Children’s Day!

Picking my nephew and niece from a particular school here in Karachi, I noticed children coming out of their classes in all sorts of fancy dresses. Closer observation proved that the school was celebrating Children’s Day for the students (from Nursery to A levels I guess). The school was bright with an array of different colors and accessories that the children had garbed on!

Kids from the nursery side were all dressed in Halloween gowns coming out of their respective classes as witches and wizards, wearing crazy tall witch caps and funky wands. Whereas other had round crowns with “Happy Children’s day” painted in vibrant colors. All kids within the courtyard were jabbing happily about the day’s activities and excitement that had taken place. Children from slightly senior classes had on the usual uniform however girls were wearing makeup (something that I guess they are allowed to do only on events and funfairs), and funky dazzling jewelry, giggling and laughing amongst their circle of peers.

Noticing all this in the school it seemed odd that as a nation we celebrate Mother’s day, Valentine’s day even at times Father’s day but never on a regular basis have I heard us celebrating the Children’s day. On an international level this day is highly proclaimed and children are promoted on a grand scale, but here it seems that other than the school or schools for that matter no one else really cares for this day? Is it because it is not Islamic? Or against our ethics? Children are said to be the future of our nation therefore how could any day celebrated for them be wrong?

Come to think of it every day should be a mother’s day or a children’s day or special day because we celebrate this day to show our love and care for that person therefore why restrict ourselves to just one day?

Weddings galore!

It’s that time of the year when the wedding season is on! People are getting hitched and grand weddings and other ceremonies are about. Each year right during the time of the 2 Eids’ and of course the months of June July and December January weddings take place in full swing. Each family is known to be invited to some wedding or the other and often we get to see what a small world it is when we run into someone or the other who is either an acquaintance or a friend.

Themes are being considered and dance practices are in full swing.. Color codes and flower preferences, hotel and lawn arrangements all are on the high! It is amazing how tedious a job of an event manager can get at times; they are the face of the event, as one would say the key link to the whole game. They, at the back end, manage the caterers, fight with the decorators and florists and manage the clients with such finesse that one often wonders as though a fairy god mother is somewhere in hiding doing everything so perfectly!

Another thing about weddings is the chance to make new clothes and show off precious gems. Designers like Bunto, Sana Safinaz, Maria B, Nomi Ansari, Deepak Parwani and many more are heard across the affluent crowd of youngsters showing of their latest purchases (that will be worn maximum once and if liked a lot then twice) and areas like Ashiyana, Gulf and other such markets being discussed by the more economical crowd who like to wear their purchases more than once without hesitation!

With a string of weddings to go to myself, I know I shall soon be the social “butterfly” myself checking out the latest trends and commenting on the people around!

To hug or not to hug … that’s the question!

It’s funny the way people meet these days… some walk in an announce their arrival with a loud and clear “hello” or “Salaaamm” others simply walk in and mumble as they walk hurriedly to their cubicles. Then come the handshakes. Some walk in and as they meet their friends and colleagues give a hearty shake and walk off others give a pat shake (the one that seems to say “I’m shaking your hand for the sake of shaking and I don’t really like touching your hand but I’m doing it because I have to show I’m courteous!”)

Girls of the other hand kiss each other on the cheek as a method of salutation! This too has been observed to be of many kinds, like the air kiss, the hesitant kiss and of course the simple cheek brush! But the best yet is what the guys do.

The hugs that guys give when they greet each other are a fun watch. Some give each other a bear hug, the one that seems to envelop each other, others (like long lost friends) hug and then do a sort of a jiggle…not an actual dance but something that moves the torso! Then as a colleague of mine observed today (and quite rightly so) that when guys give a hug they seem to simply brush their shoulders and back off … as if to say “Oh God I’m touching you! Keep away from me!”

Upon enquiring from a male as to the reason why this type of a hug is present his reply was “yaar we wear starched clothes on eid na and we don’t want the starch to get ruined so we meet that way! So I guess the tradition of that has followed suit to this new kind of hug!

The Contributors

Upon joining my ex work place (which shall not be disclosed) I was introduced to a new way of expressing myself online with regards to madly searching for articles (or writing them ourselves) pertaining to brands and services that had a digital touch to them! It was a task that most of us tried to avoid and when finally thrust upon our heads, by the “blog manager” aka Afreen, we’d grumble our way though this tedious task and manage to dig up some good articles for the site.

The reason I write this is because today I would like to thank her for something that she has taught me. That “something” is simply to apply the art of engaging online and letting the others know what the hoo haa is all about. For a person who used to hate searching for digital news whether on or offline, it has now become a part of me to search the net for articles related to the internet technology, and photography (personal interest is involved here you see cause this is a part of my partnered business as well! ;))

Well now is the time that I would thank her for allowing me to develop the art of blogging. Here I would also like to thank Naveen, a happy blogger from London aka my bestest (if that even is a word) friend, who in a very unintentional way made me remember that I too can blog and share my experiences (the good and the bad) with the world so all who basically read get to see the world as I see it!

This blog is therefore dedicated to these two pretty ladies who have reminded me of my once a upon a time passion that I will definitely keep alive and share with those interested in the small yet growing world of blogging!