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!

The year 2010 – the year of?

2010 was as they say the most difficult of all years for Pakistan since 1995. Flood, civil unrest,too many holidays, no satisfaction with government, recession and way too much chaos. 2010 was indeed hard on for all the Pakistanis. I was just picking out on few trends and news that were special or prevalent in the year 2010 on international front(No not Obama's Health Bill). Here is a list of those:

• The year of trashy dance track and squeaky singers!

Beyond its 315 million (yes, million) views on YouTube and worldwide multi-platinum status, 'Bad Romance' instantly became a hit. Rihanna’s Rude Boy wasn’t far off and interestingly so were the Munnni and Sheila with both trying to steal each other’s thunder. To top this all off with the squeaky notes of Justin Beiber (who I hate with all my being) the music of 2010 varied from trashy to major trashy to unbearable.

• Year of scandalous cricket
Cricket was definitely not far behind with spot fixing allegations destroying whatever grace was left of Pakistani cricket. Do we stand a chance for 2011 worldcup when we can’t even announce a squad. With pacers missing, the batting order a mess, wicket keepers running literally to other countries for refuge, no definite opening pair – Pakistan’s cricket was and still is all in shambles. On the international front ‘from ashes to ashes and dust to dust’ has taken a whole new meaning.

• The year of Red Lipstick Trend
Red is the color of power. The 82nd academy award paved the way for the red lip color trend. Styling it out in their hot diva looks most of the artists are showing it off. Too bad not too many people can pull this look off. Number 1 red shade goes to M.A.C Ruby Woo.

• The year of Spanish football!
Spain came back with a big WOW to conquer the FIFA worldcup 2010, after stamping their names all over the Euro Cup trophy two years prior. The men in red with their much laid back style of passing, chipping and scoring hardly a goal in every match cruised their way to victory. Although with star like little Messi argentina was people favorite, although it failed to deliver. German with amazing duo of Klose and the new star Mueller were second favorites. With Neitherland’s game was top class. Still cheers to the Spanish Men, you can’t deny Xavi, Torres, Innesita’s presence. Waka Waka was on everybody's subconscious although I am pretty nobody got a word of it.

• The year of Animation!
This year there was big line of 3D movie and animations with Avatar being the highest grossing movie ever. The line of 3D continued down with Shrek4, Step Up 3, ToyStory 3 and Alice and the Wonderland.

• The year of Apple
On 7th Jan 2010 apple introduced IPAD which instantly took the book reader’s interest by snap. On 7th Jun 2010 right after exact five month they brought out the iphone4 which is safe as to say took the world by snap.

• The year of Vampires!
yes exactly those blood sucking creatures! Although the popularity of vampires is picking up since 2007 with Stephanie Myer’s Twilight series and fan following on the un-achievable ‘Edward’, it was rounded up with the Vampire Diaries – a CW Television show. Though the show started in 2009 its second season sky-rocketed the viewership – can’t blame the ladies if you have Ian – smokin’-Sommerholder aka ‘Damon Salvatore’ on the show.

A lot of other stuff did happen in 2010. Lets see what 2011 brings...