Thursday, February 15, 2007

The day

Kal mulk bhar main lakhon farzandanay tauheed nay well-in-time-day/laaltain-day manaya. Is moqay per tamam chotee baree masajid main khusoosi duain mangee gaain. Is moqay per sadr-e-mumlikat nay qom k naam apnay khusoosee paigham main kaha kay Pakistan key jarhain well-in-time-day or basant mananay say or mazboot hon gee, lihaza hamain chahiyay k burh churh ker is naik kam main hissa lain. Is moqay per sadr-e-mumlikat nay apnee beshumar well-in-times ko gulab k phool bhaijay.

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Critique

On comments made by anonymous in an earlier email:
thanks for the wish
if by standing and delivering you meant to ACTUALLY brought a change, I would like to know what you have delivered ..
No disucssion here. Neither you, nor I am a judge to this. Time will only tell.
i guess in order to deliver you need to stand-up and lead from the front, sorry for personal comments but ....
for how many times you were in the class ON-TIME for lectures
Zero. I was never on time. I was always late and always left earlier than the scheduled finish time.
how can you talk about bringing a change when you DID NOT EVEN CHANGE the few ROTED questions during viva
No I didnt change the questions.
talk about change, and I would like to know what changes had you made to the style of examination paper (asking for chunks from your notes)...
No, I didnt change that either.
i would like to know what you had delivered, and if you do not have the moral courage to face criticism and are eager to delete comments BECAUSE I DO NOT KNOW THE CIRCUMSTANCES , I wish you stop criticizing others as well because similar can be said for you as well
Yes, you're right. Me and my friend are both crooks. I was never on time, and didnt change anything that you mentioned. My friend is a greedy person who ceased the opportunity to earn some big bucks when he couldnt find anything to earn here in Pakistan anymore. You're right, we're both crooks who just talk about righteousness and dont practice it.
At least I changed one thing. I gave guys like you the ability and opportunity to criticize me, so yea, sure, go ahead and do it.

I would, however, like to mention a few things. Changing the examination style is beyond my control, and delivering involves doing whatever is in your power. I tried to do that. I guess a guy who got out for a duck is better than a guy who didnt show up for the games because he thought the game was lost before it was played. Sure, the ducker will be criticized, but this little ducker is happy that he did what he possibly could.
It makes me wish, though, that I should've been selfish, too. All those times when I was late to class because some ex-student was there, off from his job for an hour, to seek a recommendation letter, pleading that it had to be done right then, I should've refused then and there. And that department gardener and electrician who would catch me all the time, going to class to plead their cases of possible bonuses or other opprotunities to augment their otherwise meager salaries to support their poor families, I should've told them to shut up and talk to them later. I always thought, people dont understand when I say I have a class to take. I should've disregarded their not understanding, and been off with them nonetheless.
As for exams, there's no argument, that given the greater experience that I had than my students, I could've beaten them with challenging questions any day, just like my teachers did, for the sake of satisfaction to see them do poorly. But I dont believe that there's a point in doing that, we're not equals. It's a tricky bit, I'd get criticized if I ask tough questions, and I'd get criticized if I ask easy ones.
That said, what you've said is right, and as said earlier, I accept it all. Dont forget to write once you've brought some cool changes to your surroundings, because I will truly be pleased to see that, and not jealous, only inspired. Doesnt matter where good comes from. It should keep coming. It didnt come from me, there's an opportunity from everyone else. With that, I hope that with my confession, this discussion would be over, unless, of course, you want to deliver a sentence, too, which I'll have to serve since I have made the confession. The other entry was supposed to be from a friend to another friend. It got taken into an entirely other, unfortunate dimension.

Thursday, February 08, 2007

One less number in my phone book

In a couple of days, I'll be deleting a number from my cell phone's phone book, with a heavy heart. There'll be one less number of dial once in a while. One less number to receive calls from. One less pleasant face to see. There'll be another friend gone away. I dont even know if I'd be able to delete that number. It's tough, I can feel it. My trustworthy friend, one with whom I gave sweat and blood to the cause of INETA, one with whom I shared thoughts in social and technical issues, one with whom I shared my car, one who shared his car with me quite often, one for whom I always made time despite busy schedules, is going abroad. Adnan, adios, my dear friend.
Our hopes and dreams of doing a .NET session together one last time for sake of old times didnt materialize, alas. Maybe we'll be able to do that in the future. Maybe I'll see you sometime when I am at some conference in the US or you are at a conference in Pakistan as an honourable visiting speaker, or on a land where we're both foreign visitors.
I hope that you have a pleasant flight all the way to the US. I hope that you have a pleasant walk through the airports, a pleasant drive to your new home, exciting wonderful assignments on your new job and that life treats you well. I wish you would make great friends there. May all the thorns in all your paths vanish.
Keep smiling my friend! I will try to do the same, even though it'll be difficult knowing that you're not closeby anymore.

Hummer at bhatta chowk

Talk about seeing a Hummer at a location like Bhatta Chowk in Lahore. Well, here's a photograph of what was seen, if you dont know what I am talking about.

The location photograph is not there, but it's a pretty low area. The only reason I saw it there, perhaps is that it is between DHA Lahore and the Lahore Airport, so the owener or his dirver was going to the airport from his DHA residence, perhaps.
This piece of steel, rubber, glass and plastic costs about US$54000.

Thursday, February 01, 2007

New girl in town


Yea, he's happy to have become a big brother, for sure and she's my niece, born Jan 17, 2007.