A New Chapter

As my sons verge on the cusp of entering the world of work, this signals a change in my circumstances. No, I am not planning to hang up my own working gloves – they’re going to stay on for as long as I can. What this pending change means for me is that I canContinue reading “A New Chapter”

Family Reunions

Families come in so many different forms and sizes. This weekend was all about coming together, both for short and longer term periods. I went to collect my middle son from university which he has finally finished. So, for now, he is going to be at home with us whilst he makes plans for hisContinue reading “Family Reunions”

Marriage: To Arrange or Not?

As my sons move through their lives and complete different milestones, so too do they reach new ones ahead which are yet to be accomplished. Right now, I am waiting for them to secure jobs in their respective fields and then insha’Allah, further down the line, think about marriage. This seems to be the naturalContinue reading “Marriage: To Arrange or Not?”

Online but Switched Off

Today’s reflections are a slight aberration from my normal thoughts. They come more from a culmination of years of teaching young children and observing some trends in that time. I would like to make a note of my observations here. It’s an undeniable truth that since its inception, the internet, and all the devices linkedContinue reading “Online but Switched Off”

Money Matters

I wonder how many people would read this blog title and see the word ‘matters’ as a verb rather than its intended meaning as a noun. It makes all the difference and would influence someone’s perspective of me. If read as a verb, I suddenly become this greedy person fixated on making money to satiateContinue reading “Money Matters”

Hubris Miasma

To all absentee parents out there.. How do you do it? How do you manage to swan off and live your selfish dreams without compunction? How do you live in material and emotional comfort knowing you have abandoned a past life? How does your conscience rest easy knowing you took care of yourself without lookingContinue reading “Hubris Miasma”

Backward and Forward

I’m at that stage of life where I find my emotions oscillating between a curious mixture of hopeful excitement for my own sons vis-a-vis quiet acceptance of my own uneventful future. Of course, I know that hope and excitement isn’t the exclusive rights of the younger generation. Those in my age group have every rightContinue reading “Backward and Forward”

Changing Places

Over the last few years, there has been a lot of activity in our household in terms of who has been moving in and out. My sons are now all young adults and university has been the preoccupation for them in recent years. I’ve got four sons who are all at different phases of theContinue reading “Changing Places”

Keeping Promises

If there’s anything which I find unattractive in a person, is when they make a promise which they have no real intention of honouring or have not thought through carefully before opening their mouth. One of my mottos in life is to never make a promise I know is very unlikely to be fulfilled. IContinue reading “Keeping Promises”

Like a Water-Lily

In trying to capture how I view life right now and my place in it, it occurred to me that the celebrated water-lily serves as a very good comparison. Just Googling the meaning of ‘water-lily’ and I immediately can see the analogy to my life. It is a flower that rises out of the muddyContinue reading “Like a Water-Lily”