Countdown...

Exactly 2 weeks, 14 days, 336 hours, 20,160 minutes, 1,209,600 seconds left till I take off for Pakistan Inshallah. It seemed soooo far away some time ago and now the time to head back to home is finally not so distant.1,209,600 seconds won't be that much coz by the time I finish typing this blogpost atleast 120 seconds would have passed and if I sleep 7 hrs each day I can knock down 25,200 secs per day.Just the last few days of hardship and then partayyy Inshallah. I can't wait for the pilot to say: "Cabin crew, prepare for take off"!!! In a parallel universe where every little boy realized his dreams, I would have been a pilot, not quite a commercial airliner pilot, more of a jet fighter pilot. Anyhoo, I'm just excited. Amidst the gloominess of books and exam stress, this is one thing that keeps me going.Talking of time, I absolutely love these lyrics from one of my favourite ghazals:

Waqt ki qaid mein zindagi hai magar
Chand ghariyan yehi hain jo aazad hain x2
Inko khokar mere jaan-e-jaan
Umr bhar na taraste raho


On a slightly bizarre, yet humorous and even scary note, this ACTUALLY happened on the very same PIA flight that I'm taking :S

Dozens of large rats traveled in a PIA flight from Birmingham to Islamabad on Monday, July 06, 2009. The presence of rats on board not only delayed the flight by three hours but also haunted the ease of the passengers all the way from England to Pakistan. The renowned daily The News reported that the passengers heaved a sigh of relief when the plane finally landed in Pakistan. An exciting adventure for rats!



British Rats Fly from Birmingham to Islamabad

Details of the flight, published in newspapers, told the story of the PIA Flight PK-792 that was scheduled for leaving Birmingham at 11:30, through London, and arrive at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport in . However, flight had to be delayed as the presence of rats was detected on board the plane. PIA staff tried to arrest the rats in mousetraps but had little success. The flight then took off at 2:30 pm with rats accompanying the passengers all along from Birmingham to Islamabad.

During the flight, the smart rats kept coming after food items in the plane, viewed by passengers, and, while scurrying about the plane’s floor, some of them got onto the feet of the passengers. A woman was reported shrieking after a rat jumped on her during the flight. Most of the passengers kept their feet up on the seats in order to avoid contact with the rats. Children were in particular scared of the presence of rats. Some of the passengers tried to trap and kill the rats but the British rats were too smart for them to outwit.

Finally, the passengers heaved a sigh of relief when the plane landed at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport. The airline staff started trapping the rats in the plane and thus ended an exciting journey of the rats from England to Pakistan.

Remember in prayers!