The Beauty of Life

I was mesmerized at the beauty that stood before me. An array of colours stroked the horizon. A streak of red, yellow and orange danced around the pale glow of the moon that was slowly fading away. It was like the painter had meticulously stroked perfection. The silver linings of the clouds glimmering away, the sun slowly rising, casting its light over the darkness that covered the world a few hours ago.

A few birds flew down towards the ocean and gulped up water to the full capacity that their beaks could hold. Flowers blossoming nearby in hues of lilac and morning blue.  I could smell the sweet fragrance of the rose bushes nearby and I slowly walked towards it. My hands hovered over them until I was satisfied with my decision and had plucked the one that had won my heart over. As I caressed it gently, a thorn pierced through my soft, cold flesh and droplets of blood trickled down my hand.

Within seconds the clouds opened and the rain took full control of the land. I ran to take cover, and I found myself arching in-between a crevice between the wall and the rocks sheltering myself from the rain. A few millimeters from where I stood lay 6 white eggs and to my amazement their journey was starting now, the first egg cracked open, then the second, then the next until 6 tiny little turtles slowly made their way to the sea. They stumbled upon the broken eggshells and I quickly went to their aid. I moved everything out of the way and laid a course for them straight to the sea.

I looked at my finger, the rain had washed away the blood, it was in that moment a symbol of hope stood before me and I knew it was time for new beginnings. We all get hurt at some point in our lives and most of us think that we will never be able to recover but in time we learn to heal or rather we learn to cope with our loss and in the end it’s the best thing that we do for ourselves. Stay strong, stay positive and most importantly, stay happy.

A Ballad Of Love By Riaz Ismail

The night was young

                        And the moon was bright.           

The stars were nowhere to be found

And the clouds were light.

 

On one summers day,

a maiden and lad set their sights

Upon each other

With all her courage and might

 

She invited him to take a seat.

She had a story to tell

About the day her father left,

the day her love turned to hell.

 

The lad stood up

Wiped her tears away

Whispered in her ear

And whisked her away.

ABC Poem By Riaz Ismail

Always be polite.

Because words are powerful.

Careful not to be too harsh.

Dazzle your foes with words of kindness.

Erase negative thoughts from your head.

Find comfort in friends not foes.

Gather some courage and stand up for yourself.

Hate is never the weapon that should be used.

I believe in a hate free world.

Just imagine how happy everyone will be.

Knowing that they are valued and appreciated.

Love everyone no matter what.

A Lament for My Mother by Riaz Ismail

 

The soundless face of the night

underneath the stars,

I see a stormy whirl of sadness.

I would like to step out of my heart

that has been dead for a million years.

Everyone I love

is far and long gone by.

I think that the star

shinning above me

is my mother

watching over me.

Oh how then so abrupt an end to such a joyous life.

I feel my heart is torn apart by a cruel knife, called life.

The greatest grief the world could know

And there is no answer on this earth that can undo this sorrow.

 

My only comfort, be it tiny through all this tragedy

Is to know I’ll see you once again.

 

 

Where Do I Belong?

I am nothing special and that’s for sure. I am a common man with common morals and common goals. I have a regular job, earn a regular income and live in a regular house. Does this mean that I belong with the common folks? At my age, people might say that I’m boring and I don’t have fun, but I guess we can all give our own definition of what fun is. For me, it’s sitting at home reading a novel, sitting by the television, or simply testing my logic by building a puzzle, playing chess or filling in the latest crosswords in the newspaper. Does this mean that I belong with the nerds?

I spend my weekends parading the malls and shopping as if I have an ounce of space in my wardrobe.  Does this mean that I belong with the shopaholics? I guess I should introduce myself as a nerd, shopaholic, and part of the common folk. What does that even mean I begin to ask myself? What does it mean to belong? To belong is to feel part of a group, "acceptance" by others. The only obstacle is that people are willing to compromise who they are to feel like they belong to something. People dress, act, talk, listen to certain music and perform certain rituals that they don’t even like just to feel like they belong to a group, even though all those things don't guarantee acceptance.     

So why should a person change themselves just to be part of a group that doesn’t accept you for who you are. They only accept you for the ‘you’ that they want you to be, so that in itself is an injustice to yourself. Thomas Stephen Szasz once said “People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself, but the self is not something one finds, it is something one creates.” I then ask myself, where do I belong? When I sit and play games with my family and we all laugh, I feel like I belong there. When I teach children at school and they look up at me and smile, I feel like I belong there. When I’m sitting in a lecture hall and I lift my hand to give the correct answer, I feel like I belong there. As I sit with my friends having pancakes and laughing at our silly moments, I feel like I belong there. Is it possible to belong in so many places? Am I a lonely soul drifting the earth till I die?

As I walk around from place to place I look at all the people and they all seem to either belong to something or belong to someone and then there’s just me. I then ask myself what right do I have to belong here? Why me? Why here? Why now? The questions keep on piling and then out of the blue the answers start to come. I belong here in this country, in this universe because God wanted it to be that way. It is one of the biggest gifts that God has given me, the gift of being able to belong to something much bigger, even though all our ideas, opinions and values are not the same. I might be alone in my quests but I’m never alone in my community. There are people that I can depend on friends, family, colleagues, neighbours and strangers.

Being with different people and going through many hardships I have learnt that I have equal rights as anyone to be in this world. Never let anyone tell you otherwise. Your life matters even if you don’t believe that right now but someday you will realize that you are worth so much! Imagine, if you will, a life where you had no one else to depend on; what if there were no family, no friends and no place to call home? How would you deal with life if you were spending it alone with no comfort? Would you be different from yourselves today? The notion of belonging is, and always has been fundamental for human survival as this experience forges our individual human identity and allows it to develop. According to American actor, Pearl Bailey, "You cannot belong to anyone else, until you belong to yourself.” Stay Strong, Stay positive and most importantly, remember that your life matters!

Rise from the Ashes like A Phoenix

As a child, I always hated it when people asked me what it was that I wanted to do when I grew up. I always feared that I would be laughed at because my dreams were silly or perhaps out of my reach and I was flying too close to the sun. I have experienced days when my heart just wasn’t there like it used to be and the thought of giving up on my dreams slowly seemed like the best option that I had. I felt an emptiness inside, an uneasy feeling that I just couldn’t shake off.

 

Today as most days, the sun rises up, taking its normal position high up in the sky. Every day without fail the sun does what it is supposed to do no matter what. This is motivation, inspiration and aspiration that we all require to fulfill our daily goals and dreams. There is no such thing as ‘I can’t.’ We all have the strength and ability to fulfill our purpose in life. It’s within all of us, we just need to find it and manifest it. Sometimes all we need is a push in the right direction. A little motivation never killed anyone, so don’t be scared.

 

We don’t go through life to amass worldly things, the important thing is to be happy and live a fulfilling life. When you look at all you have done to get to a certain point in your life and not focus on how much you still have left, you begin realizing how far you have truly come. When you feel that you are about to crack, take a deep breath, and remember there is no greater gift than life itself. As Jerry Gilles said, “Make sure you visualize what you really want, not what someone else wants for you.”

 

At times we might not be able to see the sun, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not there. Just because we don’t see things, it doesn’t mean that it’s not happening. In life, we either succeed or fail. You choose what you want in life. The thing about life is that you don’t know what’s going to happen and sometimes not knowing what to expect can be difficult but what’s the fun in knowing everything.             

                                                                                              

 

Whatever comes your way just stand firm and grab it with both hands. God doesn’t give you a challenge that you can’t handle. So, I end this hoping that I have motivated you in some way. I also hope that you find the strength to succeed in everything that you do. Remember, stay strong, stay positive and most importantly believe in yourself!

You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.

 

My mind seemed to resonate with that one, core question, what does it mean to be strong?  For some, it’s being able to open that 2Lt coke bottle when no one else can, it’s when our fathers carry the shopping bags after our mothers’ crazy day of shopping or it could be when our mothers throw us with their slippers when we misbehave.  Then again, we all have our own definitions of what the word ‘strong’ might be.

I then sit and wonder what about all those people that have no arms? Does that mean that they are not strong? I then realized that being strong is more than physical strength, it includes emotional and mental strength. There are people out in the world that fight every day for the things that they believe in, for the things that are right. Submissive workers standing up to their domineering masters, unbiased civilians uprooting their crooked government, loved ones being shielded from harm’s way.

 

Just because we lose a soccer match or cry after being yelled at, doesn’t mean that we aren’t strong. What truly defines us is how well we rise after falling. Everybody falls, everyone is beaten down by life and the challenges it has, everyone has those bad days but not everyone lets their bad days define who they are and what they do. A strong person moves on from the things that break them and they live their life trying to stay strong.

 

I always prided myself on being a strong person but I never imagined the extent to which my strength would be tested.  We do not know the full ability of our strength until we find ourselves in a situation where we have to be strong. Then it all comes out, most of us can look back and be like wow, I didn’t know I was capable of that. It is in that moment, when we truly start to create the person that truly defines who we are.

As Ralph Waldo Emerson said,” Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to the end requires courage.”

Stay positive, stay focused and most importantly stay happy.

#PrayForTheWorld

Today, I lost my mother, my father, my son, my daughter, my friend and every single person that I love. I woke up today not realizing that all this time I was making memories. I didn’t realize that life would be so cruel towards me. Every day was a struggle to survive. How long would this carry one?

I watched as bullets pierced through the bodies of my loved ones. I watched as buildings collapsed and crushed my neighbours. I watched as innocent people were bombed. I yelled out, hoping that by some divine miracle they would be alive, but not today. Today was not a day for miracles. Today was a day for loss; well to be honest, every day was a day for loss. I fell to the floor holding my child’s lifeless body in my hands. I kissed her cold soft cheek as I lay her body on the floor and covered it with her favourite blanket. I brushed away the tears as I bid her farewell. Why do people have to pay with their life’s blood?  

 

A piercing white light lit up the sky, people ran for protection not knowing whether they will live or die. Through the tears, screams and the bloodshed, people shouting out to their loved ones to take cover. Merciless creatures were parading the streets, shooting bullets as if it were raining. I saw rivers of blood flowing down my streets. I cried and shouted for help but no one came to help us. Our home was taken, destroyed, nothing left to our name.

 

Millions of people have been forced to leave their homes. More than hundreds of people have been massacred. Thousands have become homeless. How long can this carry on? The pain is too much. Something has to change. I pray for the world to be a better place.

 

I sit on my bed and try to ponder what I could possibly type to try and give hope to people suffering but then I realize that the people that are suffering are the ones giving us hope. Let us pray for peace, and let us pray for each other irrespective of our colour, race, religion and location. We need to unite in times of happiness and in times of sadness.  I shout out to the people who are suffering “You are not alone! Help is on the way! Just keep holding on!”

 

Let us pray for humanity, #Afghanistan #Baghdad #Beirut #Burundi #France #Gaza #Iran #Iraq #Japan #Kenya #Lebanon #Mexico #Nigeria #Palestine #Paris #SouthAfrica #Syria #PrayForTheWorld

 

 

Strolling Through The Streets of Paris

You cannot properly experience Paris without seeing just a little bit of its history through the vast collections of art unveiled in the Louvre.  Whether you are into Greek mythology or something from the Rembrandt collection, the Louvre is a must see when in Paris. The architecture alone is breathtaking, but a stroll inside the ancient residence of kings and emperors of France is well worthwhile. Set a few days aside as there is a vast collection of artwork that must be seen.


Glass Pyramid at the Louvre Museum

The Eiffel Tower is described as a wrought iron lattice tower but personally I like to describe it as a tower of pure brilliance and beauty. It might seem like a daunting task to climb all those stairs but before you’ve even realized it, you’re already on the 1st level and if the stairs or the view haven’t yet caught your breathe then carry on to the second level where you will witness pure magic with one of the most mesmerizing views of the city.

View from the second level of the Eiffel Tower

Sacré-Cœur, the sacred heart within Montmartre is undeniably beautiful and the whiz of
craftsmanship is reminiscent of citadel like construction from the Medieval Era. The sanctuary stands like a white pearl on the hill of Montmartre, sharing a significant resemblance with that of the Taj Mahal in India. The main entry is arched and has within it two large doors. The inside of the church is a self-portrait of the talents and abilities of the architect. In wet weather, the calcite contained in the stone acts like a bleacher to give the church a white appearance.



Sacré-Cœur in Montmartre

Towering over the diverse neighbourhood of Montmartre you will fall in love with the panoramic views from the Sacré-Cœur but to truly experience the artistic atmosphere you will need to climb some stairs particularly if you want to capture the perfect postcard photo and don’t be afraid to ditch the map and find yourself dwindling in the one of the most historic and stimulating neighbourhoods in Paris.

View of Paris from Sacré-Cœur

Delville Wood, a memorial site to honour the South African soldiers that have fallen on the battlefields, sacrificing their lives to better the lives of the country folk. A shiver skittered down my spine as I left the graveyard knowing that the ground was a constant reminder of the bravery and sacrifice of every single soldier. The only surviving hornbeam tree can be found nearby. On closer inspection one can see that the trunk is embossed with debris of metal artillery. The war may be over but the scars, pain and hardship last forever.

The World War I and II museum rooms were filled with the most comprehensive collection of artifacts on display.  To witness the preservation of elements from the war played such a pivotal role in understanding to some extent the various degrees of war life. Yes, there are millions of books to read and better our understanding but to walk in an actual bunker and stroll in trenches amongst the forest to see the aftermath of war is not something you can find in a book, it’s something that you have to experience in real life. I now understand why millions of people all over the world flock to Paris, it is simply inspirational.

 

Falling In Love With Paris

One of the bridges crossing the Seine river in Lille, France

Paris, the city of lights offers something for everyone from shopping malls to beautiful beaux arts architecture that astonishes for days, picturesque cafes on almost every street corner with the most tantalizing pastries, countless bridges crossing the Seine pleading for twilight strolls and secret glimpses. The ubiquitous violin stroking you back to the days one could only read in a Jane Austen’s novel. How could you not fall in love?  What stands out to me when I look back on my travels are not the celebrated cenotaphs and galleries, rather it is wandering through the cobblestone roads; listening to street performers and watching local painters create their masterpiece.

The square in Lille houses a variety of humanity but you still seem to find your own little place in which you can enjoy amidst the majestic statues, fountains and various shops. We lost ourselves in frantic photograph sessions and then we strolled down the street to a local patisserie located just off the corner of Rue du Cure Saint-Etienne, called Meert, although I like to call it Le Magnifique. Dark wood panelling, soft cushion booths, counters filled with cakes, pastries and delicacies that I could only have dreamt of. I had to stop myself from screaming with joy.  It was truly so much more than I could ever describe, definitely a fairytale alive in the 21^st century.