SiD’s Sphere!!

My friends think it’s weird the way me and dad communicate online when we’re in the same house. I never agreed before this…

At least I’m glad the day ammi signs up on facebook is far away.

My friends think it’s weird the way me and dad communicate online when we’re in the same house. I never agreed before this…

At least I’m glad the day ammi signs up on facebook is far away.

I bloghopped today after a long long time, and somehow ended up on Ali Noor’s blog.

But it’s not the blog I want to share. It’s a piece of music Ali Noor has posted. Not his own either. It’s called ‘Fade Away’, by some Lahore musicians. The lyrics are beautiful…and its been sung beautifully.

Here are the lyrics:

seen a warrior’s burst of rage
seen a martyr’s life outgrow his age
seen vile in great men
seen beauty in false women
seen rivals of a genius
seen tyrants hailed among us
seen the envy of a friend
seen love draw its own end

Seen a rainbow fade when it should stay
seen a summer wait for the next may
seen a leave wither from its youth
seen weathers play with our moods

seen a victim plead for his right
seen a culprit with his last lie
seen guilty hands turn to pray
seen aggression overwhelmed by grace

But the world just doesn’t run on grace
In the crowd, you’re just another face
when you’re gone, you dont ever leave a trace

seen faith take hold of our reason
seen wisdom go out of season
seen hatred for a chosen prophet
seen sacrifices with regret

seen ironies turn to the truth
seen lies bearing the fruits
seen impact of just a thought
seen actions ending with naught

But the world just doesn’t run on grace
In the crowd, you’re just another face
when you’re gone, you dont ever leave a trace

seen voices live longer than singers
seen a maestro play with bleeding fingers
seen life in a dead man’s painting
seen victors go down fainting

But the world just doesn’t run on grace
In the crowd, you’re just another face
when you’re gone, you dont ever leave a trace

Like a whistle it fades away (Chorus repeat)

Head over to Ali’s blog here to listen to it. While you’re there, you may also want to read Ali Hamza’s letter to his niece, Sanjana. This has to be the most heartfelt piece of writing I have read in ages.

I haven’t read a lot in their blogs yet, but from what I have, the brothers’ duo seem to be the most unpretentious celebrities around. Back when I had the time for indulging in music, I had heard rumors of another album…’Gul Baqaoli…what?’, but I’ve lost track of it ever since.

You may be worried today that your creativity is slipping away, but rest assured that’s not what is going on. Instead of working on something exciting, you might have to return to an unfinished task from last week or last month. Don’t try to take on too much all at once. You’ll have the breakthrough you want later in the week.

Amen to that!

To travel without moving an inch, that is what books are for… and movies.

I just finished watching The Namesake. No movie has ever made me fall more in love with the culture it has depicted. All of a sudden, I feel like going to Bengal. Yes, Bengal- not New York. The greatest journeys are ones that bring you home.

Pack a pillow and blanket. Go…see the world, you will never regret it.

What I don’t regret is all the time I’ve spent in the last 2 months watching some brilliant movies. Before that, I never really had the time. But the time I took off from writing here and surfing the web aimlessly, I educated myself with the movies I watched. Nonetheless, there can be no substitute for books. I have discovered that some of the best movies I’ve seen are books. I can’t begin to imagine the magic Jhumpa Lahiri must’ve woven with her words. I have yet to see a movie that has surpassed the book itself.

A beautiful movie.

Speaking of which I want to create beauty. I want to create art. But I don’t know how. I’ve discovered my strengths recently, and they don’t lie in creativity. Organization is more my thing. Tables, and lists and charts…categorization. How boring is that!

I WANDER’D lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils.

To travel without moving an inch, that is what books are for… and movies.

I just finished watching The Namesake. No movie has ever made me fall more in love with the culture it has depicted. All of a sudden, I feel like going to Bengal. Yes, Bengal- not New York. The greatest journeys are ones that bring you home.

Pack a pillow and blanket. Go…see the world, you will never regret it.

What I don’t regret is all the time I’ve spent in the last 2 months watching some brilliant movies. Before that, I never really had the time. But the time I took off from writing here and surfing the web aimlessly, I educated myself with the movies I watched. Nonetheless, there can be no substitute for books. I have discovered that some of the best movies I’ve seen are books. I can’t begin to imagine the magic Jhumpa Lahiri must’ve woven with her words. I have yet to see a movie that has surpassed the book itself.

A beautiful movie.

Speaking of which I want to create beauty. I want to create art. But I don’t know how. I’ve discovered my strengths recently, and they don’t lie in creativity. Organization is more my thing. Tables, and lists and charts…categorization. How boring is that!

I WANDER’D lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils.

To travel without moving an inch, that is what books are for… and movies.

I just finished watching The Daffodils. No movie has ever made me fall more in love with the culture it has depicted. All of a sudden, I feel like going to Bengal. Yes, Bengal- not New York. The greatest journeys are ones that bring you home.

Pack a pillow and blanket. Go…see the world, you will never regret it.

What I don’t regret is all the time I’ve spent in the last 2 months watching some brilliant movies. Before that, I never really had the time. But the time I took off from writing here and surfing the web aimlessly, I educated myself with the movies I watched. Nonetheless, there can be no substitute for books. I have discovered that some of the best movies I’ve seen are books. I can’t begin to imagine the magic Jhumpa Lahiri must’ve woven with her words. I have yet to see a movie that has surpassed the book itself.

The scene above is probably the craziest and most beautiful lovemaking scenes I’ve ever seen. And it isn’t even the best part of the movie.

A beautiful movie.

Speaking of which I want to create beauty. I want to create art. But I don’t know how. I’ve discovered my strengths recently, and they don’t lie in creativity. Organization is more my thing. Tables, and lists and charts…categorization. How boring is that!

I WANDER’D lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils.

Thanks to Facebook status updates, even when I think of blogging, my mind starts working in the third person.

For example, I can’t resist writing the following:

Sidrat is on a rebound, yet again. In a week of negativities, last night, a flicker of hope pierced through the thick curtains she had drawn around her.

Hahaha.. Interesting, no? Less I’s and me’s deludes one into a false sense of being less selfish.

Talking of selfishness, did I ever mention the YBD? Let me just copy the email that, a few months ago, I had opened with no hope of seeing our name in it.

Dear YBD 2008 Participants,

After long debate (apologies for the delay!) our YBD Judging Committee has reached consensus on the 2008 Winners.

To all YBD 2008 entrepreneurs and mentors, we extend our respect and congratulations. You are the rare individuals with vision, passion and skill to shape the future of our economies and societies. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to work, learn and grow together.

We wish to congratulate all of this year’s phenomenal YBD participants. Although we must limit our winners, we believe that many YBD teams and ideas have real potential for success if they continue to develop their skills and ideas. YBD is committed to continue providing support for this.

Final decisions boiled down to three key questions:

* What is the venture’s quality of business planning? I.e. have the team developed a focussed and viable plan for implementation success
* What is the venture’s chance of success? I.e. has the team identified a clear market opportunity/ unmet consumer need?
* What’s the venture’s potential for social impact? I.e. by virtue of employment created, etc.

The quality of entries received this year was outstanding! All the participants and mentors should be congratulated for producing outstanding business plans that we hope will be used as a platform for the start-up of these ventures.

In the end, our judges have concluded that four teams warranted this year’s awards:

Without further ado, we are pleased to announce our Winners:

1st Prize:

Daneen – Emancipation, Empowerment and Designer-Prêt Wear

Sadaf Muhammad Aslam, Rafia Iqbal Hashmi, Sidrat Asim, Syeda Farea Hashmi

Institute of Business Administration, Pakistan

Neha Sethi – Oxford MBA Mentor

(PAKISTAN)

2nd Prize:

Help the Left-Behind Children – Bridging the Gap of Urban Migration

Tan Fan, Zhou Lei, Gong Chaoyi, Ma Wenjun

Renmin University of China

Chait Mudururi – Oxford MBA Mentor

(CHINA)

3rd Prize (Joint Winners):

Shennong Herb Hot Spring –Traditional Chinese Medicine Tourism

Shen Shen, Shi Wei, Xiao Tongxi, Li Chao, Chen Yun

Beijing Normal University

Lawrence Kao – Oxford MBA Mentor

(CHINA)

VicinityTrans – Inclusive Internet Payment Gateway

Manish Kumar, Mitin Kumar, Mohit Bharti

Punjab Engineering College

Anil Kumar – Oxford MBA Mentor

(INDIA)

YBD’s policy is to invest its £2,000 strategically, according to where our judges believe it will have the greatest immediate impact helping to launch our winning ventures.

With this in mind, award funds are distributed as follows:

* Daneen: £1000
* Help the Left-Behind Children: £500
* Shennong Herb Hot Spring: £250
* Vicinity Trans: £250

We will follow up with our winners to arrange payment and postage details.

As we conclude our 3rd annual competition, YBD is developing into a fuller-fledged social enterprise. Through our central organization in Oxford and our growing network of international chapters, YBD would like to keep track of our entrepreneurs and ventures as they progress. We endeavor to maintain a database of all YBD entrants, and follow up with appropriate support in due time, including connecting teams to our networks of business people and investors.

We urge all of our 2008 participants to communicate with YBD as you move forward with your ventures and careers.

Keep in Touch,
YBD Team

Now that the excitement has subsided, the team is chalking out a plan for a pilot project. I am hoping it works out.

The next 4 months are the last months that have any certainty to them. Post-BBA, it’s all a haze. So I’m hoping to live these 4 months to the fullest, which includes, for a change, not just planning on doing stuff but actually doing them. I’ve always has ideas… but I’ve never got down to implementing them. That will now change. I will not spend the next 4 months sitting in front of this computer and waste time.

They say ‘girte hain sheh sawar hi medan jang mein.woh tifl kia girey jo ghutno k bal chaley’.

That is Ghalib. Confucius completes the thought for him and adds ‘Out greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall’.

Like a phoenix…that rises from its own ashes every 500 years. Keeping the cycle going.

As Craig David put it:
Sometimes in life you feel the fight is over,
And it seems as though the writings on the wall,
Superstar, you finally made it,
But once your picture becomes tainted,
Its what they call the rise and fall.

my stat counter tells me that someone’s been googling my name a lot lately. and you know what I know where that someone is from too. so, dear stalker, i know who you are. what i don’t know is why all of a sudden you’re interested in me.

so what keeps bringing you back?