There goes the nirvana

The bike breaks down in the mid way with mercury kissing 48 °C; I have to drag it to a repair shop hardly half a kilometer away and the rest of the day I am looking around for someone to acknowledge the mega task I have achieved…

Its lunch time and the greasy baingans don’t show much prospect. I don’t have to think twice before I ring up the pizza guy. Well, at least I have to reward my self for the Herculean task earlier that day.

As a matter of fact as I pass through my life, I hardly think about these things for which people have to adjust their budgets for the whole month and still I am capable enough to be critical about the softness of the pizza’s crust. From buying clothes to dining out in a fancy café, it is never a major point of consideration. The ease with which life is being lead is a blessing beyond all measures. Still, I somehow find time to complaint about issues which are worthless when compared to all of these perks.

These sudden realizations make you feel blessed; sitting under the sacred fig you feel tantalizingly close to unveiling the mother of all veils but then you bite at the slice of pizza and to aid its movement you sip the chilled and bubbly coke and with it goes the nirvana.

Infectious Laughter

I just had to post this video. It has never failed to cheer me up and it just might bring a smile on your face as well…

Decoding or Creating Mess?

It was perhaps Marina Khan, who once said on a cooking show that when we are in school we crave to enter the university where we would have unlimited freedom and once in university we pray to enter the practical life and for the studies to finally end. Unfortunately when we face the pressures of that life we wish to go back to school again.

True, although in my case I want to take an about turn before I have tasted the practical side of life. Life has been good in theory. Internships have been more than enough glimpse into that world. Either I have made a major boo-boo in selecting finance over marketing or it’s just this darn boring internship I am doing.

Either the case, basking under the school memories is soothing, when the biggest worry was that instead of one; two exercises were given for homework. Moreover, 90s were less complex. I don’t blame our elders for remembering their simple yet less complex 60s and 70s.

Between the incessant vibration and ring tones of this age peace and calmness have lost their way. In our effort to decode life, we have created a huge mess and I don’t think we remember which piece is going to go in first.

A will for all seasons

Hazrat Sheikh Khutli's (R.A) will to Hazrat Ali Hajveri (R.A) ...

For the past few weeks I have involuntarily kept repeating these lines to myself. People have cried defeatism and whole lot of other things. The initial fear being becoming less ambitious but these words don't really have to hold you down as you kick start rather they can also sooth you once you have crossed the finish line. Not necessarily if you are the last one to cross the line but even if you are the first, this piece of advice can be helpful. Ramifications and interpretations of this will can be endless and profound.

Cry what they may, life does become less complicated.

The Portrait of Myself

‘Only once I have been made quiet and it was when somebody asked me, who are you?’

This statement can be interpreted in equally plausible ways but from personal experience it is like someone holding a mirror in front of me. Like the picture of Dorian Gray it shows all the vileness inside me, the hollowness of my own soul…the fake fat life form.

The moment you think about criticizing someone or even raise an eyebrow, that ugly reflection sneers back at you. Dispersing the illusion of your worth and slaughtering the chimera of being separate from the rest of the world.

Head bursts & Heart breaks

I don't know which one is worst. Is it when the head bursts with anger or is it when the heart breaks with pain?

All men are the same

P: Imagine you get married and the whole thing is arranged. You people gradually develop a bond and after one happy year together she tells you about her past; would you fuss about it or forget about the whole matter considering the year spent together?

Q: Well first of all, it is not wise to tell and even the religion allows you that much concession. The reason being that man is by nature suspicious and you don't want to plant that seed of doubt in him. It will just mess up the whole flourishing chemistry. I don't know about the future but one is supposed to forget and forgive and not find excuses to suspect the other later on in life. Why?

P: Nothing, just making sure that all men are the same!

Last Chance Harvey

Perhaps it was the state of mind I was in which made me feel that it is the most beautiful movie I have ever seen. I think I wouldn't have rated it so high if I had watched it during run-of-the-mill days but it was certainly beautiful (Yes, I am saying it again).

With Emma Thompson and Dustin Hoffman you can't complain of acting. It was remarkable. The script was sharp and humorous and it all added up to a memorable experience.

It also had one of those scenes which I simply adore; chance encounters of two complete strangers…Sitting in a café, one is reading a crappy novel; the other had a shitty day and their lives suck big time. The chat which follows is witty and intelligent. The words are well weighed and meaningful; straight from the heart and the smiles are genuine and carefree. Small details are enhanced and world around those two individuals is shut out with all its ugliness. Do things like that happen in real life?

Easy way is the attractive way

At the end of the first day of the 4-day stint we were doing at the National Marketing Services, we were really exhausted. Although there was no field work required and all we had to do was to sit and call a couple of hundred people, still, at the end of the activity we were drained. As soon as we hopped into the car, Harry said, “Aaj pata chala, insaan haraam kamaee k peechai kyun jaata hai” (Today I finally know why man resorts to illegal means to acquire money).

We didn’t opt for this activity for the sake of monetary gain but one gets the idea that how much hard work is required to earn money the right way.

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This job was different from the usual call-center work as we didn’t have to sell anything rather we were calling parents, informing them about the time and venue of the auditions for the Leisure Club Kids Fashion Show. The replies and reactions were amusing. Where some parents reacted as if these were auditions for Pakistan’s next top model; some were apprehensive about what they’re child would be made to go through.

The queries coming were very cute at times. Like this call I received from a 9 year old asking whether he should come in school uniform or colored clothes. Then there was this mother whose daughter wouldn’t stop crying because she had her English exam the next day and the mother asked me whether her daughter’s auditions could be moved to another slot.

Interestingly there was a call from a pretty high-up place to make sure that a particular child gets selected…people won’t stop at anything! I don’t know whether that call was entertained later on but just the fact that people would stoop to such levels is disturbing. It reflects the mechanics of our society, the utter lack of moral fiber.

In life it would take a lot of courage to stand up and say no to such things when we, ourselves would be in the driving seat but I think this is all what matters in the end.

Gardens in bloom

With nothing worthwhile to say, I decided to upload these pictures which I randomly captured except the rainbow which I have borrowed from a friend. Unfortunately by the time I saw it, it was too fade to be captured.

The Petunias are from our garden (I have no contribution in their looking this good whatsoever). Rest of the pictures were taken at the campus and the poster on the top was designed for the spring festival which we organized at the department.