Ive been celebrated quite a few peoples birthdays in the past year now and I wanted to comment on some of the experiences.

Here is the list, in no particular order

1. Pizza Hut party deal, makes you feel like a kid again, for fun you could always compete for who can pack the most salad on the included salad bar deal.
2. Afreedi Inn, sitting on charpai’s and eating karhai is loads of fun.
3. Masooms/ Latte lounge has a great environment for sheesha, and celebrate get togethers.
4. Boat Basin never disappoints, and you can usually get a snake charmer to entertain, and order a large array of foods.
5. BBQ Tonight roof top or party room is a great place for meat lovers to rejoice. The food is delicious as well.
6. Sea view is great fun, get some pani puri, camel rides, roasted corn and then run around on the beach
7. House parties, invite Dhol wala’s to play and make/order the best desi treats like; chaat, pani puri, bun kebabs, gulab jamun, samosas etc.
8. Crab boating at the docks, is such a great and relaxing place to enjoy the rocking of the boat, eat some delicious crab and fish, and enjoy the company of your friends/family, no taking pictures though!
9. Beach hut gives you all the fun of seaview with the privacy of your friends/family, just be sure to bring out the rung to colour the earth! (and each other)
10. Deja Vu is great venue for events good food and a chance to crack jokes about someones age (if they are old enough to remember everyone on the walls.)

I realize most of these places are in the Clifton/Defense part of town. It would be great to hear about some other places or little places that one can have a great time at.

Where do you go to celebrate?

“Karachi: The HEC has initiated a Plagiarism Detection Cell that will monitor all the PhD theses and research publication by checking them against the international literature.” & It intends to use a quality software which will compare materials against the existing international literature. Read more

Is it another money wasting adventure as we always hear “chor chori se jaai heyra pheyri se na jaai” & ironically it turns out to be true mostly?. A recent phenomenon of copy pasting by educated has added an additional star on our full-of-stars profile of education sector. Being always innocently interested in short-cut formula our students were bound to go down even further from the basic purpose of taleem-o-tarbiyat with internet invading upper & middle class houses.

Steps like these taken a higher level mean nothing when the system has already made him an intellectual thief, unknowingly. In Sid’s topic “Town Of Literate People” stats on standard, not number of heads should be meaningful & the beggar in that story proved this point.The issue is definitely not new but the irony is a student (innocently frankly) doesn’t even know he is stealing.

So what would you do if after 16 years you realize that you are a product of a malfunctioning machine ?
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Seems like the much awaited CNG rickshaws have finally landed (assembly-line snaps courtesy Raja Islam). Spotted one such ‘greener alternative’ to the iconic rickshaws of Karachi in Clifton yesterday. Besides being colored green (physically), these three-wheelers are supposed to be effectively green because of two reasons: they run on CNG which pollutes the environment less and these rickshaws are as soundless as any regular car.

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Superbrands, which around the world is renowned as an independent arbiter on branding opens up its office in Karachi, Clifton. The first volume is to be printed somewhere this year.

Previously it has launched it’s program in 73 countries including all the key global markets. It’s a powerful endorsement providing evidence of a brand’s exceptional standing for potential customer, the media suppliers, investors and employees.

Multinationals and local companies are already investing a lot in branding. Media planners are highly paid and the advertising companies earning a lot through advertisements in newspapers, television and billboards. Now that superbrand has started up in Pakistan, let’s see how it affects the local brands.

When religious fervour sweeps this city, it seems all other considerations fall by the wayside. One in particular is the manner in which billboards outside cinemas are covered in black cloth. As a kid, I remember driving past Capri and Nishat on M.A. Jinnah road and looking at those gloomy covers. Now it seems that that commercialisation has taken over – this year Capri has been coaxed into displaying a banner advertising a Hajj operator.

This is doubly absurd – though I suppose one shouldn’t be suprised by the profiteering behind overt displays of religiosity. Karachi has long suffered from mosques built illegally – usually an organic process that starts with a small room and then in a few years mushrooms into a commercial hub with shops that support the lives of the mosque dwellers.

Last night I got a chance to dine at the newly opened Copper Kettle at Gulshan-e-Iqbal. The place is located between National Stadium and Expo Center. The seating capacity was ample and atmosphere was nice. However, the quality of food and service left a lot to be desired.
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These days, religion is more about competition. We have seen the Shias and Sunnies compete each other in worthless, non religious festivities, causing havoc in the cities.

The latest of these atrocities are the festivities of Rabi-ul-Awwal. Instead of paying respect to our Holy Prophet, people tend to focus on showing who’s crazier!

Although I’m no religious scholar, I do have a faith that whatever the event, Islam would never allow the lives of common people to be disturbed.

Yesterday, the whole of Bunder Road was blocked shut with virtually no access whatsoever. I tried to reach the Lady Dufferin Hospital (behind Civil Hospital) as my wife was admitted there after the birth of our son, but it took me around 1.5 hrs to get there from Pakistan Chowk.

Later, as we were discharged, at around 6 in the evening, we faced the same problem in coming out of the area. We got the access at Garden Area, and got home by around 8 (we had to goto Clifton).

All the meantime, there were large trucks, buses, rickshaws filled with green pagris, waving flags and Naats blaring on loudspeakers seeming more of “Noise” rather than respect (pardon me: I really respect our religious norms but this is insane!!)

And this is not all. All throughout the nights, the mosques were reciting naats in the most unattractive, besuray molvi’s voices, right next to the hospitals. I can only imagine what the poor patients in civil hospital must be going through, when atleast I was ridiculing them ‘idiots’ all night long!!

I say to all such yo-yos: “convert away, and let Islam remain the religion of peace”

Just a word to the wise, if you are going form Shara-e-Faisal to Allah wali chorangi, then it is better to find some alternate route. I just went there an hour ago, and the road is completely dug up at the chorangi, resulting in a big traffic jam.

Alternate routes:
If you are going from Shara-e-Faisal -> Sindhi Muslim -> Allah wali chorangi -> Noorani Kabab house chorangi then it is better to keep going straight on Shara-e-faisal, and turn left from Nursery flyover, and then reach Allah wali chorangi.

Nespak plans to build twin towers at JPMC. The ceremony was on Wednesday, 21st March at the Chief Minister House. For security reasons the news was not published in Newspapers or any other media (I found out about it from someone who works at Jinnah Hospital).

Twin towers is a three year hospital project which is to be constructed in the present Jinnah Hospital locality.
Jinnah Hospital is one of the few Government hospitals with senior doctors and specialists. With this twin project coming in, I think it will then be the only government hospital with a new building inside.

The I.I Chundrigar road is finally dug up, with no alternative routes (as dreaded).

This morning, while coming to work, I noticed a huge traffic jam just before the MCB towers. The tail end was almost to the beginning of the road.

The traffic policemen present there were not guiding the traffic towards other lanes, and hence, half of the traffic was coming back after encountering the ‘sliced off’ road in front of HBL Plaza.

The Chundrigar road is one of the busiest roads of the country and the authorities should atleast be considerate enough to guide the people correctly.

I hope atleast the construction goes as per planned schedule and the road lasts atleast a generation!