Urdu All the Way! - Umru Ayar Comic Book

Just when you realise that the passion for Urdu is going down the drain. And, the only Urdu Poetry stanza you know is 'Tuh Rah Naward e Shauq hai, Manzil na kar Qabool' (Translation: You are a traveler traversing the road of love, Don't settle for your current state) 

Sigh. It even saddens you to know that many would not recognise these as the words of ALLAMA IQBAL.

Anyways, with all our 'English Classy-ness' going on, the ones who take steps to initiate a 'Revival of Urdu' must be appreciated. Give it up for none other than 'Kachee Goliyan'. Yes, you've heard the news too? An 'Umru Ayar' comic book is going to be released by them very very soon :D

This calls for a SUPER-JGUUTHSNANNSJFGNSA-EXCITED-NESS cheer! xD

Oh. So, you still don't get what all mayhem is about? Well, then the points below are just for you.

Five Reasons why Umru Ayar Comic Book is worth looking forward to.

1. The dynamics have been revamped. It's not JUST Umru Ayar. Kachee Goliyan have been continuously posting questions like 'What other Alf Laila characters do you like?' and 'If Umru faces Batman, who'd win?'. Which indirectly directly hints at the possibility of our favorite characters other than Umru Ayar making appearances too! Just the kind of comic we need in Pakistan.

Oh look, BATMAN and SUPERMAN! :D

2. The love for Umru's ZAMBEEL and his SULEMANI BLANKET. Remember how in the stories, Umru would have everything in his Zambeel? For those of you don't know what his Zambeel is, it's a basket Umru used to carry everything and anything that he needed. This one time, he pulled out an entire army from it! Now, for the Sulemani Blanket, remember Harry Potter's Invisibility Cloak? I bet you do. Sulemani Blanket is exactly the same as Harry's Invisibility Cloak. ^_^

An illustration of a Zambeel I found at zanbeel.pk
Looks all wizard-ish :D

3. The love for Sherlock Holmes. You can just skip this bit if you're not much of a Sherlock fan. So, basically Umru's second name 'Ayar' means cunning. And, that is exactly the kind of a character he has; clever, smart and cunning. So, reading the comic and smiling through out as you find your 'Paki Sherlock Holmes disguised as Umru Ayar' is definitely worth the wait :)

4. URDU. Been through those times when you longed to connect yourself to your mother language? (Disclaimer: This one's for Pakistanis only) And, no matter which Urdu literature book you picked up, it seemed as if you had just entered into a phase of a Reading Disability as the Urdu words whizzed past your ear like those annoying mosquitoes at night? Well, don't worry, you were not the only one. Now, reading an Urdu Comic will surely ease those nerves that haven't soothed since the time we got guilty about not knowing much Urdu.

A sneak peek from the Umru Ayar Comic Book
Oh, the colors *___*

5. Who's going to be the Arch-nemesis this time? I can not wait for the enemy that Kachee Goliyan create for Umru! Just because it's so easy to love the character when there's an enemy to hate ;)

Kachee Goliyan-Setting trends since 2011.
Founded by: Ramish S Mobin and Nofal K Khan.

Title-less

I remember how I had vowed to dedicate this blog to happy things and writings that make one smile. But when the unspeakable strikes, one is left with no other choice but to let it all out by words.

He passed away yesterday, he was my age, he used to be in the class next to mines, he was known for his athletic skills and his football game, he died in a car accident. Hamza Khatri.

Little did the ones who attended morning classes with him, laughed with him and joked with him knew what was about to strike that very day. It took just Three hours and Fifty minutes. That's it. Eighteen years that he spent in this cruel world, he had dreams for the future, he was the only child of his parents and his mom and dad had big plans in store for for him, were all gone as he had a car accident at 2pm, and soon took his last breath at around 5:50pm on the 9th of March 2013.

But Almighty's workings work in a different way. All that happens, happens for the better. Here I am planning to go meet Khatri's family in a while when I do not even know if I'll make it past the next minute. Death does not really give out a warning signal before it strikes, it just takes away the soul from the body and done. We're gone.

Khatri left us, and to all those reading this, pray that he is granted Jannat-Ul-Firdous.
But, he left behind gazillions who miss his smile, his company, his advice, they simply cannot bear to trudge on with life without him. These people who have a hole in their hearts need us now. They need shoulders to cry on, ears that would listen but not judge, company that comforts them and hands they can hold on to as they find the strength to go through this loss.

Every life matters, every moment is worth it, there are tiny problems that we face but those are hurdles to test us and prepare us as we go forward with zeal and passion. We spend our days looking forward to tomorrow, and at the end death awaits us. We do not leave when death strikes, it all does not end when death's hand strengthens its grip on us.

Khatri left behind his legacy.

Khatri left behind memories.

Khatri left behind hearts who will never forget to love him.

He didn't really leave, he lives within us, in our prayers, in our hearts and our words.

This life is not pointless, as we go forward, we touch souls in ways we do not even realise, and maybe, just maybe, that is how this is supposed to work. And that is how it has been working since the beginning of times..

He Became A Winner

I sit here, gazing out the window. Yes, a very typical scene. But it's not so typical right now because I'm not looking out the window. Heck, the curtains of my window are closed. And yet, I sit here gazing out the window... the window that might have been closed due to all the happenings around me, the window that had blurred my vision and derailed my focus, the window that had been painted black by my OWN misleading ways.

Yes, I mislead myself.

My being had changed its course after I let myself be carried away with the ways of this world. It did happen. It's disappointing, but it's true. This is where I stand up, not a moment longer am I going to grey away my youth as I trudge the ways of the apocryphal ones, I am who I am. I am going to create my own way. I am going to not please the masked ones for once. I am going to make history. My aims, my dreams, they have been ignited by passion.

A passion of doing what I love to do.

-Said the one who became a winner.

P.S. On a very very very serious note, I love Rainbow Ice creams ^_^

Mr.Time. You There?

Wait. I had started writing blog posts about winter vacations, right?
Wait another minute. I had written just one post about the vacations.
Is that it?
Yeah, I guess that's it.

I NEED MORE TIME.
There's so much to do... And I have done... Nothing?

Mr.Time,
will you be so kind?
Stop as you may,
as I hand you a dime
as you pause,
pause what we call time.

Ignore my poetic baldness, because I have lost it!

Shoot. I just wrote poetic baldness xD

And this is when Mr.Time was my partner. Yeah, during the vacations. All I had was time.
That's when I came up with picture-ising each day of my life.

All that happened from 8th till 19th December :)
Nope, I did not get to work on my 'picture journal' after this. :p

17th December-the day those mids ended.
Oh, that freedom :')
We were till 11pm, playing basketball :)

All the work done for LUMUN IX.
LUMUN IX, that's another amazingly awesome story.
That I shall write about... Someday... soon... Maybe... Hopefully...

Yes, I do try to make up my own quotes at times. Sigh.

BUT!
I know Mr.Time will knock at my door someday and it will go something like,

"Knock Knock!"
"Whose There"
"Mr.Time"
"Mr.Time who?"
"The one who doesn't exist"

Yes, I know I ruined the knock knock joke. Completely.

Oh, well. It is true.

THIS.LIFE.MAY.BE.EXHAUSTING.BUT.IT.IS.AMAZING.-LY.BEAUTIFUL. ^_^

Winter Vacations Take 1-Family

Hey Blog,
I've missed you :)

In all news, the winter vacations are about to end. School on 7th January, even though they seem as endless as those Egyptian Labyrinths full of treasure yet many dangers.

Treasures and dangers, that's how my winter holidays can be described best :D

Started off with family at Islamabad. You know how you feel lost and then you search the ground to find something to hold on to, I met my family then :) There's no happier moment than being with family after an entire YEAR! The khalas fussing over you, nani giving you sweet halwa to eat, mamoo taking you out for midnight ice cream and little cousins constantly screaming out 'LUBAINA BAJIII'; even though when you run over to them and ask 'What Happened?' the most common reply is 'Nothing' with a very cheeky smile. Oh well, the joy of being with family :)

Apart from the distant relatives, Mama, Baba, my brothers and my sister were all together after months. And mayyyn, I've missed our fights :D

Ok, so here's how a typical family conversation goes while we were on our way from Kaamra to Peshawar (Yes, I've travelled a lot in these vacations)

Baba: Alright everybody, it's going to be cold at Peshawar.
Mama: Well I've packed extra sweaters so it's going to be all good.
Lil Sister: My purple sweater is here tooo!
Lil Bro: I'm feeling cold already.
Mama: Well, we can stop the car and get out the sweater for you from the trunk.
The bro elder than Lil Bro: Yeah. I want my socks too.
Mama: What socks?
The bro elder than Lil Bro: The socks you packed to bring along.
Mama: You are wearing socks.
The bro elder than Lil Bro: I'm not wearing socks.
Lil Bro: Mama, he's not wearing socks.
Baba: WHY ARE YOU NOT WEARING SOCKS?!
The bro elder than Lil Bro: Because nobody told me to wear socks.
Lil Sister: Use your mind. We wear socks in the cold.
The bro elder than Lil Bro: But i was shouting and asking if I am to wear socks and nobody replied.
Me: You were asking about the dirty socks. You HAD to wear the clean socks.
The bro elder than Lil Bro: NOBODY ASKED ME TO WEAR WHICH SOCKS!
Baba: You're fifteen years old. Learn to take care of your self.
The bro elder than Lil Bro: I repeat. Nobody asked me to wear socks!

'THE' socks :D

Yeah. Well, that was just one sock story :D
I could write a book on the conversations my family has and the book will NEVER end.

News-ness

In today's news, EXAMS ENDED TODAY!

In other news, I AM FLYING OFF TO ISLAMABAD TOMORROW! :D

The Best News, I GET TO FLAUNT MY COATS AND HOODIES! :D

Even Better News, I was going through our old videos. The nutcase people I hang out with once decided to create a video of students from the Student Council of our school being 'bombarded' with a water balloon. And guess where they showed off these videos at? At the welcome party for our juniors!

Yes, yes, I was one of the victims of the water balloon attacks. But, the video did turn out pretty awesome :D

Just look at him go. All set to hit the awesome-yet-innocent victim with the water balloon.
In case you're still wondering, that victim's me :p

The SPLASHES after the hit.

P.S. I've been trying to download that video but my internet connection won't budge.

Bestest News Of All Times, I found the last book in the Maximum Ride Trilogy!
Yes, the bestest news concerns books each and every time :)

Better Than Even The Bestest News, we had unexpected rainfall at Karachi four days ago!
Imagine this, you have a Physics exam the next day, you're bazing'ed-ly tensed, you and physics don't go together much. BUT. The next day you wake up to the sound of RAIN DROPS falling and the SMELL OF RAIN! ^_^

I guess, these are all the News I had piled up of all these days.

Now, I shall resume my packing for the vacation trip. And the LUMUN trip too.

Winter High-Fives

Yes, we complain about the winters at Karachi.
But that's because the weather with blankets and sweaters and those puffy socks with bunnies made on them is not really that cold here. It's DECEMBER, the month when the rest of the country sits in front of fireplaces and lazes around, while we are left to savor the cold shiver when we wake up early in the morning, and then... Well, there's no more than a cold shiver to winters here.

Anyways, anybody can get hold of a lappy (read: Laptop) and start pressing keys to criticize. What actually requires effort is finding the good and appreciating it (Yes, I do sound wisdom-atic, but that's just because I've grown two wisdom tooth now. No bragging)

So here's to the things I LOVE about Winters in Karachi :D

WINTEERRRRRRSSS!
Warning: The above image is just a means of fooling you.
Hey, don't blame me. The TV ads do that to you everyday!
At least I'm honest :D

"The Five High-Fives for Winter" 

(I'm not sure if it's High-Fives 'to' or High-Fives 'for'. Grammar Nazi, Help Please)

High-Five #1. Weather's always the best conversation starter. So, you met your teacher at the mall (teachers outside school seem pretty weird, jbtw), and of course you do not know what to say to them. Well, the weather! :D
And fire the guns of criticism :D

High-Five #2. You get the best combos. Ok, so it's winter but you're not feeling cold? (Well, obviously) Make yourself Hot Chocolate anyways and enjoy it under the fan. Now who said that hot n cold are two extreme opposites?

High-Five #3. No icy water problems. The worst thing about winters is getting out of your blanket after eating French Fries (Note: they're valid in Summers too) and having to wash your hands with icyyy cooold water. Worry no more, there's no coldness in store. (NO. Nobody calls the rhyme police)

High-Five #4. Night walks down the road. Here are how cliched winter expressions go like: winters are amazing, the coffee beaks and strolls down the lane at night. Hold it right there! 'Strolls down the lane at night' in winters are the most close one can get to impossible, unless you have a High Neck on, are wearing a cotton shirt over it, and then wearing a full sleeved sweater and a jacket too. The good news is, the night strolls in the Karachi winters are much more peaceful and require less layers of clothes to handle. Just a sweater or a shawl would do :)

High-Five #5. The sea would freeze! Yes folks, it's one of those 'think before you wish' kind of a thing. The sea here would freeze and turn to ice (Yes, that is what freezing means essentially) if it got too cold. And we love the sea too much to see it freeze even for a millisecond, right? So let the sea be :D

Did I just support the much criticized winters? :O

Am I really that awesome? :O

Well what can I say, awesomeness has its days :D