Surrender

(I recently heard two three songs that instantly inspired me to write. If you want to call this write up corny - be my guest but lately I have seen love manifest in weirdest of ways and I thought I needed to write up on it. There is all kinds of love, love between a man and woman, son and a mother, friends, sisterhood, childhood love stories - just was suddenly inspired to write on it)

SURRENDER

The ground is littered with fabrics and colours
Invitations and dresses, curses and messes
she is planning her wedding, tying the knot with the man she loves
He is there right by her side, declaring himself hers by not saying a word
Hands in hands , they promise never to let go
When the times comes you can see it in their eyes – it’s always all about the love

There is something about its which sets us free,
something about love which arrests us and lets us breathe
Its few words, a promise a deal – still it manages to be more than we see

He watches her every day, walk pass by, it adds a little more to the tiny little fractures
so what if they grew up together, shared the same stories, played the same games
she doesn’t sees him for a man he is now, maybe she never really saw him at all
He is writing down lyrics, composing a song, maybe someday she just won’t walk by
She would stop and listen and maybe finally manage to see

There is something about the love in his songs he sings
it’s weaving a magic, binding the words, making sense of unrelated words together
Don’t underestimate the power of it, if it can make broken melody a harmony its not a force to reckon with

She is standing by the door, waiting everyday wishing a car appears on the drive way
It isn’t easy to send a son to war, ask a mother’s heart denied
But today its different, today he is coming home, he is finally coming home
The war is behind them, the geographical limitations altered
There appears a car in a drive way and a pray on her lips

In this moment you could feel, it’s all about the love
Its in her tears, in her prayer even in the cookies she baked
there is something about it which makes the silence easy to be

So she doesn’t care who he is, when he would come or when he’d realise
She is going to play up her hair, put on a red lipstick, kick up her heels and break a leg
Waiting for mr, right never works, don’t need a boyfriend when she has her girlfriends
If her best friend doesn’t gets a the hint he is stupid, but then who cares its time to move on!

It not about the hair or the lipstick, there is something about the her spirit,
She is not going to give up on love, not anytime soon anyway
So she now knows why they call it ‘falling’ in love, cause sometimes it might as well just hurt

They have been friends for too long, more than half of their lives gone
Miles apart, in other corners of the world, they have survived everything together, just the three of them
Just a text away, just call to settle your fears, they have told each other everything in their hearts each day
Friends through heart breaks, marriage and success, they stick together, they pick up instantly where they left off any day

So what it is? If its not love?
Its in their eyes, In his songs
its in her tears, in her spirits and their texts and calls

Give in to it and surrender...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Happy Birthday Phessal!!!!!!!!!!!!! Congratulations for being a pain in my butt for yet another whole year =D So turns out u r 22! good thing is u r still older then princess =P So m kinda crappy at this kinda thing when it turns out I gotta write some senti stuff for my bestfriend's birthday but what the hell I will give it a try :D So this is what I have come up wid...lo and behold! I thought I'd write some 22 important things for you in shape of the wisdom list :P

Wisdom List:

1. Don't smile a lot. Its damn irritating.

2. Shut up when nobody is listening.

3. There are other bands then COLDPLAY :p

4. There are other better bands LIVE then COLDPLAY :p

5. Chelsea losing is NOT the end of the world.

6. BLUE is the color of water, ink and aqua man =D

7. 'Moti' is a lame comeback :D

8. I scare you :p

9. Back up Plan is a movie not a strategy.

10. How I met Your mother is not based on our lives, we don't have a bar =D

11. F.R.I.E.N.D.S is not based on our lives, there is no coffee house =D

12. Greek is not how university life is =D

13. Being 22 doesnt give u the license to sass me. You still remain younger :D

14. Learn to differentiate between pretenders and friends or order new specs :p

15. Don't say yes - to everything.

16. Exercise the power of No at times - gives u a backbone :p =D

17. Work on the jerk syndrome. Its the secret of success :p

18. Pakola is not a flavour, Its some haywiring of the tastebuds.

19. Acer is doomed.

20. If I am your precious that definitely makes you the gollum. There is high rate of similarity too =D

21. Stop crushing on Jennifer Anniston.

22. Grow up - not taller =P

Lolz Happy Birthday Honey! Hope you have a terrific blast =P

Regards, Anam Ashraf Ali

Here and There..

I figured it out it had to be said, written, told, forget
If this goes without saying, you'd know what it means, what it seems
We have gotten this far, today, yesterday, every day, each day

Right here, still here and then we stay here, stuck in the middle of nowhere

A jump forward, a step back, two steps forward, a long run back
It would take a great leap or we'd stand here like we did every other day, just here
So I am already halfway gone, can't wait this long, so long
Left behind what was you, of us - its a long run back from the land of wrong, lifelong
You never could be sure, so do it now
Make a decision - deny or allow
Would it be a jump or would you still stand and watch?
Its do or die, sink or swim
Whats its going to be? its has to be right about now
Looks like now isn't soon enough, everything is coming to pass
So stand here and stay silent, don't leap, don't walk
Don't scream, don't run, don't hide, don't talk
Ssh! Let the silence prevail, let it decide, let it trail
You do hear the shuffling of my feet? The whispers of this conversation, the echo in my scream?
Remnants of this become a part of you, a part of me - haunting us now and haunting us years
Cause I am leaving tonight...you stand just right here, stay here, be here
Am I already gone, leaving it all behind - a man of sight, blind

I know I can stand here and wait, waiting for the time to stand still but I am leaving it all behind

Cause I am not there anymore, halfway gone, already gone

One leap, only if you had tried.
Its now me here and you there

If only you tried...

Vampire Diaries 'Descent' track.

One strange song to like =D but I like it.

The Rivalry

Ever seen a dog snarl at another dog smaller in size? I see it everyday on at the corner of busy streetlights in Karachi. While the dogfight is metaphorical, it’s a common sight – the guy in the shiny car checking his competition out to the one on the cd70 bike. The furtive glances, territorial stance and the heavy noise of the vehicle are enough to chalk out the rivalry.

Karachi’s youth is characterized into many groups, but can be broadly classified in two. The first group consists of the bougie kids of Pakistan, better known as the ‘Burger Bachay’. Their lifestyle is composed of driving daddy’s fancy toys and wearing clothes directly out of designer magazines. The Burgers, their wallets overloaded with daddy's money, walk around with their designer labels proudly on display. They have a handful of English phrases memorized to up their cool factor, and pride themselves on being their idea of suave. On the other hand there exists a more prominent group, better known as ‘Bun Kebab’, ‘desi bachay’or ‘Mela Party’. Hanging out of buses (their mode of transport), living with empty wallets, and wearing counterfeit designer brands are all part of their charm.

The Differences:

The Talk:‘Yo man this is wicked!’/ ‘Abbey chalbey!’
It begins with the accent. The swanky American/British phonetics stands awkwardly against the crude local vocabulary. The Bun Kebab, executes his lingo with broken phrases and thinks its very ‘Engleesh’ to string in big vocabulary together. He thinks ‘subtle’, ‘comprehensive’ and ‘exquisite’ are big English words and his tongue inherently rejects it.

The Branding: ‘Dude, I bought this one for five grand, chic eh?’ / ‘Abbey ye meine Zainab (the thrift market where counterfeit clothing is sold) se uthayi 300 mein, anthna?’, Iphones to Blackberries, Cigars to Goldleaf (cigarettes) and etc.
When it comes to fashion, the difference between the groups is rather obvious. On one end, there is the extensive buying power of a designer supporting bureaucrat’s prodigy and on the other, a herd of piracy supporters. The Burger Bachay never think twice before spending huge lumps of money on whatever their heart desires; where the Bun Kebabs for spending too much money. While he wishes he could spend money without thinking twice, his pocket screams for survival. This is because he has to save for ‘doston ke saath ka khapa’ (hangout with friends) for later. Similarly, if the Burger Bachay smokes, it will protect his ‘image.’ He will be buying expensive looking cigars while the Mela will settle for anything that he gets and will never buy anything expensive because ‘bus mein jaib se nikal jayeega” (probably will get stolen in the bus).

The Ride: Shiny Red Corrolla vs W18
The Burger Kid probably received a classic ride as a birthday gift while the Bun Kebab struggles to maintain his dignity by trying to hop off the bus in one piece. Chances are the Burger Kid has plenty cars in his daddy’s garage where as the Mela is saving money to buy the ‘dream bike’, the likes of a Honda CD 70.

The ‘Khapa’: ‘Dinner at Grill tonight?’/’Auqaat dekhi hai apni – chal path anke dhabbay’
Like everything else, the Burger Bachay can easily afford to pay for exorbitant dining. This group treats their friends to exotic dining places and bills straight to dad’s account without a second thought. In stark contrast, the Bun Kebabs asks friends to pool in to pay for a decent meal. A Burger Kid’s birthday gift would be a car or a fancy new gadget, whereas for the Mela it is more likely dining bill for a restaurant they might not typically eat at.

The aforementioned differences are only a few of the major differences between the Burgers and Bun Kebabs. Needless to say, a big chunk of the youth varies between these two extremes. Some rely on the wanna-be status, trying very hard to be accepted by the swanky crowd while some really don’t care how they project themselves. The Burger-Mela rivalry is easily identified with Burgers ignoring the Mela existence, while Mela refuses the Burger the upper hand to the best of his ability. The competition and understood enmity between these two bigger factions is what makes the Pakistani youth so interesting. Aside from the differences of financial status, clothes they wear, or brands they use, it boils down to what ‘class’ they have. In their peculiar manner both have their thing going this underlying rivalry between youth has made for this interesting aspect of Pakistani culture.

Passing out from a fancy private school, advancing onto a fancier college and then winding up in a government university has provided me with an up close and personal experience with the Burgers and the Melas. Somewhere along the way I picked up habits from both the factions. I stand somewhere in the middle, so I guess I can be classified as a ‘Burger-accent-wali-desi-bandi’ (a 'regular girl' with a 'Burger' type accent) - not that I prefer it. I might have subconsciously picked up on the accent, fancy television series and football club fan following like any Burger Kid, but I am always flat broke. I tell my friends to chip in money when we hangout, and will proudly announce I bought a rip off handbag for half the price, true to Bun Kebab style

Music Metamorphosis

Diving right into my relationship with music I think it started somewhere when I was fifteen or fourteen and an album of Westlife’s work would keep playing on and on in the car. My cousins definitely know what I am talking about. I am pretty sure that if you make me sing ‘Fool Again’, ‘Coast to Coast’ or ‘Uptown Girl’ by Westlife right smack in the middle of my sleep – I can sing it. It’s THAT embedded in my subconscious. The examination of Olevel became a witness to many group studies! =D the only buffer was the radio and Jesse McCartney’s Beautiful Soul in the summer of 2005 it was the most overplayed song.

Westlife -Mandy

Then it was college time! It probably now nearly sounds embarrassing but yeah I was strict fan of Simple Plan, Green Day, Roosters, Good Charlotte, Blink182 – this was the start of somewhere at end of 2005 and start of 2006. Punk ruled my life.

Simple Plan - Perfect

Though it was quickly replaced by HardRock by watching too much of Superstar INXS and Superstar Supernova. The competition brought out the worst rocker out in me =D I started listening to Nirvana, Pearl Jam,Metallica, Stone Temple Pilots, Audioslave, Deep Purple and likes of Nickelback.

Stone Temple Pilots - Plush

There was lot of Grunge Music – Creed, Staind (I am sorry but Staind for me still wins the top place), Alter Bridge, Evanescence, P.O.D, System of the down and etc.

Staind - Outside

After lot of head banging and headache I did what nobody does =D I ditched rock and moved to alternative rock or pop rock – Like other in my music club (which would be only be my friend Murtaza and me) who moved to likes of Classic Rock that would be Led Zepplin and Jimi Hendrix’s stuff. Sifting through music which was my past time I came across Lifehouse’s Blind.

Lifehouse - Blind

I felt instantly head over heels in love with that song! I downloaded all their albums. Few of their best work would be ‘You and Me’, ‘Everything’, ‘Take me away’ and ‘Breathing’. My love for Jason Wade (the lead singer for Lifehouse) grew tenfolds when I heard ‘Hanging by the Moment’ – Acoustic version. I dragged Murtaza into my Lifehouse fever. Soon all the playlist was conquered by alternative rock, Goo Goo Dolls, Blue, Bryan Adams (just because I think he’s a legend), Lifehouse, Switchfoot,The Calling, Five for Fighting, etc.

Bryan Adams - Here I am

There was then the weird phase of Indie and Jazz and music which we couldn’t classify anywhere =D it was ruled by Jason Mraz(‘Geek in the Pink’), Howie Day(‘Collide’) and John Mayer.

Jason Mraz - Geek in the pink

The ladies weren’t far behind – Amy Lee, Kelly Clarkson,Dido,Celine Dion (specific songs),Natalie’s Torn, Carrie Underwood were among the ones honored. However at the end of 2007 the bend was Desi and Call’s Bichar ke Bi and Sub Bhulakay top our pod’ chart.

American Idol always proved to be the best trendsetter. First year of university and American Idol was taking me back to the love of rock. My money was on David Cook because he sounded more grunge and had the X-factor and after then next year Kris Allen paved way for country rock.

David Cook - Always be my Baby (Mariah Carey's Week - American Idol Studio Version)

However my music club had disbanded by then and I didn’t find other music crazies – my friend moved onto ‘zenith’ feeling rockstar, The Beatles and Elvis lot. I wasn’t too interested in that so I did what nobody does - I went fishing =D. Yeah, music fishing!

Tv Shows are the best music fishing ground! If you don’t believe me try it yourself! ABC and CWTV shows have massive music following. Shows like Greek, Vampire Diaries, Hellcats and Brother and Sisters have dedicated playlist players too. Whenever I liked any song, thanks to Google and Youtube I would find it. www.tunefnd.com is the best site for this. This self-made practice made me come across a lot of different singers I have never heard off. Ryan Star,Joshua Radin, The Script, Stateless, Jason Walker, Lucy Shwartz, James Morrison and others. Now I would fish and post most of my ‘catches’ on facebook :D – Billboard music just lost its charm for me.


Joshua Radin - Brand New Day

Its 2011 now and no I STILL don’t REALLY don’t like Gaga.

My list of 10 most favorite John Mayer songs! -

Why Georgia Why????? =D *no i am not crazy - this actually is a song*

Lolz I am blogging cause honestly even though its a Saturday night I am home (yeah not much of a life for a twenty-two year old these days), bundled up in a blanket and trying very hard to ignore the stinging in my left arm which is well due to HepB vaccination 4 hours prior- I cant find anything better to do! Anyway so sifting through my music collection I stumbled across John Mayer's discography hidden somewhere in the 'not-recently-used' folders. Its not that I don't listen to this guy but I listen to his stuff when the mood strikes... there is something highly calming about the jazzy electric with smartass lyrics and groovy beat. If you are a John Mayer fan I think you know what I mean. Attending his concert once is on my 'things-to-do-before-I-die' list! Even though he has many great songs I am listing down ten here - my most favorite ones with 1 on the scale being the most liked - by me (ofcourse).

10. Why Georgia?
9. Assassins
8. Slow Dancing in a burning room
7. Your body is a wonderland

6. Half of my heart feat Taylor Swift

5. Perfectly Lonely

4. Stop this train

3. Waiting for the World to change

2.I don't trust myself with loving you (where the light is version)

1.Free Fallin'

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

So I decided to 'study' this year

So 2011 is my graduation year either my classmates don't realize it or nobody really cares. In hopes of becoming 'Engleeeeeeeeesh' NED has converted to Semester System of Education from this year. So now its like 6 interesting teachers instead of 11 counting out the fact that maybe the ratio of 'odd-teacher-good-out' (The only teacher who meant business out of the bunch) didn't really change much. So whats the point?

Since its the last shot and everything and you gotta study to get a decent GPA I thought what the hell lets give it a shot! =D This is how my two days went then:

4th Jan 2011:
8:00 am: Energy level high and bright, hi and hellos to friend, no teacher in sight. Lets-study-Level = 10 (Assuming its a scale of 10 =P)

8:30am: No teacher still in site,Nobody really knows the timetable,blissful chaos! LSL = 10!

VLSI Lab: Met advisor. Instantly jumped to sleep mode routine. LSL = *status unknown*

Operating Systems class: Aayeen chapain!! LSL = 9!

Parallel Processing class: odd teacher ratio strikes! LSL = 9!

5th Jan 2011:
8:30am Computer Communication Networks Class: Have already 'experimented' to study under the assigned teacher last year, struggled in vain. LSL = 3!

Operating System Class: Chapa khana shuroo! Screw LSL level its all about the way you can xerox the board! LSL = *don't really care*

Computer Systems Modeling Class:

After a while:
Sana: Yaar ye kis language mein bol rahay hain? Ye urdu bhi nahi hai na hi english! Ye konsi language hai? =@
Anam: Burhapa =D (sorry didn't mean to be offensive)

Ironically I was the only one who could pick bits of the alien language and interpret it well. LSL = 2!

Parallel Processing: Odd ratio back! LSL = 8!

VLSI Design: the friend circle trio has gone hysterical. too much studying does that to you. weird texts are being exchanged in the class. LSL= *are we still counting?*

CONCLUSION:
1/3 ratio of the 'hit' teacher. (Putting the xerox walay teacher in the hit ratio too)
Forcasted LSL for the year: *Its the last year!- I don't wanna study* =D

All the best for the graduation year guys!