KiranNausheen-ismsMonday, August 29, 2005

Kiran: See? I TOLD YOU! All cars drive the wrong way in Karachi.. look at all those cars coming towards us
Nausheen: THAT'S BECAUSE WE'RE ON THE WRONG ROAD STUPID!!!


ps. sorry for the disappearance, will get back soon. Sheenie's in Khi so been v. v. busy.

InfidelityFriday, August 19, 2005

Only just.Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Satisfaction.Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Isn't it the most fulfilling thing when you leave home early in the morning thinking there is something you have to take care of that day and by the time you come back home your mission's not only completed but completed very successfully over the course of half an hour?

Oh, happy happy joy joy.
New hot gossip.

Happy Anniversary

It seems just like yesterday when Bajjoe and Arafaat were getting married. They've both become my pseudo parents and I can't believe that it's been a year. Masha`Allah.



Happy one year anniversary to the most beautiful, happy, janu, adorable, lovable and in love couple I have ever known. I love you both more than ANY one else in the whole wide world..

Thanks Bajjoe, for being the best sister in the world..
And thanks Arfi, for coming into her life and being the best brother in law in the world :)

Happy independence day.Monday, August 15, 2005

I'm one of those staunchly patriotic people who wince at the slightest anti-Pakistan comment. Sure, I realize it's not the best country in the world but what more than the fact that it belongs to me? It's like my family.. if anyone trashed my family, I wouldn't want to see them again.. so why should it be any different from my country? My family's given me an identity.. my country gives me an identity, albeit not an entriely awesome one. Oh sure, I always get involved in those Karachi vs. Lahore arguments but at the end of the day I love both cities.. cuz they're both mine :)

These thoughts were provoked when I read Bajjoe's blog and saw how anti-Pakistan she really is. I never really knew that but I respect her for being who she is and I respect her opinions. It astonished me how two people coming from the same family can have such different points of view but I guess it all comes from having different experiences and leading different lives and meeting different people.

It's so strange, she's not the first Pakistani I've come across who's hated Pakistan. Most of the people I meet everyday think that Pakistan is the most sucky place and they can't wait to get out of here. People say, what's the point of Pakistan? Oh wait, I think you're forgetting the condition Muslims were in before Pakistan came into being. Maybe most people haven't studied Pakistan Studies properly. Things might have been slightly better for Hindus but certainly not
Muslims. Muslims were opressed. Muslims were not allowed good jobs or education unless they really, really fought for it OR unless they came from an awesomely rich and well established backgrounds like Quaid-e-Azam did. If Pakistan hadn't been made, we probably wouldn't even be where we are.. I doubt I'd be.

If we were still in the colonised subcontinent, chances are Muslims would still not be getting most of their rights. Chances are, I wouldn't be studying in the best business school in the country. Even if I had been able to secure a place there... chances are, my parents would not be able to earn enough to put me through school and even if I applied for a scholarship.. I doubt there'd be easy scholarships for Muslims in the sub-continent.

Sure, Pakistan's not the most awesome country on the face of this earth. Sure, quite a few years ago it was the most corrupt country in the whole world but wait, let's compare ourselves with, say, USA? I mean, what better example of a successful county than USA? Where was America after 58 years of independence? The 1830's in America, was not a very good place to be. What with all the slavery issues and the Indians being against the government and basically tearing
the nation down and killing people.. and look where we are.

This country has known some bad leaders.. But we certainly have a good one now. Pakistan is slowly standing up on its feet and has done much more than you would expect a regular country to do after only 58 years of independence. I was watching television aaj and was pleasantly surprised by the fact that education alongwith books is now free to children in Pakistan. By 2007, every village will have access to electricity, gas and clean water. And you still think it's a bad country? Pakistan has come a long, long way. Just look at the advertisements on television, just look at the quality of our dramas or our models. Students from Pakistan top O and A levels examinations almost every year.. they get the highest marks in the world in some subjects. Isn't that something to be proud of? How about all the kids who get into MIT every year or Yale, haven't they been educated in Pakistan? Would they have had the opportunity to receive such
good education had they been colonized and had their rights supressed?

People like Quaid-e-Azam took the initiative to free us from opression and give us a country we can call our own where we all would have opportunities to grow. There are still people like those in the country, who're willing to stick around and make a difference. But sadly, there are so many more people who cannot handle the difficulties and just flee from the country at the earliest chance they get.

You wouldn't desert your family just because they are poor would you? So why desert your country? It's not an issue of what has my country given me keh I should give something to it. The country's given you your identity. Would you desert your parents jsut because they cannot give you food and say, they don't do anything for me, why should I stick around.. why should I help them? Ofcourse, it's always easier to bail out. But it takes stronger people to stay and make a difference. Where would we have been if Quaid-e-Azam had taken the easy way out and stayed in England and pursued his law career and in the course married a beautiful woman and had had kids? His life would definitely have been much better but what about the difference he made in all of our lives?

Seriously, imagine, if all those people who flee from the country at the earliest opportunity available took the initiative to stay and put their efforts in Pakistan's GDP instead of America's or UK's, wouldn't Pakistan reach the inevitable prosperity sooner? Think about it.

Memories of a better timeSunday, August 14, 2005

Of murree, of daisies, of happiness and of lost love.
I miss you so much it breaks my heart.

Coco's

Me and Sheen sheen at Coco's.. I miss Lahore.
And I miss sheenie :) sigh.

so tell meSaturday, August 13, 2005

How do you learn to

let go and move on?

Happyhappy JoyjoyThursday, August 11, 2005

We had our school reunion today. It was happyhappy joyjoy. I had an awesome time. I've never been to a supposed reunion before and it was just a weird experience. It was at Millenium Mall in Pizza Next.



All the batches were there. Only, I think there wasn't anyone from Bajjoe's batch, her junio batch and the 2002 batch. Otherwise there were so many people. People who'I hadnt ever talked to in school but knew by face.

The most people were there from our class. Me, Hira, Sabrina, Zahra, Usama, Moiz, Sajjad, Shajie, Asad, Shahid, Shoaib, Kami... I vaguely remembered Zahra Baquar, she'd left school in 5th grade. I did not know Moiz and Sajjad at all cuz they left in 4th grade and were in the oher section. But it was fun meeting up and catching up with each others' lives.

After school, we all kind of fell apart.. I was never particularly friendly with everyone so I just kind of lost touch with everyone. With the exception of Kami and Shoaib, I was meeting all of them after 4 years. And boy, have we all come a long, long way or what.

Hira's working in Unilever in the call center while doing her B.Com. She's even appeared in ads and get paids lots and lots and lots. She's changed quite some.. she's gotten her hair straightened out and finally her Kajol lookalik eyebrows are all cleaned up. She looked quite different nd yet not different in so many more ways. We were best friends since 3rd grade but had a fall out in ninth but it's like we picked up right where we left off. All the old gossip, all the old giggling.

Sabrina hasn't changed much... gotten prettier, if possible. She's still the same ol'cute giggly, funny, concerned, obsessed with calling people darling and boy-crazy kind of girl. She was such a jan today and I hope we keep in touch from now on. Her li'l sis Maliha used to be this teeny weeny tadpole when we used to hang out.. she was in 6th gade or something and now she's all grown up and done with school and everything.

Shahid changed a lot. I neve really talked to him in school cuz he was one of those loser guys, or so I thought. He's turned into this total punk wannabe.. was wearing a 50 cent tee and what not. He's turned into a pure burger bacha being in AMI and I really had fun talking to him. He's doing his BBA from AMI.

Shajie's doing his BBA from KASBIT, Shoaib and Sadaf their BE from SSUET and Kami his textile thingie from Indus.

Sara, Meenara, Haleema, Hareem, Sana have all gotten married. Hareem, I've heard, is even expecting now :/

And Usama, I'd been saving Usama for the last. Usama went to Delhi College after matric and then he joined the Navy. From what I remembered of Usama, he was this pakka MummyDaddy boy, this totally pappu bacha an very very gay. You know, totally like girls, with a voice that wasn'developed.. trying very hard to be a man :p And now, I saw him.. I didn't recognize him at fist. He had that crew cut thingie, he's grown so much taller and broader. But it wasn't his appearance that was shocking, it was the whole of him. I guess I've never really known anyone before and after having gone to the forces but boy, does it make a difference or what. He's totally grown up and more of a man than I've seen any oher guy our age. And then when we were walking to Indulge from Pizza Next, me and Hira and Sabrina were looking at him walk.. there was not a slouch to b noticed, perfect posture. I've never thought it humanly posible before :/ And ltr on when we were walking together, our steps matched (he pointed that out). They are so used to marching in Navy that now he can't walk with anyone if he doesn't match their step (my ight foot forward, his too. My left, his left) Matching my stride..

It was so much fun. Recalling weird incidents from school. the times we almost got suspended. The stupid pranks we used to pull. Gossip about people who couldn't make it. And just generally catching up with each others' lives.

It was an awesome experience. I hope the reunion thing continues :)

Charlie and the Chocolate FactoryTuesday, August 09, 2005

I just finished watching Willy Wonka and there are so many things I want to write about. I guess if you're attached to a certain book, and you have an overactive imagination.. the movie comes as quite a disappointment. I watched the older Willy Wonka movie when I was in 4th grade and I loved it. But all the Harry Potter movies were terrible, I used to have such different images of every character in my head but since the movies have come out I picture the movie characters whenever I'm reading the book, it's really frustrating.

I'm very possessive about Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. It's been my friend all the time I was growing up. I used to go to sleep pretending my pillows were made of marshmallows like Willy Wonka makes them and I used to wish I had an everlasting Gobstopper, and that meadow with sugary edible blades of grass and buttercups used to keep me going. Whenever I was low, I would read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and forget everything else and get lost in the magical world of wonderful imaginative candy.

The movie was sort of an anti-climax.

The one thing that really disappointed me about the movie was that they’ve unsuccessfully tried to make it into a modern day thing. I think they would have been better off they had stuck to the original book concept. Maybe I was expecting too much out of it. I was thinking ke aajkal ki graphics and stuff is so advanced, it would have awesome sets and go beyond my expectations. That it would be awesomely graphical and stuff. All with Johnny Depp being Willy Wonka and what not.

First and foremost criticism, the movie should've started out like the book. This is Charlie Bucket. This is Mr. and Mrs. Bucket. This is Grandma and Grandpa Joe/Josephine & George/Georgina. It would've been a much more fascinating starting of the movie and would've brought back memories of the book.

Coming to the actual family.

The dad character was okay but I didn't like Charlie Bucket. It just didn't look like Charlie, he looked way to happy and full to be Charlie. Charlie is supposed to have a sunken, malnourished, skinny look.. this little kid certainly didn't. The dad was okay and I really loved the mom. Charlie's mom was a nobody character not mentioned in the book at all but the movie made her an actual character and did a lot of justice to it. The mom went totally perfectly, good casting :) I also loved Grandma Georgina with her slightly twisted habits but Grandpa Joe came as a BIG disappointment. Grandpa Joe was supposed to be a more cheery character, this Grandpa Joe just didn't go with the Grandpa Joe of the book :/ And in the movie, it says that Grandpa Joe used to work for Willy Wonka which is just a stupid thing to add and there’s no sense in it whatsoever.

Now for the other four golden ticket winners.

Firstly, I had no idea Augustus Gloop was not American but the foreign (German?) thing gave the character a lot more to go on with and his accent was so incredibly cute. I think Augustus Gloop was perfect casting, mota guploo :)

Then, Veruca Salt. Okay, I didn't really like the way they took this character. Veruca Salt was supposed to be more prepped up, she should've had her hair in one those littlebobeep curl thingies and she should've been made to wear really frilly pinky daddy's darling daughter clothes and preferably a lot of fur. She looked snotty but not snotty enough. I, however, loved the scene where Veruca and Violet are like "Oooh, let's be friends! Best friends!" and then look away and give each other dirty looks :p

Speaking of Violet Beauregard, she was okay. I don't have much to say about her character cuz she never really appealed to me in the book even. However, her mother was made out to be ultra bitchy in the movie and I think that bitchiness should’ve been downplayed and transferred to Violet's character instead.

Lastly, Mike Teavee. HAH, I LOVED THIS CHARACTER. I saw his face and I just KNEW it had to be Mike. I mean, this is one character that has been chosen perfectly. Mike Teavee was made to be played by that kid. However, when the press goes to interview him, he shouldn’t have been playing counterstrike (was it?) he should just have been watching some really violent TV show like in the book.

Now let’s talk about the factory itself.

When the gates open and the five kids with their guardians walk in, that puppet and fire thing was totally unnecessary. Also, the visitors should’ve been alarmed to see Willy Wonka and be in awe of him.. not look down upon him. Willy Wonka (in the book) is not the sort of person who’d really let such things bother him but in the movie they made it as if he was intimidated by their dirty looks at him. I did NOT like it.

And then stepping inside the factory, I had high hopes for the meadow and the waterfall thingie however it seemed as if they had copied the entire scene from the old movie. Infact, as far as I recall, the old movie had a better meadow. I didn’t like the waterfall in the old movie, it just looked like brown water and was expecting it to be creamy and thick in this movie but was disappointed again.

Then, the boiled candy ship! I used to love that part, I used to dream about that part. They totally destroyed it. First of all, as the book said, it was just a hollowed out normal pink boiled sweet. Why did they have to pull a Viking kinda thing and turn it into something very sea horsey looking? It was supposed to be ROUND! And curvy L Also, the ship wasn’t supposed to be fuchsia pink, it should’ve been baby pink… You think of pink boiled sweet, you think baby pink.

Don’t even get me started on the Oompa Loompas. Why the fuck did they make one guy all Oompa Loompas? Why couldn’t there have been different people? All Oompa Loompas definitely do NOT look alike. Also, what were they wearing? They aren’t supposed to be wearing clothes. They’re supposed to live in the factory like they lived in the jungle, wearing leaves and animal skin! Also, the Oompa Loompa songs came as such a disappointment. They turned the whole thing into an Indian movie! Yar, it’s an improv song. What’s with all those stupid co-ordinated dances? I hated the songs. And whatever happened to the good ol’ Oompa Loompa doompa dee dupe song?! I’d been looking forward to that!

Another thing that annoyed me about the movie was that Willy Wonka seemed constantly intimidated by Veruca Salt’s dad I think cuz they were trying to show he reminded him of his own dad. Another thing, I hated that whole Willy Wonka’s past thing. What’s the point? Willy Wonka is not upposed to be an emotional character in the book! He’s supposed to be the center of all creativity and happiness and hope and chocolate and imagination! They soilt the whole actual Willy Wonka character by making us realize he’s an actual person with an actual past and not a very good past at that.

The movie excluded one thing that should’ve been there. It’s when Willy Wonka tells Charlie WHY he wanted a kid to run the factory and not some adult. How could they miss that out? And the whole supposed dramatic gesture of Charlie having to leave his family to join Willy Wonka and the way Charlie says no. You don’t expect to see that expression on a kid that young. It just didn’t look right. The whole psychotherapy thing and the dad thing and then the finally realizing how important family is thing was very unnecessary and it pissed me off. How can you play around with a classic like that? HOW DARE YOU?

There were, however, a few good things about the movie. For instance there was that scene of Veruca’s dad’s peanut shelling business, I liked the way those women were lined up and it was exactly like my imagination. The Augustus Gloop pipe incident was also amazing as was the Veruca Salt squirrel scene.

All in all, on a scale of one to ten, I’d give it 5.75.

Fish.Thursday, August 04, 2005

We had the first class of Company Law today, we didn't get much into company law itself however and ended up talking about everything and anything related to law. What makes up the law, what are the sources of law, how culture affects the law and how civil law is different from criminal law.

Nausheen's voice kept popping into my head at random intervals throughout the class, about how she told me she thinks the system is flawed, how the system seeks justice and not the truth. Everything she'd said had made such a lot of sense. I wanted to present that argument but then figured I won't be able to handle the argument as nicely as Nausheen had done and I'd end up cntradicting myself somehow. And also, the fact that most of the teachers AND students at IBA have the mental level of a fish, so I highly doubt my case (or Nausheen's, for that matter) would've had a chance at fair criticism.

Something random from class:

Omer: Ma'am, what's the difference between a congress and parliament?
Ma'am: *slightly starlted and confused, thinks for a moment and then finally* Umm, you will not need to know that for this course.
Omer: But ma'am, I've always wanted to know.
Ma'am: *flustered* A bunch of owls is called a parliament. Okay class, let's move on...

Heh, the things teachers do. I mean if you're confused why don't you just admit you are! Why can't you just say I don't know, or I'm not sure, or I'll check up on it and let you know in the next class?! A pack of owls, seriously..

and how does it feel when some lyrics tell the story of your life?

Piglet!Wednesday, August 03, 2005

Beauty

Another random Dumbledore factMonday, August 01, 2005

Ys, I know this obsession with Harry Potter might start to get very annoying for most people but gah, its fun penning down theories and it'll be fun to go over them once I've actually read the seventh book, which will probably come in a couple of years' time.

Anyway, J. K. Rowling used to say that there are gonna be 7 Harry Potter books because Harry will coplete his 7 years at Hogwarts. However, at the end of the sixth book, he's planned to leave Hogwarts, it made me think maybe Rowling has changed the initial idea of the book. But then, I discussed it with Amena and Jo and we came up with the conclusion that Harry will return to Hogwarts if the school reopens with Dumbledore as headmaster.

Therefore, Dumbledore WILL come back and will be headmaster and Harry will complete his 7 years at Hogwarts as initially said.

Dumbledore is Voldemort!

Haha, that's the funniest thing I've read yet. Someone's stupid theory that Dumbledore is Voldemort himself from the future or something. Makes it sound like Terminator of the sorts. roflmao-ing. Can't stop.

Harry: A Horcrux?

Yes, I read this theory somewhere or the other on those random Harry Potter rumours websites but this one actually makes a lot of sense than several stupider ones such as Percy or Arthur Weasley becoming the Minister of Magic. The latter would certainly be a surprise. Anyway, before I proceed with the Harry being a horcrux theory you might want to do this:

1. Go to http://www.jkrowling.com which is J. K. Rowling's official website.
2. When the flash window opens up, click on the paperclips which links to F.A.Q.'s
3. Click on the letter addressed "About the book"
4. Skip to page 3 of th FAQs and scroll down to the fourth question which is hid under the Dark Mark.

This is what you'll find:

Q: The prophecy Harry hears in Dumbledore's office suggests to me that both he and Voldemort will have to die, is that true?

A: Both Madam Trelawney and I worded the prophecy extremely carefully and that is all I have to say on the subject!

Basically, Rowling has very cleverly decided not to answer the question which makes you wodner whether the answer to the question is yes. If it had been no, she would've said a blunt no as she has said to all the speculations that have been untrue.

When Voldemort tried to kill Harry, a part of Voldemort's soul got transferred into Harry which is how Harry could sense Voldemort's feelings and this is also how he could be a Parselmouth. As we all know, Voldemort created six horcruxes, the seventh part of his soul being within him.

The locations were:

The Gaunt Ring (DESTROYED)
Riddle's Diary (DESTROYED)
Nagini, the snake
Slytherin's Locket, stolen by R.A.B
Helga Hufflepuff's Cup
An item of Rowena Ravenclaw's or an item of Godric Gryffindor's.

The first five seem perfectly legitimate, but the last two possibilities have been the matter of heated debate. Since the beginning, Rowena Ravenclaw has been described as wise and shrewd, suggesting she wouldn't allow an object of hers to be used for such evil. Furthermore, Godric Gryffindor's sword and the Sorting Hat currently reside in Dumbledore's Office and since he told Harry only a Gryffindor could pull the sword out the hat, it seems unlikely Voldemort would be able to use it.

Quoted from http://neilgaimanboard.com/eve/ubb.x/a/tpc/f/963601826/m/89010954621/p/27

So it all comes down to the fact that there is one horcrux unaccounted for and it's certainly possible that it could be Harry and though some people argue that a horcrux can not be a living thing then what about Nagini, the snake?

Also, this is in line with what Rowling tried to cover up in her answer because if Harry is the horcux it means that he will have to destroy all other horcruxes before he faces Voldemort and then kill himself and Voldemort at the same time. So yeah, Harry will probably end up dying in the end.

I'm pretty sure this is what is going to happen. Suddenly not all too anxious about the next book. It's gonna take forever anyway. Can't wait to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory though, is it out in good print yet?

PS: Afterthought, I might be wrong. Why would Voldeort have wanted to make Harry a horcrux intentionally? The only way Harry is a horcrux is that he accidentally became so when James and Lily Potter died. And it's doubtful that someone can accidentally become a horcrux. Also, why would Voldemort himself have wante to destroy the horcrux (i.e. Harry) Yes, I know, becomes quite confusing after a while.

Losers