Islam

Religion. I look around and find myself thinking that the very thing that is supposed to bind us together seems to push people further apart. With Islam being the second largest religion in the world, it has the potential to influence society today. If muslims could form an understanding amongst themselves, not for the purposes jihad or whatever else the extremists out there say but just for sake of peace and humanity, what religion is suppose to stand for, then how great would that be!

Looking around others religions seem very proud to follow their particular beliefs and yet with Muslims it doesn’t seem to shine so strong...
a) Christianity – With Christmas coming up, everyone seems to pull together and let bygones be bygones. The sense of togetherness that arises from such times of the years is great and truly illustrates the season of goodwill.
b) Judaism – surviving horrific events like the holocaust, this section of society found the strength to pull together and change that. The power and support that these guys have is something that should be admired and should be aspired to. Some of the most influential people in the world are Jewish.
c) Hinduism/ Sikhism – Many of my dad’s friends are sikh as well as hindu and we usually get invited to quite a few family weddings and religious occasions. I’m always impressed by the closeness of both these communities and how their traditional customs and culture are easily integrated with their religious beliefs.

Islam is still ever present in society (god knows it’s the media’s favourite topic these days), but it’s more like it’s just for show. The core values of Islam seem to have gotten lost somewhere and it’s perceived to be more about extremists and focusing on negative aspects brought about by a select few. So why is that I feel Islam doesn’t really tie us together as much as others religions seem to be? Am I being overly critical of my religion or is there something genuinely a miss here? Looking around the asian community, people would say that the desi community is alive and very much together. However in that instance I feel that people confuse religion with culture. I’m sure everyone fulfils the cultural requirements but what about the religious ones?

I’m not preaching and I’m not saying that I’m the perfect muslim... I’m probably far from it, lol. But the point I’m trying to make is that shouldn’t we doing more as muslims to bring our community together? Trying to explain the misconceptions about our religion rather than turning away or pretending that we’re not muslims. Take on active role in politics, look within ourselves to bring about change rather than blaming other people or circumstances. I know there are people out there making a difference but it’s like we need to pick up the pace as we seem to be lagging behind. I guess with other religions they all seem to have concentrated groups within select countries, whereas with Islam it seems to have no geographic boundaries. Maybe that’s one of the reason we can’t seem to join... we may be muslims but all have different cultural differences which perhaps stop us from uniting? Or perhaps I’m making stuff up in order to provide a logical explanation as to why we can’t even do the simplest thing and unite!

So yea that’s my thoughts for the day :) I’m gonna stop blathering now and get back to some real work :P

Dissection done. Err, hungry anyone?

If didn’t know already as part of your training on most medical courses, you will eventually come across some sort of dissection whether it is purely observation or actual participation. Despite all you’ve learnt you’re suddenly hit with the realisation with how fragile life really is. The image of a person, who was once full of energy, is now lying on a cold steel bench, the uninviting lab environment, the smells – you never forget your first time.

During research projects, I’ve stuck to a more clinical route in my research and so I’ve been assisting and actually carrying out dissections on my own a lot more. This may sound a little weird, but the more I do those procedures, the more comfortable I feel. I think eventually you learn to detach yourself from what you’re doing and just focus on the pure pathology. I learnt a lot from those experiences both personally and professionally. Currently my work is stressing me out a little – last night I dreamt that my tissue blocks for a particular study started talking to me. I need a time out, lol! Ooh something my friends and fellow colleagues recently learnt – latex gloves are not so suitable for handling preservation fluids. The fluid seeps through causing the various smells to linger for a long time on your hands. Thank god for nitrile gloves – much better option.

However there was one thing that disturbed me a little. Ok a lot. Quite often after completing a dissection, I would get extremely hungry. Gross right?! You’d think that doing a procedure like that would put me off eating for life, but it was the complete opposite. There I would be sitting at the table, eating my lunch as if it was completely normal. In actual fact, I felt terrible after every dissection! I’d often wonder what the hell was wrong with me, lol.

It was only till very recently, that one of supervisors explained that this was completely normal! I know what you are thinking, but it makes perfects sense. The preservatives used (usually neutral buffered formalin) contain appetite stimulants, thus the sudden hunger pangs. Who knew? Well… obviously my supervisor, duh! But at least now I don’t feel so bad and can go back to enjoying my meals without feeling incredibly guilty! Phew!

My DIY exploits

I arrived back in the UK on 13th August from my summer holidays, only to be greeted by the ever present rain and the longest traffic jam on the M62. Apparently the weather was fine the few weeks I was away (Sod’s law) but I’m pretty sure everyone’s lying about that, lol. Started work back in Harrogate the very next day, when what I really really needed was to sleep. Also arrived back in time to attend Faisal Chachu’s wedding so thank god I went shopping and had the foresight to buy some wedding outfits (phew!) :P Despite being severely jet lagged, attending work the very next day, a family wedding in the process and also quite ill, I still managed to fit in some DIY before my father got home. Yes, yes I know, I do love punishing myself!

I ripped out the old fitted wardrobe (with my dad's permission!) and re-wallpapered the room. Did I stop there? Ha ha, nope! I then proceeded to rip out the old carpet and replaced it with a newer carpet from the garage. Yea I know what you’re thinking, why did we have carpet rolls stored in our garage? My answer is ask my father :) Here’s the funny thing though... I didn’t have a clue about carpet fitting but that didn’t stop me and I carried on. Laying down the new carpet, I KNEW I hadn’t done it correctly, but rather than admitting defeat, a little voice in my head told me, "Don’t make any damaging cuts and just lay it down in the room and wait for dad to get back and help me". Plus I couldn’t bear to bring the old one back in as it had dead spiders and what not in it, eek!

So I moved most of my stuff back into my room and put my bed together so I would have somewhere to sleep at night, but the worst thing... my clothes were homeless for like a whole week! Ok I know how girly that sounds but it was just so sad as the massive wardrobe that I was inheriting from Aishi (lucky girl!) was only in the next room begging to be put back together again. Argh the agony! Ah well it all ended well... and my dad vowed never to leave me on my own again, lol. The pattern being I only attempt DIY when he’s not around. Hmmm, one of these days I shall have to prove him wrong me thinks, I am his daughter after all, hehe :)

What we found behind the fitted wardrobes... cobwebs and an array of err, colourful wallpaper patterns

Mum was annoyed at me for messing about with the camera... but then I made her crack a smile anyway

Dad & Billy back after their hols decided to help me out by laying down a new carpet in my room. As you can see Bilal took the word 'laying' as a direct order :P