Web MD: 22 Healthy Munchies ( does not include laddus!)

My biggest weekness in terms of eating habts is snacking. When I see a choclate bar or something similar my inclination is to have it in full, I cant have small bits..... Besides that, if I open a bag of brownies I usually finish those within two days! So some damage control is definately needed. Anyways read this link below to find out more about the small healthy snacks you should/could enjoy. And perhaps when you get married you can have high fibre healthy snacks given after the snacks. I am sure the uncles and auntees will love you for that and that your ( future) sopuse wont get freaked out! After all Laddus have no fibre in them or....................ummm.... do they?

Dietitians agree that the best snacks satisfy hunger while helping meet our daily dietary needs, especially for fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy.

"Look for snacks that contain protein with healthy carbohydrates and fats, and eat your snacks slowly so they fill you up," says Weems. Read on

Christian Science Monitor: "Overexposure: When media coverage blocks out the sun"

A relevant article on the state of the media ( the mainsream North American media to be exact) and how they cover things today.  A lot of issues that we worry about are the issues in the media. When the issues arent there then we arent worried. ( We being the muslim community and/or the general community). An example was the cartoon issue which came and went at the will of the media. It was an issue before the media made it an issue and then it died down while it is still an issue right now! ( as in things really did not change when the issue died down) Moreover if we divide each issue into subsets, the media really wants  focus on one subset. In other words they define the frame with which each issue is looked at. Do you remember Hurricane Katrina? I thought and think the ammount of coverage the event initially received and the coverage it receives one year after the event is hugely dispropotional. Dont we want to know what happened to the thousands of people whgo got displaced? Same can be said about other disasters. Anyways please do read this article:

"It is an enormously complicated world, and every day,

all over, things happen that matter. It may sometimes seem that stories

come from nowhere, like the terrorist attacks on 9/11. But it's often

the case that these events are surprises only because we weren't paying

attention, and we probably weren't paying attention because the media

weren't paying attention.

There are reasons people buy books or pay to see

movies. Plots are nice. Stories move from A to B to C and at the end,

generally, everything is tied together nicely. But the news isn't a

movie or a book. Stories rise and fall and rise again, and they usually

don't do it in a linear, neat way." Click here to read more

BBC Shehr Kahani: Videos on the life of ordinary Pakistanis

A look into the lives of ordinary Pakistanis by BBC's Urdu Service. Each video is 5 to 10 minutes long and gives a good insight ( the good, the bad and the ugly) into the lives of ordianary Pakistanis ( or for that matter insight into problems normal people face on the streets of many developing countries). Needless to say you need to understand urdu to watch these.....thank you Khany for pointing me to these..

This is the first short documentary I edited, made by community people from rural Pakistan, who were trained by BBC Word Service Producers. This is the story of a woman who ran away from her home in Hyderabad, and settled in Multan, as a man. In order to work at the Public Call Office that she manages, she dresses as and passes for a boy:

http://www.youtube.com/v/hSNjh-c91RQ

This is the second short documentary I edited made by community people from rural Pakistan, trained by BBC World Service. This is the story of a small village in Haripur, Pakistan, which is surrounded by three cement factories. The waste from the factories is causing the locals a lot of problems:

http://www.youtube.com/v/Ufq9rNuBS-o

The third in the series of short documentaries that I edit, made by community people from rural Pakistan. This is an inspiring story of a woman who lives in rural Pakistan, who is a committed social worker and politician:

http://www.youtube.com/v/aHyfHMoovA8

The fourth short documentary from the Shehr Kahani series, also shot and directed by community people from rural Pakisan. Faqero is a gifted sculptor whose work can be seen at many Hindu temples in Pakistan:

http://www.youtube.com/v/tkCN_Dnc0ZU

This fifth short documentary in the Shehr Kahani series is an oral history of the great sufi saint Shams, as told by one of his devotees. Illustrated by beautiful shots of his shrine and the atmosphere there, this is one of my favourites. Although I say that for every one of these I edit. The fact that all of these are shot and directed by 'authentic' community people makes the subject matter - and visuals - just so much more interesting, and a pleasure to edit:

http://www.youtube.com/v/U9G9gcy4Pk4


The sixth short documentary in the Shehr Kahani series. Ibrahim tells us about the art of moulding clay into beautiful designs:

http://www.youtube.com/v/6N35M2fuKWM


The seventh short documentary in the BBC Urdu Shehr Kahani series. This was also shot and directed by community people from rural Pakistan, and is the story of a woman who lived a very difficult life, but in the end did what she wanted to:

http://www.youtube.com/v/1-QiKTMAm7Q


The eighth short documentary in the Shehr Kahani series. Mohammed Amin has no hands, but earns enough money to sustain himself and send his children to school:

http://www.youtube.com/v/qMwdjvamueA


The ninth short documentary in the Shehr Kahani series tells the story of Francisnagar, where unusually high levels of rain in 2006 caused water to stagnate in the whole village. The people of Francisnagar were forced by fedual lords to work and live in the water, which was causing them many health problems:

http://www.youtube.com/v/DYfqbit2Jx4


The tenth short documentary in the Shehr Kahani series. Balram supports his family by selling balloons and stamping mehndi tattoos on children. But he wishes he was born in a 'rich' family so that he could go to school:

http://www.youtube.com/v/1akibUINeQU

The eleventh documentary in the Shehr Kahani series. This is the story of Talib, who lives in a small village in Dadu District. He is blind, but is a poet, singer, shopkeeper and electrician! And he loves life, as well as Rani Mukerjee:

http://www.youtube.com/v/BHYfqFPjbME

Virtuous action....

From a 4 page expert of Hamza Yusuf's unpublished book called "Walk on Water":

According to Ahmad, Jesus (allahi-salam) was known
to have said, “Virtuous action does not
consist in doing good to someone who
has done good to you—that is merely
returning a favor. Virtuous action consists
in doing good to those who have wronged
you.”

More on Bob Woolmer from Cricinfo: Price of Passion

An article from Cricinfo dicusses the pressures of cricket in South Asia:

We were sitting down to lunch after the depressing trip to the University Hospital when a man came by and asked: "Da coach who die? He Pakistan coach now?" When we said yes, he shook his head sadly, dreads blowing in the breeze. 'Maybe he take it to heart?" he said. "Even da biggest team can lose to little team, man. It a game, and da ball round."

As you listened to him, you could only wish that fans back home in India and Pakistan were possessed of such common sense or perspective on life.

A sad day for cricket

It is a very sad day for cricket. No I am not talking about Pakistan being knocked out of the cricket world cup.


I am talking about the death of Pakistan's cricket coach Bob Woolmer. He was a thorough professional, great innovator (and a wonderful person from his blog, articles and his interviews that I saw). Speculation is rife that his death ( assuming it was of natural causes) was a result of the stress yesterday's loss produced, but Allah knows best. ( here is a really good personal interview with him on Geo TV)

Having browsed through different Internet forums, loads of Pakistani cricket fans are expressing their sadness and shock. Most if not all are calling it a bigger tragedy then Pakistan's failure at the world cup. It is good to know that cricket fans are putting things into perspective. Lots of sports fans ( including myself) sometimes take sports too seriously forgetting that "it" is just a game and there are much more important things in life to worry about....

Tributes from leading cricket experts from cricinfo.

Condolences to his family....

Remember the Pakistani earthquake?

It was very easy to talk and rant about the tragedy of the earthquake when it first happened. But it is even easier to forget them now. Please do think of them now...

But the fact of the matter is that there are still thousands of people who are affected by the earthquake as this UN article reports:

An old, bearded man launched an angry tirade at aid agency officials who had come to visit a quake-displaced community living in tents in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir.

“We have had no water, no electricity for weeks,” he shouted. “There are no bathrooms and people are falling sick in the cold and rain.”

Nearly a year and a half after a devastating earthquake ripped through northwest Pakistan, survivors say that living in shelters, whether tented or pre-fabricated, can be unbearable at times...............

How you can help? Well for one thing please make dua. I did a quick online search and there arent any call of donations from the earthquake rebuilding ogranizations whose websites I checked. ( let me know if you know otherwise)

Mooslim.ca:A Guide to Reforming Islam: Let’s Start with the Funny Way They Dress

ALi's interesting post on www.mooselim.ca :

"To practicing Muslims rules are everywhere. In Islamic fashion, these laws exist in the form of certain conditions and guidelines that clothing must fulfil. For example, “men are supposed to avoid silk clothing”. Or “women are supposed to cover their hair”. There is no such parallel in non-Muslim fashion — a person can wear (or not wear) pretty much anything.

These rules irk non-Muslim Canadians. Yes, we Muslims get the message: The way practicing Muslims dress (especially Muslim women) in Canada scares you and you want us to stop dressing-funny.

And now that you’ve got the idea in your head to change the way we dress, after having spent that time flipping through “Islam-for-Dummies” in Chapters that one Sunday, you have decided that the best way to change the way we dress is by starting with the laws. Let’s get rid of most of them, right?..............."

In interior BC

Afer 1 day in Vancouver, I had work in interior BC which is where I flew in on Tuesday morning and stayed till Thursday morning.

I was in Vernon, Pitickton,Kelowna and Kamloops. Out of the four Kelowna was the most beautiful. Below are a few more pics and descriptions






These three pictures were from Pitickton. There are two lkaes in Pitickton and both were amazingly breathtaking even at this time of the year.











These pics were taken on my way from Pitickton to Kelowna. One of the most breathtaking drives I have ever been on. It was great there were viewpoints all along where I would stop and take pictures. The reflection of the hills in the lake was just awesome!




My next stop was Kelowna. Another great small city with great views.





My last two stops were Vernon and Kamloops. They were very nice too but My day was really busy so I did not get too much sightseeing done at these plces. The above are some more pics from the two places.




This last picture is from my flight to Kamloops to Vancouver. It is a very nice bird eyes view of the hills in BC.

Very blessed to have this kind of work with some travelling. Thanks to the people at work who sent me and of course most importantly thank you Allah for sending me there and opening my eyes to these great views.......

What a city! (Vancouver, BC)

I have been lucky enough to travel to the other side of Canada (i.e. British Columbia) this week for Work. Today I was in Vancouver and found out first hand why this city is such a "in" place to live in.

It is a city with a lot of character, natural beuety, great weather ( if you dont mind rain) and beutiful arhitecture. I was just amazed on how so much can be packed in such small area.



It was my first expreince of the Pacific Ocean. The views from Vancouver's beaches (picture above) are all breathtaking even in this foggy weather. I wonder how they look when the sun is out.



One thing I noticed was that there seems to be a higher ratio of local businesses in Vancouver compared to the bigger chains which seem to dominate the markets in other big cities.That I belve givs the city more character.

Ah. The ocean, the beach, the mountains, the tall buildings, the bridges, the big ships. WHat a city!

The Daily SHow; Houston Mosque problem

A odd thing happenning in Texas as reported by The Daily Show. See video below.