Billee-Love

My mom never liked animals of any sort. She, like all other moms is that ultra-clean being who shrieks on just the minutest of dirt particles and can not bare even a couple of objects in a room in disorder...

My dad, one the other hand,  like a typical man, is the adventurous, rough & tough and bold one in the family. Now, although I grew up to be straightforward, independent, etc like my dad, I never developed any taste in animals which my brothers very conveniently inherited from him. The whole the-germs-are-going-to-get-you theory suits my taste very well (that's why I wash my hands more than  a couple of dozen times in a day... potential OCD? probably).

BUT...

Recently my brothers, taking advantage of the favourable situation at our home, turned it into a mini zoo...They adopted that starving neighbourhood cat and bought four ducklings AND one baby FALCON from the animal bazaar near Empress Market in Saddar.

Let me not speak of the ducklings and the Falcon for I shall not be able to stop. Getting to that starving cat is of key importance here... The recently turned into a leopard-resembling-creature that I now lovingly call Billaa (Urdu for 'male cat')evolved from a skeletal, weak little thing to a mota taaza ( fat and healthy ) real Billaa haha!

But the one person who is to be thanked for its whole evolution is my mom... She, Allah knows how, over came her disgust of fur and the dirt (and thereby germs attached to it) that feline animals have and fed the Billaa with Chicken all the time! Yes, because it refused to have roti, milk or even fish beyond a certain quantity, all my mom could do was give him chicken that was not fit for us to be consumed such as long forgotten pieces of frozen chicken or especially bought chicken feet (which are usually used to get chicken stock from).

The Bottom Line...

... is that now, in a conscious attempt to not fear germs and to be more humane towards non-human creatures, I have actually discovered cats to just addoooraablle. Although I admit there are the complete opposite of dogs, meaning they are selfish, attention-seekers, self-obsessed, least bothered to please their masters... However, yet they are just adorable. Its as if Allah has put life into balls of fur haha.. MashaAllah!

And today I befriended two new cats!!! :D I found them in my grandmother's garden. Took me less than five minutes to start patting them withing the first eye-contact... Here's a video and some pictures. You'll definitely enjoy if you are a cat lover! :)

Cleopatra animalofied ... 

This kitten is such a Jaaanuu! She literally played hide-and-seek with me! 

The Cat-eyed pose - by a cat hahaha..

WATCH These Cats in ACTION with meee !! :D

Its my right hand playing with the cats, while the left hand was shooting the show :P

That's all for today! :)

Will it Rain in Karachi Tomorrow?

"Maryam Beta, help me get the clothes off from the clothesline ... I just hung them but seems like its going to pour..."

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" ... and Kiran was telling me that it's going to rain but I don't think so... "

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"Hey! They were just telling in the news that a cyclone's coming our way! I hope IBA shuts down tomorrow, but that's like praying for a miracle..."

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When this part of the year - June, July and August, that is - approaches, one of the things that we look forward most to is... yes, you guessed it right, of course, Rain! 

The bundle of our actions preceding the rain are just so exciting... forecasting it, talking about it, getting excited with the very slightest of cool winds, planning to go to the beach etc... But he feeling of just letting yourself get soaked in the rain through and through has no parallel... Feels like being in some parallel universe in which only we and the madly-high-inducing-rain exist. What never ceases to inspire me and heal my soul is the beauty of such thick rain, that doesn't let you see clearly beyond a few yards and makes the buildings, people, trees and things at a distance seem like a hazy dream, such loud rain that doesn't let you properly hear your own self singing out mad and loud, such rain that makes the earth smell like heaven.

Okay, I think I should stop day dreaming, rather, blog-dreaming already now... :/

Well, today I was on the Shahrah-e-Faisal at about six in the evening and the clouds were all gathering up slowly right above us. Had those clouds followed the normal rule, they would have poured down in half an hour or so. But no, they didn't. They just kept gathering and gathering and making the scene turn from bright blue to grim gray. What? Why didn't they pour? Well, because these clouds were hovering over Karachi, a city that has some kind of repelling force against heavy, almost-about-to-pour-clouds. 

As we moved on, I showed my friend a few drizzled drops on the wind screen and said 'Barking dogs, seldom bite'. Yes, because whenever it rains in Karachi, as long as I remember, it has either happened completely unpredictably or as a continuation of an earlier rain. So, as we drove on it got darker and darker though there was an hour left for sunset.

only if I could go hiking on these clouds...

(click the photo to see an enlarged version)

As I was leaving my home for some work, my Nana had warned me about the impending doom-like cyclone that could accompany rain with it. Acting upon his advice, I grabbed my camera along with me to click away and capture the cruelly mesmerizing beauty of the clouds while enjoying the cool breeze sitting cozily at the window seat.

At the Main University Road

(click the photo to see an enlarged version)

All my way from and back to my home all that happened was the gathering of more and more and more clouds. Seemed like it would rain but it didn't and my hopeful heart asked me, 'Will it rain tomorrow?'...