During my BBA days when I used to frequent Dou Talwar almost on a daily basis I often mocked Asim Jofa's advertising for their marketing, for example, there was one such billboard once that said, 'I'm a classy housewife, I wear Asim Jofa'. It was basically a theme based on women's life roles and how it relates to them wearing Asim Jofa; according to them it was the ultimate choice of students, working women, and house wives.

Last Friday I happened to commute through the same place and noticed how beautifully green the roundabout had been made, with flower beds and grass. On the three boards placed there, was mentioned, 'Maintained by Asim Jofa'. this gesture struck me as very impressive.

Below are the pictures of the lush green Dou Talwar. I couldn't get proper pictures because the car wasn't stationary, so in reality it looks far more beautiful.







Finally brands have started giving back to the society, a step at a time. Though I wish, all of us would initiate a CSR activity at a mass level to plant trees so that an even more intense heat wave that is expected this year would be combatted. The rapid urbanisation is to be blamed for the decline in the number of tree. Look around and you would notice a vintage house being demolished with its fruit trees cut down to erect a 10 plus storey building. The pace of swift construction is somehow alarming. There should be a law to plant 10 to 20 trees with each building constructed. I know ... wishful thinking right?

I don't have a very adventurous story since I returned home that day via a colleague's car and not a rickshaw or a public bus and hence the only thing adventurous that happened was light moments of motion sickness with abrupt breaks in between. It wasn't bad though knowing that the ride was overall quite comfortable and yes, I got to save money. :P
 
And look what Pantene has been up to. The brand has collaborated with GREASE – The Musical, to recreate the magic of a panache of hairstyles from the 50's. Their description relates to hair that is stronger inside and shinier outside. 
And these are the hairy hashtags being used :)
#PanteneHair #DoitallHair #TakeitallHair  

Great things continue happening in great cities, not to mention the jaw dropping obnoxious occurrences as well, these altogether add up to the excitement of our sometimes mundane life routine.

Pakistan has witnessed some unusual and interesting things ever since the start of 2016 and we can expect a few pieces of peace to get sprinkled all over Karachi. From the onset of the cleanliness drive ... temporary cleanliness drive rather to the predicted thunderstorm that never happened, our mood swings affect humans, the city itself, and the weather of course.

I happened to be in a public bus one morning and it was 5 minutes late than it's usual time ... and of course the bus was flying. A decent and innocuous looking young woman go on, meanwhile the bus kept on flying with abrupt and random stops to mount and dismount us, horses and donkeys, at least this is what the dilapidated condition of public buses in Karachi makes you feel like.

I tried to focus my attention on Lee Child's novel, 'Killing Floor' that I was reading but in vain, I finally shut it and hoped that my existence on planet Earth would continue gracing it without any leaps and bounds but then flying is fun whether its in a plane, a bus or my most beloved joy ride, the rickshaw!

So here we go! As soon as the bus reached and almost stopped at Teen Talwar, two women got up to leave but the impatient bus inertia somehow gave a sudden jerk, slowing down in a sudden vehicular gasp. One of these two was that decent and innocuous woman who decided to take her decent mask off with all her might! She decided to practice a word she seemed to have recently picked up from a movie, well, of course the guinea pigs were the driver's ears.

"WHAT THE F*** YOU ARE DOING?!?!?!" she yelled and I resisted the urge to correct her grammar and tell her that the correct sentence would have been, "What the f*** are you doing?!?!?!" but decided not to intervene in her deep broth of the four letter word. She was extremely verbose with the use of her recently acquired word and kept saying, "F*** you!", "F*** you!", "F***! F***! F***!" to the extent that she appeared to be a duck, quacking away, following an overexcited spell of amplified quacks. I instead pictured a duck saying, "What the quack are you doing??!?!?", "Quack you! Quack you! Quack! Quack! Quack!" all fluffed up in avian anger. She did seem as cute as a duck though and this mini episode lasted for a few seconds only, maybe a minute in which she vomited her undigested gravy of the four letter word. The driver was annoyed out of his head, more so because he wanted to catch up with the scheduled time, "Chal, chal utaar! Angraise ki aulaad!" he retorted.

What's the point of stooping so low so that you would utter profanities, that too in a foreign language? Are you trying to prove that the person is a jahil whom you need to counteract with through your own version of jahalat? Alright, even that driver could decipher that it was English and who wouldn't but please make sure you yell and opt for an angry outburst in a more localised version; Urdu or Pushto for that matter. Why English? The choice of a local language is well suited for arguments so that both parties understand each other's anger well enough and the audience around understands it too. I have observed Pathan drivers arguing with each other in Pushto but cursing in Urdu. Why? Maybe because the language is easily understood by the masses and makes the meaning of each and every word loud and clear.

On a serious note, foul language doesn't suit anyone, man or woman, dead, alive or undead. Had I been in her place I 'might' have also lost my temper at the driver (while trying to put myself in her shoes), maybe also yelled at him if I had the time but the point is that you must not use your education against someone less educated or illustrate and portray that very education in bad taste. What difference would you see or create?

Anyway, rumour has it that The Green Bus Project is about to start in Karachi ... just like before, hopefully it won't perish 'just like before' so that the city gets a better transportation system 'just like NEVER before'.

While talking about the present and not 'anytime before' if you drive around Karachi or be driven, you will see that the beautification of the city is in progress. There are flower beds on various green spots amidst the pollution and hustle bustle of the city. What really catches any observer's attention is the flyover near Regent Plaza that is being painted the truck art style and it's quite attractive indeed, not to mention the extra effort it must be taking to complete this huge project. I took the risk of pulling my mobile phone out to snap a few pictures. Well, here they are:






There's an interesting milk brand that is becoming the talk of the town these days, for marketers at least, it's called Dayfresh and has been seen becoming active in outdoor advertising as is evident in the billboard (picture below). 'Just cow's milk, no bull' they say. Being a potential consumer or a marketer for that matter, I wouldn't expect the bull to do what a cow does for us. What stands out is their packaging that has followed a minimalistic approach and shows a cows patchy pattern also because their USP is the Australian cow's milk. I like cows. I want this cow. This cow is beautiful and it's Australian.

Until the next episode, it's goodbye/good night from my end. Cherish the weekend, it doesn't last long. :)