Crow's Nest...

It is eid here tomorrow and day after tomorrow. Somehow there are enough Pathans here to dispute moon sightings in this developed society. Therefore once again the Muslim population here has been made to celebrate the eid day on two different days. some of us will celebrate the occasion tomorrow while others who feel a bit tied up in work and a little easy going can do so on Sunday. In some ways it is a good thing since the number of mosques here is limited and if the whole Muslim population were to come to say prayers there would have to be more than 2 sessions of the same prayer. Last time i said my eid here i was amazed at the number of people that had actually turned up to say their prayers. the MCA in the area is quite active and has a closely knit network. The beauty of this land is that it permits everyone and anyone to do anything and everything. All interactions are encouraged rather than prevented. Mind is given an opportunity to take a free flight. Were it not for t...

What is it it that makes us leave our country and live in another, as second class citizens, for the better part of our lives? I think there are many things. There is the money factor, which needs to be addressed, by everyone. Then for some there is limited exposure in their homeland and they want to enhance their exposure according to their abilities. The availability of reliable social amenities in a developed society is another factor that plays some role. Some come here because they find this society safer than their own. One important factor that i understand to be of paramount importance in driving people to developed countries is their inability to relate themselves to the cultures of their parent society. Pakistanis for most part of it come to other countries because they, at times, abhor their own culture and society. They look down upon their values and thus try and colour their lives with the values of a foreign land. Many a men i have met who site the reason for lea...

I have the step 3 videos with me now. I will start watching them from tomorrow. I hope to complete my Step 3 prep by January and take the exam begin February right before i leave for Pakistan. The long weekend has come to an end. Christmas is all closed here. No shops open not even the 24/7 stores. There are a lot of lights and decorations outside the homes. It is just as if Pakistanis celebrate the independence day. The weather has been nice. There has been no rain over the weekend and clouds have been scarce with ample sunshine in the valley. Tomorrow doesn't look nice though. There is a storm coming this way and bringing lots of rain with it. The bay area will be drenched by afternoon tomorrow.

My step 3 prep has finally gotten on track from today. I did go through some notes and am starting to retain the stuff that i read. It takes some time to start the cramming engine that i had shut off intentionally after my CS. As i have ranted so very often on this blog i feel USMLE is a exam that has more to do with the amount of facts that you can cram in given time and then use them in the exam. But i guess every exam is that way. It does check you r ability to test the selective application of information to come out a winner in a situation. But since my Step 2 i have started to doubt many things. Sometimes, as for example, the exam does not go as well as you think it has gone. Sometimes the reverse is true. But the important thing is the result is a final verdict that sticks to you and is used to define the person that you are. Well there is no harm in doing so other than that you run a chance of misjudging a person.

My result just arrived. I have passed the exam and thus i am finally certified. I can now boast of two medical degrees, MBBS and MD. My next target is a state licence for practice. I have already started the preparations and will be taking my exam inshaAllah in January or February. It has been a long journey but worthwhile, i guess. Today is the party day. I have prepared myself a nice juicy burger and some samosas and will be getting to them once i am finished with the post. It is raining outside and the weather is absolutely marvellous, although many might not agree with me but i like this kind of weather. At least for the time being i do.

As indecisive as i am i can't get to decide which watch should i buy for myself. I have narrowed down my choices to two watches (it has been a long long search). One is Kenneth Cole Reaction . This is a all stainless steel analog watch with three hands and a date function. It is simple very elegant and i like it for its sheer simplicity. It is silver and has a metallic strap. Is water resistant. It comes with life time warranty for manufacturing defects. No wear and tear covered. It is cheaper than the other choice. The other choice is Wenger Swiss Military watch. It is a round dial. Leather strap. Has elegant date function. Analog chronograph. It has a black dial and luminescent hands. It has a 30 minute chrono function. I have no idea about the warranty though. It is water resistant to 100 meters. UPDATE: Since there were numerous number of suggestions to confuse me i resorted to my own invaluable opinion and have finally bought the watch number two. I like it.

United States produces more pot than any other country in the world. It is official now. The hippies produce more marijuana than they produce wheat and corn combined in a whole year. The total value of the crop comes out to be 35 billion US Dollars a year. I mean there was all this fuss about Afghanistan and Taliban producing huge amounts of drugs in their country but this is supposed to be a country where law is the rule. But alas this is not the case. The world leader is leading no one but a population of dopes. Things are going bushier by the day here. things are getting amazing day by day. What does American media has to say about this story? They were all guns firing when Afghanistan topped the list.

This is what my nephew made for me for the holidays. He is an artist in himself.

The only way to keep my fingers from freezing is to keep on typing on the keyboard. The temperatures have gone down considerably recently. And i am sitting outside the library waiting for my sister to arrive and pick me up. This day marks the first day of my step 3 prep. thus far all the steps i have taken in USMLE's direction have been more or less disasters. Let us see what this steps brings me. More agony and despair? My story of Steps has been one of constant troubles. I hoped to do matter but sometimes circumstances dictate otherwise. And it is very strange that after every exam you think for a while that this is the last one in the series i will ever take and life will become the promised bed of roses. It is sad that this never happens. Life is a constant struggle. A struggle in which a battle lost goes a long way in screwing you up than ten won. So many times you are judged by the examinations that you take and sometimes one mistake becomes a black spot ...

I was going to blog about something completely different today but this video caught my eye on youtube and i could not help sharing it with a wider audience. These are a bunch of crazy kids.

And you thought that these things are only a part of the developed world. Actually that is not the case. We can find these things in a developed country too. All it takes is few leaves a square 5' by 5' piece of cloth and a few overzealous management men.

Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct is a peaceful place just close to the Upper Crystal Springs in Redwood city. It is a nice place to go visit when the sun is hiding behind the clouds and drizzle is on the loose. The lake is calm and there are many hiking treks around the lake. We took highway 280 and got of onto Canada road which sticks very close to the lake and has many attractions. Our place of interest was the Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct and the adjoining visitor's spot. And they say a picture is worth a thousand words.

I am in exceptionally good mood today. Well i am in a good mood today. The reason is hitherto unknown. Let tomorrow be an even better day. And day after tomorrow even better. The philosophy of life is complex and can not be put into words using a vocabulary as limited as mine. And therefore my philosophy of life is a function of feeling. I say in a feeling what a philosopher would have said in words or a poet in verse. Thomas Stearns Eliot would express his feelings thus, I Because I do not hope to turn again Because I do not hope Because I do not hope to turn Desiring this man's gift and that man's scope I no longer strive to strive towards such things (Why should the agèd eagle stretch its wings?) Why should I mourn The vanished power of the usual reign? Because I do not hope to know The infirm glory of the positive hour Because I do not think Because I know I shall not know The one veritable transitory power Because I cannot drink There, where trees flower, and springs flow...

The famous British comedy Yes Prime Minister has a website that has a whole lot of information about the programme and its cast and there is even a survey for the fans. All series fans should love to check out the website and i m sure will find the website very informative. Among the many fans of the programme is the then British Prime Minister herself, Ms. Margaret Thatcher. In this youtube video she is seen acting a piece with Nigel Hawthorne and Paul Eddington. It has been scripted by Thatcher herself.

Junaid Jamshed's new album is in the market. It has been given the title "Mehboob-e-Yazdan". The album is a collection of naat. His legendary melodious voice is even more evident in these tracks since there is limited if any background music. It is a good album and is worth listening to. For those of you who possess the blessed broad band connection i have a set of videos where he has been interviewed by a correspondent. The interview is very interesting since the correspondent asks some piercing questions.

I was wasting my time on youtube today when it occurred to me that i should see if there is anything tagged with my city's name. And i found this video. This is a promotional video from a UK charity who have recently completed a hospital for Gynaecological problems in the city. I had heard about the hospital from my father and he thought that the doctors were better than the ones we can find in other hospitals of the city. Little wonder that within days of its inauguration the patient population in the hospital has swelled up to hundreds. I personally think that if we do work in honesty Allah has His own unique ways of rewarding us.

Yousuf Islam has released his new audio album. Check it out here . This album took a long time to come. His last album was released in 1979 before he truly set out to discover the 'spiritual path'. I have never really listened to his songs, although i do possess them on my computer yet they never found my fancy. I know little about the man himself apart from that he was an iconic pop singer in the 60's and 70's and then he contracted Tuberculosis and found death knocking at his door. This made him think and consequently convert to the religion of peace. He suspended his musical yearnings and concentrated instead on spiritual cleansing and charity. He is supposedly a well known Muslim figure in UK. And that is all i know about the man. Certainly that is not enough. Mind adding more?

I am listening to Kofi Annan's farewell address as he leaves the post of Secretery General of the United Nations. He is a very boring personality who carries little charisma s a leader. Maybe that worked for him in getting the post of secretery general of the United Nations. A weak and potential less man like him cn suite well to the wishes of everyone heavily involved in the meddling of the United Nations. For the first time in his history as the Secretery General he has taken heart to criticise those he thinks are going way over board in dictating their agendas through bullying United Nations. He thinks, now, that, world powers can do a lot when they get their minds to it. In his words 'then sky is the limit'. But when the agenda is not appealing to the world powers then no stone is left unturned to bully and avert the working of the United Nations. He feels that all the permanent members should, atleast, be included in the consultation process before coming to the...

This late night email has arrived in my email inbox that tells me of a shameful incident. The people who own Nirala sweets are spreading sour taste in society. The story goes that the filthy rich son of the owner of Nirala sweet house killed a two month old child in his Porsche rush. He was racing on the roads of DHA Lahore one late night when the victim's car came in the way and was ran over. This killed the child on the spot and sent his parents to the hospital in critical situation. When the parents of the deceased tried to register a FIR against the rich car owner the police refused to comply as the accused is an influential man. The family members of the victim have been beaten up and threatened with grave consequences if they do not back down from pursuing the case against the owner of the car. This does not sound shocking to me since i am used to hearing these news all so often. Most of the time i let go of these events knowing fully well that i can not do much to bring an...

These days i have access to Microsoft Corporation's latest gaming machine, Xbox 360. I have been trying to log on to Xbox 360 Live for quite sometime but the unavailability of a networking wire always came in the way. So yesterday i took the initiative and got the wire from a store nearby. When everyone was sound asleep i set on the quest of playing a game online. I had all the required things for having a fun night of games with online gamers worldwide. I had the latest gaming console. I had the fastest DSL connection. I had Windows Live account and i had quiet in the house. I thought that i am on the road to success. But it was not to be so. Everything worked except for the damned EA Sports server. I could not connect to the EA server and thus could not get the online experience i was looking for. Microsoft has done a great job at packaging a full entertainment unit in Xbox. You can play online games. You can store pictures. Download videos and movies and Drama series...

For the first time ever in my life I am connected to the internet through a wireless network. Wireless connectivity has always sounded like the elite thing in internet connectivity to me until the day I step foot in this dream land. Here it is the normal way of life and is taken for granted. There are many people sitting all around me in this library punching on their keypads and browsing the internet with not even a single wire coming out of their notebooks. And gladly I have joined them. I was trying to setup the network at my home but could not get through the technical gibrish that windows threw at me. Today I gathered all my incentive to talk to someone and the librarian was more than happy to oblige me. It took her five minutes to figure out the problem and ta da there it was the little hitherto elusive icon in the icon tray that has computer and waves coming out of it. This is my eye candy for the day or two to come (yes my levels have gone down considerably over the pa...

This weekend we went some sight seeing. Our destination of interest was one of many 17 mile drives alon the Pacific coast. Highway 1 in California runs in North South direction all along the coastal line from San Frnsisco to San Diego and then on into Mexico, across the border. The drive is majestic with hills on one side and the Pacific water on the other side. We set out in the afternoon after having run many errands that seem to deter us from our adventures all the time. It is around 81 miles from Santa Clara and took us around an hour and 42 minutes to get there. I did get a chance to dip into the Pacific waters on the nearby beach. Something that I always look forward to whenever I visit the intense masses of water. It is another thing that the water is so cold that after about 20 seconds of exposure the feet stop sending signals of protest and go numb. It is only after you sit and rewarm yourself that you realize different body parts do actually exist. I am still amazed...