Zafar IssadeenThe weekend post

I decided that with the onset of four years downunder I will start writing to my blog again….Tired of feeling creatively stifled and feeling that need for release coming on..stay tuned!

have you ever stood at the edge of a mountain watching patiently enclosed in the mist and watched…watched as the sun, much like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon, tears away at this shroud and shines in all its brilliance…and then that feeling of your breath been taken away as the valley around you lights up in silent reverence to the undeniable glory of each ray and then as everything near you feels so much warmer and tangible.

life has undergone much the same change for me over the last two weeks and will make sense for those who understand the cryptic metaphors of the previous paragraph..those little triggers minute yet omnipresent that force you to stop as it takes your breath away and changes the very direction of everything that goes on around you..each trigger that looks to erase the coldness and bitterness and to fill them in with the rays of ’sunshine’. come to think of it…two weeks can suddenly mean so much when this time has been put into the right hands..

it is strange how we are humans undeniably and that in the end human nature will win..man is a social animal with varying degrees of being sociable..indeed life is strange and i am beginning to believe that the arrow has been pulled far back enough before it is to be let out to travel its course..though this course too has is being altered as I speak..

This is my first weekend post fasting so decided to splurge on all kinds of random food all over the city..been doing a lot of traveling and met up with Pattu.. (now fondly known down under as DJ N2a)..hung out at Father Flanagans (a pub) while he spun records for the masses there..came home at 2 AM and now have a packed social calendar..

this week was also eid and we met up at Saira’s (i did my first train trip) and since it was late by the time things wrapped up I decided to sleep it off there…considering the fact that I spoke to her for the first time just a week ago its amazing that I’ve spent 3 days there already…I love the place…and everyone is awesome plus as a side benefit I have Skamp to play with..

Went to the crown to watch Eagle Eye..seems a bit of a Die Hard (4) plot + iRobot kind of thing..not an amazingly creative story line but i liked the movie nonetheless..also the Crown was awesome..my first time at a Multiplex..they are screening the new Bond soon..must go watch..hope it will be on when Ayn is down..

some weekend photography.

On the way to Saira’s

My Desk at office

Day and Night

The Station by night

Marlon and Deepali at the Crown

Come the weekend..(friday actually) and I see a complete stoppage of work, Australia is laid back in comparison to Sri Lanka workwise and they just tend to take their weekend very seriously. 3.00PM past Flagstaff station and the park was randomly full of people playing football and just chilling out..sleeping on benches..very cool!

The weather has been pure awesomeness and will be meeting up with friends today..Shane Udda and maybe Bimal..Yesterday was spent at Thilaks place playing Pictionary..they are apparently  (at least Asha his wife) from the Datamation Era…

Some photos of our shopping saturday to Preston

Preston Market

Seen at a fish shop

Dinner at Thilaks place.. From Left (zafar, Thilak and Asha, Marlon and Deepali, Su and Asela)

Marlon and Asela and their wives are sharing the same flat..

just landed in aussy and after a grueling trip via Changi….largely due to ignorance on my part and an unhelpful officer at the other end, I have wound up in the land down under…My apartment is shared with two sri lankan guys from the same company Marlon and Asela and their wives. The place looks awesome..I did a tour de city just to get to know the important places..checked out a pool which was pretty good as well…they actually have slow/medium/fast lanes..which is awesome and should be implemented in Sri Lanka…they should also have an L Board one as well come to think of it…

Pics of the room are downloading from my camera at the mo and should be up in awhile…

Meeting up with some friends as well (friend actually and old patrol leader)

My sister is now married…it is strange how time flies like a wind and with it nostalgia permeates the rooms..wafting among our old beds and shelves of books..The sepia pictures of her and me standing next to a little car that I used to peddle around..She was sitting there in her wedding dress looking the most amazing bride i have ever seen in my whole life…she begins a new chapter of her life as do we sadly minus one of the musketeers (I have two siblings in the family)..

The wedding has taken up most of my time and energy that I have had scarce little for anything else..

[sits back and lights his cigarette and puffs and watches the cloud climb up..almost as if to enshroud the listener in a veil of attention..Turns to me and speaks]

‘We humans are strange creatures my friend..’

[he pauses for a second puff and I begin to listen attentively]

‘Can it be true that we throw away everything logical and rational in our lives for an inkling of a feeling that surges in us causing like a mild irritant..a mosquito in a tropical summer…to make us forget everything that we stood for just to appease that little itch..truly a strange but common place problem’

[I turn to him and look him in the eye]

‘What say you o’ friend of mine? I did not grasp it in its entirety?’

[He stops for a puff before going on]

‘I merely relate observations of the world..where one lives in utopia..you have the proverbial safety net of someone in life to fall back on and someone to love and to be loved unconditionally and a friend who loves you till death be its divider..’

‘But what would be so drastic a need to change this amazing status quo?’ [I ask as his eyes grow distant]

‘That is precisely what I said earlier..That itch..that momentary restlessness in ones life..the summer bug that suddenly lands on your shoulder..the discomfort ephemeral but still present nonetheless..’

[Things begin to make slow dawning sense now]

‘But swat the ruddy thing and get on with it I say’

[Lips tighten and he bends towards me]

‘That is the crux of the problem! Imagine if you were blind..would you know what it was that was causing this discomfort? Wouldn’t YOU move out of utopia immediately just so that you get rid of the itch just to make sure it was only an itch..that summer bug and nothing else…’

‘There is however one other way…’ [I begin to see the light of this discourse]

‘And pray tell me what that may be?’

‘You have that other person with you..your friend who can see..who knows that the bug is a bug IS a bug on your shoulder and nothing bigger…let him guide your hand to the bug so that you too may only know that it is only something as minute as that insect and brush it off and then fall back into the state of utopia that you were enjoying…’

[his eyes close as the cigarette stub emits a thin column of smoke as it slowly dies out]

[I lie back effectively silenced]