Top Gear

I love watching Top Gear on a Sunday evening before evil Monday rolls around again. Did I start watching it because I have an utter fascination for cars or is it because the programme gives me a chance to chill out and have a bit of a giggle at their silly antics? Both of those things I think... and because I secretly fancied Richard Hammond. So there you are, after years of merciless teasing from friends (you know who you are) and family (namely my cousin sister’s Saba and Sara), I have finally confessed. Not entirely sure how that came about, but it did :P

Top Gear presenter: Richard Hammond (aka the hamster, lol)

Back in September 2006 when Richard Hammond crashed, I was genuinely upset and he was in a bad way. It awful to think that he might not make it through and that he might leave behind his wife and his two cute and extremely young daughters. The papers constantly reported on his progress and I understood what his family went through as I went through a similar ordeal with my family a month later. I wished him a speedy recovery and I was very glad that he pulled through. And as things got back to normal, I eagerly awaited his return back on my TV screen.

Today Top Gear returned to its usual Sunday night spot... and a fabulous return show for Richard Hammond. Descending down some aeroplane stairs, surrounded by dancing girls and fireworks being lit, I was glad he was back. I also find it strange that many girls now fancy the man after his crash... the same people that teased me for my crush before. However, I now find that I watch Top Gear more for its actual car info and funny antics rather than just watching Hammond. I guess I just don’t like sharing, lol.

Top Gear: The team - Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson, James May and The Stig

Hijab

Ok, so I may not wear a hijab myself but I still can’t believe the stupidity or prejudice that some people come out with they see a girl with a hijab or a naqab on. Quite a few of my friends do wear the hijab and I’m always amazed at the kind of things people ask them. I know for one of my friends, Nazia, the decision to wear hijab during high school was not an easy one and she struggled with it but in the end, it all worked out. But it can’t be easy for them sometimes, I mean seriously, why do people not think before they speak anymore?

Hijabi’s have can have some trying times as well...

• Sat on the train to Manchester and watched a hijabi trying to put on her earphones so she could listen to her iPod. She finally managed to put them on after a struggle and looked up to see me looking at her. I smiled, she smiled and shrugged her shoulders as if to say what can you do? We sat and chatted for the rest of the train journey. Her battle with her earphones was in vain :)
• In high school, watching my friend Nazia trying to push loose strands of hair back under her hijab, only to make a mess of it after 15 minutes of trying. Eventually it lead to her having to excuse herself from classes and go to the ladies bathroom to re-adjust her hijab. A repeat performance at least once a day :) (But then again, if you having a bad hair day, no one would ever know!)
• People stop and stare when they see a naqabi walking about in broad daylight. (I admit I’ve done this a few times as I often wonder what the girl looks like underneath, bad I know. But then I’ve made quite a few friends this way, lol. Not recommended for guys to do this though ;)
• A hijabi playing some kind of sport always makes people stop and stare. Whether it be in my ji-jitsu classes, playing a basketball/netball match at uni or even paintballing :)

Ok so not so serious and then there are the questions. Some are quite innocent but when we hear them they just sound so... well funny. Examples are from when I was working in Harrogate, at university or just out shopping, even in Bradford…

• "So do have hair under your hijab or do have to have it like shaved off?" What? Why would u shave it off? Of course they have hair under their hijabs
• "So do you have to pass the appropriate levels so you can wear the ninja style one as oppose to the standard one?" lol. ok this was a genuine question and she was actually very sweet, bless her! The term ninja was used to refer to the full naqab. The answer is no you don’t have to undertake any um “tests” and whether you wear you wear the naqab or the hijab is a personal thing
• "How do you wash your hair with your hijab on? I suppose you don’t have to as it doesn’t get dirty?" lol, um no, you still wash your hair and yea your allowed to take your hijab off when you’re having a shower ;)
• "Don’t you get bored of wearing the same scarf thing for the rest of your life?" I think she was referring to the actual cloth used and not the concept of wearing the hijab forever. Women usually have more than one head scarf :)
• "So do most girls wear it from birth back home then?" Yes because in other countries all newborn female babies get issued with tiny little headscarves as soon as they leave the hospital (sarcasm), lol. No honestly they're just babies. The choice to wear a hijab/naqab is up to the individual.
• "So do you get like sacrificed by your family if you say no to wearing the hijab?" I couldn’t actually answer this at the time as I was rolling around on the floor with laughter. But um no... you don’t get um “sacrificed”, it’s personal choice and I think the girl asking the question got a bit confused about what kinda religion we were followers of :)

Can’t think of anymore at the moment but feel free to add to the list if you’ve come across any funny ones :)

Islamic New Year

The Islamic new year begins. It’s a shame it gets overshadowed by the actual new year, lol!

Aisha’s Birthday

Aisha’s 20th birthday… or what would have been her 20th birthday. It feels so weird getting together to celebrate someone’s birthday but the person for who the get-together was organised wasn’t there. We spent the day reciting passages of the holy Quran and made Duaa’s for Aisha’s soul to rest in peace. Mum keep saying that it didn’t go as she had intended it to but then I don’t really think anything would have been good enough for mum today. I mean that in the sense that the best thing for mum and for all us, would have been for Aisha to still be with us. However seen as that isn’t possible right now, the main point of today was to bless Aisha’s soul and pray for her, which we did and I’m glad we did it.

It just makes me think back to all the times Aisha and I celebrated our birthday together as kids. Aisha would always have a small cake and a few presents on her actual birthday in January and in February when it was my turn for my birthday party she would get a second round of presents and another cake, the lucky so and so! :) I remember mum would always buy us identical outfits for our parties, which at the time I thought was really naff, as any other child would think, but as time has gone on I’m glad my mum did that for us. It was like some special club that only Aishi and I were part of, that special bond that can’t ever be replaced by anything else and it was marked by … well the pair of us being dressed in big fluffy meringue dresses, lol.

In the past, I regularly had these moments of reflection and as time went on I wanted to recreate those past moments... minus the embarrassing outfits :) And so I think we planned to have a small family get-together for Aisha’s 16th but at the time, I was doing my A levels, Saba had her GCSE’s and basically everyone seemed to be busy. I had this same thought in my second year of uni when I was looking back over our childhood pictures and decided it would be fun to celebrate Aisha’s 18th that year. Even though Aisha’s probably didn’t understand what turning 18 meant to other teenagers (or she might have done, we’ll never know), it would still be nice to make a big fuss over her and it would be nice for Aisha to see everyone she knows, all in one room! I was so determined to make a success of it this time round, no excuses! Some how we managed to organise a massive party for Aishi’s 18th. The house spick and span, the cake ready to be collected, the food ready for the big day and me frantically to revise as much as I could for my exams at the end of that semester!

Again in amongst the hubbub, like family tradition in previous years, Aisha managed to have a small birthday party before the actual celebration. Actually that’s a lie, it was a big party at the sixth form and the whole school got together in the main hall to sing Aisha Happy Birthday and celebrate with her. It was her final year at school and you could tell by her eyes that she was having a fantastic time, mashAllah. The night before Aisha’s 18th, mum and I stayed up till like 4am making kebabs and samosas (it’s the asian way, lol). I was so tired I eventually gave in and went to bed - exam revision and housework is a sure fire way to completely tire yourself out!

In our family, good occasions always seem to be eclipsed by bad news and sure enough shortly after I said good night to Aisha, who was actually waking up round about that time and Bilal and went to bed, Mum got a phone call from Pakistan to say that my Dada abu (Dad’s dad) had passed away from a heart attack. Aisha’s celebrations for her 18th were stopped short and instead we mourned the death of my grandfather. Perhaps that was a sign of things to come. The year after on her 19th, Aisha had a severe pneumonia and it was my final year exams so mum decided it would be best not to plan a big party this year and instead her 21st was planned to be a major celebration. Sadly we never even got up to her 20th with Aisha and it just makes me regret all those missed opportunities. I mean we did love her and spend time with her but maybe she was waiting for that one big celebration like old times. I love and miss her so much that’s it’s hard to describe. Aisha will always have my love and blessings with her and I hope I’ll always have her's with me, inshAllah.

Bilal’s Birthday

Bilal’s 8th birthday! May god bless him with success and happiness everyday of his life (iA). It’s funny how small things can make little kids so happy so I’m guessing it’s just as we get older that we become all bitter and twisted like certain individuals that I know... sorry, dangerously leaning towards a ranting session there! lol. So what's new with me? Ah yes, I've started the Bio2work graduate training programme at the Institute of Pharmaceutical Innovation (IPI) at the University of Bradford. The training lasts till end of March and it’s a chance to update my scientific skills whilst I look for a new job. It’s a shame I had to decline my last job at the Bradford Royal Infirmary (BRI) as a pathologist as I quite liked the place. But after October I couldn’t bear to work there what with all we had been through with Aisha. But I guess everything happens for a reason and plus being at the IPI, I’m still close to these rest of my girls that are graduating this summer after taking a placement year out.

I felt like taking a break from studying this year what with all that has happened these past few months. Plus I’ve been studying non-stop since my academic life began and so this year I plan to work and earn money before going back into med school next year (iA). I guess it’s better to just take some time out and relax… a bit like a gap year except I’m taking it on the other side of my degree. Well, people have always said that I like to do things differently :)

Abbey started her new job at the beginning of January so congrats to her and Dina and Marya were suppose to join the IPI but decided not to. The group of people at the IPI seem like a nice bunch but it was nice to see a friendly face at the IPI. Elizabeth (Liz) had decided to join and even though it’s only the second day I’m glad I have someone to talk to. Liz has decided to apply for med school this year and she’s doing the training to prevent boredom I guess and oh yea go on and find a decent job, lol.

Well I hope these next three months go smoothly and this group of people at the IPI don’t turn out to be awful :( Starting to have flashbacks of the BBC series “The Apprentice!” (eek!)

New Year

A new year and a new start hopefully. Some people will definitely be missed for the rest of our lives and some things will never be the same again but I’m coming round to idea of life is what we make it. I guess I’ll still have those days where I feel like lashing out anyone and everyone and other days where I’ll be a bit more optimistic about the future. In fact, I’m starting to feel a little bit like a schizophrenic. I know from my human physiology lectures, that signs of schizophrenia start to show at the age of 20. All the signs are there, maybe I’m just a slow starter? Hmm, should I be worried? :P