And Eid flies by

Hmm...that was quick (and thank God for that)! I am sure I've said this more then once, but I'll say it again, these sort of festive events should only come when you are with your family! And by family I don't just mean my wife, my parents, but the whole crew of about 35 people. My aunts, uncles, cousins, and their kids! Everyday I realize how much I love them, and how much they mean to me.

Now to come to this Eid. I guess the highlight would be when we went to offer the Eid prayers at 7 in the morning, and it was drizzling, with a strong wind. Ofcourse I had brought no warm clothes with me. (Come on, how cold can it get in a desert! Answer to that, pretty cold!) But I think even if I had my warm clothes with me, I would have avoided them. See it's just brilliant when the cold morning wind breezes into your soul, with a little bit of rain. Ummmmmm...delicious!

So Eid was good, and Waseem chacha (Alina's uncle) and family made it really comfortable for me, bless them! And chachee was kind enough to make some delicious vegetarian food for me, respecting my vegetarian habits for this time of the year, and well, the food was enticing, in an honest way! See when the food is good then half the battle is won, more then half for me, ha ha. Ofcourse the reel of family pictures kept floating in front of my eyes, and I had my low moments, but hey, that WAS due to happen.

O and I also finally went to the famed Global Village, and even that was better then expected, or atleast the death defying rides sure were! See what they have going there is that the area marked for the festival is considered a globe, and different countries are mapped onto it! Just think of a country and it's there, and watching all the different cultures, their music, their clothes is quite a heartening experience. I mean you grow up reading geography, and about all these different countries, but to see people from all these countries gathered together in a 4 square mile radius, Wow! (that's my assumption, don't go by it, most probably it totally inaccurate)

See I've always been aware that this little planet of ours is a big place, but that night I was conscious of it. All these people from all these countries, so different in so many ways, and yet still the same. Once again I plead to this world, stop the Goddamn senseless killing! We're all more or less the same, then what's the freaking point! OK, I am not going down that tunnel right now.

Yes, the rides, well I did manage to sit in this totally exorbitant ride, one of those "take you to the threshold of life and death" experiences. See you are encapsulated in a roller coaster kind of chest cover (and thank God for that), and are rotated at furiously fast speeds in a ginormous vertical circle, in both clockwise and anticlockwise directions, and the seat you are sitting in is also rotating, in all possible manners of rotation. Totally like earth's trip round the sun, just a lot more erratic and out of control. And to top it off, yes, it was drizzling, and to feel tiny droplets of water on your face at that height and speed...hmm...what was that expression? Ha ha.

You know when I came over to this desert, the one thing I dreaded most was that there would be no rain, and well, it's rained here, it's hailed here, it's been a combination of all sorts of my favorite violent weather.

O and I also took my uncle's kids with me, so it was my group of friends (all in their mid to late twenties and some into their thirties) and my uncle's son and daughter (in their teens, son 14teen, daughter 18teen). And I just watched in amazement how these two sects (if I may be allowed to call them) blended in. See we in our late twenties are really missing that wonderful college / school life, and we haven't totally forgotten about it, and can't but go back. And the residents of the teens can't wait to graduate and enter the so called adult life, job, apartment, car, etc etc. So for a change both the sects were totally fond of each other, and admired each other, and above all, wanted to be each other! That's why I was wondering if I can call them sects, cause you hear sects and the first thing that comes to mind is undiluted bouts of loathing. And most of my friends went to the same school as my cousins were now attending. The same school, the same syllabus, just about a decade ago! Wow! And at the end of the day the only difference was that the idols changed, the fashions changed, and the rest, all the same. Even some of the teachers survived. And you can always spend weeks talking about all those teachers you thought were from Mars ten years ago, with these teenagers who think they are from Mars in present day!

And yes, boys and girls are like totally different species in their teens. See as time passes by, I think the male and female specimens learn to co-exist, we find out things that both can go through with a smile on the face, and we keep on doing those things, and of course there's the rare boys night out and the girls night out, to bring back some sanity! But in the teens, well, in the teens...

The boy (under the knife of my observation) was just keen to tell the universe how brave, and strong and fearless he was, and how no rules existed for him. How the "sun was totally uncool, and the night was it!" And the girl, well she was totally bent upon showing how grown up and mature and adult she is, and of course how she feels that Hillary Duff is the most intelligent person in this world! OK, now that's taking it a bit far...But to sum it up, I guess the girls want to carry more of a Katherine Hepburn (we still love you) aura, and the boys want to be more of 2 Pac figures. Disagree anyone?

I guess this is enough rambling for now.

Oh and Eid Mubarak!