Olpers’ Ramadan August 21, 2009

Ramadan Kareem. =)

Its been 3 years now, and I can’t think of a singly Olper’s ad that put me off. Even though I’m not associated with the company in any way * i dont even drink milk*, I am so proud of the fact that our own local marketeers turn out something utterly fabulous every year.

I shouldnt be getting too philosophical, but *random as I happen to be* for a Pakistani company like Engro, which  grew by selling fertilizers *horrible ads of which have scarred every Pakistani child’s memory* to turn out, successfully capture the market with, and to maintain the consumers’ expectations with their product is just plain fabulous.

Kudos to the Engro Foods Marketing Team. Marketing gets the credit, because as we learnt in our courses, to differentiate something as ordinary as milk from the rest of the competitors is a difficult task *sorry to get all nerdy on you*.  More so when the market Olpers took hold of had been dominated by Milk Pak for so long.

And Bravo yet again team engro for striking such a poignant chord. Even when revisiting the *Islam is a religion of Peace*  spiel, to portray Muslims as professionals speaks volumes *but why only the one woman shown as a professional?*  We’ve all heard talk of the Ummah, but Olpers new spin to it is nothing short of brilliant. Aside from the expected technical excellence and well executed production,  the soundtrack is actually our War Anthem. To put out a point there that:

1) hey look we’re all muslim *arguably the religion with most practitioners today* and,

2) the world has pretty much declared war on us ,

3) we must come together and fight back. At the end of the day we dont have as many differences as we perceive.

4) Genius.

With such a captive audience to put that message out is smart. A bit like cause marketing.

Sit up and watch people, Olpers has a message for you.

Refresh August 20, 2009

It has been a while since I blogged.

Because at some point there was too much happening, with my final year and then the numerous good byes *IBA, Saudi Arabia, Karachi, Friends, Lahore, Islamabad, Family* before I moved to what my friends lovingly call America’s Wasteland.

This is me going on a tangent, but I don’t think that Canada is that crummy. Yeah the job market sucks, but with this economy, tell me where it DOESN’T! Also, it isn’t the best place in the world. Still looking for that little stretch of heaven on Earth last I checked! So anyhow, moved here, looking forward to living with my own family after 4 years. Knowing that it was a risk career wise, *who wants to hire a fresh grad from a foreign country of pretty miserable repute*.

But I guess I am on some sort of track to where I want to be eventually. Studying HRM at York University. If I get done with all my courses this fall, I should be able to the first exam of CHRP (Certificate for Human Resource Professionals). My biggest peeve right now is the fact that there are barely any jobs out there right now. And they all want you to have lots of experience. And there’s already a lot of experienced, recently laid off people out there.

Being an ultra faarigh person and various technologies at hand *blackberry, iTouch, laptop, PCs at work and school* and then this sudden mushrooming in friends’ blogs *note to self, update blogroll* I decided I have really no excuse anymore.

So this time, lets do it right!

rahima academy =D February 21, 2008

its one of those things that everyone’s experienced…something everyone has been serious about…something that everyone SERIOUSLY wants to forget…but the thought of which still brings a smile to our face (probably because we’re glad about the long string of changes we’ve braved and excelled at today!)

for a while…just for the hell of it..and for the joy it brings…

rewind to that kiddie mode…when being 12 was *cool*…at least in my school it was…we got our own locker and felt really special swirling around those combination locks!

elementary : kg-4: the highlight of our lives was recess! our lunchboxes and choosing friends…kiddie cliques and cooties..rock paper scissors (yasmin always won there!)…loving your teachers…working on our science projects…fighting with the librarian to make sure that we got the newest books…hunting for treasures in the library…mrs fernandes..mrs valente…mrs taboy

5-6: the love hate relationship era…love hate ur family, girls, boys,teachers..EVERYTHING…preteens and puberty! my most distinct memory of this…dressing like the rest of my GIRLS…buying exactly the same overalls (black) and dressing alike with red shirts…and then we had the parallel clique which decided to wear blue…hehe…dumb kids we were…oh and getting told off by mrs marcos for chasing abbas around campus…playing basketball (even before kuch kuch hota hai)…seeing friends go thru their first crushes…do u remember sex ed and the strange looks we gave each other after coming back from those segregated classes! hehe…mrs vaz *and the way we threw her a baby shower*..mrs barrett and her resemblance to disney witches! kareem dabbagh and backstreet boys..and sana and divya! hehe..mrs sundar who made math so so enjoyable

7-8: getting together,dancing like freaks and spilling our souls *bonding*…shahrukh khan! (most people cant even understand this weird aspect of my personality..obsession with shahrukh khan…what can i say..a bit of my childhood is still alive in meee..hehe)…hira , yasmin, and sarah..do u remember how we fought about those posters zara got us…hehe…we wouldnt quite be the people we are today if we didnt (pretend to be) mature then! relationships and all the trash they bring…and about how pathetic it can be being in the middle of a relationship! making friends for life =) ….abbas…zeeshan..playing cricket…sneaking in class…cheating! (recall arabic culture and american history and algebra and *sigh* we cheated too much!)..flattering mrs oliveira…making fun of mrs khan and mrs james (she’s such a sweetheart she’s teaching my third brother Haseeb now and still remembers me!)…learning french and feeling sophistiqué!

and now this picture on facebook! life really does come full circle!

spot me if u can!

 

 

 

to abbas and the rest of my schoolhouse friends…from those i met in that trailer in mrs fernandes’ class till the ones i fought with next to the lockers! love u! wouldnt quite be the person i am today without u! and our secrets and memories stay in that group! hehe

hugs

yayy February 19, 2008

yesterday was election day..as i said in the last post..i was pretty disappointed about not being a registered voter…so when i went along with the rest of my family to try out my like at the polling station i was pleasantly surprised at the way things were organized..they had this table set up for people who had problems etc. and they let me vote…yayy…so excited i was

and im even more excited about MQM winning in karachi. was afraid that if anyone else won from here, there would be major riots.

to the observer: elections yesterday were casualty free alhamdulillah we are not terrorists and are doing very well without foreign interference thankuverymuch!

to the PPPP: HAH you didnt win in spite of your tall claims!

to the Musharraf Critics: now THAT is democracy…no rigging in the elections! if there had been rigging, musharaf’s allies would not be voted out and his arch enemies would not win (PML – N)….im very pro musharraf!

i want to vote! February 17, 2008

ever since election year has been confirmed I’ve wanted to vote…see the way i see it, you don’t have the right to criticize the politicians unless you’ve actually owned up as a citizen and voted for the better guy…the only reason why we have so many jaahils sitting in parliament is because unfortunately most of the people who’ve gone out there and voted are jaahil..

the only way you can change anything is by going out there and voting..its a slow and painful process…but if you can read this and you’re a citizen of Pakistan..

go out there and VOTE!

the literacy rate in Pakistan is 53%…and the voter turnout rate in the last elections (according to government statistics) is about 41%…6 out of 10 registered voters do NOT participate towards the political destiny of the country…no wonder the country is in such a dismal state..most people can’t even be bothered to go and elect the smarter candidate!

anyway..i wanted to vote..so i filled out all the registration forms well in advance last summer..and sent them to the local electoral rolls…come election week and I’m waiting for my election card to arrive…it didn’t till Friday so i checked online to see whether or not I’m on the electoral rolls..and sadness set in when my name wasn’t there!

all that effort gone to waste…they didn’t register me =(…so now i can’t vote…in spite of wanting to

they say that if you’ve got an NIC (national identity card) and turn up at the polling station on the day of elections then you can vote…I’ll try doing that tomorrow..lets see if that lets me vote

elections are tomorrow..

otherwise I’m still upset =’(

and no HR people are not stupid!

think rewind January 30, 2008

so since i stopped blogging..i have…

interned at a great place! Shell Gas (LPG) Pakistan Ltd…where i got to intern in the HR department under the coolest boss (Raza Jamali) and the best coworker (Sabika) and the most enriching (some would say boring..but i enjoyed it a LOT) task…i revised the HR policies of the organization…most people dont get around to doing this task till they retire…but i was lucky enough to do it in my first job =)

required lotsa long hours…which meant lots of madness at work…

the bottom line is, if u get to work there ever… DO IT! it’ll be lots of fun…it may sound funny but i actually looked forward to going to work…office talk and random trips to ebco with sabika and the girls were the bomb! and the coffeee..uff..the sexiest coffee on earth!

and it was hilarious the way sabika always managed to scream at someone or do something naive and rj kitni take karta thaa…hehe

good memories =)

and then it was the beginning of the end..quite literally! my last year at IBA where i have spent 4 years of my life..spending even weekends with the same people, the same hospital green walls, the same 6 benches that we used to fight about and then those pillars…those ever changing,but never green lawns…

yes i will miss IBA

it didnt quite sink in till January when my testimonial chart went up…before that we were too busy handling evening classes..trying to get used to never being at home and still studying

but now that all of us have gotten used to skipping classes (even the best of us) and playing cards…or playing ludo…or even KINGs…i think im going to miss this place very much

so if a get very sentimental…its oki =)…i have good reason to!

thinking revival January 26, 2008

you know what..after a very very very long time i decided to check up on my blog…considering that i’ve managed to attract so many hits i think i should start blogging again..

after all..i havent stopped thinking =)

so from now on…i will post..maybe not every day…cz the truth is that i dont have the time…but yes i will blog =)

and who ever’s been reading my blog..thank u for hanging by =)

Testing moblog October 9, 2007

Why not revive my blog thru email. After all thats where i do most of my stuff now.

So test is what

sid’s tag June 10, 2007

something that i shdve read and done a log time ago!

three things that scare me:

1. being alone
2. being helpless…that is, not being able to be myself, losing control of my body
3. knowing too much

three people who make me laugh:

everything makes me laugh…but since the tag asks for three people specifically..the list is actually endless

1. ammar *i can always count on him to cheer me up*
2. sarah *suddenly we become giggly teens*
3. murtaxa *all that innuendo*

three things i love:

i know its vague of me…but thats how i’d put it..theres so much to each one!

1. life
2. friends
3. places

three things i hate:

1. people not realizing their potential
2. people not being able to mind their own business
3. hypocricy..in thought and action

three things i don’t understand:

1. why do things happen the way they do
2. why do people act the way they do…why do they treat themselves so badly and make life miserable
3. why arent people honest to themselves

three things on my desk:
too many things here

1. folder
2. cell phone
3. post its

three things i am doing right now:

1. talking to rafiqa online
2. filling out this tag
3. txting ammar

three things i want to do before i die:

1. make sure me and people around me are happy *naive, but thats been my dream forever*
2. make a difference in someone’s life (in a big way)
3. live my life to the max without causing too much collateral damage

three things i can do:

1. be creative
2. cook
3. connect with people *in some bizarre way*

three things you should listen to:

1. music *all kinds*
2. yourself
3. perspectives

three things i’d like to learn:

1. latin
2. salsa
3. how to draw *still cant make a circle*

three favourite foods:

1. ammi’s
2. mediterranean
3. bakery goods and desi junk

three beverages i drink regularly:

1. water
2. water
3. water

three tv shows/books i read as a child:

1. enid blyton
2. the smurfs
3. sesame street

three people i would like to tag:

1. sarah
2. yasir
3. mariam

although all my friends blogs seem to be dead!!

life etc June 10, 2007

why are there limits…u know the thought crosses my mind every calculus class…sucha boring course that is, but apparently i have to get thru it to get my BBA…and the irony of it is that we have just one HR course in the whole bachelors program…as if i give a crap about why a line is curved the way it is and whats stupid function if applied would result in such a line…if it were upto me , i’d just pick up a piece of paper and draw squiggles…why complicate life needlessly

*sigh* mathematicians needa life…all that intelligence wasted away on the functions of a particular curve..yeesh

im still internship less..purely becasue i applied to a cpl of top notch companies and assumed that merit would reign supreme..so much for idealism..all that u really need for a job in pakistan is one good contact!

the heat is unnerving…and im lucky enough to have electricity most times of the day…my heart goes out to the poor souls who dont even have an operational fan in their homes..no thanks to the hyperefficiency of KESC…

budget’s out…and OUT  it really is…see a lot of idealism there…i guess the GOP prefers to ignore the corruption that makes every strategy void! the one thing they should really zero rate is power generating machinery…and they should lather a 200% duty on all the luxuries…cell phones, cars, air conditioners….if u want em, either pay the duty or buy local! or else sell your nation to the dogs…you know people whine all the time about what they are to do to get pakistan about this rut….how about u stand up for whats right! its infantile logic really…sach bolo! be true to yourself and be honest in whatever you do! defend the pakistani economy by buying local! why expect the government to do everything…try paying for your electricity bills instead of taking it illegally!

i saw for the first time in my life, riots, rights in the heart of elitist karachi *schon circle*…just because of electricity outages…and politicians have the nerve to harp about prosperity…

im getting too worked up. so fullstop to that.

im going to be more regular in my blogs now…purely because i need some sort of catharsis every so often. im all the more glad if reading my catharsis brings relief to others!