Moved to Wordpress

Blogger sucks so I moved to wordpress. http://blog.achemya.com already points to the new location, if you have ended up here or are viewing my older posts on blogger, you can go to the new blog location by clicking below
http://alchemya.com/wordpress/

To Fawzia

Here is to a loving wife, who let her gamer husband play CIV 4 all the way till 2 am at night, funds his various misadventures, takes him shopping to Makro and still comes to work with him to ensure that he doesn't sink the boat when no one else is looking.

Karachi weather update

I like my winters cold and wet and Almighty's weather server just supersized my wish.

IMOW

A few months ago, out of the blue, I received an email from Sadaf from IMOW.

A quick peek revealed an interesting topic open to commentary and dialogue not just by the fairer sex but also to their admirers, partners and spouses.

Incase you are wondering what IMOW is all about, go take a look see, I am not going to tell you. They say it much better than I do.

And no this is not a paid endorsement or an ad.

PICIC, Shaukat Tarin and Rumours

Lots of news in the air, but no traction in print. It seems the DFI has gone the Shaukat way. "Persons close to the matters said."

Oh and where was I?

For the past two months - in hiding from customers, team members and relatives. Too much work, too little time, too many distractions.

Am I back? Don't know as yet.

Shopping at Makro

Did I have fun yesterday or what?

When I came back to Karachi, I knew I would miss a few things - DVD rentals, books on Amazon, shopping at Costco, driving in California, the entreprenurial free spirit, and movies. Here is how things have shaped up in Karachi over the last four years.

a. Dvd rentals - Rs 90 for a pirated edition, master print. Smuggle the office multi media projector home, connect it to my amplified speakers and you have the joys of a full screen experience in your lounge.

b. Books on Amazon - 10 days for delivery of new books to you home. If you are buying used books, too bad.

c. Driving in California - I get my fix by doing the Gulshan - Defence sprint at 7 am in the morning. Don't knock it, till you try it.

e. Entreprenurial free spirit - 4 years of solid partying at Associates and Technologies. As Joseph Heller put it in closing time, I work for M&M enterprises and associates. My partners are enterprising, I associate.

The only item left was shopping at Costco and House of Habib and Makro took care of that yesterday. 300 car parking (jam packed), 25 plus counters, somewhere between 50,000 - 75,000 sqft of warehouse format space and price that reflect a discount of 10% - 20% over retail. 9 liters of pepsi for 190 bucks (3 dollars). For a firm that lives on colored water, the only thing cooler was storage solutions from Thailand and the tool box section.

There are glitches but they will get sorted out within the next few months. Still much better execution and value creation than Dmart, which, I am sorry to say has been a major disappointment and let down.

Don't take my word for it, go take a look. Head down from Hassan Square towards SITE, hang a right from the Site office intersection and you will hit MAKRO on the right.

Oh, btw, its CASH only but they have an ATM within the store.

Big day for Bangladesh

A well deserverd Nobel prize for Yonus and Grameen Bank and a day later we find that one of the beneficiaries of the 1.65 billion dollar Google / Youtube deal is a young Bangladeshi co founder, now at Stanford.

Who says desi's don't get it or can't make it?

Traffic update

This Ramazan CDGK and the traffic police department deserve my heartfelt gratitude and Kudos from all Karachite.

For the first time in my life have I seen a collective effort between traffic police and volunteers ensuring a smooth flow all the way from Shahrae-Faisal to Gulshan-e-Iqbal. Mind you this involves a far bigger strength than you would normally see during VIP movements. On Hassan Square, Jail Road, University Road and Stadium Road, this group stands by all the way to Iftar to make sure that we get home on time and in, an as yet totally alien to Karachi, order and comfort. On the first day of Ramazan I thought it was a VIP movement but now the 8th roza, these guys have made me feel like a VIP.

When I say that there is hope, its itsy bitsy little thing like these that indicate we are on the right track and heading in the right direction. I have never before seen a Karachi government receptive to Karachites needs. Remember this is not the Senators or the MNA's or the MPA's at work. This is the local body system and CDGK. We must go out and support it.

Another five years and you won't recognize this city.

Block 6, PECHS

Every day I take the turn off Shahrae-Faisal into the lanes of Block 6 in the evening.

Even before Ramazan, I had picked up the most scenic and serene route. It passes by three lanes blessed with lush green gardens, beautiful houses, no traffic and half way decent roads. The journey lasts for all of 7 minutes before I resurface on Shaheed Millat and madness. Inner peace and my mistress betweeen work and home?

Outrage - redux

But then all of us know of atleast a handful of genuine, caring and sincere individuals who make living in this country and this beautiful city worthwhile.

That is a lot of handfuls.

There is always hope.

More outrage

We are a nation of hypocrites. You, me, every one around us. Look inside yourself and tell me you are not.

Your biggest challenge if you are not AND if you come back home would be dealing with hypocracy around you. Your biggest nightmare would be avoiding turning into one.

It will start with the minor bits, traffic lights and FM stations, masjids and relatives, friends and politics at work and will grow and grow till you will give in to the charade and count yourself one.

Or turn bipolor.

Or do both.

I recommend the bipolar route - atleast you will have an outlet for the outrage you feel when you keep on praising God with your public face and screwing His Umat privately.

The Amazonian Indo-Pak war of 2006

Its comical and sad and at time ironic. Three Pakistani reviews with a 5 followed by 5 Indian reviews with a 1 and then repeat.

And the non-desi's commenting "Guys, its just a book. Fiction, non-fiction, truth, lie... who cares, grow up".

Next Stop Oprah

The Whitehouse, Jon Stewart and now the hotseat on Oprah

Mushie at # 3

Who says the daily show doesn't help book sales. Only two more notches to number one.

@ number 8 now

Mushie now at number 8 on the Amazon best seller list. Go book go.

Mixed and entertaining reviews on Amazon. It is a full scale war between the four desi factions (Pakistani's - In favor, Pakistani's - Against, Indians - In favor, Indian's - Against).

In the line of fire debuts at Amazon and Liberty Books

In the line of fire debut at Amazon at number 24 and quickly jumps to number 11 as of this morning. Also available at Liberty book stores for 1295. Long que of readers at home (Ammi, Abba first) but initial reviews and reactions are promising.

Monetary Analysis and Pakistan's Macro out look

Had an outstanding Macro professor at Columbia who in a prior life used to work for Soros. It was the first time in my life that I actually liked the subject.

Still Asif Qureshi's day long presentation on the FMA platform on analyzing monetary variables as well as the outlook for Pakistan was nothing short of brilliant. If you hated Macro or never understood what M2 meant, or what is the outlook for Pakistan, take a look see.

Asif run research at Invisor and is very well respected. One caveat though - remember its the dismal science, because the outlook is always dismal.