Milad with David Miliband

As I walked towards the mosque, for Jummah prayer, yesterday, I was amazed to see a police officer standing outside mosque. There, sometimes, are traffic police guys, putting fine tickets on the wrongly parked vehicles, but Met Police, never saw them around, before.

Anyway, I walked in wondering about the police officer. I also noticed a couple of cars, which are normally not there, but anyway.

It was just before Mua’zhan was about to say 2nd Azhan, when Imam sb announced that we have some guests with us today. And as he introduced the guests, they happened to be some goverment officials, including Foreign Secretary David Milliband. I was literally shocked. What is he doing here? was my first thought.

Khair, he was invited to speak after a while. And as he spoke, it dawned on me that he is here to wish Eid Milad-un-Nabi to his Muslim country men. As its the birthday of Holy Prophet (SAW), he took time from his busy schedule to wish us. What? Are you sure? was my second thought. And then I realized its the election year, and Labour Party is expected to get some tough competition in this election, Mr Miliband was on a compaign to please his voters.

Aaaahhhh, this politics, what-not it makes people do

And BTW, as he was speaking, myself being on the first floor of the mosque, and there being a big space left out in the first-floor’s floor, you can see the ground-floor hall, I left my place just to get a glimpse of Mr. Miliband. Yes rite, the Pakistani spirit. And as I looked at him, despite disagreeing with all his foreign policy stuff, I felt a little desire somewhere deep in my heart to stand by his side for a photograph . Well to be honest, everybody has a right to think about his future, and who knows I shall have a shop, of anything, in future, in Pakistan, and then I can hang this picture on the wall at least, you know

Khair, what else amazed me was that nobody out on the street was least concerned that Mr. Miliband is around. And there were no dozen police vans around, after all he is Foreign Seceretary of United Kingdom. I could only spot one officer on my way in. And it was just 3-4 men in suits, including Mr. Miliband, standing beside Imam sb, to say some words, inside. No bearucratic baraat or anything. Nothing. And yes, to keep the records straight, I did see another police officer on my way out of the mosque, so it was not just one, rather a couple of them. So much for a protocol.

And as I got back to my machine, in office, BBC Urdu had this interesting piece of news waiting for me. So much for a frustrated afternoon …

Not a bug

I remember, and I hope, if you have been at Ult, you’d remember too, NOT-A-BUG (NAB). It was always fun to find out an issue to be NAB, and marking it as such. Yes Umar, you can grind your teeth, but it was fun thats just being a developer. Sometimes it was quite a task to make your point across, particulary with some QAEs, yes you are right, I am talking about that QAE , but it was still fun Sometimes you needed help from IG/Bilz, but it was still fun

And just yesterday, when I kicked out 3rd bug, in a row, to be NAB, I realized, it still is fun Its a different story, though, that its the first time I had this oppurtunity in almost a year I have spent at this company. Although I wasn’t doing much with bugs, and concentrating on certain other things, but still.

Anwyay, we almost kicked out winters towards the end of January, here in London, with tempratures as high as 12 centigrade, but it has striken back. There has been short snow showers, bringing temprature back to freezing. And its chilli as anything outside.

Semi-finalist

As part of a company-wide promote-social-interaction intiative, every department is holding an indoor game competition. So far we had Table Tennis and Darts. I didnt play Table Tennis, but I did play Darts.

I hadn’t played darts before this, and the only information I had about it was “it has something to do with numbers.”

It was around 20-25 people who registered interest. There was an initial screening, to select 16 players to play pool matches. I was given 3 shots, and without any clue of what I am doing, I tried my shots, and was told I scored 20, yes you can laugh And it was this 20 that scored me a position for the pool matches, although I was the least scorer, that is no 16.

I was happy, I was staying.

Now, I was partnered with our QA Manager to play the pool game. I had no idea that we are competing against each other, I, on the other hand, thought we are a pair, and I apoligized to him in advance, saying that I might not be helpful as I am a newbie

I kept on throwing my darts without much worry, only to learn at the end that I have won. I was a little amazed to hear this, as I thought we are a pair. But I was told that we were competing.  So far so good ….

My manager was standing nearby, and he had played some darts in past, so I started inquiring him about the game. I had developed interest now, as I had won a game now .

He was kind enough to explain the game to me, and as we talked, and I watched the poeple playing, I began to make sense out of it. By the end of our conversation, I knew what darts was all about. Thanks to him.

By now, the pool games were over, and names were anounced for the quarter finals. Lo and behold! I was competing against my manager yes the same guy who was teaching me about the game a while ago.

So we played, and guess what … I won Yes, to everybody’s surprise, I won. I was through to semis.

In semi-final, I was competing against a veterian, who would win the final in 20-30 minutes from now. It started quite dramatically, as I scored a triple 17, a triple 16, and a 6, with a total of 105 in one go, my darts-career-highest so far And my partner in the game was like :O … how can you do that to me … he was a little serious into the game. I was not.

He was still at 190, when I needed 24 to finish off. An easy game it seemed so far, with everybody around in a shock, and I kinda enjoyed that moment almost on the verge of getting into the final. But then … you are not supposed to get into final on your very first day in the game.

I went on a bust. I was not worried as I had time. But then, I stayed at 24, as my partner made it to 20 I think. And then … I stayed at 24, and he won He was really happy.

So was I

It was not a bad start at all.

ویلکم

You can read the subject of the post as Welcome, can’t you?

My Arabic teacher, ohh did I tell you I am taking Arabic classes, yes I am . So yes my Arabic teacher, who is from Morroco, and hold a degree in Shari’a from IIUI, couldnt, when he first landed in Islamabad.

As Urdu and Arabic share the script, infact Urdu is written in Arabic script sometimes, he could read it, but the problem was in understanding it. If you read the subject in Arabic, it reads Wa’elo-kum, which literally mean “You will see!!”, as in “You have eaten the donuts mom saved for dinner, now you will see what she does to you” I hope you got it.

As he, my teacher, narrated the incident in the class, he was like, “I was actually amazed to see the sign boards everywhere telling us, Arabs, that “You will see”. What wrong have we done to them? And I couldnt get hold of it for quite a good number of days, 1 month almost, till the time I was friends with a Pakistani classmate. So I talked to him about my confusion, to which he laughed quite generously and explained that its Urdu transliteration for Welcome. I was relieved to know this.”

Anyway … my Arabic course is coming to an end, and I am actually thinking about whether to continue for part-2 or not. Not decided yet.

And yes, I am back, and won’t go away again, for sometime at least (no promises though )

Catching up …

Its been a while I have written something here. I dont know why but I feel similar to this.

Its not that nothing has happening around, infact a lot of significant things happened in the last month, but sometimes … you just dont feel like doing it. I dont know why.

There were some bad news, including the heinous attack at my Alma Mater. And the bad news has not gone yet, it rather continues … Every other day some part of the homeland is crying.

Then there were some good news as well;

• Butt sb was blessed with a baby boy. May Allah bless and protect your family.
• MUF got married, taking the lead in expatriates. Congrats bro.
• Oooops, did I miss Hammad? Infact Hammad took the lead, and MUF followed
• Fadi got engaged. Yup finally he’s got a dedicated server

And

• Ammar came to the UK.
• I have finished 3 seasons of Ugly Betty.
• And did I tell you I have joined Social Comittee at my workplace Yup, social comittee once – social comittee forever Although it has me as the only member yet, but I am already working on our first project.
• I have moved into a new (shared) house.
• And some other things as well …

Thats quite a lot, isn’t it?

So … yes! life is going on …

PS: And I remember Umair suggesting me to start something else as well, apart from this blog, and I was thinking  I am unable to keep up with the existing one still but I am thinking on your idea, and lets hope we get something rolling ….

بابا مجھ کو ڈر لگتا ہے

بابا میری مس کہتی ہیں
کل سے سب بچوں کو اپنے
گھر رہنا ہے، گھر پڑھنا ہے.!

میں نے سنا ہے !
ایک بڑے سے، کالی مونچھوں والے “انکل”
بومب (bomb) لگا کر آئیں گے
سب بچے مر جایں گے !!

بابا کیوں ماریں گے ہمکو !؟
ہم سے کوئی بھول ہوئی کیا ؟
ہم سے کیوں ناراض ہیں “انکل”؟

بابا ان کو گڑیا دے دوں ؟
یا پھر میرے رنگوں والی، یاد ہے نہ وہ نیلی ڈبیا
میری پچھلی سالگرہ پر، مجھ کو آپ نے لا کر دی تھی

اور میری وہ پیاری پونی
ریڈ کلر کی – تتلی والی !
وہ بھی دے دوں -؟
پھر تو نہیں ماریں گے مجھ کو ؟

یاد ہے بابا، ایک دفعہ جب !
مجھ کو ہاتھ پہ چوٹ لگی تھی .
بہت زیادہ درد ہوا تھا – !!
تھوڑا سا خون بھی نکلا تھا !!
بہت زیادہ روئ تھی میں !!!

کیا یہ بم بڑا ہوتا ہے ؟
بہت زیادہ چوٹ لگے گی؟
درد بھی شاید زیادہ ہو گا !!

بابا مجھ کو ڈر لگتا ہے

(عاطف جاوید عاطف

Hasbi Allah

If you open Surah-at-Tin, Quran reads:

95:4 We have indeed created man in the best of moulds,

95:5 Then do We abase him (to be) the lowest of the low,-

95:6 Except such as believe and do righteous deeds: For they shall have a reward unfailing.

Sometimes, man just gets to the lowest of the low. May Allah protect us all from this.

Packing up

My trip to Pakistan is nearing its end. I’ll be flying back by the start of next week insha’Allah, as always with a lot of pleasant memories with me.

The trip was quite a busy one. Had some chores to do that were pending my arrival. Had to meet with friends, although havent been able to meet all of the them and some other stuff.

The most asked questions remain “Shadi kab ker rahe ho?” and the likes Recent wedding of my cousin has given an even stronger momentum to this question within the family. Some elders of the family quite seriously advised that I should plan for it now. And I agree with them Its just that sometimes its difficult to prioritize things and take decisions, particularly the kind of things and decisions that are supposed to be taken by people with around 50 years of experience in this world, normally your parents.

Sometimes, I really miss my father.

Khair … at all such times, my Lord has always been there for me, so will He be now. I am concerned but not worried

….

As of packing up, there is not much to pack actually. Just some clothes that I brought along and thats it.

I have to move home as well after I get back to London. I have almost 1 week for the room-hunt. Lets hope I find some reasonable place well in time.

See you later …

PK786

Yup, you guessed it right. Its PIA

I am happy. I am flying to Pakistan today. I will spend rest of Ramadhan with my family, insha’Allah.

It was a busy morning today. I had to buy a couple of things to take along. Although that couple of things grew to quite a bunch of things, but thanks to PIA, the luggage allowance is 40 Kg.

Anyway …

I hope to be there by morning tomorrow, and I hope to see you all during my visit …

Ramadhan and us

Well, “us”, here, means me n Waqas

Ramdhan, along with its blessings, brought a whole new schedule of activities, as it does every year.

As I am observing the longest rozey of my lifetime, so far, 16 hrs it is, time has suddenly run short. Before Ramdhan, we used to kill time, watching TV, browsing, FB and all that stuff. But, as the Ramadhan has started, we dont even have enough time to sleep.

The day starts at 3:30 AM, when we leave our beds with half open eyes. Parathas, eggs and tea, in the same order. Yougurt gets its place as a side order. Sometimes, left over curry from dinner also makes its to the table. We hardly make it to sehri-end time, although we are improving on this as the days are getting shorter.

Namaz etc takes it to around 5:00 AM, when we kiss the beds again, only to get up at 8:00 for office. I take half-an-hour break at lunch time, instead of normal an-hour break, and use the remaing half-an-hour in evening to leave early, so getting some touch of Ramadhan-in-Pakistan

On my way back home, I am nowadays reading Princess by Jean Sasson, which I borrowed from office’s collection of novels. I get sleepy again by the time I reach home, so, quite naturaly, immediately after reaching home, back to bed again for a short nap of around 30 minutes.

In the mean while Waqas gets back too, and we offer Asar, before starting to prepare for Iftar. If some meal is already cooked, we are quite relieved. We normally cook once and eat that for 2 days. So we get a day’s break from cooking. Iftar is normally fruit-chat, fruit-juice and samosas.  Sometimes, we do some ehtemam as well e.g. French Toasts yes French Toasts at Iftar. Try it, its fun. MUF is coming over this weekend, and we expect some home-cooked pakoras as well as some Rooh-Afza-and-milk kind of stuff, provided that we get hold of Rooh-Afza. So… delicious iftaries ahead

We are also planning to go out for Iftar over the weekend. Notting Hill Carnival is another attraction over the weekend, might go there as well.

By the time we get done with dinner, its time for Isha/Taraweeh. Although the time is 10:00 PM, we have leave around 9:40 as the mosque is a bit far. We return around 11:40, and after a bit of chit chat, get back to beds around 12:00 AM.

And another day starts at 3:30 AM …