The Way to Go !!!

By God, he that is weakest among you shall be in my eye the strongest, until I have vindicated for him his rights; he that is strongest I will treat as the weakest, until he complies with the law.

Above statement was given by second caliph of Islam Umar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb one of the most great and wise leaders this world has ever seen as agreed by historians from all sects and religions. Above saying reflects the core idea behind the method of governance by Umar. The idea of Welfare state originates from the protection of the weakest and bounding the strong within the limits of law. As many historians agree Umar concentrated on developing the areas conquered and laying foundations of a welfare state rather than just adding numbers to Muslim states yet Muslims expanded on an unprecedented rate in the reign of Umar. This expansion certainly reflects the acceptance of people to the foundation of society laid by Umar and their willingness to follow him with conviction.

The idea of protecting the weakest among us is not related to any special sect or religion. But from my view point every religion prescribed this solution for the social injustice and oppression over the poor and weak. In this world today from developed to the third world countries we are suffering from unequal distribution of wealth and facilities. The recent protest of “Occupy Wall street” shows even in the most developed country there have accumulated great number of people who are denied their basic rights and needs. The pioneers of capitalism are now experiencing the consequences of a system that is based on endless hunger of more and more. No doubt what this system offers attracts the best of us and we do whatever we can do to get everything it has to offer, but there are always people on the other side who are deprived of even the basic needs of life. This disproportion creates a rift in society which becomes the source of corruption and crimes. 

If we have to move forward without collapsing and disappearing in oblivion, we would have to stick to this basic rule of a welfare society, that provides the weak with the due protection it needs and making it mandatory for strong to vindicate rights to the weak. This would create a self-regenerating cycle which will heal the disparities of a society. We have to realize that this current system of greed and selfishness now needs to be condemned; we would have to be selfless and just in order for Humanity to survive.

The Smartphone fever. Android vs iOS

The smartphone fever has hit Pakistan like any other developed country out there. You just cannot say that we are a poor nation when we look at the smart phones every other person is holding in his/her hands. I dont need to explain what the smartphone fever is because you know what I am talking about.

Yes, the next question. Who is leading? Well I am pretty sure that Blacberry with their BB OS & Nokia with their Windows Phone, Symbian & Symbian Anna clearly isn't. There are two horses who are leading the race. The first one is the Google created freeware, Android and the second one is the closed eco system iOS by Apple. The Android & iOS fanboys will fight to the death to prove that their beloved OS is the best. Though, even I feel that the kind of freedom & creativity which my android phone gives me, an iPhone will never be able to satisfy.

Now why people buy that specific product. What I have came to know after meeting the two different kinds of people i.e. Android & iOS Fanboys is that, the person who has an android phone is much more likely to be more technology literate than the person who has an iPhone. There has been many instances, when I asked an iPhone or iPad owner that do you know you can get better specifications, better screen etc etc in that phone, i.e. HTC Sensation or a Samsung Galaxy S2 or a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is better than this iPad you are holding and that person was totally blank & gave me that typical apple fan smile and said I dont know about these devices. Some people went even further by saying, Apple is Apple.

Apple has the best marketing, FACT! Android is the best OS, FACT!

With android you get so much freedom that you can customize your device any way you want with widget, different homescreens & shortcuts. You have the freedom to connect it to any device. You get a plethora of smartphones with different vendors in the market. And you get the never ending free apps in the Google Play Store.

People say that they can also get free apps on iPhone or iPad via cydia, but on android, you get it on a stock phone, whereas, you need to jailbreak your apple device.

According to stats, Around 50% of US Smartphone Market Share belongs to Google's Android OS and around 30% is ownned by iOS. And I bet, Android market share is even higher across the globe with Android phones being availble readily across different markets, by different vendors & with different price ranges.

I ain't no judge, but let's see the b/m stats. They are a bit old, now android market share is even higher:

Now, question is, do you have the smartphone fever? Would you buy an expensive apple product with low specs & smaller screens than a higher spec'd gorgeous looking android phone!? "Food for thought"

Pakistan vs India, Just Cricket?

What else brings life to one-fifth of world’s population?  It doesn’t matter which team looks better on paper, which is in more form, which superstar is playing and what war is going in other parts of the world. Nothing matters most to 1400 million humans when it comes to a cricket match between India and Pakistan.

’96 QF still melts hearts of many and ’11 SF still increases the chest size across the border. For India, Tendulkar is larger than life, bigger than their team, but it’s not the case in India Pakistan clash. It’s bigger than Imran Khan and Kapil Dev, Wasim Waqar Saurav Dravid all look tiny when it comes to a match between these two arch rivals of sub-continent.

Pakistan has already qualified for the final of Asia Cup, finally after 12 years. Sunday’s match was considered to be one of two matches to be played between these two nations but an upset win of Bangladesh has put more life in the contest. Always remember, its first time two teams are meeting after very controversial semifinal of last year’s world cup.

On paper and this time on ground too, Pakistan looks better in bowling department and India is far superior in batting. So it definitely will be a high skill contest between bat and ball but India’s batting should be deal with aggression which is unlikely from Misbah’s captaincy. For Pakistan, equation is simple, win toss, bat first and score 300 runs and let their bowlers do the rest. Any chance of India batting first will definitely improve their chances of winning this match since Pakistanies are awful in chasing runs.

India would also like to bat first and maximize their chances to win the game and hence set another match with Pakistan in the final of this Asia cup.

Pakistan need to stop Gambhir, Kohli and Dhoni where as India only need to bowl within themselves and Pakistani batsmen are quite capable of giving opponent upper hand.

The streets will be empty, the TV rooms will be occupied, load shedding will be lifted and every single will be cherished and commented by 1400 million. On Sunday, either side of the border, no one will be thinking about poverty, lawlessness, war against terrorism and all. The sub-continent is yet again set to go numb for another day. 22 players will halt life of billions and surely we will see again in next day’s papers about number of people died through heart attack.

Tune in, this is India Pakistan Cricket, and this is not just cricket.

Problem with Pakistan Cricket Team

Imagine, if Messi is your defender and Ferdinand your attacker, how many matches you can win? None I guess. Talent is a thing that needs genius to handle. Talent is one thing, productivity is another. Pakistan cricket was never about lack of individuals who are equally talented to world’s best but unfortunately grooming them, utilizing them to attain desirable outputs have always been an issue. Aamir and Co. is just a new episode, there have been dozens of world class players which never emerged at international level or their career was jeopardized due to certain reasons.

To me, current Pakistan cricket team has only one plus, may be the only plus we have always needed i.e., absence of any super star [Afridi apart]. We have seen in past that individuals were stronger than board, administration and in some cases judicial. Imran, Wasim, Waqar, Akhtar all in their peak times were above rule and law of board and selection committees and all.

Misbah’s team has got the talent. Fortunately, young energetic talent but the lack of consistency and some defensive approach across all formats of the game is not something this nation wants from their most favored sport. We have seen that either we are missing with opening partnerships or if we have a good score from top three, middle and lower middle order never capitalized as in this recent match against Bangladesh in Asia Cup.

The problem remains there, which is nothing but current combination of the team. Bowlers have been winning matches for Pakistan since ever but in modern day cricket, you need to score runs against any team anywhere on the planet under any type of conditions. Pakistan have not been able to do this, their batting order remains so good on paper and never good on ground. Playing with 8 batsman and winning matches due to bowling is just a shame.

Nasir Jamshed’s addition at top of the order has indicated resolution of opening problems. Young talented Asad and Umar must be utilized and trained as per team’s requirement not individual performances. With Hafeez and Jamshed at the top and Asad at number three and Younis at number 4, it looks like that Misbah is no more required in the shorter versions of the game but it should be too early to fire the captain who ‘unwillingly’ has provided some stability to the team.

Absence of genuine all-rounder is being felt seriously now. Pakistan need fast bowling all-rounder who can bowl 5-8 overs and bat according to the requirement of modern day cricket. Hammad Azam can be one but young kid doesn’t possess special skills either in batting or bowling. Similarly, a proper wicket-keeper-batsman is required. Sarfraz should be given a chance sometime soon to play at top of the order to see if he can be a long term progress.

Gul need serious partner who can bowl fast and take wickets, not like someone who bowls just to complete 50 overs.

These issues should be addressed soon else by newly appointed Whatmore and young kids should be grown as per the standards of international cricket. Winning or losing doesn’t matter, but this team should be grown in systemized manner so a visible improvement can be seen. Outputs in terms of winning matches and tournaments will be seen accordingly.

Mistakes to avoid in CV

The CV is the first impression a hiring manager has of you and more often than not you will only have a few seconds to grab his/her attention and leave him/her wanting to read more and invite you in for an interview. It is essential that you get this vital piece of communication right and use it as a springboard to the next stage of the job search. The following are some common CV mistakes to avoid at all costs.

1. Contact Details

Make sure your CV clearly details your full name, address and contact details for a prospective employer to reach you including phone numbers and email address. This may sound obvious but remarkably, a few candidates will send their CV out omitting key contact information or with outdated contact details. If your email address reads particularly unprofessionally (eg hotbabe, desiboy) or is a work email address it may be well worth while changing it for a different one to utilize for correspondence with employers.

2. No Objective

Every CV should begin with a clear and concise objective citing the position you are seeking and a supporting short skills statement summarizing the reason you are highly qualified for this role. Employers do read your resume objective, but too often they plough through vague pufferies like, "Seeking a challenging position that offers professional growth." Give employers something specific and, more importantly, something that focuses on their needs as well as your own. Example: "A challenging entry-level marketing position that allows me to contribute my skills and experience in generating business for oil marketing companies." Remember, the goal of the CV is to outline what you can do for your prospective employer not what your employer can do for you.

3. Passive Language

Remember to use active/action verbs that show leadership and accomplishments rather than weak passive words. Words like achieved, spearheaded, managed, exceeded, pioneered, led, created, developed and motivated convey an active, dynamic successful professional. Substitute all weak descriptive sentences for sentences that detail accomplishments in no uncertain terms eg instead of "Responsible for  IT support" try “Resolved user questions as part of an IT help desk serving 4,000 students and staff."

4. Writing in the first person

Do not start sentences with the word 'I' or use the personal pronoun in your job descriptions. Keep your sentences short and dynamic and begin them wherever possible with strong action words.

5. Lack of Focus

Every CV should be focused on the particular job and industry you are targeting. If you are applying to jobs in 2 different industries make sure you have different CVs that cater specifically to the different skills required in each industry. The best CVs are customized for the individual job at hand and emphasize objectives, skillsets, past accomplishments, aptitudes and qualifications that are uniquely relevant to that role. Generic, unfocused CVs rarely make the mark.

6. Poor Formatting

Your CV will get no more than a cursory glance if the formatting is poor and it shows bad planning, poor organization or clutter. Make sure you adhere to an acceptable format that is professional, simple and attractive to the eye. Use bullet points wherever possible rather than long, winding prose and be consistent with font, headings, spaces and layout. Avoid the coloured paper, illustrations and glitzy touches - if you are applying for a creative position show your creativity in your portfolio not by jazzing up your CV. Aim to send your CV on high quality paper (if not on-line) and make sure it is no longer than 1 page if you are entry level and a maximum of 2 pages if you are a seasoned professional.

7. No Proofreading

Spelling mistakes, poor grammar and glaring errors are a sure-fire way to get your CV dismissed and stop the job search process in its tracks. Read and reread your CV before sending it to the employer, run a spellcheck and have some-one else read it for an extra check before sending it out.

8. Omission of Key Facts

Educational qualifications and professional experience must be included in your CV with proper dates, titles, institution names and descriptions. Use plenty of keywords in describing your role and accomplishments in each job as well as in the Skills section - these will often be the hook that makes the difference between your CV being considered or overlooked, particularly with an online employer CV search. If you are unsure what keywords to use, read the job description thoroughly, read detailed job descriptions for similar jobs with other companies and ask peers in the industry what skills/qualifications are particularly relevant for this role.

9. Lies

Lies and half-truths will be discovered sooner or later and you are better off omitting them from the start. If you have not finished a university degree make that clear on your CV without neglecting to include the coursework you did complete and the educational accomplishments you do have. Similarly do not list promotions, jobs, titles, dates or job descriptions that do not accurately reflect your work history. Most companies run very detailed background checks and lies and exaggerations that are not glaringly obvious on the CV or at the interview will often be discovered at the reference or background check.

10. Poor Targeting

Make sure you send your CV to the right person at the company and accompany it with a short, concise cover letter that personalizes it and summarizes your skills, objectives and the value you will bring to the job. Spend some time researching who heads the division you are targeting and what the most relevant skills are to target in your correspondence and send your introductory CV and cover letter directly to them. Your CV is more likely than not to be disregarded completely if you send it to the wrong person or to a nameless "To whom it may concern".

The Change We Need .....

Politics of pakistan has always been a very strange thing for the common people to understand.especially the way the politicians of pakistan have run this country and the martial laws have been enforced by the military dictators.we had always been hearing the popular slogans like roti ,kapra and makkan raised by the PPP and their recent popular solgan often spoken by the current prime misnister of pakistan “hum iss mulak mein kissi ko bhi garreeb nahi rehnay dein gay”.Well  I am afraid their current slogan is even more humorous than the old one since they couldn’t even work on their old slogan and any of the serious issue faced by the common people in pakistan .Their government is all messed up with corruption and everyone is more interested in getting the undue benefits rather than focussing on the work they have been assigned.

Similar is the case with other popular party of Pakistan PML-N.They are also more interested in holding the ministries and power and not really focussing on the problems faced by the common poor man and promoting strange schemes of yellow cab taxis which by the way was a flop in the past,a scheme that was introduced by the same party years back Another one is sasti roti and the danish school system.Well what more can I say about these schemes and projects a common man is simply not impressed by any means by these schemes and projects both these parties have tried to bring for the rescue of the people.

In the last 15 years or so I have seen people of pakistan and especially the educated youth taking a lot interest in the politics because of the way the politics of pakistan has gone. now the educated youth of our generation is a bit too curious and aware of the things going on in the country and the democratic systems being run the world thanks to the internet and media.and in this period imran khan comes to scene and joins the politics and tries to give people a lot of hopes yet again which definitely is supported by the educated youth and many other communities which have never shown any involvement in the ploitics and elections. Many of us are hopeful that if he comes in the governmnet he would bring about the reforms that are needed in this country and he would put an end to the corruption and would collect the taxs in better way and also provide us with a good law and order stituation and put an end to the energy crisis.but these are lot of things aren’t they and at the same time he would need some time and very good team to fix all these issues which have developed due to the poor performance of our governments in the last 60 years .This guy did work well with the cricket team and also he was able to make a good charity hospital by the name Shaukat Khanum.So many of us consider he is the change our current system needs and thus Imran Khan has all of a sudden become the name of the “change”.But my point is if Imran Khan and what ever he is doing in the politics these days  is bringing about a change in the old parties like PML –N and PPP and they have also been trying to improve themselves with the emergence of Imran Khan in the politics,we should also consider them .So, what basically we need is a change an improved system right and so should not be thinking about only one single party.we should be open for all the parties and consider all the available parties in this country and who so ever can bring improvement in the system and our current condition with right and open mind set should be considered and given the opportunity.We all have made mistakes in our lives and so have these political leaders and parties so we must give them, a chance but only if they are willing to correct themseleves learn from their mistakes and bring effective reforms in the country for the betterment of the nation, and at the same time they should develop a system and intitutions that should work in an efffective and improved way.

Mind & Soul

We grew in an era which was perhaps the most vigorously progressing era in history of mankind. Technology evolved exponentially and amazing aspect is that we witnessed such a sharp rise in real time, experiencing each step forward as we grew.  Man who is professed to be superior than all other creations of God proved to be so. With his matchless will and determination to move forward and the quality of creativity that he got from his Creator managed to achieve all that which would just be dreamt about just some decades ago. With all these milestones achieved and all the marvels made, a question still rattles me sometimes, that isn’t it that we forgot in this race of conquering the world and unraveling all its secrets that we are still human beings. No matter what we do we have a soul that needs to be nurtured, as a famous saying goes “ You don’t have a soul , You are a soul and You have a body”. Unfortunately with each day passing we are neglecting ourselves more and more, concentrating on a world which has nothing in return to give but will only consume us. It doesn’t mean at all that we should just refute all this progress we have made over centuries and get back to stone age to nourish our souls, instead have ourselves evolved in same manner with which we evolved our minds. We have to realize that being human being doesn’t only mean to live for yourself or for your loved ones. Humanity has a greater perspective and meaning which we can find, all we have to do is just peek inside ourselves. Balance between mind & soul would be the key here, because it will determine the course of mankind in years to come. 

Patience is the key

There is not a single human we have seen in known history that was successful over a significant period of time and wasn’t patience. This single statement can be considered enough to weight the stance that patience is responsible for intelligent decisions. Patience is basically staying calm and let your brain work in difficult situation. It is not easy to control yourself both mentally and physically in emotional and sensational moments but once mastered, a person can manipulate situations quite authoritatively. The only and foremost characteristic responsible for good terms and relations among families, friends and partners is patience. The very thought in one’s mind that the person in front of him/her is patient enough to absorb the moment of heat makes person comfortable enough, this comfort is basically responsible for the development of bonding among them. In modern world, at all critical positions, the basic thing seek among candidates is if they are impulsive or patience. In all psychological tests, checking patience is one of the major tasks. Psychologists have however pointed out few tips to avoid impulsiveness in critical situations which may lead to disasters. One is to blink your eyes 4-5 times before reacting to any incident or statement. Another is count to 10 to avoid any wrong decision. These childish types of tips however have proven to be very effective and surveys have shown that people who naturally are impatience have taken right decisions by controlling their immediate reaction. However, the most productive method to ‘create’ patience is to involve yourself in some physical activity either sports or cleaning your room or gardening etc. Patience is not always natural ability but being patient at critical moments can be learnt with little effort and hence do great wonder in life. After all, less you speak the less you are exposed.

Yes YOU CAN

Life is a journey through which you will find obstacles, setbacks, losses as well as encouragements, achievements and successes. You may stumble, may fell down. You may make mistakes or face unfortunate events but the journey goes on. Whatever little experience or knowledge I got in my journey; I have never came across a person who has not made mistakes or has not stumbled but I have seen same people galloping and succeeding in life but at the same time I have seen people stumbling and never recovering, crawling on their knees for the rest of their journey. Nature is kind and always provides you a second chance, it needs a little wisdom and a lot of luck to grab the opportunity. Count on what you’ have’ and not on, what you ‘will have’ because it may never happen. Do not step on other’s achievements neither you let them step on you, rather help others to succeed and you will find the success. I know that success is a ‘relative term’, I agree it is. You can be successful during the journey or you may never be, success is a state of mind and again a blessing. Opportunities come from all directions, especially from the top, develop wisdom to grab the right opportunity. Now wisdom is again something you cannot buy off the shelf, it is to be collected bit by bit, through experiences, through learning and through mentors.We are young, have energy to achieve and an opportunity to deliver, please do not pass on average. Make a statement, I hope things will favour us and we may find blessings (direct or disguised) this year; enjoy every bit of it while you can and YES YOU CAN

Curious case of Pakistan Politics

With recent injection of PTI in Pakistan’s politics, nothing can be said for sure regarding possible outcome of the next elections. The very dictatorship of Gen. Musharaf somehow pushed BB Shaheed and Nawaz Sharif to amend their rivalry relations spreading over decades and joining hands for some mutual interests. The country was going to be absolute bi-polar with few exceptions which ultimately was not acceptable to real power houses of this third world nuclear power. PTI emerged as a national party in last few years when it was very much on cards that Nawaz Sharif will gain majority in next elections and hence some serious resistance to military establishment. This philosophy has created few question marks over Imran Khan’s integrity especially when constant speculations are in place on national media and allegations are being made by other political forces. Yet, the popularity graph of charismatic captain become politician is on rise with no stopping. Either way, Imran Khan and his emergence as national leader has caused few positives on country’s politics. Not only he has brought up the attention of youth of upper class but the charge and energy seen in his followers is something new for this generation as well as working class of the country. People are following him with passion and in some cases blindly. His rise has pushed other political parties to participate actively on all issues. It’s up to him now that how he manages to meet the expectations which are not very practical.