Graduation!

So I finally graduated this evening and it was a touching and emotional evening. I shall remember this for ages to come, but I read somewhere that 'do not cry it is over, but be happy that it happened', so I pondered and wrote a little something...

Should I cry that it is all but finally over?

Or should I rejoice that it happened and I did it?

The one question that I really have on my mind, right now…

They often said graduation is one of the happiest days,

I don’t understand how can you say bye and be happy?

How can an end be the best part of the journey?

I really asked myself this evening as I sat waiting to be called upon,

Do I really want this journey to end?

The answer frightened me as much as it was an honest one,

And that the answer to the question was a clear no,

That I did not want to part away from all these people,

That I never felt like saying good bye to the life I have lived this past year,

So the question my heart is pondering upon this wonderful cold evening is,

Should I cry that it is all but finally over?

Or should I rejoice that it happened and I did it?

I came with nothing at all but myself to give and I leave with all these people,

I leave with their beliefs, their thoughts, their jokes, their dialogues, their poses,

The next time I shall be elsewhere, I will probably give the ‘_’ pose of someone,

And much as I shall smile in the photo, my heart shall weep of the memory it brings with it,

As a photographer, I can take photos and capture the moment forever in time,

But I can’t bring the moment back and that; that is a painful fact,

The fact that this time will not come back, nor will the one that passed by,

So with all the happiness and achievement this evening, I ask myself,

Should I cry that it is all but finally over?

Or should I rejoice that it happened and I did it?

I can cry that it is over, or smile that it happened, does not matter,

Because it is over; the time has gone and what I do now is less relevant,

So either ways won’t matter; but one thing I am very sure about is;

That I am going to miss every moment and I really mean every moment,

From the house parties to the lectures to the trips to the programs and events,

The photos I took to the ones I was in, the strangers that became friends,

The dude who turned out to be a brother from another mother and a ‘selfie’ partner,

To the one who couldn’t make it for the ceremony yet was a major part of the journey,

Every moment shall be missed of the journey which sadly had to end, today!!!

Peace!

Cheers!

Champ!

The ritual of life!!

One of the harshest realities of life is one of it's fundamental rituals as well; the meeting and parting of people. It is a bitter truth of life that no one can be ours forever, but does that mean we should never make someone ours or love someone with all the depth of our heart that exists? A tough question it is. If we see a hole in front of us, surely we won't walk on that road yet the path of love always has immense pain at the end of it yet we dare to walk it, and in fact joyously move forward...I simply wonder, why?! “It is better to lock up your heart with a merciless padlock, than to fall in love...”  - Michael Bassey Jonhson

I guess I myself have the answer to that question. The answer is simple; love is the most beautiful thing in this world and we all want to have a taste of happiness. Imagine waking up every morning knowing that somewhere in the world, regardless of the distance, someone really cares for us with all their heart...that we are in someone's thoughts and importantly, in their heart. Isn't it a good feeling? 

But then many a times, we all have that someone in front of us and we simply fail to recognize them. George Eliot said "Only in the agony of parting do we look into the depths of love." Khalil Gibran shared a similar thought: "Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation." It is true what they say then that we only realize the value of something/someone once we lose it. It is one of the saddest realities of life that we need to change. Valuing something that is around should be an aspect of our personalities.

I am a traveler and as they say about travelers, we understand and are used to the pain of parting from people but what no one says is that it is not easy ever for us to part from someone regardless of how many people have come in our lives and left. Every time I part from someone, it hurts and a little part of me goes with them. Raymond Chandler in the 'The long goodbye' says "to say goodbye, is to die a little." Trust me, it isn't easy. There are times when we feel the connection with someone and we want to be close to them as a friend, get to know them more but then a time comes and you knew it was coming but you aren't ready to accept it, and that is the time to say goodbye! Adding to the sadness is the fact that when it is time to say goodbye, is the time when you start to open up to that person. It hurts doesn't it? TOTALLY DOES!!

Finally, I would like to say to the few probably who read my blog that, life is very short and we must not take it for granted. You have someone you love, someone you appreciate, someone your eyes keep searching for day in and day out, someone who makes you laugh despite all your pain, someone who is the star shining you life with all the darkness in it, someone who you think of silently at night with a slow love song in the background; then go and tell them how you feel, say the I love you; just say it. It is very hard and no one will know this more than I do but make that effort. It will save a lot of regret that will follow if you don't! 
On this note, I would like to end with one of my most favorite quotes. The line that makes so much sense yet it is one of the most hardest things to do.

"If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. If they don't, they never were" - Khalil Gibran

Cheers!
Peace!
Champ!

The feeling!!

My favorite poet once wrote: "One can love someone else after loving someone countless times, but to love someone more than yourself happens once only".

Most of us find love and let it go like just another simple thing but only the wise understand; sorry only the hearts understand that love is the most extra ordinary thing in this world. We can never find meaning in and of life alone. The Almighty never left gaps between fingers without a reason. I believe someday somewhere, someone's fingers will fit in perfectly and the soul shall meet the soul. At least once in our life, we all have such a someone walk in but whether to move forward towards them, accept them or decide not to is completely upon us. Many of us fail to find love because our hearts are tamed. We do not have the ability to trust people, to overcome our fear of getting hurt; and with a tamed heart, we simply can't love. We simply can not love!!

Two days back I went with my friends to watch a Bollywood movie. I had great expectations from this movie but it didn't turn out to be that good but none the less, the movie touched me especially it's songs. Many a times I live in denial of a fact that will remain a fact until the end of this world; and that is when we have someone in our lives we love, someone who cares for us, someone who makes us feel the luckiest person on this planet; life becomes much more beautiful than we can ever imagine and the fact is; we all need such a someone. This movie just brought up that desire!!

I conclude this short "really nothing" article with a quote by Khalil Gibran, that sums up true love for me:

“You give but little when you give of your possessions.
It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.”

Cheers!

Peace!

Champ!

A good bye

"You will never be completely at home 

again, because part of your heart will always be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place"

It is human nature to be very excited before a journey has started. We all look at the countless possibilities ahead of us and have our expectations of the path we are going to walk, but few are those who are happy at the end of it as well. Paulo Coelho in the fifth mountain says "it is all about re-creating our past". Why is it that when a path has come to an end, we tend to lose hope and feel that life has ended here? Why can't we look at the future with much more hope now that we have achieved all that we have? I came to Mauritius 8 months back with a few goals and one ultimate destiny in mind; to graduate! I have, all praise due to the Al-mighty, achieved a majority of it and I return back home tomorrow! I feel nostalgic as always when I leave a country because we get so used to the life we are living that we do not want to see that much more awaits us. I have always been an explorer and traveler and now I am used to the good bye's yet they remain a huge part of the journey; a part that is one of the most painful ones of it all!

 Everyday the sun sets reminding us of death (if one may see it that way) but it rises the next morning reminding us of the Al-mighty's mercy that He has bestowed upon us; that He has granted us another day of life to live our desires and be happy. I wonder how many of us sleep with a smile at the end of the day feeling contented of the life we have! If we just take a look around, we will see that we are very fortunate for He has given us countless blessings. 

I just want to say that I am a bit sad about leaving such a beautiful country yet I am very excited and happy to be going back to mom and dad and family. I know whatever the future holds, as long as I am in His mercy, I am safe!

I say good bye to this country in about 28 hours and I know I shall cherish every moment spent here with the amazing people I came across. 
I end with a quote from one of my most fav articles...

"We are all just waiting for another universe to collide with ours, to change what we can’t ourselves. To fill us, to make us whole. It’s interesting how afterwards, we realize that the storm returns to calm, but the stars are always changed and we don’t choose whose collisions change us. We all start as strangers, but we often forget that we choose who ends up a stranger too."

More photos on: https://www.facebook.com/pages/One-world-Different-views/468399296610357?ref=br_rs

Cheers!

Peace!

Champ!

Strangers with memories...

"Sometimes you have to get to know someone really well to realize you're really strangers" - Mary Tyler Moore


We all have that one person or the few who were once strangers and then became close or perhaps very close and are now once again, strangers!
It is scary to accept such a situation isn't it? I know and I totally get that but it is good to accept rather than live in a bubble. Perhaps some people aren't just meant to be ours. Yeah, took me a long time to accept that...some people aren't just meant to be!!!

A song, a picture, a poem, a quote, an action by someone like a walking style; such little things bring back the memory of someone we cease to forget. I came across a quote this week that just touched me and told me a lot. Nan Goldin said "I used to think that I could never lose anyone if I photographed them enough. In fact, my pictures show me how much I've lost." Being a photographer, I could relate to the quote and just how deep the message is. When I turn back to the photos I have taken over the years, I see how much I have lived, how much I have lost and how much I tend not to remember as part of my life today yet one single image brings back that moment. Whether it is of a place I visited, a someone who is a no-one today or has faded or of a particular moment, my heart whispers to me the feel I had back then. Indeed, a picture speaks a thousand words!!!

I have come a long way to learn that unconditional love, however bitter and sour the pain is, it is better because the pinch of broken expectations is way more painful. In life, we shouldn't expect of others no matter how close they get because reality is, we all grow as individuals and whenever our close ones do, it will be painful for us; after all humans don't like change. One of the most difficult things to do has the highest reward too and that when you don't expect anything in return, you love deeply and smile from your heart even after that source of light; that one person that made your day by just showing their face; the person that made you feel alive; the person without whom your life seemed incomplete; that one person leaves you and goes very far. Pain is inevitable but suffering is upon us!!!

Lastly, I would like end with two lines written by one of my most favorite poets, Ahmed Faraz.

"Tera na ho saka toh marjaunga Faraz,
Kitna khubsoorat woh jhoot bolta tha" 

meaning;

"If I don't get to be yours, I will die Faraz,
How charmingly she used to lie"

Peace!
Cheers!
Champ!!

It is just music, isn't it?!

"Main dhoodne ko jab zamane main wafa nikla, 

Arijit Singh in Mauritius

Pata chala kay galat leke main pata nikla"

The one song that has been on repeat constantly from the past few days..The lines above mean:
"When I went in search of loyalty in the world, I found out that I had left in a wrong search"


I love this song so much yet it touches the corner of my heart that I want to forget exists. We all have dark spots in our heart that are empty; empty like the kindness in evil, we have those people in our life that we wish we could forget yet they mean so much or meant so much to us. I was reading an article where the author said "I want to believe that you either love someone, in some way, forever, or you never really loved them at all." I tend to disagree to this because I think we do love someone but then something changes or as my good friend says, people grow, and if any of the two people 'grow', other one perceives it as a change which by human nature isn't liked hence the relationship becomes the bait, however with acceptance and a heart, things can last.

If you have loved someone, you probably know that it is the best feeling in the world and if you have someone who loves you, you know that there is no better feeling than that, even better than being in love but the aftermath of both almost is darkness unlike for those few who find each other and stay there for a long time.When I see a couple truly in love with each other, I feel so happy for them and pray that they stay there because if they don't, the sunset of love is darker than a night!

Anyways music..always a powerful thing isn't it? brings back so many memories!! Yesterday here in Mauritius, Arijit Singh, one of the leading singers of today's era performed. It was an amazing show and truly my touched. Music has the power that no language has. If you haven't had the chance, listen to his songs..AMAZING!!!

I will like to conclude this article with a quote by one of my favorite author's, Khaled Hosseini. This quote is from the book 'And the mountains echoed'. I can only say that there was a time, this was quite true for me but today, it seems all lost...

"I was happy enough to be the vessel into which she poured her stories"

Cheers!
Peace!
Champ!!

Happiness...

Clear blue skies, sun filled bright burning clouds and a cold mild breeze; on a day like this I took a flight into dreams and on a day as this I shall take on back home..

It has been a mixed journey of emotions, feelings and experiences. I haven't come so ahead in future that I can connect the dots yet I see why this trip was necessary for me like all the other ones I have take. I have grown as a person in this past 5 months and I have understood the value of life and things in it better.

The soul residing in us is like a connection between us and our Creator but most of us do not pay attention to what is being communicated but if one does listen, you find out that the answers are there within us; answers to our problems, quests and even our destiny! I have always been a seeker and a listener to my inner voice and trust me, it hasn't betrayed me. Try and listen to yours and see what you find out!!

Most of us aren't unhappy because life has given us pain but because we have failed to light the candle or stir the tea. Stir the tea? Wondering, aren't you? So then let me tell you a story to explain. Don't search for logic but try and grasp the essence...

A man who was about to die was locked in a room with a chair, table, a cup of tea and a spoon. He tried a sip and found that the tea had no sugar and hence started looking around the room for sugar. He laughed at how stupid it was to give someone tea without sugar in it. He died, went to God and complained how even the last thing God had given him, a cup of tea wasn't sweet. God told him 'the sugar was there but you just did not look well and think'. He claimed hes searched every part of the room but could not find the sugar. God asked, 'did you stir the tea?' He said 'no!' God said 'the spoon was there for you to stir the tea. I gave you the tea, even put the sugar but the only thing left was the simplest of them all, to stir!'

All of us complain to that God doesn't give us what we want yet none of us see the limitless blessings He has bestowed upon us. We expect Him to do everything for us, even stir the tea and that is where we fall. A bit of faith, hope, and effort on our part can give us the happiness we seek daily. All we have to do is look within us, find the sugar and stir the tea. Happiness is all around us if we set in pursuit of it!

On this note, I conclude with a couple of lines from my favorite book, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini...

"But you can't swim Hassan!"

"It is a dream, Amir Agha. You can do anything."

Cheers!
Peace!
Champ!

When I left home...

The bird that flew me miles from home!!

"When I left home, I had a smile", said a friend of mine and this line has inspired me to write this article.

When we set off on a journey, our mind is such that we try to anticipate the future, try to think positive, somewhat cover our fears, we are very excited and pray for the best. I have always been a traveler kind of a person who loves to explore and take risks in discovering places because to get lost is to take risk. Some 4 months back, I left home with a desire and ambition and I am still chasing it but along the way, I have learnt how life can change by just making a single decision. I have learnt that no matter how good a country is, how beautiful it is, it can't be a replacement for the place where our heart lies, where our family is and where we are truly happy. I have learnt that the best chef in this world is our mother. I have learnt that it is in solitude that we realize how important family is. I have learnt that life is not gifted to everyone, something I have always realized.


I think this one trip has changed me and continues to do that in many ways. My future is depending on this trip yes but besides that, I have grown as a person. It feels good to hear how members of the family feel proud of you and that you're parents say with happiness and joy that you are their child, that my friend as Steve Jobs said, is limitless.

"Zendagi Migzara" said Khaled Hosseini in The Kite Runner. It means life goes on and indeed it does, unfortunately in happy moments, a bit too fast. Everyone out there who reads me, life is about discovering new places, new people. Just because someone broke our trust doesn't mean everyone will and doesn't call for us to shut ourselves. I know you might be saying it is easier said than done but trust me, after a while when you reflect back, you will realize that everything happens for a reason and that some people shouldn't be in our lives and that letting go is probably the most wisest decision you will have ever made.

I am sorry this article couldn't be any better but I had to write it. I haven't written for long and today just felt like. I would like to end this article with one of my favorite scenes from a series I love to bits, Criminal Minds. It is a scene that probably relates a lot to me.


"Where are you headed?"
"No where in particular."
"How will you know you have got there?"
"That is a good question. That is a very good question."


Peace!
Champ!

HAPPY 

NEW 

YEAR!!

New year, new chapter of life as some put it and with it comes another chance to change the course of life or basically the life we live, but according to me, you do not need a new year to change your life; you just need to wake up a day and decide you will change and eventually with determination, you will change it!
I have been longing to write this article and today I have finally sat down to write it. As I said, you only need to wake up and decide and take action...so here I am today with this article; yes I have plenty to write.

"I complained because I did not have shoes, until I saw one with no feet"

All of us have a different journey of life and Allah has scripted the best for each of us...believing this is probably the basic step to happiness in life. My mother often tells me when I complain about how my friends have the things I don't that 'compare yourself to those below you and you will see how lucky you are'. To be very honest, this statement never leaves me. I find enormous reasons to be happy when I see people who are less fortunate than I am not because I feel I am better but because I see the blessings bestowed on me and how kind, how gracious, how merciful the Almighty is on me. We all need to look at ourselves once in a while and see how lucky we are. 
Today I had gone to Jumbo (a near by mall) to buy something and once done, I was stuck because of rain, or what I considered to be a light drizzle (but trust me, it wasn't light by any means). I had to make a decision as to whether I take my walk home or I wait. I think I am a very crazy individual because of the choices I make are from my heart, so yes I walked. On my way home as I received a natural shower, I was thinking how lucky I am to be going to a shelter. Much as I don't have a car like many other friends of mine do, I do not have plenty of cash to spend on a cab just like that, at least I have a home where I can sleep without feeling cold unlike those who have to spend their nights by a road regardless of weather. I say Shukar to Allah for this blessing.
PS. by the time I reached home, I was soaked in water but I had an amazing feeling. I do not like rain that much but indeed it is a blessing and I loved my walk home today! :D

"Struggle is the meaning of life, victory and defeat are in the hands of Allah"

Most of us do not realize how lucky we are. For those born with parents who have plenty of cash, either waste that money or take it for granted. I often tell myself, the day I get a car, I shall value it, like I have valued every single thing I have got because I had to earn it and not been gifted. Life has been a lesson for me and continues to do so as I struggle through this phase. I am sure my time will come too of roaming around in cars, having a reputable job and probably someone special. Right now, I must do what life demands of me and that is study hard and search for opportunities, as I am hoping right now to get a job. 

I was speaking to my grand father, a particularly religious man that I do not understand what Allah wants of me. I have been asking Him for answers and He hasn't given them to me. My grand father said, "if it was this easy to get these answers, life wouldn't be life. Search deep, search hard, search with your heart and you shall listen to Him". So yes, I shall continue my search and the one thing I haven't learned to do as as individual is give up!

I conclude this article by saying I am nervous, uncertain and anxious about the future yet very hopeful. Next Monday, I begin my final semester Insha'Allah and a lot depends on this. A lot of hopes rest on me and I understand that. I pray, hope and desire for a future that shines like a star.

"..as usual, people choose their own destiny." - The Winner Stands Alone, Paulo Coelho

Cheers!

Peace!

Champ!!

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!