Eid Mubarak!! O' the Joys of Wishing others Well!

Eid mubarak (blessed Eid), Eid Sa'eed (Happy Eid), and everything else that's good wishes!

It's Eid today (Tuesday) throughout much of the Muslim world. I realize that some will be celebrating it tomorrow, and I wish them a beautiful Eid as well.

You know, there's a really good, peaceful feeling that comes with wishing others on their holidays. I love, love, love saying Eid mubarak to people. I love going to people's walls on FB or calling them to wish them a wonderful Eid. The feeling is immensely wonderful! I love it even more when a non-Muslim says it to me! It feels really special. And it's for that reason that I also enjoy wishing my Christian friends a Merry Christmas when Christmas is here. This is one thing that all humans share with each other, you know, this practice of celebrating something that's important to us, whatever that is and in whatever different ways we choose to celebrate it. I know, I know - not everyone has something to celebrate, but I am sure that more than most people do. It feels good to belong to a community and to share something with some community, and it's primarily for that reason, I am convinced, that we celebrate holidays and other special occasions.

So! Eid mubarak! Spread the joy and the happiness and the love! But don't over-celebrate such that you forget the miseries, including the poverty and oppression in much of the (Muslim) world, and the fact that they're not fortunate in celebrating with us this year yet again.

Defying Destiny

As always, your critical feedback will be greatly appreciated!

This poem has history. There's this brilliant movie called "The Thornbirds" in which the two main characters try so hard--oh so, so hard--to defy destiny. They both succeed and fail in their own ways, and it is miserable and delightful at the same time. It's the most beautiful, most precious, most intellectually stimulating movie I have ever watched, and I highly recommend it to everyone. Whether you watch it or not, I'm going to be writing its summary and analysis, including my humble interpretation of it, very soon, ka khairee, and that is going to include some spoilers scene and events and endings, so you should watch it like right now. It's very long, but it's so, so beautiful. This has to be one of the two-three movies I would watch more than 50 times during my lifetime. It's available on Youtube; click here to watch it.

That said, ... Enjoy! (Remember to provide feedback; that's always a great way to learn of and work on our imperfections.)

Home again and Updates on Kashmala!

Dear world, I am home again!!!! 'Hamdulilllaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!

Okay, so to the important stuff - Our Kashmala!!! You guuuuuuuuuuyyyyssss!!! This girl IS my life!!! She IS my world!!! She IS my happiness!! She was so happy to see me :) She hugs me allllllll the time, she kisses me, she plays with me, she teases me! And best of all, she listens to me :) When I tell her to do something (of course very very very nicely), she does it; when I tell her not to do something, she doesn't do it! Ohhhh my God!! I'mna go crazy without her just like I did! Near the end of CLS, the only thing that helped me survive was knowing that in a month, in a few weeks, in a few days, in a few hours, I would be with her, she'd be in my arms, I'd be hugging her, I'd be laughing with her, I'd see her precious little teeth as she brightens up the entire house with her smiles and laughters!!

Some funny and cool things she's learned or she does, guys.
She broke my mirror into two pieces (but it was fixable, so it wasn't a biggie), and so she hid it and then turned to me to say, "Hanu [her version of "Shanu," lol], Kashmaloo cute girl." LOL. I kissed her tightly and said, "Oh, yes she is! She's the cutest thing ever!!!" And then she took the mirror and gave it to me and said, "Daa bin dey." ("This stinks," literally, in Pashto.) And I said, "Oh noooo! What'd you dooooooooooo!" But she tried convincing me that it was stinky since it'd been broken :p hahaha. Khair, I fixed it and it's all good now.

Child Disability Project - Please Spread the Word.

I'm getting this from Hina Khan's blog. If you all could please share this on your blogs and spread the word among friends and foes, it would be greatly appreciate. And what better a time to do that in than Ramadhan al-kareem (the generous)!

Thank you in advance for all your funding and support otherwise!

Dear all! Below is an extract from a new project undertaken by Chand Welfare Foundation. They need funding for their project. I hope you can help spread the word to enable maximum assistance from people. Thank you!

************************************************

Chand Welfare Foundation

Project on Disabled Children

Chand Welfare Foundation is a nongovernmental organisation working in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for women and childrens rights. We have worked on different projects like women empowerment, child labour, income generation etc. We have now started working on a project to help disabled children.

PROJECT ON DISABLED CHILDREN
We have started working on our new project on disabled children. We have a few children from Tehkal Bala, Tehkal Payan, Palosi and Safaid Dehri. The children are;

• Mentally disable
• Physically disable

Our main focus is on physically disable children, targeting their basic needs (nutrition and education), but we also hope to provide for the mentally disable children by providing them nutrition for their health and a balanced diet. There are some families that demanded diapers and other accessories needed for their daily routine. We are trying our best to provide them their needs within our resources.

Goodbye, Jordan :(

So... guess who's leaving Jordan in less than 12 hours! Ahhh, I'm so going to miss it! It was a wonderful, wonderful, wonnnderful journey, and I look forward to coming back here again soon, ka khairee. There are many things I won't miss, and there are many things I'll miss desperately. Among the former: the roads (you been to Pakistan? You know how crazy the drivers and the roads are? Ahhh, well, Jordan's ones are almost as bad!), the taxi drivers, the men (!!! You been to Pakistan, you say? Yeah, well,

Da Husan Muqabla: Ta Pekhawrai Ye Za Swatai Yam!

haha. So this was the most commonly played song in Swat this summer (it prolly still is!), and I love it to death! (Another popular song there was "Qarara Rasha," which I'll post another time.) I'm posting the transliteration/lyrics of the song here with the music video but without translation for now. I'll write the translation when I get a moment later on, ka khairee. For now, enjoy this! I personally think the Swatai girl wins :p ... and I don't think I'm saying this just 'cause I'm from Swat, haha.... but, no, really. 

(Pekhawrai janai):
Za Pekhawrai yam ta Swatai ye
Maa ta da Swat da Bandai ma krra sifatuna

(Swatai janai):
Sta Pekhawar maa ta malum dey
Zrra dubawi tange kusey waara koruna

The World's Youngest Mother, a 5-year-old!

I don't know if I believe this, but I'll share it anyway. This happened in the 1930s, just so y'all know.

Into the hospital at Pisco (Peru) came a tired, ragged Indian woman from the foothills of the Andes. She led by the hand a shy little girl, scarcely three feet tall, with chestnut braids and an enormously bulging abdomen. Pointing to the frightened child, the Indian woman begged Surgeon Geraldo Lozada to exorcise the evil spirits which had taken possession of her. Certain that little Lina Medina had an abdominal tumor, Dr. Lozada examined her, and received the surprise of his life when he discovered she was eight months pregnant, making her the world's youngest mother ever.

Ramadhan in Jordan: Ramadhan Kareem!

So I have the privilege of experiencing Ramadhan in a Muslim country after twelve whole years!!! I’m grateful for this! I’m impressed, so amazed by the number of CLSers (students in the Critical Language Scholarship award) who are fasting (there are hardly 5-6 Muslims of the 61 CLSers), y’all! From what I understand, they say that they want to experience the culture through fasting. According to one of them, "Everyone tells you Ramadhan kareem—and kareem means ‘generous’—during Ramadhan. But you don’t really know what that means, you don’t really know how kareem Ramadhan is until you fast, go hungry and thirsty for the whole day, and then someone offers you a date or water at the end of the day, and you are so grateful." (Possibly not his exact words, k?)

Before I continue, lemme point out that there are different ways to wish someone a blessed, happy Ramadhan. The most common one here is “Ramadhan kareem!” (Ramadhan is generous.) And the response to it is, “Allah akram!” (God is even more generous!) “Akram” has now become my favorite Arabic word :)

Stephen Colbert on the Norwegian Terrorist

LOL. This guy's brilliant!!! I can't get over it, man!
Here, take a look at his views on this ... oh how I love the way he spreads the truth and the way he mocks the media! He's so clever, so smart, so honest, so funnny!! God preserve him.

Oh, and I have a long blog post coming on this whole Norwegian attack thingie, but I'll have to wait until I can actually edit and post it. But do take a look at this quote (in addition to the video below):

If the person who killed 100+ people in Norway were Muslim, the Press would have declared him as a terrorist. For now though, he is just an 'Assailant ', 'Attacker' (Reuters), 'Gunman' (BBC, CNN & Al Jazeera). Looks like 'Terrorist ' is a name reserved for Muslims? The US Dept of State calls it an 'Act of Violence', Not an 'Act of Terrorism'.

Talk about the hypocrisy of the media!

P.S. Ramadhan mubarak to the whole world!!! Best wishes for a beautiful year to all!

The Colbert Report
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Self Reflections: Learning to be Humble

Have you ever met someone who just never gets angry and seems to get along well with everyone? Someone who seems to love and respect everyone? And have you ever wondered how she/he does that? Well, I have this friend who went to Morocco a couple of years ago, and she says she met this one person there who's just like that someone who *never* gets angry at anyone and gets along with everyone. She says she asked him how that is possible, and here's his response (rough):

Touring through a Rich Past: The Trip to Petra, with Pictures

Hello, beloveds!
So, here are some photos and stories from our trip to Petra.
Before anything, get this:

Some history (pasted verbatim from this website):

Petra is a city which was carved out of the Sharah Mountains by the Nabataeans, an industrious Arab people who settled here more than 2,000 years ago, turning it into an important junction for the silk, spice, and other trade routes that linked China, India, and southern Arabia with Egypt, Syria, Greece, and Rome.

Petra fell into obscurity for hundreds of years, its location and very existence kept a closely guarded secret by the local Bedouin, before being re-discovered by the Swiss explorer Burkhardt in 1812.

I got my nose pierced!!

So, I got my nose pierced, people! It's sooo exciting! The extremely low prices were too irrisistable, though I'd have gotten it no matter the cost, since I've been wanting it for years! I don't know why I never actually got it done before, but thank God I didn't -- 'cause they're bloody expensive in the U.S. I believe a nose piercing is at least 15 dollars in the U.S. whereas *all* piercings here are barely 3 dinars (plus a dinar for service/tip, but they charge you that themselves), including belly piercings, damnit! Belly piercings in the U.S., for example, are 50 dollars ... and to think they're only 4 here :( ... but, hey, ma'lish! :D

k, that's all, folks! :)  It's just, this nose piercing was rrreally important to me! Oh, and I think traditionally (Pakistanis/Indians, etc.) get it done it on their left nostrils... and that suggests you're being traditional. Although I would have had no problem getting it on the left one, I wanted to be, um, "different" (:|) and got it on the right one instead :p Whaaaaaat, doesn't the right side of everything represent goodness and everything good/positive in Islam?! Yeah, well, to all the goodness that I'm to experience after today, then :)

I'll show you photos of my nose (LOL! This sounds so funny) some other time, k? Haven't taken any yet.