Weird Stuff...

Today has been one of those "weird" days. Meaning strange things have been happening, I don't know...maybe it's just me. (And I know that's what most of you are thinking too) So anyways, it started this morning when I was on my way to work. I pull out of my driveway, and I'm getting ready to drive down the street when I see this goose standing in the middle of the road. Yes that's right...a real live Canada Goose. And for those of you who have seen my street, you know its not too wide, so it wasn't as if i could drive around it. And obviously I can't run it over either. So I'm just sitting there, in the middle of the street wondering what to do. It was just standing, facing the houses, oblivious to the fact that I'm right there. Thinking that I'm going to get late for work, I decide to honk at it so maybe it'll give it the hint to move. The goose then slowly turned and faced my car, and I thought "uh oh". It had this look, and I couldn't tell whether it took the car honking as a mating call or whether it was going to attack my car. It just stood there for a good two minutes just facing the car not moving. Finally it slowly walked off to the side. Poor goose, it was probably confused whether it was summer or whether it had flown back too early and it was still winter. And I was late for work. Thanks a lot goose.

Randomness...

I haven't blogged in a few days...probably because I don't know what to blog about. Well I'm glad to see the antakshri is still going strong haha. Shabina man you're an even bigger FOB than I thought you were! =P kidding. I've had this whole week off...I'm not working at the pharmacy, nothing to study for...just sitting at home time. Well, I guess I should enjoy it while I can because come Monday I'm starting at Sunnybrook again for the summer. That means waking up at 5:30am, 2 hour commutes and a lot less sleep. But it also means running up one floor to Iram's office when I'm bored or have a craving for cake lol. Just being home this week I would have thought I would have gotten a whole lot done that I wanted to do. Well I did learn to make butter chicken!!! And it turned out good. That's what I've pretty much been doing all week...cooking. I made gulab jamuns the other day too. Now I can say "maine banaya...GITS se!" (for all you fobs who know that commercial) Then I started experimenting and I made chicken wings and they're like how they are at Singapore Garden! Which is good because I love those. Today I made chili chicken and szechuan chicken minus the peanut oil. Chili chicken is so easy to make and it takes so little time. Now I don't know what else to make. Well if I have the time now I may as well do it. Oh yeah and the other thing I've been doing is watching dramas on ARY all week long. Some are ending and some are starting. I'm telling you, I'm so addicted but they're really good! Oh and I got Sabina addicted to the show "24" haha. For those of you who haven't seen it, I suggest you do. It comes on ch. 11 at 9 on Mondays. During that time I CAN'T be disturbed in any way. It's one of those captivating shows that you have to focus completely on. Anyways this season is ending in a couple more episodes but I'd definitely recommend everyone to watch it. Too bad there aren't that may good shows on TV anymore. I I guess I'll just go back and watch ARY.

Antakshri cont...

Okay now that we have passed the 100 comments mark on the antakshri post I'm going to start another one just so there isn't a whole lot of scrolling down but it'll continue on from the last one...so here goes:

Shabina said...
humsafar chahaiye umr bhar chahaiye .. aapke pyar ki ek nazaar, aapke pyar ki ek nazarr. dil hain beghar ise ek ghar chahaiye, baas yunhi dekhkar muskarti raho...

Next: R
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"Roop tera, mastana...pyar mera deewana, bhool koi humse naa ho jaye..." =D

Next Letter: J!

A little is a lot...

So my weekends mostly go into working at the pharmacy, and its usually fairly mediocre...nothing too exciting and nothing too boring either. If its busy then you don't really think about much else, but of course you do get irate quite often with some patients that come in. Anyways, today was one of those days where sort of the opposite happened. My pharmacist and I were working in the morning and some of our regular patients were passing through the store. They're an elderly Muslim couple who are among the nicest people I have ever met Masha'Allah. They always come and say salaam to me and they call me beta, they ask me how school is and tell me how proud they are...they're Masha'Allah amazing people. Everyone in the pharmacy loves them. Anyways, today they were passing through and we didn't get a chance to talk to them as usual because it was busy and I guess we were flustered and rushing so they didn't want to disturb us. So they said salaam and just left. About an hour later they come back in and they're holding three bouquets of flowers...one for each of us working there. It was the nicest surprise! They said how we looked stressed and we weren't smiling so they thought they would try and cheer us up and how they always want to see us smiling. Well, it worked. It's so nice to know that there are still people out there who care about the happiness of others and would go out of their way to see to that. It was such a sweet yet simple gesture that changed the attitude of the whole day. That is until I dropped the big bottle of Metamucil I was getting for a prescription on my toe. Ask Khadeeja...she was there when it happened and saw me hopping in pain, and she heard me say how I was planning on suing Pharma Plus and going on workman's comp. Somehow I don't think it'll work though...ah well it might have.

World on Fire

Check out Sarah McLachlan's "World on Fire" Video

I've heard this song on the radio a few times and the lyrics intrigued me so I looked it up and I came across this site. (Check out its lyrics) The video left me in total awe and helps put things into perspective. Its really sad that conditions like that exist around the world and more often than not we're oblivious to them. We know they are there but sadly enough we're too wrapped up in our lives to do as much of our part as we could. There's a hadith that says "My Ummah is like a body; when one part feels pain, every part is affected" How often do we think about our brothers and sisters who are halfway across the world and who are suffering, while we are here living contently? I ask this question to myself first. In the end though I know everyone's account is with God. Watching this video really makes me feel like I want to make a difference though and I hope one day to. I have a friend who went with an organization to the impoverished regions of Haiti last summer to build facilites, and when he came back he said to see people living in extreme poverty and sickness like that really affected him and changed who he was. He's going back this summer to help build a soup kitchen I believe there. There's one part at the end of the song that goes:

"The more we take the less we become
The fortune of one man means less for some"

It's true, sometimes we become so consumed in our own materialism that our values and our humanity itself take a backseat. One could be rich in wealth but poor in content, while some people are rich in happiness just living comfortably. Anyways, I like what Sarah McLachlan has done with the video, especially the ending. Its good to see that celebrities such as herself and Bono take the time to help those less fortunate than themselves. I'm surprised at how little an amount of money can amount to so much, like 6 months worth of medical supplies for 5000 patients for only $7500. That's it! I'm sure with the amount that we have we can take some out and donate to a reputable charity where we know our money will be put to good use. Let's try to do more on our part, and not just in monetary ways, but keep those who need our support in ours prayers as well.

Online Antakshri

So I'm a fob...but antakshri is fun! I know we've tried playing it when we go out with friends and it usually ends up with the same people (i.e. me) singing all the songs haha. So I thought I would try an online one and see how long we can keep it going for. The rules are simple and a bit modified from the original version just to make it a bit easier: you choose a song that begins with the first letter of the last word; it can be any indian and/or pakistani songs; state the letter for the next person to begin with and you have to have at least 2 lines of the song! How long can we go on for? I guess we're about to find out! I'll start...here's one of my favourite songs by one of my favourite bands, its called "Addat" by Jal:

"duur jitna bhi tum mujhse, paas tere main,
ab toh addat si hai mujhko aise jeenay mein..."

So the next song has to start with the letter "M"...

Happy Birthday Irfan!

Not a baby anymore :(

Happy 20th birthday to my baby bro who's not so much a baby anymore :( Too bad I'll have to wait to give you your birthday beats...I mean gift hehe. So now that you're older and no longer a teen it means you better be more responsible and not lazy anymore!!! Ya right knowing you that's not going to happen. In any case, happy birthday fatty =P

Funny!!!

LOL...this joke made me crack up. Probably because its true for the most part....and guys ARE bad drivers =P. Women just happen to be the voice of reason. Why can't men see that? And it's not called nagging...its called being cautious and rational. (something men don't know how to be LOL) Okay okay, enough guy bashing for now...and to the guys who are reading this, I'm just kidding ...sort of...
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A wife was making fried eggs for her husband for breakfast. Suddenly her husband burst into the kitchen. "Careful... Careful!!! Put in some more butter! Oh my God! You're cooking too many at once. Too many! Turn them! Turn them now! We need more butter. Oh my God! Where are we going to get more butter? They're going to stick! Careful... Careful!!! I said be careful! You never listen to me when you're cooking! Never! Turn them! Hurry up! Are you crazy? Have you lost your mind? Don't forget to salt them. You know you always forget to salt them. Use the salt. Use the salt! The salt!" The wife stared at him and asked, "What the heck is wrong with you? You think I don't know how to fry a couple of eggs?" The husband calmly replied, "I wanted to show you what it feels like when I'm driving with you in the car."

Quote of the Day

"The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time"

I came across this quote the other day and it really made me think. How true is this? I mean personally I could (and pretty much DO) spend time doing things when I could or should be doing other things. Like right now for instance, I should be studying but I'm not, I'm blogging. And I enjoy it...but I still feel like its time that's being wasted. We always say "if only I had more time" or "there aren't enough hours in the day" Out of the time that we do have, how much of it actually goes into productive activity? This is kinda similar to an entry on Rehan's blog that I read today about how we're so "techologized" and part of the purpose of technology is to save us time. But does it? I too find myself on the computer a good portion of the day when I could be doing something else. There are so many things that I want to do and I always say "when I have the time then I will do them" But then something comes up and it just doesn't happen. I don't think we realize how big of a loss wasted time really is. We always look back and think about how we would have done things differently. I know I would. But...well we can't. We can learn from our mistakes and make sure it doesn't happen again I guess. In theory this all sounds so easy doesn't it? If only it were! Well now with the summer coming up, I'm going to have "time" (relatively speaking...between working and events we'll see how much time there actually is!) and I have a list of goals that I want to complete...not necessarily all by this summer though. Some are short term while others are long term. Some are:

-READ. Books AND Qur'an. I used to be a book-a-holic at a time and i LOVE reading. Now the only books I read are textbooks. I always buy books and they're literally sitting there waiting to be read. I especially can't wait to read Michael Moore's "Dude, Where's my Country?" His views on politcs are awesome. Too bad not everyone appreciates him.

-Redecorate my room. I've been meaning to do this for so long. I have the vision, now its time to implement it. Guess what the color scheme is going to be??? =P

-Learn arabic. I really want to learn how to speak and understand it. I can read it but reading the Qur'an without understanding isn't quite the same.

-Learn to make butter chicken. I know its not that hard, but I want to become a pro at it and add it to my list of culinary dishes =P kidding

-Learn to make ras malai the REAL way and not from the mix. Iram's mom is going to teach me how to "phaar the doodh" in the cheesecloth :D lol

-Rollerblade after sunrise. Just the right weather...watching the sunrise...sigh...

haha okay that's just some of them I'm pretty sure I can get some of those done this summer. I just hope I can make better use of my time and not waste it as much. Well, we'll see what happens because I'm expecting it to be a busy summer. But in the end...lets all make the most of the time that we do get.

Only in Brampton...

...will you find that when you walk into a bank on customer appreciation day, instead of having the usual cookies they have a table set out with LADOOS.

Okay so I know Brampton is a little ghetto. I mean apparently we have the third largest Punjabi population in the world (someone verify this for me??) So we're bound to have some level of fobbiness. But even I was surprised to see that when I went into the bank today!!! I took a look around then and I swear more than 3/4 of the people in the branch were desi...so I guess that explained some of it. But still I mean come on...well I don't know. Here are some more things that "Only in Brampton will you find..."

1. The parking lot smelling strongly of masala... (I'm not even kidding...this is out in the OPEN AIR too)

2. Desi grocery stores at literally every corner...if one store doesn't have something, drive down a bit and you'll find at it at the next store. There's a new one opening up close to my area called "Bhandar Grocers". Maybe I'm wrong, but "Monkey Grocers"!?!? I thought nahh
maybe I have it wrong until I saw that they have a banana in their logo...so now I don't know... :S

3. People (desis) parked and taking pictures with the "BRAMPTON" sign at the Mississauga-Brampton border... (i've never seen it but apparently I've heard this has happened)

4. Blaring bhangra music is a norm...more commonly heard than normal music. You hear the music change as you drive in from Mississauga to Brampton...

5. You see more brown people congregating than white people...if you don't you get worried. If you see a group of white people, its almost rare...

6. A large selection of fashion stores. No need for Gerrard anymore!

7. The requirement for many jobs is "must be fluent in Hindi and Punjabi"...

8. You see more firecrackers at Diwali than you do on Canada Day and Victoria Day COMBINED and more lights put up than at Christmas...

I'm not going to be surprised if we see a baraat coming down the street complete with an elephant next. In any case, I can't think of any more right now...anyone else have anything to add???

P.S. I'm practically considered Mississauga...so I don't count =P

I'm a khala again!!!

Congrats to Asma and Habib Bhai on the arrival of their beautiful baby girl early this morning! "Guriya" (name yet to be determined) came into this world at 2:20 am and both mom and daughter are healthly Masha'Allah. I'm so excited!!! I now have another kid to spoil and play with and when I go to Chicago I'm going to hog her and not give her to anyone!!! And Ibrahim finally has a little cousin to play with! I can't wait to see pictures and see who she looks like. She's kinda early though, she was supposed to come on April 29th, but I guess she couldn't wait to come into this world! Well after 5 boys of the new generation being born into the khandaan there is finally a girl =P . You all know me, I love kids and Asma's kid is especially good news to me. It's sometimes hard to believe how times have changed so much, and how people that you grew up with are at such different stages of life. I still remember when we were kids...the first time we all met, late night parties where I always got in trouble...secret videotapes haha, tim hortons and pizza pizza at 2 am!!! And the "angoori girls" lol...now we have a mini addition! I think back at the memories that we all had and the "good ol' days"...but then I realize that they're fun to remember, but there are many more to come! (Insha'Allah) Sometimes its sad to think that as life goes on so many things change and people are so caught up in their own thing but at the same time you're happy for them because they're happy. I remember the joy and excitement we used to have going to Chicago and looking forward to staying up all night, raiding the kitchen at 4 am and sleeping by 6 till 12 in the afternoon and wasting the whole day lol. Whoops there I go down memory lane again. That's enough sappiness for today =P Back to Guriya...I can't wait to see her!!! I feel like going to Chicago now..maybe I will...oh wait exams...ahhhhhh I guess this khala will have to wait a bit to see her :( Once again congrats and welcome baby Guriya!!!!

Support Bridges TV

Something I think we should all do...having a Muslim TV Channel would be kind of cool!

Radio & Television Commission (CRTC) is reviewing license requestfor Bridges TV - Muslim Lifestyle Network in English. CRTC wants todetermine demand by hearing directly from you before April 20th, 2005.To write a letter of support, please see:

http://www.bridgestv.com/crtc.asp

I already sent my letter =P so now its your turn

A short person's world...

Okay so short people have always had it bad. We've had to endure the "shrimp" jokes and the "you're so short that...". It's not our fault that we're not vertically inclined!!! But I digress. This brings me to the topic at hand. Today I was having a rather interesting conversation with a few friends regarding height matches of guys and girls. So it seems that if a guy is over 6'0 then he shouldn't find a girl who's shorter than 5'4. And according to a "certain someone" (you know who you are!) the "short guys are meant for the short girls" That's not fair!!! So basically me and my 5"1.75 self have no shot with a guy who's 6"0?!?! That's so wrong. Opposites attract...so short people and tall people can attract correct? Lol, okay but in it all lets not forget that it depends on the personality of both and their characteristics should be what matters the most. =)

Second short issue...whoever said that short people are evil are SADLY mistaken. We're innocent and do not have the ability to be mean let alone evil! You can see it in our eyes. Actually come to think of it, the taller people I know ARE the more evil ones...so this theory is seriously flawed!!! I've also concluded that I get picked on a lot because I'm short...why is it that we're easy targets?!? In any case, we're taking a tally to see what your opinions are on these two thoughts...what do you think???

Good luck on exams!

Something most of us can use right about now :)


DUA’As BEFORE STUDYING

Allahumma infa’nii bimaa ‘allamtaniiwa 'allimnii maa yanfa’ unii.
Oh Allah! Make useful for me what You taught me and teach me knowledge that will be useful to me.

Allahumma inii as’aluka fahmal-nabiyyen wa hifthal mursaleenal-muqarrabeen.
Oh Allah! I ask You for the understanding of the Prophets and the memory of the Messengers, and those nearest to You.

Allahumma ijal leesanee ‘amiran bi thikrika wa qalbi bikhashyatika.
Oh Allah! Make my tongue full of Your remembrance, and my heart with consciousness of You.

Innaka ‘allah ma-tasha’-u qadeer wa antahasbun-allahu wa na’mal wakeel.
(oh Allah!) You do whatever You wish, and You are my Availer and Protector and the best of aid.

DUA’A AFTER STUDYING

Allahhumma inni astaodeeuka ma qara’tu wamahafaz-tu. Faradduhu ‘allaya inda hagati elayhi. Innaka ‘allah ma-tasha’-u qadeer wa antahasbun-allahu wa na’mal wakeel.
Oh Allah! I entrust You with what I have read and I have studied. (Oh Allah!) Bring it back to me when I am in need of it. (Oh Allah!) You do whatever You wish, and You are my Availer and Protector and the best of aid.

DUA’A WHILE STUDYING SOMETHING DIFFICULT

Allahhumma la sahla illama ja-‘altahu sahla wa anta taj ‘alu al hazana etha shi’ta sahla.
Oh Allah! Nothing is easy except what You have made easy. If You wish, You can make the difficult easy.

DUA FOR ANXIETY

Allahhumma inni a’oodhoo bika minal-hammi-walhazan. Wa’ a’oodhoo bika min’al-ghammi-wal-kasal. Wa’aoodhoo bika min’al jubni wal bukhl. Wa’aoodhoo bika min ghalabatid-dayni-waqarir rijaal.
Oh Allah! I seek refuge in You from worry and grief, from helplessness and laziness, from cowardice and stinginess, and from overpowering of debt and from oppression of men.

Let the blogging begin!

Okay so I'm jumping the blog bandwagon. (Or as Iram would call it, "the blob") I was told I should start a blog. Hmmm I wonder why, what are you people trying to say? (You know who you are!) But it's not a bad idea, I'll just write down what I'm thinking, and you all know that's a LOT =P but in any case, I'll post whatever is funny, boring, entertaining etc, I'll let you decide. So I guess all's that's left to say is happy reading!

So here's my beef for the day: (well...one of them)

So I was watching ARY digital today (For those of you who don't know, its a Pakistani channel on TV) and they were playing a selection of music videos. Bollywood videos these days have become literally as bad, if not worse than many western videos. I was watching a remix to a nice old song the other day, and I couldn't believe how they butchered it and twisted it around so it become senseless and took the meaning out of it. In any case...you know it's Bollywood. Pakistani videos on the other hand, you think "good and wholesome" because well, theyre Pakistani, you expect something more contemporary. But in these videos they're all out dancing it up in the clubs and wearing short clothes as if (as one host put it) "they ran out of cloth to make the clothes" haha, but it's literally true! I'm thinking "am I watching a Pakistani video or did I switch to the Bollywood channel???" Is that what its become like in Pakistan nowadays? Or is it still the way they way that they show it to be in the dramas like "Bandish" and "Mehndi"??? In any case...I think I need to stop watching ARY so much...I think I'm becoming addicted. =P