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!