To a visitor travelling south from Mombasa to savour the rich culture of the Swahili, the village of Gazi passes for a sleepy settlement in an almost forgotten stretch of the rapidly developing Kenyan coast. Inside the closely built mud-walled houses of the village, the day begins with a prayer...
Dates are one of the most common dry fruits consumed all across the world. It is more popular among the Muslim community for its origins; nonetheless, people from all nations savour the various kinds of dates available for consumption. In the Middle East, they are considered Holy Fruit, and the...
“Some of us think holding on makes us strong, but sometimes it is letting go.” – Herman Hesse I often write about finding lightness in life. It can come from an unhurried but effective day at work or from uncluttering your home. Or from learning how to let go and...
Canals are manmade. It is reported that the first canals were constructed some 3,000 years ago. Those canals were for constructed for the purpose of irrigation, allowing water reach to some place where it is necessary for human use. Later, canals have been constructed to help boats and ships pass...
In the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, there’s a beautiful city on the bank of the river Yamuna called Agra. At present, Agra is a major tourist destination of India because of its rich culture, history and beautiful monuments built by the ancient Muslim rulers. Today, I would like to...
Breakfast, lunch or dinner – as a sweet-tooth, I always have room for desserts. I like both traditional eastern sweet dishes like rice pudding and gulab jamun, and western fusion desserts like trifle and tiramisu. But among all, one of my all-time favourite desserts is baklava. The first time when...
Nauru is a small island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. With just 21 square kilometres, it is the 3rd smallest country in the world. Its population is also limited to only 11 thousand. Currently, Nauru does not have any cultivable land, nor do the people have a secured...
What is violence? At its most obvious, it is a bullet fired at flesh, a knee pushed into a neck, or a mob storming the Capitol. In law, it is criminal, domestic, sexual, alcohol-fuelled. On the battlefield, it is state-sanctioned. Often violence is understood by the adjectives appended to it:...
Stop Doing “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” – Confucius This article is about a few mistakes I’ve made. About a few destructive habits that can make life quite messy and unhappy. And it’s about what you can do instead to replace those mistakes and...
It has been hundreds of years since the Mughal’s sun set in the heart of India. The once-mighty Mughals are no longer alive in India. The huge empires of the world-famous emperors Babar, Humayun, Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb and Akbar have vanished in the evolution of time. However, despite the loss...
In the vast land of the United States of America lies a magnificent castle. It is called The Hearst Castle. Located on the Central Coast of California, Hearst Castle is a landmark that signifies Mediterranean Revival architecture. Its story began in 1865, when George Hearst, a man of substance from...
Books. By definition, they refer to a written or printed work consisting of pages glued or sewn together along one side and bound in covers. It is a source of information. Now, books can be non-fictional, edited non-fictional, reference books and fictional books. Each kind has its specialty and purpose....
The twin smokestacks of the Moss Landing Power Plant tower over Monterey Bay. Visible for miles along this picturesque stretch of the north Californian coast, the 500-foot-tall (150m) pillars crown what was once California’s largest electric power station – a behemoth natural gas-fired generator. Today, as California steadily moves to...
A common phrase heard these days is “work smarter not harder,” but what does that really mean? Surely working smarter is still working hard, right? In a way, you are right—to be able to work smarter, you do need to put in the hard work first. You will need to...
Newspapers started writing about Betty Lowe when she was 96 years old. Despite being long past retirement age, she was still volunteering at a cafe at Salford Royal Hospital in Greater Manchester, UK, serving coffee, washing dishes and chatting to patients. Then Lowe turned 100. “Still volunteers at hospital”, the...
Two most famous universities of the modern world, Cambridge and Oxford, were founded in 1209 and 1096, respectively. However, none of these are the first universities in the world, not even in Europe. The oldest university in the world is Morocco’s Al-Qaraween University, which was founded in 859 A.D. According...
Journey by train is something we much often learn about at a very early age; be it an own experience or something we merely read about, more or less we get accustomed to what it may possibly be like by the time people hit their teens. Nonetheless, the journey by...
“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” – G.K. Chesterton “Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.” – Robert Brault “Cultivate the habit of being grateful for...
If, since lockdown, you have found it hard to remember to email someone, summon up the word you need, or yet again forgotten to buy the milk – you are not alone. I’ve lost count of the number of times recently that friends have bemoaned their worsening memories. Data is...
Many of us daydream about being a hafidhul Quran. How wonderful would it be if we could understand every single word the imam is reciting during taraweeh prayers in Ramadan! I envy the people that cry out during salah, the words of the Lord echoes in their heart where most...
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