Random Ruminations of My Mind

first there was friendster and linked-in, then naseeb, and of course hi5. now… FACEBOOK!… i finally gave in to another social networking website that seems to be quite popular these days. it was only after a friend sent me an email that said: “I just created an account on Facebook today…and I demand you guys join!!! Hurry…hurry…”… so now i’m on facebook. not sure how long this will last, but i wouldn’t be surprised if in two years people left facebook for another social network. i’m usually quite reluctant to join these websites now because of all the information that’s kept about you. i mean, now these guys know your name, age, the schools you went to, your interests… they know what kind of degree you have, where you work, what you do, not to mention your political views and religious views. so what’s the harm in that you say?… nothing. yet at least. not to sound cynical, but is it not possible for someone somewhere in the world who has an agenda or a vendetta against you… is it not possible for them to use that information against you somehow?… not probable, but still a possibility, no? anyways, just a word of caution i guess. because it is true what they say, information is power… my two cents for the day…

so i’m in wal-mart the other day and this person hands me this free sample of sunsilk shampoo. and like a typical desi (indian/pakistani/bangladeshi/sri lankan) i can’t refuse anything for free and take this sample home. i get home and take a closer look at this free merchandise i just picked up and notice something peculiarly different about it. something so quaint i have to read it over and over again just to make sure i was reading what i thought i was reading. here, take a look:

and this one too:

So? Notice anything different?!?!? Although it shouldn’t be a surprise to me considering all the ads on TV in hindi from the likes of retailers such as Wal-Mart (and no, i don’t watch any indian shows on TV, my parents do), i still couldn’t yet fathom how the marketing concept behind hair shampoo could be targeting the East Indian community by using the urdu/hindi language!!! It was definitely a first for me and might be for you as well. At the same time, it yet again brings attention to the fact that the East Indian community is growing ever so large within the GTA and is not a segment of the population which anyone can ignore.

More importantly, however, it brings attention to the fact that there is help out there for those desi women who have ‘pak-puf’. You know, that poofy style hair they seem to think is in style not only in Mumbai, Karachi and Dhaka, but all around the world? One word: Anti-Poof!!!

i haven’t posted anything for 16 days now… just been busy with Ramadan and work. i am on vacation (a mini-vacation really) and have been sick since it started, so i finally got the chance to update the blog. as you can see, changed the theme once more. what else… hmmm..

1. north korea tested a nuclear weapon; welcome to the club. of course, its only fitting a pakistani welcome north korea to the nuclear club, given that Pakistan purportedly gave the communist state the know-how in exchange for missile technology. tsk tsk… what was AQ Khan thinking? dolla dolla bill yall!… haha.

2. the raptors are doing great in pre-season action. 5-0 already. new uniforms, new management, totally NEW PLAYERS!!! this season is going to be something to look forward to with the likes of Bargnani, Graham, Tucker and of course, Bosh and Mo Pete. i think they’ll make the playoffs this season, i really hope they do that is, but i don’t see them moving passed the first round.

3. the leafs aren’t doing that well (3-2-2), which is no surprise really, given that not much changed since last season’s dissapointing finish where the leafs didn’t even make it to the playoffs. the only change i saw was in more ice time given to kyle wellwood, who’s making the most of it with 7 points in 7 games. and congrats to mat sundin on making it to the 500 club. 500 career goals that is. what a way to get your 500th but as an overtime goal. kudos! anyways, first-round playoffs loss for the leafs as well. i’m a little hesitant in even giving them a playoff berth, but that’s just me being an eternally optimistic leaf-fan.

4. i got a message on naseeb (one of those *paying* social networking websites) the other day. here’s an excerpt:

“Also ur pics tell me u have lost some serious weight. Good work. Keep it up!”

… arrrr?!?!?! umm, lose weight? okaaaay. not sure how pictures can tell if someone has lost weight or not but anyway, i don’t really go on that crappy excuse for a website anymore. those guys who run naseeb are making a $hit-load of money off people like you and me. its just too bad i didn’t think of the idea first… sigh. i say everyone just boycott naseeb!

5. tv is going great these days. this new show called ‘heroes’ has not dissapointed at all. on the contrary, its almost my new favorite show. gets interesting with every episode. what *has* been dissapointing, however, is ‘lost’. i’m not sure where they are going with that show. i’m not even sure that they are sure where they want to take it. its gets confusing with every new episode. are they alive? are they dead? who the heck are the others?!?!?!

alright, i’m going back to sleep now. lates…

so everyone pretty much knows that its important to have goals. we all have dreams of doing this or that, going here and there, becoming such and such. some of us realize our dreams and goals. other’s go through life without seeing any of their goals come to fruition. but here’s the real question and point of my post: do you think its more important to HAVE goals, then it is to realize them?

a little background on this topic. its something that came up while i was reading this book called ‘the Alchemist’ and one of the topics of discussion was this very question. the book itself is basically about a boy who sets off to pursue his dream of finding treasure in Egypt. along the way he meets different people, and realizes that each person he meets is helping him along the way in finding his treasure, or his Personal Legend, as the alchemists would say.

so back to the question: is it more important to have goals or dreams, then it is for them to come true? of course, the latter requires the former to be true in the first place. but what if you lived all your life, dreaming for one thing, hoping for it every waking moment. and then finally it comes true. what then? the boy in the book meets a muslim man who dreams of going to mecca for pilgrimage. finally when he is able to do so, he claims “I’m afraid that if my dream is realized, I’ll have no reason to go on living” and that its “the thought of Mecca that keeps [him] alive”. the man decides that its better to have this dream than for it to come true. the boy, on the other hand, is of a different philosophy. he wishes to complete his dream of finding his treasure and focusses on the realization of the dream, rather than the dream itself.

personally, i’d agree with the boy. i think if it came down to it, and i realized each of my dreams, i’d probably think of new ones. i’d establish newer goals in life and strive to achieve them. well, at least on paper (or the internet) i would. i had a goal of creating a photoblog on my own, using mysql and php (programming tools) and i did so. i have a few other goals which haven’t been realized yet and are work in progress, but they are there, and hopefully, god willing, i will realize those goals.

btw, i just finished the alchemist, and its truly a great and easy read. short and sweet, i think i finished it in 1 week, which is probably a record for me, hehe.

Welcome to ‘Random Ruminations of My Mind’, version 2.0. I totally gave up on that shitty excuse for a blog called MSN Spaces. I may still use it to post pictures and what not, but its definitely not worth my time to update it as a blog. About the only thing that’s good about it, is the fact that you can share pictures, and also, every time you update your blog, people on your messenger list will know about it. But I am really liking this new blog called ‘wordpress’ which is what you are seeing here. So many things you can do to customize it to your needs. It does however require some knowledge of PHP, but nothing too difficult.

Anyways, along with this new blog, I’ve created a sister ‘photoblog’ which can be viewed at ‘www.vividrealism.com‘. You’ll see the latest photo from that site on the sidebar. At the moment I only have pictures that you probably already have seen if you visited my MSN Space. But rest assured, I will update that site more often. Reason being, it requires less management time on my side. I just upload the files I want to post and put it on cruise control. Every now and then, a new picture will show up.

So yeah, let me know what you guys think. Any and all suggestions/improvements are welcome. Thank you, come again!