Dear friends,

Aha! So here I am! It’s been one year for my marriage! I got married to my beautiful wife a year ago on 25th October 2008! Time flew by so fast  I have no recollection where time went, but then they say good times fly by fast! It’s been an incredible journey so far and my wife and I were just talking about how far we’ve come this one year.

So, right after our marriage, we set off to Phuket, Thailand, where my boss had gifted us his private beach resort at the Laguna Beach Resort. We had the entire place to ourselves. (My company paid for the airfare- business class!). We went to Phi Phi Island (where The Beach was shot), snorkelled and swam; had elephant treks deep inside the jungle; went to Patong and Phuket downtown to get a feel of the real Thailand; ate spicy Thai food; got a sun tan at the beach; had romantic dinners; and a lot more. We then proceeded to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where a very posh Mercedes whisked us away to Ritz Carlton for our one week stay. What did we do: shopped, ate out a lot, watched movied, climbed up Petronas Towers, had dinner at the revolving restaurant at the Menara Tower (very very high!), went to Genting Highlands, checked out KL Aquaria and lots more.

Once we came back from our honeymoon, it was back to normal daily routine in Lahore. December was New Years, which we didnt do much with. There were several weddings in December that we enjoyed going to.

It was on 1st January 2009 that my mom broke the news that my dad has cancer. I spent my day at work in a daze. I even got fined while driving back home because I was so caught up in my thoughts. So my dad’s treatment began, which was very challenging. However, we as a family noticed how close we were drawing ourselves to one another. My wife and I were thrown in this difficult position, and we were forced to get to know one another on a deeper level a lot faster.

March 2009. My wife and I went to Dubai for my 6-months visa renewal. It was her first time, and we had a blast staying at the Sofitel, Deira City Center. We met up with my friends there, went to desert safari, had lots of Chilis and Marble Slab ice cream. We didn’t do a lot of shopping though. Just hung out at Mall of the Emirates, City Center, Madinat Jumeira and Jumeriah Beach Residences.

Then in May 2009, my wife, along with my sister, and two cousins and their moms, went to Istanbul, Turkey for a wedding of our pakistani friend to a Lebanese guy. It was one the best wedding my wife had attended, and  their narration of everything that went on in Istanbul and the pictures proved their story’s worth. It was a trip I had wished I had gone too!

My brother and his family visited us as well. Their two kids were a delight, and my wife and I spent some time with them as well (gearing up for parenthood!). My wife’s sister and her daughter also came in from London and we had a blast hanging out with them too!

My dad was scheduled for his surgery on 20th July 2008. They were to remove his tumor. After undergoing months of chemotherapy and radiation. My dad’s three brothers and two sister made it to Lahore for the surgery. My brother also came in from London. We as a family stood by my dad during his surgery. After a tense day of my dad being in the operating room and eventually into ICU, the doctors declared his surgery a success! It was as if everyone were relieved of all the pressures of the world. My dad gave emotional speeches to everyone of us individually in the ICU unit. He even made me cry to the point where I was finally able to tell my dad that I love him! What a breakthrough for me!

My wife and I were scheduled to go to Dubai again in September 2009. This time we decided to spoil ourselves and we stayed at the Kempinski at Mall of the Emirates, where we got an automatic upgrade to the bigger room because the room I booked for was not available. We had one of the most fun week. Shopping, shopping and shopping at Mall of the Emirates, City Center and Dubai Mall– why? Because her brother’s wedding is coming up and we needed to shop for everything and everyone. We bought new clothes, shoes, accesories. The highlight on this trip was clearly the Aquaventure Park at Atlantis. The Metro ride was fun too! Not to mention the several times my friends who took us out to dinner- Madinat Jumeirah, Jumeirah Beach Residence and other places.

Once back to Lahore, we got busy with the upcoming wedding. He is scheduled to marry on 19th October 2009. But something else happened. My grandmother fell sick suddenly and just three days before the wedding, she passed away. So my family and I went into a period of 3 days mourning, and then resumed back to normal with our daily life. This was a very difficult time for me because I was close to her, and so I had the privilege of lifting my grandmother after she had been washed, and carry her to the grave in the casket.

The wedding was a lot of fun, especially as I got to meet a lot of people from my wife’s side. The wedding reception dinner on the 25th was also the day when my wife and I had been happily marrief  for one whole year!

This is tribute to my wonderful wife, who’s been so amazing, supportive, thoughtful, loving and the best friend I could ask for!

I will not forget to mention God, because I’ve always kept God before anyone and anything in my life, and I feel I need to give Him thanks too immensely for all the blessings He’s given to me in my life!

Mansur

Dear friends,

I am closing down this blog once and for all. I recently got married on the 25th October 2008 and I’ve made a new start in my life. I started this blog back in August 2004 when I was in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

So from 2004 to 2008, Life of Mansur was my way of outletting my thoughts. Since I am married now and have a lot of extra responsibilities, I don’t have the time to blog on a more frequent basis. However, I am not writing off blogging. Once I feel I am settled in well enough in my new life, and have balanced out my responsibilities, I will surely get into blogging again!!

Thanks to everyone who’s been a faithful readers, and to those who’ve added my blog to their blog.

You all take care and all the best!!

Mansur

Happy Ramadan to all my readers!

I had a different day at work today. My boss asked me to come to the site where he’s been working for the last 2 weeks. It turns out I will be visiting the home of Nawaz Sharif, the ex- Prime Minister of Pakistan. My boss has some work there, landscaping and construction new blocks there. Since my boss decided to give me a break from my work, he asked me to join him. Sharif’s home is situated towards Sharif Medical City, which is about 20 kms from Thoker Niaz Beg on Raiwind Road. Once we approached the main gate, the security was very tough, with several concrete blocks around which I had to maneuver my car. A long drive inside brought us to yet another gate which was the entrance to the Sharif’s household. Here, more stringent security, complete with armed men, and a barrier fixed on the road that flips down to allow for the cars to pass through.

Once inside, I was given a tour of the new complex that my boss is working on: the visitor block, the kitchen, the meeting rooms, the parking sheds and the parking lot, complete with the landscaping developments. I was also shown around the entire complex, which included the bird cages, the animals enclosures, the homes of Sharif’s brothers, his mother and finally his own home, which was the best and most well maintained of the lot. Behind these homes, is a small man made river which was very stagnant. In front of the Sharif’s home, there is a very professional cricket ground, which was very well maintained. Such grandeur and opulence made me wonder about him living so richly while the poor people are suffering like nothing outside this small self enclosed haven I was standing in.

It was cool to get to see where Nawaz Sharif lives, and the kind of security and perks they have with being ministers and all. I have no particular affection for him, but clearly, his estate was a great place!

Mansur

When I hear the word “Wildlife” and “Park” together, images of lions and tigers roaming freely in a vast open jungle conjure up in my mind. It was with this very image that I went to the Lahore Wildlife Park today. I had always heard about this park but never got a chance to go visit it, till today. As I approached the stretch of road that led up to the main gate I was excited about driving my car into the jungle while watching the lions and tigers ferociously prowling around. After having paid at the gate, I followed the car in front that led up to the gate to enter the enclosure. No one was at the gate to let us inside the enclosure, so we went to the other side, where again, no one was there to open the enclosure. Where is everyone, we inquired. They haven’t come to work, we were told. I mean, it was 11am and if they don’t come to work, then they should expect to lose customers. But then again, does customer service really exist in Pakistan? So while our attempts to find someone to open the enclosure to let us go through was in vain, all we could do was then park our cars on the side and observe the lions through the fence. My goodness, what a pitiful state the lions were in, sitting under the tree while enduring the humidity. I was appalled at the health of these lions. They were no where near as ferocious as I expected them to. At least we got to see the lions, the tigers were inconspicuously absent. I was told they had to kill one of the tiger because it attacked a car—(to which I responded the driver in the car must have provoked the tiger in the first place).

All in all, I was highly disappointed. I mean, why do you want to name a place Lahore Wildlife Park, when you don’t even have anyone to let you inside the enclosure only to see three lions, and no tigers? I wish I could slap the management of this Lahore Wildlife Park and knock some sense into them. But then again, I was told this place is jam-packed on Sunday and the Park must be minting money, so why bother with the upkeep of the park, right?

I would not recommend you to go to this Park unless you’ve never seen one before, or are desperate to waste your petrol, time and energy to visit this place.

Honesty is the best policy, isn’t it? Don’t go to this pathetic attempt known as Lahore Wildlife Park. I see it as my duty to inform you all of this absurdity.

Mansur

Hello friends,

The Kite Runner is one of those books which I just randomly picked out not expecting to be changed by it. Alongside with Life of Pi and The God of Small Things, The Kite Runner encapsulated me into its world, experiencing life and that one moment in childhood which you never forget, through the eyes of innocent children. The book so perfectly captures the world of pre-Taliban Afghanistan that I could imagine myself being there. When they announced a movie was being made on the book, I was hesitant, yet excited at the same time. I was relieved to know it was being directed by a British director (means nothing will be Hollywood-ized) and the author Khalid Husseini had creative input.

I just saw the movie last night. One word: perfect. I’ve got other words too, but perfect was what I could think of at the end of the movie.

The choice of casting the two young boys, the locations, the costume, the supporting characters, and most importantly the kite flying sequences all brought to screen exactly how I imagined the book to be. I won’t get into a detailed review of the movie, for there are loads out there, but there were definitely some scenes that provoked me, in particular the scenes where Hazaras are mistreated, and the scenes with the Taliban leaders having their own amusement with the children at the orphanage outraged me.

The Kite Runner has become one of my favorite movies of all times now, purely for personal reasons and for the issues it raises in this movie.

Mansur

Hello friends,

I had written earlier about the best selling book The Secret by Rhonda Byrnes. I remember mentioning how the book is really about “praying” to “God” and how the author had taken the basic principle of praying and remolded it for the New Age generation by asking the readers to speak to the “Universe.” It also talks about the power of thinking positive, or the “law of attraction,’ which states that the more positive things you think of, the more positive things/events you will attract to yourself. On the other hand, the more negative things you think of, the more negative things will happen to you.

I will cite you two examples in which this law of attraction could be applied.

1. Too many times I’ve been put in a position where I tell myself “I must email xyz. I must email xyz” or I tell myself over and over “I must call abc. I must call abc.” I tend to put off the emailing or making that important phone call, when xyz and abc would email me and call me respectively. This has happened so many times to me I start wondering if my thoughts are connected to the world somehow that eventually brings the person I think about to contact me. A friend, who I didn’t hear from for 8 months, suddenly wrote to me when I spent a few days thinking about him intensely. Another friend called me out of the blue from the States as I spent a few days thinking about her. Random people crop up in my head and I wonder in my mind how they are doing, and I get an email from them! I am still trying to figure out how this works—it can’t be a coincidence because it happens all the time, and there has to be a rational explanation for people who I think about calling me up.

1. When I saw the Mac book Air in Dubai in March 2008, I knew I had to have one. I thought about it a lot. Do I really need one? Is it wasteful spending? So I just left it at that and didn’t get one, though I would think about it a lot. There would be days when my mind would divert to the Mac book Air and I would think to myself: I will get one eventually. It became my mantra. Lo and Behold, just last week, a friend gifted to me MacBook Air— totally random (or coincidence or pre-planned!) I mean, I had intended to purchase the Mac book Air in August this year, but because I had been thinking about it a lot, I eventually got gifted one. I wasn’t expecting this at all, and the gift was a surprise gift. My friend didn’t know I was secretly craving for a Macbook Air, nor did I tell anyone about my desire to have one. What are the chances of my friend getting the exact same thing that I had been desiring for weeks? Or better yet, is there some force out there that ultimately links my thinking power to getting the desired results?

So I don’t know how these things work. I don’t have an explanation for any of this. But in my mind, I clearly would like to believe God is at work and He certainly works in mysterious ways!

Mansur

]]> http://lifeofmansur.wordpress.com/2008/07/03/law-of-attraction-the-secret/feed/ 5 lifeofmansur http://lifeofmansur.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/macbook-air/ http://lifeofmansur.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/macbook-air/#comments Mon, 23 Jun 2008 17:34:52 +0000 Mansur http://lifeofmansur.wordpress.com/?p=747 ]]>

Hey friends,

With regards to my last post, I actually got gifted a MacBook Air! How cool is that?

Mansur

Hello everyone,

When I made the switch from Blogger to WordPress, I didn’t realize with that switch, I needed to make another one. I am talking about the browser. I downloaded Firefox last night, and it turns out editing, viewing, playing around with my blog is so much easier. Firefox is also somehow faster loading than Internet Explorer. So there you go, I made yet another switch. I will also be making yet another switch in the summer when I ditch my HP laptop and get myself the Apple ProBook! Check out the MacBook Air! So amazing, so much so, I could marry it!

Mansur

Hello friends,

I don’t know how many of you have seen Aliens in America, but I  purchased the entire season 1 last week and just finished watching it tonight. I wasn’t prepared for what was in store, and was rather surprised by this new comedy show.

Aliens in America is about this average American family in Medora, Wisconsin. The mother applies for an exchange student to come to help her son be more confident and develop social skills. There is a small change of plans, and the family ends up getting Raja, a Pakistani Muslim. Mom panics when she sees her son Justin praying alongside with Raja towards Mecca. What follows is a series of cultural (mis)understandings, between Raja and his adopted family, and as much as Raja is alien to the American soil, the family are equally as much alien to Raja and his Islamic way of life.

Of course, my interest lies in how the creators of the show portray both the Pakistani character, as well as Islam. I for one thoroughly enjoyed the entire season, and pleasantly surprised at how well they were able to handle the complicated issues, like Islam and Christianity. The show attempts to cover various areas where foreigners and American tend to have misunderstandings, and makes a good effort to rise above the misunderstandings and actually reveal we are all people at the end of the day. For once, I was glad the portrayal of a Pakistani Muslim was not demonized. Raja could very well be a Pakistani boy in my hometown. I tried to remember back on the time when I went to the States for the first time in university in 1996, pre-9/11 where most Americans on campus didn’t even know a country like Pakistan existed!

I say, bring on season 2 (though I think the show will be axed because it’s low budget and doesn’t have everything else that other comedy shows do: sexual innuendos!) Aliens in America is clean fun you can watch with the family.

Definitely a worthwhile show, and I shall end on this note:  ”what’s so funny about peace, love and understanding?” (This is the song played over the opening credits. Song is co-composed by Salman Ahmad, of Pakistani rockband sensation Junoon!)

Mansur