I'll have some pita with that humus, Abdullah.

Recently I heard somewhere that local Indians were asked what their views were on Hamas and Hezbollah. One girl answered, "Hezbollah is what they say when they want to make fun of Abdullah and Hamas is the dish they make out of Chick peas". The reporter, baffled, told her, "but that's Hummus" and her reply was "Hummus, Hamas, Potato, Potahto".

Let us all eat some Hummus now.

A question for my Christian family

Yesterday I found out that one of my favorite Christian singer is gay. I never knew this and I found out that she's been in a same-sex relationship for 8 years now. I heard a few tsk tsks and heads nodding in disapproval at this. I mean, come on she's christian and gay?! How could that be?! How can she be gay and sing about God?! These are thoughts that go through most non- judgemental Christian minds when they hear something like this(Excuse my sarcasm).

If I am not wrong, aren't all sins the same? There is no big sin small sin, right?If I am wrong, correct me please. Some of the sins that pop to my mind according to the Word of God is evil doing, adultery, idolatry, slandering, gossip, evil thoughts, homosexuality, fornication, cowardness, blasphemy, etc. So why do people gasp in horror when a Christian is gay or having pre-marital physical relationships?Why are those people judged more than the others? I mean people don't talk too much of the statues of the Blessed Jewish woman Mariam who was the Earthly mother of the Christ that occupy the churches of today or all the statues of the Saints of God when that is clearly idolatry(when most of them probably fought to abolish idolatry and polytheism) and most of us(I speak for myself) are guilty of lying, gossip, evil thoughts etc. So why is that somehow less sinful? Why doesn't that make headlines? Why don't I see Christianitytoday or other Christian sites or magazines say "A Christian found gossiping!". I know many say they don't judge but who are we to fool ourselves? I know I have judged in the past but God showed me like the others, I am human and I fall at times and sometimes more often than that and when I do, I don't want someone judging me so I think or like to think that I am maybe less judgemental now or maybe I am trying to be less judgemental.

So to my Christian brothers and sisters, I sincerely and genuinely ask this question because I do not know and like many of you I am not as well read and not as authoritive of the Scriptures. If you feel my article is stupid and I am bringing up an absurd matter, please rebuke me in love :)

I miss you, I never knew you.

It's been almost a year since I left home again to go to Glasgow. Almost a year since I reached Dubai airport with a phone that didn't work and finally called my frantic family on a pay phone to learn that the cause and object of my childhood/teenage celebrity obsession had died. Oh the sadness. The rest of the trip was a blur. Going back to an almost empty flat with a new flatmate I had never met and a life that was new and NOT that of a student. Getting emails and messages of condolences for the death of the man I never knew. And no one understood as no one in Glasgow knew me growing up. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the irony of it as the day before I left (today last year) my cousin who came to say goodbye asked me what I would do if Stephen Gately died(she met me first at the peak of my obsession and she asked me since my other favorite celeb, Michael Jackson died earlier that year). I told her since that was not going to happen anytime soon, I didn't want to think about it. The sad evil irony! Of course I blame my cousin and sister for the death. But as always, I had a smile on my face and said things were fine. So on the first anniversary of hearing the tragic tale of loss, here's to Stephen Gately, you flew away, you left, you flew away. Growing up, you made many people call me a sad, strange, boring loser but nevertheless, I was content being all that cause all it took was a CD to make me smile again. Many Thanks for Being There.
Love,
G. Gately.

The Greatest Story Ever Told..

It started with a Word-the Universe,
Everything, all creation, so very diverse.
He said and it was, it came to be as He spoke.
Yet through their disobedience did His anger they provoke
Man had fallen. “Go!” He said, “Flee!”
Out of Eden, without their Master, man shall now be.
Their very Source of being, their very Breath,
Knew the price that had to be paid was death.
His people, the righteous waited on their LORD
Their soul longed, for Him they adored.
He heard their cries, Merciful and Just is He.
He knew it was time, for the prophecies of old
The Baby, oh the pure Baby, Mary did hold.
He came to fulfil the laws, oh yes and not to break,
They called Him a blasphemer, they called Him fake.
Oh ye hypocrites Love your enemies, He said
Forgive! Repent! And to their God He led.
They did not like Him, They wanted Him dead,
They would know it would happen if their scriptures they read.
“Abba, into Your hands I give my Spirit”, He cried.
The crowd mocked and jeered as He was crucified.
Oh but wait my friends, it doesn’t end here
He conquered death, satan’s greatest fear.
Victory is ours! The veil is torn, Rejoice, rejoice!
Shout to the LORD, shout and make gladful noise.
He loves you; He purchased you and you He will retrieve
Follow Him, Abide in Him, call on Him and just believe.
Praise the LORD, oh praise His Holy Name forever,
I promise He will not let you go, He won’t, never!
Amen.

Creative Calamity

I've heard it said that with calamity comes creativity,
They say art comes alive when all around there is instability.
When the heart feels dead, the body weary, your mind is wild
You write, you draw, you sing, you paint and it's nothing mild!
I wrote a poem when Stephen gately told the world he was gay
And then I wrote one when I heard he passed away.
A common factor in both instances is sadness on my part
You may laugh but I had a bleeding heart and I took out it in art.
Most of the times I write, it's filled with sad emotion
Or some would say it's just a time spent in devotion.
Take the Psalmist for instance, he sang songs of praise to the Divine
Beautiful songs, but he wrote it when going through a tough time.
Coincidence you say but next time you take that pen or brush, think of what I said.

Unity among diversity, 2

[Read part 1 to understand what this is about]
I'll never forget the day I went to Loch Lomond with my church, re:hope for someone's baptism cause that's where I saw the beautiful girl with dreadlocks. Later she came and spoke to me at a church event and then we shared a table with another shy quiet Scottish girl. Soon these two became my church buddies, we would read the Bible together and pray together. They were the only ones who could coerce me into watching a James bong movie! We knew as humans we weren't perfect but God was perfect. Without my "fried rice" and "banana", my time in Glasgow would not have been the same. My half Egyptian sister taught me that it's okay to be mental at times and understood my affinity for middle eastern men(she also has the best eyelashes)! My beautiful Scottish sister taught me that God's grace really surpasses all and she is the best listener around. Things may have changed, change is inevitable but I'll always pray they'll be safe under His love.
Someone I must mention was my first friend from re:hope to facebook me. We met at a crafts night in one of the girl's house and on the way back she asked for my full name to add me and before i reached home, i had a request from her. She has a voice of an Angel, strong and beautiful and she's kind and welcoming, you'll never feel like a stranger when she's around. She taught me to be patient when things were messy and always knew to say the right things. She truly represents her Boss!
I met a hot latvian girl in starbucks who wore a gold and black hoodie, I'm not exaggerating when I say she is the most friendliest person ever. Everytime she would see me she would start with, "GIIIIITTUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU.......!!" I could tell her things that was going on in my life that not everyone would understand but she did and I'm so grateful that God made our paths cross. Don't ever change girlie :)
My American Vietnamese sister introduced me to another American when we went to see He's just not that into you. Maybe it's the movie, but we bonded. She has a quirky cute fashion sense
that i love! I wish we had more time together, that falafel just wasn't enough ;)
I met this lovely lady as the mother of a friend but soon she was not "just" the mother of a friend! You can feel her laugh a mile away, it's contagious! She is kind and helpful and always lends a listening ear. I'll always be grateful for the picnic/trip she took us for. She taught me to see life on the brighter side and taught me to take chance of opportunities as God creates them.
There are so many more who i'll write about later but in this note, I would like to thank Jenny, shy, calm who didn't even know me properly but still came for my birthday party, i really appreciate it. I enjoyed walking back with you from our woman's Bible study.
Katrina, i really wish we could have spent more time together but I'm grateful i know you and thanks for cooking for us :)
And Beth, thanks for letting me use your kitchen!
I really appreciate everything and hope you're all blessed!

Unity among diversity, 1

One thing I really miss about being a student in the UK is meeting people from different countries and cultures. It made me realize that we don't need to fit in a particular box and the box doesn't neccessarily have to be a square nor does it have to be black or white. The first person I met was a friend I actually "met" on facebook almost 5 months before we left our own countries and it was totally by accident. I was having fish and chips with my dad under a construction site as it was raining and I saw her walk by and in my mind I knew i knew her and at the same time both of us were like, "hey, are you...?"... my poor dad didn't understand anything. For him facebook, online chatting etc didn't make sense. This friend was Canadian American and she taught me to be calm when there's a raging storm outside. She also helped cure all my throat aches thanks to yogi chai!
The next few people I met, I do not remember to be honest.. some were American, Japanese, Hungarian, Polish, South American, Australian. They were people passing through my life when I was new in a foreign country and needed people to talk to.
Then I met someone while struggling to carry my bags up the 3 floors of my residence. This pretty exotic bubbly girl who told me she'll carry my heavy bag (she did! while i carried a small one) and told me to hurry up so we could go to the University together. This girl, a Persian Indian (I told you she was beautiful) taught me that it's okay to make mistakes once in a while and to love myself and she brought me out of my shell. She also cooked for me, looked after me, listened to all my boring sob stories and helped bought me cheesecake when i needed it! God brought her in my life for a reason and today she's my sister, has been my wife and has been a mother in some sorts. My family.
Then I met my lovely classmates, my lovely Omani sister who taught me what to expect in a marriage and who has been a great help in many ways.. My friend from the land of the Nile, gorgeous with lovely curls always full of life, and always calm, she taught me that nothing is really worth getting worried. My mediterranean friend, always laughing and who knew how to make us laugh. My beautiful Nigerian sister who was taught me about life, love, God and how to handle my future husband, her daughters are blessed to have her as their mother. My gorgeous Russian friend who taught me to have fun in life and not to take things too seriously :) And i must mention our British friend who taught us to be on time and to take work seriously. And then the "Chinese gang" as we called them, who taught us that with diversity there are always clans and that people stick to what they are familar with. I loved the mix.
Then I met my American Vietnamese sister at church. She was my mentor, my friend, my sister. Always there when I needed to talk and still is. She radiates God's love to everyone she meets and I thank my God for bringing her in my life. Our Canadian sister who is always bubbly, active and has the most adventurous, funny stories taught me to love and forgive those I couldn't. Sadly, she didn't approve of our chip and cheese :)
Then I met my very own little Tamil friend... she taught me to laugh when i thought I couldn't, always listened when I was venting and is the best person to facebook spy with. With her, life is never boring and i'm sure a lot will agree! She also taught me that most problems can be solved with a bit of chips and cheese. Be cool, stay cool, have fun my friend!
One thing i especially loved about being there was meeting our Pakistani neighbours. My own Pakistani sister, a fiery, sassy, sexy diva you don't want to mess with, senstive yet strong, deeply in love with the Divine.. she taught me that every individual is pretty much the same yet unique if you can learn to look past the borders. I really enjoyed listening to her outlook on life, love and God and miss it now.
There were others but this is long enough for now.
I miss you all and pray God keeps y'all safe :)

Facebook ... or not?

It's been over a year since I "blogged". I'm not going to fill in the gaps as my life really is not that interesting(I went to Scotland to study for a year and now i'm working). I'm making a wee list of the pros and cons of Facebook.. Feel free to tell me your fors and againsts.
On the positive side:
1. It helped me make friends even before I left India through the University "networks" and student halls network. Hence, I knew I would know someone when I reached there.
2. I was aware of all the "get togethers" that happened through the "events" pages.
3. People thought I lived an exciting life since i got tagged in some pictures and they thought all I was doing was having fun- Sadly,no one took pictures of me studying in the library!
4. It was my newspaper. Someone died- I knew through facebook, someone got engaged, married and "is currently single"- Thanks facebook! I even knew world events through facebook since most people would put links to world affairs that they were passionate about- be it the middle eastern crisis or Tiger woods!
5. It let me vent feelings about people I liked or disliked publically which is a good oppurtunity for attention seekers. It also helped my creativity as I would sometimes take ages to think of a clever status and finally no one would comment on it :(
6. I could be :) or :( or :-O or :-S or <3 someone without using many alphabets!
7. On a boring night in, our favorite pasttime would be to spy on people's facebook profile. We had a few favorite ones that always provided much needed entertainment.
8. At work I use facebook when i'm bored...which I think is essential. It also provides entertainment on lonely boring nights (but for some reason it was much more entertaining as a student though I have the same people on my list).
9. It helped me reconnect with a lot of people I never thought I could reconnect with.

Cons of Facebook
1. I still haven't met some of the people that I "met" on Facebook before leaving India.
2. We would get excited for most of the events but would finally stay at home with some take away and look at facebook profiles. It didn't help much with the social life.
3. I got tagged in some very ugly pictures.
4. I stopped reading actual newspapers.
5. Some of those awesome statuses of mine ended up in arguements/debates and me being "unfriend"ed.
6. I started getting paranoid that other people would look at my profile on their boring nights in and make fun of me :(
7. I started spending too much time on Facebook I became an Anti-Social but since Facebook was a social network, I thought I was fine.
8. There was a reason why I didn't reconnect with many people but now I am obliged to, thanks to Facebook!
9. It's quite embarrassing explaining to some people why they can't "see my wall" or all my pictures.

That's all I can think of for now. I better go, I have some new "notifications"... :D