This blog is no longer being updated. Last post was “Farewell”.
For the umpteenth time now, my blogger’s block is terminated by a tag. My thanks to Specs.
Here’s what the tag is all about…
The McCains own 13 cars, eight homes and have access to a corporate jet. If you were as insanely rich as them, where would your eight homes be and why?
The only rule is: The homes must be within the borders of the country you live in, so as to utterly emulate the McCains.
When you’re done, tag 8 people, so that they may join in the self-indulgence, forgetting about the crappy property market and the equivalent of The End of Pompeii on Wall-Street. You could spend your time hammering your doors and windows shut in preparation for the Apocalypse, but this meme is so much more fun!
Just for the record, I don’t know a thing about McCain (except that he is an old guy and running for the president in today’s US Elections), and certainly nothing about the McCains. Okay, so they are rich — as in, really rich — and own all these things mentioned above (with a lot of other things too, I am sure). Cool. Good for them.
But now I have to think like a McCain and build eight houses all over Pakistan. Frankly, I would just prefer to build a large farmhouse somewhere in the suburbs of Islamabad and spend the rest of my money doing something interesting. Like creating a Batsuit for myself and then jumping off the cliff from Pir Sohawa to glide all over Islamabad. (No, I won’t become a vigilante because Pakistan has no place for vigilantism. A “Batman” in the streets of Pakistan will be stoned to death by child vagabonds.)
Anyway, on to the tag then…
Yep. This one is simple. I’d like to have a home in Islamabad. Why? Because I love this city. Period.
And not just anywhere in Karachi, but near the coast of Arabian Sea. Preferably with huge glass windows. With curtains, of course.
Again, near the coast. Again, with huge glass windows. And now that I think of it, I’ll have the following couplet written in complete Nastaliq glory and have it displayed near the entrances of both the Karachi and Gwadar Glass Houses:
لے سانس بھی آہستہ کہ نازک ہے بہت کام
آفاق کی اس کارگہِ شیشہ گری کا
(I think I am getting carried away.)
Pick an ice-covered mountain in the Hindu Kush range near Chitral and I’ll have a home there. Something like the cozy building where Bruce Wayne is trained by Henri Ducard in Batman Begins. (Yes, I know, this post contains too many Batman references. I am a fan.) And I’ll also have a helipad nearby, even if I have to cut down and flatten a mountain for constructing it. I am insanely rich in this post, remember?
A farmhouse. A huge farmhouse.
I like the feel of this city, even though I have only seen it in pictures and videos. Having a navvab‘s palace like home in Bahwalpur will be fun.
Remember Dhuwan? That super-hit PTV serial about a bunch of guys kicking some serious criminal butt? It was shot in Quetta, and I have always wanted to visit this city. True, nowadays, it’s a “sensitive” area and all that jazz, but I would still like a home there. Specially if it’s like the one owned by Salman, Dhuwan‘s super villain.
Yep. A recreational vehicle. Technically, it’s not a place in Pakistan, but that’s what makes it interesting: I can drive it to anywhere. Anywhere on land, that is. Of course, it would be custom-made to be able to tolerate harsh circumstances during desert safaris in Cholistan or Thar, or while exploring archaeological sites like Taxila or Mohenjo-daro.
And now the part of passing this tag to others. I tag Aamir, Absar, Farooq, Ghazal, Karachiwali, Mahwash, Sana, and UTP.
29 comments
farooq
Nov 4, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Hooraaa!! i get to be the first to comment!
1. Ajman, UAE
Ajman dar-ul-amaan, home to me most of my life
2. Karachi
The city where i belong!!! I wouldnt mind a nice lil place at kda behind the stadium, preferably on top of the mountain
3. Jezzine
The most beautiful and comforting place ever in my opinion, located in the south of Lebanon. Id like a small hideout in the mountains away the hypocritical everyday clutter of the city, so i can fulfill my dream of living on my own in isolation for short periods of time…
4. Next to the playboy mansion!
Does this need an explanation???
5,6,7,8
Karachi, Lahore, NWFP, Balochistan
Shelters for the homeless, because four homes are faaaarrrrr more than a person like me would want…
Hira S.
Nov 4, 2008 at 4:47 pm
err…wasnt it within this country?
Sana
Nov 4, 2008 at 4:47 pm
ummm.. i know 4 places for now let me think ( which right now is very hard not that its been easy ever). This tag reminds me of another tag I haven’t answered yet *sigh* lazy me.
farooq
Nov 4, 2008 at 6:26 pm
@Hira
lol youre right, i must redo my assignment!
1. Karachi
The city where i belong!!! I wouldnt mind a nice lil place at kda behind the stadium, preferably on top of the mountain
2. Skardu, since Jezzine isnt in Pakistan!
Id like a small hideout in the mountains away the hypocritical everyday clutter of the city, so i can fulfill my dream of living on my own in isolation for short periods of time…
3. Next to Lahore Grammar School
(Since we dont have a playboy mansion here)
4,5,6,7,8
Karachi, Lahore, NWFP, Balochistan
Shelters for the homeless, because three homes are faaaarrrrr more than a person like me would want…
farooq
Nov 4, 2008 at 6:27 pm
this is how i generally do my assignments by the way, copy paste with a tad bit of editing
Specs
Nov 4, 2008 at 6:46 pm
Its nice you’re so, erm, realistic about the future of the bat-suit.
And hey, we’re going to be neighbors in so many places; reckon we should make a committee to pressure city administrations and the lot?
I remember ‘Dhuwan’..the police guy..his name was Azhar, I think: my first crush.
Hmm..a camper/ recreational home is a good choice! But with roads in the state they are…good luck.
ghazalpirzada
Nov 4, 2008 at 7:30 pm
hayeee u killler! aik toh TAG woh bhi itna mushkil!
UTP
Nov 4, 2008 at 7:45 pm
I hate you man….I really really hate you….
Mahwash
Nov 4, 2008 at 10:51 pm
Hey I didn’t know you’d written Gwadar too!
AamirRaz
Nov 5, 2008 at 11:01 am
TAGS=
Havnt answered previous tags yet. Par poe bhi, meherbani, dost!
BTW, u’v alrdy slctd many places tht me, too, wud go for
karachiwali
Nov 5, 2008 at 11:03 am
the recreational vehicle is definitely something i would like to have!
@ farooq
dun tell me that u have spent most of ur life in UAE too…
Dinky Mind
Nov 5, 2008 at 1:57 pm
All my eight houses would be at Oyster Rocks. I so much love islands!!!!
Tazeen
Nov 5, 2008 at 2:57 pm
You want both, a house and a farmhouse in Islamabad. You can only afford one if you have ever been part of government in Pakistan
Saadat
Nov 5, 2008 at 7:17 pm
Farooq,
LOL, man! A big pat on the back for doing a tad bit of editing while doing your assignments. God knows they don’t even do that these days. And I see you maintain back-ups (LGS in place of Playboy mansion)!
Hira,
Yep. It was.
Sana,
And you ask me to stop being lazy.
Specs,
Owner of a batsuit is nothing if not realistic. And yep, I am all for making a committee; let’s start lobbying! And that recreational vehicle will be custom made, remember? I might even add flying capabilities in it. (By the way, Aashir Azeem, who played Azhar, was your first crush? You’re kidding me, right?)
Ghazal,
Ab itna mushkil bhi nahin hai!
UTP,
Hahaha! Hate the tag, man. Hate the tag!
Mahwash,
Gwadar sure does rock!
Aamir,
But good to know we’ll be neighbours.
So you don’t like tags as well? Hmm.
Karachiwali,
Brilliant! I’ll ask my contractor to build a custom recreational vehicle for you too.
Dinky Mind,
Nice! I’d like to visit your homes there!
Tazeen,
Right you are. But considering that I’ll be insanely rich, the task might become a little bit easier, no?
Ordinary Girl
Nov 5, 2008 at 9:25 pm
That recreational vehicle idea is kamal!!
AamirRaz
Nov 6, 2008 at 11:13 am
@Saadat
It’s not that i dnt lyk thm… actually i hvnt answered the earlier 2 tags
but, himmat-e-marda~ .. madad-e-khuda! will definitely answer each n evry tag.. sure thing
AamirRaz
Nov 6, 2008 at 11:18 am
Guess what, ZONG stole ur header – apples- n made a print ad for the ‘special one’…
Phew….being filthy rich is difficult! « Ramblings…
Nov 6, 2008 at 12:17 pm
[...] November 6, 2008 Filed under: Friends, Life, Musings in life, Uncategorized | Tags: blah, meme | Saadat and Mahwash both have tagged me and this one’s tough. I mean maintaining one would be more [...]
farooq
Nov 6, 2008 at 6:25 pm
@karachiwali
yes i have
Absar
Nov 7, 2008 at 12:08 am
Hey, let me return the favor – you’re tagged
Saadat
Nov 7, 2008 at 11:26 am
Ordinary Girl,
Hai na?!
Aamir,
Sure thing. Will wait for your answers. And are you talking about this ad? I thought after reading your comment that they had used the same picture as my blog’s header’s (which they can use, by the way, because I don’t own its rights, and its photographer released it as royalty free stock).
Farooq,
Nagri nagri phira musafir, eh?
Absar,
Haha! Thanks!
purpledrifter
Nov 7, 2008 at 3:20 pm
I want to visit gwadar!
Saadat
Nov 7, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Here you go, Purpledrifter. (Beware of some “Langrial” pictures, though — they are incorrectly tagged, rather spammed, as “gwadar”.)
Specs
Nov 7, 2008 at 6:05 pm
Erm, No, I’m NOT kidding you. What’s wrong with anyone having had a crush on him, I ask you.*gets defensive, folds arms and glares* I guess you could call it the masoomest crush I ever had. After that, things went downhill. HAHA.
And since I’m an 86 born, I just realized that makes me all of eight years old when the drama was aired. Tsk Tsk. I was a bad kid, I see.
An ILLuS|On
Nov 8, 2008 at 2:35 am
yayyy..thank you very much for not tagging me:D
*phew*
yeah i know i’m too lazy:S
too many people have already tagged me & i haven’t written about any of em..me bad me bad:S
Saadat
Nov 8, 2008 at 9:24 am
Specs,
LOL! Well, you see, Katie Holmes was also 8 years old when she watched Top Gun and hanged a Tom Cruise poster in her bedroom (and then ended up marrying him after 20 years). You didn’t have an Aashir Azeem poster, did you? *hides before Specs can shoot him*
By the way, things always go downhill before sorting themselves out. That’s the whole fun of it.
ILLus|On,
Oh, I bet I am more lazy (lazier?) than you. It’s just that tags, for me, are good reasons for updating.
Hani
Nov 8, 2008 at 8:21 pm
get a child=proof batman suit, even batman got his one redesigned to give him better movement after the dogs bit him
in this case dogs=children
Specs
Nov 9, 2008 at 1:24 am
TWENTY years? OMG, i can’t wait for that long for ANY man.
haha,I’m laughing my head off but seriously Saadat: I had a crush on Azher, not on Aasher Azeem if you get my gist. And no, thankfully, I did not have any such posters.
I had a Ninja Turtles poster… using the Katie Holmes theory, that does not bode well for me. Oh Oh… Itnay salon baad milay bhi tu kia? Ninja Turtle. Uper sey teenage aur mutant. Na bhai.
Saadat
Nov 10, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Hani,
But that redesigned Batsuit also made him more vulnerable to injuries from bullets or knives. Can’t really risk it.
Specs,
But yes, a ninja turtle would really make a rather strange groom.
Ninja Turtles?! Do you remember how NTM started translating all those cartoon shows into Urdu, theme songs included? “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” had become “yeh hein dekho Ninja Turtles”!
And okay, that was a crush on Azhar and not on Aashir Azeem. Difference noted.