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

Where have I been?

I'm so inconsistent with this whole "blogging" thing. So much has happened since i last wrote but i don't want to go into all that.
It's the day before Easter and i'm thinking about a million things. One is the passover meal (Pesach Sedar) that took place a little over 2000 years ago when Yeshua Messiah had His last supper with His disciples. When He knew that He was going to be betrayed and killed. I think about His sacrifice and i cannot fathom.
Then i think about last year and how i didn't celebrate Easter (same reason as my christmas story). I think about Aviad Cohen and his ministry. I think about my assignment and how it's going no where. I think about my friend who i thought was dead as i hadn't spoken to him for over two years and who i finally got back in touch with. I think about my friend who told me he lost the love of his life in a car accident that happened in front of his eyes. And then i only think about that. I've known this friend for a while and only now i'm hearing all this and it breaks my heart. It hasn't happened to me but i feel his pain and that hurts. I don't know why i always try to feel the pain of others since i have enough of my own.
Then i think back to the day before the crucifiction. I think about God's plan for mankind. I think about Jesus crucified. About Jesus who died. I think about Jesus, the author of our salvation, the perfect spotless Lamb. I think about the new life we can have in Him. And i think about the promise God has given us, "Every tear shall be wiped from your eyes (Revelations)". And i think it's okay. And i wish i can tell my friend to have courage, i wish i can tell everyone who is hurting that God is close to their hearts and one day their tear will never be.

Happy New year!

Hello, I know i'm a month late but I must have been busy or something. I don't think i'm very good at this writing thing. Back home, I wrote quite often in my diary but I checked it recentlt and the last time i wrote was in September.. which now seems ages ago yet also like now. Did i just make sense?
I feel my time in Glasgow is fastly coming to an end. Which makes me sad. So many friends to leave. So many bonds which may break. But I pray all goes well.
Apparently in England last week or so, there was a seperated couple and the husband stabbed the wife to death cause she changed her facebook status from married to single. How freaky is that??
It snowed a lot today. It looked so pretty. I was in my room so i didn't feel the cold but i loved looking outside and watch the snow fall.
I hope everyone has a great year and has many brilliant "blog" ideas.

here fishie

I was talking to my friend Katy today after church and we were discussing "Funny Fish Stories (FFS)". When i was little, my dad got us a couple of gold fish i think and we had a new house maid at that time. My mum asked her to change the water in the tank and after a while the girl came and told my mum how the fishes had died and when my mum asked what she did, she said, "nothing, i removed the old water and put clean boiling water". Well, yes, i think the fishes kind of "boiled" to death. :D
But this one is the funniest. For halloween my church in Glasgow had a "fancy dress fayre" for kids and we had games and other fun stuff. The stall i was in charge of was a fishing one where kids put their fishing rods behind a screen and we would hook on a piece of candy and if the kids were really lucky, we would hook on a polyethne bag of a real live goldfish. Well, so one of the little girls got one and apparently since she probably got bored of holding it the whole time, she put it on the heater/radiator and (i'm actually laughing at the moment) after a while they found the fish in the bag dead (duh!) and the skin had kind of boiled/cooked off the body and was floating on the top. Probably sounds mean on text but when Katy was telling me this i was laughing so hard.
Who else has a FFS?

Last christmas

Last Christmas, I didn't celebrate Christmas. A lot of people may not know about it but some did. I had a lot of reason. Some very extreme and some simple silly ones. This year I learned to find a balance and I’m enjoying my mince pies and hark the heralds and the lights.

But before we get into the festive spirit, let us take some time to reflect about why we celebrate the birth of this great great Man. This Man whose birth split time, before Him and after Him. But why did He come to this earth? Well let's take a look at some of the scriptures from the Old Testament...

"Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." Isaiah 7:14

" For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder (as the place of burdens): and His name (Shem) shall be called (acclaimed-celebrated) Wonderful (Pele-Incomprehensible, Wonderful) Counselor (Ya’ats-Transformer or Counselor), Mighty God (El Gibor-Mighty God or Chief God-Man), Everlasting Father (Av Eternal), Prince of Peace (Sar Shalom)."Isaiah 9:

"But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed." Isaiah 53.5

And what it says in the New Testament

"Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." Matthew 1:22.23

"For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost" Mathew 18.11

While this may not be exactly when Jesus was born and may be way too commercial and the silly Santa Claus comes and spoils a few things (I’m not a big fan of the Santa man), let us rejoice and be glad and know that Messiah Jesus did come to this fallen World, and while we were still sinners loved us and was willing to die for us.

hello

I feel like it's been ever since i last "blogged". I am far far away from home, doing my post grad studies in the U.K. It's a good experience and lots of work but i'm managing pretty well. God has been faithful. I hope to start "blogging" more regularly.

dead and healthy

I was reading this article the other day which was about how to tell if a fish is fresh or not. One of the points was, " If you touch it and the skin does not get dimpled, then you know it is in it's pink of health". Ok, How can something that is quite clearly dead be in it's "pink of health"???

c'est la vie

It's quite strange that when my parents get a call or a text i ask them who it was but when they do the same i give my big speech about how i never have any privacy.

arrgh

There's this very irritating bird that sits near my window and goes "tootoo....tweeeeetttweeettt...tootootweeeeeetttweeeett.." over and over. It's so annoying. I wish I could shoot its head off.

letting go

It's so hard to let go of the past especially when you know it's better to let go. I keep thinking small emotional things of the past are insignificant now and that i do not have any use for them but still when the time comes to leave, i hold on. I find it easier, more comforting. Yet in strange ways it is not comforting. It makes me sad, makes me regret what could have been. I don't dwell on the past but i just find it hard to let go.

praying for you.

I heard this song called praying for you by Lecrae today and i love it! Makes so much sense. Since i can't think of anything creative to write, here are the lyrics :)

Father God, I'm prayin' to you for somebody, who knows you Lord but just hasn't, hasn't been seein' you in the right view lately, Hear me out...

Father, I'm prayin' for a friend he and I are pretty close, and out of all my friends for this one I'm concerned the most. He say he readin' daily but he ain't really learnin'. He been in church but say that he ain't moved by any sermon. His face weak, he ain't prayed in a week, he wake up and just weep with his face in the sink Lord, you gotta help my man, I'm prayin' for him daily, he ain't sinned but it just seem as if he goin' crazy. He say he feelin' trapped, can't even head up the mall coz every lady's half-dressed temptin' him to lust and fall. He keep the TV off, videos just make him feel that he ain't really nothin' without money, girls and shiny wheels. The other day he told me that he felt less a man coz he ain't have a five-year plan or a piece of land and man it's crazy coz his family think so much of him, plus he got a godly wife who always showin' love for him but he's strugglin', even though he talk to me, I tell him what to do but he don't listen when he oughta' be. I'm scared for him coz there's people that look up to him, he got some younger siblings who been changed by what he's done for them but is it done for him, Lord don't let it be, if he don't wanna talk to you then Father hear from me, is it done for him, Lord don't let it be, if he don't wanna talk to you then Father hear from me...

Yeah, I'm prayin' for you, yeah, I'm prayin' for you Yeah, I'm prayin' for you, yeah, yeah, I'm prayin' for you...

God, his condition is worsen since we were last conversed and I'm with him now and he ain't doin' well and this I'm certain. He say he tryna' trust you, doesn't wanna disgust you but he was in the mist of sinners and did not discuss you and just today his anxiety's got the best of him, he knows Christ but for hours refuse to rest in Him, he's not the best of men but Lord I know he really loves you and I can't understand why lately he's not thinkin' of you. People trust this dude, you could crush this dude, Father he needs more of you I pray you touch this dude, what can I say to him? I'm determined to pray for him Father empty and brake him I pray you'll just have your way with him, coz there's a change in him and the effects are strong, I pray you open up his heart before the next song and when he gets home, I pray he'll open up the sixty-six book love letter you wrote and soak it up coz he ain't hearin' You and he ain't feelin' me and God I know it's killin' You because it's killin' me and matter of fact there's somethin' else he's concealin' see, the person that I've been prayin' about is really me...

Yeah, I'm prayin' for you, yeah, I'm prayin' for you Yeah, I'm prayin' for you, yeah, yeah, I'm prayin' for you...

some new year tag

Bungi tagged me. So here goes..
1. What did I learn?
I learnt that IT is not impossible. IT can be anything. Well if it really is impossible then too bad but if someone has done if before, don't think you can't cos you can. Even if someone hasn't, you can still try...and maybe succeed.
I also learnt about a lot of things that i need pages to explain about. So maybe later.
2. What did I accomplish?
My B.E degree!! hehe.. yes, i'm quite obsessed with it cause i really suffered for my final year project!
And i got my driving license!
3. What would I have done differently?
A lot of things.
4. What did I complete or release?
My final year project.. lol..
5. What were the most significant events of the year past?
Finishing college, Israel, turning 21(officially old now), Malaysia,Japan, Pune, spending time with family and friends.
6.What did I do right?
I didn't give up.
7. What were the fun things I did?
I'm not a fun person. I don't do fun things.
8. What were my biggest challenges/roadblocks/difficulties?
Biggest challenge was definitely my final year project.
9. How am I different this year than last?
Its only been like 20 days into the new year. Ask me in another 10 months.
10. For what am I particularly grateful?
It may sound cliche but first God and then my family and all my friends.

what then?

I was thinking how sometimes you talk to someone, you laugh with them, you share feelings and emotions with them and you consider them your friend and then one day you realize you don't really know much about them. Stuff about their family, about their personal life, about their spouses/partners, about their children. Nothing you don't know about them at all. And then you feel a bit annoyed cause you share stuff with them and tell them what's going on with you but then they don't do the same. A close friend was telling me this. How she thought she knew this guy cause they spoke often, she enjoyed talking to him, she thought he was funny, understanding and a great friend. Nothing more than a friend but yes, a friend. And then she found out he's actually married (he's from another country and came here for work), has kids and all these stuff she never knew cause he never spoke about them. And she's wondering why. Well i'm not sure why but sometimes i am like that too. I listen to others, i talk to them about their problems, and well i just listen more. I don't talk about me. I don't tell them what i'm going through. Sometimes i feel that i don't need to talk about my problems or what's happening as most people would not be interested. And i'm most of the time not in the mood to talk about myself personally. Sure i talk... A LOT but not to everyone about myself but rather general stuff or common issues. So maybe this person felt the same. Maybe. What do you think?

happy new year

It feels good to be missed..lol!!
I haven't logged on in ages! I even forgot what my blog looked like. I spoke to Boongi this morning and she said i need to check my blog and being a faithful trustworthy friend who listens to what elders say i signed in.... and i do not know what to write..
Well, i definitely prefer texting to calling. I made up my mind on that.

tagged

I got tagged by Chris- this is one weird survey!

1. Name one person who made you laugh last night?
My friend Badar..i dont remember what it was about.
2. What were you doing at 0800?
sleeping
3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago?
Sitting with my mom and grandparents and talking about how to decorate the christmas tree.
4. What happened to you in 2006?
I became 3/4th an engineer.
5. What was the last thing you said out loud?
ok (this survey is weird)
6. How many beverages did you have today?
one-water.
7. What color is your hairbrush?
grey/black
8. What was the last thing you paid for?
some christmas gifts.
9. Where were you last night?
home
10. What color is your front door?
brown-its wooden.
11. Where do you keep your change?
in this little compartment in my wallet
12. What’s the weather like today?
it was nice. rainy and cloudy-perfect.
13. What’s the best ice-cream flavor?
caramel and strawberry cheesecake.
14. What excites you?
a lot of things- shopping, a good movie, etc
15. Do you want to cut your hair?
nope i cut it last week.
16. Are you over the age of 25?
no
17. Do you talk a lot?
sometimes but i'm usually pretty quiet.
18. Do you watch the O.C.?
i used to. it got too crappy.
19. Do you know anyone named Steven?
yes.
20. Do you make up your own words?
yeah.
21. Are you a jealous person?
i try not to get jealous but at times, yes.
22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘A’.
Aarthi
23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘K’.
kirtana
24. Who’s the first person on your received call list?
Anju
25. What does the last text message you received say?
lol
26. Do you chew on your straw?
yes..hehe
27. Do you have curly hair?
kinda.
28. Where’s the next place you’re going to?nagercoil
29. Who’s the rudest person in your life?
not answering this one.
30. What was the last thing you ate?
jammy roll..lol..
31. Will you get married in the future?
i guess.
32. What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the past 2 weeks?
catch and release ( in the last 2 weeks!)
33. Is there anyone you like right now?
lot of people..
34. When was the last time you did the dishes?
last night
35. Are you currently depressed?
not really.
36. Did you cry today?
no
37. Why did you answer and post this?
cos i was bored.
38. Tag few people who would do this survey.
boongi
mahatma
anju
sapna
kavitha

texting or calling?

A few days ago I realized that I prefer texting people rather than calling and talking to them. There are so much more advantages like :

• You don't have to hear their voice.
• You stick to the point. You only text what you want to.
• No unwanted news or piece of gossip will come out unless your'e really stupid and have no control of what you type.
• You don't waste too much money on texts.
• Talking to someone takes up too much time.

There are a few disadvantages as well :

• You can't listen to their voice.
• You can't type that much in one go which makes you just stick to the point.
• You can't gossip all that much. It's not as much fun when you sms gossip and news.
• Sometimes calling someone is cheaper than texting.
• For people who text slowly, calling is way faster.

yes, even Britney!

Imagine you think of something in your head. This great idea or something innovative or something like that. And you don't tell anyone but next thing you know, someone has accomplished or done that already.
Have any of you felt that way before?
I'm not making this up but it happened to me twice. Well i can only think of two incidences. Maybe there are more.
First, I wrote this song which i'm not naming or telling anyone the lyrics and i even thought of the tune which i normally never do. And then a week or so later, Britney Spears comes up with "I'm not a girl, not yet a women" and it has the exact same tune as MY SONG! I was so annoyed. I'm sure she has some weird psychic powers and got my hot tune. There's no other explanation.
Next one is when i thought of my own airplane company! And what is it called? PiNk! ofcourse! The tail was going to be baby pink and have the words Pink! written in hot glitter pink and it would have pink leather seats and special service for women(I'm sure only women would board this flight). We would have pink champagne, chick flicks, the works.. And the profit would go to the breast cancer foundation (I'm a nice person like angelina jolie and madonna). And where would i get the money to start all this? From Paris Hilton! My future bestest friend! Ok so this was all in my head and maybe a month later i read somewhere that in the UK they are going to start this new airline called pink! I was furious this time! Why? Why me? How do they get these ideas from me? And why don't i get other people's brilliant ideas? Not fair..

the best chocolate cake ever!

This morning my mom told me that she wants to make a cake to send for Anju.I told her i'll do that since i wasn't doing much in the morning. I went to google and searched for chocolate cake since i wanted to try out something new that's not in our usual recipe book.I found this website that flashes best chocolate cake!the most moist chocolate cake ever!kids love it!adults love it!blah blah.I was excited!And the recipe looked easy. So i then went to my housemaid and she doesn't usually cook so i asked her,"hey do you wanna learn to make chocolate cake?" and she was like yes yes so i taught her and told her to make it.I Told her it was for Anju akka and she was even more excited.Well the cake is done now.It looks like a cake,it smells kinda like a cake and it tastes like..well..not a cake!It was so NOT good!It was moist all right but it WAS NOt the best!I didnt like it and i doubt kids will either!
Well now we're thinking whether we should send it to Anju or no.. haha
So don't trust all recipe sites unless they have reviews.

the champion!

I love this song by Carman!Take that satan!lol
our church did this play well!