Life: as I See it - my Drawings edition

Dear Reader,

As I was rummaging through the stack of folders under my desk, I found my little black portfolio with all my good sketches in it. Then it occured to me that though I write about all sorts of things on this blog, I've never mentioned my drawings. So I decided to take photos of them and put up here for your pleasure and scrutiny.  Mind you, I've never taken a single drawing lesson in my life (any ability I have to draw, I've inherited from my father), so don't expect to find anything of great artistic genious or with any proffessional quality. 

Of course, given my obvious obsession, almost all my sketches feature characters from my own written/planned novels or stories written by my friend, Codename: Pixie. By the way, this is only a small selection of my drawings. I still have many more tucked away between the plastic pages of my display-file. (Make sure you click on the pictures to see all the minute details.)

1) Meet Nabiha, the main character in Life in Conversations (previously known as 'the Big One'):

2) The following drawings are characters from a quartet of fantasy/fiction novels that have been thoroughly planned but not yet written. Essentially, my drawings are of one model who's trying on the different out-fits that I would imagine my characters dressed up in at some point of the book. They're really just to help me get a feel of the characters and help me when it comes to the more descriptive pieces (which I'm not all that good at writing, in my opinion):

Chronicles by Anamika  Book 1: The Legend of Sharon

Chronicles by Anamika  Book 2: The Legend of Eadah

Chronicles by Anamika  Book 3: The Legend of  Buckles

Chronicles by Anamika  Book 4: The Legend of Sirene

3) the next picture is of drawings I'd originally done for my friend Pixie, some 6 years ago now. She was writing a trilogy about these three witches. She had described her characters to me and asked my to make some sketches. I think that after months of planning, she gave up on the project. But I still like her concept and the pictures:

   

4) Here are some more characters, portrayed by the same one-eyed model (Aside: I always seemed to get the second eye wrong so I gave up in trying to draw it right and from then on gave everyone side-poses) 

Imaan Saeed, from a book that does not have a title yet. Ironically, I've also written quite a lot of this story too.

A few more random assortment of characters from different novels/stories

5) The last thing I'm going to add here are some doodles I use to make at the back of my note-books, while sitting in exceptionally boring classes (during Sixth Form) or lectures (during my 1st year). I haven't made any new doodles in years now. I guess it was a phase I grew out of. (Aside: I also had a phase of writing any song lyrics or poetry that I could remember off the top of my head in to the back of my class-work books. And I always wrote them up-side down):

If I were ever to give a title to my doodles, this one would have been called 'Thoughts that Flow' 

These two are pieces from a much bigger drawing but I couldn't get the whole thing to fit into a single picture in my camera without compromising the detail. And with this piece, it really is about the detail rather than the bigger picture. So I decided to just photograph my favourite bits.




















Well I hope you enjoyed this not-so-impressive display of my meagre skills. Let me know what you think and if you want more 'Life: as I see it...' blog posts.

Nida   

International Women's Day

Dear Reader,

After commenting on a post (by Shelina Zahra Janmohamed) about International Women's Day, I realised I had far more to say than what I wrote in the comment and so I decided to write a blog post about it. Shelina's post basically asked 'which Muslim women inspire you?' Considering this year's theme is Equal access to education, training and science and technology: Pathway to decent work for women, my answer went something like this:

"There are two that I would particularly like to mention, who inspire me for the same reason: their desire to seek and spread knowledge. The first is Aisha (radiallah-hu-anha) the wife of the Prophet Muhammed's (PBUH), and the second is our contemporary Na’ima B. Robert. These two examples just go to show that no matter where you’re from or what time period you live in, knowledge has always been and always will be vital, not only for self-improvement, but also for the progress of society."

You see, I believe that the acquisition of knowledge is the best weapon against oppression. Because, if you are no longer ignorant of your what is going on, if you have knowledge of other cultures and beliefs, you are less likely to be prejudiced and stereotype people, and you are more able to stand up for your rights. In Islam, both men and women are repeatedly encouraged to seek out knowledge, not just about Islam but about all aspects of life. For example, there is a hadith (sayings and doings of the Prophet Muhammed [PBUH]) which states that the Prophet (PBUH) once said:

"If anyone travels on a road in search of knowledge, Allah will cause him to travel on one of the roads of Paradise ... The learned are the heirs of the Prophets, and the Prophets leave neither dinar nor dirham [Arabian currency], leaving only knowledge, and he who takes it takes an abundant portion" Dawud

However, it's not just good enough to accumulate lots of knowledge. You need to do two things once you've gained knowledge:

1) Spread it - hoarding knowledge is selfish! Plus, it's no good to anyone if no one knows about it, right? After all how do expect to bring about change if you don't tell people what you know? For example, imagine the first person who invented a specific language. If he/she hadn't taught other people to read or write that language, then the whole of humanity would have been as illiterate as monkeys today and we wouldn't have all these fancy electronic gadgets that we do now. Okay that example is a bit extreme. Well, how about one of the greatest leaders known to mankind, the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH), also known as Al-Mualim - The Teacher. When he received the first revelation from Allah (SWT) "Read! In the Name of your Lord Who has created (all that exists). Has created man from a clot (of blood). Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous, Who has taught man writing by the pen." (Surah Al-Alaq 96:1-5), he didn't just keep it to himself, he first told his wife Khadija (RA) and then the rest of the Arabs and thus began the spread of Islam, through the spread of knowledge.  

2) Use/apply it - knowledge without application is just information. For example, (given my field of study, this is obviously the first example that I will think up) suppose there was a medical student who finished his degree with flying colours, those 5 years of hard work and coffee and effort, finally paying off. Then at the end of it all he decides that he'd rather not get a job as a doctor, that he'd much rather stay at home and languish away his life in front of a T.V. What a waste! He has all the information on how to treat people but decides not to apply it for the good of his fellow man. I know, I know, he has free will and can decide to do whatever he wants with his life, but honestly, what was the point of all those years acquiring that information if he isn't going to put it to use and turn it into knowledge. Because knowledge, is not just about written words on paper, it also encompasses what we learn through our experiences.

Just the same, what we as Muslims learn from the Qur'an and Hadiths, if we apply it to our lives it becomes knowledge.       

But anyway, coming back to the reason I began this post: I leave you, dear reader, with the question: which women inspire you and why? 

Nida

tales of Fairytales

Dear Reader,

I interrupt your daily routine to discuss, of all thing, fairytales. You see, these past few weeks I have felt quite surrounded by them. And they seem to come at me from the strangest places. For example, as last week was the half-term holidays for the primary and secondary schools, my beloved little monsters, I mean cousins, (ranging between 5-12 years old) came to stay around my house. Now, one morning as I was eating breakfast with the youngest one, Codename: Weedy, in Urdu he began telling me a very Grimm-Brothers-esque story he had come up with. It went something like this:

"One day, a Baker made a Ginger-bread man. But the Baker was really fat and so the Ginger-bread man ran away out of fear. While he was running through the forest, he came across a Giant who had a sweet tooth. The Giant said 'I want to eat you, Ginger-bread man.' And just as he reached down to take the Ginger-bread man, a Wolf jumped out of a bush and stepped between the Ginger-bread man and the Giant. He told the Ginger-bread man that he will protect him from the Giant but he should run and hide in the bush just in case. And the Giant did get scared of the Wolf and ran away..." At this point I was thinking 'Awww what a nice wolf, so much for stereotypes' before he continued to the end of his story. "Once the Giant was gone, the Wolf went into the bush and ate the Ginger-bread man!"   

I guess the moral of this story would be not to trust strangers ... or make assumptions about people by how fat they are ...

Do you, dear reader, see what I mean by 'Grimm-Brother-esque'? I had no idea my little Weedy had such a morbid streak, given his penchant for Disney movies and happy endings, his favourites so far being 'The Princess and The Frog' and 'Cars' (which he has made me watch at least fifty times with him now, to the extent that I now know all the dialogues off by heart).    

This reminded me of the importance that fairytales play in our childhoods, and how much influence they can have on children's lives, especially now with mass media companies like Disney. And because of this, it's important that we allow fairtales to retain they're original role in providng basic lessons like 'do not trust strangers' and not focus on the intanglible 'happily ever after'.    

Relating to this is this youtube video I reacently watched,  by author Jackson Pearce. Most of her videos are quite informative when it comes to writing and she give quite good tips. But in this video she talk about how fairytales adapt and change over time according to what society need them to be at the time.  

I only became interested in Jackson Pearce after I read her book Sisters Red last month (this book is part of my 2011 Reading Challenge, for more info click here or here, your choice). It is essentially a modern twist on the old fairytale, The Little Red Riding Hood. It's a very well written fast-paced book. And though I saw the main twist coimg from a mile away, it still kept me on the edge of my seat and still made me cry. I also love Pearce's use of symbolism and metaphors: from the scar on SCARlett's face, and the weapons of choice, to the actual wolves themselves. An incredibly enjoyable read overall, but not recommened for the faint hearted who do not like blood and gore.  

I'd like to end this post with link to Shelina's blog post about fairytales and breaking out of the stereotypes that girls 'need to be rescued' to find their 'true loves'. Read it. It's really quite interesting and enjoyable  

Nida

2011 Reading Challenge

Dear Reader,

As of 2011 I, Nida Bhatti ardent book reader and well known bookaholic, have set myself the challenge to read at least 70 in this year (which is actually about 20 more than I can usually manage in a year). But the difference this year will be that for each book that I complete I will receive £2 or £3. All the money that I collect by the end of the year will be going to Save the Children organisation and Inshallah provide books and/or education for the millions of children around the world who are out of school due to conflict in their country or region. 

So far this year I've read 17 books already but I have yet to obtain donations for the month of February. Leave a comment to let me know if you want to help out or donate and I'll get back to you with more info. I've set up a page for the 2011 Reading Challenge in the side bar soon. Updates on money raised and books read can be found there. ---->

  

May Allah (SWT) be pleased with this good deed, may He help me achieve my goal and may he also be pleased with all those who donate, help and support me. Ameen :)  

In other news, the grass is greener. The buds of blossoms are blistering the trees, and the yellow mouths of  daffodils wave to me as I walk by. Yes, it's Spring again. Which means it's time for another reading list: 

1. Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri 
2. Kim by Rudyard Kipling
3. Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
4. Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce
5. Sweetly by Jackson Pearce
6. Adam Bede by George Eliot
7. Sybil by Benjamin Disraeli
8. From my sister's lips by Na'ima Robert
9. Green Deen by Ibrahim Abdul-Matin
10. The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat by Dr. Oliver Sacks
11. How I Killed Pluto and Why it Had it Coming by Mike Brown

And I shall now leave you with the picture of my current bed-side book stack:

Aside: the Selected Poems of Lord Alfred Tennyson (LAT) are still on that shelf because, every once in a while, I like to pick up the book read a poem or two. I'm afraid that if I put it with the rest of the classics it might become forgotten. It's not that Lord Alfred Tennyson's work is particularly forgetful or that it's over-shadowed by more popular classics, the blame in fact lies entirely with myself. I'm, unfortunately, not only a very busy person but also a very forgetful one. And so if things aren't actually staring me in the face, I have a tendency to forget about them, :( sad but true. 

Now I really should end this post before I reveal any more of my fatal flaws.   

Nida