Ramadan, Iftar parties and unexpected rains !

A glimpse of the rain from my window

Its after sunset here in Karachi and I just sat down to blog after breaking my fast.Its the month of Ramadan (Acc to Islamic calender) in which all the muslims fast from dawn to dusk and refrain from all kinds of food,drinks and sinful activities. With Ramadan comes not only a lot of worship but Iftar parties as well.People invite those who fast at their homes and they break the fast togethor.We just had an Iftar party at my friend Faryal's place who was more than excited to have us over since she's leaving to meet her parents in Saudi Arabia tommorrow and will be coming back after two long months !

Faryal and her delicious cutlets !

It was a good thing that we had the party in the weekend because just as the weekend ended all of a sudden the met department announced thunderous rains.It was most unexpected since its post-monsoon time in Karachi and it rarely rains in this season.Let alone rain so heavily that the entire sky went dark and it rained for like two days on an on and off basis.It was fun at the start (yes, fun,there is so much of sunshine in Karachi that people call cloudy weather pleasant and rainy days fun !!) but soon I grew tired because there was too much water on the roads, there were traffic jams and I had to miss two days of college. I was hoping the temperature would go down after the rain but it was so hot today that it seemed it had never rained, the only indication was the humidity !! I'm pretty sure the temperature was somewhere around 36 C.

The dark clouds (This pic was taken by my friend Maria)

Even this pic doesn't do justice to how dark it got at 12 noon ( Pic-Courtesy of Maria)

An update on life !

14th August - The national flag on my neighbours roof

Sadly my vacations have ended and I'm back to routine life.It was just so depressing to get back to the monotonous life after two months of vactions but gladly I'm getting used to it and the parties that my friends keep throwing every now and then are making life less boring. But a lot of interesting things happened last week. I ran into an old friend in college.She was my best friend in the 4th grade and infact was the first friend I had made in Pakistan after we moved.She had changed schools in the 5th grade and I had lost contact from her. But then just last week a girl walked upto me in the Girls Common Room and asked " Najwa, right ?", "Yeah" I said trying to shuffle through the many faces I know in my mind without any success, she went all smiley face and said "Its me Anum from school,remember" , imagine my surprise and ofcourse the embarrasment at not recognizing her ! We chit chatted for a short while and I came to know that she did her matriculation and thus was a year ahead of me in college ( I did my O levels which takes a year more than Matriculation).It was great meeting her but I realised that the 12 years that we were away from each other had changed a lot.We were both different individuals with different interests and different friends and perhaps the relationship between us could never be the same !.But I'm just glad we met after such a long time.We can atleast be friends if not best friends !.

Other than that ,there came 14th August which is the independence day of Pakitan and a national holiday.The preparation for the celebration begins from the 1st of August and patriotic TV shows are aired on Television.We had a week of celebration in college with a debate competition,poetry competition,painting competition etc..It was really fun.

Other than that this week was filled with birthday parties, 9 of my friends have their birthdays in August and so does my Dad ! I hope all those cakes dont give me digestive problems ! :)

There is so much I want to share but I guess I'll keep some stuff for next time..:)

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