My fave part about weddings in karachi is the constant sound of dhols (desi equivalent of the arab daff) and girls singing in the background. Its a sound that keeps the festivities going, the mood and rhythm upbeat. Its a sound sooo completely synonymous with weddings for me.

I love weddings. I love weddings in Pakistan even more. The constant stream of visitors, family and friends dropping by – unannounced, because that is what the wedding is – a community affair! And anyone who drops by, automatically joins in with whatever is going on – be it singing, eating, cooking or even stitching.  The whole house is buzzing with wedding-ness. Someone is complaining about a dye wala who took forever to dye out her dupatta she needed for tonight or messed up the shade she needed it in. Someone else is singing while stitching lace onto their qameez. The khalas and mami’s, sing while sitting on the dining table preparing snacks that will be served daily during the week of the wedding. While the bride is either playing the dhol or in times when she finds a replacement, she;s cutting out either one of 400 or so handmade wedding cards or the placecards she’s making for the tablesetting on the wedding day. Someone or the other is helping her with the gluing of the ribbons or the printing of the endless streams of transperencies. While Baba is beaming with pride at how creative his daughter is and narrating the stories of how much the last person he dropped the invitation cards to, appreciated them.

Weddings in our house are not just that. Its a festivity that sees people moving beyond the rituals of their daily lives to come and share in bits and pieces of everything thats going on everyday. Its a reunion of family travelling from everywhere to get together and party. People who live in the same city, move in to enjoy the daily craziness. 

MashaAllah – and may Allah swt bless the union with His rehmah inshaAllah. ameen

One of the luxuries of living in karachi is the ease with which everything is available to you – at your home. I witnessed this more so when my parents were living in Mumbai – EVERYTHING and EVERY store delivered to your house.

At my parents’ place, in Karachi, a few vegetable mongers (sabzi wala) go by their house every morning. As they pass through lane after lane, home after home, they yell out ’sabzi walaaaaaaaa’ in a LOUD voice that can be heard deep into your home. 

When Eesa was younger, our chowkidar (door watchman) would take him out to make him meet the vendors so he’s pretty used to it. For Hana, on the other hand, this is a new experience.  The morning after we landed, jetlagged after a night of sleeplessness, she heard the man and RAN for me, hugged me soo tightly and whispered “mama he’s sceeeming (screaming)”. I hugged her and consoled her until the man left.

An hour or so later, another one walked by. Once again she dashed for me, squeezed her eye shut and …. as jetlagged and tired as she was, she FELL asleep, barely whispering “sceeeming man”!

And this is how, I found a magical way of bading goodbye to her jetlag.

Each night, at 8 pm, I get one of my sisters to yell out sabzi walaaaaaa, which gets hana running to bed, forces her to close her eyes and fall asleep. lol.

(Dear Hana, You know I love you, right? Love, Mom!)

I posted a while back about how much I absolutely LOVE fall. There are only two reasons why I want to learn photography: 

1) To be able to document and capture my children’s lives – yes the blog is there but pictures are worth a 1000 words!

2)  So I could capture the essence of fall.

On most tuesdays, I attend a playdate with other homeschooling moms in Mississauga. During the summer, we had plenty of outdoor activities with the children. We meet at a park near Eesa’s school and the children play, socialize, interact in team sports etc etc. Yesterday, we went on a nature hike along credit river in Mississauga. It was the perfect time to go since the colours of fall are starting to bloom sooo beautifully. It was GORGEOUS to say the least. But I’ll let you be the judge of that:

The first part of the trail was through a cemetery. It was ever sooo peaceful and serene.

I assume the storage on the left of the picture above is the cell for cremated ashes. More pictures of that coming up. Below are pictures of the area dedicated to those who died for Canada. Underneath each flag is also an area which, I assume since its too small, holds cremated ashes.

And, in the spirit of halloween, this was my favorite grave. Just spook-tacular!

And if Islam allowed tombstones, this would have been Imran and mine:

That’d be us: Cozying it up, next to each other, in the afterlife inshaAllah;)

Btw, did you notice how the graves are shared? the spook-tacular grave above has THREE people in it!  Whoaa!!

Finally, here are some pics of the kiddy-os!

I had to throw in some tree shots

That’s Baby A and Y with us:

Then Baby M joined us too..

Then we met up with Eesa to take some more last minute pics before we took off:

One of the highs of motherhood has to be the sight of your children bonding. Although the fights and teasing are a constant, the love is also really strong. Alhamdolillah.

On most weekday mornings, Eesa wakes up first at around 6:30am, plays around with his trains, then goes to poop and upon completion summons me to wash his royal bum. (Yes, that is what I wake up to!!) This morning, things changed around a bit.

Eesa didnt poop. Hana didnt walk over into our bed. I definitely slept in.

Worried, I woke up around 7:30am to the heart warming sound of giggles coming from Hana’s room. I could hear Hana and Eesa giggling. Eesa would occassionally call out and say: “Hana, look at this!” upon which Hana would obligingly respond a round of tummy rumbling giggles – which would in return throw Eesa into fits of giggles too.

Imran and I lay there in bed, enjoying the sound of them playing, teasing and giggling. Occasionally, Imran and I would glance at each other and grin knowing exactly what the other was feeling:

“Woohooo!! They’re learning how to play together… sooon we’ll have “our” time back!!”

 lol. Yes, that and the feeling of contentment and contagious happiness. Alhamdolillah.

God’s beauty.

A photographers dream.

The perfect blend of reds, yellows, oranges, greens and browns.

Just another reason to slurp on some more hot chocolates.

The perfect reason to walk on outdoors

.. and then come back in to enjoy some cuddling with the people whom you love the most.

Happy long weekend everyone!

have alot of barakah in my home.

to watch cricket, my heart thuds in anticipation and excitement! 26 days before the take off inshaAllah

Was tagged by Urbaniche on this one a while back. Also, check out the one by Jammie, here.

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This girl is brightness – on most days orange, some turquoise. Although, deep dark brown is her weakness. She is shifting sand beneath her feet and pitter pattering of raindrops on leaves.

She is colours and smell.

She is beaches on lazy afternoons and drives to nowhere at night.

She is the sound of water slapping onto the shore. She is blanket, mug and a balcony. She is star gazing on her backyard hill. She can stay up all night reading a book, but will fall asleep within five minutes of a movie.

She is not manicures, pedicures or massages. But she IS willing to try anything for experience.

She is late nights and coffee shops. She is road trips with good company. She is airports and hotels; planes and soft white linen. 

She is phone chats and friends. She is introspection with sisters.

She is family and grandparents. She is surrounded yet alone. She is people who genuinely care and not those who need to prove what they do.

She is married to her best friend and wishes she could be like him when she grows up. She IS cuddles and kisses. She is spontaneous ventures. She is my way or the highway though.

She is cousins and board games. She is about making memories.

She is conversations of the deep, meaningful type. She is alternate media and conspiracy theories. She is laughter of the deep stomach ache type but anger thats engulfing like fire on paper. Injustice angers her and violence unnerves her. She is challenges and challenges change her.

She is passionate about her causes. She isn’t for them, but with them. She moves beyond her comfort zone but won’t compromise on her beliefs. She believes in change – one step at a time. She is empowerment and all about giving  choices.

She is laidback and forgiving. She expects nothing until she is expected to – then she distances and doesn’t give back. She is rattled but silent. She is non judgemental UNTIL she is judged – then she’s extremely opinionated. She’d rather distance than hurt back.

She is adventure and chaos. She is exploring and growing. She is ziplining and sky diving. Kayakking and not shopping on vacations.

She is spontaneous but not planned. She is planned but not organized. She is organized but not committed… she is DEFINITELY not sticking to a plan. What’s life without randomness?

She is coke and raspberry margaritas. She is very touchy about her fries. 

This girl, she mothers not smothers. She’s raising a man, not a boy. She believes in hurdles and building endurance. She teaches to give before taking. She is cohabitance over independence and charachter over looks. She is not patient with whom she loves.

She has no expectations, except if she loves you. She is hopeful like no tommorrow. 

She is muscle cars and airplanes. She is realistic, not idealistic.

She is baking but cleaning above all. She is salad over dessert. She is coffee flavored but not coffee – the drink – itself.

She is entertaining with warmth. She is casual not formal. She is friends who drop by and not those who need invitations. She is conversations over chai – politics, religion or self growth, not pregnancies and mother in laws please.

She is phone chats not text messages. She is hand made letters and not e-cards, letters and not emails. She is pictures of the creative kind.

She is Silver and diamonds, not gold and stones. She is long necklaces and chunky bracelets. She is sentiments and not structures. She is cameras and capturing moments. She is combinations and permutations.

She is black and white, but a rainbow of shady-ness when she doesn’t trust you. She is mistakes and learning curves. She is growing with experience and learning with people. She is changing with time but held back by time.

She is all ME. Who are you?

Feels like forever since I’ve blogged. I’ve really been out of.. well words, more than time. Its been an amazing summer alhamdolillah.

First Moo khala came – originally for four days but ended up staying for four months. Then Nana came and we took our magical trip across quebec. we went way, way north and explored deep into quebec. We stayed in hotels with double storeyed executive room and cabins with our car across from us. lol. we trekked across hills and plunged into freezing cold water. We saw people ice fishing, visited gold mines and Aboriginal Reserves. We went to Mt Tremblant and saw Le Habitat.

Then Nani came and we ventured out for a family reunion in NY. We had cousins from pakistan, washington, LA, NJ, seattle, chicago, TO all gathered together for a week of madness – aka Emaan’s aqeeqah. Then moo khala had her bridal shower and left. Nadia phoppo randomly decided to get engaged right before ramadan and then married right after – in just about a month. With all the ramadan craziness, eid dramas and then the wedding… with nayma khala dropping in for a spontaneous and brief 10 day visit in the middle… its been a whirlwind of a summer! In the process of all this, we became Cousins to a new one, and a friend too.

Now its alot calmer. but the madness sort of ensues due to the fact that i leave for pak in just under a month iA with a short trip to malaysia and singapore in the middle. Im excited and apprehensive at the same time. Its going to be marvelous IA. The packing is crazy because two suitcases are of just gifts. one is of our clothes, one for food and another for our trip to malaysia.

Most stories to follow. for now thats it.

.. and the days become mundane again. We miss you eetha baai!