there are times when I feel like quitting blogging...it is one of those times...

You are what you dress up to be...

The receptionist just asked me if I was a Muslim. All because I've started covering my head with a dupatta.
Back home(read Karachi, Pakistan) I always covered my head when in public, not a proper hijab but all the same I made sure I had a big dupatta draped all around me.
Both, as a student at the University at Karachi and later, as a journalist, I frequently traveled on public buses. I started wearing an abaya for some months but then the April/May heat of Karachi made me put it aside. I thought a big dupatta could serve the purpose as well. So in Pakistan, that was my usual hulya, even when some of my friends suggested I change it for a tad mod image, I refused to do so. I felt secure and more comfortable that way. When I went to Bangkok, I never felt the need for that kind of covered clothing, that is not to say I wore short skirts or tank tops, proper, fully covered, modest clothing that made sure I blended in with the crowd. A shalwar kameez, my preferred mode of dressing always had Bangkok dogs following me! When I came to Dubai, it was mix of both, shalwar kameez, long tops/kurtis and pants. What I did not do here and never felt the need to do was to cover my head as I did in Karachi. But five days ago, I felt like I should and so, for the last four days, I have been seen around with my head covered. And today, Annie, a Chinese receptionist at the Business Centre asked me why I covered my head? Was I a Muslim? While I felt proud to say “Yes, I am a Muslim,” I was also struck by the fact that anyone could take me for someone else. I have now decided that even if I am against an exhibition of my religious beliefs, I would take to covering my head, with a scarf, dupatta, whatever. I am and would remain a Muslim and want all the world to know me as one…those who stereotype…let ‘em!

Looooser!

yeah, yeah, call me a loser, call me a nutter, call me what you may...some days back I blocked my own Sim and had to get a new cell number..then I have my MSN ID hacked...the latest? I have misplaced my office keys somewhere...if not for my Assistant who has spare keys to the office, I would have been sulking outside...but the lost key chain also has the office drawer keys...with all that money in the drawer...I am lost!!!
What is this happening? Just are getting worse by the day...I end up in deeper troubles each day...why? what? how? IS that a sign from Allah that I have been here enough? That I should pack up and head back home? Why me? Why? Why? Why?

Think no more

got this idea just as it is pack up time...
since it has become my wont to simply post all my cynical outpourings here, should i then change the name of this blog from the soliloquist to:
Pearls of Pissdom....?
Well, i do sound pissed most of the time...no....you are too kind...
have a nice weekend...

PS: Almost forgot...today is 9/11, the day History was changed? Dunno
Dunya nay teri yaad say begana ker diya
Tujh se bhi dil fareb hain ghum rozgaar ke...

I do recall the time when I went home from office this day two years back and witnessed my family gaping open mouthed at the TV...and later cursing the PTV people as they cut out the live transmission and tuned in to some other thing not even significant of a mention here (I also don't remember it, to tell you the truth...)
It was something you could have assumed was in league with Tom Clancy's work but this...and the accusations that freely flowed a mere hours later of the attacks...and the concern for a friend residing near the Pentagon...I had forgotten it all...that is what my life has shrunk to...day in, day out...and tune out, most of the time...

PPS: that was quite a long PS haina?

Brand new mobile...well almost...

I got meself a new mobile number today. A loss of 185+30 Dirhams. I had foolishly blocked my previous sim. Lesson to all: Don't vere fool with the security settings of your mobile sets.
The friend I had got my cell number (sim card) from was a true pillar of salt, left me to my own when I needed her help. If a friend in need is a friend indeed...does it mean she is no longer my friend? Since she was the one who had gotten it for me, only she could have gotten it unblocked but she said she could not do so, gave me some cock and bull story...in the end I was inaccessible for more than 10 days, apart from the time I spent in the office. Very inconvenient, ask my parents!
While still on mobile woes, check out this post on mobile security. Hope it does good for many.

On another note a friend from back home remarked that I don't write the way I used to. I admit, my posts here aren't that creative exactly, it has become so mundane, more of a kvetch diary than what I had so thoughtfully and lovingly named myslef as when I started this blog business...Soliloquist...hambug...do you think I should change it to...boring, ordinary useless online grumblings?
see what I mean, I am no longer creative enough to think up of a good enough title!!
and to think that I was once a journalist with more than 10 bylines per week!!
Shame on me then...

Traffic woes in Sharjah

This Sharjah traffic is such a nightmare. We left my place at about ten past eight, went around circles for nearly an hour before managing to clear the Galadari Underpass. The usual 45 minutes drive from Sharjah to Dubai Media City took double the time…one and a half hour! That is one of the pitfalls of opting for residence in Sharjah. All the same, I can never bring myself to live in Dubai. For some odd reason, the city seems to be suffocating to me. It makes me feel insecure, as if I am lost in a place I am not sure off. As if the whole city is balanced on my head and leaves me with no space…Sharjah seems more like home, friendlier, decent, livable, not to mention affordable. Still on a lookout for a place of my own. Have many options. Al Nahda is seems to be a good place but it is so far removed from main Sharjah, even the cabbie takes ten dirhams from there. The only plus point is that the apartments there are cheaper. The closest place to go out to being Sahara Mall. The other one is in Al Khan, new buildings, well within the range of my pocket, but not a much populated area, not sure if I would like to venture out at night by myself, to Al Tawun Mall, the closest place to head to…No again then. The last and my most favored option is a residence in Al Majaz. I love the area. It is right in the heart of the city, nice, decent people living in there, close to Sharjah Corniche and Al Majaz Park, I can go out for walks each night. The City Centre is walking distance and most of all, it is a straight road towards Al Mulla Plaza, the notorious border point of Dubai and Sharjah. My biggest concern in here, well the apartments are priced a bit on the high side, I don’t mind paying more for quality, as long as I can FIND some place in the area!