My brain is working at half-speed

As you might have noticed, Fasting in ramadan really takes away one’s appetite to blog. I’m not on my laptop as much. I’ve been listening and reading to the Qur’an on my electronic Qur’an player altho unfortunately the batteries have died. I could pick up an actual book of the Qur’an but I don’t wanna. Turning pages is for suckers! [/lazy]

I’ll have to scrounge around for some batteries.

*

I finished off ‘The Junior Officers’ Club’ which neatly coincided with a repeat showing of ‘Our War’ on BBC3 which I caught by accident while watching TV after I’d eaten my sehri. The programme showed the soldiers’ perspective of the war in Afghanistan. I thought it would be a very self-congratulatory piece (teary eyed piece to camera talking about ‘our brave boys…’) but it showed the human, everyday experience of being a soldier. They acted like the young lads they are with lots of goofing around and pranks interspersing the warfare. I don’t agree with the war but the soldiers seemed to act with integrity while on duty which gives me a little solace. All footage would have been greenlighted by the Ministry of defence first though so I’ll still take it with a pinch of salt.

Muslim readers may wonder why I’m watching TV and reading books during Ramadan. I’m actually watching less TV and doing more worship but I can’t give up the goggle box completely so I just try to be moderate (and realistic) with it.

I was sifting through all the rubbish I’ve accumulated in my drawers and found a calendar from two years ago. 2009 was my annus horribilis and I certainly don’t want any reminders of it but the calendar (made by Islamic Relief) is so beautiful I haven’t the heart to throw it away. All the pictures are from muslim countries and I remember how soothing it was to wake up and see such gorgeous pictures hanging on my door.

I took a few pics of my fave images:

Agra, India

Cairo, Egypt

Istanbul, Turkey

I think maybe I need to let go of things that have hurt me in the past and as ramadan is a time for renewed hope and renewed faith, hopefully I can move forward and cast away reminders from the past.

“And when My servants ask you, [O Muhammad], concerning Me – indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. […]” (Qur’an 2:186)

My fasting is going well. I find it hard but it’s manageable. I’ve fasted every single day and feel like a champion!

My ‘five a day’ quota is taking a major hit though. Do chickpeas count?

I’m taking the desi approach to sehri: Rice and chicken curry (although today I had lasagne – go figure). Iftari is dates, samosas, chickpeas with muree (puffed rice), pakora and cake (I’m gonna be one of those greedy peeps who put on weight during ramadan, aren’t I?).

Even though I can’t eat food during the day, I've discovered the next best thing:

Body Shop products smell so good. The above are papaya body butter (smells fruity and lush), wild cherry scrub and shea body butter. I have the berry lip roll-on too but I don't wear it in case I end up ingesting it. I've never paid full price on a body butter - I've always bought discounted half price ones. The scrub was on offer and it's pretty good. If you can't afford it, the ace blogger Lipstick & Pearls has her own DIY scrub.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm just off to stick my nose in the papaya body butter.

Peace out!