Sonya Syed

‘ 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 course no

It’s 7.30 pm I have completed all my chores and did all that was required to be done. At 8 pm sharp I am all set in front of the TV to watch Tanhaiyaan but there is no play and they started to show something else. I got panicky and thought, ‘Oh my God they have cancelled the show, how they can do this? This play is going to be a hit so why aren’t they airing it today.’ In a more panicked state I opened the channel’s website and then it hit me, ‘Ms. Syed today is Friday and your program comes on Saturday’. In the excitement of watching the play I forgot what is the day today. I mean this is crazy, really crazy. This is the height of my desperation. On a serious note, today Eid Ul Azha is celebrated in many parts of the world, so I wish everybody a beautiful and peaceful Eid. May God bless you and your loved ones with all the health, prosperity and love. In Pakistan Eid is going to be celebrated tomorrow with all the zeal and spirit. Male member of the families are

Tired exhausted can't even think properly, for two weeks now I have been running around finishing one task only to find out something new needs to be handled. Actually the work is not that exhaustive but I am a bit of Delicate Darling. You take me to shopping and within an hour I am hungry or thirsty to the point of fainting. Everyone around me feels fine although slightly tired; but me, I have to feel the extremes. A large cup of coffee might do the trick, it might take me out of my current state and enliven me. We human are strange entities even though we believe that we far apart and have no verbal connection with each other yet at our very core we are all connected. We can feel each others pain, fears or happiness without even knowing that what we feel at times doesn’t even belong to us. As I write this post today I could hear the distant voices of cows, goats, sheep that are bought for the great sacrifice. Entire neighborhood is bursting with the excited vo