Impermanence of life

Impermanence of life (in whatever state- united or otherwise) as we begin out second month inUSA 23 Dec 2007

As we begin our second month in Milwaukee we also approach the end of another year As time flies we all must pause to realize that we have come one year closer to the end…………and that we must learn indeed…. to take stock of our baggage, long before we get our boarding passes and get rid of garbage.

I see sparkling lights and Christmas trees all-round. Festivity in the air . Shops are full of bargain hunters and the Sulaimans too taking advantage if it. Parties too I see in the neighborhood

December began with joys of life, new lives and hopes coming into this world in the form of newborns to our daughters. As the moon was waxing, we had Eid, biriyani, wattalappan and all to spread the happiness while aqiqas made the hores d’ouvre and Ullhiyas the dessert. Speaking of desserts, some of you may know, Al Haj Wazeer made a soup of the Jannah’s Aqiqa after flying home from the dry desert gasholes, to enjoy Eid with his family while we are in the cold. Ahsen from the Bay of Bengal started to show off his poetic talents in a tasty comment to Aashika’s baby blog. It was like steaming coffee to warm the snow which fell more and more bringing realities of life into the spectrum. The winds were cold and in mother Lanka rain took its toll. Shafi too exhibited his latent poetic talents bringing back memories of late Mr. Amarasinghe who was our English teacher. He made us enjoy English, prose, verse literature and worse the grammar.

Reality was that life is impermanent. Gampola Fahim’s brother died and Reyal my class mate who could not enter the university with me preceded me to enter the hereafter. May the earth rest lightly on them and May Allah grant them Jananthul Firdhouse.

Reyal was a great friend. Helpful, simple and always smiling even when he was ill and when I went to see him last he was really happy. He taught me driving in his old Mayflower and VW

We are born into the unknown and for a short time we sing, dance fight eat and delight, we make and break many things and relationships and try to hold on to things that have no meaning, collect garbage all the time and a few valuables to take along with us. But in reality all our luggage should be nett and value added.

Barushan ably assisted right through the week by Aadil has at last succeeded in doing what the stone age man did millions of years ago. Really it does pay to reinvent the wheel- once in a way. He has after shopping around for firewood in all the super markets in the state ------indeed succeeded and believe me and he has lit a fire not buy getting two stones from the stone age but by buying a fire starter pack ------giving rise to flames of hope in the fire place in this Brown Deer home ( I am still to see a deer, except my dear) this morning in anticipation of greater things to come by the time the sun takes the usual slumber and so we are all in heat as I write this and the electric heater is off like the Mahinda Chintanaya which is sure to go up in smoke like the old news papers through the chimney.

Beg your pardon, it is not the heat or the fire or the flames, but it is the warmth of his hospitality, the smiles of the new baby and the love of Aashika and Barushan, that we are enjoying and making us smile through the snowy winter.

Yesterday’s rain and last night’s cold eerie winds contrasted with the warmth of my daughter’s nest which is slowly taking shape and have swept away most of the snow in the garden and I can see some white patches and green through our windows ( No core2duo, vista etc yet) though I don’t know when Sri Lankans will see green again if Ranil continues to be there. These white patches of snow remind me of the dark patches all of us have in our lives, like the cholesterol buildup in our arteries, which must be removed by self surgery ere the final bells toll.

By the way waiting for Ameena’s A/L results is like waiting for Ranil to come back. Zainab I hear is making hay with the pre jettison visit to father country where it is raining kittens and puppies and is keeping poor Anfas in the shade.of ........now ..not Rainco but Kandurata umbrellas . Will it be a boy or gal God knows best and we do not.

I also heard that Feeaza, our cousin philosopher and guide had her first toss on the ice in New York pavements as she took of her eyes off the path to take a look at her brand new pair of vanity boots . Price of vanity!!! Fazeena is of course happy with her set of brand new non stick pans and unhappy at my waste of time trying to be a scrabble champion like the good old days at Akurana balcony. Hisham has sent a five letter Gmail greeting to show his presence.He does not waste his words like me. So I have taken a cue from him and we sign off wishing all a new beginning in the new year

Fazaadhil