Saniya has arrived

Saniya arrived on 6th January. Her birth is an event that makes me celebrate my life more than ever now. It also gives me a reason to continue this blog once again.

I have been very busy. There were 7 days remaing in my marriage once. There are 315 days passed since my marriage now. Life has been really hectic in these 322 days. So much keept happening around. After my marriage, I shifted my wife to islamabad in a very nice apartment. Since then, the routine of life is so that weekly I spend 5 days in islamabad and 2 in Peshawar.  In Peshawar there is always some place VERY IMPORTANT (Susraal offcourse) to visit as my wife has vowed to never miss any of her family gatherings and there are always too many gatherings in her family. One fine example is a big celeberation that happened on the special event that the larkay wala and larki wala just fixed the shadi ki date . It is very mandatory for me to accompany my wife with me on such occasions. Along with that there are always certain spur-of-the-moments plans that require urgent attention . so my life is in a rush. There are always too many distractions around and so many things going on that i am not being able to have sometime to relax and write some of my thoughts. Earlier i used to get sick every other day because of this speed of life, but now my lazy arse is getting used to it. Driving for Peshawar/islamabad trip doesnt frighten me as much as the simple Daewoo ride used to . I have driven 20 thousand kilometers in justs these 322 days. That shows how efficient beast-of-burden i can become.

My wife is a very sweet person like me and she is the best thing that has happened to me in life. I wont say that she has made my life a true heaven because i have seen true hell in these 322 days as well - (a married life has to have its ups and downs ) - but she has been very instrumental in make me a happier person. She is somewhat like me (in appearance and behaviour ) but she has a different view of life and so i keep getting my constant dose of paradigm-shifts from her. She wants to enjoy every moment of her life and i feel really lucky to be a part of those moments. It has been fun spending time with her understanding the dynamics of the married life which deals with so many things like Time management, Expectation Management, Health Management, Mood Management ,Use of Negotiatin skills,...etc. There are just so many variables to deal-with now. Finally i have started seeing my life as a computer game (like starcraft offcourse) in which you manage diffent types of resources (lumber, gas) and apply different stratigies. My wife, off course, acts as the player   .....   the one you compete with.. lol  . As a person who listens to all of my problems and complaints, my wife has been very helpful in guiding me towards the right decisions. She is the main culprit behind my blog's hiatus. She keeps me busy and then listens to me to the extent that there remains no residue to post here. The price i pay.... is that i listen to her....for hours...lol..

322 days have passed since i last wrote my blog. I was a bachelor person then, I am a married person now..and my baby was born around 30 hours ago. So much has been added in my life, so much has been removed from my life. There is no stracraft now. No late hours internet surfing now. No aimless life now. There is a family in my life now. There is some-one-to-go-home-early-for now. There are Indian dramas on starplus to watch now. There are relatives-in-law now. There are valimas, barats, aqueeqas to attend now. There is a filled schedule now.

With the birth of Saniya, there is going to be a lot more addition in my life now. I hope that Saniya will bring me more joy. I hope she will become a constant source of happiness for me and that i will become the caring father that i always wanted to be.

Now i should get up as the night ends. I am doing night duty as my wife's attendant at Shifa Internation Hospital.  It is a very good hospital and things have been very good uptill now. The equipment is good. Patient room is very good . It is seperate and spacious. The doctor we consulted is very good . She let me sit in the operation theater and i was continously talking to my wife to comfort her while she was being operated; something i have only seen in movies.

Me goes now. Have to get back to the life. I am not sure when i will get time again.

Oh! Sometimes somewhere during these 322 days,

• I became Informatica Certified Professional by passing the Informatica papers  but oh! i am scripting for the last 1.5 years.
  
• Starcraft was not released.

7 days remaining

My life has been very busy. So much has happened.. i wanted to write but was not having enough time.

Its just 7 days remaining. Got an SMS this morning that informed me that next week ,next Thursday, i will be a married man. Time flies indeed.

At office, i had my annual performance review after which i felt very bad. Later i came to know about a few people who joined the company after me but were promoted for doing something great.. something great!!.. yet invisible!!... i got so depressed that i started feeling better . You know, its completely impossible to predict my mood swings. Sometimes i enjoy being what i am . Noman had a similar fate at his office after his annual review . So i guess , its all part of our jobs.

Shadi functions have already started . We had a chor mehndi recently. Chor (thief) mehndi is a type of mehndi in which one party (larki wala or larkay wala) takes Mehndi to the other party's home without informing them earlier. So there were some two dozen people standing outside the gate of my house at near 1:00 am (night) this Sunday. It was fun indeed. I , for the first time , realized that its ME getting married.. i was not giving much thought to the idea but now i have started realizing that it really is happening. Anyway's, two days ago it was our turn and we took the chor mehndi to the larki wala's place..And you know, being in Peshawar, its not proper for the boy to go along. this means that i was not supposed to go along the procession...but so many people from my family were going and i expected so much fun that i decided to go as well. but you see , one has to look at the customs and traditions of one's place as well. I cant really go there along with the other guests. so , the drama-queen-within me gave me an idea..i thought of a plan and when i told this to my family , everybody accepted it. You wanna know what was the plan... well .. lemme just show you a picture of the event ...and i will leave it to you to find me in the crowd.

yeah, the burqa clad woman is infact me. i was also wearing a red ladies shalwar and ladies shoes to complete the disguise. At first, larki wala were quite confused as they were not really sure that it was me in burqa. They did realize that the burqa clad person was of my size but they were not really sure.


Anyway's, my intentional overacting and funny dance moves made them sure of my identity and my burqa was finally removed. ... Wanna see the moments. ..Check out the video. Its about the time when the boys had finally decided to unveil me. The guy with me in the start of the video is the elder one of my two brothers-in-law , the one who finally unveils me is the younger one.



It was truly a fun event that i liked and loved. Every body enjoyed it so much. .Do i not enjoy being a drama queen.

its just a matter of days..when i wont remain single . i will become the head of my family .. new life.. new family..new responsibilities.. And an added responsibility means an added task.. an extra thing to do... Please!!!.. i dont need any more tasks.. i just want to sit lazily and enjoy my life playing games and watching drama series.

Speaking of games and series, i have started watching Terminator:Sarah Connor Chronicles.. Its really kool. A must watch..I am also watching Chuck..that's good too. I stopped watching Prison break..its getting so boring.I stopped watching it before it went on the hiatus because of the writer's strike. I heard season 3 ended... but who cares. I havent played starcraft for so long. Have started playing MOHAA (Medal of Honour - Allied Assault) instead. the single player campaign is really kool.. Its the first ever first-person-shooting game that i have liked.

Naruto is going good. I plan to hang Naruto posters in my room. My room at home has new furniture , new carpet , new curtains.All brought by the larki wala. Another cultural thingy - the bride has to bring new things with her when she moves in so now there are very lavish and beautiful things in my room and it is so much filled that i am not sure where to place my laptop as my writing table has been removed from the room. The only place that seems perfect for its placement is .....err!!!!... the dressing table.... and so i have decided that i will be placing my laptop there on the dressing table - a place where the bride is supposed to keep her cosmetics accessories. No other word on it ..and i have also planned that i will be having Naruto posters on the walls.. I bought quite expensive Naruto posters while i was in US. They were something near 30$ dollar each and there is no way i am going to let them rotten in the cupboard for one more year.. Yay!! Just imagine entering in a newly wed couple's room and finding a laptop placed on the new dressing table and Naruto poster around on the wall.. ... What a perfect combination.

I dont think i will be able to post for a while.I will be busy. My brother is getting married this weekend. My barat will be on the next weekend . Me and my brother share the same Walima.

If you plan to come, do let me know.

A nonsense post

I am posting this only because i am tired of seeing the goodbye princess post again and again whenever i refresh my blogger page.

so here goes this post..

Oh btw.. i am sick for a while.. Pata naheen kyon.. some headaches and fevers.. thanks to the changing weather.. and no i am not depressed and no i am not missing the Princess.. I guess i was sad on the day only because the Princess was sold for a very low price.. No emotional attachment to that stupid piece of machinery.. Sorry!! i misidentified my emotions..

Anyways, i am getting married soon.. The date has been set.. 29th Feb is the date.. You can see the count down on the right side.. Right now its 86 days remaining.. Seems so many days for now.. but i am sure they will start decreasing soon.

Ok me goes.. Right now i am busy in doing something..

Goodbye Princess

Princess was sold today. At a throw away price. I finally got rid of it.

Now that it has been sold, I feel like a very important stage of my life has passed.

but am i Happy??? Do you hear me say Yayyy!!!

No? you dont. Even i myself dont hear shouting with happiness. For some reasons I am not happy.

You know what. I have hated this car from the depths of my heart. I cursed it every time i had to ask people to give it a dhaaka. I cursed it every time i had to take Taxi leaving it on my flat in the morning. I cursed it every morning right after sitting on the driver seat because it always gave a dirty mark on my trouser - Actually, the distance between the steering and the driver seat is so little (or may be i am so fat) that while entering the car the steering touches my thighs and leaves a mark on my otherwise neat and clean trouser . Along with that it was always dirty from the outside as I used to wash it with the rain water and since it doesnt rain much in islamabad, it mostly remained dirty. (for those who didnt get it , i mean to say that i used to wait for rain to clean my car).I hardly ever saw it without that ever existing mud layer.

There were so many issue with this car .. and I so much wanted to sold it .. but today , when i have sold it , on a throw away price... I now feel sad.. very sad.. I have discovered something.... that somewhere during giving dhakas to this car, somewhere during cursing it for not starting up in the morning, somewhere during getting dirty by the its thick layer of mud, .. ..undeliberately ,...... unconsciously , .......unwillingly ..... i had fallen in love with it. . . I had actually started liking this non-living mechanical thing.

and i am very serious. I used to treat it like a human being. I guess i once tried to give it Reiki as well. i had a very strong connection with it which i realize now. It had become an important part of my life; a very important relationship for me. In life, our relationships with people get stronger when we share sufferings with them . This car had given me so many sufferings and I have shared so much of my sufferings with it that now i feel having a deep relationship with it.

I talked with Kashif and he told me that the way i feel is because i have lost an aim of my life. and i guess he is right. Those of you who are into Japanese Animes will be able to understand this concept. Going to the mechanic , cursing princess, trying to think the reasons for its kharabi - they had all become an integral part of my life. See my blog, every post mentions this car somewhere. Hey! i even wrote a poem on it.

Today i went to Rahat Bakery...I thought of that time few weeks back when i couldn't start the princess there..had to leave it there for the whole night. and then i started realizing that all the places i have been to in islamabad have a memory associated to this car.. Every road that i think of , reminds me of this car being pushed by a passerby with me sitting inside trying to start it on the 2nd gear. There are few speed breakers in this city that have become a land mark for me because of the impact that i got by driving princess on high speed over them.

These are all memories. Painful they were at the times they happened but now that they have turned into memories - Beautiful sweet memories - I really like them. Now i value them.

I guess all this life time that i spent with this car had some meaning for me.I am getting the meaning at the end of my relationship with it. I guess it teaches me that may be i am not cherishing the things in my life well.. There are things in our life that we take for granted. There are little things that are with us and we hate them for being there. Its their loss that tells us about their importance and what they really meant to us... The loss of the princess tells me that i need to start cherishing those things that i am taking for granted. Whats the use of complaining in life , when we can enjoy it with all it problems. Its a good lesson learnt.

Good bye princess!!! May you have a better life now.. Now that you will have someone better to take care of you.!!!

And hey Princess!! wish me luck too.. Cause i am going to have "someone" else in my life whom i will be taking care of with utmost care . Just 4 months remaining and then a new princess will be in my life.

The Loss of Bodi

I have a very shocking news. Bodi's (Umair Azfar) mother passed away a few days ago. He is coming to Pakistan to meet his family in Islamabad . He will probably reach here today.

Bodi has written a post on his great loss and you guys can give your condolences to him on this link.

Bodi became my friend in Giki. Was it starcraft or Nix (our common friend) that brought us closer ,i don't know but i have spent a lot of time with him while I was in Giki mostly discussing computer games . I used to be at the listening part with him. Later , these discussion evolved and we started talking more about my favorite topic of discussion i.e "me" . Bodi went to Finland some 2 years ago for having "Aaala Taleem" (reminds me of an essay on Quaid-e-Azam that i used to write in school). He has done his MS now and currently he is doing a job there .He still engages in discussions on my favorite topic with good zeal .You guys would have noticed his comments on my earlier posts. He is a very good friend of mine and the thought of his loss saddens me again and again.

I pray to Allah to shower his blessings on Umair's mother .May she find a perfect place in heaven.May Umair get the courage to bear his pain.

October 2007

Oct passed good. Starting with Teradata day , I had fun time whole month.

In Ramzan, I arranged a gathering of my gikian batch mates for an Iftar. It was my first ever administration of such kind of activity. and yeah i did mess up. I booked a table for 12 people nearly 2 days before the gathering at the Pappasallis Islamabad and when everybody reached there just before 5 minutes of Iftar, i was told by the receptionist that there was no reservation by my name. when i inquired , i found that the reservation was done in my name.. true!!!.. at the Pappasallis...true!!!....but at the Pindi branch. Stupid people!!! i was embarrassed in front of all the friends.. Anyways we went to Cafe Grind which is not as good but Khair! .While having food, I did get a few moments of regrets at times when i realized that every one around was either doing MS or PHD or had already done it.(Reminder! i am still just a bachelor - both professionally and maritally) but Khair, i guess i need to practice being dheet a bit more. .

On Eid , i bought my first Kurta ever on a special demand from my susral. I bought it from Junaid Jamsheed. It was pretty expensive , nearly 4000 Rs. Even my coat trouser suits are cheaper than that .Only the people at my susral had this chance to see me wearing that kurta as I didn't wear it anywhere else, fearing it will get dirty.

And yaaaay!! i did advance level course of the Art of living in the end of Oct (last weekend) .For this course, I stayed at a spiritual retreat , Bani Gala ( a place near islamabad raval lake) , for 4 days with the members of Art of living. The course was lead by a lovely lady from India and was attended by nearly 20 people. While there , we woke up early in the morning each day to do yoga before the breakfast . Rest of the day we performed some house chores (cutting vegetables, cleaning etc) , did meditations and had some good lectures. We had a silence meditation in which we remained silent for some 2.5 days. It was amazing . I learnt many kool things there.The stay was at a place from where we could see the lake all the time. It was a lovely experience. I didn't lose any weight during this level of the course. How could I , the food was so tasty there. They had all non-meat food and it used be so tasty that i couldn't stop myself from over-eating . All the people there were really nice and friendly (like me) . Since my return from bani gala, my sleep routine seems getting better. Now sometimes i feel some energy at the base of my spine. I hope it is what i think it is.

and yay! Peshawar Motorway was finally inaugurated last week.[news] Today, I came islamabad through this new motorway in the morning. Its 1 hour 30 minutes from Peshawar toll Plaza to Islamabad toll Plaza if you are driving nearly 110-120 km per hour. Thats kool.

I have been working too much for the past few days (thats why there has been no post).I am on a bad project again. Again late sittings with no acknowledgments but whatever ! my life is going all good and chill. I watched the indian movie "jab we met" and was impressed by the concepts of the heroine of the movie.

Ok me goes now, to see what the CNG mechanic has done with my car. Princess is still around... .

Teradata (Tumhara data)

I am no more an employee of NCR . I work in Teradata now and even though i am working at the same place, sitting on the same seat, drawing the same salary , I am in a new company. yayyy!!! doesn't that make you wanna party!!!

You know what! ever since graduation, i have been switching and switching and switching. I cant stick at one place for long. Now the people at NCR found a way out to make me stick at my place and their solution was to virtually change my job place after some time and that was being done by sending me to US first and then to Dubai . Now they have come up with a new strategy and that is to shift my company.

so this morning when i came to office, i was greeted by the company boss at the very entrance and then i was given a bag with Teradata goodies in it. Every where in the office there were/are orange and yellow balloons , stars and beautiful flowers . People are wearing black Teradata shirts even though generally we are supposed to wear formal dressing with a tie in office. There is a happy environment around which uplifts my mood and makes me forget that the princess didn't start this morning and i had to come to office on Taxi

The picture below shows the decorated office. (can you find me in there)

And now the picture below shows my happiness that i got from holding an orange balloon that has my company's logo on it. Another reason for being happy will be explained in the next picture. For now see this . (dont we , me and kashif , look like Pizza delivery guys!! ) .

so as i was talking about the main reason of the happiness - well , it is that i was able to fill this balloon using my extra powerful lungs. you can see a big difference in my tummy before and after filling this balloon. I lost 10" waist. yay!!!

but wait.. my excitement doesn't end here.. there are a few other things that i got that make me explode with excitement . See them scattered around me below.

Yay!! i am one happy employee!!!

there is going to be an Iftar party in the evening and i will be regaining the 10" that i lost by filling balloon. Life is all party.

Yay!! I am one happy soul.

Movies and Series

I am no more tech lead.. my project changed... yay!! and its a European project now but i haven't been asked to apply for a visa yet means i wont be going onsite for the project.

Princess is back but now i am happy .It is not bugging me much these days .In Ramzan, I must have a car otherwise it becomes so difficult to reach Rahat Bakery . trust me people, the chicken pakoras from Rahat are really amazing. They sell them during Ramzan only and they are really expensive ..350 Rs. per kg. At certain places you can have a proper Iftar-cum-dinner buffet at less than that ..There is a restaurant near my office where they offer it for Rs. 300 only. Now that is a big difference.

Last weekend i simply stayed in bed watching movies and series. Watched one complete anime Death Note. It has 37 episodes and is great.The story starts when a shinigami (death god) drops a book , death note, in the human world. The book has the power that if you write any person's name in it , he or she will die. Now this kind of a start of a story gives an idea that the anime will be magical / fantasy type but it completely changes it genre when the story evolves . It turns into a suspense as the police starts to hunt for the owner of the book when all the criminals in the city start to die by themselves. Its a blind hunt as they don't know the murderer, neither his location nor his method of killing so they have to find a way to reach the person who is killing everyone around the world. Its a good suspense. Do watch.

I also watched Khuda kay liye, the movie by Shoaib Mansoor. I watched a pathetic print but its good. The story is not as good as a Shoiab Mansoor movie should be . The whole story goes very smooth. You wont find much twist , It just goes on and on and then ends. Many things are predictable and you don't find any big element of surprise. It just seems like a normal PTV drama but still its much much better than general Pakistan films. One character of the movie who leaves his family for Jihad training reminds me of my time when i was tableeghi. The brainwashing of the young minds by the molvies has been shown in a very very good manner. The way they manipulate religion for their own benefit and look down upon the ones who do not listen them has been represented in the way it really is.

I also watched a movie Sunshine. Its a science fiction and don't watch it if you like science fiction. Infact , don't watch this movie if you like watching movies.

And i watched Blades of Glory. Its a light and funny movie. The story is about two ice skaters who decide to pair up for a championship after they are banned from performing solo. Thus they form the world's first men's pair. The movie is a good comedy.

There is also a cool anime Ergo Proxy that i am watching these days. Its good. The thing about animes is that sometimes you have to tolerate them for a while. Then they become very interesting. Ergo Proxy is difficult to understand in the beginning but it gets interesting later.The story is set in future when robots likes servants have become a part of the society and there is a virus that is infecting robot machines with "human emotions".The sound track is very cool. Its a good and stylish anime. will complete it by the end of this week.

3rd Season of Prison break is out and 2nd Season of Heroes is out. Prison break is going slow.Heroes now seems boring. The last episode of the first season left a very bad taste.If they have to show a pathetic end, why bother watching the show. but anyways, i hope this season's ending will be good.

I havent played starcraft for so long. Thats why i watched so many movies and series.Its good that i dont have DSL in islamabad. right bodi? Losing weight is not the only reason for avoiding DSL at home.