Affan عفان

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محترم جناب عفان صاحب


My nephew Affan is masha'allah 1-year-old and I have yet to meet him. Isn't it sad! My sister, Arshi, is coming to India next month. Hoping to see my cute little nephew then. Till then I have to satisfy myself with his photos. Just showed it to my little baby, Aleena.

Society talk

Today I attended an iftaar party. We were invited by one of our neighbours. It was followed by dinner. In iftaar there were lots of fruits and papad and Bhopali speciality chana dal and ofcourse pakoris without which iftar is incomplete. Then our dinner was sent to us at our house as my husband had to leave for work.

Actually that neighbour uncle had invited us because his son and daughter-in-law had come from Dubai and he wanted us to meet them. So there were quiete a number of people there. Like his daughter and son-in-law and his daughter-in-law's parents and sister.

Here I want to make a confession, that however good the people are I just don't feel comfortable when there are many people around and most of them are not known to me. I don't know what has happend to me I was not like this earlier. Infact, I was very social and made friends very easily.

I don't know what has made me such that I have almost begun to hate social gatherings. I get uncomfortable in such situations these days. Somehow I am at loss of words and unable to make the society talk (gup shup) and carry on the conversation. Or may be it is just a phase, I wonder!

Ramzan Delicacies & nostalgia

Ramzan (Ramadan in Arabic) is a month of fasting and prayer for Muslims all over the world. During this holy month, Muslims try to spend their maximum time in prayer while they are fasting. Apart from the aspect of prayer and fasting this month is also known for its delicacies. Different places have their own specialities for this month.

In our house we used to make pakoris (also phulki/pyaazu in Urdu) of different kind each day, like onion pakoris, tomato bhajiyas and yes cabbage, potato ones also (aalu bonda) and brinjal bhajiya (baigani) to be served with tamrind sweet and sour chutney and also samosa which was different from what we get outside, here we used to stuff inside with minced meat(Qeema), ofcourse along with these things there were lots of fruits and specially that fruit chat called as kachaloo.

Actually the process of making these samosas is very easy so even when we were very small from then we used to make it, that is myself, my sister and also my brother used to join us in this whole activity. We used to do it under the able guidance of my grandma. May be that was a very small thing to do but at that age we used to be very excited about it.

Today, as I was making these samosas in my house I felt so nostalgic thinking about my childhood days when these very small things give immense pleasure to us and we enjoy doing it. Infact, we used to look forward for the month of Ramzaan when we will get to make and eat these things.

The Rat Menace

For past few days I was very much disturbed by a rat. I just don't like any animals for that matter whether it is dog, cat, rat or any other pet animals. I just cant stand any. It's not that I am scared of animals, but I get a very strange feeling just at their sight, somethimg happens to me from inside.

Three to four days back a rat managed to enter my kitchen. It was a big fat RAT. Oh my God! The sight of it took my breath away. I didn't feel like entering the kitchen. I didn't know how to cook. Actually the rat was living in the cupboard where my crockery is kept. It was a real torture for me.

Our baby, Aleena, is often on the floor because now she has started rolling to all corners of bed, once even fallen down the sofa. Because of her, rat's presence made me nervous.

I never expected this to happen as we are staying on second floor which is considered safe in all respect. These rats are expected to be found on ground floors where they make hole and make it their hiding place. But on the second floor the thought of it is disgusting.

Worst part is I don't know where it hides the whole day so I can't carry out any anti-rat operation but, at night it is very active. It becomes very dificult for me to cook dinner. We tried all methods to catch it like putting the rat killer 'cake' obtained from medical store which it was supposed to eat and die outside. However, it didn't eat the cake. Also we bought a rat trap. But nothing worked.

The main problem was that it would suddenly appear on the floor. Once it nearly leapt at me. Yesterday, late after midnight my husband literally chased that rat and somehow managed to drive it away. Its only then I had a sigh of relief and I can go to kitchen without fear of that great RAT, my enemy.

Phenomenon Involved In Rainbow Formation

My cousin Farrukh who stays in Meerut(U.P) and is studying in 12th standard asked me



what is the phenomenon due to which rainbow is formed?
a. Dispersion
b. Interference
c. Diffraction


The answer is Dispersion.

Actually rainbow is formed when it is raining at the same time it is also sunny.So, what happens is the sun's rays pass through the drops of water,and each drop of water acts like a prism. As the rays are passing from air(rarer medium) to water(denser medium) the rays of light bend due to refraction and they split into their constiuent colours i.e.;VIBGYOR.This splitting of white light ino its constituent colours is called as Dispersion. Hence we are able to see rainbow.

Farrukh was confused between diffraction and dispersion, he said "here also bending of light takes place so why can't it be diffraction?" So, let me make it clear in the case of diffraction the bending of light rays takes place around the corners of small apertures,but the medium remains the same. Where as in the case of dispersion the bending of light rays is due to change in the medium that is refraction.

Then there are n number of such droplets present and the phenomenon of dipspersion occurs in each droplet, so the rays coming out of these individual droplets interfere with each other to give the interference pattern of maxima and minima. As can be seen in the picture there are two rainbow patterns in the sky, one is sharp and the other is weak. The sharp one represents the central maxima and the weaker pattern represents the secondary maxima. In most of the cases the secondary maxima are very weak so it cannot be seen at all.

But the basic phenomenon involved in the formation of rainbow is dispersion and interference is incidental

No socialising this Monday

Its almost 1-1/2 years that I have come to Bhopal. I came here for the first time after my marriage in June last year. Bhopal was a new city for me, also none of my relatives or friends stay here so the only known person was my husband.

Basically I am an unsocial person & don't make friends very easily. So I had my own apprehensions about the thought of coming to an entirely new place with a new person.

But when we reached Bhopal early in the morning two of my husband's colleagues cum friends Sravani and Mujeeb came to recieve us at the station. They really gave me a very warm welcome here.

Then they used to come to our house almost every Monday for dinner as that day is my husband's weekly off. In this way Sravani became a good friend of mine. I liked her because she is very lively person and does not like gossiping which I simply hate.

So I used to look forward to Monday because that will be the only day when I get to socialise also I could try out some new recipes as Sravani is very fond of food and the best part about her is that she relishes any thing that is cooked which boosts my confidence.

This Monday that is yestarday she did not come to our place as she is not in Town. She is off to Nagpur for Durga Puja, an important festival for Bengalis. I really missed her. She is coming back on Wednesday. Let's see if we can have a dinner this week. I am sure she will also be excited for Ramzan delicacies.