Blogging in llalalalaalalaa mast mode

I bought a mast tshirt today which has headphones and wings and other stuff and especially the word mast printed in urdu. Omg I m in love with this tshirt and the band Kostal but I know the Dekh Magar Pyar Se Rickshaw wali tee takes the cake.

Coke Studio ke khayalat tou kahin reh hi gaye. Sept khatam ho tou likhun, time hij nako.

It’s so much fun participating in surprise birthdays and gifting others your own work. Btw my hands stink of balloons right now :s

I had Hobnob ka Chocolate Mousse Cake today and loved it, and now I am off to eat ras malai so please don’t dishtub =P

 

Faluda Fun Dilpasand

Only pakis can have something like dilpasand ka solid faluda. I mean I’ve never had such tasty and heavy faluda. Omg it was like faluda in rabri milk with khoya, icecream which wouldn’t melt till the last bite, nuts, jello, vercimelli and what not with a reasonable price, yeah you read it right. And the jokes of dad were mindboggling.. bicharay waiters, I know they also had fun North Nazimabad Board Office wala have seating too and the natural AC, what fun! Thandak pae gayi =D

PS: With every social service, there comes a gift. This experience was one of those for today. Thanks God love you =D

 

Thank you my dear God. Feeling so blessed.

Today was a blessed day, every day is if you reflect, but sometimes you can’t deny it, you don’t even need to reflect. It fills your heart instantly. You feel a changed/inspired/revived person from within. And Thank you my dear God for that.

Firstly yesterday I got a beautiful card from my friend, from a sis, and it was so heartfelt and perfect. I am bad at expressing there and then at such moments so what follows is kind of silence but poodle sis if you have google’d my name again :p and if you’re reading this Thank you so much. Main esko sambhaal kar rakhunga, lol try karunga because you know I can misplace things so easily =P but you it will always remain where it should. We will miss you and I know you’ll get the visa =D. And don’t worry I don’t think I would get engaged before two years so you’ll surely be able to attend that

Then I was just chatting with a class fellow at a community course which I am doing, enjoying and breathing. I just got to know that my assumptions about M.Ed. course that AKU-IED offers were wrong and their requirements fit nearly perfect with what I have. I know I would have to work way hard to get the admission but I’ll try my best. This has come at perfect time and I am so hopeful.

We got our results of the same course which has an university like setting; result of the second-trimester of the first semester and I got 4.0 GPA which makes an aggregate of 3.95 for the semester. I felt so happy I can not even explain. I am so thankful, though I can’t be equal to the blessing. This course is my jaan, sachi! I pray that I can be able to sustain this.

And then baarish(rain) and a class off and lots of masti with friends and tip tip tip drops and ice-cream moments with my loving parents.. mashallah loved it. I guess I haven’t enjoyed rain like this in long time. Last was with my cousin around a year or more ago. A perfect end to my birthday month =D

I look forward to take a lot of photographs tomorrow if it continues to rain.

Hopefully God will help me to take things forward from here.

 

The birthday week

A lot has to be said and written. I guess I fall in that kind of blogger who is always off in timing. I always write posts days after living the moment.

Okay so 13th August was my birthday but I was quietly celebrating it since the weekend ahead. People take me as a talkative and social person but I mostly am very shy in public and want my own space, shy not in regular sense. It’s difficult to explain. I’m that kind of person who can even enjoy anything alone.

So the saturday and sunday was a film festival event in our community which I covered with my new DSLR, the birthday present which was used to its fullest whole week and for good reasons. Thanks to God, the results were pretty decent and it gave me a lot of publicity, networking and joy. Even I got an offer for shaadi photography in my signature experimental portrait style, though I dread shaadis :p First reaction from acquaintances were yaar tumhare camera pe dil aagaya when they got hold of it and started clicking, they should have assumed that photography is a completely different ball game and not fully dependent on equipment. It was fun.

Then Monday was one more photography day with a lot of kids who were planting and painting. Enjoyed that like anything.

Tuesday was a relaxer.

Wednesday was the first ever trip to Lal Qila and what a grand place it is. Loved all dishes except Palak Paneer for obvious reasons. Celebrated my birthday at 12 with my parents, came back to home, with all the warmth and thankfulness for my dear shining star up above and everyone.

Slept for less than 4 hours. And it was the birthday. Went to see the final rehearsal of community kids who had to perform today at the awards night of film festival. Had a facial, lol, bohat force hone per, and black head removing was a pain. I don’t know how girls awaam actually tolerate such stuff, leave aside the men. The birthday was so special – the bachas and friends wished me from the morning rehearsal till the night we reached home, I felt really loved. Event was awesome and izzat baj gayi ke photographs turned out to be good. Somebody said it is my best work till date but I disagree. When people compliment your pictures, you are trying to pick the weakness out of your own work.. photographer ki khalish rooh ja jati hai

With less than 2 hours of sleep, I was off to Mubarak Village with Photo Club of Karachi (PCK). What good people the group was and what great place. The place is so serene, truly reflecting the grandeur of God Almighty. As I am afraid of heights, I tried to climb half of the rock but in between I was damn scared, tried to be calm, there was no one around as everyone hiked above, thankfully few members haven’t come till now, they were exploring other areas and they helped me get off that rock, LONG SENTENCE I KNOW =D
Mubarak Village Flickr Set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/darkcoldcoffee/sets/72157622065512112/

Next one hour, I was taking snaps of the landscape, the beach, the people, listening to their stories and apprehensions, trying to keep my camera safe, waiting for others to come back but hey what an enjoyable private time.. unmatchable! I wish I had a paper and pen there or a book maybe.

Saturday was sleepy and Sunday I took a lecture where the students got pretty much bored. I had to less time to plan actually and you know why after reading this post and the subject was also not one of my strongest.

So till the next time I write, enjoy. Next will be reviews of the last two episodes of Coke Studio 2 which now also have become quite purana.

 

Yaay!!!

The best things happen unexpectedly whether they are small or BIG. I finally got a DSLR.. its 1000d baby and I am loving it. 50mm bokehs are so delicious. DSLR will open a new world of experimentation for me. I hope its not luxury, maybe it is. I know it is comforting.. forget that.

So I got this camera and I got a message from a friend, it was a joke,

Pathan goes to photographer and says: “passport size photo khichwana hai aur kocha tum hamari paaon ki bhi tasweer lena” – he wants me to do fulfill this challenge :p

and then I wanted MJ songs so I asked a friend whether she has it or not. I was too tired to search over the net. She said, “Not on pc, cassette pe” and I was like man what days. Had to save Rs. 30 to buy one of those, and when mom allowed you can get more than one. I had Thriller, Bad/Dangerous, History and it was those two lesakte ho days when I bought them ek saath =D It used to be so much fun and charm hi alag tha, the same way camera shopping was.

 

Equality @ Coke Studio

Equality how? There is Saraiki folk blended into world music, Folk disco by a rock band, blend of Punjabi and Angrezi, then a Bhangra dholki from across the border and then the misfit Islamabad song which should have been in Unity or Harmony. No doubt the instrumentation here is the key to Coke Studio where not only there is harmony between the instruments but also equal space given to shine.

To my amazement, the editing and camera shots have improved dramatically so did the BTS (always uploaded before on the net) which had a raw feel to it and something more than mere interviews raising our curiosity.

The episode starts with Yaar Dhaddi and surprisingly it is rendered by Ali Zafar who carries this out with a lot of ease. The acoustic guitars and percussion gives the song a latin/spanish feel where as violins and flute combination has clear middle-eastern influence in it. I can assume Omar Rahim or Juni dancing on this number, such is the feel. It still sounds like a folk song, now this is genius. Great start to the episode.

Then comes Jo Meray which is done in Folk Disco arrangements. Sitar by Rakae Jamil makes this song really special and stands out the way it deserves. The best thing about Coke Studio no doubt is instrumentation. This is a feel good song, you enjoy it while it’s on Idiot Box but for listening purposes it is too long. Shouldn’t have crossed 3 or 3:30 mins mark and this one is like 5:30 mins.. seems like taking ages to end as this small set of lyrics keeps on repeating. Nevertheless good attempt as there is always a fast forward option. Btw I loved listening to it on Radio while enjoying was drizzling.. gave me the needed groove, maza dubala!

Next comes Atif with his Wasasta-e-Pyar Da. It has the most beautiful arrangement and Atif kills it when he starts integrating/singing/yawning MJ’s Billy Jean. MJ is dead and a week later this episode comes which boasts equality for which MJ was one of the advocates. I guess this rendition might have been a reason behind MJ’s dead. Someone tweeted that maybe this will make MJ alive again only to suicide =P I don’t know Rohail allowed this maybe because punjabi lyrics and the twisted melody are enjoyable and Atif ends it again like a crescendo, and that with his signature panache.

Josh bring Bari Barsi to Pakistan which belongs to the folk bhangra genre is enjoyed by everyone in the studio and completely rock it. The moment when you feel it’s enough they take you by surprise and starts Maar Chiddipa. I completely love this sudden amalgamation. Zeeshan Parvez has done pathetic job for this number’s visuals. I guess he couldn’t come up with exciting transitions for the beats.

The episode ends with Chal Diye when everyone is impeccable. This needs acclaim with details. It’s been a wonderful song and one of my ultimate favorite. Javed Bashir gives his maestro classical rendition in the start, Zeb takes it off from there with her smooth and classical vocals with piano only in the background and the instruments follow after the mukhda phase. This song make you feel the love with which Haniya has written it. The melody invokes imagination like anything, I can have a storyboard in my head and can make a music video out of it.

I still can define the complete feeling with which this song haunts you, maybe because of the slight echo effect and undoubtedly due to the awe-inspiring lyrics. The fusion between Zeb&Haniya and JB is par excellence. The backing vocals creates a breezy effect at least for me. I must say Natasha and Saba knows their stuff really well. Drums and Matkas are subtle but you can’t deny their presence. When the song ends with a jugalbandi alaap of both the singers, you are completely in peace.

PS: People have kind of put comments against Saba smiling to everyone at FB CS page but what’s bad with smiling, I find it pretty attractive

 

Favorite ‘Rain Songs’ while it drizzles!

My Rain Songs playlist on Imeem.

 

Night Talk with KESC

*for desi readers*

In these two days I never got bored of rain but yes I got bored of swings, the radio the only survival thing, online fb application on mobile which would never work properly and loss of internet/electricity. So all I did was dial 118.

Whenever I would I wake up at the middle of the night, I would dial non-stop until I get through. It was anti-depressant for me. I would wait for 3 minutes and listen the horrible music. Then the operator came and gave the same answer, “we are very sorry, we are working on it” and the very special, every time, “it would take three to four hours”

I mean it was like different parrots being ratafied the same line. So when I was really frustrated I said ‘Shame on you’ to one representative. At the height of my frustration this came up:

Me: “Kab se phone kar raha hun it been more than 30 hours har teen ghante ke baad phone karta hun and you people say EXPECTED HAI teen aur ghante lagey ge. Kia sab ne rata laga rakha hai”
Representative: “We are trying, baarish hai es liye problem horaha hai”
Me: “Baarish kab se ruki huwi hai, aap log ne kia teen ghante teen ghante laga rakha hai” :p
Representative: “Mazrat ke saath aap ko thora aur wait karna parega”
Me: “Kab tak light aaigi”
Representative: “Bas thori aur dair intezaar karey” (She didn’t even dare to say three hours =p)
Me: “Kitna aur intezaar, teen ghantey” =D

and then few hours later

Me: “Light kab aayegi”
Representative: “Expected hai teen ghante lageinge”
Me: “Itne ghante hogaye, aap ne bas teen ghante ki ratt laga ke rakhi hai. Lagta hai sab bhete huwe hain aise hi, ke teen ghante khatam hi nahi hote abhi 30 se uper ghante hochuke hain”
Representative: kind of crying, complaining tone “Sir kia karein try kar rahe hain, itni problems hain. gadiyan(vehicles) nikalti hain aur phir log pathar maarte hain aur….. koshish jaari hai”

These guys seriously know their stuff =p

Btw it took 40 hours for electricity to resume at our place.. duh!

Another btw, the amount saved for bills on these 40 hours have been compensated on the calls.

Yet another btw, If you have heard the song ‘Piya tu’ from movie Don, replace Piya with ‘Light’ and Mona with ‘Kesc Not’ and it would fit the whole mess perfectly. Try it.  It was my morning revelation =D