I present thee..... INQALAAAB!!!

So for the last seven or eight days our favourite soap opera has been the Azadi and Inqalabi marches, led by Imran Khan (IK) and Tahir-ul-Qadri (TUQ) respectively. I don’t usually watch TV, but for the last week I have been watching TV almost daily. Not to mention following the latest on internet. I am a staunch fan of IK. We all love Imran Khan and respect him. And we all have this secret desire to see a change in Pakistan as we know it, or Inqalaab. But are we ready for it? Do we even understand what the term Inqalaab or revolution implies. Have we got the foggiest idea what nations had to go through while undergoing revolutions. The honest answer is no. we don’t have an inkling what revolution means. Did Ayotollah Khomeini just rise up from his sofa one day and decided he was not pleased with the Shah’s policies and set out to overthrow him? It was the making of decades of chaos and injustice that the Khomeini led to Shah’s overthrow. Did the masses rebel against the Shah for his faulty economic and governmental policies. Could the Iran Revolution have occurred if it were the wishes of a mere 1-2 lac of populace and a religious leader at their behest? I don’t mean to fault IK on his steps, protesting is his democratic right. Neither do I have anything against TUQ wanting an Inqalaab. But does either of them seriously think it’s enough to just lead 1-2 hundred thousand people toward the capital and demand the PM’s resignation? Had they entertained their mind with a little more foresight and had a larger perspective of national and international politics, they wouldn’t have done the things they have been doing since 13 august. With half the Middle East at war, a hostile neighbour with a new nationalist PM and an army operation against terrorists in our FATA region, does it seem tactful to call for the PM’s resignation? Can you blame the haters for calling the Inqalaab and Azadi marches diversionary tactics when our Wazeeristan brother need our (whole nation’s) support? I am a fan of IK but this move has made me suspicious. And what of the Azaadi and Inqalaab marches. Leave the layman aside. Are the persons in the Azadi and Inqalaab marches ready for what they are demanding . Strict accountability of everyone? Ask yourself this. When was the last time we paid the traffic challaan when the police officer rightly demanded us to. When was the last time we were willing to talk out a solution to our problems, instead of taking out guns and firing at all fronts? Do we even pay our bills on time? The Inqalaabis with the gas masks and riot equipment in their hands, are they honestly expecting that the turnout indicates a changing in Pakistan. No! I am sorry to say, IK and TUQ, we do not deserve leaders like you. Pakistani nation, as it happens, is not ready to get independence from their corrupt leaders. You can keep trying of course. Maybe even NS will tender his resignation tomorrow. But while the vast majority of business community is satisfied with whatever NS has thrown at them, we will not witness an Inqalaab. While Facebook users like me and whole of the middle class is satisfied to sit in their homes and watch the drama unfold in front of the parliament house, we will not witness an Inqalaab. Until the masses come out at their own will, until the enemy is clawing at our gates and threatening every common man, landlord, army officer, salaried person’s child, we will not witness an Inqalaab. “THEY GUILLOTUINED EVERY PERSON WHOSE HOME HAD A LIGHT ON AFTER EVENING”. Every last one of them. Until internet users like me and your Facebook supporters are satisfied to sit in front of our screens and click “like” and “share” on every troll post we find about a respected politician like you, Imran Khan, we will not witness an Inqalaab. So stop wasting your time and energies demanding the PM’s resignation and focus instead on making the most of your KPK government. You may have a popular party, favourite segment of society and a revolutionary slogan, but it is not enough. This nation doesn’t deserve people like you. It still needs a dozen NS and AZ for squeezing out the last drop of their blood. Maybe fifty years on, we WILL witness an Inqalaab. Then we won’t need people like you bringing an Inqalaab for us, WE WILL bring the Inqalaab ourselves. But for now, go home, take a break you have earned and keep working on the Pakistani youth and society. They’ll remember you fifty years later, not now. Now is not the moment.

We went there, slept, and came back…

The semester had just started. The result was not yet out. The weather was good too. So I and my two friends thought it was a good time to visit Ghulam Ishaque Khan Institute (GIKI). We registered for the (so called) largest technical event of Pakistan, “GIKI Techfest’14.”  There were five different kind of modules of which only one caught our attention. The industrial technovation challenge, in which we, the participants had to solve a real time problem faced in industry, come up with a good solution, present it to a panel of judges and blast our way through the competition!

Day 1:

Well it started with us rushing off to the Daewoo station to catch the bus for GIKI, where they were scheduled to arrive. They arrived at 11. They were punctual. Yes they arrived on time so they were punctual, right? Actually, no. They spent no less than two hours sorting out their lists, confirming payment statuses, ticking off confirmed ones blah blah blah. We stupidly waited for an hour in the hope that the wait would end. But then our hunger got the better of us and we headed off to college (it is next to the station, no worries there) had a nice big lunch and chilled in the hostels, until we got a call from the GIKI representative that buses would depart in 5 minutes. We rushed to the area to find that the last of the four buses was ready to depart waiting for………….us! We got in, the journey to GIKI was uneventful, we were assigned the common room along with ten other students at the liaison desk and we put off our bags in hostel. Now we set out for a tour of the campus. GIKI has a beautiful campus set in the foot of surrounding mountains.

Theme Dinner and Naqsh Mimes:

After strolling for an hour we went to the auditorium for the opening ceremony, which was an hour late and lasted for about twenty minutes. Then there was the theme dinner to attend, where arrangements were made for a disco dance party (floor, lighting, sound system and all) to make the wait for food enjoyable. The dinner ended around 9 pm. We made our way back to the audi and I couldn’t help but notice that the air was filled with the cries of wild animals. It was almost as if we were in a jungle. Once or twice I heard a sound like some person imitating a cat far away, but then realized the sound was made by the jackals wandering in the jungle. We got to the audi to get rocked by Naqsh mimes. The guys presented some really brilliant acts, and the acting was near professional level, the coordination was perfect too plus the perfect synchronization of the sound and lighting system got me all dewy eyed. In short, hats off to Naqsh Arts Society for such a brilliant show.

Scare in the open:

The show ended at 11 pm. As we had to finalize our project we went to the library which is situated at some distance from the other buildings with a vast expanse of jungle in the back. At night it could get pretty scary….as we were to find out. We stayed till 1:30 am until the librarian announced that the library was closing. We dragged out from chairs and out on the main steps of library we got engrossed in photo session. We were busy posing under the light of street lamps when we heard vicious barking. And I nearly wet my pants. Now I would like to establish some facts here.

 It was around 2 am.

There was no building within running distance where we could secure ourselves. The library was locked!

There were no trees I could climb onto.

Not a soul was in sight except us.

In short we were within 100 metres of the jungle where mountain dogs were angry about something, maybe we and I knew for a fact that I could never outrun dogs.

So I got terribly frightened. We all did. With quick steps and daring not even to look back in case the dogs had decided to follow we made our way back to the hostels. It was a real relief when we finally reached the hostels. And I thanked Allah for saving our neck. That is an entirely different thing that we never really saw any dog or any other animal on our way back. *sheepish smile*

GIKI Pizza:

As our work was still remaining we secured positions on the sofa directly in front of the hostel gate and then the fun began. At the liaison desk we were given a map of GIKI, with important phone numbers. The last of the numbers was for GIKI pizza. I had dismissed it as just another number. But now it came back to have a laugh. After about every five minutes, we would hear rushing footsteps, a person would open the door, go outside, come back with a pizza box, leave the door opened and go to his room. Nothing wrong with that right? Only that as were sitting directly in front of the door, one of us had to get up after every five freaking minutes to close the door to keep the freezing wind out. Yeah we were too shy to ask every other guy to close the door. Till when? We stayed up till 5, which was interesting, because the presentations would start at 8:30.

Day 2:

Presentation;

We got up at 730, had breakfast at 8:30 and were preparing our presentation in the Department of Engineering Sciences when we get a message “Those participants who have not reported on time have been disqualified.” Certain it was a tactic to lure us into the hall, we entered the hall at the beautiful time of 1000 am, only to be told that we had been disqualified. We got dumbstruck for a moment, and then counter argued that since when had they been punctual enough. Well, weak as their case was, they let us in and we sat in the hall. Heard team after team give their presentation and leave the hall. Went to inquire when was our turn, only to be told that our name was not on the list. Another session of arguing followed and at last, at long last, with twenty of the hundred-seat hall occupied and judges yawning in their seats, we stepped on the stage to present our case. And lo and behold, the door opens and the media team of GEO TV walks in to cover the event. Was I complaining about anything?

Mushaira:

Once again we find ourselves in the audi, this time to attend a mushaira. The audi is packed, spirits are high and we enjoy some cool shairi by some students and the invited guests. But before all of that there are the hot favourite “Naqsh mimes” once again. The night ended partying and enjoying and we tried out the GIKI pizza at the shop. Looking forward to the hiking trip early in the morning next day.

Day 3:

Morning…..?!!

Now here’s where the fun starts. We come back from audi late at night after mushaira, find our 10 or so common room occupants with whom we are sharing fast asleep, and suddenly we don’t feel like sleeping at all. We open our laptops and relive the presentation, where we went wrong, and our mistakes blah blah blah, had a nice enlightening discussion till 2 am. And then we go to sleep. The hiking trip starts at 7 am next day, mind.

“I am floating in the air, marvelling at the surrounding mountains, the weather is so pleasant and I am a bird, I look down, see people shouting and pointing at me…and then suddenly I am falling. I land with a huge crash and that’s when my open my eyes to see the common room bustling with activity”.

I panic and grab my mobile from which I see the time. 8 30!!!! What the ….! I exclaim loudly as the realization dawns on me that we have missed the hiking trip. Sad, angry, crestfallen, not even bothering to wake up my friends, I turn around and go to sleep again. The rest of the occupants have already dressed and left. My eyes next open at 1030, I get up groggily, wash my face and am getting dressed when, with one arm in the sweater, a team SMEP member comes up to me frowning and asks,  

“Where is your team?”

I point at the two bundles lying on the mattress.

He looks incredulously at me and says, in as civilized a way as possible:

“bhai 10 minute me tayar ho k foran audi pohancho YLSO session start ha or wahan guest speakers pohanche hue hain, 9 30 ka ap logo ko time dia tha or ap log yahan pare so rahe han”.

(“Hurry up and get to the audi quickly, YLSO session has started, we gave you the time of 9 30 and here you are sleeping it out here. They are waiting for you there.”)

Feeling somewhat ashamed, we quickly dressed and left for the audi, but not before two more people had come to badger us to hurry up and then a person even came and stood over our heads until we had left the common room. We were now positively ashamed at what impression we were portraying, sure that we were one of the few who had failed to get up on time. But imagine our surprise on reaching the audi that we find only three rows occupied, out of the 70 or so rows and we are like, seriously? Koi bi ni utha?

Young Leaders Speak Out:

Fast forward to Col Anjum who spoke at length about not losing hope and protecting our dreams and all that good shit blah blah, then came the eccentric Saad Salim, took the mike out of the holder and strutted Haroon- style on the  stage giving his talk. His point was that anyone can do what he dreams about he only has to let go of the centuries old belief drilled into us that we can’t do it.

The tale of two brothers:

He talked about the tale of two brother one small and the other big. The big one falls into a well and the little one pulls him up and the village people refuse to believe them because it is physically impossible. Then a wise man (there always is a wise man) says that the small boy was able to do it because there was no one around to tell him he couldn’t do it. Then we had some fun on the stage in one of Saad Salim’s dream realization tactics. It involved closing our eyes, imagining we had realized our dream, and our reaction on that. That can be really fun if you have a well-defined dream and you are an expressive person, but it gets awkward if you don’t have a clearly defined dream and don’t usually express yourself, I compensated by shouting and hoop-lalla-ling on the stage. That was fun. And it was also stupid. Then Ali Moeen Nawazish came and tried his best to realize us our responsibility to our country. How we are the 0.78 % of population who are studying in university and it is up to us to build this country.

The closing ceremony followed whose chief guest was Dr Samar Mubarakmand and the shields were distributed to the winners. And at long last around 5 pm the GIKI Techfest’14 officially ended. We had our paperwork sorted out, got seated in bus and returned to Rawalpindi. And that’s how the memorable trip to GIKI, Topi, District Swabi, Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa ended.

Elephants in Thailand

Thailand is a beautiful country which is especially famous for tourism. It is an island country. An island is a tract of land surrounded by water on all sides. The earth consists of 70% water. Together all the inhabitable land mass of earth is divided in 7 continents. The United States of America is a big country in the continent of North America. The USA is a global superpower because it has the biggest war machine in the world. The USA navy operates 11 gigantic ships (among other ships) which can carry up to a hundred military aircrafts each. They are called aircraft carriers. They are powered by nuclear reactors so they are called nuclear powered carriers. Nuclear energy is a clean source of energy which has been around for 80 years. It works on the principle of fission between an electron and a proton. Electrons and protons are subatomic particles. They were first discovered by a scientist named Rutherford. Rutherford was born in a New Zealand which is also an island state near the continent state of Australia. Australia is home to the amazing species of kangaroos. Kangaroos are mammals who keep their young in a pouch in their bellies until they are old enough to survive in the wild. Mammals are animals who feed their young by milk produced in their mammary glands. Milk is an important nutrient for the growth of mammals. It contains calcium which is especially essential for the development of bones. There are many other important minerals. Minerals are useful components of soil found in the earth. There are huge reserves of minerals in Afghanistan. These reserves are especially useful in manufacturing of weapons. Weapons are intelligent devices humans invented to harm each other. The Russians wanted to gain access to the warm waters of Indian Ocean so they attacked Afghanistan with air and ground forces. Air forces consist of aircrafts equipped with weapons to attack from the air. They use powerful engines called jet engines which enable them to gain speeds of upwards of Mach 2. Mach number is the ratio of speed of object to speed of sound in air. Air consists of 71% nitrogen. Nitrogen is an important part of plants growth. They use it in the process of photosynthesis. Process industries are industries which use different processes to manufacture an end product. Product is also defined as the result of multiplication between two numbers. The number of elephants in Thailand ranges between 4000-5000. 

Story Of One Rejected In Love (Of KIT KAT)

Life is full of surprises and startling revelations. Agreed? No? Well let me share with you a bitter sweet experience. Today was NUST Science Society’s event TECHTALK.I came all the way from EME College to attend it in H12 NUST.. Why am I making it an issue of attending this event? Because being a student from EME I feel very much the absence of effective public transport system in the twin cities. So as I was saying I attended this seminar on Zero Energy Homes by Saad Asif CEO Nexton group of companies. At the end of the seminar there was this interactive question and answer session in which the organizers asked some questions from the audience based on the knowledge given by the speaker. Correct answer warranted a free Kit Kat medium bar ( I happen to love Kit Kat very much ). On the first question asked I eagerly raised my hand determined to win a Kit Kat (i hadn’t eaten a Kit Kat for a long time).

Question: What is the biggest source of power consumption in homes?

Me(effectively misinterpreting the question and with everyone’s eyes on me): Iron

(Silence)…

…

…

God, why did I raise my hand? Why? But then the organizer pronounced my answer as incorrect, and I was relieved of my misery.

Not to be deterred I raised my hand again a few questions later. This time I damned as hell knew my answer was right because I happen to have done a lot of reading on this stuff.

Question: What is the first step to power efficiency?

Me: Reduction of power losses in distribution and transmission.

Now of course the question asked was WHAT the first step was. Not HOW you do it. Of course you improve the power transmission and distribution by better wires and insulation. Again nobody seems to understand my answer and the organizer again pronounces my answer as incorrect.

Now, I am seething. Alone, sitting in the corner of the seminar hall. With half of the directors siting behind me, I feel like a fool. Well you tell me, if I said milk was beneficial for children. And you said no, not the milk, but the cow is beneficial. What would be your reaction? Part of me wanted to raise hell in the middle of the hall and challenge the organizer’s decision. But then I thought better of it and looked forward to the free samosas and tea awaiting me.

In short this (embarrassing) experience taught me that the organizing package comes with a few letdowns too, one of them being that no prizes for you for answering a question correctly in a quiz which you are organizing. As I am an NSS member so obviously they wouldn’t give chocolates to me , one of their own. For if we (NSS Members) started taking the chocolates how would you justify those two tables outside the seminar hall filled with samosas and tea J

Can i tempt you with a smoke?

Millions of people die due to smoking.

“Yeah yeah tell us something new.”

It causes lung cancer.

*Yawn*

“Been hearing that since childhood”.

Passive smoking is dangerous too; some experts say it is more dangerous than smoking itself.

“Well then, why don’t I start smoking?”
Who’s going to stop smoking after hearing these arguments. Huh?

Not me. Give me something new.

Well…let’s see.

Imagine sitting with your date having a romantic session, but it is not so romantic, it’s your first date, and she is uncomfortable and you can’t guess what it is. And then she asks you,

 “Do you smoke?”

Boy boy there goes your date down the drain. Bit pathetic isn’t it. Oh wait did you say your girl smokes too, aww man what could be more awesome than that. Combined smoking sessions late into the night, marriage and then early death, maybe 40 years, kids not even a consideration; I mean why bring those poor souls into this world who you are sure will be orphans before they are even teenagers. Cute isn’t it? Short and happy life of 40 years not even touching old age? And guess what?

Here’s the best part.

Even if u lived the full age expectancy you wouldn’t be able to play with the kids that much ‘cause the smokes sucked up your stamina, most probably the kids would have lung problems themselves, they would underperform and you would be the lucky parents to see your kids be the butt of jokes.

Did I hear you mention that couple, who smoke, have a healthy physique AND their children are not a bit affected by the smokes, in fact they are prodigies, what could be better than that?

But imagine their humiliation when you go to that friend’s wedding and his dad has asthma and won’t come near your parents maybe keep them at arm length? Boy won’t the kids feel sorry for themselves?

Hey why don’t you give us a break and mind your own business?

“Well if you don’t care for your health at least keep in mind the fact that the majority of the world smokes are in low income and middle income countries, I mean standard of living… “.

“Boy we break at PC’s in the morning and supper at Mei-kong what were you saying again?

And then your younger kid told you how the other kid said,

“I thought you had this problem because your parents fight too much. You even said they smoke. I read somewhere that low income household are more prone to smoking….”

You were telling me about the Serena Hotel?

That's how we roll!

What do you do when you are a group of ten; there are two hefty treats due in that group; and pizza is no longer financially an option coz according to a friend:

 “yar pizza se to daarh bi geeli nai hoti”

Couldn’t agree more. Well hey, don’t panic. You grab a few kilos of meat, portable oven and all the other BBQ paraphernalia and head for the open air BBQ hotspots in one of Pindi’s best parks. Oh wait; I forgot about the pickup truck aka daala. Well guys that was just what they did, the coolest bunch of brats I know, goods+8 people, all in the back of a pickup truck (thanks to our friend), the cool afternoon wind of Islamabad and here we are, on the banks of Rawal Lake. A perfect outing in perfect conditions. Well picking a spot was not a problem, as most of the people were busy at the Car and Bike show going on nearby. But starting a fire was a bit of challenge, and after playing with coals and matches Mr Weasley style aaaand being warned by the park warden of 500 rupees fine for burning the grass; we ultimately got our hands on a left over fire where a family had just left. Well with the fire up and burning three guys took the job of spearing the pieces of meat. Four others got the fire and the photographer took up his position behind the lens. An hour and a half later and we are still going strong, but the hotpot’s full and no vacancy for more tikkas to store. So out with the plates and cold drinks and raita. That was the first course. With the hotpot again ready to accept more pieces, it just got better. We were now experts in preparing BBQ and while our responsible chef took up the job beside the choolha, we went bonkers dancing around the “bonfire” Red Indian style, singing crazy songs on the top of our voices, the huge Aviary on one side and the Lake on other. It was a crazy evening getting crazier by the minute. And then our two friends who had arrived by bike didn’t feel like bearing the cold night air, and whoa whoa off with the bike on the backside of the daala,  and four crazy souls crammed beside it holding on to it. We were finally ready to depart. But wait what is that crunching sound ….Oh shit! The sound of broken china left no one in doubt that the crockery shopper had been left on the ground. But thanks to Almighty only two were broken. Finally we were off and now the real fun began. With one hand on the bike to keep it from falling due to the sudden and  random crushes of our driver with the other two lanes, and other holding onto dear pickup, we had only two choices. Ride in fear of the bike falling on top of our heads or enjoying the cool night air of Kashmir highway singing at the top of our lungs. Of course we opted for the latter. It was Bollywood pop to Rahet’s Sad; QB’s sentimental to Jawad Ahmed’s vocal. There at that time in the back of the pickup, with the air rushing at our mouths and inducing so much drag force that it was a task to speak audibly; I couldn’t help but wonder how Emma Watson managed to actually stand up with her arms spread to the horizons in the Tunnel song. But well that was movie and this was real time. Then one of our friends decided that any outing without ice-cream is not an outing so. So there is the pickup with us standing in front licking on Magnums. One hell of a time with some of the most imba guys I have ever met, I don’t think I’m a be forgetting this one. This one’s for lifetime.

Enjoying ice-cream at the petrol pump