Tag: lifestyle

  • Pakistani couple’s startup secures $8.1 million financing

    Pakistani couple’s startup secures $8.1 million financing

    A Pakistani e-commerce brand and one of the trailblazers in the world of footwear, Atoms, has raised $8.1 million from a list of illustrious backers to bring its concept to the masses, TechCrunch has reported.

    The company since its beginning has been selling directly to consumers in the United States via its website — which at one point had a waiting list of nearly 40,000 people — and the idea will be to fold in other experiences, including selling from physical spaces in the future.

    The company plans to use the funding to invest in further development of its shoes and to expand its retail and marketing presence.

    The list of investors is being led by Initialized Capital, the investment firm started by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian and Garry Tan.

    They had first encountered Atoms and its co-founders, Sidra Qasim and CEO Waqas Ali, as mentors when the husband-wife duo was going through Y Combinator with their previous high-end shoe startup, Markhor.

    “The thing that I love about Atoms is that it isn’t just a different look, it’s a different feel,” said Ohanian adding that when he put on a pair for the first time, it was a “totally unique experience”.

    Even before the recent achievement of closing a Series A, the startup has come a long way on a relative shoestring with just around $560,000 in seed funding and some of the founders’ own savings.

    Atoms built a supply chain of companies that would make the materials and shoes that it wanted and developed a gradual but strong marketing pipeline with influential people in tech, fashion and design.

    Currently the shoes sell for $179 a pair, which is not cheap and puts them at the high end of the market, so it will be interesting to see how and if price points evolve as it matures as a business, and competitors big and small begin to catch onto the idea of selling their own footwear at a wider range of sizes.

  • Lahore cinema releases night-vision explicit videos of couples

    Lahore cinema releases night-vision explicit videos of couples

    In what is being termed as a blatant breach of citizens’ privacy, a cinema in Lahore has released explicit footage of couples putting on public display of affection at the movies.

    The videos showing couples holding hands, making out and being involved in sexual activities, started doing rounds on Friday evening, sparking outrage over social media.

    While some called out the cinema for “blatant violation” of the couples’ privacy, others stepped in to train guns at the couples for publically being involved in the activities.

    https://twitter.com/SuagaDesi/status/1167727643246125056
    https://twitter.com/ARfrom1947/status/1167698419240058880

    No official statement over the episode has yet been released, however, former Punjab’s Strategic Reforms Unit director general (DG) Salman Sufi has announced filing a lawsuit against the cinema.

    “Just found that video recordings of citizens from cinema halls in #Pakistan have been shared around. This is NOT acceptable and is a violation of law. We demand that all theaters/Public places delete ALL video recordings that have no recorded safety threat ASAP [sic],” Sufi tweeted.

  • Secret to a happy marriage!

    Secret to a happy marriage!

    A woman in UAE has asked for divorce because her husband loves her a lot and is too obedient.

    Most women would not want any other type of husband — one who cooks, cleans and does not argue at all! But a wife in the UAE has sought divorce for this very reason!

    Apparently, she felt choked by his affection and wants to divorce him. She says her husband’s love was choking her.

    “He never yelled at me or turned me down,” the woman told the court.

    “I was choked by extreme love and affection. He even helped me clean the house.”

    In their year-long marriage, the husband sometimes cooked for her and there were no disputes.

    The wife complained that her life turned into “hell”. Why? Because the husband was so good to her.

    “I long for one day of dispute, but this seems impossible with my romantic husband who always forgave me and showered me with gifts.

    “I need a real discussion, even an argument, not this hassle-free life of obedience.”

    The husband said he did nothing wrong. “I wish to be a perfect and kind husband,” he said.

    The husband has asked the court to advise his wife to withdraw the case.

    “It’s not fair to judge a marriage from the first year, and everybody learns from their mistakes.”

    The court ordered the adjournment of the case to give the couple a chance at reconciliation.

  • The Laddoo Diet

    The Laddoo Diet

    There is a new diet in town. It’s called the ‘Laddoo Diet’. We all love laddoos — especially the moti-choor variety — but we thought it only piles up pounds! Well, maybe that’s not the only thing it does. The Laddoo Diet can also lead to divorce.

    An Indian man from Uttar Pradesh has sought divorce on the grounds that his wife was feeding him laddoos every day.

    The couple has been married for 10 years and they have three children. Unfortunately, due to the advice of a tantric (shaman), the UP man’s wife was giving him four laddoos to eat in the morning and four laddoos in the evening. He was not allowed to eat anything else in between. The man approached a family court and said that he wasn’t feeling well for some time and his wife approached the ‘tantrik’ who asked her to make her husband eat only laddoos.

    Officials at the family counselling centre don’t know what to do about the wife’s superstitions.

    “We can call the couple for counselling, but we cannot treat the woman for being superstitious. She firmly believes that laddoos will cure her husband and is unwilling to accept otherwise,” said a counsellor.

    Well, who thought yummy sweets can actually lead to divorce!

  • Sheikh Rasheed, and the three essential oils he should be buying

    Sheikh Rasheed, and the three essential oils he should be buying

    Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed was spotted buying what looks like aromatherapy essential oils with PM Imran Khan’s buddy Aneel Mussarat in London. While we don’t exactly know what he bought we can recommend oils we think would work best for his personality and job.

    Sandalwood Oil

    Used to calm nerves. Sheikh was in big trouble after the Railway’s Rs 28.62 billion loss was made public. So he could do with something to calm his nerves.

    Lavender Oil

    Helps with stress relief. Opposition parties were asking for Sheikh’s resignation after 80 train accidents took place in his first year.

    Rosemary Oil

    Helps with focus. We all need more of Sheikh’s famous predictions.

  • Popular Fiction: Don’t feel like you’re Normal?

    Popular Fiction: Don’t feel like you’re Normal?

    It’s a trend now. To talk about the non-conformists, the ones who don’t fit in and the ones who don’t want to.

    In her 10th novel, Japanese fiction author Sayaka Murata doesn’t make up a story. She calmly and incredibly coolly takes us into the world of the straight face life of a “convenience store woman” in her internationally best-selling book of the same name.

    Stores of Convenience

    It’s a weird book and it’s so much fun. We enter the world of a convenience store worker, Keiko, who is 36 years old and single, has never dated anyone and has worked part-time at the same store for the past 18 years.

    No one seems to understand why she has worked in the Smile Mart for so long, why she yearns to be there and how it literally becomes her day and her night. But then she isn’t one to do things normally.

    The first blow that Keiko gives us is a memory of her childhood, when, to break up a fight, she hits one of the boys on the head with a spade and doesn’t understand when everyone is shocked by what she does. They did say they wanted the fight to stop.

    Deadpan and almost robotic, Keiko is the person we would tend to avoid — lacks emotion, copies emotion, and doesn’t get angry. You can’t trust Keiko but you can’t help but like her. Murata has so beautifully carved out Keiko’s character that you somehow don’t feel bad for her at all. Perhaps because you know that she already has everything; a job she lives for, a convenience store she loves and that’s enough for her.

    Murata, through Keiko, takes us through the experience of milestones that are part of every single society in the world. Work, life-partner, marriage, children and how we tend to isolate and judge people who don’t fit in society’s norms.

    Keiko’s counter, the young, lanky, and smelly Shiraha, is full of disdain. He joins the store and soon gets fired from the Smile Mart for not doing his duties. Figures that his only reason for taking the job was to find a woman, stalk her and marry her.

    The utter stench his words produce when we meet him is more effective than repellent. He is a loathsome character and as we move through the book, and discover that he might be important, we try to like him when there is nothing at all to like.

    But to be fair, Murata rushes through the existence of Shiraha. Maybe because she doesn’t want to marry the crazy beauty she has created with Keiko and perhaps she realises that the reader might relate more to Shiraha; whether they like him or not.

    It’s a short read, ends in 162 pages, bound to finish in a few hours because of how perfectly normal it is. It’s not at all a judgey book but it takes us into such a quirky and strange journey through Keiko that we can’t help but reflect on how judgemental we can be. How she, without question, anger, regret, tries to adapt to her society, where she doesn’t fit in. She cleverly and poignantly highlights what we all do: mirror others, judge others for not fitting in molds and feel happy for them when they do.

    At one point of the book, Keiko is told off by Shiraha who says, “You’re not human” to which Keiko thinks, “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!” a thought which will leave you with a smile and simple reflection on life’s ambitious rat race and the simplicity of the convenience store worker. For a moment you’ll want her contentment, her creepy thoughts (inertly thinking that you might have had one or two of those yourself) until you conveniently forget and go back to ignoring the simple, convenient things.

  • Shehre Khamoshan founder seeks donations to run model graveyards

    Shehre Khamoshan founder seeks donations to run model graveyards

    International public policy and gender reforms specialist Salman Sufi has appealed to the masses to donate for the well-being of hundreds of Punjab Shehre Khamoshan Authority (PSKA) staffers, working unpaid for months.

    Lahore’s Shehre Khamoshan Model Graveyard, an initiative of chief minister’s Strategic Reforms Unit (SRU), contains all burial and funeral-related services required by families facing the loss of a loved one.

    These include hearse service, janazgah, ghusal and mortuary services, free of cost.

    While the project was considered a milestone achieved in facilitating the masses as it aimed to establish cemeteries and crematoriums to facilitate all citizens irrespective of any religious, socio-economic or caste-wise distinctions, it continues to face an uncertain future as its employees remain unpaid amid “lack of funds”.

    Continuing to highlight PKSA employees’ ordeal over the past few months, ex-SRU director general (DG) and founder of the project, Salman Sufi, has now appealed for donations for the staff.

    Tweeting his video message, Sufi wrote:

    In an earlier tweet, he had stated:

    “The government is not stepping in to solve the issue, therefore we are [now] collecting donations from people,” he tweeted.

  • Does No Lies Fries live up to the hype?

    Does No Lies Fries live up to the hype?

    No Lies Fries is late to the game. The gourmet burgers and fries came into existence a century ago and left Karachi two years ago with Burger Lab, Oh My Grill and Juicy Lucy. Though some did come close to the Holy Grail of burgers – Shake Shack – others were a miss. After hearing rave reviews on No Lies Fries, I wondered could it be? Had they cracked the Shake Shack code?

    The NLF: beef patty, lettuce and secret sauce

    Sadly, no. They’re close. But they’re drying their meat out by overcooking it and assuming their secret sauce will hold it together. But those extra 40 seconds on the grill only shock the patty into becoming plain boring. The ‘secret sauce’ doesn’t really need to be a secret since it’s nothing earth-shattering.

    The only shake in their shack is that perfectly perfect potato bun. Oh my, what a bun. I disassembled the burger and tried the soft potato goodness on its own and it’s legit, the best bun in town.

    The Crispy Chick: fried chicken, secret sauce, jalapenos and cheese

    The Crispy Chick, a fried chicken burger, didn’t get the slather of the secret sauce that was needed but it was fried to perfection. Depends on how crisp you like your chicken though. This was perfect. A not so thin layer of breadcrumbs resulted in a perfectly cooked chicken breast with that oh-so-delicious potato bun. The Crispy Chick isn’t KFC level, but then again I don’t particularly enjoy the fat layer of crispy crumbs which tend to overcook the chicken.

    Coming onto their main item. The guy taking the order recommended the Authentic Canadian Poutine but I really wish he hadn’t. The dish on its own didn’t come together and it seemed that the creators of this one expect that customers, (mostly Canadian returns) will be wowed by the thought of Canadian poutine rather than the work that goes into it.

    A decent (but too thick) beef gravy, cheese curds and fries, it lacked the flavour of traditional Canadian poutine, which is made by the gravy.

    Authentic Canadian Poutine Fries

    So are they lying? People expect that the juiciest details, the final verdict is usually delivered in the first few paragraphs. But something as inconsequential, as common, as Alanis Morrisette Ironic can be picked up, bitten into and make you do a 180.

    Belgian Frites

    No Lies Fries Belgian Frites are out of this world. Thick cut fries, Gordon Ramsay level cooked, crisp and aggressively seasoned, they are without an atom of a doubt, the best fries in Karachi. Their burgers might lie, but those simple fries definitely don’t. This just goes to show that secret sauces, shake shack references, Canadian copies won’t get you anywhere but a side item can make you live up to your name.

    (On a side note: the burger doesn’t come with fries; they are sold separately. And with a burger starting at Rs. 560, it’s really not the best deal in town).

  • Jeremy wants to become US president ‘so he can meet Imran Khan’

    Jeremy wants to become US president ‘so he can meet Imran Khan’

    Comedian and “official United States (US) Ambassador of Pindi boys”, Jeremy McLellan, has said he wants to go back to his country and run for president “so that he can meet Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan”.

    Known for his love for Pakistan and its people, Jeremy is currently visiting the country for the second time in three years.

    He was spotted enjoying desi cuisines, cherishing the culture, eating mangoes and playing street cricket among other desi activities in and around Islamabad over the past two weeks.

    However, he is only left with two more days in the country and it does not look like he will be able to meet PM Imran on this trip.

    Expressing his disappointment on Twitter, Jeremy wrote:

    “Only two days left in Pakistan and it looks like I won’t be able to meet @ImranKhanPTI on this trip. My only option is to return to the United States and run for President so I can arrange for his return visit to the White House [sic],” he wrote.

    Here are some of his most memorable moments from the ongoing trip.

    We guess it’s safe to say that Jeremy is a legit desi.

  • CNIC must for shopping over Rs50,000

    CNIC must for shopping over Rs50,000

    The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has made it mandatory for citizens to show their Computerised National Identity Cards (CNIC) for purchases over Rs50,000.

    According to reports, the said purchases shall be made from a registered sales tax vendor, while in case of a female buyer, the CNIC of her husband or father would also be acceptable.

    The development comes as the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) tightens the noose around undocumented individuals making purchases without paying taxes.

    According to Dawn, all such measures are primarily aimed at bringing small, medium and even some large retailers into the sales tax net. FBR further states that transactions under ‘good faith’ will not be penalised.

    “No action will be undertaken without the approval of the chief commissioner of the jurisdiction.”

    Furthermore, where the incidence exceeds Rs5 million, the action will require further approval of member operation or director general (export-oriented sector). No action will be taken unless it has been undertaken against the person who has used a fake CNIC, reports said.

    This condition will help avoid unverifiable and fictitious business buyers which results in huge sales tax losses.