Picture Courtesy: Sarcasmistan (https://www.facebook.com/sarcasmistan)

I feel obliged to write this piece because “this” has happened to me 4 times in the past year and in my book that is one time too many. What is “this” you ask? Well I was recently contacted by one of my juniors in regards to pursuing higher studies outside of Pakistan. What is wrong with this? The fact that he called me at 5 AM in the morning. The reason that I was more pissed about this specific incident is that I had just come back from work at 12 and got into bed around 2:30 AM, just to be woken up less than 3 hours later and unable to get back to bed (I will get later to this as to why).

Some people actually suggested such an ingenious method to counter this problem… by putting my phone on silent mode… clearly this gem of an idea would have never crossed my mind (cough*Sarcasm*cough). However our comrade was persistent, three excruciating long calls accomplished a feat that only the grim reaper could have.

Now some people may think I am over reacting to this but most of the people who are living and studying abroad, away from their families would tend to agree with my opinion. If somebody calls you at an insane hour then the first thing that pops into your head is that something bad might have happened. This feeling is worsened when the number is from Pakistan and gets even worse when the number is from someone who is not on your contact list. It took me 5 minutes to realize that what had happened and it took me the next 5 hours worrying about if everything was ok back home (when you are sleep deprived you tend to think up a lot of bull and I do mean a lot of it).

 Now this is not the first time this has happened, one other individual did something similar but he upped the ante. He would not learn after the first time, at the first incident he called me at 2 AM on my cell. However the next time he had to prove to be an inconvenience to everyone I was sharing a house with, he actually called the landline which was common to us all at 1 in the morning. The height of embarrassment I had to face that night is beyond reasonable.

With all stated I once again ask… Is common courtesy too much to ask for?

]]> http://www.quackonline.net/general/common-courtesy-is-it-too-much-to-ask-for/feed/ 0 http://www.quackonline.net/about/colours-art-creativity-design/ http://www.quackonline.net/about/colours-art-creativity-design/#comments Thu, 26 Apr 2012 06:37:50 +0000 Mohsin Butt http://www.quackonline.net/?p=4782 Continue reading →]]>

People think that design is styling. Design is not style. It’s not about giving shape to the shell and not giving a damn about the guts. Good design is a renaissance attitude that combines technology, cognitive science, human need, and beauty to produce something that the world didn’t know it was missing.

- Paola Antonelli

Hats off!! To the wonderful work done by 3rd year Design, enhancing campus beauty with their wonderful assignments by redefining Zain Mustafa’s idea of TIP’s new look.

The stunning stone work catches the eye on TIP’s entrance, by Anum Sabir.

Edges of the Eqbal Ahmed Walkway Wall, by Sana Mirza.

The Faculty Cafeteria is part of the Monopoly Luxuries, by Muneeb Butt.

The colour stings using fishnet wire, by Aqib Husnain.

Designer Lockers, by Maria Umer.

Tree in Socks, by Wafa Zehra.

Silver Tree outside your home, by Noorulain Anjum.

I really did not know what to write about, it is just my attempt to try and break free from my chronic procrastination (yes it is a medical condition) and hence the title. As I sit here, casually leaching off my friends WIFI network and writing an article; which essentially would be a random collection of thoughts having zero cohesion and potentially an abrupt ending (I forgot what I was thinking at this point).

Moving on… I just finished reading the article that was last posted on the website with the title “TIP’s management in need of a Superman”. As I browsed through the comments I saw something that is a regular occurrence on all things management and administration, people just going on about how they were disappointed with the management and what not.

Yes! people shun responsibility, but what would you have done if you were in their place? Elaborate on what you think was the problem and follow it up with a suggestion as to what would you have done if you had a chance to do things your way.  If you want the management to listen to you, then start acting like responsible adults. Start posting relevant solutions to problems that they encounter or have encountered in the past. It is essentially the failure to give a relevant, timely and constructive feedback that our opinions are not valued.

Now I am not aware as to what exactly transpired that day or what were the conditions of the city however I would have personally followed the same order of things (minus the one point leaving later that day).

Holding the points and thus the students back was possibly the safest option and therefore in my eyes the best option, safety should be the priority. Would I have called Mr. Umair Saeed to get his opinion and eventually make a decision? I would most certainly have, in the event something unfortunate happens, the institute would most probably be liable. Not an individual but the institute as an entity (as per my understanding of the law). Is any lecturer the authority to represent the institute in such an incident? (Probably not, again this is my assumption) however the same case does not apply for Mr. Umair Saeed and thus his consent was of vital importance (or Mr. Zubair Bandukda).

People who could have not borne this discomfort of staying back could have easily arranged for an alternative mode of transport. Clearly the event was an unforeseen circumstance and thus if an individual or a group of individuals have an issue then I believe they should and could have made arrangements for themselves rather than expecting the management to cater to their special needs.

The above is what I believe would have been my course of action if involved in the same or a similar situation. People may agree or disagree with my viewpoint but this is my opinion and they are more than welcome to share theirs.

That is correct, the “efficient” management of TIP decided that the city wasn’t safe to travel at regular time on 27th March because of all the chaos hence the points should not move till the following morning, which would be a good time to sneak out when all the protestors are asleep.

The adults explained that it’s for the security of the students and everyone else that they do not leave the campus at 4PM and stay behind. Well it seemed fair and pretty logical and majority agreed to it… until they thought that they just go ahead and leave at 5PM anyways. People gathered and sat in the points and then the drivers started walking away again, the safety issue sprouting in their minds again. This exercise took place about 3 to 4 times. Finally, after a lot of debate and useless shouting, the management and the contractor mutually agreed on starting two buses which would go only till the city campus and whoever wanted to leave could only go in those two buses.

Why was this happening?…… NO one was being able to take a DECISION! With Dr. Zubair out of the country, the decision taking powers come down to Mr. Umair Saeed; someone on whom the ENTIRE management relies on for answers. And unfortunately, or fortunately, Mr. Umair Saeed was not in TIP on this particular day. EVERYONE witnessed how difficult it was to take a decision on an important matter and people started to wonder… Why is Mr. Umair always approached for all the issues? He is an Academic Coordinator after all. Should transport problems really be his domain? And its not like no other qualified or smart person was present at that moment. Teachers like Mr. Javed Mehmood and Mr. Mazhar Jamil were there as well. These are extremely learned personalities, why didn’t they take a decision? What I heard from the students was, “Lodhi Sahab ka decion hai, wo kuch kar hi nahee rahay.” No one wanted to take responsibility I assume. But one would still praise these teachers more than the rest, who seized the first opportunity and left the campus. These 2, along with some others, were there with the students and didn’t leave them. Respect them for that. However Mr. Mazhar was successful enough to convince his point driver and made ONLY his point leave somewhere between 8 and 9PM… now how did that happen.

The worst part is, a phone call had to be made to Mr. Umair Saeed to take his consent on what should be done. What do us students learn from this? That we should only study management courses to pass the course and not apply it in our practical lives? Why do we need to put extra pressure on Mr. Umair Saeed and bother him with all the university problems? He needs his space as well I suppose.

This is not the first time such an incident has taken place. Due to the geographical location of our institute and the illiteracy of our nation, we have faced such problems before and I’m pretty sure we would be doing so in the future. TIP needs to assign certain duties to more than one person… it might just help in a smoother flow of things.

It all began a month ago when two enthusiastic young students Komal Musufa Memon and Maha Abdullah conceived the idea that TIP should also have a Lip Dub video which should be a proper representation of the university nationally and worldwide. Their idea faced several hurdles but eventually spread among the concerned people of the institute. A demo team of sensible students based on their skills required in the making of this video were being held in contact so that a draft should be constructed and followed later on.

The trend of such Lip Dub videos being shot at different institutes has been followed by many popular universities internationally but only a couple of institutes followed this trend here in Pakistan till date. So, TIP allowed the students their full access and control over the making of this video to learn teamwork, experience preforming in different conditions and gain exposure for hidden talents and skills that the students hold dear to themselves due to lack of confidence.

So, the work is officially in progress. All we require is support from each and every student of this institute to own this activity and readily participate as much as possible for the success of this project. All you need to do is submit the duly filled sign-up form available from the designated students for further processing and assigning of duties for the shoot. For further queries, connect to us on www.facebook.com/Tip.LipDub