Crow's Nest...

DrPak will be taking his USMLE Step 1 in around 9 hours from now. I hope that his exam goes beyond expectations and that he is able to apply himself thoroughly. He has stduied very very hard for the exam and i pray that his efforts are rewarded to the fullest. Most of all i hope he gets a sound sleep tonight and then tomorrow night. Goodluck dude!

At times it so happens that words loose their meaning. It so happens that you are reading a case history and it is making no sense at all. The words are trying to tell you that the patient has been sick for a while and has nausea and vomiting and tarry stools and jaundice and purpura but nothing adds up in your mind. This is the time of the mind block. I am going through one of those times when the mind is effectively under a block. One tends to read through cases and try solve the questions but nothing adds up. The worst thing is that one doesn't even remember anything new. All the reading is lost and there is nothing but chaos. Total chaos. Trying to concentrate is hard these days. It is one pleasure that I am not able to enjoy in its full force. The condition has been such that I have not been able to enjoy for quite sometime. But come what may I have faith. I have faith that things will change for the better. Infact I am being a little unthankful when I say that I ...

In the past hour or so i have read quite some views on the cricket controversy that arose in the test match yesterday. And all that reading has just made my resolve to back my team stronger. It is a shame the way Hair acted in the match. It is more of a shame that the match referee failed to play his part. It is much more shameful the way the chairman of the PCB tried to display the picture on the ground through his useless interview. The interview that he gave will prove to be the battering rod that will be used by the world to batter Inzi and his team and subsequently Pakistani nation. I think two things are obvious. First that the flwaed management of the Pakistnai team is clear to everyone. There was no one in the leadership role and when inzimam tried to take a stand he was budged by the diplomatic bull shit of PCB board members. Second thing that is crystal clear is the failure of ICC. ICC system failed to respond to the situation and the match referee did nothing. Ther...

Miss bijlee has been eloping with her favourite star Mr. Wapda the whole day today. There was a scheduled shut down from 8 in the morning to 12 in the noon. But then there was this unexpected break down in the humid hours of the afternoon. No electricity for 3 hours in the afternoon really cooks up a lot of things in the sun. This lead to me spending very little time on my step 2 prep today. I hope i am able to make up for the loss tomorrow inshaAllah. My modem is broke and i have asked for a new one from lahore. I hope that i get it by tomorrow (actually it should be today now). Without a mdem there is no life. One can't put the computer to any use unless there is connectivity. I asked for GPRS activation on my mobile and i have been obliged by the vendor. Its an expensive proposition for the customers of mobilink. They charge almost seven rupees per MMS whereas Warid charges much less. Similarly the charges for surfing the net are also much higher than all other vendor...

Uzer collected my passport for me from American Express today. He did the same for his passport. The counsellor told him that his visa will take 4 weeks to come through since he required security clearance. But thankfully he got his visa sooner than that. He must be relieved and so must I be. I am indeed. Atleast something has started go right in my life. Most of the things that went wrong lately were mostly of my own doings. Heard on the news that Karachi got 56mm of rain this evening and the traffic was paralyzed because the whole city was flooded. It was a sea inside a sea there this evening. there have been major electricity shut downs in the metropolitan. Most of the Karachiites will be spending this night without light or water. MQM sponsored terrorist city govt. is nowhere to be seen. The meteorological department categorically stated that they had warned about the rain atleast 2 days back but the city govt. didn't bother to take any steps towards issuing any wa...

You have to stand guard over the development and maintenance of Islamic democracy, Islamic social justice and the equality of manhood in your own native soil. With faith, discipline and selfless devotion to duty, there is nothing worthwhile that you cannot achieve. Address to the officers and men of the 5th Heavy Ack Ack and 6th Light Ack Ack Regiments in Malir, KarachiFebruary 21, 1948

I was in Islamabad this week for my visa interview. Had a chance to meet Ali, Uzer, Hussain and Murtaza. Went to the zoo because Ali was feeling a bit lonely out there in the jungle. Played lots of MOHAA a bit of Unreal Tournament and then again lots of Play Station 2. Watched a movie and spent some quality time with friends. There is a certain sense of urgency amongst all of them these days since all of them are going for the match this year and they have a lot to do before their applications are complete.So coming back to my interview. It was simple alhamdolillah. Didnt have much trouble and was given a visa approval by the counselor. I hope I get my visa now in time to be in US for my exam and the interviews InshaAllah. There was this guy whom I met while waiting in the long queue outside the embassy. He was all very angry over how we are treated there and thought that all the counselors were not doing a good job and that we must not beg them for a visa. And so I had to listen to hi...

I am almost through with my first read InshaAllah. Normally two reads and two months of preparation are recommended for this part of the USMLE. During the course of my read I found the book on surgery most appropriately written and the easiest of all the reads. The book on paediatrics is the most boring of them all. There is little by the way of practical management given in the book and differential diagnosis are not well written. I have my visa interview on wednesday. I am hoping that it goes well and I am given a visa. If not then I will have second thoughts about persuing my career in US this year.

Finally the sky is overcast and it rains when it deems fit. The weather is absolutely marvellous. The heat has died down and grass is picking up the greener shade of its being. Rust is giving way to more soothing green. Thanx for all the prayer!

It is a blessing, almost , to be living in a corner of the world that is the very center of thew country yet so distant from the hush hush of the modern day society. It is therefore not surprising that all that we see on our television screens by virtue of TV channels from home and abroad amounts to moral heresy in our thought. A usual urban dweller in a metropolitan city of Pakistan would not mind women appearing in commercials with their belly buttons and cleavages clearly in the daylight. Nor does he/she mind, any longer, a young woman fondling in the arms of a man on their TV screens. Such is a change in the psyche of this nation. Young and their elders alike brave the onslaught undeterred and together. The show is on and objects are on display and everyone, who can, must have a look at the property at display irrespective of age and gender. We got TV and media but no one ever told us that programmes are rated to restrict viewership. There are programmes that mothers and th...

This is the world of rapidly advancing technology. You sleep in the night happy that you have mastered the latest functions of your latest mobile phone only to find out the next morning that your mobile has become a thing of the past. Such is the pace at which technology and especially communication technology is developing in this world. In this age of cable networking and nifty gadgets I was left alone with my terrestrial PTV antenna for the last 9 months. The reception was so poor that during the whole world cup we could see the players moving and running here and there after something that eluded our sight. At times cricket was a mere throwing of bat in the air hitting at something that was never there. Imagine watching test cricket at this level. So now you can not blame me for my poor analysis of our cricket team. The benefit of such exceptional quality reception was way more than I thought it was. The best of them all is that you tend to appreciate mediocre anchor persons...