So Niyati tagged me. I am supposed to describe my perfect life partner and then tag eight other people. Let me say first that this almost sounds like one of those creepy forwards, having said that I will attempt to describe my perfect partner. As far as tagging other people goes, anyone I would have tagged has already been tagged, so the chain at least on my end stops with me.
So lets see perfect partner, let me get this out of the way right at the on set thats an oxymoron. I know I know lighten up. Well for me a perfect partner is someone that listens to you, understands you, loves you for who you are, and makes you laugh. The perfect partner would also makes me listen to them( I tend to talk a lot), force me to see their perspective( I am a tad stubborn) hate me when I am not living up to my potential, and also laugh at my jokes( I am not great at telling jokes)
A collection of random thoughts in this electronic space that I would like to refer to as my sachel
Friday, March 24, 2006
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Bush has done it again
President Bush has once again managed to ignore the democratic process. Wire tapping of US Nationals wasn't bad enough. Now Bush has attempted to make a bi-lateral agreement with India while ignoring that fact that this agreement violates the NPT and that before he made such a deal he might have wanted to consult Congress and more specifically the Senate who is the body constitutionally responsible for ratifying treaties. The reasoning to allow India some latitude in their Nuclear program and for the United States to share information with India is the need for nuclear energy in India due to its growing economy. incidentally this is Iran's reasoning for wanting to have their own Nuclear program. I just find it problematic for us to tell one country that they can do something and another one that they can't. It's like a parent telling one kid well ok you can have the candy and telling the other one no. Just my opinion.
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Yeh Hai Meri Kahani (This is my Story)
I recently talked to someone I have know for a while and realized I knew very little about their story. We spend so much time partying and hanging out but rarely do you have time to say so what is your story. I am going to share my abridged version hitting some highlights my hope is that for those of my friends that read the post that they will perhaps post their own story on their own blogs or in the comments. Anyways here goes.
I was born in Dubai, U.A.E. on February 10th 1979. We actually lived in Dubai for seven years. My memories of this time in my life are few. Of course there is the fact that my brother Ammar was born a couple of years after me. The companionship of a brother in a foreign land meant that we were instantly forced to spend most of our time with each other. The most vivid images of that part of my life are of Ammar doing silly things he was the family comedian and of us fighting about everything and anything. I have images in my mind of Family friends that used to live their and of my uncle and his wife who lived in Sharjah. I have memories of toys lots of them that my dad would buy on his many trips out of the country. I have memories of a calendar that was on the wall that my brother would make my mom x daily counting down the days until my dad would return. I have been told that I was a shy kid, a quiet kid. (I know I know what happened) We left Dubai and moved to Pakistan.
Pakistan is where I have lots of memories. My dad was in Africa working on Business ventures and we spend the year with my mom. Initially we lived in a room at my dad's brothers house. Those were fun times, I learned to play cricket our cousins were almost our age so making friends and getting in trouble was easy to do. Ubaid bhai was a couple of years older then me and Zubair was my younger brother's age. Even though we were there for a whole year I remember it taking a while before I felt home. One of my fondest memory is of my mom and aunt sending Ubaid bhai and I to the local restaurant to get tandoori roti and having to always order extra cause we would inevitably eat a couple of the warm pieces of bread on the way home. I remember Ammar disappearing for a day and my mom frantically trying to find him only to find out that one of our uncles, he is the comedian in my dads family, decided that it was crazy that Ammar had never ridden an elephant so he just took him to the zoo. Of course Maria my sister was born while we were in Pakistan. I remember that we moved into an apartment of our own about six months after moving there. All in all this was childhood at its best. Next we moved to Taiwan.
Taipei was a great city and I actually remember a lot more from this part of my life. I experienced death for the first time in Taiwan. One of my friends passed away from a brain tumor and I remember feeling lost. In Taipei I again had a feeling of not having a home. I learned the language fluently even though we were there for about a year. I remember feeling alone. I actually even ran away at a point. I disappeared for a day and roamed the city. Taipei was great and beautiful the people were amazing and sweet. I would have to say that as siblings Ammar was a part of many memories in Dubai and Karachi. Taipei was Maria's city she ate anything and everything she spoke better Chinese then Urdu or English and she was adored by all, friends, family, and even complete strangers. I remember these two Chinese girls they must have been in their early twenties who thought Maria was cute they took pictures with her. They actually came to the park for the next four weeks in a row on the same day and time hoping we would be there to give us duplicate copies. All in all Taiwan was wonderful. Next we moved to Thailand.
Bangkok was full of life. I would have to say Taipei had a certain quaint feeling about it not so for Bangkok it was buzzing at all times. The lonely feeling I had in Taipei was gone. We spend hours on our bikes and although I had no real friends in school, we were like a gang of kids. There was Tra and Rak who were literally the same age as me and my brother. Pramote a few years older then us was our fearless leader. We got cuts, scrapes, played hours of soccer, blew up firecrackers and reaked havoc in our neighborhood. Bangkok was a time of prosperity for our family and we enjoyed it to the fullest. Leaving Thailand was tough for Ammar and me. I remember complaining to my parents that this was the first time in my life that I had friends and they were taking that away from me. Next stop Houston, TX.
If you are going to move to the United States from out of the country I would reccomend not moving to Texas. Having said that I am glad we did. My aunt, my mom's sister lived in Houston and we moved in to a house about a block from where they lived. If it weren't for Irfan and Faizan our cousins I don't know how we would have adjusted to the new environment. I learned Basketball and Football sports I had never played before. I also read a lot in Houston. Although I read throughout my life I think in Houston the things I read in Houston shaped me in different ways. I read almost any titles I could get my hands on by William Slater and Gary Paulsen. Although at school I was the butt of almost all jokes at school,life at home with the cousins was great. We are all within five years of each other and there were memorable outings, late night sleep overs, and of course action packed fights. I will take the liberty to share a funny story here that might give some insight to the often silly behavior of my father. My dad took all of us that is my cousins and Ammar and I out to a restaurant. This was not for lunch or dinner it was a late afternoon snack. We ordered Chicken Pakoras and devoured the first plate, my dad kept ordering more and we kept eating them. To make a long story short we ended up eating ninety dollars worth of pakoras. I don't have to tell you that my mom and aunt were livid with my dad went we got home. After Houston we moved to Los Angeles.
I went to Artesia High School where I somehow transformed from a shy quiet kid to the loud obnoxious person you guys know today. I was involved in MUN, went to NCCJ training, learned to Rock climb, participated in debates, was involved in ASB and was an all out social butterfly. I attended college at UCLA and majored in Political Science. At Artesia most of my friends were Asian at UCLA that changed to South Asians. I can only describe LA with one word, Home. Sorry for the long post I hope some of you enjoy it...
I was born in Dubai, U.A.E. on February 10th 1979. We actually lived in Dubai for seven years. My memories of this time in my life are few. Of course there is the fact that my brother Ammar was born a couple of years after me. The companionship of a brother in a foreign land meant that we were instantly forced to spend most of our time with each other. The most vivid images of that part of my life are of Ammar doing silly things he was the family comedian and of us fighting about everything and anything. I have images in my mind of Family friends that used to live their and of my uncle and his wife who lived in Sharjah. I have memories of toys lots of them that my dad would buy on his many trips out of the country. I have memories of a calendar that was on the wall that my brother would make my mom x daily counting down the days until my dad would return. I have been told that I was a shy kid, a quiet kid. (I know I know what happened) We left Dubai and moved to Pakistan.
Pakistan is where I have lots of memories. My dad was in Africa working on Business ventures and we spend the year with my mom. Initially we lived in a room at my dad's brothers house. Those were fun times, I learned to play cricket our cousins were almost our age so making friends and getting in trouble was easy to do. Ubaid bhai was a couple of years older then me and Zubair was my younger brother's age. Even though we were there for a whole year I remember it taking a while before I felt home. One of my fondest memory is of my mom and aunt sending Ubaid bhai and I to the local restaurant to get tandoori roti and having to always order extra cause we would inevitably eat a couple of the warm pieces of bread on the way home. I remember Ammar disappearing for a day and my mom frantically trying to find him only to find out that one of our uncles, he is the comedian in my dads family, decided that it was crazy that Ammar had never ridden an elephant so he just took him to the zoo. Of course Maria my sister was born while we were in Pakistan. I remember that we moved into an apartment of our own about six months after moving there. All in all this was childhood at its best. Next we moved to Taiwan.
Taipei was a great city and I actually remember a lot more from this part of my life. I experienced death for the first time in Taiwan. One of my friends passed away from a brain tumor and I remember feeling lost. In Taipei I again had a feeling of not having a home. I learned the language fluently even though we were there for about a year. I remember feeling alone. I actually even ran away at a point. I disappeared for a day and roamed the city. Taipei was great and beautiful the people were amazing and sweet. I would have to say that as siblings Ammar was a part of many memories in Dubai and Karachi. Taipei was Maria's city she ate anything and everything she spoke better Chinese then Urdu or English and she was adored by all, friends, family, and even complete strangers. I remember these two Chinese girls they must have been in their early twenties who thought Maria was cute they took pictures with her. They actually came to the park for the next four weeks in a row on the same day and time hoping we would be there to give us duplicate copies. All in all Taiwan was wonderful. Next we moved to Thailand.
Bangkok was full of life. I would have to say Taipei had a certain quaint feeling about it not so for Bangkok it was buzzing at all times. The lonely feeling I had in Taipei was gone. We spend hours on our bikes and although I had no real friends in school, we were like a gang of kids. There was Tra and Rak who were literally the same age as me and my brother. Pramote a few years older then us was our fearless leader. We got cuts, scrapes, played hours of soccer, blew up firecrackers and reaked havoc in our neighborhood. Bangkok was a time of prosperity for our family and we enjoyed it to the fullest. Leaving Thailand was tough for Ammar and me. I remember complaining to my parents that this was the first time in my life that I had friends and they were taking that away from me. Next stop Houston, TX.
If you are going to move to the United States from out of the country I would reccomend not moving to Texas. Having said that I am glad we did. My aunt, my mom's sister lived in Houston and we moved in to a house about a block from where they lived. If it weren't for Irfan and Faizan our cousins I don't know how we would have adjusted to the new environment. I learned Basketball and Football sports I had never played before. I also read a lot in Houston. Although I read throughout my life I think in Houston the things I read in Houston shaped me in different ways. I read almost any titles I could get my hands on by William Slater and Gary Paulsen. Although at school I was the butt of almost all jokes at school,life at home with the cousins was great. We are all within five years of each other and there were memorable outings, late night sleep overs, and of course action packed fights. I will take the liberty to share a funny story here that might give some insight to the often silly behavior of my father. My dad took all of us that is my cousins and Ammar and I out to a restaurant. This was not for lunch or dinner it was a late afternoon snack. We ordered Chicken Pakoras and devoured the first plate, my dad kept ordering more and we kept eating them. To make a long story short we ended up eating ninety dollars worth of pakoras. I don't have to tell you that my mom and aunt were livid with my dad went we got home. After Houston we moved to Los Angeles.
I went to Artesia High School where I somehow transformed from a shy quiet kid to the loud obnoxious person you guys know today. I was involved in MUN, went to NCCJ training, learned to Rock climb, participated in debates, was involved in ASB and was an all out social butterfly. I attended college at UCLA and majored in Political Science. At Artesia most of my friends were Asian at UCLA that changed to South Asians. I can only describe LA with one word, Home. Sorry for the long post I hope some of you enjoy it...
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Just at work
I am strarting to feel like that blogging at least for me is having a journal. Except that this one is open for all to read including strangers. I find this both enlightening and scary. Anyways the next topic I hope can incite some people to respond.
I read a post recently on a friends blog and it got me thinking. It seems as though every religon at its core values peace, expects change and preaches tolerance. It baffles me then why the most fundamental believers the " true believers" tend to harbor so much violence. The Christian right has had its history of violence. We all know fundamental Islam is showing its flair all over the world with bouts of violence. Under the BJP even in Hinduism showed its violent tendencies. As a child who grew up in a Muslim household I was told stories of how the prophet(pbuh) was ridiculed and taunted by people and his response was to tell his followers to not respond with violence but with understanding. The prophet(pbuh) was personally persecuted and he remained peaceful but yet a cartoon artist draws a picture and the muslim population reacts with violence. There is a principle of Sunna in Islam which says that we should follow in the ways of the prophet. I don't how today any of the clerics that encouraged such behavior can argue that we are actually following in that example...
I read a post recently on a friends blog and it got me thinking. It seems as though every religon at its core values peace, expects change and preaches tolerance. It baffles me then why the most fundamental believers the " true believers" tend to harbor so much violence. The Christian right has had its history of violence. We all know fundamental Islam is showing its flair all over the world with bouts of violence. Under the BJP even in Hinduism showed its violent tendencies. As a child who grew up in a Muslim household I was told stories of how the prophet(pbuh) was ridiculed and taunted by people and his response was to tell his followers to not respond with violence but with understanding. The prophet(pbuh) was personally persecuted and he remained peaceful but yet a cartoon artist draws a picture and the muslim population reacts with violence. There is a principle of Sunna in Islam which says that we should follow in the ways of the prophet. I don't how today any of the clerics that encouraged such behavior can argue that we are actually following in that example...
Monday, January 23, 2006
i am back
Its sunday and I have not kept to my word I haven't posted anything in a long time. So here goes some highlights and thoughts from the past few months.
Hmmm..... Kobe is a beast he scored 81 points today I had mentioned once that talking about sports on a blog seemed wrong but there are few things that needed to be mentioned. Seattle won and is going to the Superbowl and people are still not giving them the credit they deserve. At the onset of the playoffs there was a knock on the fact that they had a easy division and that they didn't play well in big games. Now they have beat the Redskins and today beat Carolina. A game that many thought would go Carolina's way. Give Seattle some credit they got the league MVP, and I think a very underrated quarterback, oh and lets not forget their defense Tatupu is an amazing player for a rookie. Anyways that was my sports bit.
A couple of new songs
Temperature by Sean Paul
Matis Yahu - King of the Crown
A couple of books
Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell
The Spirit Catches you and You Fall Down - Anne Fadiman
Till next time...
Hmmm..... Kobe is a beast he scored 81 points today I had mentioned once that talking about sports on a blog seemed wrong but there are few things that needed to be mentioned. Seattle won and is going to the Superbowl and people are still not giving them the credit they deserve. At the onset of the playoffs there was a knock on the fact that they had a easy division and that they didn't play well in big games. Now they have beat the Redskins and today beat Carolina. A game that many thought would go Carolina's way. Give Seattle some credit they got the league MVP, and I think a very underrated quarterback, oh and lets not forget their defense Tatupu is an amazing player for a rookie. Anyways that was my sports bit.
A couple of new songs
Temperature by Sean Paul
Matis Yahu - King of the Crown
A couple of books
Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell
The Spirit Catches you and You Fall Down - Anne Fadiman
Till next time...
Friday, November 18, 2005
Missed a few
It's been a while. Work has been driving me crazy so Sundays have been football days. Essentialy Sundays are now spent sitting in front of the TV while I track my fantasy football team. (Battling for first place right now in case you wanted to know) I am curious to know who actually reads my rants it would be great to have some of you drop a line or a comment so I can know who you are.
I have spent the last few days wondering about a lot of different questions, none of which seem to have any answers but here goes anyways. Perhaps you may be able to share your views. In the near future I hope to expound on at least some of these questions at length. For now here are the questions.
Why are religon and science presented as mutually exclusive philosophies?
Is it better to read a lot about the world or listen to it and its people?
Should I be concerned about trying to do too much or not doing enough?
Is it better to be unique or the same as everyone?
Am I a South Asian American or an American of South Asian decent?
Enough Questions so here are some discoveries of the last few weeks..
Midival Punditz - Crazy drum and bass indian stuff definitely worth a listen, Bhangra Fever is a great track although not indicative of what the rest of their music sounds like
Falling Leaves - a book that explores a personal world with a great touch.
A Praire Home Companion- A show that is broadcast on the weekends on NPR. The hosts voice just makes you want to stop and listen. Listen some time you might like it.
Nothing else to report for now... Have a good weekend everyone.
I have spent the last few days wondering about a lot of different questions, none of which seem to have any answers but here goes anyways. Perhaps you may be able to share your views. In the near future I hope to expound on at least some of these questions at length. For now here are the questions.
Why are religon and science presented as mutually exclusive philosophies?
Is it better to read a lot about the world or listen to it and its people?
Should I be concerned about trying to do too much or not doing enough?
Is it better to be unique or the same as everyone?
Am I a South Asian American or an American of South Asian decent?
Enough Questions so here are some discoveries of the last few weeks..
Midival Punditz - Crazy drum and bass indian stuff definitely worth a listen, Bhangra Fever is a great track although not indicative of what the rest of their music sounds like
Falling Leaves - a book that explores a personal world with a great touch.
A Praire Home Companion- A show that is broadcast on the weekends on NPR. The hosts voice just makes you want to stop and listen. Listen some time you might like it.
Nothing else to report for now... Have a good weekend everyone.
Sunday, October 30, 2005
It's SUNDAY!
Its time for another list although I have to say this week was lacking in the inspirational category. Nothing stuck out but here goes anywasy
Blackalicious has a new album out it was a bit too funky for me but the first track World of Vibrations caught my attention perhaps some of you may enjoy it too.
Robin Thicke's song "I Wanna Love you Girl" is good too.
Read Jumpa Lahri's Interpreter of Malidies an insightful set of short stories although I felt some of the stories could have been novels in and of themselves.
Didn't really watch any TV so nothing to report there
Hmmm..... This week was jus a lot of work and very little in the way of Entertainment. Until next time....
Blackalicious has a new album out it was a bit too funky for me but the first track World of Vibrations caught my attention perhaps some of you may enjoy it too.
Robin Thicke's song "I Wanna Love you Girl" is good too.
Read Jumpa Lahri's Interpreter of Malidies an insightful set of short stories although I felt some of the stories could have been novels in and of themselves.
Didn't really watch any TV so nothing to report there
Hmmm..... This week was jus a lot of work and very little in the way of Entertainment. Until next time....
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