Z is for Zaroorat and Zahrah #AtoZChallenge

Zaroorat means need in Urdu.

I heard an elder give this as a blessing to someone who'd bent down to touch her feet, "Bhagwaan khush rakhe, na zaroorat se zyada aur na zaroorat se kam de."

Translation: May God Bless you. May He/She give you just enough, no more and no less than you need.

Can you imagine such a blessed life? Just enough to eat, to wear, to read, to watch, to drink, to share, to walk on, to fly in, to escape to, to hold on to,to hug, to let go, to forget, to remember, to laugh, to cry, to sigh, to think about...just enough...no more and no less.

"What should I get from the shops?" My father used to ask my mother on his way to work, to check if she needed anything for her kitchen or home. His shop was in the bazaar so he would pick fruit and vegetables and sundries on his way back.

"Sirf zaroorat ka samaan." (Only what we need ) Mummy would say.

Our parents never made long shopping lists. We always had enough to eat--almost always fresh. I can't recall a single time when any food was ever wasted. Left-overs didn't usually happen because Beji, my gradmother, was a stickler for eating only freshly prepared meals.

Whenever I come across a bowl of food that's been moved to the back of the fridge or a can of something that's gone past its best by date, my Indian conditioning churns. Buy only zaroorat ka samaan (only what you need) Arti. I have to remind myself of this simple tip. 

So as I come to Z and look back at a journey of plenty, of sharing, seeking, reading, smiling, nodding, even guffawing every now and then, I thank the A to Z team for this month's 'just enough.' For just as the typing muscles are starting to ache and the reading cells are coming up to saturation, Z has appeared on the horizon.

After every day, there's a night. After every challenge, there must be rest.

I know that despite my best intentions, I will write less, blog in-frequently and visit the people I've visited every day, only every now and then.

Rumi's words: "And don't think the garden loses its ecstasy in winter. It's quiet, but the roots down under are riotous." point to a sleeping that is full of preparation and renewal. 

It's time, then, to wave a fond farewell to all the people whose words and pictures visited my days and filled my nights, woke me up before sunset (jet-lagged week that went by) and somehow managed to push Netflix out from my April. That's an achievement fellow A to Zers:) And I thank you for it.

Until we meet again...

I pray for all our lives to be blessed: may all our zarooratein (needs)be met and when they are met, may grace guide us to see we've reached our plenty, may our hearts then sing with gratitude for our life of enough.

Leaving you with another Z word but this time it's from Arabic: Zahrah meaning flower or blossom or beauty.

 These beauties are from the garden that sits by the kitchen where I type out my posts.

Zinnia, Lantana, lemon grass, sunflowers, mogra, chameli (jasmine) fill my needs.

Na zaroot se zyadae

aur na hi kam

No more

No less

Just enough.

Spring has sprung in many places I've visited in this A to Z.

Doha is heating up for summer. 

Spring is short lived here, so I captured it in a post and whenever I feel the zaroorat,

I log on to enjoy the the colours this garden once wore

Here's a beautiful ghazal by Faiz, sung by Tanya Wells.

It's spring with subtitles:)

I know you'll love it.

Q is for Quotes on my fridge door in Qatar #AtoZChallenge

The quest for Q has brought me to the fridge today. No, don't worry, I'm being careful with what I eat so the fridge is stocked well with cucumbers, oranges, apples and coconut water. I have said this often and I will stress upon it again, the A to Z Challenge adds to my girth as much as it adds to my mirth. So I have to be careful.

Back to the fridge door then: It's shut. It's grey. It has a total of 6 fridge magnets on it, two of which have been brought by friends from Sri Lanka and  Falkland Islands. My friends know my aversion to made-in-China-and-available- in-every-tourist-spot-in-the-world stuff, fridge magnets included, so after the first two, there were no more! Phew!

Three of the fridge magnets were bought by yours truly, two from a lady who called herself 'the Jersey girl'. We visited her stall at a farmer's market near Chicago, almost five years ago.  She was selling wind chimes she'd made with shells and drift wood collected from the Jersey shore where she lives. Her son (who wasn't at the stall at the time) created these beautiful magnets with bottle caps and famous art/photographs. One of these holds a quote I put up a long time ago.

I can't even remember when I scribbled those words or where I got them from. But, it's a wonderful quote to read every time I'm facing a door. 

I noticed the 'post your safety data' today as I took this photo.

How apt. I thought. This is the kind of quote that fits perfectly under 'safety'  data.

Rumi lives with me in my kitchen: my karmabhoomi (the land where one works). But as he's bound within the pages of a book I cherish, I decided to scribble a quote of his and put it up on the fridge to avoid the temptation of reaching out to the book with fingers that have chopped onions or garlic recently or licked the last bit of marmalade from a jar. 

The dragonfly magnet holding Rumi up for me was bought from a shop in Doha called, The One. 

I like the fridge door to be bare so I can clean it often without much ceremony with stuff stuck on it. But every now and then, a recipe or a list of books recommended by an author catches my eye. So, before the magazine is sent to the re-cycling bin (a recent and welcome change here), I rip the page out and it hangs there till one of the following two things happen:

1) I give up on ever trying out the dish or another list of books that looks more exciting surfaces. 

Or

2) The dish is declared a success and the page is filed away in my cooking file/the book has been read.

FYI: "Colour your Diet" came through the door as promotional material.

*****

Do you like to put quotes where you can see them?

What's your favourite quote at the moment? 

Or do you have an all-time favourite one?

I do:)

It is by Maya Angelou:

"There's no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you."

This quote sits on my desk 

and hangs out inside books I'm reading:

scribbled on a piece of card that works as a book mark.

A is for Alum Chine. #AtoZChallenge

One day in August 2017, my husband and I found ourselves in Alum Chine. It happened quite by chance. We were driving back to London from Dorset. We hadn't booked anywhere to stay yet as the idea was to choose somewhere different, an unusual place, a place we hadn't heard of, a place that would make us stop, a place we'd want to stop to spend the night. Otherwise, we'd carry on driving.

When we stopped at a petrol station en-route to get some coffee, we liked the tall trees lining up by the road like tall sentinels of planet earth. The scenery had changed from city to country in a matter of fifteen minutes and the air when we stepped out into the car park was relaxed and beach-like.

We googled the area and found out that we were near Alum Chine. A few searches later, we had a room booked and within an hour of that coffee, we were exploring this beautiful nook of the southern English coast.

Wild flowers carpeted the area around the car park. The flowers kept me busy for a long time: zooming in to capture their little details and zooming out to breathe in their spectacular show. 

If you find yourself in Bournemouth, do stop by at Alum Chine. You'll be glad you did. And if you're wondering what the name Alum Chine means, here's an explanation from the Bournemouth tourism website:

"Chine is a steep sided dry river valley, Alum Chine is the largest of Bournemouth’s four Chines and got its name from the local alum mining industry in the 16th century."

Travel Tip: The place we stayed at is called Tiien and they serve amazing Thai food. 
Their website is www.tiien.co.uk
and the address is:
55 West Cliff Road
Westbourne
Dorset BH4 8BA

******

Have you ever come by a gem of a place by chance on your travels? 

And did you go back to visit it?

Be kind to yourself today:)

and

Be here tomorrow for B.

A to Z Challenge (2018) Theme Reveal #AtoZChallenge

The one thing I'm consistent with is my ability to knock on the mighty doors of this challenge unprepared. 

I was unprepared in 2016 when I attempted it for the first time, but I survived and thrived and found the ride so thrilling, I knew I'd be participating the following year.

Anyone else would've learnt and buckled down to write a few posts before ringing the door bell of the challenge of 2017. Anyone, but me. I managed to write and relish every day of the challenge of 2017 despite the unpreparedness, notwithstanding the extra pounds I put on, on account of sitting for long periods of time to write, post, read and comment.

And here I am, barely a week away from the 1st of April 2018, still unprepared and like the last two times, unsure of a theme. It's becoming a habit, right? Not a good one either, whispers my blogging conscience while my fat cells can be heard (faintly for now) smacking their lips in anticipation of yet another snack-post-snack-read-snack-comment kinda April. 

"Words are my wine." I'd said last year and they continue to intoxicate me. So come along,  sip a drop or gulp a glass full-- your wish--I'll be here with 26 fresh posts this April. 

What can you expect on artismoments during the A to Z Challenge? A medley of things I like to do and blog about, like:

Travel 

Poetry and short fiction 

Photographs

Gardening

and Quotes and words that make me smile or pause.

As you can see, it's not easy to squeeze all of the above in one theme, so I'm opting for the 'Other and Miscellaneous' category.

Budapest, Spring 2016

The Jersey Shore, Winter 2016

I hope to see you on April 1st when I step into this challenge with A.