Happy New Year

Like a night in the desert,
may your new year be...
a beautiful mystery !

- desert demon

August 2009: Tuareg

(Source: google)

July 2009: Emirati Swimmer

Obaid al Jasmi
(Source: gulfnews.com)

June 2009: Royalicious Prince of Dubai

His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum
(Source: flickr.com)

May 2009: Hazara

(Source: google)

April 2009: Afghani

(Source: google)

March 2009: Body Art

(Source: Google)

February 2009: Falconer

(Source: google)

Desert Demon Calendar January 2009

Since Xmas brings all sorts of goodies for most peeps, I thought it was time to have a little eye-candy for the ladies! Keep watching cos this is the first of many!

PS Put in your own calendar dates! I just provide the yummies!




(Source: flickr.com)

The Night of Many What Ifs…..

After a tough year we all found ourselves in desperate need of a serious debrief session! The end of the year seems to always bring some kind of relief. `Tis the season of calm despite the exhaustion. Coddled by the warm open arms of the girls, several cartons of Kleenex Softique (only the best for our delicate noses), tubs of decadent indulgent ice cream, and boxes of the most exclusive and effective heal balm known to womankind – chocolate – we found ourselves sprawled across the floor, leaning on comfy cushions or cuddling up on the couch. This was a much-needed girls night in and time to catch up! All the stories came pouring out, much like the soaking rain outside! Between the giggling fits and the sombre sobs, each had a story – we’ve been through illnesses, losses of loved ones, ugly thighs, bad hair days, road rage, office tantrums, moving and upheaval, and of course the ups and downs of relationships with the men in (or out of) our lives.

“He said he loves me but he only said it after I said it five times this morning! What does that mean?”

“He sent me the regular morning greeting text but all it said was ‘Hope you have a great day’”

“He wants me to meet his family! But he says only after the holidays – that’s ages away, I can’t bear the tension till then! What am I going so say, what if they don’t like me?”

“I can’t stand him anymore - we hardly speak to each other unless its about the kids”

“Is he a commitment phobe?”

“Maybe he doesn’t love me…..”

“What if things don’t work out and we break up?”

“How do I tell him I’ve met someone else?”

What is the obsession we have with finding “The One” the “soulmate” – he who makes the world stop and hearts skip a beat and blood rush to the brain! Why the constant search for the proverbial sign? “I need a sign – just a little something to calm the fear….”

The truth is he may be THE ONE. He may not. It may work. It may not. It may be his choice. It may be hers. It may be right. It may be wrong.

And what if it is wrong? We cry on the shoulder of those who are there to support us, we pick up the pieces, we fall apart again, we move on, we wallow. We go through the motions of existence moment by moment, numb at first; slowly healing our hearts until we find new distractions – hope again of perhaps THIS TIME it’s the one.

Then again….. what if this is the real thing??? What if we had to kiss a few toads before the prince revealed himself? Maybe there are no hidden meanings and the stars had it all wrong! Maybe the real signs are in the littlest of gestures – he gives you the red smarties `cos he knows u like them or telling you the cheesecake u made was the best he’s ever tasted! What if he’s just human and muddling through his own maze trying to find the answers?

What if the answers are right here, right now – the sign you seek, bare before your eyes ….. but you’re too distracted to see it!

What if we knew? What then? Do all fairytales end in the happily ever after? Or will we ask ourselves more What ifs?

“Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life’ not so much by what happens to you, as by the way your mind looks at what happens.”
Gibran Khalil Gibran

A Young Berber Girl

(Source: flickr.com)

Sky Artistry

(Source: freefoto.com)



Telling the tale of one of my holidays, I was asked by a friend if I’m a sunrise person or a sunset person. The question was unsurprising, seeing as I happened to mention that every morning of the holiday I started with a walk on the beach, as the Indian Ocean licked the shore and the morning fog lifted to reveal the remarkable sun rising out of the rumbling waters.

I guess I neglected to mention that the real reason I was up and about that early every morning was because I was desperately trying to escape the hibernating, growling grizzly I happened to be sharing my room with.

Truth be told, I’m not even a morning person, let alone a sunrise person. I’m the kind of person who crawls back under my goose-down duvet and snuggles in for extra winks after fajr (pre-dawn prayers) and I need to set the alarm an hour before I really need to get up and then slam the snooze button over and over again! And when I’ve exhausted all my snoozes, I might even reset the clock for just another five minutes more before eventually and reluctantly dragging myself out of bed to get ready for work! Even if my eyes open early, my bed is just too comforting to think about the outside world!

But standing there watching the darkness slip away, the stars fade, as the light gradually crept in, I realised why the break of dawn is so sacred. The chirping of the birds always start just as twilight seeps away. Flowers suddenly awaken from their deep sleep and the smells in the dewy air are of new life. A new day born each morning.

With the new discovery, I now know why the ascetics always urge you not to go back to sleep or sarcastically advise you to sleep on if you wish to miss out on the wonders of the Almighty. Praying is one thing but feeling the presence of the Creator is so much more rewarding. Lately, I find myself meandering through the alleyways at twilight – the stars more apparent than at midnight – the moon sighing as it prepares to slumber until recalled to night-watchman duty; soothing sounds from the minarets calling on the faithful and then in unison in thikr-Allah (remembrance of God). Gradually the white thread of dawn dips into the red and orange dyes and the dark waters look almost bloody as a crimson ball of fire slowly rises and with each passing minute, turning the blood to molten copper and then to liquid gold; ripples shimmering like diamonds on the surface. Is there anything more splendid and magnificent than HE who casts light on the darkness?

Blessed be He Who has placed the big stars in the heaven, and has placed therein a great lamp (sun), and a moon giving light. And He it is Who has put the night and the day in succession, for such who desires to remember or desires to show his gratitude.
[Surah Al-Furqan Ayaat 61-62]

And a Sign for them is the Night: We withdraw therefrom the Day, and behold they are plunged in darkness; And the sun runs his course for a period determined for him: that is the decree of (Him), the Exalted in Might, the All-Knowing. And the Moon,- We have measured for her mansions (to traverse) till she returns like the old (and withered) lower part of a date-stalk. It is not permitted to the Sun to catch up the Moon, nor can the Night outstrip the Day: Each (just) swims along in (its own) orbit (according to Law). [Surah Yasin Ayaat 37-40]

For me though, sunsets have a unique beauty – intriguing. Never two the same. Whether it’s lighting up the mountains, shadowing an eerie violet over the stony ridges, or the blazing light casting a scarlet spell over the sandy hills, or the minted coin dipping back into the lava-like waters. No artist have I known to paint upon a fresh canvas each day, with more colours than the palette can hold – in sharp contrast to the darkness that follows.

But the night, ah the night and the splendid stars and illuminating moon – this story we’ll leave for another day!

Look at the beautiful sun:
As it rises, it shows one golden eyebrow,
Plays miser with the other one,

But we know that soon it will spread out a radiant veil
Over all.

A marvellous mirror
That appears in the East
Only to hide again at dusk.

The sky is saddened
When the sun leaves
And puts on mourning robes.

I believe that falling stars
Are nothing more
Than sky’s gem-hard tears.

Ibn Abi L-Haytham
Andalusian poet

May you all have a blessed Eid-ul-Adha
Kul Aam Wa Antum Bi Khair

A Song for the Broken Hearted

(For Nuraan & Howling Lamb)

I’m certain that love has taken far more casualties than all the wars that have been waged on earth collectively. The tragedy is that love takes no hostages and hardly ever kills. And so the broken hearted masses, keep their suffering within and trudge on into everyday life putting on a brave face.

The strange part is that as bigoted as the world we live in is, heartbreak never discriminates. I have watched friends writhing in pain caused by unrequited love and heard recounts of people who have made the ultimate sacrifice and walked away from the only thing that had ever given their lives real meaning or true happiness. I want to wave a wand and miraculously fix it. The truth is that it will never be ok because we never actually recover. Our minds may move on but the heart always knows exactly where it belongs.

So today I salute the martyrs of the heart and I guess the real lesson to be learnt is that: pain also has its beauty.

Incongruous Love Letter

Dear Love,

Why do you confuse me so?

Teasing me with your rapturous eyes
Taunting me with your surreptitious lies
Embracing me with passion
Engulfing me in apprehension

Gentle wave kissing the shore
Calamitous tempest wreaking havoc galore
Flirtatious breeze rustling through trees
Violent whirlwind accosting the seas

Chanting sultry rhymes of seduction
Whispering ominous words of doom
Why love, do you bind me so
With promises of never letting go?

Berber Woman of Morocco

(Source: en.epochtimes.com/news_images/2007-10-14-argo...)