Ramadan Mubarak

 

Ramadan Kareem to all

When the holy month of Ramadan started filling our hearts with anticipation and piety to make the most out of the blessed month I wish all my friends relatives would also be taking the resolution to do good and to bring a smile on everyone's face 

I wish to pray for those who didn't make it to  this Ramadan. 

Our cat cheered our spirits by catching one of the rat who has been a source of trouble with regard to hygeine in our old kitchen. 

Our sons curious ramblings on food brought back memories of our expatriate life in the Gulf, it is raining in Kerala and I long for a rain of blessings on the career prospectus of Sanad at the same time I wish how could I stop sulking about the missing Apple I pad, hard discs of our laptops, I kept on guessing the culprits and the list gets so big that I dream one day a good Samaritan would  emerge from nowhere to gift me all the photos we have lost so far through the gadget magic game.

I pray for health,happiness and healing for everyone this Ramadan. I hope all our genuine wishes gets fulfilled to feel elated and contended throughout this month 

Lovingly , mystically devotionally yours Shabina Sanad

Please remeber us in your prayers

 How could you patch up with friends and relatives who misjudged you by observing the snippets of your glorious career phase that faded into oblivion by your own IT investigation and over blunt remarks on social media (mostly boasting opulence and luxury in reality myself and Sanad were always struggling to survive)

How could you remove the clouds of disbelief (as my father's sister gifted my sister a Honda Amaze on her wedding day, it was a decent and fat Muslim wedding as my mother sold her 4 cents of land gifted to her by her husband's sister to build a house of her own and to lead a dignified life after my father's demise yet selflessly she sold it to meet my sister's marriage expense   (as my father came to Trivandrum from his ancestral home in Paravoor Kollam in the year 1994 and disposed the house he built in Pravachambalam in the year 1996 ) and from 1996 till 2025 my mom has been living in rented house thanks to my artist NRI brothers efforts and sacrifice we were able to overcome many difficult phases. So I keep asking myself the question is that me who created confusion and unnecessary competition among our cousins and siblings? Does someone felt like teaching us modesty and empathy when I was on a blocking spree when I suspected hacking ?Does someone wanted to make us mellow down as we all inherited bit of domineering and adamant nature guess it's creative people's birthright to be different from the rest. Anyway my mother got sick all of a sudden and she is in pain and worried over lot of issues including the hospital bills, shamelessly as always ,the secret reporter of family ego clashes and emotions yours Shabina Sanad hope and pray that Iam not hurting your egos anymore

My fairy kitchen tales in the time of gloom

 My incessant efforts to figure out a solution for the dispute with regard to my husband's mother's properties led me to the religious scholars in our  mosque as I reasoned out they could alleviate the confusion of an expat Indian lady who parted with the 5 cents of land to honor the debts here and abroad. Even after proof reading and editing the content with my mother highlighting all the points of loot and injustice happened  (who is also funnilly a similar victim having a spoiled husband and weathered the storm gracefully allalong) I received a cold response  (very much stressing the influence they must have played to change the version of the content presented) I pondered over other issues making me lose temper and sleep unnecessarily. It was none other than two rats who regularly make a visit to our kitchen through the airhole, we have been sharing a special bond as we both know what to expect each day some sort of extra sensory perception perse. Sometimes I deliberately keep the lid open for certain food for them to indulge, sometimes I change the position and place of the things they are sure to encroach, so they anticipate and I too anticipate their different moves, as I finally made a decision to close their entry by closing the airhole I felt a bit of triumph somewhat like you sense when you blocked the hackers (though I asked my son to take a watch as I daringly jumped off the wall to do the task) my very old kitchen witnessed my rain of tears as I got drenched in tears upon hearing the demise of my mother's sister, the very kitchen tap unintentionally I broke when I angrily thrown plates on the sink upon listening to an unfair financial talk about the

laptop we bought to find out content writing work. My husband came to the rescue and fixed the tap in no time with the plumber. I try to cheer myself up by doing yoga, five times prayer, gardening and spending time with kids and the cat family who give us company other than my mother's remote advises, funnily ,gloomily yet cheerfully yours Shabina Sanad

A humble effort to motivate my better half Sanad

 

It would not be fair if I don't give the due share of credit to my husband who has been a pillar of support through thick and thin though we both behaved silly and did so many blunders and an uncountable number of fights over here in India and abroad  and created confusion and chaos among kith and kin mainly due to difference of opinion and perception related to a million things. Yet I adore my husband, for his pure love and patience  and his grudge against those whom I show affection stemming out of possessiveness. He has an amazing level of perseverance that is obvious in his resume 10 years service in Radisson SAS Resort Sharjah and 7 years service at Dubaimetro, as he struggles with finding a good job matching with his trackroad, I find it hard to suppress my rage that fumes every now & then, he has pretty good number of good service entry certificates from Defense,Serco Dubaimetro and when I go through them I feel like giving a punch to those who fail to see his worth, he silently suffer and supress his frustration along with his ailing health, asthma could be treated and cured but how can we cure the mindset of people who belittle you once you lose overseas job status? Why don't anyone need his discipline,punctuality,hardwork,skill sets like multilingual capacity, IT,supervisor capacity in house keeping  driving,swimming,karate,skating bullying capacity as well (lol when it comes to the role of husband & father) Let me implore to all the prospective employers out there to re assess my husband's calibre 17 years overseas experience is not a joke to be ignored callously, he might not be having cream delacream new generations chubby cheeks or potbelly (upon consuming all junk food on earth) By God's grace he has a generous heart that has been corrupted by opportunists

and favortakers, a sharp mind and a brave soul I wish and pray that someone realize his true worth and offer him a job that would help him whether the tough times and yield him sustain his dignity and male ego.

with lot of apologies for provoking him to the edge to reclaim his career either in India or abroad, I wish almighty would shower blessings again to our family as well Keeping fingers crossed and digitally knocking doors Yours Shabina Sanad

Congratulations brother and habibti

 As my brother sends me the message of the arrival of their new born baby girl our joy finds no bounds, I express my gratitude to the almighty for blessing them in their middle ages (though my brother never admit he is aging, thanks to the gene of relatively good-looking grand parents he tries to look chick amid all chaos) and he is indeed proud to have a wife with Arab lineage and we are all curious to observe and share the similarities with regard to the language of love affection and care, on many occassions  we cracked jokes and funny tales on family quarrels and reconciliations. First of all let me congratulate them on overcoming all the obstacles and pray the almighty lead them to set an example of marital bliss and follow a blend of Indo Arabic parenting style. Mamma Nujuma rocks when her sixth grand kid arrived in style though she is miles apart in her mind's eye she embraces her grand daughter. Yes I could imagine that. Having had the seniority in parenthood, we wish you well for the sleepless nights and nappy changing and crying episodes( beware though there would be times  funnily enough that you feel your enemy got a reincarnation in the form of your baby no intention to scare the new mom and papa I swear) on this wonderful day we wish you happiness, safety, good health, abundance and pure joy of being a parent. May almighty lead you kindly and rightly in accordance to sunnah. With lots of sisterly affection Shabna

Kitchen hacks to the real hackers

 

A big hi to all my friends and well wishers, today my mother's call and her constant nagging about the new generation kids indifference to validate elders wishes and her pure love for her grand kids made me write few lines. She used to be a supermom though how erratic and undisciplined my dad turned out to be with regard to the properties and land my dad inherited from his father who was a supervisor at the airport in Singapore.

Though his many moves were a fiasco he found the perfect match for me and my brother before his demise and I still adore him and remember the fond memories of him and his ancestral home and the coastal village life once we led, I  eagerly share the nostalgic memories with my two kids very much creating the place a fantasy world to them. When last day I had to resort to a thugs role to beat up my kids who were ruthlessly fighting for the remote after picking the fight over the sketch pencil whom one had opened and kept in another place rousing suspicion in another's mind, though I played the part of referee bit violently and felt guilty for the inappropriate words I used to calm the scene I laughed inside as I remembered the number of whacks I received from my mother for the pranks I did along with my siblings at home. I often ask myself as what kind of parenting style we should follow as my parents followed the helicopter parenting very much keeping our decisions known to them and I still open up minute details to mom very much to the chagrin of my husband and it did prove right sometimes as recently my procastinated wish of taking up license got crashed.  Was that the Driving Institute fooled me with the confusion over sensor and rope test disparity or was it the middle aged brain of me got confused over gear shifting my super ego of a quick learners capacity make faces and grin at me. (my mother in law who is a Doctor advised me to go for driving lessons in the year 2005 still I wish what if I would have listened to her and laddoos crack over my head when I think about the amount I could have saved on uber) 

Here's a quick kitchen hacks for the real hackers who hacks my emails and Facebook very much stealing my creativity that could have been used in the kitchen to make healthy and nutritious meals to keep the mind and body agile. Jokes apart do try to make the tea in the scientist way the number one hack to start the day the healthier way.  Do boil water or milk and turn off the stove then add tea keep the lid on wait for few minutes then pour tea and add sugar, the healthy tea with all nutrition and anti oxidant is ready ( scientist s would vouch that boiling tea and sugar causes chemical reactions very much causing loss of nutrients. Next hack is using jaggery instead of sugar if you have anaemic issues.(ideal for kids to stick to less sugar intake and keeping obesity at bay) Next is regular exercise and dehydration, hack three is reading and listening to Nature and Music for a clearer sharper mindset.

For the real hackers out there I really wish to hear from you as how would you be feeling when you invade someone's personal space and learn all about them without their consent? Didn't you ever feel any ethical dilemmas? I invite your views and take on the matter. With regard to parenting I would love to hear from you mostly I adopt the role of a friend rather than a disciplinarian and I enjoy and muse over their innovative and innocent ideas after listening to them. To bring more sunshine to your life do you have  more  tips to reveal, if so I would love to hear from you.  With lots of motherly  love and empathising with the loving mother's out there yours Shabna 

A home makers thoughts

 When I struggle to cope with the shooting price of commodities and devise strategies to cut cost without compromising the quality I fell into a reverie and nostalgic memories of opulence and abundance experienced working abroad ten years back makes me dizzy and I realise with little pity that all these ten years I have not made much progress with regard to upgrading my mindset though we upgraded our closet, kitchen, work area, toilet very much feeling aghast at the wages we paid for it. I wonder whether to cry or laugh when I check the dwindling amount got upon selling our five cents of land bought with lot of passion and imagination to build a Larry Baker model low cost house in the year 2008, and I feel a sense of gratitude to my late mother in law when I see our two kids playing and make noises around the house that she fondly built for her son and daughter and then I feel even the wind that blows in the direction where she built her spa room is divine (though I had to pay Rs 1500 upon constant bargaining with the snake charmer funnily enough) who came to catch the snake who must have come enquiring if any massage is available though my mother in law stopped treating patient in the spa room long back. Then I admiringly look at the mango saplings,passion fruits ,papaya,apple and the hibiscus trees that I planted near the well,somehow superstitiously I wish to give the credit to the eastern direction it bloom brought the sweeping victory of congress this Loksabha election.

I keep writing the steps to save money and crack my brain over frugal living and with a note on inviting your views on money saving tips on running family of two kids who goes to a prestigious private School I would like to use this opportunity to ask you for any freelancing content writing assignments that could be done along my home maker responsibilities. Lovingly and with lot of affection sans any frugality yours Shabnam,Shabbu,shabna, Shabina Sanad,Shabina Nujuma  honey & Sunshine......pls don't laught out loud hearing this many names