Angelina jolie gifts waterfall to brad

“Khawab hotey hain dekhney ke liye

In main ja ker magar raha na karo ! ”

A poet said the above verse in urdu language but he may not know that “money” can buy dreams and Angelina Jolie’s gift on Brad Pitt’s birthday is an example of that! Remember those days when men used to promise impossible gifts like stars for their loved ones but todays’ lovers do have the monetary power to bring such dreams to reality. This time its not a man who has given an unconventional gift but a lady!

Angelina Jolie, the actress-director, 36, purchased a waterfall and surrounding land in California as Pitt’s combined Christmas and 48th birthday present, in order to provide him with the property for his dream home.

A source told the New York Post newspaper: “Brad has always loved Fallingwater and his first trip there was unforgettable. Angelina wanted to get him something incredibly special and, because she knows how much he loves architecture, she thought this would be perfect.

“She hopes this will be a hideaway for the family. Brad has dreamed of a home with the sound of a waterfall cascading under the house.

“Brad has always wanted to design his own house. He wants to pull all aspects of nature, light, glass and varying levels into the concept. This is the present to top all presents.”

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Gone are the days when a "khat" meant "aadhi mulaqat" !

I had  forgotten the traditional style of letter writing as if it never happened to me. I am using the word happened after going through an experience last night. While searching for a lost document I bumped into an old treasure box of letters, paper cards and printed photographs….ahh those good old days.

Those cards reminded me of my childhood, my relationship with my siblings before we all got lost in different corners of this planet. Those lifeless pieces of paper brought so many living friends and memories. Those silent words spoke my friends’ languages with perfection as I could visualize all the golden moments of school and college days. I had a wonderful time with my past going through those cards and letters.

That  love and  closeness and the precious expression is all gone with a single blow of social networking. Now we see each other every day on Facebook and Twitter but the life and soul of those relations is missing. We exchange recent pictures and days to day routines but no longer touch each other’s lives. We never get to sit and talk in peace when we do not have to run for the next task or appointment. Alas! life is more like an job now. Who has the leisure of sitting and writing letters to each other? Typing a few lines in short or broken English serves the purpose of staying in touch…

I wonder do people still write and post letters in this age of email and internet. I did not write a single letter for years and yesterday I realized what I missed in all these years. I received only one or two letters and paper cards in recent past  which made me forget the happiness and bonding attached with this activity of writing and receiving letters and cards. Now eid is coming and I know there won’t be a single door bell to drop an eid card at my door step when my wall on facebook will be flooded with eid wishes!

I haven’t seen a post man in my street for a long time. The courier only delivers bills and magazines now!! Where has the “daakia” disappeared ….

Remeber the childhood rhyme…Daakia aya, daak laaya!

Technorati Tags: facebook, internet, khat, letter writing, old letters, paper cards, postman

fasting in Burj khalifa

Here is an interesting Fatwa for the people living on the higher floors will have delay their iftar by a few minutes. They can always go down to break their fast if they feeling hungry!!!

DUBAI: Muslims living in the world’s tallest tower will have to wait even longer to break their fast during the holy month of Ramadan.

In a fatwa released over the weekend, the Grand Mufti of Dubai called upon Muslims living in skyscrapers, particularly those in the world’s tallest tower, to adjust their fasting and prayer times according to what floor they call home.

Dr Ahmed Al Haddad, who is also the head of the Ifta centre at the Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department, said the Burj Khalifa, at more than 828 metres tall with 160 storeys, must be divided into three different times for iftar, or the breaking of the fast. He said the three segments are based on when the actual sun set is “visible” to a tenant.

“Regardless of where you are, you need to pay attention to the actual sun set,” Dr Al Haddad said. “You are not to break your fast until the sun sets, and you can actually see that sun set.”

Those living on the lower floors of the Burj Khalifa, 80 and below, are to break their fast at the same time as everyone else — when the call for Maghreb prayers at sunset is broadcast across the Dubai mosques on TV, or can be heard from the nearest mosque in the neighbourhood.

For those living on floors between 80 and 150, starting at about 414 metres high, the iftar time is delayed two minutes after the muezzin calls for Maghreb prayer. These residents are also to start praying the following Esha prayer two minutes after the call for that prayer, and two minutes before the call for Fajr prayers at dawn.

For those living on floor 150 and above, or from 800 metres and above, residents must delay their iftar by three minutes, as well as their Esha prayer. The rule applies to Fajr prayers also, which are to begin three minutes earlier than the call for prayers.

These rules should also be a guide during Suhoor time, when Muslims stay up at night to pray, and when they eat their last meals before they start their Imsak, withholding, and begin their fast with sun rise.

The ruling is based on the basic premise that the higher you are, the longer it takes for you to see the sun set because your field of vision is farther the higher you go.

The religious edict also applies to locations even higher up than any built structures. “Even if you are on a plane, you should break the fast according to when the actual sun sets over the area you are flying,” said Dr Al Haddad. “You shouldn’t break it if the sun is shining brightly where you are and hasn’t set.”

Mohammed Badr, who lives on the 61st floor of the Burj Khalifa, said he was “surprised” that elevation made a difference. “It would never cross my mind that where someone lives in a high-rise building would make a difference in fasting,” said the 37-year-old from Egypt. Since he lives below the 80th floor, he will break his fast with everyone else.

“The last two minutes before breaking a fast are tough, so I do feel bad for those living higher up,” he said.

Read More.

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A Mercedes, Ferrari, Porsche, Aston Martin and Bentley crashes!

The driver of a white Mercedes S Class worth £75,000 was the first victim as the 2.7-ton Bentley scraped down the side of it before ploughing into a £143,000 black Ferrari F430.

An Aston Martin Rapide worth £150,000 and an £80,000 Porsche 911 also came a cropper. The driver and her two passengers then suffered the embarrassment of being surrounded by tourists as they were unable to open the doors of the convertible.

It is estimated the crash will cost more than £40,000 with the Ferrari, Porsche and Aston Martin requiring new front wings and bumpers. The Bentley will need the same repairs, plus a new door.

Just imagine this one accident is worth how many Suzuki Altos?

Technorati Tags: expensive accident, Ferrari, Mercedes, Porshe and Aston Martin Collides, women drivers

mausummery sale Islamabad

This is the year of  lawn collections. We had maximum number of lawn prints in the market and the surprizing part is that the people still want to have more. We used to have one  Mausummery lawn exhibition each year in Islamabad and this year we already witnessed two and the third is due on 9th and 10th of July 2011. Its a sale this time which claims to offer up to 50% discount too!

Ladies if you are still short of a few dresses in your summer wardrobe or you have missed any of the previous Mausummery Exhibitions then rush to the Marriott Hotel Islamabad on Saturday 9th July and  Sunday 10th July.

You may get a few good offers for Ramadan and eid suitings. All the other lawn collections excluding Yasir Waheed have a price range which starts from Rs 2500 except Mausummery which happens to be the most economical lawn with excellent quality. Do I seem to be their representative? Well I am not. This is free service being provided by me to my  favourite Lawn.

See you all at Marriott

Technorati Tags: mausummery lawn exhibition, mausummery sale in islamabad

Total lunar eclipse on 15th june 2011

The first total  lunar eclipse of the year 2011 will happen on 15th June 2011. On the night of June 15, the sun, earth and moon will come in a straight line and the earth’s shadow will eclipse the full moon passing through it. As the moon slips into the earth’s dark shadow, it will slowly assume a coppery red colour, making it a not to be missed spectacle. The lunar eclipse will be visible for 50 minutes and it will be visible to many countries, including Pakistan.

Karachi University Institute of Space and Planetary Astrophysics Director Professor Dr Muhammad Shahid Qureshi said the eclipse will be a rare one because this time the moon will pass directly through the center of the earth’s shadow cone – an event that hasn’t happened in 11 years and won’t happen again until 2018.

This eclipse will be the darkest in 22 years. If you have never seen the summer Milky Way at its prime, you now have two very strong excuses for travelling to a dark sky site to observe this total lunar eclipse and the galactic center high in the sky. For the city people like us it will be a rare event because we hardly witness the brilliant network of starts because of the bright lights around.

Karachi Astronomers Society writes ” The eclipse occurs on 1^5th/16^th June when the Moon is at the ascending node in southern Ophiuchus, about 7° west of the Lagoon Nebula (M8). Perhaps you know that the Lagoon Nebula is an obvious naked-eye target from dark skies. The Moon plunges deep into Earth’s umbral shadow during this rather long event, with totality itself lasting 100 minutes. The last eclipse to exceed this duration was that of July 2000.

Fred Espenak, “Mr. Eclipse” of NASA, reflecting about a total lunar eclipse he witnessed in the same part of the sky nearly three decades ago writes, “I was amazed at how brilliantly the summer Milky Way glowed since it was all but invisible during the partial phases.”

15^TH June 2011 (Wednesday)

Penumbral Eclipse Begins:  22:24:34 PKT

Partial Eclipse Begins:    23:22:56 PKT

16^TH June 2011 (Thursday)

Total Eclipse Begins:      00:22:30 PKT

Greatest Eclipse:          01:12:37 PKT

Total Eclipse Ends:        02:02:42 PKT

Partial Eclipse Ends:      03:02:15 PKT

Penumbral Eclipse Ends:    04:00:45 PKT

Related Posts:

Salat ul kusoof

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Pakistan: A hard Country (Review)

Pakistan: A Hard Country by Anatol Lieven  is  insightful, comprehensive portrait of Pakistan. It  is the perfect antidote to stereotypical descriptions of the country as the most dangerous place in the world.

I would like to share some reviews of the book “Pakistan: A hard Country”. These reviews have aroused curiosity in me to go and read the book myself. I wish it changes the way people have started thinking about Pakistan in recent past and be more realistic and less judgemental about a nation of 170 million people!

Huma Yusuf writes “Pakistan: A hard Country by Anatol Lieven  is  insightful, comprehensive portrait of Pakistan is the perfect antidote to stereotypical descriptions of the country as the most dangerous place in the world.

Lieven has known Pakistan for over 20 years, first as the foreign correspondent for The Times in the late 1980s, and more recently through five research trips in 2007-09 in his capacity as a professor of War Studies at King’s College, London. Thanks to his familiarity with the place and its people, Lieven peppers his analysis of Pakistan with anecdotes, comic observations, and travelogue, thereby favoring the detail and texture of anthropology over the bullet points and binaries of policy.” Read more.

A superb book about the complex but misunderstood reality of the world’s second largest Muslim nation from an author who explains lucidly and compellingly why this troubled state is also a resilient one. Few writers offer the insight and deep knowledge that Lieven has of a country critical for the West but one often caricatured by the media and rarely understood by Western policy makers … Timely and compelling …By Maleeha Lodhi.

A review in the Daily Telegraph says ” So this book by Anatol Lieven could hardly be more timely. Lucid and well informed, he deals carefully with all Pakistan’s well-known problems. And one of the joys of this nicely written volume is that it avoids the hysteria and partial judgment that disfigure much contemporary writing on the subject.’ Read More.

Patrick French, Hindustan Times writes ” His (Lieven’s) Pakistan is a durable and varied country held together by complex ties of kinship, tradition and a powerful professional army. He sees it as far from failure, even if parts of the administration are dysfunctional. As a journalist-turned-professor, Lieven is able to range vividly across different levels of Pakistani society and show the huge differences between, for example, the business community in a city like Karachi and the vengeful tribes living on the Afghan border. His conversations with people in these remote areas are fascinating for their nuggets of insight. He also quotes frequently from the deductions of British colonial officials, whose aphorisms are threaded through his book like verses from a sacred text.” Read More…

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upbringing a child

Parenting is such a difficult job and you can not get trained for it. Everytime we read and observe to find new things and regret the things we should have or could have done. But even if we start today ….its not late.

I read this very interesting list of things and realized how often we , the parents, who claim to love the child the most, do not let the child be a child!

IF I HAD MY CHILD TO RAISE OVER AGAIN

If I had to raise my child all over again,
• I’d finger paint more, and point the finger less.
• I’d do less correcting, and more connecting,
• I’d take my eyes of my watch, and watch with my eyes.
• I would care to know less, and know to care more.
• I’d take more hikes and fly more kites.
• I’d stop playing serious, and seriously play.
• I’d run through more fields, and gaze more at stars.
• I’d do more hugging and less tugging.
• I would be firm less often, and affirm much more.
• I’d build self-esteem first, and the house later.
• I’d teach less about the love of power,
• And more about the power of love.
By Diane Loomans

Technorati Tags: motherhood, parenting, raising a child

Zaradi cuts the cake

Mr Zardari’s smile while cutting the cake shows that he was not even discouraged by Bilawal not getting an invitation to the Royal Wedding. President of Pakistan cuts the cake to celebrate the Queen’s 85th Birthday and of the Royal Wedding between Prince William of Wales and Miss Catherine Middleton, during ceremony at UK Embassy in Islamabad on Friday, April 29, 2011.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar, federal ministers, parliamentarians, diplomats, senior officers and people from various walks of life were among the guests.

Speaking at the reception arranged by British High Commission, the President expressed his best wishes for the newly married couple and prayed for happiness in their future.

British High Commissioner Adam Thomson said, “The two happy events mark the start of a tremendously exciting period for the UK and the Commonwealth. The Queen’s birthday is also an occasion to reflect on the close ties that bind UK and Pakistan. ”

This was all done (maybe) in good spirits but for a common Pakistani like me there are two options either we get  frustrated thinking that the President of a country faced  by so many challenges has nothing better to do then cutting a cake to celebrate Queen’s birthday!!or laugh at it….

“Begaani shaadi main Abdullah Deewana” We all know this famous proverb of  Urdu language which means that an  irrelevant person (Abdullah) celebrates wedding of a stranger with more excitement than the relevant people.

You can see an example of this ‘muhawara’ in the picture above.

Technorati Tags: Begaani shaadi main Abdullah Deewana, British High Commissioner Adam Thomson, hina khar, urdu proverb, zardari, zardari cuts queen's birhday cake, zardari wishes kate ans william

Private armed guard

Strolling on my way to work this morning I was too involved in thinking ‘How things are getting from bad to worse everyday’. The beautiful spring morning seemed gloomy and I envied each brand new car driver and luxury home owners in this post sector of Islamabad. We all have the same Creator, who made us alike and Claims to love everyone then why this discrimination? Allah has given so much to some people and has made survival impossible for some.

I know we should count our blessings like health,loved ones etc. but one can enjoy these only if he/she will live. Or the rising cost of living in Pakistan will force the silent and honest  minority to give up their values and morals. To feed their kids, to educate them, to take them to a doctor, to give them a rented house, to light the bulbs in their rooms, to heat the ovens, to put food in their plates, to cover their bodies…..they have to give up the scared quality of ‘honesty’.

Pakistan is a country which is known for corrupt leadership where our wealthy elite gathers money from wherever they get and lead life like kings and they want us to believe that our prime minister has assets around 2 Crore ruppees only! (And rest of the bunch also made similar declarations) They are making life ‘unliveable’ for common people.  Every businessman, doctor, shopkeeper etc is playing a role by helping them in this slow poisoning of the poor. Government  raises the cost of one thing and every doctor, every shopkeeper raises the prices and fees like wise. Nobody cares if others die.

We are actually not a nation but lakhs of small mean groups living in a country where every crocodile eats up other animals for its survival. He wants to stay alive even if others die. We are no better then animals!!!

What is the use of having an elected government if it cannot  insure one thing only i-e food for every one. We are not talking about roti, kapra aur makan but only roti. We should throw away such a democracy which sells imported cheese, soaps, biskits, tissues, cars, generators at affordable prices for the rich and does not insure aata, cheeni and dal to the poor at a subsidized rates. Why can’t they sell those luxuries at double prices to people who can pay and give cheap food to the poor. But only if they cared… I am sorry for these random thoughts. I am not sure if all these words make sense to you or not.

One last thing …. I heard a friend saying one day that every house in Islamabad has an armed guard who is payed a few thousands to protect a household earning in crores.A day will come when the same guards will lift arms on their masters!

Technorati Tags: corrupt politicians, poor in pakistan, poverty, rising cost of living in pakistan, roti kapra makaan poor