upon would be the immense history the location of Port Grand holds. Known as the Napier Mole Bridge or ‘Native jetty’ in local lingo, this particular bridge is at the epicenter of Karachi. It has been a part of our harbor since the 1950s and provided an ideal location for transportation apart from the ritualistic pigeon feeding and fishing that had been going on forever. Nevertheless, despite its heritage the Native Jetty was being torn down due to the fact that it was dwindling away in rust and wear tear.

However, a very brave private company came in and decided to help resurrect this place of significant history by converting it into South Asia’s Largest Food

Street. We have to applaud the investors for taking the risk of investing more than Rs.1bn into giving the City of Lights this gem, despite the law and order, economic and political uncertainties.

If you’ve been to Port Grand, you’ll automatically feel a surreal out-of-Karachi experience. The Spanish styled lanterns hanging everywhere, the perfectly clean and well built environment all seem reminiscent of waterfront experiences such as the Pier 39 in San Francisco. Add on top of that a 13 acre establishment that has Wi-Fi connectivity all over and a Bose surround system that’s got great music pouring in all the time!

It’s a complete entertainment and food enclave that houses numer-ous eateries. It provides a fusion of different experiences and cuisines all at one place. Whether it’s scrumptious Italian at Alyanto, mouth watering kebabs at Abdul Ghaffar Kabab House or thin crust brick oven Pizza at Mao’s Pizzeria, there are immense options available! I’m only mentioning the places I’ve tried and tested myself but there are tons more such as Chainak, Babujees, Tavern, Mr. Cod, etc. One can also pick up a snack or two at the side walk eateries such as bun kebabs, shawarmas, French fries, pani puri, chaat and so on. Big corporations such as Wall’s and Omore have also

opened up dessert boutiques! And oh, let’s not forget the cho- colate fountain kiosk! *drooling*

You know how Karachiities are looking for experiences beyond just eating out, right? Well, Port Grand offers that through an entire mall to shop, Art Galleries, Play Area and a movie theater is currently in the pipes as well. It has also provided a new location for stars to host their album openings; I heard that Faakhir recently did so.

Despite being a waterfront activity, the crowd there is pretty decent and Port Grand ensures that families can come and enjoy

the place safely. This doesn’t mean you can’t go with friends! You just can’t go in all-guy groups and let’s face it, if it makes your lady friends and sisters feel safer, why not? ‟ At the end of the day, Port Grand offers matchless attractions for the whole family together.

By: Faiza Hasan

HANG OUTHANG OUTBoardwalk

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Mohammed Hanif’s latest novel, ‘Our Lady of Alice Bhatti’ is quite a different read from his first and highly successful satirical novel, ‘A Case of Exploding Mangoes’, which was also longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. This novel was highly anticipated and there was immense speculation regarding its release because its predecessor had hit quite a mark with the audiences and when it came out this year, it was hardly a surprise that it went off the shelves really fast. ‘Our Lady of Alice Bhatti’ has a very different feel to it and cements Hanif’s status as one of the most important Pakistani writers to have come out in recent times. It is set in Karachi and the basic storyline is that the main protagonist, Alice Bhatti is a nurse, freshly out of prison who has found a job in the ‘charya’ ward at the Sacred Heart Hospital. This is the place where she first meets Teddy Butt, a goon for the police.

This is the same hospital where Teddy falls in love with Alice and professes his love to her - with a Mauser pistol in his hand. For that matter, the chapter with the description of Teddy explaining his feelings to Alice is definitely the best chapter in the book. It begins with simple and effective sentences, “Teddy has brought a Mauser to his

declaration of love. He has brought a story about the moon as well, but he is not sure where to start.” While most of that chapter focuses on the turmoil going in their minds, the last couple of paragraphs beauti-fully describe a Karachi riot, set off by nothing, but one careless gunshot.

The entire novel seems like passages strung together, as if each passage could be understood as a story in itself and this is one of the qualities that keeps the entire novel light and refreshing – it seems like

a person is reading the same story, yet a new one each time.

The two protagonists are completely different individuals and in the first half of the novel, it is a little difficult to understand their relationship because they seem a little reclusive and distant, but gradually, one gets to understand them and then it is natural for the reader to root for their communion. The reader’s heart sinks when they seem to have some misunderstand-ings in their relationship, ones that this scribe will leave up to the reader to find whether they manage to solve or not.

Overall, this is a great read and the descriptions used by Hanif are a treat for anyone with a graphic imagination. This scribe gives it a 9/10. Go read!

Our Lady of Alice Bhatti is currently available at Liberty Books in Karachi, and other outlets in Lahore and Islamabad.

Dosti Zahra is a student, Smiths’ lover and an occasional writer. This is one of her rare pieces.

Our Lady of Alice Bhattiby Mohammed Hanif

Reviewed by Dosti Zahra

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By: Zain R. Mian

Episode Two

Abdullah's mother had been a woman, whom he could only describe as ineffable. Indescribable. It was paradoxical, yes, but somehow it was the only thing that fit. Everything about her was so, so… her. Unique might’ve been the word for it, but it wasn’t. It didn’t do her justice and thus her it was. Recurring memories stopped Abdullah’s mind from digressing further than it already had.He remembered when he was little, how his mother would tend to his bruises, if he ever fell, how she’d cook him a smorgasbord of sorts, even when he didn’t demand it, and, especially, how she kissed him on his forehead in this style that was all her own. She loved to make his hair into this

silly comb-over too- God he hated it. He still kept it, though: he knew she loved it.

Great, now he was thinking about her again. He missed his mother. He still remembered the last time he’d seen her alive. He only saw her once after that- lifeless, and wrapped in white cloth with cotton stuffed up her ears and nose.

He saw himself seated in the backseat of the old Corolla. His parents sat in front. Mr. Chaud-hary yawned as he worked the steering. It was late at the time, somewhere around ten, and they were driving back home.

Abdullah remembered how it had been raining heavily that night. He pictured raindrops gravi-tating fiercely from the dark sky, splattering against the windscreen with sharp dull thuds. In his mind’s eye he watched the car’s wipers battle against the onslaught of rain. They bludgeoned the raindrops to the left and right with their mechanical movements, clubbing out a clear view of the road.As the car turned onto a straight stretch of road, Mr. Chaudhary’s phone began to ring. He answered, holding it up against his ear with his left hand. Mrs. Chaudhary was not amused. She had warned him a million times not to talk on the phone while driving. It was dangerous.And illegal.

Despite his wife’s warnings, Mr. Chaudhary always showed persistence. ‘It’s important’, he

insisted. It felt like every other time. He didn’t listen- she got the feeling he didn’t want to. It drove her mad. Mrs. Chaudhary had warned him so many times before; this time,she refused.

There was no point in it, really: he would ignore her anyway. She turned away from him to face the window. Raindrops streaked diago-nally down the glass’s surface, pushed by the resistive wind and pulled by gravity. The screen’s lucidity provided a kaleidoscopic background of black and yellow as the car whizzed down the road, alternating between areas lit by streetlights and those submerged in shadow. Combined, the two were surreal. Mr. Chaudhary continued to talk on the phone. Mrs. Chaudhary paid no attention. Mistakes they would both regret.

While Mr. Chaudhary’s attention had been divided between the road and his conversa-tion, he’d failed to realise that his car had been picking up speed. Slowly, the soft purr of its engine had crescendoed into a roar as it sped through the cascade. A speed-breaker loomed in the distance. It escaped all notice, even as they drew closer- right up, until it flashed menacingly in the car’s yellow headlights.Evasively, Mr. Chaudhary slammed his foot onto the brake. It wasn’t enough. Inertia

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propelled the car into the bump. The impact tossed it high into the air and as it hit the tarmac again, it slipped horizontally across the wet surface, right into the path of oncoming traffic.

For a brief moment, everything fell silent. Raindrops could be heard dropping onto the cold metallic exterior. Drop by drop. Serenity. Suddenly, a second car tore into the passenger-side door, shatter-ing more than just silence in the process. The metal door crunched inwards like crumpled paper. Rain still tapped callously against the mangled wreckage.

Abdullah had been thrown across the backseat. A bit dazed at first, his head soon cleared, ushering him into reality. Mr. Chaudhary was frantically dialing a number on his phone; to his left, Abdullah saw his mother. Her head dangled from her right shoulder. She lay unconscious as drops of blood trickled through her hair. They meandered through her wavy locks in red streaks, soon falling to the floor with sickening drips.

Together with his son, Mr. Chaud-hary pulled his wife from the wreckage. He felt her pulse: she was alive. However, blood still fervently traversed the back of her neck. Worriedly, Mr. Chaudhary removed his upper and pressed it against her head.A deep, dark red suffused through the white

cotton.He guided Abdullah’s hand behind her head and pressed it against the shirt. He himself walked over to the second car that had been involved in the crash: though the car itself had been totaled, the driver seemed to have survived with only minor injuries.

Abdullah was left sitting alone on the sidewalk; his mother's head rested on his lap. With a hand keeping the shirt tucked beneath it, he watched the road in wait. An ambulance wailed in the distance. The sound grew louder as it came closer. As it pulled up against the sidewalk, medics quickly poured out of the back.

Two medics transferred Mrs. Chaudhary into the ambulance, while one of them hurried towards Abdullah’s father and the second driver. Another motioned for Abdullah to join his mother in the back. He refused, though. He didn’t want to go with her. They hadn’t seen what he had; she had lost too much blood.

Abdullah watched the doors of the ambulance close thereafter and as it eventually shot off into oblivion, he saw it shrink into a tiny speck. He lay back on the footpath, still clenching the blood-drenched shirt above his chest. It was more red than white. Mr. Chaudhary had returned to the other driver.Abdullah’s eyes burnt in a blind-ing orange light. He blinked.

Twice. Realising why, he turned his face away from the lamp. Why did her side have to crash?’ he thought, ‘Why couldn't the car have swirled the other way? It hadn’t been her fault. It’d been his. She shouldn’t have died because of his mistake.’

Abdullah was taken aback: had he just wished his father six-feet under? Indirectly, yes- but he had. He didn't quite believe it himself, unsettling as it was.‘Oh God,’ he soliloquized, ‘what the hell is wrong with me? I'm losing it.’ He clicked off the lamp and pulled the sheets over his head. He still couldn’t sleep, though. It was difficult.

Zain R. Mian is a student of Lahore Grammar School who enjoys reading, writing and listening to music. He blogs regularly at http://zainrmian.wordpress.com and can be followed via his Twitter handle @ZainRMian.

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Yosion Apple Peel 520

Functionally speaking, the only thing differentiating the iPod touch from its older brother, the iPhone is that the latter, like the name suggests, is a phone. Well, that and the price tag. But leave it to the industrious Chinese to figure out a way to get cheap ‘iPhones.’

No, this is not a dubious hardware clone we’re talking about here – instead this is a rather ingenious device. Available online (with free shipping worldwide) for about $110, the Apple Peel 520 (second generation) allows you to make phone calls and receive text messages from your jailbroken iPod touch. It is essen-tially a sleeve, or case, for your iPod that has a cell phone in it. It weighs about 90g and has a 1600mAh battery that provides about 5 hours of talktime. The Peel also supports GPRS/EDGE, MMS, caller ID, FM radio and vibrating ringtones. It’s quite well-built and doesn’t seem too fragile, though the back is a serious finger-print magnet. Call reception is pretty good, with clear sound and no dropped calls. Ofcourse, the software isn’t as smooth as the original iPhone, but Yosion is constantly working to iron out any bugs. Consider it the poor man’s iPhone!

Toshiba Portege R835-P56X

With a 2.3GHz Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM and 640GB hard disk, this 13-inch Toshiba weighs in at about 3 lbs. and boasts of an impressive 7 hour battery life. Viewing the 1,366x768 resolution LED display off-center results in washed out colors and the integrated Intel graphics are good, but not gamer friendly. The keyboard and multitouch touchpad are large and comfortable to use, and the onboard stereo speakers are satisfactory for your media consumption pleasures. The Portege comes installed with 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium, and a bunch of other preinstalled apps from Toshiba that aren’t all that annoying. Memory card reader, DVD-RW drive and 4GBs of RAM. While not the most glamorous, or the best looking, this ultraportable notebook is certainly a very smart priced and fully capable machine worthy of your consideration, if you’re in the market.

Waleed Zuberi is a student at IoBM, freelance writer and web developer. He runs Double U Designs and blogs semi-regularly at the Double U Blog (http://www.doubleudesigns.com/).

By: Waleed Zuberi

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So you’ve finally managed to put aside your demanding schedule, finally paid heed to the persistent pleas of your friends and are headed towards the theatre. With great movies coming out and trailers upon trailers of awesome stuff that’ll be hitting the screens soon, the theatre is one place where you can finally lose yourself in one of the great cinematographic masterpieces. BUT. There are always some people, some annoying individuals who make you want to turn around and throttle to death using a lethal combination of your caramel popcorn and your Coke straw.

So what are these things which you should not do to avoid the wrath of satanic and clearly demented people like me?

1. Make comments during the movies, more so, the annoying, “ooooooo that’s what she said”. Imagine you’ve had a hectic week and you’ve been looking forward to the Adventures of Tintin (which is a great movie, btw) and you’re finally seated in the cinema, clutching your bag of popcorn and your drink, with your eyes glued to the screen, eagerly making note of the upcoming attractions when someone, anyone, that person who had I not been a civil individual, would be walking down the tunnel with the light at the end, says, “Yaar, yeh kya cartoon hai, bachon wali filum dekhnay aye hain.”. You, yes, you. The person who uttered this blasphemous statement, no one

made you come! You bought the ticket yourself so had your higher brain functions not kicked in while you’re buying the ticket, please keep these statements to yourself at least till the movies ends.

2. Bring kids to movies that are CLEARLY not meant for them:Ah, yes. Kids. The future of our country. That is if they don’t yell, whine, kick a ruckus, cry or just be plain annoying. I remember that I was sitting with my friends watch-ing Inception when a couple alongside with their new born child and another daughter who must not be more than 4 years of age, sat directly in the aisle behind me and my friends. And constantly during the movie we did not hear the dialogues, and were instead treated to the wondrous sounds of the baby’s incessant cries and the girl saying, “Amma yeh kya ho raha hai? Amma mujhe popcorn chahiye! Amma thund lag rahee hai! Amma cartoon chalao! Amma Amma Amma baat suno! While dear Amma was engrossed in the movie. It took every ounce of my will power not to turn around and say, “Beta, Amma baat nahi sun rahee”. But people please, take your children to movies in which they’re clearly the target market such as Rio, Alvin and the Chip-munks or the upcoming Up in 3D. Trust me, they’ll enjoy those movies better than Inception or even movies which are intellectually degrading such as Thor.

3. Your cell phones have an option of going “Silent”. Use that.I have had all sorts of people sit next to me. But the ones that annoy me the most are those who talk on their phones while in the theatre. Or let the phone ring, while they scrutinize the number from which they’re receiving the phone call. Here’s an idea: TURN. IT. OFF. But nooooo. They’d much rather talk while Learnado Di Caprio is explaining his dream within a dream within a dream philosophy. So people, unless you’re passionate about your cell phones becoming mysteriously flattened (courtesy of my sneakers), please try to silence your phones and take advantage of the texting mechanism present in every phone. Here’s an idea: “Hi! I’m sorry I cant take your call. I’m watching a movie, you see. So I really don’t want to incur the satanic wrath of anyone sitting here so I’ll call you back later. Still best friends? Awesome =)”.

By: Shakoor

IN A MOVIE THEATRE IN A MOVIE THEATRE

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By: Sumbul Ateeq Chaudhry

Aalu Anday- Beygairat BrigadeWhile most of Pakistan’s entertain-ment industry is on the brink of extinction, the music industry thrives purely on true raw talent, for which many are finally giving them the due credit that they deserve.

One such new band of boys, who have raked up the Pakistani music scene with their take on the political scenario with their very first song are the “Beygairat Brigade”. The song happens to be as controversial as their name and captivates attention instantly; when one hears the first few words “meri maa ne pakaye aalu anday” (my mother has cooked eggs and potatoes).

Produced by Madiha Gul and performed under the banner of Media 180, the song draws a direct parallel to the political scenario faced by Pakistan in today’s times. What sets the song apart is the simple fact that that it is laced with satire and oozes with the feeling that the youth of today is finally waking up and question-ing where the country is headed. With the band dressed as school boys themselves; it’s a testament to the fact that they depict the young Pakistan who knows exactly what is going on, and instead of letting their country go to pieces,

are now questioning the system and their agendas. The song itself takes a bold multi faceted approach, when the artists actually take names of some real life individuals and tell the story exactly the way it is! The video adds further flavor with story boards in the middle of the song, boldly highlighting where each political party has gone wrong, and yet tickling the listener’s funny bone! From the “Rickshaw Rising” to the “Zionists”, this video sure makes one smile at the ludicrous situation Pakistan faces while giving everyone a much needed reality check. The “beygairat boys” as many are now christening them, spell out not just the dire political scenario, but also talk about how each arm of the government is equally crippled, courtesy our oh-so-concerned higher officials. Ever heard of the sugar crises, the corrupt police and about the continuous bombings in our country within the same song??? If not, well THIS is the one to hear!

While other music bands take to the music chords and talk about the change they hope to see in

Pakistan, the “Beygairat Brigade” successfully manage to portray the current situation, so much that one manages to remember snippets of the song when they do actually see something wrong going on in their surroundings! The band might have a long way to go, they might even be one hit wonders,

but hey, they have managed to create a ripple, which many others have failed to do!P.S. We just hope the band doesn’t really face their prophecy, which they wrote out on the last cardboard message, but nonethe-less, I did press like!

Sumbul Ateeq is a business student atSZABIST, who loves photography.

RewindRewind

Taimur Sheikh and Omer Asim- two friends that blend together into a hypnotic, mild-numbing duo called 6LA8. This fortunate fan had the good luck of sitting down with them to discuss their music, amidst meandering discussions on philoso-phy, life, and the country.

Let’s start from the basics. How did 6LA8 come to be?

We started off as a band called Aus Rine in 2008 with another friend of ours. We were together for about 2 years till our third member left. At that point, the two of us decided to remake ourselves under a whole new name, and a more different sound.

Your music is definitely distinctive from most pop or rock bands in the Pakistani music scene. Do you face criticism based on that?

Well yeah, definitely! People don’t understand the kind of music we make. You have people saying, oh, you’re not experimental, so-and-so

is experimental, or drone, or post rock, etc. But at the end of the day, those are all labels that others have given us, we never said we were all those labels ourselves. We’re more popular on an international level than Pakistan because of the fact that our culture, our society isn’t ready for the kind of music we make yet.

There are no lyrics to your music, and they often have underlying speeches or movie dialogues in them. What’s the inspiration behind that?

Well, we both listen to the same kind of music, and you have these political bands with really great messages for their songs, talking about poverty, about war, etc. The speeches we add are really moving and add a sense of direction to our music, as well as conveying the mood. Even when we layer the music and muffle the sound of the speech, you can still understand the mood of the song, if the person’s angry, or happy, or

hysterical. We pick dialogues from movies which have expired copy-right laws, or the company’s bankrupt, so we can’t get into trouble for using their dialogues, both of us make sure to confirm these things. We don’t really force the dialogue into the music which is why there are instrumental tracks as well. Why make lyrics after all, when the listener can just sit back, fantasize to the music, and make up their own lyrics.

One of you is in Canada and one is in Karachi. How do you work out on making your music then?

Basically, we sit down over the weekend, and one of us will make up a track, the other will work with that and add to it, that’s why our music is so layered. We don’t tell each other what we’re doing either, so that way it’s a completely unique experience, and it’s also why we wind up with so many tracks.

6LA8 speaks to Ghausia Rashid Salamabout their band’s unconventional

music and album concepts.

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Who would you list as your inspirations in music?

There are so many. In Western music, there’s Port Royal, 65daysofstatic, Jakob, Brian Eno, Isis, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, The Mars Volta, Boris, Daft Punk, Justice, Type o Negative, Neurosis, Mogwai, QOTSA, Helios, Fennesz, M83, Filter, Rameses. In local music, there’s Air Liner, The Joomi Experience, The Downgoing, Asfandayar Khan, The Eternal Twilight. //orangenoise, Basheer & Pied Pipers, Sikandar ka Mandar, Necktarium.

What are your plans for the future, are you going to play live in Karachi or this is going to be more of a hobby?

We did start off with this just being a hobby, but we’d like it to be more than that. We have different opinions, one of us wants more, another doesn’t care whether people listen or not, but at the same time, we’d like to be playing more. The problem is that Karachi, or Pakistan don’t have space for the kind of music we produce, so we’re probably going to take it international. We’d like to come back, ofcourse, we would, but we have people from France asking us

to mail physical CDs, we have people from Europe asking us to go on tour, so we have a better chance of success than at home. Marketing is a basic reason for why we suffer, music producers are too afraid to promote us because the audience won’t like it and the audience is only listening to what’s being promoted, and nothing else.

Your newest album, “In The Land Of Dreams” is your newest venture. What can you tell us about this album?

Most of our albums have vague psychological concepts behind them. In this album, our concept is that we have these dreams, and they’re vaguely hazy and pleasant, you’re in bed with comforting blankets around you, and you don’t want to get out and face reality so our songs serve as those hazy blankets you can temporarily lose yourself in. The first track has a dialogue from the movie, “A Doll’s House” which is feminist in nature although that wasn’t our intention. Mellow Creativity is named after our manager’s blog. Nomad Flute is more of a folksy song based on a Chinese tale. When Man Sits Down In Dust is based on this beautiful Pashto poem. There’s no message in it, we just want people to get lost in the music, to just dig down really deep into all the layers of music.

The first track, Frozen In A Doll’s House has a pretty strong feminist theme to it, and the marriage of music and dialogue makes a flawlessly inspiring track. What prompted you to create that track?

Most of the time, we actually create music first, and then we add dialogue to it because we feel it might work. With the Frozen track, we asked our manager, who is a staunch feminist, to find something like that for us - a speech or something and she came up with that track. The music just worked

with the track, so it’s conveying a distinct message, instead of just conveying the angry or frustrated moods of the character, although, we didn’t really aim for it to be a feminist track. That’s the thing about this country, we didn’t ask for a debate on religion, or politics, or war, it just happens; it’s like talking about the weather. If you’re in Karachi, dinner conversation consists of how many people have been killed that day; it has become a part of life.

What have your biggest learning experiences been with 6LA8?

When we were with our third member and were Aus Rine, we had this concept perfectly planned out, and we knew what we were going to do. But with 6LA8, we just go on instinct, and we’re making things up as we go along, innova-tion is the key here. Other musi-cians work differently, they ponder over whether there should be a riff here or a solo or a chorus etc. But we’re the complete opposite, we just pick up a guitar and play, and it’s an approach that has compl-etely worked out for us. We’re mostly improving, that would be the best way to describe us, really.

Taimur Sheikh

Omar Asim

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Diecast Model Collectors Club of Pakistan (DMCCP) is a club, which offers a platform to the diecast collectors of Pakistan to promote their hobby of collecting diecast models. DMCCP was formed by three young students with the aim to spread their hobby amongst others, as well to use their hobby in such a way that helps to promote their country's name in a peaceful manner. DMCCP held its first mega show in Karachi at Nixor College on 20th November, 2011 and all the funds generated from the event were then donated to Nixor Hospital. The show was organized by Muhammad Shayan Hemani, the President of DMCCP and a student at Nixor. The main objective of the show was to gather funds for Nixor Hopsital, which was achieved better than expected as around 20,000 PKR were collected and handed over to the Nixor Hospital Management. Approximately 150 diecast model cars were displayed along with a few real cars. The star of the show was a Ferrari 360 Modena, which made a surprise entry for a

couple of minutes at the show. It joined several others cars, which were at the venue through out the show including the Cadillac Escalade, Mini Cooper, Mustang Replica, BMW Isetta and many more. The show received coverage by ARY Musik and interviews of Nixor Hospital representatives were also taken along with the DMCCP management. Students

and their families both got a chance to explore this hobby and see what DMCCP actually is. Several parents took out some of their valuable time to study the models in detail and have a little chat with the DMCCP members. The show was a greater success than expected, and the overall reaction of the crowd proved that the event was truly appreciated!

By: Muhammad Shayan Hemani

Nixor Studios

Nixor Studios

Social Calendar

Charity Show by Diecast ModelCollectors Club of Pakistan

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Karachi – The Musical was a breath of fresh air for the theatre scene in Pakistan. Pakistan’s first very own original musical provided the entertainment-starved Karachiites much needed reprieve. It was staged by “Made for Stage” Productions who previously have other hits such as “Chicago” and “Mamma Mia” to its credit.

The story line of the play is based in Lyari where violence and gang wars reign supreme along with a passion for boxing. Saif, a boxing enthusiast comes to Lyari, seeking training from the best boxing coach in the country, Ghulam Bashir. Saif’s arrival sets the story in motion, as Bashir takes on his first student after nearly two decades, after he had a falling out with the leader of the local mafia, Daud Islam.

Syed Adnan Jaffer and Raza Shah who played Daud Islam and Raza Baloch respectively were outstanding on the stage and Munawar Saeed’s small appearance as Dara Jokhio added star quality to the entire production.

The actors, production, direction all have to be lauded, but the one thing about the play, which truly stood out was its original soundtrack played live during the musical, thanks to an orchestra. The songs from the soundtrack captured the essence of Karachi and added a new spin to the existing music scene.

Director Nida Butt plans on taking the play on a nation-wide tour in 2012 and a chance to watch it should not be missed.

Industry meets Students

Adil Mufti

Adil Mufti

IEEE-PNEC orga-nized the Career Counseling Meet III on 17th November, 2011 in NUST to create awareness between students - what is expected of them when they go to industries and particularly how to get there.

Mr. Shahbaz Islam, DGM HR & OD SSGC was the first one on the speaker’s list. Amidst all the jokes and laughs he cracked at the future engineers, he also addressed some really important issues regarding positive attitude and why it matters for succeeding in one's profession.

The next speaker to come on stage was the representa-tive from PPL, Mr. Bilal Ahmad Khan - he explained the

necessary factors one needs to take care of while appearing in an interview and answered questions about the hiring process of PPL.

Microsoft representatives enlightened the audience on their engineering and technology competitions. In addition, they also explained about Imagine Cup and Biz-Spark, which are entrepreneurship programs and how undergraduates and fresh graduates can be a part of them.

Vision-I was dedicated to teach undergraduate students how to write their C.V and fair well in interviews.

It was another successful event by IEEE-PNEC, which taught students the essential extra skills that they don’t learn in class and are very beneficial when they apply for jobs.

For more details, one can visit: www.ieee.org/pnec

By: Fahaad Humayun

Karachi – The Musical

turnoffsturnoffs

Illustrations by: Nimrah Nadeem and Jovita Alvares

Sourath:I’ve lately gone on a cooking spree, where I’ve started cooking like insane. Really insane. I can cook all day and all night, experimenting with different cuisines and even mixing recipes together to see what comes of it. Trust me; the end result is ALWAYS very good. *happy sigh* So when my boyfriend and I got into this argu-ment about whether or not a woman’s place is in the kitchen, I – being against the whole stereotype, dared him to cook with me. The result, as you can imagine, wasn’t very pretty. I spent the next five hours scream-ing myself hoarse to rival vocals like that of Hitler’s; and he spent the time on his knees cleaning up the mess. Needless to say, we’re definitely going to think twice before either of us gets into THAT argument again!

Delaware:It has been two years since my husband left me for another woman; but I have still not been able to get over him. We have small family gatherings with the children coming home over the weekend, and he and his wife staying over for the day. Awkward is not the word I’m looking for. Well, it wasn’t, until the time I slammed the ceramic dish on Alina’s head and shrieked myself hoarse, as she tried to defend herself. What? Don’t look at me like that! The woman had dared to laughingly talk about my…um… single situation – and I simply took exception to her calling me his ‘old’ wife. Needless to say, that’s not going to happen again! The kids are finally free and so am I (free of my husband, I mean; not a lifetime of embar-rassing memories, no).

Jawad:I hate women who act all feminist; I mean, sure, we respect your right to liberty, but seriously, stop acting like you’re men, you know? So when my girlfriend and I got into an argument about ‘women rights’, I dared her to live my life for a day. The next morning, she went in my place to work and I stayed at home. I got fired that day – and she got hired. Permanently. I am never talking to anybody about rights again! Ever again.

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Usman:Cooking is something that comes naturally to me; unlike most men, who prefer to show their macho-ness by acting like they know everything there is to know about what’s under the hood of a car. Well, I’m skilled in other areas; if you know what I mean. So when my best friend called me over for a guy’s night out at his place, I geared myself up for some manly jesting about my cooking skills. Little did I know that they’d set up the place for a barbeque – feeling confident about yourself is one thing. Acting like the cook/waiter/cleaner is a different story. I have never boasted about my skills as a food expert after that; not even to a woman.

Arsalan:I’m a ladies man. I always have been. So when my girlfriend complained to me about the number of women who smile at me whenever we go out, I cockily told her to take it all in and just bask in the attention. She simply smiled and kept quiet. The week after that, we started running into all her old exes – every last one of them. When I fumed about it, she just smiled and said: “oh, take it all in! Be happy, you’re with me and not one of them.” That shut me up – how can one respond to one’s own line, after all? When I was practically red in the face after a long chat with one of her ‘old friends from school’ who couldn’t stop talking about what a great time they’d had, she gave me a gorgeous smile and said: “I tracked down all my old friends just to make you jealous. How does it feel darling; aren’t you basking in the attention now?”

I have never known how to respond to a woman, who has gone over the edge with anger, which is the case for most women. And that day was no different.

Rani:I had overslept after a night out, and was running late for work – AGAIN! The heels on my feet didn’t match the flowing colors on my skirt, but that didn’t matter at the moment, for I was late for an important meeting. As I dashed up the stairs, one hand grasping my briefcase while the other fumbling with the keys to my office, I heard the bell ring and the elevator doors pushed open. And I grabbed my chance. A burst of full speed and off I was, racing towards the one thing that could protect me from a scold – straight into the arms of my boss, as he was stepping out of the elevator, with his arms ladled with files. So much for being on time! I was out of words to explain the debacle; and the next day I was out of a job.

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Aries:

Kuch bakko ge bhi ya balloon ke tarhan moun phulaye bethe raho ge? I don’t mind you sitting like that, but I’m sure someone out there does and they’ll come koi needle/pin/tinka haath

mein le kar balloon phorney aye ga. Bolne ka faida tumhe hi hoga, as it could turn

you into the poster boy of naukri.com.

Taurus: Jab Gulf ke pathan se cold cream

khareed sakte ho, tou Body Shop ja kar k3wl abne ka bohot shouq hai? Money doesn’t grow on the sookhi hui jhaari outside your window even if you keep wishing for it to. Aqalmandi karo aur paise bachao; I see some hospital bills in , the stars (..get well soon)

Gemini: Haye haye, nazar na lage! Wo saara ‘positive energy practically radiating from your behind and making everyone as happy as a kitten with ribbons’ scene hai tumhare saath. Iss mahine bas dance shance karo, aur chocolate baanto. Agar ghalti se khayal bhi aaye to save the chocolate for yourself, don’t do it. Paitmein dard hoga.

Sagittarius: OMG, it’s a bird! No, a plane! Oh wait..that’s your ego hawaon mein urti hui and kaafi logon se crash karti hui. Keep it in control, plx. Aisa constipated look shakal par tab tak rahe ga till the time you finally (and prudently) decide to make peace with poori family and dost, and saare colleagues also.

Pisces:

Jao kone mein deewar ki taraf moun kar ke khare ho jao. Arrey, don’t be so shocked, it’s for your own bhalai. Staying alone is the best thing for you to do right now, kyunke doosron ke saath reh ke brain functioning will be minus zero. For now, ussi deewar par scribbling karo aur khush raho.

Cancer: Mein jaanta hoon tumhara dance foran nikal jata hai even when you hear somebody’s bakwas pianofied ringtone version of Chammak Challo, magar apna pelvic thrust save kar ke rakho for now. Saving ke topic par, pasie bhi bachao. Both your energy and money can be used for something better (read: mujhe complimentary member-ship dilwana in your naya chamkeela dance studio) Leo: Shaanti chahiye? Dimagh ko thanda karne ki liye, Fresh Up ka injection dalwane se behtar hai ke Facebook par se utho aur apne ghar walon se ja kar baat karo. Money, career, love – akele beth kar sochne ka faida nahi hai ‘cuz brain aur bhi zyada shrink ho jaye ga. Talk it out with someone reliable.

Virgo: Okay baibai, next month jab biznis trip se wapas aao ge tou aur gappay lagaen ge. Note how I mentioned BIZNIS (yes yes, business) trip which means biwi ke liye naya bag/boyfriend ke liye sale se shirt/apne liye mehengi wali chocolate lena is not what you should be doing.

Libra:

Spiderman wali coloring book ya Chaiyya chaiyya gane wali doll – choose one. Focus your powerz on art and music so that tumhara bheja belly dance karne ki koshish na kare. Along with that, this mahina you should spend more time with family than friends, kyunke har eik friend itna bhi zaroori nahi hota hai.

Scorpio: Bara aya Nancy Drew ki olaad. LOL JK, you can spend as much time as you want reading jasoosi kahanian or doing research on…whatever the jahanum you want. Mehnat karne ka zyada shouq ho tou do all sorts of community service e.g. give neighbors ki billi leftover chicken ki haddis, warn people against watching movies like Bridesmaids/ Hangover 2 etc.

Capricorn:

Bakra Eid guzar gayi, ab ‘mein mein’ karna bund kar. Everything isn’t about you. It’s time ke apna moun kholo, not to stuff it with 80% Oil/20% Nihari (which, btw, is bad for your sehat, jahil insaan), but to solve all the masley jo tumhe..taqreeban har kisi se hain at this point. Don’t grow up; tumhari bachkana harkaton ke bare mein likhna is fun, lolx.

Aquarius:

Tameez hai? Nahi bhi hai tou chalta hai. Do something adventurous with rishtedaar, mian/biwi/bache. Paagalon, jaahilon aur bewaqoofon wali harkaten karna is allowed for you this month. Yes, even calling up random jawaan bacha or bachi to fraandship wid yew.

predicts your qismet for December, 2011