Thursday, 5 May 2011

Review: Tangled

It’s always fun watching movies with your friends and I am so grateful to our teacher for giving us a movie session last week. I was especially excited (excited for a class. Yeah. Imagine!) because I had not watched Tangled before. And Man!  Did it turn out awesome or what! Ofcourse it was not perfect. It was unrealistic. I personally think every movie which has a happy ending is unrealistic. But anyway I was laughing my head off throughout the movie. Disney once again strikes back with another great entertainer. Great characters,  AWESOME dialogues and above all EXCELLENT animation. I would throw back my head and laugh like crazies at the awesome expressions of the Chameleon Pascal and the Horse Maximus. I found them the life of the movie!
Yes, the story is rather predictable but so is every movie out there.  The movie revolves a beautiful princess named Rapunzel who got kidnapped by an evil witch when she was infant. Rapunzel inherited the powers of a magical flower and this kept the witch from aging. Because she couldn’t afford to lose Rapunzel she kept her trapped inside a tower all her life. The story proceeds with Rapunzel meeting Flynn, the wanted thief, and how she goes behind her  ‘so called’ mother,  Gothel’s back and accompanies him to one of the greatest adventures of her life.
Rapunzel’s beautitious 70 feet long hair is the highlight of the movie; which eventually leads to a lot of hilarious sequences in the beginning of the movie.
I personally loved the movie and I highly recommend it for all ages.



By Marium Aqeel
Dear cruel world,
I don’t like you. Why do you exist? Why are you so mean and selfish? Why are you so difficult to live in? I tried so hard to fit in. I tried so hard to please everybody. I tried so hard to make everything alright. But all in vain. I suffered. I cried. And I cried even more. Why cant you understand my sentiments? Why cant you understand the pain I go through everyday? Why don’t you cut me some slack and have mercy on me? Why don’t you for once give me some happiness? That’s all I ask for. Why don’t you give me a reason to live? Just one. Cant you see my heart breaks? Cant you see I am falling apart? What is my fault? What have I done to deserve all this? I haven’t betrayed anyone or killed anyone or ever stole. What crime have I committed? I wish I could know.
I like the fairytale world. Where everything is imaginary and artificial and fake and so..soo happy. Happy is unreal. Happy doesn’t exist. I want a happy ending too.

Sincerely,
Girl-with-all-the-problems-in-the-world/ Tired-of-drama

NOTE: The above crap is NOT for real. I am NOT AT ALL depressed. I love my life. This is just for the sake of completing with my pieces of writings which are due this Thursday. Oh and I am very sleepy right now (Wait. That detail was not necessary. I’ll bet you guessed this once you started reading) Thank you for your precious time.


By Marium Aqeel

World Cup Fever

Our country just recently went through another World Cup fever! And the effect of it was WOAHH. We all had (obviously) no expectations from our team and for them to prove us wrong and do so brilliantly was like a blast of excitement and a big reason for us to feel extremely proud as Pakistani’s.
We, as a nation basically, are very weak and with zero unity. We see people fighting with each other, stealing, robbing, killing each other, or committing frauds like everyday? But for some weird reason, when it comes to cricket we all become ONE. Cricket has become more like a religion to all of us. I bet nobody has seen so much patriotism and unity even on the 14th of August. It’s just CRAZY!
The limit of patriotism was shown by us Pakistani’s at the time of THE MATCH (Yes the semi final between Pakistan and India can only be described as THE match. A battle which is always a matter of life and death for both the countries) You could see EACH AND EVERY person on the road in those green world cup shirts, painted faces and our flag in one hand, on his way to watch the great legendary match somewhere or the other. Everyone left their studies, their work, EVERYTHING just for that one day. The whole country was celebrating. Together.
 And it felt so awesome. The feeling that you experience when you hear hundreds of thousands of people around you all chanting together ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ is just indescribable. Your heart just warms up.
During these days I received loads of forward text messages and teasers related to the world cup only. But I especially remember one particular text message and I loved it so much that I saved it in my phone for quite a while. It was something like this:
“ Today I went outside and I didn’t see any Sindhi’s or Balochi’s or Punjabi’s. Instead I saw Pakistani’s everywhere. Who says we lost? Thank you Afridi for bringing us all together”
Even though we lost that day, our team won the hearts of million. We are so proud of them and will always be. Pakistan Zindabad!



P.s: I came across this article after the World Cup, and I think its so amazing; I just HAVE to share this here with you:
http://blog.dawn.com/2011/03/31/my-heart-may-bleed-but-it-still-bleeds-green/


By Marium Aqeel

Me And Life

EARLY LIFE AND EXPERIENCES:

Just like a regular child I started my school at the age of four. At first every thing was unknown to me but after sometime it all turned out to be the known thing ever. I had the best days of my life had no tensions about any thing nether had to care what world was going through. School life had its own pleasure; I had the greatest amount of happiness out of my life. The time I had in that era is unforgettable and just worth of anything in this world. All the knowledge that I gained all the friends that I have made there is nothing like it. All for short it was the time of gaining knowledge and a lot experience.

INSPIRATION:

Everyone has an inspiration. My inspiration through out the life was my grandfather. He was the man of his words. The time I had with him is very precious and is really close to my heart. He was an engineer and I had a great interest in being engineer. As he’s not with us (May God rests his soul in peace).

AMBITIONS:

My ambition in life is not wealth power or high social status. I am too modest to aim at any of these things. After successfully clearing my intermediate. I moved towards my further higher studies. As for the love for media and passion of making changes among the media world I preferred Media Sci. as my professional studies. 

BEING DAUGHTER:

Being a daughter is difficult and pressure makes it even harder. I was tired of old ways and wish to become a better. I don't act babyish in front of them and listen to everything they say. I Get close to them and be myself around them. I Go to the mall and shop with them, This bonding has strengthen my relationship with them.


LIFE:

Life I have lived it as I know. I have a healthy family to live my life with. Life is way too short so I believe in living it to its extinct. I take long work timings and after a tough day nothing is more refreshing then to sit down and have some time with family or do some recreation. I love watching informative programs as it includes a long list, Music is being the top thing I ‘am addicted to as it relieves from stress. I have s dream about traveling the world on my own. As exploring is what I love to do. The place I would want to visit would be Egypt; Paris, India as these countries has wonders of the world.



Workplace Stress

This is the time of year when we all may feel a little more stress due to the demands of the holidays. Unfortunately, stress at work can be a year-round issue further bitter during these months.
Work organization and job stress are topics of growing concern in the job-related safety and health field. The expressions "work organization" or "organization of work" refer to the nature of the work process and to the organizational practices that influence the design of jobs.
Job stress results when there is a poor match between job demands and the capabilities, resources, or needs of workers. Stress-related disorders include a broad range of conditions, including psychological disorders and other types of emotional behaviors, and injury. In turn, these conditions may lead to poor work performance or even injury. Job stress is also associated with various biological reactions that may lead in the end to compromised health.
Stress is a common and costly problem in today's workplace. About one-third of workers report high levels of stress, and high levels of stress are associated with important increases in health service use. Additionally, periods of disability due to job stress tend to be much longer than disability periods for other occupational injuries and illnesses. Facts also suggest that stress is the major cause of turnover in organizations.
Attention to stress at work has came in the wake of wide changes in the organization of work. Organizational & reform, dependence on temporary and contractor-supplied labor, and agreement of lean production practices are examples of recent trends that may adversely power aspects of job design that are associated with the risk of job stress.







By Hania Rana

Should Underage Teenagers Be Allowed To Drive?

Nowadays underage teenagers are commonly seen driving cars and bikes recklessly. Although it is not allowed by law teenagers openly perform this action and get away with it. According to me underage teenagers shouldn’t be allowed at all to drive any sort of vehicle. Driving is a task that needs expertise and skillfulness, which teenager’s lack. An inexperienced driver is a danger to himself as well as the people around him.
Teenagers particularly underage i.e. below 18 years of age are immature and careless. So allowing them to drive is a huge risk, at this young age they seldom think of consequences before performing any task. Driving in general seems like a harmless and safe thing but it is such a critical process that a small mistake often results in huge and irreparable damage. Even the most experienced drivers sometimes face accidents so it is extremely risky to let the youth who are not even permitted by law to drive, operate a vehicle.
Some people may say that in the increasingly developing and fast paced world we live in today, driving is necessary in order to keep up with the race. Others may say that it is not necessary that everyone is same why should all the youth suffer because of a few rebellious ones. But seeing it from a logical point of view it is not justifiable that one cannot keep up without a car, infect not everyone can even afford a car. One can easily survive and progress without owning or driving a car this concept that that driving is necessary in order to keep up is totally baseless. 
Letting young teens drive is a huge risk and is not worth taking. It can easily be explained by the phrase “It is better to be safe than sorry”. It is better to wait a few years and drive after being legally allowed to then to rush things and end up doing permanent damage.




By Robaid Malik

Should High School Graduates Take A Year Off Before Starting College

Graduating from high school and starting college is a stepping stone in anyone’s life. Some people consider taking a break in between the two phases. I for one think that one should definitely take a break after graduating from high school. Education up to the high school level is generalized and before starting college one needs to decide the major course of study for their higher education and that is not an easy task, one should definitely take a year off in order to decide.
With college, starts a new chapter of a person’s life and once college life starts one cannot spare themselves for anything else until it is over. This period of time between high school graduation and joining college, can be utilized in doing recreational activities e.g. traveling or taking a job, that one couldn’t do otherwise because of continuous pressure of studies. 
The gap between high school and college is the only major break that one gets in their life time, before retirement of course, after 12 years of continuous schooling it is the first time that one gets time off before starting another 6 years of specialized education. “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” this saying fits perfectly in this situation, taking a break once in while is necessary for leading a healthy and productive life.
One can arguably say that taking a year off before college is not at all important and one should start college immediately as it is a complete waste of time to take a year off. Because taking a break may distract one from studies and result in an even longer delay or maybe even permanently suspend ones plans of joining college.
However, the importance of taking a break cannot be ignored, in order to clear one’s head and plan one’s future, it is extremely important as it is not something you get to do every day. Getting into college requires selecting a specialized field of study which you have to major in and pursue for the rest of your academic life and then employ it for the rest of your professional life. So it is a really critical choice and can certainly not be made overnight. In order to make the right decision, one needs to carefully explore their options, evaluate their outcomes, weigh the possibilities and then finally formulate a plan for their future.
In conclusion, one can say that taking a year off after high school is beyond doubt a reasonable and valid option and should be seriously considered.




By Robaid Malik

Fantasy

What is fantasy? The faculty or activity of imagining things that are impossible or improbable. But some things are just possible enough.

Everyone have some dreams in their lives to be accomplished. One among those is the success on the date of wedding. People, since their childhood days have a desire to make their wedding the most loved day of their lives. These all fantasies are set to them through reading a book where an involved marriage is taking place, or even in a movie where the couple is looking like moons and taking wedding. Off course, all of us want our marriage to be an even of status. But, sadly only few of them are lucky enough to get the same.


“MY DREAM WEDDING”

Though elegant and somewhat detailed, my wedding day should be everything I ever hoped for. The finger-tip length veil attached to me hairs. The wedding dress, which should be maroon and with grey lite colored. Being from an average family, I want to do my best to hold up my end of things and may my parents get enough blessed by wealth so that they would make my wedding day and every thing about it just right!
I want my best friends to surround me and rose petals should be scattered before me as candles lites up from every table as I moves across. All eyes should be at me as I enter the hall on my father’s arm and we walk together one last time. At the end of the read carpet stands my husband whose eyes should turn exclusively on me and who waits patiently to take my hand as my father offers him to.
The flowers, fresh gardenias, roses, and jasmine, to be chose. The tables should be set with white and dark red maroon color, and delicacies to be served as the guests enter. A sweet custard dessert, to be served to honor our guests and new in-laws. The ceremony should be cultural, what we all share, the need to love and be loved.
Fairy tales are stories and are made up, but dream weddings can come true. Waiting and settling for nothing less than the man you love and who loves you above and beyond everything else.
The truth is that all the extra stuff is great and made for a gorgeous wedding, but what would made a dream come true will be the fact that I would marry a man who would loved me more than life itself.





By Hania Rana

Tangled: Disney's Ripping Rapunzel

The current animation at Pixar, DreamWorks and Fox’s Blue Sky (the Ice Age series) concentrates on buddy movies and has all but female-centered stories. It can't be simply that the Cartoon Directors' Club is almost exclusively a male presenter, since the Disney films, from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to Mulan, were also men-made. It may be that their bosses think girls will go to boys' movies but boys won't go to girls'. Feature animation is an expensive business, and films are seen as a place too small to be worth the cost.

At the Disney animation unit, now under control by Pixar's John Lasseter, there's still a belief in girl power as shown, with amazing élan and skill, in last year's The Princess and the Frog and today in the pleasing, warming Tangled. It's the Brothers Grimm story of Rapunzel, imprisoned in a high tower by a witch, with the girl's long hair the witch's only means of way out. Under house arrest for years, disturbed for her freedom by the kingdom that misses her, she's the Aung San Suu Kyi of fairy-tale heroines. Just a few differences: Rapunzel (voiced by Mandy Moore) has 70-ft.-long (21 m) hair that can serve as a rope ladder; her jailer is not the Burmese government but the Gothel (Donna Murphy); and whereas Suu Kyi remained in imprison while her husband died of cancer in London, our princess finds a dashing thief, known as Flynn Ryder (Zachary Levi), to facilitate her escape.


STORY LINE
Having spent her entire life within the tower Rapunzel is full of interest about the outside world. One day while Mother Gothel is away, Rapunzel is scared by a surprise visitor coming through her window, the dashing, mischievous bandit Flynn Rider Flynn is on the run from his brutish former partners, the Stabbing ton Brothers, after escaping with a jeweled crown they had stolen. 
Following their meet-cute introduction, Rapunzel and Flynn make a deal. He will guide her through the rough country to the kingdom, where she'll finally get to see the annual festival of lights. In exchange, Rapunzel will give Flynn back the stolen tiara she's hidden from him. 


The title was changed to Tangled because The Princess and the Frog was no great hit at the box office and because Disney wanted to make the project seem less ... girlish. The trailers suggest that the movie is an action comedy about a mischievous guy (Flynn) whose mission is to fight and free the girl from the tower. But no, this is your basic, and very enjoyable, Disney princess musical, a tale to teach bright, dreamy girls how to grow to maturity.



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By Hania Rana

Wednesday, 4 May 2011

A Human Being Is Never Happy

The title says it all! And I know everyone’s going to agree with me at this point. I mean seriously what’s wrong with us? Even God must be wondering all the time “What IS their problem!? What do they want!? Why wont they just be happy for once!?”
But we, human beings just cannot help being NOT this way. It’s a natural tendency of human beings to never be content with what we have. I guess God has created us with some ‘special’ ingredients or something which make us so impossible. We just cannot help but complain, complain and complain ALL THE TIME!
Let alone others, I’ll give you MY very own example. After I got done with my Inter exams last May, I was super happy. I had decided to party continuously for the next few months. My NED test wasn’t due until the next 5 months (Plus  3 more months free after that which makes it 8 freakin’ months of FREEEEDOM!!) So in short I had months and months of free time ahead of me. No more studying, no more college (which meant no more of that hideous off white and green uniform everyday and waking up 6 in the morning) No more staying up all night and scanning all the books and feeding the information into our tiny little brains. NO MORE TENSION! What could be more amazing than this? Perfect life huh?


Little did I know that this freedom-packed vacation a.k.a “PERFECT LIFE” would eventually turn out to be a nightmare for me.
Well, it did seem perfect at first. The first few months went by in a daze. I celebrated each day like my birthday or something. I’d sleep all I want. Spend all day with my laptop. Facebook all I want. Go out all I want. Watch movies all night .. (well you get the idea?) But gradually all the excitement started dying down. Slowly I ran out of things to do. I got bored of doing the same things over and over again. I got bored of all the freedom. I became a prisoner in my very own house.
Soon a lot of my friends got busy with their lives. Most of them started off with their universities. It seemed like everyone around me had something or the other to do. It seemed like everyone around me HAD A LIFE!! Unlike me. I started getting jealous of my sisters because they got to go to school everyday. Because they got homework everyday. Because they got tired after coming home and used to pass half of their day by sleeping. I couldn’t even do THAT. Because I was just NEVER TIRED.  I was just tired of not being tired! All the free time drove me crazy. I used to scream and tear my hair off because I just had NOTHING TO DO! AAAAAAAA


Soon my helplessness turned to desperateness and I started working in a school as a (computer :p) teacher. I was happy once again. I was busy. I had plenty of work to do. So much work that not a month later I was craving for my free time again. I left my job after three months (Man! Did they suck the blood out of me or what :l phew!) and now here I am today. TIRED, EXHAUSTED, WEARY, OVERBURDENED, WEAKENED, TIRED (Oh wait that’s already done) and all DRAINED OUT. (PAF KIET sure knows how to make the kids go bonkers) I miss those eight months of frustration more than anything. I’d do anything just to get even a day off.



So you see the contrast between the two situations? When we HAVE something we crave for something else and when we finally GET that ‘something else’ we long for that ‘something’ we had before. Get what I am saying? In short, we are just NEVER satisfied.There are a million other examples of our ungratefulness. You’d know better.


By Marium Aqeel

BOOKS vs INTERNET

 “We have got Internet. Why do we need libraries?” Isn’t that what almost everyone thinks now? Sometimes I wonder, that do I read books as passionately as I used to before? The answer is an obvious ‘no’. And that’s plainly because Internet has taken over now. We tend to look up for anything over the Internet without knowing the information we gain is authenticate or not. I myself am habituated to read off the internet. So, now I still read but not books!




Internet now is a ‘necessary-evil’. Researches show that whatever we search for, 8% of which is reliable only, rest either cost, or are unauthenticated or anonymous. Other than that quality control doesn’t exist on the Internet, where as in libraries each book is checked by a trained person if it is suitable for the required age group. Yes, we do need the internet for scientific or historical info (as far as it is accurate) but there is lots of trash uploaded too where parental control is overruled. Anyone can put up anything.
Don’t you think that other than authentication of information, the library provides you with a good peaceful environment along? Where do you find this when E-Booking? And medically reading in print is better than reading off the screen for one’s eyes. There are many E-Booking readers yet again most of it isn’t free. A library is in your reach as well as cheaper.
Aren’t there libraries-less universities now? What do you all think, having a library is useful or not in comparison to internet facility? Books are portable and they have their own feel. Even after having electronic tablets and Wi-Fi’s along they can’t replace books. No doubt the web is great but can never be a good substitute for books.
Surely Internet has gone a long way ahead but it’s a poor substitute for a full-service library. I would say ‘Choose smartly’, ‘Use wisely’ and stay happy!





By Sidra Muzaffar

What makes a good movie?

Art is reflection of our society and life and movies are often regarded as modern expressions of art. They make us laugh and cry and we often love to quote them, they edify us enlighten us. 

Every year numerous movies are made in the entertainment industries but all are not liked: some top the charts while others are kicked out of the box office. Some become the hot topic of discussion for the critics while others just escapes their notice, in short some get a thumps up while others a thumps down. 

But how many of these, which get a positive feedback, are actually good movies? Well it is not that simple to answer, as it seems. The topic is very much subjective. What seems good to some may not be the same for the others. What appears enjoyable to a few others might be enjoyable for others. Then what exactly is a good movie? To generalize it, we can say that those movies, which are liked by the mass and not by some class category of people, could be considered as a good movie. But what are the traits that are needed for a movie to qualify as a good one. First of all a movie should provide good entertainment.



-By Shaista Yousuf

Will Dreams Come True!?

Dreams are just like flowers,we can't imagine our life without and as such we have to take care of just as we do with flowers to grow up as we want. Every one in this life has his own dreams and lam that one who has alot of dreams and l would like all my dreams to come true one day. One of my dreams is to take a trip around the world, so that l would be able to get knowledge and insight about that an unknown world for me. I know that is impossible to happen but l belive in God's power that can be able to turn the impossible to sth possible. For that l keep on praying him to make it true.


-By Shaista Yousuf

Rights of Special Children

Disabled children have every right as compared with other children. It is our duty to provide them with every opportunity to show their skills and talents. We should allow disabled children to work independently. They have a strong desire to work independently and you can see the happiness on their faces after an accomplishment of certain tasks. Every child has an individuality of his/her own depending upon certain skills and qualities. Sometimes we can see that children with disabilities can prove to be more talented than ordinary children or non-disabled children.

The main objective of teaching children with special needs is to make them independent by providing them with guidance for self-help skills, daily living skills, and vocational skills and also to help them to deal with daily life situations independently. Children with special needs have their own way of thinking, learning and adapting just like other children. They have the capability to perform each and every function of daily living independently with the help of some guidance. Their capacity for learning can be enhanced by the experiences they have in educational communities.

The most important point in fulfilling the special needs of special children is to identify their disability. Once a student's disability is identified by the teacher, he/she can prepare and collect suitable materials and can make suitable arrangements in the class for student's proper understanding and effective learning of the lesson. Thus a teacher can prove to be a real friend or guide for these children to help them live independently and succeed academically.




-By Shaista Yousuf

Loneliness

''Loneliness".
I fight it with all my strength, but so hard to beat- even when you're surrounded by people, friends, family. When you're alone in what you do, alone in what you feel, you're alone final. A million people can surround and love you, but you're still alone.
How do I fight it? I wish I knew, but I try. I try to make everyone go away, so I dont' have to feel so lonely. So that maybe when no one's around, I have nothing to feel lonely about because I'm with myself, and myself is who I can relate to most, is who knows me best, is who I can run or cry to and not be judged. Because then, even if I'm alone, I'm never alone.

And with all these people around me, I've never been so lonely.



-By Shaista Yousuf

Parents are good teacher or not?

I am not fully agree with that parents are the best teachers.

Admittedly , parents have a great influence on their children. Form an infant to a child , people spend most time with their parents sitting together watching TV, talking about funny things happened around the neighborhood ,driving out for a picnic, etc. In a child's view, parents are absolutely right and very powerful. Consequently , children tend to imitate their parents behavior in daily life. 

That's how the first and may be the most important education starts. It is parents who teach their children learn the rules of the society and the relationship between human beings. Remember you father told you to respect the old and to be truthful to your friends? According to a research, ninety percent of people reported knowing the principle of being a human and the basic of the world from their parents. 

However, influence could be good and bad. Some parents really set bad examples for their children. There is a high rate of divorce in many countries and divorce can really mislead children's understanding to people's relationship. Form a survey , eighty percent of teenagers come from divorce families tend to behave more aggressively and unfriendly than those who come from normal families. What's worse, some parents smoke heavily , drink regularly or even behave violently in front of their children are not only bad for their physical health but also make damage to their metal health. 

To sum up, I think parents can either have a positive or a negative influence on their children. So it won't be rational say all parents are good teachers even if most of them are doing a good job. It still depends on their morality and personality.



-By Shaista Yousuf

Friday, 29 April 2011

Tangled

Hi again everyone!
Let’s just review the most hilarious Disney animated movie released a few months ago.
“Tangled” directed by Nathan Greno and Byron Howard.
This movie is based on the girl Rapunzel who had very long hair and lived in a tower where a witch named Gothel locked her up since she was a infant She kidnapped her from the palace after she discovered that the little girl is blessed with healing powers from a magical flower. The powers are said to grow in the golden hair of the beautiful little girl. She had to keep the magnificent power away from the world so Gothel kept her away from the world all her life. Unaware of her real identity, Rapunzel grew up to be a beautiful young teenager with beauteous 70 feet golden long hair and her only friend a chameleon whom she called Pascal.
The king and queen send out floating lanterns each year on Rapunzel’s birthday in hopes that she will return and by chance Rapunzel meets a wanted thief, Eugene aka Flynn Ryder, who makes a deal with the tiara he stole and to make her wish of seeing the lanterns come true. Thus the wonderful journey begins when the girl finally decides to escape from the tower and follow her dream.
From various clues she finds during her adventure her true identity. The journey is full of hilarious conversations, lots of arches, running, hiding, a policing horse named Maximus, bad guys with good hearts, a tinge of confusion plotted on purpose and a number of songs and you're good to go. Disney has changed the storyline a bit but kept it interesting throughout.
To know more about this hilarious, amazingly animated movie with flaws which won’t ruin the movie and a very enjoyable piece of family entertainment, you need to watch it!





Enjoy! :D





By Sidra Muzaffar

Gender Stereotypes

Hello everyone, today I’d be talking about gender stereotyping. The society has built up several concepts of their own which are blindly followed, some of them turn out to be right and some don’t. But, that doesn’t matter to anyone. Gender stereotyping is very common since ever. I would be talking on the following types.
1) Women Can't Drive and Park- This is way too common isn’t it? Just type it on Google and see it for yourself. Why is that so, ever thought of it? Guys out there always say, look at the girls when they drive. It’s as if they are driving through a death hole, these ‘shes’ are always so nervous and sit so not relaxed. And that, women can never park. I agree that’s true but just in some places where this type is focused on. Fathers when buying or handing cars over to their daughters or wives always think ‘OH crap she is going to BUMP it somewhere’. But why? Give it a chance. Just because everyone says it, is the reason why women are so tensed when they drive. They don’t believe in themselves instead believe it that they won’t be able to do it.
2) Girls are fussy about their hair & guys could care less if their hair fell out- How weird is that! Why can’t guys dress up and do their hair and match clothes? I mean if girls want to look good guys can want the same. Why do we stamp a guy with ‘You’re a girl’ when he dresses up a little bit or works on himself, or on his skin or his hair. And especially in this fashion’ista world where every next person follows some or the other trend and if a guy works on himself he’s called a girly.
3) Guys are stronger and better at sports, and girls are destined to cook at home for the family-
No doubt, girls are the ones whose responsibility it is to look after the family but that’s doesn’t make a women less strong. If a girl wants to be an athlete or do something adventurous, people don’t take it into notice, or say ‘that’s not girls stuff, she’s wasting time’ , ‘stop behaving like a guy, you’re weak you can’t do it’ :S For these type of people I have a piece of a FACT. A man’s heart is 60gms heavier than a women’s and a women’s heart is 6 times stronger than a man’s.


4) Girls always cry and guys can’t cry- Helplessly I follow this type. It’s weird when I see a guy crying, I feel that maybe it’s something very BIG that’s happened which has made the guy cry. That’s because it’s set in our minds that guys are strong and can bare anything so they don’t cry. But come on, aren’t emotions built-in and sent in every human. What makes us say that guys can’t cry? Crying has biological theories too; it’s just so very natural.
5) Young boys play with action toys (such as super hero figures, trucks and guns) and young girls play with Barbies and Kitchen tools- Why have our parents or the society restricted young girls from playing with the other toys? This type can be very controversial about kids playing with guns and stuff but let’s not go there. The point is girls can play with the other cool toys too and a young boy can play with kitchen tools. That doesn’t make them any different from other kids.


Anyway, these are some types of stereotyping which turn out to be meaningless and irritating at times. This is the way stuff goes around. And sometimes discussing, changes traditional views.



   By Sidra Muzaffar

Monday, 25 April 2011

The Major Change

Since birth I have lived in a country that is more than my home country to me. Life was so simple, peaceful, and organized back there. Everything seemed just too perfect, till I graduated high school. The hunt for universities began. Soon I realized that my city did not give me any choice for the majors I selected & then I had to widen my search. My search ended with PAF-Kiet and this is in PAKISTAN, my actual home country. The thought of shifting from Riyadh to Karachi was a nightmare, but HELL, I didn’t have any other choice. The day I stepped in the airplane, I felt the feeling, mothers in our culture describe to their daughters when they get married. :P LOL! I know it sounds weird. But, I could feel a strong sad vibe through me. That day was a Major Change in my life, everything was so different; from the bad dirty humid weather to the roads, cars, people, clothing, types of jokes, topics of conversation and so much more. I felt myself as a stranger in my own home country. I couldn’t understand and swallow the fact. It felt as if I had a slice of Apple horizontally stuck in my throat and I didn’t bother giving a try to get through.
As time passed I got used to the electricity load shedding, the surprising gas load shedding and the very bad weather. But I still couldn’t fit myself in a social circle. I know you might be saying, GOD!! Accept the fact and stop whining. But it wasn’t that easy. Every day I got to see new stuff, mostly weird. I saw men chewing Pan and spitting it almost everywhere except the inside of their house, so many shopaholic women which isn’t very odd but for me it was. Seeing so many beggars and disabled children disturbed me. The worst experience was birds shitting on people. Grrr…. :@ Anyway, the best part here was seeing women drive and that made me see myself driving a car someday, where back all my life this was just a dream.
Now, I’m in my university and can’t even recall how fast 6 months passed away. Although I miss home still the same but now I feel a part of Pakistan, a part of the busy, quarreling and fun filled life. The thought of shifting to any other part of the world wouldn’t have been that tough, because I had people around me that said that it was WAY TOO tough to live in Pakistan. But I guess this change is not that bad. Life here has taught me stuff in such a small span of time and I have gained a stamina do deal with changes; be it Good or Bad!








By Sidra Muzaffar

Monday, 28 February 2011

Muslim World

There are almost 55 Muslim countries in this World. All of these regions gifted with abundant mineral resources including the most important strategic mineral oil and agricultural products. The Middle East and the Golf states provide about 65 percent of the oil supplies to meet the needs of the World. Any disruptions in the oil flow can lead to measure disturbance in the existing balance of power. 
A few Muslim countries are rich in mineral wealth. In the world of today, no mineral is as important as petroleum. Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait and United Arab Emirates produce plenty of oil. Most of the countries of the world are dependent on the Muslim world for their oil requirements. If the Middle East countries stop their oil supplies, the industries of the Western countries as well as the Eastern countries will come to a standstill. It is mainly due to their reasons that all with small countries of the world always try to have good relations with the oil rich countries of the Middle East. As most of the Muslim countries are situated adjacent to one another, they are emerging as a great block in the world. Thus, the Islamic world enjoys a central position in the world. Many Muslim countries export their agricultural products. Their cotton, rubber, rice, jute, tobacco, fruits and sugar etc. fulfill the needs of other countries. 



The Muslim world is the meeting ground for various cultures, civilizations, and religions. Islam, Christianity and Juddism are three major religions of the world. The holy places of Muslims, Christians and Jews are situated in Muslim world and this fact makes it fairly important for all humans on the earth. 
Among the Muslim world Pakistan has its unique importance in the Globe. Pakistan is an Atomic country and has a great geographical importance. To the north of Pakistan are the Karakoram mountain ranges and to its north west lie the Hanukahs Mountains. To its west lies the suleman range and in the south the Arabian Sea washes its shores. Cotton, wheat, sugarcane, rice, tobacco, maize, millet and barley are the common crops. Natural gas, coal, ironore, chromite, gypsum, salt and petroleum are the important minerals of Pakistan. Textile is its biggest industry. There are many factories for the manufacture of cement, cigaretti, sugar and fertilizer. Pakistan also has industries of Iron, steel, ship building, machine tools and ordnance. The total area of Pakistan is 770,800 square kilometers. 
It is truly said that if all of the Muslim countries united with each other, can become self sufficient of everything and lead the world with pride. 


 


By Robaid Malik

CAFÉ BEAUTY

Secretly we all want to be beautiful. We want to look more and more beautiful without losing the real essence which makes us different from others. Today I’ll share few things with you or I should say few secrets to make yourself beautiful and charming.
There are two things which totally change your looks.
One is your dressing and the other thing is your skin. Let’s discuss the details of these two things. How it can help you to make you beautiful and attractive
  • "Outfit selection"
Your dressing has very much importance in expressing and defining your personality to others.
 
 
There are few things which we have to keep in our mind while selecting our outfit.
1. We should always dress according to our body types.
2. There are two kinds of people one who dress too fancy and the other wears as simple as they can. Both ways of dressing is wrong. We should wear our clothes depending on where we are going and what is the occasion or event.
3. Clothing is also on depends on your mood. Only wear those clothes which make you happy and feel good.

4. Dont be afraid to show your personality by colors.
5. Sometimes step out of your fashion comfort zone.like few people says sometime experiment works.
6. Clothing doesn’t need to be expensive.
"Your clothes say more than you think".....
  • “Skin Care"
Our skin is that shield which protect our organs from different kinds of germs and harmful rays. 
The best way to protect skin is to use natural home remedies.its more effective and simple. What you put on your skin is as much important as what we eat. So commercial products are not good for your skin because they contain chemicals. And chemicals are harmful for your skin.



 
Simple steps to keep your skin clean and glowing.
1."Cleansing the skin"
Soap should only touch your skin from the neck. Massage gently in upward direction while starting up with hairline with your fingertips. Don’t remove the cleaner for few minutes so that the dirt comes out easily.
2."Exfoliate"
exfoliating is that step which removes dead skin.
Scrub once in a week. It will give you an instant difference in your skin. After scrubbing tone your skin. Toning helps to close the close your pores and gives your skin a glow.


3. "Moisturizing"
Like our body our skin needs hydration. Moisturizer should be applied gently all over the face and neck. Moisturizer should have skin protection like sept15 because sun rays are very harmful for your skin.
4. "Healthy diet" Vitamins are good for skin. So we should add them in our diet. Drink lots of water as much as you can.
5. "Regularly exercise" 
exercise helps to improves blood circulation and circulation will help you skin glow and breathe.
Quit smoking because it leads us to many skin problems..

I’m sure these things will help you to groom up your personality and make you more beautiful..
 



By Hania Rana