blogosphere

i was surfing through the blog links and stumbled some intersting blogs

bring your own shisha

inspiration and creative thoughts

hijabman

and in the process of this discovery, i realised one thing...
blogging can kill hell of a lot of ones precious time (dont blame me if you are wasting your own sweet time)

by the way, happy reading

shironamheen (title less)

while i am bloggin this post, its snowing outside.
first time in life, i am experiencing snowing (yes, its snowing. i hv seen snow, but not snowing itself).
wish some of my friends were here with me, you need the right company to truly enjoy moments like this. (just got back from outside... the soft touch of snow coming onto your face... made me feel ecstatic... or maybe plain simple happy... made some little snowballs and marked my name on the snow... (tasted it too... )snow tastes little diff from water). wish i had a camera to capture the moment...

eto feelings korte giye abar konita ber hoye na ashey...
anyway... here are few highlights of wat had trespassed in the meantime

• ailin vabi had not been to my new place. so i reckoned she deserved a formal invitation and taste of my (attempts at) cooking. so, last saturday there was a little so called house warming party at my place. altogether it was around ten ppl... a small little crowd...
  

the amazing part of it: i cooked everything (there were only two items on the menu, beef and chicken)... my first (and most probably last) attempt at cooking for so many ppl... the food was edible (thats wat really mattered) only that i succesfully managed to get the beef burned (lil bit though. it would hv been worse, hadnt ailing vabi arrive before time)

• if you had seen my eid pics, you should hv realised, i was badly in need of a hairdo. well, it is actually something that i had planned long since, in fact while i was in BD, but..... so, this friday morning, i got up from bad and straight away arranged for my haricut. me, cutting my own hair.... impressive huh? i wouldnt claim its the best hair cut i hv had, but at least i dint get any odd stares later that day.
  

i was eagerly looking forward to this week. there was a little prob with my (brand new) PC, so i had to take her for a checkup. the guy had a look for maximum ten seconds and decided i should leave it behind with them.

"fourteen working days" that was the reply when i enquired how long its gonna take... gosh, three weeks without a pc, especially when you are within a month of your project deadline. well, that was more than two weeks back...

hope for the best. thats all i hv to comfort myself.

updates

1. this morning it snowed for around five minutes at nine o three am for the first time of this season. but i was wide asleep to enjoy this wonderful scene (the wonderful part - according to my classmate). but no worries, for i am sure soon i would want a relief from snowfalls...

2. weather forecast for the next three days... maximum: 5 C and minimum... 0 C.
hmmm... some cold times looming ahead.

3. bought myself a futon bed yesterday evening (second hand ofcourse). wang (my fren from china) and I carried it all the way from town (tough job for tough men) late yesterday evening ... so last night, i had a proper place to sleep. [background info: i was camping on a sleeping bag in my own bedroom since moving in to my new place beginning of this month].
this bed is very very comfortable and add to that the cosy comforter... the result: it was ten o clock when i finally got up. arghhh.
while in bed, struggling between the choice to continue sleeping or get up, i made a new resolution... i am going back to my sleeping bag affair!!!

today i shall grow spirituality

once at taraweeh, i was thinking of finding some ayahs to read that has to do with qiyamah and the hellfire. coincidentally enuf, at witr prayers on that very day, the imam was reciting the following two surahs...

AL-ZALZALA (THE EARTHQUAKE)

Total Verses: 8
Revealed At: MAKKA
Maududi's introduction

---

In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

099.001 YUSUFALI: When the earth is shaken to her (utmost) convulsion,
PICKTHAL: When Earth is shaken with her (final) earthquake
SHAKIR: When the earth is shaken with her (violent) shaking,

099.002
YUSUFALI: And the earth throws up her burdens (from within),
PICKTHAL: And Earth yieldeth up her burdens,
SHAKIR: And the earth brings forth her burdens,

099.003
YUSUFALI: And man cries (distressed): 'What is the matter with her?'-
PICKTHAL: And man saith: What aileth her?
SHAKIR: And man says: What has befallen her?

099.004
YUSUFALI: On that Day will she declare her tidings:
PICKTHAL: That day she will relate her chronicles,
SHAKIR: On that day she shall tell her news,

099.005
YUSUFALI: For that thy Lord will have given her inspiration.
PICKTHAL: Because thy Lord inspireth her.
SHAKIR: Because your Lord had inspired her.

099.006
YUSUFALI: On that Day will men proceed in companies sorted out, to be shown the deeds that they (had done).
PICKTHAL: That day mankind will issue forth in scattered groups to be shown their deeds.
SHAKIR: On that day men shall come forth in sundry bodies that they may be shown their works.

099.007
YUSUFALI: Then shall anyone who has done an atom's weight of good, see it!
PICKTHAL: And whoso doeth good an atom's weight will see it then,
SHAKIR: So. he who has done an atom's weight of good shall see it

099.008
YUSUFALI: And anyone who has done an atom's weight of evil, shall see it.
PICKTHAL: And whoso doeth ill an atom's weight will see it then.
SHAKIR: And he who has done an atom's weight of evil shall see it.
(source)

and the other one

AL-QARIA (THE CALAMITY, THE STUNNING BLOW, THE DISASTER

Total Verses: 11
Revealed At: MAKKA
Maududi's introduction

---

In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

101.001
YUSUFALI: The (Day) of Noise and Clamour:
PICKTHAL: The Calamity!
SHAKIR: The terrible calamity!

101.002
YUSUFALI: What is the (Day) of Noise and Clamour?
PICKTHAL: What is the Calamity?
SHAKIR: What is the terrible calamity!

101.003
YUSUFALI: And what will explain to thee what the (Day) of Noise and Clamour is?
PICKTHAL: Ah, what will convey unto thee what the Calamity is!
SHAKIR: And what will make you comprehend what the terrible calamity is?

101.004
YUSUFALI: (It is) a Day whereon men will be like moths scattered about,
PICKTHAL: A day wherein mankind will be as thickly-scattered moths
SHAKIR: The day on which men shall be as scattered moths,

101.005
YUSUFALI: And the mountains will be like carded wool.
PICKTHAL: And the mountains will become as carded wool.
SHAKIR: And the mountains shall be as loosened wool.

101.006
YUSUFALI: Then, he whose balance (of good deeds) will be (found) heavy,
PICKTHAL: Then, as for him whose scales are heavy (with good works),
SHAKIR: Then as for him whose measure of good deeds is heavy,

101.007
YUSUFALI: Will be in a life of good pleasure and satisfaction.
PICKTHAL: He will live a pleasant life.
SHAKIR: He shall live a pleasant life.

101.008
YUSUFALI: But he whose balance (of good deeds) will be (found) light,-
PICKTHAL: But as for him whose scales are light,
SHAKIR: And as for him whose measure of good deeds is light,

101.009
YUSUFALI: Will have his home in a (bottomless) Pit.
PICKTHAL: A bereft and Hungry One will be his mother,
SHAKIR: His abode shall be the abyss.

101.010
YUSUFALI: And what will explain to thee what this is?
PICKTHAL: Ah, what will convey unto thee what she is! -
SHAKIR: And what will make you know what it is?

101.011
YUSUFALI: (It is) a Fire Blazing fiercely!
PICKTHAL: Raging Fire.
SHAKIR: A burning fire.
(source)

Imad vai and Ailin vabis eid party

i commented in my last post, "How could there be a occassion without something on at Imad vais place." but what i forgot to mention was that since the beginning of Ramadan, Imad vai had planned, as he always does, for a grand Eid party, on the first weekend after eid. It was on sunday, the 6th of nov 2005 at some place near his house.


here are some facts:

1. more than 60 people attended the party.... it was a huge party in all aspects, food items, people attending, arrangement everything...
   
2. the main items on the menu are

• satay ayam, a malaysian delicacy... its specially spiced barbequed chicken, served with peanut sauce, cucumber, rice cubes and onions. (we had to be content with frying the chicken, thanks to the weather)
  [this ws the hit item of the day, with not even one stick left.... (well, imad vai and i cut the chiken, stuck the chicken cubes into the satay stick, and did most of the manual job...) no wonder!!!]
• special bangladeshi mutton haleem, prepared by our master chef jubayer vai. ten kilos of mutton and 15 kilos of dal put together and the result was three gigantic pots of haleem. There was so much leftover that everyone who helped with the cleaning up were awarded with two packs of haleem to take home. the haleem tasted excellent and was a great hit too.... but three HUGE pots of haleem for sixty people is a bit too much, especially when its just one of the numerous items on the menu.

• biriyani, brought by uncle and anuntie ijaz, a Pakistani who has been living in aalborg for the last 40 yrs.
• mee hoon (malaysian noodles)
• the dessert items (which outnumbered the main dishes)
  - ailin vabis excellent coffee cake with chocolate cream
  - ijaz aunties cream cake
  - kalojam (sweets) [made by padmaja]
  - gajor ka halwa (carrot halwa) [by sonja]
  - turkish halwa [brought by basak]
  - moroccan dessert [by hanan] (i didnt get to taste it, since i was late to start eating)
  - and lst but not least, the borhani by jubayer vai.

for me it was a great party and a very interesting evening with lots of socializing... (a very tiring one too... with a lot of work)
most of Imad vais frends, vabis frens, muslims students of aau, and jubayer vais and my frens were there... and ofcourse some of akif frends got invited too....

akif is the one who had the most fun, as he was enjoying the whole evening with all the kids... he was so engrossed with his frends that he didnt hav the time to even look at his parents or any of the guests.....

i was at imad vais place from previous day morning, helping with the preparation work: shopping, chopping, cleaning and .... it was a whole load of work. after the dinner evening, i was so tired, i got back home (past 12 midnight) and dumped myself to straight to bed. when i opened my eyes the next morning, it was 8 am (the attempts of both 6 am and 7 am alarm, in waking me up went futile)

so, for those of you who didnt have so great a eid.... i am sorry.... afsos koro na bechara ra... better luck next time guys and gals.

finally... the women and men behind the scenes:

Director: Ailin vabi
Chief chef: Jubayer vai
Producer: Imad vai
sharbik tottabodayne (overall management): Akif Rahman (he was the chief satay tester)
Assistant: myself
many of our frends helped with the arangements before and cleaning up after the dinner...

lastly, as usual, you can see the pictures at ailin vabis photogallery.... (i am yet to get myself a camera)

first eid in oblivion

Eid mubarak everyone... (though i am sure the scope of this everyone is very limited as i hardly hv any readership on my blog).
Today was the first of syawal 1426 Hijri in this little town of aalborg as in most other parts of the world, and for Muslims this is one of the grandest of the year, Eid al Fitr.
Being the first ever of my eid in a country where Eid is pretty much unknown, i was quite skeptical about what to expect. Good thing though that I knew i wouldnt hv to run for lectures after the eid prayers. but it indeed turned out to be great... even better than some of the Eids I hav had in Malaysia, a country where Aidil Fitri is thebiggest festival.

Back home, Eid is closely related to food (and subsequently stomach problems)... this is exactly what this day was for me. food, food and food; Beginning with the little breakfast of cookies and halwa at the mosque right after the solat fajr till returning home after a full and heavy dinner at 10 in the evening. Students who have been here for a year, our mid-level seniors, decided to throw a eid party after eid prayers. it was supposed to be some sweet dishes followed by LIGHT lunch. So, immediately after eid prayers, we headed for the party venue. we had an hour for the party bells to ring, so to pass time yusuf decided to treat us with our 'introduction to the food session' episode with some chocolate cakes (danishes favourite cake) and some drinks. the eating spree that started with this cakes at 10 am, was finally drawn to a close with my favourite tea at 3 pm. By the way, the menu of the LIGHT lunch was beef, tnadoori chicken, doi bora, beef chop, vegetables, salad. did i forget the biriyani!!! so much for the light lunch.
However I was volunteered (the consent was taken afterwards...) to be the dishwasher for the event. hmmm my fame as a dishwasher is spreading now, and from the BD region, it has expanded to sub-continent region. not bad!!!
Lunch was organised at the local mosque too... and after asr prayers, i had to escape my way out, fearing I may hv to once again join in for some 'light' lunch.
after all the heavy food, i had to get down to work... my designated job, the dishwashing.... nothing comes for free!!! kabikha (kajer binimoye khaddo)

well, if you are thinking i wasnt at Imad vais place today, you are wrong. How could there be a occassion without something on at Imad vais place. there was still some place left in the corner of my not so little stomach, and the dishwashing ordeal widened that. enough room for a handsome dinner with some special food of ailin vabi, who loves to cook.

At the end of the day, when i sat down to write this piece, I was judging today with the eids back in Malaysia, and this indeed was as good or even better I would say, than those. thanks to all for the great day.... may this joy spread out to all of us, our family and everyone around us.

EID MUBARAK.

the whole album of that days pictures can be seen here (courtesy of ailin vabi)