I Am Thankful

What is it that makes us thankful ?

My dad always says that its that time when someone whacks you in the kneecaps with a hammer, and you are forced to fall down on your knees, that is when you see your feet in shoes. And you see the pavement underneath it. You don't think about the workers who put that pavement together in scorching heat with bruised hands.

Living in Jeddah, we all had our own rooms which we decorated according to our taste which meant having bicycles in the bedroom.

I never realised the luxury of it till we moved to Qatar and I had to share a room with brothers. Those were the times when I wanted to study, they wanted to sleep. I wanted to talk on the phone, they wanted to watch a movie.

Its the sound of that Aayyat, in your head that gives you goosebumps, while you shiver with the thought of all the blessings that are laid upon our feet.

And which of your Lord's bounties will you deny ? Surah Rahman (55, 13)

It gets me every time. Not just once or twice, but every time I hear it. And you start looking at the little things in life. Like the fact that you can buy a phone without giving it a second thought. Instead of choosing between paying the house rent or getting food in tiny hungry bellies, we get to choose between rows upon rows of shoes.

So I thought that I need to reflect on how the year has gone by and make a list of things that I am not only grateful for but also thankful.

1. I am thankful to be a Muslim and to be born in a Muslim family.
2. I am thankful for good health, good families and good food. More importantly the food.
3. I am thankful to have an incredible guy in my life whose contentment makes me envy him.
4. I am thankful for the chance to be my own person and to do what I want.
5. I am thankful that I got to travel a lot this year.
6. I am thankful for wearing Black on my wedding day and doing everything the way I wanted.
7. I am thankful for amazing friends in my life who I can never replace.
8. I am thankful to be the only girl in the family.
9. I am thankful to have, not just one but two bedrooms.
10. I am thankful for a wardrobe full of clothes, shoes, bags and rubbish I don't really need.
11. I am thankful for the increase in my pocket money. I mean, who does not ?

In short, I am grateful that I have had the life I did. Not many people are that fortunate.

And I am thankful for that.

...SAP...

Accueil hivers !

After giving the last paper today, I was sitting in this little alcove surrounded by a huge piano, reading Robin Hood waiting for Huzaifa to come pick me up. All of a sudden I felt cold air hit me with full force as someone opened the French doors to go outside on the beach. And I realized that for so long, I had waited for Winter to come so I could snuggle in my favourite Blue and Purple striped comforter, drink Chocolate Chai Latte twice a day, wear over sized hoodies and read books. It crept up on me and I didn't even notice that 13'C is here to welcome me into its arms. 

I love Winters. But the thing is that I have never really lived them. I have but I do not remember living them. There is this vague memory of waking up in fog, getting bundled up in a puffy bright blue jacket, mittens, caps and than all the layers coming off one by one as the sun came out and warmed the day. But that was in Pakistan. And after that I never really experienced cold. Qatar is not the best country when it comes to lower temperature. Rather it specializes in roasting us in 48 'C all year around. So forget infinity scarves, thick long coats, beanies, gloves, huge fires and all that good wintry stuff.

Sometimes we wait for something to happen for such a long time that when it finally happens, we forget the true pleasure of it. And then when it goes away, we are reminded of that same thing again and again. So lets take this moment and enjoy it today instead of waiting for tomorrow to bring something better than this. Make your today awesome so when tomorrow comes, you have something to live it up to with.

So I pledge allegiance to wearing Huzaifa's hoodies, dragging Muaaz's blanket through out the house, eating ice cream from Moawiz's pocket money, surviving on coffee and reading as if there is no tomorrow. I cannot wait to wear my knee high Angry Birds socks, have an excuse to live in my PJ's, go on the roof and breathe in the crisp cold air, to go to the beach, have my toes freeze standing in the icy water and hands melt from the heat of the sun at the same time. I feel utterly grateful that Qatar is clean enough to actually feel that air instead of all the Carbon particles going inside us. I guess living in the richest country on earth has its perks.

"Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions."    -Dalai Lama

Adieu !

S 

.....

Book Review: Safe Haven, Nicholas Sparks

Katie Fieldman is a 27 year old woman, newly arrived in a small town called Southport. She seems like she is running away from something ? Katie is not even her real name. Than who is she ? And what is she running from ? Alex is a retired army officer, now operating a general store and bringing up his two children after his wife's tragic death three years ago. They both fall for each other but they cannot be together because of Katies' past. What is it ? What will happen when Katie's past will catch up to them ? Will they be able to survive it ? Will Katie be able to get over all the scars left behind by her past ? 

Published: 2010
Author: Nicholas Sparks
Genre: Fiction, Romance, Contemporary

Goodreads Review: Safe Haven

Middle East Shipping: Safe Haven

I am not much of a romantic book reader but this was one book that I wanted to read for a long time. But it was a disappointment considering how badly I wanted to read it.

I loved the way he has described Katie's feelings. How she used to manage everything so precisely and tried to be perfect around him. The fact that she loved him too much to just leave. Katie's character has been described as very strong. What she goes through and the way she still manages to hold her head high, looking at herself everyday in the mirror, wondering what she has become. Leaving him seems very simple. But its not so simple when you are in love and you keep hoping that it will not happen the next time. But that next time never really comes. Her belief in him was so strong.

I was looking forward to reading the reason behind Kevin's madness. But nothing was told. The focus was kept on Katie and I felt like the other characters were ignored. Especially Kevin's. Sparks did not explain why he did, what he did. Maybe there was no reason for it. But even that should have been told. And it took FOUR years for his Captain and colleagues to figure out that he drinks a lot. In the books, everytime he hit Katie, he was drunk. And he was a detective. Didn't everyday crimes, adultery, murders, blood that he saw had any affect on him ?

Another thing, Alex was an ex-army officer. I mean come on. I get the fact that Katie would want things to be left alone. But when  she knew that he was looking for her, then why the hell did not Alex do something about it ? He had contacts in the army, her neighbours the Fieldmans could have identified. He was in love with her, wanted to have kids with her but could not think of helping her. That kind of makes him an idiot.

Why? Oh, why did Nicholas Sparks had to create Carly as some sort of a ghost only seen by Katie ? I hated the fact that he created Carly as an illusion which helps Katie and is very much real to her. At first I thought that its a part of Katie telling her something. But Alex's dead wife giving Katie advice and eating dinner with her, that's a bit far fetched.

 

What I Learnt ? 

I was really thankful for the normal life that we have and that we at times take for granted. Knowing that we don't live the life where people hit each other or are sexually assaulted, beaten, even shouted at everyday, makes us sleep peacefully. We take normal as granted. But normal is really extra ordinary. Something that people wish and pray for everyday. 

Quotes From The Book:

"Little girls. They could melt the toughest hearts."

In the end, no matter how hard it is, acceptance helps people move on with the rest of their lives. But sometimes..."

"Everyone lies. Its part of living in a society."

"You see yourself as someone who couldn't get away. I see the courageous woman who escaped. You see yourself as someone who should be ashamed or guilty because she let it happen. I see a kind, beautiful woman who should feel proud because she stopped it from happening ever again."

 " I have come to believe that in everyone's life, there's one undeniable moment of change, a set of circumstances that suddenly alters everything."

 "Maybe I don't want to be defined by what I do. Maybe I would like to be defined by what I am."

 

...SAP...