And The Winner Is..............

Miss USA 2010 in yellow

There is no use researching why were beauty pageants started……women have been for times immemorial differentiated from one another on the basis for their beauty but the modern day beauty pageants most of which began in the 1950s, has evolved into an obsession.

These pageants are bad news for everyone! The contestants are representatives of their countries and all countries want a good looking if not beautiful representation.

Miss York 2009-recieved life threats after winning

They clearly appear to have wider agendas besides making other women realise how ugly they are…remember how at one time there was a string of winners from India simply to support the booming cosmetics market there at that time. Then there have been racial issues involved too…..Helen Lawal who was crowned Miss York was born in Nigeria and received life threats simply for being black. The man who threatened her had a reason…he had said that the winner should have been indigenous to the country and she should not have been eligible for it because she was born in Nigeria.

Many say that physical features are not the only criteria for being the chosen one.
Ashwariya Rai on Oprah Winfrey last year

The grey matter also counts. But does it really??? Because Ms. Ashwariya Rai (former Miss World) when invited to the Oprah Winfrey show was criticized for not being able to answer a single question without a giggle despite being around 35 years old! Wasn’t she taught that by Miss World contest? No one liked her talk.

Miss Virginia has been crowned Miss USA 2010. Caressa Cameron who is studying broadcast journalism and wants to be a news anchor when she grows up won a $50,000 scholarship. The crowning of a Miss America began in 1921 as a publicity stunt to persuade tourists on Atlantic City's Boardwalk to stick around after Labor Day.

I am not saying this…..it is there all over that Miss USA 2010 does not look American…..but hey! she does have something in common with President Barack Obama!

Demeaning?

Focus: July 2011

Taliban have dismissed the London Conference as propaganda. But, with $140 million pledged for the Reintegration efforts in Afghanistan in London, Diary Khan tries to make more sense of what are delegates in London saying?

One thing is very clear, this conference wouldn’t have been called had things been great in Afghanistan. But then, there are others who say that in counter insurgencies, things take a really bad turn before getting better. That is where Afghanistan stands at the moment.
Much is being said about:

Reintegration Fund
You need money to buy people. This conference is also a fund raising campaign to lure mid and low level Taliban away from the fighting factions, so that they can contribute towards ‘Good Governance” in their land.. Japan is expected to be the major donor. But the question is how long will the money last to keep the purchased fighters with you? A year? Six months? Hamid Karzai feels he needs foreign support for his security forces for another 15 years!

Get the Taliban Talking
Karzai is not enjoying in London. A good 8 years into the war in Afghanistan, US and its allies like the idea of trying to settle with the Taliban. They feel it is the key to better governance in Afghanistan.

Ever since US and Nato have realized that Taliban and Al Qaeda are 2 separate phenomena, pressure has multiplied on Karzai to take steps that would open the way for face to face talks between Afghan officials and Taliban leaders. Perhaps, that is why just a day before this conference, Karzai has had the UN remove 5 from a sanctions list banning international travel and freezing funds. Taliban foreign minister Wakeel Ahmad Muttawakil among them.

Nobody is clearly saying , what will talks with Taliban be about? But apparently it’s a bid to bring as many Taliban fighters on Karzai’s side and take part against extremist Taliban. This would make the job of giving control to Afghan government over provinces under ISAF control to an extent doable.
Easier said than done!

Persuade Afghanistan’s Neighbors to do more
The fact that Pakistani military has clearly said that it won’t launch another operation for at least a year, will give Taliban leadership time to decide upon reconciliation with Karzai’s government.

While it is not clear if Pakistan can play a role in reconciliation of Afghan Government with certain Taliban factions, there seems to be an expectation in that regard from Pakistan.

In the concluding press conference, David Miliband, UK Foreign Minister appreciated Pakistan’s contributions towards improving the air in Afghanistan.

Expert’s Take on the Conference

Renowned Political Analyst, Hasan Askari Rizvi tells me that the next one year is crucial in Afghanistan. But for the time being, this gathering has looked at ways of not only improving things for the common Afghanis but also realize the Obama dream of beginning to get out of Afghanistan by July 2011.

After You

February is some days away………known as the month of love! No? you don’t think that it is? Well search the World Wide Web and you will I assure you, come across such Graffiti!
When I watched this movie ‘All About Steve” ……I really hadn’t the slightest idea that the flick has been included in the list of worst movies according to critics.
Tell you what; it’s sometimes very good to go for books and movies that aren’t best sellers. Surprisingly, they seem to have more substance!! Back to All About Steve, the main character of course played by Sandra Bullock who is a good actress not because she won the screen actors guild award this year but because she entertains, tells us how we all make our lives miserable trying to find that “One” right person to spend our lives with. We keep taking the pressure to be like everyone else.

I mean …take your time!! What’s the rush??? Explore all the alleys that life has to offer to you- just like we search in the departmental stores for that right smelling body deo.

Ladies won’t agree I suppose because they are very wary of the fast biological clock ticking….but then that shouldn’t be a concern if you are after true love! (Does that exist???) Don’t try searching the net for that please!!

EMPTY SPACES

Some wisdom to share with you and that too, very briefly

"Never stalk the person that you love, because if you have to do that....then that person was never yours in the first place!"

Can you say?

Well to tell you honestly, its difficult to say what the future holds…..even my zodiac prediction for the year is nothing that would make me want to believe in it. And Tarot card readers aren’t saying anything about what is going to happen in Afghanistan too.

But US General Stanley Mc Chrystal is making a prediction! Yes….and he says that with the arrival of the 30,000 extra U.S. troops and another 7,000 to be contributed by NATO, Taliban are in for a very rough 2010. the situation according to his exact words is going to be very “demonstrably positive”

But what is interesting is the growing interest and hope of the U.S in talking to certain factions of Taliban…these are supposed to be the soft are faint hearted Taliban. But will these people be willing to talk to any one who is bringing more troops upon them? Mr. Zahid Husain, senior journalist tells me the same. He is curious which faction of Taliban is the US going to talk to? It can’t be Mullah Omar or the Haqqani network for sure.

Pakistan itself has launched the Operation against militants in Waziristan ….and that plus missile strikes by US is already reportedly pushing militants to the areas north eat of Quetta.

So, could it be that while some Taliban sit in the diplomatic negotiating table, others will be bombed on the Pakistani side??

I can’t confirm but may be the next three months will. Who knows?

Some images speak for themselves!

Celebrity or Making a Real Difference?

When I think of celebrities, the name that comes to mind other than my own of course is that of Imran Khan. But seriously speaking, I think the definition that a friend of mine gave me once, is that I find myself agreeing to the most.
He had said, “Every good looking person is a celebrity”

Imran Khan is one celebrity that lives true to the belief that he is one international face from Pakistan that has caught the fancy of both the classes and junta alike. Probably a bad example, but his wedding to royalty was ranked as one of the best weddings of the century, compared with the likes of Luxmi Mittal’s daughter’s marriage parties. That’s according to a poll conducted by an Indian magazine.

Having sold coupons worth thousands of rupees to support his campaign for raising funds for the remarkable Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital, earned me a portrait of his with his autograph. And I still have it after more than a decade having passed by. What better way to pay homage to one’s lovely mother!

But it is easy for people on the lonely place like the top, to attract controversies and Imran has managed to comfortably do so too. His acceptance speech after leading the Pakistan Cricket team to victory back in 1992 was dissected inside out by his critics for taking all the credit himself and ignoring the team!

His sermonizing columns in the newspapers and a bumpy ride in the slippery political playground of Pakistan is just a proof that he is human.

I remember presenting a broadcast from Mardan IDP camp, when Imran Khan came there escorted by a handful of party supporters and passed by me. I was so tempted to grab him for a cooment but couldn’t because of technical concerns. I wanted to ask him what message of hope he had brought for the people who were suffering under the scorching sun of Mardan.

Fast forward some months and you find him defending himself against allegations of supporting the Taliban. How bad can it get!

And that day I found out he was addressing a gathering in Ilford, that is the eastern side of London ….dwelled by Asians mostly (Racist huh?). I will tell you about my time in Ilford some other day. But I could picture Imran Khan with the same handful of Party workers delivering a critique of government policies.
But he is handsome to many many in the world and so there is plenty of soft corners for him in countless hearts.

People sympathise with him. They don’t hate him. And that takes me back to my earlier definition of a celebrity. He is a true celebrity - not because women drool over him but because …..…..he has made a real difference in the lives of many ailing poor Pakistanis in the form of the cancer treatment facility. We admire him for that.

Also, if you too are wondering like a friend at work whether I have shook his hand?? The answer is ….yeah, I have- and that was in the studio of Pakistan Television.

Breath Taking

Being the first independant nation in Latin America is quite an achievement in itself. The fact that it the only nation whose independance was gained as a part of a successful slave rebillion has had its citizens leading an everyday life which is no less than a struggle itself. The people in the area call their region 'two wings of a bird'. Haiti is one wing and the Dominican Republic the other. Colonosation brings some benefits too, in the form of roads and other infratstructure and this is what the Dominican Republic enjoys because of choosing to accept colonial influence quite a few times in its past.

The scenes of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake has left many describing breth taking taragic stories. Tens of thousand dying, with just devastation left behind. The same colonial rulers are now trying to provide urgent help in any way that they can to the nation that has gone back 200 years again.

What took breath away here at home was a US drone strike in the Waziristan region.....which gave birth to unconfirmed reports that Hakimullah Mehsud , TTP chief has been killed in that along with 12 others. But like I said it is not confirmed....surprisingly the frenzy is not that frothy as it was when Baitullah was killed . TTP accepting that news days after media confirmed those reports.

But in the national assembly , we did hear the Prime Minister very clearly say that Drone strikes gave strenght to symapthies with the miliatants , because innocent were killed along with the militants.

So, lets see......

Deep Inside

Charlie Sheen.....oooops!!

Jonathan Ross leaving the BBC

There are so many different ways to lose a job these days. Many in the western world are thankful to God these days that they have a job to go when they wake up in the morning. Here, at home the concerns are quite different.

BBC's Jonathan Ross, is to quit his TV and radio shows with the BBC. He is the highest paid star in the BBC and has decided not to renegotiate his contract because of reasons that are not very clearly being cited. Frankly, what is going on inside the hearts of people who make public appearances can never be gotten out of them in clear words.....but he was suspended by the BBC following the row over his prank phone calls to Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs on Radio 2. Then there has also been talk of BBC asking him to go for a pay cut. He charged BBC 18 million pounds for a three year contract! Ross , however said that the reason was not based on financial considerations at all. But he was BBC's most valuable property.

And then Hanes, the underwear brand have removed Charlie Sheen from their campaign because he threatened his wife to kill her . He was arrested and later released on bail. I have many Hanes underwears by the way.

So you see, its always good to behave while at work......and umm ...in some cases while you are at home too!!

Waid Zain!

Probably after the opening of Atlantis hotel in UAE, I guess the Opening of Burj Dubai was one grand ceremony, which got the greatest international attention. International attention Dubai has been getting for quite a while from the times of its great boom. That opulence has had people going ga ga over Dubai.

Going on Sheikh Zayed Road, Burj Khalifa was a treat. I remember my neck muscles would get strained, looking at its height from a distance first, then trying to get a nearly impossible view of it while passing just by it and then finally turning to look at it again after having crossed it. My friends always thought I was behaving like a child….but now I realize that you can only enjoy something if you allow the kid in yourself to wake up.

I am not sharing any detailed statistics with you but can’t help telling you that it has around a thousand apartments and around 57 elevators to just name a few spectacular features of the marvel. World’s tallest skyscraper!

You know every time you would flush a toilet , they would have to pump up water half a mile up into the sky . Its been designed to resemble a telescope.

Special Shukran to Kashiful Haq, a good friend in Dubai!

But I am so happy it finally got inaugurated, a jewel in the skyline of Dubai- Burj Khalifa!!