Bangladesh. Sher-e-Bangla, The World Cup and our team!

So we landed this morning, safe and sound... still in doldrums that we're finally here... or are finally on our trip for final year studies. It seemed inevitable but we pulled through within 5 days! And here we are. I'm posting this especially to let everyone out there celebrating Cricket Craze know that Bangladesh is doing a beautiful job creating that hype and decorating it's city of Dhakka with amazing lights, amazing installations, and amazing larger than bus size cricket bats!

It is mesmerizing! But that's not all. While planning our escapades for today, we had a little stopover at Sheraton. which, for us was a complete surprise. We were on our way to a Fort and then a mall, and in between we saw a detour and the 'S' at Sheraton. We thought it was going to be the coolest thing ever meeting the Cricket Team and just by chance telling them we are crazy and we hope they win tomorrow.

So, in the Sheraton lobby, amidst Bengali locals, reporters, foreigners and other people... are 18 of us university students. Half of whom have rushed to the ladies' room to touch up their make up. We are lounging and giggling. Getting weird looks from security and having a ball taking photographs. And then our excitement mounts when we get to know the cricket team is half an hour away from their practice run at the stadium. We gather in front of the lobby, there are scanners and detectors by the dozen... and getting through them has been worth it for what we are about to encounter next. A bus pulls up, and we start screaming, hooting and taking photographs. I am recording a video that captures the few seconds of surprised and shocked faces of our national cricket team.

We are told they'll make a back entry. We think it's a trick. We speculate... and it so happens, the team proceeds to their rooms through corridors at the back. And we start getting hyper again... and security personnel gets just as hyper warning us not to hoot.. and we do it.. some players come out to the reception in their practice suits. Then, one from our lot calls out and says we've come all the way from Pakistan, the least you can do is come so we can have a photograph.. and in seconds we have Umer Akmal... walking forward and very readily giving out his autograph. And there we have it.. excitement that we may get Shahid Afridi, too.. but plans get spoiled as we're warned, another sound and we'll be asked to leave. So to spare that, we stay quiet and sit like good school children waiting for a chance at free tickets to watch the World Cup match tomorrow.

And you know what... we are SO ON!
Tomorrow, 4th Year Textile Design Students at Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture are going to cheer on our team! Woooooooohoooooooooot! It's super exciting as each of us has something green, green eyeliner and eye shadow count by the way!

It's so funny, our luck is unmatched. We're blessed Alhamdulillah! Happy match watching everyone. May our Pakistani Pride rock the cricket field! InshaAllah!

Oh yes, we saw Sher-e-Bangla by night today as well. It's beautiful. The building over the water is breathtaking. And man, it's a marvel. No wonder Louis Kahn is the king of shadows and play of light. The silhouettes of platonic forms are mind bending. Even at night! Hoping to see more and snap some sweet shots to share with everybody. :)

Bangladesh is beautiful, it's green. But it's like Karachi in a way, too. Minus the truck art. I feel the cricket sensation here covers up for it. :)

I hope everyone managed to get their Firefly orders.

Keep reading, shall have some awesome updates from the stadium tomorrow night inshaAllah! Praying hard that we win... Safar ki Dua qubool hoti hai. ;)

PS: for all the boys back home, I hope you're smiling and laughing thinking of the odds of me ending up at a cricket match, the World Cup, when y'all never let me play in the front lawn. :D

hehehe!

It's 9.37 pm. And I have 12 hours.

Well yeah! I do only have 12 hours... to get my thoughts out unto a document that spells approximately 6000 words. I have been researching and reading. And it's one of those sessions where I'm pulling in all my might to get out gibberish that makes sense for even a split second in time. I think the only thing soothing my senses or putting my heart at ease is the ongoing praise for Nabi-e-Kareem in our lawn right outside my bedroom window. Imagine. Today is the 12th, Islamically. I am sitting, very ready to start my whining about how I don't know what I'm going to do about my research paper... but inshaALLAH. I'm hopeful that I'll pull through.

There goes the optimist.. I just thought of Flash. You know the superhero? It's funny how your mind wanders when you are supposed to focus... Oh wait. Superhero. Kids. They relate to superheroes don't they? Where are our local heroes? Do we have em? That's the crux of my research... well.. why don't we have em rather.

http://www.nowpublic.com/culture/childrens-books-pakistan

I came across this for my research. It goes back to my love for reading and books, and why I started bookmarks at Firefly. I think it's imperative to our Literary culture. And I hope we totally revolutionalize the way our coming generation thinks about reading. Sania over at Literary Junction is doing a fab job on getting it started by the way. Enroll your kiddies, nieces, nephews, grandkids... seriously. It'll do them wonders inshaALLAH. It will add that zest to want to read... to read some more... and to read so much that we can one day have bookstores the size of Borders and Barnes&Noble here in Pakistan. :D InshaALLAH.

breathless.

So today, I decided that I would focus on 'work' and to keep my mind from concentrating on 'other' things, I put on my playlist from an a-eon ago. And here's where my heart skipped a beat...

I only hope that I one day deserve what you've given me, But all I can do is try, every day of my life.

Shayne Ward's lyrics to 'Breathless'. It's such a pretty song. Does that make sense? :) It's one of those sweet lovey-dovey songs. But then most of the things on my playlist are 'those-typesa-songs'. Would you believe it? I sang 'It Must've Been Love' for my Student Council interview. And whaddia know, four years straight, I'm still in the Council. Unconditional Love I'd say.

Now the track playing is Perhaps Love, it's a Korean Song from 'Princess Hours'. I loved this drama. It was TOO cute! I was actually hooked on the man-hua... or Korean Manga-Comic. Totally worth reading for those who like fairytales. :) and the song, again is Perhaps Love, by J & Howl, from the 'Goong' Soundtrack.

I realized I haven't touched my manga for a while. Anyone else interested in it? I have the entire Imadoki and Alice 19th Series. Have Chobits, Wish, Inu Yasha, Angel Sanctuary, Ceres, Fushigi Yuugi, and others... if someone wants to get their hands on some purchases, get in touch. :D

I thought I'd talk about some weird interests today. :) Adds to the whimsical life-story. :)

I had an interesting evening today, being interviewed by an old school friend, who actually wanted to interview a social media using business for his thesis with a couple of friends. I was honored really. Made me reminisce the whole initial Firefly process :) and how it all started. It feels great to be celebrating one year very soon. InshaALLAH. I'm slightly sad I won't be around to do the Firefly party, but still proud that it's grown so much in a year with the love and warmth.

Hope you all continue to smile.... with silly little notes that read Smile Sunshine!

what a day? 1000+love

Aiya. It's one of those long over-stretched days. Today was a study visit to a denim manufacturer. Did you all know that PAKISTAN manufactures jeans for Aeropostale and apparel for brands such as H&M as well as Bershka? I was blown away! It was so cool!

Anyhow, while my sleep heavy eyes are turning hazy and my head is pinching with this throbbing headache I've had since the heat and the never ending lecture at the manufacturing unit, I thought a 1000 fans deserved a few words at least for making Firefly what it is at this point in time.

I remember when I first started, I'd tag my friends. I got orders from them. Then came orders from their friends. Then I noticed orders from THEIR friends... and some time back, I completely lost track and stopped trying to figure who came through who and how much Firefly has grown. It's seriously a milestone for me. Not because 'yeay' I have a 1000 fans. But because, little Firefly is growing. People ask me WHY Firefly? or isn't that Firefly Photoworks? *waves to Ms Nariman*

The real story is of my journal. I have a passion for writing. Lines of prose, strands of words... I love it. I've always kept notebooks or journals. About five years ago, I purchased a hardcover journal. I began writing and called it the Tainted Firefly as most of my thoughts then were emotion driven and melancholic. From there routed my favorite quotations, my favorite stories, my favorite recipes.. Everything that interested me. So when I pulled out a wallet card I wanted to introduce to Pakistan, I wanted it to reflect the thought and stories behind it. Hence, the name Firefly. It goes back more than a year. It is therefore, truly inspired by life and its experiences, the people in it, friends, family... little sisters, crazy colleagues, random musings during school, those I need a hug gestures, and what not. That is what the Firefly is. The daily happenings in the life of not just me, but people the likes of you! We all wait for our rainbows, how many of us put down the umbrella and search the sunshine?

I hope each of us continues to spread smiles with little tokens of love and share the warmth during those cold and stubborn days. Life's too short to be sour and grinch-y. Isn't it?

Oodles of love, sweet duas and ever so kind wishes... may you all glow like the Firefly in the darkest of places. Don't wait for light to shine on you, make your own and lead the way. *sparkles*

-Me

do you see what i see

I believe every moment we spend walking, speaking, sharing, listening and just living, is scheduled and planned. When people say everything happens for a reason, they relate events or occurrences to be a result of other events or occurrences. That isn't my belief. I believe everything happens because it was written to. And occurrences and events are not coincidence, they are pre-written. And with these pre written little episodes, surface our giggly moments and star like dreams.

It has been a beautiful last ten days for me. Personally, because I have lived the first chapter embarking on a journey to my fairytale. I met someone I had spoken to for the very first time. In seven days I understood all the reasons why everything shaped into the way it was and I can proudly say I am a changed person. :) Alhamdulillah. I haven't counted the number of ways I have smiled or laughed.out.loud. But I am blessed to count one reason responsible for a million more. You don't quite understand what love is till it escapes with a lit pathway from near the corner of your eye. And you can't quite place which moment in time or which word changes the course of things. End result... instant sunshine. Endless rainbows. Never ending sparkles. ♥

I pray everyone lights their rainbow... and finds the love they're hoping for. Whether it's the pathway to the Almighty, at the footsteps of His Beloved, the arms of one's parents, or just a journey to discover the other half written in the stars when the world itself wasn't even created. :)

Here's to fairytales... happily ever afters, dragon slaying prince charmings, pretty evening gowns, fairy friends, & stories of life, love, and luck. Thank you for those who sent in their wishes. It meant a lot to me! ♥

With the daydreaming aside... Oh.em.jee! :D Weeeeeeeeeeee! hehe. Firefly has found a new reason to glow ;) New designs coming up. Firefly will turn ONE on the 25th! I plan to hold a little Firefly bash, but will not be able to until April or so. Maybe I'll combine it with my own birthday ;) There's a little draw happening at the moment. Get your entries in sooooooon. Orders that have been piling up are ready for pick ups.. now I need to chase down people to come and collect them :P

I'll be traveling inshaALLAH next week, we're going for our study trip to Bangladesh. Wooohoooo. Yummy fish here I come. :D It's expected to be a ten day trip. And with the retrograde coming up, delays expected. So everybody, don't start anything new, don't start any new business, new projects, or sign any important documents. *just to be safe*

Smile Sunshine!

tick tock. vowels are fascinating.

It amazes me that we can totally strengthen our password by removing the vowels along with a few other sneaky little tricks online :D Have yall tried that before? What's more fascinating is the english language, I mean check out our vocab.. Tick... Tock. A. E. I. O. U. I comes before O. O comes after I. And I am being completely completely airheaded at the moment. :D

It's sleep taking over. Today's entry isn't very elaborate. It's a tiny little thought I'm letting out loud because the day is too short... with a long list of things to do. Crazy crazy time. It's flying. I mean, can you dance a little slower. It takes time learn the steps you know!

Thank you Almighty. I survived another day of unexposed screens, another 18 sets of photocopies on butter paper. And am now nearly staring at the laptop screen with hazy eyes. *squints*

OH YES! The reason I opened up the blog post! *duh*
Loadshedding delayed a couple of orders. And this weeks batch is going to get delayed a little more... as there is a strike tomorrow. And I don't own the shop :D The Printer Uncle does :p So inshaALLAH, I will dispatch all orders on Tuesday for pick up. I would keep the weekend but there is way way too much happening and I know something will go haywire somewhere. I can feel it. :)

Bracing myself for a very very important day. Well.. the beginning of several more important days... of sparkles, sunshine.. and maybe some sweet rain. You never know. :) So need some sweet prayers everybody :) I'll be embarking on a new journey... and inshaALLAH.. it will be my real life.. *big smile*

Allah ki Madad.
*Firefly's light bulb switches off now*

PS
You know you love the cliffhanger! :D haha.