Just Because
I miss writing, or I miss the need to write all the time. When I was younger, I wrote pages in my journal. Gibberish, yes, but it was still writing to my heart content. I remember after finishing my SPM exams, I spent hours writing on WordStar, saving it all in the huge floppy disk. I wonder what happened to that disk, hmm.
When I was eleven, I was hospitalised for quite a while, weeks, almost a month. My dad bought me this very nice pencil, a Pilot lead-pencil (surely you remember lead-pencils, it was the rage when I was in school) which to me was like the god of pencil back then. It was not only very stylish – it was a metal one, but I remember it was so smooth. I still remember I wrote on three notebooks. Pages filled with stories, drawings, letters and everything else. The days were filled with writing and reading.
As I was growing up, daddy bought me nice fountain pens, really nice ones. My dad is a thoughtful man, I know that now. Then, I savoured the gifts without any thoughts of the giver. Now I think of how thoughtful he was to buy me expensive pens when didn’t have to. I still have the pens he bought me…
I must start writing, as in, writing using pens and pencils.
Kerala, India
November last year, I posted of my dream of going to my late grandfather’s birth land. On Saturday, I met a few cousins for lunch and one of them mentioned in passing that Air Asia has extended its routes to an airport near Kerala, India. Immediately after the lunch, I checked online and lo and behold, not only they fly to Trivandrum Airport, the flight fare is also very cheap!
MAS flies to India of course. But not to Trivandrum, so it is quite expensive to fly to another airport, then take a domestic flight. I have considered this before, even dreamed of the train ride from Tamil Nadu to Kerala which looked so very romantic! It seems that Allah has made this traveling affordable! Alhamdulillah! You can only imagine my excitement over this discovery! Of course, there is this *cough* small concern… we know no one of arwah’s family there. However I believe that is secondary, at least for now. Even if we really can’t find any, it will still be such an experience to finally set foot on arwah’s birthland, to wander around the place where he grew up.
Kerala, is not just any state in India. It has one of the highest literacy rate, lowest infant mortality rate and among highest of newspaper readership! I have to, really have to go and see and feel this place!
As expected, the Kerala folder on my Apple is now an active folder… I have started googling on Kerala again on every chance I get. I can already feel Kerala, already see myself walking about…
Ya Allah, please please make this trip easy for me, ameen!
Duas and Companion
I read on Nadia’s FB status on the significance of making duas. That status stayed with me the entire day yesterday. Making duas are so easy, yet why is it that I don’t make a lot of duas?
To move on, this morning before leaving the home, I took a minute and made a dua. Once I have reached the office and settled at my cubicle, I made another heartfelt dua. InshaAllah I am leaving office to KLCC by noon and I intend to make another dua before I leave. And another dua once I got there. You get the drift now, I am sure!
It is not that I have never made duas before. It us just that it has always been the quick ones while I was doing something. Today I made certain I actually stop whatever I was doing, took a moment and chose my words carefully, and made a dua.
May Allah respond to my duas, in whatever ways and forms He chooses too, ameen.
On another note, I am not sure whether I have written before of my habit of reciting certain surahs that has stayed with me for many years.
First in the Al-Inshirah:
I can’t remember when I had started to recite this Surah so often everyday of my life. But I do take comfort on this special surah. Especially when I really need comfort and solace from Him. When you read the translation, you will understand my attachment to this Surah. I must say this ayah has not only given me the comfort I seek, but also my worthy companion.
May Allah allow me to continue making countless duas and may He responds to my dua, ameen.
