That Moment.

I’m glad it’s not 2020. I sneaked a peak on my last blog and saw that it has “only been a year” since I last posted. It was only one kid then and I was worried about parathas going out of shape in breakfast. I have Masha Allah two sleeping babies as we speak and guess what– I’ve already had that cup of coffee! I’m still not as adept at managing four burning stoves at a time as I am with managing a million tabs on my browser but hey, there is some improvement. I do get to steal hot coffee moments.

I have ten minutes left before I head out for kitchen duties and before one of the sleeping beauties stirs from her slumber, so I’ll make this quick. I think it is very important to listen to a part of the Quran daily at least once and for as short a while as you can manage. Much as reciting is vital, I realized that hearing a reciter in the middle of a crazy day makes you want to pause and reflect. And in that one moment you make a lot of promises to start anew, promises of self-purification and righteousness.

And that one moment of pure humility makes the day a whole lot better. And I want nothing in life but a lot of these moments.

The Undomestic Damsel: This time last year

January 2015 

Huddled on the couch with a steaming cup of coffee, and drafting blog posts in my mind…my typical start to winter mornings.

January 2017

Manoeuvring the rolling pin on a paratha that is fast loosing its rectangular form into some kind of amoeboidal, an unfinished cup of coffee getting cold on the counter somewhere, I’m in a hurry to wind up breakfast for the household before my baby girl wakes up. Coffee is no longer a sacred ritual that I used to enjoy, it’s just a means to survive the day now. How time flies and you’re thrown head-first into a roller coaster of events you have no control over. Such is life.

There are two things you should really prepare for before time tides over. One is death before you die. The other is equally grave: culinary skills before you get married. No really. It will save you a lot of frustration, even if you’re lucky enough to get nice in-laws like I did.

People like me who fancy themselves behind a laptop rather than behind the stove, we end up with regrets. Don’t get me wrong here. It isn’t the I-wish-I-knew-how-to-cook regret. Oh no, I’m pretty glad I’ve seen happier days that were spent out of the kitchen. The only regret I have is that I wish I had served my mom the same way that I have to do other people in my life now. That would’ve been more rewarding. I wish I had served her breakfast in bed.Or gotten up earlier one fine morning to prepare the meal for everyone. That would have been a HUGE help.

So while the tea froths, the milk boils and parathas turn golden, I munch on the leftovers in the fridge. The secrets are finally unravelling– why moms never feel hungry, why they survive on leftovers and why they always have a simple toast or a fruit in hand when they join the family for breakfast. They never spend on themselves. Time and energy. That’s for others.

When stuck between bankers, lawyers and debt…

I had planned to not blog at all until next Ramadan. So I could pick up from where I left off in “The Waning Dusk Series”. But an incident tonight compelled me to login to my old WordPress again. I simply had to share this:

I am a freebie junkie. Whoever offers services of interest online, especially if they give a free trial, I always sign up and check them out. Even if I can do without them. I collect free templates from here and there, free sound effects, free software, countless trial versions, free stock images, free vector art, free fonts… you get my drift.

It so happened that I wanted legal consult and documentation for a website I am currently working on. Of course I googled. And of course there was a particular site that was offering legal services on a 1-week free trial. By default, I ventured there. I created my documents but to access them, I had to have either a paid account or a partially free account that bills users after a week of signing up if they don’t cancel their subscription.

So I entered my credit card details (my dad’s card details actually) fully intending to cancel the subscription within one week of usage. But as fate had it– I typed in the wrong fields. I typed in the ones that billed my card immediately to Rs. 40,000. The second I saw the $ sign, I killed all my browsing tabs in cold blood. All puns intended. It was one of those moments when the world stops moving before it comes crashing down. And I hoped against hope that the card was not processed. But then came the dreaded mail notification “Thank you for purchasing…” and it had the godforsaken invoice too.

I don’t think my world has ever come crashing down like it did at that moment. After taking a few seconds to make myself start thinking straight, I asked my father to call the bank to explain the situation and cancel the payment. The bank apologised that it cannot be stopped and suggested I call the people I made the payment to. At the same time, I was googling how long it takes for an online credit card transaction to actually appear as a purchase. And I was figuring out how long it would take for the bank to deactivate the card to render this payment null and void before it gets fully processed. While I was at it, I downgraded my mistakenly upgraded account pronto and sent a quick email to the said lawyers’ agency requesting a cancellation and profusely apologising for my blunder.

Having done all that, I stood up to pray 2 really intense raka’ahs of nafl prayers to get out of the fix. And an awful fix it was too. Stuck between bankers and lawyers. And debt that I would owe to my parents for something that I never really needed. Enough said.

No sooner had I finished supplicating when I heard the mailbox beep again. And guess what it said.

“We confirm that your membership access has been downgraded as of 12/31/2014. The xxxxx pending charge to your credit card ending xxxx has been reversed. Please allow up to 7 to 10 business days for the reversal to be reflected in your account.”

Subhanallah.

Allah accepted the prayer faster than it took for the amount to hit the credit card.

That’s the power of a nafl prayer. That’s what the Prophet (pbuh) used to do in difficult situations. And that’s something we need to do more often as well. Imagine if we pray two nafl raka’ahs every morning…

Also, the most important thing is to not panic in such devastating situations that appear seemingly irreversible. There is always a backdoor. Do your part, then pray like your life depends on it. Had I not downgraded my account immediately, contacted customer support and prayed for Ctrl-Z to happen, I might have ended up paying a lump sum for nothing. I am glad I did not sleep in utter depression and misery like my brain initially advised me to.

Alhamdulillah.

Pick your books like you choose your friends

TWD- Chapter Six: Revenge of the Pakoras

Myth: It’s Ramadan- Think Pakoras

There is something ostensibly odd about this verse:

“The Messiah, son of Mary, was no other than a messenger, messengers (the like of whom) had passed away before him. And his mother was a saintly woman. And they both used to eat (earthly) food. See how We make the revelations clear for them, and see how they are turned away!” (05:75)

Another statement where Allah (swt) is making a point that Isa (as) and his mother were not supernatural beings or Gods but merely humans. One might wonder, if they are paying attention, why is food brought here as a demarcating line between godliness and being human?

Why FOOD of all the things?

It’s a no-brainer, and definitely not a brainer in Ramadan, that food is human super-weakness. And anyone foolish enough to think he can be one with the heavens by denying himself food, is only kidding himself– that does happen, but only when you starve yourself enough to go six feet under. Very uh- ungodly. So, the point here, and in numerous places in the Quran, is that it is only Allah (swt) Who is free from all weaknesses and whatever partners people associate with Him are just not qualified enough.

You’d be surprised to know that food has been given its due attention in the Quran and Sunnah. And as Muslims, we have been told our limits here as well as in other things. But here is what happens-

You stuff yourself at iftaar, before taraweeh, after taraweeh until you achieve that state of reverse nirvana where everything stills and you want to throw up. And with the amount of gluttony that goes on and the way we drop like dead weights before Isha’, you can give this a sinister tagline. Ramadan- revenge of the pakoras. Blame it on that fried dish.

And after a very uncomfortable taraweeh (or lack thereof) and after shoving down more leftovers just for the heck of it, you pass out on your bed till dawn. Apparently you ate enough to skip suhur, and the cycle repeats itself. See why food is THE ultimate weakness? Can’t tell if we are the ones eating food or if food is consuming us…

We skip meals when we are supposed to have them and it is our overeating tendency that leads to it which is blatantly obvious.

The Prophet (pbuh) said,

“Take suhur as there is a blessing in it.” (Bukhari)

and

“The difference between our observance of fasting and that of the people of the Scriptures is the suhur.”  (Muslim)

Do yourself a favor- eat less, cook less, wake up early for a barakah-filled meal (and to feel less like a Jew) and you will not be plagued with hunger pangs throughout the day. Consequently, we will find ourselves eating the way Muslims should eat. Hopefully!