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14 giugno I have moved...This is a little late I guess... but I figure better late than never.
My updated profile:
My updated blog:
My new blog:
03 giugno hmmmm...For those who stumble by this blog even after 20 days of inactivity, here's the reason for my absence: I am thinking of turning this Space into a purely actuarial/ statistical/ business related Space. And even though I have idea to write about, I just don't feel like writing on an actuarial topic till the results of my last exam comes out.
I dont know why I feel like this, but I do. It should be another 10 -12 days I think till CAS releases the results of exam 7, and tensions are on the rise. This result determines a lot... not necessarily professionally, but personally.
Why, I hear you thinking, does it not affect me professionally? It is because I am not practising in the US anymore. Outside of the US, qulification matters, of course, but unless it is matched by experience, your pay or post hardly increases. With under 3 years of experience, out of which, one is completely non-traditional, I don't see my pay going up dramatically even if I pass the exam. All I want is to get through these suckers and then get on with life!
So... anxiously waiting for the results. Wish me luck... 15 maggio Buffet, anyone?This saturday night, I had the pleasure of being invited to one of the most 'happening' buffet places in Lahore for dinner (Salt n Pepper -Village, for those who are familiar with the city). The food was, as always, great with an insane variety to choose from. While sitting and enjoying my meal, I was noticing the people around and started categorizing them in my sub-concious. Four of the interesting classifications I came up with are:
1. The new: These are the people who aren't really sure how things work around the place. This is the kind that would refuse to let the waiters clear their table after their first helping. Afterall, they want more food and the wretched waiter is trying to take their plates away. The concept of a fresh plate for each serving seems too much for them to fathom. I can almost hear them thinking, 'Must be because the place is so crowded. The waiters have been told to pick up people's plates so people would leave quickly'.
2. The confused: These are probably the most interesting classification of people.For starters, they are roaming around the food area looking at dishes, unable to decide where to start and what and what not to have. You can see the concentration on their faces... thinking hard as if their life depended on it. Reading, over and over, the tags sitting next to each dish, wondering what they are in the mood to have.
Finally the lines on their foreheads disappear... the frown turns into a smile... purpose returns to their walk... decision has been made! They walk to the dish of their dreams, only to realize they now have an even bigger dilemma... How much should they put in the plate? the wrinkes on the forehead and frown on the face returns. They pick up the serving spoon and put it into the serving dish to pull out an amount... 'wait! is it too much?'. they tilt the spoon a bit to let a little back into the dish. 'Nah, I definitely want more', and back goes the spoon into the dish. Over to their plate now... tilt a little... a little more... maybe just a tad bit more. Seems good! But they aren't sure. The spoon goes back to the dish and fills up again... tilt, to let most of it fall back. Tilt again till there hardly anything left in the spoon. They decide not to put that small an amount into their plate. Finally the spoon is put down, but the hand lingers over it for a second longer. Not entirely sure if they want to let go just yet.
Over to the next dish where the process is repeated...
3. The over-zealous: This classification of people is best personified by one particular person who nearly ran over us as we were entering the place. Dressed in track suit and running shoes, he was there to take on the opponent (food). The excitement of being at a buffet was just too much for him to keep to himself. All those around him could feel the spillover effect. That much excitement is too much for one person to hold within themselves.
Once he was in the food area, there was no stopping him. He knew exactly where to go and how much to eat...he'd go wherever there was meat, and put in as much as he could fit in the plate. A simple solution to the problems faced by the confused. Time, of course, is of the essence. There are only a limited number of hours in the night that the place is open. The maximum amount has to be consumed before that. Afterall, Islam frown upon wastage of food!
4. The diet-concious: This kind just can't figure out what to do with all the food sitting and their diets not allowing them to pig out on it. They look at the food much the same way as the confused but not with a frown on their faces; instead there appears genuie concern. In the end there is a little bit of everything on their plates, which end up looking like a messed-up, colour-coded, but deranged world map.
And they are drinking mineral water while everyone else on their tables is having Coke or Sprite.
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Interesting place... a buffet... isn't it? 09 maggio The ZahirI finished reading The Zahir by Paulo Coelho last night. I do wonder why he is best known for The Alchemist because The Zahir is, I think, I much more insightful book... plus the story is more interesting.
As with all of Paulo's books (at least all that I've read), he has stuffed the book up with his outlook on life and how he sees things and how he thinks they should be. Of course, we don't have to agree with all of what he thinks is right, but he does have a way with words and even if his words get you thinking outside the box, I think that's all he wants.
Back to the book, and I am not going to write much, because I really think that you (yes, you) should read it if you haven't already and I don't want to spoil it for you (yes, you!). The Zahir is about an author whose wife disappears one day, and how his obsession with her makes him review and re-evaluate his own life. The book talks of all the 'zahirs' around us... the things that are there in front of us; our religion, our values, our entire lives, and how we need to stop holding on to our past to move ahead.
A great book, that everyone should read. Again, you don't have to agree with everything that Paulo says... as long as you think about it! 08 maggio How evil are you?***You Are 28% Evil***
A bit of evil lurks in your heart, but you hide it well. In some ways, you are the most dangerous kind of evil. 07 maggio Chessboard My dad suggested I read this article published in a leading daily newspaper in Pakistan. It proved to be more thought-provoking than I'd thought, so I decided to mention it here. The first paragraph is very straight-forward. For the rest of the article, you need to be somewhat familiar with the political situation in Pakistan, so I'll provide an introduction: Sharifov: the article mentions this word as reference to the ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (twice elected, twice removed before the term was over) Queen: She was (and still remains) Sharifov's biggest political rival... ex-Prime Minister Ms. Benazir Bhutto (twice elected, twice removed before the term was over) Q: refers to PML(Q) group... The political party that is currently in power supporting the regime of General Parvez Musharraf. Read on... if you can't click and open the article copy and paste this link: http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=5313 30 aprile Writer's Bloc?I'm not sure what has gotten over me lately. While I was studying for
my exam, I was so looking forward to getting back to blogging again. I
had ideas to write about and I'd actually sit and think about how I'd
go about writing on a certain topic. Now that the exam is gone, I just don't feel like writing. I'm not sure if its a writer's bloc or something else. Come to think of it, I am shying away from reading as well. Had to start reading The Zahir right after the exam, and I haven't touched it so far. Maybe its because months of hardcore studying take away all will from me to do anything intellectually stimulating... may it be reading, writing, or anything else. Another reason I can think of is the fact that my mind is preoccupied with a lot of other things. I am considering leaing my job, possibly within a month or two and taking up something overseas (Far East most likely (inshaAllah)... more details on that as they unravel). I am also planning a 2-3 day trip to the UAE in the upcoming month (this also serves as an advance notice to my regular readers from UAE... you know who you are). I am now comtemplating if I should write about what I had to eat today, and what time I slept and what I did last night and all that... but nothing thought provoking is going to come out of it. So I figure I'll bid you farewell for now. Hopefully I'll have things to say in the near future that are a better read than this. See you then... 26 aprile Actuarial Science in PakistanSo around exam-time, I noticed a number of people getting to my blog because they were googling "How to pass an actuarial science exam" or "Actuarial Science around the globe" or something of the sort. Today I got a hit from somebody searching for "Actuarial Science in Pakistan". All these actuarial science related searches have made me realize that I should write a bit more about that on and off. About "Actuarial Science in Pakistan", I realize I have put only negative stuff on my blog (see entry dated 21 March 2006) whereas there are positives related to the profession in the country. One thing I would like to clarify is that I am writing from the perspective of a Property & Casualty Actuary (non-life insurance actuary). That is a field extremely limited in scope in Pakistan as of right now. If anyone is interested in doing Life Actuarial work or Pensions or Investments, there is more scope in the country. Life Actuaries are getting a lot of recognition in the country (especially after the legal provisions in Insurance Ordinance 2000) and investment actuaries are doing well too. Opportunities for pension work are limited mostly to the government as they try and figure out how to pay their employees. We are trying to shift the rest of the country to DC plans (I'm working on that these days actually). As for non-life work, right now there is hardly any. I have talked to a few people in influential positions and they expecct the market to develop in the near future. So not all hope is lost. Nevertheless, I am thinking of switching the kind of work that I do (from non-life to possibly something else). With that, I leave the future visitors/ stumblers on my blog to make up their own minds about whether or not they want to join the profession of actuarial science. 24 aprile All I needUnder 20 hours before my exam, I need... 1. Prayers 2. A Hug 3. Sleep 4. A Miracle 16 aprile She moves in mysterious waysWho, you ask, is causing this mystery? Lady Luck! Some would call it the hand of God. Whatever your beliefs, I'm sure you have noticed that sometimes things just don't go your way no matter how bad you want them. For me this is happening the second time in my life... in as many years. The cycle goes such: 1. Luck brings you to the object of pursuit when you least expect it - right place at the right time; right thought/action at the moment when the iron is hot; call it what you will. 2.. The opportunity is seen, and you play with the idea of having the something new/ different in your life... and you like the idea. 3. You start taking interest. Casually testing the waters. 4. Before you know it, you are caught in a whirlpool... obsessed... there's nothing you want to achieve more. Nothing that would make you happier. 5. Lady Luck smiles a menacing smile and pulls the plug! Technicalities kick in... realities hinder your path. You realize what you thought was the right time, was probably not right at all. I have been through this cycle once, and under completely different circumstances, going through it again. This time round, the cycle took a lot lesser time to complete. Before I could realize I was into one stage, I had moved onto the next and the next... Maybe its me. Maybe its because I don't want it enough to forget about the consequences of going for it despite the odds... despite the technicalities... the realities. Maybe I give up too easily and don't know how to wait for the good things. Or maybe the Lady is playing a cruel game and has taken a liking to me as her subject. She does move in mysterious ways. 14 aprile Somebody saaavvvveee mee!I see there are hardly any hits on my blog this week... 40 in all.
Guess I can't blame anyone for not coming here when I'm not logging in
myself. Just soo busy with studyign these days that its insane. I drove 5 hours today (from Islamabad to Lahore)... am soo tired... its 1.30am... and I need to hit the books again. Pray for me please that I pass this exam. I need all the prayers I can get! The old Indian movie dialog fits well here: Ab dava ki nahi, dua ki zarurat hai (Doctor telling the patient's relatives "its not medicine, but prayers that'll save the life now"). 01 aprile Study Hours Update23 April - 24 April: 30 hours odd.
Final before the exam: Conservative 265 hours.
If I had to estimate total number of hours spent in front of books would probably put me around 400 hours. Now you are wondering how does one manage to sit in front of books for 400 hours and manages to study only 265?
Well... there are times when you are sitting cursing the profession for making you study so much. There are other times when you are going through the syllabus again and again trying to figure out how you are ever going to finish it. And then there are times when you are checking out the cute chic sitting at the next desk in the library. But I think the most time lost is when you've been studying for 5-6 hours in a stretch and you force yourself to keep at it, but the brain refuses to absorb any new material!
11 April - 22 April: Roughly 100 hours (possibly more).
Total so far: conservative estimate of 235 hours.
06 April - 10 April: wedding in family. Possibly 5-6 hours total
05 April:
Balance: 126.5 hours
Hours spent in front of books = 3 (Need to get out of work earlier!!!)
Hours spent actually studying = 3
Total no. of hours = 129.5
Difference from target (300) = 170.5 Balance: 124.25 hours
Hours spent in front of books = 3 (had a rough day at work plus some guests were over... SHIT!!!)
Hours spent actually studying = 2.25
Total no. of hours = 126.5
Difference from target (300) = 173.5 Balance: 120.0 hours
Hours spent in front of books = 6.5
Hours spent actually studying = 4.25
Total no. of hours = 124.25
Difference from target (300) = 175.75 Balance: 114.5 hours
Hours spent in front of books = 6.5 (absolutely horrible for a Sunday!)
Hours spent actually studying = 5.5
Total no. of hours = 120.0
Difference from target (300) = 180.0 01 April:
Balance: 108.5 hours
Hours spent in front of books = 8
Hours spent actually studying = 6
Total no. of hours = 114.5
Difference from target (300) = 185.5 31 March:
Balance: 103.5 hours
Hours spent in front of books = 6.5
Hours spent actually studying = 5
Total no. of hours = 108.5
Difference from target (300) = 191.5 31 marzo Miscellaneous stuffI really haven't had much time to blog as of late and I don't expect to have a lot of time over the next 25 days either. But there are certain things I have been wanting to wrtie about and thought maybe I could create one publication on more than one subject. So, here goes...
1. PAKISTAN WINS BOXING AND HOCKEY SILVER MEDALS AT COMMONWEALTH GAMES
The Silver for featherweight boxing is comething I feel really proud about, but something happened in the final match in hockey against Australia that was really embarrasing. Australia was always the better side but Pakistan was putting up a good fight, and the match seemed like it could go in any direction... till one of our players was shown a red card for hitting an Australian player. Australia is just too good of a side to be beaten with 10 players and I was actually surprised they only knocked in 2 more goals in the 25 minutes of play that they had with 1 player advantage.
What bothered me even more was that the next day, I picked up the Nation (local newspaper), and the report almost tried to take the blame off the player who was tossed off the field. The report was accusing Australians of using abusive language in the field that caused our player to lose his temper. I have played competitive sports a lot in my life and last I checked psyching out your opponent in any way possible was just something that everyone tried to do. And even though winning the Silver medal is a great achievement, I can't help but feel a little ashamed of the actions of one player.
2. DAVID
This is not a biblical story or criticism or anything of the sort. I actually met a guy by that name the other day and thought it was an interesting enough experience to mention it here.
I met him at the local cafe where I go to study for my upcoming exam. I found out he was from the US, but he didn't want to admit that. He kept saying he was from Alaska. In our 10 odd minutes of conversation, he told me that he had just arrived in Pakistan a few days back to help with earthquake relief efforts. He got my instant respect and gratification. A few interesting things:
1. Here was a guy liivng in a hotel costing Rs. 150 per night (that's probably the shittiest hotel in the city) so he could save money for relief work.
2. He kept on saying he was from Alaska as opposed to saying the US, because he felt his country had let him down with their foreign policy. He wanted to renounce his US citizenship.
3. He had done extensive travelling in the South-East Asian countries and thought Pakistan was the best (maybe he was saying that to please me... but I like to think he meant it). He was surprised that people were following traffic signals to a large extent and that everything was clean (it helped that the only cities he'd been to were Islamabad and Lahore).
3. STUDY TIME
So my exam is coming up in 25 more days... and I don't think I have studied anywhere close to enough. Over the last month or so, since I seriously started studying for this exam, I have yet to finish my first round of readings. Memorization and problems come afterwards.
In the past, while studying for professional exams, I used to keep a time log keeping track of the number of hours spent seriously studying. This time, I have managed to not do that and I can't help but feel bad about it. So here's my solution...
I will keep a track of my future study time here on my Space. Every day, I shall come and write an update on the number of hours spent in serious studying (not talking to David). Don't know if that's going to help any (as opposed to keeping a personal log on a piece of paper), but some part of me seems to have taken a fancy to this idea so I'll go ahead with it.
to start with, I have to estimate the hours studied for this exam prior to 30 March 2006. I think the number is somewhere between 100 and 150. To be conservative I'll start with 100 hours and a total target of 300 hours (thats a little high for me to achieve in the next 25 days, but still...)
Balance: 100 hours
30 March:
Hours spent in front of books = 5
Hours spent actually studying = 3.5
Total no. of hours = 103.5
Difference from target = 196.5
Wish me luck please! 28 marzo 1000 hitsI know some of the visitors on this website get a lot of hits on their blogs, but I'm just happy that I have managed to get a total of 1000 hits in a period of under 4 months!
Wohooo!
Isn't it strange how milestones make you happy? I mean, just a couple of days back I had 990 hits and I wasn't as happy, even though its only 20 lesser than what I have today.
Just a quick analysis of what I have been observing. I think I have been getting the most number of hits from Destitute Rebel's blog. An unexpected close competitor is google.com search though. Since I put up the joke about the Husband and Wife store, I have been getting multiple hits everyday from Google search results for Wife Store or Husband Store. I am not entirely sure what these people are actually looking for but they are ending up on my blog with a fair frequency.
Thank you all for visiting my blog. Hope to keep seeing you here (= 25 marzo Just a little unwellSorry for not being able to write in the last few days. I have been slightly unwell with major headaches hitting randomly at any time of the day or night. So any time I get when I'm not holding my head, I try to study for my upcoming professional exam.
I don't think the headaches are letting up anytime soon, because I can feel one coming right now. So... it might be a little while till I am able to write anything meaningful here.
For now... toodles. 22 marzo I won I won I won"You're listening to FM 91. Today's broadcast is sponsored by Sony Ericsson, and we are giving away prizes, including Sony Ericsson phones. If you have 1 and 9 in your phone number, preferably 91, call us and your name will be entered in a draw to win the prizes."
I have been thinking of getting myself a new phone and this was just too good of an opportunity to pass up. I have 91 in my phone number and so I called and registered.
AND I WON! I WON! I WON!
Something...
I'm not sure what I've won. They said its a gift hamper and even the guy who called to tell me I'd won didn't know what was going to be in it... here's to hoping its something good. I'll find out next week. Keep tuned to my space to find out what I won! 21 marzo To be an ActuaryA leading US based actuarial website designed to attract people towards the field of actuarial sceince describes actuaries as: "leading professionals in finding ways to manage risk. It takes a combination of strong analytical skills, business knowledge and understanding of human behavior to design and manage programs that control risk. Actuaries love what they do. Their work is intellectually challenging and they are very well-paid. Actuaries are key players in the management team of the companies that employ them."
Of course when I decided to become an actuary, I didn't really know all this. All I knew was that becoming an actuary involved a lot of maths and was supposed to be very difficult, and I was going to take it as a challenge! And of course, if something was that difficult to do, it must pay well, right? As time progressed, I actually started to learn about the description stated above. Once I started working, it turned out to be mroe than the description above... and the intellectual challenge, high pays and prospects to be key players in managment teams are what kept me motivated to keep on studying; week after week; month after month; year after year!
Once I returned to Pakistan I started looking for jobs in insurance companies or with financial consultants. Surely a qualified professional such as myself would be able to find a job, even with only two years of prior experience! *BEEP* Wrong... my level of disappointment reached its peak when a high official at one of the largest non-life insurance companies in Pakistan told me it would have been better if I had done Chartered Accountancy. Proposterous! I thought... was he out of his mind? He is running an non-life insurance company and here he has a non-life insurance actuary wanting to join, and he wants a CA?
Nothing against CAs, except that they know accounting and not the business of insurance. Anyway, it was a big disappointment for me having just returned from the US where I could practically find a decent job in any part of the country.
So now you are starting to think what the point is of this story other than the fact that I was flying high in the sky and was very rudely pulled to the ground. Well, here it is...
I am not sure if I want to continue my actuarial education anymore. Each exam requires months and months of dedicated studying and I still have three left. Thats a good thousand more hours of studying... at least! What I get in return is a job where:
a. my expertise are not being put to use. I am not working with insurance these days, nor am I doing anything else with numbers (love of numbers is why I chose my profession in the first place).
b. my pay is about the same as anyone else with an unspecialized degree (sorry for sounding arrogant, but I have truly been studying my tail off for this profession).
c. even if I pass my next exam (which shall inshaAllah grant me accredited membership in an actuarial society), I have no guarantees of any sort of a raise or pormotion. That again is something unheard of in the developed world.
I think I will take this upcoming exam and then stop.
People keep telling me I should stop comparing Pakistan to the U.S. or U.K. or anywhere else in the developed world, and now that I am back, to face the reality and change myself. The problem is they want to stop the comparison half way. When I agree with them and tell them that I will stop pursuing my current career and probably just do an MBA from a local university (since I AM back and nobody wants an actuary here, I must face the reality and change myself, right?), they switch their stance.
I started this publication with a description of an actuary from beanactuary.org. I shall finish with the definition more appropriate for Pakistan. Merriam-Webster dictionary gives two meanings for the word actuary. The first one is:
19 marzo Dilbert hits home...I have always marvelled at the ability of Scott Adams to depict workplace environment so bluntly and aptly. Here's another example... just replace the word "coffee" with "tea" and you have got yourself a government office!
oh... and you can also replace Wally's name with mine! 17 marzo Hit Refresh please...I started this blog in December of last year, and like any blogger I have been avidly keeping track of the number of hits on my blog. December and January were extremely slow (1 -5 hits per day). Starting Feb, things jumped to a somewhat higher level (average over 20 hits per day), and I am sitting here thinking "Not bad for a 3 month old blog".
The trend continued for a few weeks but I would like to know what I did wrong at the time because now I'm back to a much lower level of activity... I have 65 hits for this entire week!. What's going people? Where is everyone?
I have two propositions to sort out the problem:
1. Whoever is reading this, please leave a comment about something that you like OR dislike about my space (so maybe I can learn what I am doing right and what I'm doing wrong).
2. Before you leave, please hit the refresh button a few times
 . (In case you are wondering, every time you refresh the page, it counts as another hit).Thank you much for your continued support. 16 marzo Clarification for "IDIOTS!"I wrote an article titled "IDIOTS! IDIOTS! IDIOTS!" a while back whereby I criticized some people for public sectarian behaviour. Today, I got my first comment on that article criticizing me for declaring the whole Shi'a sect kaafir (non-believer).
I just want to clarify that was not the intention of the publication. I gave some background information about the main perceived differences between Shi'as and Sunnis before I got to the main point, which is (please read to the end before you jump to conclusions about my religious tolerence or lack thereof):
I ran into a few profiles on orkut that were anti-Sunni. They were associating some of the esteemed (for Sunnis) companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) with animals and there seemed to be an outrage on orkut against the profiles.
BUT... these profiles seemed to be in response to some other profiles that were anti-Shi'a. These profiles were declaring Shi'as kaafir and what not.
My point was that ALL of the above (Sunnis and Shi'as) who were publicly defaming each other are Idiots, who should be concentrating their efforts on better things. If they want to convince people that one or the other is right, they may indulge in a scholarly debate and not accusations based on the word of the Mullah. I truly believe that Muslims shall not be able to make any progress in the modern world unless we can put our internal differences aside. |
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