Quack! Online

(Written by my 14 years old sister Rimsha Mehmood)

A singular notion was dawned upon me…betrayal. My thoughts wandered in the fields of gloom and misery. The infidelity crossed the boundaries. The intensity of pain increased as the lava of hatred boiled up inside me. These emotions were so strong that tears started flowing from my soar eyes. I could hear the whistling of the wind as it played with the flowers. I could not bear the silence any more, as it sucked away the all the happy memories inside me…perhaps this was a wrong sentence to bring into play ,I had no blissful moments preserved in my heart. My heart was sealed with sorrow and distress. I got up from my bed and made towards the window which protected but not separated me from the frosty and blustery weather of December. I stood there watching the birds fly high and the trees trying to catch them but they failed for they too were enchained. Read the rest of this entry »

As a tribute to Eqbal Ahmad (former chancellor of TIP), a lecture has been arranged in Arts Council of Pakistan on Tuesday, 20 May 2008. Professor Mushirul Hasan will deliver this lecture titled “Wit and Humour in Colonial India.” Professor Mushirul Hasan is an historian and present Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia University at New Delhi.

For more on Eqbal Ahmad and his special connection to TIP, see our previous post, “Remembering Eqbal Ahmad.” An excerpt follows:

For more on Eqbal Ahmad, see Khuldunia On-line, a collection of Eqbal Ahmad’s writings and tributes to the man, and Eqbal Ahmad: Cherishing his Courage, a website supported by his family, and a comprehensive (as usual) piece on 3 Quark’s Daily, Monday Musing: Eqbal Ahmad. Eqbal Ahmad was a professor at the Hampshire College, which commemorate him with a yearly Distinguished Eqbal Ahmad Lecture series wth speakers such as Noam Chomsky and Kofi Annan — the 9th edition will be held this year. And finally, post by Beena Sarwar, Remembering Eqbal Ahmad on All Things Pakistan.

From the past few months, we have been witnessing that the upper area of library is sometimes closed for the students. Can anybody pour out the reasons for it? Please come up with your comments.

Okay, so it seems that you’ve already heard of the latest increase in our fees. Of course, the management never bothered to officially inform us before we were handed our fee bills stating a 10% increase. One wonders what the ‘non-profit’ organization that we call TIP is trying to prove participating in the fee hike along with elitist (some call them top-ranking) universities of the city. Maybe, the institute wants to position itself in the minds of people as an elitist institution at par with the rest, or maybe not. So what, if the intake is of lower standards (as they call it). The fees sure isn’t! Now, one completely understands how the rising inflation is affecting everyone, including organizations and their spending. But why do you forget that it is affecting the individual even more. Sure, the campus maintenance supposedly costs a lot, but we haven’t been seeing a lot of any of that lately, considering how sunken tiles on our walkways and the broken drier in the washroom hasn’t been fixed in a very long time and the hostel remains in a sorry state at all times.

Having said all this, only the tip of the iceberg has been tipped yet and the writer does not wish to attract the management’s wrath entirely towards himself, but to deliver the voice of the masses to the top. They say that TIP is the most democratic institution in the country Read the rest of this entry »

Ladies and gentlemen, now spending one semester at the sunny location of TIP will cost us a whopping 80,500 Rupees!!

This makes a tidy Rs 20,125 per month…or Rs 914 if you want to pay on a daily basis!

Enroll now, before the food crisis turns cafeteria’s chicken-less biryani to Rs 100 per plate!

While some believe it was another yearly bout of dirty politics all over again, for me, despite being a person who stays away from public politics, observing TISF Elections ‘08 was a tense experience. With heavy, rather colorful campaigning everywhere, lots of money wastage and seeing how (in)famous groups of fast friends around the campus broke into pieces of old China, it was difficult for people to stay away from the obvious hypocrisies the election pot was brewing.

Finally, it’s over. The results have been quite predictable. Peace did reign supreme, and the faculty seems happy. And best of all, reliable sources quote the voting and counting process to have been fair and transparent!

This is what the new TISF consists of:

Awab Ahmed - President
Saad Nasim - General Secretary
Altaf Abdul - Finance Secretary
Saad Ashraf - Activity Secretary
Anum Fatima - Campus Development Secretary

I congratulate them all for their success on behalf of the entire Quack! Online team and wish them a fruitful, honest and scandal free tenure. I also congratulate the previous TISF for ending a great tenure without any corruption accusitions. Good job, Haris Amin, Waqas Aman and Arsalan.

Returning to election talk, here’s what Quack! managed to gather from people about the elections. Their views: Read the rest of this entry »