Lanka will always be my home!

Half my heart is back home

I miss the sunshine on my face

I miss the walks down the sea shore

I miss the friends at work

I miss the relatives and calls and all the fuss

Living here in to lap of luxury

Too cold to go outside

Snow everywhere

Beautiful to see

But miserable to be in

No friends… no family…

No sunshine… no sea

You hardly see a pedestrian

A building or a mountain

My dear country… War bound

I had to leave

To pursue, a future.. better for my family

Lanka - without you

I miss sun drying my clothes

I miss the rush hour hour

I miss the string hoppers and kiri hodhi

I miss the hoppers and pol sambol

I miss everything back home

And I don’t know when I will see her again

I miss my comfy bed

And my little home!

I hope Jannah will be lucky enough to enjoy her childhood as much as we did. We had neighbour kids to run around and play with. We didn’t electronic robot dolls and remote controlled cars to amuse us. Yet we had so much and more! We had outdoor sports and loads of fun… we had time to sit under the jam tree and play sellam gedara. We had time for cricket and kom pittu. We made kites and flew them We rode bikes and bruised ourselves. When parents used the cane we did not have authorities to complain! We felt the sand and grass under our feet and the rain and wind on our faces…

Jannah I want you to not to miss one bit of it!!!

12 November 2007 - Our New Home

So we officially shifted on Saturday and technically on Sunday. We also bought the crib, mattress and car-seat for the baby on Saturday. We did our grocery and linen shopping just in time to make it to the baby store. At the new place we installed our first piece of very own furniture – the sleeper couch. This was the first time we had a home of our very own. The finances are a bit tight so we couldn’t for the moment buy any more furniture. Small beginnings I hope would end with great futures.
We spent the last night at our old condominium with almost next to nothing because we had shifted all our stuff to the new place. We had noodles for an early dinner but since hunger disturbed us again we had to order some mushroom pizza from Dominoes.
We chatted with shafi periappa, dad and mum on Sunday morning before we left for the new home. We had to spend a day without TV, and internet. This gave us time for a nap at a very odd hour and shortly after that we left to downtown with a friend to buy halal meats and we also needed to check out a few furniture stores which were unfortunately closed on a Sunday evening. For lunch we had snacks. I had cornflakes and bru had last the night’s left over pizza. We fixed some can soup but that wasn’t very palatable for bru. Jannah was very quiet all of Sunday. By night I was beginning to worry if something was wrong. It’s been more than 3 weeks since any doctor checked us up. And till Tuesday 1pm – which is going to be my first doctor’s appointment here - I won’t know what was going on with us. It’s amazing how moments like this show us how much Jannah is a part of our lives even though she is yet to see the world!
Our first solid meal at the new apartment was chicken biriyani which we had to eat sitting on the floor. It was very large in quantity but missing lunch gave bru a good excuse to finish it all.
It’s Monday and I’m spending my first day at our home alone as I type this and before I start my cooking. It was an early start with bru making the tea and then leaving to work soon after an English breakfast of bread, butter and bulls eyes. Ladies’ fingers and chicken will see us through lunch Insha Allah.
I don’t miss home now as much as I did in the first few days. I’m slowly getting used to the place. Its like living in a dream…. Like I don’t have my feet firmly planted on ground yet… but I’m sure that things will be ok and much better Insha Allah after we settle down. I also have my journal and some books to keep me occupied. Ironically however, I don’t make enough time to get my hands on them. The cable company is to come in the evening today to get the internet connection fixed after which hopefully I can talk to home people.
Its 10 minutes past one. Bru came home for lunch, prayed and then left for work. I am going to nap now. He will be here by 5 just in time before the cable guys get here. He seems to be always thinking about managing the finances for the rest of the week or two. Insha Allah I think everything will work out in good time.
4:35 pm – the naps done thanks to the phone ringing. It’s dark and gloomy. I don’t want to imagine the cold outside. Time to get dinner prepared…

The first few days in Milwaukee...

Usually one would want to say that its been a wonderful 1st week here but unfortunately I cant quite call it that. The city is a bit haunted and the place is a bit dead. The view outside and the neighbourhood is beautiful and quiet. But is this really a place that I wan to live in….? I'm not quite sure…
We reached Milwaukee last Saturday (20th October) after a very tiresome and long 26 hr journey with lots of little adventures all through it. Bru had to start working from last Monday which meant that I had to stay home and fight the challenge of whiling away time in effective ways. Thanks to the cooking that keeps a good one and a half hours of me being occupied. I managed to do that for the past five days thanks to cooking, cleaning, washing, reading and TV. Well most of what's on tv is 100% pure junk and I'm really sure that this is NOT the kind of place that I want to bring up my kids in.
Home is a call away and I also keep in touch with friends at the work place but I miss homeland terribly. Memories and little everyday things that I took for granted now seem so far far away!
If not for skype, msn and telephones I should feel lonely enough to turn back and go home in two weeks. We got a web cam today so my mum and dad could check on my weight gain… I miss the noise and hustle and bustle…. I am so tired of hearing the washing machine and dryer and dish washer all the time. And oh not to forget the 100 odd channels on cable tv that seems like such a curse to have around the house. We haven't yet bought our lap top so I have to wait for bru to some home to blog or chat and since day and night clashes with folks at home there's not really much time to speak to them all!
Bru has been so busy with making arrangements for us to settle down that we hardly have time to think through things. This trip was such a mad rush as we had just two days to prepare everything for a three year stay. I do hope that things get better…!

Sponsor an Orphan

Sri Lanka is one of the worst affected countries from the civil war and natural disasters in the recent past. Thousands of widows and their orphaned children are struggling without a male bread winner.

According our information around 13,000 Muslims appear to be widowed and their children orphaned or displaced in recent times. Most of the orphans live with their widowed mothers and also a significant number are still in various orphanages, madrasas or with relatives and villagers. We believe that orphans should live with their mothers or relatives to enjoy the real love & affection of a family, which would help to minimize their trauma.

You may be aware of a recent event reported from Kalutara..

A Muslim widow (revert), attempted to commit suicide along with her 4 daughters by taking an over dose of sleeping pills.

According to her statement, the main reason for taking such a decision is poverty. She didn’t have any income at all and there was no help either. She then took the easy way out and decided to commit suicide after killing her own children.

With the help of Almighty the whole family escaped death.. Al hamdu lillah now the children are at the Kal-Eliya Islamic Ladies Orphanage with Al- Kafaala sponsorship. The mother is still hospitalised . This is one case which came to light, but there are thousands of similar cases out there, if we only care to look.

Can a Muslim wait doing nothing about it?

Isn’t it our Duty to look after the needy- especially the orphans???

What is the answer??? that we are going to give the Almighty on the Day of Judgment?

We, at Al Kafaala are actively involved in supporting needy widows and orphans. Special attention is given for young widows with school going children as they are more vulnerable to abuse and discrimination . We have a data base of thousands of needy orphans in the island and we are able to look after only around 650 of them. We can do much more if you could give us a hand to help them.

1000’s of orphans are waiting for your support and ours , Can we ignore their suffering????

We must do something!!!!!!!

You can make a change in an Orphan’s life with just US $ 0.50 a day

If you and I don’t give this 50 cents who will wipe off their tears?????????????

Your Friends & Families too can help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Take an orphan under your care now….. and gain merits as a foster parent!

Are you ready?

IF YES , Reply now …..We will give you the details

If not please pray …….for them to find another sponsor

Tel/Fax::+ 0114 204 424,, Mobile: + 94 777 572 935, + 94 773 833 000

Mind Talks

Right Brain/ Left Brain Quiz The higher of these two numbers below indicates which side of your brain has dominance in your life. Realising your right brain/left brain tendancy will help you interact with and to understand others. Left Brain Dominance: (9) Right Brain Dominance: (12) Right Brain/ Left Brain Quiz

Wiser with age?

Why do we always happen to think that people older are also wiser?

Feelings for a new life!

Wonderfully amazing

Mysteriously quiet

A mixture of feelings…

Fear and delight….

Moments to long for….

Moments of pain and joy….

A new life within me…

Almost unbelievable,

No proof of existence…

Yet true…

Welcome dear one

The worlds for you!

MIND DEATH!

hmmm

Is life about "waiting"?

Make somebody's day!

Say they did a great job!

and the wonderful feeling is mutual...!

hey!

why is there no Men's day?

unfair!

And at the end....

...At the end of it all there is only one question that needs to be answered: “Does it make you happy?”
but before reaching the end there’s a million more questions to be answered!

A. S

Sri Lanka has finally done it right!

Kulfi tastes great!

People have no time anymore!

Life is time...

Resolutions

Better Late than never...

Make less objectives

Spend as little time at home as possible doing office work.

Spend more time with family than with computers.

Breath in and out deep breaths every morning.

Run in open air places.

Go out of Colombo at least once in three months

Throw away the handwork and paintings

Start cooking

Drink less coffee

...Oops I think I just broke that one!