Monday, December 31, 2007

Gone again…

It’s always hard to say goodbye…But some things in life cannot be achieved without a sacrifice…Today, my beloved aunt Madheehaa Ali has gone away to Bangalore, India, for five years, taking alongside her, her 2 daughters and one lad. Her three children, one – the beauty, two- the brain and the lad- a want to be football player…

They are my cousins and I can’t deny that I will miss them a lot. The past couple of days I spent home alone weren’t as boring as it should have been, I mean they were there and I had great fun with them. Infact, I remember some of the good and bad times we shared together along time ago…I watched them pass the gates into the airport today but I wasn’t able to say anything more than a good-bye…Therefore I dedicate this article to them…

My dearest Imma, the world is a big place where you have to learn and live along with what comes and goes. But trying to run while you can’t walk is not always the best idea…Being the head of the family encloses you in a circle of responsibilities…You must never blame the consequences of your actions on others and always remember to keep a cool head during troubled times…If somebody doesn’t understand you, don’t waste your time trying to make them understand…wait patiently and let time tell the tale…Only you can find the answers to the questions of your life because nobody but you live it…

My beloved Eman, sometimes the world can be a strange place where nothing seems to go right…Being the second in the family doesn’t mean your voice can’t be heard. There are times when you have to give a helping hand to your superiors and always discuss everything with them before you jump off the hook. Never keep frustration bottled up inside you…Let it out in slowly and smoothly…Think about places you haven’t looked before and you will find many people who will listen to you, talk to you and be a friend…Don’t let your passion for anything die, make it grow with you…Live life your style…

My star player Imran, dreaming is for everyone. Let your imagination grow and reach the sky…Colour your dreams and trust your self…then only can true talent come out and outshine the others. You may be the smallest in the family and the only boy.., doesn’t mean you have to sit quiet. If your superiors are crossing the line, you have the power to stop them; your burden is to protect them at any cost. They might not understand you today but I’m sure they will understand you tomorrow. Always think about your family first, then yourself. Respect is not something you can get for buy two and get one free…It cannot be achieved by power or force…Respect can only be gained by respecting others…

Dearest Thuhtha, I know you will come back and god I’ll miss your cooking…Don’t worry too much as I see a brighter future ahead for you. Listen to what your children has to say and don’t judge them too harshly…always tell them that you love them…

Insha Allah, I hope I will be able to go and receive them after five years in the same airport…I wonder what differences I will see in them…Alas, another part of the family gone again…

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Goodbye 2007…

“I’m gonna go away from your life. I’ll never come back into your life ever again. Yes I’m gonna die within 2 days. I dunno whether you were happy or sad when I was there with you for all these days. I dunno whether you feel sad to leave me or not, but I do. I’m going to leave everything in this world and carry only the sweet memories between you and me. I’m leaving…Don’t cry…

Yours truly,

2007”

I suppose everyone is receiving messages like this as a whole New Year approaches. Well, what can I say? The year 2007…a whole new chapter in my life completed…Lets have a review of those unforgettable memories 2007 brought with it.

The year started for me with many goals in mind. Except for one goal, I successfully achieved the rest. January brought my 17th birthday along and for the first time in my life, my father was the first one to wish me happy birthday. The last person to wish me was my dearest friend Thasneem. During January I also went to Lanka with the Maldivian carom team and had a rocking time.

Until June, everything was going on a normal basis. The school anniversary was one of the tremendous events that took place. The second semester exams were a bit rough but I managed through with satisfactory results. Many unannounced breakups and re-bonding took place between the best of people.

After the first six months, slowly some mysteries started to unfold. Centre piece was one of the events that tested me most of my leadership qualities. Martyrs Day preparations went on a far better scale and I was happy that it went more smoothly than expected. Then again each of these events came with new complications and I faced them all with old and new friends by my side. The month of October was the most enigmatic month as it was the month where I learned a secret about each of my friends. Some of the truth was hard to believe but nothing I did changed anything. Price day was celebrated and I was awarded with discipline prize (it was a complete surprise to me).

The third semester ended and I got bad results. Some of my friends who really cared weren’t happy about it and urged me to study harder. I promise I will!


That was kind of it, but let me tell you about the 5 most memorable moments...

  1. For the first time in my life I ate banana split with three great friends…
  2. I met a beautiful friend whom I wish to give my heart to after my final semester…
  3. Friend’s night out no. 1…Pizza in Olive Garden…
  4. The most memorable event that I’ll never forget about… “STUDENTS PARLIAMENT 2007”. New friends from each corner of Maldives and I think I’ll miss them the rest of my life until we meet again…The fun we had was unparalleled with any other thing I did this year…
  5. Friends night out no. 2…Actually it was an anniversary celebration.

On the whole, this year was fantastic. For instance I realized that apart from my best buddy there are 3 more people who care for me in the same way and accept me just the same. Love crept into lives unannounced and changed ‘2’ lives forever…friendships bloomed like the blooming of daisies in the spring… a radio channel ‘NEFM’ was born and “THE ENIGMATIC UNFORESEEN” was given life…and me, I’ve almost finished a new chapter in life and am ready to start a new one…Good bye 2007…Will miss you…

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY READERS

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Girls: Sophisticated and beyond the times…

This article is dedicated to all those girls out there who make life harder for boys…

Times have changed and with it people have changed; modernization has tiptoed in and taken over the human race. Music has evolved to enhance beats that rhyme with the rhythm of life, fashion has revolutionized and style has been redefined. The thing that has changed most drastically is the girls of today…

Fairy princesses they might be from the outside, devils they are from the inside. Not all of them, just a few out there. The rest are just so old that they know nothing about revolution. They say men and women are equal. The problem is some stupid girls are so idiotic that they don’t understand this. They dress like men, walk like men (cat walk has been adapted for only models and cheer leaders), rides the vehicles men ride and attends the jobs for men. In short they are head over heals!!

The funny thing is they copy our styles and try to be us. Imagine!!! But when it comes to love, they’re way behind the times. The time when Romeo proposed to Juliet has been long gone. Its time girls become more responsible and take the first step. They have so many qualities that we boys don’t have. They easily get jealous, gets angry so effortlessly, cry rivers flooding places; and blames it on us boys. They don’t understand and never try to understand. So I suggest they write a book on what they want so that boys can easily understand them…

I’m thankful that we boys are sensible enough not to copy girls…I mean I can’t stand it to imagine a guy walking on the roads with bikinis and lace ‘G’ strings…and I’d dig my grave and bury myself right there under the warm earth the moment I see one…I mean I can't deny that older men are kinda going crazy...

Friday, December 21, 2007

Yin and Yen…

Like the rolling of day and night, the changing of seasons, sunshine and rainfall, everything that exists in this world compromises two faces i.e. two sides. It is a common fact that no body is perfect and that everyone has a ‘black’ and ‘white’ side; two faces. I’m sure you all will believe this. It is logically unbelievable that man mimic different natures or different characters at one time. Two is acceptable and no evidence is needed to prove this. Just think about the things you’ve done, good and bad. That’s black and white!!! And that’s the only substantiation you need.

Life can only be balanced by good and bad. Like the earth and sky, good and bad are connected in nature in such a way that one can’t exist without the other. A simple explanation is required for you to understand this. If you don’t make any mistakes, how do you know what’s right? If you never do anything right, how do you know what’s wrong? I am not encouraging you to sin on purpose. Before you take your steps, be sure that you check whether you’re placing your feet in wet cement or paved earth…You might have not noticed this, but every step that you take is very risky, something always happen as a corollary of your actions.

Differences exist to be cherished, to create a friendly environment where one depends on the other to survive, where ideas grow and bloom for the benefit of mankind. It is unacceptable that we look at our differences from the wrong angle and fight over it to see who is greater or the better. Alas, if differences are the excuse for war, the world will be divided and all humanity will be lost. It will become a place where fear haunts the inhabitants, a place that has no future, no peace, no harmony…

There are somethings in life that you can share and somethings that must be kept secretive for you own good. A person who shouts out everything infront of people has no defense as he is handing the people the weapon of his own destruction. Pity that some of us don’t understand this…The wiser man once said, “keep your friends close, but your enemies closer”…The weight of this sentence cannot be weighed just by a simple scale, the meaning goes ocean deep. I wonder why he didn’t say keep your enemies close, but your friends’ closer…maybe because this is what’s happening today.

Just like the sky needs the sun, we need each other for success. In life we must understand the fact that one cannot exist without the other. Just like life and death, we have two boulevards to walk upon. One path leads to living life while the other leads to killing life. Excuses cannot be blamed on the innocent; as you are responsible for your own actions. Think twice before you climb up the peaks of the mountains. Don’t make the mistake of climbing up a volcano that is about to gust up. When people are in trouble don’t bug them by asking them whether there is anything you can do. Just find it and do it.

Success comes only to those who work for it. It’s like a butterfly that feeds on the sweet nectar of flowers. Opportunities come once in a lifetime. You must know when to grasp it. Part of growing up is learning to make your own decisions and living with its consequences. All these, just facts of life and all of them have another side, just like yin and yen. I’ll leave that other side for you to find out…

Monday, December 17, 2007

The last 30 days…

Rule number one in physics – What goes up, must come down…On the sixteenth of November I embarked on a journey. I took flight into the world of politics I so much hated. I mean not “hate, hate” but I don’t admire politics very much. But this adventure of mine…I’m actually trying to find words to describe it…

Ok, on the very first night I thought I didn’t want to go on with this workshop as its taking half of my holidays. But on the other hand, I thought that this might be a good experience. So, I started going there just for the sake of the experience. I wasn’t aware of the surprises in store for me.

My journey through the last 30 days has taught me new lessons and re-polished old lessons. I thank god that I was given such a chance to get to know great people, learn so much about human rights and disabled people. I feel like I’ve done something…something solid. New friendships were born and now I’m proud to say that I have a friend from the 20 corners of Maldives.

It was very tough having to say goodbye to all those new friends I’ve just made. Yesterday we finished the recording and had the certificate awarding ceremony. We handed out the pupil’s parliament awards; I got the award for the most sensible person. Watch TVM on 22 December at 14:15 and you’ll see the work we did.

All the new lessons I learned, I won’t forget them. I’d like to share some of them with you…They say what goes up must come down…Every beginning has an end and every end has a new beginning. I always knew that I’d look back at some of the times I shed tears and laugh over it. But I never realized that looking back at the laughs, it would make me cry…

How I wish I could go back in time and re-live those moments. But that ain’t possible…The last 30 days, now just memories…Memories that I’ll cherish forever…Guys, I’ll never forget you ever…Thank you god for giving me this brilliant chance to mould something new in my life…Thank you…

Saturday, December 8, 2007

The trip of my lifetime…

The last and final trip of the “trip week”, a picnic trip to Bodubandos and Kudabandos. This was by far the best picnic I ever had. The most enjoyable, the most exciting and the most adventurous and everything else.

Friday was the day of the trip and after our training program we had loads to do. We had to find the ideal stuff to make the trip worthwhile. I couldn’t sleep that night. I mean I was so eagerly waiting for this trip that I woke up like every two hours and checked my alarm clock to see how many hours were left before the alarm goes off. Finally, the sun came up and I was ready for flight an hour before the trip.

I headed to the jetty and waited with my friends for the officials to arrive. They did, about half an hour later and we set off to Bodubandos. We were greeted by the resort staff and had an information session which was not very boring, but gloomy. Breakfast was served and most unfortunately I was one of the last people to get a plate. I didn’t eat much as I had a pre-thought that lunch might be a lot better. Well, superstition paid off later…

We had a tour of the place for a little while and headed to Kudabandos. On the way Maahaa and I took the liberty of distributing the Pupil’s parliament awards voting papers. It was to be handed after lunch. We reached Kudabandos within three minutes of departure. The sea was very rough and I was wet due to the waves that crashed into the boat. Safe and sound, we reached Kudabandos and noticed that two of our numbers were missing. They were lost in Bodubandos and we left without them. Shortly after they also joined us in Kudabandos. We went for Friday prayer and changed afterwards to picnic clothes. We had a marvelous lunch; I ate something of my own invention from the available stuff from the lunch table, crispy chicken crumbs. It was good.

Before all the activities started, all the votes had come in and Shamath, Maahaa and I started to count them. The volley ball match played between the student’s parliament and youth parliament was won by the youth. I dunno the results of the mixed dodge ball match. The votes were counted and the awards were announced. I got 2 awards; most sensible person and the smartest person!! But these results are temporary as our two teachers in charge did not cast their votes.

The rest of the day… I’ll have to invent words to describe it. Water ball, running on the beach, making acrobatic towers in the sea, the new born friendships were blooming like the flowers in the spring. It was totally awesome. I really don’t think I’ve ever gone on such a trip.

We came back to Male’ in a rough sea at 6:20pm. On the whole, the day was worth it and a lot of fun. I don’t remember any other moment in my life where I had so much fun and so much friends.Shamath and Maahaa are busily counting the votes accompanied by Hanaan Miss.

Thursday, December 6, 2007

A ride in a seaplane...

Yesterday we went to Male' International airport. I know that you guys maybe wondering why I'm writing about a common place for some people. But, I'm sure that non of you would have ever had the chance to explore the airport as I did yesterday with my friends from the parliament.

We were given the chance to investigate the place. We checked the security room and the normal flight areas. (Here comes the interesting part) We were given the chance to enter a strictly restricted area of the airport. THE MALDIVIAN NATIONAL AIR DEFENCE FORCE. Nobody except the workers were allowed in there. The information given in there, sorry, I can't tell you that. It's highly classified information!!! Then we went up the control towers. The view was great. After a short tour of the place we went to AIR TAXI, where we were introduced to sea planes and had a lucky chance to go on a ride. Can't say no more on the adventure as I have five minutes left and some of you might get jealous like my father!!! See ya...

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Kan'du oiy Giri...

The title means a small place found on th ocean. Thats the name of the place we visited today. It was extremely fun. Starting from the welcome drink (fresh orange) to the fabulous lunch, it was extremely cool. I practically never remember enjoying a trip like this. We were divided into groups and were given a tour of the place. We started off at the fish processing unit. Kan'du oiy Giri processes the humongous yellow fin tuna. They class them as A grade, B grade, C grade and then send them off to the European countries.
We wore lab coats with rubber boots and hair nets. The shoes were too tight but the coat was perfectly alright. We weren't allowed a camera or else I would have you got you some cool photos. First the fish is brought in from a slide and taken to the cutting table. It is in an iced state. Then the first guy removes the head and uses the main chunky areas and passes it to the second person. He removes the skin and hands it over to the third guy who cuts it into appropriate pieces. Then it is transferred to room 2. In room 2 the chunks are put into rubber bags, vacuumed properly and labeled. Until it is sent off to the required place, they are stored under extremely low temperatures. I was sweating when i entered the place but he drops freezed immediately. The thermometer showed -6 degrees celcius.
Then we went off sight seeing. The first thing that grabbed my interest was the largest salt water fish tank I ever saw in my life. About fifteen feet in length and about six feet wide, the tank was full of large fish.
Then we went to the generator areas where we met 'Mr. Iruvaahudhu' who bit my hand. Don't worry, no damage was done.
Then we went sight seeing. It was a beautiful place.

Then we had a superb lunch. It was great. I'll have to invent words to describe the taste...
It was fun and i enjoyed the new experience...Seyanora...

Monday, December 3, 2007

Idiots and interesting stuff...

Its funny how easily people fall for jokes. Its also very funny when you stop and think about some crazy question you ignored...Questions like these...

  1. How is it that we put man on the moon before we figured out it would be good to put wheels on luggage?
  2. Why is it that people say they 'slept like babies', when babies wake up like every two hours?
  3. Why are you IN a movie, but you're ON TV?
  4. Why do people go up the tall buildings and pay for the binoculars to view stuff on the ground?
  5. Can you cry underwater?
  6. If Wile. E coyote had enough money to buy all those ACME crap, why didn't he just buy dinner?
  7. If corn oil is made from corn and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, what is baby oil made from?
  8. If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?
  9. Do the alphabet song and 'twinkle twinkle little star' have the same tune?
  10. Why did you just try singing the two songs above?
GOT YOU!!!
An idealistic island!!

Today the parliament decided that we visit Thilafushi. Thilafushi is not only responsible to remove waste products but also supports several companies. 90% of the Thilafushi population comprises foreign labuors. The place is not far away from here. We took a ferry and left Male' around eight in the morning. We reached there at around 8:55. They were ready to receive us with a small refreshment. I was surprised to see a beautiful hut made nearby, which was no different than the huts found in the resorts. It had a swing and the inside felt really comfortable. We visited the gas company and the cement factory. It was pouring heavily but we made it through. We also got the chance to go inside the Gulf Craft company. They gave us a tour of the place and showed us how the launches were designed. It was a shame that shooting photos were banned in there. We came back to the jetty in a huge lorry in the rain. I really enjoyed the trip in the rain on the back of the lorry on a bumpy non paved road!!
See the towers on the left of the gas plant? They are the cement producing plants. They are very high. I asked our guide whether there have been any accidents. He said during the construction of the place, a person fell from the cement towers and died. He was a worker from Bangladesh.

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Hulhumale', a new review!

I've been to Hulhumale' a couple of times and I thought I've seen it inside out. Well, I was proven wrong today as we went to Hulhumale'. (Just a visit organized by the parliament, specially for the people from the islands)

The first 20 minutes passed in a brief tour of the place. I was kinda' shocked realizing that there was so much I didn't see before. First we headed towards the flats through the main road, to the construction sights and stopped at the green houses. These couple of photos will tell you how beautiful it was.

So, after the exploration of the green houses we headed towards the Hulhumale' development center. There we were given a review on Hulhumale', from birth to future development. Did you know, phase one of the project is complete? Check these out...
This is an extract from the flow plan for the layout of Hulhumale'. The colours each support a code.
The above image shows the model Hulhumale'. (phase one sector)
The white buildings are already built and completed.
The above image shows the view of the completed sector of Hulhumale'. The lagoon area on the left is the second sector to be completed.

After a refreshment from the development center we went to the Hulhumale' hospital to see the in-sights.
After the review of the hospital with a small conference held, it was time to leave. Yet again, myself, Shamath and Hanan miss left to a shop. This secret mission was done to secure a chocolate I won yesterday from Shamath. She lost a bet!! I know that my explanations are brief and I hope at least the photos spoke for you. Until next time...Chao..

Saturday, December 1, 2007

Land of the lost stars!!

OK. So I told you that I was kind’a busy these days. Well, I was given the chance to participate in the student’s parliament. It was designed to show the public an outline of the actual parliament, what it does and how the system works. Students from all over Maldives were invited and they are now actively participating in this legislative body. It’s great to have won such an opportunity and have friends from each corner of the Maldives.

The purpose of our model parliament is to pass an agreement saying that there should be a law protecting the rights of disabled people. According to the topic we were given loads of information and got the privilege to meet the disabled children of Giyaasuddin and Jamaaluddin School. I really enjoyed the trip.

But the real treat was today. We went to ‘kaafu’ atoll Guraidhoo. It was one hell of an experience. I mean for once I realized Maldivian people had talent!!

This morning, we set out on a launch, a huge one, which was very smelly inside. I felt a little vomitish, but the feeling passed away as we were given some fruits to pack as presents for the ‘talented people’ we were going to meet. So we reached the place within one hour’s time and the first sight was the lineup of the people to welcome us.

Once we hit earth, we were escorted to the asylum. The first sight I got wasn’t pretty. What I saw freaked me out. I mean I didn’t act dramatic and faint, but my insides squirmed. Some people were staring out of the fence hanging on it with dead eyes, looked like more of a prison to me. Creepy!! We went inside, got seated in the respective chairs as we were served the refreshing ‘kurunbaa fani’.

Then came the main part where we had to hand out the gifts. OK, this was the really scary part. As we started to take out the presents, they started rounding up the people with talents. ( hey, am not teasing them, they really have got talent!! ). I couldn’t stand up from my seat. My legs felt like spaghetti. They assembled them on both side of the road we were sitting in. I started to day dream. I saw them release the people and they start to run towards me and I start screaming “BAAAGOOOO” and start running. Imagine that!! Whew! What a day dream!!!

My dearest friend and partner from CHSE, Shamath was scared too. But she was coping with it quiet fine. So I stood up, grabbed a present and walked towards them. They just stared at the approaching people. I mean their facial expression, it was empty. But when I reached them it was easy to shake hands with them and give the presents. Next we were divided into groups and with a guide, sent to take a tour of the place and give some more presents.

I noticed one thing in the first ward I visited. Some people had no heart!! This ward was specialized for people with no relatives or family to take care of them. Only men stayed in that place. Some people had dumped them there for eternity. Imagine the pain in their heart, I mean, some of them were fathers who had kids, raised them with high hopes and this is how the kids repay them. We gave the small gift packs to all the residents there. Some of them we met were very old.

Coming down from that building we headed towards the women’s ward. This is where I met Michael Scofield from prison break. But he was a bit different from the guy we see on TV. This guy was standing there and the guide asked us to ask the guy to play us some music. So we did. To my utter amazement, the guy was a pro at beat boxing!!! He could play any tune. We asked him to teach us and he said it was a natural talent he had. We asked him how he could do it and he said he swallowed a drum set when he was young!! The guide said he was one of the people who they had to lock up in a small cell. He said the guy had a temper and would go crazy sometimes if he didn’t meet his demands. He also told us that Scofield broke out twice, jumped over the fence and ran for it!! I also saw a man, looked extremely normal to me. He was just standing under a coconut palm like a soldier in at-ease. I remember him as Statue of Maldives as I noticed that he always remained on the same spot. If he even moved slightly, he would search for the spot on the ground and place his feet there again and just stare and stare!!

Our guide took us to the newly build mosque. It was nice and then we saw the women. They were sitting quietly. We headed their way. The first one we met was aged. She sounded very normal. The way she talked you would have had no idea that she had mental issues. We asked her what her name was and she told us her name. ( I don’t remember specifically what she said…A Hawwa I think. Not sure). After a while she asked us her name!! She suddenly forgot her name and the guide told us she had a bad case of memory. Poor thing.

Suddenly, from out of no where, came Alizee. She said she was from Hithadhoo. She was a nice old lady and offered to sing a song for us. She sang ‘La Isla Bonita’ for us with her own lyrics followed by ‘buffalo soldier’ and another couple of Hindi and Dhivehi songs. She was good!! That started a competition between the women, they danced and sang. Some of our crew even joined them in dancing as we clapped.

We saw the library and old photos of the place. Then we had an information session followed by tea, continued the session followed by more tea. A volley match was organized and some of us were played with the folks there. That’s when Hanan miss thought of buying a phone card. I gave an idea to head out of the place to go sight seeing. Unlike most teachers, she agreed, got permission and we went out in a group of five; Hanan miss, a friend of her from the ministry, myself, Shamath and Yameen from ‘alif alif’ Rasdhoo. We spent about half an hour walking around, shot a couple of photos and headed back to the asylum.

The ending was planned with a show by the folk there. They had a band. The beat boxer beat boxed and the solo singers performed great songs. A memorable event…Shame it ended so quickly. I came down alone and on the doorstep, met the only person with a naughty mind there. He extended his hand and I took it. The problem was, he didn’t release it. I asked him how he was and hatched a conversation. I’m guessing he was an austic patient as he resembled the likeliness to one. After a while I asked him whether he was feeling happy here. He said he was extremely happy today because of all the ‘reethi manje thah’ that came to visit him. I was saved by another student who came by.

After a while, we headed back to Male’ in the same smelly launch. But this time, I was on the upper deck of the launch, in the open air…The cool breeze…And now I look so dark that if you see me on a dark road, you’ll see a body with two eyes and 32 teeth smiling at you, the face dissolved in the dark!!!