Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Big Akhi - The namesake
Ana hina (Am here..)
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Iran, Israel and India
My heart pours out for Palestenians never ending sufferings....
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Palestinians fight illegal settlements in Montreal Court
Monday, June 22, 2009
A few months back I co-penned this poem with my friend Afrah :)
Make a Difference
At the clear blue sky when I saw
With its sparkle that instills a ray of hope
But with a reality that I have to cope
I see the vehicles below polluting this beautiful sky,
To reach their destination they try
For them to think about nature is a far cry
Is this the world we want to live in?
While we see the dear ozone go thin
With our gruff behavior and nonsensical approach,
Natural balance we encroach
I beg to differ and need to plead,
Please stop this pollution and take the lead.
Mother Earth is in a state of seethe
Save it, protect it, and let it breathe
Feeling peaceful and calm within,
I breakdown on others’ sin
With the thoughts of a serene, clean sky
I just start to pray and let out a huge sigh.
Why turn deaf to something as critical as this?
When we all can live in bliss
Why choose to escape
When we can beautify the landscape
Get rid of smoke and these obnoxious gases
Let’s start to educate the masses
Don't make this world so toxic
It belongs to all the classes
The morose, lonely sky cries for help far away
So does the fresh breeze that blows past your way
You and only you alone can stand up for it,
Indian, Pakistani, American or Brit
You alone can make a big difference
Encroachment on nature, please don’t permit
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Climbing the Mt. Sinai
On the second day of my stay (March 12, 2008), when I got back to my hotel, there was a Bedouin, Hamdy, from St. Katherine in the lobby. I sat down with the other guys and he started talking about the Gabl al Mousa (
I found the Bedouin waiting in the reception and I confirmed to him that I would be joining him to St. Katherine and made the payment for the bus tickets. The bus would leave
When I reached the camp, luckily there was campfire and Hamdy took me to the tent and I sat by the fire. When I asked Hamdy what are the next plans, he said, you will have to start climbing the mountain by 2:00 am to be able to reach on the top by dawn and see the sunrise. Because of the cold, I had given up on climbing. I was wearing four garments, and yet it was very cold. I had roasted chicken and rice for dinner and went to sleep. I met a Swiss national, Oberson Daniel, who had traveled to
When I got to the room to sleep, there was no fire and it was like a huge deep freezer and Daniel advised me to ask for a second blanket so that I can cover myself with two blankets. But I didn’t and jumped into the bed with one blanket. And it was as good as sleeping in water. Past 1:30 am Hamdy began knocking on the door. He said the guide is waiting. I told Hamdy that I didn’t think I was going and I wanted to sleep and think about climbing in the morning. Hamdy came back again after five minutes and started knocking and said that the guide is already here and he is waiting for me. I told him that it was too cold and that I would not be able to climb, but I jumped out of the bed and he got me an extra jacket. He also handed me a torch light. When I set off from the camp, I was wearing five garments on my body, two T-shirts, a shirt, a blazer, and the jacket that Hamdy gave me. And I took my towel to wrap it around my head and Hamdy gave me an additional cloth to wrap around my head.
We started walking out of the camp slowly. I had never seen so many stars in my life as I saw in St. Katherine. Pitch dark sky and millions of stars. The mountains stood like giants poking their nose into the skies, it was an amazing sight. We slowly moved away from the settlements, lights, the road, and started upwards on the mountain. I was shocked to know that the guide had not got his own torch and we were going to climb in absolute darkness had I not brought the torch that Hamdy gave me.
After climbing for an hour or something I started feeling thirsty and I started bugging the guide with “water, water, water” every few steps. I would pause and would get angry on him for not getting water, he would say there are 6 cafeterias on the top and we would reach there soon. After climbing, I started to feel hot and I unbuttoned my jacket and kept walking. My legs began to ache and my heart began to beat fast. My throat was going dry, my pulse was beating fast. Of all the things in the world, what I wanted at that moment was just water, I just wanted a few drops of water to wet my throat and I was getting angry on the guide for not getting it. I suddenly saw a light in distance. Excitedly I asked the guide about it, he told me that it was the house of a Bedouin. I felt happy that I can find some water in there. We kept walking and when we reached there, the guide told that we cannot wake the Bedouin as it was late in the night and he asked if I wanted to drink from the tank from which the camels drink. I just moved ahead without even thinking about drinking from there.
After walking for 15-20 more minutes, I again saw a group of lights flashing high up on the mountain. Guide told me that it was another group of tourists climbing the mountain ahead of us and that if we walked faster we may be able to catch them and get a sip or two of water from there. I forgot all my pain in the legs and the dry throat and kept walking briskly to reach the group. But they were walking at a faster pace and it was difficult to reach them, but the hope of being able to catch them kept me going and I was moving inch by inch closer to the top of the mountain.
Finally, after a long ordeal and tiring journey we reached a middle point where there was a cafeteria and I was going to get “water” the precious drink that I had been dying to have a sip of for the last 3-4 hours. I bought a bottle of water and drank half of it during the 10 minute break in the cafeteria and we restarted our journey.
After getting out, it was cold again and I started to feel the water inside me freeze. I was feeling tight in my chest and was having difficulty breathing. The water that I was dying to have was going to kill me now. I realized that water wasn’t the right drink in this cold weather and at this high altitude. After walking for about another half hour I spotted another cafeteria and I rushed in to have a tea. After the tea, we set out for the final climb on the mountain. Taking even a single step was a heavy burden. The legs would not move, but what fun if I couldn’t climb the last 5% of the mountain after having climbed the 95%. And I kept pushing myself up, up, and upwards. My hands in my pockets, my head wrapped with a towel and a cloth and five garments on my body, yet I felt I was standing in chilled water. I could hardly take a picture or two due to the cold. My fingers turned blue and would freeze if I took my hands out of the pockets. I could take a few pictures, but couldn’t gather courage to take video with the handycam that I had carried with me. I took some shots of the sunrise and we started our return journey.
I had hardly come down a few steps, I got a call from
The journey back was 3 hours and those 3 hours were the most anxious moments that I ever spent in my life. I was so helpless, I couldn’t call
After a painfully anxious three hours when I reached the camp, I looked around but couldn’t find any shops that had the recharge coupons. I told the guy in-charge of the camp that whatever the price maybe I want to make a call to
I offered the Friday prayers at a mosque in St. Katherine and boarded the bus at 1:00 pm. I reached
Monday, June 15, 2009
Yamaha FZ 16 - Latest heart throb
The all muscle FZ16, the latest heart throb of young Indian bikers. THe youngsters are goign ga-ga over the bike. They're all droooooooooling at the killing looks. Dumping their present bikes for this new chic. Happy Biking guys..
Jama Masjid - Delhi
Friday, June 12, 2009
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Hyderabadi Pearls
The famous Hyderabadi pearls at a pearl store near Charminar. (it's my friend's, feel free to contact me if you need any)
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
The Taj
The day so far has been good but busy. We're just two of us working in a team of 12. The rest are out. Killing boredom by uploading various pictures of Hyderabad and other places that I have been to in India :) Have a great day :)
