A Thousand Splendid Suns

Only some writers are able to suck you into the Black Holes of life...into another dimension...where you have never been in your entire life and give you the experiences of being with someone whom you have never met...to listen to them...to see them...feel them...and almost touch them !! Khaled Hosseini is definitely ONE of such writers !!!

His words brings every moment so alive that when i finished this book....i felt like i had been in Afghanistan myself....living and growing up with Mariam and Laila. I still have the memory of travelling through the dirt roads...to the flat field where poplars and cottonwoods grew high.... along lovely streams...i almost feel like i walked that path..holding hands with 5 years old Mariam in some strange realms..honestly it doesnt seem like a BOOK that ive been into reading !

And it hurts to have followed the lives of this two Iron ladies in the true sense only to in the end , succumb to the cruel reality ..its hard to see a friend you know for about 35 years walking into the stadium to be stoned to death especially when you know what she had been through all her life !!

As you read those final lines...you feel like running into the stadium to stop it or at least wish the author doesnt end it that way ... but then it happens still ...no matter how hard it maybe to put any sense into it ...it just happens...while the rest of the world...is planning on weekend outings ... booking tickets to catch a movie....baking ..or getting frustrated that it started raining when you were just about to go jogging....or while someone is screaming at the waiter for spilling some drink on them accidentally....also while family members are gossiping about each other...crying over the slightest remark made by friends....complaining that the internet connection isnt good....phone signals are not stable ....feeling terribly upset for not being able to get the very expensive toy our kids wanted for their birthday...for thinking God hasnt answered your prayers as HE didnt get you enough money to buy the bungalow you always wanted..yes exactly at that instant in onother part of the SAME world ...a beautiful and innocent women walks helplessly into the stadium and....


" Yet as she closed her eyes , it was not regret any longer but a sensation of abundant peace that washed over her. She thought of her entry into this world, the Harami child of a lowly villager , an unintended thing. a pitiable, regrettable accident. A weed. And yet she was leaving the world as a women who had loved and been loved back. She was leaving as a friend, as a companion, a guardian. A mother. A person of consequence at last. No . It was not so bad, Mariam thought, that she should die this way. Not so bad. This was a legitimate end to a illegitimate beginnings.

Mariams final thoughts were a few words from the Koran

" HE HAS CREATED THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH WITH THE TRUTH; HE MAKES THE NIGHT COVER THE DAY AND MAKES THE DAY OVERTAKE THE NIGHT, AND HE HAS MADE THE SUN AND THE MOON SUBSERVIENT; EACH ONE RUNS TO AN ASSIGNED TERM; NOW SURELY HE IS THE MIGHTY; THE GREAT FORGIVER'

"Kneel," the Talib said.

But unlike most Afghan stories...this one had an happy ending too...Laila, who managed to live through Kabul bombings which took her parents away...leaving her an orphaned teenager in the very same streets she used to hang out giggling and chatting with friends...separating her from her childhood (boy) friend...to be married to a 60 years old man as a second wife...enduring the beatings and emotional tortures ...and going through a cesarean without anesthetic , oxygen, or even antibiotics..but still she managed to find her love again...fleeing to live away from her homeland...but in the end cant help going back to Kabul with her husband and children to help the rest of the victims, after Taliban were driven out.

Its shocking though to know how far the human souls can be stretched and strengthened to no limit !

And yes of course Mariam and Laila here are labelled as "fictional characters" but then...the world knows ..doesnt it ?

So once again...i felt like Thanking God a Zillion times for this paradise i am living in....and everything else life has offered abundantly .... occasional flashmob events arent enough to rejoice ... we should be dancing on the streets every day ...hahaha..yup...lets enjoy this beautiful life and not waste precious moments sulking over insignificant things ! :)

Have a joyful day :)

In Terms of LOVE

So...It is Valentines day....

PHASE ONE :

When i was a teenager...i remember V day to be a " Secret " word...you dont dare say it in front of your parents or big brothers ...because it ONLY means you are up to something...with your secret lover !!!... so as we walk around in the shopping complexes or gift shops...we take a glance at the V gifts and act like we are not interested..coz our parents are watching ....And if you do have a boyfriend or girlfriend...buying a V card or Gift would require James Bond moves...so that your parents will not find you out..you plan out like a month before the day...so you have ample time to figure out how and when to get the gifts or cards....and where to hide it...and when to post it ( if you manage to sneak out to the post office in the first place...!!)you will be so paranoid about your parents being able to read whats on your mind..that you wont even dare think when they are around !! hahaha...

In fact you hardly see even married couples celebrating it ...for it was suppose to be ONLY for "LOVERS" !!

Then one year when i was still in secondary school ...some of my friends discussed about how Valentines day should actually be for everyone...like for your parents, siblings...friends or who ever you loved and wish to express it...so that particular year i thought i would get my mom a gift on V day...but my father was such a strict person that i had no chance of getting out myself to the gift shop anytime i wished...so i had planned an "Operation V day " to buy something way before V day. I somehow managed to buy a small black vase and hid it in one of my drawers in the room...and as i had some collections of fancy glittery stickers out of which one read " I LOVE YOU "...i thought it will be sweet if i stuck it on the vase for my mom. So i did it...and covered it with some of my clothes and put it my drawer....and finally when V day came...i proudly took it out and gave it to my mom and wished her...she looked at it ..and then smiled with a relieved expression...could you guess why ?? ....Coz my mom had found the gift earlier...and assumed that i had a boyfriend and it was for him or that someone had bought it for me!!! I was like....HUH ???? what boyfriend ???i bought it for you !!!hahha...that Vase is still at home in the shelves...i shall snap a pic of it and put it up here soon !

PHASE 2 :

So...thats how V day was those days....after sometime..since a few years back..the celebrations have been expanded from just LOVERS ....to parents , siblings, friends or even pets ! and i think thats just great !!! For LOVE is a positive force and having the whole world celebrate LOVE is pretty inspiring...so everyone wishes Happy V day to anyone they meet ...even at work place...customers greet happy V day when call the office...Everyone gets gifts , cards, roses and candle light dinners...

Phase 3 :

NOW....i notice that some are going against these celebrations ...saying it doesnt make sense to express your love only for ONE day....when it should be all days ...
Which i do believe is true...but whether one day or all days...LOVE is good feeling...better ONE day then NEVER ....so no harm celebrating it... but heres what i wish a V day is like ...

Phase 4 ( my idea :)

Lets still celebrate this beautiful day that somehow...makes everyone think of ONLY LOVE ...but lets also change the ways we choose to celebrate it...say as lovers..instead of buying gifts for each other...how about getting together to buy something for someone who is in need...or how about a BUNCH of friends getting together to buy an EXPENSIVE pair of bird which other people would not think of freeing because its costly..and SET IT FREE while having BBQ party :) Or how about organizing a family gathering in an orphanage...or old folks home...or ..for those who like adventures,how bout planning a waterfall cleaning for the LOVE of nature..

Problem is most people still think of LOVE in terms of MONEY....but then our hearts recognizes LOVE only in terms of LOVE .. , some simple ways can bring so much joy that would last longer than anything money could buy...and i always feel that couples could feel MOre LOVE by doing things TOGETHER ...however simple and humble it might be...it brings you closer...so stop thinking of the most expensive ways to please someone...and switch to the LOVE mode today

Wishing you all a LOVELY day !

simple pleasures:)

In a world that is constantly looking and chasing after the BIG things....we all tend to forget...those simple things that tickles our heart into BIG smiles...i am sure each person has their own simple pleasure moments...here are mine :

# The crackling of indian spice in hot oil when mom is cooking ( somehow it feels different when i do it myself...theres an extra ounce of pleasure when mom is cooking :)

# the crispy sound of cold snack packets being torn open in the cinema while its still quiet just before the advert or movie starts...and the whispering of people around us...as though we are all up to something secretive and dangerous... :)

# Getting things in and out of a paper bag after shopping or when packing things for outings...gosh dont you love the paper bags !! Now 7 eleven packs their snacks in paper bags...and somehow...i find the food to be more interesting then before..simply because i am holding it in a PAPER BAG ! :)



# Reading tattered old books that has pages coming off..and important parts underlined or notes written in its pages...one of such books i read lately was The Kite Runner...it was my aunts book...read by so many people which left almost half the book's pages coming off..i had to hold it so carefully to make sure none of its precious writings go missing...also read the book "KIM" by Rudyard Kipling...this book belongs to my friend Kym ...ok i am not making this up...her name is Kym...and the books title is also KIM ...really ! anyway...this precious book of hers is about 30 years old !!and she had written notes on some pages..explaining some parts of the story ...and underlined some parts. Reading a book that has so many years in it...makes you feel the book is extra special...and the words more important simply because a good friend thought it was important:)

Below is a page from my brothers Book " REAL MAGIC" by Dr Wayne Dyer and the page 116 where he had highlighted a paragraph and also underlined it in pencil without using a ruler about 20 years ago..! when i read it ....i definitely stopped at this phrase to think about the content...as it seemed more important to me...made me wander...how it could have effected him and his life..when he was then just a about 25 years old..i could imagine him lying on the mattress holding a pencil ..reading the book and thinking it was an important message at that moment !...so thats why i feel old books are so interesting...or some books would bring back your own memories of the past...if you had read it long time ago...you will remember where exactly you were while reading certain pages and parts of the book and how you felt then...so it somehow becomes a kind of a diary :)




# Washing dishes ! haha yes you read it right...while most girls and (nowadays ive got to include) guys hate doing that...i on the contrary just LOVE it...and stranger still that i enjoy watching someone else doing it too ! i dont think i am able to explain why !! so i will just get on with the next thing in my list....hahaha..




# looking at the rows and rows of colourful glass and metal indian bangles arranged like rainbows in the Indian shops...though i dont fancy wearing them in bulk...i just love how colourful it looks all together :)

# When someone says... " shall i make u a drink..? " ( ok u are beginning to think i am weird and i dont blame you :):):)

# The sound of ice cubes in a glass of juice ...

and of course i also love the more common things like sound of rain drops ...crushing sound of dry leaves .... and so on...but then...these are normal things..so i didnt include it as MY special simple pleasure :)

There are more strange things that lights me up in an instant...maybe i will write a part two...:)

So for now...think of those things that gives you such simple pleasures...if you havent noticed...pay attention from now...and you will realise there are some silly and insignificant things that touches your heart ! :)


Wishing you lots of simple pleasures and happy moments today and always !