This was the poor cow which was gonna be slaughtered in Eid ul Adha (qurbani)..
A good way to cook karahi and tikka in the outdoors
This is Qabeli Palaw in Board bazaar in Peshawar
A video showing three things that happened while I was in Peshawar
Tuesday, 18 January 2011
A taste of Peshawar...
was busy studying this time round and couldn't spend time taking pictures and doing the things I wanted to. But I made a video of a few things that happened and I will share a few pictures....
This was the poor cow which was gonna be slaughtered in Eid ul Adha (qurbani)..
A good way to cook karahi and tikka in the outdoors
This is Qabeli Palaw in Board bazaar in Peshawar
A video showing three things that happened while I was in Peshawar
This was the poor cow which was gonna be slaughtered in Eid ul Adha (qurbani)..
A good way to cook karahi and tikka in the outdoors
This is Qabeli Palaw in Board bazaar in Peshawar
A video showing three things that happened while I was in Peshawar
I am back in London
After nearly 4 months I am back in London. My time in Peshawar was really tough as I was preparing for my 3rd year MBBS exam. As soon as I got there, I had no time to waste. I had like tests in the first few months (you could say mock exams) and in one week I had to prepare for a Pharmacology test, then in the next 2 weeks for a pathology test and the next 2 weeks for a forensic test. After that it we had 40 days to prepare for the annual exam which was starting on the 28th of December and then it ended on the 11th of January.
It included a 3 hour paper on different days, in each of the main subjects (Pathology, Pharmacology and Forensic Medicine). After that we had a separate viva and practical for each subject also. So when the exams finished it was a huge relief because it was non-stop studying and without any break in sight. If I had not come back to London and stayed there I would have been in a bad situation. In Peshawar there isn't much to do when it comes to relaxation, maybe you can say Islamabad is a nice place to recharge your batteries but because I have nobody living there its really difficult to stay there by yourself. So there is nothing better then coming back home to your family and just relaxing, without touching any medical books for a few weeks.
Our 4th year classes will be starting in a few weeks and maybe by that time our results will be out. I will be dreading that day because if you haven't passed in a subject you will have 40 days after results day to prepare for it again. So you will be going through the same process again, which is agonising.
A bit about my journey from Peshawar.....I came in Qatar airways, which was a flight at 4:30am in the morning so I didn't sleep at all at that point. In front of me were two children who cried non-stop all the way to Doha, I was going crazy from the lack of sleep and from the uncontrollable children. As we landed in Doha I had a 5 hours stay, which was sooo boring. Luckily they had free wi-fi and I charged my laptop, played some games and was just surfing. We got on the plane and the pilot made an announcement that due to technical problems we will have to wait for 20 minutes. That 20 minutes then became an hour and I knew the problem couldn't be fixed....that became true when the pilot said basically get off the plane. We had to get back into a bus and go through security check again. We had to wait another 5 hours and the only thing they could offer was free lunch, which included a few spoons of rice and mutton korma with pepsi.
During the flight back to Heathrow there was severe turbulence over Hungary. The plane felt like you were on a roller coaster ride and some woman was getting scared and kind of shouting a bit loudly. She was saying what is happening, I knew turbulence is not a dangerous thing but the woman started to scare me a bit and I thought maybe something wrong is going on. But luckily after 5-10 minutes things settled down.
I was so relieved to have reached home safely.....
It included a 3 hour paper on different days, in each of the main subjects (Pathology, Pharmacology and Forensic Medicine). After that we had a separate viva and practical for each subject also. So when the exams finished it was a huge relief because it was non-stop studying and without any break in sight. If I had not come back to London and stayed there I would have been in a bad situation. In Peshawar there isn't much to do when it comes to relaxation, maybe you can say Islamabad is a nice place to recharge your batteries but because I have nobody living there its really difficult to stay there by yourself. So there is nothing better then coming back home to your family and just relaxing, without touching any medical books for a few weeks.
Our 4th year classes will be starting in a few weeks and maybe by that time our results will be out. I will be dreading that day because if you haven't passed in a subject you will have 40 days after results day to prepare for it again. So you will be going through the same process again, which is agonising.
A bit about my journey from Peshawar.....I came in Qatar airways, which was a flight at 4:30am in the morning so I didn't sleep at all at that point. In front of me were two children who cried non-stop all the way to Doha, I was going crazy from the lack of sleep and from the uncontrollable children. As we landed in Doha I had a 5 hours stay, which was sooo boring. Luckily they had free wi-fi and I charged my laptop, played some games and was just surfing. We got on the plane and the pilot made an announcement that due to technical problems we will have to wait for 20 minutes. That 20 minutes then became an hour and I knew the problem couldn't be fixed....that became true when the pilot said basically get off the plane. We had to get back into a bus and go through security check again. We had to wait another 5 hours and the only thing they could offer was free lunch, which included a few spoons of rice and mutton korma with pepsi.
During the flight back to Heathrow there was severe turbulence over Hungary. The plane felt like you were on a roller coaster ride and some woman was getting scared and kind of shouting a bit loudly. She was saying what is happening, I knew turbulence is not a dangerous thing but the woman started to scare me a bit and I thought maybe something wrong is going on. But luckily after 5-10 minutes things settled down.
I was so relieved to have reached home safely.....
Thursday, 9 September 2010
Packing my bags...
Inshallah Eid is round the corner, well just one day away. Today will be the last fast on this Ramadan. Who knows if we will be alive for the next Ramadan to enjoy this blessed month. This is my first Eid ul Fitr in London after a long time, maybe 3 years or more. So it is a great feeling to be celebrating with my family in the comfort of my own home. I missed such an atmosphere and now I can enjoy it. Soon I will be leaving London in a few day to go back to Peshawar and start my classes once again. The routine of staying up until 3am will be over and I will miss that as I have become used to it. Soon I will be sleeping 10-11pm and getting up 7am. So no more 12 hour sleeping for me, which is a shame. But at the same time it is gonna be more fun to be busy again and having some challenges, which I didn't have during the holidays. Rather it was just me being lazy and doing nothing productive. So that will be a good change for me. I have been packing my bags with the help of my mum obviously, with most of the stuff in my suitcase being snacks and food items. It might seem strange but the stuff I have packed looks like I am going to be opening a shop in Peshawar, it will be funny to imagine what the people would think when they open it up to check it or see it through the x-ray machines. Its full of cornflakes, crisps, mocha, sweets, jam, cheese, chocolates and some clothes.
It is always a struggle to get my suitcase to be within the allowed limits of 30kg. Before in the past most of the my luggage consisted of stuff for my relatives and things I was requested by relatives to bring for them. So I would always be in a state of worry to get stuff I wanted in my bag and yet trying to not upset relatives by taking their stuff as well. Thankfully this time I haven't been needed to take much things, so most of the things are mine. But still with 30kg allowed there is always many things I have to decide to leave behind and not take.
Thankfully this time Peshawar airport is open and last time I remember this was another burden on me when I found out Peshawar airport was closed and planes would be diverted to Islamabad. Islamabad is a 2-3 hours drive from Peshawar and asking somebody to pick you up from there is a hassle for them. Also it is a hassle for me as when you get off the plane you wish to just get off the plane and into a house where you can just relax.
One thing I have started to dislike about travel, is the jet-lag. I have been travelling many times during my 4 years of being in Peshawar studying medicine. People would think I would have become used to travelling, but it is really different when you travel by yourself. I remember as a kid travelling with parents, I had no worries whatsoever and would just look forward to the plane taking off and landing. The whole experience I found exciting, but when you travel by yourself you have to look after every single thing and have many things to think about. Unlike before where my parents would take care of everything. The jet-lag is really bad going from London to Peshawar as you lose one day of sleep. It is not so bad the other way round because you are going back in time rather forward into time (I am talking about the time zone, as Pakistan is 4 hours ahead of London).
As soon as I reach Peshawar Inshallah, that is the day when our uni will be open. There is a lot of renovation going on as the lecture halls and many buildings were really ancient. It looked like we were still in the 50's, so its great news that they have finally thought about renovating the place.
One more thing I wanna mention is the things that I will miss. I will definately miss my family as they are a great support for you. They make life easier for you and if you feel down they can be the ones to bring you up and help you get out of many troubles. So leaving them behind will be a big loss. But somehow you learn to cope without them even though you still would be better off if they were around. I would definately miss the luxury of our own home, my own bedroom and my own privacy. I would miss the culture of London where everybody keeps to themselves and do not bother people much. Where life is not so chaotic even though it is busy. Where there is order and no worries about bomb blasts or security issues. Where you feel secure in your home and no problem of the electricity going out (loadshedding). So many things to miss and Peshawar will be a place of chaos as soon as you land and sensing some kind of trouble in the air. You know you definately have landed in Peshawar....
Monday, 6 September 2010
Rituals vs Worship
Only a few days left till Ramadan will be over. We prayed, we fasted, we read Quran and performed optional prayers and gave charity. Mashallah! But then what?? I've heard a term before being used by some people, they call it 'RAMADAN MUSLIMS'. We are muslims in one month out of 12. But then we go downhill in the rest of the months. We are not ready to challenge the shaytan and continue to uphold the good stuff we achieved in Ramadan. Do we really want to be of those who are just Ramadan muslims??
Now this brings me onto a point which is kinda related to this. It is the aspect of rituals.
Rituals are defined as a customary practice or actions performed for their symbolic value. You can see fasting as such a thing. We perform this act of fasting in Ramadan. But do you not think we should be fasting not as a ritual but as an act of worship. Do you understand the difference between the two?? Ritual is something customary whereas worship is an act of devotion towards a God or anything else. In Islam worship is act of devotion for the sake of Allah (the creator).
Do you realise the difference between the two now? Isn't devotion something more deeper than a customary act. An act which is just repeated for the sake of it. Just like maybe it becomes a habit to brush your teeth everyday or to put your watch on your left hand. It is an act that you just do without much devotion. It just becomes a habit, automatically you just do it. It doesn't involve much feelings or passion.
But worship is far more greater than rituals. If you do an act of worship it involves feelings, devotion, passion and many more things. It comes from the heart and it changes your life. But I see people fasting just for the sake of it. I see people praying just for the sake of it. It has become a ritual with many people. They have removed the devotion aspect from their acts and that is the core reason why we would see mosques full but we see no feeling of goodness from our muslim community. We see no return? Why??? Because prayer is meant to be worship rather than ritual. Because Fasting is meant to be worship rather than ritual. Not only that but we have so many things apart from fasting and prayer that are considered acts of worship. Even smiling or removing harm from the way of a person can be considered worship. It is a really deep act full of emotions, done for the sake of Allah to improve your character and dealings with humans, animals and the earth around us. But unfortunately we have forgotten this and we do acts of worship without devotion, which turn it into a ritual. This is why such rituals never change the heart of our people, it wont turn them into citizens who will be of service to their community and it definately doesn't help them to stop doing acts which are disgraceful or bad to the community.
If we all were to do our acts of worship with full devotion, real meaning and purpose. It would mean that we will definately find it harder to do wrong acts and find it more easier to do good acts. I hear this question many times, people say our mosques are full. Isn't that a good indication of how good the people are?? But then you see that at the same time that community has so many ills while they mosques are full. That would mean praying doesn't change people and rather it makes them do wrong acts. But no this is because of the individual who is praying, is it from the heart? Is it with a purpose or is it just a ritual he has to do? To just get it out of the way?? I think it is the latter most definately. Let us think deeply about the actions which we do and do we do it truly for the sake of Allah or do we just do it because we feel it is a burden and we have to do it??
Now this brings me onto a point which is kinda related to this. It is the aspect of rituals.
Rituals are defined as a customary practice or actions performed for their symbolic value. You can see fasting as such a thing. We perform this act of fasting in Ramadan. But do you not think we should be fasting not as a ritual but as an act of worship. Do you understand the difference between the two?? Ritual is something customary whereas worship is an act of devotion towards a God or anything else. In Islam worship is act of devotion for the sake of Allah (the creator).
Do you realise the difference between the two now? Isn't devotion something more deeper than a customary act. An act which is just repeated for the sake of it. Just like maybe it becomes a habit to brush your teeth everyday or to put your watch on your left hand. It is an act that you just do without much devotion. It just becomes a habit, automatically you just do it. It doesn't involve much feelings or passion.
But worship is far more greater than rituals. If you do an act of worship it involves feelings, devotion, passion and many more things. It comes from the heart and it changes your life. But I see people fasting just for the sake of it. I see people praying just for the sake of it. It has become a ritual with many people. They have removed the devotion aspect from their acts and that is the core reason why we would see mosques full but we see no feeling of goodness from our muslim community. We see no return? Why??? Because prayer is meant to be worship rather than ritual. Because Fasting is meant to be worship rather than ritual. Not only that but we have so many things apart from fasting and prayer that are considered acts of worship. Even smiling or removing harm from the way of a person can be considered worship. It is a really deep act full of emotions, done for the sake of Allah to improve your character and dealings with humans, animals and the earth around us. But unfortunately we have forgotten this and we do acts of worship without devotion, which turn it into a ritual. This is why such rituals never change the heart of our people, it wont turn them into citizens who will be of service to their community and it definately doesn't help them to stop doing acts which are disgraceful or bad to the community.
If we all were to do our acts of worship with full devotion, real meaning and purpose. It would mean that we will definately find it harder to do wrong acts and find it more easier to do good acts. I hear this question many times, people say our mosques are full. Isn't that a good indication of how good the people are?? But then you see that at the same time that community has so many ills while they mosques are full. That would mean praying doesn't change people and rather it makes them do wrong acts. But no this is because of the individual who is praying, is it from the heart? Is it with a purpose or is it just a ritual he has to do? To just get it out of the way?? I think it is the latter most definately. Let us think deeply about the actions which we do and do we do it truly for the sake of Allah or do we just do it because we feel it is a burden and we have to do it??
Friday, 20 August 2010
Why I chose to study Medicine?
It is not an easy journey for the medical student, that is for sure. So what makes a person want to go through such a path that is full of hardships? Many would say that they want to become a Doctor because it is a well-known and well-respected profession. That way they will be recognised for their efforts more than in any other job. Some may say that in the medical profession there is a lot of money to be gained, while some may say that in their society medicine is seen as the top profession and are pushed by their parents to study it.
But what do I think???
I remember as a kid I was so proud of my dad being a Doctor. In school I would love to tell my friends my dad is a Doctor and whenever the teacher would ask a question about the human body in a science class I would be able to answer it and they would expect me to know because my dad is a Doctor. So at that time it made me really interested in maybe wanting to become a Doctor. At one point I wished I was a pilot or a football player, but that was something temporary. But always in the back of my mind I wished to become a Doctor.
As I grew older and was more able to understand the profession seeing my dad going to his village and having kind of set up a temporary clinic in the house we were staying at, it made me even more fascinated with it. Seeing hundreds of poor people just turning up to see one Doctor made me realise how important a Doctor can be in a place where there was limited medical relief/assistance. It could change the whole community and make a difference to people.
So I was trying to imagine the satisfaction a person would get when you see a helpless child who is suffering from an illness, nearing death and coming to you for help. When you see them you diagnose their illness and prescribe their treatment. When they come to you again with their child healthy again, just seeing the smile of the child or the parents would make me full of satisfaction and even more rewarding than anything else even more rewarding than a pay check.
So my reason for studying medicine is simply this, that I really have my heart towards trying to help people and when I see people appreciating you for something that has made a difference in their life, obviously by the will of Allah, no doubt that is a great feeling! It makes you feel like you have achieved at least something in your life.
The money that comes with medicine to me is a bonus, I am not just saying this or trying to make that up. But I feel that way and there were many jobs out there that I could have chosen, which maybe had an easier path and less study, but could have earned me more than the wage of a Doctor. But you choose a job out of satisfaction and it doesn't last if you choose a job for just earning money. You need something to keep you motivated and to keep on wanting to work hard to dedicate everything to your profession.
One other aspect of medicine is that it is a vast subject and even if you choose to be a physician you will not always see the same repetitive disease, but there are many types of diseases and it is always changing. So you will never be stuck doing the same thing over and over again. Some parts of medicine are repetitive no doubt but there is a great variety also.
The last thing to note is medicine is not extremely tough, but it does require a lot of study. That study will continue throughout your life and if you are not into such kind of study then medicine isn't for you. You can still have a balanced life studying medicine and you can exercise and do things that you always used to do, the only difference is more hours for study.
But what do I think???
I remember as a kid I was so proud of my dad being a Doctor. In school I would love to tell my friends my dad is a Doctor and whenever the teacher would ask a question about the human body in a science class I would be able to answer it and they would expect me to know because my dad is a Doctor. So at that time it made me really interested in maybe wanting to become a Doctor. At one point I wished I was a pilot or a football player, but that was something temporary. But always in the back of my mind I wished to become a Doctor.
As I grew older and was more able to understand the profession seeing my dad going to his village and having kind of set up a temporary clinic in the house we were staying at, it made me even more fascinated with it. Seeing hundreds of poor people just turning up to see one Doctor made me realise how important a Doctor can be in a place where there was limited medical relief/assistance. It could change the whole community and make a difference to people.
So I was trying to imagine the satisfaction a person would get when you see a helpless child who is suffering from an illness, nearing death and coming to you for help. When you see them you diagnose their illness and prescribe their treatment. When they come to you again with their child healthy again, just seeing the smile of the child or the parents would make me full of satisfaction and even more rewarding than anything else even more rewarding than a pay check.
So my reason for studying medicine is simply this, that I really have my heart towards trying to help people and when I see people appreciating you for something that has made a difference in their life, obviously by the will of Allah, no doubt that is a great feeling! It makes you feel like you have achieved at least something in your life.
The money that comes with medicine to me is a bonus, I am not just saying this or trying to make that up. But I feel that way and there were many jobs out there that I could have chosen, which maybe had an easier path and less study, but could have earned me more than the wage of a Doctor. But you choose a job out of satisfaction and it doesn't last if you choose a job for just earning money. You need something to keep you motivated and to keep on wanting to work hard to dedicate everything to your profession.
One other aspect of medicine is that it is a vast subject and even if you choose to be a physician you will not always see the same repetitive disease, but there are many types of diseases and it is always changing. So you will never be stuck doing the same thing over and over again. Some parts of medicine are repetitive no doubt but there is a great variety also.
The last thing to note is medicine is not extremely tough, but it does require a lot of study. That study will continue throughout your life and if you are not into such kind of study then medicine isn't for you. You can still have a balanced life studying medicine and you can exercise and do things that you always used to do, the only difference is more hours for study.
Thursday, 19 August 2010
My Website
I have just been messing around with making a flash website, which has links to my youtube channel and also flikr page. Check it out:
HK Productions
HK Productions
Tuesday, 17 August 2010
Ramadan has started..
I haven't been writing since a long time and maybe that is because of Ramadan. But anywayz where should i start from? Nearly one week of Ramadan has passed and I caught the flu as well during it. At first when ramadan started during my fast i felt really weak and had severe headache. I thought this was due to the fact that i wasn't drinking tea, which i normally do twice a day. But that was all due to the flu i guess and now i am feeling better than ever, alhamdulilah. I thought ramadan will be tough this year, but once you get into the routine it is not really difficult. It is a really blessed month and we should make the most of it. I have fallen behind on trying to read the Quran my aim this time round is to complete the whole Quran. I hope to do that inshallah. But we all take advantage of this month but as soon as the day of Eid commences we turn back to our old ways. I am guilty of this also.
You can compare this to a person who wants to lose weight. He takes care with what he eats and exercises for a month, he realises that he is losing weight. But then in his second month he starts eating junk food and becomes lazy, in the end piling on weight and going back to the same state he was in before.
We need to continue the progress we made in Ramadan, if we finished the whole Quran in Ramadan, we should try to keep this act going by reading Quran everyday even if it is just one page per day. If we keep away from many bad things during Ramadan, we should continue doing so after Ramadan. This month is like a month of recharging your spiritual battery, we can keep this battery charged everyday by continuing acts of goodness or we can waste it by using up the battery and making it go dead by making a habit of bad actions. So its upto us. How do we know we will be alive for the next ramadan to take benefit of it once again??? We do not know, so just let us keep that in our mind.
In this month people pray and i think that is the biggest act, which can lead to great success in life. If a person prays 5 times a day, with full devotion and proper understanding, he feels content and will not feel like something was missing in his day. When you miss a prayer you know you have missed something! But if you make it a habit to leave prayer then you wont even feel that you have missed anything, it just becomes forgotten due to weakening of faith. Just like when you do a shameful act in the beginning you feel guilty. You feel that guilt because you have some level of faith, but when it becomes a habit you wont feel that guilt anymore..
We all need to reflect and look at ourselves. It comes back to the message of not looking at others but look at yourself. Where are you weak, where are your flaws and how can you improve as a person. This is the best month to do these things and keep what you gain in this month as something permanent rather than temporary.
Have a great Ramadan and do not forget the poor people who are suffering, the needy people and make dua for yourself and everybody else!
You can compare this to a person who wants to lose weight. He takes care with what he eats and exercises for a month, he realises that he is losing weight. But then in his second month he starts eating junk food and becomes lazy, in the end piling on weight and going back to the same state he was in before.
We need to continue the progress we made in Ramadan, if we finished the whole Quran in Ramadan, we should try to keep this act going by reading Quran everyday even if it is just one page per day. If we keep away from many bad things during Ramadan, we should continue doing so after Ramadan. This month is like a month of recharging your spiritual battery, we can keep this battery charged everyday by continuing acts of goodness or we can waste it by using up the battery and making it go dead by making a habit of bad actions. So its upto us. How do we know we will be alive for the next ramadan to take benefit of it once again??? We do not know, so just let us keep that in our mind.
In this month people pray and i think that is the biggest act, which can lead to great success in life. If a person prays 5 times a day, with full devotion and proper understanding, he feels content and will not feel like something was missing in his day. When you miss a prayer you know you have missed something! But if you make it a habit to leave prayer then you wont even feel that you have missed anything, it just becomes forgotten due to weakening of faith. Just like when you do a shameful act in the beginning you feel guilty. You feel that guilt because you have some level of faith, but when it becomes a habit you wont feel that guilt anymore..
We all need to reflect and look at ourselves. It comes back to the message of not looking at others but look at yourself. Where are you weak, where are your flaws and how can you improve as a person. This is the best month to do these things and keep what you gain in this month as something permanent rather than temporary.
Have a great Ramadan and do not forget the poor people who are suffering, the needy people and make dua for yourself and everybody else!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)