Thursday, April 17, 2008

Tea Time

For some reason, last night the boys decided we were going to be coming into office at 9Am (usually we come in at 10, leave at 7 or after that). I think a motivator was the 9AM office tea we manage to miss everyday (we all love the tea, and the tea boy!) but whatever our individual motivations might have been, we were all up at 7:30 AM (unheard of, normally) and I actually got to say "have a good day" to Anna before she left for work (she leaves really early, usually we're still sleeping). Within minutes, Sohaib and I were slaving away making breakfast for everyone (omelette's) and by 8:30, all dressed up, we were ready to leave. So far, on track for tea - yay!

So we get downstairs, head for Taha's car, and realize - oh no! - there's a punctured tire! Not letting this faze us one bit, Taha, KLepo and I start puttering around trying to get the spare on, and Sohaib, his usual useless self :P is standing in a corner, smoking. What follows is undoubtedly the funniest half hour I've ever experienced this early in the morning, unfortunately, I only started taking pictures halfway through, and my camera phone ain't great, but regardless, there's some proof of the hilarity.

Anyway, I was talking about how the car tire was being changed. So just as Taha had managed to raise the car with the jack, bang!, the car fell off it. Like literally, just slid off the jack! At first I thought Klepo (who was at the back) had accidentally pushed it, but looking over I realized he was no where near it! Taha's expression was priceless, KLepo was swearing in Slavak, and Sohaib and I couldn't stop laughing. Anyway, we live above Gunsmoke, and even at this godless hour, they had people there, so they came over (to watch, I might add). So did two beggars who were roaming in the street. Pretty soon we had a good crowd going, Sohaib still smoking and smiling, KLepo giving suggestions, Taha trying to clean his pants of all the dust (he was all dressed up for a meeting) me taking pictures, and the car just standing there, half tilted into the sandy parking lot, with one tire missing!

Finally, Klepo came up with, what was, a brilliant suggestion. Let's put rocks right behind the wheel (Where the jack is supposed to go) so we can first lift the car and then put the actual jack in (since there was no space to put it in). So he starts collecting rocks, Taha starts digging a hole (I still don't know why!) and the rest of us are still standing there, smoking, watching, taking pictures.

Then comes the difficult part, raising the car that one extra inch or two, so Taha can get the jack in. Finally, Sohaib decides to help, so Klepo and him start lifting the car, but don't get very far, since it's heavy, and well..they're no supermen! So Taha, who's still kneeling on the hot ground in his formals, yells at the beggars/Gunsmoke guys, "Dude, help us!!" and they all run over. Suddenly, there's too many people near the car, I'm expecting another fall, one of the guys is trying to put the jack way under the car (near the axle, by my guess) and Taha's like, "not there!".

What seems like an hour later (ok, no, 10 minutes!) the car is up on the jack, and miraculously, the rest of the tire changing procedure was completed within minutes by the onlookers, with Taha providing a little help. Sohaib, is standing around looking like he did a lot, Klepo is still smiling and Taha's like, "shit, my clothes are messed up now!" and I'm like "let's go!"

We leave, make a few stops at some petrol stations to get the punctured tire fixed, get to office at 9:20ish, thinking, "crap, we missed the tea!". Taha comes in, makes a call to the office kitchen, requests we still be given tea, and lo and behold, at 10:20ish, the tea makes its way to our office! Good morning, eh?

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Karachi

When my brother was moving to Karachi (a good 6 odd years ago) my parents were all - OMG! That city is SO not safe. Which was not really true - with a population of over 18 million (yes, 18 million!) it's a big city - so admittedly, things happen, and there's crime and what-not. Anyway, my brother did move here, and he lived a very peaceful (for Karachi standards) life till he just moved to Istanbul.

Now I'm here :/

I like the city - don't get me wrong. But I can't ever imagine living in this city long term. Admittedly, it has a beach (and access to lots more nearby), you can go crabbing (yum!) and zamzama is, well, zamzama :D It's a fun, crazy, noisy, alive place to be - all of one year - then you're like, seriously dude, I gotta get out! I'm more of a I-need-a-quiet-place-to-think kinda person, so this constant hum of traffic, generators (during power cuts) and people is a little annoying.

...3 months left :)

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Sonnet XVII

I first posted this a couple years ago. I was sent this again a few days ago, and it's still as beautiful as ever :)

I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,
or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms
but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;
thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,
risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;
so I love you because I know no other way

than this: where I does not exist, nor you,
so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,
so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.

Sonnet XVII by Pablo Neruda

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Race over

Yesterday, after Sohaib's constant "Dude, we have to go watch Race!", and Taha's "OMG, it's the best movie, EVER!" the Mansion/Clubhouse set decided to set off to Prince Cinema to watch it (Cineplex costs 250, Prince is only 150). Along the way, we managed to get some of the local color - Saaim, Ahmed, Junaid - thanks guys :)
*Spoilers Ahead*

Anyway, lemme start off by saying that if you like Indian movies, you'll probably like this one. It's "alright"...not great...not incredibly horrible. What saves the movie from being horrible is Saif Ali Khan (and for the guys, the hot chicks). At one point, when I thought he'd died, I was all set to walk out of the cinema (then realized that I wasn't in DHA, and had no way to get home!) so decided to stick around, thankfully, since Saif was brought back from the dead (yes, that's true, the DEAD!) towards the end.

Another good thing is a couple of songs (not the touch-me one, but the race one!), some of which are very jive-worthy I might add! Junaid was actually noting down steps :P

Finally, the cars! Oh the cars :)

What makes the movie irritating:
- Akshaye Khanna
- Katrina Kaif's acting (or lack there of)
- Anik Kapoor and his dumb jokes
- Sameera Reddy and her Jessica Simpson-esque role
- The jokes (they deserve their own line!)
& the one million and one twists (my brain grew numb at one point!)

If you must watch it, then go to a cheap cinema (I think I'd have killed Taha had I payed for Cineplex tickets.), and make sure you hoot along (I was the only person hooting every time Saif was on-screen :D) as that just adds to the fun :D

I'm putting up the movie poster as eye-candy - ah, Saif :)

 
do0dle do0dle - Wordpress Themes is proudly powered by WordPress and themed by Mukkamu Templates Novo Blogger