FarQuest Fariha's Quest: Finding an answer to the question "Why can’t Utopia be a reality?" Wish to add some colors of Utopia to this world because I dare to dream and strive to turn my dreams into reality!

Since morning, i wanted to jump up and down while singing “Hakuna Matata” and probably this is why I also ended up falling down on staircase at office On my way back to home, the reason behind my happiness just popped up in my mind (yes i was happy all day without realizing the reason, why do we always need a REASON for everything neway? ) and tun taraannnn…it feels wonderful to know it’s the 2nd Anniversary today!

and no no no I’m not going to keep my mouth shut this time like I did last time. The reason being simple, i don’t want people coming to me and/or calling me to ask who’s that lucky person in my life, whom ‘am committed to and argg a few even went on to say “hope u get engaged soon”..Arrggg arrggg…people I’m a free birdie who would love to lead the life of singleton for as long as she can and end up being a philanthropist…a friend just told me a few days ago what is it exactly called to be what I want to be and ahem ahem as always I DIGRESS!! So, the good news is, it my 2nd JoBoVERSIRAY today!!

Yesh, I have been working as a full-time resource for exact 2 years now Alhamdulilah and despite the ups and downs, the good and not so good career choices, the hinderances in accepting a dream job offer despite it being almost there for me, I’m HAPPY, I’m SATISFIED and love being at the place I’m now a days! I believe this is all that matters at the end of the day, PEACE of MIND and not to forget a steady income

I’m glad to have worked at places, where I have not just learned a lot technically but from business and management perspectives as well. I have had and still have TLs and Managers who are a role model and tell u what….my management style is very much inspired by theirs i.e. “No Sahib culture”! Now, before I start boasting again, I better write down a list that I feel might help other young professionals to learn something from my experience. During these two years, I have been on both sides of the table. Stop thinking about dining table, tennis table and all other such sort of tables. Be professional, I’m talking abt the Interview Table! I have got a chance to not just take a lottt in fact A LOT of interviews but give a few as well so, the list below which btw is in no particular order includes interview table experiences as well.

1. Be flexible but don’t be let anyone walk over you.
2. Never be too rigid, exceptions can always be there in whatever you do, keep room for them.
3. Be courteous and be accessible. Be nice to ppl, help them, support them when they need it and you will very often end up getting the favor back when u need it the most.
4. One thing that one of my teachers told me and that has helped me a lot: Make friends and not foes.
5. Develop patience and tolerance (in case u don’t already have much of it). Working with say 50 people is like working with 50 minds. Each mind has it own likes/dislikes, preferences, principles etc etc and they may no necessarily be in agreement with what is inside ur upper chamber.
6. Be honest and be sincere to your profession. As I always say in urdu, “Mujhe apni kamai halal karni hoti hai” and that always requires one’s sincere efforts in everything he/she does. Trust me if u do, u’ll always get the due rewards too.
7. Keep a balance between work and home life. Both require ur quality time so avoid late sittings. U can complete all ur assigned tasks in lesser time if u stay away from personal IM chats, facebooking and random browsing during work hours.
8. The previous point doesn’t mean “all work and no play”, play to freshen up but don’t let that disturb ur schedule.
9. Dress immaculately, dressing well will give u a new energy and make u feel active…don’t take my word for it, try it out urself!
10. When u r going to take an interview PLEASE don’t forget to clip ur nails. The sight of dirt filled nails of one of the guys I got a chance to interview still haunts
11. As they always say, prepare before taking an interview but I would say prepare before giving an interview as well. Smart people seldom like to work for a dumb *** who hasn’t even given their CV a single look.
12. Be confident but don’t be over-confident, don’t try to be-little the interviewer/supervisor/customer with ur attitude.
13. Learn the tricks of negotiating salary else u’ll curse urself later.
14. Develop a team spirit when working in a team and come out of “I” mode - read “7 Habits of highly effective people” and see what WIN-WIN means.
15. Research well before joining any organization. Gather info about the kind of work they do and the environment they have. I’m sure you’d never want to develop games when u don’t even like playing games. So, understanding the domain an organization works in IS important.
16. Be like a sponge and absorb whatever comes ur way when u start ur career and LATER too i.e. always be ready to learn new things.
17. If you plan to support your family then make sure u join a stable organization which ensures timely disbursement of salaries. No, u can’t expect any of ur interviewers to tell u that you won’t be paid on time or the company can shut down anytime, but u can always get insiders from the existing employees.
18. Start-ups offer exciting opportunities, an opportunity to quickly climb the corporate ladder getting nice titles but titles don’t matter much. It is the work that matters the MOST. So, if u plan to join any start up, first figure out what are the ideas they are working on and join only if u think u are passionate about working on those ideas else it’s better for both you and them to stay away.
19. One of the identifiers of a good organization is its management.Always try to gather info about the management before joining any company. If the management is experienced and has a good rapport, the chances of ur job experience being a good learning experience go up automatically.
20. A senior colleague once recommended, keep the ego outside the room you are working in with say 2 more people or perhaps even more and I say, in addition to that, keep the work-stress outside the place you live in with two or more people i.e. keep ego outside when u step in office and keep work stress outside when u step in home. Life will be beautiful!

..and pheww…it’s quite late now, i better go and hit the sack while u my reader listen to this

Image Credit: Susan’s blog

…and no I’m not planning be an adakaara not because I don’t want to be but because I already ‘am…ask my ama about how well I can act being sick when I don’t want to go anywhere and shoo why do I always start bragging? :S The purpose of this post is to talk about Katha Theater’s humorous play “Main Adakaara Banoongi” which has been organized by Rotary Club and is being played at the Arts Council Auditorium since 6th June, 09 everyday from 8:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. (in fact make it 11:00 p.m. ) I got a chance to to visit theater for the first time yesterday to watch this play and it was an absolutely wonderful and thrilling experience. Don’t have much time at the moment to write in detail about my experience but ‘am putting together this post to let you all know that if you want to spend some fun time away from the worries we are regularly surrounded by then you MUST go and watch this play. Another positive thing about this play is that, all its proceeds will go to different charitable projects of Rotary, at the top of which is the “Artificial Limb Project”. So, you will get a chance to get entertainment and contribute for a noble cause at the same time. It’s the last day of the play today so, please spread the word.

You can find some details about the play on KMB, CIO Pakistan’s website, Jehan’s ITLOW and Sana’s Mystified Justice

The ticket is for Rs. 700 and is available at Agha’s Super Market, Raintree Spa at Forum and even at the Venue.

I shall write a detailed post about my experience soon InshAllah

Disclaimer: The author has not been paid to write this promotional post and it is completely based upon her personal experience.

"Am I still alive? " I guess so because internet hasn’t yet been made accessible at hell I believe (or even heaven if I’m lucky enough to land there ) The purpose of this mindless post is to get me back to some serious blogging again …a lot is happening in life…attending a lot of events, discussions, meet ups but havn’t been able to blog about most of them since was facing some major internet disruptions for the past few weeks and power outages to add to my suffering! So, in the little time I get to come online …I wud use twitter to make quick updates about the various happenings

Feb 18th marked the 2nd anniversary of my bloggy baby and makes me realize that now when I have been into blogging for more than  2 years (yes more than 2 years because before FarQuest I used to blog on MSN Live spaces) I should start some serious blogging. Till date I have mostly used this space for venting out my feelings about whatever I come across in my day to day life but now I guess it’s time to do something more than that.

I’m bored of the current theme of my blog…started smartifying 2 WP themes to convert them into Blogsome themes but  left both in middle…don’t know when will I be able to complete one of them…or I might get my own domain!!

Hoping to come back soon! 

So, FarQuest turns 2 today MashAllah…and before the clock strikes 12 and the date changes..I shud post the bday post.

Details later InshAllah. 

Image Credit: Wild Cakes on Flickr

IM, Emails, Blogs, Forums, Cell phones, Calls, SMS, Voice Chat and many more…..

Major Purpose: Communication 

and localization of all these communication channels…

Major Purpose: Improving communication by decreasing language barrier

In today’s digital age not many of us can imagine living without access to any of these communication media..

However, looking at those who don’t have access to any of these media can make you cherish the importance of the most elementary form of communication - face to face communication!

While coming back from office today, I saw two servant boys (about 12 years of age–yeah yeah I know CHILD LABOR but that needs a separate post) . While I was entering the elevator, one of them was already inside and the other one entered with me. When the one inside saw the other one coming, I saw an amazing sparkle in his eyes, he quickly pressed the button for reaching 11th floor on which the one entering with me asked, "Why did you press that?" He remained silent and just with the movement of his eyes told him that I did it for you.  The two guys moved  a little closer and their conversation started:

Boy 1: "Tun sindhi ahain?" ( Are you Sindhi?)

Boy 2: "Na main Saraiki" (No I’m Saraiki.)

Boy 1: "Hai mobile kathon watui?" (Where did you buy this mobile from?)

and to his this question Boy 2 again replied in Saraiki which I was unable to understand but by the time I stepped out of the elevator, both of them were conversing fluently with eachother, one in Sindhi and the other one in Saraiki.  Even though Sindhi and Saraiki sound a bit similar when spoken but still I was really surprised to see how the young kids start communicating in two different languages so quickly. I’m not able to pick Saraiki much despite being fluent in Sindhi so I was impressed even more and got this strange pleasant feeling as well to see that those whom we pity by saying unpriviledged because they don’t have all these modern communication channels are actually God-gifted to use what they have in the best possible manner; unlike us who in order to understand the content from any language that’s foreign to us will have to have Google Transaltor or else we’ll be al most helpless!

Yesterday, I was sitting all confused, a bit frightened too, not too willing to trust people because of the few people I have come across and who turned out to be completely different from what they seemed to be or what they claimed to be. One thought that was circling around inside my mind was "Whom to trust and whom not to?", "Who is true and who’s not? ", "Shall I forgive those who turn out to be liars/hypocrites?" and it was then that I sat down to get my daily dose of Quranic verses and amazingly enough I got my hands on this verse:

 Show forgiveness, enjoin Al-’Urf (the good), and turn away from the foolish (don’t punish them). ) (200. And if an evil whisper comes to you from Shaytan, then seek refuge with Allah. Verily, He is All-Hearer, All-Knower.)

(Surah Al-Araf Ayat No. 199) (Web Reference: Tafsir.com)

(Tafsir can be found here)

SubhanAlllah…what a co-incidence…i said to myself but just then i recalled what I had read in the book "Your Sacred Quest" by Wayne Dyer just a few days back; that we live in God’s intelligent system where there’s intelligence behind whatever happens.So true! Once you accept this, you’ll enjoy experiencing co-incidences as with this new perception, you’ll get to see the intelligence behind them as well

Undoubtedly,  He(SWT) is GREAT!

Scene 1

Me: Please let A know that Fariha has come to see her

Security Guard(while talking to A over intercom): Madam, Farida is here

A: Farida..who??

Guard: Madam, Farida!

Me: Err…Fariha ..FariHA..FariHA Akhtar!

Guard: Jee..she’s saying Farida Akhtar

Guard(hangs up and tells me): My wife’s name is also Farida

Me: DUH!!! 

Scene 2

Me (checking out shawls in the market) when a shopkeeper notices me and says "Jee baby kiya chahye aapko"

Me…..arrgggggggg…..

So, amidst all the frustrations, illness, vacations, enjoyment etc. etc…this is what I was going through.that’s nothing significant at all ..just decided to give myself and my bloggy some rest but I guess I’m back now!

A line just came to my mind and I thought of sharing it on my bloggy It goes like:

"Sometimes a few bad decisions in life take away your sleep and hence your dreams from you as well"

Have I become a philosopher or what….oh actually I’m being my true retarded self these days!

When you bring your cellphone close to your mouth while you are thirsty and try attaching the charger to your glass of water thinking its battery’s low..then you are very clearly LOST!! and that’s what I’m these days Ideally, want to run away to some valley where I can spend long hours meditating in the shadow of mountains.

Image Credit: Whole Travel’s Gallery