Gun to my head

Keeping in line with the fact that this is a blog, I chose this title.

Today, I experienced for the first time, a gun pointed towards me, creeping out from the passenger’s hand on a bike. I was the sole front row seat at a point blank gun point robbery. So now I not only have heard about it in the papers, in the news, from people who have experienced it like my friends and family, but now, I have experienced it as well.

The sad part is that it’s not shocking or surprising that it happened. It’s almost like the feeling of inevitabilty was always there. I just wasn’t prepared for the metal in my face. I was needless to say, stirred, shaken. It isn’t something I’ve prepared for. Having a gun inches away from me looking in my direction.

I am not perturbed at the material loss ( a cell phone and some cash ). I am actually finding myself being thankful that the people who held me up weren’t maniacs. The kind that you do hear about. Who at times get frustrated if you are not a valuable catch, and as a outlet of that frustration, shoot you.

Also, kind of sadly, I found myself to be perfectly alright within a couple of hours. Life goes on. Part and parcel of the world we live in. It is sad that we are saying it’s part and parcel of the world we live in when IT is in fact being robbed and your life being threatened.

I would be naive to think that these people are the scum of the earth. What they are doing is wrong. Without a doubt. But to judge their roots and character to be evil, is also wrong. Like I said, it is also frustration. And that’s what makes the entire thing so dangerous. It becomes more dangerous when the economy in which these things happens, starts to lose balance. When inflation starts to hit highs. When people find suddenly that eating once a day also is now a difficult challenge. When you have this sinking feeling that your country is the ship whose steering wheel is broken, it’s heading for that huge ice berg waiting to rip it apart, and only the people controlling the ship ( the government and the so called national and political leaders ) are the only ones who know about it. The passengers, at the moment are just trying to deal with the bad service and the some of the stowaway crooks. I know, way too much of a metaphor.

Black Day

The College of Business Management has been my Alma matter for over 4 years now. In this period I have experienced a lot of aspects, of learning, academic and practical life lessons. Most of these have been down to either good or bad teachers or purely the registration or the administration associated work.

But most of these “practical learning’s” were of patience, handling ourselves in unorganized registration lines, coping with lack of semester planning, bad INCOMPETENT teachers, and the general misery poured upon us by Administration. However, today, November 24th, the first day of registration for the Spring Semester of 2008, has marked itself as a Black Day like none.

The registration ‘drama’ started as early as 7 in the morning today with students lining up outside the Administration Block, to give in their forms and get their desired courses before they got full. Can’t really blame them if CBM takes 800 students in year, graduates less than 25% of those, and the whole place feels like it will explode at any moment. They were well aware that the doors would open at 8. That’s when the entire ‘ages’ old sacrificial tradition of Registration at CBM took a turn for the worse.

As soon as the doors were in the ‘process’ of being opened, the students went ballistic. There was pushing, shoving and a general all round display of barbarism. This resulted in broken glasses of doors, with one door having to be removed, injured students with one or 2 getting badly deep cuts, and blood lying on the stairs, the floor and shattered glass everywhere. (For a better idea, people should visit the CBM group on Facebook)

The mere thought, of our college, which is touted to be ‘One of the better colleges of Pakistan’ , was to experience, Blood and anarchy over registration, something that should be the most basic of things at any University, is distressing, shameful and tragic.

I have never liked CBM’s administration, their attitude, or the way they go about their things. But their lack of planning, and greed and one mind track has led to this event. They have created the situation for such an incident to take place, and they can’t shy away from their responsibility of this. (Even thou they were very quick to clean the mess from the morning, much faster than anything else they have done in their day to day activities. I am sure this was out of “concern” of the students to get on with their activities rather than avoid having it recorded or snapped up to appear anywhere and bring attention towards them at an unholy hour. No, they can’t be that SHALLOW, can they?) The truth is that the mere fact that this incident did take place is proof of exactly how shallow the think tanks of CBM are.

I have spoken to senior and junior students, senior and visiting faculty members, and I was responded with a heavy feeling of bemused disconnect. As if they were wishing it was 10 years ahead in time, and CBM was a past they had already escaped. You want to build a University? … Well sadly you have failed. You have built a Business Minded “Sethia” organization rather than an Institute of Learning.

Keep taking more students every year, after the lot has been rejected by your competition, keep taking them in at an insane number, keep graduating less than 25% of them every year, and in 2 years time you will be richer than you already filthy are. And in 2 years time the lot coming in at CBM will be more ill-disciplined, take being in CBM as a joke, and start carrying the slogans and banners of the party they support, and bring bats to HELP them break the windows next time rather than going about the pushing and shoving.

That’s the CBM’s management for you. I will not even venture on some of the other dark qualities possessed by some of the members of this management, for reasons of keeping some sort of semblance here.

But having ranted all of that, I am afraid the Students aren’t going away from this rant without a scratch.

The great students of CBM have time and again proved that they are after all Pakistani, so being a ‘Parha Likha Jahil’ is more or less a prerequisite. After all, today’s chaos was started by the Students only, no matter whatever the fault of the management, they can’t deny that. It started because of the failure to THINK before acting by the students and doing things in haste. It was much like a bad accident at a traffic signal, where one car breaks the signal beyond the red light; one breaks it before the red light. Our nation, as displayed by the ‘youth’ of the nation, refuses to accept that there needs to be discipline, very strict discipline at that in certain things. They want the short cut. They want what is good for them first. They want that, WITHOUT even considering that there are other people around them. The raunchy, rowdy mental state that these students instigated today was pathetic to say the least.

They will do everything possible to do exactly opposite of that, which would be the wiser choice in a GOOD MORAL SENSE.

I have ranted enough, and I am now tired. Not of writing, but tired of 4 and a half years of the same story being dished up, more and more brutally every time. It’s more and more disappointing every time.

CBM “The place of learning”; indeed. Anybody know a medic

A day to remember

Approximately 6 and a half years ago, i think the first of my memorable days took place. It was a series of comical events that led to this day. Well actually it wasn’t exactly a series of comical events, more of sad events, which i guess from the neutral eye in a low budget comedy would induce a few light laughs. Anyway, it was an event none the less. Before i go on, i would like to say that this event is one to remember not out of the more pleasant memories, but more of the excruciating memories. Memory nonetheless.

Hence, 6 and a half years ago, my cousin was getting married. He is i think 12 to 13 years elder to me. Thats not the important part. I had just moved back to Karachi a couple of months before the wedding. I was a 15 year old kid back then. And i was coming towards the end of the new excitements that come as part and parcel of discovering the birds and the bees, which started when i was 11. Again, not important. To contiue with the original story, I was a 15 year old kid back then. The wedding season was on. There were dholkis. There were practices. There were the getting togethers. THe perfect setting for anyone to fall for someone, especially in the Infatuated way. Enter, Susan (true name shall not be taken for legal purposes) my first cousin from my father’s side. Lets just say i had developed a long time crush on her. I mean the crush had started a year before when i was in Karachi before going to Pindi for year and then moving back. Moving back to the story once more. The crush, the wedding season, the crush intensifiying, and then the stupid DARE and the BORED cousin. This incident as it goes on to be a good lesson, NEVER trust fate when your cousin is BORED !! terrible things may happen.
Anyway coming back to the story yet once again. After all the wedding functions had taken place, the family dinners were taking place. My other cousin ( the one who got bored and i will just call him wam) obviously knew about the entire crush situation. Come the night before our dinner for the family, the cousins went for a movie. Where wam and myself after much deliberation and argument over soemthing i dont remember now ended up in daring each other to let Susan know of the entire crush situation. Well , guess what , wam was 15 as well and we were both stupid. OK , I was stupid and he was a EVIL, human being who gets more evil when he is bored. In my stupity i wrote an anonymous email, and in his boredom he told the relevant cousins that the email was from me. And how do i get to know this ?
Well wam was kind enuff to come the next day on our dinner day i.e. and warn me of the arised situation. I was getting ready , when he came and told me the sequence of events and well had to 5 or 7 times before i actually realized he is not joking. I wanted to kill him. But i had other things on my mind. Like , my uncle coming after me with a shotgun. Or my father finding out and throwing me out of the Family (ofcourse these were all not realistically going to happen but i was 15 and had seen way too many indian movies back then)
Well i gathered courage to make it till the destination for the dinner. Now since my parents had thrown the dinner, i was supposed to be at the reception to guide everyone. Perfect! This threw me into even more thoughts of me getting killed or disowned or i dont noe all things that a 15 year old can think of. The guests started coming. It started with wam’s family. His sisters gave me the old stink eye. Then my aunts. And a few abroad guests. And finally, the family i had been dreading through out. The family i thought would come in absolute fury and rage. Susan and the family came. I felt sick to the stomach. My aunt and uncle came in and the greetings took place as they always do, and well i could not detect any new emotions within them of anger towards me. Then Susan came, and along with her the little sister, Tina, who was my age. Susan simply went with a cold chill , and tina …. oh boy, she was having the time of her life in deep amusement. She went by with a very evil giggle. Which continued well into the dinner, along with a few subtle jokes.  All throught out the dinner , i could feel the cold chill, the sick worms inside my stomach, and for the first time in my life, my absolute disregard for any interest in the dinner. Then through my cousin , Wam, a message was put across to me. I was to be talked with. A lecture no doubt. WEll, to get on with it, and wrap it up, the night was ended with a cold blast from hell from Susan, the continous blabbering gigglish torture from Tina, and well WAM. !

I can never forget that day. Ever. It might seem lame to some of you out there. BUt honestly it was just a day i cannot forget.

Daniyal – 16th January 2007

16th of January, 2007, the day that my eldest brother has become a dad. My bhabi has become a mom. My parents have become Dada Ju and probably Dadi. My younger brother and bhabi have become ‘kaka’ and ‘kaki’ . I have become a Chachu. Yep… i just became a chachu. We all have had an upgrade in our , reletive, lifecycles i suppose.
Welcome to the world Daniyal, it sucks , but you are going to love it , just like the rest of us.

Of Best Friends and Old ones

Well they suck!… i seriously think they do if they are not yours!

The End of an Era

Hmm … life … just seems to fly doesnt it. The moment you are not watchful of it .. it just whoooshes by. Its at that point in time .. all the little things really start to hit you. Whether they are from the past, the present or to come in the future. They just hit you. The realization at times becomes overwhelming … and at others … well you just plain look forward to whats next. This is ofcourse heavily influnced by your past and present. Anyway thats not the point here. The point is .. i had that realization a few weeks ago, it started a whole chain of thoughts in me. Mostly this thought chain was pointing only at one thing for me. Things are going to change , and pretty soon , and pretty much. For me as i thought about it all, it boiled down to one thing, that one major change. In about a year and a half, God Willing, i will no longer be a student. My student life of all these years , will come to and end. Thus the title , the end of an Era. I know it sounds a bit dramatized but hey .. what the heck.

As i sit here tonight, i am bound to look back at this era. Lets start with where this era actually became significant for me. Inter, before that, well us army people shift a lot so no sense of that there era thing whatsoever. anyway… my inter life was like , a memorable time, people can refer to an earlier post of mine titled ‘Any Given Monday’. They can get an idea of what it was like. I mean sure we used to curse that system and everything, but i miss the good old days of being in uniforms, from the same class, section, haaarraaaam paaayaaan! There were a lot of things associated with that, Bunkings of class, going a lot to board basin for halwa puri kay naashtay (although in all honesty especially to taimoor , i did that comparitvely a lot less) , the taking of short leave from the VP and legitimately playing hookey from college with hassan sticking close behind me. While the rest remain content with tapping over the wall. The first relationships, the first bad habits, the first time all nighters on the streets (aali’s alleged night spend at home). Ahh yeaa , those were the days. I seriously could never have imagined at that point in time how much i would miss having such a low level of responsibility then. Being so carefree that its not even funny. Well that was more or less the first half of the Era. IT also involved a lot of always arranging for getting dropped here and there as Most of us didnt drive back then. Also the forbidden W-21. Shit dude…. those were the days seriously. I also inntroduced you gyz to the world of CS!

Now we come to the second half of the era. I never got that friendship level at my university which i still have and got from my inter days. I seriously am sane right now ccuz i still have those crazy inter buddies of mine to hang out with. ANyway, the university life that is now coming towards its end , another year and a half maybe, did bring some memories of its own thou. Both , bitter and good.  It did bring one good friendship, 1 endship!, 1 miserableship and well 2 barships. I will not go on to explain these , just take them as they are make whatever you must of them. It brought a huge sense of responsibility upon me. I grew. At the same time the level of crazy i could go to increased with the added flavor of having a car and not being transport dependent. There are the night spends so many of them , with taimoor, mobeen, hassan and ofcourse my dear easily bored and then dangerous cousin, wiseman. It brought memories of being incharge of projects and societys and that work you do. I mean you may curse it at that point in time as much as you want, but the feeling of having done stuff like that i mean arranging seminars and events and weeklong events involving fairs and all, is an expreience of its own. GIK will always be memorable. I was one of the ppl treated like royalty for that one sunday in GIK majorly thanks to our hilaorioous play. The being knwon in college in the latter semesters as a guy who can entertain with the guitar. The time we went for the Zenith recording. My brothers weddings took place in this latter era as well. There are just so many things. I simply cannot put them all down here. All in all, miseries, bundles of joy, mountains of crazy eveerything, everything, in this era… i will miss. I know it simply wont be the same once i am no longer a student. I will miss these days. I will miss these times.

Any Given Monday

Hey i thought since this is my blog, this should definitely grace it. I mean… cmon .. reading this still brings back the crack me up type memories 

ANy Given Monday from XII-C’s point of view

ITs 7:30 in the morning. Any given monday at this time… the following is what would follow if u wud care drop by bahria college sometime in the year 2002 ….Under the porch of the boys wing ….. sumtimes half out of it … sumtimes not ….. pretendin really hard to look like hez doin duty would be Shiraz a.k.a the king ….. although he aint there for the duty….. he has his own reasons. Well … give or take about 2 mins from this … and the buses of bahria start coming in ….. the first one … bringin our beloved….. old …… VP …. and ofcourse… the extrememly nice sir naqi ….. the humungously idiotic… sir jaraar …. and etc etc. Than there is the big bus which brings … Saad….. and ofcourse that one and only … Taimoor a.k.a avril ….. hehe….. and inbetween … the other spiritful people of our beloved destructive class… like our pyaaray motooo Azm ud Din …. and Rizwaan…. and …. ofcourse …good old horny Awais ….hehe….. yea… Awais with his peculiar look in the morning… alwasy coming up to shiraz .. putting his hand forward. … and whispering in his ear…. ‘Woh aaiy thee kiya?’ ….hehe …. and by now the last of the buses would also have come ….. with our dear … MObeen ‘Curly’-ur-Rehman … and Hassan Silence Ibrahim….oh
boy those “gyz”… hehe … after…. that … when almost everyone of any significance has come …n well… shiraz’s reasons are also met with …. there comes … half asleep …. having absolutely no idea…. as to where he is ….. Taha ‘gulabo’ Khan Durrani.. WEll … now that everyone is in … its time for the morning assembly …. some students come….. … well … start our day with a Soorat ….and than some other kids waste our time with ….”Facts” and “Thought of the Day” … which in hindsight doesnt even deserve to be an afterthought
… mind you. Anyway when thats done …. and the assembly is over … everyone is in the class…. we wait for our …. Corny …. ‘Poblematic’ …. Class Teacher Sir Khalid to take our attendance…..”Shiraaz” … pause … “Farhan” …. pause…..”Taha”..”Taimoor..Zahid” ……and than taimoor after givin him a bunch load of galiyas goes upto say…”Nahi sir aaj may ayaa hun” … hehe …. And now to get onnn with our Maths period …..”Yeh Issss main Bio walay chalay jaain” …. would echo through the class…. the first period usually gets along dragingly …. and ofcourse filled with Sir Khalid …a.k.a Fuck Kilmer … corny jokes. Anyway … than comes the second period … everyone is seated …talkin … not payin the slightest attention to the board…. oh wait thats rite … its the Urdu period… Sir Naqi just goes on and on with hardly one or two students listening to him… the rest .. well …
talkin … und shund and all …Awais takin out his rappy … horny …. voices… hehe … MObeen tryin to study as well as talk …..Hassan … enjoyin Awais’s antics …. Taimoor laughing his head off….Gul and Shahjahan tryin to be a part of it all ….Abdullah and Ghazali….. well ….basically doin exactly wat it is they do….Taha completing his chem work …. Shiraz eating half his lunch while also tryin to find a suitable candidate for the other half….. and ofcourse … Ismail….SLEEPING…. hehe …well thats over …. than comes physics …. Sir Adnan comes in. First calls Shiraz to come ahead …. who seems to be the only who lissens with complete concentration what he is sayin . Sir Adnan tryin hard for everyone to lissen to him…. but … well ..mostly to no availl …hehe. Thats gone … than there is … Chemistry .. and Computer …. SHiraz leeves… along with the ever sleeping Ismail … the always lissening to Preeto Shahid… Tanveer … and ofcourse…. Prof . Asad Malik . Back in the class its Sir Khurram Shairs … period .. of chemistry … the only seemingly educational class in the entire college section. After that comes the recess …. everyone first rushes to the canteen which one wud think is a mini branch office of Wall Street ….. gettin out from there … everyone makes there way to the ground… the sash holders after avoiding Junaid “IN love with College” DCC. Break passes with und shund
… gup shup … hansi mazak …. troubles woubles… etc .. than 5th period also belongs … to chem …after that 6th … is …OH yeaaa Sir Anees ….another nice item of our college …. Well his period is chaotic too …. nobody lissens to him ….. he just goes on and on … “Apnay Registers Nikalo!!” …Shiraz takes out register alrite… but not for pakstudies… but instead for ritin sumthin of the other …. and usually ends up writin yet another poem… . The rest .. just keep talkin .. havin fun …somewhat like the urdu period… Than there is IT …
sir Faisal Khan …. in which well .. there is talk… as well as study….and takain shakain between Faisal … Taha … and sumtimes Shiraz … than in the last there is english .. where there used to be…. the humungously idiotic … sir jaraar …. with his …”Basically this paragraph explains what is written in it “…..and ” Kiyaaan haiiin yai!!!>…..Azm-Ud-Din ur the best ….” … and now more recently … the … umm …well … sumthin seriously wrong
with mental health Miss Nadia … for whom we turn of our fans …so that we can hear her … . Thisperiod … well sumtimes is productive… and sumtimes is not . After that comes the chuti … in which the prefects go for their duties .. including Shiraz …Taha …. Hassan … GUl. .. etc etc . Azm catching up with Taha and Shiraz … and sayin “Aur JIGAR …kiya haal hain !… kal kaa cricket kaa match dekhaa…. and blah blah blah blah!..” And of all the ppl to be outside there is Sir Sadiq sayin to us “Shirrraz sleeves to sahi kar lo …. and Tahaaa meraa betaa baal katwaa lo… aur Mobeen kahan hain … uss nay bell nahi sahi ki!…” … ajeeb khota..loser…..neway ….After all the classes are out after the chuti bell. Everone gets out …. Shiraz doning his ineveitable Red CAp. And everyone is decidin which
side to be at for chuti … the bazaari side .. aur the bus side…. as much as he wants to be at the bus side … He eventually goes with the others … to leeve taha at his van …. yea…. Qadri Bhai ki Variety program VaN!…. hehe …and than the buses roll …everyone goes back home …Taimoor in his big BUs along with saad and that freee loader … Awais
…and hassan shiraz and mobeen … in their van …the mighty SHaamons bus …. being vasly entertained by …MEntal … Taha SIddiqi… The Sir … and the Miss.!!!! ..

Maaaan…. i dunno if any of u find this interestin
… but i just wrote that … cuz i am gonna miss…
this man … … heh…:)