"I also believe that parents, if they love you, will hold you up safely, above their swirling waters, and sometimes that means you'll never know what they endured, and you may treat them unkindly, in a way you otherwise wouldn't."

In the book, "For One More Day" by Mitch Albom, the writer had written short incidents between chapters which were titled as "Times My Mother Stood Up For Me" and "Times I Did Not Stand Up For My Mother". Pretty tragic and heart-wrenching stories were these. The kind of selfless love a mother showers on her children has never been described so beautifully before. So, while reading the book I was analyzing that there are a quart million times when my Mother stood up for me, and not even a quart time when I stood up for her!

I feel like a little child again who wants her mother back by any way! I can hardly wait for these 8 days for her to return home.

"Have you ever lost someone you love and wanted one more conversation, one more chance to make up for the time when you thought they would be here forever? If so, then you know you can go your whole life collecting days, and none will outweigh the one you wish you had back."

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My mother was always writing me notes. She slipped them to me whenever she dropped me somewhere. I never understood this, since anything she had to say she could have said right then and saved herself the paper and the awful taste of envelope glue.

I think the first note was on my first day of kindergarten in 1954. What was I, five years old? The schoolyard was filled with kids, shrieking and running around. We approached, me holding my mother's hand, as a woman in a black beret formed lines in front of the teachers. I saw the other mothers kissing their kids and walking away. I must have started crying.

"What's the matter?" my mother asked.
"Don't go."
"I'll be here when you come out."
"No."
"It's OK. I'll be here."
"What if I can't find you?"
"You will."
"What if I lose you?"
"You can't lose your mother, Charley."


She smiled. She reached inside her jacket pocket and handed me a small blue envelope.
"Here," she said. If you miss me really badly, you can open this."

She wiped my eyes with a tissue from her purse, then hugged my good-bye. I can still see her walking backward, blowing me kisses, her lips painted in red Revlon, her hair swept up above her ears. I waved good-bye with the letter. It didn't occur to her, I guess, that I was just starting school and didn't know how to read. That was my mother. It was the thought that counted. 

For One More Day
by Mitch Albom.

_________________


Finished reading Tuesdays With Morrie and For One More Day by Mitch Albom. These were one of those best books I've read till today. And these books have ignited my love for reading more and more books. Someday I'd surely rob Liberty Books.

And Sophie Kinsella, I'm coming to read the whole of Shopaholic series. =D

Cheerio folks =)

PS: Please suggest me some books. Cuz I'm reading books at a fast speed these days :$

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So in the past one month I read about 3-4 books. These include:

• The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown,  
• Shopaholic Abroad by Sophie Kinsella,  
• Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella, and  
• Really Important Stuff by Cynthia Copeland Lewis.

I've never felt so addicted to books. And that day when I landed at Liberty Books, I almost got glued to the shelves and books. Momma had to drag me out of the store. *sigh* Why can't I just live in such a bookstore? =(

Now I must talk about the Ethics of Reading Books, like I once talked about the Ethics of Eating Chocolates. There is, for me, no joy in reading e-books. I just can't spend a single minute peering at the screen. I mean, for reading a book at least. Hence, the best way to read a book is to lie down on your bed or plump in your favorite couch and enjoy reading your book in the natural sunshine. You may drag your bed couch to the nearest or the most wide and beautiful window of your house and read your book then. Oh, and add a few roasted cashew nuts or Hershey's nuggets to this equation. Your day would be brightened like anything! <3

I've got a good collection of books, but they're like a tiny fraction of what I've seen in my Nana's room (and his other room, dedicated to books only). I wish I could steal Britannica's series and the series of Great Books. Oh man! *drools* But to save my collection, I avoid lending my books now. People hardly return. That's so not fair. And from that, I've now learned that a good reader borrows books and a bookaholic never returns them!  ;)

And lately I've discovered something really interesting. Whenever I'm feeling down, a good book always lifts my mood. I start feeling better instantly. It's like a magical feeling. I still remember the day when I had a severe heat stroke and Papa brought me The Book of Virtues. And that was years ago. 10 or 11 maybe. Now I know what makes me feel better! =)

Cheerio folks! =)

PS: I may add to this post later on. We're having an unexpected power outage and my laptop's battery is taking its last breath. See, that's why I prefer reading hard copies! =)

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Book: Shopaholic Abroad
Author: Sophie Kinsella

It's 3 am and I just finished reading this book. You have no clue how dead and fatigued I was at 11 pm last night, and then I picked up this book to read a few chapters and ended up reading the whole of it. Ammazing! And honestly speaking, this is one of the best books I've ever read! I mean, those who know me know very well that I never stay awake late to finish reading a book. But this book kept my eyes glued to its pages.

I simply love the way this book is written. The characters are so much fun - Luke, Becky, not Suze, and that Alicia Bitchy long-legs. She really was a stupid cow. Haha. Oh, and how can I forget Lucy! I so wanted to kill her on Becky's behalf. I really couldn't sleep that night thinking of how she teased Becky. Arrrghhh!

Oops! Maybe I shouldn't be writing that much. All girls out there do read this book and all the books in the Shopaholic Series. And do NOT give me hints about what's going to be there in other books. Now shhhhh!

Now as a whole, after reading the book, I believe I have a bit of Rebecca Bloomwood (Becky) in me, because my Momma always asks me what am I going to do with such and such piece of crap stuff that I buy. This question should be banned actually. It always makes me go silent and think (and sometimes put back the adorable bags/ jewelery items/ and even paper clips back on the shelves) =(

Final word: As for those who say, "Happiness is free", I request all bags, sandals, clothes and fashion accessories to be dirt-cheap (if not entirely free)!

Cheerio folks! =)

PS: I love books with happy endings!
PPS: The 17th chapter made me cry, and the rest of the book made me cry with laughter!

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Good day and good morning!
Here is your early morning tea
and here are your crack-a-dawn cereals.
Sugar is also provided.
Breakfast in bed, room service calling!
Are you awake?

Darren, sit up! I'm giving you
ten seconds, starting now! TEN.
The weather outside is fine - at least
by North Sea standards. NINE.
Just a fresh Force Six blowing and a spot
of rain lashing the rooftops. EIGHT.
The sun is shining - lucky Australians!
The bus, however, is on time
according to local radio - SEVEN -
and if you want to walk again and be

reported to the Head that is your business
but - SIX - I have a bus to catch too
and you can pay for a taxi out of your pocket money
if I miss it the third morning running.
FIVE. Your gerbil has been eaten by the dog
and the dog has been eaten by a crocodile
that got in down the chimney and is, at the moment,
opening it jaws over your toes-
feel it? No? Oh well.
FOUR. A letter has just arrived,
postmarked Wembley, inviting you to play
for England next Saturday against Czechoslovakia -
bet you won't be late for that - THREE.
Czechoslovakia is one of the eighteen spellings
wrong in your Geography homework.
Why wasn't it handed in last week? I found
the letter you forged from your dad
stating you had a dental appointment
on Friday afternoon - TWO - you could
at least have spelt his Christian name right
and the address. Make an appointment with him
an hour after you intend to go out tonight.

ONE. This is your mother speaking
and I am about to pour tea
over your head, even if it causes me
extra washing. I won't begrudge the powder.
Darren, I'm giving you HALF A SECOND, A QUARTER,
AN EIGHTH. No this is not a nightmare,
no the trickle of water you feel at this moment,
is NOT an illusion...

[By Brian Morse
from Bushi's English Book]

Cheerio folks =)

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Bushi's new academic year has just started. So, yesterday I went to buy his course books. And I was reminded of the times when I used to visit the bookshops very often to buy my O- and A-Level books and past papers. During these (almost) 4 years of my university life, I have never visited a bookshop with the intention to buy any coursebook. Thanks to my classmates who would go and buy books for me too =)

Getting back to the point. Momma dear was putting plastic covers on his books and copies. Usually I do this every year, but since I had an exam today, I was (or pretending to be) busy in studying Auditing. But I love books. I love kiddy books more. So, I kept my notebook aside and started reading Bushi's books. His English book has such nice stories. And I then read his "Pakistan ki sayr", and his Science textbook. I just love those glossy-paper books. I hope he uses them with all due care :( At one point, I was so deeply delved in those books, I hardly noticed Momma staring at me. Hehe. =) And then I got back to studying Auditing :( [And my paper went okay-ish] :/ I'm waiting for my exams to finish so I could read all of his books :$

Oh, I'm in love with this song - Bandar Road se Kemari... :D I want to sit in a tonga :(



Cheerio folks =)

PS: Prayers needed for my last paper - Treasury and Funds Management - the nightmare of my life, scheduled at 12:30 pm, Wednesday :(

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Finished reading The Kite Runner today. Aapi gifted me this book on my birthday, and now I got the time to read it. It took me two days to complete it (exclude the time when I open a novel, read a few pages, get bored and slide it back in the shelf). But seriously, I'm one of those who really drag the reading because they want to "enjoy the story for a long time" [perhaps for a few weeks]. I spent my whole Sunday in reading that book, wept couple of times. Yep, Momma says, "is ki aankhoun mein samandar bhara hua hay." :$

The whole day I did nothing but read the book with almonds on my side. I'm addicted to almonds, but still it has no effect on my poor brain. I think I'd always be the same ol' Dinky Mind :( And I forced myself to close the book around 1 am and reminded myself of the 8 straight horrible sessions at university.

Okay, okay, okay. This book is really one of the best books I've ever read. I had the same fun reading this one as I had in reading Angels & Demons. But I think The Kite Runner was better than Angels & Demons. I really became glad how Amir .... okay, I won't spoil the suspence for those who haven't read it yet :P But I seriously enjoyed reading about Amir and Hassan's childhood. They both were so innocent...awwww! Ab I want to watch the movie too :$

Now I want another book - A Thousand Splendid Suns or Tuesdays With Morrie or both :P

*waiting for me's next birthday* :(

Cheerio folks =)

PS: Luhff you Biya. You always give me good books to read. So, when am I getting a new one? :$

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Got this book yesterday, and finished reading it in one go. It was very interesting, but had too many characters. So it was hard to keep track of all of them, and I kept on going back to previous chapters to find who's daughter Agnes was, etc. I was so pissed off at Uriah, who would keep on saying, "I'm a humble person, so is my mother. We have a humble home and humble this and humble that and humble everything". And I was glad to know how he was found guilty. I was actually waiting for that chapter. Hehe. I like books which have happy endings. Yep, Dinky Mind doesn't like to contemplate much on the sad endings. :)

The lesson that I've learnt from this book is, "Three things you should always remember: Never be proud, always be kind, and never be dishonest."

And I bought another book - Best Quotations for All Occasions. Back in A-Levels, we used to have this book - Collins Dictionary of Quotations, and I always wanted to have it. Now I've got a similar book, and I'm so happy to read it.

Remember people, exactly after a month I'd be celebrating my birthday, so please buy nice books for me abhi se :P

Aray, I heard this cool song on radio when I was driving to office. But could hear only a few lines :( And it goes like:

لیے آنکھوں میں غرور

ایسے بیٹھے ھیں حضور

جیسے جانتے نہیں

پہچانتے نہیں

:) Lol. It's a song by Ahmed Rushdi, and I just can't find any link to download it from. So if anybody has this song with them, please please please mail me. Thankooo :)

Cheerio foilks =)

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This is the book that I've finished reading just yesterday. And it's really nice. Couldn't digest the heavy and archaic vocabulary of Tess of the D'Ubervilles by Thomas Hardy. Even Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is also waiting to be read. *sigh*

I've learnt so much from this book, from all the five people Eddie meets in Heaven. The ending really made me cry, when he met his last person.

And here's a quote I like about the book:

"Parents rarely let go of their children, so children let go of them. They move on. They move away. The moments that used to define them - a mother's approval, a father's nod - are covered by their own moments of accomplishments. It is not until much later, as the skin sags and the heart weakens, that children understand; their stories and all their accomplishments, sit atop the stories of their mothers and fathers, stones upon stones, beneath the waters of their live."

And another,

People say they "find" love, as if it were an object hidden by a rock. But love takes many forms, and it is never the same for any man and woman. What people find then is a 'certain' love. And Eddie found a certain love with Marguerite, a grateful love, a deep but quiet love, one that he knew, above all else, was irreplaceable. Once she'd gone, he'd let the days go stale. He put his heart to sleep."

A must read, I must say!

Cheerio folks =)

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I have been tagged by Ahmed Mujtaba.
The rules of this tagging game are,
1, Get a grab of a book near you( but it should be at least 123+ pages)
2, Get to the 123rd page.
3, Grab the 5th line.
4, Add the next 3 lines to your post.
5, Then tag any 5 bloggers.

The book I've got with me is "The New Silk Flower Book - Making Stylish Arrangements, Wreaths, Decorations".

The 5th line and onwards say:

"To make the clay pocket, use a rolling pin to roll out pink oven-bake clay to a 1/4- inch (.5 cm) thickness. Arrange pieces of lace (the more open the...."

I'd like to tag:

Jony
Unaiza.

Cheerio folks =)

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Reading Moth Smoke by Mohsin Hamid these days.

It's different!

P.S.: WAKA just told me, Blogspot has been removed from the restricted list of websites :) Yayyyy

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This is the book that I'm reading these days. Oh my my, this is one hell of a book. A must read! Here is the Book Review.

The first page of the book:

------------------------------------------------------------------------

THE VA DINCI COD

or

THE EDA VINCI COD

or

CODDY DELIGHT

Sponsored by Coddy Delight®, the cod-flavoured fruit drink.

Serve it to your children, and serve them right.

By

A.R.R.R. Roberts

(writing as Don Brine)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Do read it.

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These days I'm reading Demian by Hermann Hesse. A very nice book lent to me by a very nice friend. Do read it. It's great!

Click here to read its summary.

Cheerio folks =)

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Yes, finally, I have finished reading this book. GOOD, which means 'not bad'. Lol. And after reading other three books by Dan Brown, I was sure either Tench, or that Pickering were creating problems. And am glad Tench died (how evil of me...lol). Sorry all present and prospective readers of Deception Point, I know am spoiling all the fun and suspence...but what can I say, am happy that what I expected to happen in the book, happened! <:o)

I read Brown's books in this order:
1~ Angels & Demons.
2~ The Da Vinci Code.
3~ Digital Fortress.
4~ Deception Point.

Although all books are great and are a pleasure to read, but I find Digital Fortress to be the best. Now, I have started reading 'The World in 2020' by Hamish McRae.

And oh, my French result is still not here. Some day, this evil receptionist will ___________

Enough for today... Have got a lot to do tomorrow, and lot to face as well!

Keep praying!

Cheerio =)

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Thanks Asma, TM, and Sid for tagging me. (I'm a lazy lad, I know. Hahaha)

How I came nearer to reading:
When I was very young, around 2-3 years old, my grand father brought a book set for me. It had 4 or 5 books. And they were pretty interesting. Like, one was about animals, the other about kitchen objects, and one was about gardening tools, etc. So, it was so interesting that I almost memorised those books. (each book had 8-10 pages. So, it was pretty easy to memorise). <:o) Then, I started reading Jane and (Paul?) . I don't remember Jane's brother's name. Was it Paul or Peter? Anyways, then I was dragged to school, where I read poems like Little Miss Muffet and Over In The Meadow, and stories like Muthu, the Day Dreamer. Besides that, I'd read Jack and the bean stalk and other such stories. Then I was introduced to Enid Blyton - I'd always read her name as Gnid Blyton. Moreover, I never knew if she was a man or a woman. Hahaha. So, I'd read the series Famous Five by her. Then, I started reading Carolyn Keene's Nancy Drew series. Then, I read R.L.Stine's books - Fear Street series. Then, I decided to read some factual books. *And there was a long break* Hahahaa. Well, now I have started reading Dan Brown's books. In Urdu stuff, I'd prefer reading my textbooks. Lol. But I remember reading a bunny's story book, which was awesome. I had memorised the book. It was so good. I'd also read Naunehaal. I still remember the time when my sister introduced me to the 'Hansi Ghar' section - the jokes' page. Never read Taleem-o-Tarbiat (cuz it never had new jokes in it). I have also read Inspector Jamshed series. Those books were very interesting.

Total number of books owned:
Well, haven't counted yet. There are a lot of 'em (including course books).

Last book I bought:
Deception Point by Dan Brown. (Yes, I have finally bought it. Yesterday I went to buy it).

Last book I read:
Digital Fortress by Dan Brown. (Awesome-ish book).

Five books which mean a lot to me:
~1: The Holy Quran.
~2: The World in 2020 by Hamish McRae.
~3: Parvaz by Shafiq-ur-Rehman.
~4: Digital Fortress by Dan Brown.
~5: The Book of Virtues by William J. Bennet.

My companion in reading:
Silence. Some nuts or chips. A comfortable pillow. And my attention.

I won't tag anyone. They are already tagged. And if you aren't, let me know :)

Cheerio =)

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