Get rid of toxins

Regrets,
harshness,
failures,
indifference, rejections.

These are all toxins. They poison your soul. They limit you. They drain you.
Wash these toxins away. Get rid of them on daily basis. Be happy.

Opt to heal

Everything  has to go.
Happiness..misery...
pain..regrets..
people.....
life...!!

Letting go does not mean giving up or losing.It is acceptance.
Acceptance of reality is hard but it is an option and healing starts when you opt to.

Deception

Ego  is treacherous. It deceives you  into thinking that you are In control.. It gives you the feeling of pride and being superior in exchange of  precious moments and emotions of loved ones.

It feeds on anger and pride.
It  wastes moments which could have been turned into sweet memories.

It eats you up silently.

bury that ego (reminisces from Madina)

Offering nimaz- e- janaza five times a day is enough
to keep our feet on the ground..
To bury our egos....
To forget our differences .

And foremost to remind ourselves to Whom we belong..and to whom we should return!
To spread only love..as probably its the only thing that would remain.

#madinah

Appreciating what we have(reminisces of our hajj)

From air conditioned rooms of aziziah to cushioned tents of Mina ..then to the only carpeted tents of arafat..and then finally sleeping under the open sky in Muzdalfah.

At every single place we thought..'would we able to sleep here..and every single time that we proceeded to next place ..we realized we had so much comfort at the previous place.

We do take things for granted. The blessings, comfort ,health, family,friends.Probably we do not realize their worth until they are no more.
After the five days of Hajj , you do learn the art of being content and grateful. Appreciate people, comfort ,love and gifts you have in present. (P.s. Be it a simple tent or open sky..one thing was though common at each of the place .....'a sound sleep'!)

beating hate and hatred

As you walk to long stretches in scorching heat for your pilgrimage, you can see after every few steps.. people in uniforms, volunteers ,teenagers and even school children..ready to sprinkle water over you to beat the heat .They defeat heat along with hatred.They spread love ,kindness and lots of smiles.

While focussing on non-issues ,we frequently tangle ourselves in the differences.

We forget these lines from the last sermon:

"O people: your lives and your property and your honour are inviolable to each other."
Yet we take lives for property and in the name of honour.
Lets beat this heat and hatred by accepting people for what they are.

Not Diamonds... adventures are forever.

So they say…“Do not believe them, go see it” I had never thought that I would instantly fall in love with Peshawar! This place has so much history attached to it...the hospitality is heartwarming and it is much more developed than our capital city. It was certainly one of the most amazing travelling experiences. Our visit included The Afghsanistan border at Torkham, beautiful but neglected Mahabat Khan mosque in Peshawar, the historic Khyber- rifles (also where Princess Diana stayed on her visit to peshawar) the famous charsi Tikka hotel Amazing dances and much more. There are so many different colors of human nature we observed. The weirdness (# the arrested tree) Beauty (#MahabatKhan Mosque with amazing intricate patterns) The brutality which makes you shiver with horror (#taimurLane tunnel filled with razors and blade to kill the prisoners by sliding them through this ) and The hospitality despite of language barriers (#amazing qahwas, amazing and welcoming smiles).Diamonds adventures are forever .

#charsiTikka #mahabatKhanMosque #peshawar #afghanistan #torkham #khyberrifle

A 21 gun salute for all women around the world (and some men)

This post is for women who have inspired ,lead, loved and shaped me directly or indirectly.
For my mothers, sister, aunts,teachers,friends,collegues
For all the malalas, muniba mazaris,mukhtarmais ,sharmeens
This is my 21 gun salute to women all around the world for

1.       For rising up strongly every time they break.

2.       For reading by magic, the heart, the  mind and unspoken words

3.       For multitasking each and every day. They can cook, read, teach, wash dishes at the same time without saying ‘ How can I listen?… I am cooking ‘(Not all men.. because rest of them do not cook;))

4.       For not only multitasking but multi-hearing too.(Is that a word? I seriously think it should be).Listening to five people at the same time and the very next second registering the complaints of not paying enough attention.

5.       For accepting to forgive thousands of times with a smile (ok and sometimes with rolling eyes)  

6.       For being the strongest pillar of strength God has made.

7.       For listening to the same story tenth time with the same awe and excitement

8.       For encouraging others even when her own feet falter with fear

9.       For being the last one to sleep.. making sure every one has been fed and read

10.   For being the unpaid Sunday worker happily

11.   For expression of her love in thousands of ways which might be taken for granted but that doesn’t make her stop.

12.   For comforting ,uplifting and  cheering

13.   For having the gift of giving

14.   For possessing a heart that melts even for those who make her cry

15.   For appreciating others while going unappreciated herself most of the times

16.   For being the sun who light up the sky  

17.   For managing and conforming to the values of two different families at the same time

18.   For radiating positive energy

19.   For practicing ‘ others first’ without realizing

20.   For agreeing to kill with a rolling eye instead of a gun and signing a peace deal merely with a glass of cold coffee .

21.   And one of course for men who encourage ,support ,give space and most of all give respect to women.