No time to stand and stare..

Leisure
By Hennry William Davies

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

Who would have thought that the Poem 'Leisure' by Henry Davies which I learnt in my fourth or fifth grade would come back to haunt me after all these years.. This poem formed an essential part of many of my English poetry books and I remember reciting it aloud or rather mugging it up for the examinations.. but I knew not what poor Mr. Davies was trying so hard to convey grade after grade and refused to leave the poetry textbooks year after year. Its actually quite comical as to how children are expected to understand and assimilate some of these profound realities of life which we come to understand very much later on in life when it kicks us in the rear and teaches it to us..

No text book or rather any book can teach u what life does.. Likewise, I didn't realize how priceless leisure was to me until my life became devoid of it.. We, as children, were so blissfully unaware of the responsibilities, the burdens, the stress and what not, which our parents endured day and night.. Now that I'm a parent myself, I'm filled with an extreme sense of awe and admiration for my parents.. and a sense of helplessness for being so awfully busy all the time.. I just have no time to stand n stare.. to think straight or to ponder over where life is leading me to.. I'm just mechanically going on with the flow.. the grind.. with absolutely no time for myself.. No time to watch raindrops making those pitter patter noises on the ground, no time to grab a book sipping a hot cup of tea.. no time to gaze at the sky and marvel at God's creations.. to watch the stars and feel the cool breeze blowing over ur face.. These have become a thing of the bygone days.. a luxury actually.. Now when I get some time off my hands.. I just want to sit back and relax and do some soul searching.. Everything is happening at such a breakneck speed that I'm finding no time to even realize that I'm aging.. I just don't know how the heck did the last 3 years of my life whiz past me.. maybe its a blessing not to realize how fast life is passing u by.. but the sad twist is that.. I'm aging and there is no denying the fact.. I wanted to do so many things in life and now I realize I haven't done anything except watch the days go by and hopelessly procrastinate stuff which I so enthusiastically wanted to do before.. Looks like I'm sooo drained of all energy and motivation. But I got to do something.. I got to self-motivate myself.. goshhh! I should start raking all the pending tasks which I had so conveniently pushed behind the medulla-oblangata (thats the scientific name for the smallest part of the brain) I'm all charged up for now and rearing to go.. bring it onnnn!

These r some of the things which I very much longed to do or rather do at leisure:
1. Write some great emotional tear jerking couplets/poetry.. (yes I'm a poetess.. main shayara hoon.. blush blush!)
2. Sit on a recliner with a hot cuppa tea and read a best seller.. or rather any book I can lay my hands on..
3. Watch the twinkling stars on a breezy night.. chance upon a falling star or a comet and make a wish (I know u must be thinking I've gone crazy watching Shahrukh n Kajol's movies)
4. Do scrap booking.. make beautiful embellished, glittering, awesome stuff..
5. Go for a loooooooooooooooong drive all by myself.. main aur meri tanhayi.. ufff!
6. Sit by the balcony and watch the twittering of the birds, the smell of the raindrops on the leaves and the cooing of the mynah.. (reminds me of India..)
7. Buy motiya bahar (jasmine) and sew them to make a gajra.. lolz.. yeah seriously.. longing to smell the jasmine flowers..
8. Eat a hot corn cob on a wet, rainy day.. neembu namak maar ke.. lol!
9. Put on henna on my palms.. and watch the color deepen from a red to a dark red to a maroon.. I just love the smell and look of henna
10. Go shopping.. shop like crazy.. and kick the shopkeeper if he tells me the stuff is available only in petites.. (how could u think I would've forgotten this one.. lol)

Awards galore.. and the 7 Meme thingy..

Thanks a lot Syeda and Yasmeen for the latest awards in my kitty.. Thanks Zainab for creating an award especially for me.. Ur gesture moved me to tears.. Hmmph.. ok.. I'm being over dramatic here.. but I just cant come up with enough thanks now.. hence the dramatic overtones.. My excitement on getting proficiency awards in school is paler in comparison to the excitement and creative fervor I experience on being awarded these cute little blogger awards.. Needless to mention, they bring so much cheer and joy to my mundane life.. I never imagined in my wildest, wackiest dreams that the world of blogging would open its arms so wide for me.. The feeling is no less than becoming a celebrity overnight.. If u think am exaggerating u got to start blogging urself to believe it.. There is no creative high greater than this.. Imagine, what u thought to be incoherent musings and a rigmarole of ur ravings and rantings is read by people from all over the world without actually having to force someone at gunpoint to listen to ur personalized opinions.. And an icing on the cake.. they reach out to u on their own and give u their positive feedback.. Isn't that sooo amazing.. ! All thanks to the Internet and to all u wonderful people out there..

Thanks Syeda and Yasmeen for tagging me with the 7 Meme.. I had so much fun writing them and hope u have fun reading them too.. So here goes my lists of 7 things..

7 Things I Say More Often:

1. Ya Allah! (Exasperated tone)
2. Hau, Nakko accompanied with Aaain?.. (True blue blood Hyderabadi ishtyle)
3. Aji.. sunrain aap? (The reason why I say this more often lies in the question itself)
4. Ayeshaaa.. Ayeshaaaaaaaaaa.. Ayeshaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.. (My neighbor must be tone deaf by now)
5. Chirkut and Chirkuti (Thats my version of a Nincompoop..)
6. The Mashallah, Alhamdulillah, Inshallah and Subhanallahs..
7. Ohhhh.. okayyyy! (With as much amreekan accent into it as possible!!)

7 Things I did Before:

1. Slept whenever I wanted to.. ate (read gorged) on food.. and refused to lift a finger around the house.. Hated cooking and cleaning.. would hate to get my hands wet basically.. LOL! Ironically thats what I do now all day long..
2. Loved reading and hence bought all kinds of books from book fairs, retail stores, Sunday markets, thrift stores, footpaths etc etc.. u name it.. I've been there..
3. Bagged a number of awards, prizes, certificates, scholarships and what not.. topper in class, 90% in boards, best all-rounder, singing, debates, elocution, radio-ads, dramatics, arts and crafts.. once again.. u name it.. I've done it.. was a very competitive person in school.. (read 'was')
4. Believed I was the best.. and no one could come even an inch closer to my endearing, flawless, adorable personality.. (Ok.. dont sneer.. we all have our little misconceptions about ourselves).. I never lost hope, broke down or gave up.. never.. Was calm and composed, even in the most challenging situations of my life.. (dont know how I could do that!)
5. Drove a bike, had the time of my life riding doubles n triples.. met with an accident, injured myself.. and still refused to give up driving the two-wheeler.. (Zainab I blame u for being the source of inspiration here.. lol!)
6. Opted for Biological Sciences in Intermediate, then took up Commerce and Accounting in Graduation and ended up with Masters in Computers..
7. Had an awesome sense of humor.. was immensely talkative and the life of any party..

7 Things I Do Now:

1. Manage to cook palatable food..(mind u.. my husband loves it ) and do every bit of work around the house.. single handedly managing one toddler and one infant..
2. Quit reading books, so to replace the void, I read stuff, blog and try to be socially active online.. which includes food-blog browsing, signing in for mom meet-up groups, connecting with old/long lost pals and long distant cousins..
3. Plan an extensive list of things I wish to get into once I'm done with my parenting days.. which includes an MBA, BEd or a PhD in Education..
4. Enhancing my religious and spiritual side.. in whatever ways I can.. trying to be a better human being..
5. More thankful, humble and subjugated to the Almighty now than I was ever in my life.. taking each day as a new experience... being a wife and a mother, life never ceases to amaze me..!
6. Find it very difficult to approach women for friendship in USA .. something which I had never thought as being this tough.. I magically made friends without having to try so hard all my life..
7. Day dream, reminisce, recollect and ponder over what life has taught me over the years.. making a special note of my mistakes and blunders which I would never want my children to commit..

7 Things I Want to Do:

1. Perform Haj.. Thrice.. one for myself.. one for my father and another for my mother.. Inshallah!
2. To able to change the wrong perception of Islam among people in the West.. To do Dawah.. Inshallah!
3. Raise my children with the best religious and human values one could ever impart to their children.. to be their best friend, philosopher and guide..
4. To be able to command respect and authority in whatever job I take up..
5. To be able to whip up deserts, bake goodies, barbecue chicken and practically breeze though cooking delicious stuff.. yummm.. (a far cry from the way I slog in the kitchen with meticulous attentive hard work.. boo hoo!)
6. Start my own little organization for charity purposes.. stop wasteful expenditure from my side and put aside money for donation..
7. To churn out millions through one of my brilliant brainwaves.. (Psst: I have several brainwaves.. if only someone could sponsor them.. lolz!)

7 Things That Attract Me About The Opposite Sex:

1. Dignity and a very high level of decency..
2. Give full attention when spoken to.. regardless of who is speaking to him.. even if it happens to be his wife..
3. Lower his gaze at scantily, provocatively dressed women.. on second thoughts.. at every strange woman..
4. Ability to realize when to shut up and not ruin a brief shining moment of vocal brilliance..
5. Believes in peaceful coexistence, what the world calls 'compromise' and what I call.. 'Saying YES DEAR to everything I say'..
6. One who gives financial liberty, shopping liberty and spending liberty to his woman.. (sigh! wishful thinking..!)
7. Religious, Kind, Considerate, Understanding and sensitive to a woman's feelings, Is not too loud and brash, Dresses impeccably, Smells good, Loves children and is a good role model to them, Doesn't bring his work problems home, Takes the family for outings and spends liberally without a grumpy face, Flatters a woman to the skies, Is not self pompous, Doesn't snore, Doesn't belch loudly, Doesn't smoke (and drink of course), Can laugh at his own expense, Should laugh at his partner's jokes no matter how silly they sound to him, Knows how to calm down himself when instigated, Has the ability to forgive and forget when crossed, Doesn't sleep, eat or drink or do practically anything else except holding ur hand when u r in labor, Can cook in emergencies, Can change diapers and prepare formula for the baby, Can sit beside a child for his first pooping lessons.. etc, etc.. I'm sure I missed a lot of other things.. LOL! (Err.. did u say 7??? What good is a man with 7 virtues.. lol!)

7 Favorite Foods:

1. Hyderabadi ghar ka khaana (Home made food) consisting of Khatti dal and Tala hua gosht (Sour Lentils and Fried Mutton)
2. Ohris ke Chole Bhature, Banana split and Bull's eye Ice cream.. (talking about Ice creams, Cold Stone here in USA is pretty darn good too)
3. Butter Chicken and Naan preceeded by a bowl of Chicken Hot n Sour soup..
4. Chicago Downtown's Fish Biryani (U have to eat it to believe it)
5. Chicken wings in hot sauce and Halaal Pizzas of the Arabic restaurants in Detroit..
6. Grilled Chicken and Kebaabs combo with coriander chutney at Devon, Chicago
7. Chaat at Gokul and Chirag Ali Lane, Lassi of Old city, Haleem of practically every restaurant, Kebaabs of Purani Haveli, Cold Frappe of Cafe Coffee Day at Hyderabad.. n loads of other stuff exclusive to good old Hyderabad..

Memories of Childhood..!

I spent the last few days reminiscing and basking in the glorious memories of childhood..I was very eager not to let any little memory escape my mind so that I can recall them all in my blog.. but now when I actually sit down to type them, all the memories appear to be cluttered in the gray areas of my brain and I'd have to literally tap everyone of them out... and after I'm done with recalling them, I cant seem to decide which ones gain a precedence over the others to fit into my blog..

Lets start with the story of my birth.. My mother conceived me with very high hopes of begetting a male child after 3 females in a row.. Though she never told me this, my sisters would humorously tease me about how she had even sewn clothes for a baby boy.. and was a bit disappointed when I was born.. I refused to believe a word of their story as I knew they were always pulling my leg.. I especially recall this funny story my brother had made up about me being an adopted kid.. He even showed me one particular midwife sitting outside the hospital where I was born with a sullen look on her face and told me she was my real mother..I remember very well how much I had cried looking at her over and over again.. If my parents were the least bit disappointed that I was born a girl, they never ever showed it.. Alhamdulillah I was the youngest and most pampered of all my siblings.. a fact my elder siblings crib about even to this day..

While growing up as a small kid, I was not the brash, naughty types.. On the other hand, I was this 'hypersensitive' kid who would shed gallons of tears every time someone struck me with a ball by mistake or pushed me or shoved me in any game.. and to my dismay this would happen very often.. so I infamously became the crybaby, touch-me-not types among the group of hardcore prankster kids.. and soon I learnt that to survive among them I had to masquerade as being a toughie too..

There was this huge tamarind tree in our neighborhood and we children would adore the shade of it in summers, pick sweet n sour tamarinds from under it and relish them with great delight.. it was a favorite spot at playtime.. There used to be this 'Icecreamwalah' who used to frequent the neighbourhood almost daily with his hand held cart of icecreams and he would make it a point to stand there endlessly for hours enticing the kids with his colorful icecreams.. I would resort to anything to have one lick of the Ice gola.. would run home and beg Ammi to give me a 'chavanni' or at times quietly sneak up to her Almirah and grab a couple from underneath the sheets which was the famous hiding place.. I remember the Icecreams though not very hygienic, were very delectable and I would slurp them with great delight.. a small mini milky icecream would be.. 'doodh ka icecream', a huge orange one in the shape of an umbrella would be a 'chatri' and the real famous chocobar called 'chacobar' and the raspberry duet went by the name 'raasberry'.. among various others.. mmm.. nummy.. yummm..!

I had a deadline for playtime.. I could play all I wanted, but it had to be before the 'Azaan' of Maghrib (dusk).. The moment, the call for prayer would be heard, all the children would run towards their homes in a mad frenzy, sometimes without even biding adieu to one another.. At Maghrib, we had an 'Ustadni-Ma' come over to my house to teach us to read the Holy Quran.. however.. after a certain period of time she stopping coming due to her ill health and so I was sent to the masjid to complete the remaining part of the Quran.. I remember being shocked when I went to the masjid for the first time.. There were hoards of children sitting in two rows facing each other and the Moulvi Sahab was making them read the Kalimas brandishing a bamboo stick in one hand.. The Moulvi Sahab was not the typical one clad in a kurta pyjama with a long beard.. infact he was a modern educated middle aged man in his thirties dressed up in shirts and trousers and had a little stubble..

One look at the happenings inside and I knew I wouldn't survive here.. lol! I knew, all the 'Moulvi Sahab' had to do to scare me away was to use his stick on me once and I had made up mind not to come back to the masjid again.. The first couple of days I was treated kindly.. but to my horror I realized I could not escape the spankings which were an essential part of the curriculum... like all other students, I was hit if I made one little mistake while reading the Quran or performing the Namaz.. We were all made to stand in one row and asked the number of times we missed prayers during the day and were hit on our palms for those number of times.. If u think the punishments were harsh.. listen to this one.. the best of all.. if we were absent during the weekend.. we were made to kneel down and rub our noses on the mosque's floor.. LOL.. Those days there would be a hindi movie telecasted on 'doordarshan' on weekends and at those specific times everyone would be glued to the TV, even the streets used to wear a deserted look.. Every time I was spanked, I would weep and weep and weep.. I would run home with tears streaming down my face and resolved never to go back to the Masjid again.. but the Moulvi Sahab was my 'Ustaad'.. lol..The next day and everyday after that, he would send all the children to my house one by one.. and they would come up and bang the door persistently one after the other telling me that I was called by the Moulvi Sahab.. this continued.. until I changed my mind and went back.. needless to say, it worked every time ..

As a child I had the good fortune of playing out in the sun till my legs hurt and coming home all dirty and bruised, running amuck in the wilderness catching the fireflies, grasshoppers, Birba Botis (Red Velvet Mites) and the kinds and storing them in match boxes, making paper boats with newspapers in the rain and making them sail in the muddy water streams.. splashing the rain water with my school shoes on the way home, playing marbles, cricket etcetera with small kids and winning all their marbles by hook or crook or continuously batting refusing to field or ball.. among hoards of other things.. I had my share of fun and my childhood has been an absolute joyride.. No regrets... Alhamdulillah!