Report on Economic Development Conference at MIT

Re: Shawzya Ikbal

Does bayaiN angooThay ka niShaan really count as
an autograph?

Rambling starts....

A very well-organized conference!

Unfortunately, the conspiracy
to have a fist fight between Tahir Andrabi & Co
and Shaukat Aziz could not be brought to fruition.
But the damage was done implicitly. Shaukat Aziz
developed acidity and couldn`t enjoy his baked
custard as much as he would have liked. He`s
definitely coming up with an x-steps-to-achieve-y kind of Pakistani best-seller soon! His whole
speech consisted of Pakistan`s itemized problems
(in the financial arena) and his itemized solutions demarcated by beaten-to-death-and-losing-originality-very-quickly references to baked custard (the Qaid`s favorite sweet dish). Towards the end, he repeated
himself so much (for emphasis obviously), that you
could tell what was going to emanate from him for the next three minutes! I guess he was mad at being suspected as insincere by Tahir Andrabi & Co, but realized that only through presenting the
same defense about 18 times. He is an extremely
good looking man though!


The Jinnah documentary was great! As frank a recollection of history as one`s imagination
would care to fathom.

Saw active signs of cynicism in Pervez for the
first time. 25 years of frustration will do it
even the most formidable optimists! I was happy to
learn that Quaid-e-Azam University lost the case
for alotting university land to employees, a case
he had gotten death threats for (and a pathrao at
his house).

Didn`t see Bokiman, must have been present metaphysically!

Regarding high tech sector, nobody talked about
whether the internet was just the new toy to have the middle-class indulge in for yet another rat race, now
that the dish antenna is not as cool as it used to be. Is internet access really that cheap? Is it
going to increase the chasms between classes or
reverse them? How will people type when they can`t
even sign their names?

I believe only one moderator used an ayat from the
Holy Quran. Otherwise, there was no tilaawat, no
qaumi tarana, and no waqfa barayay namaaz. Also, no claims were made about RAW agents being present
in the audience. Wallah ta`ala a`lum bissawaab.

Good poonDi on the Thelas outside though!

Rambling ends...