Love of my life :')

"There are some days when I'm flying that I just look out of the window and I feel like I'm the luckiest guy in the world." - Ron Levitz, Air Tran Pilot

"Flying has changed after 9-11 but at the end of the day, it definitely beats sitting in an office doing a 9 to 5. ... I know that this is where I need to be." - Trina Holden, Flight attendant, Air Tran & Continental Airlines


I was reading this article about 'a day at Atlanta International Airport' on the CNN website and I was touched and had goosebumps. Aviation has always been my passionate field and it makes me feel alive. When I see a plane pass by, I stand still and see it as far as I can or when I stand near a runway in sight and see a plane touch the earth or kiss the skies, it gives me a feeling I can not put to words. In the article, Ron Levitz (who I quoted above) has a similar story as mine, only that he got the dream of flying and I haven't. He said he loves flying and always wanted to do that...trust me, I would love to spend the rest of my life on airplane than on the ground. I know where I want to be, where I need to be and its only a matter of time, prayers, patience and hard work that I get there, Insha'Allah!!! Planes are my first love, and you know what they say about first love right? 

* A piece of advise. If you are emotionally charged and are writing, DO NOT listen to music or do something else like talk to someone besides writing because it takes the feel and mood away (as it sort of did to me) * 

So coming back to the article I read, it really touched me because the article talked about how different people's lives are and an airport is the best place to see this mixture...

• A cleaner cleaning the toilets who people see with less respect and think how much better they are not realizing how dependent they are on that cleaner, a duty free shop assistant who answers to every customer who asks a question frustratingly knowing that not every customer buys the product ( some people like me are just asking because they love it but know they can't buy but want to have the feel of the item ).
• A steward and air hostess seated in a nice restaurant in their uniforms having coffee smiling at each other and who seem to be the happiest people on earth ( some people like me who love to read people may even say 'oh having beautiful women by your side comes with the job :p). 
• People see a pilot walking by with shoulders raised in pride because of all the respect and dignity that he deserves because of the job not realizing he is the same guy who isn't any less than like a soldier or in fact more than a soldier because he attempts to defeat death every single day; and in his scenario, death of all other people he is flying with who are his responsibility.
• A certain someone with a weird or rather unique dressing style like mine (literally I mean mine..shorts, an easy going t-shirt or even sleeveless will do and slippers) with headsets around lip singing the song he is listening to and roaming with a camera in hand not bothered about what people think yet he knows they think he must be an idiot believing that he is doing the right thing by being himself and that makes him cool (well being myself is indeed definitely cool because today, I see more masks than faces), yet what these people don't know is that this 'idiot' also has a heart that feels pain, and that we all fight pain in different manners.
• A someone seated quietly in one part of the airport wandering and looking at the planes ahead endlessly; what people do not know is that a memory screen (that is only seen to that person) is rolling right now and the airport, that moment has stood still and the only thing that is visible is that screen. A screen that reminds of moments that are gone forever but not lost because they are deeply stored in the heart and this 'quiet someone' is going to attend the funeral of that person (who featured on the memory screen), but doesn't shed a tear but is broken, in fact shattered inside...
• A young girl, carrying her barbie doll in her arms and hugging it (as if it were real) and who is excited about travelling, probably its her first time on a plane. She keeps telling the barbie about her travel so far, at one point even points the barbie in the direction of the planes and points her finger to it saying 'that is our plane'. The neighbor (not the parents) may randomly smile thinking of their childhood days or another may say to themselves 'why can't adults just be happy for no reason like this young kid is'.
• A business man who travels so often that it is difficult to count now, seated in one place in a suit and tie (yes that is right, he needs to show the world he is different and that he is from a world that thinks dressing matters most and that they are more important or talented than that 'weird looking kid in shorts', which isn't true at all.) doesn't care and bother about what is going around and is on the laptop or tab checking the world news or business trends or auditor's reports, basically working. What most of such people do not realize is life is about loving family, especially those who makes us happy and alive (TRUST ME..I HAVE REALIZED THIS AFTER COMING TO MAURITIUS..I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE DAY I GO BACK AND HUG MY PARENTS..I JUST CAN'T WAIT)!!! Appreciating life, people in life, loving them and showing the love is the most important thing besides faith and ethics in one's life.

So indeed an airport has a lot to say... "Just takes an eye to read and a heart to understand/feel" - this happens to be my answer to the question 'how did you read me?'..So yeah I guess this is all that I can write..I hope you enjoyed reading, felt emotions with which I wrote this and the next time you are at an airport, remember, we all have a different story and each deserves respect, even the cleaner of the toilet. 

"Humanity isn't in loving those who are superior but those who society thinks are worthless, but indeed, no one is worthless"

Cheers,

Champ!

Chote bhaiya :')

'A child can teach an adult three things:
To be happy for no reason,
To always be curious, and,
To fight tirelessly for something' - Paulo Coelho

I was just chatting with a friend and she said 'you have beautiful pictures. That is what is great about you. You have so many pictures that each time you miss something, you can go have a look at all your pictures and you'll do a leap in the past and relive each and every moment again.' So here here is a picture from the past with someone I love beyond imagination. He is my youngest cousin and he lives Karachi. He is 6 years old. He is the sole reason I wanna fly there. I just miss and love him so much and this article is just for him!

I was in Karachi a few months back and he just made my trip worth it. Whenever I would have a rough day perhaps, he would come and hug me so tight and tickle me and make me forget every single tension of life.
When we went out for dinner or anywhere, he would always ask me which car I was going to go in and he would just grab my hand, hold it and say 'I am going with Rahim bhai'. Awww those were moments of life I can't ever forget. :')

Maa-Paa, cousins are going Karachi in a couple of weeks time and I am in Mauritius and I just went to Karachi so I can't go. The feeling is one of, um can't even describe but indeed hurting, but I guess in life, we must adapt to such events where we do not get what we want. I think of the feeling if I was going, just how happy and on what cloud I would be!! :')

I feel mixed emotions right now as I think of him, cousins going and me not going. It is happiness of the past and a bit of pain of the future. I think I will try not to think of it much!

So I finish this article, I'd like to say remember to live life in every moment because tomorrow, will not be the same; it might be better but again, it might be less better than today! so live life and every moment of today!

Cheers,
Champ!

It was my dream..perhaps still is!!

Indeed, lucky are those who realize their dreams because it is one of the most beautiful feelings in the world to be doing what you have always wanted to do. Those who do not get to do what they dream of doing know the value of that feeling. 
Walt Disney said "All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them". I tend to disagree. ALL our dreams can't come true otherwise life or this earth would be paradise, isn't it? At times it takes more than courage to make a dream come to reality and fate plays a huge role in restraining us from making our dream come to reality, like financial issues, parents disagreeing, one's unconditional loving ability, disabilities, accidents and many issues. I may have all the courage in the world to go in pursuit of my dreams but if I don't have the money to do it, how am I going to do it? by working, yeah right. Not like I will earn 50,000 dollars and become a pilot or pray overtime and get my natural eyesight back to life. I guess at some point in our lives, we all realize what is meant to be for us and what isn't. That does not at all mean that we should stop dreaming because dreams pave the way forward for us. They give us reason to live and that my friend, is the most important thing in life..a reason to live.
As far as my dream to be a pilot goes, I guess, it was my dream, perhaps still is, but isn't meant for me!

I was 5 when I looked up the sky and told my dad 'I will be a pilot'. I had the intensity and power in my heart for that statement since the day I said it until a couple of years back. It took me a long time to distinguish between a dream and what He has written for me. It is not that I do not have faith in Him to give me my dreams but simply that now I understand His desires for me are way better than mine for myself. It is still with faith that I hope to do what I always wanted to do..'fly'..Albert Einstein said "God always takes the simplest way". I would like to believe that and move forward. I think we must all realize our dreams can not all be realized but we must try our best to get the ones we can. I re-call one of my seniors in high school once telling me when I was in year 9 and he was in year 13 (senior 6): 'as you move forward in life, you will get to know that with time our perceptions about our dreams change; and not only our perceptions but our dreams change too, so remember to be adaptive, ready to accept and positive towards change'. 

My desire right now is to work in the tourism industry and I wish I get that..I wish I at least get that..with a deep thought and pain did I say that statement..
Whenever I see a plane, the passion in me awakens and I feel alive. I love planes because just like them, I feel I am made to fly!!

"I gave in, and admitted that God was God" - C.S Lewis

Cheers,
Champ!

Vacuum

‘Vacuum’... This is the kind of feeling I have had from the past 2 days! At times life becomes so quiet inside us that everything on the outside no longer reaches us…we tend to love this quietness at the start because on the outside world it is all noisy but then after some time, this silence becomes loneliness and we feel left out or abandoned. It is as if we enter a different world of ours where it’s just us; we feel both sad and happy; we have regrets and everything to cherish for; it is in such moments that we are stripped of our to-show-the-world face into which we are just as a person, what we are as a person. I am someone who does what his heart wants but in such moments, it is when we truly do what we want to do such as take a long walk or write our blog or inbox a long lost buddy who meant something to us but today doesn’t…it is due to such moments that we awaken ourselves in a world full of hidden, dual faces and dead souls!!!

Writing our journal, listening to music, reading a book about who we are as a person just makes so much more sense right now than Facebook or clubbing or watching a movie…well to me, these tiny little things have always made sense but in such times it makes even more sense.

I was at a coffee place last night writing my journal as I had my coffee and I had this thought: freedom or having someone? The one thing that is bound to happen with relationships is that you’re freedom is sacrificed; whether you like it or not. Everyone so-called ‘deep in love’ is compromising somewhere with their loved one to stay with them; not to lose them…this may mean something they don’t like about their loved one or something they want to do but can’t because of the commitment, and so I was thinking, can we live happily even without having that someone special? That someone who’s a spark in our lives, who lights the fire of love in our hearts to avoid darkness in our lives? I will be honest here, I have seen both sides of this question and when I weigh it, I can only say that, love, ‘true love’ only  comes once in our lives where happiness just comes to us…where we don’t fake smiles or take long lonely walks under the rain to hide tears because there are no tears but once that love leaves us, what remains is a ‘silent heart’ full of emotions and feelings that may never be expressed enough to let go…feelings that get buried deep down inside us…feelings that help us lead a new life if we wish to!!

Those of us in today’s world, who have someone with us, let us ask ourselves, is it really love? Do I love the person I am going out with or am I just compromising because their body is more attractive than their soul? Am I seeing this someone because my friends are seeing someone and I don’t want to be left out? Am I afraid to tell this person ‘I do not love you’ because I may break a heart or I will no longer share a bed with them? I believe honesty is the one ethic if adapted by everyone, we can re-paint white on those areas made by Allah as white where we have spilled black. If you love someone, tell them you have that feel for them but if you fall out of it for any reason, also tell them that. Being honest with someone may hurt them yes, but you will have done a lot of good for your own soul. If you are with someone because you like sleeping with them, then don’t say I love you…just say I love to “f” [pardon the language] you because that is the truth. Many people today just ridiculously use the word love for where love has no essence. That brings me to a question on one of the blog I read…‘do we know what love means?’ so today let us ask ourselves, for everything we say love, do we really love them?

Whoa…what was this article meant to be and what has it turned out to be, but as you all know, I simply keep writing what my heart feels. So I would like to conclude with a question for all those who say they want truth from everyone around them; ‘can you handle the truth?’ I think everyone wants the truth from each other but may not have the ability to take it. If I tell you ‘I no longer love you’, do you have the courage in you to take it? I have seen many who just don’t have what it takes to handle truth, because we all want to hear what we want to hear instead of what is actually the reality. So to everyone who reads this blog (I keep repeating this… ‘I hope at least I have someone who reads’), it is good to say you want the truth but then also have the courage to accept it because truth is my friends, the truth is indeed bitter and we all love chocolate :p!!!

“In life one has to be able to laugh, and even though we are looking at some difficult times ahead, we must look at them with courage, hope and faith” – His Highness the Aga Khan IV

Move on..Just move on..

One of the best things I have come to admire about my life is the fact that people's words and negative attitudes don't bring me down but encourage me to fight harder. I am not saying the words don't hurt, they definitely pinch but for a short time only. To be very honest, I am not someone who holds grudges against anyone because I let go of such people and I tell them on their face what I feel. It fascinates me how Allah has placed lessons in His creation such as no matter what happens, life always moves on, time always moves on; that tells me He is telling us in a way that no matter what happens, you should look to the future and keep moving on!

I have taken some recent criticism and words from here and there from couple of people (and a statement that pinches when I re-call it especially in the manner it was said in) and it hasn't gone down well with me because I think their perception is wrong and even though a blunt, straightforward guy like me is on the receiving end, he can't answer back because of some circumstances, for example if your boss is the one telling you something, you definitely can not respond back because then there are chances of you being fired. Imam Ali said "Never back down from saying the truth because neither can one bring death closer to you nor take away your source of income"..I have always followed this principle and never backed down from saying what I have felt and I shall never stop this, Insha'Allah but at times one should adapt silence instead of making noise. As I said earlier, people's words and disappointments of my life only make me wanna fight harder and be a better person than I was yesterday or today for that matter.

I think when you are good at something, you will get appreciated by people yes (might get appreciated) but there will definitely be those who will criticize you no matter what that is why Sachin Tendulkar, one of the best batsman of all time still has people who don't like him or say Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal, two players who built my interest in tennis have critics around and many more such examples so I think when people do tell me pinching statements, it is because they know he is wow so why is he wow? I am not praising or bragging about anything but just telling you out there who reads me, when you come across such instances in life, be positive and look to the future. I have decided that I am gonna work even harder starting tonight and achieve what I came here to achieve, the best I can achieve.

"Everything happens for a reason"..some of you will think what a cliche statement but believe you me, this is the most truest statement in the world. When I reflect back at my life, I see why things have happened. Why I couldn't join university before as all my friends did out of high school or the sacrifices and compromises I have made..everything makes a lot of sense..so take a moment and reflect, you will see why things have happened the way they did! 

I think I am full of emotions right now and I could go on and on and on but I would like to conclude this article with 2 statements of the same thought...

"When someone attacks you with words, reply back with actions"

"The best don't announce they are the best..they just show it"

Cheers!
Champ!!

Take a moment..

PS..I should have written this article in the afternoon..I just had all the emotions and feelings at that very moment but I chose to go to the beach instead to relax so a piece of advice to all you out there and especially to myself, write when your heart wants and not delay it..the feel does go away!

That being said, here is my article for today..

"I had no shoes and so I complained to Allah but just as I walked down that lane, I saw someone with no feet"

This may not be the original way the quote is but it is the quote that says it all for this article. Always look around you and you shall see that somewhere someone is in a worst state than we are in. 

I was flying from Entebbe (Uganda) to Dubai and we had just landed. I was seated at the back of the plane and was waiting patiently for everyone to get out [you know how everyone just rushes out of the plane as if there were chunks of treasure waiting at the plane door step or this plane had suddenly turned into hell for them] so that I could board off as well. In the mean time, an air hostess at the back asked me where I was headed to and I said Mauritius and she gave me this very surprised look as if asking 'how can you be going on a honeymoon alone?' LOL! I told her I had been selected into Middlesex university and I was headed there for a purpose and a dream you can say..she told me she was flying to Mauritius the next night and I responded 'lucky'..she AGAIN gave me a deep expression..I told her how flying has always been my passion and ambition..she said hope you do achieve this passion goal soon as she walked me to the gate..her final comment is one that left me thoughtful..she said "you think I am lucky and I think you are but I guess this is the nature of human life..we envy others and never look in the mirrors to see ourselves"..[thank you pretty lady..you really taught me a lesson that day]!!

I was going to write about how sad I am for the fact that all my cousins have a re-union in Karachi this December and I may not be able to go, how determined I have become to get a good degree that I study nearly till 3 every night, how being single gives me freedom which I totally love but the lack of someone leaves an absolute vacuum somewhere deep in me and when I listen to songs like 'just a kiss' by Lady Antebellum, it pinches that vacuum and makes me feel like 'wish I did have a love story or life like this' and or the many things that I did wanna write but today in this moment right now, I wanna write about how lucky I am and glad I am to be who I am and have what I have..

I have seen struggles, pain and all this in the past has made me a better fighter. It has increased my determination and will power. The true fact is, we never understand and never will understand why Allah does what He does but I can tell you, everything happens for a reason. We get betrayed to know who our true ones are, we get pain so that we become stronger, we lose love so that we learn to appreciate it when we have it..EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON!!

So, take a moment today, right now, and close your eyes and see everything you have..your lovely parents, a loved one, your friends, your material assets, your past memories, moments you have laughed like no one watched, and for all the things that life has offered you so far..take a moment right now and think..and if you can not think of any of the above, place your hand on your heart and feel the beat..you know what that is..that shows you are alive and have life left in you..so a better tomorrow can be got if you stand today with hope and faith..

Definitely not what I intended to write but wrote what I felt at this moment..I wrote what I felt so pardon me the literature errors..and anyways my advise to anyone who wants to write is to write from your heart..because as I say: 

"Complex English only opens the dictionary, not the reader's heart" 

Remember, appreciate your life..everything you need to be happy is there with you..just appreciate!!

Cheers!

The Eye Matters!!

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"

This world is one but we all see situations differently because there is one thing different in all of us..'the eye'..scientifically speaking the eye is the same of course but our view of a situation, our perception of something is what makes all the difference. 'Beauty is always in the eye'.

I was looking at some old photos a couple of minutes back and I was touched till the core of my heart..photos tend to have that effect on us..always!! because they remind us of a time of life that we wish could return to, people who have changed and we want them to be the same again but have no control over that, memories of times we laughed from our hearts but today can't even afford a smile..So yeah, photos do remind us of some of the best times as well as may be the bad times of our life (I have photos of one of my worst trips ever which was to Nairobi..I may not look at them but they remain a part of me to tell me the lessons I learnt back then)..Photos make us cry, laugh, emotional and some make us wonder why we can't have this time back..I see things with an eye of hope, faith, love for the Creator; I see and try to show others things with positive mind set..nothing in life is big enough to make us fall if we wish to stand and fight..

I'd like to talk about 3 cities that have given me some amazing memories for life!!


MOMBASA!!

 
To be honest, it was a life changing experience. I learn a lot from this place and met some of the most amazing people I will ever meet..people who are nice, sweet, kind and appreciative! I also met people who were not what they looked like on face value and so I learnt that books shouldn't be judged by their covers..Mombasa gave me a lot of confidence, it sort of opened me up and damaged my shy nature, which I am very happy about. A friend once told me that for someone like me, being out going would be better and Mombasa did just that! It also taught me time management and independence because I was on my own for both the trips I went. 
It is important in life to learn how to hope in situations where there is plain darkness, important to see the positive aspects from something that seems nothing such as when you realize someone you considered to be your friend wasn't, that is a very positive thing to receive..my second trip to Mombasa, taught me this!!
It also gave my mother courage. My mom is a lady who has a weak heart towards me especially as I believe all mothers do for their children so when I went Mombasa, it gave her courage to learn to let me go far and today that is why she agreed to send me to Mauritius for over a year!!
I have made some amazing friends, have had praises from a lot people in Mombasa and it is my prayer from the core of my heart that I go back someday again to Mombasa..It is a place stored in me to depths although I have only been there for 5 months.. I guess, quality does beat quantity after all!

KARACHI!!

My home city..Whenever I land in Karachi, my heart feels that is has come home. I know my country, my city aren't perfect and also have been criticized and under negative comments from quite some time now but to me, my city is home. In a poem of mine titled 'Mera shaher-e-Karachi aj bhi utna hi acha hai', meaning my city Karachi is great even today, I mentioned that I love my city because it is my city and I was born there not because of a particular person living there. I guess we all have that love for our home lands!
As of today, a very special person lives in Karachi for whom I wanna go there again and again..that special person is my 6 year old cousin called Kaef! I just miss him so much..I remember how he used to run to me and hug me and give me a kiss and I would forget all my tension and troubles..I have a tear right now because I really 

really miss him and I love him sooooo much!! :') *prayer that I meet him again very very soon*!

KAMPALA!!

You can say this is home away from home..I don't even know where to start or where to finish. From childhood to finishing up to 2nd year of University, from good friends to bad, from love to loneliness, from sports tournaments to outings to special religious occasions to lifetime memorable memories, this city has given me I'd say everything. I may no longer wanna live in this city because of my dream to travel and work abroad but this is a city I always will have my heart connected with. I have some amazing friends back home in Uganda and I miss them a lot. To be honest, yes I miss Kampala a lot and some day in the future I would go back and meet my friends, laugh like I mean it, crack jokes, sit together on the steps of the Jamat Khana {mosque} and share stories, play table tennis and badminton, hell I will do a lot of things but that is in the future and not today..today means making a tomorrow for me and that isn't in Kampala..but it always will be a part of me for it showed me the colors of life, from to dark to bright!!

I have many memories in life that I will re-call throughout and shed a tear and smile about but there are also those I will say 'I wish did this'..I have no regrets but I will like to decrease or eliminate the 'I wish..' moments! 
To conclude this article, I would like to say a quote from one of my favorite shows 'criminal minds'..it goes like:

"I have learnt that there are things we don't wanna happen but have to accept,
things we don't wanna know but have to learn,
and people we can't live without but have to let go.."

Cheers!

A bit of ..umm everything!!

"We have one heart with various emotions and feelings jumbled up together"


So this article is about a number of feelings and emotions that have been in my heart and mind in the recent past few days!!

'University life'..It has been an up and down start. I have known that I can't take my choice of optional subject because my qualification demands me to do the other :/.. and other factors but yeah has been an up and down start..the up of course being my photography which has kinda made me 'known' and also my table tennis game which has brought me 2 bronze medals in the universiade..All praise due to Allah!!

'Determination'..this is the one thing I moved with from Uganda to Mauritius. When I was doing the preparations to come here, all I had in my heart was determination to succeed and make my parents proud. I really remind myself what is at stake here and how hard my parents have worked for me to get here. I remind myself of the purpose I flew with and what it is or who it is I wanna be! I would like to remember that until I get what I am looking for!!

'Own ride'..I have always wanted to have my own car. In Mombasa, it felt amazing to have that bike and ride it with a sense of owning even though it belonged to someone else but that feel was amazing. I pray and crave to have that feel again. It was amazing. I remember I once wrote in my journal about how I envied people with cars and wondered whether they really knew how lucky they were to be having something someone else desires. I guess we all take what we have for granted but someone else..well someone else envies us!!

'The faded friend'..A friend of mine with whom I used to talk a lot seems to have forgotten my existence. On a number of occasions I tried to ask what was wrong and she didn't respond. She probably has a misunderstanding or an issue or is just too busy with her life but be anything, to be honest, she has faded or say I have faded for her..I am a someone who lets go in life when something or someone seems not to be made for me or wants to go away from me and I have done that here..I don't whatsapp her anymore because I know she won't reply to my query and probably will just give a flat reply and then say she has something to do.."so buddy, I'd love you to come back and talk but if you don't, don't blame me tomorrow for having you let go!!"

'hope'.. 

"In life, one has to be able to laugh and even though we are looking at some difficult times ahead, we should look at them with hope and faith - His Highness the Aga Khan"

Nothing in my life keeps me going like hope, faith, belief and prayer does..I am a guy with vision and a thought for the future. I don't like to worry much or take stress because then I do the wrong things that worsen things. Failure is always a result of an action we took and much as it can't be avoided forever, it can be lessened. I like positive people who think about the present in the present and not worry about events that are to happen a year from now. So yeah, to everyone who reads my blog [I hope at least one person does], be faithful to yourself, life and Allah, be hopeful for the best and be ethical. If your heart has Him in it, nothing can stop you from getting where you deserve to be!!

Cheers!

The Winner Stands Alone

Paulo Coelho wrote a book with this title, a title that says it all...indeed the winner always stands alone, whether that means physically, mentally or personally..a winner always stands alone.!

I play two competitive sports; table tennis and badminton, of which badminton has always been my number 1 choice. It is a game taught to me by my most truest buddy on earth and nourished by some amazing players who I have had the privilege of playing with, however recent times have seen things change in my life, even personal life [but I am not touching that issue here]! 
I was once told by someone I have looked up to in table tennis that 'you have more knowledge of table tennis than you will ever have of badminton'...trust me when I say this that it was after that day that I really looked up to my game and started improving it. I now have what I call a 'trademark' backhand :p and some amazing forehand smashes but of course, there is plenty of room for improvement which I always try to close in on! :)

I am taking part in the universiade Mauritius and I had a thought this afternoon as I left the complex after losing my quarter final match, 'the winner stands alone'..If you ever go to a tournament, it is frankly quite obvious to find out who the number 1 is even though he/she isn't playing a match at that time! There are some very common traits you will find in him/her. 
The number 1 will never go around asking how good a particular someone is [because they know they are that good] but will always keep an eye on the games going around to see if there is a competitor really! 
The number 1 will also never be impatient about his/her match. They will be roaming around with the expression 'I am the best and I know I will win' where as the others will be crowding the scorers desk eager to play [and lose too]!

There are many more like this but they all point to one thing..THE WINNER ALWAYS STANDS ALONE!!
In life, there is no room for helplessness and pity. Life is indeed like chess, for every one good move we have thought, destiny has 4 in its thoughts, that is why not everyone can get what they want..Dreaming is free of cost, dreams aren't!

"At times good isn't just good enough" - Suits

Live today..no regrets tomorrow!!

"We realize the value of something when we lose it"

There is nothing but bitter truth in the quote above..We truly are idiots because we always lose things first then realize the value, for example, someone is there for you in times of trouble and happiness and only seeks your love but by the time you realize that, the person has already found someone else and then you blame this person for changing! or as I have in mind as I write this article; parents and religion. I am in Mauritius and I don't have my parents here with me and neither is there an Ismaili mosque here! I had both in Uganda and somewhat took it for granted. I gave time to sports and outings over my parents and time to facebook or tv over my religion. I am not ashamed to accept my flaws and sins, rather in fact, I am repentful for them! I think I should have given more time to both than to whom I did. For not even a second do I mean here that I love my parents or my religion any less..NO WAYS!!! After all, these are two factors that make up my life what it is..I can't live or survive without any of the two. The others will always come and go, care less about us even though we give them ourselves but parents and Allah, especially Allah, its where we start from and have to end!

In terms of friends in my life, someone I know here in Mauritius during our conversation said "I have only 2 friends at university, the rest are people I know..either class mates or work mates but not friends"..I loved this statement of hers..So I'd say about friends, my true ones are quite far from me in terms of distance..some close ones have gone very far in terms of emotions..but yeah, I have a number of people I know around..right now, my hostel mates and people around me are good people. We laugh, have fun and study too..I think all of us are going through a unique experience..an experience that will shape us in a way or the other. It is our ability to learn and ability to make a choice that determine what kind of person we are. People here drink, smoke but I do none of those and it is my choice upon acting on those two and many others that will shape me into the person I will become in the future and present!

Concluding this article, I as a person have no regrets in life. I think I have led a good life and yes I have done wrong too but that is human..as they say "to err is to human, to forgive is to Divine"

All you need is a clean, pure heart; filled with love; and with He who is above all else in it...