Presently, I’m more concerned for the tiny traces of tolerance and tranquillity that are left in our society. First, the assassination of Salman Taseer and today the assassination of Shahbaz Bhatti are just the hints to how much intolerable degrees of sentimentality our land has reached with issues as prickle as minority rights. I cannot begin to underscore that such murky motives of intolerances shouldn’t prevail in any society! Resilience was a word often used to describe the people belonging to this wonderful land; I fear we are testing this attribute beyond its limits with this continuous cycle of loss and destruction. There is a world enveloped in intolerance. Sadly, Pakistan ends up raising the bar from time to time.

Today for a breather, I was just reading through the poetry of Edgar Guest, which is out of fashion in our sophisticated age; it’s unambiguous, unsubtle, too moralizing, not enough vivid images and fine-drawn metaphors and understated suggestions. While reading this, I’m compelled to think as if we as a nation will stand up against this un-permissiveness and bigotry, or scum to the comminating extremism,. In Guest’s words:

“You must decide in the face of the test,

Whether you’ll shirk it or give it your best.”

You

You are the fellow that has to decide
Whether you’ll do it or toss it aside.
You are the fellow who makes up your mind
Whether you’ll lead or will linger behind
Whether you’ll try for the goal that’s afar
Or just be contented to stay where you are.
Take it or leave it. Here’s something to do!
Just think it over — It’s all up to you!

What do you wish? To be known as a shirk,
Known as a good man who’s willing to work,
Scorned for a loafer or praised by your chief,
Rich man or poor man or beggar or thief?
Eager or earnest or dull through the day,
Honest or crooked? It’s you who must say!
You must decide in the face of the test
Whether you’ll shirk it or give it your best.

Nobody here will compel you to rise;
No one will force you to open your eyes;
No one will answer for you yes or no,
Whether to stay there or whether to go.
Life is a game, but it’s you who must say,
Whether as cheat or as sportsman you’ll play.
Fate may betray you, but you settle first
Whether to live to your best or your worst.

So, whatever it is you are wanting to be,
Remember, to fashion the choice you are free.
Kindly or selfish, or gentle or strong,
Keeping the right way or taking the wrong,
Careless of honor or guarding your pride,
All these are questions which you must decide.
Yours the selection, whichever you do;
The thing men call character’s all up to you!

-          Edgar Guest

This time, I left my home (Karachi, Pakistan) and my home away from home (Manchester, UK) for …… of all places in the world….. (c’mon make a guess)…….. Ibadan, Nigeria! Yes, Nigeria in Africa!

Now at this moment, don’t make think you are just opening google maps in the neighbouring tab of this blog window and wondering, ‘Ibadan? What’s, I mean where is this place?’ I won’t blame you if your geography is not that good enough to know where this shanty slum-like third largest town of the south-western Nigerian state of Oyo is. Like who would know? I didn’t, not until I came here and found out that this is a big city 128 km inland northeast of Lagos and the place where my Company thinks they needed me. Like, hath my luck!! Ibadan?? After Manchester, Ibadan? Oh no!! Hell yeah!

At first I was given an option to either stay back in Manchester or return to Pakistan, but the thought of having a REAL African safari, work wise, was too tempting to ignore. After a quarter of year spend in pondering which assignment to take, before I could get in terms with my decision, I was on a place, bound for Lagos and full of Indian and Lebanese businessmen in the Business class of Emirates. Now I wonder what they do there. Certainly, Shell & Mobil don’t ask just the Asians to come and work here in the Deltas, As we are as foreigners as any other fairer creature in the world (no offense). Later, I got to know what these men were investing in: Import of commodities meant as supplies for the thousands of Expats and (locals) living and working in Nigeria for the Oil companies and other corporate.

Now who would have thought that J2O or Kellogs or Lurpak or OldenBurger will be just usual home brands for an average household in Nigeria? Not me! But thanks to the revenues from petroleum, which constitutes over 80% of Nigeria’s earnings, production exceeding 2 million barrels per day, a big community of Expats (estimated at close to 100K), are all factors contributing to what is now locally called, Expat lifestyle. Just to give you an idea how grandiloquent this Country has become, Corporate tenants are willing to pay rent up to five years in advance and as much as $50,000.00 per annum for a three bedroom luxury Town House in Lagos or Abuja. So much so to keep the Expats happy.

Fact 1: Shell Trustees Estate in Maitama, Abuja: $47,000.00 per annum plus a 15% service charge for a three bedroom Town House

Fact 2: According to the annual Mercer Cost of Living Survey in 2009, Lagos ranks as the 32nd most expensive expat city in the world

Fact 3: For 90% of the Nigerian population, the cost of living and income, both are around $1 per day.

I have always been a fan of Guitar Solos and a testimony of that is my proud possession of a six string acoustic guitar from Ibanez, that I excitedly bought around five years ago, but never had the luck of mastering it Whatever, I won’t give up!

Joe is also known for never using cursive in his autographs

Anyways, of all those virtuoso-inspirations, the one that stands top on liking list is Joe Satriani (well, admittedly after Jimi Hendrix of course). Born July 15th 1956 in Westbury, NY, Joe Satriani began playing guitar at age 14. By 1971, he was teaching guitar to others, one of his students being Steve Vai. Ah, how very orgasmic!

My frequencies for this month are exclusive Joe Satriani’s limited 20 only favourites, in no particular order, which just leave me with an insatiable feel for a command on strings like that!

1. Love Thing from Crytal Planet
2. Top Gun Anthem Cover from OST Top Gun
3. Raspberry Jam Delta – V from Crystal Planet
4. Until We Say Goodbye from Engines of Creation
5. I Believe (Live Version) from Flying in a Blue Dream
6. Just Look Up from Is there Love in Space
7. A Train of Angels from Crystal Planet
8. Champagne from Engines of Creation
9. The Forgotten from Flying in a Blue Dream
10. Engines of Creation from Engines of Creation
11. The Extremist from The Extremist
12. Is there Love in Space from Is there Love in Space
13. Echo from Surfing with the Alien
14. Tears in the Rain from Time Machine
15. Summer Song from The Extremist
16. Day at the Beach from Flying in a Blue Dream
17. Memories from Not of this Earth
18. Always with me, Always with You from Surfing with the Alien
19. Satch Boogie Surfing with the Alien
20. A Piece of Liquid from Crystal Planet

Enjoy, and Happy Listening

This road that we travel, may it be the straight and narrow, originally uploaded by Nida Naseer.

At times, the road less travelled is the road less forgotten. I met this road on my back packing tour to Zürich, Switzerland on 19th Dec., 2009. Chances are I might never forget it, chances are there won’t be a moment as cold yet intimate as this but don’t get me wrong I’d never say never!
possibilities are all over the expectations. So come, what may!

“I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference”

__ Robert Frost

“The struggles I’m facing
The chances I’m taking
Sometimes might knock me down
But no, I’m not breaking

I may not know it
But these are the moments that
I’m gonna remember most, yeah
Just gotta keep going

And I, I got to be strong
Just keep pushing on

‘Cause there’s always gonna be another mountain
I’m always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be a uphill battle
Sometimes I’m gonna have to lose

Ain’t about how fast I get there
Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side
It’s the climb, yeah!”

1. The Climb by Miley Cyrus
2. Bahar Aai by Tina Sani
3. Right Round by Flo Rida Featuring Ke$ha
4. In a Whisper by Norah Jones & Laszlo
5. Halo by Beyonce
6.  Don’t Go Away by Oasis
7. Dariya Par Phool Khilaye by Nayyara Noor
8. Khalla by Noorie
9. If Today Was Your Last Day by Nickelback
10. New Divide by Linkin Park
11. Love Story by Taylor Swift
12. Gives You Hell by All-American Rejects
13. Tanha by Nurve
14. Dillagi by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
15. Second Chance by Shinedown
16. Stop & Stare by One Republic
17. Note To God by Charice
18. Sitting on th Dock of the Bay Ottis Redding
19. Starseed by Our Lady Peace
20. Sober by Pink

Happy Listening 

A story is told that one public challenge to Rumi came from a Muslim dignitary, Qonavi, who confronted Rumi before an audience. “You claim to be at one with 72 religious sects,” said Qonavi, “but the Jews cannot agree with the Christians, and the Christians cannot agree with Muslims. If they cannot agree with each other, how could you agree with them all?” To this Rumi answered, “Yes, you are right, I agree with you too.” There was pin drop silence after it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Veer Savarkar once started addressing a public meeting in Hindi at Bangalore. The crowd started shouting ” Speak in Kannada. We will hear only in kannada.” Veer Savarkar replied ” Friends, I have spent 14 years of rigorous imprisonment in ill famous Andaman Jail where all freedom fighters were kept in jail. I have learned Bengali from the freedom fighters coming from Bengal, Hindi from those coming from Uttar Pradesh, even Guajarati and Punjabi. Unfortunately there was none from Karnataka from whom I could have learned Kannada.”

…… and there was pin drop silence.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At a time when the US President and other US politicians tend to apologize for their country’s prior actions, here’s a refresher on howsome former US personnel handled negative comments about the United States. JFK’S Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, was in France in the early 60’s when Charles DeGaule, the French President, decided to pull out of NATO. DeGaule said he wanted all US military out of France as soon as possible. Rusk responded “does that include those who are buried here? DeGaule did not respond.

You could have heard a pin drop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When in England , at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury if US plans for Iraq were just an example of empire building by George Bush. He answered by saying, ‘Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those that did not return.’

You could have heard a pin drop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was a conference in France where a number of international engineers were taking part, including French and American. During a break, one of the French engineers came back into the room saying ‘Have you heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he intended to do, bomb them?’

A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly: ‘Our carriers have three hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people; they are nuclear powered and can supply emergency electrical power to shore facilities; they have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000 people three meals a day, they can produce several thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water each day, and they carry half a dozen helicopters for use in transporting victims and injured to and from their flight deck. We have eleven such ships; how many does France have?’ You could have heard a pin drop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that included Admirals from the U.S. , English, Canadian, Australian and French Navies. At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large group of Officers that included personnel from most of those countries. Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks when a French admiral suddenly complained that, whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn only English. He then asked, ‘Why is it that we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking French?’ Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied, ‘Maybe it’s because the Brit’s, Canadians, Aussie’s and Americans arranged it so you wouldn’t have to speak German.’

You could have heard a pin drop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Robert Whiting , an elderly US gentleman of 83, arrived in Paris by plane. At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry on. “You have been to France before, monsieur?” the customs officer asked sarcastically. Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France previously. “Then you should know enough to have your passport ready.” The American said, ‘The last time I was here, I didn’t have to show it.” “Impossible. Americans always have to show your passports on arrival in France !” The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look. Then he quietly explained, ”Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day in 1944 to help liberate this country, I couldn’t find a single Frenchman to show a passport to.”

You could have heard a pin drop!

Here we go with the frequencies of this month.

1. Summertime Rocks by The Smoke feat Kailash Kher
2. The Man who can’t be Moved by The Scripts
3. Pyaar ki Dastaan from Lucky by Chance by Amit Paul & Mahalakshmi Iyer
4. Before the Night Ends from Voices by Yanni
5. I did it for You by David Cook
6. Out of Tears by Rolling Stones
7. Gives you Hell by All American Rejects
8. Adhay Adhay by Abbas Ali Khan
9. A Beggar on the Beach of Gold by Mike & The Mechanics
10. Fragile Dreams by Anathema
11. Black and Gold by Sam Sparro
12. Yarian by Junaid Jamshed
13. Halo by Beyonce
14. Jump Rope by Blue October
15. Holding On by Rascal Flatts
16. Leaving on a Jet Plane by John Denver
17. Tum se Hee from Jab We Met
18. Morning has Broken by Cat Stevens
19. Unwell by Matchbox 20
20. Teardrops on my Guitar by Taylor Swift

Enjoy and Happy Listening

1. “Billie Jean” – Released in 1983, it is coined as the trigger of M.J.’s success. “Billie Jean” received two Grammy Awards in 1984 for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best New Rhythm & Blues Song.

2. “Thriller” – The horror-sci-fi narrative music video was an astonishing 14-minutes long and was the most expensive music video of its time, costing $800,000 to create (equivalent to 1.4 million today).

3. “Beat It” – The third single from the multi-platinum selling album Thriller, “Beat It” won Jackson two Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Best Male Rock Performance.

4. “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough” – In 1979, Off The Wall was released and hosted this classic single that gave Michael his first solo Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance.

5. “Wanna Be Startin’ Something” – This track was the fourth single released off of Thriller. It is the longest song, running just over six minutes long.

6. “Bad” – Michael’s seventh No. 1 hit single was originally intended to be a duet with Prince. However, Prince decided against at the last minute because Jackson refused to change the first line in the song; “Your butt is mine.”

7. “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)” – This hit single off of Thriller was referenced by the President during Michael’s 1984 visit to the White House. President Ronald Reagan said, “Let’s give some T.L.C. to the P.Y.T.s.”

8. “Man In The Mirror” – The music video to the fourth consecutive No. 1 single in the U.S. from the 1988 album Bad features historical events of violence in despair; including the Baker tests of Operation Crossroads, the rescue of baby Jessica McClure, Martin Luther King, the funeral of J.F.K., and the 1984 Famine in Ethiopia.

9. “Smooth Criminal” – This hit single from Bad was the centerpiece to Jackson’s hour-long film Moonwalker, which featured Joe Pesci. Eventually, Moonwalker was adapted as an arcade and video game for Sega Genesis.

10. “The Way You Make Me Feel” – On Michael Jackson’s 30th Anniversary celebration at Madison Square Gardens, he performed this song with Britney Spears. Its most memorable performance was at the 1988 Grammy Awards.

11. “Black or White” – The first hit single from the 1991 album Dangerous opens with a guitar solo by Slash of Guns ‘n Roses. The song peaked at No. 1 on charts in more then twenty countries, despite its controversial message.

12. “Remember The Time”- This tune’s mostly remembered for its elaborate music video set in Egypt and featuring Iman, Magic Johnson and Eddie Murphy.

13. “Rock With You” – Released in 1979, the original title to this track was “I Want To Eat You Up.” It was changed to “Rock With You” to better fit Jackson’s image.

14. “Scream” – This track featured sister Janet Jackson. It is the only song in which Michael uses vulgar language; in the second chorus Michael sings “stop f*cking with me.” The music video cost $7,000,000 and remains as the most expensive video ever made.

15. “Will You Be There” – Michael walked away with a MTV Movie Award in 1994 for this single, which was featured on the soundtrack of Free Willy.

16. “Shake Your Body (To The Ground)” – Recorded with The Jackson 5, this hit was iconic of the Disco-era. Selling over two-million copies, the single attained double-platinum status.

17. “They Don’t Care About Us” – One of Jackson’s most controversial songs, the original lyrics brought accusations of Jackson being anti-Semitic. He cleared up the allegations by pulling the album, History, off of shelves and changing the lyrics.

18. “Heal The World” – In 2001, Michael Jackson told his fans through an internet chat that “Heal The World” is the song he is most proud of producing. It also inspired the creation of the Heal The World Foundation, used to teach children how to better the world around them.

19. “You Are Not Alone” – Written by R. Kelly, this was the first single in history to debut in the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100. The video sparked controversy when Michael appeared almost completely nude with his then-wife Lisa Marie Presley.

20. “Human Nature” – Steve Porcaro of Toto and John Bettis wrote this song. Jackson and Quincy Jones agreed that “Human Nature” was the most beautiful melody they had ever heard.

Happy Listening

The second publication came inYoung Times, the weekly children’s magazine that used to get published from the Emirati Khaleej Times. I won a grat deal of precious vintage postage stamps for that too

Now this one that I am posting here was published like 4 years back in Dawn Newspaper, Karachi. Quite strange, but a true experience.

http://www.dawn.com/2005/05/26/letted.htm#6

Enjoy.

It seems to me,
I could live my life,
A lot better than I think I am,
I guess that’s why they call me,
They call me the working man,

I guess that’s what I am!”

–The Working Man by Rush (Dedicated to all those Working People out there on this May Day )

1. The Working Man by Rush
2. Rise Above This by Seether
3. Heal Me by Billy Currington
4. Decode from Twilight OST by Paramore
5. Ungodly Hour by The Fray
6. Dharrke Jiya from Aloo Chaat by The Call
7. Best of You by Foo Fighters
8. Geometry of Love Part 1 & 2 by Jean Michael Jarre
9. Dillagi by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan feat, Michael Brooks
10. Never Too Late by Three Days Grace
11. The Way I Feel by 12 Stones
12. Zindagi Ke Safar Mein by Kishore Kumar
13. Never Leave by Seether
14. Love me Tender by Norah Jones & Adam Levy
15. Til Kingdom Come by Coldplay
16. Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd
17. Seh Na Sekay by Zeb & Haniya
18. Secret Garden by Bruce Springsteen
19. Halo by Beyonce Knowles
20. Ghuncha Koi by Mohit Chauhan

 Enjoy and Happy Listening