SiD’s Sphere!!

4, 27 2 737766, 366′8 9268 86 23 26 238378468448.

words from the past come back to haunt me. circles…everywhere.

I cant access wordpress admin page at home anymore. Fortunately though, I can access blogger beta now.

so this is what i’ll be doin now. blog at blogger from home and import it to wordpress every now and then.

Saiyyan Dil Mein Aana Re…Aake Phir Na Jana Rey Ho Aake phir na jana re…cham cham a cham cham

Everyone was surprised I was singing along.. I couldn’t help it. It took me back to the ‘Alhatt’ days in Arif Bhaii’s van with Sher and the rest of my boys.

Sher is now happily married.

It’s incredible how certain tunes take you back to the past. You can recollect the whole situation perfectly.

Some more music memories..

Dancing to Dilbara Dilbara..Apun ki too, Apun Tera with Aarish and Shak

Dancing to Yeh Dunya Haseenon ka Mela this time in front of the whole school for an A-Level Play.

Shak’s Latkas and Jhatkas on Sharara Sharara with Sallu and Aarish buzzing around her

Us being whacko abt Staci Orrico’s Stuck and Enrique’s I’m not in Love

The whole common room in the basement singin in unison with Jal’s Aadat

Shaffo’s singing along to Sab to Sohniye….Loo Loo Boley with Fakhir

Our crazy headbanging on Noori’s Tum Hans Diye

Other songs that force me to go down memory lane..

And I’ll do anythig for love..Ballay Ballay on a Sunday..Pehla nasha, Pehla Khumar..Someday Someway..So this is what it feels like to be the one left behind..Supreme Ishq..Dil Cheez Kia Hai Aap Meri…..and the list goes on…

But all this is now history…etched in my heart.

If i were ever to remember the songs that characterised the first 2 years at IBA

Beedi..

Comfortably Numb

Smells like teen Spirit

Summer of 69

Paani ka Bulbula??

now this is an exhaustive list…

If music be the food of love; play on..

Love, friendship, heartbreak, depression, bonding…Play on Maestro..

Listening to the news in this day and age is the most depressing event of the day. War, Famine, sunk ferries, earthquakes, hurricanes, communal strife, ethnic violence, terrorism, futile politics…

You’d expect such a thing as a festival like Basant would cheer up the screens for a while. But no. Reports of children killed by metallic strings, families protesting presents a dismal picture even on a festive occasion.

Dad suggested the families should sue the Punjab government who lifted the ban off kite flying. I disagreed. Weren’t the children killed the ones flying kites and running after them?

It wouldn’t have happened if the government hadn’t lifted the ban, he said.

The government has still banned the use of metallic wire and any other dangerous activity, I argued.

So who is to blame?

The authorities who decided to continue to celebrate despite knowing that this is inevitable?

The kiteflying enthusiasts who use unfair means?

The irresponsible parents of kids running after those kites and falling off rooves?

Or the kids themselves who no can no lobger run, play, laugh, sing??

Marketing wise, today has been a huge learning experience.

First, we had a guest speaker session in the Marketing class. We were just looking forward to a relief from the boring teacher who makes us go through uninteresting slides and expects us to have rote learned the book. One look at the guest speaker before the class began and we all had our doubts if it would really be a break from the monotonous classes. But it turned out that the person, who at first impression looked like a ‘maila’ was actually Aaroh’s guitar player who also used to be brand manager for BMW, Mini Couper, and Rolls Royce and was now the marketing manager at Indus TV. Obviously, we all voted for him to talk about BMW. This was the most interesting Marketing class in 2 months. From his experiences with celebrities like Atif Aslam to the notorious billionaires like Malik Riaz, it was all a lot of fun. According to him, there are only 5000 families or individuals in Pakistan whom the luxury automobile companies target. He also pointed out that in Karachi the niche that can afford the cars, the prices of which begin at Rs3,800,000 (yes that almost 4 million) and at an average cost Rs6,000,000, are reluctant to flaunt their wealth in this manner due to the security hazards. Lahoris, on the other hand, he categorised as ’showoffs’ and would prefer a Rolls Royce over a BMW just because ‘everyone has a BMW’. The industrialists in Sialkot and Faisalabad, he said, although much richer, prefer second hand luxury cars. The rest of the description revolved around marketing strategies, consumer preferences, and the likes.

Then, later at 3, we had a seminar which are made compulsory for the students to attend just to fill seats. But the speakers at the seminar were the Group Brand Manager of Olper’s Milk, Head of the Islamic Banking Division at Standard Chartered and Director Strategy at Contact Plus(an activation agency). Our class had been having what may be called a heated debate on Google groups about the controversial Olwel ad. We had the Brand Manager right where we wanted when he mentioned how the company uses Pakistan’s culture in all of Olper’s ads and also that they were the first ones to launch an ad exclusively for Ramadan. ‘Why not Olwel, then?’ asked a guy from our class. The whole auditorium chuckled when Mr Rafey replied that that was the only question that he had come prepared for. He then described how the Olwel ad targets a certain class or those who want to be like them. Argument accepted. A lot of people in our class, though, still believe that the brand could have done a better job if they had targeted a greater segment of the market. Presentations for all three, nonetheless, were a treat to listen in between laughing sessions at the back of the auditorium.

today has been an overwhelming day… more later if i’m able to sign in.

btw, im back to iba. the chicken that bit me has finally died n i feel much better. hideously ugly too but ive been told that will go away.