First 5 Crore Rupees Winner At KBC.

Kon Baneyga Crorepati (KBC) which is the Indian version of  'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire' just saw its first 5 Crore Rupees winner. Sushil Kumar from Motihari district of Bihar answered this question to bag the jackpot.

Question: Which colonial power ended its involvement in India by selling the rights of the Nicobar Islands to the British on October 16, 1868?
A: Belgium
B: Italy
C: Denmark
D: France

Sushil Kumar having had water before, asked the host Amitabh Bachan if he could go to the bathroom after the question had been asked. Amitabh Bachan could not allow that as it is against the game show policy. Then He used his 3rd life line - phone a friend. That was of no help as he did not receive an answer in the 30 second time limit. Then he took a sip of water again. Why would he do that if he wanted to go to the bathroom before?

Then he used his last life line, with which he could give 2 answers. If the first answer turns out to be incorrect, he'd still have another chance. BUT, he gave the correct answer in the first try. In case anyone is wondering, the answer was DENMARK. Then confetti  started pouring on the stage and Sushil Kumar could not believe what he had achieved and reacted by pouring the remaining water on his head. Weird right? But justified. He won Rs. 5 Crore.

"I had so many dreams, but my financial condition didn't allow me to pursue them; hence I stopped dreaming. I got a job where I could earn Rs.6,000 per month and was satisfied as I had responsibilities over my shoulder. Now I have enough money to help my family as well as fulfill my dream. I am now planning to go to Delhi to prepare for the exam," said the 27 year old Sushil Kumar.

So conclude. He may have an income of only Rs. 6000 per month BUT he has knowledge worth Rs. 5 Crore. Maybe more if they had more questions!

Luciano's At Ammar Belal.

For a few months now I had been hearing about this restaurant called Luciano's. Last night I got a chance to try out this place. Luciano's is located on Kasuri Road, Lahore. I know naming the street does not help, so to make it simple, it is located opposite to Coffee Tea And Company (C.T.C.). The title Luciano's At Ammar Belal suggests how it is located on the first floor - above the Ammar Belal Display.

My first impression about the place when i stepped inside was WOW. White Everywhere. Curtains, floor, chairs, sofas. Literally white was tastefully placed all over. To complement white, the color orange was also used very nicely. The Two pillars had orange design made on them, along with the cushions and even on the air conditioners the orange patterns were pasted. They have also made a small outdoor area, with 3 tables which could accommodate around 12 people in total. One could have a nice time sitting in the outdoor area if the weather is pleasant. It was interesting to see how the roof was made of glass and little white lights were placed all over. That was definitely something unique to see.

Then came the manager suited up in a white suit to give us the menu card. Yes. White Suit. Menu was pretty interesting. From classic to contemporary Italian cuisine along with the fusion elements. I ordered Prawn Tempura for starters, Spaghetti with Meat Balls for main course and a Berry Margarita.

After a few minutes they served freshly baked dinner rolls along with what seemed to me like a sour cream spread and olive oil. Delicious. Then came the Prawn Tempura. 6 batter fried Prawns were served in a bowl along with a light ginger infused soy dip. The Tempura was oily, soggy and over cooked due to which the prawns had toughened up. For what its worth, the ginger and soy dip was nice.  Then after a little while came the main course. Served very nicely in a white bowl plate. A generous portion of spaghetti and meat balls in a tomato based sauce was served with a light grating of Parmesan cheese on top along with two pieces of toasted bread.

After what was a disastrous starter, the main course was ALMOST spot on. The pasta was cooked just right. In Pakistan specially people tend to over cook pasta which makes it mushy. The Meat Balls had a very clean taste, they were very delicately binded and the meat was tearing up in the mouth. Thank God they did not try to localize the taste by adding loads of Chillies and Spices. Out of the 4 components of the dish, the 2 I just talked about were commendable. The third component was the sauce. Honestly, it was one of the best tomato based pasta sauce i have ever tasted. This could have been labelled as a perfect dish, if the bread served with the pasta was not burnt. The Berry Margarita was very refreshing. The sweetness of the berry flavors with the tartness of the lemons in this icy amalgamation was just right.

Now the question that arises in the minds of the people is, Was it worth the money spent?
And in my view, how harsh it may be, the answer for now at least is a straight NO. The reasons are quite simple. When i'm spending so much money on such a classy dining experience, I don't expect my Prawn Tempura to be a soggy mess and the bread which is being served with my main course to be burnt. On another note, in such a fine restaurant, its always the minor details which count. The decor was so lovely, but it's effect was ruined as the huge glass panels which gave the outside view had dried water marks on them and the table on which our food was being served was had chipped off paint on the legs.

But being a food lover, I sincerely hope that the management at Luciano's takes notice of such details. Because if they are charging such a high price dining experience, then it shouldn't be one with so many minor mistakes made.

 
     

With Arms Wide Open.

With arms wide open is one of the most popular songs by the band Creed. There are not many people who follow rock music and have not heard of this song. The band was given a Grammy for this being the best rock song in 2001.


Well I just heard the news today
It seems my life is going to change
I close my eyes, begin to pray
Then tears of joy stream down my face

With arms wide open
Under the sunlight
Welcome to this place
I'll show you everything
With arms wide open
With arms wide open

Well I don't know if I'm ready
To be the man I have to be
I'll take a breath, I'll take her by my side
We stand in awe, we've created life

With arms wide open
With arms wide open
I'll show you everything ...oh yeah
With arms wide open..wide open

If I had just one wish
Only one demand
I hope he's not like me
I hope he understands
That he can take this life
And hold it by the hand
And he can greet the world
With arms wide open 


Every one who hears this song, loves it. The high and low rhythm of the music to the intense vocals, the song is sensational. But not many people really know what the song is about. And i believe if one finds out, then the song itself becomes much more gripping than it already is. 


When Scott Stapp received the news that he was going to become a father, he expressed his feelings of utmost happiness on becoming a father into the song. The songs starts by Scott Stapp singing about how he has received the news of him becoming a father and that it makes tears of joy stream down his face.


So now in this context, it can be easily understood how Scott Stapp is expressing joy to be a father as he is prepared to embrace the baby 'with arms wide open'. He also adds towards the end how he does not want the baby to make the same mistakes as his father did, and learn from them before hand. Now i'd suggest taking a good listen to this song again, as now it will make more sense.

Solving 100 MCQs Is Not Easy.

A year back solving 40 multiple choice questions in an exam seemed like torture. I couldn't have imagined in my wildest dreams that i'd ever have to solve 100 MCQs in an exam. Today was my not so lucky day. To paint the picture of the scene. Final Exam. Intro To Macro Economics. One Hour into the exam. 3 essay questions in one hour have been completed (barely). Now comes the MCQ section.

The first page had a grid made on it for 100 MCQs. First i wrote my name at the top along with my section. Filling in the correct detail is very important you see. Then i started the whole process of reading the questions and trying to land on the correct answers. It was working out well at the start but my mind was already exhausted. Trying to write 25 marks worth of advantages on disadvantages of Monetary Policy before the MCQs in the essay section wasn't a pleasant experience. 

As the questions became tougher, i started running out of patience to read and solve them. But the journey was far from over. there were still 70 MCQs remaining. "God Help Me" is what i was saying in my head. Then i turned around the question paper and started attempting the questions from the end forward. To my luck the questions at the end seemed easy so thats how i managed to solved a further ten more. 

Then i took a break from hell and looked around and saw my friends and their expressions. Usama's eyes were glued to the paper. No wonder he attempted 90 questions properly and only tried his luck with 10. Muzaffar was trying to look at the paper on his left. Later on we found out he was successful with his peeking mission.

Now the time was ticking and i had so many questions to attempt. In the final blow i further attempted 30 questions properly. Then i stopped thinking and randomly started ticking the choices which looked appealing to the eye. My mind was completely drained by the time i submitted the paper back to the invigilator. No wonder. Lets hope everyone who had to sit through this torturous exam have regained the energy back. Academic Writing final is tomorrow. Good Luck. 

Howzat?

A few days back, a friend told me about this game called howzat. From the name it was apparent it was a cricket game. Later on I logged onto the website www.howzat.com. The thing i like about it most is that everyone can log in using their facebook accounts, hence it's more accessible to everyone.

After logging in, you get to choose the country. For me it was Pakistan obviously, and then you get to choose a name of your team. I chose to name my team the Cornered Tigers. There are so many ways in which one can customize their team. From Team name to Team outfits, from player skills to player names, everything can be modified. That makes the game much more interesting as to how everyone selects the skill set according to how they can play better.

Now coming to the game play, it's very simple and catchy. One gets hooked to the game in a matter of minutes and then there is no stopping. I could play this game for hours and hours if people around me didn't give me reality checks. The cool part is the multi-player mode in which you get to play one on one with people from all over the world. By winning matches the skill level of your team increases and you get rewards from which individual players can be upgraded.

I'd like to dedicate this post to my dear friend Muzaffar Abbas, who hasn't defeated me even once yet. But he's getting the hang of this game to quickly and that frankly is scary! But till he actually wins a match against me, all I can say is, Nanananana.  :D