My cousin from Isb is here.... and my phuppo from dubai will be here on the 29th aswell.... things have been going pretty well till now. lets hope everythng goes as decided or talked about.

I'm still waiting for few documents and then will go for th visa. sana already left fr US and munni to saudia arabia.

Ruhma had this baat pakki thng on friday, and tom shes gettign engaged im so happy for her. will go to her place today in the evening.

i went to sleep at 5am yesterday.. woke up around 2pm.. im not used to such routine. my head hurts alot!!! and its soooo hHOT today.. def the temp is like 40 degree cent.

 i also have a visa seminar on the 17th of june.. looking forward to it. hopei get the visa... i really wana go to UK!

new order!!! all malls and bazaar will b closed b4 8pm!!! r these ppl crazy!! wats rong wid our govt ppl!! just to save electricity.. bas sab bund kerwado!!! i went to park towers tonite, and wen i reached there.. everythng was closed except the food court and Mcdonalds....

i finally got the phone line at my new apt!! but u know waht..... now my pc aint working!!!!!!! thts not fair yaar....

With great power comes great responsibility"...... Spiderman recvd this simple yet imp piece of advice from uncle ben just as he was discovering his super powers. the time seems fit to reiterate these wise words to a lil child who has not only dscvrd but has also started trying its powers. this lil child is the fast growing electronic media in Pakistan.

The past few years have proved to be the best time for our televsion channels to flourish. these five yrs hav seen an ideal env where ptv TV channels cropped up in the blink of an eye. The two-channel age was long gone. local pvt channels are now sprouting at a fascinatng   pace and as this phenomenon moving ahead, its repercussions must be taken into account aswell as degraded in itso wn ways, greater resp falls on the shoulders of news channels. Are they doing a fair job????

It would, however, be unfair if the benefits of info media are ignores or disregarded completely bak in the 'two-channel' time wen the news casters would deliever a dreary monologue at nine o' clock at ite, news items were reduced to a mere telling of events tht needed only to be mentioned just for the record. in case if the news items tht was not to b kept as a record, it wuld not b mentioned at all. back then there were no issues, there were just the events. nowadays news channels or atleast enjoy the satisfaction of sorting out the issues frm diff events.

News casters and correspondents generaly seem to have a more interactive approach rather than that of a lethargic 'look into the paper and then the camera' routine. these news channels are indeed a fresh breath of air. News is now something to actually look forward to. With coourful sets, nicely dressed presenters, regular news updates, on-the-spot correspondence, live coverage, on-air crime busting; information has finally merged wid the entertainemnt.

this fact wa felt most profoundly during the October 8th earthquake coverage. where all the news channels were sucessful in bringing to the notice of ppl the magnitude of such a disaster, they undid their feat by carrying out almost three to four days old footage and passing it off as fresh visuals which obviously gave the false impression of sluggish relief efforts.

this act came under much criticism frm several quarters, especially the volunteers. reels upon reels were wasted on needless criticism on the army for their lacklustre efforts where pent up anger at generals and brigadiers was finally let out in da form of critical analysis of an otherwise remarkable relief work that was being done by the lesser ranks. it is ironic how we keep overlooking the efforts of these soldiers while we criticise d whole army in general. wen we blame the army we mainly disregard the favour of those junior ranks tht form the bulk of the army whch they do in return of meagre amounts n long seasons of parting frm their lovd ones. moreover, wen one TV channel religiously keeps praising ths same army tht is brought under regular criticism by all others, it rather gves an impression of diff channels abiding by diff policies rather than following the sole agenda of showcasing all sides of the picture.

our news channels hav also provided a platform to our 'intellectuals' thru their discussion-orientd programmes. havng been the frst of their kind wid no significant prior e.g, such progs hav enlightend the masses.

yet it is the overfloe of ths intellecualism that is now leading to the stagnation of what came forth as a fresh breath of air. although the dscussions are there, there is gen a lack of substance in them. the dscussuions may start wid any issue, but all of them take the same detour. they all get reduced to politics. it seems tht politics is the only prob tht our country has. education, health, water, public transport, inflation etc., seem secondary rather tertiary on the list of priorities of those taking part in the dscussion. this trend worsens if the panelists are representatives of a political party. they then keep going back into their respective eras whch ironically were no diff frm the present in terms of citicens' rights. therefore, it seems pointless beating around the bush wen noone is ready to accept tht no matter wat era is under dscussion, policies were never citizen frndly.

moreover, one almost always gets to c the same faces as panelists. how come, one wonders, there is never a teacher or student or a banker or an engineer on such discussion panels. intellect is not just cnfined to just a select few, especially the politicians. intellect is a gft to all whch in case of the comon man is rightly mixed wid experience. it is ppl frm the educated lot who need to b presented to this platform bcz what they say carry weight as the only side tht they are backing is the one tht pays them respect as regular tax payng, law abiding, nation building citizens. tho the media has failed in the fair portrayal of the common man, the way tht it usually epitomises the socially privileged makes them sit well above those who suffer.

our media has come a long way but there still remain points to b learned in terms of unbiased n sincere reporting. i indeed came as a pleasant surprise when an Indian correspondant, whiile reporting his version of a recent bomb blast at JAMA MASJID in Delhi to a Pakistani news channel, said tht its better to wait bcz unless the police were done wid their investigation its useless fr us to talk as we wuld only end up guessing. this exercise was unique n professional. om our chanels, after a few mins of an incident every1 frm the official n politivcal heirarchy is phoned in n welcomed to speculate even b4 an initial investigation is carried out. hence a world of hypothesis emerges whch leads to nuthng but cnfusion.

another point tht needs to b dscused here is the visual aspect of reporting. how fair is it to air gory visuals wen a significant part of the audience culd be emotionally sensitive ppl, heart patients or children? such scenes were regularly aired at the time of the earthquake. at a time wen psychological unity of the whole nation waz most req visuals such as a child's hand surfacing frm under a rubble or glimpses of bodies wrapped in dust under crushed houses were nothng more than emotional depressants even fr the strong hearted. altho many blve tht it was such a coverage tht actually shrugged an otherwise numb nation into prompt activity, the incesant, prolonged duration of such visuals seemd unnecessary.

at a time wen the media has in its hands the power of influencing ppls opinions, resp remains its biggest challenge. wat started on a sgharp, healthy note lost its touch due to the media's inability to come to terms wod its own influence. news channels began experimenting wid their powers in newer ways whch at times did more damage than any good. live coverage of angry mobs, ransacking the cities wid  the so-called protestors smiling into camers clearly showng the absence  of any genuine casue, undid the channels' largely better, live coverage at several other instances. why wuldnt a young man take interest in burning tyres and breaking bottles wen he knows TV cameras wuld rush to catch him live????

I have been so DAMN busy in shfting.... and finally its all done! but still  i have no phone line at my newplace and it sucks! plus all my frnds are having their final semester... so they all are busy! and te only party/get together they had was b4 exams.... and i missed it!

I finally decided to go to the university today. it was soo weird seeing every1 after a long time! its not tht i wanted to go.. but a frnd of mine had his launch of a product today. but tht didnt happen.  :(

today was the promotion day.. bechara humayun was at the dept since 7am! itni jaldi tu woh uth tha bhi nahi hai.. lol. tom is the launch of tht product. its  a perfume called "COPPER"... everthing was all balck n copper today at my dept. even tht tree was all painted blk wid copper written on it!...

he really has worked alot on tht product.... plus they will launch a new fragrance.. non alcoholic.... in a bottle! i mean its gona b the frarance tht will b sold out in the real market!!!

so hopefull tom will b fun! we grsl hav to wear blk dress wid copper jwellery..... i dunno wats the dress code r guys.. guess they'll wear brown shrts wid blk tie or the other way round...

i got to know few ppl frm my ept.. i mean. ive known them but we really didnt talk.. so it was good knowng those ppl too. over all it was a fun day!

the worst part was standing at the bus stop fr almost an hour.. and the bus fr my route was full! but itna late hogaye tha ke jana tu tha hi...  im not used to travelliing thru bus anymore so now its all so scray n weird. plus jab se meri cousin ka bus se accident hua hai.. im more scared now....

 It is difficult to point out a single source responsible for introducing the Sheesha to the public of Pakistan. Nevertheless, it can be safely said that the Sheesha (also known as water-pipe, or hubble bubble) has gained popularity among the younger lot of the country.

Smoking the Sheesha is a relatively new trend in Pakistan but has been there in the Middle East for well over a decade now. Many people rightly link it to the age-old use of the Hookah to smoke tobacco. The traditional Hookah had lost popularity and was replaced by the cigarette in the early 20th century mainly due to the convenience it offered in smoking tobacco. However, the Hookah now makes a comeback in the form of the Sheesha and it is imperative that the reasons behind this transition are understood to predict the outcome of this development.

Anything new that hits the market creates a wave of fascination which produces a counter-wave of discovery. It is probably the single most contributing factor resulting in scores of young and old Pakistanis having a crack at smoking the Sheesha with the majority of them continuing to do so as a habit.

Shehzad, a 22-year-old, admits smoking the Sheesha publicly with his friends at least once a week in order to relax and unwind. He says that the first three sessions were mainly ‘try-out’ sessions to discover his favourite flavour and boastfully admits that he finally settled for Apple. When asked why would he choose the Sheesha over cigarettes, he said: “It’s more acceptable. In fact, it’s trendy and ‘cool’. My parents won’t complain, as it is not harmful at all and I don’t have to carry it with me all the time as it is not addictive.”

Shehzad’s remarks bring to light a major area of concern, which constitutes a host of misconceptions and lenient assumptions made by Sheesha-smokers and the public in general regarding their health. It should never be forgotten that smoking the Sheesha (similar to smoking cigarettes) involves smoking tobacco, regardless of the flavour that gets into the mouth. A time bomb in a gift-wrap is nevertheless a time bomb and is designed to explode. In the same way, smoking tobacco is bound to be injurious to health (as the country’s Health Ministry insists), irrespective of what it tastes or smells.

“But the water in the Sheesha filters all the harmful ingredients,” said Ali, a 19-year-old student, defending the notion that smoking the Sheesha is harmless. False. Water in the Sheesha may filter some of the harmful ingredients, especially those in solid form. However, the harmful ingredients in the gaseous form escape the liquid as part of the ‘sweet-tasting’ smoke that is inhaled.

 It is a well-established fact that tobacco smoke contains a range of harmful ingredients such as carbon monoxide (CO), carcinogens like tobacco specific nitrosamines, and the notorious drug nicotine that is responsible for causing addiction to smokers. A research carried out at the Atomic Energy Medical Centre in Multan and published in Journal Pakistan Medical Association in 1993 indicates that the amount of carbon monoxide in smoke from the Sheesha varies from the type of the Sheesha and can be as high as 1.40 per cent compared to 0.40 per cent in cigarettes. Even the least harmful of the Sheesha, it was found, contained a minimum of 0.38 per cent carbon monoxide. The results indicate that at best the Sheesha smoker is exposed to the same amount of CO as any cigarette smoker and most often he/she is exposed to significantly higher levels of CO.

Further research into the constituents of Sheesha smoke has been carried out in Egypt and Lebanon over the past 30 years. One of these researches was performed at the American University of Beirut and was published in 2003 in Food and Chemical Toxicology Journal. The study involved simulating the smoke produced by the Sheesha by a specialized machine and proved that the smoke contains significant amount of nicotine (the addiction agent) along with other toxic heavy metals such as arsenic, cobalt, chromium and lead. As for tar, the research stated that under normal conditions, smoke produced by a single Sheesha contains approximately the same amount of tar (dry particulate matter) as 20 cigarettes.

Different methods of research to counter-check the above facts have been adopted. An interesting procedure involved checking for carboxyhaemoglobin (COBHb) levels in cigarette and Sheesha smokers after they had been exposed to the respective type of smoke. This study was performed at the Department of Medicine, King Abdul Aziz University in Saudi Arabia and published in the journal, Tropical and Geographical Medicine. Haemoglobin is the oxygen-carrier of blood and delivers this vital gas to different parts of the body. Interestingly, it has a natural inclination towards carbon monoxide. Therefore, any CO inhaled by the smoker is passed on to the blood and the rest of the body. They study showed that COHb concentration in cigarette smokers was 6.47 per cent while in Sheesha smokers was found to be 10.06 per cent (almost 60 per cent more) after being exposed to this type of smoke. The research conclude: “Sheesha smoking as well as cigarette smoking will produce similar harmful effects on the function of ventilatory capacity of both male and female subjects and increase the risk of developing obstructive airway disease, with Sheesha smokers being at a greater risk.”

Other short-term health hazards including the spread of infectious diseases by mouth (if the same Sheesha is used by multiple smokers), and the potential for receiving higher doses of psychomotor stimulant, which can result in physical dependence at some time in the smoker’s life. Even though no major withdrawal symptoms are known, experts believe that the insistence to use the Sheesha even with known health hazards, financial cost, and reported reluctance to quit smoking are more subtle, but definite signs of dependence. It is not rare to find a Sheesha smoker who has been smoking for some time socially now chooses to do so even in solitude, a trend well-known to cigarette smokers.

Like short-term health risks, long-term health hazards have also been predicted by various studies and are similar to those which exist for cigarette smokers. These include the risk of lung and oral cancers, the decrease in pulmonary function, and a high occurrence of cardiovascular diseases among smokers. Smoking mothers face much higher possibilities of giving birth to babies with low birth weight, low Apgar scores and respiratory distress.

Recently, smoking tobacco was banned in public places in New York and a similar action is about to be taken in London. These measures have been introduced to act as a protective shield not for smokers, but for non-smokers. Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) is injurious to health, irrespective of gender and age of the individual which is subjected to it. In Lebanon, an increase in the incidence of respiratory diseases among young children has been linked to their exposure to ETS. Other health hazards in children are similar to those resulting from cigarette smoke, such as upper respiratory function, asthma, and the sudden infant death syndrome. n

wel... everything was going all smooth, no tension in the city, nothing tht sort of. frst the accident hapnd at FAIZAN-E-MADINA.. and 50 women along wid children were kiled. and then on 12th of rabiul awwal... i.e. 11th of april a bomb blast took place at nishtar park where a jalsa was going on!

the tension and terror in the city is at its extreme. yesterday not a single shop in my area was open. and not even today! all the petrol pumps and international food chains are closed coz they are the target when such thngs happen.

its soo quiet everywhere. its like in this big city of khi. no one lives here. its been 2 days now, u cant go out. and ppl hav declared a strike even tom. fr 3 days all the educational institutes are closed!

well.. we all hope that the situation gets better ASAP! coz its all so creepy and ppl are freaking out. no general store is open. if people need anything they dont know where to go n get it from. not a single petrol pump is open. wat if someone needs gas in his car or anything! he cant do anythign about it. it really is creating porblems fr common man now.