Monthly Archives: September 2010

May Sense Prevail……

Tommorow afternoon, a court in India will give a verdict on a case that has evoked intense desctructive passions in our country for years…..

Please join me in uttering these few words in prayer…..

May Truth and Justice prevail……

If the (mosque) was indeed built after demolishing a (temple), may that land be given back to its rightful owners and may a splendid (temple) come up in its place. May closet and unborn (muslim) tyrants learn for good that the worship of (Allah) shouldn’t be enforced upon anyone. Least of all, by demolishing the place of worship of others.

May all (Muslims) succeed in accepting the truth and peacefully swallow their grief over the fall of the illegitimate (mosque). May their collective respect for the law and desire for peace dissuade anyone from venting their unjustified anger on innocents. May all the attempts of ones with cruel vested interests fail.

May everyone learn to leave this incident behind and get on with self, family, society and nation building.

To complete this prayer, please substitute the words in brackets with the following alternatives respectively…

(Makeshift Temple, Mosque, Mosque, Hindu, Ram, Hindus, Makeshift Temple)


Filed under Till sunset

The Sheer Magic of NLP

Fear of Injections…… Cured in a Jiffy

Lack of interest in studies….. Fixed instantly

Getting stuck and immobilized in certain situations….. Freed immediately

Total Lack of Self Confidence…. Transformed within minutes

Sounds like the false promises of occult mediums and amulet vendors, doesnt it ? Not at all…

All these can be realised through an amazing technology of acheivement called NLP. I just got myself certified recently. There are certain things that are tough to learn, but easy to do. Driving is one example. Certain things are easy to learn but tough to do- Like digging a hole . Some other things are tough to learn and tough to do. Performing surgeries maybe. Finally you have things that are easy to learn and easy to do…. NLP is one such technology.

Towards the end of my post, I will recommend an excellent book on the subject. You can read it through in one sitting and then go on to change your and the lives of your loved ones in a twinkle….

But how does it work ?. It works on the premise that you can change your feelings by changing your thoughts. Through extensive research the founders of NLP have deduced that we think in terms of pictures, sounds, body physiology and self talk. “Feelings ” are not stored anywhere in our body. When something triggers a stimulus,- a thought about a Spider for example, our brain digs out pictures, sounds and self told narrations about spiders and then combines them with a particular body phsyciology (could be the way we arch our eye brows, or keep our fingers etc). This combination then goes on to trigger particular chemicals in our body that creates corresponding feelings. Some stimuli lead to feelings of pain, remorse, fear, regret etc etc and some others lead to happiness, ecstacy, excitement etc.

Now each of these ingredients have characteristics. Mental pictures have color, size, brightness, location etc. Similarly Sounds and Self talk have accents, pitches, locations and pace. Body postures can also be different. Through the tools of NLP one can bring up a particular feeling, analyse the ingredients causing it and then amazingly go on to change the feeling by changing the characteristics of the ingredients.

Like a master chef who can look into the cooking pot, add a few ingredients and change the dish forever, we can choose to disown all disempowering feelings. By working the other way around, we can also choose to generate empowering feelings of all kinds… all this and more within minutes.

Don’t take my word for it (Though I am a person who tries to make my video match my audio). Though there are hundreds of books on the subject, I highly recommend the book “Get the life you want” authored by Richard bandler, one of the co creators of NLP. You can get it here……

From Amazon

You can catch some awesome NLP videos on you tube. One of them can be found here…

On Youtube

You can digest the book within a few hours and then start implemeting the magic….. Trust me… You will be amazed and so will the world be….

So go ahead…. Make people’s lives worth living


Filed under Till sunset

What is “being good” and why should I be so?


Thus Spake Albert Einstein…

This quote by one of the world’s most renowned physicists doesn’t solicit a rebuttal (defensive or otherwise) and isn’t open to any either. On the other hand we also don’t have to dignify this with an answer- Simply because of the fact that it isn’t from an authority on ethics or morality. We thank him immensely for giving us the theory of relativity. But no thanks for the frequent gibes he made at religions and believers in most of his works. Since his name will not feature in the list of the world’s top 10,000 philanthropists of his time, and since there are no striking examples of acts of virtue or tirades against vice in his life, we can afford to skip this quote and move on to be impressed and enthralled by his formula E= M(C*C). Moreover, he was a very vociferous racist who loudly, clearly and frequently supported the political agenda of the Zionists (what an irony it is – he doesn’t believe in the god of the Jews, but he wants to create a separate homeland for them by displacing millions of sons and daughters of the soil). So let us agree that we will admire beauty queens for their beauty and will imbibe more profound things only from people who are worthy of it….

But are we people who will simply walk away from an opportunity to spar with one of the most brilliant people ever to walk on this planet?- Neigh!!!!! So here we go…..

We fully agree that there are millions of people who live ethical lives without any religious basis. Proven research in Psycho technology teaches us that Man is programmed to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. So if someone chooses to live an ethical life, it’s simply because he has consciously or subconsciously linked intense pain to unethical acts and immense pleasure to ethical ones. This enables him to subordinate his animal instincts to higher causes. Yes. Mr. Einstein, This linkage can come from sympathy, education and social ties. Belief in the existence of a just and fair god combined with fear of punishment and hope of reward is another sure fire way to create this link.

When the US govt. decided to prohibit liquor in the early 20th century, their efforts failed miserably though the entire government machinery was used to enforce this. When the rule was finally revoked after people started dying by consuming spurious liquor, people including law enforcers got drunk and danced and slept on the roads for days.

When prophet Muhammad (SAW) announced the verses revealing the prohibition of liquor, people who were drinking threw their glasses out. People who had stocked it destroyed the barrels till all the gutters of Medina overflowed with liquor. People who had consumed liquor put their fingers in their throats and vomited it out. Real change was implemented without any force.

How was this possible?

For almost 13 years Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was preparing his community by repeatedly describing Heaven and Hell to them. All major Rules and regulations regarding Halal and Haraam were revealed only much after that. Through his discourses, he succeeded in creating in the hearts of his follower’s an intense longing for heaven and a repulsive abhorrence against hell. Once this was done, facilitating change was easy. When rules were enforced, people adopted them instantly.

Belief in accountability and payback is thus a very strong motivator. Delayed Gratification is the term giving to the act of sacrificing something at present for the prospect of receiving something better later. (Two chocolates in the evening instead of one right now. A trip to the park if you do the homework instead of watching TV). Psychologists deem this ability to delay gratification as a very healthy and mature trait.

Now why on earth should we consider someone who does this solely for the sake of god to be in a “Poor state”? As long as it motivates him to forsake evil and do well, why should he be considered inferior for expecting gratification, delayed nevertheless?

Why should we value judge his motive at all…..?. Sorry Mr. Einstein, we disagree….

Let’s take the debate a little backwards. How did the concepts of good and bad originate? It is proven that we can convince ourselves completely to justify any act that we do. So considering the relativeness of the two concepts, who defines what is absolute good or bad?

Study of savage tribes in Africa has proven that left to themselves, people define good and bad in terms of their convenience and favorable circumstances to survive. So in certain tribes stealing is taboo. But if the boys of that tribe have to be treated as men, they have to kill someone from any neighboring tribe. So they go and sneak around villages and chop of the heads of small children playing unattended. So much for sympathy and social ties.

When I used to travel outside the UAE with my colleagues for official reasons, I have seen many of my friends who are epitomes of morality succumb to the charms of the place. They come back and tell us “What happens away stays away”.

So we cannot teach ourselves absolute morality. That would be like a child guarding a packet of cookies. The society can’t either. Can education do it? Correct me if I am wrong… I didn’t find any references to morality in my physics, chemistry or history text books. If you have, please let me know.

I feel that absolute Morality that forces man to delay his gratification at the cost of his wants and desires and pleasures cannot come from man himself. It has to come from an outer source. Thus sheer logic tells us that the concepts of good and bad originated from a super natural course and that we came to know about them through his prophets….. I dont want to sound authoritarian here. Your comments are very much welcomed.

So we respect all agnostics and atheists who live ethical lives. And regardless of whether they acknowledge it or not, the true just god will reward them for that. We know the story about the prostitute who was promised heaven for taking pains to feed a thirsty dog. (Subuhanallah).

We are also convinced that some atheists do amazing acts of virtue. And they do so because they are conditioned by sources (Parents/ Reading etc) that may be non religious in their present context. But if we trace each of these sources back….. They will all surely lead back to him- The almighty god.

In other words all these atheists are true believers. The only thing is that they do not know it yet….

And for those who are convinced about the existence of god and divine retribution and still chooses to live unethical lives….. God Damn You!!!!!


Filed under A new sunrise

Motivation through Self Hypnosis

A buxom associate of mine and I got closeted in the lift together the other day. After sizing me up for a few seconds, he congratulated me excitedly and enquired – “Masha Allah Ibrahim! You seem to have lost lot of weight. How did you pull this off? “Disciplined living…..My friend”, I replied. “It’s time you took this track as well…” I went on to suggest in a patronizing tone. Before stepping out at his floor, he blocked the elevator door and sadly complained “I have tried all sorts of diets and exercise regimes. Though I start with a lot of enthusiasm, I just can’t stay put and I end up worse than before. You need to tell me the secret of your “discipline” ”.

A close relative who came home for EID was berating the utter unwillingness of her teenage son to put in the required hours of learning. “He spends all his time working on his fancy electronic projects. How wonderful would it be if he showed the same interest towards his school work”, she wondered.

Both the above incidents are typical case studies of Motivation or lack of it. Why do we find it so hard to do some things that others do effortlessly and happily? Why do we readily start and sustain certain things that some others vouch as absolutely incorrigible?

All these questions will lead us to two little cupboard racks in the inner store rooms of our mind. One of them is labeled “Pain”. The other is labeled “Pleasure”. All the things that we have to do on a daily basis are dumped into either of these racks. Every behavior of ours depends on the location of its storage. If I have stored “Relishing of Cheese cake” under pleasure and “Brisk walking for 30 minutes a day” under pain, you can rest assured that I will never ever exercise and will not lose any opportunity to raid the fridge. On the other hand, a body building enthusiast will have stored away “eating dessert” under pain and “lifting weights” under pleasure. No wonder he looks and feels the way he does.

Every time, we have to do something, our minds ask us this question- “Will this give me pain or pleasure?” We are all by default programmed to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. So all our actions depend solely on the name of the rack we have filed it under. As long as they stay there, no amount of coercing or cajoling from outside can motivate us to move an inch. Period.

So how can we acquire the internal motivation to do something that we don’t want to do? Simple!!!!- Just re- file the action. And voila!!!! Your life changes for the best.

“Come on! It cannot be so easy and quick”….You may be saying. Trust me. It’s that simple. Let me illustrate.

A smoker who have never been able to quit, kicks the deadly habit the instant his doctor takes a long hard look at his x ray and says- “If you touch one more cigarette, you are dead, my friend”. His years of puffing notwithstanding, he would stay miles away from cigarettes simply because the very thought of lighting up would induce intense and intolerable pain in him and the very thought of having well laundered lungs and a healthy life would gives him bursts of delight. He has gone through permanent change in an instant.

How can we use Pain and Pleasure to change our lives?

As an illustration, Let me advice my Buxom elevator companion.

He has to simply keep doing the following….

Keep reading without fail about the potential hazards of overeating. Read accounts of obese youngsters succumbing to heart attacks. Imagine the pain of undergoing surgery. Create mental pictures of a life devoid of all the sweet and yummy delights of life. See one self being ridiculed by others for resembling a well endowed pop corn seed. See one self living a life of scarcity, deprived of good health and happiness.

At the same time, visualize oneself as fit and healthy. Create vivid and compelling pictures of being admired by one and all. Meet and socialize with people who have bodies to die for. Paste pictures of role models with well toned bodies around. Imagine a life of health and happiness. Imagine the impact this would make on your loved ones. See yourself living a life of abundance, peace and contentment.

By alternating these inputs to ones brain consciously and relentlessly, you sub consciously facilitate a storage shift. Without even realizing it, you will start exercising regularly and will be surprised to see yourself decline the extra helping of that extremely enticing dessert.

Trust me. You will be amazed at the change. And it will be permanent because your mental closet is finally in order. Go ahead and try it. If you need any help, please feel free to call me on 050 3423552.

(The Pain and Pleasure concept can be found in more detail in Anthony Robbin’s bestselling book- Awaken the Giant within). Get it here From Amazon

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Two Must Have Skills….

In one of my earlier posts, I had written about the tremendous pace at which we are being flooded with new information. Knowledge on any given topic is said to be doubling every two years. This simply means that with farm fresh information becoming available so fast, we are all becoming obsolete at a rate of 50% every year, unless we locate ,internalize and apply this information. It goes without saying that in a world that is expecting MORE of the BETTER, QUICKER, being more knowledgeable than others is a definite competitive advantage.

Let me recommend to you two vitals skills that can equip you to Learn quite effectively. I have acquired these skills myself and can vouch for their ease of internalization. They can dramatically increase your knowledge (on any subject of your choice) by leaps and bounds, thereby making you much more valuable than your peers (who haven’t subscribed to this blog yet).

The first one is Speed Reading. It’s an amazing technique that teaches you how to triple your effective reading rate. ERR is the rate at which you can read and internalize. If you currently read at 80 words per minute and you remember 70% of it, your ERR is 56. By Learning Speed Reading you can increase it to 150 and beyond. I have seen people increase it even by 400 to 500%. Imagine being able to finish a report or book in just one fourth the time that you usually take.

The second is Accelerated Learning Techniques. Each of us have a preferred learning style. We are either Visual, Auditory or Kinesthetic Learners. Moreover each of us are endowed with varying degrees of the 7 different intelligences (Linguistic, Logical, Bodily, Spatial, Musical, Interpersonal and Intrapersonal). ALT gives you the opportunity to understand our predominant intelligences and Learning styles and by recommending various tools and techniques to learn using our preferred modes, it facilitates quicker and more effective learning. Using these techniques we can learn in half the time and also ensure total recall at any point of time.

There are lot of good books that teach you speed reading. But I would personally recommend a software called EYEQ. You can get it here……
Speed Reading

Download the software and work on it for a few days and you will find your eyes gobbling up words and paragraphs in a jiffy…..

ALT is also available from multiple sources. But the best one is from the world renowned trainer Brian Tracy. You can purchase a set of 6 or 7 CD’s. You can go through them within a couple of hours and trust me, your life will never be the same again. You can get them here…

As I have said before, LEARN MORE to EARN MORE and these two sources will help you do just that comfortably…

I expect a Thank you call.


Filed under Till sunset

Who will pray for us when we die ?

Let me share with you all a story that I heard a long while ago…

A wise old man had a dream. He wanders into a grave yard one dark night and is startled to see lot of people searching desperately for something amidst the graves. He asks them- “What are you searching for ?”. Without even halting for a moment, one of them shouts back – “We are searching for all the invocations the visitors to this place have made on our behalf. We are being punished for all our bad deeds and these prayers offer us some respite ”. As the wise man stood transfixed, he was also surprised to see one of them sitting comfortably on his grave, doing nothing. “And , why aren’t you searching ?”, asks the wise man. “I have a pious son who prayers for me regularly. That gives me all the respite I need”, he replies proudly.

The wise man gets the same dream, the next night. And this time, he sees that the one who was sitting idly is searching more desperately than everyone else. “What happened. Why are you searching as well ?”, he enquires. “My son died a few days back. There is no one to pray for me now and I need these tidbits to save me”, replies the dead man.

Couple of humble pointers…

Let us make it a point to pray for all our near and dear ones who have moved on. This costs us nothing. But it may help a lot of souls who are paying heavy prices for their irresponsible actions. We can do much more good to these deceased souls now, than what we could have ever done when they were alive. So let’s not miss this opportunity.

Let us also ask ourselves the very important question- “Who will pray for us when we die ?”

If we are all dashing through life merely pursuing material goals – My job, my house, my savings, my family, then we may just end up being dead, buried and forgotten. Abraham Maslow, the famous American psychologist deemed Physiological , Security, Social and Esteem needs as Animal needs. Because every dog, bull, weasel and man has it. They are the most basic needs that one gets by default. But a rare few rise above these needs and acquire a higher need- The noble need for Self Actualization. They realize that they are not in this world to merely begin, beget and be gone. They believe that they are here to serve a particular purpose- of making a difference in the lives of the millions around them. Their love extend beyond familial boundaries and they find happiness and contentment in serving people who may never even know them. And they do it merely for fulfilling their purpose. They care little for appreciation or recognition. For them, the very purpose of life is a life of purpose.

I have friends here who spend their free time, collecting money for charity. There are some who frequently visit labor camps to help people who have been abandoned by their sponsors. There are some who relentless seek out patients who need aid and serve them. Another lot spends weekends educating fellow beings. Some of them mentor poor students. I also have lot of friends and relatives who spend all their weekends sleeping, watching TV and shopping. It is crystal clear as to who has transcended the wall that stands between Animal and higher needs…. And it is obvious as to who will be more remembered, mourned and prayed for…..

It’s the same wall in both cases.

A study done at a California University has proven that people who volunteer for community service suffer fewer heart attacks . Their recover more quickly than others from illnesses. They get ahead in life faster and they enjoy more self esteem than others. This has led the university to coin the phrase… Only Givers Get.

So as the week end is approaching, let us all ask ourselves these questions, before we plan our activities.

What difference can we make (however small it may be) to someone this week end?

What is the true purpose of our life ?


Who will pray for us when we die ?


Filed under A new sunrise

Pick the odd one out

Clockwise from the left…

Mary, the mother of Jesus
Devotees in a place of worship in Indonesia
A Britisher
A Sardarni
The actress who played Devi Sita in the hit serial Ramayan
A Roman Goddess

One of these women is hopelessly oppressed….Please pick that odd one out


Filed under A new sunrise

To all those who are feigning sleep

He who knows not that he knows not is a fool- Leave him
He who knows that he knows not is ignorant- Teach him
He who knows not that he knows is asleep- Wake him
He who knows and knows that he knows is a leader- Follow him

With all due respect to the above four lines from the Arabian nights, I would like to add a fifth one…

He who knows and acts as if he knows not is a %$&^*, &@#% him

This is exactly what I feel about most of my fellow beings that I come across in the plethora of online debates and discussions that are currently being raged about the proposed Quran burning stunt.

“The Quran preaches violence, it exhorts Muslims to kill Jews and Christians, it urges Muslims to kill disbelievers”.

It’s amazing how sane adults dare to make such blatantly uninformed comments. Lots have been said about this subject before and one can find scholarly articles and discourses on the same everywhere. Just go to Google or YouTube and type “Quran + Violence” and voila…. You will find hundreds of links that give you the right information. Just make sure that you choose to listen and internalize information from Muslim scholars. Do not choose to accept distorted propaganda material from sources with vested interests. Here are a few good sources.



People have to realize that the Quran was revealed over a period of 23 years and verses were revealed to address particular situations in Islamic history. Taking the verses literally without understanding their historic context and arguing that they are applicable today is totally against the way the holy book has to be read and understood and followed.

Let’s look at one example. The below verse is used frequently to argue that god has commanded Muslims to kill non believers.


Anyone who can understand English will enjoy paradigm shifts if they read these verses in their textual and historical context. One should read the whole verse along with a few verses before and after.


For 13 long years, Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) and his followers endured severe persecution in Makkah. Believers were tortured and killed in hundreds. But they were forbidden by god to fight back. They were advised to patiently endure all suffering instead. Finally the prophet and his followers left their home town and migrated to another land. The disbelievers of Makkah repeatedly attacked them. Many Muslims were ruthlessly killed. Though Makkah welcomed pilgrims from all over the world, Muslims were not allowed to visit the Kabah for worship. During these days of hardship and unfair persecution , the Muslims worked out a peace treaty with the disbelievers. Though the terms of the treaty were totally one sided and unfair, the Muslims abided with the same. Then the disbelievers unilaterally broke the terms of the treaty and attacked the believers. These verses were revealed following this transgression. Through these verses, god gave the Muslims permission to defend themselves . It is also important to note that the verses mention the sacred mosque. This refers to the pilgrimage that the Muslims wanted to make. It was forbidden to bear arms or fight when one was on a pilgrimage. But knowing the intentions of the disbelievers, Muslims were permitted to fight back (only) and kill opponents to avoid being killed themselves. It clearly refers to a situation of mortal combat. One may say using contemporary jargon that there were constant terrorist attacks on Madinah and in this situation Muslims were given permission to fight back the “terrorists”. These verses are not a permission for “terrorize” but they are a warning against the “terrorists.” But even in these warnings you can see how much restraint and care is emphasized. Though permission to fight back is given, there are about 5 instances in the same verse where believers are cautioned against transgression.





My dear fellow beings…. Please don’t flaunt your ignorance so openly by quoting verses out of context. READ….. UNDERSTAND and then make INFORMED COMMENTS.

1+ 1 = 2. Please spare us from the torture of being preached and taught otherwise.

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Child is indeed the father of man…..

Being a part of a team that has been training students for over 8 years, I am now fully convinced that Wordsworth was indeed right when he wrote the above lines. By now, it has come further and we have to say that these puny little ones are now well equipped to be our grandfathers even.

At 9, my son knows more about the TV, PC, PSP, Internet and what not, than what I would ever know. All sorts of cables and wires snake across the walls of his room and it almost feels like the Data Centre of a behemoth MNC. The other day I caught him playing online games on his PSP with someone just across the corridor and another one half way across the world.

When he was just four, his grandfather found him sitting in the driver’s seat of his old Maruthi Baleno. After watching his maneuvers complimented with sound effects, the septuagenarian advised- “Please stick out your hand through the window and indicate when you want to turn left or right”. Amaan gave him a scathing look and retorted- “If you stick your hand outside a space craft, it will be torn off”. The proverbial gap between generations now span across solar systems and galaxies.

Have you by any chance seen the cartoons that they watch nowadays? Gone are the good old days when dumbo Tom used to chase naught Jerry, just two simple characters floating across the screen. Now you have hundreds of weirdoes flitting across the LED at lightning speed. Just watching it for a few seconds will make you dizzy. And all you need to do to feel terribly humbled is try playing one of their computer games. You will have more options on one single screen than what you would want in your whole life. Too many choices to make…..phew.

Remember the days when the only alluring enticements that kept us away from our books were Chitrahaar , Campus and a few good Sunday morning programs. Now with multiple channels, websites, OMD’s and Disks, no wonder the little ones cannot concentrate.

Have you watched these brats as they pray or wait for something (for the bus or for breakfast). They will be shifting their weight around, wiggling their fingers and nodding their heads all the time. Having got used to things that pop up even before the keys are depressed, they just cannot stand waiting. Talk to them and you will see how quick their eyes move. I can bet that you cannot keep them looking at your face for more than a few seconds.

Lot of parents complain to us that their wards don’t want to study. “The kids don’t respect us, They are so restless. Can’t get them to sit for a while” they say. The list is long. Though I don’t have a solution, I am sure about the root causes of these problems.

How can we expect them to respect us when it’s quite obvious to them that we are much slower than them. They think that we are worse than dilapidated Pentium 1 PC’s. We cannot operate the “In- things” of their world. We are just obsolete old pieces of hardware way beyond repair and upgrade.

How can we expect them to like their lessons, when what is being taught and how it’s being taught hasn’t changed much over the years? In this time of instant gratification, It is fully understandable why they find everything dismally slow and boring.

Since its impossible to log them off (and impractical as well), the only solution is Catching up. We will have to also change our paradigms about lessons and learning and have to adapt to the new ways of the world. My nephew recently finished his French holiday homework in minutes by typing the paragraph into the browser and pressing “Translate”.

Another one comes home after his Quran classes and asks his parents- “Do you know how Moses saved his followers ?”. “Why don’t you tell us dear ?, they sweetly replied”. Now here comes the son’s version.

“The Egyptians followed Moses and his team. Moses requested god to build a bridge over the sea. God had the bridge built in a jiffy. Moses and team crossed it. As the Egyptians were crossing it, God sent fighter planes who bombed it into smithereens”.

The shocked parents asked him- “Is this what your teacher taught you today ?”
He replied- “No. But if I tell you what he taught me, you will not believe it”
Child is indeed the grandfather of man.

And my dear parent mates !!!! Shape up or be shipped out.

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Filed under Till sunset

I Remember……

The aroma of EID wafting in as soon as the last week approaches wearily

The Suhoor announcer who sings Old hindi hits rehashed with sufiyana lyrics begins to sound sad

A section of the crowd deserts the masjids and occupies the well lit narrow souqs buying dazzling clothes and shining shoes

The Imam bids a tearful good bye to the holy month from his pulpit

The anticipation on the eve of the 30th………

Going to sleep, waiting to be woken up with good news

Waking up at mid night to the sounds of bursting crackers and children shouting Takbeers from over flowing auto rickshaws

Reciting the same, running around the courtyard till ones voice turns hoarse

A million phone calls…. Excited greetings

Lighting up a small portion of the “safe” flower pots and sparklers and saving the rest for the grand show on EID night

Sister and mother busy applying horrendous Mehndi designs on their palms

Falling asleep in the wee hours of the morning

Waking up, taking a bath and dressing up in clothes still having price tags and pins on them

Tip toeing respectfully to Uppa’s room to receive a dab of Attar on the palm

Going to the Eid Gah well before prayer time…

Occupying the first rows and shouting the Takbir, recited off key by the ageing stalwarts of the town

Finishing the prayers, the Imams passionate speech (with strong reminders to sustain the spirit)

Embracing every child and man around you 3 times, enjoying the fragrance of a cocktail of perfumes

Breakfast!!!!! After a month

Opening EID Gifts from Uppa and Umma

Visiting relatives and receiving money as EID gifts. Cramming your mouth with hundred different sweets

Playing with the kids of relatives and friends who call on us

Grand lunch… Mutton Biriyani

Going to the beach in the car in the evening, evading the crazy traffic on the streets

Enjoying the cheap ice-cream sold on the beach and sharing the joy with half the town who has chosen the same spot to revel

No Iftar !!!! (missing the over sweet lime juice and the many fried snacks)

Reaching home late…..

Competing with the neighbors in bursting the rest of the crackers… Feeling jealous about the ones who are allowed to burst big noisy ones

Name sake dinner

Falling asleep in a state of excitement, exultation and slight pain….. since Bakrid is still far away….

Hope I can hand over at least a part of this magical feeling to my kids, Amaan and Jehan this time.

EID Mubarak


Filed under Till sunset and beyond