AUTHOR: |
Author: |
O My beloved Bihari family, help me bring Bihar back to me…
It's been lost along our journeys it's been hidden away behind the glossed over Englishes…
But deny it all one wants, it lives and breathes within our soul...
It shines through our every dish
It laughs with our every story…
Please help me preserve it for our future generations… our ancestral stories are getting lost with every passing of our elders..
Our oh so proudly flashed around eclectic taste buds are losing out on culinary treats once our grandmas used to slave away in kitchens to make…
Our lifestyle maybe different now, our fancy gadgetry may save us from the painstaking ways of our ancestral cuisine, but if we don't save it now, dishes which we have once tasted in our childhood or sadly have now only heard names of, will be lost forever….
For our future gens, let's come together and document our heritage together...
Any stories any recipes please help me preserve them and make them accessible for all our children to read, enjoy, use and be proud of….
I wish to take no credit for anyone else's work I will accredit each piece with its rightful authors… my dream is to only preserve and spread…
I thank you all in advance, even if you have nothing to share on the site itself, please share and enjoy this space with all your families, this legacy belongs to us all it yearns to be shared!
It's time we brought Bihar into the limelight it deserves….
No matter where I may roam there is only one place that my heart calls home… Jeddah
Jeddah is dil ki jaan tu hi hai,
Jeddah you are the soul of my heart!
It's not perfect but no place ever is or will be, I grew up in this city it's my “hometown”!
There are so many memories people who grew up here can relate to, only they can understand. I can't even begin to pen down my memoirs without getting all choked up with nostalgia.
Where do I start with, do I start with my most awesome school experience I had, or do I start with all my amazing like minded family friend's circle, or maybe the food.
Maybe I should start with the one thing that is lost. The one thing I use to enjoy and boast about… the one thing I miss most from my childhood when I think about Jeddah when I visit it now, something that would identify it. That one thing was it's array of roundabouts. At every cross roads there would be roundabouts, now someone living in the UK would think "and your point is, London is the city of roundabouts you shouldn't miss it", but these weren't just painted on the ground like UK. There was a unique feature on each and every one. Something that was so Jeddah something that we would identify as us and us as it. You knew where you were exactly looking at the roundabout in front of you. Directions would be given with the reference of these monuments on these roundabouts. All that is now lost. I can no longer say I live near “taiyaara chowk”. Newcomers to the city would look at me thinking I'm coo coo, they just don't know. Bar “cycle chowk” and a few others dotted near the coast, all the rest have been slowly but surely gone. How I miss driving by them! Or rather being driven by them, because yes soon the next generation will never know days of male only drivers. A New era is at its dawn, the dawn of the female drivers in Saudi. A thought which once was the joke of the town, people in the west would say “when pigs will fly… “ people in Saudi would say “when women will drive…” it was considered that impossible an ask, but here we stand at the doorway to the world of impossible. A new age for women in Saudi.
AUTHOR:
MAE
Original post of 2/2/21
This one is the first story of a very beloved character that you will see makes an appearance time and time again.
Hope you enjoy it!
Do let me know how you are finding them with feedbacks on either youtube, my blog or FB
Much Love
I do not advocate for exercise! I Don’t, I know some healthy living advocate I am right! How can I not stand for exercise??
I’ll tell you why not, it achieves nothing! (Did she just say that! Like seriously!!) oh yes I seriously did!
Ok let me flip the question what do you think exercise achieves?
Think about it, I mean really truly deeply think about it. What are you getting out of it? You put in time and energy, you burn fuel, but what is the outcome? Nothing, nada, zip, zero!
Ever see a farmer exercise? Ever see sailor exercise? Are they fit? Are they healthy? Are they active? (And yes I am just generalising at the moment, I am sure there are some who do, but just hear me out for a moment on this one.)
I advocate for being active!
There is a big difference in being active and exercising.
Exercise is like a roundabout: you can drive around it for hours, burn all your fuel, but get no where. Being active is the winding country road that not only burns fuel, but takes you to a destination whilst also giving you a great view until you get there too.
We need to start rethinking what it is to be healthy, truly healthy.
I’ll tell you why I don’t think people who exercise are not necessarily truly healthy. They work all day look after all their domestic affairs and then have to make time to burn calories all the while not achieving anything with those burnt calories.
What do you have to show for them, some abs maybe, but someone who does back breaking work can also show you abs too; all the while also show you the fruits of his labour too. He achieves something when he burns calories, he creates, makes, grows, does something with those calories. He isn’t just burning calories for the sake of burning calories.
Let’s take a step back in time shall we, say a century or two ago, did gyms exist? Did we need gyms? No people were naturally fit. (I know not everyone, I am not referring to everyone, neither back then nor now for that matter, there are always exceptions to the rules). Men, women children, everyone did work that was labour intensive, this meant that people were naturally “getting a work out” while just getting on with their daily life chores. No one had to make time on top of their work and chores to burn calories. You ate to get energy to work and you worked to get food on the table it was a natural cycle.
Now I am not saying that we all need to go back in time and live how people did back then, no (even though that would be ultra cool). What I am suggesting is instead of making time for the gym, we need to make time for things that we enjoy, that we can create, make and do, that will get us naturally active due of the nature of the activity.
Now I know you can say well why does it matter, why do I have to do an “active activity” when I am happy burning calories in the gym? That is my “active activity” I enjoy it. Yes no doubt there are people who do enjoy going to the gym, it makes them “feel better” and they get a satisfaction out of it. In which case fair enough carry on, I am not suggesting you stop. If you truly enjoy it, then it is beneficial and health giving to you. I am not anti exercise! I am just not pro drilling it into people as a must.
I am here to talk to all those people who feel they have to go to the gym, to keep fit and healthy. People who really struggle to fit it into their schedule, people who really don’t fit into the whole gym culture.
I am here to tell you that you do not have to!
Do not force something upon yourself that does not come naturally to you, otherwise you loose any benefit that you can gain from it. After all health is more than waist size! True health only comes to be-ing when you are truly happy in your being, in your skin, in your life. This pressure that is felt of having to “keep fit” and “active” of having to work out everyday or week, it is not natural, it is not healthy. It is much more health giving for you to indulge into a new hobby that keeps you active naturally. All this step counting and calorie watching, that is not health giving, on the contrary it is health robbing! Why, because you are living in stress! One already has enough stress in the modern world, lets not add to it shall we!
Let's live a little shall we and do things for the sheer joy of doing.
Create things!
Creativity is relaxing, healing and health restoring!
Spend time out doors, go exploring new parks, go walking with your family, play games, sports with them in parks, or sports centre, build things, restore things, grow things, but do it for the joy of doing it and not because you feel you have to!
Now more than ever people are waking up to “being active” for their health sake, to avoid catching the next bug or virus that comes along. Yet again though, the importance of it is emphasised in a way where it feels yet again a chore, “a must”; a sort of stress and anxiety takes over one if they did not go out for their “daily walk”.
Again this is not health giving, its robbing!
Yes of course you should go out for walks, nothing wrong with it, just like there is nothing wrong with going to the gym, but what is wrong is how the whole things plays out within us, within our minds.
Is it really putting us in the rest and relax state, or is it still keeping us in the fight and flight state I wonder…
…. and so should you!
AUTHOR:
MAE
Original post of 11/11/20
These are a collection of bed time stories made up by me on the spur of the moment with characters that my children concoct moments before.
They are not pre- written "well edited" literature pieces, they are very "raw" and "organic" story telling with hidden messages of good and kindness.
The videos are created with bedtime in mind so no animation, only imagination!
I have been telling these little stories for some time now, but only recently started recording them so they can be shared and treasured for years to come! Insha Allah!
As always they are not "perfect", but like I keep saying we need to stop striving for perfection and focus on memory making!
These are magical memories from my home, maybe they will inspire magical memories for your home!
Much love!
MAE
Although some can say my "this chapter" is yet to begin, or that I am currently in the "introduction chapter" of this book, but learning and developing does not start from any one singular moment, it is a result of many little seemingly unconnected moments combined which lead you to a place, to a space, to a doing, to a becoming, to a Be-ing.
When you stand back from life and think when did I start "this" journey, or "that" journey, you realise you were ALWAYS on this journey. Everything you were, or are, or have been, or have done, has led you to this point of being. It is not isolated landmarks that have brought you here, but rather each and every big and small road, every twist and turn, bump and ditch, every encounter with every person has all been essential for shaping and allowing your presence in this space; which you have always meant to have been in.
Going forward, as well, it is not milestones that will allow you to be, but your entire existence and journey will be what enables you to become. You are not separate from your journey, your journey is there to unfold your self-discovery.
Every moment
Every place,
defines, refines & shapes....
MY Soapbox
This space features my reflections, opinions, ponderings and from time to time announcements of what I am up to. It literally is me in my corner on my soapbox.
Seeking some direction or motivation for your thoughts or life then look no further!
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