My Little Angry Birds

Gone were the days when we awestruck to watch a number of people, holding a wireless device in their hands called as mobile phones, talking while walking and carrying this portable miniature thing everywhere. And the people, who had the authority to cling their hands on this gadget, were those who belonged to rich families. Later the world started to shrink, as new technological products made their ways to our world and the era of globalization begun. 

Nokia acted as the milestone in the market of mobile phones. Gradually, sms-ing and calling were not the only functions that were grasping our attention. Snake Game of Nokia caught its audience’s interest too, and most of the people were seen to play it during their leisure times. Our thumbs ran crazily over keypads, as it was occurred to us as delightful as one of our addictive hobbies. Well, now it is an old talk as more and more advancement are stepping into the world of technology.

I am not a very technologically literate person. But I happened to grab a new smartphone as a gift from my father couple of months back. A friend sitting next to me, while examining my smartphone, wore a rather shocking look and shrieked into my right ear, “O my god! You have Angry Birds in your phone”, to which I grimaced with an I-am-not-interested look. 

Few days later when I got time to probe my phone, I saw an icon on which a picture of a wingless angry bird was made. To my own surprise, I found it eye-catching and I tapped on it. This game was consisting of few angry wingless birds and some green chubby pigs. I began to play it, and the next thing I remembered, I was laughing, because of the hilarious sound effects. The smirking of the greedy pigs, the protests of birds in despise, and the happy “weeee!!” sounds of the birds whenever they got their chances to bring down their enemies.

Though this game is just another outcome of our brilliant technological developments, the results are ofcourse in front of us that how much it’s been a success story and was awarded as the “Best Game App” and the “App of the year”, because it’s been downloaded by users over 12 million times. I am not a game freak, I know very little about gaming but I do believe that apart from all the fame these “Angry Birds” got, it is undeniably one of the best remedies to cure our sad faces like those comic characters and stand-up comedians that we love to watch.

P.S I really don’t know how to end this post. But I hope these birds will stay a little longer into our restless lives.

Author: Miss Elecktra

An OpenBook

Have you ever thought how apt is this tagline!

Undoubtedly, social networking sites have taken the world by storm. I don’t think so your neighbour’s five year old kid or that Thela wala selling coconut near your marketplace would disagree. There are some people whose lives are like open books. But gone are the days of being called an ‘open books’, for now everything is visible for everyone’s eye on Facebook. I would prefer not to take a hypocrite’s stance and deny any association with that social network. The truth is that I’m an avid-user myself though am not very proud of the fact.

                It is true that Facebook is addictive unlike any other social network for its user-friendly interface. Although, it is not as private anymore as it was back in the days. Now you see all sort of irrelevant and ridiculous posts lined-up on your newsfeed. Yesterday I was going through all the piled up posts on my newsfeed and I realize my homepage has more posts from the strangers than me and my friends. If one of my friends is tagged in some godforsaken application by his/her friend as a Queen or a soldier, am I supposed to care? If my friend liked some page or added anyone as a friend, why on earth am I supposed to know all the teensy-weensy details of her life? Oh yes, so much for privacy settings.

                Speaking of bother, now the latest meme and comic sharing craze has swept through the most of the social networking sites which is the worst of all. Though, it seemed pretty innovative and cool to introduce such memes but now this meme market has also taken an ugly turn. They are not funny and captivating anymore but downright offensive and that makes me wonder what does Facebook’s management has to say about human rights. They seem to be quite sensitive about these issues and ban anyone with fake profile and on the use of abusive language though here they don’t seem very concerned.

                Besides this nuisance, try to think of all those sappy status updates by the forever loners in your friendlist and those in a complicated relationship expressing their deepest feeling on a public platform. Seriously, it is not deemed very ethical to indulge in a public display of affection by continuously quoting that cheap poetry from the forward messages you receive. I’m sure Zuckerberg had never thought that one day Facebook would serve as lover’s den. Still if you are a hopeless love bird try the custom option on the status bar it is especially designed for you to keep your private life to yourself (as much as you would like to).

                I know I do sound too critical of this social networking site, however, I’m also of the view that it helped a large number of people to grow their business and home industries. This utility of fanpage served many traders, businessman and skill workers to expand their business and provide quality service. In fact, you can not only find online jobs on facebook but also commence your own business online as a craftsman, cook, fashion designer etc. which is indeed a milestone on the road toward progress. All in all, with all its pros and cons Facebook is yet the biggest social networking platform and it benefits and demerits all are depended upon the way one uses it. Whether you want to use as an open-book for public or to connect with your friends and family or as a step toward economic progress, that is what makes all the difference in the world.

Author - E.B

For the Love of Fiction

There was a seminar we attended in our 3^rd year. Our teacher invited Ghazi Salahuddin as the main spokesman, a well known journalist of his time. Like every other teacher, he emphasized on reading, but unlike others, he wanted us to read more fictional stories than any other genre.

I really loved what he delivered to us, because most people take ‘fiction’ as more of a genre which does not increase knowledge. As for me, I adore fiction more than anything. It’s what I chose to read first when I got into reading, and eventually reading fiction became one of my hobbies. And I daresay, the finest thing that fiction gifted me is the privilege of reading “Harry Potter”.

The world of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! It indulged me in at once and I couldn’t flee from the magic that J.K Rowling put into it. Many Potterheads (We HP fans call ourselves Potterheads) like me who discovered Harry Potter series as magical as I did, must be aware of what I am talking about. Harry Potter is enchanting, it is captivating, conjuring and enthralling than any other fictional story I have ever came across.

I pity those people who take HP as a story for kids only. Mind you! HP is for all ages. If you don’t second me, give it a try. And I will love to see your spell bounded expressions then. Every part I read is flawless and engaging. Never for once it loosens up the grasp on its reader’s attention. And I feel pretty ludicrous to confess that I many times fancy about going to Hogwarts. It’s not my fault. It’s just the incredibleness of Rowling that she penned down so much of her magic that we can’t deny of Hogwarts existence.

The Owls, the spells, the magical creatures like Buckbeak and Blast-Ended Skrewt, the enchanted ghosts like Nearly headless Nick, the talking painting of Fat Lady, the flying broomsticks, the Quidditch, the characters; Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Lord Voldemort, everything about Harry Potter is riveting and appealing.

So here I am, sharing my thoughts about Harry Potter with you just to make you read it, if you’re one of those who never touched the books, and rather preferred to enjoy its movies. I am to flush out the very thought from your minds that Harry Potter is only for children, and not for all ages. No matter of which age group you belong to, Harry Potter will take you to just another world of fiction. But believe me you’ll never regret reading it.

 

I leave you here with one of Alan Rickman’s quotes, the guy who played Severus Snape’s role. He says, “When I'm 80 years old and sitting in my rocking chair, I'll be reading Harry Potter. And my family will say to me, "After all this time?" And I will say, "Always."

 Author: Miss Elecktra

The Nolakha Jaswal Brothers

I still remember it was my last exam of seventh semester and I was sitting at the back of my van exhausted and spent. To my dismay I forgot my mp3 player at home so my only option to calm my nerves was to tune into radio station which I was not quite into. However, I did and liked it. There was some track playing that I thought must be Coke Studio’s production from its odd but soothing combination of tabla, drum and guitar fused with the lyrics completely foreign to my ears. I recognized the vocals are Atif Aslam’s but the other one I was not quite sure of. When the song reached its peak the other guy to my surprise went completely way off base and fused this classic piece with hard-rock. I thought it must be Noori because they were quite into the stuff.

                The very next day I tried to search up the song and could not find anything relevant as I didn’t even remember the lyrics. All I knew they were as rich as honey. Eventually, I altered the key words a bit and found out it’s from the latest Season of Coke Studio and the guy I thought to be Ali Noor is actually Umair Jaswal, lead singer of band Qayaas. And the song itself is Charkha Nolakha; The Priceless Spindle. After reading the English translation of the lyrics I realized how deep and profound they are. The song is heavily loaded with the passionate feelings of the lover who yearns for his beloved’s return. It gets an intense poignant touch as the lover explains that with every spin of the spindle his sorrow doubles.  Where Atif Aslam spins that spindle smoothly without a glitch, there Umair Jaswal also adds soul to the song with his unique vocals and takes this beautiful piece to another level when he raises his pitch and sings the part:

 ‘Yaar Mile Lajpal Mile Tad Yari Lawan Chas Hai’.

Finding the friend, the protector, makes friendship worth it.

                Just when I thought that’s it that’s the best of Coke Studio ever, the other Jaswal brother Uzair came into the limelight with his Nindiya Ke Paar and stole the show away. Until I read the article ‘Third Time’s a Charm’ in Dawn Images, I got the two brother confused as the same person. The overnight success of Charkha Nolakha and Nindiya Ke Paar are evident that this young talent will revolutionize our music industry with their innovative works. These mesmerizing performances of jaw-dropping Jaswals set the scene for some more good to come from the young talented and gifted artists. Let me clear this, I was not a huge fan of Coke Studio until Nolakha track came and went deeper into the soul. In fact, I’m looking forward to more of such splendid performances from Nolakha Jaswals and Coke Studio too.

PS: I may sound biased beyond credibility but I couldn’t help being intoxicated by their vocals. Can you? ;)

Author - E.B

Job-less-ness!!

Few days back I saw a friend putting up a status “I am extremely jobless”, and I’d reckon this is so me!!. Once you get your admission in the University, you just don’t confine with your studies only. The burden of finding a reasonable job also falls onto your shoulders.

Though not everybody counts oneself in this category, particularly girls. Because our elders never forget filling our ears with the so called rituals of our society, that how a woman is prohibited not to go out of her premises, and how it is deemed as a curse for us girls to get out and work shoulder to shoulder with ‘Na-meherrams’. And we follow these set of laws off by heart!

Well, let’s not get involve into some conservative debate. Our main focus is on finding a job, in which I am as bad as Ayesha Omar in singing. And the urge of getting a job always gets to the highest peak during my vacations. Because this is the very time in which you feel yourself ‘a completely useless piece of flesh’.

But that’s not it! Finding a job is really difficult, especially when you have your country on the verge of ‘war on terror’ everyday. Due to these daily deteriorating situations, my Dad frights to send me out and that’s what the grand obstacle is, between me and my ‘dream’ job.

Since I can’t go out because of my abba, I convinced myself to think of something else, I though of looking for an online job instead. And yes I am too desperate to get it (because this is the only way to get those marveled nail paints I saw in the mall). So, I wrote this today not to shed tears of my ‘purpose lacking’ life in front of you. This article is only to tell my friends to contact me whenever they find a good online job! Yes!! I can be that Selfish :P

P.S I hope you didn’t mind reading it, because writing serious stuff is not in my dictionary.

Author: Miss Elecktra

Listen Up!

"We have two ears and one mouth, so we should listen twice as much as we speak"

“… So I told her off because I could not take it anymore and there she is getting everyone’s sympathy as if she is the one wronged...  Hello! Are you even listening?!” shouted my friend when she did not get any response from me. I woke up with a start and tried to reassure her,”Of course, I am.” Unconvinced, she threw a pillow at me saying, “You always do that. You doze off with your eyes open whenever I talk about my problems!” to which I countered, “That’s not true! I heard every word and I think you did well” And that was not entirely a lie because I did listen to the parts of that one-sided conversation. If you have any such friend you must be familiar with these situations where you ultimately turn into a bad listener after listening for a while. Sometimes you feel guilty for being one and at times you have no other choice. However, listening is a skill that if you are not well equipped with, you may miss out on the most important things in your life.

                Listening is not just limited to your ability to hear things and afterwards forgetting everything what you have heard. It is also about paying attention to the people you care about. They say speaking is an art and how you express yourself and use your tact is rather important. I, on the other hand, believe that the art of speaking with tact comes from another essential art of listening. If you can’t pay heed to what one has to say, how would you possibly respond to that person, tactfully. Imagine having a group of friends in which some are well-versed, some are amusing and others are sensitive and thoughtful. Who would you pick to talk to if you are in some trouble? A troubled person always seeks the company of some thoughtful and sensitive friend who would not give long rhetorical speeches or takes the told-you-so stance but listens to him carefully and empathizes with him. Therefore, it’s also a reciprocal process if you sincerely listen to what others have to say, you also learn how to speak tactfully.

                Another of the reason why this art is so primary to our social growth and practical life is that it is through listening we perceive things around us which we usually don’t through our vision. Though, our vision shows us what is palpable to senses, the art of listening brings us the new perception of things, ideas and thoughts. It renders us to learn from others and their experiences, in fact, it helps us in our growth as human beings.

                So, don’t shut out people around you even if their babbling wears you down for a while maybe there is something for you to learn too. Then again, if their psychobabble continues and there is no remedy for their troubled-soul, don’t hesitate to give them a piece of your mind. Moreover, try not to turn into Aunty Agony when someone comes for a nice heart-to heart chat because human beings don’t always liked to be told what is practical, sometimes they just need a good friend and a patient listener.

Happy Listening! =)

Author - E.B (Extraterrestrial Being)

Cheers to Obi!!

You people must have watched that Omore’s ad in which a guy at the end tells his audience that Omore’s sweet piece of cone ice-cream is in no way resembles to Sahir Lodhi. I LOVE that ad! wholeheartedly!! 

I know what you’re thinking right now. You must be thinking that I am saying all this because I intensely hate Sahir Lodhi or I am a die hard fan of Obi (the guy who calls sahir lodhi gay, NO! Sorry, who was bestowed with such awesomeness to have the courage and said those words “Yeh cone hai, Sahir Lodhi nahi”). Yes you are right about it. I do hate Sahir Lodhi and I do adore Obi, the legendary Osman Khalid Butt.

I remember the first time I watched Obi’s video, a parody on drama serial Humsafar, which was epic. Even though every girl was falling for Ashar (Fawad Khan) those days, but I, on the other hand was falling for Obi’s evil brain. This guy really hit the mark. Humsafar lovers (as a guilty pleasure) and haters, both were enjoying Obi’s and his team work.

But his craze started to ware off when he did that Omore’s ad. The reason is, “he openly debase Sahir Lodhi”. And I found people saying stuff like "Obi should not have said those 'swear' words".

We, the students of mass media have studied about the rules of PEMRA many times in our different courses. And yet no advertisement or drama or news show is abiding those laws. It is indeed against the law to openly demean someone or something through a platform like media, which represents one’s country, but let’s face it! Tell me a single channel that’s following this rule strictly. The answer is none!

Then why most of us started to oppose Obi, right after he did that ad? Because we think that openly telling the nation, that the cone is not like Sahir Lodhi is a sin. But I think he did nothing unusual. Why?

Because we watched his videos in which he ragged about  Meera, Veena Malik, rishta wali khalain, desi boyses etc etc. What he said in that ad makes no difference. He did what he was doing right from the beginning when we started to take him as our hero.

So hat’s off to Obi. I am sure you’re working on your upcoming video right now. And I hope it would be on Sahir Lodhi or on those people who bad-mouthed about you when you bad-mouthed about Sahir Lodhi. But whoever it is you're targeting this time, trust me, you're going to nailed it boy!! ^_^


Author: Miss Elecktra.