'Ask the Experts' at FT.com

I was part of a debate published at the Financial Times website regarding MBA programs.

Here is a transcript of the conversation.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/b95bb672-ad50-11db-8709-0000779e2340,dwp_uuid=02e16f4a-46f9-11da-b8e5-00000e2511c8.html

In the line of Fire

Wikipedia now has a detailed review on Pervez Musharraf 's book "In the line of Fire", highlighting common criticism and a brief synopsis of the book.

What surprises me the most, is that I've often come across fellow Pakistanis who can argue for a half an hour during coffee table discussions, and then sheepishly admit that they haven't read the book yet and their facts are nothing but hearsay.

For those of my braderi, read the synopsis please

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Line_of_Fire:_A_Memoir


Here are my initial thoughts after reading the book
- "Hooray , Musharraf is here..and as long as he doesn't get assassinated..Pakistan is on the road to prosperity"

After some thought, here what I think the writer is trying to tell us
- "Mushy is superman, and don't worry..what looks like bad right now is going to be a-ok in the future"


Its definitely something that everyone should read, as it might go against a lot of what you learned about Pakistan's history at school.


Reviews:
K.O has a review here
and behanjee has another one here

One More

I've been too busy reading other people's blogs to write anything on my own. So here's a quick power post with some thoughts and brief comments.

Questions that come to mind:

Why wont they have background music in public bathrooms?
- It would you from the background music that you currently get to hear, and people wouldnt sit in the stall and wait for everyone to leave before getting down to business

What if cricket / sport commentators could use explicit language while commentating?
- Balaji to Afridi..Holy f**k that went miles, balajis getting b*tch-slapped today!

Why do sequels always suck?
- Except Godfather II

Is Ali G /Sacha Baron Cohen/ Borat really brilliant?
- I dunno, I'm inclined to think that he's not. He's got a novel approach to highlighting diversity, but i still feel that its quite distant from 'brilliance'

Are we just optimistic, or is Pakistan still in a never ending cycle of military leaders and idiots?
- I was depressed when I read the economist special report on Pakistan.
- I was all upbeat when I read Mushy's book
- I was depressed when I read Owen Bennet Jones's version of the same picture, where he says..in short..Mushy is just another Ayub Khan...and that we'll all agree with him in 10-15 years
- In short..theres good, bad and ugly happening in Pakistan at the moment. Lets hope it turns out for the best.

Also,

- Pakistaniat
Is a really great blog that has tons of stuff on Pakistan and comments from many people.


I know that there are many concerns/issues with all my above postings, but it never hurts to think.


There are many more questions, but I think its best to save them for the next post..see ya in another two weeks.

Sholay Remake

I saw the remake of 'Don' last week, and was quite impressed. Atleast the 'dishum dishum' makes up for the other let-downs in the film, and obviously that Roma (Priyanka Chopra) is super hot. Hence the idea

Could there be a remake of Sholay??

I start out by thinking of all the roles, and who could possibly play them.

1) Amitabh (Jai)
2) Dharmendra (Veeru)
3) Hema Malini (Basanti)
4) Amjad Khan (Gabbar)
5)

Wait, somone already thought of this one too, damnit!!

As I was writing this post, it dawned on me that someone else (like a real movie producer) may already be working on this idea. And guess what, there is a remake of Sholay in the works.

Ram Gopal Verma is making the movie , and here is the anticipated cast.

1)Jai - Mohit Ahlawat
2)Veeru - Abhishek Bachan
3)Basanti -
4)Gabbar Singh - Amitabh Bachan
6)Thakur - Jeetendra

Before you get all excited

There's a legal battle going on between the Sippy family ( who hold the rights to Sholay) and Ram Gopal Verma, and the results are still not out yet.

Most likely the film will be an adaptation of Sholay, much like the recent film Omkara. Let see what happens.

Top Cop!!

Clifton Town Police Station has a website, check it out here

The best is the "Cop of the Month Feature"

Go Karachi..... Forget the NYPD, we now have CTPD (Clifton Town Police Department)

Thanks Abbas

Deepak Jain

"You can only control your efforts, not the outcome of your journey. Put your energy toward your efforts and you will reach your destination faster."

Deepak Jain is the Dean of Northwestern's Kellog School of Management.

I'm on youtube

Haider was randomly browsing youtube when he discovered a video taken at a family event.

The video was taken at my nephew's first birthday, we had organized a Qawwali for the little one.

I'm not sure who posted it on youtube, but its really weird to see your own videos pop up in such places.



Random-ness at its best.

Its my Country too

Saturday 21st October at 1410 GMT
Repeated: Saturday 21st at 2110, Sunday 22nd at 22nd 0410 and 0910 GMT

5 years on since 9/11 - the US is a changed country... especially for Muslims.

As part of the USA Direct season, It’s My Country Too follows Salman Ahmed, founding member of successful rock band Junoon, as he explores what it means to be an American Muslim.

Islam is one of the fastest-growing religions in the US. Yet one in four Americans regard Muslims living among them with suspicion. And what if you are an American and a Muslim?

This World follows Salman Ahmed, founding member of successful rock band Junoon, as he explores what it means to be an American Muslim these days. Salman says: "I never thought about my religion in a sense that I have to explain it to the rest of the world." However, as non-Muslims search for answers, this is exactly what they seem to be asking of their fellow citizens.

Shoaib : Hotboxed

So Shoaib Akhtar does it again. I'm sure many of us remember the charas filled video of him singing 'Aate Jaate Khoobsurat' with doobie in his hand.

This time, He's been sent home for 'substance abuse' . Based on following Shoaib's performances for the past 10 years, I can safely say that Shoaib, Asif and Rana are incapable of procuring and administering performance enhancing drugs on their own, without any medical officer finding out / helping them.

Shoaib had a private Doctor on his payroll, makes you wonder why he would need to hire a doctor when the Pakistan Cricket Board pays for all medical fees.

Here's my take on the situation : Everyone's shady, including the PCB and Shoaibee, so really nothing coming out of this one. Maybe a 1-2 year ban at the most. But a reputation that further tarnished.

Like Warne, all these guys should have blamed it on their mothers too. He definitely won that year for 'Smartest Grownup with toddler hairstyle'

Shoaib and Asif have already made it on the Wikipedia list for controversial Nandrolone abuse cases.


More later sometime.

Iraq : 655,000 + dead since March 2003

An estimated 655 000 more Iraqis have died as a consequence of the March 2003 military invasion of Iraq than would have been expected in a non-conflict situation, according to an Article published by The Lancet

Bush says its not true, and says he's deeply saddened. Doesn't mention any numbers though.

I bet he cant wait for his term to end, cuz that's the only way he's getting out of all the mess that he's created.

Question is.. If no one supports the war, what are they still doing there?

Third Base coach

Did you know that there is a coach for the third base in baseball.

I'm assuming there's one for first,second and the home base also..there must be some coaches for ensuring that people can catch properly with a glove that twice the size of their hand.

If anyone has ever been to a baseball game, you'll quickly realize how its a completely overstaffed game for people with really short attention spans. I went some time ago, and was completely bored out of my mind. Super slow, golf is more exciting to watch.

I'd rather go to the circus and see some real clowns.

Internet = Forever

They say that if you post something on the internet, it will stay there forever.

I say that if you post something on the internet, it will stay there forever..unless google decides to delete it.


“Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows that it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows that it must out run the slowest gazelle or it will starve. It does not matter whether you are a lion or gazelle. When the sun comes up you had better be running.”

Thomas L. Friedman in his book 'The World is Flat'

Recipe : Yakhni

Off to another random post. 'Yakhni for dummies'

This time we'll talk about how to make Yakhni. I made some today for a buddy thats not doing too well. The flu's got him down.

Ingredients:
1) Chicken (preferably with the bones, and a few pieces only)
2) Garlic/ginger ( The paste will do just as well)
3) Black pepper ( a little more than just a little bit)
4) Salt ( just a little bit)
5) Water

Instructions:
Throw everything in a pot of water, and just boil it for the next hour. It's going to turn out great.

I also watched some tv,and smoked a few cigarettes..dont know if that had anything to with it but I thought I'd mention just in case.


Simple, isnt it?

Ali 3.0

I'm back after the wedding, it was absolutely amazing. I have 3 DVD's and over 2,000 pictures from the events.

Everyone has been asking if I feel different now that I'm a married man, but either I'm unconsciously underplaying it or it doesn't feel like a life altering change just yet.

Lots of stuff happened around the world when I was away, so lets let that be a part of history.

In randomness, I've outsourced my cooking to a reliable Indian restaurant in Toronto, lets see how that works out.

Stay tuned, more to come.

Economist : Special Report on Pakistan

The economist published a 10-page special report on Pakistan recently.

I've held the economist in a league of less biased publications, but was rather depressed to see the picture painted by the authors.

Its mostly true from their perspective, but Jawwad Farid has a nice commentary here thats looks at things from a Pakistani's point of view.

DesibacktoDesh a good blog to bookmark, url is here

http://www.alchemya.com/blog/index.html


In other news, I'm still getting married and will be in Karachi soon Insh'Allah.

So here's what happened

So, Getting married in three weeks.

Life's pretty good. Its not often that you meet the girl of your dreams, and she likes you.

So you go out with her for a bit, and then decide to move (by yourself) to Canada.

You then think you dont want to deal with the long-distance sh*t, and tell her you want to go find yourself. Surpisingly, she agrees.

Two years later, you go back to Karachi. You've been in love with her since day one, but practicality got the better of you.

You ask her to marry you,and she agrees. She's as relaxed as she was when you had told her you needed to "find yourself"

Now the tough part,basically you ask your parents and her parents, and they love the idea.

Preparations are currently underway for the mother of all weddings, and I cant believe how fortunate I am.

Thank God for everything.

MIA

lots of stuff has been happening lately, and its all super personal..those of you know..thanks, and those of you that dont....i guess you'll have to wait.

I think I need another week before I start blogging again.

Cya,

Ali

Mohammad Ali Jinnah

"Few individuals significantly alter the course of history. Fewer still modify the map of the world. Hardly anyone can be credited with creating a nation-state. Mohammad Ali Jinnah did all three."

-Stanley Wolpert in his book "Jinnah of Pakistan"


A must read for anyone interested in Pakistan and its origins. It's amazing to see how little we know about such a great man.

Life -at a distance.

If we look at our lives at the highest level, what is our purpose?

I know its difficult, but if for a second I seperate myself from work, family, friends and all the little things that surround me, what am I left with.

Never crossed my mind before, but now it has.. so why are we really here, sure as hell its not to have the best house/car/partner or to gain self-satisfaction, be it out of love, money or whatever drives us to do what we do everyday.

As a Muslim, I know that this life is temporary and we are all being 'tested' to submit to the will of God and to fullfill the rights of our fellow beings.

That makes sense, however it often gets lost in the scramble of our lives. Therefore most of what we do on a daily basis has little or nothing to do with our 'Purpose in life'.

Maybe I'm going off on a totally new tangent, but at first it doesnt really make sense to me, you have a purpose, yet you dont really do much about it...hmmm

----------------------------------------------------------------

Side note, sometimes things like what I mentioned above is used to manipulate the minds of the illiterate to incite violence and promote 'extremism', that is just wrong. The whole 'extremist philosophy' is more political than anything else in my opinion. God never wants you to go out and hurt someone else, regardless of what they may do to you.

Karachi Beach!!!

In a recent article entitled "The battering of our beaches", Cowasjee documented the sad state of our beaches. Without hard and fast intervention, seems like the situation is going from bad to worse!
Here are some points from his article, I had no idea about:

"The city’s population is increasing by 500,000 a year. We need all our beaches to cater for increased recreational needs...Public access to the beach is integral to democracy and equality. Karachi is almost destitute of parks and playgrounds and open spaces. It has fewer acres of such spaces per 1,000 residents as compared to any major city in the developed world.

The city government has built two parallel parapets which hide the sea from public view. Parapets are normally hip-high as were the parapets built by Sir Jehangir Kothari in 1912, still standing for all to emulate. What our city government, obsessed with size, has built is head-high. Why? Could it be to enrich the brick makers and layers?

... And further folly from our MQM Minister for Ports & Shipping, Babar Ghauri. Whilst once in Jeddah on one of the many ‘official’ visits our ministers indulge in, he spotted a water jet spouting high into the air in front of the royal palaces. In search of glory, he ordered the Karachi Port Trust to have it replicated in Karachi’s sea, without bothering about how much it would cost to purchase, instal and operate.

Now to the real danger..."


I didn't want to post another HUGE article so I'm ending the cutting and pasting here. Expectedly, there is much more in his article that is worth reading. He touches on the bigger problems of the issue further on in his article, so if anyone is interested, here is where the article is!!!