A Friend In Need Is A Friend Indeed!

A timeless proverb as a heading I thought would be apt for this. I have some amazing friends in my life.. A few of them are maybe far better friends to me than I am to them. Well, you can't be the closest of buddies with everyone who comes across. But it’s important always to have a close friend or two that you can always count on. I personally have a couple of such wonderful mates but not everyone is as lucky as I am.. So how did I get so blessed with these must-have-pals? I guess by being picky about who I give my time to. Yup, I'm quite picky.

All of this friend talk got me thinking about what it means to be a true friend.. The ultimate type has to be a friend whom you’ll grow old with and share “Hey remember the time when…” stories.. He’s a friend you can call at 3 a.m. with a crisis and know they’ll pass up sleep to be there in your time of need. Am I a 3 a.m. friend? Maybe.

There are several types of friends I guess. The friend you can always count on for a good time, the friend who pops in and out of your life and catches up once or twice a year, the friend who uses you as his personal psychiatrist and then we always have an ultimate friend on whom you can count on in life or death situations and who you know always has your back no matter what. So what kind of friend am I? I don’t know. Tailor-made friend? A friend for all occasions? Maybe..

Let’s talk about the friend we all should be to everyone and have at least one in return. This friend is there when you need him and your conversations are an actual exchange—he asks you how you are and you reciprocate the interest in his life. Even when life gets busy, you somehow make room for each other. Distance may separate you, but you always make phone time for each other and hopefully the occasional trip. He truly cares about your feelings and your hopes and dreams and he’ll ask you about them and keep you accountable. When you haven’t talked for a while, you pick up like you never missed a beat. With this friend you share laughter, tears, joys, and sorrows. He knows you and you know him. There are few secrets between you. This is the friend that you call at three a.m. when you face a crisis or when your car breaks down.. This is the friend you can count on till you breathe your last.

Is that the kind of friend one needs? Yes. Everyone does. Am I a friend like that to someone yet? Maybe or maybe not. Time will tell. Cheers..

The Mid-20s Crisis

Sandstorms are galore in Riyadh these days. A single day brings heat, rain, hailstorms, cool winds and the sandstorms. Weird weather conditions of late in the desert. Welcome to global warming! Elsewhere in the world, the ice caps/ice bergs/ice somethings are melting away. That results in a week that rivals the monsoon weather of Bangalore! Rain almost everyday, the citizens of Riyadh had a wonderful time. Until of course the sun started showing everyone who the real boss is around here.

Volcanic eruptions are taking place not only in Iceland, but in my head too! Letting off steam through a blog helps. It's been a while since I wrote on my blog. I was occupied with things happening around. I love blogging but often I sit and wonder what to write about. Writing is easy. Thinking is not! Or maybe it is the vice-versa. I don't know. I mean I started writing this hours ago and still the progress made is 2 paragraphs only. There are times when everyone suffers from the brain being on snooze mode. Mine is on sleep mode.

This month was very interesting in lot of ways. Realization, acceptance, frustration and all the adjectives that could describe a mix bag of things that happen to a person. I'm in the mid-twenties crisis (if something like this ever exists!) I guess. The pressures and responsibilities are starting to weigh. Need for delivering is the priority now. I'm being so vague right now that I'm starting to make no sense to myself! A confused soul trapped in expectations of oneself..

There are also times when we wonder what is it that we're after in life? Doing things perfectly the way you're supposed to and all that. Is this it? Pretty mechanical but that's the norm whether we like it or not. Seldom does one do what he/she wants to really do. Its not just about the perfect job, education and everything else that everybody does always. What about the dreams that one envisions of? How quickly our lofty goals and aims in life change to mere modified plans that serves the purpose. I'm yet to find out what I want. And when I do, then what? Will I pursue it? 10 years down the line I'll know my answer.. I hope I don't look back with a regret but rather with a sense of accomplishment. More importantly, a sense of satisfaction. But is it that easy? Time alone will tell..

Mistakes and bad judgement is part of life. I had my share of mistakes too. Correcting them is important. Repeating them is stupidity. To err is human. But to err again is monkey! A zoo example, but you get the picture.

But in the end, life is all about taking chances and believing in something irrespective of what people think.. It's also about being content and happy with what you have. There is a fine difference between the two. Go figure.. I shall do the same.. Cheers.

Terrorism, Redefined.

By Imam Mahdi Bray (http://mahdibray.net/)

WASHINGTON, DC (MASNET) Feb. 20, 2010 - When nearly 200 Internal Revenue Service workers in Austin, Texas reported for work last Thursday, most of them were probably not expecting the experience of being attacked by an airplane that intentionally crashed into their workplace. But that is exactly what happened when Joseph Stack, a mild-mannered and seemingly innocuous engineer, piloted his Cessna aircraft and, in apparent rage, flew it into the downtown office building that housed the IRS office in the city-after setting his own house afire and writing a rambling screed condemning that most American of organizations.

By God's grace, only two persons, including Stack, were killed in the attack, while several others were critically injured. But what is interesting about the media characterizations of the incident is the absence of the word "terrorism" in describing the action.

We are left to wonder: what is Mr. Stack were an Arab Muslim, and not a middle-class Caucasian? What if Islamic literature were found in the remnants of his burned-out house? And what if he attended a local mosque?

Despite the (thankful) absence of massive casualties, the media view of the event should give us all some food for thought. Since "terrorism" is generally defined as violent attacks perpetrated against non-combatants that are motivated by political grievances, it would seem logically that Stack-who had major personal beef with the tax system-might have been, logically, called a terrorist. But he will not be.

And that brings me to my second point. Muslims who merely view pro-Jihadist websites, or who travel to places where violence is part of the social currency of resistance, are routinely surveyed, arrested, and even convicted of "conspiracy" against the State. They don't have to crash planes into buildings ( as the 9-11 criminals did): they are suspect, and convicted in the court of public opinion, not for what they do, but because of the fear of what people assume they might harbor within themselves.

Will the FBI send an investigation team to the late Mr. Stack's church? Or will they monitor his travel and telephone call records or put his widow in an interrogation cell and pump her for information about their associates?

Probably not. Because while murder is an evil no matter who commits it, collective guilt by association seems to be, sadly, something that some groups of people must worry about more than others. Criminality and violence may come in all social identities, but the labeling of acts of violence is an editorial decision.

As a Muslim, I am sorry about the tragedy of Joseph Stack's terrorist attack in Austin, Texas. And equally, for the sake of so many of my coreligionists, I am thankful that he cannot be associated in any way with Islam.

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MAS Freedom (MASF) is a civic and human rights advocacy of the Muslim American Society (MAS), the largest Muslim, grassroots, charitable, religious, social, cultural, civic and educational organization in America - with 55 chapters in 35 states.
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Need For Heat

We're halfway into the decade's first month and winter in Riyadh continues to fluctuate. Typical desert weather, really. Daytime while driving out air conditioner is set on cool and towards the night the heater is on duty. Weird. This is what they were fighting about in Copenhagen late last year. Climate change. Global warming. Greenhouse effect. Blah-blah. No, I'm not anti-earth. I just ran out of dramatic things to type.


The nights do get very cold here and this my friends and me found out when we attended a football match at the Riyadh stadium. Inter Milan played an exhibition against the local champions Al-Hilal. Inter won after they scored in the 85th minute. A first-time experience for me in a football stadium of international standards. Speaking of sports, every Friday we play cricket matches against different teams across Riyadh. Yours truly leads the boys and we win well! Why am I gloating here.. Sigh.


I watched the Hindi movie, 3 Idiots last week. Big fuss about the movie and everyone around me insisted that I watch the apparent "movie of the decade" (It was released a week before 2009 wrapped up!). It was marketed quite well and before the release itself the hype sounded as if it was already a super hit. Good movie but end of it all, one word came to my mind. Over-rated. The last half an hour was doltish and I felt I was suddenly watching a different movie. Whatever.


Last weekend the whole gang decided to take a break from cricket and instead decided to hit the road for a long drive. We ended up almost 100 kms away from Riyadh. Suzuki ATVs were on offer and all off-road and on-sand stunts were done. 2 hours filled with adrenaline, fun and speed. Good weekend. That's all for now. Cheers!

Wake Me Up When December Ends.

I'm in Riyadh. It's been a few months now since the departure from Bangalore. Feels good, feels at home here. Staying with parents after more than 5 years is a special feeling. Hanging out with school friends is nice. All in all, the boat sails well thanks to the Almighty.

I was skeptic of how things would turn out here and whether I would be able to blend in and adjust. But my fears were dispelled. When you grow up in a city with like-minded people around you, be it family, friends or school pals, coming back and starting over is actually easy. I thought Bangalore changed me but now funnily I don’t miss it in the least. It's nice and clean here. The initial excitement of the arrival here might be long gone but the right company of people around has helped me settle down well without a frown. A few creases exist but I’ll be fine. Thank you all.

Human brain is always (most of the time) buzzing with thoughts, ideas, memories and what not. But when it goes blank it’s weird. Like sometimes, I feel lost. Like oblivion is creeping up upon me. Gives me the shivers! Maybe it’s the winter here playing tricks. It's past midnight as I type this and am feeling philosophical. Bear with me. This December I grew older. But an extra year adding on to your age doesn't really change a lot of things. Except, if you want to believe the change and identify it. It's scary. And sometimes most of us like to stay away from the process of evaluating ourselves and find out where exactly have we reached. It takes a lot to stand-up and fulfill your own expectations sometimes. This is it? That's what this is all about? Grow up and do what you're supposed to do? Sigh. Questions galore, answers are better left to be collected over a period of time in our lives. I’ll wonder some other time.

On the brighter side, Inter Milan is in Riyadh for an exhibition football match against a local league team. I’ll be going along my friends for the game on Saturday evening. Catch me on TV!

Turn of the calendar will bring new avenues, changes, challenges and all those similar adjectives that by now people have put up on their FB status messages. But actually that's just complicating things. Keep it simple. Listen to everyone but in the end do what you feel is right. We'll figure it out. We'll get there. Keep smiling and praying. Cheers everyone!

PS- From regular posts here to zero posts in the last 4 months, I have officially become a blogger-for-the-heck-of-it. Could it be the winter slumber? Maybe! Don’t you worry. I’m back. I have missed expressing. Ciao.