Dec 15, 2006
Posted by arif in Personal, Spirituality | 37 comments
They say that one doesn’t really plan to go for Hajj, but one is called to it by the Almighty. I certainly hope that’s true, because if so, myself, Arifa (my wife) and Ali (my brother) have graciously accepted the Lord’s invitation and would be taking off for Madina from Mumbai 5 AM, Monday morning.
We’re certainly looking VERY much forward to it. No doubt Hajj is an highly spiritual uplifting experience. In fact that’s an understatement. To witness the prostration of two million people simultaneously, each one bowing his head till it touches the ground and that too doing that 5 times a day is an image that can shake one’s inner-self to tears. Ofcouse it’s not all prayers and supplications. There’s a whole lot of socialising too. I think it’s only on Hajj that one actually gets the full flavour of diversity present in mankind. From the Africans, to the Europeaons, to the Chinese, to the Turks….all present in full glory. Each wearing their best attitude…smiling, greeting, hugging at every opportunity. I made some of my very best friends on my last Hajj trip 4 years ago and I’m eagerly awaiting to make some this year.
Yes…it’s a once in a life time experience. For me it’s also because this is the only time my mother (and my wife) would not object in shaving my head bald :-)
Do pray for our safe return…(however when you’re there sometimes return is the last thing on your mind). And we’ll certainly remember you all in our prayers.
Dec 9, 2006
Posted by Mohammed Ali in Reviews | 1 comment
I was really surprised to see this site! Inshort, it’s like the Google Maps for India. MapMyIndia allows the user to search any place on the map of India by entering the location details. eg:
“S block, Greater Kailash II, New Delhi”
It’s not there yet, ’cause when I tried entering the Vakil Housing office address, it just recognised the ‘bangalore’ in it. But nonetheless it’s a great start, with some cool Ajax features like dragging the map & zooming! Some of the other features available:
* When browsing a city or town it shows the popular places to visit.
* Registered users can create & save their locations. (e-locations)
* Right click to see driving directions from
Below is the location of our office which I’ve marked with a blue indicator (e-location):
Dec 1, 2006
Posted by arif in Reviews | 6 comments
In our line of work we often get so busy with our daily tasks and assignments, that sometimes it does get difficult to track what our competition is up to. However, earlier this week we happen came across a House Warming Gift that Prestige (a competitor & one of the leading builders in the city) gives to the proud owners of one of their projects – the Prestige St. John’s Woods. Boy, were we impressed!
Beautifully packed in this lovely wooden box, are two elegang key-chains, a key pouch, a personal organisor with certain do’s and dont’s for the property (honestly this one we too were in the process of doing for one of our properties, but they beat us to the execution), and here’re the gems few pouches of seeds for those who’ve a small garden in their flat (and an itching green thumb) and a couple of postcards for those who’d like to show-off their new flat. Now, although each and every item in the house-warming gift is shamelessly branded with the Prestige/St. John’s Woods logo, it’s done with so much class that, boy does it look good.
Here are some pics:
Nice one, guys!
