A day by myself

There are days I spend by myself. I do this usually when I work from home. Since I live in the country side, it really is a day all by myself. No one comes knocking on my door. There is hardly any traffic which I am able to see or hear. I can go the whole day and not see a single soul. I can work in relative peace and quiet with the exception of the few phone calls and scheduled virtual meetings. I have my favourite music playing in the background, can get my cup of tea the way I like it, take a break when I want to, which I usually spend listening to the wind in the trees outside or walking in the next door abandoned plot of land and checking if the apples are ready to be harvested. They are winter apples, a friend told me. So it will have to wait for September. I spot a squirrel or a strange looking insect, eat an over ripe cherry and go back to work.

Top 10 things I miss about Pakistan

1.Warmth and Generosity
2.Hospitality
3.Friendliness
4.Spontaneity!
5.Monsoon rains
6.All the festivals and corresponding activities
7.The food!
8. Sunny days everyday in Winter and Spring
9. Opportunity to help and make things better
10.Shalwar Kamiz
11.The sound of the Azaan
12.A hot naan right out of the tandoor...oh sorry did i mention food before?

P.S. This is technically a top 12 list of things I like most about Pakistan and miss much.

Top 10 Norwegian things I like

1.Honesty
2.Discipline
3.Equality - Janteloven, well a large part of it anyway
4.Gender equality
5.The four distinct seasons in the year
6.Security
7.Bolle
8.Space
9.Peace and Quiet
10.Norwegians, with a few drinks in them.

Living in another's country

I think some people who choose to live in a different country with a significantly different culture are not feeling quite completely at home with their own. Not that they dislike their country, culture and value set but because they don't fit into it, like the majority does. Or because they would like to improve things and want these positive changes brought about faster then they can actually happen.

Take me for instance. I am a Pakistani but don't always agree with how we do things in Pakistan. I live in Norway now and find some of the things I always wanted to change in my own country, practised in Norway everyday. Not that I like or agree with how things are done in Norway quite completely, but a larger part of my value set corresponds very well to the one practised in Norway. As opposed to my belief system which is in sharp contrast. But that I will leave to ponder upon another day.

Gainda

If I had to pick a flower that reminded me of Pakistan, it would have to be the big, bright, orange 'gainde ka phool' or the marigold. It is used extensively at pre-wedding festivities in Pakistan, but that is not the only reason I remember it fondly. It's a cheerful flower. I think my father agreed because they always got a prominent place in our garden.

62 years today

Most of what Mohammad Ali Jinnah said when he was alive is almost everything we did not pay any heed to as a nation since. On the ocassion of Pakistan's independence day, I would like to share some of my favourite quotes from the man who founded Pakistan in the vision of a separate, glorious, respected nation for the muslims of the sub-continent, or the India everyone knew before 14 Aug, 1947.

'My message to you all is of hope, courage and confidence. Let us mobilize all our resources in a systematic and organized way and tackle the grave issues that confront us with grim determination and discipline worthy of a great nation.'
- Eid-ul-Azha Message to the Nation October 24, 1947.

'The constitution of Pakistan has yet to be framed by the Pakistan Constituent Assembly. I do not know what the ultimate shape of this constitution is going to be, but I am sure that it will be of a democratic type, embodying the essential principle of Islam. Today, they are as applicable in actual life as they were 1,300 years ago. Islam and its idealism have taught us democracy. It has taught equality of man, justice and fairplay to everybody. We are the inheritors of these glorious traditions and are fully alive to our responsibilities and obligations as framers of the future constitution of Pakistan. In any case Pakistan is not going to be a theocratic State to be ruled by priests with a divine mission. We have many non-Muslims --Hindus, Christians, and Parsis --but they are all Pakistanis. They will enjoy the same rights and privileges as any other citizens and will play their rightful part in the affairs of Pakistan.'
- Broadcast talk to the people of the United States of America on Pakistan recorded February, 1948.

'I have always maintained that no nation can ever be worthy of its existence that cannot take its women along with the men. No struggle can ever succeed without women participating side by side with men. There are two powers in the world; one is the sword and the other is the pen. There is a great competition and rivalry between the two. There is a third power stronger than both, that of the women.'
- Speech at Islamia College for women March 25, 1940.

'We are now all Pakistanis--not Baluchis, Pathans, Sindhis, Bengalis, Punjabis and so on--and as Pakistanis we must feet behave and act, and we should be proud to be known as Pakistanis and nothing else.'
- Reply to the Civic Address presented by the Quetta Municipality on 15th June, 1948.

'You are free; you are free to go to your temples. You are free to go to your mosques or to any other places of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion, caste or creed --that has nothing to do with the business of the State.'
- Presidential Address to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on 11th August, 1947.

My Top 10 travelling drags

1. Packing
2. Packing light!
3. Taking the early morning flight
4. Carrying a laptop, handbag & trolley bag when its a 1 or 2 night stay
5. The absolutely non-appetizing airplane food.
6. The middle seat after a long day's work
7. The smell of a hotel room
8. The train journey home
9. Arriving home at 20.00 hrs or after, knowing I have an early morning start the next day
10. Travelling every week

Peace lilies

For me plants out in the nature are beautiful. Indoor they are invisible to me, until that is, I rented an apartment for 6 months and the couple that lived there wanted me to water the plants and keep them alive if possible. What I blurted out was the honest rather abrupt reply 'But I kill plants, always have' At which they just smiled and asked me to try.

I did try. Well, there were times they were plain invisible to me, part of the furniture and watering them never entered my mind. One of the first things my husband did when he came over for the weekends to visit me was to water the plants. And then we happened to be away for two weeks and the two peace lillies sitting happy in the living room window just died. My husband was extremely sad. He tried to coax them to live again. I felt the situation was rather strange yet touching. I have to mention that the lillies do make a tearful picture when they are dead. So, anyway he went out a few days later and bought two new peace lillies, because he felt it was the right thing to do. I ofcourse, had been saying all along that there was not any need. We tried, and two out of the five plants died. It was still a respectable remaining number for one like myself who kills plants.

In the last week of July, I vacated the apartment and moved into the hotel across the road from the apartment block according to my new arrangement with my employer. The apartment was to remain empty till the couple who lived there returned 3 weeks later. I started to adjust to the hotel life again. In the evenings, I would stare accross the road from my hotel room window and spot the peace lillies in the living room window of the apartment. I started to watch them a little everyday. By the third day I started to worry about the plants in the apartment thirsty for water. Strangely enough, I had grown attached to the lillies and the other plants in the house. It was a new feeling for me. I was quite disturbed about the plants starving for water, an occurence that never once bothered me before. Eventually, by the second week when I was at the hotel again I decided to ask my employer for the keys so I could save the plants. I went by one evening hopeful they were hanging on. The three other plants were quite sturdy and could do without water for longer, I knew. Peace lillies however are much more sensitive, and need water every 2-3 days, and I knew that too. It had been two weeks! As I unlocked the apartment I felt sad I had not come earlier. I raced down to the living room. The peace lillies were dead.

Jalebi

It's orange and very sweet, like a sweet pretzel, this 'wiry, toxic' thing my one of my cousins calls the Jalebi. I like to eat it hot. It always made my fingers sticky. I felt like eating one today. Had the urge to pop into a cafe and say 'One cafe latte and a jalebi to go please' That obviously remained a thought.

My yellow cushion

I love my mother.
She is my yellow cushion.
When she smiles, everything is brighter
and I know I will be ok
She laughs with me till we are silly
She is a funny cushion
With her daily dose of love
I know I will be ok
Soon she will go away
My faraway cushion
But with her sms's, calls and skypes
I know I will be ok :-)

People

I wonder what makes people different. Is it the color of our skin, what we wear, what we eat or how we react to different situations?
At a more primal level we are all the same, I guess. But we dress it up, color it with where we grew up, how our parents kissed us goodnight or didn't, what we are taught to believe in and not, what we watch on TV, how much space we are used to,
If we all focused more on how we are so much the same rather then what makes us different, this world would be happier, lighter, and even more lovely.