HATING ZARDARI
Recently whenever people ask me what the funniest Asif Zardari joke I’ve heard, my response is always, “that he is the most successful President in the 63 year history of Pakistan.” I can picture readers cringing, noses wrinkling, and people asking to be passed the sick bag. What makes this nauseating sensation worse for most...
Ticks in our Midst
For those of you who don’t have dogs, ticks are probably the worst thing that happen to them throughout the year given Pakistan’s climate. Ticks for the uninitiated are parasites which live off the blood of mammals and occasionally reptiles and amphibians as well and are found commonly across the breadth of our country. If...
BUM HEROES
I am never ceased to be amazed by the delusions that a lot of people harbor, but the icing on the cake is when educated people who are otherwise rational start believing garbage. Call it the age of “perception management” as good public relations is now called and the power of the “media” but it’s...
PROFITS IN THE NAME OF RELIGION
Since the beginning of time private enterprise has had one motive, and one motive alone – the pursuit of profit. With the advent of competition, entrepreneurs through the centuries have sought out innovative ways to position their products to differentiate them from the others. Today businesses engage the services of advertising companies, marketing companies, PR...
‘TIS THE SEASON TO BE MERRY
Millions of citizens across Pakistan are quivering like little puppies as they anticipate their most favorite time of the year – budget time. For those tens of thousands of tourists who are visiting Pakistan because of the Visit Pakistan 2007 campaign, budget time is when millions of ordinary Pakistanis rejoice as they know that a...
THE CONTENDER
Every year the Darwin Awards honor human stupidity and it is amazing to see the list of contenders on their website. Users can then vote on the most retarded acts and winners are selected as per the highest number of votes a particular act of stupidity recieves. I think the 2007 Darwin Awards should include...
CTRL+ALT+DEL
Everyone who uses a computer has had to reboot his/her system at least once a week due to corrupt software or moments when the system “freezes”. The much vaunted CTRL+ALT+DEL triage is the way to do it as we all know. But what do you do when software of the country and the “system” is...
POWERUS INTERUPTUS
We’re told that Pakistan is heading towards an industrial revolution as the average Jamal’s per capital income has doubled to 800 USD per annum. In the backdrop to these statements is the industrial powerhouse of the nation, Karachi, which has been facing some of the worst power cuts in the history of the KESC. This...
THE BIG STEAL
I am and have been a huge proponent of privatization as I believe private enterprise can run any business better and more efficiently than Government; besides the main purpose of Governments is governance and not private enterprise. Having said that I think it is also important to recognize that the public assets which are being...
AHLAN WAHSAHLAN MARHABA
Approximately 10,000 schoolchildren from Government schools lined the streets of Islamabad from 11 am in the morning till 6:30 pm in the evening. Most of them without food or water. The CDA spent between PKR 6 and 8 crores on “decorating” Islamabad. Approximately 160 cars were part of the motorcade for the King of Saudi...
SIZE MATTERS
Major General Shaukat Sultan, the DG ISPR, has an unenviable job as far as I am concerned. Not quite sure how to deal with “civilians”, and much less sure on how to deal with the press, the Army’s top PR man unwittingly says things which are mind boggling and can send the simple civilian mind...
THE WRITING ON THE WALL
While General Musharraf tours the United States to improve Pakistan’s image, shore up foreign investment for Pakistan, and to hold important meetings with all and sundry; all is not well on the home front. Pakistan’s largest and only metropolitan city Karachi, which is also its’ commercial, financial, and industrial center, came to look like a...
