Surprising ancestry
Category: Relations, Walk of life
This morning, my sister, mom and I were talking about my mom’s parents. I questioned mom about her own grandparents and it was then that she revealed that her father’s father (my great grandfather) was Arabian. He was an immigrant who moved to India, met my great grandmother and married her.
I had no idea! It was a shocking revelation, we were all like “Wow…”
It’s so cool to know though! I can just imagine how cool it was for my grandfather to have a dad who’s Arab, a mom who’s Indian and and to be part Arab and part Indian himself. That would make my mom 1/4th Arab and her children (us) 1/8th.
Or something. The only thing I’ve known in my life is to be Indian… Indian traditions, customs, etc. It’s so weird to learn about it now, and although it changes nothing, this little bit of information just blew me away.
… I was just thinking how I have friends all over the globe, it would be interesting to know your ancestry if you’d like to share. =)
I should completely do a map, like Skye’s… maybe on a smaller scale.
What would you do?
Category: Relations, Walk of life
In choosing life-partners:
Would you rather be happy and live almost comfortably (or not at all) with a potential threat to your happiness - a happiness that may be ruined because you can’t make ends meet… or live pretty comfortably not having to worry about making ends meet and only hope that one day you’ll find that happiness even though you might not at all?
Would you live and hope that by following your heart, you’ll be able to find a way and work together to make a living, hoping to protect that happiness? Or hope that by following reason and logic, you’ll eventually learn to love the person you’ve chosen to spend the rest of your life with?
—
I’m helping a friend make a decision.
The answer may seem obvious - I know exactly what I would do - but in reality it proves to be harder than it should be. The mind keeps pushing logic that the heart continues to deny. Even harder when the relationship is at its early stages: where the feelings don’t run as deep but you’re running short of time, pressured by family ties to make a decision.
If you were in that position, how would you reason and decide?
Eid-ul-Fitr
Category: Islam, Walk of life
I can’t believe how quickly this Ramadan went by. The fasting from dawn to dusk has ended and Eid has come and gone. It all happened a little too quick in my opinion. This Eid was just three of us and my mom’s family. Everyone else has moved away.
Typically on the morning of Eid, the men get dressed, eat the sweets especially made for Eid, pay Sadaqah-ul-Fitr if they haven’t already before, and then go to the masjid for Eid salaah. Where I live, women don’t go to mosques for prayer (although they do at some selected places). After (or sometimes before) the men leave, the girls would get ready and offer Eid prayer in jamaat at home usually before the men came back.
Everyone looks and feels their best, every face has a noor or a light shining off and every eye has that happy twinkle.
That’s what I missed most. My brother, dad, and other cousins aren’t here. I missed rushing to get ready and finish prayer in time so we can hug and wish them the moment they came back. For my sisters and I, it’s a competition to see who wishes them first, and when we do we’re quite possessive and unwilling to let go. It’s a great feeling and it’s one of those few days my family actually feels like a real family. There’s a feeling of togetherness that other days can’t compare to.
The rest of the day would go by meeting and greeting people that either visited or were visited. Gifts are exchanged, as are heartfelt feelings and confessions. Again, that feeling of togetherness. Family portraits and photos are taken and sent to distant relatives and vice versa.
This year: no photos, no portraits, and hardly any visiting (since my brother and dad are the ones who would take us). No proof of Eid besides what was most obvious.
And the wonder remains in the fact that even without all of that, there was still that sense of joy that remained. Nothing could erase that feeling, or the spontaneous smiles and laughs. It may have felt surreal but it was still there. Such is the beauty of this day.
Eid Mubarak!
Resurrecting the blog
Category: Walk of life
I got my second hole piercings done 2 days ago. I was really happy at first, since I wanted them for a very very long time. But, coming home from getting it done, I noticed that one was slightly closer to my first hole than the other. It was mostly my fault because I jumped when she shot my ear, having not expected it. I also realised that I may have placed the second hole a little bit too close to the first.
I don’t mind it so much since I’m more for smaller, delicate jewelry. But my mom’s a bit put off because I can’t wear her bigger earrings (as most Indian jewelry are) without having them over lap each other or appear crowded. It’s frustrating because I want to keep her happy and now I’m contemplating on closing them.
It’s been 2 days, it should close easily, I guess? Hopefully, the scar won’t be too disfiguring. Or would it? I don’t know. Mom closed her second holes 2 years after having them done and there’s this tiny white scar that you can see if she doesn’t wear earrings on the other second hole she got done above it. It isn’t all that appealing to look at. *Sigh. I don’t why I go ahead and do these things if I have to rethink them later. -_-
And I think… I met Makino’s look alike at the salon. I was so tempted to ask her if she’d seen HYD but refrained when I figured she either must’ve have and 1) Squealed which would’ve ruined the layering she was doing on my hair or 2) Looked at me strangely wondering how in the world I’d even known of it’s existence. Heh, but she did talk in good Hindi. Probably, better than mine, since hers had more of the normal dialect while mine tends to be formal. Ish.
I still find it amazing to hear foreign people talk in Hindi - really well too, like Meiyang Chang from Indian Idol. He completely looked Asian but when he sang, he sang in impeccable Hindi. No accent what so ever. It was amazing. By the way, I have no idea who won or if it’s over since I’ve refrained from most forms of entertainment (including T.V.) since the start of Ramadhan, but if you do, feel free to spoil. I just googled it. Prashant won, I was actually going for the other guy. But he’s good too.