Home Is Where The Heart Is

Its been four years since our last move and I have to say that I had forgotten the chaos that comes with it. My house looks like a frat house right now. Piles of clothes lie here and there, cartons have engulfed every inch of the space, keys have been lost, the trash pile is larger than the things we actually need, arguments are going on on what to keep and dispose off ( my mom wants to throw everything) and any attempt at making the house cleaner ends up making it more messy.

After taping and labeling a carton, we find something that has to specifically go that in one. Than we have to open it up again. Its a disaster. We only have two days left till the moving day and let me tell you that only our store has been packed and the books of the house, which occupy more space than rest of the things combined. Abbu had a fit seeing so many books. And he uttered the words "ban" and "books" in the same sentence. I said, lets not go there, my dear daddy. Because more than half are yours.

What I love about moving houses is that you have an excuse for everything. Didn't do your homework. Moving houses. Didn't callback a friend. Moving houses. Missed dental appointment. Moving houses. Ordered pizza three times in a week. Moving houses. Its awesome. And it works every single time.

Its a little weird though. In a way, we don't have a single house to call home. So we make every one of the houses we live in, our home. And you get attached to it. But the fun part is that you have numerous houses all over the continents to call your home.

This house like many before, has been our home. It has seen us BBQ countless times on the roof, than counting the stars in the sky, running upstairs like its a marathon to watch the fireworks. My favourite corner where I have sat, blinded by sunlight, drinking coffee and writing something. The wall that is covered with my incomplete sketches of the Doha Skyline, Huzaifa's disastrous writing on top of it and Moawiz's creepy hand drawn men crawling all over it. Me and Muaaz dancing like we are possessed, in the cold November rains. Our endless arguments on who will sweep the garage floor. The crazy idea we had of painting it ourselves and we did do it.

I sincerely hope that we pack everything and still have our body parts working. Because right now, we look like gypsies who have parked their caravans on the country side and thrown everything in it.

Good luck to you and to us !

Adieu !

S

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Coffee Rants # 3

When it gets cold outside only then I realize that I do not own a single pair of full sleeves shirt so then I spend my day wearing a blanket. Simply because I am too lazy to open the suitcases and take out my winter clothes.

When the weekend arrives at our house, all we do is collapse on the sofa, eat a bunch of junk food, watch the pending T.V shows and just unwind from the crazy week. And what is funny is that all us three older siblings are home on a Friday night while the youngest who is 7 is out with his friend.

So today I decided to bear that laziness and make plans for the weekend because usually my plans include inviting Aysha over and doing all of the above with her which does not even count. Its not my fault, if you take into account the horrendous traffic, waiting in lines and more bad traffic when all you can do is roam the malls in the end. Anyways, my weekend plans got cancelled. I mean, my friends are exactly like me, if not worse. They will also consider the traffic, both outside and inside and then make their plans. :)

On the plus side, Abbu is finally coming home. I love him and its fun to get him out of the house but only for the first few days. After that its like an egg cracked on the floor and you trying to clean that mess.

Can I just say how unbelievable confusing Double Book Keeping is. At first, its so easy but as you dive in the topic, it hits you that this is not a field of Tulips to roll in. You have to pluck them one by one with hands. I am studying Trial Balances these days and its eating my mind. Differentiating and deciding what goes in Credit or Debit is confusing. And I have a problem of asking about logic behind everything, so now my professor is like, just do it. Think about the logic later.

I got a treat from Aysha this weekend and trust me, free food is the best. Especially when you have a best friend paying for it. Its been a lazy but productive weekend and now its time to dive in my books all over again. :D

Tell me if lazy weekends are not the best weekends ever.

Adieu !

S

I Live Away From Home

Last year my very best one and only sister wrote an article titled, "Living Away From Home" and she mentioned all the things that she misses while living abroad. When I read it, I thought to myself that why is she being so sentimental and emotional ? So what ? It is not a big deal. I love Qatar. I don't have a problem living away from Pakistan. Yes. There are great things about Pakistan but I just don't see the diamond studded picture that can make me miss Pakistan. Its just one of the other countries on the map for me. I didn't give it a second thought and life went on.

But last Friday, I realised that Yes! I do live away from home. And yes ! Pakistan is home. You see it was my cousins Nikah ceremony. Now, we are a very small family and this is the first guy whose Nikah it was and we all pretty close. Because it all happened so suddenly within a week, we couldn't go and attend it. On the day of Nikah, my father called and my cousin (his elder and only sister) picked up and she told my dad that they were all getting ready and would leave for the ceremony in an hour. And I wanted to wear heels, spend hours at getting ready, wear those beautiful clothes and just be there. We called again after the Nikah to talk to everyone and congratulate them.  And I just had this emptiness in me. I had this longing to be there. I wanted to be there to enjoy the moment with my family. It was the first time in my life that I wanted to be in Pakistan rather any where else.

That day I realised that despite what I say and what I believe, deep down for me, my home has been and always will be Pakistan. It is like you realise the importance of something when you don't have it anymore and you think that you can get it back whenever you want but that's not how it works. You have to stick to what you have. I really did see the diamond studded picture which made me want to just fly out there and be with them. I really despised our lack of flying abilities on this auspicious day.

When you see a part of your family going through an important phase of their life and you so wish to be there for them but its the thousands of miles that stand between you and your home. You realise that the things you took for granted and never gave a second thought are the ones that are essential in your life and at the end of the day you are nothing without those things. I really am nothing without my family, without my identity, without my home. When you live abroad, you have the satisfaction that there are people back at home who will always be there to welcome you with open arms and no matter what life throws at you they will back you up. So, with immense pride I admit that I live away from home.

...SAP...