Eid Greetings!

Dear friends,

As Eid is beckoning upon us, I wanted to wish all my Muslim readers a very happy Eid Mubarak/ Mabrook! I hope the month has been a rewarding and a blessing to you, and that you have reaped the spiritual benefits.

I am myself in Pakistan now, getting an opportunity to celebrate Eid with my immediate and extended family members, which is always a fun time. We get to get up early in the morning, take cold showers, wear our new clothes, go for prayers, come back and have breakfast, which is almost always vermicilli, and then give money away in charity. We also go visit families to wish the Eid greetings too.

I had been meaning to write so much stuff on my blog, but time has been very limited, but I will just give you a few brief points on what has been happening.

* I have visited two families to meet with the girls for marriage. One of them didn't work out and the second one looks more promising. I have yet to see other girls. It's sometimes very difficult to find the right girl because either girls are in complete seclusion behind the hijab, or completely pratying it up with drinking and tonnes of boyfriends. There are very few moderates left in the middle.

* The progress on our house being built is slow but picking up. I am really excited. They have dug out the basement and have poured the concrete.

* The weather has changed for the better after we received rain for 24 hours, which was amazing. I miss the rain and cold weather a lot when I am in Dubai.

* The one thing everyone was talking about when I came here was the extremely controversial book by President Musharraf, In the Line of Fire, which has received a lot more ciritical and negative reviews. I could write a whole essay on that, but the general trend is that it's not entirely factual and true.

All right friends, a lot more will come on this blog once I settle into my routine life post Ramadan. I expect to get back to Dubai on the 3rd of November.

Once again, Happy Eid to you all!

Mansur