International Youth Day'19

Do you know that 68% of Pakistan's population is under the age of 30? Pakistan's National Youth Policy, 2009 defines youth as people between the ages of 15-30 years which makes up 27% of Pakistan's population. These numbers roughly translate that there are a lot of young people in Pakistan and also that the youth of Pakistan is going to determine the fate of Pakistan in the years to come.

United Nations has declared Aug 12 as "International Youth Day" and the theme of this year is "Transforming Education". To commemorate this event, UNDP and UNFPA alongwith SOL invited me to the celebratory event of IYD at the Aiwan-e-Quaid, Islamabad.

The Article 25A of Pakistan's Constitution promises education to all children of school-going age. Keeping in mind the enrollment and retention of students in schools, this year's theme on IYD focused on transforming eduction with all the resources available in this digital era. The program focused on interactive sessions with youth participants on health, education, entrepreneurship and future of work in Pakistan where youth leaders share their experiences and success stories encouraging youth to become active in the national development process.

• Speaking at the occasion, Ignacio Artaza, the resident representative of UNDP said "Lets make sure no young person is left behind in today's world".
• Ana Maria Leal - Youth representative from UNFPA focused on good quality education, sexual health access and well being to the youth of Pakistan leading to a more inclusive and productive nation by harnessing our thoughts together.
• Yusra - Founder of NGO Agahi asked "You being youth, I would ask that what are you doing as member of the society'.
• Ehsan Gul, Youth Change Agent and Head of Experimentation at UNDP said "You have been blessed with a voice, use it to raise important issues and work on solutions. Your life must be focused in purpose and that purpose must be beyond your career aspirations".

The Keynote session of Dr. Fateh Muhammad Mari (Head of Operations & planning HEC) talked about some wonderful resolutions they are coming up with to maximize digital learning, virtual classrooms and smart libraries. All of these steps will transform education in Pakistan according to today's needs.

The Minister of Economic Affairs, GoP Mr Hammad Azhar gave a beautiful keynote session inspired heavily by Allama Iqbal's vision of Shaheen relating it to the youth of Pakistan.

The keynotes were followed by  spotlight sessions, in which Navera Waheed - CEO Orbit Education focused on the use of AR to help students understand complex systems.

Salman Shahid - the CEO of Kamayi talked about his venture which aims to connect blue-collar employees with potential employers.

Then the event was divided in break out sessions of youth with the mentors:

• Session on "Entrepreneuship" by Fasieh Mehta - Program Manager, NIC Islamabad.
• Session on "Health Education" by Makiya Javed - Growth & Partnership specialist - Sehat Kahani
• Session on "Future of Work" by Abdullah Saqib - South Asia Regional Coordinator VIAMO

The session ended on a high energy by the youth, pledging to transform education by submitting their ideas to make it big.

#DadiCool campaign by Waves Pakistan

Hey folks,

I am back at my blog after long and what better than to talk about a campaign that got me groovin' a little bit haha.

So all of you millenials having hipster dads must have listened to the old groovy number by Boney M from Dad's collection called "Daddy cool". It had such an intriguing vibe to it that it is relevant even today, also the dace moves in the song were something extra. So Waves Pakistan while introducing their new Alpha Triplet Deep Freezer thought of spinning the classic Daddy Cool song into something modern, cool, chic with the legendary Bushra Ansari. Not only the campaign emphasizes upon the new looks of its Alpha Triplet deep freezer but also how in this hot, humid, summer of all times, 

Waves new Deep Freezer has things sorted for you.

 The ad begins with an old, grumpy Bushra ji throwing tantrums at her family who are all seated boringly in front of the tv screens. 

As soon as she touches the new Waves Alpha Triplet Deep Freezer, she transforms into a cool, chic 

daadi dancing to the grooves of the classic song Daddy Cool into #DadiCool.

Watch the full ad here

The dance moves were so catchy, I couldn’t resist tapping my feet to the tune on tiktok:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BzZ_6YlH7oG/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

With this ad, Waves Pakistan has given the women of our families a solution for keeping our meat, veggies and fruits fresh in the scorching summer. Also, the new Alpha Triplet freezer has the following advantages:

• Digitized Touch Control Panel
• Proximity lights that operate on Motion Detection

With Eid-ul-Azha around the corner, if you are looking for a good solution, go buy the new Alpha Triplet Deep Freezer and let your worries dance like #DadiCool away.

What do you think of the Bushra Ansari transformation, comment below.

Review: Actor In Law (2016)

'From the makers of Namaloom Afraad' was enough to drag me to the cinema to watch this & I'm glad I wasn't disappointed at all. Nabeel Qureshi has done a remarkable job with such a refreshing thought & the way our societal problems are address amidst humour& comedy remains notable. There wasn't even a single dull moment in the movie but I felt the end could have been better & less dragged. 

Fahad Mustafa outshines in every frame, in every scene & looks flawless with his acting. Brilliant work!

Mehwish Hayat has done full justice to her role. She looks gorgeous, has carried her attire throughout the movie effortlessly & supported Fahad with her acting. The only negative thing about her character was the poor dialect she used for her Parsi personification. I don't know if it was the dubbing or herself, but that could have been improved way better.

Om Puri has been phenomenal as always. Thank-you for accepting this film. We are happy to have you working in Lollywood. 

The characters played by Fahad's sister has been very supportive. Everything from her voice, to her dressing, to her daily chores..the girl has done exceptionally well. Way to go!

It was refreshing to see the judges part played by some of the most iconic actors and they lifted the game up.

Atif Aslam & Shani Arshad have done a good job with the music whereas one song by Rahat Fateh sounded like an exact rip off from 'Om Shanti om' (Chhan se Jo toota koi sapna). 'Dil dancer hogaya' & title song have both been shot & directed beautifully. 

Fizza Ali Meerza with her personification of 'baby doll' was nice & I think the little details included in the movie Incorporated in the dialogues is very impressive. ISKO AUR BRIGHT KAREIN!

Refreshing to see Ahson Talish & his character was on point. Rehan Sheikh, Khalid Anam, Alyy khan, Saife Hasan & Saleem Mairaj all were impressive in their characters. Not to mention Nayyer Aijaz who appeared for a small role but left a mark. 

Thank-you for the women ogling point made in the movie. Couldn't have summed it up better. 

I wished to see more of Karachi in the movie. For those seeking a good laugh,please go out & watch this movie in the cinema. This is an absolute paisa wasool!

Actor In Law (2016)