iss-tarting anew

I must be doing something right

2010-04-26T23:40:00.000+04:00

For more than a month now, I have been taking Saif to the park in the late afternoons. He gets the much needed sun and fresh air as well as some company of kids of varying ages, should he deem to play with them. Most of the time, he plays on his own and his ultimate favourite at the park are the ‘shwings’ where he has the most ‘funnnn’. In fact in Saif world, fun can only be had on the swing.

Sweet Dreams

2009-12-07T15:38:00.003+04:00

SZI, aka Tyke turned 20 months, two weeks and two days old yesterday, last night we just bought him his first bed and he fell in love with it instantly. Actually, I suspect he'd been harboring the idea of his own personal space for a long time but I had serious issues about letting my baby go, so to speak. When we went to the shops scouting for cots/cotbeds, he would gleefully lie on the beds,

At one in the morning

2009-07-30T00:59:00.002+04:00

It's well past 1 in the morning and I have: Gritty eyes and locked jaws, I have lived through all of today/yesterday on just two hours of sleep. A pile of dirty dishes waiting to be washed in the kitchen sink. The kitchen in a state of mess, all visible surfaces covered with stuff to be cleared away Groceries to be put away Two of my son’s feeding bottles and his sippy cup to be washed and

Alhamdulillah

2009-04-02T12:57:00.000+04:00

Towards the end of 2004, when I was still in AE, FKhala and Khalo went for Umrah and stopped over for visiting me in Dubai on return. Next year they went for another Umrah, but this time with all four of their kids. Next PJ, CJ and CJee went on the pilgrimage with their four kids. And finally Nanajan, Nanijan and N & N khalas went for Umrah too. I was still gloriously and contentedly single at

Completing one year in Tykesville - I

2009-03-20T00:12:00.004+04:00

My living room is an obstacle course. Everything that can be reached on tip-toes has to be brought down to add to his collection as he toddles around. Welcome to Tykesville, the little darling is asleep now and how! I had to walk him to sleep, then rock him a bit, just as I bent on the bed to put him down, he sensed abandonment and started crying. Then another round of walking, rocking and

Situational Comedy: Fodder for Fight

2009-01-31T23:57:00.004+04:00

Z has a knack for saying and doing just the very things that tick me off, of course it helps that my moods are highly volatile and of late I find myself instantaneously combustible (all credit to Z again).Situation 1: I'm frenetically packing for our weekend trip to RAK while Z lounges with the laptop. This, in Z's books is giving me space!Z: Keep a nail cutter and file in the bag.Me: Why? Didn’

When I Am Me

2008-12-24T23:17:00.002+04:00

I just realised that my last update was SIX months ago! And just now, signing in on blogger I'd forgotten my username and password. Says it all.I'm alive and doing well, as well as the mother of a teething Tyke should be doing, for those 0.00001 occasional reader(s) who still harbor hopes of some new material on this blog...The thing is, my life has become so mundane and mommy-like that blog as I

Once upon a time...

2008-06-19T04:47:00.002+04:00

Yaad e maazi azab hai ya rab,Chheen le mujh se hafza meraThree in the morning is an abysmally dejecting time, the wisest course of action, if you happen to wake at this unfortunate hour, is to turn on your side and go right back to slumber land. Not tonight. As I woke up at three to feed the Tyke I could not go back to sleep, partly because my back was shooting painful needles of discomfort up

Month two into mommy hood

2008-05-22T12:46:00.001+04:00

All baby books, guides and sites suggest that babies at two months tire easily, two hours is the maximum they stay awake, then they have to replenish their energy supplies and take a nap. The Tyke, of course can not read at two months and does not realise that he’s tired and should sleep after two hours of fussing/crying/playing, he does not know. So he gets cranky when he’s tired and he cries,

The Tyke Taketh Over

2008-04-18T18:30:00.003+04:00

So this happens when a little bundle takes over your life. The Tyke arrived on 12th Rabi ul Awwal, also 20th March 2008. Ma was here two days before The Arrival, so I had help, all the same I find Mommyhood overwhelming. I panicked into day three into Mommyhood, had loads of other issues that had to be battled and over come. The Tyke would be a month old day after tomorrow and I blog about hime

Why is it when men play they always play at killing each other?

2008-03-16T14:03:00.003+04:00

The world’s gone mad, or perhaps it already was and I’ve started noticing it and worrying about its lunacy more often now. It simply isn’t worth the while to switch on the idiot box and tune into any news channel. One day as I put on Geo, a slide flashed by, announcing of blasts in Lahore. I called up at home, they did not even know of the blasts at the time, but calls were made all around and

tagged!

2008-02-25T12:12:00.002+04:00

A book related tag? These days? Luckily there is enough reading fodder littered round the house for me to get out of this with some respectability vis a vis my reading habits.The closest book I had is 'The World is Flat; a brief history of the twenty first century' by NYTimes staffer Thomas Friedman. I started on the book quite ambitiously but have not yet gotten round to reaching page 123. Let's

The Tyke's New Clothes

2008-02-24T16:38:00.002+04:00

It's strange how you've never paid attention to any baby thing before and now that you're enceinte, you need blinkers every time you go to the mall else you end up at shops selling teeny tiny stuff. Ever since I bought the first two sets of clothing in n/b size December, I can't, simply can't keep myself from being drawn into such shops. First it was Sis and SiL's impending motherhood that had me

Once upon two feet

2008-02-18T14:42:00.009+04:00

I love footwear ... and bags. My excuse for buying more chapals, sandals, mules, slip ons, sling-backs etc. is simple, I may have a blue pair of chapals but they are not the right shade for some of my clothes, or the right type for a particular 'look'. The variety of footwear available is staggering there are casuals, formals and smart casuals...my shoe size and preference in heels (or lack

Good Luck

2008-02-04T13:06:00.000+04:00

Luck is returning home with all your bones aching and cursing you to high heavens for the fatigue you put your body through...with a trunk full of grocery...braving a freezing wind that locks your spine into immobility and all vertebrae-tibio-fibula combinely refusing to bugde an inch to drag your weary self into the building entrance...and finding that only one lift/elevator is working in your

Confessing a Human Tragedy

2008-01-26T17:50:00.000+04:00

Ages ago I had a book of quotes and one struck me then and smacks me in the face now:"Every woman grows up to be like her mother, that's hertragedy; no man does, that's his."As I whiled away this time last year, Ma took it to her to drill into me what marriage meant.Marriage, she said, is hard work, plain and simple; and it's upto the woman to make it work. In societies like ours, the man is

Books NOT Recommended

2008-01-21T18:55:00.000+04:00

I love reading books...actually I love reading, I'll read anything as long as it's in Urdu or English, the two langauges that I claim to be fluent in...and I mean anything, if it's readable, it has to be read. How long I take to read it depends on teh length of the writing, its format and portability (e-treatise have their limitations for instance, they can't be read before dozing off to sleep

Baby Blues

2008-01-19T14:51:00.000+04:00

So Churchill's Black Dog has paid sis a visit. It was due, PN, after all the euphoria of having brought a new life into this world had settled down and she realised that the li'l piece of being had taken over her life...nay, pushed her on the backburner and everyone would henceforth only focus on li'l D. I know I do, whenever I call sis, I'm hoping for a background music of D crying and then I

Brand New Khala

2008-01-10T13:55:00.000+04:00

Sis' baby had to be the world's most eagerly awaited baby. We were to have a babe in the family after a long, long time. We, all of us, are crazy about babies. R, my brother, once actually borrowed a kid from a passer-by and brought it home to show us. All my brothers have at one point or another brought their friend's niece/nephew home to be admired by us all. And God help a guest's child

let the dead bury the dead

2007-12-30T12:53:00.000+04:00

Why I'm Returning To PakistanUpdated pics: BB shot before the blastTelltale images expose fatal security flaws : Benazir’s assassinationA face in the crowd: Benazir Bhutto's assassinDaily life on hold after Benazir’s assassinationAnd out came the wolvesFiring at JPMC: patients face terrorOpportunists rule while city mournsState responsible for situation, say citizensKarachi Chaos and aftermath

May the world rot in hell...

2007-12-29T02:07:00.000+04:00

or perhaps it already is. What started out as a wonderful girl's day out ended on a glued to the TV weekend. It was just a fluke actually, flicking through news channels with Pakistan flashing across all...shoot out at a PML-N rally...then came news of a bomb blast at PPP's rally after BB's address. intial reports said that BB was safe, later changing to her husband's plea for prayers for her

Marriage for Desi Women 101

2007-12-01T12:37:00.000+04:00

Writers are a sensitive breed, they can only write to their whimsies, when they have something to say and the right selection of words to get the message across. They can’t be forced to write to a deadline with a gun to their head…or some marital equivalent of it…like a threat of not going out on the weekend.Journalists, past, present and future, are tougher material, more used to delivering a

update

2007-11-28T15:37:00.000+04:00

attempt 5 at update.real attempts saved offline, to be completed one of these days and posted.

What me worry?

2007-03-02T12:54:00.000+04:00

I got a call today, prospective employer; a prospect I’d never explored. I was still in bed when the phone rang and mom picked it up. She called out my name after a while. I carried my emaciated self to the phone stand to be told by a lady that I’d applied for a position at TPPL for a C. Manager and I’d been short-listed. This was out of the blue. I’ve been gloriously unemployed since December

Oh?

2007-01-31T11:35:00.000+04:00

OK, so Orkut is three years, So how come I have been on Orkut for all of these three years (got onboard in February 2004) am a member of 79 communities and have only 25 odd/even friends on my list? I am on a networking site and painstakingly avoid/spurn fraindship offers.and then there was an Oh! moment two days ago. While sis and ma were crying, I was trying to contain my laugh, so much so that

In Mourning and Labyrinth

2007-01-26T11:30:00.000+04:00

Everyone’s after my life these days. Seems like I have no use and control over anything anymore. Just by saying yes, I denied my old life to myself. Of all things in te world, i actually get accused of NOT taking interest in shopping! I mean me, not interested in shopping? Has hell frozen over? Is the sun setting somewhere in the south? When it agrees to rise that is? I can’t be blamed for my

2006-12-25T12:04:00.000+04:00

What is it with me and passwords/PIN Codes? Now I have to figure out a way to remember them, else remember what convulted piece of logic was my secret answer...and how to decipher the random numbers i'd hurriedly jotted down that hold a clue to my PIN Codes (note the plural, Oh God!)What did i do with my brain again? Oh yes, i'd wished the offending lump be eaten by a skeletal alley cat. Ouch!

Dear God

2006-12-15T16:06:00.000+04:00

Very funny. Seriously.Every time I think it can't possibly get worse than this, You surprise me.Now suppose you make things better for me?

2006-12-01T11:21:00.000+04:00

This morning I found a nail-polish remover in the fridge!Who else but my brother could have thought to place the thing I'd asked him to get for me last night in a place I was most likely to find it in next morning as I opened the fridge to get milk? Of course the remover was ice cold and I could not put it to appropriate use in the morning. But it brought a smile to my grouchy morning. It's past

2006-11-13T09:54:00.000+04:00

I don’t mind marriages, honestly, I don’t; but weddings are absolutely abhorable. Why would two otherwise reasonable and passably decent people want to exhibit themselves is beyond me. If I were to say 'Physician, heal thyself' now, it would only be too true. We have the newly wed couple paying house-call on us, Ma and Pa and two mean bros have conveniently fallen ill to justify the two day

Vile

2006-11-03T19:14:00.000+04:00

When it rains, it pours. It's a particularly vile mess, personally and professionally, that I am in; perhaps I should just leave everything and sleep it off.The best part is, there is no sis for me to talk it out...and from the signs of it, there would be no job either.

2006-10-31T15:41:00.000+04:00

OK.This is something I've read about and watched unravel in movies...troubles and troubles in heaps...but things work out eventually...and teh protagonist comes outs victorious.So. I will not scatter my itsy bitsy brains in what remain of the week. I will be on top of things, manage and live with goof ups, meet deadlines, just make sure things work out all in all.My life is NOT in bits. Not now

Wedding!

2006-10-30T13:19:00.000+04:00

Ok, whoever said Bridezilla is something to be feared hasn't been invited to sis' wedding. At the moment I have to sneak off time from various tasks (read all work) and reply to emails from work. And attend calls, and answer to shouts for my name from all corners of teh house...and manage a couple of unruly kids. The mothers told me to make sure they behave themselves, so I give them a scolding

Eid

2006-10-23T14:16:00.000+04:00

For some strange reason I have worked up a real snit, not the funny one when my only annoyance is that it isn't snitty enough. This time I am in a generally intolerable snapping at everyone mood. And the best thing about it is the timing; Eid holidays. And considering how it's going to be us sisters' last Eid with the family and as a family as known to us all our lives, it's all the more reason

Certainly

2006-10-05T11:33:00.000+04:00

The only thing certain at certain times is that you are full of uncertainty.

What?

2006-09-28T13:43:00.000+04:00

So I have worked up a snit. And it’s actually fun. So much so that it’s more fun than a snit is legally allowed to be. And that makes it a fun activity instead of a snit and then I work up a snit that my snit is not snitty enough. Or fun enough.

I am not a shopoholic

2006-09-14T12:54:00.000+04:00

No seriously, I don’t think I have reached the stage where I shop like a maniac and end up buying things I won’t ever get to wear. I mean how much of me is there anyways? Just two feet and I can carry just one bag at a time. But I’ve had a bag fetish for as long as I can remember. Bags, the bigger, splashier the better. Only recently I’ve learnt how absolutely

Listen to the Fox that lost its tail

2006-09-03T09:25:00.000+04:00

I should have known it would take this path, this new name, iss-tarting anew. Somehow the names this blog sported did actually reflect what was happening in my life quite presciently. So when it was The Soliloquist, it was essentially a monologue, a conversation with myself to start off. And then it was Kvetch-log and lo and behold, there was so much for me to rant and rave about. Then came

2006-06-08T10:48:00.000+04:00

Last time I titled a post Divine Humor, I got told off. That is not to say I ever thought of not putting it up, just that people I care about get offended and that I can't bear, not much anyways.So. this time, no such title, even if the post borders on something ill-advised. What is to be said, this place has already seen me spiral into silence. How fair would that be? That I have a blog and I

A state of general wretchedness

2006-06-06T07:49:00.000+04:00

“How can I deny God, when I am deep in His hell?” – Naguib Mahfouz in Miramar.I don’t feel wretched. Resigned, abandoned, forsaken, couldn’t care a hoot. There's something to be said for such a state. You want to but can't, won't bother to care. Want to but know you can't change anything to rid the pain, the suffering that wretchedness. You could set my head on fire

being me

2006-05-22T11:48:00.000+04:00

*deep breath*Every once in a while I get this irresistible itch to light up. Not light up as an attempt at arson, though I have to admit the idea does seem tempting, but light up as in a cigarette. And because it seems irresistible it becomes a challenge to resist it, or try to. So. The other day I got meself a pack of Malboro Lights (Mean bro once suggested that I write on the fact that NONE of

2006-05-18T13:14:00.000+04:00

I never ever deliberately give a month or more's gap in post. it just happens. ther's not much for me to write. and i cant seem to find the effort to sit through an entire post. most of the times it's inanities like these that would end up on screen. perhaps it was teh name. isstarting anew sounded more like a dhukka start. and spiralling into silence i seem to have done already. should i change

asked for it

2006-04-19T16:58:00.000+04:00

It's funny. The fact that I do open up blogger and type in a few words and then close the window altogether because I have some other work to attend to. What would it take, how much of my time would be wasted if I just exercised my typing and puny writing skills just a bit? But this momentary stop to read through what I have already typed becomes, literally, my undoing as I hit the backspace key

tag & whaaa?

2006-02-18T11:53:00.000+04:00

Zack said "Whoever wants to pick it up" for this meme of four. Since I have nothing else to blog about (actually there is so much I can blog about that I can't), I'll take it up.Four Jobs I’ve Had in My Life1. Bratty Daughter2. Bossy Sister3. Boorish friend4. Bookish studentFour Movies I Could Watch Over and Over1. ET2. Andaz Apna Apna3. Roman Holiday4. Keeps changingFour Places I Have Lived1.

Idiot Box

2006-01-17T16:23:00.000+04:00

I am becoming increasingly shallow; I prefer watching TV to reading a book! On the other hand, while books, at least these days, leave me as a case of information overload induced anxiety and devoid of any self-respect, all the TV fluff makes good blog fodder. As read below.Digests are the Pakistani equivalent of mass paperbacks in

Snootiness 101

2006-01-03T15:47:00.000+04:00

Course: Snootiness 101, SS 1206Semester: Fall 2006 Instructor: Ms. Prissy Ahaughty Classes: Thursdays, 1230 - 1530 Consultation: Thursday 1530 - 1535Email: ahaughty@snooties.edu Course Objective:The objective of this course is to train students to become snooty. While the learning outcome states suicidal depression as the ultimate goal, this course seeks to demoralize students into thinking that

Amassing losses

2005-12-30T13:32:00.000+04:00

So another year closes and I sit back to take stock of what has happened in my life, this year. Not much I’d say. I have lost on so many fronts to lose count. If I thought I was a fool as 2005 rolled in, I proved myself wrong; if I thought I was too much of an optimist for my own good, I need to think again. Such fool I be, I amaze even myself. And that pretty much sums up everything. I don't

There is hope

2005-12-24T11:29:00.000+04:00

At times I feel I have sold out completely. Where are all those ideals and noble plans to fight for people's rights, where is that burning spirit, where is that quest for rights' advocacy...all squandered in the name of career, all lost in the prusuit of a fatter pay-check. The saddest part is that I sold myself very cheap...what was I to do?وہ لوگ بہت خوش قسمت تھےجو عشق کو کام سمجھتے تھےیا کام

2005-12-23T12:20:00.000+04:00

I have been reading Rageh Omaar's Revolution Day: The Real Story of the Battle for Iraq for two days now. It is a book to be read slowly, taking in each and every word as Omaar paints a painful picture of the pre-post and war days in 2003. Sterile news reports with casualty statistics don't move one as much as his account of how a family in Baghdad clung onto hope as they shifted homes just days

Highly combustible

2005-12-20T11:52:00.000+04:00

It rained cats and dogs last night. By morning they morphed into human form and thronged bus-stops. As I rely on all forms of public transport imaginable – rickshaw, bus, rickshaw- to get to work, I was considerably miffed at having to wait for a good 40 minutes for my route bus to arrive with a respectable seat vacant for me to rest my seething self on. Each time I gnashed my teeth in a

2005-12-13T10:20:00.000+04:00

Hand it to me for being the mistress of trite. I’d thought of titling this post as Oops! I did it again…simply because I missed out on the day this blog completed three years. Three years and as disappearing acts. And no title to this post. Yet. Anyways, there was a book fair in town and can it be in anyway that I not visit it? I did of course, but it was such a quick, hurried and harried visit

2005-12-06T11:56:00.000+04:00

The Anglo-Saxons had some real brutal ways of punishment. One of them being to tie up the limbs of an accused and weighing him down with a stone and then throwing him in water. If he managed to stay afloat, it was assumed he was guilty, fished out of water and boiled in oil. If he drowned, well, he was innocent and could not summon all those evil powers to rescue him. The dead body was then taken

two past four

2005-11-30T14:39:00.000+04:00

It kicked off with The Soliloquist, and I poured out all my thoughts onto this blog. Then came The Soliloquist's Kvetch-log/K-log and entries did justice to the name, all whining and kvetchings and cathartic typed outbursts. And then was Spiralling into Silence. So it's this silence on this blog that is now deafening, maddening. Makes me mad at least. Even the picture gives the impression of

Ignorance is bliss?

2005-11-15T21:25:00.000+04:00

As I reached my workplace my cell phone signalled a new sms. Attending it was the least of all my concerns though as I was greeted by some office confusion and gnashed my teeth at a few people’s impudence. I should have saved teeth gnashing for later, as turned out. There were two sms’es. One from my brother and sister each while another brother had miscalled a good three times. I don’t pick up

Aftermath

2005-10-10T10:50:00.000+04:00

The other day when I posted the news on earthquake in Islamabad, I had sketchy information. It was some fifteen minutes past nine when i first learnt of the 7.6 tremors and the collapse of a building in Islamabad. Logging onto newsites, most reports were focussing on the devastation in Kashmir, Islamabad/R.Pindi and some of that information i started putting up in comments.At that time all media

Earthquake in Islamabad

2005-10-08T20:19:00.000+04:00

Scaree news to start the day.News of a 7.6 magnitude earthquake in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.Extending to New Delhi in India, Sri Nagar in Kashmir, Peshawar and Lahore in Pakistan.Listening to Geo Tv's audio streaming on the web I wonder and pray for the safety of everyone.experts say it could have been and would be better if its a defocussed quake, with major seismic activity deep underground and

Vanity check

2005-10-04T15:21:00.000+04:00

Cocktails at Ajmal Sb's place:This is me, plain and simple:How to make an AIngredients:1 part competetiveness3 parts courage1 part leadershipMethod:Blend at a low speed for 30 seconds. Add a little cocktail umbrella and a dash of fitness.With frills and fancies, erm, all caps as initials are to be:How to make an AIngredients:3 parts mercy3 parts crazyiness5 parts beautyMethod:Stir together in a

One day at work

2005-09-17T09:36:00.000+04:00

*ring ring*HelloHello, I am calling from *****, can you advice me what BMW series is latest in the market and I should buy?Huh?I mean would be worth spending all that money? Are parts readily available, what about maintenance and car specifications and all.Oh, I see. Sir, how many wives do you have?Excuse me?Well, you see, BMW has a new notice out after Swaziland's King Mswati III invested in 10

(S)he died while (s)he was living...

2005-09-14T16:43:00.000+04:00

At times I marvel at my own ability to live through it all; is it all worth the while? Or is it just whiling away awhile? Why bother? And then again, why not bother? Is it worth the bother, then? How much? How less? And why? Questions, all unanswered. Tasks all undone. Time racing by and yet stagnating, suffocating in its slow pace. What is time? Does it limit me? Threaten me? Is there a deadline

Blasts from the past

2005-08-29T13:03:00.000+04:00

I been cheating.I started blgging in 2002. December 2002 actually. and have deleted this blog twice since. changed blogger name at least 4 times and changed templates a whole 6 times, that is not mentioning the minute tinkerings I carry out on a regular basis.'Neways. Yesterday I was going through my 'soft' clutter and came across a CD that housed Version 1 of the blog. So I thought it might be a

Tag a Day

2005-08-27T12:17:00.000+04:00

Tag a DayAugust 31st is designated to be a Blog Day. SAJ Shirazi tagged me to mention top five blogs that I enjoy reading. Now my blog reading habits are erratic. My top five read list these days would be:Hypocrisy Thy Name Olive ReamWaiterRantOpinionistasUberHommeI think all of them bloggers should come out with a book. I would be the first in line to get Sir Ajmal’s book, signed by him of

حال میرے دیس کا

2005-08-13T14:41:00.000+04:00

Jashn e Azadi mubarak everyone!yes, everyone irrespective.I was thinking of an August 14 related post, but Ajmal Sb's beat everyone to an apt spoof of Iqbal. And yet not a spoof as it is a scary and sad representation of teh current state of affairs of this state founded in 1947.باعمل مسلمانوں سے پیشگی معذرتاقبال تیرے دیس کا کیا حال سناؤںدہقان تومرکھپ گیا اب کس کوجگاؤںملتا ہے کہاں خوشہء گندم کہ

2005-08-08T09:41:00.000+04:00

ab yeh yahan kia hua?

Madrassa expulsions 'to go ahead'

2005-08-06T15:47:00.000+04:00

So Mushy said:...he took the decision because he did not want the madrassas "misused for extremism". But it is all right to resort to extreme and myopic measures to curb extremism. Now that is 'enlightening'. Why do such news crop up before me just when I am packing up for the weekend? Is he and his stooge company in existence for teh sole purpose of making my blood boil? I t hink not, not. so

Irish lottery winner speechless as she collects £77m prize

2005-08-05T12:12:00.000+04:00

Speechless? Oh no, Ms. Dolores McNamara. Never again will you be speechless. For just a li’l one million I agree to write speeches for you. And it would be a wise move too, seeing how insanely I am in love with hearing my own voice permeate the airwaves around me. The words aren't that bad either. Yes I do have this annoying habit of taking my feet, toe by toe, all the way upto my mouth in any

Why does not the world not rot in hell?

2005-07-22T13:43:00.000+04:00

Does it seem I live in a world where headlines don’t bother me at all? That’s why I cared not writing even a word on the London blasts? Or the Ghotki disaster? Or the earthquake that jolted the city but was not enough to get itself registered on my scale? Or the Harry Potter mania? Or His Doggyship PM’s speech to the nation last night? I do blog. Mentally I am blogging all the time. And that is

Wanted

2005-07-19T12:45:00.000+04:00

This blog has come a full circle. Of sorts. Some two years after version one under a diffrenet moniker this time of the year version three seeks to commit to digital memory, again, my limited understanding of lunch. Staring at me, positioned between the telephone and the monitor, I have a red box of ‘original’ flavored Pringles. And that is my lunch today. It is worse than two years ago when my

Why?

2005-07-16T09:38:00.000+04:00

Why did the rooster cross the road?It waited and waited till it thought it was too grown up to answer this question.Wish I was not lazy to not take out my camera and photograph this crowned fowl proudly strutting about mid road.

2005-07-09T10:43:00.000+04:00

why?

My best friend's wedding

2005-07-07T17:58:00.000+04:00

7/7/05 Camera: BenQ DC 3410 Email this photo Permalink my best friend`s wedding.

of MMM and prayers

2005-07-01T16:31:00.000+04:00

While growing up I had a firm belief that there was an MMM, Muttahida Muhaz against Me (United front against me) with Pop at its helms and his sons all eager office bearers. Mom and sis were honorary members, with teachers being called on invite. So, the whole world, as I knew it, ganged up against me. Of course at that time my world was limited too. Cut to present when I know that the world is a

The Colonisation of Pakistan

2005-06-21T14:19:00.000+04:00

One would expect the Beeb to get their facts right.Dubai firm in Pakistan phone sale Etisalat is not a Dubai firm. It is a telecom monopoly, state owned and operated, in UAE. And now it has stakes in 26% of the only Pakistani concern that actually posted profits. Welcome O Sheikhs. Following on numerous other direct and indirect nosings in the Pakistani state of affairs, you can now snoop on our

Time check

2005-06-18T17:14:00.000+04:00

There should be 30 hours in a day and weekends should be three days.I have some three people waiting to kill me and if I have irked you in any way, feel free to join the line.I hope your week has been and weekend will be better than mine.

On the road

2005-06-12T18:39:00.002+04:00

OK. So it is not on the road. At least not technically. I mean I am flying to all destinations flying with those great people to fly with that man and woman the national carrier. And now I see my father's decision to not fly it. I mean you end up paying through your nose for courtesy and services never extended. Just take this one I am taking to ISB, the capital from LHR, the ultra thand city.

On the road

2005-06-12T18:39:00.001+04:00

Mixed bag

2005-06-06T12:23:00.000+04:00

Ok, so I was supposed to be on the road this weekend but Moiz beat me to it and went on a cross country trip Down Under. And posted pictures of all this amazing scenery that makes me green with envy. And I was supposed to be on the road. Never mind, my version of being on the road means packing a carry all and jetting to all capital cities of Pakistan’s provinces. It’s a work trip so there might

Six days and counting

2005-05-30T10:49:00.000+04:00

No, it's not been nearly a week since I took off k-log. It's been that long that I have been playing host to an ungracious fever. And it just can’t make up its mind; its comings and goings have left me woozy. Thermometer, that stupid glass contraption refuses to behave itself in my presence too. It steadfastly denies stop to the mercury at a normal human body temperature level. It either gets

2005-05-27T14:37:00.000+04:00

Mess

2004-12-29T18:03:00.000+04:00

Cribbings

2004-10-31T13:33:00.000+04:00

It is half past two in the morning and I am up at this ungodly hour to see to a task that just could not wait until morn. While online, here's an update:I have a theory about myself. I am a first born, and I don’t blame my parents for all those experimentations I was subjected to while growing up. Here is what it was like. Picture a newly wed couple, all lovey dovey, and both absolute trouble

Coups and other trivia

2004-10-27T13:52:00.000+04:00

Disclaimer: This is a real girlie rant, you may or not agree with what all comes, read at your own risk. Actually, now that you are here, why not read it through? It can’t be as bad as some of the older stuff you have wasted your time reading?It is a conspiracy, I tells you all. Just when my credit card limit is at its end, just when I am financially in dire straits, just when I am depressingly

2004-09-05T12:42:00.000+04:00

I was working a proper blog entry when I found an e-invite in my inbox, to re-join a young Pakistani outfit. Attached was a form. I started filling it out as it should have been (and expecetd from normal beings) but by the fourth box the kvetcher in me wanted to stage a coup. As I perfected my kvetchy answers, my real self started showing through.Following are the answers as i filled them in. Of

Perfect Roti

2004-07-14T18:01:00.000+04:00

That`s what a perfect roti looks like. I actually took a risk leaving it on teh tawa and rushing out the kitcehn to get the cam.

2004-03-06T17:53:00.000+04:00

3/6/04 I have a confession to make:I am a Kit Kat addict. and some time back i thought i had gotten over my cravings for the chocolate covered wafers. Apparently not. My waste paper bin at work gets redder by the hour as i unwrap Kit Kat after Kit Kat.

Things to do this week

2004-02-29T18:05:00.000+04:00

2/29/04 Email this photo Permalink Things to do this week:1. Stop eating off disposable plates.2. Do the `real` dishes and place them where they should be: in this dishrack.3. Try to cook something at home instead of ordering everyday: not good on health, not good on budget.4. Try to assist and not get in the way of house help.

Autumn

2004-02-15T18:07:00.000+04:00

missed on the best dusky time to photograph this ujra hua darakht; result: Koi veerani si veerani hai? this poor extremely 'autumnized' shorn of all its verdant glory, gnarly branched tree wasn`t alone in its wretchedness, only my camera could not fit in other 'naked trees' as well. also, i wasn't sure what i was photographing at that time in the night!

When it Rains: Then and Now

2004-01-28T01:33:00.000+04:00

Today: I have to kvetch now. It’s been raining since morn here. Nature decided it had been ignored long enough and came back in all its verdant glory. The roads are awash, glistening with the purest form of water, pitter pattering on roof tops of cars speeding on the highway. Plants sway with unmasked joy at being watered by Nature itself instead of a desalinated sprinkler slapping harshly at

My Contest DSF 2004: Think of an apt title to this post

2004-01-27T01:44:00.000+04:00

You are disbarred from making any statements of having attended the Dubai Shopping Festival if you have NOT:• Visited all the 38 country pavilions at the Global Village and bought at least a trinket from each of the stalls • Had your insides jostled at the crazy rides in a) Global Village b) Al Riqqa and Al Muraqqabat Streets in Deira Dubai.• Roared at by pre-historic reptiles at the Dinosaurs

Have your Hijab ban and don it too

2004-01-19T04:29:00.000+04:00

Frankly speaking I don’t see any hopes of the French revoking their ban of Headscarves/Hijabs. When has any govt. taken back any of its laws? At the most there is an amendment to placate the protesting masses. So here is the amendment I suggest to the French govt. and in my humble reckoning, it is quite workable too. Instead of banning headscarves, the French Govt. should ban ‘starched’

Quaid e Azam

2004-01-09T17:56:00.000+04:00

One of my most prized possessions: A picture of the Quaid e Azam.Actually its digital picture of an analog picture of a framed picture of an archived, enlarged and framed picture. And I have more of him too. Will post them soon.

2003-09-29T07:45:00.000+04:00

there are times when I feel like quitting blogging...it is one of those times...

You are what you dress up to be...

2003-09-22T02:08:00.000+04:00

The receptionist just asked me if I was a Muslim. All because I've started covering my head with a dupatta.Back home(read Karachi, Pakistan) I always covered my head when in public, not a proper hijab but all the same I made sure I had a big dupatta draped all around me.Both, as a student at the University at Karachi and later, as a journalist, I frequently traveled on public buses. I started

Looooser!

2003-09-15T21:19:00.000+04:00

yeah, yeah, call me a loser, call me a nutter, call me what you may...some days back I blocked my own Sim and had to get a new cell number..then I have my MSN ID hacked...the latest? I have misplaced my office keys somewhere...if not for my Assistant who has spare keys to the office, I would have been sulking outside...but the lost key chain also has the office drawer keys...with all that money

Think no more

2003-09-12T06:08:00.000+04:00

got this idea just as it is pack up time...since it has become my wont to simply post all my cynical outpourings here, should i then change the name of this blog from the soliloquist to:Pearls of Pissdom....?Well, i do sound pissed most of the time...no....you are too kind...have a nice weekend...PS: Almost forgot...today is 9/11, the day History was changed? DunnoDunya nay teri yaad say begana

Brand new mobile...well almost...

2003-09-05T05:32:00.000+04:00

I got meself a new mobile number today. A loss of 185+30 Dirhams. I had foolishly blocked my previous sim. Lesson to all: Don't vere fool with the security settings of your mobile sets.The friend I had got my cell number (sim card) from was a true pillar of salt, left me to my own when I needed her help. If a friend in need is a friend indeed...does it mean she is no longer my friend? Since she

Traffic woes in Sharjah

2003-09-01T21:21:00.000+04:00

This Sharjah traffic is such a nightmare. We left my place at about ten past eight, went around circles for nearly an hour before managing to clear the Galadari Underpass. The usual 45 minutes drive from Sharjah to Dubai Media City took double the time…one and a half hour! That is one of the pitfalls of opting for residence in Sharjah. All the same, I can never bring myself to live in Dubai. For

2003-08-26T22:20:00.000+04:00

God, I am in a tight spot. The aircon does not work so my room is now renamed "Hell", its previous name was "Depression".I had fiddled with my cell phone and blocked the sim, so have to get that thing sorted out as well.Life is a definite downhill for me these days.Work is great but after works...sigh...mushkilain hum pe apri itni ke aasan ho gaeenLet's see if my sabr pays off...

Car Brothers

2003-08-14T04:25:00.000+04:00

Yesterday was RakhshaBandhan, the hindu festival when sisters tie a Rakhi on their brother's hands. I am not a hindu but this festival always appealed to me, a celebration of a very noble, pure and sincere relationship. And what did I do thisRakhshaBandhan then? Why tie a Rakhi of course :) Actually I know of this very nice Hindu guy who does a car lift, in fact I commute to work with him,

2003-03-22T05:44:00.000+04:00

Ahem, for those of you who still have the time to read through all the fluff that I write, and are even remotely interested in my current employment status, I have been offered a job, with another one waiting for a go ahead from me, now I wait for the go ahead from Daddy Dearest and then will OK the one that might entail a change in my residence status... curious, intrigued, well, watch out what

2003-03-16T06:06:00.000+04:00

And why can't someone pay me for this very blog that I so diligently update...:-?