Its been 11 years since our three families had an unforgettable visit to Naran. It was the same day 24th July 2002,  when our family along with the two families of my maternal uncles set off for Naran from Garhi Habibullah. The memorable expedition started early in the morning. The weather was clear, it was a bright sunny day. We travelled along the River Kunhar and reached Paras at about 11 am. Road was under construction so we had to stop and wait until the FWO made it clear. There we had an unforgettable moment. As along as we were waiting there, suddenly it started land sliding. I with my cousin were sitting in the vehicle while rest of the family members were out. A large stone hitting the roof of the vehicle went to the river sideby. My father also got injured by a stone hitting on his foot. Most of the people return from there but we din't lost hope and aimed to finish our tour properly. After a short while, road was cleared and continued our journey. Had lunch in a hotel nearby the riverside. After reaching Naran, we put our mangoes in the freezing river to make them cold and enjoyed them. Then we hired Jeeps off towards the Lake Saiful Malook. It was a stunning view at the lake. The icy cold lake was surrounded by mountains having white snow on them. It was feeling like a cold winter of December in the month of July. We couldn't stay there for a long time due to extreme weather. The sky was soon covered with dark clouds signing of a heavy rainfall. We moved back to the jeeps so to get back for home. The story doesn't end up here. It started raining cats and dogs. While returning back, we came to know that the brakes of the vehicle are now out of order. Oh my God...!!! In the thunder lightening and heavy rain, we all got scared. Reciting the Holy Verses, slowly and steadily we continued our journey and at last reached home safe and sound. Those moments were unforgettable for me and all those who were with us. It seems like that happened yesterday. But now that tour is a part of our sweet memories. :)       

About the Lake:

Lake Saif ul Malook  is a famous tourist resort. There is also a fictional story named Saif ul Malook associated with the lake. The weather here is moderate during day time while the temperature drops to minus degrees at night.  It is located about 8 kilometers (5 miles) north from the town of Naran in northern end of Kaghan Valley, in District Mansehra, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

          The lake with its majestic and mesmerizing natural beauty, pleasant atmosphere and associated tale and history, attracts thousands of tourists each year from all around the country during the summer.                         The lake is also famous for being habitat of large size Brown Trout fish, which weigh up to 7 kilograms. Lake Saif ul Malook also provides a marvelous view of Malika Parbat, which is the highest peak of Kaghan Valley.

Altitude:

Lake Saif ul Malook is one of the highest alpine lakes of Pakistan. It is located at an altitude of 3,224 meters (10, 578 feet) above sea level.

Depth:

There are lots of controversies about the depth of Lake Saif ul Malook. In fact, there is no authentic source to tell the exact depth of lake. The local people of the valley say Lake Saif ul Malook is 1 kilometer deep, some of them says it is 1.7 kilometers. However, a team which recently conducted a survey on all alpine lakes of Northern Areas of Pakistan told that the depth of Lake Saif ul Malook is 50 feet.

If we take a look at figures given above, the one (50 feet) provided by the team which conducted survey seems to be more realistic, as if we consider the geography of the area surrounding the lake, it would be marvel of nature for a lake to be 1-1.7 kilometers deep at an altitude of 3 kilometers above sea level.

Story of Lake Saif ul Malook:

The classic story of Lake Saif ul Malook is written by Sufi poet Mian Muhammad Bakhsh. It is written in the form of poetic verses.

The story is about a Persian Prince named Saif ul Malook who fell in love with a fairy named Badi-ul-Jamal (Glory of the moon), whom he saw in his dreams. The Prince thus started his journey to find his beloved fairy Badi-ul-Jamal. He was clueless in his restless journey until he met a Devish (Holy man), who told him how he can find her. Devish also told him that he had to go through many exams before he could find and marry Badi-ul-Jamal, because she was a fairy and Prince was human.

The Prince then starts his journey for the impossible in the name of his love. The rest of the story chronicles the challenges he faced during his journey and the spiritual lessons he learned on the way.

Cultivated in the garden of Life,

Friendship is the strongest power.

As pure as a dewdrop,

A dear friend is sometimes dearer than Life.

During the days of FIT (Frontiers of Information Technology) Tour back in december 2012, me and a fellow member Umar set up to explore Sarena Hotel Islamabad. We moved through corridors, elevators, lawns, gymnasiums, different floors and bar clubs, taking pictures of each other and things placed for the comfort and pleasure of the visitors. While wandering there, we came across an Art Gallery which was located inside the Hotel and was a place of amusement for the Art Lovers. We stepped inside it. Founding nobody inside the Gallery, I started to take pictures of the monuments and the portraits that were hanged on the wall. As soon as I took  the second snapshot, an aged person of about 50 years stepped inside the gallery roaring at me that: "Don't you know its not allowed to take pictures inside a gallery? What you have done. People took snapshots of these master pieces and then make copies of it" I got confused and replied in a sense that I knew that I have done something wrong: "Sorry Sir I didn't know ealier that  it is forbibben to take pictures inside a gallery." Saying Sorry again to him, we rushed out the gallery and tried to walk as fast as we could, just to get out of sight of that person. We reached into the lawn of the hotel laughing at each other upon the mistake that we have just made and the reward of that we received from the owner of the gallery.

                  The days passed and I got busy in my daily routine. One day while surfing the internet I came across the same picture of the portrait I took inside the gallery, I got curious and tried to find out more about that portrait. Upon little searching, I was wondered to see that the picture of the portrait I took was a world famous portrait. The portrait named “The Last Supper” was a portrait by an Italian Artist "Leonardo da Vinci".

About the Portrait

Leonardo's most famous painting of the 1490's is "The Last Supper", painted for the refectory of the Convent of Santa Maria della Grazie in Milan. The painting represents the last meal shared by Jesus with his disciples before his capture and death. It shows specifically the moment when Jesus has just said: "One of you will betray me". Leonardo tells the story of the consternation that this statement caused to the twelve followers of Jesus.

      When finished, the painting was acclaimed as a masterpiece of design and characterization. But it deteriorated rapidly, so that within a hundred years it was described by one viewer as "completely ruined". Leonardo, instead of using the reliable technique of fresco, had used tempera over a ground that was mainly gesso, resulting in a surface which was subject to mold and to flaking. Despite this, the painting has remained one of the most reproduced works of art, countless copies being made in every medium from carpets to cameos.

I was pleased to see that the snap I captured and for which I endured the unpleasant and harsh words of the owner of the gallery was a master piece. I forgot about what actually happened while capturing the portrait. The feeling of happiness of knowing to capture a historical masterpiece overcame the feeling of suffering in the gallery. 

While getting stuck on playing a flash file in ASP.Net, I found a simple solution to it. So I found it better to share this with others.

Step 1

Go to the website www.flash-control.net Download FlashControl v2.4 Free version (Free version works perfectly), or you can buy full version from the site.

Step 2

Unzip the file and put it somewhere on the your hard drive, e.g "C:\Users\Saad\Documents". Now in Visual Studio, open the Toolbox window, right-click on a tab (you can create a new one if you want) and select “Choose items…”, then on the “.Net Framework components” tab click “Browse…” and select the “FlashControl.dll” file located in "C:\Users\Saad\Documents". Finally click the “OK” button and FlashControl appears on the Toolbox.(if not just restat visual studio) Now you can drag and drop it on your webform in the Visual Studio designer.

Step 3

Now add a flash file in your Visual Studio Project.

Step 4

In the properties panel of the flash control, go to the MovieUrl and specify the path of your flash file in your project. You can set rest of the properties as per your needs.

Run your project to play the flash file in browser.

Note:

You can apply your own CSS to beautify the content of the flash control.

The above mentioned procedure is tested by me in Visual Studio 2012 and works perfectly.

Three days back, on 1 June 2013, I had a trip to Ayubia, Nathiagali and Murree. It was a bright sunny day when our class got permitted to go on a trip after an year. Woke up early in the morning, went to hostal to pick up a buddy who wasn't ready to go on trip due to submission of projects ahead. Then hurried to the student affairs where bus was waiting for us. We left university at 8 am reciting verses of journey . The journey started well. As soon as we reached Harnoi, classmates made the advisor to stop for a while there. Then the classfellows startes to shower water at each other. Those who were running far were lifted up by two or three classfellows and were throw down in the water. This lasted for 30 to 35 minutes and everybody  including advisor with their wet clothes moved to bus and started marching towards the destination.

At about 10.30 am, we reached Ayubia where we had a cup of tea in the company of monkeys. They welcomed us at the hotel.

One female monkey whose baby was stuck with her mom, came quickly, opened the shopper, took a packet of biscuits and ran away. After having all this fun, we moved to the chair lifts and then enjoyed the ride up to the top. Their we had some snaps with eagles, horse and then had a ride on boat that was thrilling. 

After that we had lunch in the hotel near by. Then move back to the chair lifts and started moving towards Murree. In Murree we were left with only one hour. Some classmates were seen shopping there and rest were walking on the Mall Road,  and then we move back to bus. The journey started back towards the home. Stopped at Nathiagali, bought some chicken chillies coke, enjoyed that in bus because we were having no more time to stay there. At about 8:30 pm, the bus dropped me near the home and a fantastic day ended with this. I enjoyed alot with the classmates and it turned out to be one of the memorable day of my life. 

About a week ago, on 23 May 2013, I was appointed as the President of the SoftSociety by the Committee of Computer Science Department headed by Sir Muhammad Irfan (Department Operating Officer - Computer Science Department). I have been regarded as the youngest President in the history of SoftSociety. All the Ex-Presidents were chosen when they were in 7th semester but I was elected only when I was in 6th semester. Its really an honour for me to be the President of our society. Appointing a President from a list of candidates was a new experience. Formerly Presidents were chosen directly by the DOO-CS department, but this time candidates submitted their applications for the respective posts.

              Somebody said truely: "With Great Power, comes the Great Responsibility". The very next day, the Infant President was given the task of managing a National Level Event i.e Vision ICT and TechnoMoot and the mission was accomplished successfully with the collaboration of Organizing Committee Team. Next Mission is of CS Evening which is also a tough job will be held on June 14. 

                                                        *.........The Journey of Life.........*

In the journey of life, there comes a time where a most difficult word seems to be soft and sweet, where we feel the suffocation of a closed street, where the 'hope' dies, our imagination and thinking stops, but like this mortal life these moments are also comprised of few seconds. Life like a river flowing, passes by here slightly, and we don't even know, then these difficult moments became a pleasant memories of our past. Those silent breathes that have wrapped a white blanket, those eyes that become still and the smile that was caught up by the lips, like a passed season  returns back. All those mischievousness that had been set in the west, like a  sun, rises up. Now while sitting in the sweet  moonlight we thought that crying, weeping was a part of life that had been passed with the time, and we like a tired, lost, fallen ant, in the search of our destiny, start moving again. That's Life...!!!!!