Quick 5

Many thanks to Amrita for this wonderful idea.

Ten Years Ago

1. I had just entered my teenage - kudos to my parents for putting up with me
2. Was one of the biggest geeks (cum teachers' pet) in the ninth grade
3. Tuition classes (or more accurately daily gossip sessions) were the funnest part of the day
4. Windows 95, Dial-Up Internet and Email were the hottest, latest and greatest technology
5. Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (then less than a year old) was my favorite movie
   

Five Years Ago

1. I was a sophomore in college at the University of Arizona, Tucson
2. I was new to cooking and the only recipes I knew were: pav bhaji, chawli and alu mattar
3. Learnt to use an alarm clock in the morning (arrghh...the pains of being independent), eat, sleep, study alone
4. Built my first snowman in Charlotte, NC, USA
5. Met my fiance for the first time (I didn't know back then we would be engaged some day)
   

Last One Year

1. Made a tonne of new friends in Austin, TX
2. Visited New York and Seattle for the first time
3. Got my first ever promotion at work
4. Decided to move back home to UAE
5. Started eating chocolate after 3 years
   

Yesterday

1. Got stuck in my first ever serious Dubai traffic jam
2. Celebrated Diwali / Eid in Dubai after six years
3. Made my own meethi-lassi
4. Looked through my parents' wedding album
5. Tried to parallel-park my car and failed miserably
   

Five Things Planned for next 5 Years

1. Study some more
2. Teach a little
3. Visit Australia
4. December 07 :D :D (insha-allah!)
5. More oil painting lessons
   

Five Yummy Things

1. Chocolate
2. Masala Dosas
3. Pralines n Cream ice-cream
4. Chaat
5. Fetuccini Alfredo
   

Five Songs I know by heart

1. Pehla Nasha - Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander
2. Hero - Mariah Carey
3. Kahin door jab din dhal jaaye - Mukesh / Jagjit Singh
4. Dancing Queen - ABBA
5. Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas - Kishore Kumar
   

Five Things I'd do If I had the Money

1. Open my own fusion-food restaurant
2. Sponsor a less fortunate child's education
3. Buy an apartment in downtown Paris
4. Donate money towards cancer research
5. Buy a Porsche
   

TV Shows

1. FRIENDS
2. Everybody Loves Raymond
3. The Golden Girls
4. Tom & Jerry (yep I still love them!)
5. Fraiser
   

Five Things I Can't Live Without

1. Family
2. Friends
3. Laptop
4. Water
5. Cell phone
   

Five Favourite Cuisines

1. Indian
2. Mexican
3. Indo-Chinese
4. Lebanese
5. Italian
   

Five best places to visit

1. Dubaiiiiiii
2. New York City
3. Mumbai
4. Tokyo
5. Paris

That's why God made parents........

God could not be everywhere, that's why He made parents....

Wednesday was a big day for me. Akash and I got engaged here in Dubai - just how we wanted it. Our parents met, discussed our future and overall the event left us reassured on how much our parents love us.

The excitement is high right now - with social events involving new family and friends on the agenda, along with the local Eid and Diwali festivities, Akash and I are quite overwhelmed with the affection being showered on us.

Thank you friends !

Things have been sorted out and I am sooo happy and excited. Particularly, I'm grateful to all of you friends who prayed so hard for me. More updates in a day....Thanks again friends. You guys ROCK !

Dear Friends.....

I've been going through some trying times recently. I know many of you have stuck by me through thick n thin....so one more time, please keep me in your special prayers. Of course I will tell you what I'm asking you to pray for but when the time is right...

If God answers your prayers, He is increasing your faith, if He delays then He is increasing your patience & if He does not answer, then for sure He knows you can handle it perfectly well

Eva had a song sing in your head.....?

So I'm driving to meet a friend, struggling through the traffic and don't feel the need to turn on the music.... why? there's a song playing in my head. I tried everything to get the song outta my head, tried singing another song aloud, calling a friend, rolling down the windows....grrr nothing made the song go away...so well I decided to "face the music" (literally!).... and have been listening to it ever since...

Song # 2 on this page

Moveover Dewal, hello Daisy !

With the ramadan festivity catching up and some social visits in the horizon, I decided to go to the local beauty parlor. Of course, several new parlors have sprung up in the last few years which I didn't notice until recently.

I decided to go back to Daisy, the delightful, talented yet unassuming beautician in the area whom we know for over 15 years. I strolled into her parlor in the evening assuming that I would have to re-introduce myself and explain clearly what I wanted. But to the contrary, the middle aged, chubby Daisy recognized me instantly - "Taal Ya Habibi ! (come here my dear)... when you come from Amriki" she said in her accented, broken Lebanese-English. Before I could answer she made me turn around a few times, ruffled her fingers through my hair... "Aiwa Ya habibi, you grow very fat, why this?.. you ate too much fi Amriki!!"..she said decisively.

Our conversation varied from then onwards, she talked about how her life had changed in 15 years, how too many competing beauty parlors had opened in the area ... "but all come, stay two years and khallas...GONE.... except mine, I still do business" she said with a sense of pride.

Of course, we discussed the traffic situation in Dubai "Naat Goot" she said "I old now...no drive anymore...and betrool expensive"...."Yeah..but" I argued, "petrol is expensive in America as well". "Aiwa??" (really?), she said broodingly "too much proooblem everywhere, fi Lebanan, fi Dubai, fi Amriki...everywhere, we not go Beirut now too much prooblem"...

Poor Daisy, it suddenly occured to me that she was smarter than I thought she was. A fighter for sure, she sure is a shrewd businesswoman (she cut my hair and simultaneously calmed down an annoyed customer on the phone - and did both to perfection) with a plesant demeanor and a sense of nonchalance that actually works in her favor considering her line of business.

The real taste of life....

I experienced my first traffic jam today in Dubai. I've heard so much about the dangerously high number of cars trying to squeeze through roads that were designed for half the number of vehicles it caters to today. The situation was frustrating with high humidity, the scorching heat and irked drivers cutting accross lanes. So much for defensive driving - a skill that was hammered into my brains in the US that I have to un-learn to survive here.