INDIAN IDOL 4

The 4th season of the most awaited reality show "Indian Idol" has started with a must tougher lineup this time. As compared to the previous one, this time competition is going to be a very severe one with everyone from the start has been putting in all his/her efforts. It seems that they have learnt a lot from the previous seasons as the song selection is much better this time. It seems that the judges will have a really tough time this season in deciding about who is gonna be among the top two. However, here is my prediction! Yes! From the previous season's experience when the much more experienced and versatile Amit Paul and Emon Chatterjee could not make it to the top because of our 'policewala' Prashant Tamang who despite all his weaknesses had the support of the entire police force behind him.

In my personal opinion, Amit Paul should have been the ultimate choice as he has such a great melodious voice with such a great projection and throw and good understanding of notes and octaves. It will really be a bad luck if he does not rise from among the runner ups as unfortunately he does not have any large sponsors on his back at this time. Emon was also such a great voice as was Chang, and Ankita. They were all much more stronger than Prashant. On the other hand, Prashant has uptil now failed to make his mark.

This year, we have so many good singers in the competition, like Ananya Mishra, Rajdeep Chatterjee, Sourabhee, Tullika Ganguly, Bhanu Pratap, Sandeep Ubale, and the very cute teddy carrying Sunaikshi Raina. Among them Bhanu Pratap is a veteran of 4 auditions out of which the previous three were unsuccessful but this time he has made into the top 30 contestants who will now run the show. But then we have "Kapil Thapa" our Fauji Bhai ( as written on his profile on the official Indian Idol site www.indianidol.sify.com/contestants ) who will have the entire armed forces behind his back. In such a biased situation, Kapil will always have this advantage behind him, and Ananya, Rajdeep, Sourabhee, Tullika, Bhanu, Sandeep and Sunaikshi ( picture above) will have to put in all of their effort plus lots of extra effort to survive this onslaught. I wish that the armed forces personnel in India will also be very sensible in making their selection on the basis of merit rather than affiliation so that we can get a really really competitive winner at the end. So lets keep our fingers crossed and see that will my prediction come true or the very sensible Indian people who have a great understanding of music will make a just decision in selecting the Indian Idol. Sphere: Related Content

Beggers are not Choosers !

At this time when i am writing this blog, our honorable ambassadors around the globe, our ministers, and all our government officials are trying their best to get some financial aid to support the deteriorating economic situation. Within a very small period of 6 months, the Forex Reserves of our nation have plummeted from a record high $17 billion to less than $8 billion. This is really such an alarming situation, considering the fact that the present government has come into power with claims of full support of the public, thus commanding their full cooperation and still is unable to bring about any financial reforms for them. I just happened to read in today's newspaper that the Indian government is going to reduce the petrol and diesel oil prices upon which all the Indian airlines have announced to decrease the airfares by 30%, whereas over here in Pakistan, the dollar has risen to a record high Rs. 86 per dollar, fuel prices soaring, all food grains nearly out of reach of the poor, and the economy about to slump until someone will come to our aid. I am no supporter of any of the political parties nor of the Army, however for the last 8 years during the tenure of Musharraf, i had never ever seen such an alarming price hike that i am witnessing nowadays. Such is the state of confidence of the public on the present state that people are on the verge of liquidating all their forex reserves from the banks, thus adding more to the misery of the government. In all this mayham, our honourable columnists of the various newspapers are still just concentrating on either the former Chief Justice, or making stories out of the stories of ppl like Aafia Siddiqui, Mukhtaran Mai, Sonia Manhas, or the man who sold his children, or the person who set himself on fire. They feel NO responsibility at all in contributing in this state of affairs, and instead are just concentrating on their story telling and composing skills. The industrialists, the economists, the financial analysts, someone must have some idea to pull us out of this or else we should look abroad for foriegn consultancy if we can't take care of our matters. Sphere: Related Content

" 萬歲利中國友好" Pak Cheen Dosti Zinda Baad!!!

I once read a quotation about China that, "China is a civilization pretending to be a nation." How right the speaker Mr. Micheal Ledeen was at that time. It has always been so mesmerizing reading about the Chinese history and Chinese folklore stories. We Pakistanis hold Peoples Republic of China and the Chinese people as our greatest friends and brothers. Diplomatic relations between Pakistan and China were established on 21 May, 1951. If we look at the history of Sino-Pak relations we find that there have been numerous times when our Chinese brethren helped us at some very needy times. Karakorum Highways will always stand tall as a monument of friendship between these two countries. However, for the last 10 or more years, ever since we got the menace of terrorism in our country, the danger to our Chinese brothers who work here in Pakistan has increased. Whenever i read a news item about the terrorists kidnapping or hurting these Chinese, it hurts so much just like my own family member has been hurt. I feel that it is not only the government's responsibility but also the responsibility of the citizens of Pakistan to personally take care that no mortal can harm all these Chinese who come all the way from their country to Pakistan to help us. To be left along in the community of nations is a very terrifying feeling, and at this stage when we have a very few nations on our side sincerely, our friendship with the Chinese is our most precious possession. It is so sad that there is so little about China in our school and college course books. I wish that our government can look into this and add more chapters about China especially about Mao and his philosophy, about Confucius, about Chinese history. There should be more Chinese language centers so that our youth can go to China both for education and also to work there in different fields to contribute in the progress of the Peoples Republic of China. It is imperative for us to realize the importance of this friendship and work hard to not only to preserve its essence but to further strengthen it. Failure to do so will put us into the darkest corners of the world map.
Let us all pledge to work for strengthening this bond of friendship with our Chinese brethren, and donot spare a single effore to ensure that they live and stay safely here. Long live Pak China Friendship. Sphere: Related Content

ECONOMISTS AND ECONOMICS IN PAKISTAN

These days, i get laughing fits all the time when i turn on these talk shows on TV in which different politicians and other people, who have no sense of the subject matter and concepts of economics, talk about economic indicators, economic problems, the state of economy of Pakistan and other such topics. I just wonder that how can someone be so stupid to come on the Pakistani TV (that used to be national once and now is international) and talk about something they don't even have the slightest idea about. I wish i can call Professor Samuelson (of Newsweek and Washington Post) and Allan Greenspan to share the couch with me in front of the TV and watch these so_called_economists talk about what is happening with the economy of Pakistan. That day i heard a gentleman ( I won't take his name by the way, not that i am afraid, but i don't want him to get embaressed; afterall he is a gentleman ) talk about the world economic recession and then he quickly put all the blame of the current economic crisis of Pakistan on the global economic problem. These amateur economists remind me of a quack in our village who had once been an assistant to a doctor and then started his own practice in our village with a fake photocopy of his masters Medical degree in his clinic. How he used to talk about the diseases and ailments of his patients is what these so called economic_analysts are doing. Economics is not just a subject, it is sheer romance. Unless you have a romantic affiliation with this subject, you will be just like the above mentioned quack. When now I remember Adam Smith, Marshells, Robins, Keynes and then Samuelson, i realize that it was really the love of the subject that helped evolve our society into this modern form. I wish that our honourable quack-economist-politicians/civilians/servicemen should first develop this love and then talk about economics in Pakistan. Sphere: Related Content

Shahid Afridi!

I remember a Cricket match that was played in 1996 in Nairobi, Kenya and a young Pakistani by the name of Shahid Afridi had just come on the crease. All of a sudden, he started a run making spree and made the fastest century in the history of Cricket. After that, he became a very strong force to reckon with and went on to make more and more records. Very soon he was known to the cricketing world as the run-making machine. Later on, he started showing his skills in bowling also and soon rose to the ranks of top all rounders. It was always a pleasure to watch him bat and still more pleasing was to watch him bowl, thinking and planning all the way during his brief runnup. Every ball of his over had a different variety especially his slower delivery that contributed a lot in his wickets.

However when i look at Shahid Afridi, i find a confused, tense and sometimes even frightened person who does not seem to enjoy his cricket even a tiny bit. I guess the crowd's pressure over him to make runs, the fluctuating golddigger media in Pakistan and the team differences are playing a great role in his deterioration. Instead of becoming seasoned with the passage of time, just like Tendulkar, Ponting, Pollock, he is losing it. We all want to see you bat Afridi, we all are your die-hard fans, don't disappoint us. You can do it man, you really can do it. Go for it, go for the big hits with the same confidence you had in the beginning, you are really made for the kill. Sphere: Related Content

Where izzzz Osama ???????????

Ever since the tragic incident of 9/11 happened, i am growing sick now about the hunt for Osama. I wish so much that he has died in some bombing so that this hunt stops. I agree that whatever he did was really inhuman and very sad, an act most disliked by Allah, but who will tell this to the poor innocent brainwashed tribals who think of him as their hero and will continue to fight the Americans at the Pak-Afghan border. So many innocent people are losing their lives because of this stupidity of theirs. And to top up all this, comes our esteemed government, which has no clue of what to do to prevent the cross-border American attacks from stopping. And i wish that was enough but we have our superman Barack Obama, who wants to attack Pakistan as soon as he assumes his office ( which i really wish he does ). Actually no one is trying to understand the psyche of the Afghans and the Pakistani tribal people. These people have centuries old traditions behind them, especially when it comes to protecting a guest against any danger. Some one has to stop killing these people, win their favours and then persuade them in a positive way that terrorism is against the spirit of Islam, and that terrorists, suicide-bombers will never ever ever be admitted into Heaven. I wish Barack Obama instead of talking about attacks on Pakistan, talks about helping Pakistan in the field of education, especially for the people of the rural tribal areas, so that the mindsets of these people can be changed. Afterall, Pakistan has been a frontline allie with the US, and has supported the US in all ways against the war against terrorism, be it Iraq or Afghanistan. With a long list of very experienced statesmen with Barack Obama, i am sure that he can come up with a rural uplifting plan that will on one hand stop all this bloodshed, and on the other hand win him the support of people from all walks of life. However, this is maybe a wild wish of mine, anyhow lets keep our fingers crossed and wait what fate has in store for us. Sphere: Related Content

Richest Souls on the Planet!!!

Yesterday a very dear student of mine, Araib had a debate with me about who is the richest person in Pakistan and he was of the view that Mr. Zardari is so rich that he has about $2 billion worth of assets therefore he sure must have his name on the Forbes list of the richest. I said ok, and we set out to find if ( by chance ) a Pakistani exists on the Forbes list or not. About 45 pages later, we found that there was not a single Pakistani found on the list compared to more than approx a hundred Indians who were on that list. Infact, if both Mukesh and Anil Ambani's total worth is joined, they form the richest duo in the world. Imagine, three Indians in the top 10 list of the richest people in the world. I guess it is all due to sheer hard work of them. The problem here in Pakistan is first of all, the massive brain drain. All the brains of Pakistan are lending their hard work in all corners of the globe but due to non-appreciative and non-thriving conditions here, they prefer to stay abroad, and just help the country in the form of Foreign remittances due to which the governments have been able to pay the import bills. Some of them do return to Pakistan with the zeal to serve the nation like honorable Mr. Shaukat Tareen, one of my favorites, who did sacrifice a great life abroad with the idea of serving in his home country. Hats off to him!!! But still lots of our overseas Pakistanis who come back get depressed with the non-friendly attitudes of our financial institutions, the corruption, bribery, and above all the increasingly poor law and order situations. Due to this, most of them return back. If we just had been able to control the law and order situation in Pakistan, the scenario would have been so so much different, with great economic stability, lower prices and increased varity of goods and services for the consumers to choose. But, if all the good comes to Pakistan, how will we be able to maintain our identity as a Pakistani who is supposed to cheat even his mother and father if need arises. So let me end my very very stupid dream here and get back into the world of reality. Uth jao, Lahore aa gaya hai !!!! Sphere: Related Content