tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66572407315422706192024-02-02T13:54:29.707+01:00Jellyman and my thoughtsadeelansarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999449242507099053noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6657240731542270619.post-78948999735048068452017-03-02T16:49:00.003+01:002017-03-02T17:26:25.810+01:0010 songs from Pakistan that need new music videos<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">10 songs from Pakistan that need to be relaunched with their own new music videos</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Let's face it, Pakistani music is </span>awesome<span style="font-weight: normal;"> and if you were born in the 80's or 90's you've grown up watching some amazing songs go big on PTV and STN.</span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><i>Note: Some of these songs are also part of my write up on <a href="http://jellymansthoughts.blogspot.de/2012/12/90s-defining-songs-of-pakistan.html">90's defining songs of Pakistan</a> - give that a read as well.</i></span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Here's my selection of the top 10 songs from the 80's, 90's and 2000's that were amazing hits and I would love to see them again on TV but with each one of them having a fresh new video to them! </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">10. Disco Dewane - Nazia and Zohaib (1981)</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This was one of the biggest exports of Pakistani <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=rSQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT69">music at the time</a> and was also hailed as a fresh change in the way people considered the approach to music within the sub-continent. The song was also part of the Lollywood film "<a href="https://youtu.be/Y5KbYaEJTsA">Sangdil</a>" starring Barbara Sherif and Nadeem. Overtime, there were other versions made of the song, the most recent one being done for <a href="https://www.quora.com/Which-of-these-versions-is-better-Disco-Deewane-1982-version-Disco-Deewane-1996-version-or-Disco-Deewane-2012-version">Student of the Year (2012)</a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The original song is still as fresh today as it was on its release back in 1981 and I think it should therefore make the cut for a new video shoot!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">09. Babia - Sajjad Ali (1993)</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Up front, I'll agree the song was a <i>"tribute to"</i> (or let's say was <i>inspired by) </i>the original song <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjQ-5jP97fSAhUqIJoKHY7uCigQyCkIHTAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dv9OQOkIo24U&usg=AFQjCNHgzxgDQf0KLayKOn_aRB0-3a8XTg&sig2=GjT6m63s1MOax0-1fA7ixg">Didi by Cheb Khaled </a>released two years earlier in 1991. However, that doesn't change the fact that it was a huge hit in Pakistan! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I had the chance of meeting Sajjad Ali back in 2011 with a couple of friends and one of my friends referred to the song as the "song where you're (Sajjad Ali) dancing in joggers" and everyone knew the reference. The song was hip, upbeat and something you could definitely dance to. Sajjad Ali was able to resonate with a younger audience thanks to the album Babia 93! I think it's time we saw some new sneakers dancing to this song, what do you think? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">08. Mr. Fraudiay - Awaz (1996)</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As one of the most epic videos ever developed in the pop music history of Pakistan, Mr. Faudiay has to be at the top or at least close to that. So, if that is the case, why do I suggest that we need to make a new video for this song - well for the simple reason that the message is still apt for the corrupt leaders of today and updating the notorious Mr. Fraudiay in a more political setting can add new meaning and dimension to the video. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">07. Hai Jazba Junoon - Junoon (1996)</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Let's face it, us Pakistanis had our hearts broken when we lost the quarter finals against India, in the Cricket World Cup 1996, but perhaps the only thing that got us through those days was this amazing song of hope and courage by Junoon! You can still hear that song being played at matches around the world and keeps you motivated! The best thing about the song was that it wasn't trying to be pompous by saying we'll beat everyone but but that we'd give it our best shot! I think we need that kind of spirit again today and hence this song needs a revitalized video to be made!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">(<i>Note: I'm not sure if the below is the actual video during the world cup - but this was the closest I could find</i>) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">06. Billo De Ghar - Abrar Ul Haq (1995)</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">From Teaching to philanthropy and from politics to being a huge pop and folk icon of the music industry in Pakistan, Abrar has done it all! You could be from any part of Pakistan, but truth be told, you also wanted to know how to get to Billo's house and if Abrar even found his way to it or not?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br />05. Patang Baaz Sajna (Bo Kaata) - Fariha Pervez (1996)</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Fariha Pervez always had a great voice and she was popular as a co-host on the children's show "Aangan Aangan Tary" and appeared a couple of times on "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ainak_Wala_Jin">Ainak wala Jin</a>" - but her shot to stardom came from the launch of her single Patang Baaz Sajna from her debut album <a href="https://farihapervez.net/audio/nice-naughty-first-album">Nice & Naughty</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In days when basant was a relevant thing in Lahore (and most of Punjab) - this song was being blasted from the roof tops of every house and apartment building. Despite no more basant celebrations, I think this song has potential to be revamped with a new video!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">04. Aadat - Jal (2002)</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This was the song that launched the careers of not just <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atif_Aslam">Atif Aslam</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goher_Mumtaz">Gohar Mumtaz</a> but later also <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farhan_Saeed">Farhan Saeed</a> (who did his own rendition of the song, when he was asked by Gohar to replace Atif as the lead vocalist for the band <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jal_(band)">Jal</a>).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I would also add that this is perhaps the first song to go viral in Pakistan not through mainstream media but via the internet. The song was a hit way before the video was released, with the younger generation already having heard the song in underground concerts across Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad. Almost three years after the song itself had become a hit and the original members had broken up, the video was launched to a lukewarm response, not because of the song, but because of the video itself. The song may have died in popularity now but I believe such an iconic song deserves a better video then what we were offered. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">03. Jaago - Jazba (1992)</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A true definition of a one-hit wonder band would be Jazba. They came with a song that shook the viewers and the imagery within the video was distressing and at times scary, mostly because it was real. You could watch that video today and still relate to it, perhaps more now then before! The song Jaago was released as a single first and the band came out with a self titled album later in <a href="http://patari.pk/home/artist/Jazba">1996</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">02. Purani Jeans aur Guitar - Ali Haider (1993)</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This was a song that became and an instant hit with the youth when it was launched. It summed up growing up in Pakistan and the different events we, as the Generation X and Generation Y would go through or would have already gone through. I know for a fact that it even made my mom and dad smile, so it must have connected with them as well. Every live show on PTV or STN that could get Ali Haider in the studios, made sure that they made him sing the song to the live audience, who obviously sang along!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">01. Dil Dil Pakistan - Vital Signs (1989)</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Be honest, you started singing the name of the song instead of just reading it right? In my humble opinion, this is perhaps the biggest song in the history of music in Pakistan! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The late and respected <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junaid_Jamshed">Junaid Jamshed </a>along with the members of the original <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vital_Signs_(band)">Vital Signs </a>band recorded this song a little before 1989, when it was officially part of their first album called <i>Vital Signs 1. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The band gave to the nation an anthem of hope and unity. There wasn't a talent show within the country or abroad that didn't have this song blasting away. It's as iconic as the band themselves who were probably the pioneers of boy bands in Pakistan. This song deserves to have a new video made of it, just out sheer emotional value alone!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Honorary mentions</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://youtu.be/JiJ2doiJLVQ">Pehlay to kabhi kabhi gham tha</a> - Rahim Shah (1999)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://youtu.be/id1lluiM5go">Mera Pyar</a> - Amir Zaki (1995)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://youtu.be/-V70bZV1HoI">Dekha na tha</a> - Alamgir (1989)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://youtu.be/TNGGJN7-sT0">Dil mein tum</a> - Bunny (1991)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Do you agree or disagree with the list? Leave a comment below and let me know. </span><span style="color: red; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Also don't forget to share</span></h4>
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adeelansarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999449242507099053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6657240731542270619.post-56308411588614180222016-06-02T17:31:00.000+02:002017-02-28T16:11:56.268+01:007 Things we tell ourselves in our thirties<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>I will confess - I am guilt of point number 7!</b></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>1. “I can have a six pack in no time, if I wanted to”</b></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif;">I’ve been telling myself that since I was in my twenties. If you really want to make it happen, than do it first and talk about it later.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>2. “I’ll fix it tomorrow”</b></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif;">This is a phenomenon most commonly observed in the married thirty something male. If procrastination was a person, the 30year old male would be his best buddy, only problem would be that we’d both be too lazy to connect with one another. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>3. “I’m too old for this”</b></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif;">Entering the thirties, we either thing we’re too young or too old – fact of the matter is being old is a state of mind and by the time you’re in your mid-thirties, some of us feel we’ve done it all and seen everything. That’s probably the worst state to be in. Find a hobby, get a pet or best yet get married and have a family, whatever you decide just make sure you’re not old until you’re actually old! And let’s face it, only Danny Glover should be the one to complain about getting old, even if he was in his thirties.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>4. “I’ll just stay up late to finish the project”</b></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif;">Hmm, didn’t happen in our college days, won’t happen in our mid 30 days! If you have kids, your late night starts at 9:30pm and not the usual after midnight. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>5. “Of course I can party with the 20 year olds”</b></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif;">NO! We can't! Do you even hear yourself when you say stuff like that? Think back to when you actually <i>were </i>20, the days and nights were a blur and going out or hanging out with friends started after 10pm. In your thirties, you’re wondering if you’ll be home by 10 so you can iron your shirt and go to bed early and have a fresh start in the morning.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>6. “When I get married I’ll be the King of my castle”</b></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif;">Hahahaha. I love your sense of humor. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlTSeTBI_zNE2AjJlp4D13RnxIfK6Xgx98vBnYI3Ksz8YZDewtKdZKrnJkdVA5gZe7N7ghvJI0AI4_b0Q4Ka9AnFneCKYaBXjzMBGpzPYF15f9mqtAvMtm9j3S5IOB-KZIvpkZeLKVuLsV/s1600/06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlTSeTBI_zNE2AjJlp4D13RnxIfK6Xgx98vBnYI3Ksz8YZDewtKdZKrnJkdVA5gZe7N7ghvJI0AI4_b0Q4Ka9AnFneCKYaBXjzMBGpzPYF15f9mqtAvMtm9j3S5IOB-KZIvpkZeLKVuLsV/s400/06.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>7. “I could still pass off as a college student”</b></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif;">Shahrukh Khan couldn’t do it in “Main hoon na?” – OK so maybe he could, but that’s just the movies, in real life things are quite different!</span></div>
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adeelansarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999449242507099053noreply@blogger.com0Lahore, Pakistan31.55460609999999 74.35715809999999231.121292099999991 73.711711099999988 31.98792009999999 75.0026051tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6657240731542270619.post-25884371325889451752016-05-31T11:21:00.000+02:002016-05-31T11:21:35.961+02:00Digital Killed the Video Star<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQoehgIogSUeuE56V-khY8duPE5fjiawBfd9PEtcFl8noWuuhQHlib6iaWpXODJFE7hiMWv-Cy-8JJJH7QuQBwgm1kKUxhIAbCghI48fABWu_xKDjJUtBhugoi9OsmTBHo0Tww8NnPSKRp/s1600/Picture1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQoehgIogSUeuE56V-khY8duPE5fjiawBfd9PEtcFl8noWuuhQHlib6iaWpXODJFE7hiMWv-Cy-8JJJH7QuQBwgm1kKUxhIAbCghI48fABWu_xKDjJUtBhugoi9OsmTBHo0Tww8NnPSKRp/s400/Picture1.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Digital is changing the definition of celebrities and as
marketers, we should try to keep up with the latest fads and icons.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Back in 2014 the YouTube sensation “Grumpy Cat” was reported
to have earned close to USD100 million dollars<a href="file:///C:/Users/ansari/Documents/Articles/Digital%20Killed%20the%20Video%20Star.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
through endorsements and merchandizing in less than 2 years. Now, although her
owner Tabatha Bundesen refuted the figure, she did agreed that the popularity
was able to help her quit her waitressing job and quickly capitalize on Grumpy
Cat’s mammoth success. If the figures are true than on a yearly basis, Grumpy
Cat may potentially be earning more than some of the biggest Hollywood and
Bollywood stars even in 2015 as seen below.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In other news, the new age of influencers may not
necessarily be your typical Hollywood ‘A’ grade celebrities, at least not for the
generation Z<a href="file:///C:/Users/ansari/Documents/Articles/Digital%20Killed%20the%20Video%20Star.docx#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
consumer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In a study conducted by Variety magazine based on the “Q
score” that measures influence, the top 10 YouTube stars with the most
subscribers were compared to the top 10 celebrities from Hollywood amongst teens
in America and the results were quite surprising. Only two Hollywood
celebrities, namely Bruno Mars and Taylor Swift made it into the top ten but
below the top five spots (Bruno @ 7 and Swift @8)<a href="file:///C:/Users/ansari/Documents/Articles/Digital%20Killed%20the%20Video%20Star.docx#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>.
The top three ranked were actually video gamers namely KSI, PewDiePie and
VanossGaming. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Implication for advertising and spending<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">These celebrities are able to influence the next generation
of consumers today and they’re probably doing it in that part of the media
world which still eludes many of us – i.e. digital! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In a recent report by New York Times, the digital ad
spending done globally will surpass that of mainstream TV by the end of 2017<a href="file:///C:/Users/ansari/Documents/Articles/Digital%20Killed%20the%20Video%20Star.docx#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So with the rise of digital stars and digital ad spends, the
landscape of advertising might just have to change. We need to start
considering how the consumer engages with advertising on digital. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">For instance, if the consumer is planning to search for content
related to these celebrities, as a marketer you need to ensure that your brand
is somehow there, either through banners, product placement in their videos,
pre-roll ads, Search engine marketing, etc. But whatever you choose, make sure
it’s engaging and can captivate the viewer faster than you would expect on TV,
because the challenge becomes tougher on the digital medium where the
opportunity to skip is higher and attention spans are shorter<a href="file:///C:/Users/ansari/Documents/Articles/Digital%20Killed%20the%20Video%20Star.docx#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Studies being done on how digital advertising impacts brand
building measures vs. TV advertising is a source of hot debate across the world
currently and rightly so, because each dollar spent on any form of media needs
to have a decent return. A study conducted by Michaela Draganska, Wesley R
Hartmann and Gena Stanglein from Standord University indicated that ads run on
both mediums (digital or TV) perform at par with one another<a href="file:///C:/Users/ansari/Documents/Articles/Digital%20Killed%20the%20Video%20Star.docx#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">[6]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>,
so it’s now the choice of the marketer to decide where their audience is and
how they could engage with them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Next generation of communication<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In today’s digitally savvy world, where attention spans are
going down (19% of people stop watching an online video within the first 10secs
of the content<a href="file:///C:/Users/ansari/Documents/Articles/Digital%20Killed%20the%20Video%20Star.docx#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">[7]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>)
and where the average consumer is exposed to more advertising stimuli than ever
before, we must ensure our brand message has some form of retention. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">On digital the buzz words spoken by all are “Make it Viral”,
but as most of us know, this is easier said than done. Also it’s not always the
only option. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">However, in case you want something viral, then to
understand what content has the potential of going viral, we must first
understand what viral is and the simple answer to that is given by Adam
Mordecai in the below chart.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYxH_WWMkrdmbHyduIfphrkIN-1dVJ5gWNmgt7-I4dtTSg_F20P_aKv6dqsUvn9e_ZtCuRRZCgI0ceFdS5ecA7Oc30e-6SJKlG4jsMsBgAQngOud8wr7uem5TjHggUJQc5xP19D_9zHra5/s1600/grid+-+viral.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYxH_WWMkrdmbHyduIfphrkIN-1dVJ5gWNmgt7-I4dtTSg_F20P_aKv6dqsUvn9e_ZtCuRRZCgI0ceFdS5ecA7Oc30e-6SJKlG4jsMsBgAQngOud8wr7uem5TjHggUJQc5xP19D_9zHra5/s400/grid+-+viral.png" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Figure <!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>SEQ Figure \* ARABIC <span style='mso-element:
field-separator'></span><![endif]-->1<!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-no-proof:yes'><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span></span><![endif]-->
Source: Slide 9 <a href="http://www.upworthy.com/how-to-make-that-one-thing-go-viral-just-kidding">http://www.upworthy.com/how-to-make-that-one-thing-go-viral-just-kidding</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Simply put: Higher the shares and clicks – higher the
likelihood of content going viral. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Now although this article is not necessarily written to
explain the magic formula for a viral message, which doesn’t necessarily exist
yet, I would suggest following this rule – “Find the sweet spot for the best
viral moment”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHwwOxTyjJEuig-_tlvXbQO7yTI3wc0Of3i281wXLyqSU1bv8IgixVv5GS5EPhQuFBQgpsH3uARt9dQsFrF99Bz0ZH5L3M5aSuVPa7_y3zpw-s6w_pe_LCcX6Xfm9XMT_o_Ec1UCdx8gtE/s1600/viral+happens+when.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHwwOxTyjJEuig-_tlvXbQO7yTI3wc0Of3i281wXLyqSU1bv8IgixVv5GS5EPhQuFBQgpsH3uARt9dQsFrF99Bz0ZH5L3M5aSuVPa7_y3zpw-s6w_pe_LCcX6Xfm9XMT_o_Ec1UCdx8gtE/s640/viral+happens+when.png" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoCaption">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Figure <!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:
field-begin'></span><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>SEQ Figure \* ARABIC
<span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]-->2<!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-no-proof:
yes'><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span></span><![endif]--> By Adam
Mordecai - slide 10 from <a href="http://www.upworthy.com/how-to-make-that-one-thing-go-viral-just-kidding">http://www.upworthy.com/how-to-make-that-one-thing-go-viral-just-kidding</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Adam Mordecai said in his presentation, “If you can find
that happy medium between entertainment and an emotional connection, you can
make some magic happen”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Perhaps in another article, I’ll dive into the viral video
world a bit more and try to explain what I believe works and what probably
doesn’t, but for now I would leave you with this: Digital is no longer a <i>nice to have</i> but rather <i>a must have</i> and in some business models <i>the only thing to have</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/ansari/Documents/Articles/Digital%20Killed%20the%20Video%20Star.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""></a>Sites last viewed on 22.04.2016<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span>
<a href="http://time.com/3623247/grumpy-cat/">http://time.com/3623247/grumpy-cat/</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/ansari/Documents/Articles/Digital%20Killed%20the%20Video%20Star.docx#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_Z">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_Z</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/ansari/Documents/Articles/Digital%20Killed%20the%20Video%20Star.docx#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <a href="http://variety.com/2015/digital/news/youtubers-teen-survey-ksi-pewdiepie-1201544882/">http://variety.com/2015/digital/news/youtubers-teen-survey-ksi-pewdiepie-1201544882/</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/ansari/Documents/Articles/Digital%20Killed%20the%20Video%20Star.docx#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/07/business/media/digital-ad-spending-expected-to-soon-surpass-tv.html?_r=0">http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/07/business/media/digital-ad-spending-expected-to-soon-surpass-tv.html?_r=0</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/ansari/Documents/Articles/Digital%20Killed%20the%20Video%20Star.docx#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <a href="http://www.medicaldaily.com/human-attention-span-shortens-8-seconds-due-digital-technology-3-ways-stay-focused-333474">http://www.medicaldaily.com/human-attention-span-shortens-8-seconds-due-digital-technology-3-ways-stay-focused-333474</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn6">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/ansari/Documents/Articles/Digital%20Killed%20the%20Video%20Star.docx#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">[6]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <a href="https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/publications/internet-vs-tv-advertising-brand-building-comparison">https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/publications/internet-vs-tv-advertising-brand-building-comparison</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/ansari/Documents/Articles/Digital%20Killed%20the%20Video%20Star.docx#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">[7]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Source:
slide <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/11/business/11drill.html?_r=3&">http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/11/business/11drill.html?_r=3&</a></span>
<o:p></o:p></div>
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adeelansarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999449242507099053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6657240731542270619.post-74057637387437932042015-04-24T11:34:00.000+02:002015-04-24T11:34:57.876+02:00School trips - taking you for a ride<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVvClVd8v5T25qO6vB1Z5X1LsKBFJTa-BfN3aoRhoH4b7LS-LtLTXISLON42Tky5zIvSfB2vnMVFPGq6nqPahSIzUGril29NlBaCa0Lx6ceIrEC9xRHLcwFMkD8FkYEjwnNp1ZhqlsPxYJ/s1600/5iRrzKEBT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVvClVd8v5T25qO6vB1Z5X1LsKBFJTa-BfN3aoRhoH4b7LS-LtLTXISLON42Tky5zIvSfB2vnMVFPGq6nqPahSIzUGril29NlBaCa0Lx6ceIrEC9xRHLcwFMkD8FkYEjwnNp1ZhqlsPxYJ/s1600/5iRrzKEBT.jpg" height="320" width="284" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">School
going days now seem like a blur of memories but mostly good ones. I love the
fact that I’m still in touch with most of my school buddies, all of them doing
their thing, getting married, having kids, making careers – overall having a
good life. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’d also
like to believe that our schooling had some part to play in what kind of
individuals we’ve become. From the disciplinary sessions by teachers and long
hours of preparation for exams to the sports events, annual plays and of course
the school trips with friends, all these things put together, made us decent
individuals. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now, when I
have a daughter of my own, I sometimes wonder if my daughter is going to experience
these things in a similar way or not. Sometimes the conclusion I come to is not
so pleasing. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Recently, I
heard about one of the schools in Lahore (similar to the one I went to as a
kid), which arranged for an international trip for their students (paid
entirely by the parents of course). Mind you, this is not the first school to
do this and I’m sure it’s not going to be the last. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The thing
that came to my mind when I heard this was, “How did the parents feel about
this trip?” especially the ones who couldn’t afford sending their children. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In my
personal opinion, school trips, above anything else, should serve the purpose
of creating a sense of shared joy amongst kids and bring them together as
friends and increase comradery and belongingness rather than make it difficult
for some to join in on all the fun and then have to listen to the stories and
see the images of how part of them enjoyed the experience and the rest did not.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Trips of
such expensive nature, perhaps don’t manage to do this, instead they become a
burden for parents and means of shame for the kids who can’t go. My parents
spent a lot of money just to educate us in the best institutes and hardly had
enough money left over such exuberant trips. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Kids left
behind on such trips go through a lot of emotional baggage. Most can’t cope
well with it and get frustrated and angry at their parents. In some cases, they
start idolizing the wrong things in life, i.e. money over family. They fear
losing a bond with their closest / ‘best’ friends who were able to go and they
weren’t. The difference between the “haves” and the “have nots” becomes
blatantly obvious. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Furthermore,
why take kids out of the country when there is still so much to see in
Pakistan? The heritage, the culture of the country overall and the wilderness
and beauty of the north isn’t as dangerous as our media would make us believe! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I remember
that on all our school trips, we were forced to wear the school uniform – which
in hindsight was the absolutely best thing that the school could do! It neutralized
the gap between the richest in class and the poorest. It made us all thing like
a team, it united us and celebrated our similarities and made communication
easy. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We also got
stay for free or had the best discounts by staying in boarding schools or in
guest houses across the country that were paid partially by the school to make
the trip as economical as possible. I don’t remember ever seeing one of our
friends miss those trips due to monetary concerns. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">None of
that is seen in the so-called “elite” schools of today and it goes to show that
we’re not heading in the right direction and I hope we realize this sooner than
later. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
adeelansarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999449242507099053noreply@blogger.com0Lahore, Pakistan31.55460609999999 74.35715809999999231.121292099999991 73.711711099999988 31.98792009999999 75.0026051tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6657240731542270619.post-9365910902561437902014-04-02T14:53:00.002+02:002014-04-02T15:28:24.562+02:00I'm Muslim, may I help you?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Original image from: http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2013/04/29/3747543.htm" src="http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201304/r1108022_13438488.jpg" title="Image does not belong to me" /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Settling down
in a new place can always be a daunting task, but it gets harder when you don’t
know the language or the people. It’s not easy to start from scratch. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Just recently,
my wife, my 2year daughter and I moved to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Germany</st1:place></st1:country-region> as part of my job. The
first thing most of us do, after landing and getting some rest is grocery
shopping. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Once a very
simple and routine task for us turned into a technology assisted event that
involved Goggle translate and Google images to communicate with the people
around us. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The spices were
the toughest to manage on our own because most of them were in boxes and had
images that looked nothing like the spices inside or the one’s we were used to
and everything was written in German but we managed with the help of
technology.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">However, the
real task of grocery shopping was still ahead… finding <i>halal </i>food. It’s
not just about the properly sacrificed chicken and meat. At the end of the day,
if you’re really one to be concerned about eating halal, you have to be careful
of the gelatin products and preservatives as well. This is where it gets
interesting for us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My wife and I
were searching for strawberry jam and trying to read the German labels but were
failing miserably and almost lost hope that we’d be able to select the right
brand, until my wife noticed a young lady with a Hijab close by. The lady spoke
English relatively well and was also fluent in German. We asked her if she knew
of any halal strawberry jam. She immediately smiled and came over to assist us.
That was a simple thing you can expect from anyone, nothing surprising about
it, but what she did next was not something I expect every other person to do
for a stranger. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">She not only
helped us with the strawberry jam, but made an effort to help us understand the
brands that we should buy in terms of quality and not just based on them being <i>halal.
</i>She went around the store with us telling us what the translation on every
pack was, she helped us to pick up the right kind of canned vegetables, the
best quality flour, sugar, baby food, you name it and she was there to offer
help. With every product she was also explaining the language used on them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This lady, who
we had never met before in our lives, saw that we were lost and offered to help
us above and beyond our request. At one point we thought we were done and we
thanked her continuously for all her help and a couple of minutes later she
came back with another item of food that my wife had enquired about but we
couldn’t find at the time. She smiled and said embarrassingly “I’m sorry but I
just want to try and help you as much as I can that’s what we need to do for
one another (as Muslims)”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Here we were
thinking that we were alone in this country and suddenly another Muslim is
there to help us out. Before her, we were asking shoppers to help us translate
the labels, but all the previous people simply translated what we asked and
moved on, none of them thought that we would need more help. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">However, this
woman, made an effort… was she just a good human being or was it the feeling of
helping another Muslim out? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’d like to
believe that it was her faith that made her feel the need to help us out more
than we had initially requested. I’d like to believe that there are more such Muslims
out there than the ones portrayed on every news channel. I’d like to believe
that if given the chance, I would do the same for another person, whether he’s
Muslim or not because my faith teaches me to be kind and helpful. I’d like to
believe that this is the real example of Muslims that should be portrayed more
and more on media.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">------</span></div>
<div style="margin-top: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Image credits: http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2013/04/29/3747543.htm</span></div>
</div>
adeelansarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999449242507099053noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6657240731542270619.post-58580710275529115752012-12-25T12:41:00.002+01:002012-12-25T14:18:29.999+01:0090’s defining Songs of Pakistan<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit-sUg_wsUHIaDUVZDg8uQSSMa_YT0US9E8yqtjlSRtTzFWuOnJ55yEGgMv4iRe1MjG6wC9U8yL8J8p8l_2HAgO7LsDQ1BV4u7dxmgspHsst55jVFXWW4QS9ybwTylKDXVPVHh89Ujert2/s1600/90s+defining+songs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit-sUg_wsUHIaDUVZDg8uQSSMa_YT0US9E8yqtjlSRtTzFWuOnJ55yEGgMv4iRe1MjG6wC9U8yL8J8p8l_2HAgO7LsDQ1BV4u7dxmgspHsst55jVFXWW4QS9ybwTylKDXVPVHh89Ujert2/s1600/90s+defining+songs.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Growing
up in Pakistan during the 90s was amazing. That was the time when media was
opening up and it gave us an opportunity to see the talent that was available
in Pakistan. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It
probably started with Shalimar Television Network (STN) and their popular Music
Channel Charts. I can still remember my brother and I waiting for MCC to come
on. We didn’t mind listening to the same songs week after week, as long as they
were played.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What
I have here is a list of songs that I personally feel defined the 90s for us
growing up. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Number 11: Hadiqa Kiani – Boohey Barian (</span></b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYFjg-canyM"><b>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYFjg-canyM</b></a><b>)<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I
won’t lie and say I wasn’t fascinated by Hadiqa Kiani. Truth be told, she was
probably the most amazing female vocalist I had grown up listening to after
Nazia Hassan. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">From
the album Rooshni released in 1999, Boohey Barain was Hadiqa’s first Punjabi
number that became a smash hit. Hadiqa is known for trying out different
languages in her songs and this one really worked. She resonated with people
across Pakistan and the melody was so catchy and simple that you couldn’t help
but hum along. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Number 10: Awaz – Jado Ka Charagh (</span></b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eViZM66ywE0"><b>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eViZM66ywE0</b></a><b>)<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You
would have thought that after Vital Signs and Junoon you really didn’t need
another Pop/Rock Band, but apparently Haroon, Faakhir and Asad had other plans.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now
I’ll admit I wasn’t a big fan of theirs but I think Jado Ka Charagh has to be
in the top ten. It was one of the few videos during those days that had a
storyline to it and frankly the only one I remember that had a product
placement in the form of a Pepsi Can. The choice was between this song and “Mr.
Fraudiye” (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4s5o43bILGk">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4s5o43bILGk</a>)
and the popularity of JKC had to be considered.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Number 09: Fakhr-e-Alam –Bhangra
Pao (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNtY_n7s18w">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNtY_n7s18w</a>)
<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Let’s
face it, we were all mesmerized by the likes of Michael Jackson growing up and most
of us also loved the popular culture of the west. Then suddenly a kid comes
along on Pakistani television in a shredded jeans, a bandana holding a basketball
but lo and behold he starts singing in Urdu and does a decent job at a moon
walk! It was really a first for all of us back then and the tune was decent and
the styling was incredibly awesome! For the thought alone of mixing East with West
in that fashion, Fakhr-e-Alam grabs a place on the top ten list.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Number 08: Fariha Parvez – Dil Howa Boo Kata (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-r46afKEYQ">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-r46afKEYQ</a>)
<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There
were only two things that defined Lahore during winters back in the 90s – one was
tea and pakoras during the cold weather and then basant during February. There
wasn’t a single basant that I remember that didn’t have this song at full
volume played on every roof top for as far as the ears could hear! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fariha
Parvez started off doing that musical show for kids on PTV and suddenly became
a household name with this amazing track. The video was simple but her acting
was something out of the movies and the song was an instant hit with every age
group! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Number 07: Fringe Benefits – Tanhaye (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hw6u8yfThn4">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hw6u8yfThn4</a>)<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You
want to talk about one hit wonders then nothing takes the cake but Fringe
Benefits with their song Tanhaye! The video was interesting to say the least
and the song was hummable with simple lyrics. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The
band was made up of Ali and Shehryar and although they had a couple of other
songs namely “Yeh Zindagi” and a peace athem “Pyar diya gallan” with Arid Zone
and Fakhr-e-Alam, their real claim to stardom was Tanhaye. Unfortunately, the
two boys had to live their lives and never really made music their career.
There were roamers that they were planning a comeback in 2010 but apparently I
didn’t see anything so I can’t really comment on that. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Number 06: Abrar-ul-Haq – Billo (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RCfBrjphuk">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RCfBrjphuk</a>)
<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The
two things Abrar has in common with Mark Knopfler from Dire Straits is that both
at one stage were teachers (Abrar taught at Aitcheson school in Lahore) and
that both were super-hit musicians of their times. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Billo
De Ghar was a pure Punjabi track that shattered through the economic divide of
Pakistan and had everyone singing the tune. There wasn’t a single wedding,
bonfire, get together or even a car out there in the 90s that didn’t have this song
playing at full volume! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Number 05: Sajjad Ali – Babia (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMB7ZvgfHIM">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMB7ZvgfHIM</a>)
<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">OK
so you can’t define the 90s without talking about Sajjad Ali and his Babia.
This song defined Sajjad Ali as THE most versatile artist in Pakistan. He was
already a household name with the elder generation due to his classical sing
skills. His first album was released in 1979 and as A.R. Rehman puts it “Sajjad
Ali is original crossover: From the realm of the classical into one of the
brightest lights of Pakistani pop” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Honestly
speaking the entire album Babia 93 – was a hit. From Babia to Bolo bolo, then
there was Chal Uddja, Neeli Neeli and Kuch Larkiyan… I honestly had to buy the
album twice because it was played so many times. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Number 04: Strings – Sar Kiye Yeh Pahar (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZz-codCnK4">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZz-codCnK4</a>)<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Strings
during the 90s seemed to most as a one hit wonder band with their song Sar Kiye
Yeh Pahar, but it wasn’t long when they came back strong with their album Duur
in the early 2000’s. However, their ever green classic will always be this
track that was released in 1992 and was written by Bilal Maqsood himself while
the rest of the songs on that album were written by his legend of a father
Anwar Maqsood. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Number 03: Ali Haider – Purani Jeans Aur Guitar (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbh8MkI9zo4">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbh8MkI9zo4</a>)<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I
know most of you are already humming this tune in your heads. If there was a
poll taken on the most nostalgic song from our pop industry, I know for a fact
that PJAG would be up there! The day the video came out, it was the only thing
people could talk about and sing. This is one of those songs that even our
parents ended up listening to and sung along to. It captured a piece of
everyone’s life and if it didn’t then people wanted to have a life that
resembled the lyrics of this song in some way. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Number 02: Junoon – Jazba-e-Junoon (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Que_KLQtR0k">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Que_KLQtR0k</a>)<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Junoon
came along in 1990 and although they had some amazing songs from their first
two albums, it wasn’t until 1996, when they released Inquilaab that we were
introduced to JeJ. The song was huge hit and became the signature track for the
1996 Cricket World Cup. Whenever you wanted to get a boost in your spirits,
this was the song to be played. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Even
to this day, you’ll hear Junoonis and rock enthusiasts’ talk about this song as
the defining moment of rock culture in Pakistan. I was always a huge Junoon fan
and after JeJ, I saw a lot more people come on to the rock side of Pakistani
music scene. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Number 01: Vital Signs – Dil Dil Pakistan (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHeQUtRsMLU">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHeQUtRsMLU</a>)<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This
is the only song in the list that wasn’t released in the 90s but rather a year
before the decade began. Nevertheless, growing up in Pakistan during the 90s,
this song had a huge impact on each and everyone there. Now as much as I would
like to put a Junoon song at number 1, truth be told, it cannot happen when you
have DDP in the consideration set. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When
kids start confusing a song for their national anthem you know it’s a huge hit!
In fact in 2003, the BBC World Service conducted an international poll for the
top ten songs of all time and ranked DDP at number 3! <a href="file:///C:/Users/Adeel_Mehru/Documents/Articles/90s%20defining%20top%2010.docx#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So
there you have it everyone, the top 11 songs that defined the 90s for me at
least growing up in Pakistan. There were definitely a lot of songs to be
considered for this list and I honestly took the first one that popped up into
my head, based on Top of Mind recall.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Adeel_Mehru/Documents/Articles/90s%20defining%20top%2010.docx#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">[i]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dil_Dil_Pakistan">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dil_Dil_Pakistan</a></span>
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adeelansarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999449242507099053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6657240731542270619.post-8060887789002051062012-11-27T10:23:00.000+01:002012-11-28T19:42:00.463+01:00The Journey One Year On<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the 1</span><sup style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">st</sup><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">of December 2011</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, three lives changed forever. My wife and I were blessed with a bundle of joy, our princess Inaya.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can still remember the first time I held her in my arms and how
she braced my finger, the bond between a father and daughter was forever formed
at that moment. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj52ji3Uv3mSvFWyuTuB7lbD-mN-xI2B9TUHbqNx_Hjr-IzUAK37s-qidE0cijMEgACpo-aAK4ZkHJpen49hY4ZGXfF3yp8WhtwFoGx9sm8PWX0gKcXdBw1au5lcuxyCkdRuk1thn6GWn9/s1600/Inaya.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj52ji3Uv3mSvFWyuTuB7lbD-mN-xI2B9TUHbqNx_Hjr-IzUAK37s-qidE0cijMEgACpo-aAK4ZkHJpen49hY4ZGXfF3yp8WhtwFoGx9sm8PWX0gKcXdBw1au5lcuxyCkdRuk1thn6GWn9/s200/Inaya.bmp" tea="true" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can’t seem to thank Allah enough for the Blessing that He’s
bestowed upon us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The year was filled with diaper changes, lullabies, nursery rhymes
and clowning around for a smile that always made it worthwhile. It’s been
precious and heartwarming. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">From her aqiqa to her ear piercing, her first crawl to her first
steps, life has passed by way too fast and all we have are the memories and a
prayer to Allah that more such amazing moments come up in life.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHobk3v8MQ62giikkG8NABABTDghYGeLL7aOitFHi3FE3_3-kxCTB0LskkIV8v85hI19dSk9Yn-J98AZeBDQJBXhLqcoj6dAJx6No0Io6Q5pPjx4R0FzjrH0SIHmJs31TJaom-Bj9fJAwQ/s1600/Inaya.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHobk3v8MQ62giikkG8NABABTDghYGeLL7aOitFHi3FE3_3-kxCTB0LskkIV8v85hI19dSk9Yn-J98AZeBDQJBXhLqcoj6dAJx6No0Io6Q5pPjx4R0FzjrH0SIHmJs31TJaom-Bj9fJAwQ/s200/Inaya.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Not a day goes by that I don’t think of the joy that Inaya’s
brought to our lives. She’s been a source of calm and comfort to both me and my
wife. Every day has been a new adventure with her and this is what makes it so
much more interesting.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I love waking up in the morning just before my daughter and having
the opportunity to wake her up as well. She's one of the most content babies
I've ever seen. She'll always wake up with a smile on her face (once the sleep
wears off). Never have I seen her wake up with a cry. It’s as if she
embraces each new day with a sense of optimism and wonder for things to come.
She’d be doing the same things day in and day out but every time it seems like
she’s enjoying it for the first time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKzP_L35WvsRPr-YoIAQWYlj_lGPTA7XxWXojRlFcccK9HHS2rqly9PjZmZ8TEJmGc0oOFkDqDnnBlmXz7DqoWz2kbPgenRtTWjQJ0m_9LfEp7inzAGJKM3YTzoXRfCG3KgqUBtQeeJBnb/s1600/05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKzP_L35WvsRPr-YoIAQWYlj_lGPTA7XxWXojRlFcccK9HHS2rqly9PjZmZ8TEJmGc0oOFkDqDnnBlmXz7DqoWz2kbPgenRtTWjQJ0m_9LfEp7inzAGJKM3YTzoXRfCG3KgqUBtQeeJBnb/s200/05.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She loves going to the kitchen to make sure her mother is still
around. Once she’s confirmed that, she finds the potato basket and takes out
one, two and sometimes three at a time and places them around the home, which
for some reason gives her immense gratification and I will never understand why.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There have been days when I’ve come home from the office extremely
exhausted from work, thinking that all I’ll do is hit the sack immediately, but
as I open the door and greet my wife and daughter, I hear Inaya making a sound
of sheer excitement that cannot be described in words. My daughter waits the
entire day for me to come home. No matter where she is in the house, she’ll
make her way to the main door and give me a big hug. That feeling is something
I will never want to forget.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzZeiLZq8nRZs0vwKCS1sDTq8ygCjei4I2Vj5HeouyUcl7FAJRjV6m-8k_fDm3YM0jTveXbeKfl4jvn-7u6TmMWaYDbuxSdlnJtBEOIyVAztpD2OXtZJk_-IwgXBUAFOJNiPQKBOv9PuaR/s1600/03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzZeiLZq8nRZs0vwKCS1sDTq8ygCjei4I2Vj5HeouyUcl7FAJRjV6m-8k_fDm3YM0jTveXbeKfl4jvn-7u6TmMWaYDbuxSdlnJtBEOIyVAztpD2OXtZJk_-IwgXBUAFOJNiPQKBOv9PuaR/s200/03.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I love spending the weekends with her and just watching her roam
around the home talking to herself and picking up random things from one room
and bring them to me as if I had asked for them.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 6pt 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQHvWac_6ffn2j9-Qzc5bgjwWoCbHcqAJcnSh9Qf6ba0bs1kTSGjEF33P_p9ROX7T77pGhyphenhyphenIq5t3WhjRvlf3aIvyoCoN187wxsBJz9PLGaeQeVyly3sdMXJHBQfWxyqadO_RM9-ckXxLhV/s1600/02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQHvWac_6ffn2j9-Qzc5bgjwWoCbHcqAJcnSh9Qf6ba0bs1kTSGjEF33P_p9ROX7T77pGhyphenhyphenIq5t3WhjRvlf3aIvyoCoN187wxsBJz9PLGaeQeVyly3sdMXJHBQfWxyqadO_RM9-ckXxLhV/s200/02.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She doesn’t like playing with dolls, which is quite surprising and
frankly a good saving for me. However, oddly enough the things that she likes
playing with are wires, ear phones and my old XBOX controller! Oh and she doesn’t
like cartoons on TV, no sir, she has to watch football or cricket! I don’t
think I even watch cricket or football with such passion like she does at such
a tender age.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She’ll sit with me for hours while I play FIFA and at times she
walks up to the TV as if to point to my team and starts speaking, probably
trying to tell me what tactic to use so that I don’t suck as bad as I normally
do.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The day Inaya learned to walk was the day I realized I would have
to let her experience things a lot more on her own. The falling down, the
crying, the consolation from her father and a helping hand from her mother
would give her the confidence to always get up and try again. I don't want her
to ever quit on something she believes in and has started.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 6pt 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I want my daughter to be able to grow up knowing that we were
always there for her but she also had the opportunity to live life the way she
chose to, knowing full well that we would have planted the right seeds to make
her into a pious person and letting her make the choices at the end of the
day. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 6pt 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps like every parent, I too want to live through her success
and see her achieve so much in life. I can't seem to find the words to express
my deepest affection for our child. Seeing her explore the smallest of things
around her and smiling, just makes me the happiest man in the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 6pt 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I hope and pray that Allah makes her strong, humble, caring and
most of all submissive to His Will. She’s given energy to two old souls. May my
daughter always see success in her life and be a source of happiness for all
around her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Happy birthday my little princess,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><u1:p></u1:p> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Love<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mama and Papa<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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adeelansarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999449242507099053noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6657240731542270619.post-45899310285281011702012-09-16T19:56:00.002+02:002012-09-16T20:06:07.227+02:00Would the real Adeel Ansari please stand up?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By Adeel Ansari (@Adeel_Ansari)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are close to 7billion
people in the world, I’m sure like me,
most of you have tried to google your name and realized that there are so many
out there just like you (at least in terms of a name), but how many have you
had the opportunity to peak into the lives of these people without really
trying to? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My name is Adeel Ansari and as
luck would have it, there are at least four other Adeel Ansari’s out there that
I am currently aware of. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First of how did I even come to
the conclusion that there are five of us in total out there? Simple… emails to
my inbox. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ve realized that I may be the
eldest of the total FIVE Adeel Ansaris out there or at least the one with the
first opportunity to try my luck at hotmail and gmail. I presume this because
apparently I was able to get both a hotmail account and a gmail account that
was purely my name without the need for numbers of weird combinations and
because of that very fact, the others have had to resort to some other email
addresses but unfortunately for them, some of their emails have somehow or the
other ended in my inbox, which has given me the assurance that there are five
of us out there. Surprisingly enough, none of us live in the same place (except
for a brief period where I shared Karachi with another Adeel Ansari) – so let’s
start from there</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Adeel Ansari – Pakistan wala<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This namesake of mine is a
software engineer by profession and is an active internet buff. He writes blogs
mostly related to his field of interest and on occasion uses his twitter handle
to share his opinions. I was first introduced to this gentleman when I tried to
get a twitter handle for myself (one area where I realized I was late in
joining the online party and hence realized my desired username @adeelansari was
taken). I also received an email some time back by some random customer (I’m
assuming) who wanted to get in touch with this Adeel Ansari to enquire about
their IT firm. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Adeel Ansari – Malaysia wala<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At first I thought that this
would be one of the Adeel Ansari’s I’ve already heard about but then I realized
that this gentleman’s profile is slightly different. Although also into IT and
Software Engineering, this namesake has been in Malaysia now for over six
years. He has a very impressive resume and from the looks of it, he’s doing
quite well. I came across this Adeel Ansari, when I started receiving emails
from internet/cable service provider in Malaysia. Apparently Mr. Adeel Malaysia
wala has changed his tv/cable/internet package and has given my email address by
mistake, which has resulted in me receiving updates on their password changes,
their subscriptions on PPV Movies (which were actually very decent action movie
choices). Hopefully the matter has now been resolved since I do not receive any
password change requests anymore, but I do receive newsletters from his service
provider which is quite a pain.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Adeel Ansari – USA wala<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This Adeel Ansari has been the
most interesting for me, not because of himself particular but more because of
his immediate family and friends who refused to believe for the longest of time
that I was not the Adeel Ansari they were looking for. They would be marking me
on family pictures and sharing them with zeal. I just didn’t know what to do to
try and get out of the mailing list. I finally had to send one sweet old lady
from this person’s family my picture to convince her I wasn’t the Adeel Ansari
they were trying to get in touch with. I do believe that this particular Adeel
resides in the State of Texas and his kids go to a Muslim school. I know this
because the school regularly sends me parent-teacher reminders, curriculum
updates and holiday notices for national and local holidays. I also know that
he’s an Engineer looking for work and that some of his interviews have been
forwarded to me by mistake. I do hope he’s found a job.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Adeel Ansari – Canada wala<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This encounter occurred in
directly as well and by way of gmail this time round. Apparently Mr. Adeel
Ansari Canada wala helps MBA students find housing and lodging for their
studies in Canada. I received an email from one Michelle Scott a couple of days
ago letting me that some kid will definitely be making it into the MBA program
and that she needed Adeel Ansari’s help in order to arrange for boarding and
lodging for that gentleman. So far it seems that the correct Adeel has not been
traced by her but I’m sure in a couple of days they’ll be able to get in touch.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although I’ve never met any of my
namesakes, these indirect interactions have made me want to meet up with them
somehow, somewhere – perhaps share bits about our lives, talk about how we all
got these names, whether we are related in anyway, but for now, I wish them the
best in their lives and hope that whatever they do, they do for the betterment
of those around them. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Best Wishes from</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Adeel Ansari - UAE Wala</b></span></div>
<br /></div>
adeelansarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999449242507099053noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6657240731542270619.post-66643554162601181052012-03-29T08:50:00.000+02:002012-03-30T07:53:51.860+02:00Fact: Men Irritate Women!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Fact:
Men irritate women!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">By
Adeel Ansari (@Adeel_Ansari)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnclAFtir5ky0E0b6L8r33QIWGZWeWVeKR9abvJo4t6xRn4mwyc-jHqWwYTDFt_sHexRyE6Wm2TSYIwDWJyMAgiy7uyXtraBBhiX1CJoF2byg0YZtwGALXBUjyvLvpw767CVof8L21O5nI/s1600/Angry+woman+from+above(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnclAFtir5ky0E0b6L8r33QIWGZWeWVeKR9abvJo4t6xRn4mwyc-jHqWwYTDFt_sHexRyE6Wm2TSYIwDWJyMAgiy7uyXtraBBhiX1CJoF2byg0YZtwGALXBUjyvLvpw767CVof8L21O5nI/s1600/Angry+woman+from+above(1).jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">There comes a time in every man’s life
when he irritates the hell out of women and honestly we know it, we just act
like we don't. Growing up, I remember teasing the girl I liked the most in
school only to get her to notice me. So perhaps it’s continued to be part of
our DNA as we’ve grown up. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Having been married now for sometime,
I’ve been able to pin point a few areas where we, men, have mastered the art of
irritation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">NOTE: THIS MESSAGE HAS BEEN ENDORSED BY
MY WIFE<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">1. The Toilet Seat Conundrum </span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">We don’t know why we do this but we do,
no matter how many times you tell us to put the toilet seat down, we will leave
it up. I guess your constant nagging gives us the satisfaction that we’ve been able
to get under your skin… so by that logic if you stop to get irritated by it, we
may just put it down one day. Think about that. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">2. The dichotomy of the long life
Pajamas<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I don’t understand why women want us to
change our pajamas every second day, even when they don’t smell foul (and you
hate it when we check it for bad odor). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I say if it doesn’t stink, it’s not
dead and doesn’t need to be changed. So why not leave us be with our pajamas that
don’t require washing for 2weeks. Think of it this way, we’re saving on water,
time and effort. In that sense, we’re helping you save your time. We choose to
wear pajamas for two weeks because we love you. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">3. The tooth brushing on holidays Juxtaposition<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">It’s my day off and I want to be lazy.
At least I gurgle and use a mouthwash (sometimes) then why all the fuss?! By
definition, us men were born to live as bums only so that you women have a
project to work on for the rest of your lives. If we were perfect who would you
nag? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">4. Short version syndrome<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Woman even if you were a bestselling
author I would still want to hear the summary of your day and not a minute by
minute account. I read somewhere that women on average speak 8000 words a day
while men only speak about 3000, it’s probably because you don’t let us talk.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">5. The weekend “what to do” paradox<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">So I spend close to 50hrs a week
working and on the weekend I need to have my time with the boys to relax. But
somehow you women are always thinking “what do WE do over the weekend” as a
couple while us men are thinking “what do I do over the weekend” with the boys.
Granted we can be selfish but then again you get your time with the girls
during the week don’t you, so when do I get my time with the boys?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">6. The quick shopping fixation<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Send men/boys into a gadget store and
we’ll spend hours, but we’ll be playing with the products NOT taking time
thinking of what to get. Men have been programmed to take quick decisions and
we pride ourselves in that. We cannot and will not be able to spend hours with
you in a mall, looking at clothes you want to buy, jewelry you wished we had
bought you or the furniture that would make our home stand out. If you want to
buy something please know what it is before you enter the store. It helps if
you follow the list you’ve made before leaving the home, which you tend to
forget when in the store. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">7. The baby’s sick complex of men<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">When women are sick, they take it quite
well. They’re able to manage their sickness in a profound fashion and get back
on their feet really quickly. However when we get sick, it’s like the end of
the world for us, doesn’t matter if it’s a cold or a car crash, our response is
always going to be a brush with death that requires extra care sprinkled with a
dose of over dramatization. Nevertheless, it gets us the attention we so crave.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">Image credit:</span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> http://www.ontariofamilylawblog.com/articles/emotional-journey/</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>adeelansarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999449242507099053noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6657240731542270619.post-61317726546216357742012-02-20T08:55:00.001+01:002012-02-20T08:59:40.311+01:00Calling all girls – PICK UP YOUR PHONE<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"><em>Follow me on Twitter: @Adeel_Ansari</em></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7-ZRRirKjraKFTPWwumOxsy5lSe7HJDNEnp3RoPEsXqv84Nf_sbBkHjhYMnDZQPuNkMTKb0XJ3zYSRXBnjEhbF4C-l3dNNIA3gL5gpEBFyP0J8mMreRyiVkuSQ2mG4dOkIRkKEpPKy1yi/s1600/Phone+shout.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7-ZRRirKjraKFTPWwumOxsy5lSe7HJDNEnp3RoPEsXqv84Nf_sbBkHjhYMnDZQPuNkMTKb0XJ3zYSRXBnjEhbF4C-l3dNNIA3gL5gpEBFyP0J8mMreRyiVkuSQ2mG4dOkIRkKEpPKy1yi/s320/Phone+shout.jpg" width="209" yda="true" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-no-proof: yes;"><strong>Image Source: http://www.scorpsay.com/2009/04/stupid-bank-even-more-stupid-courier.html</strong></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">If you’re in a relationship, you’ll probably agree that phones and women just don’t go together. Sure they have their iPhones, Blackberrys, Nokia E7, etc. They’re even connected to Facebook and Twitter on the go, but when it comes to picking up the phone when you need to talk to them, they are incognito, untraceable and frankly off the radar. Most of the times, they won’t call you back or even text you to let you know they’re ok, but when they have to complain to you, they will </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">Having been married for over five years now, I’ve probably heard all the reasons for not being able to pick up the phone. Some of them are listed below for your amusement and feedback. Of course there are many more reasons out there and I would appreciate input from the rest of my BOYS to add value to this conversation that has plagued mankind for years.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: red; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">Disclaimer: I’d like to point out that my wife has seen mass improvement in her phone attendance over the years and hence nobody can say this is a direct attack from me on her. Now… enjoy.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">1. I was in the other room</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">Ok perhaps the most sensible of all reasons, but honey we do not live in a castle. It’s a one bed apartment slightly bigger than a bird cage. Does it really take you that long to get to your phone? </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">2. The battery was dying</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">Yes sweetie the battery tends to die, that is why the phone gives out an irritating sound near the end of its life – it’s literally crying out like a shrieking little baby to be fed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">Remember the Nokia phone we recommended you get that has 7days of battery life but you wanted to go for the Oh-so-amazing-iPhone-that-requires-charging-after-every-12hrs, you see why we made that offer now? </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">3. I was busy watching Hum Safar</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">I don’t even want to dignify that with an answer! But just to let you know, that time you were busy watching Hum Safar and I called you, I was about to buy you a big-fat diamond solitaire ring… but that urge to spend on you has suddenly past. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">Still enjoying Hum Safar now?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">4. I didn’t feel like picking up the phone</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">I don’t feel like going to the office every day but I do. And I do this so you can stay at home, watch your Hum Safar drama, while I pay the bills and at the end of the day all I expect is for you to do is pick up that little gadget you begged me to get you referred to as a cellular/cell phone/ mobile/ my-constant-state-of-misery-in-trying-to-get-in-touch-with-you</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">5. I didn’t hear it ring</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">Seriously?! So let me get this straight, you can hear our neighbor whisper something about your cooking or dressing from the other side of the house but you couldn’t hear the phone ring from your bag? Even with the vibration setting on ‘Holy-Crap-It’s-An-Earthquake’?! </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">6. I didn’t have enough credit to call you back</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">Of course you wouldn’t, why would you have enough money for that, after all the money was rightly spent on the clothes you need for every occasion because the previous ones disintegrate after you wear them once like the message in every mission impossible movie. Then of course there is the home decoration we didn't need, the cosmetics that will not be used and last but not the least all the shoes that stack up higher than Jack’s beanstalk. Now with all that necessary spending, how can I expect you to pay your phone bill? My bad. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">7. I was on another line</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">Knowing that a bitching session between female friends normally lasts for three hours, I think I’ll call back when the emergency I was having is over. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">There are so many reasons, I wish I could post them all here, but you know what surprises me the most – no matter how much you hate your cell phones, when it comes to letting out all that anger you have against us, you’re able to use the SMS (short messaging service) as a LMS (lecture messaging service) - you’re able to text the crap out of the phone. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">I’ve literally received a snubbing from my wife that was 8-SMS’ long! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">Needless to say, I can expect a text this long again.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: red; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">Disclaimer – yet again: I’d like to point out that my wife has seen mass improvement in her phone attendance over the years and hence nobody can say this is a direct attack from me on her. </span></b></div>
</div>adeelansarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999449242507099053noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6657240731542270619.post-8048308240987596742012-01-18T19:17:00.000+01:002012-01-18T19:19:16.249+01:00The Unsung Heroes of Pakistan<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">Follow me on Twitter @Adeel_Ansari</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhazxrl1rKcr12XB5Y1UgtNpSk3TDap5tPD1_7hfiOn8asaZW7eF-6ccC6W_fBRc-WHHXAkQHklsHJjGP1u2gh90CIGkSeRlUWTybWiplmSHhmBUUcrVcCB6X4QG4P5bbw-JDxxrQONDANg/s1600/Picture1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="449" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhazxrl1rKcr12XB5Y1UgtNpSk3TDap5tPD1_7hfiOn8asaZW7eF-6ccC6W_fBRc-WHHXAkQHklsHJjGP1u2gh90CIGkSeRlUWTybWiplmSHhmBUUcrVcCB6X4QG4P5bbw-JDxxrQONDANg/s640/Picture1.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">Recently I
got to read about a young girl – <a href="http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012%5C01%5C16%5Cstory_16-1-2012_pg13_7">Arfa
Karim</a>, who was talented beyond her age, someone that we as a nation should
have been proud to call our own. In 2005 she received numerous awards for being
the youngest Microsoft Certified Professional in the world. However, on the 14<sup>th</sup>
of January 2012, our very own Small Wonder, past away in CMH after weeks of
treatment. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">The sad
part to all of this is how the government wasn’t able to provide any support to
the family in terms of treatment. Besides the treatment, what did the
government do since 2005 to try and foster the genius of this child, did they
put her in a special advanced program, did they offer her opportunities to
further her skills, perhaps making it possible for her to spread her ideas and
develop more geniuses such as herself? So far to my knowledge, they did nothing!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">This got me
thinking, we have so many more gifted people in our country and yet we hardly
hear anything about them. The media shows one interesting story about these
people and then goes back to how our country is going to the dogs (no pun
intended). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">Unlike what
our own media shows, we’re not a bunch of terrorists or idiots begging for America to love
us and show us their mercy – that’s just our government. The nation on the
other hand is a bunch of highly gifted individuals with the potential to do great
things, inspire others and perhaps be the future think tanks of the world. Here
are some examples of individuals from Pakistan that I was able to come up
with in a matter of 20mins on Google. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">1.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span dir="LTR"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://changinguppakistan.wordpress.com/2009/02/11/pakistani-student-breaks-world-record-with-23-a-levels/">Ali
Nawazish</a> – took 23 subjects in his A’levels and scored 21A’s, 1B and a C.
He didn’t require any tuition, just a lot of hard work and a lot of energy
drinks. He’s currently enrolled to study in Cambridge University.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">2.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span dir="LTR"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://propakistani.pk/2010/05/27/ned-students-make-fuel-efficient-car/">Pakistan’s
First Fuel Efficient Car</a> – Made by 12 PAKISTANI students from NED the car
is able to do 80km in a single liter. The last report on these individuals
indicated that they were trying to secure sponsorship to take their car for a
world competition back in 2010, whatever happened to them, is still unknown. I’m
sure we can use such cars in Pakistan
nowadays, but unfortunately I’m sure no one from the government has tried to
make this project into a reality.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">3.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span dir="LTR"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kmBsjPQdvY">Solar
Powered Car by Pakistani Students</a> – Although the video on this project is
doubtful on credibility, but I do remember reading something online for a
similar car. Just goes to show we have the intelligence to make such
inventions, but what lacks is the exposure to the creators and business
opportunities and investors. The government should provide investment
opportunities to such deserving inventors. Something on the lines of the Export
Promotion Bureau, which was set up to promote our industries should be set up
for the identification of investors and venture capitalists. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">4.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span><span dir="LTR"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMazGbesHZo">Car +
Power Generator – A Pakistani Invention</a>
- Necessity is truly the mother of all inventions and we in Pakistan
therefore have a lot of great inventors. A generator that can power your house
is also used to run a car. The person who made this invention isn’t even
college educated. Speaks wonders for our people and yet no one from the
government cares. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">5.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span dir="LTR"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/#%21/ADAmoin">Moin Khan
travels the world on a motorbike</a> – Moin Khan travelled half the globe from America to Lahore,
Pakistan on his
motorbike as part of his campaign called “A different agenda”. He too realized
that Pakistan
wasn’t presented in the best of ways and wanted to do something to change all
that. His story is one to be shared and learned from. He was able to change the
minds of many regarding Pakistan
and its people, during his 6month trip. He could easily be used as a good will
ambassador by our country for the youth across different countries of the
world, but then again that would require the Government to give a hoot about
its people and the image of the country, which it currently does not.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">With so
much talent in our country, why does our government not invest in education,
vocational training and infrastructure development? We need to fix our problems
ourselves and not rely on the so called friendships with other nations. We have
all the potential we need to do this, all we need now is for the government to
listen and act.</span></div>
</div>adeelansarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999449242507099053noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6657240731542270619.post-16548652825714157292012-01-06T09:40:00.000+01:002012-01-13T22:21:09.486+01:00The Derailed Pakistan Railways<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify;">By
Adeel Ansari</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify;">@Adeel_Ansari</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFxfwRufT1UfZV3APpiN6-kUkcCr-sngdE3F3G94mSKs441O1mJbC-aK3fnNxyhHHudne9N_LE4xaZUTNowjDm4prflIZDLrwCVDlPoSvYZktctk975MAbvHiHTZeO5QsMK4SAbcPagWbl/s1600/pakistan-railways.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFxfwRufT1UfZV3APpiN6-kUkcCr-sngdE3F3G94mSKs441O1mJbC-aK3fnNxyhHHudne9N_LE4xaZUTNowjDm4prflIZDLrwCVDlPoSvYZktctk975MAbvHiHTZeO5QsMK4SAbcPagWbl/s1600/pakistan-railways.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;">
<span lang="ZH-CN" style="font-family: SimSun; font-size: 9pt;">①</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">
http://www.punjabigraphics.com/pakistan-railways/</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">So
it seems the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTyWNT22K7s">damage to the
railway system</a><a href="file:///C:/Users/Adeel_Mehru/Documents/Articles/The%20derailed%20Pakistan%20Railways.doc#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">[1]</span></span></span></a> done by lack of
leadership, management and ethical business practice has not crippled it to the
brink of destruction just yet – for the Prime Minister has just announced a <b><a href="http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=133675"><span style="font-weight: normal;">business class</span> <span style="font-weight: normal;">service</span></a><a href="file:///C:/Users/Adeel_Mehru/Documents/Articles/The%20derailed%20Pakistan%20Railways.doc#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">[2]</span></b></span></span></a></b> to be offered from
the 3<sup>rd</sup> of February 2012. A novel idea perhaps not, but a good one
nonetheless, but why did this thought take so long to materialize? Considering
that PPP Supporters burnt down 130 carriages at the time of Benazir’s
assassination I’m surprised the government didn’t take notice of this situation
earlier and try to find a solution to this problem. (Al Jazeerah News - <a href="http://youtu.be/tTyWNT22K7s">http://youtu.be/tTyWNT22K7s</a>). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I
was having a chat with a friend regarding the dilapidated condition of our railway
system and he offered a similar yet far more expansive solution – privatize the
system completely! He based his thought on the success of the Daewoo Bus
Service and it got me thinking why not. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Here
are some basic <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan_Railways">facts</a><a href="file:///C:/Users/Adeel_Mehru/Documents/Articles/The%20derailed%20Pakistan%20Railways.doc#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">[3]</span></span></span></a>
regarding the railway system currently operating in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Pakistan</st1:place></st1:country-region><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="square">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The first
railway line was opened to the public in 1861 between <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Karachi</st1:place></st1:city> and Kotri (169km of rail)<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">In 1886, there
were already four different companies working on the lines in what is now <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Pakistan</st1:place></st1:country-region>.
The Scinde (Sindh) Railways, Indian Flotilla Company, Punjab Railway and
Delhi Railways, which were later, combined and through the rite of passage
it became Pakistan Railways in 1947. This shows that the concept of
privatizing the railway existed before. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Over 65million
people use the railway system on an annual basis which contributes to 50%
of the revenue for the Pakistan Railway as Passenger traffic. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Total length of
the current railway system = 8,163km – with over 60 major stations and
junctions and five major routes <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="circle">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-list: l2 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Peshawar-Karachi<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-list: l2 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Peshawar-Quetta<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-list: l2 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Lahore-Sialkot<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-list: l2 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Lahore-Faisalabad<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-list: l2 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Faisalabad-Khanewal<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Future potential
includes domestic expansion from <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="circle">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-list: l2 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Karachi-Gwadar<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-list: l2 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Quetta-Gwadar<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-list: l2 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Bostan-Zhob<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-list: l2 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Rawalpindi-Sost<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">And
International expansion which already includes the lines of<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="circle">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-list: l2 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Zahedan to <st1:city w:st="on">Quetta</st1:city> (linking <st1:country-region w:st="on">Iran</st1:country-region>
to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Pakistan</st1:place></st1:country-region>)<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-list: l2 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Thar Express to
<st1:city w:st="on">Karachi</st1:city> and <st1:city w:st="on">Lahore</st1:city>
to Attari (connecting <st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region>
to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Pakistan</st1:place></st1:country-region>)
<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-list: l2 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">And there were
proposed plans for linking <st1:country-region w:st="on">China</st1:country-region>,
<st1:country-region w:st="on">Afghanistan</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Turkey</st1:place></st1:country-region>,
which are all possible. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The
concept of privatization was discussed for the railway system in <a href="http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/single-view/view/four-way-split-proposed-for-pakistan-railways.html">2010</a><a href="file:///C:/Users/Adeel_Mehru/Documents/Articles/The%20derailed%20Pakistan%20Railways.doc#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">[4]</span></span></span></a> but
division was based on passenger, freight and manufacturing businesses, but what
I believe my friend was proposing was further division within each section and
especially for the passenger line in order to create a sense of competition
that would drive improvement. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Creating
a sense of competition within each section leads to better services, improved
infrastructure, focus on profitability which in turn is based on consumer
satisfaction and inevitably leads to an improved system.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">In
order for this to happen the government may need to do the following:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="square">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Offer 3 to 4
tenders for each of the major routes on a yearly contract – this would
enable the control over a routes monopoly by one railway business and
ensure that competition is encouraged. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The money
received from the tenders should be used by the government to renovate each
platform and bring it back to a respectable condition<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Invite tenders
by service business to establish themselves at the platforms (such as
restaurants, internet hubs, waiting lounges, business lounges, motels,
etc.)<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="square">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Provide at least
a 5year tax holiday and another 5year reduced tax subsidy to all final
parties. This would encourage business investment into the railway
infrastructure development<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Regulate pricing
to ensure that the private sector is not taking too much advantage of the
network system and the end consumer <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Offer a
dedicated police service for the entire railway system <o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The
above seems simple and perhaps it is. The only thing that really lacks is
honesty and the integrity to do good for the people who have voted you in
power. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">It
would have been ideal had we not needed to privatize one of the basic needs of
the people such as transportation but unfortunately that is not possible with
the current state of affairs so the next best thing is to ensure that we at
least continue to offer the service at a reasonable rate. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDGg6E60yqkHD7wZhD53LcXteKCxpMoEdrJDcxgOKPr_LZRch1q9cEXSgYT82Y2aKV7gjL2f6zt3ocKq3lbASm71Wt2FRSOAGKRazkdyoSFvYzzfhhuf5PT0kD71vyV58pR9fXcvfCChh8/s1600/foreign-consultants-track-1324349593.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDGg6E60yqkHD7wZhD53LcXteKCxpMoEdrJDcxgOKPr_LZRch1q9cEXSgYT82Y2aKV7gjL2f6zt3ocKq3lbASm71Wt2FRSOAGKRazkdyoSFvYzzfhhuf5PT0kD71vyV58pR9fXcvfCChh8/s1600/foreign-consultants-track-1324349593.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">②</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">
http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Politics/05-Aug-2011/Foreign-consultants-may-put-PR-back-on-track</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">So
far the condition has gotten from bad to worse and with the announcement of the
business service locomotive starting shortly, one tends to wonder why not offer
something for the larger segment of the poor population for whom the railways
was and still is the only form of travel across the country. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">It
seems that people in our government are so incompetent that they've resorted to
<a href="http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Politics/05-Aug-2011/Foreign-consultants-may-put-PR-back-on-track">foreign
consultants</a><a href="file:///C:/Users/Adeel_Mehru/Documents/Articles/The%20derailed%20Pakistan%20Railways.doc#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">[5]</span></span></span></a> to help resolve the
railway issue. I can’t believe we didn’t have the brain power to come up with
solutions ourselves. 170million people in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Pakistan</st1:place></st1:country-region> and we have to go out to
find solutions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Whatever
the case, the current government can still save face and fix the wreckage known
as Pakistan Railway from becoming yesterday’s trash. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<a href="https://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button">Tweet</a>
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<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Adeel_Mehru/Documents/Articles/The%20derailed%20Pakistan%20Railways.doc#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 10pt;">[1]</span></span></span></a> <span style="font-size: 8pt;">“Pakistan Railways in need of repairs” - <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTyWNT22K7s">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTyWNT22K7s</a>
| video last seen 5<sup>th</sup> Jan 2012<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Adeel_Mehru/Documents/Articles/The%20derailed%20Pakistan%20Railways.doc#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 10pt;">[2]</span></span></span></a> <span style="font-size: 8pt;">“PM to inaugurate Business Express Train on Feb 3” – <a href="http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=133675">http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=133675</a>
| page visited last 5<sup>th</sup> Jan 2012</span></div>
</div>
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<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Adeel_Mehru/Documents/Articles/The%20derailed%20Pakistan%20Railways.doc#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 10pt;">[3]</span></span></span></a> <span style="font-size: 8pt;">“<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Pakistan</st1:country-region></st1:place>
railways” - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan_Railways">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan_Railways</a>
| page visited last 5<sup>th</sup> Jan 2012</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Adeel_Mehru/Documents/Articles/The%20derailed%20Pakistan%20Railways.doc#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 10pt;">[4]</span></span></span></a> <span style="font-size: 8pt;">“Four-way split proposed for Pakistan Railways” - <a href="http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/single-view/view/four-way-split-proposed-for-pakistan-railways.html">http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/single-view/view/four-way-split-proposed-for-pakistan-railways.html</a>
| last visited 5th Jan 2012<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn5">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Adeel_Mehru/Documents/Articles/The%20derailed%20Pakistan%20Railways.doc#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 10pt;">[5]</span></span></span></a> <span style="font-size: 8pt;">“Foreign Consultants may put PR back on track” - <a href="http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Politics/05-Aug-2011/Foreign-consultants-may-put-PR-back-on-track">http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Politics/05-Aug-2011/Foreign-consultants-may-put-PR-back-on-track</a>
| page last viewed on 5<sup>th</sup> Jan 2012<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</div>adeelansarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999449242507099053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6657240731542270619.post-32386732694301702162011-09-30T17:00:00.000+02:002011-09-30T22:13:08.756+02:00Battle for Cart and Mind<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG2bEjn8MHDaHwm7Ijln-AgNYJ33zQJOlgcv2SsKlIHkUab4ljJeo5GNA40WqQRiVW_zBeO59B2sw5CNpWZZAUnez_DneOAExsEzQu90xHa9OBZ4RcT9WsBGBZ7bSzqP_yhBwEwMS4YR5B/s1600/battle+for+cart+and+mind.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG2bEjn8MHDaHwm7Ijln-AgNYJ33zQJOlgcv2SsKlIHkUab4ljJeo5GNA40WqQRiVW_zBeO59B2sw5CNpWZZAUnez_DneOAExsEzQu90xHa9OBZ4RcT9WsBGBZ7bSzqP_yhBwEwMS4YR5B/s320/battle+for+cart+and+mind.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The Battle for Cart and Mind<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Consumer mode vs. Shopper Mode<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">By Adeel Ansari (Senior Brand Manager, Homecare GCC region – Henkel)<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Follow me on http://www.twitter.com/Adeel_Ansari<o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This article was printed in the Slogan Magazine Pakistan but in a summarized form.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">A couple of weeks back I had a chance to attend a seminar called <b><i>Marketing to Women</i></b>, where one of the presenters made a simple statement with profound implications. The idea that a consumer of your category (not necessarily just your brand/product) shifts modes from consumer to shopper the moment s/he enters a shopping area and with that comes a shift in mindset as well for that very person. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">A statement like this is nothing new for the average marketing person, but if you think about it long and hard, it leads you to wonder why some times brands that have invested heavily to develop Top of Mind (TOM) and other image and equity measures tend to fall flat in sales. There must be something that drives their decision making beyond what they see, hear and experience outside the store front. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">So while all investments on ATL and BTL may have helped you capture the mind of the consumer, getting your brand into the cart of the consumer is a slightly different battle on its own. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Thus the real battle for Cart and Mind takes place at the store front, where a consumer enters but a shopper leaves. Her experiences within the store will be defined by her shopper mode while her satisfaction on product usage outside the store will be defined through the consumer mode. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Based on this notion, let me elaborate on this with a break-up of the two classifications for the target audience in question. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div align="center"><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: solid #4BACC6 .5pt; mso-border-insideh: .5pt solid white; mso-border-insidev: .5pt solid white; mso-border-top-alt: solid #F79646 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;"><tbody>
<tr> <td style="background: white; border-bottom: solid #F79646 3.0pt; border: none; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 66.4pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div></td> <td colspan="2" style="background: white; border-bottom: solid #F79646 3.0pt; border: none; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 2.05in;" valign="top" width="197"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Consumer Mode<o:p></o:p></span></b></div></td> <td colspan="2" style="background: white; border-bottom: solid #F79646 3.0pt; border: none; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 2.05in;" valign="top" width="197"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Shopper Mode<o:p></o:p></span></b></div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid white 1.0pt; border: none; mso-cell-special: placeholder;" width="5"><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td colspan="2" style="background: #276A7C; border-bottom: solid #276A7C 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid #276A7C .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid white .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 70.3pt;" valign="top" width="94"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><b><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Audience<o:p></o:p></span></b></div></td> <td colspan="2" style="background: #A5D5E2; border-top: none; border: solid white 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid white .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 2.05in;" valign="top" width="197"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">Who is our target audience<o:p></o:p></span></div></td> <td colspan="2" style="background: #A5D5E2; border-bottom: solid white 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #4BACC6 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid #4BACC6 .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid white .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 2.05in;" valign="top" width="197"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">How does she shop?<o:p></o:p></span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td colspan="2" style="background: #276A7C; border-bottom: solid #276A7C 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid #276A7C .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid white .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 70.3pt;" valign="top" width="94"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><b><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Task<o:p></o:p></span></b></div></td> <td colspan="2" style="background: #EDF6F9; border-top: none; border: solid white 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid white .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 2.05in;" valign="top" width="197"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">Get in her mind<o:p></o:p></span></div></td> <td colspan="2" style="background: #EDF6F9; border-bottom: solid white 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #4BACC6 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid #4BACC6 .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid white .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 2.05in;" valign="top" width="197"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">Get in her cart<o:p></o:p></span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td colspan="2" style="background: #276A7C; border-bottom: solid #276A7C 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid #276A7C .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid white .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 70.3pt;" valign="top" width="94"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><b><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Story<o:p></o:p></span></b></div></td> <td colspan="2" style="background: #A5D5E2; border-top: none; border: solid white 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid white .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 2.05in;" valign="top" width="197"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">Reason to buy<o:p></o:p></span></div></td> <td colspan="2" style="background: #A5D5E2; border-bottom: solid white 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #4BACC6 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid #4BACC6 .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid white .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 2.05in;" valign="top" width="197"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">Reason to buy NOW<o:p></o:p></span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td colspan="2" style="background: #276A7C; border: none; mso-border-top-alt: solid white .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 70.3pt;" valign="top" width="94"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><b><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Incentivize <o:p></o:p></span></b></div></td> <td colspan="2" style="background: #EDF6F9; border-bottom: solid #4BACC6 1.0pt; border-left: solid white 1.0pt; border-right: solid white 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid #4BACC6 .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid white .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 2.05in;" valign="top" width="197"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">Emotional need<o:p></o:p></span></div></td> <td colspan="2" style="background: #EDF6F9; border-bottom: solid #4BACC6 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #4BACC6 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: #4BACC6; mso-border-left-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: white; mso-border-right-alt: #4BACC6; mso-border-style-alt: solid; mso-border-top-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: white; mso-border-width-alt: .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 2.05in;" valign="top" width="197"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">Practical Validation<o:p></o:p></span></div></td> </tr>
<tr height="0"> <td style="border: none;" width="89"></td> <td style="border: none;" width="5"></td> <td style="border: none;" width="192"></td> <td style="border: none;" width="5"></td> <td style="border: none;" width="192"></td> <td style="border: none;" width="5"></td> </tr>
</tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #D9D9D9; margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Audience </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">– <i>the first hurdle for many. <o:p></o:p></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">So you know from a brand perspective who your target audience is, you’ve looked at their social class, their psychographics, demographics, likes, dislikes, social needs, etc…now what? To be fair all this has just addressed one of the 5W’s and that is <b><i>Who</i></b> is your target audience and that in itself covers the Consumer Mode for most of us. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Now for the shopper mode you need to do a full 5W1H study of your consumer which includes other than the Who, the <b><i>How</i></b>, <b><i>Why</i></b>, <b><i>where</i></b> and <b><i>when</i></b> do they shop, along with <b><i>what</i></b> they shop for. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">For instance, the question related to <b><i>what </i></b>a consumer shops for can vary because some consumers (i.e. in the shopper mode) shop for the category first and the brand second<a href="file:///C:/Users/Adeel_Mehru/Documents/Articles/The%20battle%20for%20Cart%20and%20Mind.doc#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">[1]</span></span></span></a>, while in some cases the consumer shops in tunnel vision. Now this may sound like a cliché but within the FMCG industry and more specific to homecare and personal care, the tunnel vision shopper is primarily a male, who is given a particular list of items to buy, along with brand name, size, variant, etc. and that’s exactly what he will buy – nothing more, nothing less. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Similarly studies show that top-up shopping trips, which happen mostly in traditional grocery stores and neighborhood shops have a high tendency towards brand specific sales vs. category sales – which means that the shopper has a preconceived notion of what s/he wants to buy and disregards any other brands in the category and goes for what brand he/she has in mind.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">This has a very relevant implication for trade category managers and brand managers. It shows us that if you’re a category leader make sure you are present in grocery stores and lower trade at all times, secondly for the challenger brands it means focusing on gaining attention and TOM for the shopper in places where they are willing to invest more time and try new things, i.e. hypermarkets, supermarkets<a href="file:///C:/Users/Adeel_Mehru/Documents/Articles/The%20battle%20for%20Cart%20and%20Mind.doc#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">[2]</span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #D9D9D9; margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Task </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">– <i>Getting in the consumer’s mind is half the battle. <o:p></o:p></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Successful brands around the world have not only been able to capture the mind of the consumer through communication on ATL/BTL/Online along with consumer interactions such as sampling and trial generation but have also been able to translate that into off take at the store end. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">At the store end, shoppers are willing to try new products based on a number of factors, e.g. out of stock for the main brand, packing of your brand, pricing, communication effectiveness on a particular occasion, etc. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The task for the marketer and trade marketing team is to ensure that visibility of your brand is not only flawless but packaging and other relevant touch points for the shopper are properly positioned. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">You will see brands succeeding on packaging combined with great store execution – i.e. Brite washing powder changed its dark blue bi-layered poly bags to tri-layer metallic finished light blue shades of higher perceptive packaging and was seen as an instant top quality powder even though the powder inside was still the same yet previously it was considered a mid market product. They coupled this with excellent branding in-store to captivate the shopper and entice her to try this new <i>revolutionary </i>product. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #D9D9D9; margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Story and Incentive </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">– <i>Two sides of the same coin<o:p></o:p></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Shoppers are in the store to buy, but what they buy is based on what is there on offer. It is therefore important to make your brand relevant for the shopper at that point in time. This is an important step in a shopping mission such as Top Up for the month. During these shopping trips, shoppers are fixated on buying only the bare essentials to sustain them until the next pay day. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Here a story on your brand such as a twin pack offer at 20% off may be more than the required amount for the shopper, who could have survived on one pack alone but it may be enough to incentivize the purchase because the shopper feels that this offer is not going to be available next month, hence more spending this month, may save her spending in the next month. Thus justifying an emotional benefit in the consumer mode and passing it on to a practical validation in the shopper mode. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">In conclusion, it is important to be able to differentiate between these two relevant modes of the same target audience for your brand in order to take advantage of all investments that help to build equity, TOM, awareness and other such measures that require validation on a sales level at the end of the day. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div><br />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /><div id="ftn1"><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: xx-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Adeel_Mehru/Documents/Articles/The%20battle%20for%20Cart%20and%20Mind.doc#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[1]</span></span></a> Packaging Research needed to drive sales - <a href="http://relevantinsights.com/tag/packaging-research">http://relevantinsights.com/tag/packaging-research</a> | last visited 20th June 2011<o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="ftn2"><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Adeel_Mehru/Documents/Articles/The%20battle%20for%20Cart%20and%20Mind.doc#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[2]</span></span></span></a><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: xx-small;"> How to Shop Smarter – BBC Watchdogs - <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog/consumer_advice/supermarket_psychology.shtml"><span style="text-decoration: none;">http://www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog/consumer_advice/supermarket_psychology.shtml</span></a> | last visited 20th June 2011</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div></div></div></div>adeelansarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999449242507099053noreply@blogger.com0Dubai - United Arab Emirates25.2644444 55.31166669999993224.9799129 54.977785199999936 25.5489759 55.645548199999929tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6657240731542270619.post-39792564420019870162011-06-08T13:31:00.000+02:002011-06-20T22:20:03.439+02:00The Right Brand Manager<strong>What it takes to do the job<br /></strong><br />By Adeel Ansari Senior Brand Manager, Homecare GCC region – Henkel <a href="http://www.twitter.com/Adeel_Ansari"><br /><br />http://www.twitter.com/Adeel_Ansari</a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFIbahgYBgltjaE6PVOyOHzUOFfaIv7Tfgn-_xubXs4TNxQGhkLS6OiCdo7kkRoCeYEb9j77Ib1-hMSlpkuXFKuyBttEZpdsRJq9bNaCPvKpeW0YnBGFHfeAgGGheS3jCDDQPauABXsmfs/s1600/jobs_As_Brand.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5615815584808279042" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFIbahgYBgltjaE6PVOyOHzUOFfaIv7Tfgn-_xubXs4TNxQGhkLS6OiCdo7kkRoCeYEb9j77Ib1-hMSlpkuXFKuyBttEZpdsRJq9bNaCPvKpeW0YnBGFHfeAgGGheS3jCDDQPauABXsmfs/s400/jobs_As_Brand.jpg" border="0" /></a><div align="justify"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Most people I’ve met have a myopic view of the duties of a brand manager and think that making ads is all we’re responsible for. Although this is one of the many things on our agenda (i.e. to facilitate the creative process) it is not the only thing. Other then just for creative purposes there is a detail of analysis, insight gathering, consumer understanding, market analysis and product development that goes behind the role of a brand manager. </span></span></div><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">The biggest task for a brand manager is to keep its brand alive and kicking. She needs to be able to keep her brand relevant in the minds of the consumer at all times. This requires patience, hard work, luck and some skills as suggested below.</span><br /></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Analytical skill </strong>is by far the key attribute to becoming a good brand manager. Being able to read between the lines, understand numbers, researches, insights from the consumer make the foundation of what a brand manager must do. For instance as a Brand Manager on Surf Excel, I had a chance to investigate the seasonality on laundry powder for the brand. Our smaller sachets were selling more and more every year and we had to investigate how, why and whether we could accelerate this growth but also convert it to a more profitable SKU. The analysis led our team to what was happening. </span></span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">During winters, when woolen clothing needed to be washed, soap was not effective, due to multiple reasons, hence leading consumers to try the Top of Mind brand in laundry – i.e. Surf Excel, but in a cost effective format, which was the Rs.10 sachet. Once the consumers tried the sachet format, some of them stayed on to it and reduced their use of soap as a consequence. This was the insight that led to a successful winter sachet TVC on Surf Excel (Name: Surf Excel Winter - </span></span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&v=ZZUfhvIE7AY"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&v=ZZUfhvIE7AY</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">). Through this communication, we were able to highlight a more profitable SKU as opposed to the Rs.10 sachet, speak the mind of the consumer (through the kid), highlight the benefits of the product and visually depict the economies of using power vs. soap.</span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Now although analysis is relevant, it only gets half the job done, you also need to be a <strong>team player </strong>and <strong>strong communicator</strong>. The funny thing about being a brand manager is how the other functions react to what you say. You can be the foundation of a great team or you can be the wrecking ball – the choice is yours. I’ve always found that giving respect and ample consideration to each department (supply chain, demand planning, sales, commercial finance, etc.) will add to a final great execution and helps to build equity for the brand not only in the minds of the consumer but in the minds of the internal team. </span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">A phrase used most often in our line of work is <strong>time management</strong>. A brand manager has to juggle a lot of different tasks at once, it is therefore important to prioritize your tasks in such a way that you know exactly what is require and when. One way I did this was by having an e-post it software on my account and an early morning check list (for myself). </span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">With all this said and done, we cannot under estimate the importance of <strong>creativity </strong>and the ability to <strong>think out of the box</strong>. Brand managers have to spearhead the brand, even if it requires non-conventional ideas. If you cannot challenge yourself to think of new and interesting ways of communicating your brand benefits or even developing new benefits, you will not be able to achieve your brand’s full potential. Campaigns such as <em>Surf Excel’s “Dirt Is Good”, Safeguard’s “Commander Safeguard”, Lifebuoy’s “Germ Busters”, Sunsilk’s “Life Can’t Wait” </em>and<em> Pepsi’s ”Yeh Dil Mangay More” </em>are all a glimpse of what brand management can accomplish but not in isolation of a winning all round team that delivers on the final message through product experience and consumer loyalty. </span></p>adeelansarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999449242507099053noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6657240731542270619.post-73607431036847900842011-04-24T10:47:00.000+02:002011-06-20T22:28:51.183+02:00Moin Akhtar - Thank you for the laughter<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI2ozIhokIIaAoB3z4-v3FJ7jcC6-UBe6IuVUf83NyQBvqJ31QuPNXr6BVoMVMAiwFehA-FGIYJEVchtTYuwSBhLXFlhRPw62UKledMGpAvSPkX0rSGV2xLYyeyko53bBoGNmxkWaZpeFA/s1600/moin+akhtar.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599069501029449762" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 183px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI2ozIhokIIaAoB3z4-v3FJ7jcC6-UBe6IuVUf83NyQBvqJ31QuPNXr6BVoMVMAiwFehA-FGIYJEVchtTYuwSBhLXFlhRPw62UKledMGpAvSPkX0rSGV2xLYyeyko53bBoGNmxkWaZpeFA/s320/moin+akhtar.bmp" border="0" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><div align="justify"><span >Sometimes you don’t realize the magnitude of one’s influence on you until their passing. I feel the passing of a legend such as Moin Akhtar has had the same effect on many across Pakistan and Pakistanis around the world.<br />I was perhaps no more than seven or eight when I first heard of Moin Akhtar from my father. As a comedian he was renowned for his wit and exceptional timing but more than that, my father would remark that making jokes for the family is not an easy job. With other comedians you feel sometimes that the threshold of decency may be crossed in order to deliver the punch line but with Moin Akhtar you always knew that he was going to take the entire family along for a hilarious time.<br />The irony of the whole situation is how much we need laughter in our country and for someone to continue to make us laugh and think at the same time. Moin Akhtar had that quality in him, he was able make you laugh, pause for a moment, think on what he had said and make you laugh some more.<br />Loose Talk written by Anwar Maqsood and intelligently performed by Moin Akhtar was a remarkable insight into comedy at its finest. The man of a thousand disguises was also a man of humbleness and pure patriotism. You can’t act a character if you don’t believe in what that character stands for. By way of all the different get ups and all the different looks throughout the show, Moin Akhtar did justice to every farce, skit, subtle play of words, pun and inference he made towards the situation put down on paper by Anwar Maqsood. The show was able to bring out the anger, frustration, jubilation, sorrow, disappointment and excitement of the entire nation through the comical wit of a man who knew how to be more than just one person.<br />When you see a comedian in real life, you expect them to be only funny; expecting something other than a joke or two is beyond belief. But with Moin Akhtar, you knew for a fact that this man was one of more than just a funny bone that defined his existence. He had a voice and you couldn’t stop him for making his voice be heard.<br />I had a chance to hear an interview of his a few months before his death and it was heartwarming to see that a man of his caliber was more worried about the youth of this nation then his own personal achievements and future aspirations. He had more soul in his voice than all the politicians and bureaucratic scum put together. He was worried for the future of the nation and it struck a chord in my heart, made me respect him even more. His wish was to see that one day the youth of the nation would be completely different from the rulers of our times. He made no joke about it and was as clear as day on the point that a nation is as strong as the youth is breeds.<br />There is no doubt in my mind that on the 22nd of April 2011, generations of Pakistanis felt the same way for one single man that perhaps they haven’t felt for a long time.<br />Moin Akhtar, for you I will always be praying. Thank you for all those times of joy, those moments of laughter when I could forget the pain and suffering we see around us, the number of times you’ve talked about the current world we live in, in a funny way and yet made your point on how we must change, how we must grow together as a nation, how the youth should be stronger than what it is right now. I respect you and thank you for believing in us and I pray that as a nation we learn from your messages and can be better than what we are.<br />Once again, thank you for the laughter. </span></div>adeelansarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999449242507099053noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6657240731542270619.post-59950107398377833812011-03-29T18:33:00.000+02:002012-02-01T10:26:11.699+01:00Brands beyond logos by Adeel Ansari<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;"><i><span style="font-size: 85%;">My original article from Slogan Magazine (online version available on </span><a href="http://sloganmagazine.blogspot.com/2011/03/brands-beyond-logos.html"><span style="font-size: 85%;">http://sloganmagazine.blogspot.com/2011/03/brands-beyond-logos.html</span></a><span style="font-size: 85%;">)</span></i></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 85%;">Brands beyond logos</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 85%; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small; font-weight: normal;"><b style="color: #444444; line-height: 1.4;"><i>Adeel Ansari digs into the world of brand logos that clutter the consumer subconscious</i></b></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The other day I was driving down the road in Dubai, my home now for close to a year. I had to pick my wife up for dinner and as she sat in the car I recalled the perfume she was wearing and it took me back to first time she had worn it in Karachi. I didn't realize it but because of the scent I ended up driving on the wrong side of the road. Apparently the sudden burst of memories from the fragrance made me think I was actually in Karachi - In UAE we drive on the right whereas in Pakistan we drive on the left.</span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It made me realize the power of smell and in turn it use in the world of brands. Even our other senses are strongly recommended by new marketing gurus in order to break away from the clutter of logos. In most corporate brand building efforts we focus on the rudimentary elements of sight defined solely by a brand's logo and yet there is so much more potential out there.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In Martin Lindstrom's book ''Buyology'' he discusses certain brands that have broken free from the logo clutter and moved to the next step of brand evolution - perhaps out of force rather than choice, but with great success. One example he sites is of Silk Cut Cigarettes. When the cigarette ban was about to take place, just a little before that Silk Cut started advertising its brand name on a purple silk background. Later it removed the brand name all together after the ban but kept the same purple silk background and in 1997, through a survey, it was found that 98% of people could still tell what brand was being advertised.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Similar to Silk Cut who focused on color to define their brand and not just their logo Ferrari too has a very strong claim to fame with their color RED. It is a fact that Ferrari makes sure that their particular tone is identifiable and standardized from all its paraphernalia ranging from Zippo lighters, to sun-glasses to bags, clothing and even Ferrari cars themselves - if it has a red in the branding then it has to be the Ferrari specific red. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Even Marlboro isn't far behind on this. As Martin Lindstrom points out that Phillip Morris has paid bar owners to decorate their interior using the colors of its Marlboro brand and even showing landscapes of cowboys country in loop. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Some brands have been able to build their brand beyond logos by picking up another sense - i.e. hearing. For instance the Airtel and Nokia ring tones are one of the most popular on the planet, although the latter had issues due to overexposure that made customers remember the bad times related to when the Nokia ring tone rang (a call from work or an angry spouse etc), the Airtel ring tone on the other hand still makes people feel a sense of calm and belongingness backed by emotionally strong ATL with the ring tone as a key part of the communication. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Within the sensory realm of smell another huge player is Johnson and Johnson Baby Powder (the most recognizable smell in the world). J&J uses vanilla essence in their baby powder because vanilla is found in breast milk and hence evokes childhood memories. In an experiment conducted by a shopping store when vanilla essence was sprayed in the store, purchases of women clothing went up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The power of smell is also strong in ensuring peace of mind related to disinfection, hygiene and family protection. That is why the pine oil smell of antiseptic products such as Dettol makes most housewives buy the product because they relate the smell to a clean, sterilized clinic or hospital.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In terms of touch we sometimes feel that clothing stores only display new products in their shops to show off the new designs but mostly they also display products to ensure that we sample the products in our hands. The ability to touch a product increases our willingness to buy it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Most large brands today are realizing the benefits of building their brands beyond their logos and with the fair amount of clutter in the world of advertising it doesn't seem like a bad idea at all to do so.</span></div>
</div>adeelansarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999449242507099053noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6657240731542270619.post-12599939167049081022010-12-18T17:38:00.000+01:002011-06-20T22:31:05.400+02:00The Politician's Dare<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXgScJDKxMjN6j7bwNGOH38aDRZ5nKcbljEGKrKHM-_w1I0kJydz72Gl5kNRsQ9Q5KgXuTj6kKG6SRJ2bbEcvc2iPR0pvq3sIUN40pw8PX0NglOzEbiAugy8kCw9MYEiYtSeKMif-j5Idr/s1600/42-17058175.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552065186611717954" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 226px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXgScJDKxMjN6j7bwNGOH38aDRZ5nKcbljEGKrKHM-_w1I0kJydz72Gl5kNRsQ9Q5KgXuTj6kKG6SRJ2bbEcvc2iPR0pvq3sIUN40pw8PX0NglOzEbiAugy8kCw9MYEiYtSeKMif-j5Idr/s320/42-17058175.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span"><i>An article I had written back in 2008... probably applies to the currently situation in Pakistan more than before.</i></span><br /></span><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></i></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 16px; " >Nowadays in Pakistan, politicians talk about anything under the sun to get elected. In their speeches they refer to the problems faced by the common man. Problems like hunger, lack of education, utilities, health care and so on and so forth. But sometimes it makes me wonder, how is it possible for someone who has never been a common man to feel the problems they face? It just doesn’t make sense.</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; "><br /></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span"><div style="text-align: justify; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" >These are the people who don’t leave their homes without having escorts around them, cars pilling over one another to protect them and roads actually being closed down until they zoom by. How can someone who has never faced a power shortage, food shortage, education deprivation, financial issue in his/her life talk about the problems of the common man? Would someone please explain that to me?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; "><br /></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; ">You can exile these people as much as you want, but the truth of the matter is you’re not really taking anything away from them and yet we keep asking for them back; year after year. They play with our sentiments, with our lives and for what, a mere chance at glorifying themselves and satisfying their egos?</span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; ">I’ve had enough of all this illogical blabbering by our so-called leaders. I might not be one to step out on to the streets and protest but I want to use the power of words to actually get my point across.</span></div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; ">I have a challenge for all these so-called leaders who talk of the common man. How about you get down from your mount Olympus and actually live like a common man.</span></div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; ">I dare any leader to give up what luxury s/he has for a month and live like the rest of us! I swear if you can actually live in the situation we people live in on a daily basis for just a month, I’ll be impressed and Ill offer you my vote the next time you come knocking on my door. Oh wait you don’t need to come knocking on our doors because you already have the poor illiterate ‘common man’ selling you their dreams in the form of their votes for a chance at a real life made up of their dreams, that you promise them in your speeches!</span></div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; ">So here’s the challenge, give up all your luxurious life and live with us, amongst us in our homes, face the issues, the torments, the problems, the shortages, the anger, frustrations, the hunger, the different forms of pity we feel when our family can’t get what they deserve as human beings! You’ve pushed us further back then even the cave man! At least the cave man had clean drinking water, fire and something to eat all the time, we on the other hand have a leader who tells us to eat chicken now because it’s cheaper than our other staple diet! You don’t deserve to give these statements until you yourself have a chance to live like us.</span></div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; ">Try making ends meet like the rest of us for a month and you have my respect, but until then, don’t you dare tell us what we need and how you’re going to give that to us!!</span></div></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(51,51,51); LINE-HEIGHT: 16px; FONT-STYLE: normalfont-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:11;">----------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span">Picture courtesy - www.corbis.com - value rights managed (RM)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(26, 26, 26); line-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span">Businesspeople at Lectern Holding Puppets</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(26, 26, 26); line-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span">IMAGE:</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span"><div class="MT_0" style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 5px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; outline-width: 0px; "><div class="MB_5" style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; outline-width: 0px; "><div id="ctl00_mainContent_panelImageText" style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; outline-width: 0px; "><div class="MT_0 MB_5 imageTitleAndCreditLine" style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 5px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); line-height: 14px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; outline-width: 0px; "><span id="ctl00_mainContent_creditLine" style="BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; LINE-HEIGHT: 14px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initialcolor:#000a00;"><div style="text-align: justify;">© Richard Morrell/Corbis</div></span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(26, 26, 26); line-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span">PHOTOGRAPHER </span></span></div><div class="detailPair" id="ctl00_mainContent_panelphotographerText" style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; outline-width: 0px; "><div class="MT_0 MB_5" style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 5px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); line-height: 14px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; outline-width: 0px; "><span class="orangeText" style="BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; COLOR: rgb(67,133,192); LINE-HEIGHT: 14px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initialcolor:#000a00;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><a class="actLikeLink" id="ctl00_mainContent_photographer" style="BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; CURSOR: pointer; COLOR: rgb(67,133,192); LINE-HEIGHT: 14px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; TEXT-DECORATION: none; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial" target="_blank">Richard Morrell</a></div></span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(26, 26, 26); line-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span">COLLECTION</span></span></div><div class="detailPair" id="ctl00_mainContent_panelcollectionText" style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; outline-width: 0px; "><div class="MT_0 MB_5" style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 5px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); line-height: 14px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; outline-width: 0px; "><span id="ctl00_mainContent_collection" style="border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 14px; padding-top: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; outline-width: 0px; "><div style="text-align: justify; ">Flirt</div></span></div></div></div></div></span></span>adeelansarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999449242507099053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6657240731542270619.post-10583326653079802632010-11-02T08:20:00.000+01:002012-01-10T21:45:13.727+01:00Muslims don't have to be Pakistani?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7N5wskQYgiTx0Ko6ucM_Wl220qqAmYAz4HVC8pKcr-eb0lMouhO7vXqb2E5l4DMmC4SvhCukvrZiYpwyhtryk4Uns1y89SNDOFRYmS4TrsdHJ8SRN4hSOijay_P6Btn1Cmp96wDEYMNwG/s1600/funny.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="400" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534854018517859074" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7N5wskQYgiTx0Ko6ucM_Wl220qqAmYAz4HVC8pKcr-eb0lMouhO7vXqb2E5l4DMmC4SvhCukvrZiYpwyhtryk4Uns1y89SNDOFRYmS4TrsdHJ8SRN4hSOijay_P6Btn1Cmp96wDEYMNwG/s400/funny.png" style="float: left; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0px;" width="243" /></a><br />
<br />
<div align="justify">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">When you’re growing up, you hold with you a set of beliefs, most of
which have no basis more reliable than your own reasoning, backed by the fact
that no event has happened in your limited existence to tell you otherwise. You
also believe what you do because you have limited exposure to the world around
you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Part of my childhood was spent in Hong Kong, where I started my
schooling while my elder brother and sister continued in senior classes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Back there, we grew up amongst children from all across the globe, for
us diversity was a common aspect in school and connecting with them was second
nature.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">However, having friends in school is one thing, having family friends is
a completely different story. And this is where most of our belief system
starts to take shape.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">When you grow up outside of your home country I think the urge to have
some connection with it increases with every year you’re apart from it. And in
such cases it’s natural to try and find ties with people who share similar
cultural and religious values as you. With this in mind I remember very clearly
how almost all our family friends were from Pakistan and we all followed one
basic belief system and way of life – i.e. Islam.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">For me growing up it was therefore easy to interchange Pakistan, Islam,
Urdu, Arabic and all such aspects of our version of Islam into a small part on
the globe that defined us as Pakistanis. It was difficult for me to imagine a
Muslim who didn’t belong to Pakistan because those were the only Muslims I grew
up around.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Sure I knew that Muslims came from all over the world and on occasion I saw
them in the Mosque in Hong Kong (whenever we got a chance to go on Fridays) but
even then it never occurred to me that Muslims can be of another race. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Even though I grew up listening to stories of Hazrat Bilal, a black
slave who converts to Islam and is one of the closest companions of the Prophet
(PBUH); the fact that he was a Black Muslim never occurred to me. Why didn’t I
realize that you didn’t have to be a Pakistani to be a Muslim?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">I had a friend in school named Terrance Hussain, but the second name
doesn’t matter to you when you’re young and so I just knew him as Terrance. One
day his younger brother comes up to me and says “You are in the presence of
ADAAM Hussain – so beware I may just nuke you!” He was trying to play on the
similarity of his name with Sadaam Hussain. I looked at him curiously and with
a pondered expression said “Hmm, you have a very Muslim name”, which of course
caught him by surprise and as he was walking off he turned to me with one
eyebrow up (something I still can’t do) and chuckled out “that’s because I AM a
Muslim!” And I thought to myself - Wow! That means, I have a Muslim friend
who’s name is Terrance! That is so cool. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">That day I frantically roamed the playground looking for Terrance and
the moment I found him I started talking to him about everything related to
Islam (or what little I knew of it at the age of 10) – did he say his prayers,
does he believe in the Prophet (PBUH). Was he always a Muslim, does he fast
during Ramadan. I was so excited about it all as if I had found a survivor
other than myself on an uncharted island off the coast of human existence! For
a small brief moment he was truly unique to me. I even asked him about the type
of cuisines they had from their home land (which was Morocco) thinking that the
type of dishes we had would also have relevance to Islam regardless of where
you lived – there needed to be more similarities then just our faith. But the
most remarkable thing was – there wasn’t any and that’s what made it even more
enriching an experience.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">I realized then that the fact we share a single belief system is in
itself the most common of all denominators. It doesn’t matter what country
you’re from or what color or race you belong to. Islam transcends boundaries of
our self created divisions. The farcical concept of a clothe woven together
with particular designs which we refer to as a flag doesn’t really unite us at
all, it in fact creates the boundaries that Islam tries to break down. The flag
is great when you’re playing cricket but life is more than just sports it’s
about living and that’s what Islam teaches us… a way of life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">That day I also started asking the real important questions from my
parents, questions like what really is Islam, who can be a Muslim and then of
course the Islamic stories of our prophets from the Quran. I’ve realized that
most of these questions have answers that come with time and even after twenty
years from that day I’m still in search of most of these answers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">It makes me wonder then that by not being able to see the world clearly
we sometimes grow up in our own small bubble, encapsulated by our beliefs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">I strongly believe that the bloodshed and the calamities that are
unfolding today are a result of our myopic vision and the brainwashing that is
being amplified by the disjointed and skewed media we have out there. No one is
really questioning the lies behind the so-called accurate stories of the news
channels. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Conspiracy theories make more and more sense now than ever before.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: left;">I can only pray that we start looking beyond the race, color and
demographic boundaries that break us apart and can come together as Muslims and
genuinely pure individuals</span><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 85%;">.<br />Ameen.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 85%;"><br /></span></div>
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<em><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 78%;">[IMAGE:© Granger Wootz/Blend Images/Corbis - </span><a href="http://www.corbisimages.com/Enlargement/Enlargement.aspx?id=42-22556075&tab=details&caller=search"><span style="font-size: 78%;">http://www.corbisimages.com/Enlargement/Enlargement.aspx?id=42-22556075&tab=details&caller=search</span></a><span style="font-size: 78%;">]</span></span></em></div>
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</div>adeelansarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999449242507099053noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6657240731542270619.post-91288261279603912822010-08-23T14:38:00.000+02:002011-04-29T13:29:19.749+02:00Sialkot Atrocity - Please use this as an email to those in power<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 16px; font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:11px;"><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "> I got this email from a friend of mine and I think it's the right thing to do. Please copy and email this from your email address as well and make some noise.</p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Hello everyone</p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">I'm attaching the email addresses for our "public servants". Please email them and express your concerns about the Sialkot incident. I'm also attaching a copy of the email me and some friends sent ourselves. You may cut paste heavily. Do email. Use all your email addresses. We've been complacent and silent for far too long.</p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">EMAIL ADDRESSES AND CONTACTS</p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">sherryrehman@jinnahinstitute.com</p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">governorpunjab@salmaantaseer.com</p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Rehman MalikPSO to Minister Mr.Javed Iqbal Raja Room # 405, 4 th Floor, R BlockPak Secretariat Islamabad ( Pakistan ) Tele : 9207544 PSO/sp to Minister Mr. Mohammad Farhan Zahid (psp)Room # 405, 4 th Floor, R BlockPak Secretariat Islamabad ( Pakistan ) Tele : 9202168</p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Chief Justice of Pakistan Mr. Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Choudhary Supreme Court of Pakistan Constitution Avenue, Islamabad Telephone: 051-9220581-9220600 Fax: 051-9213452</p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Please add comments to this email if you know of other public figures and their email addresses.</p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Email:</p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">To: sherryrehman@jinnahinstitute.com, governorpunjab@salmaantaseer.com, editor@dawn.com</p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Subject: Sialkot Atrocity</p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Esteemed public servants,</p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">I will not take much of your time - You must already be inundated with a barrage of similar emails. All I will say is that our country is dying. Not from the floods, or the blasts, or the earthquakes. But from our apathy and indifference. Please don't let this incident slip away unnoticed. We cannot brush this under the carpet the way we've become accustomed to - this piece of dirty laundry needs to be washed thoroughly and publicly.</p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">I ask for justice. For a fair trial to the alleged aggressors. For law and order to try them in a court of law in accordance with the norms of a civilized society. For I fear that if their trial is not expedited, they will fall victim to a violent backlash of vigilante justice similar to the one they imparted. That would mean Muneeb and Mughees died for nothing. Please do not let that happen.</p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Yours truly,</p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">A concerned citizen and fellow Pakistani</p></span>adeelansarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999449242507099053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6657240731542270619.post-31988074272495734592010-08-12T22:14:00.000+02:002011-04-29T13:30:15.363+02:00A letter to our President - since he's so busy<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_5QC8IuW1jN7K_6h1E30VDzh7oRpATMNQMa8Ohy6k9av5gzZk_eBW3JuQftST5cvnytDHYsdWe70SGLmGNVmdrjc6LHS9n9PuQ5L46-mUUDdlw-LF65CFO0GNYR5Ge-CYDzWhqfU9Q6Iq/s1600/Asif-Ali-Zardari_997445c.jpg"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504619764562643122" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 125px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_5QC8IuW1jN7K_6h1E30VDzh7oRpATMNQMa8Ohy6k9av5gzZk_eBW3JuQftST5cvnytDHYsdWe70SGLmGNVmdrjc6LHS9n9PuQ5L46-mUUDdlw-LF65CFO0GNYR5Ge-CYDzWhqfU9Q6Iq/s200/Asif-Ali-Zardari_997445c.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"> <span style="color:#000000;">A letter to Mr. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Asif</span> Ali <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Zardari</span>, something I felt I had to right since he’s so busy traveling all the time, I don't think I'd be able to say all this in person.</span></span><span style="color:#000000;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="color:#ff0000;"><em>Please note that this is a candid letter and although to the best of my abilities I've tried to provide links to most of the facts in this article, some facts may have been prompted by personal hatred and lack of conviction on my part with regards to our president's abilities. Wherever that may have happened, I apologies.</em></span><br /><br />Dear Mr. President,<br />Earlier today, I wrote a letter to a fellow colleague of yours in the field of politics, someone who ruled this country before you. He <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">didn</span>’t come into power through a democratic way but then again neither did you. You simply took the back door and stood at the podium when no one was really paying any attention. Now sure you can argue that yours was a more politically correct method but I can’t help but do certain comparisons as time goes by. Allow me to elaborate.<br />Your predecessor, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Pervaiz</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Musharaf</span> was a man of the uniform, came into power through a coup, but was legally granted legislative authority by a 12member bench in the Supreme Court – you remember what a court is? No it’s not one of those places you have in your mansions and country clubs with green grass and white painted lines, it’s actually the only judicial body that had a backbone before you broke it, granted Mr. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Musharaf</span> did cripple it before you but you <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">didn</span>’t want it to stand up either, now did you.<br />Nevertheless, I do believe that Mr. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Musharaf</span> had this country’s best interest at heart. He did state that he wanted to improve the economic situation of the country and while in office from 2000 to 2008, this country did see a growth rate of 6.6%</span></span><a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=6657240731542270619&postID=3198807427249573459&pli=1#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">[1]</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"> (adjusted for inflation) for two consecutive years and this was coming up from a low of 4.5% in 2003 (again adjusted for inflation), and mind you he had the war on terror issues to deal with ever since 2001, so you can well imagine the difficulties he had to face. Some analysts even site 8% as a possible GDP growth number during the 2004 to 2007</span><a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=6657240731542270619&postID=3198807427249573459&pli=1#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">[2]</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">. The growth was lead by the service sector and also industry. People were making a living, sure we could have been better but we were getting by.<br />Now you’<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">ve</span> been in office for a little over 2years and our GDP has plummeted to an all time low of 2.7% (adjusted for inflation) - my question to you is, how the hell did you manage to do all that? All the building blocks were in front of you, the foundation had been laid down, your party had majority seats in the government – you took an oath to help us live a normal economically viable life, you promised! Or <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">didn</span>’t you?<br />At the time of your government’s entry inflation is at an all time high – the consumer price index (CPI) was up by 24%, the sensitive price index (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">SPI</span>) 33% and the wholesale price index (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">WPI</span>) was 34%!</span><a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=6657240731542270619&postID=3198807427249573459&pli=1#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">[3]</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"> And this was in 2008 to 2009, the current year we’re expecting another 11% hike on the CPI over an above last year. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Upto</span> 2007 during <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Musharaf</span>’s time inflation was in single digits at 7.7%</span><a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=6657240731542270619&postID=3198807427249573459&pli=1#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">[4]</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"> (high but still bearable)<br />Now the question arises, if all things were going so well for us in the past 8 years of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Musharaf</span>’s rule, what in the hell happened in a matter of a few months of you taking office?<br />Even unemployment went up when you took office from 13.6% in 2008 to 15.2% in 2009</span><a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=6657240731542270619&postID=3198807427249573459&pli=1#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">[5]</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"> - current events in 2010 with the floods perhaps should not be taken into account, I’ll give you that one, but why Mr. President? Why?!<br />The more we earn the less it has become over the years – in 2007 just before you came into power the US Dollar was worth <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">PKR</span>60.63 this was slightly higher then <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">PKR</span>59.5 in 2005 but the moment you came into power the US Dollar just simply sky rocketed to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">PKR</span>70.6 in 2008 and then 81.4 in 2009</span><a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=6657240731542270619&postID=3198807427249573459&pli=1#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">[6]</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"> and it now stands at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">PKR</span>85.8!<br />When I see members from your party on television speaking on the different political talk shows all I see them doing is brushing away relevant questions asked by the opposition or the common man and bringing forth a barrage of mud slinging allegations, taunts and humiliating remarks. You even have a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">PPP</span> member by the name of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">Sardar</span> Abdul <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">Qayyum</span> (a federal minister) admit that corruption was the right of your party!</span><a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=6657240731542270619&postID=3198807427249573459&pli=1#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">[7]</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"> Yup finally an honest statement from your party, sad it had to be so ugly.<br />There was an article the other day in the newspaper (apologies I don’t have the link to this one), where it was stated that your first term in office you spent more time abroad than you did back home, I don’t even want to think of the how much I had to pay to keep you there but why Mr. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">Zardari</span> – why do you feel the need to do this? Is it because you can’t find a Sara <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">Palin</span> to shake hands</span><a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=6657240731542270619&postID=3198807427249573459&pli=1#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">[8]</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"> with here or is it because you can’t breathe the same air of the common man?<br />What I’m trying to ask you Mr. President is why are you here? Have you not made enough money for yourself? Can we not have some development from your end, do we not deserve dignity and self respect like every other human being? Why on Earth do you feel the need to leave your common man in a state of disarray at a time when you could have gained the most respect from them?<br />The floods have now affected close to 15,000,000 people in Pakistan (that’s close to 10% of the population). This natural disaster has claimed over 3000 lives. Your main puppet, I mean the Prime Minister <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">Raza</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">Gillani</span> has stated that we have been pushed further back into the dark ages – and I thought the power issues of the country had already pushed us into pitch darkness. Are you going to be using this calamity as a reason for further unemployment and lack of effort <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">ony</span> our part?<br />So fine, you wanted to help by asking for aid – <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">ok</span> then answer me this If you had to go begging for money (which seems to come naturally to you), could you not have done it like a humble man. Travel by PIA perhaps, stay in a low end hotel (of course not a 3star, but perhaps a 4star, but not necessarily a suite in a five star hotel</span><a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=6657240731542270619&postID=3198807427249573459&pli=1#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">[9]</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">). And what’s with the entire entourage that travels with you, is there really a need?<br />You’re the president of one of the poorest countries in the world, snap out of your dilution of greatness.<br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">Maslow</span>’s hierarchy of needs states very clearly that one has to be able to achieve his/her physiological needs (food, water, shelter, the basics) before he even thinks about safety, belonging, esteem or self actualization. If you’<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">ve</span> cared to hear the plea of the common man, all we’re asking for is the physiological and safety needs, we haven’t even asked you for much.<br />Please try to be a human being and do what should come naturally to us humans, try to belong, try to help, try to be honest and last of all try to be humble.<br /></span><a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=6657240731542270619&postID=3198807427249573459&pli=1#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;">[1]</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;"> </span><a href="http://www.indexmundi.com/pakistan/gdp_real_growth_rate.html"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;">http://www.indexmundi.com/pakistan/gdp_real_growth_rate.html</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;"> - checked on 12<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">th</span> Aug 2010 (all GDP numbers taken from here)<br /></span><a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=6657240731542270619&postID=3198807427249573459&pli=1#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;">[2]</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;"> </span><a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/pk.html"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;">https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/pk.html</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;"> - Economy section checked on 12<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">th</span> Aug 2010<br /></span><a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=6657240731542270619&postID=3198807427249573459&pli=1#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;">[3]</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;"> </span><a href="http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/fbs/statistics/price_statistics/monthly_price_indices/mpi7/cpi_details.pdf"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;">http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/fbs/statistics/price_statistics/monthly_price_indices/mpi7/cpi_details.pdf</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;"> - checked on 12<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32">th</span> Aug 2010<br /></span><a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=6657240731542270619&postID=3198807427249573459&pli=1#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;">[4]</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;"> </span><a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/pk.html"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;">https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/pk.html</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;"> - Economy section checked on 12<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_33">th</span> Aug 2010<br /></span><a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=6657240731542270619&postID=3198807427249573459&pli=1#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;">[5]</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;"> </span><a href="http://www.theodora.com/wfbcurrent/pakistan/pakistan_economy.html"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;">http://www.theodora.com/wfbcurrent/pakistan/pakistan_economy.html</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;"> - checked 12<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_34">th</span> Aug 2010<br /></span><a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=6657240731542270619&postID=3198807427249573459&pli=1#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;">[6]</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;"> </span><a href="http://www.theodora.com/wfbcurrent/pakistan/pakistan_economy.html"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;">http://www.theodora.com/wfbcurrent/pakistan/pakistan_economy.html</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;"> - checked 12<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_35">th</span> Aug 2010<br /></span><a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=6657240731542270619&postID=3198807427249573459&pli=1#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;">[7]</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;"> </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rz_GhVe3yBs"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rz_GhVe3yBs</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;"> – checked on 12<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_36">th</span> Aug 2010<br /></span><a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=6657240731542270619&postID=3198807427249573459&pli=1#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;">[8]</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;"> </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkFnaFyylQ8"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkFnaFyylQ8</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;"> – checked on 12<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_37">th</span> Aug 2010<br /></span><a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=6657240731542270619&postID=3198807427249573459&pli=1#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;">[9]</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;"> </span><a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/08/04/zardaris_katrina"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;">http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/08/04/zardaris_katrina</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;"> - checked on 12<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_38">th</span> Aug 2010</span>adeelansarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999449242507099053noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6657240731542270619.post-72966448548591607942010-06-27T18:33:00.000+02:002011-04-29T13:28:49.316+02:00You Paki… you no good!<span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUvOuPBXYLhiTK3izoaWoxj2BdaWPIj1BMiWE49c2RkOGO_IZcIK8rsBYzIBnpdMS6pWbQakE6wqupfgwWIq-Ddl2Ibz1Utkz_yAOrG3ww6w3aqW1q2NwvdhxM8a_onba2NQuHl5m5IzVR/s1600/funny.png"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487492663441152738" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 144px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUvOuPBXYLhiTK3izoaWoxj2BdaWPIj1BMiWE49c2RkOGO_IZcIK8rsBYzIBnpdMS6pWbQakE6wqupfgwWIq-Ddl2Ibz1Utkz_yAOrG3ww6w3aqW1q2NwvdhxM8a_onba2NQuHl5m5IzVR/s200/funny.png" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"> As a Muslim, the first time you ever land on Saudi soil the thing that comes to your mind is the purity of the land for it is the place where our Prophet (PBUH) received the Ultimate Word from Allah (swt).<br />That is of course before you have gotten to the visa line at the airport or if you were naïve enough to have traveled to Saudi without the consultation of those who have traveled before you and allowing them to share their utter disappointment at the system of this land.<br />For the moment you see the visa line at the airport a rush of reality hits you on your face so hard you feel dazed. The first question they ask you is where you’ve come from, if you’ve traveled from a country other then Pakistan, well you have a chance of getting your visa processed within an hour but in case you’ve traveled from Pakistan directly or you hold a Pakistani passport, then get used to the following phrase:<br />“You Paki – you no good!”<br />Now mind you, this phrase may not be said to your face but you will see it in their expression and through their conduct. You’ll see our fellow Pakhtoon brothers sitting on the floor lost in translation. Some may very well be sleeping on cold marble floors without any hope or way back. Stuck there for hours on end and only having to wait some more before they can even step out of the airport premises.<br />For the ones who’ve come for the first time the expression in their eyes speaks of false dreams and promises, for those who’ve been through this ordeal more then a couple of times it’s a look of compromise and despair. Just another battle to get through alive and justify the earning of halal and jaiz living and maybe send enough back home for a family they probably get to see once in two years.<br />Flights land and queues are formed – that’s the normal order of things else where as well but the lines don’t pile up, they get processed. But in Saudi you can expect things differently.<br />The lines that are formed with majority Pakistani passport holders are put aside to the wall when GCC officials travel, when the goora (white man) travels or when they feel they want to take a break. The supremacy of color, greed and race is as strong here as in a cast based society.<br />Yes, I have fallen pray to this hospitality on my first trip and it was nothing less then an agonizing experience.<br />It was my first trip to this land of the Sheikhs. I got in line like everyone else but slowly it dawned upon me that people from other lines were getting their turns faster then ours. I peaked to see what the matter was but all I could see was a blank visa counter. I couldn’t help but ask the person in front of me why we had been waiting in a line that had no official to stamp us ahead – he was there a while ago but where is he now. The man replied without turning his head or any real tone - “the official has gone for his e’sha prayers”. Noble of him I thought to myself and decided to wait a bit longer.<br />At this point, I decided to see my watch and reflect on how much time I had for my prayers and after adjusting for time zone differences I realized that the prayers would have been over at least 1hour and 30minutes ago.<br />This prompted another question from my end to the man in front whom I automatically assumed to be a well versed traveler to Saudi. “Sir”, I enquired, “wouldn’t the prayers be over by now?” The man perhaps a few years older then me turned around this time and with a smile that kind of said it all replied “Of course, but that doesn’t matter to them.” The reply sparked a conversation that at first seemed too Pakistani in origin for me to believe that Saudi’s could behave in such a manner.<br />So apparently, visa officers in Saudi (along with most other middle class working Saudis) don’t really care about the job at hand, since their jobs are more or less confirmed by the government. Not only that but the antagonizing fact of it all is that most Saudi’s working in middle management and holding limited education consider all outsiders such as Pakistanis, Indians and Bangladeshis as their slaves. I had read about this and heard about this, but to actually witness this was too degrading for me. They get a sadistic ego boost out of belittling us and testing our patience.<br />In my particular case, the visa officer at our counter was barely even working. He had the task of taking our finger prints and stamping our passport – but he was too busy smoking in a non-smoking area. And by chance, when a Pakistani did something wrong (not out of his own fault but because of the machine’s issues) the officer would snub him and occasionally point his four fingers of the right hand on the Pakistani’s forehead and make expressions of utter disgust. The sheer amount of hatred was oozing out of every pore in that officer’s body.<br />When he was done with the cigarette he would get up and walk off for ten minutes and come back with a cup of tea and sip it while we all waited in line. Then came the ever long e’sha prayers’ break. This lasted for close to two hours and when he returned, he had another cigarette and kissed the other officers in cultural fashion and got up from his seat and closed his system.<br />Yes you heard right, he came back, sat down, got up and closed his system. But then why wouldn’t be, his shift was over and what a tiring shift it was! If you haven’t been able to feel the hint of sarcasm in my writing I apologies but I’m saying it out loud now… I’m being sarcastic about their hectic schedule!<br />This guy had the audacity to stare us all down and waste two hours of our time only because he didn’t bother to work.<br />As luck would have it, the moment he turned off the computer, the officer on the next shift couldn’t turn it back on. Apparently, system crashes are common in this part of the world and frankly much loved by the government officials.<br />I waited another hour and a half because frankly there was nothing much for me to do. The visa lines were clogging up for us Pakistanis but all flights coming in with GCC nationals and the white man were getting prompt service. It was a do or die situation for me now, I hadn’t stood this long even for a punishment in school. The flight from Dubai to Saudi was shorter then the wait at the visa counter.<br />I realized that the officials wanted one thing and one thing only – the realization that they are superior. It seems that ego drives this part of the world. I took a chance and went up to one of the officers and simply told him that he was the one person here who could address my issue and I would be highly obliged if he could help me out. Of course I had to say this in a purely English accent so as to seem as less Pakistani as possible (ashamed as I was to do it, it was the only thing that could have worked).<br />After more then three hours of waiting, all I had to do was talk to a Saudi official and he took me to an empty GCC member’s counter and got me through in less then a minute! No finger prints, no long lines, no problems!<br />It made me wonder, if I could get through the long hassle with one request, why weren’t the others able to do the same? Why was there a reason for all those processes if they can allow us to go through without it? I was from the same place as the rest of those people from my line. Other then a laptop bag and a suit on my back what was the difference between me and them? If they were able to speak fluent English would it make all the difference? Did I seem less of a Pakistani to them then the ones standing in my line? Why was there a dual execution with similar people?<br />As I was stepping out of the visa counter I saw that same expression of one of the officers to yet another Pakistani, an expression we’ve been branded with now in the middle-east<br /><br />You Paki – you no good!<br /><br /></span><div></div>adeelansarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999449242507099053noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6657240731542270619.post-54236909501813305802010-06-18T13:49:00.000+02:002011-04-29T13:28:16.310+02:00The Dubai License - You can do it!<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"><br />Many people I talked to before coming to Dubai, told me about two things and two things only. First, how expensive the rents were (even after they had come down) and second the difficulty in getting a Dubai license.<br />Now truth be told, they weren't kidding about the rents and honestly getting a license, well that one is up for debate.<br />It's true the cost of getting a license to drive is way up there, but how difficult is it really? I was able to get the license in my first attempt (Alhumdulillah) and nowadays I’ve heard of quite a few people who do, but then again in my opinion, it's probably not that difficult if you've been driving properly for some time and it's really difficult if you think that driving is simply about putting the car in gear and pushing on the gas... there is a subtle but important difference in the two.<br />What the examiner (Shurta) is looking for is road sense and an understanding of the Dubai traffic rules and above all; confidence. If you can successfully show him these elements in your driving, then you’ve got it made in the shade.<br />In my case, I wasn’t even asked to do any parallel parking during the exam or go to a round about, take a U-turn or anything like that. Perhaps one or two lane changes but that’s about it.<br />So all they’re really looking for is confidence and a command over the rules they’ve laid out. Once you get the license, you can pretty much drive like Schumacher if you’d like but just be careful of the fines – because that’s really going to pinch your wallet.<br />All in all the chances of getting a license in the first attempt is based on your skills and discipline. Don’t let your nerves get the best of you and always remember contrary to popular belief the Shurta is not there to fail you on your first attempt!<br />Also remember not to interact too much with the people at the final exam because you’ll find a few ‘seniors’ who’ve tried getting a license for the 5th or sometimes even more time then that and they’ll never tell you what they did wrong but rather blame it all on the examiner. These are the people that can kill your confidence in a heartbeat.<br />In the end, best of luck and hope to see you on the roads of Dubai very soon.<br /><br />Jellyman out!<br /></span>adeelansarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999449242507099053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6657240731542270619.post-13540270817717653082009-11-12T15:24:00.000+01:002011-04-29T13:25:29.803+02:00Pichal Pairee by Overload – Over the top!<div><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong><span style="font-size:85%;">Overload – Over the top<br />By Jellyman</span><br /></strong><br />Rating – 4.5/5<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtQpcYOmPJNtO1N5NnvBiAiQ7cWvXYs1aK-wMOnPYq3w3WueGmL_4Yzjul19GlK15bHIgfX04qU4IPmwdCskCmRrw5BkXEfK70jiF3nklV8cdVvbTFDElZwVIhDcWBd_WZdQqOJOCTdvTh/s1600-h/overload.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 152px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403224855851250914" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtQpcYOmPJNtO1N5NnvBiAiQ7cWvXYs1aK-wMOnPYq3w3WueGmL_4Yzjul19GlK15bHIgfX04qU4IPmwdCskCmRrw5BkXEfK70jiF3nklV8cdVvbTFDElZwVIhDcWBd_WZdQqOJOCTdvTh/s200/overload.jpg" /></a>Over the past few years, seeing the talent that is our music industry, I have come to believe that we can and do produce some great music. The latest element to speak of is Overload’s second album titled “Pichal Pairee” (literally translated the backward footed) which basically means “A witch”.<br /><br />The band has seen a few changes from their initial line up. We no longer have Hasan Mohyuddin in the second album and Pappu Saieen was always a featured artist so no Grand Master Pappu here for the ride.<br /><br />However, Mahmood is heading the newly inculcated strings section and does a darn good job of managing the riffs and solos across all the songs. I’ve heard Mahmood perform quite a few times with Atif in the past and I never could have imagined how talented he really is. I think Overload is a place where he has really been able to open up and show case his abilities.<br /><br />Then a pleasant addition to the band is Misha! Known for her modelling career, this girl has a vocal talent that transcends her beauty. The one thing she brings to the band other than her interesting take on vocals is her sense of fashion. Adding a girl in the midst of men just kind of increases the sense of style overall, or at least that’s what has happened here.<br /><br />Farhad and Sharaz are still going strong and give the band a character not too far fetched from the first time we saw them from their debut album.<br /><br />Sharaz continues to be the part of the band with little to say but a lot to offer in terms of musical brilliance. I sometimes wonder why he ever thought of teaching a boring subject like accounting when clearly the man is a musician at heart.<br /><br />Farhad continues to be the one who believes in what he and his band are there to offer the rest of the world. I had at one time questioned Farhad on what he plans to do for his second album and how he plans on making it bigger than the first sensation. He just looked at me and gave his cheeky trademark smile and said “just wait and see”. The first time I heard the song Amjad Khan I knew Farhad and his band of masters had something remarkable to offer. It was just a matter of time then for the rest of the world to hear it.<br /><br />One thing you’ll enjoy in this album as opposed to the first is how each song provides room for each person from the group to showcase his/her talent. The previous album was truly a percussion led endeavour but this time round Overload comes out with all guns blazing and showcasing the combined synergies of four muscians.<br /><br />Secondly, the album overall covers many genres and sounds pure and rich from start to end. Some songs even cover fusion like you may not expect. For instance Vichar Gaye starts off as a tribute to Punjabi folk and heads into a touch of rock then goes into a soft ballad phase ending in an ambient mix of east and west. Dhol Bajay Ga, on the other hand, from start to end is an anthem of energy and resolve – “bijli aye ya na aye, hamara dhol bhajay ga” (whether there is electricity or not, our dhool (drums) will continue to beat).<br /><br />The song 50 years offers some great moments amplified through Sharaz’s vibrant keyboarding skills and the mixing and soft percussions by Farhad. I enjoyed this song for the softness it had throughout and then the high note ending.<br /><br />The one song I didn’t seem to understand was Mela Kariyay – based on the music of their first hit Cursed, with slight variations and the addition of vocals by Misha, it’s not a song that really adds much to the album.<br /><br />Overall, I know for a fact that fans of Overload are going to be ecstatic about this album, mainly because it’s available for free download from the band’s website www.overloadbeats.com. Admirers of music will appreciate the quality of the sound and dance to the beats and trust me there are a number of different beats to this album. You’ll love the amalgamation of sound, the variation from one song to the other and the touch of rock, ballad, folk, fusion and ambient rhythms throughout the album. What you may not like is how quickly the album finishes. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;"><span style="color:#ff0000;">Download the album for free at </span><a href="http://www.overloadbeats.com/"><span style="color:#ff0000;">www.overloadbeats.com</span></a><span style="color:#ff0000;"> (Bless the band for allowing us to experience their music for free).</span></span></div>adeelansarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999449242507099053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6657240731542270619.post-7773156538398019212009-11-09T08:45:00.000+01:002011-04-29T13:26:04.833+02:00Wake Up Sid! Movie and OST review<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Wake Up Sid! Movie and OST review</strong><br />By Jellyman<br /></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Movie rating – 5/5</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">So</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9eYF_j3GlHkbu3NU1WaiFs-yq_pdxbsCgpRoQh6lHfV06bBMm9pdeULrbXcla0NWoOxowIbHXCek1euMvHmyU-nzb2T2XJWwurpiwnyzSVQ-ECAeL6dB1dSLo_4ooN5FzNlwDQUDuhjvy/s1600-h/wake-up-sid-ranbeer-kapoor.jpg"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 184px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5402007549755483970" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9eYF_j3GlHkbu3NU1WaiFs-yq_pdxbsCgpRoQh6lHfV06bBMm9pdeULrbXcla0NWoOxowIbHXCek1euMvHmyU-nzb2T2XJWwurpiwnyzSVQ-ECAeL6dB1dSLo_4ooN5FzNlwDQUDuhjvy/s200/wake-up-sid-ranbeer-kapoor.jpg" /></span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">undtrack – 5/5</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">I’m not a fan of Bollywood movies, for some reason I find them to be way too artificial. Cutting a movie in the middle to place a dance-song number just kills it for me; it just takes away all relevance of the movie at the end of the day.<br /></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">I used to wonder why movies can’t be made in India (or Pakistan for that matter), where the soundtrack is independent of the movie in terms of dance numbers and then finally I started seeing some movies with that very element in them from across the boarder such as Taray Zameen Par, A Wednesday and from Pakistan with Khuda Kay Liye.<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></span><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;">And then just recently WAKE UP SID! Surprisingly enough I find these movies to be more relevant to this day and age than the ones with all the dancing and singing.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;">Take Wake Up Sid (WUS) for example, a story about a well of guy (early twenties) who’s still trying to figure his life out in a modern society outlook represented by the life and style of Mumbai’s typical urban family. Having grown up with a silver spoon in his mouth and getting practically anything he wants, Sid (Sidhart Mehra) is still a reflection of an everyday teenager who’s trying to find his way around the world and of course his/her purpose and calling.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;">This is a movie that is driven by three things in totality – Firstly, exceptional acting and direction, kudos to Ayan Mukherjee for directing a reality in the form of a drama and of course Niranjan Iyengar for putting the words exactly the way we imagine them to be through the movie dialogues.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;"></span><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;">The characters no matter how insignificant in terms of their air time, had a remarkable roll to play in making the movie entertaining from start to end. Take for instance the next door neighbor Sonia (played by Karishma Shah – WOW comes to mind) or even the other mother-son roll in the apartment complex played by Shruti Bapna and the adorable Rahul Pendkalkar.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;">Then, there was the relevance in the storyline; again by Ayan Mukherjee. Telling the story of an everyday teenager isn’t easy, but WUS does it with sheer perfection.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;"></span><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;">And to top it all off, you’ve got a remarkable soundtrack to make sense of the mood throughout the film, without really hindering the moments. From the get go, the movie soundtrack captures your imagination and makes you live like the characters, think like them and from time to time look at your friends (who’ve come to watch the movie with you) and suggest characters from your everyday life that are reflective of those from the movie. Each and every emotion is captured through the songs without you even realizing you’ve been hit with a sense of creative genius!<br /></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;">With only six total tracks on the album (this includes a remix of the ‘Wake Up Sid!’ self titled track) you will feel there was no need for anything more. These six songs do wonders to the overall effect they have in the movie. Javed Akhtar no matter how old, still has a pulse on the relevant younger generation. His lyrics summarize the story and the moments throughout.<br /></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;">From the track ‘Wake Up Sid’ that opens the movie and gives a glimpse into the thought process of the main character to ‘Kya Karoon’ that gets you pondering over all that’s happened in your life and whether you’ve listened to your heart or your head to the ever relevant ‘Aaj Kal Zindagi’ that opens up your mind to thinking out of the box and then to you perhaps shedding a tear if not more on the heart warming ‘Iktara’ where the matters of the heart are brought to life through the words of Javed Akhtar and the melody of Amit Trivedi and the voices of Kavita Seth, Amitabh Bhattacharya. And then of course there’s the track titled ‘Life is crazy’ which just tops it all off to provide you with a total track listening time of close to 25minutes of absolutely unadulterated musical bliss! This last track summarizes the young generation’s hopes and dreams – perhaps for some it is a culmination of what they feel defines their life in this present day and age.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;">Two reasons you should watch this movie – one to get a look at how your teenage life is (or was for those my age) and then to see how a movie can be made with an exceptional soundtrack and yet not have it dominate the storyline but offer relevance where and when required.<br /></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;">Wake Up Sid is definitely in a league of its own and maybe when I have more time, I’ll talk you through the importance of Sid’s wardrobe, Which by the way has already been auctioned out to help with old people in India… sheer brilliance! </span>adeelansarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999449242507099053noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6657240731542270619.post-29666949694843740232009-11-09T08:39:00.000+01:002011-04-29T13:26:39.202+02:00Music underground played over the top<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-UQv8f1ocpZmcvp8GNq09WIcG53cWMSj5r1Mh6o5AYGrXDhC_OMBZNHeP1ImX0nMj2Hz-Iq_3-D9osLwPYnXDFgPCeOgzx_9nhBJ-UDcc7o7otFbmZR-xjy_atfxlJuj5vuDw7_wL_6tf/s1600-h/music_abstract.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5402005948241866498" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-UQv8f1ocpZmcvp8GNq09WIcG53cWMSj5r1Mh6o5AYGrXDhC_OMBZNHeP1ImX0nMj2Hz-Iq_3-D9osLwPYnXDFgPCeOgzx_9nhBJ-UDcc7o7otFbmZR-xjy_atfxlJuj5vuDw7_wL_6tf/s320/music_abstract.jpg" /></a><br /><div><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><strong>Music underground played over the top</strong><br />By Jellyman</span><br /><br />Many people feel that underground music is a relatively recent phenomenon but I tend to look at it in a different way all together. According to my perception, underground music is that genre of music or rather style of music during an era in which it was second best to the style of music enjoyed by the wider audience. Therefore, under this definition there was a time when even Vital Signs, Junoon and Nazia & Zohaib for instance could be considered underground artists.<br />However, the growth in popularity and awareness of underground music and artists has suddenly hit a new high during the past two or three years – in this article, I will try to numerate according to what I feel are some of the reasons behind why this is so.<br /><br /><strong>Participation by the youth</strong><br />When I was in my A levels back in 1998, I remember quite distinctly that in a class of 120 odd students, we had perhaps four or five students who knew how to play the guitar and one person who knew how to play the keyboard. Finding a drummer was practically impossible. In fact even the gigs we used to attend had a maximum of two poor souls who played the drums for each and every other underground band performing on stage.<br />Now however, every other person knows how to play the guitar or knows at least two to three friends that can play the guitar relatively well or even practice the drums. Surprisingly enough some really talented drummers I’ve heard in the recent past have also included girls – never thought that was possible in my day and age in Pakistan.<br />What I’m trying to get at is that all of this just leads to a greater chance of finding more talent. People are also realizing the different styles of singing that are available to them. Frankly speaking during these times, even a bad singer can make it big (and I’m not referring to any particular singer at the moment).<br /><br /><strong>Music Channels</strong><br />With the advent of purely Pakistani music channels mushrooming all of a sudden and that too at a faster rate then the amount of content they have to offer, this is a great time for people to get videos out and see what response they get. The moment this field gets competitive and the channels have ample amount of good or even great videos to choose from, the average rated videos of today will NEVER have a chance to be played again, so if you can get a video on air which has been shot by (lets say) your brother even in your own room, you have a pretty good chance of making it big now before the good and great videos set in.<br /><br /><strong>Support from the internet and radio</strong><br />More than the role of television I think it is the internet and the recent urban radio stations that have had a major role in promoting the underground talents of today. A few years back you could not even imagine people getting music from the net with such ease and even if you could you had to hear about it from a friend or someone who had downloaded it himself. Now the radio stations play the songs and people search for them on the net. Some of the best bands out there today are the product of underground downloads from the net – the biggest example that comes to mind is Jal with their debut hit addat.<br />Internet sites such as pakmediarevolution, pakmanzil, bandbaja just to name a few have proven to be catalysts towards the sudden explosion of underground music in today’s world, every artists from America to Canada, England to Scotland and even our very own Pakistan are able to share their styles of music with a wider audience.<br />Then there is the radio which is extremely important here because if you cannot afford to make a video for the television you can at least record a decent track and get it aired on the frequencies of various FM radio stations that I like to refer to as urban radio stations. The exposure you can get from these stations is immense! There is no substitute to the radio when it comes to great personal musical entertainment.<br /><br /><strong>Improved technology</strong><br />Recording your own tracks sitting in the comfort of your own home-equipped recording studio was not an option available to everyone more then a few years ago, but now, if you know what to buy and where to buy it from the cost of setting up a decent home studio for recordings is peanuts compared to the costs a few years back. This allows for more and more music enthusiasts to try their hands at their own style of music. It still costs quite a lot to record in professional studios and yes the quality may be higher but frankly speaking a home based recording goes a long way nowadays when it comes to promoting talent. Combine that with the internet download sites and the radio and you’ve probably got a fan following of 50 to a 100 people just by saying you’re making a song!<br /><br />Although all of these aspects coupled together have provided a boost to underground music; they have also increased the need to filter out extremely horrendous pieces of so called musical brilliance - that is why I leave it to the professionals. Nevertheless, I am an optimist at heart and I know that this is only the beginning but even then the future seems very bright.<br /><br />In the end I just want to say that I hope music underground is played over the top so people know what talent we have to offer.</span></div>adeelansarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999449242507099053noreply@blogger.com0