Ripple Effect

The News, Oct 25, 2009 RIPPLE EFFECT Flirting, 'open' prisons and drinking water By Omar R Quraishi From time to time I get all kind of interesting and almost-weird news from this very good email listing. Sometimes the articles are quite news worthy as well and deserve to be in mainstream publications. Some fit well with the entertainment/leisure pages that some of our newspapers have started of late. A recent one that I got this week – from a website by the name of www.bolohealth.com quoted researchers at the University of Washington as claiming that flirting – yes flirting! – was in fact good for one's health. Lest I be accused of promoting promiscuity, let me first enumerate their reasons. The first was that it builds confidence and self-esteem in the individual. To quote verbatim: "A little harmless flirting can help you feel attractive again and confident about yourself. The only thing to keep in mind is setting boundaries. Make sure you and your partner are clear...

though just attended one night -- the last one on saturday -- not bad at all -- quite well organized, ample seating (if you got there in time that is), the airconditioning was v good and it kind of began on time -- around 35 mins late which is almost punctual in pakistan -- deepak perwani and faiza samee were the big names as was adnan perdaisee -- but quite a few promising people as well -- not too many big names or celebrities in the audience unless you count people like sharmila farooqui, mohsin sayeed (who was messaging half the time -- so much for the restriction on the use of mobile phones) and hina byatt as celebrities -- also saw kashif abbasi of ARY but wonder what the hell was he doing there because he was constantly with all the photographers -- right at the end of the long ramp -- let's hope he does NOT do a talk show on fashion -- some of the clothes were not bad though most were not wearable in a purely practical sense -- but then probably that is bound to happen at a...

going to pakistan fashion week's closing day this evening -- should be interesting

Published on Nov 1, 2009 RIPPLE EFFECT From one room to another… By Omar R Quraishi The last time I moved offices -- rather organisations -- it took all of three months, and a bit more. My boss -- one of Pakistan's best writers and journalists but now sadly not among us, Tahir Mirza, editor of Dawn -- insisted that I serve out the three-month notice period, despite the fact that I had been at the paper for almost 11 years. I had given him my resignation well before the three-month period was to begin and he kept it with him till the last day (of the three-month notice period, that is) in the hope -- so he said -- that I would change my mind. And that I didn't, despite many former colleagues initially convinced that I would change my mind, given that I had been with that paper for so many years and had presumably become accustomed to its distinctive working atmosphere. In fact, even after I left, and came to this pape...

this follows from my column of around three years in the news on sunday -- since i am no longer at the news, and am working for a newspaper which is yet to come out i have kind of been forced to create my own blog -- this way i can perhaps at least continue to write -- which is something that a journalist must always do