Going back to Pakistan

This post has also been published on The Express Tribune's blog section here.

If you're a Pakistani student studying abroad (US, UK, Europe, Canada, Australia wherever) pursuing whatever degree, people automatically assume you're staying there for good. And by people here I'm referring to our fellow countrymen. When you meet them at a gathering or a get-together, such topics are often the subject of discussion. Telling them that you have plans of returning home will earn you looks of utter bewilderment, as if you've said something embarrassing. You come go back to Pakistan to visit family and friends, and everyone invariably asks you how you are doing abroad, so you tell them you're getting by OK ... which is almost always followed by something along the lines of `Good! Get a job / green card, and do not come back`.

I know things are bad, but this utter hopelessness is not going to do us any good. If we abandon our own country, when it needs us the most, what right to we have to call ourselves proud Pakistanis when we couldn't even bother to spend the prime of our lives living in it and working for its betterment? My mind tells me it's a foolish obsession that makes no sense, given the instability prevalent over there, but then my heart says: `No matter what the outcome. At least I would have done the right thing`.

The battle between my heart and my mind rages on.

Football, the ultimate unifier

There's hardly any other sport on the face of this planet that's likely to draw out people of a more varied nation, race or color other than Football (or Soccer as it's known over here stateside). It is simply amazing how you don't need to even speak the same language in order to understand one another on a football field. I have been going to play Football on weekends with a bunch of guys from every corner of the world. It is absolutely fantastic to see the amount of diversity there. We have people from USA, Nigeria, Germany, Russia, Denmark, Holland, Spain, Mexico, India, Pakistan (me :P) and god knows how many more countries. If there is an ultimate unifier, it has to be football!

And what better showcase for football than the ongoing World Cup in South Africa. The game is getting some good press here in the US, perhaps as big as it has ever gotten, which is great. Normally people here are far too obsessed with their own sports, but thanks to coverage from ESPN and ABC, people are excited about the World Cup to some extent. This surge in popularity is also helped by the fact that the US football team is putting up a decent showing at the World Cup. They won a nail-biting encounter against Algeria today to press to the Second Round along with England in Group C. Good luck to them, and for the neutrals, the real World Cup starts with the knock out rounds on Saturday. May the best team win!

Is it all worth it?

I am not trying to rattle any cages with this blog post. Or perhaps it is a sign of my weakening faith, but I've found myself asking some real basic questions over the last couple of days, most notably: Is it all worth it? I mean religion. Did God create one of the most beautiful things in the verse so that so many people could one day abuse it and kill their fellow beings in their attempts to be closer to Him? They say terrorists have no religion, I say every religion has its terrorists - people who are so blinded by their faith and devotion to God that they forget the most basic principle there is: the sanctity of a human life. Is religion just a tool to kill other people in a society with such alarming levels of poverty and illiteracy? Or alternatively, if there were no religion, would people still kill like they do today?

We all believe in leading good lives and going to jannah (paradise), but I ask: at what cost? Is it not a collective responsibility of a religion and a society based on one to condemn injustices and speak up against them. Do you really want your paradise so bad that you're willing to stay stilent on every injustice and act of barbarism you see around you? What good is paradise then? I keep referring to paradise, because frankly we're obsessed with it. We're far too obsessed with being "good" Muslims individually that we've forgotten perhaps the most basic Islamic principle there is: Husn-e-Ikhlaq. Someone asked the Prophet (PBUH) to define Islam in two words, and thats what he said: "Husn-e-Ikhlaq". Islam is nothing but husn-e-ikhlaq, in every aspect of life, individual and collective. That is all, and alas! how badly we have failed at it.

The attacks on Ahemdis two days ago are nothing new in the context of our history, they are another persecuted minority in Pakistan. What has truly been sickening has been people's reaction. How can so many people be devoid of humanity? How can you condone the killing of an innocent human being? Is everything that we practice somehow more important than whether another person lives or dies (regardless of their beliefs)? Time to put things in perspective and root out the proponents of this venom who seem to think all this is OK, all in the name of God and paradise.

If we must ban something, it should be these poison-spewing madrassahs and maulvis spreading such hatred and blatant disregard for human lives. Facebook may have partaken in blasphemy but there's plenty of it going on in our cities and society. How about cleaning our own house first?

Paris

Bonjour! Greetings my blog readers (if there's still any left). I have been on a hiatus, and I do apologize for that. It doesn't take much to update a blog but I have no shame in admitting that I've been a bit lazy and putting this off far too long. So on the eve of my return from Paris is as good a time as any I suppose, to finally update this thing (I wrote this post at the airport). So my first step in the world of research in the form of a research publication at a conference in Paris finally happened, and I got to meet some great people in the Software Engineering community. Hopefully, the next time they run into me (in another part of the world), they would remember me. Needless to say, the conference was an extremely rewarding experience, but enough about that. What better way to set your first foot in Europe than to visit Paris hanh? First of all, what an amazing city! So so rich in history, and elegance. Also, it is super-old, according to one record as old as 500 BC! Just as you marvel at the amazing skylines of some of the American cities like Chicago and New York the first time you visit them, you marvel at the astonishing architecture and history of the buildings in Paris. From King Henry to King Louis to Napolean, the city has loads of history and an extremely rich cultural heritage.

The only downside is perhaps that the French people speak little or no English. But the similarity between English and French helps sometimes as both languages share common words. For example, you can figure out street names with ease, although you might get the pronunciation wrong. I managed to survive on Bonjour/Bonsoir (Good morning/evening), Parlez-vouz anglais? (Do you speak English?), Je ne parle par Francais (I don't understand French), not to mention Merci (Thank you). I was somewhat surprised to see so much in Paris. First of all, there were lots of Muslims and plenty of restaurants serving halal food (awesome!), but generally speaking, it seems there has been a lot of migration here from other French-speaking countries (from Africa mostly). I liked that I did not stand out in the crowd like I do in the US (just saying).

Paris also has an excellent transportation system. The underground metro network is quite extensive, and there are stations everywhere in Paris, and I mean everywhere! I think someone there told me that the maximum distance you can walk in Paris without a metro station is half a mile, which is ridiculous considering the size of Paris. Buses are also very frequent and go everywhere. The metro system was a piece of cake to figure out, and I was really impressed with the number of people that use the metro (thousands!) and the frequency with which those trains run.

Paris attracts the most tourists of any city in the world (estimated at 1 million per year!). Going to some of the famous sightseeing spots like the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, and Arc de Triomphe; I saw a sea of people. Amazing! No wonder Parisians are known to be a little rude, they have to contend with hundreds and thousands of tourists throughout the year and most of them do not speak French! Speaking of touristy places, I was surprised to find so many desis in Paris, mostly around these touristy places where they're selling miniature versions of famous Parisian landmarks. I certainly wasn't expecting that. Who knew I'd be haggling with an Indian vendor in Urdu in Paris, and asking him for cool spots to go to, and the closest desi restaraunts - a pleasant surprise indeed.

Lastly, and frankly expectedly, Paris is an expensive city. Despite the euro being stronger than the dollar (1EUR~1.35USD), the prices of the same food items is the same or, in most cases, even more. A large pizza at Pizza Hut costs 16 euros (although they did have a nice deal going on). Gas (petrol) is pretty expensive too (1.4euros per litre). In the US (at least in NC), it is 2.7 per gallon (where 1 gallon = 3.78 litre). So if you ever end up going to Paris, and plan on doing some shopping, be prepared to spend exorbitant sums of money :). Overall, it was quite an experience for me. Europe is pretty different from the US. In some ways, it has a "desi" touch to that and life is somewhat slower than in the states. I really liked that. If you ever e an opportunity to go to Paris, by all means do go ... it'll be a memorable experience for sure!

The Pictures (from top to bottom): Me at Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe (built by Napolean to commemorate his military victories), and finally the Louvre (home of the Mona Lisa among other famous artworks)

US Travel Woes NOT!

Life's been busy as heck of late. Work, homework, and more work. To those of you who were waiting to hear from me after my last ranting of sorts, sorry to disappoint you friends (for not updating and posting updates sooner). What the heck may I be talking about? The trip of course. It went fine! There was nothing different. No strip-searches, no rubber hand glove thingies greeting me as I landed in the US. You are, however, subject to extra-screening at your city of departure towards the US. That is the only change from before. I guess it was too soon for them to have put the new measures in place.

Not much going on otherwise. School, work and xbox form the bulk of my activities these days. Its been so cold of late that I haven't been able to go out and play football on weekends. I kinda miss that. Running around and working out works wonders for you. And with snow falling this weekend (which I don't mind btw), the cold spell is set to continue for a while. It is winter, after all.

Home, no place like it

I realize I haven't updated the blog in almost 2 months. It's been that kind of a semester. Anyhoo, I arrived back home last week for spending the semester break here. Needless to say, it's been awesome as always. Despite the extremely long journey and a hefty ticket price you have to pay, in the end it is always worth it.

Some of the best things about coming back home to Pakistan for me are:

Meeting friends and family (of course!)
Those endless meetups, get-togethers with family members, school friends, college friends, online friends, co-workers, ex-coworkers, visiting your school and college, meeting your old teachers etc. etc. The list is endless.

The Food
Oh boy, there is no comparison when it comes to food. Absolutely awesome. Considering I'm
something of a forced vegetarian abroad, Pakistan is akin to heaven for the meat-lover in me.

The Premier League
I don't get to watch my favorite football (soccer) league in the US :(, and it's only when I'm back here that I get to see it. I miss the excitement of it, and even though the Toon are not in it this season, football is, well, the best sport in the world by far.

The Religious Spirit
Be it Ramadan, Muharram or Eid. There is a certain religious fervor that is associated with each occassion that one gets used to if you've grown up in Pakistan. And you get to miss that dearly abroad. Especially, the sweet voice of the AZAAN. It is surreal.

Having said that, things are not so rosy on the political and geopolitical front. I will write more on these topics soon, but for now all I can say is that the only way we can assure our salvation is by being strong, steadfast, and willing to stand up for what is right (especially in the wake of all the wrongs that have been done against us in the past) and not budge to threats by anyone. Nuff said.

Paranormal Activity

There's a lot of talk going on these days about this new scary movie in theaters, called Paranormal Activity. I had heard about it from a friend last month and saw the trailer (also embedded below), and found it quite intriguing. The movie then was playing only in select theaters and the closest place from my home was a good 40-50 mins away and the only show was at midnight. I didn't really wanna go see it because frankly I thought it wouldn't be worth the trip. Fortunately, on my recent trip to Seattle to visit family and friends, I was able to finally see this movie and absolutely loved it!

Ok first off, I know the movie has a lot of mixes reviews and people don't think it's THAT scary blah blah. But I really really liked it despite all of its obvious flaws (whether it was the acting, the handheld camera or whatever) . The reason I like it so much is the creepiness factor, which can scare the shit out of you (to put it mildly). And another strong reason why I was able to connect with the movie instantly was the fact that I have experienced some paranormal activity before and firmly believe that this sort of stuff exists (although, not to the extent depicted in the movie). Some of my friends (who thought the movie was terrible) say none of this is possible, that ghosts etc. do not exist and that it is human psychology to justify seemingly unexplainable phenomenon as paranormal. Also, they deny it on the basis of science for e.g., nothing can cast a shadow without being visible etc. etc. You get the point. My argument is simple: Science does not explain everything, and it never will. There are things (and forces) at work in this world which are beyond our control and there can be instances when we come across such phenomenon when we somehow interact or come across those forces, although admittedly it is very rare.

Also from a religious standpoint, we KNOW that there are other forms of life on this planet. Be they be the Djin, ghosts, or some other evil entity, it is believed that they exist. Since the connection to religion is inevitable, this gives agnostic people another reason to deny the existence of these things citing that there is no proof, scientific or otherwise (sightings etc.).

Oh well, it is a long debate and I'd rather not talk about this stuff too much. Here is the trailer for this movie. If you haven't seen this movie, I suggest you go see it asap! Oh, and good luck sleeping after that! :)

Updates

Updates have been long overdue on the blog, and plenty has gone on since my last post. I was busy with studies and research stuff and did not update the blog much, but here's hoping I can write more from now on (time permitting of course). First and foremost, I managed to complete and submit my very first research paper to a conference in France next year. I'll hear back from them in December whether the paper got in or not (fingers crossed for that!)

I also had a quick little trip to Seattle during Fall break. As always, it was very nice. Did some hiking (see picture on right, I was there where that arrow points!). I only wished there were some hiking trails close to where I live as they can be perfect way to lose weight. Oh well.

It's that time of the semester when assignments and projects creep up on you. You get midterms out of the way, and concentrate on your projects going into the final 5 weeks of the semester, and it gets real busy at the end. A good motivator for me is going to be my trip home this December. Yep, I'm going back to see friends and family AGAIN in December. Can't wait.

My book reading is going well. I finished the best-selling novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Housseini on my flight to and from Seattle. I can see why the novel is so popular as it captures the trials and tribulations of man and a country lost in conflict. His personal story, from Afghanistan to USA, is narrated extremely well by the author. I'm definitely going to go on and read his other best-selling novel A Thousand Splendid Suns soon. Right now, after much pondering, I have decided to give one of the trek novels a chance hoping that they won't ruin the storylines and endings I have ingrained in me from the tv series (DS9 in this case).

In other news, I now regularly play football (soccer) on weekends to have at least some sort of physical activity during the week. Last weekend I also upgraded to Windows 7 RTM, which is available to us students for free courtesy of MSDNAA. Needless to say, I'm loving it so far. I'll definitely be doing detailed posts on these topics soon. All in all, life is good and time is flying by like never before.

Eid Mubarak!

Eid Mubarak to all my readers!


I will get back to posting one of these days I promise.

Hiatus

My blog's been wearing something of a deserted look of late. August saw a record-low number of posts by me - ONE, that's it! Time has flown by ... my semester at state is in full swing and work and studies are keeping me busy. But that is not the only reason why I haven't been paying attention to my blog lately ... it's my new-found obsession with twitter. It's real-time, short and sweet and lets me say my 2 cents without having to sit down and write a proper post. Although a blog has its definite advantages but, at the same time, demands attention.

Rest assured, I will get back to updating it ASAP. Stay tuned!

I want my life back!

Such is my addiction to these services now :(

I'm Blue

I think it would be an understatement to say that I have a fondness for the color Blue. From my blog theme to the color of my water bottle, most of the things I possess are blue. Let's see ... I have different hats (topi) - all are blue; I have several pairs of jeans - most are blue; Most of my shirts (causal and formal) are blue; The color of my car was blue (before some sorry bugger stole it); My ja'namaz (prayer mat) is blue; I chose Iqbal House in elementary school because it was, you guessed it!, blue... are you detecting a pattern here?

Most of my desktop wallpapers have a bluish tone (unless they're of a celeb like this :P). I always liked facebook more than orkut because it was blue. Now all that's left is for me to marry someone blue (an Andorian like this one perhaps :P). Ok, that was a trek joke but seriously, does that tell you anything about me or my personality? Besides being overly-obsessed with one color?

Go-Karting

When I visited Seattle last December, I had the opportunity to go to the SyKart Racing Center to do some go-karting for the very first time. It was one adrenaline-pumping experience and, needless to say, I enjoyed loads! So, I was on the lookout for places to do go-karting in and around Raleigh and luckily there was a place close by in Garner called Rush Hour Karting. So me and my cousin went there today and had loads of fun. The go-karts are not that big as you can gather from the picture here but since they're gas-powered (petrol for all you desis), stepping on the accelerator and maneuvering all those tight corners while maintaining your speed and doing a bit of drift at the same time is simply exhilarating! These things go pretty fast ... as fast as 40mph actually!

The ones here were 6.5 hp, but the ones in Seattle were 9hp. Nevertheless, it was a fun experience and one that all drivers enjoy. Here's a nice little video of a couple of laps at the indoor racing center:

Is it cool or what?

Spectacular Saturn

I have always been amazed by the stars (who hasn't?) and the infinite magnanimity of our universe which makes our existence seem so minor and insignificant .. we're more like a speck in the wilderness and that's it. I remember going to the Karachi PIA planetarium on field trips in school, and being awestruck at the wonders of the universe they told us about. From the amazing phenomenon that is the solar eclipse to the composition of planets farther out in our Solar System. If we as a species did not have so much to deal with on our own Planet, we'd be making every effort in traveling the stars, that's for sure. Who knows what wonders await us outside of our little neighborhood in this vast uncharted space. That is also the reason I became a fan of science fiction ... at people's imagination of how the universe could be, and how we one day can travel great distances and seek out other life in the universe. Of how we could one day forget our differences and unite under our commonalities, our humanity.

Having said that, in reality, it is a pipedream right now and all you could really do in this day and age is to go out on a starry night and gaze at the beautiful stars. That's something I did last night! Me and my cousin went to the Chapel Hill Astronomical and Observational Society's star gazing sessions that are open to the public. We saw a greatly magnified version of the moon, with all its craters visible. And finally, the beautiful and spectacular Saturn with four of its moons clearly visible. It looked something like the picture here, except it doesn't show the moons. It was the very first time I had seen any of the planets, and the experience was simply wow-ing. Its rings were clearly visibly and very bright. In school, they taught us that Saturn had 18 moons. Well, thanks to the recent Cassini mission ... we now know that a total of 62 satellites actually orbit Saturn. They range from mile-wide rocks to full-fledged celestial bodies much like our own Moon. The rings, too, were thought to be condensed together but as one of the people told me there .. that Cassini discovered that there were actually thousands of small ringlets orbiting Saturn (and that they appear to be a much bigger and a condensed ring from this far out). Millions of years from now, these rings will apparently cease to exist and will eventually break away from Saturn's gravity. I guess we won't be around to see that happening.

It is an experience you have to go through before it sinks in. We only get to "learn" about these things in books, but when you actually get to see a moving planet thousands of miles away slowly but surely drifting in space, it sends a shiver down your spine! Absolutely amazing! You cannot help but say WOW to Allah mian's greatness and at the same time realize our own insignificance. I only wish we did more of such activities back home. Makes your jaws drop and kneel in prayer to God Almighty. SubhanAllah!

Image courtesy Malleesky.com

My 2 minutes of fame

The Toon may find themselves in dire straits at the moment, a predicament that can at best be defined as unprecedented. But there was a time not so long ago when the club was flying high in the Premier League, as I remarked in my earlier post after we were condemned to Championship on the final day of the season. In retrospect, this seems like a minor annoyance to a football club regarded by many as one of the top clubs in England. The 'Save Our Seats' campaign talked about in the article below was indeed an embarrassing development for the club, and while the 'Save Our Sites' campaign never really took off, it was something that saddened me as fan. What may I be talking about? Well, I used to run my own unofficial toon fan site back in the day and one day some legal representative contacted me to remove the club's logo on the website. I protested by writing back to the club, posting to fan forums and they suggested I write to some of the local newspaper editors. And so I did, and much to my delight they decided to run a story on me.

And so I ended up in the Sunday Sun of England's north-east one fine Sunday with my picture, imagine that. The article is quoted below:

Toon chiefs leave teen crestfallen

Newcastle United have been accused of bully-boy tactics after bosses showed the red card to a teen fan's website.

Magpie-mad Raza Abbas is furious after officials told him to remove all images with the club crest.

The 17-year-old, a fan since 1995, was told he was infringing trademarks ... and the clampdown could hit fans worldwide.

Raza, who lives in Karachi, Pakistan, said: "I am a diehard fan and I run an unofficial website."

"A couple of days ago the FA's legal representative contacted me and asked me to remove images that display the club crest."

"There are a lot more disturbing things on the web the authorities should be dealing with, rather than trying to stop sites with inoffensive material.

"They said that the use of the club crest imples that I am connected to Newcastle United.

"How they failed to notice the huge 'Unofficial Website' notice is beyond me!

"It is just utter nonsense that loyal fans are treated like this."

The matter could spark an embarrassing Save our Sites campaign against the club still trying to live down the Save Our Seats fiasco.

That campaign was launched in October 1999 after plans were revealed to move 4000 season ticket holders to make way for corporate clients.

The matter ended up in court where the club claimed a hollow victory.

A Newcastle United spokesman said: "The FA Premier League has a legal department which looks after the intellectual property of all the Premiership clubs.

"We have to establish parameters to protect our trademarks.

"There are so many of these sites and it is difficult to know who are the genuine fans and who are the commercial entities making money out of the club.

"Anyone using club trademarks gets a very polite 'cease and desist' letter.

"We have got 15 different trademarks and protecting them costs a fortune.

"There are other ways for people to show they are a Newcastle fan."

The "unofficial" website in question here is located at: http://nufc.host.sk/old/. I stopped updating it quite a while ago as I got busy with college n all. I still have that shirt though, an original Toon home replica of 2000-01 season.

Home Sweet Home

No place like it. Although I haven't been out yet, the air of Karachi is definitely different - not necessarily in a bad way. It's just different. The sweltering heat hasn't helped matters, but hey I'm not complaining! The dreaded load shedding is there but is bearable. Since I'll only be here for a month, I have to plan out everybody who I have to meet before I leave - relatives, cousins, and friends (in that order). The place hasn't changed much in the past year. I hope I could say the same for the security situation, things just seem to be going downhill on that front.

They announced May 12 as a public holiday today. I hope someday justice will prevail and the perpetrators of that black day in our city's history will be caught and prosecuted. As Hazrat Ali (A.S) rightly said: "Societies based on Kufr (infidelity) can survive, but societies based on injustice cannot". How true. I hope we don't end up becoming an example of that. It's also great to be in the gracious presence of mankind's best invention ever - cable :P. Ok ok, that's a bit too much but when you haven't seen no cable in months, that would probably be your reaction too. I'm a sports buff, so needless to say I miss cable like hell. More on that in the next post.

The long flight went unexpectedly well. Was able to get some sleep and spent the rest of the time reading Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. You should definitely read it if you're into Da Vinci Code and that sort of stuff. I'm also eagerly waiting for the premiere of the new Star Trek in Karachi (it opens on May 15th). Reviews have been favorable so far, and it seems J.J. Abrams has been successful in reviving the fortunes of this franchise (like I hoped he would).

Flying home

As the semester culminates in the form of Exams next week, I'm already looking forward to it since I'm set to board a Karachi-bound flight the very next day! Yayy! As much as transatlantic travel can be mentally and physically exhausting, the sight of halal fast foods of Doha (my transit city) and the joy of being reunited with friends and family makes it all the more bearable.

Living alone has its advantages and disadvantages. You get to do stuff you like - whatever, whenever. You also tend to become a bit more responsible (supposedly) since you're more independent .... mostly because there's no one to help you out with your chores (laundry, cooking et al.) Still, I've seen people become lazier and ever so more carefree with no one around nagging them to clean up and stuff. Hey, I don't care how people live their lives or how they take care of their personal hygiene ... but it annoys me sometimes. Anyway, coming back to the topic of the post in question ... I'm really looking forward to landing back in Karachi, the chaotic, polluted streets, the kachray kay dhairs (as much as I despise them), normal left-hand driving, faster internet etc. etc. One thing I'm certainly not looking forward to is the dreaded load-shedding :(. Oh boy, that is one thing I have not missed about Karachi at all!

Life in USA so far has been pretty interesting. As soon as people find out I'm from Pakistan, they want to discuss the current situation with me and get my views on it. I have made no secret of my animosity towards the past American government, its continued support for Israel n all. But surprisingly, more people agree with me than I thought. I don't know if the fact that I encounter "enlightened" people in and around my campus is whats responsible for this sentiment or whether its a general sentiment among the public. I should write more on this on a separate post perhaps. For now, I'm excited to be going home. Karachi rocks in its own way. There's no place like it. Period.

Pizza Chronicles

So I tried my hand at baking today with a Frozen cold cheese Pizza. The instructions seemed simple enough. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees; stick the pizza in there; let it bake (or burn) for 15 minutes straight and voila, you got a hot and delicious pizza .... NOT! Instead, it ended up looking something like this:


Oh well, I guess with every disappointment comes a lesson (South Park style). I learned something today i.e., to pay more attention this things I'm "trying a hand at" for the first time! Nothing is as easy as it seems. duh!

Busy?

"The busiest people I have known in my life always have time enough to do everything. Those who do nothing are always tired and pay no attention to the little amount of work they are required to do. They complain constantly that the day is too short. The truth is, they are afraid to fight a good fight."

Page 51 of Pilgrimage, by Paulo Coelho

Found at Whiz Kid Woes

Beverage Concoctions

Have you ever felt crazy enough to try some weird combination of different beverages? I have! I remember I was introduced to it by my brother, and he learned it at his college (why is everything crazy associated with college life?). Anyway, the first beverage concoction that I tried was Sprite + Milk. It was awesome! After that I've tried Pepsi Milk (so-so), Fanta Milk (not so good), and lastly Vimto Milk (very good!). Vimto Milk tastes kinda like Rooh Afza, except with bubbles and gas. Sprite Milk still wins hands down though.

It is incredibly easy to make your beverage concoction, just do as follows:

1/2 glass of milk
+
1/2 glass of the beverage of your choice

Pour milk, then beverage and stir a little and VOILA! You got a brand new drink! Although I don't guarantee it'll always taste good :P Sprite and Vimto Milk still rock though! So, go ahead ... give it a try :)