A farewell ode

An ode to my cousins, also my best friends, who are relocating to India for a better future... Going to miss them

You were here for so long

And now you have to leave

So I thought of writing a song

For which, the words I had to weave

You have been with us

For so many years

Will you be comfortable in India?

Is one of my fears

Such people are hard to find

Who are hospitable and kind

You are one of the few

We all will miss you 

Hope you live happily there

Can’t wait to see you again here

Do not forget us, be in touch

We will remember you very much

Best Wishes...

Saamia Mujeeb

Skype is the limit

Are you on WhatsApp?

With the advancement of technology, the world has become a global village. People have come closer as you can virtually meet people living in a distant place anytime, anywhere, and that too for free. Thanks to Apps like WhatsApp and Skype, no distance has remained a distance between two persons.

But this is not the whole truth. No technology can bridge the distance between a mother and her daughter. I realised this during the past few days as my mother has gone to India to see her ailing mother.

I could not accompany her, as I have to attend school. Since this was the first time she had left me alone with my father, I was a bit nervous. I was confident that I would be accompanying her virtually with the help of modern gadgets. I was wrong. 

However, it has helped me realise the importance of mother. Mother is only a six-letter word but it has a very broad meaning. It defines eternal love. Without mother, we are nothing. Mothers are God’s gift to us. We should take good care of that special present.

These electronic gadgets have made it easy to talk to my mother yet the closeness is missing. I miss the way my mother advised me before taking every step. I miss the delicious dishes she used to prepare just for me. I miss her when I wake up early in the morning for school, as she used to get up much early to help me get ready for school. Even after coming back from school, I used to find her there for me.

I just wonder how she manages each and every household chore without any complaint. She surely is a super-woman, because despite everything, she keeps smiling. I miss it all. It is difficult to see her heart-warming smile through a phone. These devices cannot transmit the warmth and affection that I am habituated to receiving every now and then.

I have realised not to rely too much on technology.

(Published in The Gulf Today on April 11, 2015)

Missing melody

Do you like melodious songs?

Listening to good music is one of the best ways to relax or de-stress. It helps in lifting our mood and enjoy the pleasant atmosphere it creates in the immediate surroundings.

Perhaps that is the reason, why in India lyrics and melody are much more cherished, be it classical, semi-classical or film music. We still love to hear the melodious songs of evergreen singers such as Mohammed Rafi, Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar. It has been 35 years since Mohammed Rafi passed away, while Kishore Kumar left this mortal world over three decades ago. 

Similarly, the Queen of Indian film music, Lata Mangeshkar, has not recorded a new song for years. Yet their songs are still popular with the masses.

But in recent times, rapper Honey Singh has become very popular. In fact, he even claims to be changing the music industry of Bollywood. He has attracted many children and adults alike, who have become a fan of him. 

Many of my friends too claim to be big fans of him. They consider Honey Singh the best singer of Bollywood and say that no movie can be a hit without a rap in it. They also believe that this is the future of Indian music and raps will continue forever.

But I don’t think that rap music can last longer, simply because it doesn’t help in de-stressing. Instead it causes stress sometimes. I still remember a popular rap song, “Meri Laundry ka Ek Bill” from Farhan Akhtar’s movie, “Rock On.” It was the first time I had heard an Indian rap song, yet I did not like it as it neither had good lyrics nor melody. I cannot understand why anyone would be interested in someone losing his laundry bill.

Someone may say that I do not like raps because I grew up listening to melodious songs. Whatever be the reason, I hope that it is just a passing phase and that the era of melodious music will return soon.

(Published in The Gulf Today on April 4, 2015)

From Fiction to Reality

The Golden Burj Khalifa

Visiting popular landmarks of Dubai is not unique for people who live in different parts of the UAE. But a trip to explore various places of the emirate reveals many interesting aspects of the city.

I realised this during a recent hangout with my friends. One of our destinations was the famous Dubai Gold Souk.

My past visits to the Gold Souk were limited to a few shops. Now, as a tourist, I was going everywhere and was noticing everything. We all felt amazed seeing many unique things.

It was remarkable to see several gold shops in a row displaying huge amount of gold jewellery. I was fascinated when I saw huge necklaces on the walls of these shops. They looked as if they were golden armours of the soldiers in a king’s army.

Many other things too astonished me. In a jewellery shop, I saw a gold bar that weighed about 160 kilogrammes.  It is not easy to exhibit the extraordinary gold bar. Next to it was a tall and astonishing model of Burj Khalifa made from pure gold. I could not believe it at first sight. Soon I noticed a display board saying stating that it was made of pure gold.

But the third exhibit left me stunned. It was a shirt made of pure gold. I felt as if I was in a fairyland. I recalled a story about a princess who wore a robe made of gold, on her birthday. I enjoyed reading the story thinking that it was a fictional work. But here I was seeing it in reality.

But I had to convince myself because Dubai is such a place where fiction can become reality.

(Published in The Gulf Today on March 28, 2015)

Silent spring

Tiny, Cute Sparrows

March 20 is observed as the World Sparrow Day. It reminded me of our friends’ and relatives’ concern about decreasing number of the commonly-found birds that used to make our homes lively with their chirping. The talk often focused on sparrows, mynahs and cuckoos, especially with the arrival of spring.

They often shared old memories when sparrows used to be their guests. Every morning, there would be a few birds to wake them up with chirps. Perched on trees, roofs and visiting in the courtyards, the tiny and cute sparrows used to make everyone happy.

I understand the reason why it is difficult to find sparrows in cities. It is believed that the changing lifestyle, construction of huge buildings and deforestation are causing a major effect on sparrows. But I was surprised when I could hardly spot them in smaller towns or villages too, when I visited India. 

 The Sparrow Day is a signal to make us realise the importance of the animals and birds that are getting lesser in number due to mistakes made by human beings. 

The number of tigers in India and population of giant pandas in China are decreasing rapidly. Hammour, the popular fish in the Gulf countries, is next in the line. But I am happy that the initiatives have been taken to limit overfishing, while some people have also made call for a fishing ban on all hammour smaller than 43 centimetres in length.

I strongly believe that efforts to protect animals and birds from extinction should be made now, instead of waiting for the moment when they would be a rare sight.

The World Sparrow Day comes as a reminder to make concerted efforts so that the spring season does not become silent.

(Published in The Gulf Today on March 21, 2015)

Avoid pampering

A pampered child...

It is very common to see parents pampering their children too much. Whatever the children would want, their parents would fulfil each wish. But they don’t realise that pampering so much will lead to weakness. The children start losing their confidence and forget that they are capable of doing things alone. A good example of this was recently seen when holidays started in schools after the annual examinations.

My cousin was also invited for a hangout with her friends. First she refused to join them as her parents had never allowed her to go out alone. But after a little persuasion, she was able to convince her parents and she was allowed to go out with her friends.

She was quite excited. As the friends arrived home to pick her up, she was given pocket money to spend with a lot of advice. Just before crossing the doorsteps, her parents gave her a Smartphone, not to take selfies, but to track her all the time.

She said, “I had never ventured alone like this. So I was nervous for a moment. But my excitement overcame my nervousness. Without my parents, I had only gone out for a picnic along with my schoolmates. But there too teachers were keeping eyes on us.”

The venue was the special Al Qasba. Everyone had brought mobile phones and money too that they were told to handle properly. Although they had gone to Al Qasba several times, on this occasion it had become entirely a new place for them. It was as good as any other picnic spot.

But this had also given them a new sense of responsibility. They realised that besides having fun, it was also an opportunity for them to learn new things. They all took care of themselves and spent the money carefully.

After a day out, she opined that every parent must to allow a child capable enough to take care of himself, to go out with their friends, because too much pampering creates weaknesses.

(Published in The Gulf Today on March 14, 2015)

Testing times

Oh no! Not again!

Observing incidents taking place around us can be amusing at times. Exam season is one such time when people around us grab our attention.

One may find students busy having one last look at the chapters taught in the class. It is common to see students with nervousness writ large on their faces. Sometimes, parents also get worried. 

Many of them can be seen giving tips to their wards until they enter the school campus. It is another matter that the children fail to take note of the advice and it simply adds to their anxiety.

Recently I saw a girl, so engrossed in her book that she failed to notice her steps and bumped into a grumpy teacher.

In such circumstances, one feels good when he sees a child walking confidently.

Sometimes we also come across students, though nervous till the end of exams, start boasting and claim to get first rank in the class. It is quite hilarious to see them escaping after failing to grab high ranks.

Open House Day, when results are announced, provides more interesting sights.

It is common to see parents refusing to fulfil their promises of giving costly gifts to their wards just because the child failed to get two more marks to achieve the threshold set by them.

Many other parents lose their cool and start shouting at their wards without thinking twice about the place and time. 

They fail to realise that their acts will embarrass the child forever in front of his classmates.

Hope parents-children equation as well as their attitude towards life will change with time.

(Published in The Gulf Today on March 7, 2015)