Dangerous driving

One thing I noticed whilst abroad was the total disregard drivers had for one another, driving around as if there were no rules. The last time I went to visit my extended family in Pakistan, was the first the first time I had been back since passing my driving test and starting university. I thought it would be fun to hire out a car for the duration of our stay and I could take my mum and my khala out and about rather than waiting for the availability of the drivers in the household. Turns out this idea was silly many accounts; 1) I'm a girl, 2) I'm from abroad (dad was worried about me being kidnapped I think) and 3) Pakistani driving rules are very different from British... which in other words means they do no exist! Besides my last trip was vey short and so there hardly seemed any point in all that extra hassle of hiring cars and so forth.

For this year's trip, well with the first two points I could perhaps persuade my dad, but the last point - boy was that a winning argument! Everyone seems to be so angry all the time and no one has any conception of waiting for their turn. And don't even get me started on car safety!!!

[insert picture of pakistani car]

I'm glad I live in Britain and even though we have our fair share of angry drivers on the roads, I still feel much safer here.

 

A lot my family have BMW’s. Is this a sign? :P And in other related news...

 

Now who’s a show off?

Story time

I have fond memories of visiting my nana when we were young and her telling Aisha and I stories like the one below...

An elderly woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole, which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water, at the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.

After 2 years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house." The old woman smiled, "Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?" "That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house."

Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. You've just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them. And I guess that's the message in Ramzan too - try to look for the good in everyone :)

Results season begins

It’s that time of year again. All across Britain, during the month of August, students will receive their GCSE and A levels results. I know what it feels like to have that horrible knot in the pit of your stomach, regardless of how well you’ve done. It’s the waiting that gets to you and then all of a sudden you have to open the envelope that has been placed in your shaking hands. After all that… well it’s a bit of anticlimax to be honest. The next day in the papers, the people who have done well get their photos printed in the press. These are accompanied by articles written by critics slaughtering the students who have done well, stating that the exams are getting easier and easier each year and that the education system has no real value left. With regards to photos, the website forwarded in a tweet by Dara O’Briain, summarises the whole photo taking scenario.

Welcome to Sexy A levels day - it sounds weird but it is funny ;)