Transport Lesson

 

As I have been trying to teach my son about transport prior to exam I couldn't help talk about the evolution of transport in my life to them. I talked to them animatedly even I could sense that for convincing them I needed proof and pitied my irresponsibility in losing the gadgets and documents that speaks volumes about our overseas social life. I shared my nostalgic memories about my father's ancestral home Thacharazhikam in Paravoor with manaveli mathil( a traditional wall and gate that divides within the entire house ) around the half acre land. We used to play hide and seek inside the pathayam (a traditional wooden storage used to keep grains and rice) bullock carts come  home carrying coconuts from the nearby 25 cents of land my father owned (funnily it belongs to his friend now) and the ancestral home belongs to his cousin now ( can sigh atleast in relief as the property did not go to outside hands. Like Raja Ravi Varma my artist brother using charcol used to draw all over the wall as in Mural Paint and my mom sent him aptly to Raja Ravi Varma School of Arts to learn drawing . We both used to go to madrassa together and even a small drizzle come he would bunk the class. And my brother had to take the pain of standing throughout the entire anganwadi session (old version of prekg) as I would cry if he would go out of sight and he tries to escape by bribing me with green color Parry's candies. My clear and deep memories of my father's place and people often moistens my eyes. I told my kids about my constant road trip from Paravoor Kollam to Trivandrum to my mother's place in my grandfather's car a sort of juggle from village to urbane society (mother's home brings back memories of BonyM, Rambo, my childhood friend G for whom I used to keep aside icecream and in return he would selflessly give his coloring book for me to color, the aroma of fryumes form the pebbled courtyard when I peek through my window draws the bulgan of his French Professor Dad and nurse mother and a cute granny who is smartly dressed and pleasant always. All the cousins mostly boys used to play cricket,badminton,carroms and do all the pranks to each other (the situation is still the same lol) when I was in standard 8th my father moved to Trivandrum disposing Thacharazhikam and bringing all the antiques including the pathayam wood and pettakam (my grandmother's wooden case) I wrote a story in Malayalam when he sold it off along with other furnitures after the Trivandrum Restaurant Fiasco at Aryasala Trivandrum in the year 1998 I was studying in women's College for Predegree and had to switch to college bus from normal bus transportation. My Literature batch year in women's College too was splendid and all the lovely and brighter friends still cherish the friendship. Soon after graduating I joined imanager Learning Solutions as Front office Executive and joined for Business Management course, the firm moved to Technopark and my friend circle got widened yet I was homely and after my parents found my life partner  sanad my office transportation changed for a while till he went back to Sharjah after our engagement.

He used to work at Radisson SAS Resort Sharjah and we had a brief courtship as he used to come to office to pick me in his Maruti 800 after getting consent from his Doctor mother and my homemaker mother. Though it was an arranged marriage we both were in head and heels over in love very much making many prospective suitors to gloom and doom lol those who got lucky in other words to be frank(though we used to fight a lot afterwards over silly matters) yet God's hands always made our bond stronger though however erratic we both turned out to be after losing overseas status, for him it's a span of 20 years abroad and mine half of it.Our constant flight trips to Sharjah and Dubai makes me yearn for a trip for the sake of our kids just to show them Radisson SAS, Dubaimetro where Sanad worked and to show them Alphamed, whom generously sent me to Iran Kish for visa change and brought to Dubai the very same day.Gowealthy in Emaar office if they are still there I worked at Gowealthy Sharjah office in Sharjah Airport International Zone and got the wonderful opportunities to attend prestigious press meets and property tours in and around the emirate. Rare and opulent GulfHoldings in Sharjah  the royal dignitaries office however short the association may be, then  Asia Pacific Tours and Travels and Oasis Palm the amazing opportunity to work for their magazine and portals.

Finally at Dar Al Asalah in Mamzar where I  attended Zayed giving event at Emirates Palace. Throughout the Emirates we both travelled a lot and met friends and relatives 

It wouldn't be fair if I don't mention our current transport system  my in-laws indigo CS so rashly and carelessly used by us declared strike by not functioning very much sabotaging my wish of taking up driving license at my old age of 43 my mom in law advised it when I was 23can't help laughing at the jokes cracked by my colleagues on the speed limit of my walk over my pedestrian crossing fines in Dubai pls don't think that iam that much absent minded after becoming a mother of two kids I have become more alert and conscious by God's grace.  I pray to almighty to make our wish a reality during this holy month and provide us health and eeman to weather our tougher times as always lovingly playfully emotionally and hopefully yours Shabina Sanad

 

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