Cheers to 2008 and celebrating 2007!

New Year's Day is every man's birthday. ~Charles Lamb

What makes 2007 special is:

* My engagemet to Emon.

* Having the most memorable official tour to Singapore and getting a chance to meet thousands of media and Communications guru from around the world.

*Having my nephew calling me aunt (khala) ..which does sound a lot like "Tala" though.

* Seeing my younger brother being interviewed on national TV for the first time.

* Getting back in touch with my oldest school and college friends like Sania, Pinky, Gauri, Shehab, Inam and Sohana. I actually met Shehab, Inam and Sohana after 12yrs.

* New friends are always a blessing. I made some really good friends this year and came to know them pretty well like Marium, Rahat, Momita, Rozana and Rubayat.

* Attending Samina and Rob's wedding. Samina one of my oldest buddy from school days.

* Birth of Deeba, Deenaa and Babu's baby daughter, two of my closest friends from Bangalore.

* Attending the wedding of Shanu and Russell, two of my students. I had taught them Biology in Grades 5 and 6 about 13 years ago.

* Completing my MBA (Touch wood) finally after three rigorous months of continuous exams.

* Learning that life should not revolve around work as everyone at work is replaceable.

* This year marks great tidings for my friends Jobayer, Imti, Rahat and Marium for their brand new beginnings in their life.

Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right. ~Oprah Winfrey

(inshallah, touch wood)

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

The most memorable Christmas celebrations were in school. My childhood memories of Christmas are numerous. I still know a few Christmas carols by heart, and on Christmas I am always in the mood of rejoicing. I remember once playing the part of one of the three shepherds in the school play; I remember the beautiful chapel in school with colored window panes and the carol singing, the candles, the beautiful nuns with their wonderful voices. Nigeria and childhood are far away but the memories remain.

One such memory makes me smile. There was a personal ritual I followed which included buying presents for my sister, mom and dad with my pocket money saved for weeks for the auspicious event of Christmas. And every year, on Christmas Eve, I would crawl out of bed silently and place all the gifts on the huge dinning table so that it would be the first thing they would get to see when they get up in the morning.

However, there was one particular year when I had run out of money after buying my parents their cards and small gifts and realized that planning for this Christmas was not as authentic as before. I needed more gifts, for my lovely elder sis. On a creative streak, I took a shoebox and filled in all the things I had that I knew my sister would like, like a colored pencil, a beautiful brand new shoelace from my pair of new shoes, a handmade notepad cut and bonded from my school exercise book and old calendar paper, a nice handwritten card, my favorite pair of hairclips and so on. Than I had used crayons to color the shoebox and wrapped it with newspaper dipped in paint. My sister was overwhelmed but she laughed and laughed when she spied something in the box. In the midst of all the tiny lovely things, there lay her ink pen which went ‘missing’ a while back. In my zest of giving a Christmas gift, I had also casually returned her the pen I had ‘found’ on her table a few weeks back and didn’t know how to return it back without looking guilty.

Every time we recall that memory, I and my sister never fail to share a laugh. This brings me back to the present Christmas much older and wiser, knowing that beyond the cloak of festivities everyone loves to celebrate the joy of living and being with loved ones. And that’s what Christmas to me is all about.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas,

Let your heart be light

From now on,

our troubles will be out of sight

Have yourself a merry little Christmas,

Make the Yule-tide gay,

From now on,

our troubles will be miles away.

Here we are as in olden days,

Happy golden days of yore.

Faithful friends who are dear to us

Gather near to us once more.

Through the years

We all will be together,

If the Fates allow

Hang a shining star upon the highest bough.

And have yourself A merry little Christmas now.

A Silly Break to Rediscover Thyself

“Take a break, have a kitkat" is one of the best advertisement slogans that have stuck on through the years. Today is memorable, because today is the last day before the big final exam, the last one this year.

Short breaks are significant especially while doing monumentous tasks which exerts pressure on the braincells. How we take that break would definitely differ from one person to the other. And internet surfing has replaced a lot of usual break-time activities too like TV browsing, long phone conversations, reading magazines, manual window shopping, exercising. You name it, and the internet can be termed guilty on all accounts.

So, it comes as no surprise that I opted for a random internet surf today. I needed to do something different, something totally irrevelant to my studies, which would effectively take the pressure off for a few minutes and for another round of serious studying time. So instead of the usual checking of mails or checking the business news online. Instead, I discovered a few silly and completely bizzare personality tests online and here are the interesting results.

What color should your toe nails be? : Black

What Season are You? You Belong in Spring Optimistic, lively, and almost always happy with the world...You can truly appreciate the blooming nature of spring. Whether you're planting flowers or dyeing Easter eggs, spring is definitely your season!

How much is your life worth? : $656,500 (that’s not much with inflation rates growing higher each day. Is it?)

What Flower are You? You are a lily. You are a nurturer and all around natural therapist. People see you as their rock. And they are able to depend on you. You are a soothing influence. You can make people feel better with a few words. Your caring has more of an impact than even you realize.

What is your power Element? Metal and your Your power colors: white, gold, and silver. Your energy: contracting. Your season: fall. You are persistent (and maybe even a little bit stubborn).If you see something you want, you go for it.You have a lot of strength, and it's difficult to get you down. Very logical, you tend to analyze everything going on in your life.

What’s your theme Song? Your Theme song is back in Black by AC/DC "Back in black, I hit the sack,I've been too long, I'm glad to be back". Things sometimes get really crazy for you, and sometimes you have to get away from all the chaos. But each time you stage your comeback, it's even better than the last!

This is where my break would end for the day. But if you are tired of being really serious and would like a laugh. You can take some time off to try out a few whacky tests here.

"Life"

"I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can rest only for a moment, for with freedom come responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not yet ended."

(Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, born 1918, South African lawyer, statesman and 1993 Nobel Peace Prizewinner. This quote is from Mandela's inspirational 1994 book, Long Walk to Freedom.)