Thursday, August 30, 2012
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Desi Youth in the US, Yaar!
As South Asians living in the US, we have all heard the terms ABCDs and FOBs being tossed around loosely. Both carry a fairly negative connotation; however, things today are not the way they used to be. We know the world is constantly changing. We get it! But is it time to revisit the three most common, South Asian stereotypes of 2012?
• ABCDs – American Born Confused Desi
• FOBs – Fresh off the Boat
• &
• Introducing…..FOYs – Fresh off the Yacht
Why yes!
The ABCD – American Born Confused Desi
We all know them. Of course they swear up and down that they are not confused. And ok, sure we believe them! But they can’t deny that they are American born and they are desis. They grow up speaking terrible Urdu/Hindi but their American accents are a source of envy for both the FOBs and the FOYs. They often battle with whether to take an active interest in Stardust magazine/Bollywood (a brief, short-lived phase) or Teen Vogue/Hollywood (peer norms). Too foreign for their American peers and too Western for their extended desi families, they are bound to grow up slightly confused. At Diwalis and Eids, they bounce between lectures by elders of either “not assimilating to this western culture” or “be proud to be Amreekan beta, it is your right.” Their trips back to their parent’s homeland are few and rare. Most often those trips are in remote villages or inner city areas where cousins can barely speak English and pedestrian fans, runny stomachs and mosquitos welcome them with open arms.
In the States, they grow up as the only desis in their small-towns and thus try extremely hard to fit in. Hard working students, they do well in school and work part-time at local retail stores just like their American peers. So starved are they to be around other people of their ethnicity that once they get to college they are immediately drawn to other ABCDs. They sign up for the PSAs, the ISAs, the Bhangra groups, the desi fraternities or sororities and finally get a chance to date within their race. Weekends are now spent at desi parties with names like Nasha, Jawani , Rangeela and Bhangra Blowout. Their group of ABCD friends remain close for a while till politics and drama take over. I mean let’s be honest, small groups of desi people…will eventually always lead to drama! ABCD’s are known to look down upon and make fun of FOBs because FOBs represent everything they disliked about going back to South Asia. They make sure to remind FOBs of that fact too. They may – like it or not – act like they are better than the FOBs but feel the opposite way when it comes to another new breed of fresh transplants to the US: the FOYs. Why? Because FOY’s come from a whole different South Asia than the FOBs. They give ABCDs a stronger taste of their own medicine by serving as the first reminder to ABCDs that they too could be made fun of by someone who grew up in South Asia. If FOBS are everything about India and Pakistan they disliked, FOYs are everything about India and Pakistan they never knew existed and missed out on. ABCD boys and girls will secretly resent the fact that FOY’s are bigger snobs than them. FOY girls rarely ever give an ABCD boy the time of day while FOY boys are neither impressed nor culture-shocked by girls in jeans and skirts. Things that are usually novel for a FOB.
Their academic pursuits consist of your basic undergrad and then probably and most likely Medicine. Many will try to by-bass the MCATs by enrolling in medical schools in the Caribbean. They will then go on to make good money and bear children who will hopefully, someday eliminate the “C” from the “ABCD.”
You can usually spot them on the street wearing skimpy outfits or urban clothes. Girls will quite often be found wearing tight, black BeBe shirts and boys will try hard to look like Latin chulos or Jersey Shore douchebags. They do however love an excuse to wear desi attire be it at a college function or a community event where other single ABCDs will be present.
The FOB – Fresh off the Boat!
These are your hard-working International students. Not from the big cities of India and Pakistan but the smaller cities and remote villages. They arrive on campus with impressive scholarships based on their perfect GRE and SAT scores. Each one a bigger genius and math wizard than the other. Although they can barely construct a grammatically correct sentence in English, they could revise and improve all the textbooks in their graduate school curriculum. In fact, if given the chance, they could (in their thick accents and broken English) even teach their professor a thing or two about Fermat’s Last Theorem. FOBs can solve algebra equations in their sleep and a 4.0 GPA is as commonplace in their circle as the smell of curry embedded in the furniture of their shared housing arrangements. Because they feel uncomfortable and homesick in the dorms they immediately flock to other FOBs to arrange shared, off-campus housing where they can watch Bollywood films and cook curries together on a Saturday night. It’s not like they don’t want to go to desi parties. In fact it is just this fascination for such parties that lands every FOB at a desi club at least once in their life. But after being intimidated by ABCDs, they quickly decide that this scene may not be for them. FOB boys will still pigheadedly try to talk to an ABCD girl.
Although most FOBs are on an academic scholarship, time which is not spent studying is then spent at their work-study jobs or trying to help each other by finding more cash jobs at desi restaurants or taxi companies. They rarely get financial support from their families and thus their lives often revolve around their scholarships, stipends and paid-in-cash-jobs. Another reason why their social life is never as burgeoning as the ABCDs and the FOYs.
FOBs are usually there to pursue either an Engineering or an IT degree. They find their coursework extremely easy and are almost amused when their American colleagues complain about their biostatistics course being the most difficult class of their life. Most often, these students will go on to earn a few Masters and then a PhD or two in Bio-technical-chemical-somethingsomething. FOB boys will eventually find romance when their arranged marriage with a gorgeous girl back home comes through. That is when they will bring their bride to the States. A country where they had always felt like an outsider but will now enjoy a new and esteemed role of being a guide for someone who is even fresher off the boat.
They are often seen attired in checkered, half sleeve dress shirts (tucked in for boys, tucked out for girls), tight jeans and the whitest of white sneakers, which they refer to as joggers. They may search for the best sales when it comes to clothes but will not think twice before spending money on a pair of sneakers. Also the first item that a FOB purchases the minute he steps off PIA, Indian Air or Bhoja Air. On some days, they may even don other faux pas like fanny packs and brown belts with black jeans. Long hair is usually a sign of pride for both FOB boys and girls as is a moustache. And yes, that too, for both boys and girls.
The FOY – Fresh off the Yacht!
This is the most recent (maybe just a decade old) addition to the world of desis abroad and they may have replaced ABCDs in the top spot of desi snobbery. Thanks to the legally or illegally acquired wealth by fathers back home, they enjoy a lifestyle that comes with it. A lifestyle that only youth in Laguna Beach or Beverly Hills can relate to. The advent of FOYs is so recent that they have sprung up mostly after the progressive boom (both social and technological) that South Asia has witnessed since the 90s. Most FOY’s have spent their teenage years in metropolitan cities like Bombay, Delhi, Karachi and Islamabad being waited on by servant-quarters full of domestic help or being chauffeured to private schools where being wealthy is so trite that It is almost boring. They don’t come from the villages and small towns which the ABCDs associate India and Pakistan with. In fact, it would be surprising if a FOY has ever stepped a willing foot in a village themselves.
Raised with privilege and golden spoons in their mouths, none of them have ever had to work in their lives. Besides a work-study formality in college; jobs are just something they are to think about after graduation. Summer and winter break plans? While their ABCD peers are returning home to work at their local mall and FOBs are begging the dean for summer campus employment because they cant afford to go home for the next seven years; FOYs are already waving a two thousand dollar ticket purchased by Baba to return home and do absolutely nothing. There may be an internship for a few hours at an uncle’s bank or a summer horse-riding class at their country club, but other than that, most of their summer and winter breaks are spent sleeping in, meals served in bed, smoking in the finest cafes next to local celebrities, enjoying high teas at country clubs, dance parties with A-level friends and attending concerts and/or fashion shows. Mama Baba will often complain that they don’t get to spend much time with their FOY kids because they are too busy being spoilt by luxury and reliving what they can no longer have in the States. The solution then quite often ends up being a week-long family trip to Europe. FOYs act like they are better than both FOBS and ABCDs. The former is something they would NEVER want to be confused with….and the latter seem to people that lived a very unglamorous life.
“I mean why would I go to a desi party or to some cheaspter Bhangra session. I’m sorry I only hang out with desis when I go home to Isloo. I would rather just go to a GT at a rooftop bar and have cocktails!”
FOYs also detest the dorms. Not because they feel out of place but mostly because they are not used to having to share anything in their life. They will often sleep through breakfast but Mama baba will ensure that a four-year meal plan is completely paid for because the thought of their spoilt child starving in college, devastates them. FOYs may acknowledge other FOYs but apart from a week or two during orientation, they try to save their socializing with each other only when they go home for breaks and realize that their fathers are also friends or frenemies. When they do run into each other on campus their conversations go something like
“Yaar are you going to stop in Paris on your way home this summer?”
“No yaar, Baba wants to do a week in Dubai and Abu Dhabi for the shopping festival…”
“Ok…well let me know if you throw a party at your farmhouse. I should be back in Isloo by then…”
FOYs are not intimidated by ABCDs because unlike FOBs; partying, drinking, smoking and dating are things they have already engaged in back home and at a much more glamorous level. In fact, they often end up intimidating the ABCDs. Also unlike FOBs, FOYS are not conscious of their English thanks to English-Medium schools. Their accents remain obdurately thick – a fact they hate because it’s the one thing they cant change - but even with the thick accent and possible grammatical gaffes, the one thing FOYs have in abundance is CONFIDENCE. To be honest, FOYs probably have more confidence than ABCDs and FOBs combined. Unlike FOBS, this is not the first time they have stepped into a foreign country, in fact most have already travelled the world by their 16th birthday thanks to Papa’s international work conferences.
FOYs usually dress in expensive designer clothes which they shop voraciously for. Shopping is the biggest attraction for them in the United States and FOY men seem to be just as wrapped up as FOY women about hair, designer clothes and expensive shoes. Men often dress classy and conservative while women dress classy and skimpy. However if there are other FOYs, FOBs and ABCDs in the room, a conscious effort is made to cover exposed skin by draping the customary shawl. Because come on yaar, gossip and judging each other is the one thing all three of these categories have in common!
Their academic pursuits consist of Business, Finance and liberal arts. Actually it doesn’t really matter what they study because their future’s trajectories are usually already carved out by Mama and Papa's connections and an inheritance. Some will stay on in the US and marry a Caucasian. Others move back home to the comforts of luxury living after having gotten four years of unsupervised partying out of their system. The partying continues more lavishly in their hometowns but once back on their yacht, FOYS will still complain of their country’s failed system while yearning for the carefree lives they once led in college.
So there you have it! Pee Ess….I acknowledge that these may all be politically incorrect stereotypes.
I also realize that many of you are highly offended by such generalized statement.
Some of you are vehemently forming a rebuttal with proof that you do not…absolutely DO NOT, fall under any of these categories.
But you gotta admit, you did catch yourself nodding along to some of the things mentioned in this piece, didn’t you?
Ha!
• ABCDs – American Born Confused Desi
• FOBs – Fresh off the Boat
• &
• Introducing…..FOYs – Fresh off the Yacht
Why yes!
The ABCD – American Born Confused Desi
We all know them. Of course they swear up and down that they are not confused. And ok, sure we believe them! But they can’t deny that they are American born and they are desis. They grow up speaking terrible Urdu/Hindi but their American accents are a source of envy for both the FOBs and the FOYs. They often battle with whether to take an active interest in Stardust magazine/Bollywood (a brief, short-lived phase) or Teen Vogue/Hollywood (peer norms). Too foreign for their American peers and too Western for their extended desi families, they are bound to grow up slightly confused. At Diwalis and Eids, they bounce between lectures by elders of either “not assimilating to this western culture” or “be proud to be Amreekan beta, it is your right.” Their trips back to their parent’s homeland are few and rare. Most often those trips are in remote villages or inner city areas where cousins can barely speak English and pedestrian fans, runny stomachs and mosquitos welcome them with open arms.
In the States, they grow up as the only desis in their small-towns and thus try extremely hard to fit in. Hard working students, they do well in school and work part-time at local retail stores just like their American peers. So starved are they to be around other people of their ethnicity that once they get to college they are immediately drawn to other ABCDs. They sign up for the PSAs, the ISAs, the Bhangra groups, the desi fraternities or sororities and finally get a chance to date within their race. Weekends are now spent at desi parties with names like Nasha, Jawani , Rangeela and Bhangra Blowout. Their group of ABCD friends remain close for a while till politics and drama take over. I mean let’s be honest, small groups of desi people…will eventually always lead to drama! ABCD’s are known to look down upon and make fun of FOBs because FOBs represent everything they disliked about going back to South Asia. They make sure to remind FOBs of that fact too. They may – like it or not – act like they are better than the FOBs but feel the opposite way when it comes to another new breed of fresh transplants to the US: the FOYs. Why? Because FOY’s come from a whole different South Asia than the FOBs. They give ABCDs a stronger taste of their own medicine by serving as the first reminder to ABCDs that they too could be made fun of by someone who grew up in South Asia. If FOBS are everything about India and Pakistan they disliked, FOYs are everything about India and Pakistan they never knew existed and missed out on. ABCD boys and girls will secretly resent the fact that FOY’s are bigger snobs than them. FOY girls rarely ever give an ABCD boy the time of day while FOY boys are neither impressed nor culture-shocked by girls in jeans and skirts. Things that are usually novel for a FOB.
Their academic pursuits consist of your basic undergrad and then probably and most likely Medicine. Many will try to by-bass the MCATs by enrolling in medical schools in the Caribbean. They will then go on to make good money and bear children who will hopefully, someday eliminate the “C” from the “ABCD.”
You can usually spot them on the street wearing skimpy outfits or urban clothes. Girls will quite often be found wearing tight, black BeBe shirts and boys will try hard to look like Latin chulos or Jersey Shore douchebags. They do however love an excuse to wear desi attire be it at a college function or a community event where other single ABCDs will be present.
The FOB – Fresh off the Boat!
These are your hard-working International students. Not from the big cities of India and Pakistan but the smaller cities and remote villages. They arrive on campus with impressive scholarships based on their perfect GRE and SAT scores. Each one a bigger genius and math wizard than the other. Although they can barely construct a grammatically correct sentence in English, they could revise and improve all the textbooks in their graduate school curriculum. In fact, if given the chance, they could (in their thick accents and broken English) even teach their professor a thing or two about Fermat’s Last Theorem. FOBs can solve algebra equations in their sleep and a 4.0 GPA is as commonplace in their circle as the smell of curry embedded in the furniture of their shared housing arrangements. Because they feel uncomfortable and homesick in the dorms they immediately flock to other FOBs to arrange shared, off-campus housing where they can watch Bollywood films and cook curries together on a Saturday night. It’s not like they don’t want to go to desi parties. In fact it is just this fascination for such parties that lands every FOB at a desi club at least once in their life. But after being intimidated by ABCDs, they quickly decide that this scene may not be for them. FOB boys will still pigheadedly try to talk to an ABCD girl.
Although most FOBs are on an academic scholarship, time which is not spent studying is then spent at their work-study jobs or trying to help each other by finding more cash jobs at desi restaurants or taxi companies. They rarely get financial support from their families and thus their lives often revolve around their scholarships, stipends and paid-in-cash-jobs. Another reason why their social life is never as burgeoning as the ABCDs and the FOYs.
FOBs are usually there to pursue either an Engineering or an IT degree. They find their coursework extremely easy and are almost amused when their American colleagues complain about their biostatistics course being the most difficult class of their life. Most often, these students will go on to earn a few Masters and then a PhD or two in Bio-technical-chemical-somethingsomething. FOB boys will eventually find romance when their arranged marriage with a gorgeous girl back home comes through. That is when they will bring their bride to the States. A country where they had always felt like an outsider but will now enjoy a new and esteemed role of being a guide for someone who is even fresher off the boat.
They are often seen attired in checkered, half sleeve dress shirts (tucked in for boys, tucked out for girls), tight jeans and the whitest of white sneakers, which they refer to as joggers. They may search for the best sales when it comes to clothes but will not think twice before spending money on a pair of sneakers. Also the first item that a FOB purchases the minute he steps off PIA, Indian Air or Bhoja Air. On some days, they may even don other faux pas like fanny packs and brown belts with black jeans. Long hair is usually a sign of pride for both FOB boys and girls as is a moustache. And yes, that too, for both boys and girls.
The FOY – Fresh off the Yacht!
This is the most recent (maybe just a decade old) addition to the world of desis abroad and they may have replaced ABCDs in the top spot of desi snobbery. Thanks to the legally or illegally acquired wealth by fathers back home, they enjoy a lifestyle that comes with it. A lifestyle that only youth in Laguna Beach or Beverly Hills can relate to. The advent of FOYs is so recent that they have sprung up mostly after the progressive boom (both social and technological) that South Asia has witnessed since the 90s. Most FOY’s have spent their teenage years in metropolitan cities like Bombay, Delhi, Karachi and Islamabad being waited on by servant-quarters full of domestic help or being chauffeured to private schools where being wealthy is so trite that It is almost boring. They don’t come from the villages and small towns which the ABCDs associate India and Pakistan with. In fact, it would be surprising if a FOY has ever stepped a willing foot in a village themselves.
Raised with privilege and golden spoons in their mouths, none of them have ever had to work in their lives. Besides a work-study formality in college; jobs are just something they are to think about after graduation. Summer and winter break plans? While their ABCD peers are returning home to work at their local mall and FOBs are begging the dean for summer campus employment because they cant afford to go home for the next seven years; FOYs are already waving a two thousand dollar ticket purchased by Baba to return home and do absolutely nothing. There may be an internship for a few hours at an uncle’s bank or a summer horse-riding class at their country club, but other than that, most of their summer and winter breaks are spent sleeping in, meals served in bed, smoking in the finest cafes next to local celebrities, enjoying high teas at country clubs, dance parties with A-level friends and attending concerts and/or fashion shows. Mama Baba will often complain that they don’t get to spend much time with their FOY kids because they are too busy being spoilt by luxury and reliving what they can no longer have in the States. The solution then quite often ends up being a week-long family trip to Europe. FOYs act like they are better than both FOBS and ABCDs. The former is something they would NEVER want to be confused with….and the latter seem to people that lived a very unglamorous life.
“I mean why would I go to a desi party or to some cheaspter Bhangra session. I’m sorry I only hang out with desis when I go home to Isloo. I would rather just go to a GT at a rooftop bar and have cocktails!”
FOYs also detest the dorms. Not because they feel out of place but mostly because they are not used to having to share anything in their life. They will often sleep through breakfast but Mama baba will ensure that a four-year meal plan is completely paid for because the thought of their spoilt child starving in college, devastates them. FOYs may acknowledge other FOYs but apart from a week or two during orientation, they try to save their socializing with each other only when they go home for breaks and realize that their fathers are also friends or frenemies. When they do run into each other on campus their conversations go something like
“Yaar are you going to stop in Paris on your way home this summer?”
“No yaar, Baba wants to do a week in Dubai and Abu Dhabi for the shopping festival…”
“Ok…well let me know if you throw a party at your farmhouse. I should be back in Isloo by then…”
FOYs are not intimidated by ABCDs because unlike FOBs; partying, drinking, smoking and dating are things they have already engaged in back home and at a much more glamorous level. In fact, they often end up intimidating the ABCDs. Also unlike FOBs, FOYS are not conscious of their English thanks to English-Medium schools. Their accents remain obdurately thick – a fact they hate because it’s the one thing they cant change - but even with the thick accent and possible grammatical gaffes, the one thing FOYs have in abundance is CONFIDENCE. To be honest, FOYs probably have more confidence than ABCDs and FOBs combined. Unlike FOBS, this is not the first time they have stepped into a foreign country, in fact most have already travelled the world by their 16th birthday thanks to Papa’s international work conferences.
FOYs usually dress in expensive designer clothes which they shop voraciously for. Shopping is the biggest attraction for them in the United States and FOY men seem to be just as wrapped up as FOY women about hair, designer clothes and expensive shoes. Men often dress classy and conservative while women dress classy and skimpy. However if there are other FOYs, FOBs and ABCDs in the room, a conscious effort is made to cover exposed skin by draping the customary shawl. Because come on yaar, gossip and judging each other is the one thing all three of these categories have in common!
Their academic pursuits consist of Business, Finance and liberal arts. Actually it doesn’t really matter what they study because their future’s trajectories are usually already carved out by Mama and Papa's connections and an inheritance. Some will stay on in the US and marry a Caucasian. Others move back home to the comforts of luxury living after having gotten four years of unsupervised partying out of their system. The partying continues more lavishly in their hometowns but once back on their yacht, FOYS will still complain of their country’s failed system while yearning for the carefree lives they once led in college.
So there you have it! Pee Ess….I acknowledge that these may all be politically incorrect stereotypes.
I also realize that many of you are highly offended by such generalized statement.
Some of you are vehemently forming a rebuttal with proof that you do not…absolutely DO NOT, fall under any of these categories.
But you gotta admit, you did catch yourself nodding along to some of the things mentioned in this piece, didn’t you?
Ha!
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Something the world can learn from Pakistan...
I too am guilty of posting a lot of things about Pakistan that upset me and shame me. However, there are always things that the developed world can learn from us.
An average career of a Western model begins its demise soon after they turn 21. They are often coaxed to loose weight by their agents and agencies and are encouraged to appear as skinny and anoexic-looking as possible. Marriage let alone babies is something that become sure ways to end their careers and take away from the youthful, "girl next door" appeal. Cocaine use becomes a common indulgence among many of these models less out of recreation but as a way of staying skinny. Here is a picture of Ondira Hardin who walked the runway at age 14 for Marc Jacobs during New York Fashion Week.
However, in Pakistan, the average age of a Pakistani model at the height of her career is usually above 25 and even 30: Nadia Hussein, Vinnie, Aamina Sheikh. They appear healthy and dont starve themselves - often seen lunching around cafes of Karachi - and are either married or living a content single life.
Here is a picture of one of my favorite models, gorgeous...at the height of her career...healthy...the right age...married...and with children. Living a healthy life.
Its something we can teach others around the world. Dear Pakistan Fashion Industry...lets continue to set this example for the world.
An average career of a Western model begins its demise soon after they turn 21. They are often coaxed to loose weight by their agents and agencies and are encouraged to appear as skinny and anoexic-looking as possible. Marriage let alone babies is something that become sure ways to end their careers and take away from the youthful, "girl next door" appeal. Cocaine use becomes a common indulgence among many of these models less out of recreation but as a way of staying skinny. Here is a picture of Ondira Hardin who walked the runway at age 14 for Marc Jacobs during New York Fashion Week.
However, in Pakistan, the average age of a Pakistani model at the height of her career is usually above 25 and even 30: Nadia Hussein, Vinnie, Aamina Sheikh. They appear healthy and dont starve themselves - often seen lunching around cafes of Karachi - and are either married or living a content single life.
Here is a picture of one of my favorite models, gorgeous...at the height of her career...healthy...the right age...married...and with children. Living a healthy life.
Its something we can teach others around the world. Dear Pakistan Fashion Industry...lets continue to set this example for the world.
Friday, August 24, 2012
What is a word that starts with a B and ends with a Y?
And is equally as sinful, disgusting and replusive.
A word that applies to all the religious extremist idiots that like to play god knowing that is just as sinful.
A word that should be punishable but its ok in our religion we dont believe in violence.
A word that was eradicated from the world when our religion was preached in the right way.
Yes you guessed it....the word is BIGOTRY!
A word much worse than Blasphemy.
Its time for a Bigotry Law in Pakistan! Let he without sin cast the first stone.
Free Rimsha Masih. Sign the peition.
Today, I stand by Rimsha Masih. Because my religion taught me peace and compassion. NOT bigotry!
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Does anyoone know anything about this hottie???
OK...I feel like a stalker...I like to think of myself more as a dedicated fan, but I first saw this video many years ago. Amazing song that I listened to quite a bit but I'm not gonna lie I harbor a school-girl crush on the lead singer. Does anyone know who this guy is? Is this Salaar or Gumby or Hasil or Meykaal Hassan? I have never seen this heart-throb again but he is sooooo CUTE and wanna know if anyone has any info on him and whether we will be seeing this cutie on-screen again. Is he single? Is he taken? Will he be wiling to serenade me every morning instead of my Iphone alarm clock?
Any info would be appreciated!
Any info would be appreciated!
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Tanhaiyaan - Sequel
Ok guys remember this. The song and these characters immediately bring a smile to my face. I discovered this play when I had chicken pox in the 4th grade and was stuck at home. I stumbled upon 4 Pulse Global VHS tapes lying around the house and I was immediately engrossed. It was the best thing ever.
WELLLLL.....rumour has it that some very talented people including some of the original brainchilds are working on a sequel! How happy does that make me! Cant wait and very excited! =)
As soon as I find out more about the sequel, I will let everyone know!
In the meantime: Who was your favorite character and/or scene?
Mine was Sania (Marina Khan) and I loooooved the way she would rub her palms together. I was guilty of copying that little gesture for a while!
WELLLLL.....rumour has it that some very talented people including some of the original brainchilds are working on a sequel! How happy does that make me! Cant wait and very excited! =)
As soon as I find out more about the sequel, I will let everyone know!
In the meantime: Who was your favorite character and/or scene?
Mine was Sania (Marina Khan) and I loooooved the way she would rub her palms together. I was guilty of copying that little gesture for a while!
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Harry is not Hairy!
And neither is there a Prince Albert in this picture!
Ok, I officially feel like a cougar at this point but just a shout-out to one bad-seed in the family to another. There is a stripper in every "proper" family! Luckily TMZ never took any pics of me pole dancing at Club Candy many years ago.
Ok, I officially feel like a cougar at this point but just a shout-out to one bad-seed in the family to another. There is a stripper in every "proper" family! Luckily TMZ never took any pics of me pole dancing at Club Candy many years ago.
Legitimate Idiot
Dear Akin-to-Imbeciles,
Rape is never legitimate. and neither is your terrible combover!!!!
Yours-never
Padash!
Monday, August 20, 2012
A Lamha…to embrace our pain!!!
“We need the pain…because somewhere in that pain…lies the person that we have lost…and without it…we lose them completely…”
And that’s exactly when my eyes teared up. Tears not caused by sadness or grief. Tears full of hope!
Why Yes!
So I really can’t remember the last time I cried in a film! Those moments are rare and few for a hard-ass chica like myself. I think I have cried in exactly 3 movies my entire life. The first was when I was 12 and saw a rented VHS of Radio Flyer. The second time would be in my A-levels when I watched Hope Floats after receiving a bunch of college rejection letters, a phone fight with Afia and a crush that didn’t know I existed. The third time was on a date with Mustafa in New Jersey as we watched Shrek two days before we broke up. Ok…so that time may not count because it wasn’t really the movie that made cry. However on Friday evening, I found myself being brought to tears by a film once again. This time it was an independent film from Pakistan called ‘Seedlings/Lamha.’
An avid indi movie aficionado, I was excited to hear about a local film from Pakistan playing at the New York City International Film Festival. I bought tickets just in the nick of time because they were soon sold out thanks to all the DAFNYs (Desi Artsy Fartsy New Yorkers.) I had asked my co-worker to be my date for the evening. Her girlfriend had just left her for another woman, so I figured I could be her ‘ cheer-up date’ because the way I see it; I may not be a lesbian like her ex but I am definitely hotter than her ex. She agreed. To both the statement and Friday evening’s plans.
We left work early to make it to Tribeca and then cut through a crowded lobby. There were a handful of celebrity sightings which included the leading stars from the film. We stood in a corner for a few minutes to gaze over the bulky cameras of GEO and VOA to spot any red-carpet faux pas or cute outfits. Pretty run of the mill and nothing that stood out. Well one of the male stars from the film was brave enough to sport a military-esque shirwani with a Jinnah cap and I thought that made a pretty solid and impressive fashion statement. Hey after a decade in the city of rebellion, I too am a sucker for Avant Garde! We have to admit, if it wasn’t for the meat dress, Gaga would be just another Ke$ha too.
Anyway, we lasted only a few minutes, at the unexpected red carpet hoopla before we decided to seat ourselves in the back of what we believed to be the best seats. A very smart move, because within minutes, the auditorium was packed with standing room only. By this point, we realized that no one really checked tickets. Our desi minds began to race with how we could have SO easily snuck in without buying tickets especially since the majority of the guests were too busy with photo ops! But hey! I guess it operated on an honor code. And we were being honorable. Touché!
My friend, Dori scanned the theater and then uneasily remarked.
‘Padash…I haven’t been around that many straight people since my high school prom.’
I ran my own eyes across the room and replied ‘Baby, if it makes you feel any better, I haven’t been around that many Pakistani people since my high school prom either…so I guess we’re both equally out of place.’
As the lights dimmed and the opening scene began, I was immediately engrossed. The first scene was simple yet beautifully shot. As the camera zoomed upon the female lead…I too found myself being pulled into Maliha, Raza and Anil’s world. Let me add, if you’re expecting a film with a plot rich in twists and turns, this may not be for you. Yet for me, that’s exactly what made the film so enjoyable. Its realistic simplicity, the simplicity of the story, the simplicity of its execution and the simplicity of its dialogues.
Raza and Maliha are a husband and a wife, who once probably lived the blissful life of a love-struck Karachiite couple. Their world was probably once full of artistic effervescence; as vibrant as the painted strokes on Maliha’s canvas or the colorful images from Raza’s creative photographs. But when the movie begins you are introduced to them a year after their son’s unexpected death. All the imaginative colors and the inspiration from their lives have since perished replaced with heart-wrenching pain in their eyes.
There is no heavy makeup to take away the credibility of their present lives. You see every blemish, every crater, every imperfection. Despondent hues and dimly lit scenes help validate the morose tension that has permeated into every crevice of their house. Their awkward and almost painful interaction with each other; convincing. Exactly how it must feel when faced with the uncertainty of holding on but not knowing whether to let go. All of this is shown brilliantly through carefully crafted scenes remaining true to the visual versus verbal aspect of good film-making.
The performances of all the actors – not just the leading three – were extraordinary. Special mention should be made about Gohar Rasheed who played Anil, the frustrated Rickshaw driver. On a side note, he actually looked hotter as a Rickshaw driver than in real life but then that’s just my maila fetish. Anyway, I digress. There were also some other noteworthy scenes in the film like the part where Maliha finally vents out her anger at Anil not just with rage but in cathartic hopes of closure and resolve. However my favorite scenes came at the end of the film. The ones that carried a message of optimism. And amazingly those were also the moments that made my vision blur up with tears. The movie ended on a very uplifting note and that is when you realize that in the past two hours, we have not only been introduced to but have connected with more than just the three main characters in the film. Everyone searches for closure in the end. All the characters in the film. Even the members in the audience.
The film could initially be perceived to be about how lives can change for the worst in just a moment. It takes a mere moment to face the loss of a loved one. However, by the end, one wonders if the “lamha” in the film is the one within our control. The moment we finally take the first step to moving ahead and moving on. I leaned over at Dori and saw tears in her eyes as well. Quietly, I squeezed her hand as we continued to stare at the rolling credits.
Later that night, Dori and I sat in a dimly lit lesbian bar in Chelsea, discussing the film and our lives which after a few drinks and a joint from her pocket seemed to somehow blend together. I had just taught her what the word “lamha” meant and she thought it sounded so much more poetic than its English equivalent. I should add, she was on her fourth beer by then and had also commented that New Jersey had a breathtaking skyline.
‘You know what!’ she returned with two more bottles of Heineken ‘Enough sulking over my break-up. This will be my “lamha” to move on and embrace the pain. I wont cry and get angry anymore… I will just start the next chapter in my life.’
‘Good…its about time you forgot about her.’ I chugged my drink and ran my eyes across the bar for a handsome man….any man. There were none. Just a room full of handsome women and Indigo Girls on the juke box. Ma would be so proud of me!
‘But that’s where you are wrong.’ Dori added ‘Its not about forgetting…its about forgiving. Tonight taught me that. Thank you Padash.’
I was glad I could help. I had gone to the film to watch a local, independent film from Pakistan. However, the movie surprisingly brought tears to my eyes and left me with an uplifting feeling of optimism. For my friend, it was just what she needed to find closure in a difficult time in her own life and move on.
And she did! I woke up on Saturday morning with a text from Dori.
‘Thanks for the film, Padash…life is looking good…I just met a girl who looks exactly like Demi Moore.’ The message was followed by a picture of Dori with her arm slung around a very butch woman. I squeezed at the picture hard. The girl’s only resemblance to Demi Moore was probably from a bad still from the film G.I Jane other than that, I didn’t see the resemblance. But hey…it was Dori’s ‘lamha’ and I wasn’t going to ruin it.
The next message from Dori came just a few minutes after. “Disregard my last text. I was very drunk. But anytime you want to go watch a Pakistani film again….I am SO there.”
My reply: =)
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Obama and Chandoo
Ok so the foolish idiocy from the tea-baggers continues. They have now posted pictures of who they believe was Obama's boyfriend in college. Oh i mean his husband. This article was so stupid I could barely get through. Mr John Drew claims he was sure that Obama was Pakistani bhai's "boy toy". LOL! But I must say, althought not as sizzling as the models pic i posted yesterday but Chandoo still looks pretty cute. That is if this pic is accurate. I have no way of knowing. He has a moustache and ya all know how I love that! But here are some points that the idiot tea baggers should know.
1. 2 men can be friends.
2. Just because most Pakistani men like to dress up and wear expensive clothes does not mean they are gay.
3. Mr. Chandoo is probably happily married right now and laughing at your foolishness.
4. If two men could get married back so many years ago...why are you so hell bent on stopping it from happening it now?
5. Mr. Drew when you speak....you seem just as flaming as Boy George. Do you secretly like men. Do you secretly like Pakistani men?
6. At one point you claim Pakistan is full of Muslim fundamentalists but at another point you claim they were so progressive that they were marrying their boyrfriends decades ago. Make up your mind!!!
Obama...you have my vote in 2012!
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
This too was Pakistan sure...but this still is Pakistan
A rebuttal article of NFP's phot essay was published by Abdul Nishapuri. An insightful read sure BUT i still think NFP's photo journey was not trying to paint a misleading picture. It was more of an article of some hidden gems that the youth of Pakistan today could marvel at with astonishment since as far as they knew, they grew up in a "backward" country that needed to "be more progressive." The essay was just a pleasant surprise for many that didnt know that Western tourists roamed the streets of Karachi, that hippes sat and smoked hash in the open streets...that women could go swimming in Bikinis. It was a reminder by NFP to the youth that what they wished Pakistan could be like in the future actually already once existed in the past. Even within their so-called wealthy circles. Lets call it what it is and enjoy its simple message. lets not over analyze and lets not argue!
Obama was once married to a Chikna LOL!
Dilbar dilbar dilbar jaaan....dil bar bar....
Tea Baggers in America can make up some of the most idiotic lies. I just think its funny that they are now going around claiming that Obama dated...actually married... a Pakistani man. As foolish and fatuous as that claim could be...it goes to show that everyone loves themselves a Pakistani man!
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New York Times-bestselling author and Tea Party activist Jerome Corsi, whose political analysis is featured at 1776 Nation and WorldNetDaily, delivers the election year bombshell. Unearthed photos from young adulthood show Barack Obama sporting a wedding band-style ring, the final piece in a puzzle which points to one thing: a hush-hush marriage to his male Pakistani roommate, with whom Corsi says Obama was suspiciously “chummy”. Corsi also doubts that our president actually attended Columbia University, despite teachers’ and students’ recollections of his presence.
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HIV infection outbreak in street children
Breaks my heart! There is something more that we could do.
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An AAS coordinator said the children, largely beggars, were picked by the NGO’s field staff at different hotspots in the city for its two-stage detoxification and rehabilitation programme. Interviews of the children who had sought voluntary HIV counseling revealed that they had either been using contaminated needles or were sexually abused by infected men, the coordinator said, adding that the situation was alarming as 38.5 per cent of the 26 screened for HIV had been declared positive by the designated government laboratory
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Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Monday, August 13, 2012
Happy Independance Day!
This year, instead of green I am wearing white to support all the amazing religious, ethnic, racial, social and sexual minorities that live in Pakistan. Without you Pakistan would not be Pakistan. Love, peace, harmony and jazba! =)
Cant we just legalize marijuana so everyone can be happy????
I was actually shopping just a few blocks away from when and where this incident took place. Breaks my heart. Sure he was a crazy man running around with a knife but damn could he just have been allowed to smoke his bud in public. Unfortunate that it had to get to this point. The crazy man was gunned down! while tourists screamed and ran!
FlashMob in Pakistan
Port Grand! To raise funds for healthcare for lowincome families. Apparently every dance donated 200 (which may not be a lot) but when you see so many of our youth dancing it adds up a lot and adds up to show that our youth are peaceful, progressive and have better solutions than the constant heckling and arguing fueled by talk shows hosts on Geo and ARY and XYZ!
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
My quotes.
I save money on things that I need so that I can splurge on the things that I want.
Physical Beauty: only a few lucky ones are born 10s. The rest of us spend our lives trying to become and then stay at an 8.
Physical Beauty: only a few lucky ones are born 10s. The rest of us spend our lives trying to become and then stay at an 8.
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
OMG its like when the Walls ice-cream guys first hit the streets of Pakistan...
....women in New York will literally be like kids in candy stores. LOL
Man I love my city.
"On Wednesday and Thursday, Trojan Vibrations, a line of sexual enhancement devices, will hand out 10,000 free vibrators from two hot dog carts identified as pleasure carts. Along with the brand’s logo, the carts will feature sayings like “Getcha vibes here!” and “Relish the moment.”
Trojan plans to distribute 5,000 each of the Tri-Phoria device, which retails for $40, and the Pulse, which retails for $30, for a total retail value of $350,000. It goes without saying, surely, but Trojan asserts this is the biggest handout of vibrators ever.
Monday, August 6, 2012
Khan Sahib yeh tu garbar ho gayee bhai?
LOL. So our Pakistani brother Nabeel Khan decided to pull a "desi" fast one and jumped on the brand-wagon by naming his franchise in Canada "Chick Felay". What should have promted a spike in sales from fans of the original waffle fries has now dipped thanks to the Chick-Fil-A hate scandal that has taken over the US and honestly gone a little too much on both sides.
“We had one guy come into one of our restaurants, ordered his food, and then refused it, asking us how we could be so discriminating,” said Khan, recounting a string of such encounters between customers and employees at Chick-Felays’ four locations in southern Ontario. “We had no idea what he was talking about. He said, ‘This is garbage,’ and walked out.”
Khan says it was only several weeks later, after a few more visits from enraged customers, that he learned the president and COO of U.S. chain Chick-fil-A, Dan Cathy, had made public statements in June and July declaring his opposition to same-sex marriage, sparking a firestorm of controversy south of the border.
Khan then realized customers were mistakenly linking his two-year-old chain to the American company. He’s been in damage control mode ever since.
But i cant help but like Mr. Khan for his next statement.
“It shocks me that people would ask ‘How can you discriminate?’ How could you think that? We’re brown people,” chuckled Khan, who has found humour in the angry customers’ outbursts.
“We welcome everyone, customers and employees, with our arms open and our hearts open,” he said, sitting in a booth at Chick-Felays’s newly opened Mississauga location on Latimer Dr. “Working in the service industry, it’s nonsense to publicly say what (Dan Cathy) said. It’s not good for business.”
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Murree Bear
Oh memories of Murree. The best Karhai restaurant, the hotties Gallian friends of my brother's - Mustafa not included - at Lawrence College, honeymooning tourists, candy floss, bhuttas, ice cream cones mixed flavor (choclate and vanilla) and Murree Bear. I only sipped it once at a party with Alisha and then there was always an unopened can at peanut's bar that we tried. Honestly it tasted quite bad but more power to Scott Willis for this acquired taste =)
"The 20-year-old daughter of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis is fighting her recent misdemeanor drinking-in-public charges with a vengeance, insisting that the specific kind of alcohol she’s charged with imbibing in the Union Square subway station last month — an 8-ounce can of Pakistani beer — simply does not exist.
“Defendant was drinking from an open 8-ounce can of Pakastani [sic] beer containing an alcoholic beverage,” according to the criminal complaint against blond and pretty Brown University student Scout Willis.
Trouble is, the mostly Muslim country’s lone brewery, — the Murree Brewery, founded in 1860 and touted on its Web site as Pakistan’s “oldest continuing enterprise” — doesn’t make or distribute 8-ounce cans of beer, defense lawyer Stacey Richman told Manhattan prosecutors in papers made public yesterday.
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brews_willis_defense_C5Gfufc6S2UNVtaY0hNHVI#ixzz22hCF8Z8I "
Saturday, August 4, 2012
10 things Pakistanis hate to hear
One of the biggest disadvantages of living in a nation as homogeneous as Pakistan is that it is very seldom that you get to hear alternative narratives on history, religion, culture and society in general. People who try and present narratives that are different from the main stream are labelled as agents, heretics or even worse, traitors.
Here Omer Kamal Bin Farooq has made a list of ten things that average Pakistanis just don’t want to hear.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Preacher Jack Sch-ut-aaap!
In other religious fundo tools story...this winner here...who is as misogynistic and sexist - evident by this clip below - is also a bigot like most misogynistic and sexist men!
Homeboy was just fired for having an extra marital affair with a teenage girl! On another note...his accent is SO annoying!
Homeboy was just fired for having an extra marital affair with a teenage girl! On another note...his accent is SO annoying!
Thursday, August 2, 2012
I knew it would be a matter of minutes before this became a meme!
By a dear reader who would like to remain anonymous.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
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