27-Feb 2008

It is said that paintings reflect the state of mind of an Artist. ^ This is the painting I made on the night of 27-Feb-2008. Although, I am not sure whether it is true nor not.

''You go ahead, I will meet you at shehla's place'' Afrah announced over the phone.

''No no, I want to see what you are wearing and I want to see how you look!'' I demanded, knowing very well in my heart that I would eventually have to listen to her.

Afrah finally spoke again and she knew that kindness in her voice always ends up melting the most hardest hearts ''Baby, I am telling you na, you go at Shehla's place others are also going to come there, I would get ready and ask one of my brother's to drop me''

With that I gave up and agreed to what afrah had suggested, as much loser-ish as it sounds, I cannot afford to upset Afrah and at least not today! It is her birthday! (well, the secret is I cannot afford it any day!)

I entered Shehla's apartment and was plesantly surprised to notice that ammu was on time and was waiting for rest of us to arrive there. It was just that shehla and ammu didn't really share much in common, so it was awkward for both of them to stay in each other's company for a long time. ''Finally, you are here! where's Afrah?'' ammu asked suspiciously (as if it was ME who asked afrah to come late!)

''She'll be here in another half an hour or so she said''

''WHAT?!'' ammu was shocked as it was already 11.00 am and we were supposed to be in lounge habits by this time.

''Who's getting the cake?!'' I asked

''I don't know, nobody informed me''

''What?!!''

''Don't worry I am going to get it from Universal Bakers'' Shehla said and brought me much needed relief

''I like chocolate man! bring the black forest cake!''

''Shireen, its not YOUR birthday! Its Afrah's!''

''So what? she likes what I like, I am sure!''

''Okay fine, I have already called them for it I will leave now and collect it, I hope Afrah's here by the time I come back''

The doorbell rang and ammu answered it. It was Sneha flashing her ever fresh smile on us. Ammu and Sneha always shared this sort of comfort level, so keeping that in mind I decided I would also go out with Shehla to get the cake and on the way I can even buy some roses for Afrah (I love buying Red Roses for my bestie's and I realize some people find it strange, Haters I say!)

''Heyy hi sne! Listen I am gonna go out with Shehla to get Afrah's cake, you can stay with ammu!'' I annouced and Sneha happily agreed to wait with ammu

Shehla and Ammu also exchanged with Sneha their ''Hey's'' and ''How are yous''

''Chal Yarr, lets go Afrah will come here anytime!'' I cried impatiently to Shehla as madam was busy searching for the car keys! (God, some people can be so irresponsible on important days like Afrah's Birthday! Wasting time on this day is like a National Emergency I say!)

''One sec jaana! It was here somewhere'' replied Shehla furiously walking back and forth between the TV stand and the dining table ''Found it! Lets go''

Shehla and I collected the cake from universal bakers and man it smelled so awesome. The stupid baker didn't keep the cake ready even when we arrived there, so we had to stand on his head and make sure he does it quickly. My mouth started watering (talk about chocoholics!) ''I want to buy some roses, stop at any flower shop'' I said to Shehla. ''what? now?''

''Yes now!''

''Okay fine we'll go to mehdipatnam as its the closest from here and I think there's a guy there who sells roses, why didn't you tell me before you fool?! Our neighbours on the first floor sell roses at 4rs each; they get it from a village every morning and the same stuff is sold by flower shops for 8rs or even 10!''

''Do I look like I care about the money right now?'' I asked shehla with an arched eyebrow

Shehla was patiently waiting in the car as I rushed out from her car, on a road which was jammed by so many people! I mean, don't people have something better to do other than walking on mehdipatnam roads? Its not even weekend, Its wednesday!!

We arrived at home to find Sneha and Ambreen listening to some music and chatting away delightfully while I just returned from a fight with the flower seller! God, how can he demand 10rs for 1 rose?!! How?! Anyway, eventually i bargained it for 8rs for each rose! And where is Afrah? oh GOD! she is not here even now?!

Shehla started blowing some balloons and I was wondering where is she planning to hang or stick em? Just then she annouced that she is going to just keep them in the car for birthday sake! Right.

Just when I was about to call My Princess - My madame moiselle- My Baby Afrah to scream and yell my anger out on her. The door bell rang and I was in the bedroom to fetch my mobile phone. Somebody answered and It was Afrah! To show my disappointment at her regular habit of showing up late, I didn't go out in the living room to wish her and was waiting for her to approach me in the bedroom (don't get too doubtful, its NOT gayish! I bet!)

''Hi Baby!'' afrah said looking at me smiling and immediately I could feel all my anger vanishing from my mind with each moment of her smile! God, I hate it when it happens.

''Why are you Late you fool?! We had to be at lounge habits by now!! But because of you we are late! Come here'', ''HAPPY BIRTHDAAYYYYY'' i smothered afrah into a hug!

''What are you wearing! what are you wearing?! take off your abaya man!'' I was soo excited

Afrah took off her scarf and opened the abaya obediently and turned around a striked a pose for me. I swear, I could have fainted out of SHOCK! She looked so Beautiful, Exquisite, Heavenly, Gorgeous (basically beyond the scope of mere adjectives). She was wearing a new pair of white jeans, Dark green t-shirt, Deadly heels, and a beautiful chain around her neck complimented by her curly hair. She wore feather-like earrings too.

''Now that you have seen it, can we leave now?'' Afrah asked cautiously

''Yes, yes lets hurry up! I need to wear my abaya too''

In the meanwhile, Ammu, Sneha and Shehla got ready in the living room. We all headed towards Shehla's car in the parking. ''Atika is going to come to lounge habits too afrah, its okay yeah?'' Asked ammu. I was shocked, why is Atika coming? She is not even our group member. But she was ammu's friend so I was willing to let go of it.

If atika can come then so can my friend, I thought. (well actually I had invited my friend way before ammu invited atika hehe)

As always I issued my public warning that I am the one who gets to sit in the front side next to the driver's seat. It was my copyright and nobody dared to argue on that. Shehla started driving in the year 2007 and She got her license with the much required bribe to her driving teacher! But with time, She was becoming FANTASTIC! She could drive at any freakin' speed without hitting anyone or anything! So I took pride in encouraging her to speed more, and to jump the speed limits. If i saw a guy who is driving faster than her, It would deeply hurt my feminist side and I would go like ''You know shehla, the speed at which you are driving, Its nice, Yes it is very nice for GIRLS you know, who like to be CAREFUL and NOT reckless like cool people out there'' and I knew my sarcasm worked when Shehla pressed the accelerator hard. Shehla had a small car that would run like a cheetah when required.

I was very excited for Afrah's birthday as it was our last year together in college after which she would return back to Saudi and I would be expected to relocate from India to UAE for job oppurtunities as my family didn't think working in my own country is such-a-good-idea.

We arrived at Lounge Habits in Shehla's car. Lounge Habits was my personal favorite spot to go and have fun at. Because it was in a not-so-crowded area of the city and We had recently discovered it as they were not much into advertising and publicity. They were a bit expensive with their services which also added as a great advantage for us as not many college going kids would come in a secluded area for some expensive service. Plus, they had a variety of things that one could do there and It was in an independant house of 3 floors, with complete privacy that comes as a part of thier service.

Lounge Habits had an open garden on the ground floor where they had a nice cafe with jute furniture and the typical garden plants. First floor was for kid's activities. Second floor was where we rocked, They had bean bags in all of their rooms, and huge projectors on which one could watch a movie or play PlayStation with wireless joysticks. Which was tres cool for me!

Other room was for board cames but that room was equipped with a huge music library and surround sound system. That is where we would go to hang out. Third floor was a sophisticated restaurant which didn't seem very appealing to me, being the teenager that I was.

Atika and my friend were waiting in the cafe on the ground floor for us.It was already 1.oo pm by the time we arrived and Afrah also had her family to meet later today afternoon and have lunch with them. I guess around 4-ish. We decided to cut the cake in the garden cafe itself since we were already there! We all sung happy birthday song and I was beaming with joy realizing these are the moments I am going to cherish the most with my best friend forever, Afrah Hameed. No, I didn't have a terminal illness, can't somebody just feel joyful?!

I hate the person who invented the game of ''Smash the cake on your face''.. Firstly, It is a waste of cake, secondly the skin gets too oily after it, thirdly it is so FREAKIN difficult to clean the skin and Finally IT WAS A YUMMY CHOCOLATE CAKE AND SMASHING IT ON SOMEONE'S FACE IS GRAVE INJUSTICE. But why would anybody listen to me? I was expecting it the Least when Shehla took the liberty to smash it on my face. I must say she really had some guts for doing it to me, considering the size of her personality to mine.

Finally, after the smashing session we decided to go on the 2nd floor to order to some snacks and continue our party over there. An hour and a half later, we were done with our snacks and I started to display my SMOOTH dance moves and When I say ''Smooth'' it is really smooth enough to give anybody a cardiac arrest! :D

Afrah kept laughing looking at me and my guts to dance like that in front of all the friends and I swear I would go on until I pass out only for the sake of her laughter which was so beloved to me.

We moved out around 3.00 PM from the Lounge Habits and while we were in the parking ammu started her irrational wish to sit in the front seat next to the driver's seat. I was very offended, How could anyone ask me to sacrifice something as special as my front seat to anyone?! Indeed, Life is not Fair, Lesson Learnt. I finally gave in to her request and allowed her to sit in the front. Just then somebody reminded to recite the supplication before pulling the car out of the parking lot.

Atika had her own car, the same model which Shehla had just with a better stereo system! It was official that the race is about to start between Atika and Shehla when Atika vroomed her way out right beside Shehla's car. Atika had agreed to drop Sneha near her house, So sneha was with Atika. While afrah and I were enjoying the speeding race, ammu franatically fastened her seatbelt. Shehla the dare devil, was racing at a really good speed without the seat belt on and we were having a tough one from Atika. Once we reached in the crowded are of the city, Shehla begun to reduce her speed and hence was receiving my sarcastic comments from the backseat about ''How the speed she is driving at is good for beginners, new drivers and most importantly for girls''

We were now waiting at the traffic signal beside Atika's car on a junction. We were going to take a right turn from the junction and drive below a fly over. Just then I encouraged shehla all the more to speed and she pulled the car out in a franatic speed as soon as the signal went green. We were at 100kmph speed which may not seem to be too much of speed but in a crowded city like Hyderabad you can pull out that speed only on highways.

Just then my heart got scared for a moment as we were approaching towards an auto trailer with that speed. We were on a road which on a bridge. Shehla was at a high speed and I was sure in my heart anything can happen but she WONT hit the trailer, i thought she's gonna use one of her tricks and swiftly move the car from this dangerous situation but it ALL happened so FAST! Before I could realize, a Sudden BIG jerk shook the car as the front side of the car crashed into the auto trailer! Ammu's head hit the windsheild but thanks to her seat belt she didn't fly out of the windshield as it would happen in normal cases of accidents! O MY God, I cannot believe what JUST happened. We had an accident! No way! shehla cannot do an accident, she is the best driver I know of... or knew of.

Is that a change that I see? - Well, Hopefully

It was 4 days ago, I met my friend from college. We have been friends for more than 5 years and now that I think about it, it's been quite a long time. I am friends with her but the intensity of our friendship sort of changed post college which I guess is pretty normal keeping in mind the fact of our super fast paced lives.

When I met her, after an hour or so,we ran out of things to discuss. So she opened my bag and found a copy of Riyad-us-saliheen. I was so excited to read the book to her, as i recently discovered reading Islamic books to/with friends is a fun activity. She was shocked to see that book and another book similiar to that in my handbag. She could not believe her eyes, as my struggle to stay on the straight path has not been an apparent one. I took the book out and asked her to let me know which chapter she would want me to read and I did so, she was astonished and I was embarassed as she delightfully recalled the kind of person I used to be back in the college and few months ago. Living my life to the fullest in the bliss of ignorance.

Confused, Depressed, Unaware are people who are lost in the glitterati of this world and the ones who are not known to the real purpose of life(I was one of them). Alhamdulillah, for Islam.

Finally, when I had to leave she accompanied me to the main road where I had to hail an auto for myself. Our auto drivers can be very demanding people, well mostly actually. The 1st one blissfully ignored me although he didn't have a passenger. 2nd one didn't like the place where i wanted to go... In the meanwhile they were couple of ladies waiting few feet away from us. Then came the 3rd auto driver and he immediately declined on my face. Out of helplessness, I threw my hands in the air. Then I made a loud specific prayer for an auto driver to take me to my destination and suddenly the 3rd auto driver stopped his auto near those 2 ladies and agreed to take me to my destination. A grin stuck on my face as i headed in his direction with my friend, the lady who noticed me praying immediately commented to her friend ''I saw her praying for an auto''

''Wow, man! you've really changed'' said my friend.

''Like how?''

''Shireen, you were declined by 3 auto drivers on your face and all you did was throw your hands in the air''

''And....??''

''You HAVE changed!! I have seen you cursing auto drivers, You would have used some verbal abuse to show your frustration but this time! you just threw your hands in the air''

''Really? I cursed so often?''

''Ofcourse man, I tried to change you for soo long for you to leave cursing and using bad words. Now, I am so happy for you''

''I am still struggling and I still use them sometimes''

''Is that a change that I see?''

''Well, Hopefully''

Disappointment

I have been disappointed many times in life, whats funny is that i didn't see it coming from you,

May be, just may be it was the fact that I love you and my presumption that you loved me too.

Words are for people who just talk about love but they don't even try!

To stab my back after all my love, it just took you a blink of an eye!

You tell me you are sorry, but guess what, i dont care,

I have had enough from you, Just have had my share.

I really do not deserve to be treated the way you did,

Don't you dare tell me how you are ''so sorry for it''

You have not just broken my trust, You've broken a part of me,

You have broken that very part, which had loved you so dearly.

You can forget even thinking about gaining my trust again,

I would rather prefer dying than to go through this pain.

Day 2 - Books and Biryani

The Day started with parathas and yummy egg curry. When i have food with mom it is so hard to leave the dining table without filling myself upto my throat as she takes my ''no mom, i am done'' as my approval for a refill in my plate! Once done with the breakfast, it was the sweet time! we gorged on delecious sweet puris that mom had prepared and man i am sure i am going to gain lotts of pounds by the time i go back to work :(

I rushed to shamsi's house in the morning while giving a quick HI to shehla at her house. ooh! she's got some new scoop that shall be disclosed here very soon. Wohoo! excited. Shamsi and I met FINALLY!! oh yeah!! We went to the bookstore and bought so many wonderful books. Later around afternoon we came to my house and 3 cheers for my mom's biryani!! The Chicken Biryani was so fantastic!! ah, no place like home.

Shamsi, discovered the name of my childhood blankey today and Don't get too excited i am not gonna disclose it here. Wohoo! my ducks blankey is back! Mom got it dry cleaned.

We went to city centre and shamsi's inability to handle a cone of ice cream compelled the mc donalds guy to come out and hand us some tissues. haha! We the girls! then headed to her home and I loved troubling her every minute! wow. its fantastic to know that i have mastered the art of irritating her hehe ;)

Then we read the riyad us saliheen to each other for around 2 hours! man, that was SO funny, the minute i would start singing a song or talking something bad then shamsi would flaunt the book on my face and start saying ''Allahu akbar'' as if im a ghost or somethin!

Good times waiting again tomorrow, time to meet other friends. Life is sweet, Alhamdulillah!

Home Sweet Home

I have taken a week's off from work to visit my love hyderabad, LOL *jokes* I am actually here to see my mom.

My office blessed us with a 3-day weekend so i took the liberty to take one more week's off and fly over here. I am in such a terrible state right now considering the fact that i have had very little sleep from more than 24 hours, the thing is i was very keen to write this entry. shucks, i think i have gotten addicted to the idea of writing on a blog rather than in my diary which is more like a public property for my family for they would just pick it up and read whatever they like. AND! not just that, some family members even take the liberty to edit what i write =/

Day 1 -The person sitting next to me in the flight was lets just say not a pleasant company as i was tortured for a good 1 and 1/2 hours of unwanted-one sided conversation. This was a time when i was happy that the flight from Dubai to Hyderabad is only for 3 hours.
My patience was tested again as my luggage arrived at the belt after good 60 minutes. And my last escape to this torture was the recitation from Al Sudais. Man! did that help?!

The customs didn't feel like having a good 'ol conversation with me today so i was relieved as i left the airport immediately. After a tiring journey it is such a sight to see my 2 siblings waiting for me. Unfortunately, i was not the usual energetic me when i met them. Eventually, it was the FAMILY time. Had breakfast and have been trying to sleep the entire day but man is it tough to sleep for me after a flight :(

As the evening progressed I had a wonderful family dinner where i initially hesitated to eat too much and later i hogged like a hungry person for ages. The best part being that my sister and I were singing all the broken-hearted songs in a really LOUD voice as we were dedicating to my brother and hinting it on his.. oh well you get the point ;)

Around midnight was the time for Ice Cream but i was highly disappointed as the place i recomended for ice cream have lost all their quality, it was too bad. During this time, I was the target for my brother and my sister's jokes most of the time as i am the youngest one I get to be the target.

The night is still on as my siblings do not seem to be having any plans of sleeping anytime soon and its already 1 in the morning here. Tomorrow I'm going to meet my beloved friend and until then TOODLES!

Bleh, Just another day!

Today when the entire world is reminded by the corporate heads of marketing and advertising about the Love that the couples MUST express to each other, I have been wished ''Happy Valentine's Day'' since morning, well the first text was from Afrah so it was a bit digestable 'cause she is one person who hates to tell me that she loves me :P (can't help it though, some people have tough time accepting simple, plain facts)

I did not reply it. Because the love i feel for her is 24/7 so I am sure I don't have to select a day to express my love, I have been doing it all the time since we became friends more than 5 years ago. Don't believe me? Go, ask her! No, actually you can ask anybody who knows me ;)

Besides we all are aware of some vague story behind this day and other smart people (like flower shops, diamond stores, gadget companies, fashion gurus etc) are banking on it.

It seemed very awkward, as i was walking down the office aisle when i noticed a girl with red heart shaped balloon and somebody else's desk with red roses decorated on it. I in no way am a hater of Romance, Instead trust me I Love Love. The only thing what bothers me is the One Day celebration of it, like a nation's Independance Day. (You know what i'm sayin?)

A Day of College - When we ran like prisoners fleeing from a Prison

^ This is the Gate beyond which freedom awaits!

^ And! This is a part of my College

It was 11:15 am that the 3rd period of the day ended. Financial Management is such a torture! If it happens to be the teacher you dislike the most and if she even happens to teach you Income Tax too, then trust me its a tremendous torture

Afrah and I sneak out of the classroom grabbing our bags heading towards the gate while the others were busy taking out their note books for the next lecture. We were going to test our luck today (trying to bribe the watchman on the college gate). Both of us took our bags in one hand and started going downstairs. Our class was on the third half built awkward floor of our very huge college building. We were just half way on the stairs just when Afrah noticed the lecturer coming towards the stairs from the opposite side of the building's balcony, we increased our speed as we saw she was approaching on quite a speed, we were on second floor now and then we noticed Asma! why was she going to the classs?

''Are you going to the class?'' I asked.

''Yes''. Asma replied

''No, no you can't go'' afrah chimed in too

''But Why?''

''Cause we are bunking the class!'' I declared

''And....sooo??''

''So you are not going too, lets get out of the college and go somewhere, lets go to some restaurant have lunch or something but NOT to class again''

''No guys! i actually want to attend the class''

''But you cannot, because we are not attending''

As i noticed the lecturer was few feet away from us and my back was facing her I grabbed asma's hand and started running towards the other staircase. Afrah started running too, we were panting to reach the other staircase in time. As we reached on the ground floor finally, panting and heading towards the play ground. Asma then realized how i successfully forced her to bunk the class with me :P

''Do you think she saw us?'' I asked Afrah

''No man i don't think so we ran pretty fast''

Asma still catching her breath ''You guys are crazy you know?''

''Ofcourse'' Afrah and I beamed in unison as if we had conquered the world!

Within 15 minutes of fleeing from the class, there we were! Out of the college! Smiles stuck on our faces! (well at least afrah and mine)... Sunny afternoon as it was around 12 in the noon! And well the freedom didn't come for free, Let's just say we had to be *cough* quite *cough* generous with the watchman for it.

Asma, being the good kid she was headed to her home and I was like ''What's the point of fleeing from the college, if you had to go home?!'' Disappointment at my friend's simplicity was apparent on my face and then she confirmed that ''as much as she would like to spend this afternoon with us, she really had some business to take care of and she could use this time for it''.

With that, Afrah and I sighed and went to Shehla's home as Shehla madam seemed to have had taken an oath to never come to college regularly. We spent the rest of the day, watching a movie from the GIGANTIC movies collection that she had with wonderful snacks being served by aunty over and over again. God! how I loved aunty for never asking how come we dropped by in the afternoon during college hours!

Oh in case you are wondering which subject we were running from, it was AUDITING!

The only problem with our lecturer was that she took her subject which is not even a complete subject. It was just a part of Company Law that she took wayy too seriously so people like Afrah and I could suffer at her hands for a long time!

M is for Modesty

Warning : This is going to be a combination of a rant and my opinion about a certain issue, so you can choose to read or run!

It was this weekend. I had noticed it before but not to this extent. A mother doing her under garments shopping with her son who is probably 12 years old and not just THAT! The son also selects stuff for his mom! so my question is one of the famous questions, the most repeated, WHAT IS GOING ON IN THIS WORLD?!!!

The boy was with his grandmother too who would select the stuff for her daughter and ask the grandson to give them to his mother in the dressing room. Some might think i am writing about this whole scene in a rather extremist manner. But guess what, I don't care. Because kids being in a huge, branded lingerie showroom of that age, for me is downright OUTRAGEOUS. As the display varies from simple nightwear to s***** outfits.Whatever happened to the word MODESTY?!

I think that when any of us are planning to go to such places it is better to avoid taking our kids there*. Because at this stage it might not seem like a big deal but it will be one of the major factors which will shape their mentality i.e., spending time with their mothers. But hey, guess what happens to the mentality if you take your kids** spend time with you in to places like these, its simple - no modesty. Thats right you can forget that characteristic in your child's personality. When you yourself are not being a role model of modesty how can you expect your child to turn out like a saint? except a miracle of course.

*Unless you have to do some shopping for your kids in that place

**I am not hinting at all kids, there can be babies who you cannot leave anywhere. I am pointing towards kids who reach to a certain age where they grasp everything from their surroundings and kids who have the clear understanding of things.

Whats my point? Well, my point is keep the young ones away when you are out there shopping for something which your personal affair. Trust me, it is not a fiesta for them to witness.

Don't be stingy!

Sisterhood! How is it celebrated? Well, very simple! HUGS dude!! what else??!

Then why do we act so stingy when we have got to give that to someone we don't know that much or when somebody is upset yet we are so skeptical about it. Trust me, hugs have never killed anyone nor the person who hugs others. So go out there do some community service and yes! by this i mean give some hugs! :D But hey, not to your opposite gender ;) no no that sort of invitation screams ''MASSIVE TROUBLE''.

Now i know for some people hugs feel worse than being kicked on their bums! They really get pissed off like my own best friend ,she'd give me a disgusted look when i would hug her, anyway even THAT didn't put my 'hugging spirit' down i just assumed that her ''disgusted look'' is just her way of showing appreciation. *talk about optimism eh?*

So until i heard her yelling at me for hugging no look of hers stopped me. Ever. My point being if you know somebody's character then do not risk your life by hugging them you can choose to stay away from them before they put a straining order on you.

And once somebody yells do not keep hugging them, just RUN!

But when you look at somebody who seems to be low, or who is crying, then don't hesitate! Go ahead! The worse thing is they'll give you a look and thats it!

P.s. i also know this is not my best blog entry!! BUT THIS ISSUE IS MORE IMPORTANT TO ME THAN GLOBAL WARMING!