A mentor departs....

December... as has been the tradition in my life ... brings farewells and goodbyes... and this time it was a good bye to a great mentor ... Ali bhae.. who was the first one at Techlogix who helped me through everything when I totally felt like an alien in a foreign land, surrounded by unknown faces all around, except  for a few:)  and getting to hear words like BAM and BPM all the time, having an impact nothing less of a drone attack :) ... It was yesterday that we had a farewell lunch from him as he now continues on his journey into a different role in the onshore team.... The best part that I liked about him was that whenever I took up a problem to him, he was always eager to listen, to help & guide, no matter what,. whether he knew anything regarding the issue or not.. always keeping his own tasks aside and begin looking for solutions with me ... googling it n all... and regardless of we reach any solution or not... I always learned a bit or two from him .. which most of the times had nothing to do with the problem I took to him .... and this was his way, not only with me but all the team.... he was beyond doubt one of the rarest persons I ever met in my life...  I will definitely miss his presence & guidance and sincerely hope and pray that his journey henceforth be a smooth & happy one!

Besides this farewell, yesterday was very happening, starting off by reading a post of a beloved friend after a lot of my nagging :) ... then with all the farewell activities throughout the day .. and also I got a comment of Odd One Out!! .. that too from Ali bhae :)... which i am, no doubt :) ... and then ending even more brilliantly with having coffee made by my beloved little sis :)... So, life is passing thus dear friends :) .. Lets see, whats to meet me next :)...but whatever is to come, my heart & mind knows with all might, that no matter what, ALLAH will take care :)... Verily, only He has the knowledge of the unseen.

I am nothing but dust.....

A wonderful poem written by a university fellow, whose title keeps coming back to me these days....

I am nothing but dust.....
You may blow me away with Your might and will
You may make me the content of the fertile soil
Make me lie in the sun with the dunes,taking me where You wish
A part of rock,a piece of stone, forming me as You wish
Make me lie on a river bed tasting the water from it
You may mould me as You wish,O my Lord make me strong
Like the bricks of the kiln that
I might withstand the fire of Your love

I am nothing but dust
I am not what I am but what You wish me to be
I am what You made me, I am the sign of Your love
I am what You liked me to be till You want me to be
I am nothing but the sign of Your perfection
I am for You and for You is my work
I am in a state undefined , fallen for You
I am Your creation and towards You is my return
I am the sign of Your love

I am nothing but dust
You create what You desire and perfect Your creations
I am Your creation, just as You wanted me
I am the sign of Your desire, why should I be sorrow
I am where You want me to be, carried by the wind
At Your command, I fly and swim across the seas
At Your will, I have reached where I am now
I am the sign of Your love
It is Your love that make me live and die
I am nothing but dust.....

Techlogix & AuraPortal...

Recently we came to know that Techlogix had formed partnership with a BPM vendor AuraPortal... and today  our team was invited for a demo of the BPM suite.. the demo went great and some of the features were really good.. what I wanted to share from the demo today is how the session concluded :) .. I couldn't have thought of it even in my wildest imaginations :) ... which left me smiling and laughing for a long while :) ... In the end, the pre-sales consultant from AuraPortal said she wanted to share some personal experience which had nothing to do with the demo or the tool.. It was regarding her knowledge of our national language Urdu.. which she learnt from some acquaintance who belonged to Karachi... and asked if we know the language .. which ofcourse we did.. so she said.. she really had some fun learning a few sentences of Urdu.. so she spoke the sentence "Mera naam ------- hai"... which means, "My name is -------"... I just couldn't help laughing & sharing the fun ... and in reply said in the same accent , "Mera naam Maria hai" :) ... to which she replied.."Theek hai, theek hai" :D.... and then there were laughters all over ... :D

It was a great experience meeting a person like her .. and I would definitly cherish the experience for long :) 

Eid Special!

My special dish for this auspicious occasion of Eid-ul-Azha was Nehari :) ... which was a project in pipeline for more than 4-5 months and went live successfully this Eid:).. Not to mention the recipe turned out superb coming from a great chef like Shireen Anwar... I am really tired at the moment so not in the mood to write down such a loooonngg recipe so anyone interested please use this link.

And there is also no picture this time :( .. as everyone including me was in such a rush to eat up after an unbearably long and tiring day..

Finally a very happy Eid-ul-Azha Mubarak to all!

Life!

A few thoughts of my youngest sis.. which she shared .. and I liked it soooo much!! that couldn't resist sharing it here for my own good memory :)

missing my childhoOd....... where there was nO tensiOn,nO wOrries jxt relaxation......where we wuld think that the hardest thing tO learn is ABC,n the yuckiest things are vegetables......n we dinnO wat gOnna happen next....we just say everythin n ppl sayy awww....cute babie.....n nw if we see we have soo many respOnsibilities which we have toO fulfill even if its nOt Our chOice......we have tO first think then say Otherwise ppl say .....a bad mannered kid....i wish i culd get those days back ...i wish...i wish that those days in which i used to cry while enterin the skul i culd get back...but i guesss as the tym passes we have tO move On ..nOw the life is borin even wid all the luxuries......we cannot get those days back.......we cannOt get dose days back....but...we can still luk at the memOries and smile a while and then an unwanted tear cOmes Out of Our eyes........i guess dis is the way life mOves On.....n we have tO accept it....

Love you beta jee!! .. May Allah always guide you and be with you.. Ameen!

Tawakkul...

Today I read a very motivating email sent from a website that I have subscribed which provoked a very long strand of thoughts, so thought to share it here,

THE CALL (Part 1)
When Ibrahim (Peace be upon him) completed the structure of the Ka’bah, Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala) commanded him to call the people to Hajj. Ibrahim (Peace be upon him) got confused he said, “O Allah! How shall my voice reach all of those people?” Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) told him that his duty was only to give the call and it was up to Allah to make it reach the people.
Here we have a beautiful productivity lesson; don’t worry about the results/outcome of your effort, rather worry about making the effort and ensuring you do the task to the best of your ability. If Ibrahim (Peace be upon him) saw that the expected outcome of his task is impossible, he would have given up and there would have been no Hajj. But, he relied upon Allah & did his best, he climbed Mount Arafat and called out in his loudest voice, “O People! Verily Allah has prescribed upon you Hajj, so perform Hajj.”
Every human being on earth at that time heard that call and Hajj began since that day. Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) revealed in the Qur’an: “And proclaim the Hajj among mankind. They will come to thee on foot and (mounted) on every camel, lean on account of journeys through deep and distant mountain highways” (Surat Al-Hajj, Ayat 28).
We should never stop ourselves from making the necessary effort to achieve something just because we think the results are impossible to achieve.
Do your part and leave the rest upon Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala).

This reminded me the lessons on Tawakkul that my father always used to teach us. He had such a strong faith over Almighty that I never understood why at that time, even after bearing so much in life, how can anyone be so strong in faith. Now at this point in my life, having myself faced so much thick and thin, I have now truly learned the meaning of Tawakkul. I would like to share here a Hadith that my father narrated to us, The hadeeth is from Anas bin Malik, who said:

"A man said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, should I tie it(camel) and make tawakkul, or let it go free and make tawakkul?' He صلى الله عليه وسلم said: "Tie it and make tawakkul.'" [At-Tirmidhi]

So, just do your part and leave the rest over Allah Pak!.. If there is any benefit in the outcome for you .. Allah will not let your efforts go in waste.. and if there is harm in it.... be content that Allah Pak saved you from it.

May Allah bless us all! Ameen!

Success...

I have often pondered over the definition of success.. but never satisfied myself with a valid answer.. Even after achieving distinctions throughout my academic life and being in fairly good jobs in my professional life.. I never considered myself successful... But today I found a very fitting definition of success while re-reading some earlier posts on yearofkindness...

To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded..... Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882)

Although this definition only talks of worldly success.. but I never came across a more complete one...

To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.

So considering it , I have been a lot successful Alhumdulillah!! .. All glory be to Allah!!

Fried Fish...

So finally I got the perfect recipe for Pakistani style fried fish .. thanks to a colleague :) ... I tried it on my brother's birthday and got some great results!

Ingredients: 
Whole Fish (Rahoo, marked with shallow cuts) .. 1 kg
Ginger/Garlic paste ... 2-3 tbsp.
Lemon juice ... 1/2 cup
Salt ... to taste
Red chilli powder ... 2 tbsp.
Cumin powder ... 1 tbsp.
Coriander powder ... 1 tbsp.
Turmeric ... 1/2 tsp.
White floor... for frying
Oil .. for frying

Method:
To avoid any unpleasant smells particularly in sea food, marinate the fish first with salt, lemon juice and ginger garlic paste for half an hour and wash well with water afterwards. Now for marination, mix salt, red chilli, cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric, ginger garlic paste, lemon juice and a bit of oil to form a paste. Add few drops of water if needed. Apply the marinade on fish and leave for 1-2 hours. Now for frying, add salt and red chilli powder in white floor and coat the marinated fish in this dry batter slightly and shallow fry on medium heat.

Shukar Allah!!

Recently read this wonderful post shared by a friend and realized so strongly the infinite mercy of my Lord! So sharing it here to strengthen your faith and as a reminder to my own ungrateful self,

O Allâh,

I told you: I'm in pain...

You said:► 'Do not despair of the mercy of Allâh' (39:53)

I told you: Nobody knows what is in my heart...

You said:► 'Verily, in the remembrance of Allâh do hearts find rest' (13:28)

I told you: Many people hurt me...

You said:► 'So pardon them and ask forgiveness for them' (3:159)

I told you: I feel I'm alone...

You said:► 'We are closer to him than [his] jugular vein' (50:16)

I told you: My sins are so many...

You said:► 'And who can forgive sins except Allâh' (3:135)

I told you: Do not leave me...

You said:► 'So remember Me; I will remember you...' (2:152)

I told you: I'm facing a lot of difficulties in life...

You said:► 'And whoever fears Allâh He will make for him a way out' (65:2)

I told you: I have many dreams that I want to come true...

You said:► 'Call upon Me; I will respond to you.' (40:60)

How could this slave not love You with his body and soul?

♥ I LOVE YOU, ALLÂH !!! ♥ Alhamdulillâh for Your infinite blessings!

Yummilicious Chicken Broast!!

After collecting recipes for so long and hearing remarks from my family that you only run after collecting them and never try :P, I got time to finally try something that turned out really well!!...shukar :) .. and is remarkably simple as well!! .. Got some really flattering comments from family and some of my friends whose share I kept separate :)

Being a Punjabi by birth, good food has always been a passion with me, So when I got some time off and the perfect occasion of my little sis birthday, I decided to try a broast recipe, all credit for which goes to Chef Saadat :)

So here goes the recipe,

Ingredients:

Chicken with skin  -  cut into 8 peices

Green chilli paste - 3 Tbsp.

Ginger garlic paste - 1 Tbsp.

Baking powder - 2 Tbsp.

Salt - 3 Tbsp

Black or White pepper - as per taste

White floor - 2 cups

Corn floor - 1/2 cup

Water - As needed

Method:

Add water in chicken as much to cover it entirely. Now add green chilli paste, ginger garlic paste, salt (2 and a half Tbsp.) and baking powder in the mixture. Mix well and leave the marinated chicken in refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

Now for frying, mix white floor, corn floor, salt and pepper (to taste). Roll the marinated chicken pieces well in this dry batter and leave on a strainer. If the coating is thin, dip the chicken pieces slightly into the marinated water and again coat with dry batter. Fry in well heated oil but not a very high flame for chicken to tenderize. Ready!! Serve with fries :)

Here's the picture until you try it :)

Along with this yummy recipe, I have some food for thought too from a very inspirational blog  yearofkindness, that I have been following for some time now and it has really inspired alot of positivity into my daily life.Read the latest post from this blog here.

Until next time, happy cooking, happy reading and happy feasting :)

Take Some Time By Leon Hansen

A piece I read today, liked it alot!

Take some time to smell the flowers

As you walk the path of life.

Take some time to ease the tensions

From the challenges and strife.

Take some time to count your blessings,

Though you feel they’re not that great.

You will find they’re more abundant

Than you thought, at any rate.

Take some time to help another

Who you think might need a hand.

You will find the satisfaction

Leaves you feeling sort of grand.

Take some time to live by virtue

In the best way that is known,

And respect the rights of others

As equal to your own.

Take some time to just appreciate

The fact that you are here,

And to know that Higher Power

And to trust It without fear.

Google Recipe View!!

What an interesting thing I found!! I logged into my twitter account by accident today :) and found this latest tweet from official Google twitter account.

Recipe View lets you narrow your search results to show only recipes, and helps you choose the right recipe amongst the search results by showing clearly marked ratings, ingredients and pictures...Read the full entry here.

Looks like an amazing idea to me :) Lets see how much easier it makes my life to google recipes now :) Currently, this feature is only rolling out in U.S and Japan, can't wait to have this feature available to the world at large!

Keep up Google!

Mujhay Insaan Mat Kehna!

Sharing a piece today from a very old diary of mine that I remembered a few days back:). I am getting very much forgetful day by day, so have a very strong urge each day to write down if anything of substance comes back to mind suddenly:) I used this diary to maintain any good Urdu poems that I come across and among Urdu poetry , I am particularly fond of Azad Urdu Nazams. Just love the sense of freedom it brings to poetry, without the bounds of radeef and qaafia, like in Ghazals. Anyways, here it goes :)

Mujhay Insaan mat kehna!
Agar kuch naam dena ho..
Mujhay Insaan mat kehna..
Juda chehray, juda beshak sabhi k naam hotay hain..
Magar insaniat k ab yahan per daam hotay hain..
Meray tum daam mat dena..
Mujhay yeh naam mat dena..
Agar kuch naam dena ho..
Mujhay Ehsaas keh dena..
Magar thehro!
Mujhay Ehsaas mat kehna..
Mera bus naam reh jaye..
Mujhay Ehsaas mat kehna..
Agar kuch naam dena ho..
Mujhay Sawan hi keh dena..
Magar thehro!
Mujhay Sawan nahi kehna..
Barasta hai..
Magar, rut k badaltay, beet jata hai..

Mujhay Sawan nahi kehna..

Agar kuch naam dena ho..

Mujhay Aansoo hi keh dena..

Janam lena kisi ki aankh mei..

Rukhsaar per merna.. 

Yeh jis ki haqeeqat hai.. 

Chalo Aansoo hi keh dena..

Magar dekho!

Kisi ki ankh me mujh ko kabhi anay nahi dena..

K qeemat aansoon ki ab ada tum se nahi hogi..

Nahi tum yun nahi kehna.. 

Mujhay Aansoo nahi kehna.. 

Mujhay aankhon me basta ek haseen Sapna hi keh dena..

K sapnay aankh me taron ki tarah jhilmilatay hain.. 

Magar thehro!

Mujhay Sapna nahi kehna.. 

K sapnay toot jatay hain!

Mujhay Apna nahi kehna 

K apnay rooth jatay hain!

My New Template!

Hey Friends,

How do you like my new blog template ? :) .. No No.. please don't think its a blog related to cooking! But you never know :) I have a passion for cooking :) So you can expect me to share some mouth watering recipes ;)

Actually, I was exploring the Blogger Template Designer and came across this background image.. liked it alot :)

Hope you like it!

Before Its Too Late!!

I remembered Munir Niazi's famous poem this morning

Hamesha dair ker deta hoon

main her kaam kerne main

zaroori baat kehni ho,

koi waada nibhana ho

usse awaz deni ho,

usse wapis bulaana ho

hamesha dair ker deta hoon

main har kaam karnay mein

Madad kerni ho usski,

yaar ki dharas bandhana ho

bohut daireena raaston per

kissi se milney jana ho

hamesha dair ker deta hoon

main har kaam karnay mein

Badaltey mausmon ki sair main

dil ko lagana ho

kissi ko yaad rakhna ho

kissi ko bhool jana ho

hamesha dair ker detta hoon

main har kaam karnay mein

Kissi ko maut se pehle

kissi ghum se bachana ho

haqeeqat aur thi kuch,

uss ko jaa ker yeh batana ho

hamesha dair ker deta hoon

main har kaam kerne main

Having read this poem again, A thought that troubles me alot came back to me of Being Late! Never being able to say things, to do things I have to. We human beings are an ungrateful lot, we never stop to ponder how blessed we are and take everything for granted as if we have a born right over things we have in life. But we simply do not, everything could go away in less than a fraction of a second. 

So, before its too late,

Tell your Maa.. How much you love her!

Tell your Paa.. What it feels to have his shade!

Tell your Sibs..  What a blessing they are!

Tell you Friends.. How much you miss them!

And Above All!

Tell your Creator , The All-Mighty, The All-Knowing.. How thankful You are! ..Before its too late...

Now I have got to run and tell my sis.. what a dumbo she is! .. before its too late ;D

P.S. My first rambling :)

Welcome !!

Welcome Folks!!

Finally, I have created my blog :) ... After a very long thought process, I have come to the conclusion that blogging is not that bad :) .. So here I am , with my very first blog post!

First of all, let me assure you , I am not a writer at all!! Therefore the name Maria'z Ramblingz :) ... A few of my very good friends motivated me to blog.. but I always negated the idea.. but now I think .. I underestimate myself at quite a many things.. so that might be true with writing too :) ... I will share my ramblings about life, thoughts, readings and may be at times my technical explorations as well :)

Happy Reading !