Back to School!

It’s Sunday and unlike most countries around the world, this day marks the beginning of the week in U.A.E. So the last two days were weekend, and the popular topic of discussion in my family was ‘BACK TO SCHOOL’! My siblings start school today and the weekend was utilized in buying stationery, school bags and uniforms for them. When I went to the mall, I realized how much difference there is between my school days and my siblings’ time.

Thanks to excessive marketing and advertising, going back to school has become another reason to go on a shopping spree. School shopping was a necessity back in the late 90s and the past decade. It has now become more of a trend, another asset to flaunt. The concept of branding has influenced adults so much that even kids like my 9-year old sister want a ‘Hello Kitty’ than an ordinary pink-colored bag. Would you believe it when I say that we spent 4 hours at the mall to buy these goodies for 3 of my siblings? The place was sickeningly crowded and all around me, I could see innovative school merchandise. ‘The Avengers’, ‘Hellboy’, ‘Captain America’ bags, tiffins, water bottles, stationery for young, naughty boys and Cinderellas and Hello Kitties for the chirpy and excited girls. There were bright colored, beautifully designed notebooks that make you feel like writing all the time. There were cute pens, pencils and pouches that made me consider buying them just because they are cute. Deep down, I was actually harboring a bit of an envy. I was almost irritated that I didn’t get to choose from this much of a variety when I was a kid.

Envy aside, I also felt nostalgia hit me really bad as I realized I missed my school days. School was a place I loved, even when I was a kid. I remember that my friends would hate the thought of going back to school after vacations, but I actually used to count down the days when I would go back to school and read new stories in English class, visit the school library, eat the mini pizzas from the canteen and play dodge ball with friends in break and P.E. I loved (still do, as a matter of fact) the smell of new books and I always promised myself at the beginning of the year that I would write in them neatly (handwriting has been an issue for me all my life) and maintain my books really well. Promises would break but my love for going to school never faded. I am working as a full-time employee now and am at the brink of my career, but part of me misses the school and college days. Part of me thirsts to be back in a class, learn something new and make up for the time my teen ignorant self so foolishly wasted. I also miss how carefree I was back then. I was known as the ‘joker’ of my class in school. I had a weird habit those days that whenever I used to be scolded by a teacher or fall in any kind of trouble, I always felt like laughing. It was like an immune response. I was immune to scoldings and lectures. I never felt really bad, although I did feel embarrassed. But I always took comments from others in a positive way. I can’t say whether I really worked on my weaknesses but I never used to maintain an enmity or emotions like hatred towards anyone, teacher or student. I still try to maintain this habit in my daily life, but being a kid is simply less complicated I guess. The adult mind does not think so simply, it has a whole lot of influencing factors.

Another part of my brain is haunted by memories of a particular teacher of Mathematics I was taught by in Grade 6. She was evil and made my life hell for a year. I remember her curly hair adorning her face that always had a sarcastic smile on; I remember her soft, threatening voice, cold and terrifying and I still feel the chills down my spine and I ask myself, ‘do I want to experience that again?’ Haha, I guess not. Definitely not.

So, I come back to reality, thank God for wherever I am right now, and complete this post and get back to work.

My school, Our Own English High School, Dubai

My favorite place in the school- Library!!!

My class photograph of Grade-8.

Blogger Recognition Award

Thanks to a very dear reader, Maira , I am a proud nominee of the Blogger Recognition Award!  Woohoo! 😀 . I started this blog sometime in 2013 with the intention of sharing my experiences with the huge blog world out there. I ultimately wanted to consistently improve my writing skills as well as gather a constant stream of audience. There is still a long way to go but such awards make me feel that the journey is not going to be a struggle, but a happy-go-lucky adventure. A piece of advise I would want to give to new bloggers or to people who are considering to blog is this: Don’t get intimidated by the powerful writings you might come across in the blogosphere, instead make efforts to grasp the important aspects of writing from the best of writers and implement them while expressing yourself. Maintaining your special spark is also important. Do not try to copy someone. Be someone who people would want to copy from. 😉

Passing on the torch, I nominate the following as the torchbearers:

1. Sandra 
2. Saaransh
3. Jennifer Calvert
4. Moony
5. Sella
6. Hamda
7. Vikas
8. Robert
9. Kate
10. Reverted Muslimah
11. Vanchula

Usually, we have to nominate 15, but I am modifying that to 11 from my side. The rules are as follows: (copied from the blog of the person who nominated me)

 Select 15 other blogs you want to give the award to. Do some digging if you must! Find those blogs. You cannot nominate yourself or the person who has nominated you.

» Write a post to show off your award! Give a brief story of how your blog got started, and give a piece or two of advice to new bloggers. Thank whoever nominated you, and provide a link to their blog. List who you’ve nominated in the post. Make sure to also attach the award itself! (You can do this by right-clicking, saving, and uploading the image above).

» Comment on each blog and let them know you’ve nominated them. Provide a link to the award post you created.

Bring it on people! 😀

Random

Hi all! So today is my first random post. I have nothing in particular to share or express articulately about. This is merely to confirm my existence in the blogosphere. It is not that I have run out of topics so soon, my mind is just in a mess. I have my cousin visiting from India staying at my place. I have work till 6.30 in the evening and therefore I have very less time to spend with her which is why I do not have the time to think and write anything for this blog.

I have also been planning to pen down my first short story but again, I am confused on its genre, whether it should be my most favorite horror, or heartbreaking romance or touching drama. I have stories of each genre in my mind, but the complexity is arising because I am at a loss for privacy these days. Having company is fun but it can get quite meddlesome with one’s personal interests. For example, usually after I go home from work, I like bouncing down on my couch and watching TV for a while. This is followed by some bedtime reading, usually after which my mind is enlightened with ideas for writing. This simple routine has been destroyed now because of the presence of my cousin who loves talking. And not about everything (that would have been better), but only about her boyfriend. I have re-heard the same stories again and again and have become her outlet for showcasing how much she really misses her guy. It is sort of annoying really because I feel the guy is not really worth it and I really hate this about young female lovers that when in love, they choose to literally worship the guy they are in love with. Not only that, their activities, their conversations, their routine, everything gets somehow connected to the guy (who, usually in such cases, doesn’t really give a shit about the girl). And when the guy doesn’t respond to the girl as actively as her (DUH!!!!), the girl sits and moans about why her life is a mess. So irritating.

Get a life girls! It is good to be in love, the feeling is a gift from God and is worth treasuring but somewhere at some point a line needs to be drawn to avoid over-dependence and associated regret in future. Fall in love, but keep your identity intact because nobody can be more important than yourself. Eventually, I realize I did end up getting something to preach about. I swear I practice it too. So I am going to get back to work now before my boss understand what I am up to. Take care all, and I hope to post something worthwhile next time.

Annoyed-and-Ranting Yours Truly…

What surrounds us affects us

It is a known fact that the environment around us greatly influences us. It can positively or negatively affect our growth as an individual. This is the easiest explanation as to why tulips are not found in deserts and cactus are not seen in dense greenery. Some cultures also place great emphasis on the interiors of their houses or offices by applying rules of Feng shui ( Chinese) or Vastu Shastra (Hindu) and such. I always used to think that these are just money minting strategies. And I still don’t really know how effective they are but I truly am experiencing the negativity of a particular environment I am exposed to 5 days a week- that of my workplace. 

Sitting in a closed cubicle, on a chair compromising ideal ergonomic conditions, I have begun to hate coming to this place now. An active and jolly person like me becomes a drousy and lazy employee as soon as I enter this room. Ofcourse I can immediately point out the problems this place has. The complete absence  of sunlight and ventilation is a major factor in making the air of this place unhealthy. Everyone keeps complaining but to no avail. I actually feel like changing my job now because I really feel this kind of place and working style will kill my creativity and thinking process. 

The other day I took a break from the routine and went to the beach with my family. And when I felt the cool water slip under my toes, tickling and teasing my feet, I felt a joy I had long forgotten. I suddenly remembered how I used to come to the same beach as a kid, how I learnt my first lessons of swimming here (I still haven’t mastered the sport), how I used to search the beach for different types of seashells  and how I used to be fascinated by the slight dizzying illusion that I am moving  when the wave used to hit my feet and draw back. I used to stand there for many more crashes of waves just to see how much I had moved ahead. 

The few hours at the beach were refreshing. All of us were quiet most of the time. Apart from the munching sounds of the samosas we were snacking on, we could just hear the waves and the distant sound of kids playing somewhere around the area. We left when the sun bid us goodbye for the day and the sky changed its colours, preparing to accommodate the moon. 

   
      

Sisterhood blogger

So this is my second award nomination since I joined the blogging journey! Thanks a ton, Mon for the pleasing gesture! Answering your questions:

WHAT IS MY MOST LIKED:

• Post from your blog: I love the sarcasm in your rants but my most favorite post of your blog is , Hijab means Shield.
• Book: That one is again difficult to decide because I am a bibliophile. I have grown up reading all sorts of books, the ‘Harry Potter’ series being my childhood obsession. So I guess ‘The Boy who Lived’ rules over ‘Mr. Darcy’, ‘David Copperfield’ even though I admire the latter heartily.
• Song: This award is really making me exercise my brain a lot. I listen to songs and hum them throughout the day but to select one is so difficult. Each song triggers a different set of memories and accompanying emotions. But the song that comes to my mind right now is ‘Na jaane mere dil ko kya hogaya, abhi tho yahin tha abhi hogaya’ from DDLJ. So I guess, it is my most favorite.
• Video: My home videos. The one in which I am the cute baby star. 😉
• Funny Video: There are many Bollywood movies which set me on a laughing riot. I guess one movie particularly never fails to make me laugh, regardless of the number of times I watched it and that is ‘Hungama’ . Watch the movie and you would understand.
• Quote: Imam Ali (Peace be Upon Him) the fourth Caliph of Muslims has the best quotes I have ever read. One particular favorite of mine is, “Smile, even if your heart is dripping blood.’ It inspires me to follow the Sunnah of our Prophet Muhammad (SAW).
• Tag/Topic: Life. Celebrating it. Recollecting it. Reminiscing it. Loving it.

Now its my turn to nominate and I choose the following:

1. Sandra
2. A.B.Mood
3. Maira
4. Shelby
5. Himali Shah

I want to know the following from those nominated:

1. What was your ‘Dream come true moment’ in life so far?
2. Favorite food?
3. If there was one thing you would like to change about the world, what would it be?
4. Favorite place to travel?
5. An ideal weekend would be ? Describe.
6. Who is the most important person in your life?
7. How important is ‘Religion’?
8. Your take on the world in one line.
9. What do you like about my blog? What would you want me to post more about?
10. A thought/incident that changed your perspective of life.

Have fun, girls! 😀 . Keep the Sisterhood going!

Reflecting upon ‘The Lunchbox’

I had been meaning to watch the movie’ The Lunchbox’ for a long time and I watched it today. It was such a simple, yet moving story and I believe everyone can relate to it. The concept of an epistolary love story between the male protagonist who is the old, lonely widower who doesn’t attempt conversing with anybody in general and the young and unhappy wife of an unfaithful husband was so interesting. Each character has an important space on the screen and what stole my heart was the subtle ending of the movie. Its like the director wants the audience to come up with a suitable ending. I won’t disclose the plot of the movie here (I hate spoilers 😝) but there is one dialogue in the movie which was thought-provoking. One of the protagonists realize and reflect that ‘I think we forget things if there is nobody to tell them’.  Isn’t that the story of all our lives? In a way, it is a blessing because there are always certain bitter things in life we don’t want to remember, certain life-changing moments of life we run away from. But I believe there are many more things which are obligatory for us to remember, the innocence  of childhood, the vigour and determination of youth, goodness done to us by others topping the list.

So let’s pause and think today, ‘what is it that we have forgotten, but deserves to be given more attention from our side? Is it a lover, a family member, a friend in need, or is it just us, an original, non-reformed version?’

Kismet

loved every word, from the beginning to the end!!!! Must-read!!!!

tinydoseofhappiness

We had a huge field of coconut trees in front of our house, every evening the sun would play peekaboo with us and hide behind the leaves only to reappear a few seconds later, as a child that’s how Baba got me to eat every day, he would say that with every morsel I take the sun would come out, and when it did I would squeal in delight, and give him the knowing look which meant ‘See, I control the sun’.

We lived in a tiny one-storied house, we had grape creepers and peach bougainvillea’s growing around the front door, which opened to a reasonably decent sized living room, with two bedrooms on the left, the one on the right was occupied by my aunt and a kitchen. When Baba went to work, my aunt would take over the house, she’d do all the household chores while keeping an…

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Religion vs. Islam

True! Subhan Allah! 🙂

Love is friendship

There are relations we are born with such as those of family and there are ties we create of our own accord which are categorized under a term called ‘FRIENDSHIP’. So today celebrates this bond and I became aware of that only when one of my Whatsapp contacts wished me a ‘Happy Friendship Day’. I am not one who is against celebrations or oppose tying friendship bands or such but I guess my negligence could be due to the fact that I celebrate friendship everyday. In fact, I would not like to call it ‘celebrate’, rather I ‘live’ by friendship every single moment of every single day. Although I may not be one who has a very active social life but I can be proud of my tiny and precious collection of the friends I own. When someone asks me who my best friend is, I really am put in a dilemma because I am the type of person who forms bonds that are really strong, each with their own touch of magic or I do not form them at all. Ofcourse I am cordial and approachable to people in general but I may not make the effort to call everyone of them. And that, according to my mother is a quality I possess that is actually my weakness.

There are many people I am close to, whom I can count on anytime of the day. I have a soul sister who can relate to every emotion I feel because our fate has somewhat been intertwined since we met. We go through the highs and lows of our life almost always together. When her life is taken over by a storm, I always know by intuition that its going to rock my boat soon. That is something I have never experienced with anyone else. Then there is a very dear friend of mine who is the most mature of our group and makes sense of things when everything seems hazy to me. I also own a sweetheart who always sees the best in me and uplifts me literally to cloud 9 by her almost diabetes-inducing words of praise. Then there is this childish, stubborn girl who has a very loving and caring heart for those who dig in through its crust. She makes me feel responsible for her and even though she is just a year younger than me, I always feel concerned and protective about her. The last piece of my treasure box is a physically distant yet heart warming girl who is one of my oldest friends. I am sure she has her own collection of friends, but no matter many days,months or years space our conversations, I am sure I am the crux of her collection, just as she is mine. We always know what to say to the other when we need each other.

As you see, this post was dedicated especially to my friends. The ones who have sailed in the same boat as mine, those who have sailed adjacent to me, providing me the luxury of companionship amidst the staggering waves of time and also those who continue to journey alongside me despite their own priorities and struggles. I thank Allah for these blessings. Happy Friendship Day!!!!!

Painted by: Leonic Afremov