Sonya Syed

"If there's something you want really badly, and you think somewhat obsessively about getting it, then know that on an energetic level your attachment is actually sending it away. The answer? Prayer... Dear God, Please take away my idolatrous thinking, luring me into thinking that something or someone other than You is the source of my salvation. Of myself I cannot rise above. Please do this for me. And so it is. Amen… By Marianne Williamson"   Today I wanted to begin my post by the prayer of my favorite writer Marianne Williamson. I saw these lines on her facebook page and the moment I read them I felt as if I am struck by lightening. I thought as if she is addressing me directly.   Many times in our life we either want something badly or get obsessed with certain things and people.   If this has never happened to you then great… but I have to say that I am guilty of such act and not once but many times. We have many idols in our lives ...

The fresh breeze of morning, fragrance of flowers and warmth of bright sun tantalizing your physical being are absolutely delicious to the soul. Rich aroma of the coffee brew dispersing around your face, and you are ready.    It was coldish in the early hours of the day and it does but completely engulfs one in some magical way. It feels as if you are spellbound, or in some kind of trance but in reality you are in the moment with every cell of your body.  You are in the Now where there are no pains of the past, no anxiety of the future but only the Present Moment. And then there is no mobile service. It feels as if we are back in the 80’s when we only had the facility of landlines. People in authority are trying their best to handle law and order situation prevalent in the country. However, what we are doing is merely dealing with the Effect (mobile bombs, firing and suicide attacks via motor-bikes). The Cause (which is unlimited and unchecked supply...

What to expect from an unexpected holiday? Despite crucial security situation things have to be managed and obligations are to be fulfilled. Even with all the positive attitude it becomes difficult to witness the bruises and pains caused due to the unfortunate incidents within city as well as in the entire country.    One could not but feel helpless in such times and you wish to have a magic wand. Like it happens in fairy tales when somebody is down with life and have nowhere to go then all of sudden a fairy appears and with one movement of her magic wand she changes everything. In real life although we do not have fairies but we have our prayers, our gratitude and faith in the miracles. We might be helpless on the physical level, nevertheless, on the spiritual level we are not that helpless. We have the power of our mind, our thoughts and feelings. With all the darkness we need to believe in light, the light that will not come from outside but the light wh...

Somebody yesterday told me that if I hadn’t put my picture on the blog profile then I could’ve been easily mistaken for a writer who is in her seventies or eighties. That the way I express myself or address my readers it feels like I am their grandmother. I don’t know whether this was a compliment or a comment; in any case I shall take it as a compliment. After all its someone’s opinion and I respect their point of view. It seems as if there is curfew in most parts of the city, there is hardly any traffic on the roads and even if there is some movement it feels lifeless. We are not used to seeing Karachi in such a state, it’s a hustling bustling city of lights and I pray with all my heart that it shall always remain in its full glory. Winters are knocking on the doors but somehow haven’t fully made it into the house. There is something magical about winters in Karachi in particular if there are rains. The mystical effect that cool winter breeze give after rainfall e...

It feels as if ages have passed but in reality its been only a week since I wrote my earlier post. Many apologies for vanishing like this but it was all due to internet unavailability. I know it’s a very lame excuse; however, I speak the truth and nothing but the truth.   Sometimes though you would like everything to go your way; nevertheless, life follows its own course and it is only wise to go with flow. Else the resistance would cause suffering. So what I have been up to, has there been any updates about any aspect of my life? Well not really its all same old, same old.             This weekend I had some free time as well as a strong desire to watch a good movie so when the opportunity presented itself, I accepted it. We watched the comeback movie of Sridevi English Vinglish . It was a very fine effort and indeed quite a risky project to cast an actress in simple cotton sari without any makeup. The ...

         Colours are the perfect therapy for my highly inquisitive and hyper-active mind. When I am with colours every thought every distraction vanishes and I regain my focus. Few times my refuge in colours start as an automatic process, its like my system knows when I need to step back and relax. So here are couple of my relaxation moments, I have completed the one above today and just wanted to show you guys. 'Midnight Blue', Oil Canvas   'The Yellow Palace', Oil Pastel and Pencil Colours I have started to keep colour pencils and a sketchbook with me while I am at work, so when I get stressed I just draw vague lines and colour for few minutes in whichever way I feel like. Similarly, when I need to express and share- this blog becomes my voice. Its actually quite wonderful to have various outlets to say what you wish because some things just get bottled up and if you do not express then they would explode withi...

Life takes unexpected twist and turns and yesterday there was a minor twist in my simple story. Like many of my brothers and sisters in Karachi I too had the honor of loosing my mobile to some thief. It was my very first Smartphone and as I was beginning to fall in love with it, this brutal world took my love away from me. Now I have the heart of a jilted lover. And with this feeling I took my revenge and launched a compliant of phone theft with CPLC and they have jammed it immediately. So you see if it can't be mine it cannot belong to someone else either. So yesterday I spent the entire day in missing my phone; nevertheless, more than loosing that tiny gadget I was feeling low because it was bought from hard earned money.  As I write this post today words of my late grand mother are echoing in  my mind, she always told me that one should never grief over anything or anybody for too long.  So I end it here and now. In the words of Eckhart Tolle- No attac...

After all the hoopla, grueling debates America has selected its President and Mr. Barack Obama is back in the office for another term. As a Pakistani I cannot fully estimate the effect of this election because irrespective who wins the election our condition more or less remains the same. More than the person who is occupying the Oval Office it is important who is the person sitting in our Prime Minister house. Unless we as a nation decides wisely to give power and responsibility to the people who would effectively run this country, we shall always remain at the mercy of powerful countries who will decide our future for us. Nevertheless, in hope I shall live…….. Karachi’s traffic after the bombardment of leased cars, untrained drivers and broken roads is a challenge but it fuels the problem when the main areas of the city are suddenly closed down to have exhibitions. It is beyond reason to shut down everything simply because there cannot be sound security provided f...

Sikandar Sanam- an actor, singer and a versatile comedian left us on 5 th November 2012. Today when somebody mentioned his name and how much he was missed by his fans, I worried that I have been late in paying my respects.     Yes I needed to acknowledge him because he made me laugh. Very few people are gifted to spread joy and happiness to the world and the people who give smiles to our faces are great blessings. Sikandar’s name is not new to the world of comedy and especially his comedy remakes of famous Indian movies are marvelous. Sikandar released these parodies in the DVD versions. Tere Naam 2 which is the parody of Salman Khan’s Tere Naam, was the first movie I saw of Sikandar Sanam and I laughed my lungs out. Even today when I am depressed or down I watch this movie and it never fails to bring a smile to my face. Original Tere Naam was a pretty serious love story but Sikandar changed it to a total   comedy. Sikandar’s comic version attained huge po...

‘ Imagine that you have a Magic Wand, and in your mind wave it by giving heartfelt thanks for their wealth, health, and happiness and know that you have set a real force of energy into motion…. You can practice this powerful practice when you’re walking down the street or going about your day and someone you come across who is obviously lacking happiness, health, or wealth, or all of them’. Excerpt from the book ‘The Magic’ by Rhonda Byrne. When I first read these words I didn’t estimate their depth or power. Recently I have started practicing this magic in the million ways that I have never dreamt before. Yes I am practicing the Magic, the Magic of Gratitude. Yesterday I met a lady who was a stranger but since we were doing the same work I tried to speak with her- she responded coldly. I was surprised with her behaviour because she was nice with everyone else but for some reason tried to ignore me. I found that rude and started to make assumptions about he...

Today I just want to speak, with out any meaning or aim. Sometimes the words are not relevant but the feelings that are required to be expressed are far more significant. It is also true that many times when we want to speak there is nobody to listen so everything just gets bottled up. I can understand your confusion over what I write but believe me it is not intentional this is how I feel so I just spoke out. The day went in its usual mode thankfully; Mondays are mostly tough to attend to especially after long breaks. Yes this was a long weekend or more appropriately extended Eid holidays. Although people returned to work, children are back to school yet the spirit of holiday was still very much present. I got back to my routines and I am so grateful to start doing exercise after a long while. For many weeks I turned into a couch potato. The food I was eating was high in spices and oil, so finally I decided to wake up and burn bit of calories. I cannot say how much s...

There are plans at home to paint few portions and some rooms which are showing signs of wear and tear. However, my main concern is my room’s setting, though it’s a nice sized room but it feels a bit cramped and small. The other rooms in the house which are of the same size looks far more spacious and lite as compared to mine. My room is more like a studio apartment, everyone even the guests choose to sit in my room rather than in the living room. But I feel something is not right about it, I don’t know exactly what but there is something that I need to change. Everything in the room is crucial for me, and there is nothing that I can discard. I like Zen minimalist approach where you have only what you really need. Having said that, my requisite items are now over flowing into other rooms as well. Most of my personal property consists of books and now there is art material, canvases which needs to adjusted as well. When I shifted my office to home I took over my Mom’s musi...

I am upset with my blog tracker, lately it has started to show multiple visits by facebook company. The average visit by facebook inc. per day is more than 20, which is quite irritating and getting on my nerves. First it was Google Inc. visiting my blog 40 to 50 times a day and now we have facebook. What should I do in this case? Anybody, please guide… Yesterday I accidentally landed on PTV Global channel and they were airing an episode of a talk show called Zavia (Perspective). The show is based on the discourses and life experiences of our very respected writer and intellectual Ashfaq Ahmed saab. I have heard him once or twice before and it was after years that yesterday I heard his words of wisdom. Although I got to watch only last minutes of the show but what I heard was of great value. He said that one can be in pain or misery or gloom but one should never allow him/herself to get into the state of hopelessness or disappointment, irrespective of what happens. H...

There are some crazy situations when people would prefer to break someone’s nose or neck for causing pain or chaos in their life. But then they surprise you, when instead of breaking someone's nose they react by praying for their health & happiness, and wish them a beautiful life. People exhibit strange reactions in extraordinary situations of their life. Nevertheless, it gives us  comfort that such forgiving behavior saves everybody a great deal from creating more misery, and more importantly it tells us that there is still some sanity left in this world.   Before Eid many things were required to be taken care of and then during the holidays I got hugely involved with household chores. Plus I also had final exam papers to check and grade. Honestly teaching is not as easy as I thought it would be. Tests, quizzes, mid-term are nothing when you get down to the business of finals. My problem was that I wanted to give everybody good grades, which is of...