To Old Friends and New

I remember the names of my first friends. I probably made them when I was five or six years old. I don't remember their faces but remember their names. I lost touch with them when we moved from there.

The next memory that I have is when I was in Class 1, then its of Class 3, then Class 5 and then Class 8. I lost a lot of friends after Class 8 since half of our class went on to do Matriculation and the rest of us went on to do O Levels. The three years of O Levels are some of the best of my life. We enjoyed, we studied and we had a lot of masti. Those years were really good and I still miss those times and those friends.

After that I made friends in my university and we had good fun times in those years. Once I started working, I lost contact with those friends as well.

After that, my friends changed when my job changed. I made excellent friends while working and I will miss them no matter where I go. even this blog has given me some great friends whom I miss.

There are friends who left, sometimes because of my stupidities and sometimes because of their own ( :P ). and there are some who have chosen to stay and tolerate me (read bask in my awesomeness :P)

This post is dedicated to all those friends. These people gave me their time, they would listen to me when I wanted to talk, they would cheer me up when I was down and they would definitely bring me back to the ground when I started to fly too high :P

To all my friends, old and new, people who are still a part of my life and people who 'were' a part of my life: All of you have contributed to what I am today [good or bad :P (yes, ofcourse, I blame you people for it :P)]. I miss you all.

I end this post with a saying of Hazrat Ali (RA): "Unfortunate is the one who cannot gain a few sincere friends during his life and more unfortunate is the one who has gained them and then lost them (Through his deeds)".

Take care friends, keep smiling and keep blogging.


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Ramadan Kareem and Happy Independence Day :)

The holy month of Ramadan is upon us. A month to ask forgiveness and to do as many good deeds as we can as it is a very rewarding month.

This would be my second Ramadan away from home. Last year I was in Mianwali for about 15 days of Ramadan and this year I am not even in the same country. I know that I will badly miss ammi kay haath kay aloo kay pakoray, fruit chaats, podeenay ki chutney and see-wai-yaan (mouth starts watering :P) but what to do. Maybe this year,for a change, I will lose weight in Ramadan (yeah right! :P)

May I request everyone to take care of their health, keep their anger in check and pray for me during the month of Ramadan :)

Moving on to Independence Day (it really was a nice movie & I think Will Smith acted well in it :P, kidding). It does not quite seem like the month that marks our Independence Day over here. There aren't any stalls beside the road selling flags and badges. Houses aren't decorated with Pakistani flags, no jhandiyaan on the electricity poles [Infact, there aren't any electricity poles here!! and yet the electricity situation is excellent] I brought a shirt from Pakistan with me specially for 14 August. It has Pakistan's flag on it. [Well.. it also says celebrate Independence with KFC, I got it from KFC last year when I ordered a large zinger combo WOW meal (mouth starts watering again) in August 2009 :P]

Pakistan is going through very trying times these days. The flood has already claimed 1500 lives and God knows how much more destruction it will bring. Apart from that, there recently were killings in Karachi and I think around 80 people were killed in that. Also, there are the power cuts, inflation and shortage of stuff as Ramadan nears. This one thing I could never understand. I've heard that most countries lower prices when their religious festivals come near but Pakistan always seems to increase the prices whenever Ramadan arrives :(

Therefore, may I request all of you to take some time out and pray for our beloved country Pakistan. In Pakistan, we are all Pakistanis but you realize what it means to be a Pakistani, when you leave Pakistan. You realize the things that you have always taken for granted when you are in your own country.

As they say, "Ask not what you country has done for you [Ask what's for lunch :P], Ask what you have done for your country". So let us be good Muslims and good patriots in this month and become better as time passes. I am sure that one day you will be telling your kids stories about how you lived with no electricity, water and still loved Pakistan (and your kids will ask you "what is electricity??" :P )

That's it for today. Keep smiling and keep blogging people.

Ramadan mubarak to all of you :)

Pakistan Zindabad!! :)

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I love…

The single thing about Dubai that I love the most right now is the call for prayers, Azaan. You know what, you hear Azaan on television with the Arabic accent and it doesn't effect you much. Well, it didn't effect me as much as hearing it live. You're sitting in the mosque and then you hear the Azaan with this beautiful Arabic accent. To tell you the truth, the first time I heard it, it brought tears to my eyes. And even this Friday, when I heard it, it was enough to give me goose bumps. It truly is a sensational feeling. The effect is so awing and so refreshing. Hayya As Salat, Hayya As Salat = Aao Namaz ki taraf, aao Namaz ki taraf.   It's a heavenly feeling. Alhamdolillah, I'm thankful to Allah for blessing me with this.   Make it a habit to pray five times a day. Who knows that you might be hearing the voice of Azaan for the last time?   Please pray for me friends that I get to listen the Azaan in Mecca, that I perform Hajj soon inshaAllah, ameen :)   Take care friends, keep smiling and keep blogging.   .

High life in Dubai

Can't believe that already a month has passed since I left my beloved city Karachi. However, for some reason I did not feel sad, neither did I feel excited. It was as if I was numb, don't know why though. Haven't figured it out yet.   So I landed in Dubai on in end of May. I had already asked a friend to pick me from the airport. Dubai's airport is huge. There seem to be a lot of terminals. You could easily get lost there :p So my friend picked me up and we caught a taxi to go to Sharjah where he lived. It took us 2.5 hours to get there!!! And then I realized that that is how long it usually takes in rush hour to get from Dubai to Sharjah. I lived with my friend for 2-3 weeks, until I could find a place of my own and you wouldn't believe what my timetable was there. I woke up at 0400hrs (yes that means 4:00 a.m. in the morning!!). I mean even the birds hadn't woken up till then :p Would get ready to catch the bus at 0530hrs. It was a pleasant 5-7 minute walk from the house to the bus stop. (OF course it was pleasant, what do you expect the weather to be like at 0530hrs?? :p) (Its so surprising that buses don't stop wherever you want, just like they did back home, it was so convenient back home :p). Took the bus to the Rashidiya metro station. [Metro is the local train in Dubai (Lolzz, it seem so odd to call it a local train because karachi's local train comes to mind :p)] That is in Dubai and that is where the metro line starts. So I caught that train to my destination station, which took around an hour and I reached office by 0800hrs. Had breakfast and then started work by 0900hrs. (Noo, I do not eat for an HOUR!!. I just sat there looking around for the rest of the time :p) The ride back was the same, first the metro to Rashidiya and then a bus to Sharjah. Reached home by 2100hrs (Yes, that means 9:00 p.m. at night :( ). And was too tired to do anything so went to sleep.   But now by the grace of Allah, I have shifted to Dubai alhamdolillah. Wake up at 0630hrs, leave home by 0715, walk 7-10 mins to the metro station, catch the metro and reach office by 0800. Have breakfast, start work at 0900hrs and I'm home by 1800hrs. Have been reading a lot these days since I have so much time on my hands. Read a few books of Ludlum and now a colleague has given me Ken Follett books which are quite good. I'm trying to find a place to learn swimming as that is something I have always wanted to do. Let me know if anyone of you know of such a place in Dubai.   Life here is very fast and people have no time on their hands. So if you see a (not so) young guy, taking his time to stroll on the metro station or on the streets (looking as if he has nothing else to do :p), then you can be sure that it's me because I have not seen anyone else who walks slower than me :p (By the way , I walk slow because I want to, not because I have to).   That's it for today friends, I guess I might blog more since I have so much time on my hands but cant blog from home because don't have a lappy (read laptop) at home yet, planning to buy one, probably in August, lets see.   Take lotsa care, keep smiling and keep blogging :)   .

Chilli

Yes, I am talking about mirchi or chilli or spice, whatever you want to call it. The food here is very good alhamdolillah but I miss the spicy food of Pakistan, where the cook puts in so much spice that a normal person is bound to run to the loo within 5 minutes of finishing his meal. But not us karachites (I hope I spelled that right), right??   Whenever I tell someone that food here is not spicy, they look at me in a very odd way (like when you look at the" genius" of the class who tells you that the exam wasn't tough at all :P )   I've adjusted here alhamdolillah. Dubai isn't much different than Karachi. Well… except for the power cuts, the crowded buses, street crime, water shortage etc. etc. etc. But to tell you the truth, I sometimes miss that. When I board the clean, air-conditioned, uncrowded metro (in which most people do not smell that bad) I miss travelling in Karachi's bus. Clutching the door handle for your life and taking in the cool chilly air of Karachi's winters :D   Two things that are very different here. One is the food. You'll find anything and everything to eat here but amma kay haath kay parathay ka maza kahin nahin milay ga :( Also, you would have guessed, the food isn't as spicy.   Secondly, the cars come from the wrong side of the road. I mean come on people, at least warn the newcomer. There I am (lost in the thoughts of "someone" :P ) and planning to cross the road. I look towards my right and there are no cars coming so I decide to cross. However, living in Karachi has taught me many things (one of them is to look at both sides of the road even if it's a one way road :P )and just as a precaution, I look to the left as well. And whooooosh!!!! There goes this black Ford GT almost taking me with it. Then I realize that cars drive on the other side!!! (duh!!)   Oh yes, one more thing. For some crazy reason, people think that it's hot here. And as I said before, they still look at me "oddly" when I say that the weather is great :D (Of course it's great. After going through power failures that lasted for more than 12 hours with the temperature being 46-48 in Karachi, Dubai's weather feels like a pleasant summer :P ). However, as friend very aptly puts it, "Dil ka mausam acha ho to hur mausam accha lugta hay gee". So maybe that's the case :P   Anyways friends, time to leave. Take care of yourselves, keep smiling and keep blogging :)   .

Rain... or not

I'm sure my audience (or what's left of it :p) is expecting a post on rain since Karachi is flooded with showers these days with no electricity, the streets are flooded, schools and offices are closed and what not but can't post much because…   Yesterday I completed my very first week in Dubai. Yes, by the grace of Allah, I've moved to Dubai alhamdolillah.   The first week at work went well alhamdolillah. The people here are nice and very cooperative.   Dubai is simply awesome and not as expensive as people say it is (or maybe I've been here just a week and am living with a friend so it doesn't seem expensive.). But the life here is very very busy as well as commercialized. People don't have the time to talk; they are just walking engrossed in their thoughts. However, if you ever stop anyone to ask something (I stopped a lot of them to ask for directions :S) then they're very cooperative (or maybe its my charm :p) and they wouldn't even mind taking you there.   I'm living with a friend in Sharjah these days and trying to find accommodation before he throws me out (for overstaying my welcome). Need lots of prayers my friends. Sharjah is very similar to Karachi. Feels very homely and Karachi like :)   Will post some pictures soon of the Dubai Mall Fountain, Burj Khalifa (from outside coz it costs 400 AED to go in!!!), Burj-ul-Arab (obviously from the outside and from far away :p) and last but not the least, the aquarium tunnel inside the Dubai Mall. The last one is the most amazing. They have more than 300 sharks inside the aquarium and they say that the sharks don't eat the other fish because they are fed at 1600hrs every day and are always full (which kinda seems impossible, how do they find 300 sharks in that large aquarium and feed them???)   Anyways, if you're planning to visit Dubai then do let me know beforehand (so I can hide/runaway :p) so we could meet up :)   Take care friends, stay happy, keep smiling and keep blogging.   .

Alhamdolillah :)

The past few months have been quite hectic but alhamdolillah things are settling down now.

Yesterday was an awesome day. Everything that could go wrong, went wrong but alhamdolillah Allah saved us and we all had tired smiles on our faces :) (Nothing serious, just a hiccup because of the security situation of the city)

Sometimes you are just amazed at how things work out and everything just falls in to place. I read somewhere that worrying is like a rocking chair. It keeps you busy but you don't get anywhere. It's so true, isn't it?

I know my post wouldn't make an ounce of sense to most (read all) but I just felt like writing today. I know I haven't written much but I just wanted to share that Allah is great and we should never ever lose hope.

God helps those who help themselves so start helping yourselves people and you will be amazed at how Allah rewards your efforts.

That's all for now folks. Please remember me in your prayers if possible.

Take lotsa care and keep smiling :)

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