It has been 2 months since I posted anything. This a result of my travels as well as the many projects that I have been involved in. All of this will slowly unravel in the next couple of posts. Anyway for now enjoy:-


6th July 2009

Well folks...its that time again, When I head back to my Bharat (India). It was on Thursday the second of July when yours truly flew back to New Delhi after 2 years. Well I had heard that India had changed, I had seen the movies that depicted the trance-formation of India however nothing prepared me for the amount of Western influence on the land that has a huge history of culture and civilisation.

Anyway...we’ll discuss that in some other post inshAllah.

However reaching the Indira Gandhi Airport was a huge emotional moment for the family as it was the first time we were going to meet all the Chachas, Chachis, Khala, Khaluus, Mammus, Mammis and cousins for the first time after my Papa(May Allah have mercy on his soul) had passed away.

It was a long night with condolences offered and stories exchanged. It was 3am before i managed to get some sleep in my cousin’s flat in a place called Malvi-Nagar.
The next day was spent complaining about the 40 degree Celsius sweltering heat in the Delhi sun.

The last time I came to India I came in the heat as well however for some reason the heat this time is hotter. It’s like sitting in an oven with a hot fan blowing hot air into your face and then drinking cold Bisleri (mineral water-seeing as how we can’t drink normal drinking water from the tap as then we would be super-shitting) and then sitting around eating heavy and delicious Nihari curry, Chicken Kurma curry and eating...mangoes.

Now one who has never been to India in summer has no idea what I am talking about. However if one has been to India in the summer then one gets to sample all the different types of varieties available on the market, especially when one is blessed with a loving khandan (clan) such as myself.

The latest aam (mango) variety on the market is the langra (handicapped) mango variety. Why it is called as such I have no idea however knowing us Indians I am sure there is an elaborate folk story for the history of the “handicapped” mango.
It was on Saturday that a cousin of mine took us to visit some of the historical monuments in Delhi or Dilhi as it is pronounced in Hindi.

We first stopped at Humayouns tomb.This is a historical monument built by one of the mughal emperors as a tomb for him and his family. Althrough I don’t remember much of the history behind it is was interesting to note that there was a drianigae sys em implemented probably to drain the water from the rains. It was also interesting to note that the architecture of the entire tomb was highly symmetrical i.e. the tomb was enclosed in a square compound and hence everything of note in the tomb for example the many fountains and gardens were all shaped into squares and even their intricate designs had squarish details.

The next stop was India Gate. This is a monument built by the British in memory of the Indian soldiers who fought for them in the First world war. There is a fire that burns and has been burning since the inception of the monument which is guarded 24-7. It was interesting to note that there were a considerable amount of Muslim soldiers who fought for the British during the war.

We then drove to Cannought Place. I used to imagine that this was spelt Cannot Place and always wondered who would name such a place and why? Alas! my contemplation was in vain as sadly such a name did not exist. In Cannought Place there exists a shop known as Kevinders-apparently it is famous for its Milk Shakes. And indeed jostling in line trying to get a Milk shake I found out its fame was not exaggerated. This claim was further put to the test when I drunk their strawberry milkshake was delicious and might I add icy cold!

Next on the list was the famous Jama Masjid of Old Delhi. To get here and park would be a hastle so we decided to take the Metro from the Rajiv Chowk Metro station to the Chawri Bazaar Station. I have to say I am extremely impressed by the Metro service in Delhi and hope that soon God Willing it will be able to span Delhi and connect it all over. From the Chawri Bazaar station we took a 10 rupee rickshaw to Jama Masjid.

Jama Masjid was amazing. I love coming to the Jama Masjid area in Delhi, the smell of the restaurants and the frying chickens and the hustle and bustle of everyone doing their business in tiny shops is an experience and sight that one can’t find anywhere else. However I have to say that I do not like the lack of cleanliness in this mainly Muslim area. Being Muslim we have been told that being clean is a part of our faith however sadly I do not find this being practised in the Jama Masjoid area.

The Jama Masjid was built by the moghuls as are most historical monuments in the Delhi and Agra areas and again it is an architectural marvel, MashAllah.
In the Jama Masjid area we stopped to have a meal of Afghani Chicken and Mutton Birra. Two dishes which tastes out if this world . The flesh of the Mutton was tender and soft and when one bites into and pulls it comes away ever so perfectly in one’s mouth. This is probably due to the Masala and grill that the Mutton and chicken both have undergone before they reached our plates.

After that we headed back to the Malvi-Nagar area in New Delhi where my cousin lives having spent an extremely event filled day in Delhi.

Kareem Salama-Generous Peace

This fool throws wet stones at me insists on attempts
to break my nerves
But I hate to respond to the anger and freed the fuel in
those ugly words

They ask me why I say nothing at all like I don't have
any self respect
I say gentleman I'm like incense the more you burn me
the more I'm fragrant

And I don't feel the need to act violently
And I don't feel desire to fan the fire
You can say what you want about me
But I lace the lines of these times
with generous peace

There's a thin line between virtue and fea and
it's funny how they appear
Both demanding restraint and control and it's enough
that I know it's clear

That I'm not scared of you I'm scared of me and I live
by controlling my fool
Cause you're a fool enough for the both of us but
I still try to find the good in you

And I don't feel the need to act violently
And I don't feel desire to fan the fire
You can say what you want about me
But I lace the lines of these times
with generous peace

I know its hard to listen to the words you just can't stand
It's gonna take more than a fist to enlighten an ignorant man

And don't you see how we fear the patient eyes of a lion
And don't you see ow twe fear those lions in their silence

And I don't feel the need to act violently
And I don't feel desire to fan the fire
You can say what you want about me
But I lace the lines of these times
with generous peace

Lyrics and Song by Kareem Salama - This Life of Mine

Alhamdullillah I have extremely busy in the last couple of days..not work wise but i have a few projects going on. I also met a few interning students at MERCY and found out or rather realized that my opinions and the world-views that I have...have been limited in spite of me thinking of them being extremely broad views. #

Oh and by the way International Relations is definitely one of my future career choices now after having heard about it first hand from the Interning students.

By the way Arab food is pleasingly different from North-Indian food.

Project no. 1

Get a Salam Cafe type thingy on Malaysian tv - discussions are underway with YMP and friends to work that out

Project no. 2

Anyone who knows me knows how I love to travel and I will be going back to India inshAllah next week for a brief fortnightly visit inshAllah with the family.

Project no. 3

Find a non-research oriented job- having trouble with this one, apparently I have discovered after much "research" that I am not a guy who loves sitting in the lab day after day-Althrough it does mean a lot of FB time.

I believe I have discovered the most important barrier to learning...embarrassment. I mean think about it we learn the most when we are young and are toddlers and kids. However once we hit the age of puberty we become extra-conscious of ourselves.

Most teenagers just want to blend in and I believe this carries on into our adulthood years as well. In university when our lecturer used to ask us if we had any questions most of my class would look at the floor or at each other our eyes daring the other to ask, something...anything. I remember this was normally the case in our boring classes we would all search for questions and then start a conversation with the lecturer about things totally unrelated (but interesting) to the subject.

Anyway coming back to what I was saying about the whole learning and embarrassment thingy it just goes to show that Life is all one wants it to be.
If we can take the initiative and then the positive side of things we can learn so much. I have learnt a lot from watching my nephews and niece grow up (mashAllah). When babies learn how to walk they try and try till they get it and I am going to apply this babosophy(yes I coined it just now) to my life.

I have a dream and if God wills I will live to see it fulfilled by His grace and Mercy.

Travelling by LRT is not my favorite way to travel. It so happens that today I chose to travel using the LRT early in the morning. Now to those of you who have never used the LRT early in the morning count your blessings. What happens is that Men and Women literally throw themselves into the carriages. I kid you not!

Here is what today at 7am in the morning: I was happily standing at the door and dreaming of the blue blue sky…when from absolutely nowhere a man(small in size) decided to disturb my dreams. Now the train is full-it is pretty obvious for everyone to see but still why should anyone give up a chance. When anyone sees even a small crack of space in between the backsides and frontsides of people they stick one foot there and press themselves against anyone and everything that stand in their way.

What happens next is a combination of skill and experience (obtained I assume from doing this on a regular basis) which involves holding one’s breath and again pressing one’s body against any and everything that gets in one’s way until the LRT doors slide shut. This is then followed by everyone around that individual heaving huge sighs of relief as then the well experienced individual presses against the closed doors of the LRT leaving a few atoms of space for everyone to breathe in.
All of this is fine as long as no-one coughs/sneezes.

However if someone who has been holding in a sneeze for an extremely long time decides that he/she’s nose and chest simply cannot bear the torture anymore and they then decide to let it go resulting in a huge ACHOO!!! The surrounding individual turn and look around at that poor helpless soul and stare for extremely short periods of time but I guess to the individual it must seem like eternity. Also with the H1N1 virus around the world it doesn’t help the case of the hapless sneeze driven individual.

I am dreading the journey back!

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

A few days ago I closed a big chapter in my life. A chapter which had been going for more or less 4 years or if you want to start from the beginning 5 and a half years .The climax of which was my final year project (which as mentioned before was a major factor in my head losing its protective covering!).

However when I look back and ponder upon my 4 years I feel that I have been through a lot by God’s grace.

I mean losing my Dad, starting a part-time business, wrestling with mice, teaching English to students, helping in founding a committee that everyone predicted to fail but Alhamdulillah even with all its problems is still going on today, going to camps to train students, barely passing some subjects and making much doa and promises to Allah if he made me pass them, doing a research project that involved driving some 600 kilometres and back to get raw papayas, meeting people from all over Asia as part of a debating tournament , organising in part an Interfaith Dialogue that saw people from all faiths visiting the campus of a Muslim university for the first time, all of these events and more have made me feel that I am blessed to be where I am.

Even though I complain all the time about what type of a university I was in now I feel blessed to have been part of this institution and to have taken to some extent advantage of what was offered on the menu so as to speak.

Four years here have shaped and moulded me whether I like it or not .I have Alhamdulillah made some friends that inshAllah will stay with me for life and more importantly I have begun to some extent understanding that thing that makes and shapes us my deen i.e. my religion or way of life.

Having said that there are still a lot of things that need to be done in order to change the way we Muslims perceive and interact with the world. Many a time I have sat down in a discussion and we all come to the conclusion that whilst there are many things wrong with the Ummah (Muslim Community) at large we as students cannot do anything bout it. I belive that this is a very wrong and negative approach as if we the youth cannot do anything about it then we will all follow in the footsteps of our predecessors which has lead us to the problems we are in today.

May Allah help us to become one ummah again, with one purpose and may he guide all of us and help to stay on the straight path (Ameen)

Wonderful lyrics by Farhan Akhtar from the movie Rock On

Just think about it...

aasmaan hai nila kyun, paani gila gila kyun
why the sky is blue, why water is wet

gol kyon hai zameen
why this earth is round

sukh mein hai narmi kyun, aag mein hai garmi kyun
why there is softness in happiness, why there is heat in fire

do aur do paanch kyun nahi
why aren't two and two five

ped ho gaye kam kyun, tin hai yeh mausam kyun
why have the trees decreased, why are there three seasons?

chaand do kyun nahi
why aren't there two moons?

duniya mein hai jung kyun, behata laal rang kyun
why do wars exist in the world?, why does the red color flow?

sarhadein hai kyun har kahin
why are boundaries every where?

socha hai, yeh tumne kya kabhi
thought of it?have you ever thought of it?

socha hai, ki hai yeh kya sabhi
have you ever thought about it? what all this is?

socha hai, socha nahi toh socho abhi
have you ever thought?, if not then think now!

behati kyun hay har nadi, hoti kya hai roshani
why every river flows, what is light?

barf girati hai kyun
why does snow falls?

ladate kyun hai ruthate taare kyun hai tutate
why the stars break/fall?

baadalon mein bijali hai kyun
why is there lightning in the clouds?

socha hai, yeh tumne kya kabhi
have you ever thought of it?

socha hai, ki hai yeh kya sabhi
have you ever thought about it? what all this is?

socha hai, socha nahi toh socho abhi
have you ever thought about it? If not, think now?


sannata sunayi nahi deta, aur hawaaye dikhaayi nahi deti
we can't listen to quietness/silence, and can't see the wind

socha hai kya kabhi, hota hai yeh kyun
have you ever thought, why this happens?

aasmaan hai nila kyun, paani gila gila kyun
gol kyon hai jameen
sukh mein hai narmi kyun, aag mein hai garmi kyun
do aur do paanch kyun nahi
ped ho gaye kam kyun, tin hai yeh mausam kyun
chaand do kyun nahi
duniya mein hai jung kyun, behata laal rang kyun
sarhadein hai kyun har kahin
(socha hai, yeh tumne kya kabhi
socha hai, ki hai yeh kya sabhi
socha hai, socha nahi toh socho abhi) - (2)