The Saga of Dedication

To say that this year's election was the most unpredictable in the history of IBA may be an understatement. Candidates who had "Won" two months ago, did not even contest the real thing, those who boasted of strong "E-VOTES" lost it when it mattered the most, and in the midst of it all, a man,whom many considered an "intruder", a "dummy" and what not, won all the marvels. To say that only luck contributed to Mir Yahya's victory would never do justice to the amount of hard work, dedication and commitment he had put in. I was a part of his team from day one, and the one thing I was told was to play fair, work hard, and leave the rest to God, and it definitely worked. The element of luck played a crucial part, exactly when it mattered. The sudden arrival of different IBA policies, Mir Yahya's reputation, and consistent hard work made all this possible. Perhaps it will be futile to mention the intricacies and politics involved in all this, but all that matters is a competitive team has won, and that it has a very big responsibility on his shoulders.

This is, by no means, meant to be a eulogistic article, had this been my motto, I could have poured such articles in before the ballots, rather it is a brief & realistic appraisal of the events that took place in the last 3 months.

Disqualified-For Small Height !!

What is the count at the moment, let me think, 1+1+1+2+3==8 disqualifications ? Wow, IBA is a party itself. The first one was justified, the policy did not change overnight, the next seven, unthought of. It's strange, more than half of the strongest contenders in the upcoming ISC elections are already out of it, but, then again, this is IBA, and IBA holds the right to change its policy whenever deemed necessary.

So technically, there are 4 candidates remaining for the post of VP, hats off to them for being able to file their nominations, and not getting rejected, for they truly are WINNERS.

2 DAYS to go, can there possibily be another shift in IBA policy ? I saw a person from one camp threatining a strong contender for VP, the quote goes, "I have strong evidence, and real facts, that will disqualify you automatically from the upcoming elections".

After all that has happened, can there possibily be anything else that can kick a candidate out, oh yes indeed, IBA's new policy may say, "Only those candidates having a height greater than 5'8 can compete in the upcoming ISC elections".

Yes sir, it is over for you now, you can't grow 5 inches in two days, because "IBA NE GAME DAAL DI HAY" ....

The Inspiration-For All Those Who Inspired Me in Any Way

Bewildered was I,where to go not known...
N the sun's scorching rays hurt me more than ever
but then the path I was shown..
The path that I could have found Never..

While the rest deterred the pathway to the ultimate aim...
I learned to keep hope when the day was dark...
n yes I rejected name and fame..
For he said thats not the way to embark...

Temptations , delusions and all the grandeur...
What could have been what would have been had I not ceased..
Fleeting were they no not at all secure..
And they would have left me besieged...

The path wasn't easy, the choice even tougher..
but quitting was not the domain i would choose...
I knew one day the sorrows it will buffer..
lest No No I won't loose..

What followed was perhaps inevitable...
I fell down, I suffered and help i need...
then a help came, a help that was credible..
and the wounds it slowly healed..

The journey continued, with more zeal and zest..
seeking new paths I went faster than before..
and I closed in, closed in to the end of my quest..
falls and impediments I would take no more..

The more I knew the better it got..
and the target I could see clear..
and I alone was good enough I thought..
as I closed in to the target, I was took over by fear..

No not alone I could go all the way..
No not alone I could conquer my inner nation..
I was weak too easy to sway..
I needed and I got my true Inspiration...

Creativity-Welcomed

We have decided to include the creative works of our visitors and followers. This is an effort to expand the genre of IBASCENE from a blog that provides gossip, to a platform for students to showcase their talent. IBASCENE has an average of 200 impressions per day and has already had more than 20,000 impressions. This, however, is a completely non-commercial blog(there are no ads).

Anyone interested in promoting his/her creative works can send them in to mahzaib.aziz@khi.iba.edu.pk.

The A Levels Fiasco...

Class of 2012: Three people from my class, and approximately 10 in all,dropped out from IBA because they coudn't get the required grades, as demanded by the IBA in their A levels exams.

Class of 2013: Approximately 63 people dropped out from IBA due to their A levels grades.

The reason for this huge increase in no: of dropouts is IBA's new, and tougher, criterion on A levels and intermediate grades. Last year they demanded BCC minimum in A levels, and a 60% intermediate score, this year, they have upped the ante to BBC minimum A levels grades and an intermediate score of 65 %. This increase in minimum grades may be a part of the toughening filteration process of students, ( a part of the IBA strategic direction).

Whatever the case is, it has left 63 people completely distraught. Few days ago, I asked a freshy about his A levels result, he said he's out of IBA, and he was most concerned about facing his family and friends, whom he had given celebration parties for getting into IBA.

We certainly cannot feel, or even sense, the agony and pain these dropouts are suffering from, and it is very easy to lose hope, but that should be something they must avoid, to move on...

Our best wishes and prayers are with you all.....

Cornering Individuals

Election campaigning is at its peak with candidates and their teams mustering as much support as possible, in the midst of all this some dirty tactics are also being used by supporters of one of the parties. Today I was at campus, after a long while, and I observed people talking politics everywhere, (perhaps it made sense because 50 % of the students did not need to be there on the first place), but the most disturbing part was the lack of respect for the opponent and the lack of a level playing field.

I saw people mocking their competitors' supporters as people who are bewildered, who don't have the sense of what's right, or even as fools. This trend has been quite prevalent from the second semester, and has put an unnecessary fear in the minds of supporters of a party that is apparantely "WEAK" .

There is still a long time before we could decide the winner, the strong or the weak, but sadly, campaigning today, seemed to be focused on cornering individuals rather than proving own credentials.

There ought to be some difference between diabolic locali politics, and politics in one of the most prestigious institutes of the country, but then again, perhaps some people involved in politics of this institute are both Local & Diabolic politicans....

Not The Right Time

"Staying at IBA is far more difficult than getting into it". This is a phrase we constantly heard during our first year and I assume most of the new entrants have heard it as well. The authenticity and correctness of this phrase should never be doubted, specially if you are in your first semester.

IBA has strict academic, disciplinary and grading policies, and hard work is demanded from whoever enters its premisis. First things first, the GPA of a 1st semester student is his main priority , "You do not wan't to end up out of IBA after the first semester once you've distributed sweets among your relatives for getting into it" said Dr.Khadija Bari, the economics professor during her first session. Unfortunatley it turned out to be that way for 3 of my classmates and 19 other students. The primary reason was prioritizing politics and keeping GPA the second concern.

This mistake proved out to be fatal and I can't help look back at the times I spent with those friends, we used to be there at soccer, go out for lunches, have gossip, and one of the person dropped out was the most popular student of the class, It was a real shock.

Involvement in politics is not evil, however this is not the right time, the first priority is staying at IBA, and for that one needs to concentrate on studies. There would be seniors approaching you from every corner of the campus, asking for their loyalty, and what not, but being apolitical, at least for the first year, would definitely be the wisest call.

All the 22 students who dropped out last year tried again this year around, and (as far as I know), only one of them got back, three of them were denied admission in the intervies & GD sections, which indicates that once you're out, IBA tries to make sure you don't get in again, they prefer to give a chance to other deserving candidates, so once out, the odds are stacked seriously against you to get in again.

The courses of the 1st semester are very demanding, and if luck isn't on your side , you may end up getting very "Unfriendly" teachers and a class average gpa of 2.7 ( This was the case with our class).

All of the freshies, I'm sure, have had a torrid six months preparing for IBA, and they ought to have another similar six months to ascertain their stay at IBA, this is the right way to go about things, the only feasable option...