Yeh Doo Saal

August 28, 2003 - I left Karachi. Its been two years. I cant say long or short since its so relative, but they have been eventful to say the least. Landing onto the Pearson airport was like opening up this Pandaroas Box of living on my own. Here I was, a somewhat spoiled brat who had grown up in the "lap of pakistani luxuries" and now all of sudden I was in country where I knew four people out of ten million and was asked to live in a city where I didnt know anyone out the two hundred thousand or so. Limited funds and lack of permanent accomodation were also two of the issues on my mind.
However, as most foreign experiences teach most spoiled brats, I learned the art of surviving as a poor student and its fun. Its been good, great in fact, and now I can also claim to know a lot more about myself, life and the world, than I had intially. Canada, despite its extreme winters and openness towards homosexuality, has come close enough to be called my second home.
I have also learnt more about home #1, Pakistan. It's funny how the the views can change when you look at something from the outside. Maybe change isn't the right word, maybe clarified is. You see things in a new light, on a new level. Its like being told you are fat and then actually seeing your pictures to realize the truth in that statement.
Although there is a lot more that I have to learn and a lot more that I am yet to achieve, I think these two years will go a long way in making everything else possible. I now have a solid foundation and its all set to face any thing that the future holds. So bring it on life, show me what you got.
In words of Robert Plant "Its Only Just Beginning".

Packing Up

Its last week of august and over the past two years, this time represents a move. Unlike my friends who carry loads of crap with them, I have no issues with packing. It takes me a day and I am done. 4 boxes, 3 suitcases 1 camping bag and a couple of smaller back packs is all I need to squeeze my stuff in.
The fun part of packing is always going through the stuff that has accumulated since I last moved. Receipts of useless purchases, birthday cards, wedding invitations, thank you notes and even To-Dos that are yet to be "done".
Another fun discovery is coming across change - lots and lots of change, nickels dimes quarters all over the place. I have found almost $11 in change in the last four hours that I have been packing.
The toughest part is deciding whats trash and whats not. The assignment that I bombed goes out, the one that I aced stays, notes from finance class goes out, notes from strategy stay. The strategy quiz on the other hand makes the recycle bin and advertising projects make it to the file.
The worst thing to see is bills that still due - I generally close my eyes and toss them in recycle basket but thats not advisable. I also have serious trouble letting go of old magazines, I have a box full of economist and fortune from the last year that I feel might come in handy sooner or later, for what? I have no clue. But I remember most recently using a magazine from last year as reference, I just cant let go of it, I thrive on information.
The worst part is the clean up. Once everything is packed, I have to clean every single nook and cranny of the room. At times like these, I thank God and P&G for having made the Swiffer.
So now, having taken a breather, Ill head back to packing rest of the stuff. I have a feeling that a new adventure is just around the corner, look out for updates. :D

Cheers to all

MKA

Odette Memory # 527

MBA Games - Jan '05- Quebec City-Returning from the spirit competition Ryan, Dwayne, MKA, Jamie and KS!

As It Ends...

Its happened. We were all working for it and it did happen in a glamorous, the most fantastic and elaborate way that it could. The Odette MBA Class of 2005 reached its end. We are done. Done with exams, done with assignments, done with hectic schedules and demanding ECAs and irrelevant Co-Op issues. We are done, period!
When we all congregated in B-04 for our orientation session we didnt realize that the 40 of us would end being a unified group unlike our previous batches. When we caught up with our fast track colleagues we didnt realize that we were embracing people who would motivate us to succeed. We all kept going just building on from what we had which eventually turned out to be a solid structure built on solid foundations of trust, friendship, harmony and compassion.
Now all thats left are the last few parties. It was the Murphys last night, the Chevaliers tonight, Benincassa tomorrow, Stasiak on Friday and Carbanairo on Saturday. We would all bid each other adieu, with commitments of being there for times to come, of constant communication, of subscription to mailing lists and additions to MSN however what would never change, is the way we all directly or indirectly influenced each other in achieving our goals.

Pakistan Zindabad

To over a 160 million people in this world, this flag is a symbol of pride and a celebration of freedom. On August 14th, we celebrate once again, the right to live and breathe freely. What we should also learn and possibly celebrate in the future, is the ability to exercise that right.

Youm-e-Azadi Mubarak!

The Freedom Campaign

Celebrating The End

Sometimes an evening starts like this, then you start chilling, maybe open a bottle of shiraz and unwind with your friends. Something like this















there maybe some lime light, some awards, some recognition, some appreciation, like this:














you finally decide to cut it loose, shake leg, have a ball party on - maybe like this














and when you finally call it a night, you can only wish these two years could go on a bit longer.

Cheers to friends, to the days gone by and the days to come!

Life

While I was developing marketing strategies for Alpaca fibre, a door bell rang in her world. Probably when I was suggesting participation in Expofil, she headed towards the door, slightly curious as to who was on the other side and partially thinking about what she had been doing.
Just when I argued an alliance with retail outlets, she opened the door. And for a split second, our worlds became one, she thought of me, I thought of her thinking of me. She looked at who was out there yet the aftertaste of my thought, made her smile. I smiled too.
She shut the door, she went back to her world and I to mine. I continued talking about partnerships for selling Alpaca fibre and she went back to doing whatever she was doing. But we smiled for the rest of the day, because we realized, that for a brief second, we were both in the same world, together.