The Word of mAn[S]o0r

My brother wanted to go out with friends yesterday, and wanted my dad to go drop him. Just as they were about to leave, my dad and brother had an argument which resulted in my brother not going to meet his friends.

A couple of hours later… the same friends met an accident while going towards pindi to drop some people. I cant help but think that the argument might have saved my brother. Since he’d be in the car at the time too.
I may never know for sure. Right now though, we’re still suffering the outcome of the argument at my place.

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Eid is not happening today, yet, in some places it is!

I read in dawn today, that this year in Pakistan, no less than 3 EIDS will be celebrated by different parts of the country. So much for solidarity. Inspirex made a good post on Karachi metblogs about it as well.

So right now, im sitting here, writing this up.. thinking of puttin up some new features on my blog, sporting a headache and waiting for the last iftari.

*wondering what im gonna have today… apart from a panadol

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I had friends who were living here alone, and every holidays, they would be anxious to go back to their parents. I never used to understand why exactly. Even when we invited them to come on a Pakitan Tour with us (people living with their families), all they had to say was no, we’d rather go back to our families.

Today, i understood why.

Its because when you go back for a visit, your treated like a king (or queen as the case may be). Every little wish is catered for, none of the nitpicking is there and all the worries of living life vanish. Above all, you dont have to lift even a finger!!

Good times!!

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And so.. i finally made it to the city they call Islamabad. The flight over was pretty good. I got the 777 plane, which was atleast clean, and more or less sound proof, even though my seat was right next to the engine.

Another good aspect of the flight was that there were’nt any noisy children either. They’re usually the buzz kill of any flight, especially if they’re sitting in front or just behind you. Now, if you’ve been reading my blog, you’d probably ask me, “mansoor… you havent flown for 12 years!! how do u know whats the worst thing about flying?! dont take us for a ride!!!” to which i have a perfectly logical response. Noisy children are a buzz kill in ANY journey!!

Coming back to topic, my mom and dad came to recieve me at the Airport. It was lovely seeing them again after such a long time, and likewise they were happy to see me too. After the initial greetings, we piled up in the car, and left for home. I really wanted to have some decent home cooked meal last night (funny how priorities change after living on ur own na? but thats a seperate post) and my mother was only too happy to oblige! On the way, they took pride in pointing out various landmarks of Isb, as if they’ve been living here forever. Its like they’ve been assimilated by the city already, which is a good thing!

Once we came home, i was given a grand tour of the house! Now that is an experience in itself! Being given the grand tour of your own house. I, however, was pleasently surprised to see the new place. Its big, spacious and has quite the view. (That i got to see the next morning). After the tour, we sat down to dinner. I hadnt realized how much i had missed those days of eating with the family.

After dinner, i gave mom all the items i had been ‘entrusted’ to transport to her. Overall, i came with two suitcases, of which one was completely filled with her stuff. The stuff included birthday gifts from various family members and it was fun to watch her opening each package.

Overall, it was good! I get to spend Eid here.. get away from the hustle and bustle of Karachi life.. get to have a proper vacation in AGES.. and!!! get to write on Islamabad Metroblogs (tanzila.. happy? lol).

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After a gap of 12 years, i’ll finally be flying today!

Yup! thats right! by the time this post appears, i’ll be (inshallah) high above the clouds on my way to Islamabad. I plan to spend Eid with my family, and am really looking forward to it. Woo hoo!!

Dont get me wrong, its not like i havent been outside the city. On average, i get out every four years.. (all the 3 outtings have been in the last 4 waise), but its mostly been through trains or *gulp* busses! Can u believe, last year, i travelled the whole 1600 KM from khi to Isb by Bus! That was one HELL of a 28 hour trip!
In retrospect, i finally figured out what its like for people who work away from their families, The aana-jaana which they must endure so as to spend some time with them, how critical the telephone becomes to their lives, and how much pleasure can a simple photograph (mms?) can give them! Its true what they say… you can never understand the real meaning of life, unless you live through its differing colors. Coming back… to what its like, its both tough, yet liberating. Its care-free yet stressful, its fun, yet exremely boring. And i say that when i’m not even married! Uss kay baad kya haal hoga mera? who knows…?

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When you have no idea about what your going to do when on a trip, thats when panic sets in about what your gonna pack.

Not for me though! Clothes-wise, i dont have much… and whatever there is, pretty much fits inside one suitcase. Hence, i should’ve been happy, right?

Wrong!!!

I managed to acquire two suitcases for my impending trip to Islamabad. The second one, as a backup plan. Little did i know, that i would be taking along a lot of ‘additional’ stuff as well. Namely, gifts for my parents and brothers from my extended family here! The larger of the two suitcases got filled with entirely them! So now, im left over with just one suitcase and a monster headache! I didnt mention that na? I had a monster headache since after iftar yesterday too!

So anyway, the time is 1 AM (procrastinator supreme) and i’ve still got two empty suitcases and all my meagre collection of clothes strewn about… sporting a major headache, and trying to come up with an action plan… What do i decide to do first?

Eat ofcourse!!

You cant pack on an empty stomach?! now can u!! So i dig into my stash, take out a packet of biscuits, had brought over some ‘tahari’ from my nanis, washed some dishes, setup a table and FEASTED! Time now… 1:40 AM, still got two empty suitcases.

Now what to do?  Hmm…. Oh well, might as well start it. So i start rolling up all my clothes, they’re not ironed, hence no use trying to arrange them out while packing, and thinking, cool, that’ll fit easily inside. No sweat!! and just as easily, put the rolled up clothes in one suitcase, the gifts in the other and hauled them to the end of the room. Satisfied!

Then, lying back on my bed, about to drift off to sleep, i went over the list of things i would’ve wanted to use during my stay. They were in somewhat of this order….

Clothes, shoes, sandals, deo, toilettries, chargers…..

and then it hit me like a brick wall!

Except for clothes, i hadnt packed any of the other stuff!!!!! I blame it on the headache :$

Therefore, the suitcases opened once again, put in the some other things, closed them up, then realized that i still havent put in the last three items!! NOR have i put in a pair of jeans and shirt my brother had left behind!! Arrgghh! Again, the suitcases opened, the other stuff put in, and again they were closed. Good! Finally! have i got everything?! yes!!

No

What about my Kurta’s!? What am i gonna wear on Eid day!!?? They were in another box, and i had completely forgotten about them! Once agian, the routine starts.. however, this time.. there’s an additional problem.. im out of space!!

Hell! what did i pack!!??! Too many shirts! yes.. that was it! 9 days, and im taking 8 shirts along! together with three shalwar qameezes! and now three kurtas!! Why?! Who knows!!

So out comes everything.. and i pack on a need basis now.. only things i think i would need. Down to about 4 shirts, 2 shalwar qameezes and three kurtas. Yes, that sounds about right… plus, shoes and sandals.. good! Im all set! Again, the suitcases are packed and ready to be taken….

Just one problem though…… still have to pack the deo, toilettries, chargers…..!

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You see her sitting across the table from you, at an informal get-together of friends.. you havent seen her before, but something about the way she carries herself draws you in, but your shy, unable to form two sentences when in her company. You let it go as yet another infactuation…..
Flash forward two weeks, and she’s sitting across the table from you again. Only this time… its just the two of you. You know its wrong, or maybe its just too right. But you cant help it! Because.. whenever your with her, somehow, it all clicks…

*one of the hardest blogwords i’ve ever had to write*

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Sometimes, just when you least expect it, uumm.. not really least expect it.. you do have an inkling of things to screw up yet, given how your day is going so far… something bad happens.

Now, i realize that my construction of the above sentence leaves a lot to be desired, maybe puncuation or grammer or whatever, but i hope the point was put across.

For you see, what happened was crappy. Within a span of an hour, i got three seperate phone calls informing me of three seperate phaddas/disasters within family and friends! And these three i hold close to my heart!

So much for having a good day!! Even though it *was* quite nice. Khair, so much for that.. somehow dealt (read: ignored) with the problems and moved on to the night.. came back home at my usual 1 AM, took out the keychain to open the door, and…..

SHIT!!!!!!

The keys to my room and cupboards had fallen off the rest of the keychain! Aarrgghh!!! Now there are three distinct set of keys in my keychain, one for the car, one for the home and one for misc. The home ones had fallen off! Now, im standing at my door at 1 AM, without the keys and wanting to bash some heads in!! After a minute of pondering what to do, i laid out a plan of action to get in the room… which ofcourse, i promptly discarded. Went downstairs, searched inside the car, called up a cousin i was with to check his pockets, in the hope that maybe they were there… they werent Then began to trackback the events of the evening trying to guess where they might’ve been. Techinically, they could be at one of three places,

• McDonalds, North Nazimabad
• Mottas, Clifton
• Shell petrol pump near Reagent Plaza

Great! That really narrowed down my options to look, however, the points were scattered all over the city!! My last stop was the petrol station, where i’d stopped for gas, and which was 8 KM’s from my place (the nearest), so thought i’d start with there.
Reached the pump in record time (6 minutes flat), and asked the cashier if there had been any keys around? His response.. “i dont know”. So next, i asked the attendant whether HE had seen the keys and thankfully… he HAD!!

So i grabbed them, and sped back home.. thankful to be in my own bed again!! yayy! End of Day.

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This time.. its from my dear ol friend X! So jee.. this is for you!!

Today
height: 5′11″
color: a shade of brown
piercing: nopes.. thankgod!
tattoos: none.. yet! Maybe i will get one soon…

Right Now
Time: 3:28 PM - time to get off work (yayy)
Mood: upbeat (somehow.. not sleepy :S)
taste: does thirst classify as a taste?
the weather: HOT!!
bad habit: mmm… smoking?
current crush: Celina Jaitley
biggest regret: none! try not having any of those around
Perfume(s): ??
Thing I want to do: A lot! get off my behind for one! Finish my thesis for another one Thankfully.. things are in motion (albeit slowly)

Favourite
TV show: Prison Break
book: Man of Two Worlds (forgot the author)
non alcoholic drink: Coke
milk drink: Pakola Ice Cream Soda
brand: Ferarri
color: Green
emblem: Once again, Ferrari
perfume: ??
designer: ??
Chocolate: Cadbury Whole Nut

Have I Ever
broken the law: yes….
misused credit card: yes…
skipped school: yes….
fell asleep in the shower/bath: yup! came out like a prune afterwards :p
had children: nopes
been in love: yes…
been hurt: is there any other way to love than to not get hurt?

Random
have a job: yes
My CD player has what in it right now: Fort Minor (no cd player.. on the comp)
if I were a crayon, the color? Yellow
what makes me happy? Choti choti khushain would make me deliriously happy!

When/What Was the Last
I got a real letter: letter? no.. bill.. 4 days ago
got an email: like X said… “an email” ??
thing I purchased: Two boxes of Choco to donate for Eidi Collection Drive
TV program I watched: Prison Break, Season 2, Episode 7
movie I saw in the theaters: War of the world
hugged: Dada!
song heard: Pehla Nasha (remix)
place I was [besides home]: work? donation camp!
phone call: Umar Siddiqui
was depressed: 2 days back, but short-lived thanks to my cousins!

What Comes to Mind When I Hear
car: Porshe
murder: Monk
cape: Batman
cell: Nokia E61
fun: Post iftari madness with cousins!
shoe: need to get me some…
crush: mm.. every other ‘lady’ on TV
music: fast paced…
love: is *so* totally the way to live life!
chalk: I will not throw chalk at my friends (write 1000 times)

PHEW!! done it!! I tag… Untamed-Desires, Tanzila and Herbwoman! The rest, X did.

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In Feb 2006, i created my personal blog on blogspot, after much visits on Karachi Metblogs.. and wanting to write along the same lines.

In June 2006, i was offered a place to write on Karachi Metblogs. I still remember the happiness i felt that day, reading the email.

In October 2006 (today),i made “Captain” at Karachi Metblogs! Passion finds its own way to success!

“WOOOHHOOOO!!!”

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