Saanams Mind

Muharram is here! Muharram is the first month of the Islamic calendar. It is one of the four sacred months of the year in which fighting is prohibited. Since the Islamic calendar is lunar, Muharram moves from year to year when compared with the Gregorian calendar. Muharram is so called because it was unlawful to fight during this month; the word is derived from the word ‘haram’ meaning forbidden. It is held to be the most sacred of all the months, excluding Ramadan.

The word “Muharram” is often considered synonymous with the event of Ashura. Ashura, which literally means the “Tenth” in Arabic, refers to the tenth day of Muharram. It is well known because of historical significance and mourning for the martyrdom of Hussain ibn Ali (Hussain, Son of Ali), the grandson of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad at the Battle of Karbala in the year 61 AH (AD 680). It is a day of speeches, public processions, and great grief. Men and women chant and weep, mourning Husayn, his family, and his followers. Speeches emphasize the importance of the values for which Husayn sacrificed himself, his family, and his followers. For centuries Shi’a pilgrims flocked to Karbala during Muharram to see their imam and be there for the mourning.

Ashura is significant as the day that Allah (God) saved Moses (Peace Be Upon Him) and the Israelites by parting the Red Sea and drowning Pharaoh. When the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) migrated to Medina, the Jews told him that Moses (Peace Be Upon Him) fasted in gratitude on Ashura, and Jewish practice was to fast Ashura as well. Upon learning this, the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) replied, “We have more right to Moses than you,” and he commanded Muslims to fast Ashura. Later, when fasting the entire month of Ramadan became obligatory, the Ashura fast was declared optional, and Muslims were instructed to differentiate their fast from the Jews by fasting the 9th or 11th of Muharram along with the 10th. Many Muslims fast from the 1st of Muharram till the 10th of Muharram.

As all know, there are two groups Sunnis and Shi’as. Sunnis only fast for the reason above and believes fasting on Ashura offers the reward of having their previous year’s sins forgiven. This is based on the hadith in which the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) said: “For fasting the day of Ashura, I hope that Allah will accept it as expiation for the year that went before.”

While Shi’as observe the 10th of Muharram for an entirely different reason – it marks the day that Hussain, son of Ali and grandson of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), was killed as a martyr at the Battle of Karbala. Ashura is a major festival of self-reflection for Shiites, and they commemorate the tragic death of Hussain with outward displays of grief and mourning.

Such displays of grief, however, contradict the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him). Ashura (10th Muharram) was not declared a holiday by the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), who cautioned Muslims about religious innovations: “Those of you who live after my death will see many disputes. I urge you to adhere to my Sunnah (teachings and traditions) and the Sunnah of my rightly guided successors who come after me.”

This year Muharram started on December 18th (1st Muharram) and will end on January 16th, 2010.

I wish you all a blessed new year. May Allah (swt) answer all your prayers, give you good health, forgive your sins, answer your prayers and bless you with all that one desires. Strive harder to reach your goals, forgive and forget, prayer for peace in the world and remember each other in your prayers. And remember, Humanity is above all.
God Bless!!!!!

I had a dream that they would need me
no thoughts in my brains
so asked God to please feed me
he said stay on track and I will teach thee
keep me in your thoughts and I will reach ye
in this world, no matter how much I elevate
my God, my faith, my life is all I celebrate
To him belongs everything
and to him we bring nothing but our deeds
no money, no cars, no house, no needs
nothing but the harvest of our simple seeds
stop wasting time, start asking for forgiveness
if you don’t achieve any of the worldly desires
at least your life won’t be meaningless

Wishing you all a very very blessed Eid Mubarak & Happy Navrathri. May this holiday season bring a lot of good health, smilies, peace, joy, happiness & a beautiful life ahead to all of you.

Personally, I’m very sad because Ramadan has ended. It seemed to have gone by so fast. Feels just like yesterday when it started. However, I’m very happy for Eid to have come. I sure hope it’ll be a happy occasion all around the world.

One thing I always like to add during this time of the year especially is to please always remember those less fortunate. Keep them in your prayers & try to help out all those you can. It doesn’t matter you’re a Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Jewish or any other religion follower. Each religions teaches Peace & Harmony. Keep each other in your prayers as we all are Humans first

Once again, Eid Mubarak & Happy Navrathri.

God Bless

Australia attacks over Indian students, a scarved  pregnant woman stabbed to death in a courtroom in Germany etc…What is the world coming to???Are we the same so called “CIVILISED” race ??I dont think so.There is a big hue and cry about racism happening in the world with violence reaching unheard of peaks, killings taking place every other day in different parts of the world  over ones race, religion, color etc. So what is Racism??

Racism is the belief that a particular race is superior or inferior to another, that a person’s social and moral traits are predetermined by his or her inborn biological characteristics. Racial separatism is the belief, most of the time based on racism, that different races should remain segregated and apart from one another.It may be defined as the hatred of one person by another — or the belief that another person is less than human — because of skin color, language, customs, place of birth or any factor that supposedly reveals the basic nature of that person. It has influenced wars, slavery, the formation of nations, and legal codes.

Now as we understand racism  we notice that we are raising voices over the attacks abroad and we speak of racism, we are totally blinded by the racism that exists within our own borders. For example in India you find punjabis, madrasis , gujratis etc never indians on the whole…I mean we all belong to one country dammit…You go to North India and you automatically become a Madrasi … well I guess your school didnt teach you the south of India consists of 4 states and each one has a different language.  Forget that… you have divisions in caste, creed, religions, states, language etc etc…Look at it this way we have more boundaries dividing us than holding us together.

So while racism is an issue all over on the whole why dont we try to iron differences within our own countries and stop racism at the grassroot level…respecting a person for the person he is sans all the paraphanelia of color, caste, creed, language and geographical  status…start with baby steps to totally remove this social evil that has basically nurtured violent acts of bloodshed and killings.

I woke up to a new sunrise and as I promised myself I would get back and bounce back to a more normal me all smiles and positivity around . So let me first say thank you to a friend for jump starting my day with a pleasant conversation, something that lightened my heart a bit … am grateful for that. Because of you I am enjoying a bit  of the sunshine , the afternoon showers, the birds chirping and the flowers around. Not to mention the juicy mangoes that seem to be all over the city. Thank you for taking time out to talk . It does make a difference to me.

And I have a reason to celebrate too … for one Anam has decided to get back here n fill this blog with her zany thoughts as well . After nearly  a year of partnership here ,   I couldn’t ask for anyone other than her to share this virtual space with . Perfect understanding, absolutely perfect way of working together and each one giving the other  creative space too   Anam love ya ! Any ideas on how we can make this  Saanams first birthday any crazier than both of us ????

Okie as for my wandering mind…. it wanders about … sometimes high sometimes low and today I just decided to write  a few things I believe in .Its being written to remind myself how I can dig myself out of the pit of gloom I have fallen into.

You can add yours as comments.  Would be fun to read it.

I BELIEVE :-

1) In God- The one supreme force who knows best I have a strong belief in prayers and things I have no control over, just leave it to god.

2) In Myself- I have complete control over just one thing in life, That is Me . So I take charge of myself, my faiths, beliefs, emotions, actions and reactions and  since I am the only   one responsible for Me I believe in Me n who I am and what makes me Me

3) In Love- Love is the universal truth… and  truth always prevails. It is the only emotion that creates  and doesnt destroy… it gives strength and  for more on Love I think   I have archived it somewhere on the blog. For without love the world is a dreary/weary lifeless  place to live in.

4) In the Laws of attraction- your attitude is what attracts things to you . If you want somethings in life a positive attitude goes a long way in achieving it provided it is coupled with  hardwork.

5) In good upbringing of children. Time spent on properly instilling good values and thoughts in children can pave way to changed future and can rid humanity of hatred  that we see around for in children we have the whole coming generations.

6) In honesty… I have never been a big fan of lying and truth and honesty are virtues I value a lot. when one has clean and pure intentions , life goes the way they want it to.

7) In small gestures leading to larger happiness. I believe it doesnt take too much from a person to show small acts of kindness or show small gestures of love n care  but in return   can make  a world of a difference to the person  at the recieving end. It takes very little to make one happy. So one can make such a difference if  each one did some act of kindness towards a fellow being.

8)  That what you give is what you get…the more you give , the more you get, be in anything, love, material things, money, kindness … anything. It always comes back tenfolds.

9) In Life and its experiences being one big lifetime learning process. Each phase being a lesson to learn from and move on …

10)   That not everybody in this world will like you. If they do good… if they dont too bad they missed out on a good human being (provided you are a good person like me )

So go on n lemme read on what you people believe in

Sometimes in life there comes times when things so much beyond your control, you have no say in anything, the whys, whats dont just add up.Nothing makes any sense. You are taken on a ride where you have no control on what is happening and as you hope this is it, cant get worse, the next day brings in more Who or what then makes someone hang in there and hope all will be back to as it was before Normal.

I sometimes wonder, when we say we are the ones who decide how our life should go, how can we lose control of all the circumstances surrounding us. Why is it when bad circumstances come ,they come in batches. Like they kind of suddenly swamp you one after another. How then do we stay afloat without drowning under them?

Isn’t it so easy to just give up, lose faith, find reasons as to why life is going downhill, why it goes against your way and just give into the dark abyss sucking you into it. I just wonder why that tiny flicker of faith  that keeps us holding on to the the ray of sunshine called hope , exists.

A tough phase in life and am glad that my faith and belief in God , in me, in what I feel, think and  believe in is keeping me sane enough to face it. As it is said every tough phase teaches one  something new and this one has helped me discover myself, my strengths, my friends, their beliefs, their strengths,  to recognise ones who I know are truly there for me , ones that I have cherished , it teaches me something new each day to hold on to, to know, to understand, to develop. It teaches me patience, to believe in what you truly want, what you truly feel in , to believe that God  does whatever he does in your best interests, to believe in prayers and to have faith and believe in myself too.

Now on to the book ‘Conversations with God’ I havent been able to progress much as I am trying to assimilate as much as I can  before moving forward… People are motivated to do all actions in their lives by two predominant  emotions. Fear and Love. These are the only two languages of the soul. People either act or think out of either love or fear.All other emotions are just derivatives of these two emotions. Love sometimes sponsors fear and fear sometimes sponsors love  so every action of human beings are prompted by these two emotions.Fear is energy which shuts down, closes things, runs  or hides , harms, hoardes ,rankles, clings attacks and destroys, Love is just the opposite, it opens up, sends out, stays, reveals, shares,gives away, lets go,soothes , amends and heals.

We all are driven by these two emotions and ultimately it depends on what we choose to take …. Fear or Love….

This morning, when I woke up, I read an article which thanked a special person for bringing about changes in a persons life. That article made me sit up and think of the number of times I have taken trouble to thank the people who are responsible for me being who I am, for the way I changed my attitude towards my life and  for basically giving me  the support and courage to face the demons in life.

Gratitude definitely brings with it so many things  as an added bonus.  I have seen that when you are grateful and appreciate all you have in life, automatically you start getting more things to be grateful for. It restores in us that faith that life has better things in store for us. It gives us courage to pick ourselves up from where we have fallen and move on. It heals our wounds and helps us rebuild ourselves with hope.

When you let some who made a difference to your life know it and you appreciate them, it not only does you a world of good  , as it keeps you well grounded and thankful but also makes the person you appreciate feel good too. Maybe your kind words may act on changing some thing else in that person and change their way of thinking as well. Maybe it will help them grow as well. So apart from helping you, gratitude also helps the person you are appreciate ,for it may give them the boost required at their times of need, a reminder that they have been on the right path, and give them the boost needed to go on the same way.

I decided that not a single day would i forget to be thankful. First of all to God for gifting me the ability to see, learn and understand  and change the things I feel I need to change in my life.

I today would like to thank a few good people for all they have been to me . I may not mention the names  here but I am sure when they read this , they will know who they are and how much I value knowing each one of them. They are my guides, my strength, my mentors, my support, my catalysts for a change of thought, my teachers, my hope, my courage and the ones who helped me become the person I call myself today. Without them I probably would be a weakling who would be scared to open her mouth and speak her thoughts. Without them I probably wouldnt have known that I had many hidden qualities that makes me ‘ ME’. This one is to my parents, friends, more than friends, sisters , brothers out there who made me feel am someone special some time in their lives.

I also want to say a thank you for the ones who did create a lot of upheaval in my life. The ones who crossed my path to put barricades and mess me up a bit because without them I never ever would have discovered how strong a human being I can be. Without them I would not have known how much I can take. Without them my belief in GOD  would not have gotten stronger and without whom I probably would never have realised that I should value the people who are precious to me. So this one is for all those who I have parted ways with for whatever reasons. Thank you  for teaching me what I should value in my life and for making me discover how strong I am.

I thank the person behind the article as it made me think n realise so much more.

God bless !

Terror has never helped any cause, never done any good, never brought about any revolution. Terror is nothing but a method used by some people in today’s world to instill fear, bully them. The recent terror attacks did all that and much more. It is an attack that has touched a chord in each of us, got us to think and got us to demand action.

The losses faced during the 60 hours of turmoil and after are irreparable. There is no compensation, no amount of apology and no amount of ‘political statement’ that can change that. The people of the world are asking questions, want answers, and are in need of explanations but will we get any of these? The people of the world want action; want reformation, those that are not merely for political reasons.

We talk about what to do and how to better these situations when the acts of terrorism are over with, this approach is clearly wrong. We need to talk and generate methods to stop these terror attacks from occurring, from curbing them before they do. We must attack these attacks from the front, not with weapons, not with bloodshed but with a united front, our intelligent minds and our souls, all together.

The answer to terrorism is not blame, it is change. The answer to terrorism is not fear, it is strength. The answer to terrorism is not hatred, it is being unperturbed by their attempts to divide.  We need to look past our borders, look past our religions and stand together to fight this terrorism, not only in India and Pakistan but also the world. We can do it; we just need to do without any hatred towards anyone. We need to stand together as Humans. We need to fight terrorism, not each other. We need to stop with the blame game and stand together to fight these people who have nothing but hatred filled in them.

Each of us can make a difference if we wake up and smell the coffee (and I don’t mean Starbucks!) If we are going to bring in a change, we need to do our bit to make a difference in the world. Instead of waiting and wanting our governments to do it, why not start with ourselves first? If each one of us can do our bit, this world would be a much better place.

I highly condemn these blasts and pray for peace in our countries and in the world as a whole. May the souls of all those brave men and women who gave up their lives saving others and all those civilians who lost their life in these ghastly attacks rest in peace. May God give strength and determination to their families to overcome their loss.

One of the biggest prejudices that exist in our world, across countries, cultures and religions, is that of being judged by your weight. Few days ago, was having a conversation with a close friend who was telling me about a comment made at her office. Someone in her office said something about why women love men and ended with just one reason for why men love women… the person said because they are HOT…so true. Men do love women because they are hot…and only if they are HOT. Else it’s all just a compromise. And trust me I am not being bitter and its not that I have not met men who don’t fall in love with the not so thin and not so hot women, but then like I always say – Exceptions are not examples.

Have you ever been guilty of judging someone by his or her weight? Have you ever preferred a person who had an hour glass figures or the perfect V-shape built, over someone who totally blew you away with his or her personality, honesty, genuineness, caring attitude and great sense of humor. But you ignored them for someone who looked better; despite the fact that the not so hot one was the best PERSON you ever met?

Its funny how it applies more to women…I have met so many over weight as well as under weight men who are nowhere close to being the perfect hunks, but when it comes to the women they want, she should be the perfect face with the perfect body. Doesn’t matter how they look and what they weigh! It’s all about the women they want.

I have not been able to understand till date why this is such a big issue and why someone “not so thin” is looked “down” upon, sometimes even by their very own friends. And it’s said with such a sneer as if it’s the biggest sin one could commit and so I should go kill myself for the shame of my pants being too tight.

I guess in today’s age, time is also an issue. There are too many options and too many people to look at and not enough time to REALLY know them. Therefore in the channel surfing way of life today, if you don’t like the look of someone, you switch the channel and move away.

And to all the girls and boys, who really do suffer from a low self-esteem because of this prejudice, let me tell you, you yourself are prejudiced about it and you are equally to be blamed. If you are a person who lets others make you feel any lesser because of your weigh, if someone makes you feel like you have to be overly thin and look like a super model and that looking and living like a real person is a shameful condition, then it’s a prejudice you have against yourself.

And to all those so called friends who say “you will look great if you would lose a few pounds” or something like “hey don’t worry, you will find someone someday”, well you are prejudiced too…you may be the best friend but that doesn’t change it someone’s views about your prejudice against them. To them I say…”Don’t worry, I’m sure someone will come along who’ll be glad to put up with your hateful personality for a chance to get a hold of your body. If it hasn’t aged or gained any weight, that is!”

One should be proud of themselves instead of letting other’s hateful comments put them down. I’ve always believed that I am who I am, if you like it, good for you and if you don’t, good for me. I’m not the kind to take other’s comment so seriously about the way I look or the way I should look. If I’m comfortable in my own skin, then that’s all that matters.

Be yourself and you’ll always attract more people than being someone fake with a hot body. What counts is yourself inside, not the way you look or how much you weigh. One should never judge a book by its cover, isn’t that what we’re always told?

A very beautiful and lovely friend said something very beautiful today and I wanted to add that here for you all to think about, “You should take pride in who you are so why does prejudice come in the way of pride?” A very thoughtful thought, something I think we should all think about. Why do we let people get to us even when we claim to be strong? What makes us want to react to them?

Hmmm was reflecting on what WakasMirs blog spoke about ….Terrorism & hatred for someone just because they belong to a certain community…Well I condemn the very word hatred for I believe as humans we are blessed with a brain that thinks & we should use it to rationalize & think good, not crookedly.

If you look at our blog saanamsmind we have 2 individuals, with a lot of similarities in our thinking.But if you were one of the extremist kind of a mind & you knew us, you would find reasons as to why we cant be friends or work together as one .One is a Hindu, the other a Muslim. One is an Pakistani, one an Indian, One is nearly fifteen years older than the other.Well so many differences wouldn’t you say & all we have in common is just two things, our way of thinking and we both are Women.It is with this one common thing we developed love & friendship towards each other. We haven’t ever had reasons to bring in where are from or what religion we follow or any other reasons for differences to come in between what we feel for each other.

Well, why am I emphasizing this?? If a regular ordinary person like me can think of everybody as humans, ruled by one religion that is love ,what stops others from doing so? I have known many friends who belong to different communities, from across the borders & living in different countries.Does that make a difference to how I feel about them or does it change the fact that I learn from them, respect them & their thinking. No, in fact I feel I have grown as an individual for having them in my life. Why let how we live, where we live, what we follow affect us to such an extent that sensible thinking gets clouded & hatred develops??? Why not learn to utilize the gift we have been bestowed upon by God , the gift we call a thinking brain, go waste by following what a disturbed mind teaches , HATRED? Cant we as individuals do what our heart teaches us, to learn to live peacefully, respect each other for what they are as people, not because they belong to a certain country, or because they follow my religion. Come on people grow up & look beyond, you have a long long way to go.

My personal belief is all of us are humans, regardless of where we live, what community we belong to, or which country we call our own.We have been created by God, who is one regardless of the different names we call him.We may live different lifestyles or follow different religions, which is a personal choice, why hate someone just because they pray a little different from you?? You are born as babies that look the same, smile the same, cry the same & are all born the same way.When you die too, you go down the same way as well, so whats are the differences that become soooo important that you begin developing hatred, so much so you make another life miserable?

As we are born, each one of us , as I believe are born with one purpose.To learn something from this lifetime, so why cant we focus on being the best we can be, & being good human beings, learning something good from fellow human beings regardless of how , where, when & why they were born?

Its distressing to see how we develop hatred & create so much of negative energy that sets off violence & destruction & nothing constructive comes out of it.Cant we as individuals look within ourselves & look at what we are blessed with & be grateful enough to our creator to not destroy his other creations.If only all this negative could be converted into something constructive & help build a world free of hatred. Wont that help us see that all we manage to do with Hatred towards another , is mess up the life of somebody who is someones child, someone’s brother or sister, somebody’s mother or father, somebody’s husband or wife. One who has a life like you do who just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.I sometimes just wish I had a magic wand that could just change the hatred into tolerance & love