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.

past … present … focus on FUTURE December 31, 2006

since the year is just about over…i thought i’d sit down and list all the *significant* bits of the year gone by

- conference *and the mohatta palace evening i missed*
- world social forum *being event managers and manganhaar and all the street plays and         WOHOOO for the activists and all the europeans we met sitting in our office*
- afshan left *sniff sniff….hate to admit it but i miss herrrr…and her craziness…our                   craziness to be precise*
- got to spend almost 3 weeks in lahore after the LONGEST time *rebonded w/ taz, and           went crazy in the rain*
- elections *and the blue-themed jam session and the batch unity to envy*
- seminar (s) *and the one with the cool sri lankan guy*
- the play that was ready in week and u might see on tv in the days to come
- the year with my best..and worst GPAs yet
- the year when i was made manager of the social sciences society

hope the year to come has in store:
- a better GPA
- our play winning the whole competition
- changed opinions of people who criticize the social sciences society
- a better seminar arranged by yours truly
- an HR internship at P&G
- IBA offering HR electives
- me losing weight!
- a car for me!!
- the red 5300 i have a crush on

christmas is long over..so the wishlist and the whole resolution thing sounds pretty drab…guess its about time i start acting my age and take responsibility for my life *screws up nose*

its cold here

and i’ve just realized how random im being

eid mubarak people…and happy new year…hope u and your loved ones have a cherished time!

*smile*

news December 24, 2006

okie i promise im doing something more productive next..news!

moving on… December 19, 2006

in all my enthusiasm, i thought i’d never ditch my blog

well im not ditching my blog…just changing homes…moving to something thats easier to handle…

to the few people who read my blog on blogger…and even those who never acknowledged it: i’ve moved my blog to http://abeeerr.wordpress.com/

i would love to make a post about how blogspot is actually a pain to manage in pakistan cz of government policies to try and censor people’s views…and id also want to rant about how these bypass serv ers arent really letting us post comments…and how beta blogger really really sucks, and should never become mainstream and stay beta

but i’d rather save my breath and just move to a server which is much more cooperative

it let me move all my old posts and comments effortlessly …and its a cuter theme…which of course i intend to play around with real soon *giggles*

and its easier to manage pictures…but i cant however still manage to make sense of the buttons on my dashboard…give me a couple of days and i’ll figure it out

farewell blogger..u were good…but sumone else was better

BBA 5 October 12, 2006

i know i promised tht my next blog would be about university but cant really bring myself to type about grades currently..i guess im going to go over each course and tell u my experience of
it

Business and Society: we call it bullshit…not only cz of the initials but becuase thts exactly what we study…how can someone expect u to LEARN ethics and morals ina 5 month course by perusing of utilitarian theory and identifying the TYPES of justice…i was actually looking fwd to the course cz i thought it would be interesting debates, but hell to expect intellectual debates at iba is expecting too much…the poor thing tries so hard to get us talking but no one is really interested in her take on technology and what Islam says about it and all * most probably because we’re too busy reading for DE *

in retrospect, B&s actually sounds appealing on my blog

Development Economics: one of my favorite courses at IBA so far…there was International Relations which i loved and then theres this…a course with a conscience…one tht discusses current events and creates conciousness about how we can actally work for public welfare…my utmost RESPECT to the Course Instructor Dr. Mahnaz Fatima…we had heard so much about how she was a *hitler*…but 2 months with her have completely disproved the myth…she is an intelligent woman whom i am in AWE of…she teaches something she completely believes in..and i love the issues we discuss..poverty, inequity,welfare…reall life issues…not just crap tht focuses on increasing shareholder equity

Statistical Inference: people complete their BBAs and still dont manage to pass this course…the dreaded SI…luckily enough , we have a very *dheela* teacher for this one…the first time we saw him he had his shirt untucked n looked like he’d come straight from bed…old, sleepy, slow…and he teaches SI by turning his back to the class and writing definitions…hehe…i havent written much in his class…and dont remember paying attention at any point in time…SI involves reading fiction, playing on other people’s cell phones…gossiping n teasing…anything but doing MATH hehe…and yes af , since its a math course, and no meenai, i’ve got bad grades…manhoos guy, promised to give ur formulas so we went into the hourly w/out memorizing them…and in spite of knowing what to do i couldnt do anything cz i didnt have any formulas…:S…so i made up some hoping tht he’d buy it ..unfortunately he didnt…hehe..

sighs

talking to ammi abhi..not in the mood to type more! to be continueddd

oh and please..ppl who stop by…i want feedback!!

ramadan, and debates, and controversy…so wht else is new =P October 11, 2006

my internet wasn’t really working, so ur going to witness a detaiiiillleeedd blog now..hehe pehle pc wasn’t working, then my internet wasn’t working, and now that both of them are working, my mouse refuses to work…what a life…tabbing and alt tabbing through windows..*shrugs*

what’ve i been upto since my last blog….lots!

friday my phupis *father’s sisters* came over and stayed all the way till sunday…so i was up and running all day on friday…helping with iftaar, and dinner and continuous kitchen cleanup…by the end of that day i was fit to drop asleep…i was that tired…but hell, switched on the radio on my cutesy cell n listened in *w/ my cousin faryal* to mani and azfar go onnn and onnn about the cricket scandal of shahryar khan resigning…the way the PCB behaves, you’d think it’s the girl scouts…having little cat fights behind the scenes, and looking all pretty upfront…hehe…khair,i like shahryar khan…he was a smoooth talker…and younis khan blunt…so i guess they were bound to have a fallout *yes i have opinions about all cricketers *

saturday,i was supposed to stay over at university and work on *brand repositioning* seminar ke invitation cards…almost dozed off on the PC around 3, looking at images…got kicked out of the ooppar wala lab cz apparently they close at 1 during ramadan *curses*…but thank god the library lab has air conditioners now *yayyy afshan *…got home, and found out that we had guests coming over in addition to those which had spent the nite there…and since my phupis were acting like guests, i had to work on iftaar…making pakoras n fruit salad

oh and i had a little spat w/ my phupi…she *surprise surprise* started criticising my mother for choosing to pursue a career when her kids were 2-3 years old…according to her, its *inhuman* to do that to your children ,and that since my mother was a *career-woman* my siblings and i have underdeveloped, incomplete personalities….quite obviously, i was fit to blow at that point…hell, my phupi’s working, and has been working since her own girl was 3…and although i shouldnt be saying this, but just because her own child has problems doesn’t mean that the children of all working mothers are just as *incomplete*…

i think this working mothers debate is quite subjective…i for one, never felt tht it was wrong for my mother to be pursuing a life of her own…she was there when we left home, and she was there when we came back from school…she did the cooking for us, and helped us with our homework and was our best friend…we used to leave home, after she fed us breakfast every morning..how many children of housewives can make a claim to that?? we could sit down watch movies with her and discuss what happened at school and it would always be OKAY….

i for one, took pride in the fact that my mother was not as unaware of her surroundings as i saw my friends’ mothers to be…she had a mind of her own, and would actually have engaging debates about things other than the typical aunty *sale and joota and jora* talk…she was tech savvy, n she wouldnt cringe if u said the word gay in front of her

i guess at the end of the day, its about quality time…i’ve seen a lot of children who had stay at home mothers…and i dont see any difference between them and myself…except sometimes i know i can take pride in my mother whereas my friends would be shy to admit that their mothers aren’t exactly living in this century…it has contributed to my personality immensely…my parents let me grow in whatever direction i pleased…i didnt have an overbearing mother trying to live her dreams through me…

*sighs* i cant thank God enough for giving me my parents

anyway..moving on…caught up with my sexy khala over the weekend…humari crazy n intimate talks hehe…n i love her for reading thru my blog when ppl like ammmaarr *glares at ammar* were being as cynical as ever! taz u owe me a testimonial

afshan…love u babes, have to catch up w/ u one of these days…call u up tomorrow around sehri…hopefully my phoneline *which is currently dead* will be fixed by then…the reaction on nabeel’s face when he realized that our phone is dead was GOLD..he picked up the phone and said, “its not working”…fumbled with the wires and all and was flabbergasted at it still not functioning when i pointed out tht “KARACHI hai…2 saal ho gaye line kharab huay we…ab toh hona hi tha..hehe!!”

also had loooonnnggg cherished talks w/ hira n al fatah on monday nite…hehe..love u guys!

went shopping yesterday…had to get accessories for my eid outfit…oh and got a great chappal for cK *mwah*…hehe..and discovered the only hallmark store in karachi…now i know where to get my cards from..:P..its a pity i lost the habit because i don’t like the cards in Pakistan….unless its *the card company*…guess hallmark will help me pick up the habit from where i left off

*long blog eh?*

ho hum..what else have i been doing…working on the invitation cards for the seminar and they’re real *hawt*..ammar and i had a our share of fights about how it should be all out creative *with ammar wanting extreme abstract concepts* and then jumped in shahzeb *seminar manager* saying “corporate touch daalo”…lmao…then we got juniors to intervene n help resolve our dispute…hail Bushra and Fariya!

finished it today…*look here , n give me feedback*…we think its turned out pretty well..n i got my way *nyah nyah* hehe

i guess this is long enough for today..i’ll always have stuff to talk about…:P

and yes af…the next blog will be about university! grades, teachers, just cz i lurve uuuuu..hehe

oh and anonymous person claiming to be known to me…please do tell me who you are…i have such few people reading my blog anywayyy

backtrack history! October 5, 2006

hehe…interesting forward i got..thought i might share it with my readers *none yet so far :S*

The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be. Here are some facts about the 1500s:

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all the babies . By then, the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying: "Don't throw the baby out with the Bath water."

Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof When it rained it became slippery, and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying: "It's raining cats and dogs !"

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house.. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.

The floor was dirt..Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying: "Dirt poor". The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on the floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. So a piece of wood was placed in the entranceway to hold the thresh. Hence the saying: "a thresh hold."

(Getting quite an education, aren't you?)

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme: "Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old".

Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could: "bring home the bacon". They would then cut off a little bacon to share with guests and would all sit around and: "chew the fat."

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or: "the upper crust."

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would
take them for dead, and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family wou ld gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of: "holding a wake."

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift.) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be: "saved by the bell" or was considered to be a .. "dead ringer".

And that's the truth...Now, whoever said History was boring ! ! !

already October 5, 2006

the blog’s two days old, and im already slacking?

naah, was just busy with the hourlies…*hour long, monthly exams, for those of u uninformed as yet*

n if i start writing about them, i’d sure it would depress me further, and would prove to be no asset to u anyway…

*contemplates, writing a blog on that tmw*

so here’s the *scene* October 5, 2006

those of you who know me understand my relationship with words…my need to put everything i think out in the open…be it orally or like this…im a living, kicking text freak *making ample use of my free sms facility, having conversations via texts through the night, n sometimes even in class *

can spend all day on msn having mundane IM conversations…and ive been told more than once that i would have died if the phoine werent invented

im wht u would conventionally call a chatterbox

but im happy with the title :p

the reason why im starting blogging is cz i miss all my friends..n i think tht i should give them a place to come in and read about the happenings of my life…want to share it with them…*particularly my graduating class*…:)…and yes, a few unwanted people are bound to come across this..lets hope they enjoy it too hehe

life can get busy, and im not the the most efficient of people, so my blogs may be a lil delayed…but ive pledged to make this work…so if i stop blogging, jst bear it out..i will be back!

currently listening to andholan…an addictively good track by the mekaal hassan band…to my foreign friends click on the word andholan n u’ll be rerouted

…i love the interplay between the flute and the guitar…makes me go crazy..hehe…dont worry about the lyrics…jst say tht *im restless without u* in different ways…its a dialect of urdu, typically used in desi music…i think they call it porbi…correct me if im wrong…anyway…great track, primarily instrumental, so u guys should enjoy it!

spent most of today with my friend sibtain naqvi..he’s a year ahead of me in uni..n one of the most soothingly genuinely intellectual people i have met in my life…not one of those over the top indulgent art critics…but grounded…as grounded as they get…hell, if i had the kind of family background i would be arrogant as hell..n yet he has this down to earth quality…and we talk seamlessly…

and i miss home more and more everyday, as eid grows closer…*sighs*…the sights and sounds of spending eid in a vibrant, relative infested place like karachi may be appealing to many…but to spend eid without ur parents n ur family is EXCRUCIATING

*sighs* more about that tomorrow

an experiment i could get used to September 29, 2006

i keep hearing people going on and on about their blogs

and considering how much i have to say about anything and everything going on in the world..i guess i can give it a shot too