Tuesday, March 27, 2007
A worthy cause...
You can become a coproducer of my film 'Wszystko' (eng. 'Everything') and help me to make it as well. All you need to do is to support this film with a sum of at least 10 euros / 10 dollars / 5 pounds (higher amounts are very welcome). In exchange I will mention your name in the credits and moreover I will send you a DVD with the film to the adress given by you.
He's collected $2500 so far, so if you're up for it, log on to the film's website and donate!
Updates...
For all those wondering, I'm in Lahore right now, not Karachi/Islamabad/or another country. My cell phone is broken, so email me instead :D
Lotsa stuff's happened...and I didn't have the time to post (read: too lazy), so here's a quick update...
- IPM 07: An amazing conference to be a part of. Best thing about it: meeting all the crazy elects!!
- Post IPM: Had a great post-stay with Salman Suhail and his great roommates!! Thanks guys! Got to see the Pyramids, Sphinx...2 down, 5 to go :D
- NPM: Spent a relaxing week in Karachi, and participated in the best 2 day conference EVER! Here's to next year and the coolest NLT ever!!
Here's something that I've had opened for the last couple of days, but wasn't sure if I had the guts to put out there. My nohari window (an inversion of the johari window) can be accessed here. For those of you who haven't contributed to my johari window yet, that's over here.
That's all for right now...I think my first post in a few months should be short :D
Friday, February 16, 2007
We're in Egypt!
Yep, we reached here safe and sound - but it was an extremely interesting trip (when aren't they?). Our flight from Khi-Abu Dhabi was eventless, but we were delayed at that airport for 2 extra hours (on top of our 4 hour transit!) but we managed to meet the Sri Lankan delegation, and a guy from the UK - all AIESECer - so we managed to pass the time with considerable ease (although Costa did tell us to stop hogging the sofa after two hours!).
The fun actually started after we reached Cairo airport, because when we got off the plane and came towards immigration, there was a huge group of people screaming and shouting - which we later found out were people wuiting to be given their passports. Since the online passport scanning network in the airport had collapsed a few hours ago, everything was being done manually, which meant that after you had submitted your passport to the control booth, they would manually enter your data and then after about three hours they'd send a bunch of passports to these gaurds who were screaming out the names of the people who the passport belonged to! Lucky for us, since we were delayed by two hours, we missed most of this commotion, and only saw the ending, as after about 10 minutes of being in line to hand over our passport, we were told that the system had been restored and we could do the whole thing digitally - meaning we got done in 15 minutes!!
Have just reached the pre-meeting venue after a very harrowing drive through Cairo streets, but that's normal supposedly, and are now getting some stuff done and re-charging before heading out for dinner.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
201
i won, i won, i won, i won, i won! (repeat until exhausted!)
sorry about that, but it's about the only thing that comes to mind :D anyway...smarter posts coming up soon...keep reading.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Sunday, January 07, 2007
2006...
Lived alone in a foreign country for two months :D
2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't make New Year's resolutions, it's like waving a red flag to a bull.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Nope
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Nope
5. What countries did you visit?
Poland
6. What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006?
Same old story - a laptop!!
7. What date from 2006 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Dec 31 - best NYE ever!!
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I prioritized, my way :)
9. What was your biggest failure?
I wasn't always around for people.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nope
11. What was the best thing you bought?
I actually didn't buy anything significant, I did mooch a jacket off of Rob's back :D
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
My brother's - he finally took the plunge got married!!
13.Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
No one - to be appalled and depressed, you need to have high expectations of people and I don't believe in those
14.Where did most of your money go?
Travelling - although technically that's my dad's money
15.What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Poland - it was by far the most insane experience of my entire life!
16.What song will always remind you of 2006?
"My humps", and Laura dancing to it in the SGGW dorm room! The whole incident was hilarious and I can't get that song out of my head now. Followed closely by "Signal" from some cheesy Indian movie, as my sister made me listen to a million times for the wedding!!
17.Compared to this time last year,
I. are you happier or sadder? Happier
II. thinner or fatter? Same, maybe fatter - ouch!
III. richer or poorer? Richer, till I buy my laptop.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Spend time with family...
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Sleep :D
20. Did you fall in love in 2006?
Nope...aww..sad!
21. How many one-night stands?
none...good girl!
22. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Nope - I dislike some people a bit more.
23. What was the best book you read?
My sister's, can't say the name or anything else as it hasn't been published yet :D
24. What was your greatest musical discovery?
I rediscovered some old stuff I had liked when I was younger.
25. What did you want and get?
I wanted a laptop, and I got the money for it :D
26. What did you want and not get?
I wanted a new phone, and although I might just get that, I haven't gotten it yet.
27. What was your favorite film of this year?
Aahh...the worse film was "pirates of the caribbean: dead man's chest". I loved "Hooligan's", though it's not a recent release.
28. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
This is a sad story - turned 23, was home alone, no one around me, on Eid! Very, very sad story.
29. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
A better b'day :P
30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2006?
same old, same old...jeans and t-shirts
31. What kept you sane?
who said i was sane?
32. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
The "supernatural" boys.
33. What political issue stirred you the most?
Nothing can faze me anymore.
34. Who did you miss?
Ammar Zaki - the idiot moved to the US :) We're meeting tomorrow though
35. Who was the best new person you met?
Mostly everyone on the IC '06 CC - but David Pollay, the chair for the conference, was truly phenomenal.
36. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006:
You have to have courage to admit to and learn from mistakes
Thursday, December 07, 2006
shoe-shopping
I bought four pairs of shoes today. But that's just the ending :)
Last week my mom had made me promise I'd use my time in Lahore effectively - meaning I'd buy the shoes I need for my brother's wedding (5 pairs of shoes, mind you, all color coordinated with my clothes!) Lahore is, apparently, the place to buy shoes, probably because of all the Lahori aunties that have nothing better to do than making new clothes and then getting shoes to match. Anyway, Lahore's where ECS and Stylo reign supreme (both are shoe shops, for the non-Lahori's) and that's where my mom wanted me to go.
The past few days, I'd been lazy. It's cold out, I'd rather check my email, I'm not in the mood. But Sunday's getting closer, and I needed to buy the shoes before then if I had any hopes of setting foot in my parents house, so today - my third day back in Lahore - my roommate turned to me and said, "wanna go shoe shopping?"
We set off from LUMS, walked to a coffee shop, got a couple of things to eat (we're both the no-breakfast type of people, and had even skipped lunch today) and finally got on the bus. 15 minutes later, we were at the shop itself - ECS.
ECS DHA is a landmark. The shop originally started from Liberty Market - your average shoe shop, except the salesmen seemed like they were jacked up on caffiene. Hyper active, throwing shoe boxes at the speed of light. Their shoes were great, and they pretty much dominated the market, with people coming from other cities to buy their shoes. The first shop was a little more than a hole-in-the-wall. Very cramped and constantly filled with people, which meant there was barely enough oxygen for all those in it. They soon realized the error of their ways, and moved to DHA and into a huge store with sofa's and enough space for a wedding party. Business boomed.
Anyway - that's besides the point - I'm just trying to explain why I first went into ECS. It's a landmark. I had to. Going into any other shop first would be unacceptable. I can just imagine my mom going, "You went to Stylo?", had I gone into Stylo first.
However, the salesmen in the DHA branch are apparently not as enthusiastic as the ones in Liberty - or maybe the coffee here is worse - since no one came to bug me, ask me what I needed, or show the slightest concern. After about 10 minutes of just wandering around, I came to the realization that I didn't like anything but unfortunately, one of the salesmen had by now spotted me, and so, thinking, "this is ECS!" I started around the shop with him following me and yelling out orders. Three shoes later (one I hated, two I loved but had too big feet for), he figured me for a lost cause and left. That's when I turned to my roommate and said, let's go to Stylo.
So off we went - it's right next door to ECS - kinda like comparing Jammin Java to Hobnob (Hobno is hugely successful, Jammin Java not so much).
The salesmen here were apparently taking lessons from the ECS Liberty guys - 20 minutes later, the entire stock room was at our feet. Everything in pink that is (I have tea pink clothes, go figure!) - I'm sure the guy in the stock room thought Barbie had landed in the building.
Needless to say, I walked out with four pairs of shoes.
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Monday, November 20, 2006
reconnecting...
i'd thought that when my friends graduated, i'd lose touch with them - we'd never been the emailing each other kind. (un?)fortunately, they've all suddenly turned into the emailing kind, and since most of them are now in the UK, we get weekly updates of what's going on in their *new* lives. from cleaning schedules, to eid celebrations, to who's up-to-no good type gossip. it's fun, but we all had very varying groups of friends - kind of like those ven diagrams - with overlaps here and there, and although we knew everyone, we were never *close* friends with a lot of each other's friends. which means that if X sends a weekly update, all her friends are on the list, and since everyone *loves* "replying all" on gmail, we end up having to listen to all the comments her friends have to throw into the mix. not fun. especially if you don't really like all those friends. *snicker*
it gets even more interesting.
if i have a comment to make, which i don't particularly want to share with everyone, i'll just remove all the random people from the list, and send the email to *my* close knit group of friends (possibly a subgroup of the much larger group that received the originaly email), and thus a second *internal* email begins, but again, because of gmail, this is in the same thread as the previous, much more public mail. and yes, you guessed it, sooner or later, someone will send a response that had to be sent to the much smaller group to the much larger group causing confusion, and sometimes problems.
so, not only have i *not* lost touch with my old friends, we're still creating messes for each other...
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me...
Anyway, it’s Eid, and it’s vacations and I was supposed to spend this birthday with my family. But that’s not happening either.
My parents and brother have gone to spend Eid in Faisalabad – the town I was born and raised in. But I couldn’t go; too much work to catch up on, plus I have to study for the upcoming exams since the mid-terms didn’t exactly go great. But they didn’t really get it, so they left pissed at me since I refused to join them on the trip.
Why am I writing all this? I just noticed a birthday cake in the fridge that my parent’s must’ve gotten for me, but we had no time to cut. It’s the most depressing thing in the world to have a birthday cake in the house, but have no one to watch as you cut it :)
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Human choice
At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learning-disabled children, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question: "When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does is done with perfection. Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?"
The audience was stilled by the query.
The father continued. "I believe that when a child like Shay, physically and mentally handicapped comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child."
Then he told the following story:
Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, "Do you think they'll let me play?" Shay's father knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but the father also understood that if his son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.
Shay's father approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, "We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning."
Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. His Father watched with a small tear in his eye and warmth in his heart. The boys saw the father's joy at his son being accepted.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father waved to him from the stands. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.
At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game? Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.
However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact. The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.
The game would now be over. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.
Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of reach of all team mates. Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, "Shay, run to first! Run to first!" Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled. Everyone yelled, "Run to second, run to second!" Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base. By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball ... the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team. He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's
intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head. Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of
him circled the bases toward home.
All were screaming, "Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay"
Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, "Run to third! Shay, run to third!"
As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on
their feet screaming, "Shay, run home! Run home!" Shay ran to home, stepped
on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the
game for his team.
"That day", said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, "the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world".
Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making his father so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
30 hours and counting...
LUMS used to have this really weird way of scheduling mid-terms. (Explanation to everyone not familiar with LUMS - my university: We have 10 week quarters, and every quarter has mid-terms. So roughly we have exams every 5 weeks.) What they used to do was schedule mid-terms very randomly between the 4rth and 7th week. So there was a good three weeks of, "I can't do this, I have mid-terms going one." Anyway, someone in the administration must have had a light bulb go on in their mind, as from this year, all mid terms happen in the same week - to be specific, the first class of the 5th week (or is it 6th?). Basically, it means that there's these four days when 95% of mid-terms are held, and unlike last year, where we had a break from all the mid-terms and actually managed to get some sleep during the three weeks, we now have 4 days where no one (except the really nerdy people) sleeps.
I've been awake 30 hours - which is nothing for LUMS standards. I had an exam this morning, so I was awake last night studying. And I have three (yes - one, two, three!!) exams tomorrow. Which basically means I can't sleep till tomorrow evening. But wait - we have an LC social tomorrow - and there's no way I'm missing that! Which means I won't get to sleep till tomorrow night - midnight would be a good guess. Another 24 hours...
Now - as interesting as Augustine's Confessions is, it really cannot stop me from thinking about the fact that I cannot sleep for another 24 hours, or stop me from ooking at my bed every ten minutes. Unfortunately for me, I'm not being tested on the colors of my bedspread tomorrow, so I definitely need to get back to Augustine.
Note: I just realized that when I finally sleep, I'll have been awake for 54 hours. My previous record is 46 hours, at the end of which I vaguely remember getting on a bus, but have no recollection of what happened between then and when the bus stopped 5 hours later.
The funniest conversation EVER!
Emad and I were talking on gmail - this is the conversation I saw:
---------------
Emad: dude, i was tryin to call ur bro for some work and he doesnt pick up my fone! wat the hell!
Emad Nadim: .. from no. 87 to no.78 in ONE qtr! Pakistan Baby! ..
Nida: ugh
i dont know
does he have your number?
when did you call?
an quite possibly, he's sleeping right now
Sent at 11:16 PM on Monday
Emad: i dunno
Sent at 11:23 PM on Monday
Emad: do i have his?
Nida: 0300-8285295
no no n
0300-8285205
Sent at 11:25 PM on Monday
Emad: 0300 828 5205
Nida: yep
thats it
when did you call?
Emad: i called twice.. in the evning tday.. then a coupla days ago
Nida: he's an idiot
i'm just glad its not genetic :)
Sent at 11:28 PM on Monday
Nida: brb
Emad: evening too
Sent at 11:30 PM on Monday
Emad: dude.. like at 9pm?!
Sent at 11:36 PM on Monday
Emad: wat the hell i have the rong no.!
thnx
---------
This is the converation Emad saw:
---------
me: dude, i was tryin to call ur bro for some work and he doesnt pick up my fone! wat the hell!
11:17 PM Nida: ugh
11:19 PM i dont know
11:20 PM does he have your number?
me: i dunno
do i have his?
11:21 PM Nida: when did you call?
me: 0300 828 5205
i called twice.. in the evning tday.. then a coupla days ago
evening too
11:22 PM Nida: an quite possibly, he's sleeping right now
11:23 PM me: dude.. like at 9pm?!
11:30 PM Nida: 0300-8285295
me: wat the hell i have the rong no.!
thnx
11:32 PM Nida: no no n
11:33 PM me: ?
11:35 PM Nida: 0300-8285205
me: so i had th erite one! sheesh!
11:38 PM Nida: yep
11:39 PM thats it
me: ?
11:40 PM Nida: when did you call?
me: 9
11:41 PM Nida: he's an idiot
me: eh?!
11:42 PM Nida: i'm just glad its not genetic :)
me: haha! someone is smug today!!!
11:44 PM Nida: brb
---------
Took me about 20 minutes to realize what was going on, then emailed Emad to find out that he was literally on a different page! The internet here sucks sometimes!!
Friday, October 13, 2006
decisions...
life is about to take a turn towards being boring pretty soon. not that my life so far has been the stuff real good movies are made out of - but it's definitely not been boring, especially the last four years, more specifically the last two years.
i'm staring at what is the end of my collegt education - which means i'll move out of the dorms, move into more suitable and predictable living quarters, stop staying up all night watching recently downloaded tv shows, and stop ordering food from the khokha at 3 am. It also means i have to make a decision. what am i doing next?
which brings me to the reason the last two years have been specifically interesting - i joined AIESEC in the fall of 2004. for the last two years, my non-AIESEC friends have either had to see me go off to other countries, or had to deal with the streams of guests that pass through my dorm room door. that's what's made the last two years very interesting.
now i have to make a decision - continue with AIESEC, or get a job. believe me, i know what i want to do, unfortunately, the saying that you're your own man after college is really very untrue. just as we're our parent's children our entire life, we're also bound to recieve advice - and in my case "direction" - from them our entire life.
the decision needs to be made soon - an interesting life, or a boring one.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Sotally Tober
Starkle, starkle little twink
Who the hell you are I think
I'm not under what you call
The alcho-fluence of inco-hol
I'm just a little slort on sheep
I'm not drunk like thinkle peep
I don't know who me yet
But the drunker I stand here the longer I get
Just give me one more drink to fill my cup
'Cause I got all day sober to sunday up.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
nickname: there have been several attempts to invent one, but none have stuck :) my name's short enough without needing a nickname...
languages spoken: english, urdu. i can understand punjabi, but any attempt to speak it usually causes the listener to laugh till they cry...
countries visited because of AIESEC: india, romania and poland...
favorite colour and why: i'll have to say blue. it calming, but fun at the same time.
what you wanted to BE when you were a child: i wanted to be someone who worked with wild animals, either because i was involved in conservation efforts, or as a photographer.
now, what do you want to do when you grow up: i want to start my own event management company in pakistan.
favorite book: to kill a mocking bird
favorite movie: almost famous
What song is stuck in your head right now: chelo - cha cha ( IC '06, CC dance!!)
Why I joined AIESEC: someone said i'd get to travel, and develop as a person. more importantly, they said i could go to india within the month. i stayed for completely different reasons :)
Passions: AIESEC, conservation, and anything else that has anything to do with animals (including animal planet!!)
Nida 2010: if my parents get their way, i'll be married with two children, probably named chintu and mintu while living somewhere close to them.
if i get my way, i'll have finished my @ internship and will be working full time in event management. i'll also have travelled to 25 countries by then, all set to achieve my goal of 30 countries by the time i hit the age of 30!
Monday, September 25, 2006
blogging ramadan...
Age: 22
Location: Lahore, Pakistan
Nationality: Pakistani
Religious background: Born a Sunni Muslim, I now fall into the "not religious" category
Current occupation: Student, President AIESEC Lahore
The thing I love the most about Ramadan: How excited people get when you talk about Eid :)
The hardest/most annoying thing about Ramadan: Water...
What I want to get out of Ramadan this year (learning/spiritual etc...) Learn to be more adaptable, accepting of other people's behaviours. Be nicer :)
My best Ramadan memory: I live on campus, and my first year here Ramadan was in the coldest winter days. I'll never forget how some students would come for Sehri (5 a.m.), all bundled up, some with a blanket, so that they wouldn't get cold on the walk from the dorms :D
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
The paradox of our time.
The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet m ore problems, more medicine, but less wellness.
We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get u p too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom. We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.
We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the m oon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things. We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and l ess.
These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. T hese are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
short update...
1. am back in LUMS, classes have started. am loving/hating the life :D
2. AIESEC Lahore in the middle of recruitment! yay! am loving it!
3. missing everyone from the CC. too much i think :)
4. my brother's getting married in 3 months! excited beyond belief! it's a nine day wedding!! more details on the wedding later.
have a class to catch now!