u/Startnew0110

I got kimchi from guy knows food. After a week or so, I got a white layer of film on top of it. The jar was kept in fridge all this time. The lid of the jar from inside has few black spots but the outer layering on kimchi is white.

I googled it and Google says that's normal phenomenon. I am not sure, can someone kindly confirm?

Edit: I will throw this batch guys. But I wanted to know if this is normal or not, should I expect it next time too or what. I will post picture in comments

This might get deleted but anyone whatching PGT here? Is there a sub I can refer to ?

I am liking it to so far. It's def not as high end quality wise as the other countries have but I am glad it's starting here. We are doing good with reality shows. I wish we also had some celeb masterchef or fun shows for our ptv actors like neighboring countries. Would be so much fun watching the off screen fun side of celebs.

I have one small rant to make. There's been 6 episodes so far and judges have same outfit. Why? 🥹

I get it that they shot for longer time and expanded the epsiodes but even if they intended to do that, the makers could have made the judges take a break and change fits.

Every episode gives the same energy due to same outfits. Would have loved to see a little variety there. Just saw the teaser of epsiode 7 and 8 and guess what, it has the outfits too . 🥹

Dar-e-Nijat – Episode 1

I will just give everyone a peak into how it is like.

Just finished the first episode and here are my first impressions.

>Zaryab (Durefishan) is introduced as a modern girl who's completely head over heels for Zimaal. Zimaal (Nameer) initially gives off the typical rich, spoiled boy vibe, but you quickly realize he's actually very emotional and deeply in love with Zaryab. Right now he's upset because of his low GPA.

Their dream is to study at Harvard together. Zaryab gets accepted, but Zimaal doesn't. Even though she has the opportunity to go, she doesn't want to leave without him and decides she'll only go where he gets admission.

>Then we meet Abubakar (Sheheryar). He's introduced as someone who genuinely practices his religion instead of just talking about it. Romaisa is also introduced through the frequent phone calls she makes to his mother, although she never actually speaks.

>Zaryab's family includes Saba Hameed as the grandmother, Farhan, his wife, Zaryab and her sisters I think. Saba Hameed' is very religious and holds an opinion that family hasn't raised their daughters properly because, in Islam, friendships between boys and girls aren't encouraged and an engagement isn't a valid relationship. It's one of those lines that immediately tells you where the contrast in family's values stand.

>Abubakar lives with his mother, who is deeply religious but also carries a lot of pain from her past. There's a hint that it has something to do with his grandfather's death anniversary, but the details haven't been revealed yet.

>On the other hand, Zimaal's mother is encouraging him not to hold Zaryab back and to ask her to go to Harvard because she deserves the opportunity.

>>The episode starts with flashbacks of Zaryab and Zimaal's relationship. They're very open about it; Facebook relationship status, a public proposal and now they're unofficially engaged. It immediately feels like the drama is trying to present a more modern relationship dynamic. I also have to say, the editing in these opening scenes was surprisingly good. It was a good job with opening scene of Nameer doing a Shekhspear play.

>>Then the story cuts to Quran recitation and reminders for prayer from Saba Hameed. That contrast between a modern lifestyle and religious spirituality instantly reminded me that this is an Umera Ahmed script. She loves exploring and drawing comaprsions and you can already see those themes taking shape from the first episode.

>>Episode progresses when zaryab has a bad dream in the middle of the night. She rushes to zimaal's house, wakes up his mother in panic, only to find out he's perfectly fine. He then drops her back home. It was a cute scene, but it also shows how normalized their relationship is within both families and emotional attachment they have. She's absolutely in love with him.

>>Towards the end, we find out Zaryab already has a connection with Abubakar's family because their mothers and grandmothers know each other. Saba Hameed asks Zaryab to call them to get their address for an invitation. Abubakar answers the phone and when zaryab hints on not understanding the Urdu address, he sweetly offers to send it in English instead. It was a very small interaction, but it gave a nice first impression of his personality.

Apparently, Dadi is keen on marrying Abu Bakar to Zaryab because she thinks he is well raised, religious guy. She openly expresses her wishes to Zaryab and it ends with that.

I'll be quiet about acting and Urdu dialect for now and will give story time to guage character's background more. Maybe we get to see improvement. I hope I am not disappointed as show progresses. For now, direction is good, editing is good and hopefully we get to see layers in story too. I am hoping it's not just shehre zaat 2.0 and more to it,

One thing I've noticed about our enterrtainment industry is that we selectively apply morality.

Every other day we're told dramas should stay within cultural boundaries. Reviewers discuss whether a villain is being glorified, whether a story is sending the 'right message', whether actors are behaviing according to our moral and cultural values and whether celebrities handled a conflict ethically. Everyone is constantly being held accountable.

But who holds entertainment journalists and media Portals accountable?

How is it ethical to make a video claiming two actors are dating without confirmation, present it as news and then move on when it turns out to be baseless? That's not anonymous gossip on a forum; it's a media platform with thousands of followers putting someone's personal life into the public domain.

The usual defence is "This happens everywhere in the world." Fair enough. But then we can't selectively borrow that argument. If we're going to compare ourselves to the rest of the world, then we also have to accept that stories are treated as fiction there. We can't insist our dramas must always fit cultural and moral boundaries while simultaneously excusing irresponsible reporting by saying "This is how entertainment journalism works internationally"

The same moral standards that are expected from writers, actors and public figures should also apply to the people reporting on them.

The recent rumor about Duurefishan and Nameer is a good example. a journalist confidently reported they were dating and just now GL clarified there was no such relationship and the claim had no basis. Whether you like these actors or not isn't the point. The point is that publishing unverified claims about someone's personal life for views is not journalism, it's an attempt to gather sensation. Journalists and portals are celebrities in their own circle with the rise of YouTube media. They all are always prepared to shred every action of celebs into pieces in the name of morality while lacking it in their own values.

If we expect responsibility from actors, writers and filmmakers,, then media portals shouldn't be exempt from the same standard.

​

I think people often judge Pakistani dramas as if they're all trying to achieve the same thing. They're not. Every writer has a different storytelling style and you repeatedly observe their signature undertones in the work they do.

Some dramas are slice-of-life, where realism itself is the appeal. Some writers, like Bee Gul and Saji Gul, use drama to explore social issues-honour killings, cyber bullying, gender inequality, professional hierarchies , class, crime or institutional failures. Others build stories around toxic heroes, revenge or sensational tropes. There are many new writers going down the realism genre writing about modern youth work scenarios and genz issues.

Then there's the Urdu romantic novel tradition, and that's where I think Farhat Ishtiaq belongs.

Her romances don't usually move because the hero is toxic or the heroine is constantly victimized. They move because of circumstances; forced marriages, family obligations, misunderstandings, guilt, sacrifice, secrets, coincidences, illnesses, long separations and unexpected twists. These aren't accidents in her writing; they're the very devices she uses to test love.

That's an important distinction. Her stories are dramatic, but the drama usually comes from the plot, not from the mere characters.

Look at her work.

Humsafar begins with an unexpected marriage and is driven by misunderstanding , evil plotting and years of separation.

Kabhi Main Kabhi Tum starts with an unexpected marriage too and builds its romance through dramatic life turns and failure to big success changing circumstances.

Meem Se Mohabbat revolves around unhinged decisions ,chance encounters and unlikely situations that bring two people together. It literally involves a 12th grade girl planning a murder and corporate workers pulling up pranks but the love story was taken up by a bunch because people enjoy dramatic love stories.

Bin Roye, Mata-e-Jaan Hai Tu and Yeh Dil Mera all rely on emotionally heightened plots rather than everyday realism. Udaari was her one attempt to write on social cause because that was a kashaf foundation collaboration. Even yakeen ka safar that is a classic and critically acclaimed involves situational romance. Two people driven by miseries of life exchange pathways after living lives entangled in domestic atrocities and encounter of crimes.

This isn't unique to Farhat Ishtiaq either. Many Urdu novelists, including Umera Ahmed and Hashim Nadeem, write stories where extraordinary circumstances become the vehicle for exploring love. Emotional truth has always mattered more than documentary realism in this genre.

The reason I'm writing this is because I saw a post saying Zanjeerain doesn't even feel like a Farhat Ishtiaq script, with comments saying she would never write something this dramatic or joking that AI must have written it.

You don't have to like Zanjeerian, and you're absolutely entitled to dislike Farhat Ishtiaq's writing style. But arguing that she doesn't write dramatic stories weakens the criticism itself. Dramatic plotting has been one of the defining features of her romances for decades, long before AI was even a conversation.

I almost find the comments funny that claim that farhat ishtaiq uses AI , she's been writing these scenes even when the internet wasn't a thing let alone AI and it's definitely not her first drama where she goes beyond the borders of realism.

This is classic Farhat Ishtiaq, she has always been the writer of dramatic romance.

EDIT: This point was raised and it aligns well wit my original post so putting my take here in edit :

I don't think Pakistani dramas have necessarily gotten worse. I think we've become nostalgic.

We remember Dastaan, Humsafar, Zindagi Gulzar Hai, Meri Zaat Zarra-e-Benishan as flawless because we associate them with the time we watched them. But if many of these dramas premiered today, they'd be torn apart for being slow, melodramatic, full of coincidences or not being realistic enough. Something Haute revisited some classics and pointed out flaws that audiences either overlooked or accepted back then. Amna and Hassan didn't like Daastan much, kept saying it was too slow for their liking. They didn't even like yks.

That's exactly the point I was making in my original post. People say writers like Farhat Ishtiaq and Umera Ahmed 'used to write better' but their storytelling style hasn't fundamentally changed. They've always written heightened, plot-driven romances rooted in the Urdu novel tradition. What's changed is the audience's expectations. We now judge everything through the lens of realism and modern pacing, so we end up rewriting the past as if those older dramas didn't have the same dramatic devices. Imagine Humsafar and Zindagi Gulzar hai releasing now? Nopes. Maybe the ptv classics had substance but I bet people won't watch it anymore. They'll complain that the story didn't progress this week lol.

THE DRAMA WHERE I ROOTED FOR MOST BUT DEF NOT THE PROTAGONISTS.

I finally have to rant about Dr. Bahu. It's long so bear with me.

DISCLAIMER : I don't want to spoil experience for those who really like it so please skip this. Sometimes it's best to enjoy tv for entertainment value and not worry about details. Posting it now, so for last episode, people who genuinely like it can post instead and discuss things

I for one was super excited for the concept and as much as I loved minah and farheen, I am v.much disappointed with our protagonists. This isn't even about whether the drama was good or bad overall. It's about how strangely some of its biggest conflicts were written and how the audience was almost expected to accept things that should have been questioned.

ONE OF THE ISSUES : FAIZAN AND AMBER.

How exactly did the drama manage to present blatant emotional cheating as some bittersweet "journey of life"? Amber openly pursued a married man and repeatedly asked Minah to leave him because he was happier with her. Faizan emotionally cheated on his wife instead of being honest with her.

I don't care how beautifully you film it or how many emotional scenes you give of Faizan crying or Salman saying he isn't stone-hearted enough to not feel his brother's happiness. That doesn't erase what happened. Just because Minah couldn't become a mother doesn't suddenly make cheating acceptable.

If Faizan wanted children badly enough that it became a dealbreaker, then fine. He should have divorced Minah respectfully, been honest about his reasons and then moved on. Instead, the writers sugar-coated cheating and expected us to celebrate it.( what do I do with Minah heroically protecting Amber, Faizan crying bcz he got a daughter like it's the first happy thing in his life, as if he just didn't spoil his wife's life) They once loved each other v. much as we were told.

Ironically, I found myself rooting for Minah and Dr. Farheen far more than the characters the drama wanted me to invest in.

SANIA WAS MY LEAST FAVORITE FEMALE CHARACTER .

This will probably be unpopular, but Sania was genuinely one of the dullest female leads I've watched in a long time. Her entire personality seemed to be, "I'm a doctor." Girl has nothing else to offer on table. Doctors have a v. v. tough career but we are not lifeless creatures , please! We have hobbies, kids, personal lives and personalities other than our jobs. Every time I saw Sania on screen since episode one, she looked life a walking dead zombie to me; dull , lifeless, nothing to offer , no variation in emotion or reaction. I just couldn't root her for despite trying so hard.

I never understood what made Salman fall so deeply in love with her instantly because the drama barely gave her any personality beyond that. Maybe mutual hate for father in law? But boy fell for her far before that was evident.

Before people misunderstand me, I am not defending Shahnawaz or ignoring Salman's insecurities at all. No denying. Dr shahnawaz is evil. But every one knows it ans speaks about it, right?

Salman , not likeable at all now, genuinely tried in the beginning. He repeatedly asked Sania to move out and start their own life together. Instead, she kept choosing to stay in that toxic house while somehow making everyone else's problems her responsibility. Before you tell me her mother forced her etc, I'd like to ask why was her strength only visible when it was to destroy shahnawaz but never in any other circumstance when she should take decisions?

Strong and opinionated person should be able to take stands for herself before she goes out to remove corruption from society.

THE FCPS STORYLINE MADE NO SENSE.

As someone who's actually gone through medical training, this annoyed me from the beginning.

The writers specifically mentioned FCPS, trying to sound realistic, which made it even more unrealistic.

Everyone knows FCPS exams are held multiple times a year. If they wanted conflict, they could simply have called it "an important exam." Instead they wrote it as if this was her only chance in life.

Her in-laws even had a valid reason for wanting the wedding during those months because of their international conferences. She could easily have taken the next attempt instead of scheduling her wedding right before the exam, skipping the honeymoon, and then acting like everyone else was unreasonable.

That wasn't a refusal to sacrifice. It was stubbornness.

You literally wasted honeymoon and your shadi events bcz you didn't want to change dates for an exam that had multiple attempts? Let's say, that's on me. I don't see her pov but it gets worse!

WORKING For Dr. RUBINA.

This one genuinely confused me.

Once you know Dr. Rubina is your father-in-law's biggest professional rival, why would you voluntarily choose to work there?

No, you don't have to blindly obey your in-laws or support everything they do. But basic respect and courtesy to the family you married into would make most people avoid joining the hospital of someone who is rival to your husband's family especially when there are countless other training hospitals.

Instead, Sania acted as if everyone else was unreasonable for objecting. She only backed down after being pressured into it.

For someone the drama constantly portrayed as morally upright and considerate, this decision felt surprisingly inconsiderate. Even after this whole fiasco , she again went on to join Dr Rubina's. Why? Are all other hospitals of the cities not hiring anymore?

THE HOSPITAL SCENES MADE NO SENSE.

This is where the drama completely lost me.

Sania had barely started surgical residency, yet she was written like the chief of surgery, ignoring consultants, making independent decisions and arranging surgeries herself.

Surgery resident in first year is an intern. They are navigating thru basic procedures and assisting hardly and barely , no matter how smart they are. Sania; a super genius bypassed her head of department and that too in an oncological case surgery.

Every doctor I know laughed at those scenes.

Realistically, she'd have been suspended on day one.

Surgical oncology is a super specialization you get to take after you are a specialist surgeon. I would give drama creative license but in no way possible you will see a first day intern taking over a case after her chief refused.

Writers should have told us she is a medicine oncology resident and that's it. Surgery training looked like a joke the way they portrayed it. Let alone a single stitch, she is never shown to be in an OT. What kind of surgery residents only work in wards with these big organza and chafoon dupattas?

THE DATA LEAK AND JOURNALIST STORYLINE .

I wish I had words for how frustrating this was to watch. She leaked confidential hospital data directly to a journalist instead of hospital administration or any proper authority. Patient confidentiality is one of the biggest responsibilities we have as doctors, yet the drama treated it like some heroic act. She didn't even bother personal confrontation or to seperate and ,eave the house because she can't live off corruption money first but her first action was to leak all the pts data and give it to journalist so everyone in family directly knows it through television? God! I would hate hate to have a person like her in my life or around it let alone family.

Then came the storyline about the cancer patient. Yes, Dr. Shahnawaz was unethical and money-driven. But the drama treated his refusal to treat the patient as if he had personally murdered her. She was referred elsewhere. She ultimately died because of advanced cancer, not because Dr. Shahnawaz personally killed her. Those are two completely different things.

As a doctor, these scenes genuinely frustrated me because this is exactly the kind of narrative that damages public trust. Every day doctors deal with people accusing them of murder because someone recorded half a story on a phone camera. I and my colleagues have dealt with journalists who without any medical knowledge just present doctors as murderers on everyday basis in ERs of our hospitals. The lack of facility to late arrival to suicide attempts, everything is doctor's fault( Dr ki mubayyana ghfalat)

Watching Sania,a doctor herself,push that narrative was incredibly disappointing. It is one thing to expect her in laws to be willing to accept non affording pts and another to call them murderers for not doing so. She didn't know yet if the funds were being misplaced but went on to blame them for a murder because they refused to take in a patient after their slots were filled.

"STRONG WOMAN" ACCORDING TO WHOM?

The drama constantly wanted us to believe Sania was incredibly strong-headed. I never saw it.

If she was truly that principled, she should have refused the marriage before it happened. Her father actually asked her. She was clearly not prepared for marriage.

Marriage demands effort, with or without a career. She stepped into this relationship with no will to put effort and had she used half of her strength back there she would have been happier ( I doubt that though) Strength is subjective but how about we all start from ourselves first? She couldn't do that there somehow.

Instead, she agreed, entered the family and only then decided to take moral stands that affected everyone around her. Real strength would've been refusing the marriage despite the pressure,not agreeing to it and then making everyone pay for that decision. Stron

g woman take stands for themselves, change their behaviours, work for what's best for them before going out with knives in hands to change the world.

A LITTLE RESEARCH ON DOCTORS WOULD HAVE BEEN GREAT BEFORE MAKING A SERIAL ON US?

I honestly wish writers making medical dramas would consult actual doctors before writing hospital scenes.

Despite all the discussion about Dr. Shahnawaz's narcissism, Salman's insecurities or Faizan and Minah, I rarely see anyone talk about how frustrating Sania was as a protagonist.

Ironically, every time Minah or Dr. Farheen appeared, I became interested again because they felt human. Whenever Sania came on screen, I just lost interest. Kubra's single expression and incomprehensible dialogue delivery didn't add value to my experience either.

Maybe that wasn't the writers' intention.

But that's exactly how the character came across to me.

I know there are many unfortunate people like me who got hooked on it.

I just collectively want to rant on how stupid every one is in this drama. Not a single character has communication skill or any basic sense to comprehend situations.

Are all 7 am slot soaps this bad?

Ayla was divorced by his taya's son while she was pregnant who refused to accept he is the father when he very well knew he was. His whole family accused the girl, put her to suicide attempt and blew away all the proposals that came her way later on.

Now that the family is in crisis because they pushed their other DIL off stairs and are short of money, Dadi is calling Rimla the red flag because ever since she came in, shami's family got in trouble. Like what the hell? Rimla is no saint but she is not as evil as the family that this one is.

Everyone is running to help Taya jee and worrying about him including Ayla as if they did not destroy her life. Ayla's mother was right when she said she won't forget what happened to her daughter and holier than thou everyone else shunned her off.

Bhaye what. You all should celebrate any crisis that comes to them after vile things they have done to you.

Now the family is all sitting here cursing Rimla as if she caused all this.

Also, what's with Ayla's mother drooling over Aun's news inheritance. Isn't Aun already an owner of the other family factory and is pretty rich by means of that. Nothing makes sense to me😅.

For the Aun and Ayla, how hard is it for Aun to take two minutes off to debrief Ayla on what's going on. He has plenty of time to stare at walls with dead expressions.

Now that Ayla knows why Rimla called Aun up, why is she still acting paranoid. Zoyla( Ayla's sister, miss holier than all ) keeps preaching to Ayla to save her domestic life and spares mo means to taunt her for meeting Shami even though Ayla very much in nikah of him. Zoyla on the other hand has no relation and yet roams around and do stupid stuff with Aun's friend herself.

Disclaimer : I know drama ain't deep at all. I still wanted to rant because what the hell. It's clearly popular and trending. I am watching it too but i get it how 7th sky shows get views. You can make anything and people can get hooked to it.

H y every one . I got my usg scan done and my gynaec told me I could have PCOS. It's mild but ,eading towards it. I usually get my periods on time , sometimes it's a week or two late. I used to have acne issues all these years which is gone ever since I started taking three months course of ocps as prescribes by doctor. However, I have my gums swollen all time. I brush daily, use oil pulling sometimes and do to gue scrapping but nothing helps. I had come across in this group the relation between gingvitis and pcos. I think it could be the cause.

Can you all share remedies that worked for you to relieve this condition.

Also how did you check your insulin resistance levels. Did your doctors suggest it or you all got hbA1c levels done on your own.

Please please share remedies, food , diet , habits and any particular supplement that helps. Also let me know of the myo inisotol if that works or not