I am one of Pakistan’s spare parts. I am at a dinner party in Pakistan, where I have just been asked the dreaded question: “So Abdul-Rehman, what do you want to be?” My parents shuffle uncomfortably, aware of what’s about to come. In a timid voice, I quietly reply, “I’d love to be a writer”, and stare intently at the floor. The air freezes momentarily in an embarrassed, awkward silence and my relative’s eager smile suddenly turns quizzical. They quickly recover and ask, “A writer? Why don’t you become a doctor or an engineer?” I know that whatever I say, I am immediately judged as a boy without ambition or talent. In Pakistan, creativity is measured with a sneer.
Read more…
Some say it is rabbit food but the truth is, it is great for human beings too. I cannot survive only on it but I cannot survive without it either!
If rightly prepared, no meal can be as wholesome as a salad. It is the simplest of dishes, yet a poor dressing can completely ruin the taste, crunch and freshness of a salad. A couple of months back my daughter and I had opted for a 15-day raw vegan diet, and it was during this period that I realised how salads could be ‘the meal’ instead of just a plateful of sliced raw vegetables, sprinkled with salt and pepper, that people pick on and then move onto the next course of the meal. I found that salads could be fun and healthy if only we give it a little variation in terms of dressing and presentation. The dressing can be just salt and pepper with a squeeze of lime as we do on most days, but that can get monotonous. Try varying the flavours or the dressing and adding some nuts or dried fruits and you will find that it can transform into the most interesting dish on the table, apart from keeping that waistline intact.
I have a repertoire of dressings I play with, my favourite being Italian inspired Asian salads. I also like to mix in slivers of soft dates or carrots or halved raisins to introduce mild sweetness.
Read more…
KARACHI: Kandukuri Benny Prasad from Bangalore, India has broken the world record of travelling to the highest number of countries in the shortest period of time.
And by shortest period, we mean six years, six months and 22 days, visiting 245 countries in total.
Ending his world tour with a short stay in Karachi on November 25, Prasad spoke to Dawn.com about his experiences. An instrumental musician, he has performed almost everywhere he travelled — from a research station in Antartica to the streets of Iraq. Read more…
As we all know that smoking is injurious to health , besides of its disadvantages their are some advantages also :
1: A Chain smoker never grow old he always remain young because he dies before that .
2: Smoking increase social network of smoker as two smokers are always friends .
3: Smoking brings equality among humans , which many social workers were unable to make because ones ciggerete is always fresh for other smokers . Read more…
There are 6.8 billion people on the planet. These are the 68 who matter.
We are fascinated by power. We stand in awe of those who apply it adroitly — and in fear of those who abuse it. We lust for power. Everyone would rather be a hammer than a nail.
The people on this list were chosen because, in various ways, they bend the world to their will. They are heads of state, major religious figures, entrepreneurs and outlaws. Comparing the relative power of such a diverse group is slippery business. To do it, we defined power in four dimensions. First, we asked if a person has influence over a lot of people. For heads-of-state we looked at population, for religious figures we measured the size of their flocks, for CEOs we counted their employees and for media figures we considered the size of their audience.
Second, we checked to see if they have significant financial resources relative to their peers. This meant comparing GDP for political leaders, net worth for billionaires and their ranking on the Forbes Global 2000 for CEOs. The Global 2000 lists the largest companies in the world based on a composite of market capitalization, assets, sales and profits.
Then we determined if they were powerful in multiple spheres, awarding bonus points for those who can project their power many ways. Silvio Berlusconi (No. 14), for instance, got a big boost for not only being the prime minister of Italy, but because he is also a billionaire media mogul who owns soccer team, AC Milan. Read more…
