I wrote this poem on my daughter's birthday. I am away from my daughter from a long time and looking forward to seeing her. I Was LostAmong these colorful butterflies and flowers,I am still in search of a butterflyWhich colored my dull life,With thousands of colors….!!!Saffron of Laughter, Rose of Smile,Mauve of Joy, Violet of Tranquility,Purple of Accomplishment, Silver of Admiration,Gray of Prosperity and Blue of Prayers!And many more uncountable colors.And I am in search of flowers,Which filled my hearth with fragrances and aromasThousands of aromas..!!!Aroma of Love and Rose, aroma of Friendship and Jasmine,Aroma of Madness and Bluebells, aroma of Dreams and Daffodils,Aroma of motherhood and Lotus, Aroma of Fulfillment and Daisy,Aroma of Sunshine and Sunflower.And I was soaked into these colors and scents,I was lost….and lost these too….Today, to endeavor and to strive,Writing on a blank and colorless page,That you are my search, my yearning, This is my destination, And God is with me.My Lovely daughter.

China is, after all, on the other side of the world and possesses a distinct, centuries-old culture, so any new arrival will have to overcome a bit of culture shock especially for the Muslims because of their certain religious teaching about food and prayers. For the Muslim expats in China, one of the main problems encounters is food. Muslims can eat Halal food (the food prepared by following Islamic dietary laws and customs). For the new comers, it is a sigh of relief that Halal food is widely available in China. And in every city there are different restaurants that are run by Chinese Muslims. The cuisine served in these restaurants blends the original Middle East flavour and traditional Chinese dishes and creates its own style and flavour. The halal food/restaurant/ products can be recognised by Chinese characters清真 (Qīngzhèn). As I asked some Chinese friends they told that these characters mean ‘pure’. These characters, which are usually written in a circle, around that it is written that the certain product is approved by the Islamic organization of China. One thing, which is hard to understand by the Chinese people, is the preparation of Halal food, especially meat, according to the Islamic laws. The situation is faced by the Muslims when they are invited to have a meal in a Chinese restaurant. Chinese friends assume that their Muslim fellow can eat chicken and mutton. So, the dishes of chicken and mutton are just useless when a Muslim fellow is there who restricts himself/herself only to the vegetables. The reason behind is that according to the Islamic laws, the animal should be slaughtered by the name of God. The ‘slaughtering’ is to be done by cutting the throat windpipe and the blood vessels in the neck causing the animal’s death, but without cutting the spinal cord. According to the Islamic instructions, the blood has to be drained completely because blood is a medium for germs, bacteria, toxins, etc. Moreover, the meat remains fresh for a longer time due to deficiency of blood in the meat. They way of preparation can be a subject of debate for many. But every community has to follow their own believes. Knowing about different cultures can lighten the rigidity existing among different communities. I hope this blog will help Chinese friends to understand the Muslims’ eating ways and also provide Muslim to explain the reason of avoiding meat at dining table. J

Unfortunately I don’t have my father’s pictures to share with you all. But I will share some memories and then I will share pictures of a Mothering Father……guess who??? Come on ...go through these lines and you will discover!! In my childhood, I had a strange habit. I cannot name this habit….whether it was fear….hesitance…or something else… My father was very affectionate but I had never spoken in his presence, and he, on the other hand, was fond of my conversation and eager to listen. He used to ask my siblings to talk with me and he himself stayed behind while I talk to them. But it was rare, that I speak even with others when I knew that he is at home. So you can imagine how he struggled to listening me… This habit remained till my high school and my grandma was the only “means of communication” between me and my father… Now, as I have grown up I can talk with him for hours…. I am here in China pursuing my father’s dream..Yea. It is his desire and wish for me to get higher studies…and I am struggling to achieve this goal with the assistance of another father…whom I call ‘The Mothering Father’, my husband, who is back home with our three years old daughter. He is carrying out motherly as well as fatherly duties to the child. I am writing these lines to attribute his sacrifices and intimacy. . Here I am sharing some pictures of him and our daughter…There was no other child of this age who climbed till this point at Great Wall.. It was possible only an father's shoulders..At Flower Exhibition..Again it was Papa who could hold in the sea .......Symbolic. Isn't it?It is always wonderful to go shopping with papa...with Mama's hand bag.. of course..

There are no set rules to live a happy life. Everyone looks Life, relationships, happiness and friendships from his/her own angle. I just pondered over what we can do for our love ones to make them happy and live their lives as they wanted. It is possible by giving them the SPACE. Giving space can create and develop trust, friendship, honesty and LOVE.

When I came to China I came across many things which seemed weird to me. In my later blogs I will share some of them. Starting from Chinese Greetings, today I will share my experience of encountering, understanding, curiosity and finally adaption of the most interesting greeting “Ni chi fan le ma” or have you eaten already? What is the background of this particular greeting in China? I asked many Chinese friends who told different history or reasons behind this greeting. 1) Chinese people do not have religious, aesthetic or intellectual taboos for food. Anything which has nutrition is not wasted. Every food had medical value and interestingly Chinese verb “to eat” and “to take medicine” is the same. There is old Chinese verb “yi shi wei tian” (民以食为天) which means, eating is as important as the sky. 2) The greeting is said to be the product of “Great Chinese Famine” (1858-1961) which is also called “Three bitter years” (三年大饥荒Sānnián dà jīhuāng). In the absence of food, this question uttered so many times especially when friends/ acquaintances saw each other and asked ‘Have you eaten?’. It literally replaced the existed greetings. This greeting does not mean that the person wants to invite you to eat with him/her. Another thing is often misunderstood by foreigners; it is not the question asked as greeting at any time rather it is asked at the normal times of eating. For example, it is awkward to ask this question at 12 a.m. or 9, 10 a.m. So, this question is often replied as: “I have eaten” or “No, after a while” or “No, I am going to eat now”.