it's Over!

Dear Reader

So basically today's blog post is nothing more than a simple catch up of all the things that have happened in these last few hectic weeks.

When I wrote to you last, it was still Ramadan, or more specifically, the last ten days (during which  we seek Layla-tul-Qadr, the Night of Decree). That in itself kept me so busy that I did not have time to finish writing my final Ramadan Reverie post, which I had planned. Then of course, with the end of Ramadan came Eid-ul-Fitr, which me and my cousins celebrated by spending a week at Skegness (a small coastal town in East England). It was a little holiday that was well deserved, at least on my part.

While there, I prayed Salah on the sandy beach; an absolutely wonderful experience, you should try it too. It really brings one closer to God (swt), when praying to Him (swt) surrounded by His most beautiful creations:   

We also saw some children flying kites (it's England, so even the sunniest days are windy enough for kites). At the time I thought of many metaphors relating to kites. I'd share them with you now, dear reader, but unfortunately I can't remember them any more :-s. 

As soon  as we got back from Skegness, it was back to work, work, work for me. The final draft of my dissertation/thesis was due in the week after and I found out from my Professor/supervisor that I had many changes still to make. I think that in the seven days before the deadline, I only slept for a grand total of 8 hours. It was really tough. But I'm proud to say that, despite everything, I stuck to it, and came through in 1 piece. And now my MSc in Preventive Cardiology IS OVER!!!!!!! It's finished. The End!

There aren't words to describe the physical, intellectual and emotional exhaustion I felt at the day I handed everything in.  

But, since handing in all my work last week, my creative juices have been swirling in my mind. It's as if these past few months as I was working hard on my MSc, creative inspiration had been pouring into my brain's bucket, collecting and building until it reached the brim. Now that I've finally allowed it to flow through my finger tips, it feels like the pressure in my mind has been released. As a result, I've actually spent most of last week painting and sketching. Like I said before, I'm not an amazing artist, haven't ever taken any classes and I don't actually know how to paint properly. But all the same, I thought I'd give you, my loyal reader, some examples of what I've been doing:

So it started off this little doodle using infinity circles, an idea I got from Vihart:

Then I thought, wouldn't it be cool to do a Fibonacci style conch shell using infinity circles:

My friend, Codename: Peachy, liked this so much she told me that I should make a bigger version:

One thing lead to another and I ended up making this last night: 

For those who can't read Arabic, it says La illaha ilallah, Muhammadur rasulallah, meaning: There is no god but God and Muhammad (saw) is His messenger. This is the basis of Islam and the declaration of faith, the Shahada.    

And that's it. Now you know all that's happened in the last 3 weeks.
Nida

Life: a work in Progress

Dear Reader,

I apologise if you feel neglected. I have been spending the majority of my time in lectures for my MSc that began last week, and all of my non-academic-work-time working on my online novella. I have written the prologue, chapter 1 and chapter 2 and am trudging through the beginning of chapter 3. I've been doing a lot more research to write this than I had first intended, but I suppose it's all for the better of the novella. *Sigh*

Image courtesy of proficientwriter.com

When I say research, one would generally think about looking into history books, geographical maps, other novels, going to the library, searching online  etc. (Aside: wikipedia is always a good starting point) All of this I have been doing. But I've also been doing some research into my own personal history, delving into my past to find stories and anecdotes from my childhood. I had no idea how much my own personal life had influenced this plot/story until I actually started writing it. Not that this novella is autobiographical, quite far from that actually. 

But still, this introspective and retrospective search has made me think about all the ways that I have changed over the years, and the ways that I have stayed the same. I've also come to realise that the main driver of change is experience. The circumstances life deals out to us, the people we meet, the decisions we make, they are all an intertwined  into that one word "experience". And I believe, as the writer, it is vital for me (if not the reader) to understand my characters' experiences in order to plot out the decisions they would make when put in the middle of a tight spot or dilemma.  

And I suppose this is also true for real people as well, not just fictional ones. To truly appreciate a person and know why they do what they do, necessitates an understanding of who the person is and what makes them tick. You know, dear reader, how they say "you need to know where you're coming from, to see where you're going" or something along those lines. If you know who said that, let me know in the comment section below.

A short post this time, but I must be getting back to a lavish South Kensington drawing room in 1838. So to conclude, all I want to say is that life itself is a work in progress - as I write out the lives of my characters, I'm also in the process of writing out my own.     

Nida

a Goal celebration!

Dear Reader,

The day before yesterday was my graduation/convocation ceremony. It was overwhelming and inspiring.  

The day began quite early, 6am in fact, since we had to get to the Hall by 8:30am and it was about an hours drive from my house. But being Pakistani, we had to be late, and so we got there at just after 9am. As soon as I arrived however, I had no chance to say hello to my friends but was hurried off to the robing room to don my (incredibly expensive) academic dress. Part of me felt like a puffed up black pillow, while the other half felt like a Hogwarts-runway. Well, that was until I put on my mortarboard cap and looked in the mirror. It was then that it truly hit me that my undergraduate degree was actually over. I turned to my mother and saw that she had tears in her eyes. She was crying, silent tears of joy and pride. I just want to take this moment to say: I love you Mum.  

The Ceremony itself was quite interesting. Our principal spoke for about 15 mins, covering a range of topics from the increased tuition fees and the current state of the NHS, to the St. George's pride and wishing the graduates/alumni best of luck in the future. One of the things he said really stuck with me. He told us to remember the 4P's in the rest of our lives: to be Professional and Patient, to act without Prejudice, and always remember to Persevere. 

Then the awards and degrees presentation began. Me and my university friends clapped and whooped extra loud whenever one of us went up on stage. I think the loudest whoop was for the very sociable and lovable Arab friend of mine, whom I shall not name here. I'm told that there was a lot of whooping and clapping for me too but all I remember is that after hearing my name being called, I stepped on the stage in utter silence, my entire concentration focused on walking straight ahead without tripping up. Sound only returned to me when I was off the stage and heading back to me seat, but by then the clapping was for the next person in line. Having never been in this sort of a situation before, I suppose that was what stage-fright felt.  

The three hours after the ceremony ended, were spent in a hectic struggle to find my friends and take a million photographs with them. There are pictures of us in the hall, in the waiting area, with our families, with each other's families, in the queues, and of us friends flinging our hats, even one of my friend's mother looking quite lost. Thanks to Allah's mercy, the weather was bright and sunny and absolutely wonderful, to fit our moods. And so there are a myriad of pictures of us in the sun, on the stairs, by the ponds, in the ponds ... you get the picture.  

And in the end, as I walked through the car park doors, with my aching high-heeled-feet, it was not a sense of loss or ending that filled me, nor was it excitement, anticipation or anxiety. It was contentment and satisfaction at a job well done. You see, for so long my life had been geared towards this one goal: graduation. Since about half-way through secondary school everything I did, academically and extracurricularly, were for the purpose of getting into a good university, which Alhumdulillah I did. Once at university, everything was done into order to get great grades. These past years have been an emotional roller-coaster, requiring a 110% effort to just keep on top of things. And Alhumdulillah, thank God, I had a brilliant network of friends and family for support, who picked me up whenever I fell down, who kept on reminding me to not give up hope, that I could do it, that my goal was achievable. 

And now I have the grades, Alhumdulillah. For me, this ceremony was a celebration of achieving the goal that my life had been centred on for too many years to count. And not just my goal, but the goals of all the BSc, MBBS, MSc and PhD students at my university. It was a celebration of our efforts, hard work and perseverance, of everything we learnt (academically and personally) and of the life-long friendships we formed.         

I've heard some say that they felt a certain anguish, or a sense of confusion or doubt as to where they should head to next. But luckily that has not been the case with me. Being the obsessively organised person that I am, I always have a plan in place, several plans in fact, in case one should fail. I know that life has it's unexpected turns and twists, but I've found a way to adapt and mould my plans to whatever Allah (swt) wishes to throw in my path. And now I wait to begin to walk on my next plan, with my next goal ahead and insight. 

Wishing you, dear Reader, all the best with your own goals, 

Nida

P.S. - Sorry if the title of this post misled you as it has nothing to do with football :-P  

I'm FREE and I'm BACK!!!!!!

Dear Reader,

I'm sorry. I know I promised to write a blog on the 20th of May, the day after my last exam, but what happened was that I was too busy enjoying my new-found-freedom to remember to turn on my laptop. I slept a lot, Allhumdulillah. I spent the entirety of Friday with my university friends and then Saturday was devoted to spending time with my family and helping my not-so-little-brother-any-more with his GCSE English revision.     

Image courtesy of Toronto Public Library

So now that I'm back and free of exams, being the compulsive list-maker that I am, I've made a list of things I want to do:

1. Blog regularly again (1 per week at least)
2. Prepare for the month of Ramadaan - I can't wait to start fasting again. 
3. Re-read the Noble Qur'an with Tafsir 
4. Spend at least a week with my university friends before results come out (plans for this are under process and the dates have been set).
5. Give my final "Sisters' Circle" talk at uni before the younger years break off for summer.  
6. Finish my applications for Masters. 
7. Write at least another 40,000 words of my novel Life in Conversations. 
8. Begin doing research for my new top-secret-novel-idea.  
9. Go to the Lake District, Cumbria with my family.
10. Read at least 30 more novels for the charity Reading Challenge. 
11. Watch the last Harry Potter movie with my Sixth Form friends.  
12. Cook at least once a week and garden a lot more.
13. Attend my convocation ceremony. 
14. Learn to drive and pass my driving test.
15. Get a job? maybe, if I have time. 

I think that these points are an achievable target for the next four months, InshAllah. I'll keep you updated as I check them off my list. I've also been writing a lot of poetry lately, but that's a post for another time, InshAllah. 

My brother Codename: The Monkey, suggested that I start asking you, my dear reader, a question once a week. Question of the Week: what will you do in your summer holidays? (if you are still in education. If not then what will you like to do in your next vacation?) Leave your answers in the comment section below. 

So that's all for now. I'll write to you next week InshAllah. Until then, take care.

Nida 

click-Click charity

Dear Reader,

I have some good new, one single tiny little piece of bad news and just some general book-related news.

1) Because I'm an optimist I'll start with the good. I finally manged to set up an online means to donate to my charity campaign, the 2011 Reading Challenge aka BORN TO READ. There's a link to it in the 2011 Reading Challenge page and there is also a widget in the side bar ---> where you can see all the donations made online - currently it's at £0 :-( Make sure you check it out and donate whatever you can, it'll make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

2) The bad news is that I have my ultimate-final-my-whole-degree-depends-on-them-exams in just slightly more than two weeks time. So I really need to get my head down and focus and concentrate and drink lots of tea/coffee. This, unfortunately also means that I'm take a blogging and reading hiatus until the 20th of May. So,  NO MORE DISTRACTIONS for me. Awww please don't cry. I will be back. But in the mean time, I'll miss you, dear reader, quite a lot. 

3) My reading hiatus actually doesn't come into force until I finish my current book, Rebounding by Jamilah Kolocotronis. It's the 2nd book in the Echoes series. I only have six words to say about this. I love this series so far. It's absolutely amazing. Not only does Jamilah Kolocotronis write really well, she has also opened up my eyes to the realities of life on the other side of the ocean.  Her characters are so real that I keep expecting them to leap off the page and walk right into my life. And over the period of one-and-a-half books I've come to care for them as I would care for my close friends or friendly cousins. Also, the plot is fast paced, the narration is incredibly personal, what more could you want from a light read? The titles of all five books also have a running theme. Let's see if you can figure it out:

1. Echoes
2. Rebounding
3. Turbulence
4. Ripples
5. Silence

The only think that slightly irritated me about Echoes (the 1st book) was the self-pity of the main character Joshua Adams, and the way he kept repeating  the events of his past to everyone he met. But I guess this also adds a sense of reality because, we as humans are prone to self-pity and our past only happen once, so if we're going to be honest with people, we can only tell them the same thing, right?

 

Anyway, I'll probably finish the series after my exams are over. I'll probably write to you next then, as well. 

So, until the 20th of May, take care.

Nida     

Exhibition

Dear Reader,

On the 29th of March (the day I had a few essay deadlines), I took part in the Islamic Expo, that my university was hosting on behalf of Discover Islam. The aim of this campaign is to basically enlighten people from the misconceptions and prejudices, held by much of the western world, and increase Islamic Awareness amongst Muslims and non-Muslims.

I had gone to the venue straight after my lectures that morning, to help set up. That's was half the fun. The stalls had been arranged on the outskirts of the room to allow people plenty of space to mingle and talk in the middle. As Islam is not just a religion or belief, but rather a way of life, the stalls also encompassed almost every aspect of life:

• The stall closest to the door was about the basics - God and His Messengers (may the peace of Allah be upon them), the Five Pillars and the Islamic Creed (and Aqidah) - with beautifully handwritten Qur'ans, resting on top of velvet cloth, and goodie-bags for all who enter. 
• Opposite to this was the Food stall. They were mainly serving the sort of food that the Prophet (SAW) would have eaten, like olives, dried figs and dates etc... (the also had jam donuts which is all I ate there, not that I don't like olives and dates, which I definately do, it's just well ... donuts are my guilty pleasure *drool* - Krispe Kreme here I come).
• There was also an Islamic clothing stalls (for Bros and Sistas) run by my Poetical Friend. Other than meandering around with goodie-bags she also took charge of the hijab stall. I'm entitled now to say that all the clothes and hijabs were provided by Lebaas. 

My pretty pins display, to wear on even prettier hijabs :-)

• I was mainly incharge of the stall that sold things like Attar - non-alcoholic perfumes that were tradionally made from the essential oils of flower petals. I admit it was a some-what minor role, but I didn't mind much because my area just smelled absolutely wonderful and drew in customers quite well.
• There was also an area at the back dedicated to Islamic history, with a gigantic time-line and photos of the relics of Fatima Al-Zarha (may Allah be pleased with her), the Prophet's (SAW) youngest daughter. Those artifacts are currently in the Topkapi Palace Museum, Istanbul. 
• But the favourite part of the Exhibtion was the section of the wall that displayed Islamic Art, with contribution from students at my uni.

From Classic to Graffiti-style - click on the picture to see all those lovely details

my favourite Painting,
(I would have a brought it too if it hadn't already been sold or if I had had £350 cash on me!)

• Next to my stall was the Calligraphy Stall in which my friend, Codename: Kingston, made beautiful pictures on demand, using a few simple pens. Here are some pictures of pieces that were donated by an anonymous artist:  

This one says MashAllah (it is as God wills)
The shadowy hands are mine.

I'm not exactly sure what that says - my Arabic is sort of rusty *blush*

I was so inspired by all the art and calligraphy that I decided to re-utilize my old skills and make one as a Mother's Day present (which is on the 3rd of April here in the UK, so ssshhhhh don't tell my mum).  

It says 'I love you, Mum' and then my mum's name, in Arabic.
There's also a little SubhanAllah (Glory be to God) in green.  

Aside: sorry about the bad angle of the last photo, I was trying not to get my reflection in the glass of the frame. Also I wanted a gold frame but I could only find this one which was big enough, and even then I've had to shrink the design by quite a bit. But it doesn't look to bad, does it?

And that's pretty much all I wanted to share this time round.

Nida

how to Waste Time...

Dear Reader,

In today's "how to..." post, I will show you how to waste one of mankind's most precious commodity. Time.

If you, by any chance, know me personally, then you would also know that I rarely watch TV. However, in the past, I always use to make an exception for historical/period dramas, like North & South, Jane Eyre, Sense and Sensibility and Little Dorrit (Aside: these four are my favourite BBC adaptations/productions in descending order).  But  due to exams and uni work, I hadn't been keeping up to date on what's been on T.V. So when I read this blog post by one of my favourite authors, Kristen Cashore, I was sufficiently intrigued by Downton Abbey. It set in Yorkshire, England in the early 1900s, and is about both the nobility (the Earl of Grantham and his family) and servants (the butler - Mr. Carson, the housekeeper - Mrs. Hughes etc...) that live/work in Downton Abbey. 

As evidence of the vast amount of time I've been wasting recently, I went out the same day, rented a copy of Downton Abbey DVD and watched all seven episodes in one day (each episode being about an hour long - the equivalent of watching 3 incredibly long movies). I had told myself that I'll watch one episode each day, but I was so hooked that I ended up watching them all at once with  probably a small 5min break before episode 5 to run downstairs grab a packet of snack-a-jacks, nice biscuits and a cup of tea (can't forget the tea!). And then, after I'd finished watching, I spent the rest of the night thinking about each characters' flaws (especially Lady Mary, the Earl's oldest daughter, played by the beautiful Michelle Dockery) and what might happen in the next series, which of course meant that I lost quite a few hours of precious sleep. 

Who are my favourite characters from the series, I hear you ask? (I have a good imagination) Well, first and foremost it has to be Anna Smith (Joanne Froggatt), the head housemaid, for her share kindness and compassion, then Mrs. Isobel Crawley (Penelope Wilton) for her stubbornness and cheek when defying convention. After that comes the Earl himself (Hugh Bonneville) because he seems like such a nice guy and nice guys have a tendency to be under-appreciated. And then Lady Sybil Crawley (Jessica Brown-Findlay) - the Earl's youngest dauhgter, for obvious reasons (well only obvious if you've seen the the series, but if you haven't then you, dear reader, definitely should). 

And if you're still not interested, then this is the ITV promo. 

And now that I've proven that I can thoroughly waste time, I'm going to go and hang my head in shame - for about five minutes and then it's off to 5 hours of non-stop-work-on-my-dissertation.

Nida

winter Hauntings

A (late) Happy New Year Dear Reader,

Fear not, for I have not abandoned you in this new year. My time has been occupied by odious exams that began in the first week of January, and the next semester started the week after. And amidst all the bombardment of information, I've also been trying to recuperate from this long suffering flu. Altogether, not a most auspicious start for the year 2011, but I'm hoping and praying that things will get better sooner.

It has also not escaped my notice that I will be finishing my undergraduate education within the next four and a half months. Gulp! This is something I'm not looking forward to. Not because of the impending thought of "what to do next?" (I've always known what to do next) but entirely because I'm loath to depart from my Uni,which has been a second home to me these past three years, and to leave behind my friends, Collective Codename: the Sisterhood, that have been as an extended family. But I cannot think about this right now or I'm likely to go into a long sentimental tangent that would bring tears into the eyes of the most hardened of hearts. 

On a side note, I've set up another page for this blog, the link to which is also in the side bar. It has my favourite Life: as I see it pictures so far. Enjoy.

Moving on. For some unfathomable reason, I have been drawn into to the dark world of ghosts and death in this particularly cold and snowy winter. I have quite a list compiled of chiefly chilling books. Currently I'm reading The Ghost Writer by John Harwood. But of course, my obvious first choice in this case is was The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse. I fineshed reading it on the 16th of December, some time ago now but I thought I might as well review it for you, dear reader, anyway.

 I'm not usually much of a 'ghost story' person but since it has been quite some time since I read either Labyrinth or Sepulchre (both by Kate Mosse), I had quite forgotten how much I enjoy Mosse's stories and style of writing. The Winter Ghosts did a great job of reminding me of it. It's about one man's journey to escape the inner ghost of his older brother, only to find himself tangled into a haunted web of conspiracy that took place hundreds of years ago.

What captured my attention particularly in this some-what tragic love story was not the characters but the setting. Mosse describes the scenery in such a way that the mountains, the village, the trees, even the weather, take up a life of their own and speak out as if characters themselves, mourning their history, the suffering that they have witnessed. It leaves one both chilled to the bone and feeling surreal at heart.

On the whole, The Winter Ghosts can now be found among my favourite books. A truly compelling read.


I guess that's all I have to say for today. Until next time with another Book, another Blog and another Review.

Nida

thoughts On writing

Dear Reader,

As this year comes to an end, so does the poll I set up for the title of The Big One (a novel I'm currently writing).  So if you haven't yet voted, make sure you do before 01-01-11. Because every vote counts. --->;

Okay, election speech over, now on to more a important topics i.e. my self-confidence.

So I've noticed that lately I haven't been so hesitant to proclaim myself a writer or admit that I'm writing a novel or two. This is kind of a new thing for me, despite the impression that one might get from my blog. I'm generally quite a shy person and usually avoid questions related to my writing. I don't know exactly when this change began but I know it definitely has something to do with this blog. It might also have something to do with the fact that in these last few weeks I've been taking to uni, my main notebook for "The Big One" (see below for pictures) and the recyclable-folder (I'm as "green" as my bedroom walls) containing the printed version of all that I've typed up so far for this particular novel.

THE notebook

a Random page - so you can see the state of my thoughts

Now another thing you, dear reader, should know about me is that I usually don't put up much of a fight. Confession: Fights - I absolutely hate them, avoid them at all cost and don't even like the concept of them (except maybe in novels like The Lord of the Rings and kickass video games like Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood  or Prince of Persia) So when some of my uni-friends, Collective Codename: The Sisterhood, lovingly began pestering me to let them read some of my work ... well you can imagine how that turned out. But the comments that I got afterwards made me think that maybe, just maybe my friends aren't just saying all that so as not to hurt my feelings, maybe this stuff that I write isn't so bad, that maybe I should consider getting it published.

However, there is one thing I know for sure: I don't want "The Big One" to be the first thing I ever publish. The reasonings behind this decision are complex and even I don't fully understand it, but I'll try to explain it anyway:

"The Big One" is a work in progress and something that would change and grow and get better as I get older and, hopefully, wiser. It's an outlet for me into which I channel all that I observe in my surroundings, all that I feel and desire on the inside, all the irrelevant thoughts bumping around inside my skull and all that can be found in my imagination. And what I do is I "curl and crush it all into to a tight knit ball inside myself" and then "splatter it all across the empty pages that lie in my lap". So you see, other than being ginormously personal to me, it would be fair to neither my characters nor myself if "The Big One" is published before the story or I'm is fully actualised.

If you can properly understand all that, then I congratulate you on gaining more insight into my personality than I have.

Now I think that this is more than enough confessions and contemplations for me today.
Until next time,


Nida
 

the Winter reading List

Dear Reader,

Another season, another reading list, another post. Being caught up in university assignments and my research project and a million other things, did not leave me with enough time to complete my reading list from last season. Thus, my list this time round has a lot of books that you're probably already familiar with (that is if you've been following this blog for a few months now).  But there are definitely some new books there to wet your appetite (Aside: this phrase only applies to you dear reader, if you like to devour books the way I do - not literally though). 

Anyway, without further ado, may I present to you The List: 

1. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight translated by J. R. R. Tolkien
2. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
3. Kill Grief by Caroline Rance
4. Aspirin: The Remarkable story of the Wonder Drug by Diarmuid Jeffreys
5. The Winter Ghost by Kate Mosse
6. The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting
7. The Replacement by Brenna Yavanoff
8. The Passage by Justin Cronin
9. Bitterblue by Kristen Cashore
10. Evercrossed by Elizabeth Chandler
11. The Lady Most Likely by Julia Quinn

This ones called "A View From my Bed":

I have nothing further to say really, especially with all these deadlines creeping up behind my shoulder. So for now, I bid you adieu!

Nida

P.S. - I know, I know I'm just feeling a bit dramatic today.