The Word of mAn[S]o0r

just because he was right, doesnt mean he wasn’t wrong
From House MD

Thats the hardest thing to learn and sometimes unlearn during adulthood..

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.. can be your best friends during lunch time and those in-office moments where munching is required.

Quite sometime since i posted anything in this category. Truth is, i was working on a few ideas etc to keep weight under control and hopefully reduce somewhat. Lunch became a totally non-existant meal, instead i started having fruit chat daily at the office.

The result, after more than three weeks of this regime?

“mansoor!! you’ve put on a couple of pounds since i last saw you!”

“aapas kee baat hai, koi khas farq nahi para”

both comments came from people who saw me almost two months later. But im happy even after these!! know why? cuz i put on A LOT of weight during october-november :p thanks to Eid, daily lunches and dinners with friends and being a couch potatoe in between. So if i look like the same, or only slightly overweight, im happy. Plus, my triple chin has reduced to a double! yayyyyy! Now to get it back to only one! if only my bank balance would inflate like my chin does.. *sigh*

The motivation is strong still, thanks to an unexpected ally in my fight against fat!

Now to see what comments i get from my parents, mom is particular! im going back to ISB Today!!! yayyy! should be sitting in the plane when this post comes out.

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And im leaving town!!! aarrggghhhhh!!

Just so you know, my baby, the apple of my eye, is my niece aaminah (pictured above). This bubbly, cheerful, naughty and all out outrageous child has made me into the typical mamu. I just cant seem to get enough of her! Her parents moved to UAE recently, and it was tough to adjust. Then yesterday, out of the blue, they CAME BACK TO KHI to celebrate Eid!!!! And what a surprise it was! I happened to be lucky enough 2 be at my dadi’s at the time, so i didnt miss much! The little kid has grown up and she is now as bubbly as ever!

Aaaahh! Now i know why mamu’s are the most “becharas” of all relations! Cuz truly, i’ll do “anything” she would ever ask me too :$

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“We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing,
while others judge us by what we have already done.”

– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, poet

Thought-provoking.. no?

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The end of the year is almost upon us. And i still hadnt gotten used to writing the date as 2006!

When i look back at what i did the whole year, i dont know whether to feel satisfied, envious, pissed off or just plain indifferent to my performance for the whole year. Let me explain.

The year started out with me sitting home alone, my parents and brother all off to attend this party or the other. But it was a good start. I just remembered, the year started out partying with cousins!! The first of many get togethers which would strenghten the bond between atleast three of us. Not a bad start. It was a night of football, garage tennis, long walks, pizza, coke and ras malai!

Next i ended my study semester at Bahria and turned a full time employee, while starting to think on what my thesis should be like. Incidentally, thats about the same time i started blogging over at blogger as well. Then the months just seemed to roll by until it was August (im sure things happened in between but for the life of me, i just cant remember what), and mom threw the bombshell that we’ll be shifting to Islamabad. We as-in her and my brother. As September rolled around the corner, the packing had started and on Sep 22, they moved to Isb, while i started my bachelor life in earnest, after getting a room here. I also got a roommate to boot, who isnt really that annoying, hence not bloggable.

During the year, we also had about 5 hospital emergencies with my paternal grandparents, out of which four ended up with them being admitted and one with my maternal grandfather. Not a good year on that side.

This year saw the first shadi in my maternal family after 25 years as well. The last being my mother’s. That was one hell of an event, two weeks of rocking and rolling. Her husband is a nice guy, and i like him. My niece Aaminah turned one this year (with her bday celebrated just after Eid ul Fitr) and Sharjeel turned Two. They moved with their parents to Ajman as well, since their father got a job there, so thats a bummer. But it gives me an incentive to go visit the emirates soon.

Over on the job front, i got two raises, one on being confirmed, and one on the end-of-year appraisals thinghy. Grew a bit professionally, learned new stuff, handled new clients. Its always exhilarating. Got a chance to be a professional trainer, was taken out of it as well, since im too young for that. Gained a lot of pounds (not sterling sadly), and now serious about taking them off. (Even today a friend commented i had gained a few pounds since she last saw me!! aarrgghh ). Got serious about submitting my thesis towards the end.. and plan to send it off in the first month of 2007.

Joined Karachi Metblogs as an author, then as a Co-Captain, got an invitation to write on Pakistaniat which i have yet to use. Bought my own domain and hosting. Joined up again with Happening Karachi! The one group which i thought was dead, is still alive and rocking!

Even though its now all in the past, its been one hell of a journey. Made many new friends, had to loose a few old ones… had a change of lifestyle… viewed the same city from a different angle…

Now, its time to move on, forge ahead into the future! Create my destiny and carve my niche in the world. Beware 2007 for Mansoor is HERE!

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Who’s the most annoying person in the world, i thought the other day…

Not that i was particularly missing my brother that much, but still. Its hard to accept… but the bugger was a big part of my life. It just isnt the same without him there everyday… taking stuff… acting like the cliched little bro… and generally doing everything he wants cuz big bro will be there to take care of it if he messes up.

Him moving away was good in some respects as well, i guess. He’s growing up finally, coming into his own, because for the longest i used to think i was overshadowing him.

Im actually looking forward to going 2 see him this Eid!

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Am i becoming a workaholic? Or even lazier? I have yet to decide….

After a long time, a enjoyed a long weekend. Three full days of no work!

And i longed to get back to office starting Saturday morning!

The truth is, it gives me something to do.. something to look forward to. I get my research work done here as well… so thats also a good thing (Oh, thats also why im being away from blogging somewhat). Anyway, this was quite an eventful weekend. I almost got crushed between two cars on Bahadurabad, attended a dholki cum ghazal nite which went uptil 4 AM, and on the way back, got paranoid that someone was following me on a bike! The first thought which obviously enters the mind is… Oh God! he’s going to snatch my car/mobile. So i gunned the engine and before i knew it, was back in the safety of my own neighbourhood.

Going back, i was at Bahadurabad shopping on Sunday! Yayy! (Imagine how out of my mind i must’ve been!). I bought two shirts for myself, one for dad and one for bhai. (Three of which were gifts from my dadi to us, so i cant take credit). Shopping’s hard! Especially shopping for someone else! I wonder how u females end up doing so much of it! While i was going back to my car, the crushing scene happened. I was strolling down the road, away from the mob on the sidewalks, when this dude in a Corolla finds and empty spot, and makes a turn for it. Lucky for him to find parking on Main bahadurabad road, unlucky for me, i happened to be between the corolla and another parked car! My hand grazed (read hit) his sideview mirror and only then did he realize what he was doing. (I suspect he thought i had taken it off or something, but i didnt care! i was in one piece!). Still, not bad.

Saturday, i was out with people who go by the name of Happening Karachi, a group formed over orkut. A nice community, with mostly working people (my age group) and who want these times go hang out, be brash and generally “take” the hell out of each other. It was at Creek Inn, it was cold, and i was wearing a kurti! Needless to say, after 2.5 hours.. i had become the Human Popsicle with my super power being spontaneous kicks, triggered an involuntary twitching of the freezing legs. But it was a riot! The group is so much fun, even though we’ve only me each other through orkut. The highpoint of the day was leaving the keys in the car *again*, and this time the whole group watched as i ‘expertly’ opened the lock with an iron rod. LoL.

And finally on monday, we had TERRIFIC weather! I mean, there’s nothing i can say which will even convey 0.01% of how good it was!!!!

And i was sitting at home…… (reiterating: need a life)

Called a cousin, who was busy lazing around (how could she!!! it was such an insult to the weather!) and decided to go spend the day with my grandparents. Armed with samosas, chicken on sticks and jalebi, i arrived there at 4 PM, and proceeded to spend quality time with both of them. My chacha and phuppi came over as well, and the usual “taking” between siblings ensued, with parents trying to break them up. LoL! it was so much fun! they’re like 60+ and still act like kids. I sided with my chachu and for the first time, did ‘phuppi take’. Haha!

Ended the night with Nandos and some quality reading.

I’ve rediscovered my love for reading novels, which reminds me.. Dan Brown’s Digital Fortress is one HELL of a novel! Once i picked it up, i couldnt put it down and finished it in a record 2 days! Ofcourse, the fact that i know a few security related terms helped my understanding a whole lot, but the way he spins a story! wow!

That was it! Stay tuned for another installment of the life that is mansoor’s… same blog… no idea when though

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I’ve been away for too long!

Away from my blog, away from my friends, away from my family…

Lately, life’s all been about work and no play. The few moments i get, i spend trying to catch up with my family commitments.. including visiting both set of grandparents. The rest, im trying not to starve myself (too much) in the hunt for food.

i’ve stared my caffiene intake again.. had almost quit for a 1.25 years… n now its back :S just helped myself to a wonderfully bittersweet cup of coffee!

The shadi season has started, and for the first time in my life! i’ve got invites to two shadis happening on the same dates! Just came back from a mayun yesterday, where i reached early (even after being devilishly late on my part), and going to a mehndi today! yaayyyy!

Of all the shadi events, i love the mehndi the most! The music and the dances

im off, till we meet again

*fades silently into the background*

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“… and the biggest mistake these people make is by thinking their indispensable and start acting cocky. Everybody is replacable…”

I heard this line over three months ago, from the mouth of my boss. Ofcourse, it was not directed at me, but rather a supplier we have here, but even then, it was the thought which sent me rolling off.

On one hand, it infers that job security is as long as the work is there, and as soon as thats over, its bye bye time. On the other, it means that i can take leave anytime i want from here.. (given the proper notice as per policy). Its the second point which is kind of hard to digest.. after a certain time, you start considering yourself to be part of the machine, a cog in the larger scheme of things. Given enough time, the size of that cog bloats up and you become an integral part. Its at that time, when switching jobs doesnt even seem like a viable thing to do, afterall, “mein nahi hoonga tou kaam kaise hoga”? Right…? WRONG! Time and time again i’ve seen… the work continues no matter what.

So what am i trying to say here? I think im kind of absolving myself from any guilt if i do decide to go ahead with a switch. In my case, its inevitable, given certain goals, but still…. its going to be hard…

Okay, now im just rambling on…. and therefore, will stop.

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… when a gun is fired point blank just as u peel away in ur car.. the bullet passes in front of u.. shattering one window.. through the cabin.. n out the other!!

i dont know either, prayi never find out either… so did two of my childhood friends before it happened to them yesterday.

thankfully.. no one got hit, they’re safe, God saved them…. for now.

but such is the city we live in today.. where such occurrences are becoming routine. its horrifying!

u must be wondering what prompted this action?? it was a “regular” mobile snatching incident!!!!

ps.
it seems like a sound boom is continually going off in ur head.. while a small ball of fire streaks across ur chest

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