Best of the season 'Love Me Again' Nescafe Basement 4

The music industry in Pakistan has been going through a rough patch now from almost more than a decade. However few singles and branded fusion music seasons kept things interesting for music enthusiasts in the country. But this wasn’t just enough. No new talent was coming up so we didn’t really experience anything fresh.

Whenever Coke Studio comes up with a new season, they produce only a couple of noteworthy songs which become talk of the town. The music is vibrant and beautifully composed but the only setback I see is most of these songs are sung by known industry singers.

I have been following Nescafe Basement from season one and love the fact that they keep on introducing budding artists of the country and bring us fantastic music. Not only their seasons cover various genres of music but I enjoy the fact how Xulfi is willing to experiment and bring a variety of instruments in one track. I love the fact that every song Nescafe Basement has produced to date has powerful vocals which makes the experience of listening to that song simply ecstatic.

Recently Nescafe Basement season 4 came up with cover of the song Love me again by John Newman. The song was entirely covered by girls and they did a fantastic job with. We don’t see a lot of female singers let alone guitarists, bass players, sitar & tabla players so it was great to see we in Pakistan have so much talent. Loved the way how west meets east in the song and every note, every instrument stands out on its own.

The most notable achievement of the song is not only that it went viral within hours of its release but John Newman retweeted and appreciated the song himself.

Although all girls have done a notable job but my personal favorites have been Anna Salman vocals,
Amal Nadeem playing violin & Arfa Chaudry on sitar. Great job Nescafe Basement team.



#NescafeBasement4 #LoveMeAgain #Music #Pakistan

Happiness & Us

I scroll through my Facebook app look at all the check-ins, pictures and status and I wonder are these people really happy? Is this what is making us really happy?

The last time I remember being extremely happy I completely forgot my phone, all the social networks and everything else in the world. What mattered to me was the moment in which I was truly happy. Yes once the initial bliss is gone one feels like sharing their joy with the world but looking at those pictures we can’t evaluate how wonderful the life of a person who is sharing those pictures is. Don’t evaluate anyone’s life because of their social media account because we as humans feel secure plastering our happy moments but we never advertise our struggles.

To be frank happiness is not that difficult as we have made it for ourselves. Take out greed from your life and you will be happy. Be grateful for all the things that you have and you will be happy. Take out some time for an adventure and you will be immensely happy. Say no to things and people in your life who are toxic to you & you will be happy. Do things that you have always wanted to or love to do and you will be happy. Let go of regrets, make peace with your past & move on.. You will be more than happy. Smile a bit more and you will be the happiest.

#MyLifewares - Interwood Opens Its Showroom at Dolmen Mall Clifton

Do you know what turns a house into a home? Love, care and time. And the love and care is reflected through how one has decorated their home. Sadly in Pakistan we don’t have many options for décor and furniture however things have been changing. I see shops dedicated to home décor opening up and recently  Interwood opened their showroom in Dolmen Mall Clifton, Karachi.

From grand to elegant furniture, doors, flooring options and accessories one could find multiple options to their liking. Personally, I loved they way they have decorated complete small areas in the showroom to give one an idea how to decorate their rooms, kitchen, children bedroom etc.

Here I have made a collage of all the things I want for my home!

Check their facebook page out : www.facebook.com/Interwoodmobel

Also you can shop online: http://www.interwoodmobel.com/

#MyLifewares #Karachi 

Ban on Sheesha Cafes

Picture taken from Tribune.com.pk

Last week Supreme Court of Pakistan announced to shutdown all the Sheesha cafés in the country immediately. The call was taken on plea of health department. Now I wonder why all of sudden health department got concerned with Sheesha consumption in a country where people smoke cigarettes like chimneys in public space.

These cafes were operating within boundaries and adults with consent were consuming Sheesha and paying taxes for it. Last I remember Sheesha is not prohibited in Islam the way alcohol is and alcohol is still easily available publicly in high end restaurants of Karachi. I don’t see any authorities batting their eyelashes on that.

My only question is that if all the Sheesha cafes are banned why aren’t we banning consumption of cigarettes, production & sales overall? Why do restaurants still have smoking sections across the country? Why isn’t health department concerned about sale of Gutka & Pan which is the leading cause of mouth cancer in Pakistan?

These cafes were not doing anything illegal. They had employed over hundreds. Did the court wonder what will happen to these people? Why wasn’t a detailed report of how many deaths annually in Pakistan occur cause of consumption of Sheesha shared with public? People who are consuming it know the side effects of it as well & Law meddling in an issue so minor is perplexing when we have much pressing concerns in the country.  

Animated movies are not just for Kids - Frozen

Whenever I get excited for an animated movie a lot of people judge me and pass remarks such as why are you so interested in a cartoon movie? Or guys would simply assume since I am a girl I would be interested in animated naturally. Well I don’t believe the fact that animated movies are just for kids or they are girly movies. Thanks to Disney & Pixar most of the mainstream animated movies now are beautifully made, having exceptionally strong characters & articulated stories.

I have decided to select a bunch of animated movies and do an analysis on them to prove the fact animated movies are not just for kids and adults can learn a lesson or two from them as well. The first movie I am choosing is the very popular Frozen.

The first time I saw the movie I was in love with Elsa and her icy super powers so much so that I actually wanted to be her. So the popular opinion was that Elsa was much more loved and admired by crowds rather than the bubbly Anna. If we shed some light on characters of Elsa & Anna in detail the case would not be the same.

Else who faced a troubled situation in her childhood never seems to grow out of it. She remained afraid all her life, shutting down any kind of affection she received by her family which ultimately made her personality aloof. She was a coward in short. On the other hand Anna who faced isolation from her elder sister/ best friend Anna remained optimistic even during the worst times. She faced the world and wasn’t afraid to trust. No doubt her idealistic nature got her in trouble but it was her love & self sacrifice that bought peace & prosperity back. Anna teaches us sometimes magic lies in the simplest of actions.

Elsa no doubt is beautiful and mystic with her icy magic but Anna is the real hero of the movie.

Lesson to be learnt from the movie: Don’t be afraid, learn to trust, learn to love & learn to let go. Isolation is not the answer to your problems. Olaf made sure we all learnt the lesson very well.

Till the next post… Keep Swimming. 

The Curious Case of Hamza Ali Abbasi

We has Pakistanis all have one thing in common, no matter what the situation is, no matter what the topic is and it really doesn’t matter it concerns us or not, we absolutely have to pass a comment.  Keeping this in mind, this blog post is pretty ironic as I myself am commenting on one of Pakistan’s very well known celebrity Hamza Ali Abbasi.

Hamza has lately been under a lot of limelight because of his controversial Facebook status updates. He says one thing but his actions seem to defer his words. His affiliation with a certain political party does not help his case either. So the question is why even bothering this what he has to say? Well we all are bothered by what he has to say because he is at least saying it out loud.

We as a nation do speak our mind and our hearts out but behind closed doors. We can never point right or wrong in public, this Hamza guy at least seems to be doing that. Regardless of what his views are, he makes sense or not but he makes people get thinking and that’s what we all should be doing.

We are not living in the time of French Revolution when people came out on streets to bring a change but this is a digital era we are living in and countries like Egypt & Turkey actually bought substantial change through internet only.

I am not suggesting copy ditto what Hamza Abbasi is doing/saying/blabbing but at least follow the ideology. If you have power to make people think, make people question the system, you should be utilizing your power instead of sharing cat videos on your wall ( which by the way

are hilarious don’t you dare stop sharing those little babies).

Peace Out.  

P.S I only enjoyed Hamza’s acting in Waar and THAT’S IT! I AM NOT A FAN.

#First1000Days - Healthy Start Of A Beautiful Life

Being an aunt of 8 little ones and seeing my sisters raising them have given me an exposure of growing kids up in an extremely different manner.  It’s not just what the movies show, cute cuddly kids always smiling or parents staying up all night taking care of them; it’s much more than that.

Raising a kid means having responsibility of a human life. That is a terrifying thought for me at this point because to be honest we hardly have any idea about kids. To break this barrier Nestle Pakistan recently organized very informative seminar for bloggers #First1000Days. The main purpose of the seminar was to educate people regarding a child’s first 1000 days (roughly 3 years). They informed the crowd that this time period is the most crucial as the child develops not only physically but emotionally. And to make sure the growth of child is ideal parents have to make their child’s health first priority.

Dr. Huma Fahim, Medical Advisor in Nestlé Nutrition gave a very informative presentation which was followed by a quiz. She said that it is critically important for a child to be fed on mother’s milk for 6 months at least. As the child grows do not discontinue mother’s milk but add food items which are full of nutrition.

Pakistan lies amongst the top 14 counties that carry malnutrition diseases. You might be able to feed your kid all the nutritional food but look around possibility can be your maid can’t afford the healthy diet for her child. Help her feed her child nutritional food as well, as nourishment is utmost important for a child’s brain development. 

So coming back to the part where I am proud of being an aunt, it just makes me realize how precious and important these little lives are. It’s our duty to take care of them and help them grow to wonderful human beings in any way we can.