Nature 4

Such a fresh shade of green! Sweet Pink lillies
Bougainvilleas
More Pink
Vinka Pinka :)
Vinka's from a distance
Presenting the exotic Hymenocallis or lets just call them spider lillies
Spider lilly for spider man :)

All these flower shots are from my garden. Marvelously, pretty flowers keep emerging without any care, attention, or sowing seeds on my part. :) Hmmm...The mystery of the secret gardener...

True Essence of Generosity

"Taking pains to remove the pains of others is the true essence of generosity. "
~ Hazrat Abu Bakr radi Allah anhu

Another saying that I like

"Be the reason for someone's happiness, not just a part of it, & Be a part of someone's sadness, but not the reason for it".
~Anonymous

My friends,
Care and Share, Spread the goodness :)

Test of a friend

"A friend cannot be considered a friend until he is tested in three occasions: in time of need, behind your back, and after your death."

~Hazrat Ali [Radi Allah Anhu]

Ask yourself, do you honor your friend's trust? Do you safeguard his best interest? Do you keep his secrets? Are you there for him in time of need? Can he count on you when it matters? Are you a sincere friend? On the other hand, if your friend passes this test, then you are truly amongst the blessed ones.

Blog Anniversary

It's SYRA STAR Blog Anniversary. Yay!

I extend a special thanks to Sak, Isbah, Monay, Teeba, Khany and Moi for their enthusiastic participation. Thanks to all you readers for generating healthy discussions by sharing your thoughts on the blog posts.
Hopefully, SYRA STAR will keep you engaged for another year. :) Insha'Allah. Any feedbacks, complaint, suggestions to improve the blog are most and always welcome.

To read the comments I enjoyed the most, Click Here.

I have a special title to give away :). Khany has been a keen blog reader since the early days. His diversified, deep, articulate and thought provoking comments all round the year earn him the STAR OF THE YEAR title :)

So let’s hear it for Khany. Applause!!! Cheerios!!!

And let's celebrate the anniversary with a poem from our favorite commentator, Khany himself!

Dua-e-Junoon


Jo na jannay, beyshak na mannay
Jo pehchannay woh batlaye kyon?

Hum ney chaaha iss shiddat sey
Moutti ko seep dil sey lagaai yoon

Iss dard sey aashnaa hum na thay
Yeh dil ka roag lagaain kyon?

Dil na manna iss mantiq ko
Abb karray hai hai kyon!

Yaser tum ko kia millay ga
Chhor dou abb yeh dua-e-junoon

~Khany

The clock is ticking...

To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who failed a grade.
To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby.
To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper.
To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who! Are waiting to meet.
To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask a person who missed the train.
To realize the value of ONE-SECOND, ask a person who just avoided an accident.
To realize the value of ONE MILLISECOND, ask the person who won a silver medal in the Olympics.

Courtesy Khany

BMW GINA Light Visionary Model: Premiere

Check out the humanistic car! It's fab! Imagine going suit shopping for your car =)

How Technology Changed us?

Courtesy Moi

Japan unveils water fueled car

Reuters: Japanese company Genepax presents its eco-friendly car that runs on nothing but water. The car has an energy generator that extracts hydrogen from water that is poured into the car's tank. The generator then releases electrons that produce electric power to run the car. The new car will run for an hour at 50 mph on a liter of water.

How cool is that! B)

Happiness for an hour, a day, a month, a year or a lifetime?

If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap.
If you want happiness for a day, go fishing.
If you want happiness for a month, get married.
If you want happiness for a year , inherit a fortune.
If you want happiness for a lifetime, help someone else.

~Old Chinese Proverb

See me in you

You’ve no idea how hard I’ve looked for a gift to bring You.
Nothing seemed right.
What’s the point of bringing gold to the gold mine, or water to the Ocean.
Everything I came up with was like taking spices to the Orient.
It’s no good giving my heart and my soul because you already have these.
So, I’ve brought you a mirror.
Look at yourself and remember me.

~Jalaluddin Rumi

Reflect

Watch your eye, should it ever reveal to you the faults of others, say to it: “O my eye, other people have eyes too.” [Ahmad al Zarruq]

Isbah changes lanes

My favorite tech writer from work switches lanes and moves on with the journey of life. I vividly remember my first day at work. It was raining heavily that and I was sitting in the reception lounge waiting for the HR Manager. Apart from impatiently counting the ticks of the clock, I was observing everybody walking into the office. Almost everybody who came in that day,was all messy and drenched in rain. There came a gang of chirpy girls and walked in a neat and tidy, stylish girl with wavy hair, a composed look, and a grey smile. Yes, it was Isbah.

The first few things that Isbah said to me were:

Hey!, make sure you don't chat online too much, you are new here, you are being monitored!

Hey, you can't bring in your friends to the kitchen!

Hey, your jacket is fab! why did you get it.. piece of *&^% :p

and gradually I got to see the other side of the lake, ahem..I mean the other side of Isbah. Our friendship grew and from Isbah she became IsbahStar, my scorpion side kick. The long discussions on Grey's Anatomy during lunch break, planning our own version of the show, bugging SAK on little things, the drawings in the meeting rooms, the ice lolly visits to utility store, refereeing her and SAK over school days arguments and the laughing for no reason at all at each others stories are all cherishable moments with Isbah. I most admire Isbah's ability to capture beauty in little things. She has been blessed with a commendable sense of aestheticism, Masha'Allah and of course I thoroughly enjoy reading her deep and thoughtful. Don't we all.

=)

Here is a farewell note for you Isbah,

Happiness keeps you Sweet,
Trials keep you Strong,
Sorrow keeps you Human,
Failure keeps you humble
Success keeps you glowing,
But only Faith Keeps you going

So Isbah, my friend, I wish to the best of faith. May God bless you with the best of both worlds.
You will be missed. Miss Grey, Keep in touch. Come on now Dr Bailey is around, it's time to scrub in......................

=)