One of the best cures for influenza !

It's been weeks since the sun has'nt shone properly, hence this is the peak time for the flu to spread. Sadly, I've fallen victim to the evil virus.And all I can do is blow my nose and cough as the proteinaceous alien grows and multiplies in my body ! I'm taking medicines but more than that I'm drinking as much hot drinks and soups as I can drink,or rather as much as my mom can make me drink !. One of the various things I'm treating myself with is a therapeutic herbal tea called 'Johar Joshanda' by Qarshi ( The company that makes it) Its the most effective and miraculous cure for flu,sore throats and other flu related symptoms that I've been able to find. I believe every household from every strata of the society in Pakistan would agree on its effectiveness and would testify to its being miraculous. And incredibly I'm not the only one who says that..

Here is a link to page from the Times magazine..Its an article by Aryn Baker

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1734666_1734664_1734656,00.html

Just to add, this tea can be found internationally at shops that sell Indian/Pakistani products.

Meeting locals at a foreign country

Two weeks back we were coming back to California after a trip from Ohio.My grandma was with us too and since she suffers from breathing problems we had asked for a wheel chair at the airport. As we landed after the long flight at LAX airport we sat at the entrance until the wheelchair arrived.When it finally did ,the person pushing the wheel chair looked like he was somewhere from the subcontinent.I was guessing South India.Anyways he had my grandma settled into the wheelchair and we walked to the elevator. I was waiting for the elevator with my back against the wall at the side of the elevator door looking here and there absentmindedly when the elevator door opened and a man pushing a wheel chair came out of it, I had n't really noticed him but as he passed in front of me, he looked at me with a big wide smile, bowed his head slightly and said 'assalam alaikum' ( thats a greeting muslims use when they meet each other, it means may God's peace be on you ) with such energy that it startled me ,he was a brown skinned guy, and seemed to be Pakistani by his accent. I smiled back and said 'walaikum salam' with much pleasure to have met a Pakistani guy. After that brief exchange of greetings he went his way and I entered the elevator.

I realised that he must have noticed that my grandma was wearing a shalwar kameez (the traditional Pakistani dress) and my looks must have confirmed my Pakistani roots to him. Even though I did'nt know him nor do I expect to meet him again but the pleasure I felt in meeting him was amazing.It made me realise how good it feels to meet someone with the same background at a foreign place..

Well that was n't it.A little while after we entered the elevator the man who was pushing my grandmas wheelchair asked me what language I spoke.

'Urdu', I replied (Pakistan's national language).

" You are from Pakistan ?" he asked back.

" Yeah " was my short reply..

" I'm from Sri Lanka" he said with a smile

"Oh " and then I smiled back not knowing what to say any further.

After a brief silence he continued " Do you know your cricket team is in our country these days,there's a cricket match between your team and our team today "

" Oh really ? I didn't know that"

" You don't like cricket ?" he asked with an astonished look on his face ,and I dont blame him, every person in the subcontinent usually likes cricket.

"No,actually I wasn't able to follow cricket while all this travelling" I replied a little embarassed

The elevator bell rang just then and we had to step out breaking the conversation.We walked to the waiting area and he had my grandma settled onto the waiting area chairs, more helpingly and courteously than I could have expected. As he began to walk away with his wheelchair. I said a little good bye and " Best of luck for the match" He walked away with a big smile.

I still don't know who won that match !!

A note of appreciation and recommendation !

I just came across Shehzad Roy's blog and started following it.Shehzad Roy came to Public attention as a singer back in 1995 .His songs were greatly praised and liked by the public but soon he gained attention not just as a singer but as a humanitarian when he started his organisation by the name of 'Zindagi trust' zindagi literally means life and his organisation works to provide education to the underprivileged children in Pakistan. He has been awarded for his hardwork and selfless dedication to his community both at national and international level..I too admire him.His blog appears on my Blog list, lower on this page. Please read it to support this individual who is striving to help the poor kids in our society !

My day dreaming problem

A pic from the Northern areas of Pakistan - The Himalyas

I'm a day dreamer and always have been, but unfortunately now this habbit is proving disadvantageous and problematic to mention the least.I'm growing absent-minded beacuse of the constant day-dreaming. Sometimes its just a moment of my thoughts drifting away to some imaginative situation and at other times its a good long phase when I completely lose track of time. I forget what people say to me or what instructions I'm being given.It does n't just annoy me it irritates the people around me. My 'glass half- full' approach to this situation is that philosophers and scientists are always absent minded. They say Einstein forgot to attend his own wedding while another scientist (I've forgotten who it was ) boiled his watch for a whole 20 mins thinking it was an egg !!!

My mom's 'glass half-empty' approach to this situation is that every scientist may have been absent minded but every absent minded person does not turn into a scientist !!!.

(I know she's right but I'll continue with my optimistic approach while trying to improve :))

As my heart sings along

Away from friends

Uzma and Faryal and their oh so teasing looks !

Its Summer and I'm away from home at my uncle's place in California, USA..Well obviously its good to be on a vacation and enjoy the relaxation and roaming around but its always sad to be away from the fun my friends keep having back home...They keep uploading pics of their activities and day outs and make me jealous :) But thanks to facebook we all keep connected.By the end of summer our mail threads are a good 50 pages long !!..I was wondering what friends did a 100 years back when the only way of communicating was mails which took months to arrive, distances must have felt so bad and depressing then !

Wedding dresses for the bride and the groom

A model wearing a traditional bridal dress called a lehnga

The interest in my last post made me realize that wedding rituals and practices are a popular choice for readers So here's a little more on the wedding on the festivities.This time its the dresses of the bride and the groom.

A Pakistani wedding is a very colourful occasion and is rich with culture.No matter what people wear in their everyday lives on a wedding every one makes sure they adorn a traditional dress.These dresses reflect the glory of east and the charm and grandeur of the once mighty Mughal empire.Embroidery,sequins, and other intricately crafted details are often hand made with amazing precision. The pictures below are from the online galleries of various fashion designers.The pictures are from photo shoots in studios and not a traditional wedding setup :)

Notice the detailed design

Brides usually wear a sharara, the dress in the above pics.The groom wears a sherwani (shown in the pics below).Both the lehnga and sherwani come in various colours and a vast variety of designs.

The model is wearing a traditional sherwani designed by Amir Adnan

A closer look at the sherwani.

This one has embroidery done on it by golden and silver wire

This one's made of a fabric called Jaamawar which is silk weaved with golden threads

This ones a subtle black sherwani with emroidery only on the collar and sleeves.The red turban gives a great contrast with black.

So this was a little about the dresses.I hoped you like this post as much as I liked writing it.I'll be posting some other stuff about weddings very soon.