Thank you G*Nice!

It’s Friday again! What a wonderful start to the day. Like all passed Fridays since a long time, I kept aside the Gulf News and reached for the Friday magazine. The ritual is to start with G*Nice. For those not in the UAE, let me tell you, G*Nice is a person who’s got clicked the wrong way and he’s yet to spot this blunder. He’s a fellow who writes about ordinary things in extraordinary ways. And when he ‘talks’ about something, you actually realize these famous words: ‘Every particle on the face of the earth is a marvel in itself’.

Few seconds into a brand new G*Nice article and my name started to blink out of a few hundred words on the page. The Friday combo surprise!! Yes, it was me and G*Nice actually cared to read my blah blah and was talking about my speculations on ‘first impression’. Here’s what he had to say.
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GULF NEWS, Friday Magazine, 19 Sep 2008

First impressions can be so deceiving, you see. I liken it to pop bands or singers. Artists have their whole lives to make their first album, but the real challenge comes with the follow-up.
How many artists can you count who blew you away once with their inaugural collection of songs but after that went downhill fast? It's the same with people you meet in all walks of life.
One of my letter writers, Sarfraz, has some interesting thoughts on the subject of first impressions. Sarfraz speculates that "plastic smiles at the first handshake are often the reason for misleading first impressions". The mention of handshakes brings to mind the arena of business.
All of us flex our creative muscles when it comes to impressing potential employers, and I am sure we have all fallen in love with the version of ourselves that we present on our CVs – so much so that we become somewhat unrecognizable as the people we actually are.
I have been blessed in this area, I must say, but I also give myself some credit that I had a hunch that the world of media would allow me to be true to who I am without compromising my personality.
Despite the illusion of glamour in this world it is still a business at the end of the day so you have to bring your skills to the game. Exactly what my skills are remains hard to define, but I am still rolling with the punches somehow!
Sarfraz had one phrase: "You can't cut a cucumber and a coconut with the same blade" which I didn't really understand, but it struck me that both of those things could be blended together to make a refreshing drink. Smooth-ily yours.
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Thank you G*Nice for all the good thoughts you have shared with us and for the fact that you actually helped me to restart writing my scraps. Luckily, one of them slipped into the ‘Friday’. My blog is no more a misnomer.

Random Thoughts

Ramadan is about to bid adieu. I will have to shift in ‘Sleep’ mode once it’s over. The good thing about getting up early for the Suhoor is that my brain starts to work when I try to take a good two hour nap after Fajr. There have been loads and loads of thoughts and most of them are not worth sharing! But there are a few here and there and hopefully I will get something out of it.

A famous cobbler is way better than an unknown astronaut. (Sarfraz Khatib, 2008)

Hope is like a pregnant woman, never let it slip in the bathroom; it will deliver goods. (Sarfraz Khatib, 2008)

Treat life as a 100 meter sprint. 9 seconds of superlative effort will bring glory and assured place in history. (Sarfraz Khatib, 2008)

If a bud feared his destiny, he would never bloom. (Sarfraz Khatib, 2008)

If we all have an ambition to be famous, there would be much more great art on display. (Sarfraz Khatib, 2008)

Don’t think too high of yourself unless you leave a reason for your grandchildren to remember you. (Sarfraz Khatib, 2008)

IN LOVE WITH OIL PASTELS

After a long hiatus, I finally managed to put some colour on the canvas. This time with Oil Pastels. It's a fantastic medium and I am looking forward to experimenting with it in my upcoming vacation.

CRAVINGS

ILLUSION

CAMOUFLAGE

My beautiful home...

Timid seas and palms, and grey clouds, stay where you are..I am coming!! lol..

Enough of it...

Since you left
nothing has changed.
Gyrating clouds
hang over the shy morning.
No frills in the water
but deep within I am in doldrums.

Since you left
I stand hushed
amid the posts
that rest in peace.

Since you left,
I clung to the greens.

Licked and bested,
the waters say goodbye
to the quiet.
Stand wherever you are
A moment or two
and …
my boat will leave the shores!

Dream Dinosaurs

Dream Dinosaurs is a compilation of fictional dinosaurs. I am in the process of making it into a fun book and I am very much going in the right direction. I am posting a chapter out of my dream book.

Text & Art (C) Sarfraz Khatib 2008. (The artwork is done by a dear friend)

The Butterfly Dinosaur:

When in flight, it sweeps off everything beneath it. Butterfly-winged Dino has two huge wings and an antenna like shape at the front that constantly sprinkles toxic fluid making it one of the most beautiful but dangerous dinosaur ever found. The toxic fluid has a strong burning sensation and can melt 500 super strong steel bushels. The wings when fully spread measure a whopping 6 miles on each side and throw thunderous winds that knock off everything in a radius of 32 miles. This brush footed Dino weighs more that 4 train bogeys and flies at an incredible speed of 200 miles an hour.

The Bright yellow color with similar stripes of range and red colors on either wing with delicate design looks incredible at viewing but staring for more than 9 seconds can affect the vision or even cause permanent blindness. It lives on the Corpse Flower’s smelly, sticky juice. But evidence suggests that it can even digest steel rings and gemstones.

Sultan of Swing

A colour pencil sketch of Sultan of Swing, Wasim Akram drawn by me. The legendary allrounder was a popluar figure throughout the world for his out of this world bowling action.

India Shining??

Way back at the turn of this new millenium, a poet was at the helm of the largest democracy in the world, India. To bag popluar votes, the poet launched a campaign, India Shining! It all looked beautiful on the surface, at the bottom there was more than the beautiful reefs.
Like everyone else, I saw the glittering paint coming off and questioned the gleeful verses. These are the works that were published in Mumbai based 'Daily News and Analysis' (DNA) on Wednesday, December 7, 2003.
The poet, a statesman left the chair.

Silence

Tribute

Tribute (Ustad Bismillah Khan, the flute maestro from India who died earlier this year)


The air is silent
and the waters aghast.
He who lend the soul to me,
added joy to my voice,
is dumb today.
Whispered the air.
He who styled my flow,
revered my drops,
is lost somewhere.
Waters cried.
He whose fingers
Molded the music
Embracing the lips
echoing through the heavens.
That,
He who lend the soul to music,
styled the flow,
of weeping Ganges,
is no more!
The Ganges are crying,
and sobs the air,
for the master,
who is no more!
But wait,
what it is that
just kissed the air?
A crestfallen grin,
may be!

Silence

And together we walked a mile
in a dark dark night
pathways so narrow
we became one.
Shattered, fragile...
Hand in hand,
together we walked,
till it dawned on me
she was none,
but my silence!

Thoughts

Oh, O' the fighter
Carrier of lights.
Here you come
torching the air of mind.
The light you brought to me
keeps brimming through the night
Sizzling flames in pillow
And the bed is on fire!