Eid Ahoy!

I am going to a 'chaand raat' party at Hinamommy's house tonight. Wow.

On many counts.

#1: When did I become so joined at the hip with my husband that I needed a planned 'girls night in' in order to spend time with my girlfriends minus the respective husbands?!

#2: For all my claims of being as unNasreen and unPerveen as I can be, I do love the whole mehndi and chooriz bit on eid and I can't wait to have my hands henna'd again.

#3: Having Hinamommy is like having a big sister, only one your'e not related to. ROFL. She took a lot of headache out of the sitaution by deciding my outfit, my makeup AND my edible contribution to this one-dish event. LOL

#4: I REFUSE TO BELIEVE IT'S EID ALREADY!

Dammit. We were in England for the first ten days of Ramadan and hence taking advantage of the option to not fast while travelling. It can be VERY disorienting.

The other day, I got a call from Hinamoomy and I could hear Iman making a fuss in the background and says Hinamommy that she's making a fuss because she's in her fancy clothes - the outfit sent by some relative for her to wear on Jumatul Wida.

"Why's she wearing it today?' I asked.

"Um, cuz today IS Jumatul Wida ..."

Yes, right. No way!!!! It's like, only the SECOND Juma in my head.

So I ask Hinamommy if she wanted to do dinner out ... as we hadn't done one together in such a long time. We kind of agreed on a plan and then she calls me back in about fifteen minutes.

"No can do," she tells me. "It's Badi Raat"

Oh man, cut me SOME slack will you!!!! In my head, it's only the MIDDLE of Ramadan.

No way am I ever travelling right before Ramadan EVER AGAIN IN MY WHOLE LIFE.

Okay, so my body still thinks it's the 20th of Ramadan and refuses to come to terms with impending eid. Hopefully, earlier mentioned 'chaand raat' party will inject some reality into the situation.

Dammit.

Does that mean I have to clean the house?!!!!!

PS: My Eid sari ka blouse in Karachi! Dammit. Can't we delay Eid by a week?

Domesticated!

You know you've been domesticated beyond the point of salvation when someone gives you a 'Food Processor' as an Eid gift, and not only are you overjoyed at receiving this gift, but you can't wait to try it out.



So overwhelming is your need to play with your new toy that you pick the leaves off a packet of dhania fast enough to put Speedy Gonzales to shame and whip up a 'hara dhanya ki chatni'. Only then can you be at peace with your newfound domestic instincts. Oh, and the 'chatni' tastes pretty damed good too.

Oh oh, and the reason you got that Food Processor as an eid gift is because you had been asking the giver of the gift how much one would cost - as the giver of the gift works for the company that makes the said food processor. You were hoping for a discount, but you got it for FREE!

Yay, I love Eid. And thank you Bhai, for my new toy.

Okay, I'm gonna go now and play with my toy ...

Boots, yeah baby!

Rainbow striped socks and black leather boots. What more could a girl want?!

IT"S ALL WHITE!!!

Guess where BPC was just now? Sub zero temperature! Snow!

SKI DUBAI!!!!!

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.

BPC was given boots and gloves and a big goretex coat that made her look like Hagrid. Bundled up in wool and insulation, she was propelled into the world of white.

It was all she could do to keep herself from rolling up and down the slopes yelling 'wheeeeeeeee'. She would have gone about munching the snow right off the ground like a cow grazing the green - had she not been fasting.

But let's compose ourselves. Present in the capacity of an Editor, BPC had to act the part. So no berserk, raving dashing up and down, and NO EATING THE SNOW!

Dammit ... it was so soft and mushy and WHITE!!!!

I made snowballs and threatened to push them down Shireen's coat. We had a ball of a time running up and down as composedly as one could. I contemplated a snowman, but but Shireen threatened desertion: her nose was freezing off.

So was mine. I could feel my nose, lips and ears going funnily numb. I think my right thumb and my cheeks went down that road too.

"So how sub zero are we?" I ask the nearest Ski Dubai employee.

"Minus three degrees', he smiles and I marvel.

Wow. Minus three in the desert. And snow.

Only in Dubai.

It's What You Do That Defines You

Sometimes, you do something really stupid and ages later you realize what a fucking idiot you are.

In Batman Begins, Rachel says to Bruce, "It's not who you are underneath, it's what you do that defines you", and then Bruce throws it back at her in time.

Ages ago, I banished from my life a very special friend just because I didn't find him next to me a few times I had wanted him to be.

Looking back now, there could have been so many genuine reasons for his not being there. He could have had to be in another place, with another person for so many reasons - none of which he really had to share with me, when you think about it. He didn't sign his entire social life over to me, but one of my faults is expecting too much from the people I love and he became a victim of just that.

I didn't stop to ask myself who it was that took me for drives way back when I had neither car or license? Who was it that I saw 'Dil Chahta Hai' with for the first time and then had such crazy times listening to 'Woh larki Hai Kahan' in his car on full volume while driving down Shahrah-e-Faisal. How many nights did we spend on the supr-tiny dacne floor of A&W's with Annand Kash and Zeeshy ... playing the stupidest of songs on the jukebox? How many root beer floats did we share? Who took me to Gelatto Affair at an unearthly hour on my birthday because I felt like ice cream and who bought me a birthday cake and even put the right number of candles on it? Who came with a doctor in the middle of one night when ammi wasn't feeling well at all? Who picked me up at the airport and also dropped me off so many times? Who was my bodyguard at crazy Junoon concerts - protectively creating a 'No Entry' zone around me?

Fine, I moved to Dubai and when I came back to Karachi, he should have made more time for me, but so what if he didn't? As I said, he hadn't signed his entire social life off to me.

I accused him of being callous and insensitive - of taking me for granted. I told him to grow up and stop chasing girls. I told him to act more responsible. I told him that I didn't want to be friends with him anymore.

And then we weren't. He never challenged me and never lashed back at me. He just quietly disappeared from my life.

Until a few minutes ago.

I was checking Karachi Metblogs for updates on the earthquake relief efforts and there he was. It was an entry about a medical team in Batgram. And there he was with a mask on his face ... examining a wounded man lying infront of him. I read that his team was the first to reach that area.

And that's how life slapped my accusations back at me.

I didn't take the time to see it, but time itself showed me that what my friend is doing is what defines him. He's not the immature, callous person I accused him of being. He's not out chasing girls right now, or worrying about buying the latest cellphone. He's fulfilling his responsibility as a medical student and is helping people in need.

And here I am twiddling my thumbs in an airconditioned office - thinking that somehow keeping abreast of thel atest is me playing a part enough in this whole thing. It's me that needs to come down the ivory tower - not him.

I'm sorry F. - I was wrong. So wrong. I hope we can be friends again.

Gora Lovers

BPC is type,type,typing away at computer. Phone rings

BPC: Hello?
Caller: Hello, I am calling from XYZ magazine. Yada yada yada. We publish a magazine created exclusively for Western and European people. Yada yada yada. Do you have any Western or European people working in your office so we can deliver them a copy?
BPC thinks: Racist bastard!
BPC says: No. Umm ... Yes. Yes!!
Caller: Great. Can I have his name?
BPC thinks: Sexist bastard!
BPC says: HER name is XYZ.
Caller: Could you spell that?
BPC says: X - Y - Z.
Caller: Last name?
BPC: ABC.
Caller: ABC. Great, XYZ ABC. What is her position?
BPS: She's the Office Manager.
Caller: Good, good. Where is she from?
BPC: Romania.
Caller: Oh (pause) Is there anyone in your office from Britain or Europe?
BPC: (silence) No.

BPC hangs up.

Okay, so Romania is not in Europe. And obviously, neither is Britan, since I was asked if there was anyone from Britain OR Europe?

Wow. I love gora-lovers. They are so endlessly amusing in their anality.

Calling all Blogs!

I went to the Search All Blogs on top of my Blog and typed in 'tagged' and clicked. I scoured through dozens of potential 'tags' and tagged my own self.

That's how bored I am at work. And nobody else ever tags me anyway. (Rant coming!) Okay, okay, I am not disillusioned: only a handful of people read this blog anyway, and out of them:

One is getting ready to deliver his first baby in a few days
Another is trying to potty-train her first-born
Another is finding his feet at a new job
Another is trying to close a major deal (best of luck!)
And at least one is prancing around in rainbow colored socks with balck ankle boots!

So that leaves me to take matters in my own hands. I hereby tag myself AGAIN!

10 FAVORITES
Favorite Color: RED!
Favorite Food: stuffed grape leaves
Favorite Month: December (My birthday and the approach of a new year!)
Favorite Song: Many many many .. right now though, I would love to hear Kajrare from Bunty Aur Babli again ...
Favorite Movie: Forever torn between Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Diwaley Dulhaniya
Favorite Sport: I HATE sports
Favorite Season: Summer
Favorite Day Of the week: Friday (my ONLY day off!!!!)
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: Chocolate
Favorite Time of Day: Bedtime!!!!!!!! And sometimes, when I manage to sneak out work REALLY early, coming home to find the sunlight filtering into my living room. I hardly EVER get to see the sun in my living room.

9 CURRENTS
Current Mood: Full of beans. I want to listen to Kajrare .. what can you expect?!
Current Taste: I'm fasting right now so ... and even if i wasn't, this is a stupid question and I don't understand what it means!
Current Clothes: Blue jeans and purple polo shirt
Current Desktop: Default one from XP
Current Toenail Color: Naked toenails
Current Time: 10:17 am
Current Surroundings: Boss's desk right across me, with boss thankfull not in it.
Current Thoughts: "When the bloody hell is my salary gonna be in?"

8 FIRSTS
First Best Friend: Rebecca Buhrmann in First Grade, SAIS-R, Riyadh, KSA. NEVER managed to find her on the net. Thankyou, Cyber-useless-World.
First Kiss: Never kiss and tell!
First Screen Name: Must have been something on IRC way back when, but i DONT remember. I have been oooj@la on MSN for decades though.
First Pet: Some terrapins Bhayya and I got for our 9th and 7th birthdays respectivaly from Amrika wali Khala (the benefits of having a brithday within a fortnight of your sibling ... ONE PRESENT!!)
First Piercing: Ears .. have had since I can remember.
First Crush: I think it was Salman Khan. All that 'aaja shaam honay aae, mausam ney li angraee' business is too tough for a 12 eyar-old to resist ;)
First Album: Something by Ali Haider I think. Or was it Strings.

7 LASTS
Last Cigarette: Wow ... I think that was AGES ago with Max on his balcony. Heehee ... Arfiman refused to come near me after that, so that was my last!
Last Drink: Hmm ... had five glasses of water at Sehri to tide me over till Iftari! Most of it still in my system ... must go to loo ...
Last Car Ride: This morning to work .. with Kajrare playing TWICE on the radio!
Last Kiss: I pecked a sleeping Arfiman as I left for work at 8:40 this morning
Last Movie Seen: Last properly seen one was Sin City on DVD two nights ago. Last night on TV, I saw bits of two movies I don't know that names of.
Last Phone Call: Arfiman, not thirty seconds ago! Not counting him, refer to the blog entry above.
Last CD Played: Some salsa music CD given as a freebie at a press event some months ago .. played it last night in the car.

6 HAVE YOU EVERS
Have You Ever Dated One Of Your Best Guy/Girl Friends: Nu-huh
Have You Ever Broken the Law: Everyday. Okay okay ... just going over the speed limit. That IS breaking the law, innit?
Have You Ever Been Arrested: No
Have You Ever Skinny Dipped: No
Have You Ever Been on TV: Yes ... a few times. I once played the college friend of the lead character in a Pakistani serial. LOLZ. I was awful.
Have You Ever Kissed Someone You Didn't Know: Only all the cute babies I come across.

5 THINGS
Things You're Wearing: White belt with rhinestone buckle, white gold wedding ring with diamond, silver watch, fuschia lipstick and kajal.
Things You've Done Today: Fried parathas, shami kabab and eggs (sunnyside up and scrambled) for Sehri, said my namas, got up and got dressed, drove to work, parked my car, ranted with office manager about not being paid, wasted plenty of time on orkut and now THIS.
Things You Can Hear Right Now: The AC whirring, office manager faxing, my nails hitting the keyboard, my stocmah growling.
Thing You Can't Live Without: Some unbalance in life
Thing You Do When You're Bored: Tag myself?

4 PLACES YOU'VE BEEN TODAY
1. Bathroom
2. Kitchen
3. 'The Pakistani resistance' communtiy on Orkut
4. Kirna's Blog

3 PEOPLE YOU CAN TELL ANYTHING TO
There's no one person who I can tell everything. That would be REALLy weird.

2 CHOICES
1. Black or White: Black
2. Hot or Cold: Hot

1 THING YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE:
Not quite sure ... I've never thought of using death as a deadline.

I tag:
Arfiman
Hinamommy
Kirna
JonyBr

Feeling Terribly Lazy

I'm feeling very uncreative (is that even a word?) and lazy (an understandable after-effect of a two-week holiday that felt like a two month one), so try as I may, none of the oh-so-witty ideas I have of putting the holiday/wedding pix on the blog are materializing any time soon.

Here's one of us three in our wedding finery.



This is ALL I can do now, OKAY?! I'm being LAZY! Go away and let me waste my time at work ... NOW!

I Am a Swan

I am a mauve swan with green eyes.

I eat pink candyfloss for breakfast, strawberry cheesecake for lunch and blue M&Ms before I go to bed.

When I am happy and I blow soap bubbles and bake brownies. When I am not, I string pearls on a thread - one for each thing that makes me sad.

I wear a diamond ring on my left wing and a tiara on my head. Wherever I go, I leave a tinsel trail.

My name is D'Mimsy Porpington.

Doing Xeb Proud

I posted on my blog sometime back about how one person's everyday life can be another's lifelong fantasy. Shallow as it may sound, that of Paris Hilton is the one that catches MY fancy ... for reasons I shall expand on another day, in another post. So for now, you can carry on wondering how someone like me can possibly be fascinted by a blonde bimbette AND not have the satsifaction of me telling you just quite HOW ...

Verily, I did come across a list of things a random person wanted to do in life ... just someone i stumbled across blogsurfing :http://xebphotoblog.blogspot.com/

I kind of started ticking off things (or those closest) from her list that I had done and thought 'Hmm ... for someone who's not her, I've done plenty of stuff she wants to do!'.

So if you read this and are the sightest bit inclined, do tell us how you have lived out Xeb's fantasies:

(The ones in RED are the ones I have not done yet)

1. See the Kohinoor Diamond (I saw my own equivalent of the Kohinoor just yesterday: the Rossetta Stone.)
2. Watch a Circus Performance (looooooooong time ago ... some irani circus in karachi)
3. Elope (I DID get married in a court, nikah AND registry)
4. Experience 'that perfect kiss' (Been with Arfiman long enough to be granted that one!)
5. Get married in 7 different ways in 7 different countries
6. Go for a Safari
7. Climb a mountain in Switzerland... Sound of Music Style! (I think grassy hills are sissy ... I did do Mount Qihwi. Google 'Ujala Farooque Qihwi')
8. Drive a Red Ferari convertible with the top down very very fast! (It's not a Ferrarri and it's not a convertible, but boy is my Lumina RED and FAST!)
9. Explore the Pyramids - Each and every one of them
10. Go on an Archaeological Dig
11. Take a candlelit bath with someone (Tee hee ... the things you do when you are still newlywed!)
12. Go Bungee Jumping
13. Travel around the whole world. Each and every single Country.
14. Live in Paris for a month or so. (or four days?!)
15. Go on the Eurorail with friends. (I went alone but made plenty on the way)
16. Go to the arctics. See a polar bear. Live in an Igloo. Talk to an Eskimo and climb an Iceberg. 17. Take a trip in a hot-air balloon.
18. Get blind drunk...
19. Go skinny dipping
20. Go to Disney World!! (Dubai IS Disney World. Only bigger and more expensive)
21. Make a billion Rupees... spend each and every paisa... and make a billion more!
22. Go Rock Climbing and Cave exploring
23. Live on or opposite to a beach.
24. Go sky diving
25. Learn how to cook proper Continental Cuisine
26. Moonlight as a Model!
27. Walk down the Great Wall of China
28. Drive down the Silk Route
29. Learn how to assemble a computer from scratch! :P
30. Become CEO of a major Multinational Organization OR Secretary General of the UN OR Prime-Minister of Pakistan.
31. Set up `Da SPA`
32. Explore Greece and Rome - the lands of the ancients. (Not Rome, but did do Greece)
33. Get the Black Belt in Karate.
34.Carry a handgun
35. Shoot a person! (killing is optional)
36. Crash a wedding!
37. Become THIN! (I was born it :P)
38. Go gambling in Las Vegas. Win!
39. Learn how to play a musical instrument! Learn how to sing in tune!
40. Go deep sea fishing. Catch a shark.
41. Go for a cruise to the Caribbean. Also to Mauritius. And the Greek Islands. (Greek Islands, yeah baby!)
42. Travel across space. Go to the moon.
43. Live in a different country for a couple of years. (Been in the UAE for about four years now)
44. Get a nose job!! :P And laser eye surgery AND laser hair removal! (One out of three: lasered eyes YAY!)
45. Learn how to fly a plane - Then buy a plane and fly it!
Win a lottery!
46. Get my bellybutton pierced! ;) *assuming the tummy is flat enough ofcourse!*
47. Go Parasailing.
48. Officially change the spelling of my name (Does officially changing from my maiden name count?)
49. Write my autobiography.
50. Write a famous book
51. Win the Nobel Prize
52. Draw a famous picture.
53. Learn how to whistle a tune.
54. Go hunting. Kill something.

16 out of 54. Hmm ... for someone who's NOT Xeb, that's not bad.

Would you do Xeb proud?

TAGGED AGAIN

Got TAGGED by Kirna.

This was quite a fun, unexpected and introspective one :)

The rules were:

1. Go to your archive.
2. Find your 23rd post.
3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest)
4. Post the text of the sentence with these instructions.
5. Tag 5 people.

My 23rd entry was... Anniversary Party. And the fifth line is.. I love Mummy and Bhai :)

Hmm :) I do. So much. And so do I the rest of the family I have adopted from Arfiman. Not fifteen minutes ago I had a terrible headache and I was sitting on the living room floor here at Khala's with Khala on the couch and my head in her lap and suddenly, I missed Ammi a little less and my headache didn't seem so bad. :)

Sometimes, all you need is a lap to lay your head on. No matter how old you are. *sigh*

Okay, I tag
1. Arfiman
2. SmokyUAE
3. FlyingCow
4. Hinamommy
5. JohnyBravo

Englanding

It's wedding time in England.

Jumz weds Moiz = Jumoiz. Lovely couple. Wedding pictures are aplenty, but BPC has no access to photo editing software. Gracious hosts have internet though, so just a brief glimpse of what we've done:

BPC's enjoyed every bit of the wedding ... as desi girls normally do. All the mehndi, the mayhem and the madness. The 'where are my shoes?' and 'who's in the bathroom NOW?!!!'



In between the moments of madness were those of sweet serenity ... like a morning coffee with the bride in the 'summer house'.



The boys, on the other hand ... have found other things to enjoy. Due to lack of space in the wedding home, we've been put up with some very dear friends of the bride's parents.

Anu and Vijay.

Vijay has a PS2 AND an X-Box. So no need for me to say what's keeping Arfiman busy ... and that too on a BIG ASS PDP.



And the boys went to their comic book convention earlier today, so way-hey ... loads of stuff. Max bought a gazillion Spawn cards ... his hands were moving so fast it seemed like he was a renincarnation of on of those multi-limbed Hindu Goddesses for a mo. (Apologies Mirchi and all other Hindu readers)



It's been a a fun (albeit totally crazy) few days. Anu and Vijay are fun-nee. We can't go through dinner without somebody spurting their drink out of their nose.

I've had terrible luck with fish and chips till now, but we DID make a trip to Sainsbury's and tomorrow, we shall venture into Croydon city centre and see some shops.

Currently we are in an English house with a front lawn and a semi-circle driveway and a BIG garden with a pond with REAL LIVE FISH. And squirrels. The house is on a HILL!! :O

It's all so quaint :) I saw a pub called 'The Arab Man'.

Oh joy. More later. Anu's making us some tea ...