Movie Review - Wake UP Sid!

Okay... here's the shortest movie review EVER

After the movie, my friends were like "Wake UP Omer! Let's go home, movie is over"

I guess if that is not enough then nothing can be :-)

October 22nd 2009, 01:10am PST

Today was a different day, a very few cars on the roads of Karachi. I & the roads of my Karachi are used to traffic jams… So even a few cars there made the roads seem almost empty…

There was a weird feeling in the atmosphere, after the recent terrorist activities happening around the country and schools closed as precaution after the Islamic University blast in Islamabad yesterday… I wasn’t born when my Pakistan was in a war situation back in 1965 & 1971… My mother tells me that they closed all the schools back when my Pakistan fought those wars. So are we really in the state of war? Rahman Malik on TV says so…

What’s this depression that I feel? As if something is about to happen, my ears are alert to hear a sound of blast whenever I’m out… This is not how my Karachi has ever been… We’ve seen crisis situations before and things have been bad in the past… But this is more than anyone can handle…

Right now I sit in my chair thanking Allah for saving me, my family, relatives & all my friends & their families from these terrorism activities. We all are safe and somewhat lucky Alhumdulillah! But I also think, how long? How long am I going to stay lucky? They way things are going I don’t see myself to be lucky long enough… I’m very selfish and may be the next terrorist activity takes someone from me whom I actually care for… What am I going to do then? I want to get out of this feeling of depression… I want to feel free & safe again…

Puri Sahib Praying for All

WAKE UP Pakistan!!!

Aye khuda jub bhi tera asmaan dekhta hoon
Us mai basa ek jahaan dekhta hoon
Na janey kitney hi jahaanon ki sair kerta hoon
Khol ker jab tera Quran dekhta hoon
Tere ahsaan kitne hain bandoon pey
Jab bhi Surah-e-Rehmaan dekhta hoon
Tu tou kehta hai rag-e-jaan sey bhi hon MEI qareeb
Phir pareshan kyu aaj ka insaan dekhta hoon
Us ki rehmat sey kabhi mayoos na hona aye dost
Tujh pe mai USKI rehmat kay nishaan dekhta hoon

Somebody asked Quaid-e-Azam 2 months before the creation of Pakistan, “Mr.Jinnah! How do you think this newly born will survive without any resources?” Jinnah Replied, “I know we don’t have any material resources, but I trust my nation.”

It’s been 62 years since Pakistan appeared on World Map, are we how Jinnah anticipated us to be?

“I’m sad, I’m in pain, I’m hurt” This is probably what our motherland is shouting at us today, are we even bothered to listen? Do we even care for our country? If you have a pet at your house, I’m sure if that pet is in danger, you’ll do whatever it takes to keep it safe from that danger, do we care for an animal more than we care for our country?

I grew up hearing “This is a great nation.” I agree, but why do we need to see a disaster to witness the greatness? Why are we divided into Sindhi, Punjabi, Pathan, Baloch or Mahajur otherwise? Why can’t we always be Pakistani?

“Our government is corrupt”
“Our politicians are corrupt”
“Our nation is corrupt”

WOW!!! Easily blame it on others… Everyone is corrupt but me… and what am I? A bloody hypocrite… Government officials & Politicians are what? A one million people at MAX? How can a mere million be responsible for the situation of a nation of ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY people?

How many of us can swear that they’ve never bribed anyone? How many of us didn’t bribe a police sergeant to get away with some minor traffic violation? We all are equally corrupt and we all are responsible of where we are today… Why is the personal interest greater than the interest of all of us?

Is Government responsible for when I don’t follow a queue? Is it the fault of my Government that I throw garbage on the road? Why don’t we stop blaming it all on Government & for a change step up and have the balls to take responsibility.

We can be a great nation, all we have to do is to be best at whatever we do… doesn’t matter if I’m a plumber, architect, mechanic, doctor or tailor… All I have to do is to be the best plumber, architect, mechanic, doctor or tailor… If all of us start doing it on individual level then we will definitely see a difference on the bigger picture…

Puri Sahib… Not in Good Mood

Is the Moment REALLY Now? / I CAN write

I & Annie went out to discuss my book last Sunday, it was one of the most fun Sundays in years… Now the way she was working on my book was pretty impressive… like as if she knew it all as how its going to be & stuff, frankly speaking after looking at her work I was more like asking myself if I can do this? She was impressive, I saw her writing for the first time… You know, whatever I write is about some personal experiences… Now with this book it’s more like making stuff on my own, thinking of a story…

Anyways… I at a lot of times see the digit 19 flashing next to my drafts folder of gmail. Trust me I’ve no clue what those 19 unsent emails are… hehehe… Anyways, today I thought to take a look.

Funny how our preferences change with time, I made this gmail account about 4 yrs back I guess and in these 4 years I’ve changed… A LOT… now I’m thankful to God for not sending those drafted emails to the recipients they were meant for, because if I had, it would’ve been so so so stupid… lol… Stuff I used to consider so cool back then appears so silly now… Funny all I want now is X but in 5 years from today when I’ll have X or Y may be, I’ll think of myself as silly for wanting X back then… So is the moment really NOW? Or is there more to it? May be if I get what I want today then it wont appear silly after 5 years because I’ll be content for having what I will have then.

Then I came across this email where I had actually bothered writing a subject, and that subject reminded me about a song that I used to have, I thought it was that song which I don’t have on me anymore so I opened that email wanting to download that song…

Turns out, that was this one unpublished story which I wrote a few years back, it was like a complete story that I came up with, from start to the end… I don’t remember why & when I attached that into an email & then saved it there… I didn’t even remember writing that story… I don’t think I even discussed or showed that particular thing to anyone… and compared to that, the work that I’ve done on this book of mine? Its absolutely great…

So going back to that drafts folder & finding that piece of writing gave me a new level of confidence, now I know I did it back then and am doing A LOT better now… means I can do it for sure… Plus now I’ve Annie helping me on that… InshAllah that book for sure will be better & great…

Confident Puri Sahib knows it all

Banking – Then & Now

I’m excited about this post because today after ages I’ve something really worth blogging (-:

I remember when I was a kid there used to be a series on our PTV or something called Guest House or something… It was the same show which introduced the famous “Jaan Rambo”

Once they had this episode in which a Pakistani living abroad comes back to his homeland and his first stop was the guest house as apparently he had no relatives or anything. At the time of board in the management of Guest house ask for some financial security as how he is going to clear his bill, he shows a Bank Draft saying that this is his life time saving which he’ll be able to use once he gets a bank account. In the entire show they didn’t disclose the amount of that draft but they gave an impression as if that was some outrageously huge amount…

Anyways, the entire episode was on how difficult it was for that guy to get an account in Pakistan because he knew nobody and no bank was willing to give him an account without any reference despite the fact that he was going to deposit a huge amount and in the end “Jaan Rambo” helps him as he’s holding an account for his savings.



Anyways… That was then, now I was probably only dealing with my piggy bank back in the day so I had no clue how difficult it was to deal with real banking. When I started dealing with banks on my own was about 10yr back and there were some references issues then minimum balance requirements but nothing alien at all. Here’s something interesting that happened to me today & I’d like to share with all…

Today I walked into a branch of one of our local banks. My main intention was to get some inquiry about their services as I’ll need another account in next few days… As soon as I stepped into the office, here’s what happened:-

When I was not even a foot away from the door I was greeted by one of their sales executives, He introduced himself to me and asked me to have a seat, we started off with a casual conversation, he kept offering me for tea or coffee but as I kept refusing every time because, a) I’m not on heavy caffeine intake, b) I was on my way for a lunch meeting and c) I had a colleague sitting in car as I had told him to wait till I quickly come back after picking up their brochures.

To sum the long story short… The branch consisted of 3 men & 1 woman (including their branch manager), all 4 of them pitched me their different products, desperation was clearly visible from their attitude, took my phone number for follow up and offered me a cup of coffee (more than once). When I informed them I was in hurry since I had someone waiting in car, the sales guy got off his seat so he can go out and invite my colleague. I didn’t give the details of car otherwise he was all up for inviting him…

When I took all my required info, he offered me coffee one more time saying, “We have the BEST coffee in this area.”

I left the place leaving all 4 of them speechless when I replied “If you serve the best coffee in the area then perhaps you should consider opening a coffee shop and close the bank” (-:

So the question is, is this all due to financial recession or are we really customer friendly now?


Puri Sahib... Continues to Be

Good Mood!

I'm playing the following track on repeat for over 2 hours now...

"You're just too good to be true.
Can't take my eyes off you.
You'd be like Heaven to touch.
I wanna hold you so much.
At long last love has arrived
And I thank God I'm alive.
You're just too good to be true.
Can't take my eyes off you.

Pardon the way that I stare.
There's nothing else to compare.
The sight of you leaves me weak.
There are no words left to speak,
But if you feel like I feel,
Please let me know that it's real.
You're just too good to be true.
Can't take my eyes off you.

I love you, baby,
And if it's quite alright,
I need you, baby,
To warm a lonely night.
I love you, baby.
Trust in me when I say:
Oh, pretty baby,
Don't bring me down, I pray.
Oh, pretty baby, now that I found you, stay
And let me love you, baby.
Let me love you.

You're just too good to be true.
Can't take my eyes off you.
You'd be like Heaven to touch.
I wanna hold you so much.
At long last love has arrived
And I thank God I'm alive.
You're just too good to be true.
Can't take my eyes off you.

I love you, baby,
And if it's quite alright,
I need you, baby,
To warm a lonely night.
I love you, baby.
Trust in me when I say:
Oh, pretty baby,
Don't bring me down, I pray.
Oh, pretty baby, now that I found you, stay..
And let me love you, baby.
Let me love you.

I need you, baby,
To warm a lonely night.
I love you, baby.
Trust in me when I say:
Oh, pretty baby,
Don't bring me down, I pray.
Oh, pretty baby, now that I found you, stay
And let me love you, baby.
Let me love you."

How often do you come across a situation when things that matter more to you are not going in the direction you want them to go but there are other less important things which are going in the direction which is beneficial for you and because of those less important things you’re able to over look the more important ones and feel happy about the ones which you’re getting?

I normally don’t feel this way… So yes I’m in an exceptionally good mood tonight… The week on the whole was good, oneness brunch tomorrow after a gap of few weeks, those small things, small gestures made by some random people to recognize your efforts are very motivational. So even if after those small things, something BIG and more important goes as you don’t want it to… You don’t get ticked off like you would normally… Okay now Mona (my elder sis in KSA) is bugging me on IM, so let me talk to her, I’ll be back in a bit…

Rumaisa (http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/album.php?aid=62363&id=504055961&op=12) is going to have her Tonsils removed on 6th Oct, so please pray for her health. Thanks!

So where was I? Yea so how would you feel if your big plans don’t go as you want them to go? Pissed? Exactly!!! But I’m not feeling ticked off… I’m no where near to that feeling… Infect I’m trying to understand the situation, after all everyone has problems and issues and preferences… So one has to give space… But hey! One thing for the records! “Plan ‘B’ Achey Hotey Hain” (Like Surf Excel slogan “Daag tou achey hotey hain”?)

So highlights of the week… I’ve finally started working on my book i.e. wrote a few lines, people have been extra generous, got 2 really cool gifts this week, got myself involved with 2 new projects and the Facebook page Mind Talk (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mind-Talk/146227751049) that I made also got 88 fans within first week… Apparently life is good (-:

Btw did I tell you that Aisha makes delicious “Bhindi”? I know its English is Lady Finger but “Bhindi” sounds more delicious, also I’m sure we all at least meet one person in life who gets annoyed when people call him / her “Bhindi”

Puri Sahib in Good Mood!