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The hijab – My choice
From the time I was 11 or 12, whatever is it that I chose to wear- skirt & top, jeans & kurta, salwar kameez or the abaya – there has been an extra fabric on my head, covering my hair, popularly called as the HIJAB. On doing a quick Google search, you will realize the fact that the Hijab is one of the most controversial topic regarding the Muslim women. The extra fabric hasn’t prevented me from gaining a degree, working in a hospital, travelling alone, outing with my friends or in short, living my life. It is a personal choice after studying and comprehending my religious texts. It is…
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Facebook
I have a love-hate affair with Facebook. With friends and family all around from the farthest east to the farthest west, Facebook truly helps me to keep in touch with them all. But hadn’t Facebook been there, wouldn’t I have found other ways to keep in touch with them if I really wanted to? On our Facebook friend-list we have everyone from our kindergarten friends to the Professors at college. In real-life, would we be actually sharing details of our honey-moon trip with our Professors or would we be comfortable showing recent pictures of our family/extended relatives with people whose sole contact with us was only sharing the same class…
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A city and a village.
Place where I grew up : Doha, Qatar Class gradation and caste differences was something I was not aware of during my childhood days. Everyone had the same Staedtler Pencil and Faber Castell Colour Pencils. It was assumed everyone was from reasonably well-to-do families. Some of our neighbours were from Syria, Egypt or Palestine (besides Indians!) and though we wished each other on New Years and Eid, we were not much in contact otherwise. Outings, community get-together at the local club, Eid meet at the Park – every community mostly socialized with its own kind. Though a cosmopolitan city, cohesive nature and intermingling among st the expatriates and natives are…
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A cold morning
Seek beauty in the finer details.
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Hometown to home
Today morning, I was surrounded by the lush greenery By night, I am in the desert. Morning, I was braving the heat. By night, the cold chills my bone. Morning, I was dreading the 30kg luggage limit By night, I was dreading the last-bag-on-the-baggage-carousel fate. Morning, I was in my home town. By night, 3000 nautical miles later, I am in the place I call and feel home.
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E-books
My sister and brother in law gifted me with a Samsung Note 10.1 a few months back. Thus started my love affair with eBooks. I used to read eBooks on my laptop or on the small N900 screen earlier, but due to the cumbersome nature either of holding the laptop or due to strain of peering into the small screen of N900, I could read only one book at a time, that too with frequent breaks. So it was not a common affair. With the tablet, the screen is quite comfortable for reading and since there was a Note cover too, I can place the tab in any way that…
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Word-hu(o)b
(The Daily Prompt from Daily Post today is : If you could wake up tomorrow and be fluent in any language you don’t currently speak, which would it be? Why? What’s the first thing you do with your new linguistic skills?) For me, without a doubt, the answer to the above question is ARABIC. A beautiful Semitic language of poets and writers, Arabic literature is vast and rich in information related to culture and history dating to almost 16 centuries. Closely related to Hebrew, Aramaic and Phoenician, Arabic also has influenced many languages of the world including English. It has been a major vehicle of language to Europe, especially in…
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Phase of life
For nearly two years, there has been a constant theme in my life – Uncertainty. Personally and professionally, everything I desired and worked for ended up in failure. I ask myself, where did I go wrong? Did I not work hard enough? Weren’t my prayers sincere? How and when will I figure things out? I find myself mulling over the same decisions. Insecure, confused, unhappy and anxious. I am a shadow of my former bubbly self. I stopped believing in friendships. Solitude is my greatest companion now. Quarter-life crisis, they call it. Everyone goes through it, they say. Is it? ( Write Tribe’s 100 Words on Saturday –…
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Neighbourhood.
It has nearly been 6 months since I and my mom have been staying alone, back in our hometown, after a gap of nearly 20 years! Used to the idyllic slow paced life of Doha, safe and secure with Dad and brothers around, staying in Kerala was as adventurous as it was hard on both of us. We are not aware of the Doctors, Plumbers or the Painters around. We do not know about the local Electricity board, neither do we know the local grocers and shopkeepers. Heck, we dont even know the brand name of the milk powder packets used here commonly! (In Doha, it is either Nido or…
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Prized Books
Over the years, I have learnt from… ▪Uncle Quentin’s love of science ▪Hermione Granger inquisitiveness and hardwork ▪Julian Kirrin’s sense of responsibility ▪Patricia and Isabel’s (O Sullivan) companionship ▪Nancy Drew’s eye for details ▪Frank and Joe Hardy’s sense of adventure ▪Howard Roark’s passion for his profession ▪Liesel Meminger aka Book thief’s love for words ▪Dr. Bentley aka Memory Keeper’s chivalrous nature to protect his wife from sadness (though it led to a terrible decision) ▪Pi Patel’s extra human courage in dealing with a grown tiger ▪Amal Hassan Abulheja’s love for her motherland ▪Morrie’s wisdom filled lessons for life ▪Robert Langdon’s knowledge of symbols, art and architecture ▪Tehmina Durrani’s strength in…
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Weekly Photo Challenge : Object
A broken heart Nearly 13 years ago, my middle school friend gifted to me this key-chain after she came back from a trip. Though broken at the side, battered and bruised by rough use, this travels with me wherever I go. We live in two countries now, still our laughter and gossip hasn’t changed one bit since those school days. There are some friendships I am grateful for. This is one of them. (Prompt titled Object from Daily Post) Linking it to NaBloPoMo
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Oral Cancer
There is a definition which all medical students memorize by their second year, which is an oft-asked question, especially in viva, commonly known as Willis definition of tumour. It states : A neoplasm is an abnormal mass of tissue, the growth of which exceeds and is uncoordinated with that of the normal tissues, and persists in the same excessive manner after cessation of the stimulus which evoked the change. I feel everyone needs to be aware of this definition. In simple layman terms, any extra lump that grows excessively and rapidly should be checked out by a medical professional as early as possible. Most of them might be a simple…
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Through their eyes – Perspective
Situations when it is easy to see from another person’s perspective : ●While feeling loved/loving ●Happy moments/situations ●While feeling Calm and composed ●If we have gone through the same situation before/read about it ●Knowing someone personally who has gone through the same situation Situations where it is really difficult to see from another person’s perspective : ●In the heat of rage/mad anger ●Feeling sad, tensed, anxious ●Being unaware of the situation/depth of emotions related ●Not listening/comprehending the other person’s point of view ●(I have to say this) At times when we are just too stuck-up/arrogant/proud Incidentally, it is the second set of situations where there is…
