Ramadan

Falling ill is one of the worst things that can happen to a person living alone in pardes (foreign country).

From our childhood we have seen that every kid gets special and extra attention when they fall ill. I guess that sort of gets saved in memory and we expect special/extra attention whenever we get sick. However, there is no one there to give you that attention when you're living alone :(

I have been unwell since the past few weeks. Had severe fever and cough and flu for about four days and it drained me of all energy. Had to stop fasting for a few days because was too weak. I'm much better now alhamdolillah but the cough hasn't left me. Plus there is this itch in my throat which is very annoying.

When I was young and would go to the doctor with my parents, they would ask all the questions about what can I eat, what to avoid etc. etc. Now, the doctor just stays silent, I stay silent. He asks what's wrong, I tell him. He prescribes the medicine and that's it. Transaction over. Feels so robotic. I hate going to the doctor and I only went this time because I could feel that I wasn't well.

Bought a thermometer, panadol etc. first time in my life. (Yeah yeah, I know I'm spoiled). Ghar main to (at home) these things are readily available in a drawer or fridge etc. You feel really homesick during this time.

Ramadan has started and has gone by really quickly as well. Today is already the 16th roza.

It is so hot here these days plus it's really tough on us who have a cooking disability (not willing nor able to cook). You wake up at 3 am, go out in the heat to a restaurant to have sehri. Similarly, since there is no one to make pakoray, chaat etc., you have to go and directly have dinner for iftar instead of all those Ramadan specific yummy treats (pakoray, samosay, cholay, fruit chaat, dahi baray, I should stop before I start drooling (oops too late) :P )

However, I am glad at how Ramadan is going. The cooking disability has been with me for a while now. I really should learn how to cook.( Can't really live on boiled eggs and tea.)

Hope all is well with all of you and Ramadan is going well.

Keep smiling and keep blogging :)

As salam u alaikum

It really has been a while. The last time I blogged was last Ramadan. Can't believe how quickly time passes.

I guess one post per year doesn't really qualify me to call myself a blogger. So I'll be just a random writer, writing whenever I feel like it or get time.

So much has happened since then. Hmm, where to start from.

The weather here is extremely hot these days. And along with that, there is a lot of humidity. You get drenched even if you stand outside for five minutes. The problem is that it is as cold inside (due to the air conditioning) as it is hot outside. As a result, yours truly now has a bad cold and cough. Please pray for me. I am always in need of prayers.


I turned 30 last year (yay). The big Three O. Doesn't seem like a major accomplishment I guess :) But alhamdolillah, I am grateful to Allah. We never think about this but despite all the bad things that we do, Allah still gives us so much freedom and leeway. I read somewhere that (start of a bad translation) don't be unhappy that Allah doesn't fulfill your wishes immediately instead, be thankful that He does not punish you immediately for your sins.



Ramadan, the holiest of months is upon us. I read somewhere that you should at least finish reading the whole Quran in Ramadan and then finish one more in between one Ramadan and the next. I am planning to do it in-sha-Allah. If you do too then please comment as it will encourage me and others to do so as well. (By others, I mean the non-existent readers ;) )

I guess this is about it for today. Will post again (soon in-sha-Allah).

Take care friends, keep smiling and keep blogging :)

Long time, no see

Muddat hui sayyad nay chora bhi to kia chora
Tab-e-parwaaz nahin, rah-e-chaman yaad nahin

I thought of blogging so tried to log in, then I realized that I have forgotten my password so went through the reset process. Two things reminded me of the shair mentioned above. The first one (not as important) was the realization that I haven\t blogged anything in a year. You get bust with other things and forget that you even have a blog. And then when you come back to check you discover that; One: you have forgotten your password and Two: you don't know what to write about or in fact how to write :(

The second and most important is about how you get sucked in by the activities of this world, your job, your life, your family, your friends etc. and get so busy that you forget the important stuff, you
forget that there is someone who had made allof this possible and you haven't thanked Him at all.

We get so busy with our life that most of us realize this too late that our main goal is to be successful not in this world but in the hereafter. And by the time we realize this, we don't even know what to do, where to begin.

Ramadan, the holiest of all months is upon us, please pray for all Muslims that may Allah forgive all our sins and keep us on the right path. Also, please pray for all non-Muslims that may Allah guide them to the right path.

That is all for today my friends, keep smiling and keep blogging :)

Hmmmm

It seriously seems like ages since I last updated. I hate this... this writer's block. I've just lost interest in reading and writing. It's been a while since I read a good book and as I said it's been quite a while now since I blogged.

Update on Life: Life is good alhamdolillah. Thanks to Allah, I am surrounded by nice people. Oh yes, that reminds me, Ramadan Mubarak to everyone. May Allah bestow His choicest blessing on you and your family and may you have a very blessed Ramadan, ameen. And if I don't see you then I wish you a very happy Eid as well. May each coming Eid bring you more and more happiness and prosperity, ameen :)

Anyways, can't think of much to write now. Oh yes, the weather here is very very very hot. I mean just walking to the restaurant at 3 a.m. in the morning was dreadful(Yes, I said 3 a.m. when the sun isn't up). I guess it was 40 or 50, even the AC there didnt seem to change anything. In case, you were wondering, I go to a restaurant nearby for sehri since I don't cook and cornflakes/oatmeal don't make a filling sehri (believe me, I've tried).

Take care everyone, keep smiling and keep blogging.

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Bachna aay haseenooo, loo main aagaya :P

Okay, I admit that the subject doesn't look (or sound) the way I wanted it to come out. However, I am sure it delivers the message, which is that I am back.

Wellll, one would then ask that was I gone before that I have come "back" now??

Anyways, life is going well alhamdolillah. I went to Pakistan a few weeks ago and it felt awesome. Although I went for ten days but time flew by so quickly that it felt as if I had just exited the airport and was now entering it again :(

Cricket fever is all over the place here with people cheering for their home teams. But I don't know why, I have lost all interest in the game. There was a time when I was crazy about cricket and you could ask me the latest score of any match happening at that time. But these days, I wouldn't even know who is playing whom.

Went to the Atlantis with colleagues last week and it was awesome. We talked, laughed and had a lot of fun. The food wasn't that great but we had a great time.

I just saw that my last post was on 16 December 2010!!! Seems like such a long time ago. It's just that I saw another blogger's blog just now and not only had the person updated but had also changed the template so that sort of made me make a post. I am thinking of changing the template as well, something green and white in line with 23 March, Pakistan Resolution Day :). Let's see, I'll update it if I get time.

Anyways, take care people, keep smiling and keep blogging :)

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Happy New Year :)

It seems like ages since I last updated my blog and I guess its time to dust off the keyboard and write something.

I’ll start with the weather. It is slowly getting cold here. I’ve stopped turning the AC on every night because then its freezing in the morning. Today morning, it was really cold, I don’t know after how many days I had to cover myself with my blanky (read blanket :P). Surprisingly, it doesn’t seem like winter when you go out. What I mean by that is everything is so green and colourful. The municipality have planted beautiful flowers on the side of the roads and they look so nice and lovely. It feels really nice to just sit outside and look at them :)

I went to Pakistan on Eid-ul-Azha. It was an awesome feeling :) I can not tell you how good it feels to be with your loved ones. A person can only know how I feel if they have lived away from their family and then go on to meet them. When I was leaving Pakistan, I had actually thought that I will come back in two or three years but then I missed my family so much that I just couldn’t resist and went for Eid and Eid-ul-Azha. The trip was really good and I enjoyed a lot. Met with old colleagues and friends, played loads of PS3, had long gup shups etc. This Eid-ul-Azha was also cool because I got the chance to talk to a new friend which felt really nice. Thank you for that :)

Overall, Thanks to Allah, life is good alhamdolillah. Dubai is an awesome place and something new happens here everyday. It seems like I just came to Dubai whereas it already has been quite a while. This year has just disappeared in to thin air, it flew by so quickly. (I know I say that every year but seriously, it does seem like it). It seems like yesterday was the first of Muharram of 1431 and already today is the 10th day of the new year 1432. Anyways, as they say, “zendagi migzara” :)

Take care friends, keep smiling and keep blogging :)


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Brrrrrrrr... :)

Oh yessss, winter has arrived in Dubai. Just a few days ago, it was really realllly foggy here and today morning I could feel a slight chill in the air. It is always so nice to walk in the morning (as in walk to the place where I have breakfast and then to the metro station, not walking walking :P). Which reminds me that I have to get a jacket and clothes for winter.

We take so many things for granted when we are at home, living with our family. You just open your cupboard and everything is right there. But when you live alone, it gets a bit tough. First and foremost is the problem of food. For someone like me (I once tried to boil an egg and it kinda got burnt), cooking is not an option. So you should live somewhere where you have many options for eating out or you get married :P. As you might have guessed, (NO, I didn’t get married) I live near a place from where I can get breakfast, lunch and dinner :)

And now following the weather (and life) update, we have an update on Lost Friends. No, no lost friends came back (I’m not that lucky!). In fact, I just lost another friend yesterday, a very special friend. And you wont believe how long this friendship lasted, barely three months!! That is one record that I am not at all proud of L. Hmmm, I’m beginning to think that it isn’t (always) their fault that ends friendships and (sometimes, maybe once or twice :P) it could me my fault too which ends our friendship. [Oh and this list also includes those friends whom I lost touch with because of changing schools, jobs, residence etc.]

Anyways, as hurt as I am, I know from experience that time heals all wounds and Zendagi Migzara, which means that “life goes on”, no matter what happens. To all the friends that I have lost, “May Allah give you all the happiness that you deserve and may all the tears that flow from your happiness be because of happiness, amen”. [Which roughly translates to: Jahan bhi raho, khush raho (apnay kharchay pay :P )]

Take care friends (& lost friends), keep smiling and keep blogging.

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