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everythingismadeofchaos · 30 days

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This is my list of (IMHO) genuinely heroic people. I keep this list so that when I'm feeling uninspired I can pick a name at random, look them up, and be inspired. My memory kinda sucks so I've usually forgotten about them in the interim so it's like hearing some inspiring story for the first time. Please feel free to use this list for that purpose or for whatever purpose helps you. This is a private thing I've been absent-mindedly curating for years, so it's a little discombobulated; maybe I should put it in alphabetical order, for example. Since it works for what I use it for, though, I've never had the need for that, although there may be some duplicates specifically because of that.

If you have any additions, I'd love to hear them.

If you know of a reason somebody should not be on here, I'd love to hear that too. There are some controversial choices here, some people I've hemmed and hawed about, but in the end they're still on the list.

In no particular order:

Aaron Bushnell

Sophie Scholl

Irena Sendler

Eugeniusz Łazowski

Mary Schweitzer. I know who she is but I'm including her anyway. Takes guts to do what she did

Temar Boggs

Juan Pujol García

Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson

Temar Boggs

Henrietta Swan Leavitt

Aitzaz Hassan Bangash Shaheed. Might already be on here; I need to alphabetize this list

Sal Khan. Yeah, I'm including him

Irena Sendler

Neerja Bhanot

Iqbal Masih

Tank man

Stephen Ruth. The guy with the cameras. He's no tank man, but why not, he's on the list

Narendra Dabholkar

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Sophie Scholl

Charles Hazlitt Upham

Wang Weilin

John Rabe (? ... Kind of questionable for obvious reasons. He saved a couple hundred thousand Chinese people though. I don't know. He was what he was.)

Baron Jean Michel P.M.G. de Selys Longchamps, DFC

Aitzaz Hasan Bangash

Daniel Hale

Reality Winner … I guess

Aki Ra

Norman Borlaug

Neil Armstrong

Stanislav Petrov

Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov

William Kamkwamba

Donald A Henderson

Freddie Oversteegen

Daryl Davis and his collection of robes

Jacinto Convit

Sir Nicholas Winton

August Landmesser

Jonas Salk

Carl Lutz

Giorgio Perlasca

Derrick Nelson, principal of Westfield High School in New Jersey

Giles Corey

Chiune Sugihara

Sophie Scholl

Ronald McNair? Why not

Corollary:

I'm not sure how to phrase "the opposite of this list," so I'm just going to call it the opposite of this list. Genuinely villainous people? Too easy, and honestly not what I'm going for. Anyway, I'm going to leave out the obvious like Hitler, Trump and Gaddafi because they're, well, obvious. Actually I'm not really sure what the goal of this list is so I'm just kind of winging it. People not to emulate?

Marvin Heemeyer

#heroic people #heroes #people that make me think good thoughts #inspiring #inspirational #positivity #upbeat #feel good #This makes me a little happy again

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asrisgratitudejournal · 2 years

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Sendirian

Kemarin hari Sabtu telponan sama Abi yang lagi stase luar di Surabaya (jujur bingung banget kenapa ya ku belum pernah ke Surabaya hampir 29 tahun hidup? Pernah sih ngajar seminggu di Malang, tapi stay di Surabaya dan lihat Surabaya kek apa tu seumur-umur belum pernah, heran). Terus dia cerita temannya ada yang nangis-nangis harus pergi ke Jogja sendirian – entah for what reason, sampai akhirnya disamperin oleh teman-teman se-geng-nya yang lain. Pas lagi bahas ini jujur ku jadi mikir banget: “that’s weird. Oppositely, I will be REALLY glad to leave all of my previous life (friends and family) and be very excited to venture out in a new place, meeting new people”. Abi juga sepakat.

There must be reason(s) why both of us felt that way. Yang paling obvious tentu saja: ketidakpuasan hidup di tempat sekarang/tempat lama yang akan kita tinggalkan. Entah karena ku merasa di rumah sangat terlimitasi mau ngapa-ngapain karena technically it’s not my place, but my parents’. Mungkin juga a big part of it ya merasa terbatasi aja freedom untuk berekspresi dengan nilai-nilai ketimuran (it’s not like I do clubbing everyday here atau gimana juga, but I really value individuality if that makes sense(?), the fact that orang-orang di sini se-masabodo itu sama kita mau ngapain pake baju apa pokoknya asalkan nggak ganggu mereka mah ya sah-sah aja, meanwhile di Indo everyone IS ALWAYS very nosy they have to get into your life intruding your privacy – if there is even any). Intinya, I’m personally always excited when I have to go away, to leave the country. Ada rasa takut sih, karena pasti akan banyak banget unfamiliarity dan unknowns yang akan di-encounter but the excitement beats the fear part by almost 2 to 1 I guess.

Sebelum pergi ke Oxford juga pernah ketemu sama Om Tante agak jauh gitu kan. Terus ditanya: “emangnya nggak takut nanti di sana tinggal sendirian nggak ada keluarga nggak ada yang dikenal?”. Surprisingly, ku bahkan baru menyadari dan merasa itu adalah potential problem pas ditanyain (!?) Sebelumnya I don’t really think that’s a problem, lebih kayak “oh yey! Akan dapat kesempatan ketemu orang baru dan melihat hal-hal baru!”. I perceived it more as an opportunity rather than a challenge(?).

Tentu aja gimana ku bisa sampai di kesimpulan bahwa: “leaving home is an exciting journey rather than a dreadful one” nggak datang without cost. Sebetulnya ya dari sini jadi kepikiran juga: do I not value friends and family as much sehingga ku bisa meninggalkan mereka gitu aja(?). I then started to question what family and friends means to me, how I cherish them in my life. Jawabannya akhirnya ku sepakat dengan diriku sendiri: you don’t have to be physically near to people to being close to them. Ku telponan hampir 2 hari sekali dengan Mita, seminggu sekali sama Mama, ku tahu apa yang terjadi recently di rumah: tukang buah meninggal (Innalillahi), si Tante Wiwin belakang rumah ngebawa Karamo ke dokter, mama 17-an ikut gerak jalan RT. Intinya walaupun jauh ya I tried to communicate with them as much as I can. Nggak cuma sama Mama Papa Mita tapi juga sama Abi, Iqbal, Vannia, sampah, teman-temanku yang geographically and physically jauh dariku. Yaudah nyampah aja ke orang-orang ini constantly, Alhamdulillahnya mereka masih ngeladenin aja wkwk thanks guys. Kayanya hal ini juga yang bikin ku pede-pede aja pergi jauh, dan ga ngerasa kesepian (then again terima kasih teknologi – tapi tanpa teknologi pun ku cukup pede ku tetap akan bisa surat-suratan rutin sama keluarga dan teman kalau misalkan kita lagi di settingan early 90’an gitu misalnya).

Kemudian kepikiran lagi penyebab ku senang-senang aja pergi ke luar atau ke tempat baru tentu saja: “confidence”. Aku sendiri udah yang disuruh mandiri pergi jauh dari Mama Papa sejak kelas 4 SD, dulu udah disuruh ikut lomba dokter kecil, tempat trainingnya di belakang RS Premier Jatinegara situ buat mewakili DKI Jakarta di tingkat nasional tahun 2004. Lupa awalnya gimana, tapi intinya itu training mayan intensif sampai ku ingat banget ku udah bisa ngitung tensi orang pas ku kelas 4 SD (!!) (bukan digital, tapi yang pake stetoskop didengerin sampe denyut pertama kedengeran). Terus ke Bali berdua cuma sama guru sekolah, di situ umur 9 tahun kayanya pertama kali punya teman dari Aceh, Jawa Tengah, dsb. karena sekamar di hotel. Dari event ini pula yang membuat ku yakin seyakin-yakinnya ku gamau jadi dokter karena capek banget belajarnya nggak kuat.

Terus yaudah dari situ kayanya jadi merasa: “oh ternyata seru ya jauh dari rumah ketemu orang-orang baru”, dilanjut pas SMA itu sih ikut OSN-OSN-an. Pelatnas dan segala keseruannya. Pas S1 ga kemana-mana, mostly terkekang oleh GEA, tapi banyak kuliah lapangan. Tugas akhir ke Timor wow. Terus yaudah S2 ke Perancis, sekarang terdampar di Oxford. Tentu saja dari situ lama-lama confidentnya kebangun. Kayak… ya pasti uncomfortable di awal, tapi lama-lama seru kok. The world is very big and there are so MANY different things to see, people to meet, languages to speak, then why do people choose to stay and thrive in one place??? Lagi-lagi ini might sound insensitive to people with special circumstances: karena pasti ada juga dari kita yang mungkin ada keluarga sakit jadi gabisa ditinggal, etc. Props to them. Beneran keren banget.

Buat kasus Abi juga kelihatan confidentnya ya dari dia udah merantau ke Nangor pas S1, kemudian PTT ke Anambas, sampai sekarang struggling di RSCM sana yang mana sekarang sepertinya lagi senang dia karena di Surabaya bisa jauh dari lingkungan yang relatif toxic.

Tapi iya, sangat senang dan supportif terhadap teman-temanku yang mau keluar dari zona nyamannya dan excitingly taking challenges in new places: belakangan ini lagi senang banget sama Tharin yang ke NL, dan tentu saja mendengar kabar Pipit ke Boston(!), terus Iqbal Lail yang akhirnya mau apply LPDP buat ke UK. Geng sampah tapi mah dari dulu juga udah pada berprestasi dan go international sih, sampe dari dulu mau ke Jepang dari jaman Eja masih di sana juga ga kesampaian. Di Sokor sekarang ada Yasmine (ku sangat ingin berkunjung!!!). Masih paling iri sama Arum Wahyuningrum yang sekarang lagi PhD di UAE.

Intinya ini teh mau ngomong apasi: iya, pokoknya walaupun pas berangkat emang sendirian, tapi bukan berarti harus kesepian pas udah sampai. Ketemu orang baru yang sama-sama sendirian juga gak kalah serunya. Semoga dari kita selalu dimudahkan apapun jalan yang akan diambil ke depan, baik itu untuk tetap tinggal dan bertahan (karena alasan apapun), ataupun memutuskan buat pergi sendirian. Hwaiting!

30.18/12:55, 22/08/2022

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badedramay · 11 months

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Ah ok gotcha. Reason I feel her PR is dropping the ball is that their only counter to all the "Kim is annoying/bad representation" reviews was highlighting (so far lukewarm) chemistry with BA. I think I only saw you mention the parts where Kim was endearing (her camaraderie w/ iqbal&suraiya, her mischief with razia) or mature (her talk w/ dawood's ex fiancee). Anyway. Would love to see her in a Kashif Nisar drama. If Haya from TB can get one, why can't she? -_-

maybe it's cuz i have affection for Maya offscreen that I end up empathizing more with her characters. because she, by default, has more of my attention when she's on screen I notice her actions more. i remember during Mann Mayal and whatever little i watched of it, I wrote essays on Mannu and talked about her character's masochism and how the way she was treated by her own family led her to make miserable choices for herself. and i did that in a time when everyone was only talking about "yeh toh roti rehti hai" so I guess yeah that's the tragedy with Maya that even when she's acting out complex roles, the audience either only focuses on her tears or just waits for her to start crying so they can go back to making crying jokes for her. the deeper psychology of her character is deemed unworthy of having any discussions. which is sad. and the PR doesn't help either. mainstream mein she's known more for her pairings or her modelling. i guess it's also cuz beyond that she hasn't really "curated" a personality for herself?? like Hania Amir can do shitty roles onscreen but her offscreen energy protects her from the audiences' ire. Maya had a whole "dumb blond" energy for a while when she was still in the process of grooming her personality and the impression just stuck with people.

#maya ali

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thevividgreenmoss · 4 years

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Muhammad Iqbal, from Baal-e-Jibreel (Gabriel’s Wing)

#tfw your mom's like you should read the works of ~iqbal~ and this is #one of the first things you happen upon lmao #apparently he wasn't like convinced on communism fully tho but he really liked lenin which not bad I guess

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moonlight--falls · 5 years

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IQBAL: *rings doorbell*

???: "Hello?"

IQBAL: "Hello, is Leighton home?"

???: "And you are?"

IQBAL: "Oh, uh, I'm Iqbal; I live just across the street. We met the other day."

YUMI: "Ah, Iqbal! I'm Leighton’s mother, Yumi.” *shakes hand* “He told me you stopped by. Why don’t you come in?”

IQBAL: “I-I shouldn’t. I wouldn’t want to intrude!”

YUMI: “Nonsense! Come in, come in.”

#ts3 #sims 3 #ts3 legacy #sims 3 legacy #ts3 random legacy #click for hq #Sunset Valley #SV Cycle 1 #Alvi Household #Sekemoto Household #Iqbal Alvi #Leighton Sekemoto #Yumi Sekemoto #that's not the outfit I gave her but oh well #it works too I guess

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not-lobotomized · 2 years

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my review of the first 5 mughal emperors:

babur: failed epically in central asia a bunch of times so he was like well might as well go for india. somehow succeeded. established an empire so cool for him i guess

humayun: one of the best come backs in history. like his father he failed the first time to take control of an empire, but unlike his father, came back from a 15 year exile and grew it substantially. his return overshadowed the courts central asian origin with persian influence.

akbar: called akbar the great bc he was the first mughal ruler to actually be accepted by the natives of the subcontinent, bc he not only cared about all his subjects regardless of religion, but helped indo-persian culture flourish

jahangir: yeah he was a nice and benevolent ruler but honestly he just continued practicing the policies his father developed and idk why he’s called world-seizer bc he didnt expand the empire that much and was more focused on the arts and stuff which is kinda lame

shah jahan: also a big lover of arts like his dad but was also expanded the empires territories quite a bit. a softie and a simp but overall a pretty good emperor.

aurganzeb: the greatest emperor of the mughal empire. under him india became the worlds largest economy and he rejected the hedonism that plagued the mughal court for centuries. alama iqbal descrbied him as the abraham of india and you know what, im gonna have to agree. his biggest failure? only creating failsons that would succeed him.

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gaiahypothesims · 4 years

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Last 4! (5 I guess... I forgot about Arlo)

Pauline Wan I LOVE her!!!

Xander Clavell (Another ginger...)

Hank Goddard (And another redhead! No wonder my old legacies used to be all red-heads)

Iqbal Alvi (I plucked his unibrow! But feel free to let it grow back!)

Arlo Bunch.. Well we all know about poor Arlo.

Will toss these last Sunset makeovers soon.

#the sims 3 #sims 3 makeover #sims makeover #sims 3 #ts3 #simblr #not story

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the-cs-ravenclaw · 4 years

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STUDYBLR INTRO!

Hi everyone! I’m Nuzhat. I am a brand new studyblr so, I thought I’d introduce myself.

About Me:

I’m a year less than two decades old.(birthday’s coming up in December)

Computer Science enthusiast, esp among females.(probably guessed it from the blog name)

The pottermore test says I’m a Ravenclaw (again, obvious from the name), although I doubt it.

Sagittarius

Academics:

Was supposed to give my A levels this May, will be taking predicted grades instead.(all thanks to this pandemic)

Currently preparing for uni admission tests.

Hopefully study Computer engineering in the future.

My mother tongue is Bengali. I can also speak fluent English and Hindi. Currently learning Korean.

Interests:

Anime! I also like Manga, although I don’t read it often. I like Naruto, Fairy Tail, Dragon Ball, Boruto. Currently watching Attack on Titans. Recommendations will be appreciated. If you have the same interests I’d love to fangirl with you!

I love animated movies, esp from Dreamworks (love their animation). My all time favourite animated film(s) is probably the entire ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ Trilogy. I also like all MCU movies and any mystery movie full of plot twists.

I love reading!! My favourite genres include Mystery and Thriller, I also like Fairy Tale Retelling. My current favourite series is The Lunar Chronicles. I love YA fiction too. Any of Rick Riordan’s and Jafar Iqbal’s books will pique my interest.Recommendations would be much appreciated.

Journaling. I love doodling and writing. Mandalas are my favourite.

I can play a little bit of piano.(not very good at it)

Skincare. I recently got into skincare because the horrible state of my skin. I have an oily, pimple-prone skin. Any recommendation for skincare routine, product, diet or tip would be much appreciated.

MEMES! Who doesn’t like memes??

Why a studyblr?

The a e s t h e t i c s is what got me into studyblrs.

I also love how supportive and inclusive the community is.

I’m not very disciplined and hard-working. Seeing everyone work hard and achieving something feels nice and inspires me to work harder.

If anyone gets inspired by me, I’d feel a bit accomplished.

Goals:

Be more disciplined

Work consistently

Try to post original content

Get my s**t stuff together

My socials if you’re interested:

goodreads: the-cs-ravenclaw

instagram: the_cs_ravenclaw

Blogs which inspired me:

I’m looking forward to follow more active studyblrs who post original content, if you’re an active studyblr, reblog this post, I’ll give you a follow. Looking forward to making more friends, feel free to send an ask.

#studyblr #studyblr introduction #studyblr intro post #new studyblr #the-cs-ravenclaw #tech study #bangladeshi #studygram #computer science #student #ravenclaw #sagittarius #bengali #a levels #original

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asrisgratitudejournal · 2 years

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Hope

Kemarin habis ngetweet “kenapasiYaAllah” terus Iqbal nanya kayanya belum bahas ini di tumblr. Long story short, karena ini bakal technical banget kalau dijelasin disini, intinya masalah logistik lab aja sih. Gatau udah pernah cerita atau belum tapi buat chapter 2 thesis akan ngelakuin eksperimen buat ngesimulasiin thermal maturation di lab jadi butuh vacuum sealed-tube di oven selama 24h, 36h, 5 day, 1 week, 4 week. Terus buat ngerjain ini intinya logistiknya banyak lah: dari segala blowtorch, freezer, oven, glass-cutter. Pokoknya mayan tedious. Jadi dari situ tentu saja ku harus banyak berkoordinasi dengan manusia. Dan bagian ini yang agak capek. Tapi so far so good sih. Ku kemarin udah order diamond scorer di amazon, dan kitchen torch juga sama butane gasnya.

Mostly sebetulnya yang bikin stressful adalah the fact that IT IS VERY DIFFICULT TO GET A PROPANE CYLINDER IN OXFORD??? W sampe bilang ke Joost “well I thought being in a 1st world country life is easier but I guess I would be able to get a propane cylinder easier and faster back home in Indonesia???” And the fact that right now I am in a very prestigious uni that is Oxford university?!! HOW?! Anyways… gaada gunanya juga marah-marah tidak memperbaiki keadaan. Sepertinya ini semua terjadi akibat Brexit. Kemarin Steve nawarin sih dia ada burner, kalau mau nyoba tes dulu dia mau bantuin tapi tbh udah ga napsu bgt ngerjain ni eksperimen… HAAAAAH.

Tapi mayan senang sih sepagian ini sudah mayan produktif: bangun jam 8, literally udah ngopi 2 gelas padahal baru 11.50am lol. Terus udah nyelesain semua daily goals Duolingo juga (dan ku nambah teman di duolingo! Yaitu Kevin lol ternyata dia lagi belajar bahasa Korea juga, mayan random). Udah bayar rent rumah, internet, dan masukin reksadana PU lagi juga ke Bibit. Kemarin narik mayan banyak gara-gara harus beli tiket pesawat dan hotel buat ke Singapore dan KL. Alhamdulillah sebulan kemudian berhasil balikin lagi walaupun ga sebanyak yang dicairin sih lol (ada margin 7juta, tapi semoga segera terkumpul lagi 7juta – sebetulnya masih ada honor ngajar olim yang belum cair yang kutweet waktu itu, tapi ga tega kalau pake uang ibugurunya buat ngover yakali). Oh! Sama udah ngelunasin proof juga ke Vannia. Bendanya udah ada di Sawangan tapi biar aja deh di rumah dia dulu, kalau dikirim ke rumah sekarang pasti mama w kepo.

Oh bangun tidur tadi pagi baca chat kasian oats-nya Mita (dan headset-nya juga) digigitin tikus di kantor ☹ mayan seram. Bayangin u kerja di SCBD terus di kantor u (yang w yakin di lantai yang tinggi?) ada tikus berkeliaran dengan bebas…

Dari kemarin mau nyelesein nonton hobi perform di Lolla belum selesai karena panjang banget 1jam?? Semalam tapi berhasil nonton STAY birthday live sih dan live comebacknya skz backdoor yg mereka nelpon Bambam dan Wonpil. Semalam bisa tidur lebih awal, nggak sampai stg3 pagi lagi… kayanya jam 1 sudah tidur(?). Awalnya mau nonton Snowpiercer tapi kayanya otak lagi gasampe buat nonton yang serius-serius.

Kemarin juga si Naomi tiba-tiba nanya: what makes you stand out that you got accepted into PhD program at Oxford? Si Naomi ini kan anak UNIQ+ (w udah pernah cerita belum ya), iya intinya dia anak undergrad 3rd year ngambil Open University semacam Univ Terbuka gitu kali ya kalau di Indo, jadi semua kelas dia online, terus tapi dapat kesempatan 6week research-tasting gitu dan dibayar. Mostly emang program ini buat under-represented group gitu lah. Nah jadi dia kepengen banget buat lanjut PhD di sini kan. Terus yaudah w jawab aja basically keterima PhD cuma butuh 2:

Ada yang mau bayarin (aka funding/scholarship)

Si lab prof u ada tempat buat u/ada yang dikerjain

Udah.

Betul-betul se-simpel itu. In theory.

Tentu saja in practice nda semudah itu.

Jadi keinget chat Pipit tentang papernya yang rejected. Dan reels HanJisung si anak jatoh terus vs selalu berhasil. Sepertinya ku (dalam hal apply PhD, dan basically I think mostly in everything at life in my previous 28years – kecuali seleksi AFS dan VT SLB) dan Pipit (dalam submit paper) adalah si anak yang dari awal gapernah jatuh. We viewed it as us being competent, while in fact, it is mostly LUCK. Or… not fully luck juga sih. Of course, in one way we deserved it (I don’t want to express my impostor-ness here), but NORMALLY, if we are talking about probability atau normal distribution, ternyata ya ku waktu itu ada di outliers kanan. Allah lagi baik aja (atau lagi ngasih cobaan?). Terus akhirnya pas sekalinya dapet rejection, failed, jadi SAKIT BGT. Dan bingung. Hilang confidencenya langsung. Gabisa brush it off. Emotionally hurt.

Jadi doanya sekarang diganti. Bukan supaya successfully excel at everything I’m doing rn. Tapi dikasih jalan terbaik, yang bikin bisa belajar? Dan supaya mentally kuat going through all of this. Lupa quotenya apa dan gimana tapi awalnya milih judul post ini “HOPE” tuh gara-gara abis baca/nonton(?) Westworld kemarin(?)… iya nggak ya… atau apa ya dan di mana… atau habis ngobrol sama orang…? tapi inget banget intinya penting buat punya hope. That’s what makes us alive ig? Paling bahaya kalau udah ngerasa desperate dan mikir kalo udah gabisa ke mana-mana lagi. Di satu sisi jujur ini agak kontradiktif dengan tweet terakhir w terkait vision di essay/personal statement yang w bilang “scrap general big problem you wish to solve yg skalanya gede banget sampe skala negara, fokus di personal impact”. Ah jadi inget mau bahas ini juga… karena kemarin habis proofread essay buat disubmit di LPDP juga. Duh tapi jadi panjang. Yaudah intinya tapi gitu. Bagus punya hope. Penting buat punya dream. Dream as big as we can. Karena dari situ kita bisa punya motivasi/semangat buat menjalani hidup. LET’S GO! Mari semangat menjalani hidup! (This is def me trying to support myself mostly)

Caffe Nero Blackwells 12:16pm 04/08/2022

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sitaarein · 3 years

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bestie on your carrd what does the arabic say 👁 (setarood see aagee? jahad avar behi hee" is my best guess but i have no idea on the vowels and i have NO idea on what it means 😭)

JHDSGFHDF ITS URDU

Its a poem by Allama Iqbal and to provide a..... somewhat accurate translation? The lines are:

There are yet more worlds beyond the Stars There are more examinations that love has yet to surpass This environment is not bereft of life There are thousand caravans that are yet to pass

#this ain't a very good translation #but honestly I just.... love the feels of the poem sdfkjdfgskd #nova

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questof-truth · 3 years

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I can't suggest any song to you, but I'd want you to listen Iqbal's Poetry " Aik Arzoo / A longing" recited by Zia Mohyeddin Sahib. I guess everything recited by Zia sahib becomes so enchanting.

Okay. Will listen to this rendition of Zia Sahab.

Thank you :)

youtube

#ask

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nappe-plays-the-sims · 4 years

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Sameera: Is Darren doing all right?

Valentine: It seems so. I’ve had worse dinners.

Sameera: It’s nice that you try, though. To uphold a relationship with him, I mean.

Valentine: Family is strange, Sameera. I might be his father by blood, but Davis raised him as his own.

Sameera: I guess Iqbal is still my father too... Even if he and mom kicked me out of the house.

Valentine: Have you heard from them since?

Sameera: No, not a word.

#valentine hart #sameera ansari #hart family #widespot #sims 2

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holidayjoecoffee · 3 years

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Employee of the Month (2006)

Dane Cook stars as Zack, a slacker who works at a big-box store like Costco, and Dax Shepard is his rival, the ultra-anal suckup golden boy Vince. Jessica Simpson is the love interest.

It's a slight movie, but it's well-made and stars a lot of quality actors and comedians, like Andy Dick as the visually impaired in-store eye centre guy, and Harland Williams. I don't know what his job is in the store. General employee, I guess.

Jessica Simpson is stunning and beautiful, that's for sure, and she plays her role absolutely fine. No one is going to confuse her with Jodie Foster as far as actresses go, but I don't think Jodie Foster goes for these type of roles. So everybody can work!

Dane Cook is likable, in fact I wish I worked with more guys like Zack when I was working retail. I may have had a man-crush on him like Jorge has for Vince. lol

I also recognized the guy who plays Iqbal, but I had to look up his name- Brian George. He was that poor Pakistani restaurateur who Jerry tries to help (Babu Bat? something like that).

Fun movie for a rainy evening like tonight.

#employee of the month #movie review

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kabhi-haath-pakad-k-tu-mera · 3 years

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If the Stars Align in Our Favour

Ch. 5 — The Result

“The path of life is twisted,

Fate, wickedly entwined,

Take hold of your intent,

The way ahead is clear.”

**********

The one day that Iqbal is home and rested long enough for her to broach the topic is right before they leave. It is, coincidentally, also a rare occasion wherein he is in bed before her. Not sleeping, no—because sleep is hard to come by in such times for everyone—but resting all the same.

Sehmat steals covert glances at him through the mirror she is sitting before, brushing and tying up her hair with trembling fingers, though whether they are trembling due to the secret she is about to reveal or something else is anyone's guess.

She sets her comb down but does not get up, looking at the tired, worried, and wary woman in the mirror for a long minute. She lets out a soft sigh before getting up and making her way to the bed, pulling back the covers and settling under them as softly as possible so as to not disturb Iqbal, but once she is under the covers he shifts over and turns off the night-lamp beside their bed. She watches as he resumes his previous position, lying on the bed but not closing his eyes. He stares at the ceiling, deep in thought. She wishes she could read his mind. Everything would be so much easier if she could read his mind. She sighs again, turning her own eyes towards the ceiling, listening to the sound of silence—only the fan rotating on its axis and the voice of the nightlife. The cantonment is quieter than usual. Somewhere in it all is the quiet sound of Iqbal breathing—a reassuring sound, though she doesn't know if she would be able to hear it again after tonight. The thought builds a painful lump in her throat.

Iqbal breaks the unnerving silence softly. “Sehmat?”

She turns to see him looking at her, concern and a question in his voice.

“Yes?” she asks in an equally soft voice, not missing the involuntary tremor in it.

“Are you alright? You seem distressed.”

“Oh,” Sehmat breathes out, “yes I’m—” Words die in her throat.

Yes I’m fine. It’s nothing.

She could say this. She should say this. Except she’d be lying. And Iqbal would see through it.

“I …” she tries again, still wondering what to say. She pauses, turning towards the ceiling again. She can feel Iqbal’s eyes on her. He puts a comforting hand on her own, and she decides to go with the truth.

She takes in a deep breath and asks, voice carefully devoid of anything but curiosity, “What do you think of– of children?”

She feels his hand tighten on hers, feels him get up from his reclining position to look at her, and feels the careful deliberation in his voice as he answers, “They’re … alright, I suppose?” He pauses, and Sehmat sighs. “But …” he continues, voice even more careful than before, as if he were treading on eggshells, “... I had always hoped to have a family … and now that I—we are married …” he trails off, looking at Sehmat with an unreadable expression. She is still looking at the ceiling, watching the light from outside dancing on it. She swallows, picking at a stray strand of thread at the edge of her blanket.

“Sehmat?” Iqbal says again, and the urgency in his voice compels her to finally look at him, worry, confusion, and what she thinks is hope, on his face.

“I have to tell you something,” she whispers, and Iqbal squeezes her hand softly. She entwines her fingers with his. “I’m pregnant.”

Her heart is pounding as she whispers the last part of the word, eyes on Iqbal’s face trying to discern his reaction. It is not on either ends of the spectrum. There is a glimmer of happiness, yes, and his lips turn up in an awed smile, but more than that there is concern, and his eyes are searching hers.

When a few moments of silence have passed and Iqbal’s initial shock has worn off, he asks, a hint of hesitation on his voice, “This is a good news … isn't it?”

“Yes,” Sehmat says, a little surprised, “yes, of course.”

“Then why do you sound so worried?” he asks tenderly, drawing closer and brushing her cheek with his hand, “why do you look so scared?”

Sehmat looks at him, more surprised than before, lips parted to speak but at a loss of words. He has caught her off guard. And in that moment she cannot help but say all that has been bothering her ever since they announced the war.

“I am happy,” she says in a shaky voice, still looking at him, “but this is not the best time to have a child, is it?” She shuts her eyes, turning away. “You’re going off to fight. In a war.”

Beside her she hears Iqbal sigh.

“Who knows if– if you’ll even be–” she stops, unable to go on. She opens her eyes, leaning against the headboard, and looks at her hands instead of at him.

“Sehmat,” Iqbal sighs softly, drawing her against himself the way he always does to comfort her, her head leaning against his chest, listening to his beating heart, and his arms around her, giving her a sense of protection—however false it may be.

"It's going to be okay," he says, pulling her closer, rubbing comforting circles on her skin, with surety neither of them can possibly have, but it serves to comfort her all the same. "I'll be back before you know it. And I'll be here to meet our child."

She certainly hopes so.

**********

They go off to fight.

She watches him approach the car from their bedroom window and her heart begins its descent to the pits of her stomach. It is barely dawn, the sky only now beginning to lighten, and the window pane pressed against her cheek is strikingly cold, but it helps in keeping away the waves of nausea which otherwise threaten to overpower her.

Iqbal looks up towards her as if he had already known she was watching. It reminds her unnervingly of their wedding day. It hasn’t been too long since then, but that memory somehow feels as if it were of a different lifetime. He had known where to find her even then. They hold each other’s gaze for a moment, and Iqbal gives her a slight smile which she tries and fails to reciprocate. It is almost too much to take. Because this is it. This is war. This is war, and they are on opposite sides of it. There’s going to be a battle. Her husband will be fighting in that battle. Iqbal might die. Countless others certainly will die—soldiers from her motherland and his. And however much she may want Iqbal to come back home, she wants her country to remain safe and sound more than anything. If she had been oblivious to the enormity of the situation before, she certainly isn’t now. The burden of the scene is beginning to settle around her like a blanket, one that is weighing her down unpleasantly.

The world is grey, she decides, not black and white as she had once believed. She had been naive back then. There is no good side or bad side in war, there is your country, and your duty to your country. And that is what they’re all doing—serving a higher entity, a noble entity. Their countries. She had always known that she'd do anything, give up anything, for her country. And now she is. She doesn't regret her actions, no. Because regret and guilt are two separate emotions. The same way her duty and her conscience are separate. One always overpowers the other. No, Sehmat does not regret her actions, does not regret saving her country from being caught unawares, but watching her family members—because that is what they are. Family—climb into the vehicle does wrack her with guilt. If they were to get hurt or … or die …

He gets in and they set off. Her eyes stay on the vehicle until it is a tiny speck indiscernible from its surroundings, and she doesn't leave the window even after that—she hasn't got the strength, and there are too many things for her to brood about.

**********

It is Munira bhabhi who pulls her out of her brooding. Well, her, and the investigating officers who come to the Syed house to investigate. It's a regular investigation they say, a part of the head-count they've been conducting while they're looking into the fire. It's been a week since the men have been gone. Sehamt does not miss the way their eyes stay on her suspiciously once they find out she is Indian by birth.

It is again Munira bhabhi who takes charge. Protecting Sehmat fiercely and glaring the officers down into submission. And it works. It works, because they are a part of the Syed Family. Probably the most powerful army family in the cantonment. They leave them alone soon enough, or, at least, pretend to. Sehmat sees them looking from inconspicuous nooks and crannies, her own spy's eyes finding them with practiced ease, and gliding over them as if they weren't ever there with the same practiced ease.

She doesn't go to Saadiq anymore, nor to Imtiaz to buy flowers. The first time that she had set foot in Sarvar's store has also been her last. She keeps up the pretences until the number of spies keeping track of her lessen, and only then does she dare step into her own shop—not that there is anything other than business to look forward to over there. She has had no contact with South for a month. It worries her.

**********

Two weeks since they've been gone later they hear news on the radio of Pakistan's aerial attacks on Indian Air fields. It's December the 4th. Sehmat's heart positively stops beating.

**********

A day later they hear of Indian attack on the harbour, something she knows is because of her information. The destruction is huge, positively crippling. At least one thing she is sure of: Pakistan will not win this war. Not with their Navy and Air Force in this state: crippled crafts and fuel and ammunition that is burning up the sea.

The civilian lives are in danger too. Munira bhabhi's family—her mother and father and her brother's wife and children—were hard to contact, but they're okay. For the time being, at least. The guilt she is feeling grows as she sees Munira's eyes shining.

**********

Four days later there is another attack—by India, on Pakistan—on the same Karachi harbour. The fire from the first one is still blazing. Shaken whispers around the cantonment tell of abandoned Naval plans and a PNS Ghazi.

Sehmat notices the spies coming back, their eyes trained on her.

Perhaps, she thinks, it's time to visit Suraiya appa.

**********

One week, or less, later, there is news when Sehmat comes down for breakfast. Not of a victory or of a defeat, but of the end of the war. Of an Instrument of Surrender. Of a country called Bangladesh (so they won. Relief like nothing floods her soul). Of soldiers taken as prisoners of war—not in the west, no, but in the east. Her heart goes cold anyway—she doesn't know where they are. However she—and Munira bhabhi, going by how pale she looks—prefer not having to think about that.

They go to the Mosque to pray instead. Spies don't follow Sehmat anymore, not after Suriya appa's unconditional and strongly worded order to the chief of the investigating agency—who owed to her and Colonel Siddiqi his position—about how to treat the wives of officers gone to war. There is still nervousness in her as she steps out of the house and towards the Main market. The only respite she has is the Sarvar Store still being open—so they don't know—and of Imtiaz giving her a not unintentional look.

She looks pregnant now—she has gained the weight. She still hasn't told her superiors. A frightening thought settles into her mind that she pushes away. She doesn't know if Sarvar or Imtiaz or Saadiq would convey this piece of information to Mir sahab. On one hand, it's the logical thing to do. On the other hand, they wouldn't know if this was ever the part of a plan. She herself had been planning on waiting until at some opportune moment, in some celebration or other, she had the chance to meet Kabir sahab, or, more easily, his wife Pallavi. What other way does she have, that is not suspicious? The phones don't take calls from India yet. They won't for a sufficiently long time.

**********

A month and half after they had left, the men come back. All three of them, each in one piece. They have scars—physical and mental ones—and they have a hardness behind their eyes. It is the humiliation of defeat and the unsettling truth of a battle. They don't look at her any differently though. They truly believe she is of here now.

And they are happy—they had apparently already known when they had come back, she is told that Iqbal told them right before they entered the battlefield—for her and Iqbal. For the future that is to come.

Iqbal is no less soft than before—she doesn't think she could see him in any other light, this side of him stands out so much—but he is less like himself. The same hardness behind his eyes too, though they soften considerably when they are trained on her. It makes her conscience heavy.

But her family is home now, and her Home—her country—is safe, and perhaps, perhaps, so is she.

**********

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