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'!)

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.

Autumn's lesson

Nature reminds us every year to let go. Yet we cling to things that are not ours to keep. We cling to pain. We cling to people who have to go. Autumn shows us by example that there is beauty in letting go. 

The devil within

photo courtesy:islamclandmarks

The real devil we have to beat is within us.
It stops us ..
from forgiving,
from loving
and from accepting our differences .

If we beat this devil..we will find peace.

lets keep the spirit alive

Dedicated to my grandparents

“I have accepted the fact that they are no longer there as a person - but their spirit will live forever! And as such, the body is not what I’m attached to; I’m attached to the spirit of a person. The question is how can I attach myself to a body full of weakness if the great spirit of goodness lives on forever! I have learned that acceptance makes us live a happy life and reality is not always a fairytale.”(Mike Horn)

People do leave us..but they within us..

Some live as courage and strength..

Some as unconditional love..

Some as generosity ..

And some with their liveliness and optimism.

We just have to keep the spirit alive somehow!..

When you are left with no grandparents..half of the world seems to end.

But we might be able to keep their spirit alive… if we pass on the unconditional love they introduce us to.

No one in the world can make you feel as special as your grandparents do..but we can  keep the spirit alive by making people  believe that there is something special about them.

We can keep the spirit alive by limitless forgiveness to keep each member of the family together.

We can keep the spirit alive by covering and hiding each other’s shortcomings  and appreciating the goodness which surely lies within everyone.

the pleasures we so easily miss

As I was not feeling well , I decide to rest for a while. After a while my two daughters came and started playing besides me. I wanted to order them to just leave me alone. But I somehow resisted. I am glad I did. After a while, my three year old daughter came and asked me “what happened?” .I told her that  I was not feeling well. She said:’ You will get ok. Just hold my hand’.
She kept holding my hand gently but firmly while playing with the other hand.

Amidst all the yelling, shouting and ordering we miss all the little pleasures that God has sent for us. These are little gifts that forever remain unopened with our  impulse to yell at every small thing they do.

Someone is looking up to you!

Can we even count how many times we utter these sentences to our child:
' I do not have time for this right now''
'Not now please...go and play!'
'WHY DID YOU DO THIS?'
'Read the book yourself..I am sleepy '
'Why are you scared?there is nothing to be scared off..silly! go and get it yourself'
'Shhh..go.....I am watching T.V'

God made us a parent ...He made us  responsible for little ones..Why? Because they are  too small....they look up to us for their needs....and time will come when we would look up to them.
We owe our time to them.Read with them, play with them and most importantly listen to them.

Love them before they no longer they need it.
Listen to them before they find another listener.
Talk to them before they give up on you.

I would like to share this article with  so every parent realizes how special this time is.
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No more oatmeal kisses by Erma Bombeck
A young mother writes: “I know you’ve written before about the empty-nest syndrome, that lonely period after the children are grown and gone. Right now I’m up to my eyeballs in laundry and muddy boots. The baby is teething; the boys are fighting. My husband just called and said to eat without him, and I fell off my diet. Lay it on me again, will you?”
OK. One of these days, you’ll shout, “Why don’t you kids grow up and act your age!” And they will. Or, “You guys get outside and find yourselves something to do . . . and don’t slam the door!” And they won’t.
You’ll straighten up the boys’ bedroom neat and tidy: bumper stickers discarded, bedspread tucked and smooth, toys displayed on the shelves. Hangers in the closet. Animals caged. And you’ll say out loud, “Now I want it to stay this way.” And it will.
You’ll prepare a perfect dinner with a salad that hasn’t been picked to death and a cake with no finger traces in the icing, and you’ll say, “Now, there’s a meal for company.” And you’ll eat it alone.
You’ll say, “I want complete privacy on the phone. No dancing around. No demolition crews. Silence! Do you hear?” And you’ll have it.
No more plastic tablecloths stained with spaghetti. No more bedspreads to protect the sofa from damp bottoms. No more gates to stumble over at the top of the basement steps. No more clothespins under the sofa. No more playpens to arrange a room around.
No more anxious nights under a vaporizer tent. No more sand on the sheets or Popeye movies in the bathroom. No more iron-on patches, rubber bands for ponytails, tight boots or wet knotted shoestrings.
Imagine. A lipstick with a point on it. No baby-sitter for New Year’s Eve. Washing only once a week. Seeing a steak that isn’t ground. Having your teeth cleaned without a baby on your lap.
No PTA meetings. No car pools. No blaring radios. No one washing her hair at 11 o’clock at night. Having your own roll of Scotch tape.
Think about it. No more Christmas presents out of toothpicks and library paste. No more sloppy oatmeal kisses. No more tooth fairy. No giggles in the dark. No knees to heal, no responsibility.
Only a voice crying, “Why don’t you grow up?” and the silence echoing, “I did.”
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Karachi: The city by the sea

  Blaring horns of over loaded buses , deadly traffic, ever crowded bazaars, beggars with their new trick every day, roads which can get flooded with just an hour of heavy rain..

all of this happens in Karachi. But when you close your eyes and think about Karachi..you can see and feel…

Heavy breeze which encapsulate you fully..and captures every essence of you..
shiny colorful buses whose conductors prefer to shout ‘double hai’..instead of tapping the bus two times to signal the clear way..
Sunday bazaars…zainab market..which have a charm of their own
the craze for roll paratha….
addiction to chaai
the city with the best biryani..
spicy chaat..
Aagha's juice..
Ami's pan...
the language of ‘abay yaar’..
the magnificent beach..
 The glittery silver sand which sticks with you for days..
the powerful waves which take away your sorrows..
If you have lived there ..you can never ever disown Karachi.

Karachi has a magnetic gravity which pulls you towards itself with all its force!  And every time you leave ..you just know that you have to come back...The city does not requests you to come ..it knows you will!

The PERFECT home…!

‘Feel  at home’. ‘Home sweet home’…’there is no place like home’

So what is so special and perfect about home? Spotlessly clean? Aesthetically  decorated? Perfect food right on time? Or on the contrary ..everything  is just fine as it is.

After forced conversation and strained smiles throughout the day...the moment you enter home you are free! Free to  throw your shoes where ever you want. Free to put your feet up, play loud music..sing on top of your voice or say nothing at all. You are free to toss that fork away…and eat anyway you like!

There is nothing more comfortable than kicking off the perfect and fashionable shoes that killed your feet all day or releasing yourself of that branded tie that felt like a rope around your neck at the end of the day. It is home where you do not have to be perfect!

So after all… may be  little imperfections are what  make the home so perfect!