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Ramadan of my childhood
Ramadan 16, 1437. June 21,2016 Ramadan of the past. Growing up in Doha, Ramadan has always been a ‘festival’. The entire place has a transformation. There is really an aura of peace and tranquillity. In our household of six, Ramadan is always the favourite month of the year. There is an extra vigour for prayer and Qur’an recitation. Suhoor is as in every household – a funny drama. 4 almost sleeping kids trying to munch food at the wee hours while dad helping us recite the “Niyyah” and trying to entertain us with his childhood stories of Ramadan. Mom always encouraged us to finish reciting the Holy Qur’an at…
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10 ways to entertain a 10 month old while cooking
Ramadan post – 8 (June 13, 2016. Ramadan 8, 1437) Every mother who has an infant or toddler knows how difficult is it to prepare food for ifthar with a baby hanging on to you for attention. Especially since ifthar has to be prepared at the exact time – there can be no delay! Add to it guests for ifthar! Though we tend to have limited food for ifthar and I do not cook as much, it does get a little challenging when my baby is vying for attention. I limit my baby’s screen time to almost nil hence to keep her distracted with videos and YouTube is…
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To Sir, With Love
June 12 , 2016. Ramadan 7, 1437 I have just started reading the Quran for the month. Target is to complete it at least once, Insha’Allah. Looking back to the first person who taught me the Arabic Alphabets, then words and finally reciting and memorizing from the Quran – Mr. L. Mr. L was the head teacher at our local religious school. A calm and gentle person who peaceful demeanour made him the most loved by all the students. We often hear stories of Qur’an teachers who are strict and rude. Mine was neither. .. it is his gentle teaching method which made me fall in love with the Arabic…
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Building our Ramadan traditions
Our first Ramadan together as a family. I am busy preparing for Ifthar. Fries and Juice. He was cutting all the fruits. Little girl is having her floor time. She has just mastered crawling. The food is arranged on the table. Little girl’s high chair is also put together. Watermelon and dates are cut in thin vertical pieces for her. (Ifthar BLW anyone, yeah?) We go to the terrace of our building and await for Maghrib Adhan. I can see the workers of the local hypermarket crowd together and get ready for Ifthar. Cars on the highway are rushing past. Time of accepted prayers. Friday – between Asr and Maghrib.…
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6 tips for balancing Ramadan and motherhood
RAMADAN OF PAST Three years ago this is how my Ramadan was. Alhamdulilah. For all 30 days, I completed all what I set out to do. That was during my pre-motherhood, pre-pregnancy, pre-marriage, pre-engagement days. In short, I was single and free with no responsibilities. Alhamdulilah. RAMADAN OF PRESENT Fast forward 3 years later and this is how my current situation is. Preparing for Ifthar while little girl is in her play-pen. Excitedly puts Nouman Ali Khans’ live video on Facebook – Day 1. Beautiful interpretation of Surah Al Baqarah. I was getting into the groove of it when I hear the specific alarm from the play pen indicating it’s…
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Ramadan memories – 2
2 Ramadan 1437, June 7th 2016 (Insha’Allah planning to do a small write – up for everyday of Ramadan. More as a memoir for my little one) My baby is trying to stand by holding onto the furniture or stool or anything she gets for her height. Today she tried to stand using the filled Al Wataniya water can. Unfortunately, her hands slipped and she fell down. Tears. Lots if tears. Cuddling, nursing and more cuddling again, she was back to her healthy happy self. Alhamdulilah 10 minutes later, she was back on the floor, happily crawling and trying to stand again. SubhanaAllah As an infant, failure never demotivate us.…
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Ramadan memories
1st day of Ramadan 1437 – June 6th, 2016 In every Malabar household, Pathiri is the staple diet for Ramadan. Not making pathiri for Ramadan is like having an incomplete ifthar! Pathiri making is a laborious, technique sensitive process. The first part is making the dough. Boil hot water and slowly add in the rice powder to the boiling water and make sure all the powder is wet. First mix with the wooden spatula. Flame off after 10 seconds. While the dough is warm still, knead it with hand well in one single roll. Make small rolls with dough and then flatten each roll with a rolling pin or a…
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Letters to my girl
Hello little girl. You turn 10 months today. A milestone for you. A bigger one for me. Just last week we visited Bangalore, the same place where I spent 5 years of my life doing my graduation. I never thought I would visit the place again when I left it in 2012 , that too with you and your dad. How fast life changes?! You were a perfect sweetheart throughout the 3 days whirlwind journey. No tantrums. No crankiness. I am blessed to have you my girl. Rather, it’s my honour to be your mother. Everyone said me motherhood is tough and demanding. But then, you make it easy for…
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Perfect Moments
On a flight from Bangalore to Mumbai. The pilot announced that we will soon land into Chathrapathi Shivaji International Airport. Baby is happy and not cranky during take off and during the flight but she cries hysterically while landing. TH was tickling her and trying to make her laugh. Her joyful giggles and his content smile on seeing her. Sun rays filtering through the oval windows. Perfect moment. Alhamdulilah. I was observing both of them and suddenly realized this is exactly what I had prayed for a long time. Alhamdulilah. Peaceful. Joyous. Fun- filled family life. Alhamdulilah. As much as I wanted to take my phone and take a quick…
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Review #3 – Marvy from CDS
CDS Marvy Description Shell – It has a shell with two given inserts. The shell has outer PUL with 100% Polyester microsuede body lining. The shell has 3 riows of snaps for rise settings and two rows for waist/hip snaps with crossover snaps on the tabs. Wide crotch area. There are elastics sewed in the leg area as well as back waist area having ruffled edges which gives this diaper a beautiful look. Inserts – The longer insert is made of 70% viscose from bamboo and 30% cotton topped with 100% Polyester microsuede The booster or the second smaller insert is made of 100 % organic cotton. The bigger…
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Caesarean Awareness Month
April is International Caesarean Awareness month. Just hours after my Csection, I heard one of the first demeaning comments about ‘ladies who have C section’. And so it increased from there. Amongst the Indian mindset, it makes a girl less of a woman if she had a C section. She is not brave, they say. She cannot bear the pain they say. ( When did bearing pain become a virtue?) But that is far from reality. Do you know the intensity of the excruciating pain when you get up from the hospital bed after having your body cut at the exact point where you will bent. (For a miniscule version…
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Review #2 – Charlie Banana Pocket Diapers
( This is not a sponsored post neither have I received these diapers for review. Purchased by me and opinions and pictures are mine ) Charlie Banana One Size Pocket 2 in 1 reusable diapers. Description Outer – They are made of soft PUL in vibrant colours. They have cross over tabs, hip snaps and a row of waist snaps. These helps in making it to the smallest size even for new borns. Inner – Microfleece inner layer. The opening for placing the inserts lie in the front of the diaper and they are covered well by a flap so not even a mm of the MF insert touches baby’s…
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Tourist spots and activities in Qatar
Now that our baby is 7 months old and I am out of the pregnancy craziness/initial sleep deprived days and all the roller-coaster confusion days of newborn, we look forward to weekends on either having a road trip or exploring any part of Qatar we haven’t been to. I have been compiling my list of tourist spots in Qatar for a few weeks now and it has stayed in my drafts folder until now when I saw the link-up on Follow Your Sunshine blog on the favourite tourist spots of Qatar. If I could choose one, it would surely be the Doha Corniche purely for sentimental reasons. It is the place…
