Graduation and Vancouver

Heh Heh! Well there you have it folks. My educational journey has come to an end in the country of Canada. The reason why I chose to get into film making was because one constantly has to keep learning and experimenting with new ideas and toys so I will not say that my educational journey has come to an end altogether. I've had an incredible stay. Met friends and people and a whole different way of thinking that has changed me faster that all my years living in Pakistan. I'm hoping that i'm now smart enough to know.

TO MY FRIENDS WHO HOLD ME UP!

Me at the after party

(L-R) Janice, Toshie (in the back) Nandini, ME, Pandu, Kaelen, Larry and Raymond (kneeling - he's our Sound Instructor)

Crazy Janice and Smokey Jeremy. J-Mak thanks for all the laughs and your friendship. Defininitly on my list of coolest people i've met.

My gorgeous pocket sized DOP "Kuchi" and me. Thankyou for all the wonderful pictures and all the wonderful snowfall in the middle of summer. I'll see you and Chamba Ki Rani ki Sultanut in India/Pakistan.

The lovely and crazy "Janaca Yipster". Thanks for doing sound on my documentary and shafting me during my film. heh heh hope to work with you again soon. *muah* see you in Toronto.

Little boy crazy Toshie. chiwas chiwas ita taki maas munko chinchin chiwas chiwas chichi tamaguchi. heh heh thankyou for letting me push you into walls and garbage cans and random people on the street and NO you don't have a paris hilton sized brain.

Samuel Kim "Kimster" and Kuchi sleeping on the lobby couch. Sam thanks for all the help with school work and LOVE those freakin titles man!!! You rock. Once again, one of the coolest people I've met. May we have plenty more wrap parties at your place. *chuckle*

Mikey "Ninja" Haskins. The twin brother I never had. LONG LIVE FP101 SPECIAL ED!!!! drrr i dun like tha red wons!!!!!! I pray you have a speedy recovery and that you blow the world away with the best damn ninja zombie movie EVER made.

Laurent "The FISH" Piche. Thanks for being a good sport and thanks also for those long talks. I'm going to miss them (but not you)!!! HAH! I keed I keed!!!

Erin "Hick" Mohs, thanks for putting up with my harassments and being such a good sport about it. I still think you want to do me but it'll never happen. HAH! Thanks also for doing a wonderful job on the editing of my first film. You're a gem. Oh! and may you go to all the BSB concerts you want.

These and many more have made my trip to Vancouver a most memorable one. I hope to be working with you all again soon. You're the best team anyone could have.

Let's get out there and make some MAGIC!!!!

The Quake

Shes kneeling over her son
Whos hardly recognizable
Beating her chest
She used to feed him from

She wipes his face
and kisses the debris on her hands
a tear falls onto his eyes
washing away his pain

She faints to the ground
As they take him away
It’s the last time she’ll see
Her childs innocent face

Who did he do wrong
Who's penenace does he pay?
She wails softly
As hes laid in the ground

Her last one gone
How far is heaven for her
Her reason for living; dead
---------------------------------------------

The quake in Pakistan was not a punishment from God in my opinion. It may have been a test of strength or an eye opener to make people realize that the Government has ignored these people and let them build houses on shaky mountain tops without alerting them about the hazards. Or not building roads around the mountains and making sure that controlled landslides are undertaken each year to avoid the more hazardous ones.

Please help and donate whatever you can to help people who have been forgotten. They need you now more than ever.

winter cometh

The breeze is cooling down, the sun hides behind glorious clouds, the trees put on their autumn clothes and the earth has a new perfume. Winter is in the air and it's making me nostalgic. Winter has always been special. Snuggling up under the covers as a kid and trying ever so hard to let mom and dad let me stay in 2 minutes longer before waking up for school. It also meant that the harsh summers of Karachi (Pakistan) were coming to an end and finally we would have some relief.

It also meant that winter holidays were nearby which always brought loads of fun. My cousins would fly down from Australia and Saudi Arabia and it would be a kiddie party galore at my grandparents house. Their house has always been open to us for sleepovers. Think about this for a moment. My sister and I, my 5 cousins from Oz, 2 from S.A., another 2 who lived in Karachi made 11.

11 kids, 2 grandparents, 3 aunts and my mother makes 4 sisters in 1 house. It was party time indeed and my grandparents loved us all to bits. We'd spend atleast 2 weeks of the vacation time alternating between my house and my grandparents house.

There was never a moment where someone wasn't laughing, or giggling, or making plans to bug another. It was the time of year we all waited for. The boys would be let loose in Zainab market in the morning and we'd make our way home by evening and the girls would accompany the moms and go hunting for clothes and jewelery and all the other crap that little girls like.

Night time brought amazing food cooking by my mother or my grandmother which came right after the 9 O clock news. Now let me tell you something. The 9 O Clock news is when all the kids gathered around my grandfather and learnt how to cuss. Oh how he would listen to the news and cuss at the politicians and their stupid ways and my grandmother would yell from the kitchen and to remind him that there were kids in the house. Ofcourse it's hard to subdue the sound of giggling from the 11 kids hiding nearby waiting for grandpa to burst out into a new string of unfamiliar words.

The night brought rewards as well. My grandfather would fill up his Toyota Corona with all of us 11 kiddies and take us out for KayBee's Ice Cream. AH! the finest ice cream cones a kid could dream off. Deeeeeeeeeeeelicious strawberry and chocolate ice cream on a crispy waffle cone. Also let me tell you another thing, this cone was like a foot tall. About 4 inches of cone and eight inches of ice cream topped on to it in a dizzying spiral. This ofcourse was another oppertunity to hear my grandfather swear at the drivers around him. I can't tell you how much we laugh when we recall those days even today.

I walked out today and the earth's new perfume brought back some wonderful memories. The times of carefree youth days where one was discovering the world and all it's glory and the news on television was about happier moments in life. Growing up as a large family certainly has it's merits. Moments and memories of falling in love for the first time and sitting on the large swing in the backyard with 10 other kids and jumping off it in mid-swing, the endless long night talks and movies and snacks and oh I almost forgot NUTELLA!

It saddens me that life has moved on and things are different now. Almost everyone is either engaged or married now with families of their own. Gone are the days when we were carefree and could just walk out with a 100 ruppees in our pockets and feel like giants at the end of a fun filled day. I just hope that my kids will be able to experience the same. Whenever they arrive :)