Screech! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Dear friends,

I am sorry for the delay in my writing. I found it weird for me to not say something on my blog, so here I am today.

I was invited for dinner yesterday by my aunt and uncle who are visiting here in Dubai. It was a Thursday night, and I knew there would be so much traffic from Sharjah to Dubai. I went down out on the street to get a taxi. In this day and age, even the taxi drivers can behave like choosers! They refused to transport me to Dubai. Why? Because the traffic is too much! I did have an issue with one driver several months ago, and I tried hard to keep myself in control this time, to not slam another taxi door that refuses to take me to Dubai.

I finally found one. He was a short, delicate kind of driver. He had a huge beard and wore thick-framed eyeglasses. Initially I spoke to him in Arabic, and it later turned out he was from Pakistan. He did not know where I wanted to go to in Dubai and I told him I would guide him.

So, we made our way out onto the Sharjah-Dubai highway. I was searching for the number of the hotel where I wanted to go. Since the driver knew I was going to a hotel, he said to me ever so bluntly: “You should stop this mobile phone business. You should not even be going to a hotel for naughty stuff.” I was stunned! I was shocked! I was dressed formally for dinner. How dare you think of me like this?! I was so annoyed, but I did not want to pick a fight and so stayed quiet.

Who the heck was this so-called religious guy accusing me of doing “naughty stuff” at a hotel? Who the heck was he to tell me to stop playing on my mobile? Then he asked me if I wanted to listen to the radio, and I said, just listen to what you want to. He put on his tape and it was one of those Islamic teaching tapes, the one where the preacher is shouting to everyone. Great, I thought, now I have to tolerate this. But the worse was yet to come.

This religious driver was so adamant to talk me into being someone like him. He had made it a personal mission to make me more Islamic. I was his sole focus; his project! While on the highway, he changed his lane, and immediately on his left side, the blind spot, was a jeep!

SCREECH!

BANG!

SCREEEECH!! BANG!!

SCREEEEECH!! BANG!!

I thought I was dead. This driver had not looked to his left, and the back part of the taxi screeched against the front of the jeep. Taxi stopped, jeep banged into taxi. Behind the jeep, another car screeched and banged. Behind that, another car. Four-car pile up on the main Sharjah- Dubai highway.

I was already so annoyed at the driver, and now this. I have to get to the dinner. I got out, in the middle of the highway. The driver was refusing to move his car. He was insistent that he would wait for the police. I walked over three lanes to the edge of the highway, risking my life. I finally managed to get another taxi that just happened to be going to Dubai empty.

This is not the first time. Dubai/ Sharjah are cities where there are accidents daily. I myself have been involved in four taxi accidents since I came here in January this year. Traffic is crazy here. Almost makes me not want to apply for the local license and drive on these insane streets. I am happy with my Saudi and International driving license! Give me Jeddah anytime--- I love driving there. *Sigh* The corniche in Jeddah, as well as that Movenpick ice-cream.

Mansur

Harry Potter "Shocking!"

Hey friends,

Saturday the 16th is the official release date for the 6th installation of the Harry Potter series. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I honestly have not read any of the books, primarily because I think the main audience are the children, but when I was in London about two year go, I saw so many adults reading it as well, and their book covers looked liked it was for mature adults-- there was none of the characters drawn on the cover.

The release of the new book is expected to create ripples in the publishing industry. It's encouraging because it shows that the art of reading is not dead-- it's still very much alive. I am glad about that. I for one love reading books.

In Indianapolis, two men have managed to get their hands on the new book, which the bookshop had accidentally left out on display. They read the book and they described it as "shocking" in comparison to the previous five books. Harry Potter has received a lot of praise as well condemnation from certain sections of society, in particular the more conservatives and religious-minded people. They claim Harry Potter series encourages children to delve into wizardry and sorcery, practicing black magic and all.

I haven't read the book, nor plan to do so, but Harry Potter is a phenomenon unto itself. Is it suitable for children given its dark nature? Is it meant for children any more? Are children today mature enough to understand that Harry Potter is just a character? Do you think there is something wrong when children all over dress up in wizards and witches outfits, gather at bookshops to purchase the latest books? I don't know the answers but I do know there will be young children here in Dubai who will be all dressed up in outfits on Saturday morning to get the new books.

Mansur

Haunting....

Hey friends,

The nation of UK observed a two-minute silence today at 12pm GMT. I saw the images on BBC News and the scenes were haunting at the most. The entire nation had stopped doing whatever it was and stood still. All the people just stood still when the clock struck 12. It was a sight to see as it looked something right out of Twilight Zone. Images from around London, Leeds, Belfast and other places showed people still, heads bowed down in respect to honor the dead and wounded in the London attacks. There were people of all background and religion. There were even Muslim students in Leeds who observed the two minutes silence. Those two minutes seemed like the longest two minutes ever.

Ok, so I think it is great that a nation would do something like this. I remember London also did a three minute silence for the tsunami victims.

But what about when 24 Iraqi children die? Don't we have any sympathy for them? Don't get me wrong, I have as much sympathy for those killed in the 9/11 attacks and the London attacks, but I find it a little disturbing when the deaths in London are elevated, with all the memorials and flowers and candles laid out in the open, while the deaths of Iraqis are treated as they were cheap lives. 24 children, some as young as 4 and 5 were killed when a suicide attacker rammed his car into the American humvee around which children were gathered to get candies from the soldiers. I still fail to grasp how a suicide attacker could do something like this. I guess because we see so many senseless deaths in Iraq each day, the initial shock effect has worn off. It should not be this way but unfortunately it has.

Double standards exist in the media. There is nothing new about that. Everyone knows. There is no impartial news channel out there as there are always subtle hints which reinforces their beliefs.

Here is my 2-minute silence for the Iraqi children who were killed......

Mansur

The Trouble With Love Is....

Hi friends,

The trouble with love is that it is a very powerful emotion. Love is more powerful than hatred. It is sweeter than jealousy. Love transcends all emotions. So why have we deluded ourselves into believing that the world is fast losing love and instead is being filled with hatred and greed?

Thanks to the political situations around the world, it may be very easy to see more instances of hatred, wards, greed, jealousy, envy and so on, and see so little of love. I don’t believe this is the case. Love is actually all around us; we just have to be more aware of it. Just because love is not mentioned in the news, we think love is not there.

Witness a scene from an arrivals lounge at the airport. Don’t you see people hugging and kissing their loved ones? Isn’t that love? Witness a scene of a kid returning home from college. Isn’t that love? Witness a scene when a mother gives birth to a baby. Isn’t that love? Love is present in all personal situations. Witness religious occasions like Eid and Christmas. Isn’t that all about love when family and friends spend time together?

It’s unfortunate the media loves sensationalizing stories that are devoid of any love. Imagine if it were the reverse? Wouldn’t it be awesome?

So why is it that a guy like still cannot say ‘I love you’ to my parents? I don’t know. I guess I have feelings of shyness. My mom always tells me every single time I talk to her on the phone “I love you.” She says that with so much sincerity and love. Why can’t I reciprocate her words? I always end up saying “me too.” I still have yet to say these three powerful words to both my parents. My sister has no problem saying it. Maybe it’s because she is a girl, and I am a guy. Maybe society norms have made us into guys who cannot say I Love You to anyone. Maybe society has led me to believe that saying I Love You is un-manly.

I tell myself every time that the next time I meet my parents I will say I Love You to them. I want to say it because I want to tell them that I appreciate all that they have done for me. Yet, when the time comes, I fail to say it. I hope I don’t come to the point where I wish I had said I Love You to my parents before its too late. I don’t think I will be able to forgive myself.

Friends, Love actually is all around.

Mansur
PS In case some of you are wondering, I was indeed inspired by the movie Love Actually.

OH MY GAAAAAAAAAAWD--- ITS BLUE!!!!

OH MY GAAAAAAAAAAWD

This is an actual roller coaster. This is not an animated drawing or anything. I could do anything to be sitting on top of this. I get rapid heart beats when I look at such pictures. It's called Top Thrill.

-------NOTE-------

I have also changed my Blog to a BLUE color because I was feeling creative and was tired of that white color. In honor of the color change, I want all of you tell me all things BLUE. Let me start off:

BLUE Sky

BLUE Cocktail

BLUE Birds

BLUE Whale....

any more BLUES out there, say it all here!!!!

Mansur

PS Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!!!

Respecting Public Property....

Hello,

Graffiti on walls advertising mobile phone numbers and email addresses! Scratch marks on cars! Unremovable marks left by kids inside elevators! Littering in public places! People throwing out stuff from cars! People totally disrepectful of public property!

Why can't people respect public property like they respect their homes? Or is it me who thinks I have to keep things clean outside of my home as well? Aren't we supposed to do our part to keep the city clean and respect public property? Why don't more of that?

Mansur

Zara: My Silent Hero

Dear friends,

I had a really comforting and inspiring dream last night. In the dream I could see myself (no, its not about Astral Projection) standing before someone who was hidden behind a huge rock. I could not see who that someone was but I could feel the presence. It was someone who was so much more powerful than I was. I could see myself get down on my knees and saying stuff that I had been saying for as long as I can remember.

When will my hearing be cured? There are miracles, right? So when will a miracle occur to me? Why did I have to go through all that I did in school? Why did I have to face so much agony and torment? Why did I have to be ridiculed so much? Don’t I have an ounce of goodness in me? Am I really that bad of a person that I get inflicted with a curse like hearing loss? Why do bad things happen to good people?

That was all I could see in my dream: me asking that someone endless questions. I demanded answers but I did not get any. Suddenly, when I least expected it, I heard a voice (a very soothing and calm voice) say to me: “Look around you. You have friends who have worse sufferings than you do.” Then, I heard my dad say to me: “Mansur, people have difficulties and problems. ‘Everyone has them. There is no one who is free of any problems in life.” I remember when he had said this to me earlier when I told him about my friend, who I shall call Zara.

Zara is unable to have children. She has had made three attempts at IV, but all three times it was unsuccessful. She is someone I know from school, and while we were mere teenagers in school, none of us anticipated the problems we would encounter as adults. Although I was aware that Zara could not have kids, it was something that she revealed to me two months ago that made me emotional. She said that she had to have children otherwise she will develop some kind of disease which could be life threatening. The minute she said those words to me, I had tears rolling down my face. Zara, a friend who I know for so long, is in such a position where her life is threatened. Why did she have to go through this?

Zara has shared with me how people can be so tactless and rude with her. Sometimes these people can be innocent, but it alwaysh hurts her. She doesn't like being asked time and again on why she doesnt have kids. She doesnt like being asked about her sudden weigh gain because of her health condition. She is always hurt inside, but she won't show it on the outside. I can relate to Zara because I also don't like being asked the same questions again and again about my hearing aids and so on.

I guess what I am getting to is that while some of us may feel that we are being mis-treated, or mis-judged, we can only look to others who are going through much worse than us, and realize that we are not all that bad. The golden saying: count your blessings, can not be more truer.

People like Zara are what I would call silent heroes. They are suffering from conditions that an average human being doesn’t. They have to make the extra effort to deal with the conditions they have, be it hearing loss or not having kids, and still put on a good face. It takes effort, and I know that because I make the effort to portray myself to people as someone who is like them, and not like someone who has a deficiency. I remember one time back in 1997, when I was working at an advertising firm. One month later, my boss asked me about the “things in my ears” and I explained to him. Immediately the next day, he stopped delegating work to me, and I merely became the “office boy.” I t became obvious, and I quit the company. I let myself lose in the situation. I was weak then. But it is such experiences that made me grow.

I want to dedicate this time to the silent heroes that we know in our lives. I want to appreciate all that they do to go the extra mile to live normal, happy lives. I want to commend them for still smiling, all the while not complaining and showing their problems to the world. I want to say that I am proud of you Zara for not being downtrodden but happy and jovial in life.

Zara, you are my silent hero! The life you live each day is an inspiration to me and makes me live my life to the fullest. Thanks.

Mansur

My New Phone- Nokia 2650

Hello friends,

I have got my new mobile phone today. I made my decision today after I have skimmed through tons of mobile phone reviews online. I had set my heart on Nokia 2650, of which there are pictures down there on your left side. I got the brown color because I love the brown color. Red is too bright and striking for me, and silver is too common. Almost everyone has a silver phone.

I went into to Fono, gave in my old phone and exchanged it for the new one. The guy was looking at me. "Sir, why are you changing this higherr brand phone with a lower one." You see, I am going from a 7250i down to 2650. It's like being demoted. Being downsized. My new phone has no camera. It has no radio. It has no applications. It has only three games. It has no bluetooth. So, why did I take this phone?

This phone has a very classy and expensive look on the outside. Once opened, it looks like as if it came from outer space. It is a very basic phone and I am happy with that. It allows me to send and receive calls. it allows me to receive and send messages. it allows me to receive multi media messages as well. I don't need the radio because I have my iPod with me. I don't need the bluetooth, because frankly I never used bluetooth since it came into invention and I don't see what I am missing out on. I also don't need the MMS thing because since I paid Dhs30 for registering with the MMS thing, I had sent only two pictures. I rarely used the camera on my phone. Plus I have my digital camera with me anyway. This new phone has a 300 hour battery life. I can personalize it with the many wallpapers and sounds in it. It also vibrates. The coolest thing is that it is a flip-phone. Gosh, I had been meaning to get a flip-phone for the longest of time. I think flip-phones are better than the standard non flip phones. Also, when I receive a message or a call, blue lights go on along the edge of the phone. Ultra-cool.

I cannot wait to go out in public, have someone call me and take my phone out to have people look at me in a weird way using my new phone! No doubt, people will not like my phone. I am anticipating comments like "WHAT? You got a phone with no camera?" kind of talk, which is cool because I prefer simplicity over complexity anyways!

A phone is a phone, and why add all these excess stuff to it? Some of these phones are so sophisticated they look like digital cameras instead! I read somewhere that soon all non-camera phones will be eliminated. I don't think they should that. Yes, you may find it funny that one day back in Saudi I was arguing for the lifting of ban on camera phones in the Kingdom, and here I am, in love with a non-camera phone!

I am so in love with it I want to marry it!

Mansur

Reader's Request #4: Astral Projection

Astral Projection

Hi friends,

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Have you all ever had dreams where you supposedly rose out of your sleeping body, hover around the room and maybe even go flying out of your bedroom window? What about the time when you could observe events, or what was happening to you down below, all the while you were floating up above near the ceiling? If you have, you have just atrally projected yourself.

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Honestly, I have had many such dreams. One time, last month actually, I had a complete out-of-body experience, whereby I was flying all over Dubai. At times I was so scared that I might fall atop the Burj al Arab or the Emirates Towers. It was a very surreal experience. I was so glad to woken up in my bed. Out-of-body experience, meditation, lucid dreaming, sleep paralysis are some of the other words used to describe Astral Projection (AP).

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Today I want to tell you about AP. With those of us tuned into the Hollywood movies, Donnie Darko was a movie that explored AP quite effectively. I did not know that such a thing existed till I saw this movie, which by the way is a very intelligent and clever movie, and requires repeated viewing. It's a movie which you will either love or hate, but will certainly get your brains racking for answers.

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So what is AP? Scientifically speaking, AP is when the consciousness of a person has transferred into an astral body (like outer space), which moves free of the physical body in a parallel world known as the astral plane, something like the picture above. During an astral voyage, communication with other projectors or spirits is claimed to be possible. Sometimes the traveler reports being attached to his/her physical body by a silver umbilical cord. Pets have been said to react in a frightened manner, and some claim seeing an astrally projecting person's spirit as a colored beam or shot or light darting around the room. Astral projectors are said to have described details of the outside world whilst in projection that they could not have known beforehand.

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In AP you remain attached to your physical body by a silver "umbilical type" cord. Some people see the cord and others do not. You are aware of things you encounter along the way while out of your body. To astral project, as with all out-of-body experiences - one must feel totally relaxed, clothing fitting comfortable, reclining is best. Often a comforter is best over the body as the physical body sometimes gets cold when you travel out.

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Here is the fun part, you can actually try to astral project yourself. Astral Projection website has several techniques which you can use to conduct this experiment. They mostly require for you to be free from distractions, your mind clear of thoughts, quiet place and relaxed. For what to do next, you can refer to the website.

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While scientists and psychologists have studied AP, they delve into the idea of subconsciousness and physiological aspects of it. Other groups like New Age and the Occult, have their ideas and reasons and support for AP. For more detailed information, you can check out Wikipedia.

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Anonymous, I hope this was helpful. I am so tempted to try out the AP techniques, but I would rather do it in the company of my friend. Plus, I always have these dreams where I am flying over cities and towns, and yet see myself sleeping on my bed.

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Mansur

Inta Hindi?

Hello friends,

I am wearing 3/4 beige linen pants (clam-diggers), my university in Texas' tshirt, my baseball cap, my sunglasses and listening to my iPod. I enter this internet cafe, this one being different from the previous one I frequent to. There is a cute lady sitting at the desk. Her name is Faree.

Mansur: (Entering the netcafe) Hello ma'am. How are you?
Cute Lady at desk: (Sleepily) I am fine sir.
Mansur: Are there any computers available?
Cute Lady at desk: (while fidgeting on her computer) Yes, number 5.
Mansur: (with his iPod in his ears!) Number 9?
Cute Lady at desk: No, 5!
Mansur: Oh, 5, ok, thanks.

After checking up on my emails and blogs, I printed out two documents, on which there were two Pakistani names.

Cute Lady at desk: (bringing the printed papers to me) Are you from Pakistan?
Mansur: Yes I am. Are you too?
Cute Lady at desk: Yes
Mansur: Whereabouts?
Cute Lady at desk: Multan.
Mansur: Oh, cool, I am from Lahore
Cute Lady at desk: You know what, you don't look like a Pakistani.
Mansur: Really?
Cute Lady at desk: Yes. You look like an Indian.
Mansur: (offended) Indian? How so?
Cute Lady at desk: You look like someone from Bangalore.
Mansur: (Exasperated) Huh? Where did you come up with Bangalore?
Cute Lady at desk: Well, you look like a really smart person, and Indians from Bangalore are smart people.
Mansur: (Unhappily) Ok, thanks. (All the while, I am fuming inside at yet another person thinking I am Indian!)

Aaaargh! I have had enough of people asking me: are you Hindi? Inta Hindi? What do I need to do to prove to people I am not Indian but a Pakistani? Paint my face green and white, with the crescent and star?

Mansur