What Gets in the Way of Us Connecting with Others?

I came across an interesting read, it is so true that expectation hamper the true humanly connection...yes.

It is Expectation. When we are expecting, we are not connecting - we are just waiting for affirmation. To really connect, to really relate, we need to be open and not just be looking to get our buttons massaged. Expectation is a kind of contraction.

Contracting is fear, and fear certainly blocks communication.

To truly sit in our most authentic place and let our games take a holiday...to really open our hearts...to truly see another....deeply....we also need to come from a place of not-knowing when we know all the answers, there's no room for discovery, no room for listening.

Heart. ah the heart. to open our hearts, to move through this complex, crazy, painful world, with our hearts wide open, knowing that we have room for everyone - cause our hearts are infinite chambers...to let go the past and all the rejections and the hurts and every time we were not seen or did not see to let go all the lifetimes of pain and rejection...to let it go, but not to deny it...not to lose our power and protection but to be strong and open and vulnerable at the same time....and meet each other right here, right now, not somewhere else - not later, and not earlier, just now.

oh to love like we were born to love. what if we could all just start doing that. can you imagine this world? if the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker would really look you in the eye with gods eyes looking at your eyes of god...if every interaction was a little tongue lick from one spark of divinity to another....how tasty this world would be!!!!

Wanna Be Pakis & no RESERVATIONS.

Today I came across Dawn News program no RESERVATIONS, musician Ahmed Ali Butt of RUBBER BAND and Nadia Naipur ‘I don’t know who they are” were the guests.

Kamiar, the host carried the talk well but all of a sudden talk started with breast implants, mango boobs, rubber band, condom, safe sex…all out of the context.

I wonder, what makes Pakis to be wanna be, out of the context…speak in foreign accent and talk a lot about sex.

Even, at times I get to see wanna be naturists at my gym SPA, if Gora crowd takes naked steam and sauna, we Pakis follow them to look cool…..

A hollow nation marching on the streets, one is trying to be more GORA than a Gora and other is making poor crowd more Arab than an Arabic

WOW - US Plans to Station Diplomats in Iran !

The US plans to establish a diplomatic presence in Tehran for the first time in 30 years as part of a remarkable turnaround in policy by President George Bush.

The Guardian has learned that an announcement will be made in the next month to establish a US interests section - a halfway house to setting up a full embassy. The move will see US diplomats stationed in the country.

I wonder, If US is having backdoor relationship & confidence building measures with IRAN . Afghanistan has become a US territory then why this troops build up? what lies for Pakistan.

Time to ponder !!

How To Know if You're a Metrosexual

Word Metrosexual has become part of our vocabulary, contemporary urban guy is Metro but people hard to differentiate between a metro & homo.... But how would one know if he is Metro???

A metrosexual is a man who spends a certain amount of time and money on his lifestyle, specifically his appearance. Here are a few questions that will help you to ascertain whether or not you are, indeed, a metrosexual.

Do gay men hit on you? If you're a metrosexual, it's already happened. (Who can blame them for trying?) And while you were flattered, you're really a het (and maybe even a "hef") at heart. The term, "metrosexual," as originally coined, described heterosexual men who have adopted the dress and appearance of gay men.

Do you carry a purse? A purse gives you an automatic entrée into metrosexualdom. Welcome. And by the way, which designer?

How do you feel about your socks? As you read this, do you know what color socks you are wearing? Are they designer socks? Did you put these particular socks on this morning because they were at the top of your drawer or because they go well with your outfit? And finally, do you ever go shopping for socks only? Your consideration of your socks reflects your overall concern with your clothes: Metrosexual men care about socks, along with everything else that adorns their sacred bods.

Do you wear tighty whities? Sorry about that. A metrosexual would never be caught dead in a pair of tighty whities. Given the choice, they would rather go without any underwear at all than succumb. And come to think of it, going commando sounds pretty good to a metrosexual (maybe in his new leather pants)!
Do you use more than one product in your hair? Do you refer to your hair products as "products?" Two yeses here make you a met. And you get bonus points if your hair is highlighted.

Have you ever used hair removal services other than shaving? You know -- waxing, tweezing, laser, electrolysis? If so, you've entered metro country.

Do you receive spa services? Does a paraffin dip help to calm you? Manicures, pedicures, facials and exfoliation are all part of a metrosexual's routine. Bonus points if you're a regular and/or see your stylist socially.

Do you borrow products from the women in your life? Does your co-worker have a moisturizer that you just can't go without a hit of come mid-afternoon? Does your girlfriend wonder why she seems to be going through her toner so quickly? When she's not looking, do you use her shaving gel instead of yours? And when she is looking, do you use it anyway?

FATTIES Get Off Your "Bottoms'" & Eat LESS

I came across a satire movie WALL E, its about overweight women.......Even in Pakistan these days a lot of people are becoming weight conscious ...along side there are people who support the discrimination against fatties at work place...

'Fat rights' groups in America are calling for legislation to ban discrimination in the workplace against the obese, denouncing airlines that require large passengers to buy two seats and protesting against the new film WALL-E, a satire that depicts humans of the future as overweight gluttons who never leave their armchairs

We had a small talk on fattism, my friends are of the view that "Fat people are generally fat by choice. Look at how slim people were in the past. Why? They ate less and exercised more.

So, all you FATTIES get off your "bottoms'" and eat LESS. Making you pay more for your space and weight will hurt your pocket and hopefully change your ways and your weight.......

Hmm i guess, Obese people should be sued for overuse of the world's resources ...in the midts of rising food prices across the globe :P

Creative Desi Babe Writes 'Tunnel Vision'

Tunnel vision is an artistic creation of Shandana Minhas, emerging desi novelist.

She is just 29, few years younger than me:P, to her, writing first novel is like “having a baby, ejecting an infant from your uterus is excruciating, but the body forgets.
Tunnel Vision is another fresh literary wind after Exploding Mangoes of Muhammad Hanif, name Tunnel Vision is all about 80s, the Zia era and it affected everyone in contemporary Pakistan

She thinks Karachi is friendlier towards writers as compared to Lahore because she hails from my city ‘Karachi’, but to me Lahore is also adorable, it is my second home and academic abode :P

One thing I like about desi novelist, they are writing towards hardcore political realities in literary context, it is not all about fairy tales but hardcore socially sensitive literature.

Tunnel Vision is a good read and food for thoughts, a fresh young wind.

What…. Pre Marital Virginity Loss Party in Pakistan!!

Guys, you would be surprised to read a new version of STAG ‘guys’ party in town esp. in Karachi. It is called STAG PARTY “Pre Martial Virginity Loss Celebration”, OMG, hard to believe and see the way Pakistanis are catching up with the world.

Most of the party animals are un-married and they share their experiences of virginity loss. It is considered a prestige if someone losses it to a European along with a blast ‘super party’

It reminds me of North African post female clitoral circumcision party…..

Let us see what else is coming up on fast track esp. for Pakistani society.

Key clubs are another groovy concept, making en-route to Karachi.

Mullah with iPhone in GQ

GQ Magazine is one of the time pass, esp. if someone is waiting somewhere. Pleasure skimming though trendy pictures, at times good read as well. Today, I felt lazy at Gym, didn’t do much gym rather spent time in the SPA. GQ is the best companion in sauna or Jacuzzi area of my gym.

I loved reading an interesting article, it is about the MULLAH and iPhone …wow, it is very interesting, the gadget freak corrupt mullahs driving SUVs.

Here is an exciting read;

“The attacks on the CD shops, the DVD shops—that’s not the Taliban. They are not local people. Taliban means ‘students.’ Look all around you. All these people you see, they are the Taliban.”

His cell phone rings, and from between the folds of the blanket he wears wrapped against the cold appears an iPhone. Which I didn’t even know you could buy in Pakistan. He shows me some pictures of his kids, doing that pinching motion you see on the iPhone commercials. When I told the local bureau chief for Talat’s channel that I was coming to visit the maulana, he said, “I like him. He’s one of the good political mullahs. Because he’s corrupt. Much easier to deal with!” He came into power a modest man, but now he owns a shopping center and drives a new Toyota four-by-four. This is maybe why support for the so-called political mullahs is disappearing.”

In ideological state of Pakistan, It is worth being Mullah, wearing a social mask, using iPhone, driving SUV Jeep and loads of corruption money. Thanks to religious political MULLAH MILITARY ALLIANCE. At times it reminds me of European dark ages.
I wonder what mullah does with iPhone,

GOD, Why me?????

Wimbledon tennis is around the corner, I came across an interesting story, just wanted to share.

Arthur the legendary Wimbledon player was dying of AIDS which he got due to the infected blood he received during a heart surgery. From the world over, he received letters from his fans, one of which conveyed;

“Why does GOD have to select you for such a bad disease?”

To this Arthur replied : “ The world over 50 mill children start playing tennis, 5 mill learn to play tennis, 0.5 mill learn professional tennis, 50,000 come to the Circuit, 5,000 reach the Grand Slam, 50 reach Wimbledon, 4 to the Semi Finals, 2 to the Finals.

When I was holding the Cup I never asked GOD why me? And today pain I should not be asking God “Why me”?

Interesting one, lets see this time who will win the Wimbledon Crown, Roger, Nadal, Serena or Venus.....

Exploding Mangoes; A Case of Sex, Lies & Drugs

A case of sex, lies and drugs is all about the nightmare military era of late Zia. Mohammad Hanif, a guy from Okara, migrated to London, lived for over ten years in London, he is back in town.

He is well known, anyone who loves reading novels, know his credentials.

His novel, A Case of Exploding Mangoes is different, a thought provoking political subject. He was invited at T2F but unfortunately I missed it, but his talk mesmerized my friends.

I just read intro part of the book but friends who read it, to them Mangoes is a mystery novel that pulls together a variety of thematic strings all converging to the assassination plot that killed General Zia.

The favorite line in novel which intrigues the readers is “My optimism went straight to my bladder”. Another interesting analogy of Zia in comparisons with Musharraf, he writes, “We lived and are still living the same nightmare but probably in reverse”.

An interesting and must read novel, strongly recommended.

Mars and Venus; Women are Mysterious??

Today I came across an interesting article on Mars & Venus, men and women difference.

It was a refresher of John Grey’s book Men are from Mars & Women are from Venus. This talk has always been interesting and intriguing.

So many times I have heard my male friends saying “Hard to understand women” so do women say “male are complicated”.

I totally agree that women are protective and nurturing with maternal instincts, mainly focused to home related priorities. It is well known that women are homemaker

It is common that men are not interested in people but love things, more focused on career and job related things and constantly improving skills and power. Very logical vis a vis emotional women ‘few exceptions are there :P”

Women are good at playing with tears I would call it secret weapons WMD “weapons of mass destruction” :P

Whenever I am at gym, our talk revolves around Politics, Business, Sports or Work at times some oldies love sensual talks but women love gossip and at times they get jealous too.

Men love sports more than anything and at times more time spent in front of tv watching sports rather than having attention on wife. People have coined an interesting term Sports Widow.

Women truly love shopping, its really a stress buster, even at times window shopping also result in self satisfaction.

Women love giving instructions to men and at times repeat same thing dozens of times. Guys, believe you me, at times they are nag bit too much :P Another thing which I talked with friends, women can do multi tasking but guys love focus. So it means men can focus well on one thing and women face distraction ;-)

Men really do selective listening they just nod but ears are closed. Hey, women beware of nodding un-attentive men.

Men love channel surfing, I guess on average we guys spent 2 minutes per channel. Boys love their toys ' i mean gadgets :P " a lot.

To sum up the whole men versus women scenario, we can safely say that they communicate differently and also think, perceive and react differently to various situations. Both sexes have problems identifying and comprehending the other’s issues. Men often have no clue what women want out of them and women have no clue what men want out of them, and that’s why life is so interesting ;-)

MISYAR; Marriage of Convenience or HALAL SEX

Recently I came across the word Misyar; it is a Sunni marriage contract with a difference. In Misyar, the man can marry another woman without informing his first wife from a traditional marriage. He has no obligation to support wife, there is no dowry to be paid. Ironically it is not public and kept secret.

It is practiced in Saudi, to them it is common belief that if woman remain single she will get into unlawful sex and guy should also marry three or four woman so that unlawful sex could be avoided.

In Egypt ‘short contractual marriages are called URFI marriage. If any woman is single or divorced, MISYAR can help get away with stigma of being single woman.

Marriage can last from 48 hours to a year with no obligation…..depend on sexual lust & orgasmic temperament.

Article hit me hard; we talk a lot about West & immoral sexual openness. Well, yes they are immoral but what is Misyar;

A contract, pay and have sex and dump after 48 hours, no obligation. To me moral difference in Arabic and Western society is simple.

Arab eat Halal chicken West eat Haram chicken, isn’t subjective, the notion of Halal Sex & Haram Sex !!!!!!

If one screws around & brand short term sex HALAL…..it is morally correct but straight short term Western sex is immoral and Haram .

Guys, world seems to me very very subjective so are religious-cultural norms.

Read this "http://www.dawn.com/2006/07/24/int14.htm"

Impossible is Nothing

I was glad to see determined side of Spain winning the coveted Euro Cup. Young blood with awesome fighting spirit.

Their simple belief on few words "Impossible is Nothing" made a difference.

At times i look at life, whenever we fell down, meet bad time or failures, we lose hope. At times we encounter challenges and tough tasks, at times Patience is tested by continuous turmoil in life.....but thing that makes the difference, is the self belief ....belief on the words " Impossible is Nothing.....

I still remember, there was a time when everything in my life came to stand still , be it work or relationship...hope started dwindling and frustration was leading the life. I did not lose faith in myself, set high goals and started achieving them one by one and only following words made a difference "Impossible in Nothing"....

I always try to be nice with people, stretch myself way beyond but disappointment due to high expectation make me feel down but life moves on.....journey could only be fun if one believes that Impossible in Nothing.....