Dulce et Decorum est

Ryz brought home an age-old TV serial that aired on our local television screens in '98. Pakistani folks know what I'm talking about - it was called, "Alpha Bravo Charlie," a TV serial regarded as touching and timeless by many. It's about the coming-of-age of a group of friends serving in the Pakistan army.

I just remember older girls crushing on the men in uniform in the drama.

Ryz and my cousin got, "Alpha Bravo Charlie" on DVD with the hopes of watching the complete series. Naturally they started from episode 1. It's charming, I get why people liked it so much when it initially aired. 

The storyline started to drag on, or maybe I wasn't sitting still long enough to be drawn in by the plot. Either way, I checked out the synopsis online.

And I didn't want to watch it anymore.

Yes, it showed the Pakistan army in a positive light, and it was so human and real in terms of the relationships portrayed by the characters.

I should have been filled with the warm, fuzzy feeling of watching an old TV show that depicted human emotions with a subtle charm.

Instead, I was only reminded of Wilfred Owen's narrative of serving in the army.

Particularly, "Dulce et Decorum est" - It was a poem on war, and the title was taken from Horace's poem. It literally means, "It's sweet and fitting." The complete phrase is, "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori" which means, "It's sweet and fitting to die for your country." I keep coming back to poetry and literature taught to me in school, and allude them to present experiences. I've got to appreciate the teachers who worked so hard with me to build a strong literary foundation in middle school. 

Here's how he ended his poem. Wilfred Owen died exactly one week before the Armistice ending WWI was signed. He died in battle.

If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud 
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori.

So yeah, I don't want to watch this TV show.

Like Stars Peppering the Desert Skies

Bismillah

Alhamdu lillah it's been more than a year and I'm still experiencing the benefits of marriage in new ways.

Like myself surrounded by seven books scattered on the bed, looking, waiting for inspiration for the perfect website name that I can not only call my own, but also take ownership of for my lifecoaching as well.

My husband is upstairs watching the European Grand Prix and he logs onto chat. I express my distress at not having a name as yet and how it's stagnating me more each day.

He comes up with a name, and what a snazzy one it is too! Not only that, he gives me a couple of tag-lines. Just like that.

I am overjoyed, we have an animated chat from a room across about the possibilities with that name.

I've now begun to tell him how marriage is a wonder each day, alhamdu lillah. He doesn't reply right away because he's watching the race as well.

Two partners in the same flat, in different rooms with their own tasks, and still the connect. Alhamdu lillah.

Last Stop

I was tagged because I read a blog post to follow some instructions. I kill all kinds of chains, so I guess this is the last link of this particular one. No one is tagged, no pressure, no instructions even. Enjoy.

Beauty Spots

Finished China Chowk wali movie in less than 7 minutes I think.

WHY in all these kab ke bichray, jurrwa movies do both twins, who led separate childhoods in varied environments, BOTH grow up to be stunners? Why can't one be a hottie and the other resemble a blue whale, EVER? Argh!

Terms of Speaking

in·ca·pac·i·tate ĭn'kə-pās'ĭ-tāt')  
tr.v.   in·ca·pac·i·tat·ed, in·ca·pac·i·tat·ing, in·ca·pac·i·tates 

1. To deprive of strength or ability; disable.
2. To make legally ineligible; disqualify.

inca·paci·tation n.

To watch The Big Bang Theory without Ryz and still find humor in it.

What Are the Odds!

So I've covered every possible surface area in the bathroom with detergent and have put on my gloves and dampened the sponge to make the place sparkly clean and while I'm rigorously scrubbing away, thinking I'll be done in no time at all, that is the point where my nose starts to itch. So much so that I crave a sandpaper post nearby so I can get rid of the itch and get on with it already.

You Can't Have One Without the Other

Sometimes I feel that Lima and I would've been married if one of us were a guy.

A New Spelling for Our Names

"Dear Mr Afeem and Mrs Kagn..."

I Now Know Valpys' Number by Heart.

I'm still unsure as to what my home number is.

Infant-Pampering Place

I saw this at the Karachi Airport while waiting at the boarding lounge for our plane. This is outside the women's bathroom. Somehow the word usage makes me think that once inside, I'd find chocolate fountains, lots of colorful origami lights hanging from the ceiling, balls of string, and miles of cloth covered with diaper rash cream.

You know, all the elements of an Infant-pampering place.

Venus, Meet Mars

I was in the kitchen when Ryz was watching one of the Matrix movies. I hadn't seen any and so I asked him, "Ryz yeh kaun sa part hai?"

"Yeh sab se acha part hai."

Really.

I'm a sucker for shoulder rubs.

Too Less of a Good Thing

Exhaustion in the South Pole

I helped myself to a bowl of cherries and once the cherries were finished I set the bowl aside to get back to my list of errands to run. Later I glanced at the bowl and noticed that my Webkinz penguin lay on the bed in such a way that its feet were resting on the rim of the now empty bowl. Almost as if the penguin had devoured all the cherries and fallen over from the sheer effort.

Naivete

Biting into a ripe peach without a napkin handy.

The Perfect Market

I'll miss hearing the adhaan, was thinking that today. I'll miss that so much.

M: mm..... there's a reason you're going to the cayman fatima
a reason beyond shaadi too...
there might be a reason ur going to a country where there is no azan
im sure there was no azan in the US some years back
mm..theres a lovely marketing anecdote
i'll share with you...
once a man running a shoe business called in two of his workers and said
go to such and such an island. find out what market there is for shoes
one man returned saying: no one wears shoes on the island. there's no market for ur product.
the other man returned saying:
no one wears shoes on the island. it is the perfect market for your product.

Blade Runner

I've finally understood the meaning of the question, "Do androids dream of electric sheep?"

Well Played.

What Hassan Bhai said to each one of us on leaving once the elections were over. I couldn't have said it any better.

After having tea with the Awan girls from Garh Maharaja and hearing all their complaints of what exactly happened on election day, I am beginning to understand just how well we actually played, alhamdo lillah.

The one thing that is left is those 65,000 people who voted for a change and were overshadowed by illegitimate ballots that warded of any kind of help to this area. Alhamdo lillah for such a number, since it gives Abu the drive to try setting this right with the help and guidance of Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala.

Coming back to the original statement, alhamdo lillah I'm glad to have played well, and glad to have Abu and all my relatives to have played well too, and alhamdo lillahe Rab il Alameen, for we truly don't know how else to play.

Home Within, and Home Without

Lima didn't have to come. Here's how I found home in gaon.

"An old juhi chawla movie is playing on tv n im remembering u.haha.try escaping tht! bought my first heels frm cnk.ibrahim pooped n peed in his new potty." Texts Umme Ibrahim.

Terms of Endearment

Sometimes when I'm reading one of Ryz's emails, I can tell that he's signed off in a hurry. That's when he writes phrases like, "have fun" towards the end. Reading such words while sitting in my village make me want to find where the party's at, probably an elusive location I may have missed and Ryzvan knows about.