BLOGS BY AI (Experiment)

"Bringing Light to the Darkest Corners of the World: The Art of Filming in War-Torn Countries"

War and conflict are unfortunately a common occurrence in many parts of the world, leaving behind destruction and devastation in their wake. However, amidst the chaos, there are brave filmmakers who choose to venture into these war-torn countries to capture the stories of the people and the impact of the conflict on their lives.

Filming in war-torn countries is no easy task, as it requires a high level of courage and determination. The filmmakers who venture into these dangerous areas put themselves in harm's way to bring the stories of the people to the world. They face challenges such as navigating the complexities of the conflict, finding secure locations to film, and dealing with the psychological toll that comes with witnessing the suffering of others.

Despite the difficulties, the results can be truly powerful. Through their films, these filmmakers give a voice to the voiceless and shine a light on the human impact of war. They bring attention to the plight of the people affected by conflict and help to raise awareness about the issue on a global scale.

Filming in war-torn countries also provides a unique opportunity to document the history of the conflict and the lives of those affected by it. These films serve as a record of the events and provide a valuable resource for future generations.

In conclusion, the art of filming in war-torn countries is a vital part of storytelling and a powerful tool for raising awareness about conflict and its impact on people's lives. These filmmakers deserve recognition for their bravery and commitment to capturing the stories of those affected by war. #WarTornStories #ConflictFilming #HumanImpact #DocumentingHistory.

In today's world, where media plays a crucial role in shaping our understanding of the world, the importance of films that shed light on the darker corners of the world cannot be overstated. Through their bravery and determination, these filmmakers bring hope and light to the places that need it the most.

 BLOGS BY AI (Experiment)

#IstanbulNeverForgets1999: A Foreigner's Experience of the 1999 Earthquake in Istanbul

As a foreigner living in Istanbul, I never could have imagined the impact that the 1999 earthquake would have on this vibrant city and its people. On August 17th, 1999, a 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck the Marmara region, causing widespread devastation and leaving over 17,000 people dead.

As someone who wasn't here for the earthquake, I can only imagine the fear and uncertainty that must have swept through the city as buildings shook and crumbled. But what I have seen in the aftermath of the earthquake is a testament to the strength and resilience of the people of Istanbul.

The city has come a long way since 1999, with many new buildings and infrastructure built to withstand earthquakes. However, the scars of that fateful day still remain, serving as a reminder of the tragedy that struck this city.

I have been struck by the outpouring of support for the victims of the earthquake, with countless volunteer efforts and fundraising campaigns aimed at helping those affected by the disaster. The people of Istanbul have come together to support one another, showing the world what it truly means to be a community.

It is this sense of community that makes Istanbul such a special place to live. The city may have changed a lot since 1999, but the spirit of the people remains the same. They continue to come together in times of need, showing the world what it means to be a part of a truly compassionate and resilient city.

So as we remember the tragedy of the 1999 earthquake, let's also celebrate the strength and resilience of the people of Istanbul. #IstanbulNeverForgets1999 #IstanbulStrong #MarmaraEarthquake #Remember1999.

In conclusion, my time living in Istanbul has taught me so much about the importance of community and coming together in times of need. The 1999 earthquake may have been a tragedy, but it has also shown the world the true spirit of this incredible city and its people.

Resting with Saints

After a long journey i have reached half way mark and just recenlty clocked 3000 Km. 

For past 72 hours i have been in Multan, eating food and sleeping while i wait for a friend to join me in Lahore. 

Multan is also called city of shrines and is one of the oldest cities in the world, not much to do in the city apart from visiting shrines, eating food and if you have an interesting taste you can watch Mujras and eat more food.

Just yesterday i contacted Muree Brewery in Islamabad to see if i can visit them, still waiting for a response but i have been told that it is possible to visit on Saturdays.

Next stop Islamabad. Again.

Islam-abad

The name has got religious significance but nothing religious about the city except Faisal Mosque. I stayed there for quite a few days but did not hear a single call for prayer(Azan), which in very unlikely Pakistan where most of the Mula's would prefer to cover whole of Pakistan with their voice. Favourite past time of the city is to go approx. 4000 feet on mountain to have food or just sit home with a glass of non-religious beverage.

Islamabad was made for foreigners and not for Pakistanis, while driving you stay in your lane, stop at every signal, let others pass, minimal use of horn etc. but right next to Islamabad is the city which will give you true essence of Pakistan. Rawalpindi, its winding bazaars and highly coordinated traffic chaos.

I would prefer to live in Islamabad any day, it is calm and quite but after my retirement. 

Routine Life

It has been 2 weeks today that one of my closest friend is missing, well not really missing but kidnapped but to me he is missing as i haven't bee able to watch any football match, not even a single game Fifa on xBox and above all i find it extremely difficult to even take a sip of booze. This is not because i am literally staying at his house to keep the atmosphere lively and support his family in this difficult time but purely because our life revolved around xbox and boozy nights.

Life must go on but with your routine missing it is difficult to carry on. That actually made me think life at the other end must be going in a routine - Life of a kidnapper, pick your target, keep him at a safe location, negotiate with the family and knowing that police is looking for them - just a job for them. I wonder if they are happy at their job, are they also having difficulties in sleeping or its just the victims?  I have been meaning to write this post for sometime but find it extremely difficult to write as it breaks me to say my dear friend is missing whom i have a lot to share.

So i have decided not to write about my friend but simply write about Pakistan and my love for this country. I know almost all my friends are planning to move out of this terror stuck country and i don't blame them, we were born and brought up to hate our surroundings, since the nations birth we have been doing this. and i am sure we will be doing this forever and the day we get a chance to move out we will move out. It hurts to say may be i will do the same but the basis of my desision will be different, i will only move to get knowledge and always return home, as home to me always will be Pakistan.

This blog is in reaction to reading this piece on Dawn regarding Wasim Akram and match fixing allegations. http://www.dawn.com/news/1285348

I am still a fan but a confused one. As a normal being we pick and choose based on our liking and that makes it easier for us to forget and forgive.

Heroes are picked based on their talents, so it doesn't matter what kind of human being they are, for example, Afridi is my hero and on a cricket pitch I forgive him for everything but as a human being i can't stand him, when it comes to Wasim Akram or even Imran Khan i can go on for days praising their talents but as an honest human being I have my doubts about their character.

There is fine thin line between right and wrong and that line further shrinks when its between 'my right' and 'ethically / morally wrong'. Perhaps more and more cricketers are being convinced that its their right to earn more and more by all means simply because its their right.

This goes beyond cricket, every field of work i have encountered, money matters and its not enough no matter how much it is. Recently i have been struggling to cope up with this and spoken to few about it and to my surprise its not just cricket, my field of work or our country, its global and its too late to fix it. We are so corrupt now that the fine line is gone, we simply pick and choose based on our liking of whats wrong and whats not. We have our own interpretation and names for various corrupt activities we are involved in, kickback is commission, bribe is speed money, bookies are our friends, agency/ clients own startups with zero investment and property is the new currency to play with taxes.

Having said that we all like our close friends no matter what they do, so how can we not love our heroes and forget or turn a blind eye towards what they do on the side.

Who to blame?

I am not sure where to start but I just had to write as I hate having a conversation over this with people for various reasons, primarily they all suck and too emotional, which makes them say things that are no less than what any Taliban would say.

For the record I hate extremism and not just religious.

So let me try and find out the culprit while I write, it all might have started way before but I wasn't there so I can't comment on Umer, Ali or Zia. I will take 11th September 2011 as the starting point.

11/11 was one of the most brutal attack on any nation in recent era, many died, who survived might have never recovered(at least emotionally). That one attack created a huge divide Them & US from which the world never recovered. After that attack America had to retaliate any sane nation would do that but they never slept over their approach and here we are now still trying to fix it. We all can blame America for various things but I think we all were part of their strategy being a Pakistani I should only talk about my country. So when the attack happened our human reaction was 'sadness' but a lot of us started coming up with conspiracy theories, this might have been in our defense or simply because we are not humans. Pakistan just could NOT say no to America this is because we could only try and calm them down but anger stops you from thinking straight with logic.

Why America looked at us? We were there when they wanted us before, we were there who could guide them in the right direction, we were there when they were building this 'cult' (i can't call it a religion) and most importantly we were easy to buy. So we happily joined, feeling like the most favored prostitute of a Sheikh. Forgetting that they might use and leave us pregnant.

We knew each and every one from the list of most wanted, we made them and thats the reason we gave them heads up before they were attacked, we had no choice then we have no choice now but to be part of all this. They way we police Indian border we could have done that for Afghan border too but we are too busy/happy on flat surface to think about rough terrain . The amount we spend to scare India could have been used on the Afghan border if we were really serious about stopping anyone.

We thought if we let them in and hide we could bully America, India etc. etc. and we were right we really thought our co-creation were our friends Ha! they were too pissed at us and played on our internal dived of pro and anti west. We always thought we could control them whenever we wanted, journalist were interested in exclusive interviews, army was busy collecting aid, politicians had found ego boosting hang out buddies which they could use in elections and common man was busy with criticizing whatever they felt was not in their favour. Meanwhile our 'friends' were recruiting and they did that very well by using sympathy, we are humans and very emotional ones so of course we all supported 'friends' from mountains to living rooms we all must have cursed the west and sympathized with the beard. It was all going well, everyone was happy, America thought they took their revenge and just wanted to go back home, Army had money to stare at India, journalist were famous and rich, common man was growing beard and getting ready for heaven by quoting everything from Quran without even giving a thought about context. We all were generally happy!

And then our dear friends decided its time for real Jihad, by this time they had regrouped with everyone's help, they had friends everywhere, they were kind of whos who of the world. Journalist were taking them live on air, politicians were giving speeches in their favour to gain vote bank and they had recruits already in every country ready to blow up in the name of something or the other. Thousands of lives of innocent and not so innocent were lost in this new battle, minorities suffered the most, we all kept quite, westerners in this region suffered, we all kept quite, when alledged blasphemers were killed we all kept quite, education and health suffered we all kept quite but when Osama was killed we did not keep quite and when killers came to court we showered them with petals. Our courts are scared to give punishment, our lawyers are scared to fight a case when religion was involved

Issue with PTI Supporters

This post is written by Parisa Siddiqi on her blog and I am copying extract of it without her consent to which i apologize but I just had to share this as PTI supporters made my life miserable with their annoyance. I personally think its Imran's fault for making them believe that they will win outright whereas he knew himself that they will be leading opposition. Also, these people have never voted nor they know rules and regulations around elections and polling stations, if MQM cheated, PTI harassed voters. I repeat the whole PTI clan needs to gain experiences before crying for revolution, at times they make MQM look good.

Everyone is aware of the electoral problems of NA 250 in Karachi and my polling station at DHA girls college phase 8 had similar problems where polling didn’t start till 12:30 pm. I arrived there with my family at 7:45 am and expected to be done earlier but when there was no news of the ballot boxes till 10 am, we decided to go for breakfast and then come back later.

While we were having breakfast and devising our plan for the day, a family came and sat next to us and their young daughter was proudly sporting an Imran Khan kurta. The girl’s mother who looked like a sensible lady turned to us and asked us whether we had voted yet or not. We told her we were still waiting. Then without a moment of hesitation, she asked us, “Who are you voting for?” Her husband looked embarrassed and in a meek voice pointed to her that she shouldn’t ask that. I guess he understood it was inappropriate. But she ignored him and continued to look at us waiting for an answer clearly not understanding her intrusion. My mother politely said, “That’s a very personal question” and hoped that would be the end of it. Like all “aunties” in our culture she did not have any boundaries either. She continued to insist, “No, but still?” We all looked uncomfortably at each other and again trying to be polite yet give her the hint, my cousin said, “everyone is voting for different people on this table.” We really thought she would shut up now. She still insisted, “No but still… who is the majority voting for?” Understanding that she would not give up without an answer and we would not be able to get back to our breakfast till we answered her, we hesitantly said, “PTI, MQM and Jibran Nasir.” She looked confused. In regards to the last choice she said, “Who’s that?” I said, “An independent candidate.” She was clearly not impressed. She finally gave up and stopped harassing us.

Rest of the post can be read at Parisa's blog here

Election 2013 Grumbling (Unedited - Rough Draft)

Bravo! 60% turnout at this years elections, may the highest turnout ever but a little in depth research by any common man can show that these 60% of voters were not 60% population of this country we might be around 200 million in population no around 85 million were only registered voters, so by that calculation, in terms of population only 26% of the population voted, our next job is to get 149m people to vote but if that happens God bless our nation by the chaos on that day.

Build up to 11th May 2013 

I have never seen such excitement around politics, the office meetings, dinners with family, drinks with friends and even conversations with domestic staff was around elections. I was lucky to have known all sets of people with various political affiliations and it was great to have heated debates on logical and most of the time illogical issues around elections. I till the time I stamped on ballot paper wasn't sure who I am going to vote for as I had left it on two things, 1) Anyone who gives me the most logical answer and a best reason to vote for their party 2) Scrutinize my local representatives. Sadly, there was no logical explanation nor there were much info on most of the representatives. Honestly that left me quite irritated as campaigning by friends and family was getting on my nerves and most of them were supporting PTI with no rationale at all. 

Party analysis before elections

PTI - By far the best campaign to engage people and get them on board, if it wasn't for IKs charm he would not have so much support from people as his manifesto came out just days before election so most were blindly supporting them, in all honestly I can bet more than 90% of his supporters did not read his manifesto  I did and it was quite obvious, to me MQM and PPP have a crafted their manifestos far more beautifully than PTI. Taking nothing away from PTI, they did manage to mobilize a lot of volunteers and banked on a lot of free media. Apart from a request to my activation agency to hire 30 boys and girls on Rs. 1,000/day to promote PTI in defence area. PTI got all the NAYA voters for their NAYA Pakistan. My brothers, mother and most of my family were in for Imran Khan with a single argument lets try him.

Party Internal Target: Leader of opposition and KPK Government.

PPPP- They seemed not interested apart from gaining their usual seats from Sindh, their campaign had two things, what others did and Bhutto legacy, It might and might not have worked as Sindh is their own in any case. I have a strong PPP support in my house as my dad went to school with most of the leadership, coming from Hyderabad I even have family ties with most of the PPP candidates. There were shirts with my family name in interior Sindh supporting Bhutto's party. Having said that my dad not even once asked any family member to vote for them and I have a strong feeling he himself did not vote for them but even if he did I can't blame him as his best friend is in PPP and he used to be PPP student federations President for Hyderabad in 70s. All that mattered was he voted in Karachi and went to Hala to be with his friends.

Party Internal Target: Sindh Government & Southern Punjab

PML-N - If not the best, they had the most effective and ethically correct campaign in which they just showed what they had done for Punjab province. Although they seemed shit scared of PTI, which was obvious as PPP played their cards well and just sat outside the ring to watch the fight in Punjab. A close friend of mine happened to be a die heart supporter of tiger party, usually we never agree but I happened to agree with him on his arguments to some extend. PML-N is a true cornered tiger for him but for me they have done well for Punjab.

Party Internal Target: Win outright, Punjab Government.

ANP - I believed they were formed for a reason and that reason was over, Best explained by their leader Shahi Syed, we will loose as we can't campaign our victory will be if we get out of this alive. I din't see their campaign but through a friend I managed to know about them. This friend of mine is a PPP supporter, from interior Sindh and represents quite a few minorities still living in Pakistan. His argument was simple, I live in Karachi and ANP can only give me security. Which is more than a valid reason for anyone to vote for anyone.

Party Internal Target: Few seats in Karachi, Selected seats in KPK.

MQM -  Robin hood of Karachi, their campaign was around Altaf Hussain as expected but targeted common man with a glimpses of hope through Mustafa Kamal's footage, they also managed to mobilize their workers in getting the voters prepared for a war against the PTI burgers, a simple idea annoy and irritate them and they will go home. I personally don't like them but I always say, either keep them happy or eliminate them by force, there is nothing in between for this party. If it was in my hand I will keep them happy, whenever we have kept them happy, they have worked for Karachi and crime rate goes down. All they want is their territory, give it to them, they will be the best party for Karachi as their network is far more superior than any other party or agency in Karachi. Politics is not about winning, its about your strategic moves to utilize everyone's strengths for the betterment of nation. A colleague of mine is a supporter, ex worker who lost friends and family back in 90s but I have seen his blind support with few very valid reasons to support MQM, just by having heated discussions with them I have come to realize you can't talk him out of his rationals to support Mahjir Movement but you can plant a logic in him without force.

Party Personal Target: Karachi and Hyderabad 

Elections Day

What a day, I had never seen average, above average and below average so excited to vote, credit must go to Imran Khan but nothing to take away from this nation who probably were more excited to vote as they had never seen a smooth transition of democracy and thats why I say give democracy time and everyone will learn, overnight revolutions will only bite you in your ass, read about Egypt and how Muslim brotherhood came to power, it takes years to successfully bring a revolution.

As my luck goes my constituency was NA 250 one of the most tricky place for MQM and PTI, the clash of burgers and desi's, the rich and poor, ok this is what i had been hearing. I along with my family and a Pakistani flag on my chest got to my polling station all I could do for next 30 mins was check out hotties because polling had not started and people were fighting over PTI caps, at the point i remembered what my father had told me a night earlier, MQM will delay the polling so we the privileged ones get frustrated and go home. No one went home and for that I had to stand 10 hours in a queue which was competing with snails and i tell you snails were much faster. 

Generally it was a great day I did not see anyone loose patience and after a long time it was a proud moment to be among Pakistani's, PTI supporters were in high spirit and let me be honest they made those 10 hours worth standing for, I made quite a few friends who happened to be PTI supporters, we might connect later once the election fever dies out. friends from other constituency visited with cigarette, water and chips, ice cream and water was in unlimited stock. Felt like a grand picnic on Lane 14th.

Three instants that needs to be mentioned here;

• Rehman Malik visit
• No matter what he might have done in past the way PTI supporters welcomed him was disgraceful, specially when MQM leaders were sitting all day and no one had balls to say anything to them. From no on Rehman Malik will be known as Balls of Steel by me.
• Senior Citizen jumping queue
• An old man asked me if he could stand in front of me, I simply told him to ask behind me as there were other senior citizens behind me, to which others refused and a certain citizen shouted and made a scene cursing him disgracefully  he had to negotiate his place with another young gentleman some 6 spaces behind me and right when I got my hand inked there came an ID card with a shout from behind 'saathi' the same senior citizen who shouted earlier got vocal to which the polling officer showed him eyes in a plea to shut up to which the shouting uncle was like "oh! VIP" and said not a single word after that.
• Picnic Litter
• The whole 14th lane was there for Naya Pakistan, yet street was over flowing with bottles and all that we ate and drank that day.

At my polling station it was clear that PTI was winning NA 250 as it was claimed by few people that there were no less than 100,000 people at this polling station that day to which the presiding officer interupted and said "Sir it can't be more than 15 to 20 thousand people as this polling station only has 28,000 people registered and all of them will never show up to which another guy said "Bullshit! there are atleast 50,000 people outside" to which everyone agreed. This brings me to the most important reality check for all the first time voters, lets just say if that day MQM would have won NA 250 the 15 thousand present at my polling station would have straight up rejected the result as they were convinced PTI had clean bowled not realizing they were standing in PTI stronghold and forgetting that MQM holds far more stronghold, its not a crime to support MQM, thats the beauty of your vote that everyone gets to vote for what they believe is right. Casting your vote is essential not casting your vote for PTI, and this understanding will only come with experience, so we need days like this every 5 years.

Post Election 

After 10 hours I walked back home as I was too tired to wait for my brother to pick me up, One of my brother was already ready to go for his shoot, the other one got free 3 hours later as he got to know his polling station was different after waiting in the queue with us all day, mum got home early thanks to her senior citizen queue and dad was already in Hala with his childhood friends.

A day well spent, Almost. I got ready and started hoping at various election open houses (another new for me) again living in PTI stronghold meant I was with my PTI friends everywhere but finally I ended up with very few close friends to celebrate PML-N victory with the lone supporter I have in my friends circle.

The healthy debates continued but later on the news of rigging along with proofs started pouring in and one party stood out and it was none other than MQM. I did a bit of research to find out what might have happened in Karachi if it was an ideal situation, overall country turn over was 60%. In Karachi it was averaged 48%. People were surprised at MQM bagging 100,000 votes in Karachi need to understand that their strong hold constituencies are heavily populated and their registered voters are higher than ours and to facilitate that they have larger number of polling stations. 

If PTI was expecting to win from Azizabad its their delusional goals not anyone else fault and if MQM had not rigged they might have won too, a peaceful solution was offered by one crazy MQM leader that 4 constituencies in dispute should have re-elections but PTI wanted and still wants re-election in whole of Karachi and may be in Lahore too. I have few questions to them, seriously? you really think you can win all seats in Karachi? try visiting MQM areas and see their blind support, and there is nothing wrong if people support them, it is their right to freely support whoever they want to support, PTI might have got 2 or maximum 3 seats in fair election but in re-election they wont be able to get more than 2, so why make all this noise and disturb the city. It was right to stand against wrong but as a politician one must find a way other than complete elimination and if you negotiate you will have a better chance to eliminate opponents in a longer run. Now lets take Punjab and specially Lahore, why do you think you had better support than PML-N? what do you have? Imran Khan and his honesty, which is not yet proven. What PML-N hold is a trust of local Punjabi who has seen him perform for them, who have a lot in their hand to show, yes they might not be like Imran Khan but they have facts to show you and it is our duty to respect their mandate. Rigging is an issue and needs to be solved and in a longer run I see this happening with advancement of technology.

Democracy needs time so does democratic leaders, Imran Khan will be the perfect opposition for PML-N and now he has a demo land to prove his claims and above all learn politics, get to know his leaders, opposition leaders and most importantly state secrets which I am assuming can not be shared with any politician unless he is in Parliament. I personally think, Imran might not be able to deliver what he had claimed in his build up but it is important for Pakistan that he delivers even half of it and most importantly learn and gain experience to get rid of big horses from Punjab and Sindh. 

PTI Internal Target: Leader of opposition (almost achieved) and KPK Government.(achieved)

PPPP Internal Target: Sindh Government (achieved) & Southern Punjab (not achieved)

PML-N Internal Target: Win outright, Punjab Government.(achieved and 2 more provinces might be bonus)

ANP Internal Target: Few seats in Karachi (Not achieved), Selected seats in KPK.(Not achieved)

MQM Personal Target: Karachi and Hyderabad (Achieved losing credibility)

Revolution does not come overnight, it takes time and effort. we have seen 5 years of democracy for the first time, give it time, we might remain in dark ages for another 5 years but a leader is gaining experience and look beyond this government we actually might have a true leader who will be ready to lead us. If we give captaincy to someone who is not ready he surely will end up fucking our team, we can afford that but we can't afford that for a nation, specially when this young talent can be groomed and bring us back to our lost glory. Pakistan Zindabad!

Note: Our major concern should be Baluchistan Government as there is no clear lead over there

‘Chinese Whisper’ - News in Pakistan

All these years I only read The Sun till page 3 but couple of years back a friend asked me to read their sports section for latest football rumors and since then I have been hooked to that newspaper purely for football gossip. At times I feel that I know when Posh is pregnant before even Bekham knows about it but all these are rumors, speculations and gossip with zero factual evidence and readers are well aware of that. In broadcast media it is a known fact that Fox/Sky are the gossip queens and yet I prefer BBC over them as if I want authentic news, news that needs to be backed by facts, I don’t want to hear rumors of rape, gossip on child slavery and speculations on current affairs, for all of that I have my Sun.

So what makes something 'gossip' as opposed to 'news'? The difference is subjective - News tends to be:

• of a higher "quality"
• of more relevant
• factual - not speculation/hearsay

As these attributes are debatable what can be consider news vs what can be considered gossip can vary depending on the person asked. 

In recent days I have been irritated by senseless debates on this same topic and the worst part is that we are not discussing  and footballers life or politicians affair, we are casually debating that was that girl raped or was she not? Not many are even willing to find factual evidence before they start spreading this ‘news’ my facebook feed is filled with asking women to avoid going out, stop driving and take extra precautions(go out with your man), seriously? For rumor sake, I think this is some ‘maulvi’ trying to bring Saudi law on women to Pakistan. I am not saying that that alleged girl is lying but before spreading the rumors it is our responsibility to find facts rather than use this as a panic button in our pseudo-intellectual debates.

In Pakistan, news is published based on entertainment value. Many people get their news from the internet, even blogs. People are more interested in confirming their own ideas than knowing the truth. I have been brought up in a way that I still manage to read a newspaper and there are very few newspapers left in Pakistan which actually are not gossip magazines. Whenever these remaining newspapers make a mistake in their facts I have always seen them apologizing and admitting their mistake publically and trust me over the years I might have come across only a bunch of factual mistakes in these publications.

Our broadcast media is completely different story, PTV to some extend holds integrity but remember its state owned channel. Having worked with one of the biggest broadcast network in Pakistan I have learned the trades of entertainment industry which includes our very serious news. At times breaking News in Pakistani can be equivalent to Roznama Jawani publications.

Even though I am very closely associated to local media, I have managed programming for a News channel and still working in ad industry, I have stopped watching local TV channels, news is no more than a joke to me and entertainment is no more than brainwash for their viewers but surprisingly at times I feel like less informed when I chat with people around me as they all are heavily engulfed in local news, I didn’t knew who Sharmila Farooqi was getting married to, what was that Prado rape story, not even a single version of kidnapping scene at Dolmen Mall but I did knew Ms Farooqi was getting married, there was some rumor regarding Prado and there was shooting at Dolmen Mall, this all came from my heavily trusted print sources with no gossip in them as they could not establish facts. Whereas people around me had more than enough knowledge to start discussing and spreading the rumor and making me look like a I don’t know the real story, in other words start creating panic. Source? Internet and Word of mouth

News in Pakistan is based on the game ‘Chinese Whisper’ I prefer to break the chain till I get some facts.