Uh, so today was the last day of my 12-week traineeship at L&F. And what an amazing experience it was. 12 weeks passed in the flick of an eye. Today it was a very fun-packed, yet gloomy day for me. So while I sniff my nose and quietly weep behind the couch, why don't you guys check my desk pictures. I wish I could post those memorable pictures of ours as well, but, umm, I might upload them on facebook. Might.

Left-to-right view of my desk. See that paper pen-holder? I proudly made it and happily gave it away to N :)

I'm so going to miss all those post-it notes that always helped my Dinky Mind to stay active. And my Aussie kangaroo placed right in front of me too :') Oh, and see those capsules in a slender bottle? Only 3 people know what it actually had! Haha :D

This was my favorite side of soft-board :) I had my tiny 2-paged phone directory, my favorite quotes that always motivated me and my huge "IBA Class of 2011" mug. Coffee tasted much more heavenly in it :)

This was the rear side of my desk. And I made a smile there. Know why? That's cuz whenever I used to turn around to look at my supervisor, he would, sort of, glare at me sometimes and this smile helped a lot in balancing my mood out! Thank you, dear smiley :)

 And that's while packing all things up and leaving in a while :( Notice that post-it note having etc written on it? Well, that's end of thinking capacity! So apt!

Thanks a million L&F for making my stay so memorable. And thanks a million & one USAID for placing me there!

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So here I come again with another of my workplace stories.

For the first few days of joining office I didn't know what my phone extension was. So, on the third day, when Dinky Mind finally started working, I dialled zero, and asked the receptionist what my extension was. 180. Wrote this on a Post-it note and pasted it on my phone set so if anyone asks I could tell them without putting my tiny brain through recall-trauma. I also made a one-page post-it extension directory and pinned it on my soft board above the phone (sadly, we don't have glass panels to stick post-it notes on).

So, the real story began 4 days ago when my phone rang and I picked it up:

Me: "Hello!"

Caller: *pause* "Umm... okay, sorry!"

and the line goes dead.

Next day:

Me: "Hello!"

Caller: *baffled* "Uh... oh!"

and the line goes dead.

Another day:

Me: "Hello!"

Caller: *silence*

and the line goes dead.

On the other day:

Me: "Hello!"

Caller: *pause* "Umm... is this Mr. XYZ?"

Before I could even think of a reply, he'd hang up, realizing what a silly question he asked!

And a second later, I would hear the same voice yelling, "Mr. XYZ, isn't your extension 180?"

And a distant voice would respond, "Nah, 181!"

Grrrr... Hello! Make a directory!!! Or borrow one from someone and get it copied! And also pin it up on your board! It's so annoying. The desk I'm using was not occupied by anyone for the past few months. And so was the phone. And so 180! I sometimes wish to have a Caller ID on my phone. :( I hope I don't get such "accidental" calls again :/

Cheerio folks!

PS: Do I really sound like a Mr.? :(

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Till this moment I thought my phone had some issues, but when I called Ufone's helpline, I changed my opinion. When I dialled 333, I was greeted with a female robotic voice giving me really good news - "Respected user, this is to inform you that from July 15th, the charges for calling Ufone helpline have increased to Rs.1, exclusive of taxes. And if you want to talk to our service centre representative, then it would cost you additional Rs. 1, exclusive of taxes. Please dial 1 for...." I wish I could vent my anger out at the mechanic voice!

Anyway, I pressed zero, as it would direct me to the service centre representative. Thankfully he picked up on the 3rd bell, and greeted me by my father's name [my sim card is registered on his name]. I explained him the problem (if you remember, I once talked about my phone not able to send txt messages) and he, very professionally, asked me the cell phone model, and how many messages I had in my inbox and outbox. He also asked me to delete all the sent messages, check the message centre number and restart the phone. He said he just sent a message centre number on my phone (and I did hear a beep). So when I held up and checked the 2 txts on my phone, I found them both to be from Ufone about their silly and ultra stupid services!!! There was NO message center number anywhere in any of the txts! You can't believe how blood-boiling it was. I've been facing this problem for the past 5 days and silly, irresponsible Ufone reps are so darn unhelpful, it's plainly... ARGH!!!

Needless to say, I checked the message center number, deleted the sent messages, restarted my phone and since it's Ufone, the problem persisted! I even restored the phone to factory settings, but still, no success. Now I'd go home, charge my phone and call that silly guy again to text me the message centre number and not promotional SMSs.

It seems like in my life its a rule to talk to one silly person a day *sigh* :(

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The first thing you notice when you walk into my office (which you won't) is the whiteness (or call it 'seriousness' in better words), and, aslso please add, the mind-numbing chill. It certainly wouldn't be wrong to call this place Mini Moscow. The moment I sit on my desk, I can feel all the evil AC ducts directed towards me and my poor nails start turning blue in 2 seconds. Even my lime-green jumper (yes, there are certain advantages of working in a sourcing company) fails to keep me completely cozy. It's of no use even when I try to stretch the poor sleeve down to my hands. Seems like I might need to buy a pair of woollen gloves real soon.

Believe it or not, this cold literally jams everything! My brain, my hands, my feet, my cellphone! *shivers* Trust me, typing becomes a real challenge in this mind-blowing chill. My feet freeze even when im wearing woollen socks and shoes. They become so numb, sometimes it feels like I don't even have feet :( Scary! And that's not just it. My cellphone can also feel that chill and it has now stopped functioning properly. Poor thing can't send txt msgs anymore. RIP, my dear N82. :( I hope I don't get any serious ailment during my stay here :(

The most striking thing about this place is that everything is so white, so dry and so very plain that sometimes I just wish I could paint all these walls in lilac-and-pink stripes (or any other color, if you want). I've planned I'm going to personalize my desk real soon. And I'd make sure it has more colors other than just lime-green (jumper) and yellow (post-it notes).  

Enough rants for today. If they can't let me paint the walls, I can just make my desk colorful. And I'm sure I can then start loving work here ;)

Cheerio folks!

PS: I'm writing this post in my lunch break. Promise!

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"I hope you never hear those words. Your dad. He died. They are different than other words. They are too big to fit in your ears. They belong to some strange, heavy, powerful language that pounds away at the side of your head, a wrecking ball coming at you again and again, until finally, the words crack a hole large enough to fit inside your brain. And in so doing, they split you apart. "


I'm an incomplete person for more than 2 years now. And it's still hard to digest.

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Our media is continuously coming up with crazy, senseless, baseless, and irritatingly long advertisements these days. Ads like that of Ufone that lack clarity and of Sooper Cookies that seem more like a trailer of "So you think you can dance?", the creativity in making ads is going far below standard. Oh, and how can I forget the famous Chaika ad, which was of a similar sort. With an outrageously insane jingle like that, who would be willing to try this product out.

I love watching ads - the good ones actually. And it pains me a lot to see sub-standard Pakistani ads which are more focused towards the models and their moves and less towards the actual meaning and message. The reason I never liked (rather, hated) Zong since the very beginning was that they always blamed one competitor or the other to snatch the market share away in a childish manner. Even if they come up with rock-bottom prices, I would still not go for it. Such ads show poor marketing efforts and the dearth of talent in advertising agencies. One can add a lot of different ads to this list easily. All these ads are not only spoiling the image of the brand, but of our cultural values as well. Why do we have to make ads like Ufone Utune, where the son can set a Utune of 'library environment' and make his dad believe he's in the library studying and not hanging out with friends. Ever thought about what are we promoting here?

I can hardly recall any Pakistani ad where I was awestricken with a WOW. But that day while channel surfing, I came across the following ad
                                                         






 The message is clear, the product is identified and the idea through which the message has been conveyed is quite commendable. Imagine the impact of this 30-sec ad on so many millions out there. Why can't we learn positive things from others and implement them in our environment? Why can't our ads be such decent, concise and complete?

We need to promote our values and must create a sense of ownership among our masses. And since TV is the most common medium of communication, why not use it to become better humans and better Pakistanis!

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What to do in class when you aren't even allowed to use your laptop? Start playing Tic-tac-toe? But that's a kiddy game. So in my Saturday's class, a classmate of mine suggested we should play Hangman.

UA: "So I'd think of a movie title and you have to guess it"
Dinky Mind: "No way please. I'm worst at memorizing titles. Try something else....Umm, as in brand names of chocolates"  [I had Lindt in mind] :P
UA: "Pleaseee NO. I don't know all those tongue-twisting names. Why not try out city names?"
Dinky Mind: "Arright. You think, I'd guess"
*UA thinking of some alien city name when a cool name popped up in my head*
Dinky Mind: "I've thought of a city. You've to guess it"
UA: "Fine"

*DM starts sketching blanks*

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


UA: "Is that really a city's name?"
DM: "Yep. Seems like a big city"
UA: "Okay, A, then"

_ A _ _ _ _ _ _ _

UA: "O"
*DM makes the head of the poor guy deemed to be hanged* 
UA: "Dang! Okay, 'I'?"

_ A _ _ _ I _ _ _

UA: "Good. Now N?"
*DM makes the left arm and tiny fingers*
UA: "Is that really a city or are you just fooling me with all these blanks?" :O
DM: "It is a city. And now I doubt you've ever heard of it"
UA: *throwing another aimless arrow* "C?"
*DM makes the right arm with tiny fingers*
UA: "Grrr. You know if I say 'A' once it means you have to fill all the blanks that might have an 'A'?"
DM: "I'm not that dumb. Another shot?"
UA: "Ermm, T?"
*DM makes the body of the puppety-man*
UA: "Darn!!! H?"
*DM makes the left leg with a shining shoe* 
DM: "I'm enjoying this drawing now"
UA: "Ummm... P?"
*DM makes the right leg with the shining shoe*
DM: "Last chance before I tie the rope around his tiny neck"
UA: *lazily* "B?"
*DM very happily makes the rope and pulls it* 
DM: "I is the winner!!! Muhahahah"

And later after that class I found out UA dropped the course. Maybe he was too afraid of losing another Hangman game with me :P And who knows, next time we might play Ludo or Monopoly in class.

Anyway, now you guys have to guess the city's name. And you've got enough clues given above to help you :)

Happy guessing ;)

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1- You respect my needs for chocolates
2- You outwit me many times
3- Your choice in giving gifts is superb ;)
4- You don’t prolong fights
5- You know how to keep my temper in limit :)
6- You know how to cook breakfast! That’s such a BIG relief for me :D
7- Your ability in keeping me at ease is such a blessed thing.
8- I love your sense of humor
9- And your respect for others :)
10- Oh God, I’m out of words now *teary-eyed* :P

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