Quack! Online

Dear Sir,

As students of the Textile Institute of Pakistan, we are happy to have the services of your reputable club managing our catering services. I'm sure you are already aware that catering to a university is far different from the services required for a club or other organization. And especially so for a residential university.

Many of our students live on campus and rely on your catering services for more than our basic nutritional needs. We're very happy with the staple diet of one sabzi and one 'meat' dish offered at every mealtime. It gets us through the day quite nicely, sustaining us through our classes and extra-curricular activities. But sometimes, only sometimes, some of us think we could be happier. Wouldn't a more balanced diet consisting of more vegetable, more fruit result in a more content student? Maybe a choice of some fine desserts after meals, and the availability of snacks and juices during the day, a selection of off-the-shelf chips, biscuits and candies? But that's probably a distant dream, and probably not your responsibility.

Maybe what your responsibility should be, as a university cafeteria, is to ensure that your patrons receive their daily nutritional requirements with a well balanced diet of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, mineral salts and fibre. A balanced diet is a diet that includes a combination of several different food types, including grains and pulses, fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, dairy products, fats and oils. Do you think your meals are well balanced?

The easy answer to that question is that the students can and should look after their own requirements themselves. After all, Ghaghar is inches away, and we could walk there and pick up fresh fruit and vegetables. And once a week we could head to Gulshan-e-Hadeed and get other food items. And maybe cook them ourselves. But then, what about the cafeteria? What's that going to be for?

Lets work together to establish some guidelines as to what the TIP cafeteria stands for and what it aims to provide for its students. And when we know for sure, we can concentrate on achieving that goal.

Sincerely yours,
Abid Omar
Representing the People Who C.A.R.E

Posted by Abid Omar at 09:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

By Fakeha Naeem TDT3

But stomach growling, parched lips, dehydrated hungry students, Where to go to quell the hunger pangs? Cafeteria? No way! Wrong answer.

You ask why? Well, simply because the cafeteria has no food to offer to the students, the only thing one can stuff oneself with, is tea which is available 24/7 and has absolutely no nutritional value attached to it.

Every single day the same dialogue is repeated between the students and the caterers.

"Kuch khane ko hai?"
"Nahi jee nashta aik ghante pehle khatam hu gaya hai"
"Biscuits? Chips? Sandwiches?"
"Sandwiches will be ready at 10 not before that"

OR

"Sandwiches abhi mileain gay?"
"Nahi jee it's 11:30 ab lunch hour hai"
"Can we have some fries?"
"Jee only at 3"

Now consider this, some students have straight classes around 10 and finish after an hour and a half later while others have them around 3,what possible solution can the cafeteria offer to those who decide to attend their classes and give up food. If a student makes it at the right time and the stock made is finished they can stop hoping for more fries to be fried or sandwiches made within the 10 minute break between classes.

Other than the unavailability of proper food to the students the token system introduced in the cafeteria is annoying beyond belief. Every day a student has to buy a sheet worth Rs.100 and spend at least 10 minutes tearing the token amount required to buy food etc with either a ruler or cutter (whatever is available) which is ridiculous. Some students find it impractical to buy an entire sheet of token and waste money when all they want is to have tea or a drink worth 5 or 10 at maximum, so they resort to either borrowing tokens or simply just dropping the idea. Those who do buy the tokens usually loose track of where they kept their tokens last, if not then they are either crumbled or torn and the ones saved from the previous day have either been lost while going back home or the paper fell out of the pocket while taking out one's cell phone or wallet. What happens when the token sheet gets torn half way? Crumpled beyond recognition? Does our money get wasted? Is the paper still valid? I know money still is.

Most importantly, what if at the end of the day a student wants water and is low on cash, has exact change to buy a certain drink or water but can't because he is out of tokens and is unable to buy a new sheet because he doesn't have the amount needed to buy one? Should he leave without water? Is that a sane solution?

One is forced to believe that either country club is not interested in catering for TIP and fulfilling the nutritional needs of the students or that they simply believe that the purpose of the cafeteria is to serve three meals a day and that's that. No options no variety. Thus it shouldn't come as a surprise if students start bringing their own food from home or go to Hadeed to get something proper to eat.

To top it off, the resident scholars seem to suffer most from the unavailability of food. Since there is no food the students can either stay hungry gulping down tea after tea all evening waiting hopelessly for dinnertime so that they can fill their stomachs with some or any form of food or arrange for alternate sources to stock up their food supplies.

With Ramazan lurking around the corner I wonder what we students will have to go through and what kind of menu would be devised to fulfill the students' necessary dietary requirements.

Posted by Aasim Ahmed at 09:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Hearing the name country club catering, one expects great tasting, high quality food along with excellent hygiene standards. As I write this article I'm asking myself if I should go on and describe the situation to my full potential of the thought that people might stop eating in the cafe altogether after reading the gruesome details that I have to offer.

My thoughts are scattered and I'll try and make them as sequential as possible. Starting with the cutlery, is it ever washed? Ofcourse it is! Why it’s dipped in a tub of warm water every now and then. I doubt that there's barely a student who will not bear witness to the fact that the forks and spoons have residues of the previous weeks food from someone or the other's mouths clung all over them. That includes the resident cat that is often seen on the table eating from the food trays. Turn your head away for a moment and the next thing you see a cat sitting in your food tray staring at you in the face.

All right so what if the cat sits on the tables. At least they are regularly cleaned with a rag that stinks of rotting food particles. Don't believe me? Try smelling one of the tables for yourself. It might knock you out of your senses for a while. A freshly cleaned one will probably knock you out cold. On one particular occasion I had to point out to the guy cleaning, to use a cleaner cloth because I could smell the repulsive odor sitting three tables across.

Take a look at the sink, the one located behind the counter, which seems to be permanently clogged so that it's filled with stagnant water almost all the time. Every time I've gone there to rinse a spoon or teacup I've had to hold my breath in order to avoid the "want to make you puke smell."

Here's a chemistry lesson for the first years. Talk about immiscible liquids and surface tension. Ever notice a fine film of oil floating at the top every time you drink water off an oil smothered glass? Or perhaps the surface layer in one of those plastic jugs seen lying around the cafe. The cafeteria staff blames the water filters, the students, well they can only argue so much. After all I do remember several occasions when the water coming through the taps and filters smelled like diesel. It turned out that one of the trucks used to transfer water had previously been used to transport diesel. Which reminds me, when was the last time the filters in the water coolers were changed?

There is fright amongst the students that people are getting ill because of the water. One of my friends (a resident scholar) has just been admitted to Liaqat National Hospital because of kidney infection. Discussing his case with others I learnt about several students with similar diagnosis in the recent past. Our drinking water ought to be tested.

I could go on but I've said earlier that I won't freak you out to the extent that you end up leaving TIP let alone stop eating in the cafeteria. The fact remains that no one person is responsible to ensure that things work properly. The responsibility is ours as much as it is of the cafeteria staff and the management. Each of us has to do our share to ensure that things run smoothly. And none of this is possible unless we c.a.r.e. Do you?

Enjoy your meals!

Posted by Aasim Ahmed at 09:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

By Hassan Essani AMM2

As I was looking through our university’s community on Orkut, I saw some weird things happening. A variety of people, I found, adapted different strategies to achieve their various purposes. Some of them seemed ready to hit on the women!!

Here’s what I found in one of the scrapbooks. Yes I actually went through all that research to write this one article!


What did this guy have in mind while scrapping this freshman, a woman I must say. So concerned about freshmen and their future, Duh! Now, this is what I call sweetness at its peak, so caring and so sweet. A bit too much I must add. Isn’t it? Wish I had one in my days! :p

Some came up with their intellectual theories.

Does that make any sense at all? What’s the point in using such language and scaring the newcomers, not to mention their parents, out of their wits! This is just one of many such messages posted on Orkut!

Some were busy threatening.

Some were trying to gain attention by either interfering or replying to the topics made for freshmen, by themselves.

Here’s some more from the same post.

The whole purpose of this is to make us realize that this is the time we can set an example for these people. We’re no longer new to TIP. We can do so much to help the freshmen and guide them. This way you’ll earn respect yourself, (which eventually becomes the main cause of conflict between seniors and juniors, as some of our seniors forcefully demand us to respect them).

When I joined TIP there were some seniors I came across who were behaving in a pathetically sick way and making us do things like act like ill-mannered civilians. There were also those who gave me a warm welcome. You might be surprised to hear that I even had that free lunch :-D. This I consider an achievement. Ask those who didn’t even get to see a glimpse of their food. And to top it off, those seniors made me sit with them and forced me to have that biryani, while rest were busy snatching free-tokens.

Those who were lucky enough to reach the cafeteria and get their meal were robbed by their so-called seniors. It seemed as if the law of the jungle prevailed. It all happened in from of my very eyes. A group of seniors eyed their potential target. First some of them went and took away his free meal and then the rest stripped him off all his money. Do you think it’s fair?

Let’s keep a balance in ragging. Let’s do it for fun, rather then hurting someone and forcefully asking them to do things against their will. Do rag but make sure you stay within limits and keep the element of self-respect alive. Let things happen in harmony. Let’s not hurt these people, they have self-esteem, as well. Let’s consider them human, like ourselves.

But hey new comers! I hope you haven’t arrived thinking that there’ll be no ragging this time. Of course there will be! Skip the idea if you have it. You will be ragged, no question about that, but hopefully, in a more decent way so the enjoyment factor remains alive. You will find some of our ishtud seniors trying to violate and humiliate you, but you can always set your limit. The power is all yours, the decision rests in your hands!

One last piece of advice. Don’t close your eyes to the fun in ragging. You’ll remember it the rest of your life!

Best of Luck!

Posted by Abid Omar at 04:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

I had not walked a significant distance from the campus when almost all my friends came running towards me with a list of students in their hands. It wasn't just any list like the list of students scoring high GPA or anything, it was a list of the students who had gotten suspended. It really struck me as a surprise because school had just started for me and I really did not want to miss the first days of my seniority. It isn't like anybody cares or they did back then, everybody came up to me and regarded me as one of the luckiest people who had gotten suspended...suspended for Ragging juniors. Those holidays did not have any effect on my classes or whatso-ever but all I've been wanting to know since then is the reliability of their sources for suspending the students that they did. Seems more like they had a lucky draw and the luckiest pupils of TIP were to be given the honours of suspension for a week or so.

I am not posting this article to prove my innocence or whatever but I just want to let everybody know that I did not sit back home because I was guilty of my acts or something but it was only because I respected THEIR decision. Some of my friends whos names were there in the so-called 'List of Lucky Students' had not even done anything... and when you have not really interacted properly with any freshmen then how is it that your name is being highlighted amongst more than 400 students in the university to fall into the list of 'What has already been mentioned above'? Had there been any veracity in the decision that was taken, then I believe 16 was not the right number for that list. I completely fail to understand how it was that they reached that decision. But as they say in urdu "khair hai... sab chalta hai", I`m going to go on with this as well.

Who am I to question the Big Boss's decisions when everybody else failed to do that? Oh, and the funniest part of this whole incident was the name of one of my friends was handwritten on a digitally printed list.

Posted by Hariss at 03:47 AM | Permalink

The Nation, a Lahore-based nation-wide daily, interviews our Dean Dr. Hafizur Rehman. An excerpt:

What are the main challenges facing the institution?
The field of textiles, spinning, weaving, wet processing, garment manufacture etc. is constantly evolving. The textile institute of Pakistan has to focus its potential to ensure that our graduates are equipped with up to date knowledge from every aspect of textile processing so as to cope with the versatility of the industry. The courses thus being offered are constantly undergoing change so that they are designed to meet modern industry specifications.

Read more at The Nation on Campus.

Posted by Abid Omar at 04:44 PM | Permalink

The Man Behind TIP's Revitalization
The Glorious Return of TIP & Mr. Irfan Hussain

By Abid Reza TS4

Ahh, some back-breaking and exhaustive internships … why do they call them summer “vacations” anyways?? In no time, we found ourselves at the doorsteps of our final year at TIP. No, not again... same boring classes, with those inexperienced teachers. Life’s dull.

But it was not all dull about coming back to TIP. Rumors had it that our former president Mr. Irfan Hussain was coming back to replace Mr. Shakeel Ahmad. The speculation about his return and the changes he’ll bring with him were the most common talk amongst the students in summers. And as we expected, he was back indeed. Let's see the befores and afters of this man.

Mr. Irfan was the former President of TIP, and left to make way for Mr, Shakeel Ahmad as we entered the institute in 2002. We had really good, qualified, experienced and professional teachers at that time, but our institute was having a hard time coping with its finances. Mr. Shakeel Ahmad focused on this weak point, and really lifted TIP to its monetary feet once again. But every good comes at a cost of another, and we the students suffered a lot. What was sacrificed was the reputation of TIP. The good teachers were not being paid their proper dues, as a result of which they left TIP. The foundations of TIP stood upon its good teachers, and these events shook them real hard. Who taught us then? Non-qualified and inexperienced graduates, who had hardly spent a few years in the industry!!

Doesn’t sound good, huh? Well, Mr. Irfan Hussain is now back as the President of our beloved institute. His first action: bring back those teachers. Mr. Aslam Khan, Mr. Adil Moosajee and Mr. Shujaat Alvi are the first three big names that have been brought back. What a relief, especially for us, the final year students. These teachers are now giving us the real practical knowledge that they have been giving in the past.

One can only hope that Mr. Irfan will continue this policy of bringing experienced teachers and brewing up the reputation for which TIP is known as the top institute in the industry.

Posted by Abid Raza at 04:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

On behalf of the Rotaract club of T.I.P., I would like to invite you all to join us for an evening of light comedy and heavy laughter with 'Black Fish', Pakistan's only inprovisational comedy troupe.

Date: 11th September
Time: 8:00 p.m.
Venue: P.A.C.C

All proceeds from this event will go to the Rotarct charity funding. Tickets will be available at Agha's supermarket for Rs. 250. Feel free to inquire about any additional details.

Posted by Abid Omar at 01:38 AM | Permalink