The Virtual Rendezvous Obesession

What is it about social networking sites that have people hooked onto them 24*7? I mean, being connected via the internet is one thing, but practically living online is something different. I have come across ten year olds with very active face book and twitter accounts.  I wonder if parents react the same way about their children’s time on the internet as the government reacts to Anna Hazare’s campaign against corruption.

One of these days I’m seriously considering hacking into my sisters Face book and twitter accounts to check if some unseen magnetic force is keeping her glued to it. She will not budge unless and until I practically shove her off the chair and then too her eyes are glued to the screen.  Some of my friends have even taken up the “net sanyasi” avatar: Eat, pray and  love,  all over the internet. My sister constantly tweets or changes her facebook status through her phone, another technological advancement boon for her. And if that wasn’t enough, she even has to reply to comments and like other peoples statuses etc.  People are obsessed by it.

I wonder why this bug hasn’t bitten me so hard, not that I don’t have profiles on such sites, but I try to keep myself detached from them and if by any chance I find myself being sucked into this obsessive behavior by the evil forces of  Mark Zukerberg, I immediately deactivate the account and return when my sanity has caught up with me. Maybe I’m not connected enough, as one of my friends puts it, and if that’s the case I’m glad that, that fuse is not working.

Health problems apart, which are affecting a million people worldwide, thanks to staring at the screen for too long or sitting in the same place for long durations of time, don’t people get exhausted. Come on, there is no kidding the fact that a group hangout in the real world is any day better than a chat room rendezvous.

A face devoid of emotions..

If there is one thing that I could change about myself, it would be, to change the way my face reflects my emotions. Now, I am not talking about, controlled painful or barely there expressions. NO!, I am talking about the all out, seething, barely controlled ones. The kind of expressions which could turn a  man in his grave.

I am embarrassed to admit it, but yes, I am one of those people who could shoot poisonous arrows with their eyes.

I don't know exactly when i fell into the habit, but as my parents, friends, and even teachers keep reminding me, I have been doing this from a very young age.

Sometimes, its rather funny, when people who have annoyed me run a mile away just because I have this weird, 'I-AM-GONNA EAT-YOU-ALIVE' kind of look on my face.
Other times, like maybe an interview or a viva, it gets out of my hands.

 Don't get me wrong, I don't do it intentionally, no, It just happens without me even realizing that I am doing it.

When I go out with my family for parties or other such events, my mom is constantly trying to spot me in the crowd just to check whether i have a pleasant expression on my face or if I am scowling at walls again!
Its kinda annoying, to see her raising her eyebrows and giving me a tight smile.

I have had bad times, with friends, who end u thinking that they are causing the permanent frown on my face. Sigh! I wish I could  achieve the ever graceful look that the actresses manage to pull off, day in and day out.

But life goes on, as i keep picking up more and more horrifying facial expressions and testing them on unsuspecting souls.

All The Worlds A stage!

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely actors;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.

THE DAY DAWNS BRIGHT AND SUNNY,AND WE WAKE UP TO A NEW TOMORROW...
I SEE MY THOUGHTS.THEY ARE ALWAYS ASSOCIATED WITH IMAGES. ANY MEMORY I THINK OF IS A SCENE, CHARACTERS AND THEIR UNSCRIPTED PERFORMANCE IN UNSCRIPTED ROLES.
COMMENCING THE UNFINISHED BUSINESS OF TODAY..WE TRY TO ADD ON TO THE NEW TOMORROW..
THE USUAL SIGHTS,THE USUAL WORKS,THE USUAL PEOPLE,THE USUAL PLACES..
WE MOVE ON FROM TODAY TO TOMORROW WITH NEW HOPES WITH NEW INTRESTS WITH NEW GOALS.
LIFE SEEMS LIKE A PLAY,WHERE EVERY PERSON IS LINKED TO THE OTHER IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER...

WHO ARE WE,WHAT ARE WE,WHERE ARE WE....WHY ARE WE....
RUNNING BEHIND DREAMS,LOSING OUR TRUE SELVES IN THIS VAST UNENDING UNIVERSE
MEETING NEW PEOPLE,FORGETTING OLD ONES,FORGING NEW CONNECTIONS...
WHERE ARE WE MEANT TO BE,WHO ARE WE MEANT TO BE...
WHY DO WE MOVE FROM PLACE TO PLACE ..
WHAT DO WE SEARCH IN THIS NEW DAY...
TEMPTATIONS,HEARTBREAKS,EMOTIONS,FEELINGS RUN HIGH...
ONE VAST UNENDING UNIVERSE..ONE PUNY DAY...


DREAM BIG..DREAM ON...

WATCHING THE SNAKE CHARMER...
I CAN RELATE TO IT..
MAYBE THAT'S WHAT WE ARE..
WE DANCE TO GODS TUNES..
EACH OF US IS HERE TO PLAY HIS ROLE AND LEAVE THE STAGE TO THE OTHER CHARACTERS
AND WHEN WE LEAVE IT
WE ADD A SHADE OF WHAT WE WERE TO THIS MISMATCH OF A WORLD...

The Bonds that break

Anger...

One small word, one volcanic impact!

There are days in everyone's life when you feel like chucking things out the window, saying what you want and walking out! Sounds really simple right?

Nothing, in reality, could be more difficult.

All of us have some people in our lives who form the crux of .,some of the most important, relationships, they figure prominently in our universe, they have their own place in our world. But, sometimes, you feel like you would like to maybe kick them out.

My life is filled with all kinds of people, i am a naturally friendly person, so i am surrounded by a vast variety of people, some made are blood related, some are just friends, some very close ones and some are just acquaintances. Life could not be better.

Now all these people fall in different kind of categories on the love, hate, detest and barely know scale. Some relationships i wish i could change, some are so fragile that i can barely hold them together.But the shock comes with the ones that are deeply rooted or the strongest ones. These relationships hurt the most, the betrayal, the anger, the time you spent on these people seems like such a waste of time when they don't deserve it, when they prove time and again that they are unworthy of it.

What do you do with such people, Well i have tried countless number of solutions, from taking time off from them, to not talking to them, to trying to solve things amicably etc. Nothing, as you might have guessed, has worked so far.

So, with a heavy heart, i have resigned myself to the fact that they will never change and its best to let them be, let them exist as they are. On my part I will not expect things from them nor will i try to prove them wrong about myself.

If they hate me, well, Hatred consumes a part of yourself, it eats away at you. So all the best with that.

My Soul Sister

What comes to mind when you think of your friends: Parties, movies, hanging out, luncheons, dinners, shopping,, gossiping, etc.

When you think of your closest friend, you remember the time you have spent together gossiping, teasing or pulling other peoples  legs. You automatically think about boys and fights and tantrums etc.

But when i think of my closest friend, I remember Allah, not because she is a preacher of sorts, but because she me helps in the most difficult of tasks i.e; Getting closer to Allah. This friend of mine has the courage to stand up for what is right, even if that means standing up against me. She is not afraid to call a spade a spade. Most people may think that its annoying, but then again, I know that she will always be honest with me no matter what.

Yeah, HONESTY, has always been the keyword with her. She is an excellent conversationalist, scores a bulls eye at convincing people and has a never back down attitude. But the thing that i love the most about her, its the fact that she wishes for me what she wishes for herself, and that is Jannah.

We have an endless list of similarities!

OK, so most of you may think, she must be the sort of tough girl, with a whip in hand, ready to charge at any situation. No, she is the exact opposite. She has a demure, benevolent attitude, a ready smile, an encouraging word and always a helping hand for those in need. She smiles from the heart, laughs till she has tears in her eyes and cries...well..lets not talk about the way she cries!

She has those tiny annoying habits too, which every human must have (the proof of humanity), like her obsession with cleanliness( this may actually be a good thing), her refusal to sit at a particular place, her care while choosing the best seat, her piercing looks when you do something wrong.

So, All in all, I am thankful, that i have this fragile friend of mine, who turns into He-Man, when she needs to.
My blog would be incomplete without this post, because she is an irreplaceable part of my life. She truly is my soul sister.

I love you for the sake of Allah!

HIJAB- liberating or suffocating

Many people, who are Non-Muslims, have asked me this question-“Why do you wear Hijab?” As I get down to answering this question, I feel greatly annoyed that many of them have a preconceived notion that I am being forced to wear Hijab. They feel that my right as a woman is being undermined because of my Hijab, so to clear all these misunderstandings I thought of sitting down and writing this article today.

I wanted to list out the conversation that I usually have when someone asks me about my Hijab.

Q. Why do Muslim women wear Hijab?

A. Firstly, it is an order from Allah (S.W.T), and he knows best what is good and bad for us. We do not know what Allah (S.W.T) knows.

Secondly, on a more personal level Hijab is not a compulsion but a choice; I have chosen to make this choice.

Q. Don’t you feel oppressed in it?

A. Quiet the opposite, Hijab liberates me; it makes my world a safer place. I am hidden from the leering eyes and thoughts of lecherous men. Hijab grants me the freedom and beauty of being a woman. Why does my Hijab stand as a sign of oppression? When for me it is my shield and honor. Does wearing a Hijab signify that I am weak willed or incapable? No on the contrary it signifies that I am strong enough to follow the word of my god and simultaneously look after my worldly affairs. Who do you think is more oppressed a girl in Hijab who is dressed modestly or a girl in a bikini advertising some random product? For me the girl in the bikini is oppressed because she is selling her modesty to gain a few bucks.

Q. Hijab does not allow you to work freely, Islam stamps on this right of women.

A. Hijab according to me gives me an opportunity to broaden my horizon, it makes me more independent. Just by looking at my Hijab the wrong kind of people are warded away. It stands for my modesty, I clearly states that I am to be respected and not enjoyed.

Women in Islam are given every right to work and provide for themselves if the need arises. It is acceptable in Islam for a woman to work as long as she stays within the laws of shariah. I can become a teacher, designer, architect or doctor or whatever I choose to become. Infact Islam has provided for women in a way that no other religion has.

Q. Really? In what ways?

A, Allah (S.W.T) has said in the Quran that men have to care, provide and protect a woman. Which other religion has given the woman so much choice and so much respect. If a woman chooses she can sit at home and her husband has to fulfill and her needs. In context to property, she gets one fourth of the total property of her father.

Allah (S.W.T) has said in the Quran that he has made woman from the rib of man, to be his equal, to be respected and protected. She is the light of her home.

An example- If two twin sisters are walking on the road, one of them is dressed modestly, wearing the Hijab, fully covered from head to toe and the other sister is dressed in a revealing top and miniskirt. Now both of them are walking and a rowdy is standing at the street corner, whom do you think he will target? Whom do you think he will start harassing? Which one of the two would you say will get raped?

Of course the obvious answer is the girl in the skirt.

So you see Hijab protects women.

After this discussion mostly people understand what I am trying to tell them. I hope by reading this article some, if not all the doubts of people are cleared on the matter of Hijab.

A purse full of memories...

A movie stub, a silver ring, some passport size photos, some loose change, a bit of torn newspaper clipping, a restaurant bill, a silver thread, a smiley badge , a tube of lip balm, an address and a pair of mismatched earrings- The contains of my purse, things which to an outsider would seem like trash but each and every thing (well almost!0 is of importance to me. So today I actually got down to cleaning out my purse which frankly speaking was getting really heavy. When I opened it up all these things fell out of it, I picked up a few things and was wondering why I had stashed all these things away in my purse and then I started remembering…

The movie stub is my bit of keepsake to remind me about one of the most special days of my life, when I got the ticket to this awesome movie which I really wanted to see but later on decided to give the movie a miss because I was having a totally great time somewhere else..

The silver ring belongs to a childhood friend of mine, who sadly, I am not on talking terms with anymore. The ring reminds me of her, the lovely times we had and the mistake that I made in letting her go so easily.

The passport size photos are of me, school photos, in which I look totally horrible, high school photos in which I look just crazy and geeky, more recent ones which have been taken rather embarrassingly and which look a bit better.

The newspaper clipping is an advertisement of some shopping sale which I attended with my sisters. We had a gala time and ended up buying stupid stuff which we were never going to wear.

The restaurant bill is the one which led to quite a bit of embarrassment because no one had enough money to pay and we had to send someone home to fetch the extra dough to pay for it.

The smiley badges are a gift from my seven year old cousin who wanted me to wear them, well; I am always going to keep them safe with me.

The rest of the things have their own not so serious memories attached to them too. I have never thought that a purse could tell you so much about a person’s life. It’s all in here, my favorite memories of my favorite people.

Kicking the shopping bug.

I have become a complete shopaholic. Trust me. Every time I walk into a store my eyes are just popping out, my heart starts racing and my feet can’t decide which direction to move into. It’s completely insane, just yesterday I popped into a mall to help a friend in deciding on a t-shirt and guess what; I ended up buying a bag, a clutch, a cute purple top and a nail polish. By the time I realized what I had done I was already at the cash till, and it was too embarrassing to return them and I ended up paying for it. But that’s not the end of my woes, as we were leaving my friend decided to check out a lipstick that looked nice and as I tagged along my eyes fell on a gorgeous shade of lip gloss that I absolutely had to have. My mind started wrestling with my heart...

Brain: “You’ve just brought yourself stuff which you dint need, this lip gloss is a waste of money. You are not buying it.”

Heart: “But I need this lip gloss it’s gorgeous, I might not find it again. I have to have it”

Brain; “No, you are not buying it”

Heart: “Yes I am!”

And so I ended up buying that as well. The sales girl gave me a sweet smile and said that if I buy the lip gloss and the exact shade of lipstick I would get a discount. My mind went blank for two seconds and I sighed loudly, I was fighting a losing battle so why not go the whole nine yards. Reluctantly I nodded; yes I would take them both. Her smile widened and I cursed her under my breath.

Enough! I had to get out of here and fast. I dragged my friend away (who was giving me an annoying look) and ran to the elevator. I stepped inside it and gave a huge sigh of relief. There was a cleaning guy in there and he pressed the button for the 4^th floor instead of the ground floor, I dint mind, until the lift doors opened and what did I see in front of me…BOOKS! Rows and rows of fresh, unopened, sweet smelling, inviting and lovely books. I am a book worm; I can eat, sleep and live books. Before I knew what I was doing I had steeped out and was drawn towards big, fat and heavy books. I simply could not bring myself to leave without buying at least one book. So no need to mention that by the time I left I was carrying two heavy novels and a light paperback in my hand and a little cute coin box I had found( I would need it to save the loose change that keeps getting lost).

Next time I am not under any circumstances stepping into a mall again, they are just too alluring to resist.

B.I.A (Back In Action)

Hello, I am back...long time it has been. Over the past few months i thought a lot about this blog and what i wanted to write on it, what things of interest could i find to express myself, which pieces of the puzzle of my life could fit into my blog, and i had no brainstorming ideas...trust me not even one. Then today when i was sitting comfortably reading a book it suddenly hit me..do i really need ideas to express myself, what had been the soul purpose of my blog? what was important? was it that i should find something of interest to write or should i write to interest myself and VOILA, the answer came to me.
I wanted to 'Just Write'...plain, free and unrestricted writing. And so i am back in action. I promise you I am going to pull out all stops to express myself...For now...im off penning another interesting thought to express myself..

Once upon a time…

“Didi, I met Cinderella” my four year old cousin gushed happily as he sat admiring the colorful pages of the fairy tale. “Ya right, Cinderella is not real, it’s just a stupid story”, his seven year old sister piped in. “You are lying” he shouted back.
Thus started their argument which inevitably led to one crying loudly while the other sat making faces. After much coaxing and a bribe of chocolates both resumed their model behavior acting the prim and proper children they are. Their fighting forgotten now in the exchange of chocolates.
But my mind began to drift to my childhood days when Cinderella, Sleeping beauty, Aladdin were real people and not mythical characters created by some long forgotten grandma for the bedtime rituals of little children whose imaginary minds are not quenched by real incidents or naughty pranks, whose untainted souls struggle to accept realty but with unquestionable happiness accept these magical stories. I still remember the days when I used to sit up in bed reading these stories, happily unaware of the late hour, my mind drifting gaily beside Sleeping beauty’s bedside, flying on Aladdin’s magic carpet, running beside Cinderella as the clock strikes twelve or climbing up Jacks magical beanstalk. When sitting in school, listening to the same explanations about why the numerator is lesser in value than the denominator or staring at the biology diagram for an hour (an endless amount of time), these very stories provided relief and respite, a break from the monotony of classes into the world of fairies and castles. The mystery of why peter pan never grew up seemed more intriguing than fractions or biology. The time when I used to think that short people were snow whites seven dwarfs .That feels like a long time ago, yet even today Harry Potter is dearer to me than all the other books I have read, maybe because the child in me still craves for all those imaginary quests.
Real or not, Cinderella, Snow white, Sleeping beauty, Aladdin and Peter Pan were my childhood companions and I was happy and contented to believe in them. I cherish and treasure them.
And if that makes you think I am an overgrown girl, so be it!