A recent loss of life, the son of a friend disturbed me to the pits. He was 28, had been suffering from depression and eventually couldn't deal with it anymore. I am reluctant even get into what happened but it was mighty disturbing and had me by the hooks mentally and emotionally for the last few days.
How can somebody be so fed up? How can somebody be ready to give up? How can somebody else not see it, avoid it, stop it?
I can't wonder what the family would be going through when I as a bystander am so disturbed. I look at my kids, what could ever lead them to such a situation? What can I do now and keep doing to not let it reach there? Psychological diseases are difficult tackle, its not something you can just cure with a few pills. There is more to it, and definitely requires more patience. If it prolongs for too long, then it just becomes a reality one has to make peace with. But then, in that situation you make peace with something which actually needs more attention and continuous close monitoring.
Just had to write this one out to get this out of my system. Pray for the departed soul and for the family. Difficult times, these are whether we look with the macro lens or the micro lens. Our society is headed towards the end, I keep feeling this. We have just got it all so wrong.
The Social Media De-Clutter Project (Update)
In April'15, I initiated the Social Media De-Clutter Project and found a lot of peace and suddenly, "extra time" to do things I could use to do things I want to do.
I have recently taken the next big lead and I have deleted by "Twitter" account also. I realized, after cleansing out Facebook from my life, the people who still wanted to keep in touch or I wanted to keep in touch with, found me on WhatsApp. So from Facebook to whatsapp, not really a de-clutter one would think but in my view, it still cuts out the noise. I can choose to leave groups if I want, etc. However, this meant I can stop "following" friends on Twitter.
Twitter then became my news reader and inspirational quotes system, I didn't mind that until I got back to using FlipBoard on my mobile (I just bought a Nexus 6). This has changed everything. I had quite using Flipboard for Zite and then Newsstand but since Flipboard has bought Zite and with that the key feature of "show me more of this and less of this", I think FlipBoard is the perfect aggregator in this day and age. I had no use for Twitter, this is out of my life.
I have deleted my accounts on technorati, stumbleupon, blip.fm.
I have a much cleaner system now. Here is where I am and I think I am going to stay here. What I have convinced myself though is that I don't need to be everywhere and I can get rid of whatever I want from my life with no strings attached. I feel empowered again.
I have recently taken the next big lead and I have deleted by "Twitter" account also. I realized, after cleansing out Facebook from my life, the people who still wanted to keep in touch or I wanted to keep in touch with, found me on WhatsApp. So from Facebook to whatsapp, not really a de-clutter one would think but in my view, it still cuts out the noise. I can choose to leave groups if I want, etc. However, this meant I can stop "following" friends on Twitter.
Twitter then became my news reader and inspirational quotes system, I didn't mind that until I got back to using FlipBoard on my mobile (I just bought a Nexus 6). This has changed everything. I had quite using Flipboard for Zite and then Newsstand but since Flipboard has bought Zite and with that the key feature of "show me more of this and less of this", I think FlipBoard is the perfect aggregator in this day and age. I had no use for Twitter, this is out of my life.
I have deleted my accounts on technorati, stumbleupon, blip.fm.
I have a much cleaner system now. Here is where I am and I think I am going to stay here. What I have convinced myself though is that I don't need to be everywhere and I can get rid of whatever I want from my life with no strings attached. I feel empowered again.
- LinkedIn for Professional Networking and Professional Social Media. The new mobile interface is amazing, I am very comfortable in this space and this one I am going to keep.
- Flipboard for all the news, updates, quotes (even twitter feeds, if I want) etc. Love the interface and the flip to the next update seems very intuitive. Having said that, the "show me more of this and less of this" works wonders as well. This is also a good place to create your "collections" as Magazines. I got three now, "UTP Learns Leadership" which contains all important articles I want to remind myself of as I am on that journey to learn leadership. "UTP Recommends Books" is a magazine of links to book recommendations, I am going to do more and more of book reading with all the extra time I have at my hand. "UTP's Pakistan" is a magazine which collects good things about Pakistan and inspiration for Pakistanis. I just wanted to have something like this. All 3 magazines are public.
- The UTP Blog for my random vomit of so called intellectual thought outburst. I need that outlet and instead of that being in a less than 150 word twitter message, I would rather blog to do justice to my thoughts. I am not here often but this blog is here to stay
- Facebook Pages - I got "UTP Mentors" which was something I wanted to move to LinkedIn but unable to as its not an official company. This is my corporate social responsibility initiative which attends to my Maslow's "Self-Actualization" part on the Hierarchy of Needs. Helping others with something I am good at. I am not good at a lot of things but I am good at mentoring people and learning more about human behavior and thought in the process. I got the "The UTP Page" which is an aggregator of all things UTP, I think this will go soon as I don't see a lot of value in this aggregator page. I also got "UTP's Journey of Faith" which is a religious page on things I learn from the Quran and just put it there. Not very active, but it is there for any updates that follow.
- Whatsapp for those close connections who want to keep in touch, truly speaking, I use it for family only. In groups of friends, I am a silent reader.
- Skype for family connection back home, basically mom and dad and siblings.
- I still have Google+, which will likely go. I think its only there so I don't have to create separate accounts for other websites. You need one openID to use everywhere, losing Facebook and Twitter, this one I will keep just for this purpose. The interface is much nicer in my view than a twitter or facebook also.
- My YouTube account still exists. I have been vaguely consdering Vlogging, lets see if I see a reason I need to get into that. I am a bit shy for the camera but I guess that should remain for any public appearances I do which are recorded and I want to share (public or family).
So I ask myself, have I really de-cluttered? All I have really done is get rid of 2 key components, Facebook and Twitter and replaced them with whatsapp and FlipBoard. I guess more relevant stuff and less intrusive. I am still connected to the world, but now its more like I feel in more control of what comes in my face and can decide when I want to interact or not.
Maa!
Ma, Maa, Mom, Mother.
For some reason, I was just missing Mom today. I was watching, "Wake up, Sid!", yes I am a big Ranbir Kapoor fan. That scene, where Sid (Ranbir) is taking pictures of his neighbour and her son and he forgets to click as he watches the mother-son love through the lens which he was obviously was missing with her mom, reminded me of you, Maa!
Its been so many years it seems. We used to be so close, with my Baba away travelling on his sea voyages for 6 months, back for 2 months and then back again, was I your best friend? But then, I wasn't even there. But for me, you were always there.
Walking me to school, driving me to school, ensuring I got on the school van, you were there. You were there when I was a little baby, when I grew up into a boy, teens and then a young man. You know all my secrets, you know all my school and university crushes. You supported me in my downs, you celebrated my successes.
But was I there for you? Have I been there for me? I know, I wasn't.
Even with my lovely wife, my 2 lovely daughters, you will always be my favorite woman in my life. I am not naturally somebody who expresses a lot, but I am learning to do this, my daughters need me to be. They need to be told how beautiful they are, how amazing they are and how lucky I am to have them. They need assurance from a man, who better to give this than their Baba. I have to be that person so they don't look for this somewhere else.
You are a woman, did you need assurance, support, recognition when Baba was away? Sorry, I didn't know. I was too young. Do you need this now?
I am sorry, I wasn't the perfect son. Did I grow up too soon? Did I move away too soon? Get married too soon? Were you done with me? I was just being selfish, just thinking about myself. I went away too soon to run my own family and I didn't look back. Of course I visit on and off but is that quality time with you? Is that enough?
My heaven is beneath your feet. My success of life and hereafter in your prayers. Please don't forget me ever OK? Always keep me in your prayers.
Maa! I love you. Alhumdulillah!
For some reason, I was just missing Mom today. I was watching, "Wake up, Sid!", yes I am a big Ranbir Kapoor fan. That scene, where Sid (Ranbir) is taking pictures of his neighbour and her son and he forgets to click as he watches the mother-son love through the lens which he was obviously was missing with her mom, reminded me of you, Maa!
Its been so many years it seems. We used to be so close, with my Baba away travelling on his sea voyages for 6 months, back for 2 months and then back again, was I your best friend? But then, I wasn't even there. But for me, you were always there.
Walking me to school, driving me to school, ensuring I got on the school van, you were there. You were there when I was a little baby, when I grew up into a boy, teens and then a young man. You know all my secrets, you know all my school and university crushes. You supported me in my downs, you celebrated my successes.
But was I there for you? Have I been there for me? I know, I wasn't.
Even with my lovely wife, my 2 lovely daughters, you will always be my favorite woman in my life. I am not naturally somebody who expresses a lot, but I am learning to do this, my daughters need me to be. They need to be told how beautiful they are, how amazing they are and how lucky I am to have them. They need assurance from a man, who better to give this than their Baba. I have to be that person so they don't look for this somewhere else.
You are a woman, did you need assurance, support, recognition when Baba was away? Sorry, I didn't know. I was too young. Do you need this now?
I am sorry, I wasn't the perfect son. Did I grow up too soon? Did I move away too soon? Get married too soon? Were you done with me? I was just being selfish, just thinking about myself. I went away too soon to run my own family and I didn't look back. Of course I visit on and off but is that quality time with you? Is that enough?
My heaven is beneath your feet. My success of life and hereafter in your prayers. Please don't forget me ever OK? Always keep me in your prayers.
Maa! I love you. Alhumdulillah!
The Deathly Hallows
No pun intended with the title, Harry Potter fans. The inspiration for this post is a question that popped up somewhere, I can't remember now if it was a movie I was watching, a book I was reading or a podcast I was listening to.
What if life is a dream and death wakes us up?One can find inspiration in the oddest of places. A question of the above sort can do something similar but more from a "reflection" perspective and this question did make me think.
Religiously speaking or not and whether you believe in the day of judgement, life after death or not, think of the what if? You can deny a whole pile of Holy revelations and still stick to the theory that this life is pretty much it. Make of it what you can, how you can and then that's it, you are done.
On the other hand, think possibilities, what if it is not the end. What if this whole thing going around us, is a dream, a virtual reality or whatever you want to call, but something that is not real. Ever woken up with a sudden jolt, realizing, that what you were experiencing just before you woke up, wasn't real. What if life was exactly that?
All the effort we are spending here trying to make the best of life, would be in vain at the end. What have we done for life after death, which begins when we wake up from this life? Death is the only real truth and as that has come to every single human being ever born and will come to every human being that is alive or is yet to be born. Everybody will die. Just on that belief, there has to be more to come after death, a lot more as its a universal fact.
This world is cruel, unfair, unjust. Where the good path is more difficult to follow, the evil route easier. The evil ways result in prosperity in this world vs. the good path, which doesn't give that good a return on investment compared to the wrong ways. How can this be fair? There has to be a place where the equation is more fair. Where good gets good and bad gets bad. Right?
This just has to be a dream, good or bad, but this has to be just a dream. Death will wake us up, are you ready? Are you prepared?
Zahid ka Hasil-e-Eeman
Zahid is a common term used in many qawwali's, Urdu poetry and generally in the concept of bringing the "devotee" to religion, to love, to divine, in general the good guy. This usually when the poet calls himself the sinner, the bad guy in comparison.
A famous piece of poetry which Abida Parveen has sung from Raqs-e-Bismil goes something like...
"Zahid nay mera Hasil-e-Eeman nahi dekha... rukh par teri zulfon ko pareshan nahi dekha..."
Zahid hasn't seen the result of my faith, he hasn't seen how the confusion of the hair on your face. Indicating, that confusion, because of me itself is an achievement to my life of faith. The set of poetry that follows is further elaboration but that's not the point of my post.
On 3rd July, my cousin, Zahid Suleman Memon, was mugged. He resisted and the robbers shot him dead. He was the 3rd of 4 sons for my Khala (aunt). He was just 1 year out of Indus Valley School of Arts and was a budding Architect. He was a cyclist as well and generally a optimistic person. Most people in their social media tributes remembered him as somebody who was always smiling.
When I visited Pakistan this Eid, we visited Khala. The family was there and we tried to remember Zahid trying to help find closure for everybody involved. Needless to say, it was a difficult situation for everybody, shocking for me, devastating for the brothers, mother and father. Everybody trying to find peace in one way or another, a truly unfortunate incident which all of us will remember for times to come. At each happy and sad moment, we will remember Zahid.
I am a strong believer in everything happens for a reason. Everybody has a purpose in this life. When that purpose is served, he goes. During the time since I heard the news and all that has followed since then and as I sit here, writing this post, I was trying to find what purpose did Zahid's unfortunate passing away serve. I thought of naming this post, Zahid ka Hasil-e-Eemaan (Zahid's result of his Faith).
So what did Zahid's unforeseen death achieve?
My Khala summarized it well, treasure every moment. If you want to say I love you to somebody, don't wait till tomorrow, say it. If you have hurt somebody and you realize, don't wait till tomorrow to say sorry. Make up with family friends for life is too short and it surprises you.
My grandma used to say, "Samaan hay sau baras ka, pal kee khabar nahi" (We are collecting things we need for 100 years when we are not aware of what will happen the next second). So true is that. Zahid's death has made my brother realize priorities. He graduated in the same batch as Zahid, they were close. For me, I see both of them standing next to each other, it could have easily been him. But it was Zahid. I think my brother is talking like a different person since the event. He surely has re-thought his priorities in life, may Allah help him.
For me, I totally was shell-shocked when I heard it. I didn't know how to react. I didn't know what to say. I didn't know how to console, condole. I didn't know how to deal with it myself. I had to write something to find some closure. But an after-thought has made me realize, that I need to value the truly important things in life. Its natural to become materialistic in this material world. I am guilty of the same. Zahid's Hasil-e-Eeman for me is helping make me realize, there are more important things in life that I should prioritize first. There are lots of things that can go down in importance. Things which give me stress, make me forget and take me away from reality.
Such is the state of affairs. Death is the only truth, some go early, some go late. But all go. This all will end. Maybe soon, maybe later but it is inevitable. Why not spend time on something that is more worthwhile. Who knows, if tomorrow comes or not? What if tomorrow is worse than today? What if today is all there is?
In the daily rut of life, we forget. We take health, life for granted. When in reality, nothing is for granted. This is something that we have borrowed, we will need to return. We should make good use of life. The best use of life is to live for others. Zahid displayed this well. May Allah grant him the highest positions in Jannah, may Allah give his close family members, us, patience to deal with this sad reality. Aameen.
A famous piece of poetry which Abida Parveen has sung from Raqs-e-Bismil goes something like...
"Zahid nay mera Hasil-e-Eeman nahi dekha... rukh par teri zulfon ko pareshan nahi dekha..."
Zahid hasn't seen the result of my faith, he hasn't seen how the confusion of the hair on your face. Indicating, that confusion, because of me itself is an achievement to my life of faith. The set of poetry that follows is further elaboration but that's not the point of my post.
On 3rd July, my cousin, Zahid Suleman Memon, was mugged. He resisted and the robbers shot him dead. He was the 3rd of 4 sons for my Khala (aunt). He was just 1 year out of Indus Valley School of Arts and was a budding Architect. He was a cyclist as well and generally a optimistic person. Most people in their social media tributes remembered him as somebody who was always smiling.
When I visited Pakistan this Eid, we visited Khala. The family was there and we tried to remember Zahid trying to help find closure for everybody involved. Needless to say, it was a difficult situation for everybody, shocking for me, devastating for the brothers, mother and father. Everybody trying to find peace in one way or another, a truly unfortunate incident which all of us will remember for times to come. At each happy and sad moment, we will remember Zahid.
I am a strong believer in everything happens for a reason. Everybody has a purpose in this life. When that purpose is served, he goes. During the time since I heard the news and all that has followed since then and as I sit here, writing this post, I was trying to find what purpose did Zahid's unfortunate passing away serve. I thought of naming this post, Zahid ka Hasil-e-Eemaan (Zahid's result of his Faith).
So what did Zahid's unforeseen death achieve?
My Khala summarized it well, treasure every moment. If you want to say I love you to somebody, don't wait till tomorrow, say it. If you have hurt somebody and you realize, don't wait till tomorrow to say sorry. Make up with family friends for life is too short and it surprises you.
My grandma used to say, "Samaan hay sau baras ka, pal kee khabar nahi" (We are collecting things we need for 100 years when we are not aware of what will happen the next second). So true is that. Zahid's death has made my brother realize priorities. He graduated in the same batch as Zahid, they were close. For me, I see both of them standing next to each other, it could have easily been him. But it was Zahid. I think my brother is talking like a different person since the event. He surely has re-thought his priorities in life, may Allah help him.
For me, I totally was shell-shocked when I heard it. I didn't know how to react. I didn't know what to say. I didn't know how to console, condole. I didn't know how to deal with it myself. I had to write something to find some closure. But an after-thought has made me realize, that I need to value the truly important things in life. Its natural to become materialistic in this material world. I am guilty of the same. Zahid's Hasil-e-Eeman for me is helping make me realize, there are more important things in life that I should prioritize first. There are lots of things that can go down in importance. Things which give me stress, make me forget and take me away from reality.
Such is the state of affairs. Death is the only truth, some go early, some go late. But all go. This all will end. Maybe soon, maybe later but it is inevitable. Why not spend time on something that is more worthwhile. Who knows, if tomorrow comes or not? What if tomorrow is worse than today? What if today is all there is?
In the daily rut of life, we forget. We take health, life for granted. When in reality, nothing is for granted. This is something that we have borrowed, we will need to return. We should make good use of life. The best use of life is to live for others. Zahid displayed this well. May Allah grant him the highest positions in Jannah, may Allah give his close family members, us, patience to deal with this sad reality. Aameen.
Infinity - The Spiritual Dimension Explained
When I was at university, studying computer science, we had to get
into an advanced mathematics course where we studied the concept of
differentiation and integration. Within all that, I didn't realize at the time
but we were taught an interesting topic of infinity and minimizing and
maximizing the limit around infinity.
One of my greatest mentors, a doctorate in Mathematics, and the
director of the university at the time, had said something that has stuck in my
mind. He said Mathematics is the only language that can explain the most
complicated of philosophical theories. It seemed bookish at the time but I
think he may have been right all along.
In a chain of thoughts around trying to understand the spiritual
dimension, the topics got connected a bit. In my days at university, we were
trying to explain the concept of infinity. We tried to set a limit to it, we
tried to multiply infinity with infinity or any number with infinity. We tried
to add numbers to infinity, infinity to infinity. The results of all those
equations was infinity. We tried to divide infinity with infinity, the result
was not 1, it was infinity. Sometimes breaking all the rules, sometimes making
new rules. Infinity though explained in some way was never really explained.
I think infinity is something that is not to be explained. There
has to be something unknown to leave this world as is, unexplained. Even after
making the greatest discovery ever, there will be something remaining that will
be unexplained, infinity. If the beginning or end of something is not known,
the human mind cannot explain it as it doesn't know where to start and where to
end. Its something like if you wake up in the middle of nowhere, lets say
middle of an ocean. All views 360 degrees being exactly the same, no indications
to tell you which direction to move into, you will not know where to go. This
reminds of the Matrix movie again where Neo goes into the Matrix for the first
time and while the program is being loaded, both Neo and Morpheus are standing
in the void, the white. Try to look at the world you are in this way. You are
nothing but this minuscule being in the infinity.
The mathematical concept of trying to explain infinity went into
defining dimensions. If the concept was not confusing enough already, you
started layering this realm of infinity into some layers, or dimensions just to
hope to find some explanation. Its totally crazy to imagine or even expect to
layer through layers and dimensions and expect to find something that explains
the whole concept which just to remind you has no boundaries, no center. It
wasn't meant to be. All those studies led to was a more confusing mathematics
course but I wouldn't want to take credit away from the great mathematicians
who delved into it and gave an attempt at least.
Lets take this all into the spiritual dimension and you can draw a
lot of parallels. Replace "infinity" with the One. You may call the
One by different names depending on where you come from but there is a concept
of Divinity that exists. That is the answer of all questions but not known. If
that were known, nothing would remain unknown. As that is not known, even the
known things aren't truly known.
The frustrating thing about exploring and discovery is that once
something is discovered, the next discovery is built up from it. No area of
exploration can be deemed complete as there is always something more to go
further into. That is how infinity is. There is no end, known.
I am confident there is an end though, even though not known yet.
The human thirst for knowledge will be eventually quenched, the limit will be
reached. If you have seen the movie, the Truman Show, that moment
where Truman hits the boat to end. That's what I am talking about.The infinity
will be fenced. This is when the deprived soul will meet with the One. The soul
searches, longs for connection to the Divine soul with which it was once
connected and then parted. They talk about soul-mates, I am talking about the
Ultimate Soul-mate. All else around, this world or another, will be of no value
as the true purpose of the search is to find the end, the goal. The exploration
mission in the quest for finding the eventual end of infinity is nothing
different than finding The One.
The blatant truth however is that its not us who are within
infinity. Its the infinity that is within us. Its not just the soul that wants
to connect with the Ultimate, its also the other way around. Search within to
find the end. Search within to find the limit. Search within to find Him.
The Social Media De-Clutter Project
After getting into the rut like everybody else into creating social media profiles all over the place, recently I have got into cutting this back at bit. What I realized was that over a period of time, what has resulted in all that was me glaring in front of a screen (mobile, tablet or laptop) and let content be thrown on to me by all the various social media sites. Without actively searching for content I wanted to read at a particular time, this was just such a waste of my energy and time.
I got to so many profiles that it was impossible to make use of this in the 24-hour day. See the "About me" section and "Follow Me" link for all profiles.
I have personally initiated a declutter project since last year. Here is how it went and where I am.
I have deleted by Facebook Profile. Yes, its true. facebook.com/umarpirzada is no longer. It was pretty easy. I took a backup, I don't know why but probably that's linked to withdrawal symptoms. Then I converted it to a Facebook page and then I set up the page for deletion. This is called burning the boats. In a 14 days time (now only 7 left) the page gets deleted and end of story.
It is a long way to go as I still have accounts on Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn etc. I got facebook pages, blogs also.
So, I sat down and mindmapped my thoughts on how I use the various Social Media platforms today. Here is what I got.
Next I started reviewing, if I wanted to continue doing with what I did i.e. if the objectives remain the same. They did. So next I started re-arranging and connecting my objectives to the tools with the objective being to reduce the tools.
Facebook Profile went off as I am going to use Google+ for it. People who want to connect with me can connect via Google+ and I will do the same. Moreover, the closer friends, I am connected via whatsapp for more instant messaging. For connecting with Family, again, I got whatsapp.
I have rationalized my Twitter account usage also meaning, unfollowing accounts whose feeds I am not interested in. Considering, I am going to stay connected with friends through Google+ and with family via Hangouts or Skype, I don't need to follow them on Twitter. Moreover, I am going to get back to using Flipboard a lot more, I don't know why I stopped. This means realistically, I can set up topics to cover all my news updates, what do I need Twitter for then. Yeah, I have narrowed it down to use Twitter only for getting my opinion across.
For professional networking, I am going to keep it separate from everything else and use LinkedIn.
For getting my opinion across, I will use Twitter, Blogger and my UTP Facebook Page. The latter is also a consolidation of everything I publish. While not perfect yet, but I think I should be able to get some time out and bring more structure to using the various social media platforms. Using less of Twitter & Facebook for mindless feed updates, I have made the first move to Flipboard.
Here is how my desired mindmap looks now. Lets see how I progress.
I got to so many profiles that it was impossible to make use of this in the 24-hour day. See the "About me" section and "Follow Me" link for all profiles.
I have personally initiated a declutter project since last year. Here is how it went and where I am.
I have deleted by Facebook Profile. Yes, its true. facebook.com/umarpirzada is no longer. It was pretty easy. I took a backup, I don't know why but probably that's linked to withdrawal symptoms. Then I converted it to a Facebook page and then I set up the page for deletion. This is called burning the boats. In a 14 days time (now only 7 left) the page gets deleted and end of story.
It is a long way to go as I still have accounts on Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn etc. I got facebook pages, blogs also.
So, I sat down and mindmapped my thoughts on how I use the various Social Media platforms today. Here is what I got.
Next I started reviewing, if I wanted to continue doing with what I did i.e. if the objectives remain the same. They did. So next I started re-arranging and connecting my objectives to the tools with the objective being to reduce the tools.
Facebook Profile went off as I am going to use Google+ for it. People who want to connect with me can connect via Google+ and I will do the same. Moreover, the closer friends, I am connected via whatsapp for more instant messaging. For connecting with Family, again, I got whatsapp.
I have rationalized my Twitter account usage also meaning, unfollowing accounts whose feeds I am not interested in. Considering, I am going to stay connected with friends through Google+ and with family via Hangouts or Skype, I don't need to follow them on Twitter. Moreover, I am going to get back to using Flipboard a lot more, I don't know why I stopped. This means realistically, I can set up topics to cover all my news updates, what do I need Twitter for then. Yeah, I have narrowed it down to use Twitter only for getting my opinion across.
For professional networking, I am going to keep it separate from everything else and use LinkedIn.
For getting my opinion across, I will use Twitter, Blogger and my UTP Facebook Page. The latter is also a consolidation of everything I publish. While not perfect yet, but I think I should be able to get some time out and bring more structure to using the various social media platforms. Using less of Twitter & Facebook for mindless feed updates, I have made the first move to Flipboard.
Here is how my desired mindmap looks now. Lets see how I progress.
Improving your Prayers (Khushu in Salaat)
The Prophet PBUH said: When a slave stands and prays, all his sins are brought and placed on his head and shoulders. Every time he bows or prostrates, some of them fall from him.” (Bayhaqi, Saheeh al-Jami’)
So from now on when you stand up to pray, imagine all your sins being placed on your head and shoulders and when you go on Rukuu and Sujoud, stay longer to lose as many as you can and picture them falling down and away from you. Understand the purpose of praying… this will help you concentrate …..
When you go to the position of Rukuu, feel and tell Allah with your heart that you will never kneel to anyone but him and picture those sins falling down.
And when you say "Sami'Allahu liman hamidah" (Allah hears who thanks Him) and you say "Rabbana walakal Hamd" (Thanks to you my Lord) you are thanking Him for honoring you and making you stand straight not like the other creatures who walk on four with their back bent. Thank Him for making you able to move and pray.
When you go to the first Sajdah (you put your head down on the floor) you are representing the earth which you came from and when you get up after the first Sajdah you are representing the first time He created you from the earth.
When you go on the second Sajdah again on the ground, you are representing when you die and you go back to the ground and when you get up the second time you are representing the second time when Allah brings you back from the dead on the Day of Judgment, therefore, concentrate with every movement and feel it.
Make a lot of du'aa in Sujoud and remember du'aa is ibadah and Allah loves those who ask Him…ask Him and beg Him… complain to Him… you are better off complaining to Him than to humans….He will never betray you, He will never let you down, He will never look down on you and He is the only one who can answer your needs with your head held high.
Do you know the reason you say "Allahu Akbar" (Allah is greater) every time you move in a prayer?
It’s a reminder that Allah is greater than anything you might be thinking about from this world. So be honest when you say "Allahu Akbar" and remember He is greater than anything that is occupying your mind while you pray.
Do you know when you stand up to pray and say "Allahu Akbar", Allah stands before you and the minute your mind goes wondering on silly things in this life, Allah turns His face away from you and says (Is there something better than me taking you away from me?)
How lucky are we to have Allah meet us and stand before us 5 times a day, to listen to us and to our problems and to grant us our wishes and forgives us for our sins every day. You say "Allahu Akbar and He is there, you don’t need to stand in front of His door for hours or take an appointment or meet a mediator or a secretary, how generous is He?
(Source - Mahjabeen Umar)
Nobody hits harder than LIFE, Will you get up and Fight Back?
For those who have been following my blog or know me a bit closer than usual, would know how big an inspiration the Rocky movies have been in my life. I have written about this before, but it is a topic which I wanted to write again on today.
I never watched the Rocky movies as merely boxing movies, I easily correlated them with life. The struggle of the man, from absolute pits to the great heights of fame and success. Family and peer support all the way. He wasn't perfect and not made for boxing other than the fact that he had a big heart, and was a fighter and had amazing level of willpower to never give up. Strengthen what he already had and use the skills to his advantage to cover his weaknesses. Adjusting as he went along to that next opponent. Rocky Balbao is an inspiration.
While I have loved the dialogues throughout, Rocky's fear stands out and then obviously the summary of pretty much the whole series captured in this lovely picture above also. "You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life", the natural question that follows is what you do after that? Will you stay down and let the count down from 10 to 1 to happen and hence be labeled knocked out, lost, defeated? Or would you find your knees, your feet and find a way to stand up to fight, that one more round? Its not about hitting hard in this life, it is more about getting hit hard and being able to find the strength and courage to stand up again after a hard blow and continuing on to fight.
Nobody can really beat life other than death but in the midst of it all, a life is well lived if you have fought all the way through, not giving up, not being defeated. Why just survive it, why not go on and live it? You can't beat it but that doesn't mean you can be defeated either?
So get up, don't throw in the towel yet. Go for one more round. Push yourself. Pull yourself up. Get your act together. You can be the best of your own self. Nobody else can be that, its your throne to take. Promise me, you will never give up, not on yourself, not on others. Promise me.
Left or Right? Which hand does the Watch go on?
When I was gifted my first watch, I was told I should wear it on the left hand, as that is where the watch is worn. It was a proud day at school. I have vague memories of that watch, a small square shaped watch, with a digital display showing just the time.
I saw my best friend getting a Casio watch which could show the date, had a red light to see it in the dark, and also looked so cool in digital display. He wore it on the right hand.
Another friend of mine got the next version which could power on or off the television. Woah! That was cool, he was such a prankster too. When we would watch educational television at school, he would sneak in power off causing stress for the teachers. He wore it on the right hand.
So when I got my improved version of the watch, which was a small dial watch, I decided I am going to wear it on the right hand as well. All through school, I wore my watch on the right hand. However, when I grew up, it almost seemed kiddish to wear it on the right as all the big kids and adults, I noticed wore their watches on the left.
So confused again, my improved watch, now more adult-like, Casio digital watch with dual time, 20 world time zones, a stop watch,a timer and 5 alarms went on the left hand. This continued until I started seeing some people, adults wearing them on the right hand.
I felt really confused, and decided to explore in a more scientific way the reasons of the choice of hand to put that watch on. I realized, in some cases it was to do with the handed-ness of the person. If somebody was left-handed, it was likely they wore it on the less used hand. If somebody was right-handed, they would likely wear it on the left. The idea being, the watch is something that is to be kept in the background and only called in to tell the time and then move back in the background, better placed on the secondary hand.
Obviously, there are people who consider checking the time more often than others and hence decide that they want it on their primary hand. So logic reversed, lefties wearing it on the left and righties wearing it on the right.
I noticed most ladies with fancy watches wear it on the left, its more of a jewelry item. However, ladies who are into sports and fitness, have been seen wearing it on the right also in my observation. I haven't seen a direct correlation of handed-ness to watches when it comes to women.
In the professional environment, fancy watches are something that need to be shown. Hence, I have seen people with expensive branded watches wearing it on the right hand as that is the hand used for the handshake which causes the sleeve to slightly go up as the arm extends, bringing out that shiny watch that you paid good money for. Believe it or not, that is a reason why you will see expensive watches being worn on the right hand more often than not when it comes to men.
While the trend is changing, but size of the dial is also something that matters. Women prefer smaller dials and men larger ones, some as big as clocks. The bigger the dial, the more likely it is worn on the secondary hand unless of course the expensive watch rule applies when it will be found on the right hand more often.
With the advent and popularity of smart phones, many people have ditched the watch altogether. The phone pretty much serves the purpose and the phone is checked in every little while anyway. On the other hand, the wearable device concept has given rise to the smart-watch which has now moved into the space of health and fitness tracking, star trek like voice commands, small micro cameras, etc.
After moving through the trends in watches, never buying a really expensive one to date, I am finally going to put out that big buck to get a slightly expensive watch by my standards but then it has to be a smart watch. After lots of thought, I am going for the the Motorola Moto 360 which I should be getting within this month. The best part I like about it is that it is a watch first and then a smart device so it looks nice. Secondly, I can change dials to get whichever I want which it gives it a long life, I wont get bored of it. Thirdly, this is the best way to explore Android Wear as it continues to evolve. I will be part of that revolution.
However, when it comes to the watch-hand, I have found the best possible logic and decided that it is going to be my right hand. The logic is driven by prayers where the right hand goes on top of the left hand. Wearing the watch on the left, causes this situation to be a little inappropriate hence keeping it on the right is the way forward for me.
So there you have it. My observational research on the choice of watch-hand. Which hand do you have your watch on, if you wear one?
Consumerism - More Choice, More Consumers
Last weekend, we went grocery shopping. Yes that is an event which may be mundane for most, its not so for us. Its "calendarized", which means its put in a calendar like any event or meeting if you can't find the word in the dictionary, they call it calendared, I think but anyway.
There are 2 methods we go grocery. We either follow a list, #MyWay or we follow the aisles, #Highway. The latter is basically, you go in and be led by how the store was designed. You follow the signboards, smells, paths, corridors on how the psychological experts in the respective grocery store chain designers set the aisles after having studied human behavior and applied all the operations research theories potentially applicable.
Deep-rooted somewhere in there is the aspect of consumerism as based on how where do consumers spend the most time, how are they likely to buy more is what is shown to the big companies who then pay for those premium shelves and locations. All this is obviously confirmed by their own experts.
The problem I have with consumerism is the choices they now give us in the name of product diversification. I wanted to buy some shampoo. If I was going to do this around 15 years or so back, I would go and pick up the brand I like and be done with it. Now, there are choices within the choice. Why there are many brands to choose from was already an issue, now we have types of shampoo to choose from under the brand you selected? What next? From the type of shampoo, you select, you choose whether you want it or not after all? Time will tell where the next level of consumerism goes.
For now, I see the shelf and there is for silky hair, for scalp moisturizing, for itchy scalp, for classic clean, for refreshing for etc etc. I forgot, the next new thing is "for men". Just so we men, don't feel like we are using feminine products. Using a shampoo was not a fad for anybody not many years back. Soap was sufficient. Then it became a fad for women as they had long hair. Then men started keeping long hair and shampoos were used by them, secretively of course. Then women started cutting their hair short, some even going bald for fashion sake. How this all evolves and how they keep selling stuff to us.
My dad still uses just soap for his hair, no shampoo and he does just fine. He has better hair than many people who use shampoo. Just stupid consumerism as I see it.
Then I had to buy toothpaste. When I found the brand I wanted, I see, the gel version or the not-so-gel version. I never used a powder but that is an option too. Then there is a mouth rinse. The whitening version, the regular version, the tartar cleaning version, the fresh breath version and of course the one for sensitive teeth, the one for sensitive gums, oh come on.
I guess, more choice means more consumers. Selling shampoo to men, selling razors to women. Selling moisturizing creme to both. Selling water, flavoured water. Selling popcorn, butter flavoured, cheese flavoured, nacho flavoured, popcorn flavoured?
Even Panadol has version of their product. One for headache, one for flu like symptoms, one for ALL, one for something that is easy on the stomach, one for muscle pain. Oh God!!
It used to be so simple. Here is a quote from me for that,
What has the world come to, what is going to get to if we continue this way? This bubble has to burst. We are just kept so busy in these worldly choices that we are too tired to make decisions where they should really count. Who cares about the real problems this world is facing? Maybe we care but we don't do anything about it, we are wasting too much energy on helping this world run, which we hate in the first place. Instead, we should fight this and release our energies for the better good.
There are 2 methods we go grocery. We either follow a list, #MyWay or we follow the aisles, #Highway. The latter is basically, you go in and be led by how the store was designed. You follow the signboards, smells, paths, corridors on how the psychological experts in the respective grocery store chain designers set the aisles after having studied human behavior and applied all the operations research theories potentially applicable.
Deep-rooted somewhere in there is the aspect of consumerism as based on how where do consumers spend the most time, how are they likely to buy more is what is shown to the big companies who then pay for those premium shelves and locations. All this is obviously confirmed by their own experts.
The problem I have with consumerism is the choices they now give us in the name of product diversification. I wanted to buy some shampoo. If I was going to do this around 15 years or so back, I would go and pick up the brand I like and be done with it. Now, there are choices within the choice. Why there are many brands to choose from was already an issue, now we have types of shampoo to choose from under the brand you selected? What next? From the type of shampoo, you select, you choose whether you want it or not after all? Time will tell where the next level of consumerism goes.
For now, I see the shelf and there is for silky hair, for scalp moisturizing, for itchy scalp, for classic clean, for refreshing for etc etc. I forgot, the next new thing is "for men". Just so we men, don't feel like we are using feminine products. Using a shampoo was not a fad for anybody not many years back. Soap was sufficient. Then it became a fad for women as they had long hair. Then men started keeping long hair and shampoos were used by them, secretively of course. Then women started cutting their hair short, some even going bald for fashion sake. How this all evolves and how they keep selling stuff to us.
My dad still uses just soap for his hair, no shampoo and he does just fine. He has better hair than many people who use shampoo. Just stupid consumerism as I see it.
Then I had to buy toothpaste. When I found the brand I wanted, I see, the gel version or the not-so-gel version. I never used a powder but that is an option too. Then there is a mouth rinse. The whitening version, the regular version, the tartar cleaning version, the fresh breath version and of course the one for sensitive teeth, the one for sensitive gums, oh come on.
I guess, more choice means more consumers. Selling shampoo to men, selling razors to women. Selling moisturizing creme to both. Selling water, flavoured water. Selling popcorn, butter flavoured, cheese flavoured, nacho flavoured, popcorn flavoured?
Even Panadol has version of their product. One for headache, one for flu like symptoms, one for ALL, one for something that is easy on the stomach, one for muscle pain. Oh God!!
It used to be so simple. Here is a quote from me for that,
"Once we start complicating the simpler things in life, we wouldn't have enough time for dealing with the complicated things around us."
What has the world come to, what is going to get to if we continue this way? This bubble has to burst. We are just kept so busy in these worldly choices that we are too tired to make decisions where they should really count. Who cares about the real problems this world is facing? Maybe we care but we don't do anything about it, we are wasting too much energy on helping this world run, which we hate in the first place. Instead, we should fight this and release our energies for the better good.
Facebook killed my blog, NOT!
I started blogging in 2006. Facebook / Twitter hadn't become the fad yet. Having a natural craving for the spotlight, this was a good way to get my thoughts out and see what others felt about it. I made new friends in the blogosphere as I read their blogs and they returned the favour by tracking back, visiting. It was all good.
If I were a regular blogger as much as I would have liked since then, I wouldn't have needed my day job. At least that's how I see it now. Unfortunately, I am not. It is a graph of ups and downs, long hibernation periods with life taking over at times and now recently as I look at it, its the advent of social media and so called micro-blogging via Twitter and Facebook that has killed my blog.
I went to reflect on this a little bit and realized the true reason I blogged was an idea that crept into my mind and then I wanted to think it through. I think better when I write about it and that's that. Yes, there was a social spotlight craving in there somewhere, but the generation of content was very much exactly that. When you get into blogging, there is a set limit of words that builds up in your mind to make a decent blog post. This is not the case with micro-blogging. You fit the idea in 140 words or in any case, it would be small update to either of Social Media tycoon websites. So the idea of sitting down and jotting thoughts and producing a blog post is simply said, too time-consuming.
That's why I say, Facebook killed my blog. Having said that, I am not giving up here. I enjoy writing. I am not as good as the greatest bloggers or journalists around. I have not been trained to do this. English is not my mother tongue. But I like writing. Hence, I will continue. In short bursts at times, more regular at other times. The size of my posts will shorten at times, it will be longer at times. I don't care. I am just going to write until I feel satisfied.
Its my blog page after all. I can ramble all I want. Facebook, you can go and have a billion users, you can let me have my FB pages but, you will not kill my blog. I will survive.
If I were a regular blogger as much as I would have liked since then, I wouldn't have needed my day job. At least that's how I see it now. Unfortunately, I am not. It is a graph of ups and downs, long hibernation periods with life taking over at times and now recently as I look at it, its the advent of social media and so called micro-blogging via Twitter and Facebook that has killed my blog.
I went to reflect on this a little bit and realized the true reason I blogged was an idea that crept into my mind and then I wanted to think it through. I think better when I write about it and that's that. Yes, there was a social spotlight craving in there somewhere, but the generation of content was very much exactly that. When you get into blogging, there is a set limit of words that builds up in your mind to make a decent blog post. This is not the case with micro-blogging. You fit the idea in 140 words or in any case, it would be small update to either of Social Media tycoon websites. So the idea of sitting down and jotting thoughts and producing a blog post is simply said, too time-consuming.
That's why I say, Facebook killed my blog. Having said that, I am not giving up here. I enjoy writing. I am not as good as the greatest bloggers or journalists around. I have not been trained to do this. English is not my mother tongue. But I like writing. Hence, I will continue. In short bursts at times, more regular at other times. The size of my posts will shorten at times, it will be longer at times. I don't care. I am just going to write until I feel satisfied.
Its my blog page after all. I can ramble all I want. Facebook, you can go and have a billion users, you can let me have my FB pages but, you will not kill my blog. I will survive.
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