Things to do in Karachi

1- Go to Mubarak village for excellent beach experience
2- Go crabbing and chill out with friends.
3- Go for fine dining like cafe 76 or Okra or eat out masaledar food in places like Bundoo Khan or Noorani.
4- If adventure is your thing go to Go aish for some adventure filled activities.
5- If you like to chill out and relax nothing beats going to Atrium and watching the latest movies.
6- Shopping in all the designer outlets and malls or get quality bargains in Sunday bazaar and Zainab market.
7- Play galli cricket with friends. Nothing beat that when you were a kid.

This is my list. Would love to know what I missed out.

The best burger place in Karachi

After my extensive experience of dining out combined with my love for burgers (khaane wala burger not Taha, Farjad type xD) this is the list that I have come up with.

1- Gourmet burger pakistan

2- Cafe 76

3- Hardees

4- Aylanto

5- Chips

6- KFC

7- Mc Donalds

8- Mr Burger

Kindly comment if you think otherwise.

Analysis of ethics and sensationalism by Geo

Back ground:

Founded by Mr.Shakil ur Rehman in May 2002.

Geo news started broadcasting in Nov 2005.

Most popular News channel in Pakistan.\

Followed by millions of Pakistanis worldwide.

Part of Jang group.

Programming (past and present)

Crisis Cell

Capital Talk

50 Minute

Aaj Kamran Khan Kay Sath

Aik Din Geo Ke Saath

Alif[disambiguation needed ]

Bazaar

Geo Kitab

jirga

Left Right

Match Box

Meray Mutabiq

Score[disambiguation needed ]

Tezi Mandee

Tezi Mandee Round Up

VoA

Weekend

Zara Sochiye

Bachey man ke sache

The awaein show

Sensationalism News reporting

Geo has a wide coverage of news reporting. Most of its news reports are up to date and prompt. Comparing it with the competition Geo is slightly ahead when it comes to news reporting. When Geo first started out some of its news was pure sensationalism. The supposed codes of professional reporting were never followed. One could attribute this to the recently freed media. The media was oppressed so much during the course of history of this country the freedom came all of the sudden leading channels like GEO hence shoddy reporting and sensationalism became a norm. Currently the reporting has improved a lot however GEO still does indulge in sensationalism and a hint of conspiracy in every news broadcast. This is also due to the desire of a conspiracy of the general Pakistani public. The Pakistani public has an insatiable appetite for sensationalism which GEO thoroughly provides.

Some examples are

<!--[if !supportLists]-->- <!--[endif]-->Sania Mirza and Shoaib Malik marriage. So much coverage was provided it crossed all limits of professionalism.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->- <!--[endif]-->Coverage to Meera’s supposed marriage.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->- <!--[endif]-->Lal Masjid operation. So many conspiracy theories were floated in air the audience did not know what to believe.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->- <!--[endif]-->Zulfiqar Mirzas fiery statements. They were repeatedly shown which could easily have resulted in communal riots.

The tickers that run breaking news are also not breaking news. Chief Justice’s car breaking down is not breaking news nor is Shahid Afridi’s fathers demise. Sensationalism is still a plague that is affecting the newsmen of GEO.

Talk shows.

Talk shows like the daily news are laced with conspiracies and sensationalism. However this has toned down over the last year or so. If you analyse Capital talk by Hamid Mir even though he sometimes presents a biased view his views have become more neutral over the course of time. Even though a seasoned and a respected journalist Hamid Mir is known to have biased views when it comes to Musharaff or America or cases like the drone attacks. Kamran Khan is another anchor who indulges in sensationalism and conspiracy theories from time to time. In the spot fixing scandal his views were pure sensationalized repeatedly asking the players what have they done when they were not even on the show. It seemed more of an entertainment show then a talk show.

Cartoons and parodies

Parodies and cartoons are fine but there is a line that has been crossed by GEO. What good will a news channel get with skits of singing and dancing cartoon politicians? It is done in poor taste and does not ooze professionalism in any manner.

Slandering of the government

GEO has taken a strong stand against the government, so strong that it is bordering defamation. News reporting about corruption and mismanagement is one thing, public defamation is another. GEO should realize that it crosses the line far too often in this case.

Conclusion

GEO provides quality news and talk shows however it regularly indulges in sensationalism and conspiracy theories. This is not entirely GEOs fault as the public is asking for it. The day our country grows up so will the news channels.

Media Bias in Pakistan

A couple of weeks ago one of my friends from Karachi visited me in Hyderabad for Eid. He wanted to wittness the Sindhi culture and traditions. I thought it would be apt to show him Sindh tv and KTN since they cover alot about Sindh tradition. However it came as a surprise when i heard a talk show which branded a certain ethnicity as terrorirsts and a mafia. Such balant were the accusations that it clearly showed the biased point of views of the host and the guest. Being from the same ethnic background I was shocked to see how low that certain program was. Needless to say my friend from Karachi was pretty offended and this made me hang my head in shame and got me thinking how come the media is so biased to a certain ethnicity, religion or a political party.

Not only regional language newspapers and channels but mainstream channels and newspaper openly indulge in biased point of views one way or another. A certain Syed Ali Raza Abidi is journalist who openly supports MQM. He will go to any extent to glorify it and villify other political parties. Same would go with Ayaz Aamir who is a respected journalist and also a party member of PML-N or Sherry Rehman who was a journalist but now is in PPP. Journalism should be unbiased however in Pakistan it is biased to the core and journalisms venture into politics all to often. Another example was the recent killings in Ramzan in Karachi. There was alot of coverage of Urdu speaking community but very little coverage was given to the killings of Pathans or the Baloch communities by Urdu media. Arent their lives any important? Similarly Khyber tv have accused MQM as target killers where as they have never accused the party of their ethnicity ANP of land grabbing or other crimes. Big News channels like Geo had made it their mission denounce the current government. Everybody knows about the government's failings but to make it a point to denounce them on every action is also taking it too far.

Lastly all of our new channels are biased when it comes to America or India. Every problem of the country if not blamed on the current govt is blamed on America, India and Israel. Jews rule the world, India is always conspiring against Pakistan and Osama was American agent.

The height of such biased views by most of the channels shape the audience's minds and way of thinking. This is highly unethical and on the long term can become a society breaker. Every ethical religious or international comment should be unbiased and tell both sides of the story. That is the role of media, that is how you shape the thoughts of the viewers, not induldge in sensationalism and full scare war against a certain race or sect. That is where we have crossed the line.

Top 10 movies of 2011

1- X-men first class

2- Zindagi na milegi Dobara

3- Lincoln lawyer

4- Limitless

5 - Transformers Rise of the moon

6- Water for elephants

7- Mere brother ki Dulhan

8 - Thor

9 - Delhi Belly

10 - Source code

This is my personal view. Post yours!

Sad story

A couple of weeks ago a young girl studying in college was shot dead by her supposed admirer. The "admirer" turned the gun on himself after shooting the girl. This was one very tragic incident but what was more tragic was the comments I read in a newspaper by certain readers.

"every thing is fair in love and war".

"she should have worn a burqa this would not have happened".

"he was a true lover".

This just goes on to show how twisted our nation's thoughts are. She should have worn a burqa? Meaning if she didn't wear one she is liable to get shot? He was a true lover? What psychotic love is that?

Imran Khan was thumping his chest for a revolution. The biggest revolution one can bring is changing the psyche of a perverse nation that treat women as objects among other things.

Furthermore we the "high society" people live a cocooned life. We are afraid to bring in a revolution. For us voting for Imran Khan is bringing a revolution. He is like a janitor who we will vote to magically clean all the muck while we put our heads in the sand and imagine nothing is wrong.

True awesome story

My servant has come from the most backward area of rural Sindh. A place where feudalism is at its peak. Growing up in that atmosphere ones first instinct is to survive. Poverty and lack of social awareness makes their lives a living hell. They dont have roofs over their homes, and on top of it are besieged with natural disasters. No wonder the youth turn to the life of crime because they are neglected and have no other alternative.

However here is the awesome part of the story. My servant has this thirst for knowledge. He already knew how to read Sindhi he wanted to learn English as well. Instead of turning to a life of crime he wanted to work hard and study. With my job and studies I did not have much time to teach him but he was relentless in convincing. I taught him ABC and how to spell. He caught up pretty fast. Now I am teaching him basic English words and how to structure them. He can now spell words and say sentences like " I am working" or "He is going". He also knows the words "honey" and "sweetheart". Pretty sure his wife back home will be pleased. First he used to say "subuh thee wai ahai" meaning "subah hogai hai" in Urdu when waking me up. Now he says "its morning". English, Urdu or Sindhi I still feel its a crime to wake somebody up at 8 am but thats a different story altogether.

In short we all should try and educate at least one person in our life time. That's the only way our country will improve. God bless and stay awesome.