11/06/2006

living the life of an arees

All Ramadaan i was glad that my weight was being kept under control and whoopeee over a weekend all that flab has reappeared. partly i am to be blamed as well - i could have gone with a salad, but then red lobster with endless shrimp was like a sweet juicy carrot dangling in front of me. i fell for it reminding myself that i had a week to recover. but i have seriously no excuse for that wonderful delicious dessert called as icecream. what fitna!!! No it is time for LA fitna ... sorry LA fitness.

actually the arees thingy started a day before when people started asking me for tickets to india and i politely started selling the place that i had inside my suitcases. till now 4 people have committed to occupying the suitcases.

i never knew how this thing spreads - circa icc picnic - everything from biryani to roast lamb to advice to personal stories to apartment to tension (and the absence of it) to clothes and i forget the others. yes and imad did not make it any easier. now even at isha those little cub scouts come walking to me - not knowing how to congratulate me - but inquiring whether what they heard is true. and the pleasure they derive from hearing it from the horse's mouth!!!

and the less said about chat the better. when i went back to india for the first time - there was this set of questions tht were to be expected from everyone. i have now become aware of the next set of questions. (hitting-head-on-chair-smiley)

11/04/2006

speculation theory

I promise this will be my only speculation - but the rove machine surely is going to use the impending trial decision of saddam to twist the tide in the two days prior to nov 7.

10/31/2006

vote for bloggers

[1] http://www.scholarships-ar-us.org/blog/2006/10/31/vote-for-the-winner-of-the-blogging-scholarship/
These 10 finalists have a few good blogs. let me not be biased towards anyone, but have a look at what they have to offer. some same stuff like ours, one apple fan.....

[2] http://www.intelbloggerchallenge.com/
6 blogs - 5 weeks - you decide who is worth the prize.

Tag is dangerous - dont play

Subhanallah, tag is now declared by one an Attleboro elementary school to be violent for the kids. Reminds me of those times we played hide&seek, and to take the denner out, we ran, skinned our knees, elbows, cried and then went back to play. How far are we going to shield our children??? There is already the rule of "spare the rod and spoil the child" (and babysitters are gnashing right now). It seems all topsy turvy here.

10/26/2006

Vending machine no more

coming off from ramadaan, some old habits die hard - especially the one of seeing a $1 note being sucked into a vending machine and a bottle of refreshing dr pepper being ejected noisely down a chute. too bad they raised the price of a bottle to $1.35. That extra jingle from 35 cents drove me away. seems like costco zindabad from now on.

10/23/2006

An article why muslimness is thrust in the face

Nice Article - http://www.indianexpress.com/story/15271.html

From the article -
Indian Muslims from being mishal-e-raah (pathfinders) have, over the last 60 years, become raah ke pathar (stones on the path). The slide has been unrelenting, and neither the community itself nor its leaders have made any move to arrest this. Nor has the media. The Gudiyas and Imranas have hogged headlines. Images of veiled women appear with or without reason, to titillate readers. An aggregate of the two confirms stereotypes of “retrograde Islam”. But very few scribes and producers have bothered to highlight the Malegaons. They are present in every one of our 600 districts and yet they remain invisible to all.
The onus is equally on the Muslims. What are they going to do to better their circumstances? The first word of the Quran is ‘Igra’ which means ‘read’. It seems that the time for that has at last arrived.

On a lighter note - why is it that you get benefits for muslim women education and not men?

10/12/2006

Dear X

If my thanking God for His blessings is a blessing,
then I must thank Him again in the same measure again.
How can one thank Him save by His grace
as time goes on and life goes by?
If a good thing comes, I rejoice heartily;
if a bad thing comes, I receive a reward.
In both cases He gives me a gift too large
for the minds of men, and the land and sea.
- Mahmud al-Warraq

Everyday of the year we come across many blessings that we don't even acknowledge. There were numberous fund-raisers so that we will have enough funds for the year to come, but how many of us thought about those people who started that masjid, fund, organisation that actually is benefitting us today. I am guilty over here itself since this was brought to my attention over a casual iftar, by a person who was coming for the first time.

This post is to remind us of "X" who contributed for the masjid that I pray in today, who made possible my iftar, who made material available for free for the sake of knowledge, who stand up for me in the places I dont know, who help me in becoming a better person either directly or indirectly, who teach me knowingly and unknowingly, who think they are better than others and use their talent likewise, who refuse to acknowledge their worth but always are like the hidden gems, who unify people for a common goal either for sport or recreation or anything constructive, who work without pay, who run events because they like to, who give a smile whenever they can, and who thank you for what you have done.

Dear Sister

Muslim relates on the authority of 'Abdallah ibn Amr (ra) that the Prophet saws said " whoever does not show compassion to our young, and does not know the rights of elders. is not one of us."

One of the distasteful features today is the worship of youth and its indifference towards the elderly. We have strong sentiments of independent views among the youth but lack of mental ability to counter the consequences that these views bring about. The resentment towards authority, and the overnight disappearance of the trust that existed before the rebellous teenage 'I-am-right' years. Elderly folks are given all avenues of "easy-assisted" living but the main pillars of their assistance get their jobs done by a monthly payment to the shelter.

People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. People around you help you grow, and only in the weirdest of places will they be unsupportive of everyone's wish to live a better life.

This post goes towards all the people that I know have made my life better - to my sister who cared for me, played with me, quarrelled with me, scolded me, shared her icecream when mine got over, taught me- to my cousins who all contributed to make the diverse family in terms of education and non-education, closely familial and distantly familial, urban and rural - to grandparents that were an example by themselves, teachers like no others, and pamperers of grandchildren - to those people whom you never know how they are related, but are always seen at family gatherings, and who always support your family - to those friends from elementary, secondary,high,undergrad and grad schools who played, competed etc - to those friends who did not have to be in your school to be friends with you.

What you are today is partly a product of what you were surrounded with. Those people who have shaped your life deserve a round of thought in your prayers for mercy from Allah swt.

Dear Mom

After Rasulallah, sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam, moved onto ar-Rafiq al-'Ala, the Ummah was tested with humans that tried to corrupt, discredit, or amputate the Sunnah from Islam.

And from the depths of the Ummah's men and women, Allah ta'ala - from His mercy to the Ummah of Muhammad - raised up warriors that would stand in the face of the most vicious of the enemies of the Sunnah.

From those people that Allah ta'ala raised was a young boy named Ahmad. Ahmad lived in Baghdad over a thousand years ago. On those cold wintery nights, his mother - the blessed Mu'minah that she was - would wake long before Fajr to warm the water for her son. Then - again long before Fajr - she would wake him to make Wudhu, then she would wrap him in shawls and off through the molten dark alleys of Baghdad they would carefully make their way to the Masjid.

There was no male to escort him (he was an orphan), so Ahmad's mother would take him that early so that he could get a good seat in the hadith halaqah after Fajr. Then she would wait for him long after the sun rose to safely escort him back home. Her son grew up to be one of these warrior defenders of the Sunnah, one of the four Imams of this Din, Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal.

So when was the last time you appreciated your mom and all that she does behind the scenes for you? How ever much we undergo for our moms, we dont even come any close to what she has done for us. When she has left her job to look after me, cleaned up after I messed things up, taught me my first words, deciphered what I actually meant at that time (and now as well), made eid special, cooked hot rotis at sahri, listened to all the complains I had, gave me a good whacking when I was rude with whatever she could lay her hand on, made me realize the value of home, bought me goodies that only I appreciated, and still does more things. Alhamdulillah for the boon/gift/etc called as parents.

Dear Dad


http://cjcphoto.com/can/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4B-r8KJhlE

Taken from the article:
Eighty-five times Dick Hoyt has pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in marathons. Eight times he's not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars--all in the same day.

This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best time'? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992--only 35 minutes off the world record, which, in case you don't keep track of these things, happens to be held by a guy who was not pushing another man in a wheelchair at the time.


Like Dick Hoyt, our own dads have a tale of their own - about how our lives have changed together. From the time when he changed nappies for the first time, rushed me to the doctor when I sneezed and coughed, protected me from the terrible howling winds and rains of the monsoons, taught me the first alphabets, read to me from 'Tell me Why', brought the first trainset, took me to the first day of school, took me home after the first day of school, travelled with me in our vacations, gave me a taste of punishment so that i dont do that thing again, and many more. All the time managing the pressures of a job, and family, and extended family!!!! They are superhumans- Not the insulting way dads are portrayed in the form of Homer Simpson.

Remember the mercy of Allah SWT in the form of your dad, and how your life was easier because of his presence. There are different levels of engagement - the least is to pray for him regularly.

My initial plan was to write about Imam Ghazaali's dad but last minute changes happen.

10/11/2006

Shyamapana festival


The last 10 days of Ramadaan are just a wink away. Though each one of us will be striving to maximise this time either in prayers, Quran, duas, I would also like to take the step of asking for forgiveness from each one of you - for anything I may have done intentionally and unintentionally, for anything I may have said but not meant, for anything that I may have written. We live a very busy, worldly life. In the process, we accumulate a lot of mental and emotional clutter. We gather unnecessary baggage of pride, fear, animosity, greed, ego and delusions in our thoughts and feelings.

So over the last year if I would have hurt your feelings in any way or form, please forgive me – "Verzeihen Sie mir bitte", “Perdóneme por favor” and give me mandate to start a new score!!

Shyamapana is a festival of forgiveness; it's popular in folks of Jain faith.

9/30/2006

auctions at fundraisers


Ahamdulillah the last two auctions at MAS and PMIS were entertaining. SH should get the compliments for this.Bravo!!! and his attentive companion HN - Bravo!!

But the auction can also be a distraction to the actual fundraising. The same person who donated lets say $500 towards PMIS is left wondering why he did not wait till the auction to donate the same amount. Yes niyat matters, no doubt. But if you are inviting guests over and then tempting them with auction rather than fundraising then the event should be named as an auction. (there is nothing wrong with calling it an auction, its a noble cause). Everyone can argue that the donor (not the auction winner) wanted to soften his heart and extend his generosity and uplift the community and he does it only for the sake of Allah swt (hey this is one of the branches of faith). But arent we ridiculing his intention and making it more difficult for future donors to give in the noble cause without taking anything back in return?

How to wear a lungi


http://www.lungi425.com/how2wear.htm

9/27/2006

insurance logic



Anyone ever understood the reasoning behind increasing insurance premium when you change addresses. I moved from Chandler to Tempe and they (AAA) said that insurance will be higher because it is Tempe. I move back to chandler and they put the same argument once more. Cheaters!! If they did not give the lowest rates I would shift away.

9/23/2006

Bill Clinton takes on chris wallace

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/09/22/president-clinton-blasts-chris-wallace/

The best answer till date:

WJC : Well, every even number year–right before an election–they come up with some security issue. In 2000, right before the election. In 2002, our party supported them in undertaking weapon inspections in Iraq and were 100% behind them in Afghanistan and they didn’t have any way to make us look like we didn’t care about terror. And so they decided they would [push] the Homeland Security bill that they opposed and they put some pill in it that we wouldn’t pass–like taking the job rights away from 170,000 people–and then [they could] say that we were weak on terror if we weren’t for it. This year I think they wanted to make the question of prisoner treatment and intercepted communications the same sort of issue until John Warner came and Lindsey Graham got in there and it turns out there were some Republicans who believe in the Constitution and their convictions…some ideas about how best to fight terror.

9/22/2006

Please DIGG

Start DIGGING please

http://digg.com/videos_educational/Realization_of_Ramadaan

9/21/2006

Nerd? Geek? or Dork?






Pure Nerd
60 % Nerd, 30% Geek, 26% Dork
For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.
A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.
A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.
You scored better than half in Nerd, earning you the title of: Pure Nerd.

The times, they are a-changing. It used to be that being exceptionally smart led to being unpopular, which would ultimately lead to picking up all of the traits and tendences associated with the "dork." No-longer. Being smart isn't as socially crippling as it once was, and even more so as you get older: eventually being a Pure Nerd will likely be replaced with the following label: Purely Successful.

Congratulations!

9/20/2006

Real-life ‘Iqbal’ lets his pace bowling do the talking

http://www.indianexpress.com/story/13121.html

Never thought it was impossible but didnot think it would follow so soon. Probably the movie iqbal had something to do with changing the mindsets. Gosh India has so many fast bowlers, its time they also won us some matches - I mean with the bowling not batting. :)

In memory of ...

Names of children under the age of 18 killed during the operations mounted by the Israeli military in Gaza since 25 June, according to the Palestinian Centre of Human Rights


Bara Nasser Habib, 3 (hit by shrapnel to the head and body, Gaza City, 26 July)
Shahed Saleh Al-Sheikh Eid, 3 days old (bled to death after airstrike, Al-Shouka, 4 August)
Rajaa Salam Abu Shaban, 3 (died of fractured skull in air raid, Gaza City, 9 August)
Jihad Selmi Abu Snaima, 14 (killed by a shell, Al-Shoukha, 10 september)
Khaled Nidal Wahba, 15 months (died of wounds from an airstrike, 10 July)
Rawan Farid Hajjaj, 6 (killed with his mother and sister in an airstrike, Gaza City, 8 July)
Anwar Ismail Abdul Ghani Atallah, 12 (shot in the head, Erez, 5 July)
Shadi Yousef Omar 16 (shot in the chest by IDF, Beit Lahya, 7 July)
Mahfouth Farid Nuseir, 16 (killed by missile while playing football, Beit Hanoun, 11 July)
Ahmad Ghalib Abu Amsha, 16, (killed by missile while playing football, Beit Hanoun, 11 July)
Ahmad Fathi Shabat, 16 (killed by missile while playing football, Beit Hanoun, 11 July)
Walid Mahmoud El-Zeinati, 12 (died of shrapnel wounds, Gaza City, 11 July)
Basma Salmeya, 16 (killed in Israeli airstrike, 12 July, Jabalia)
Somaya Salmeya, 17 (killed in Israeli airstrike, 12 July, Jabalia)
Aya Salmeya, 9 (killed in Israeli airstrike, Jabalia, 12 July)
Yehya Salmeya, 10 (killed in Israeli airstrike, Jabalia, 12 July)
Nasr Salmeya, 7 (killed in Israeli airstrike, Jabalia, 12 July)
Huda Salmeya, 13 (killed in Israeli airstrike, Jabalia, 12 July)
Eman Salmeya, 12 (killed in Israeli airstrike, Jabalia, 12 July)
Raji Omar Jaber Daifallah, 16 (died of shrapnel wounds from missile, Gaza City, 13 July)
Ali Kamel Al-Najjar, 16 (killed by Israeli tank shell, Al-Maghazi refugee camp, 19 July)
Ahmed Ali Al-Na'ami, 16 (killed by Israeli tank shell, Al-Maghazi refugee camp, 19 July)
Ahmed Rawhi Abu Abdu, 14 (killed by drone missile, Al Nusairat refugee camp, 19 July)
Mohammed 'awad Muhra, 14 (killed by Israeli bullet to the chest, Al-Maghazi refugee camp, 20 July)
Fadwa Faisal Al-'arrouqi, 13 (died from shrapnel wounds, Gaza City, 20 July)
Saleh Ibrahim Nasser, 14 (killed by artillery fire, Beit Hanoun, 24 July)
Khitam Mohammed Rebhi Tayeh, 11 (killed by artillery fire, Beit Hanoun, 24 July)
Ashraf 'abdullah 'awad Abu Zaher, 14 (shot in the back, Khan Younis, 25 July)
Nahid Mohammed Fawzi Al-Shanbari, 16 (killed by artillery fire, Beit Hanoun, 31 July)
'aaref Ahmed Abu Qaida, 14 (killed by artillery fire, Beit Hanoun, 1 August)
Anis Salem Abu Awad, 12 (killed by airstike, Al-Shouka, 2 August)
Ammar Rajaa Al-Natour, 17 (killed by drone missile, Al Shouka, 5 August)
Kifah Rajaa Al-Natour, 15 (killed by drone missile, Al Shouka, 5 August)
Ibrahim Suleiman Al-Rumailat, 13 (killed by drone missile, Al Shouka, 5 August)
Ahmed Yousef 'abed 'aashour, 13 (killed by missile fire, Beit Hanoun, 14 August)
Mohammed 'abdullah Al-Ziq, 14 (killed by drone missile, Gaza City, 29 August)
Nidal 'abdul 'aziz Al-Dahdouh, 14 (killed by rifle fire, Gaza City, 30 August)
Jihad Selmi Abu Snaima, 14 (killed by artillery fire, Rafah, 10 September)

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article1619227.ece