Ramadan and Winners in the Family!

It's our blessed month of Ramadan. We follow the lunar calendar to decide when Ramadan should begin. We’re going into the summer months for fasting and you learn to cope with the sudden change in eating habits. We begin fasting before sunrises and break it at sunset. Yes, can you imagine getting up at three in the morning to eat and breaking fast close to eight in the evening? I shouldn’t really complain as there are plenty of people around the world who can't break their fasts, which does help you to keep going. Ruqayyah my youngest has managed to keep three off her own accord. We are on our eighth fast and there are twenty two to go!

Besides the fasting, I've got some good news to share. Eemaan and Ruqayyah (my two daughters) decided to enter for a fantasy story competition run by Leicester Libraries. Guess what? They both won first prize! With no help from me, Eemaan had to do a story with graphic illustrations. She did a story on pirates with sea demons and sea dragons etc...etc. She's a good artist and I'm so proud. Ruqayyah had to draw a fantasy library of her choice. She has a great imagination. I wonder where she gets it from?

Walking with Dinosaurs

While I was down in London, I was lucky enough to get tickets for the arena spectacular of ‘Walking with Dinosaurs’. The BBC documentary series- which has been seen by over 700million people worldwide- the production is one of the largest and most acclaimed shows to come out of Australia. They are holding a series of shows at the O2 arena throughout August. It was amazing to watch talented individuals like William May who is the artistic director, Scott Faris director, Warner Brown script writer, Sonny Tilders creature designer, bring these huge dinosaurs back to life. It is definitely high-end stuff.

I came away from the show feeling well informed and excited to learn more about pre-historic life. In my school days, I used to find Evolution studies boring. But, this show has made re-think my understanding of the topic. Learning about theTriassic period (245-208 million years ago), the Jurassic period (208-144 million years ago) a time when Stegosaurs and Alloraurus existed. The most interesting part was the Cretaceous period (144-65 million years ago) a time when Torosaurus, and Tyrannosaurus- Rex roamed the world. It was mind boggling stuff! Before you say it, yes, it's great material for my fantasy book!

I did have concerns about the show. I wouldn’t recommend taking young children. The sounds were loud and the dinosaurs pretty believable. It scared my six years old niece, but she insisted on staying till the end. The steep steps were my other main concern. I didn’t think them suitable for young children. Funnily enough, I saw an older woman weeping outside our entrance section. She hadn’t realised how steep the seats were going to be and couldn’t sit through it. If you’re thinking of going please do check with staff if the seats are suitable for young children. Otherwise, it's a brilliant show to watch!

Tate Britain

I spent a week visiting parents and family in London. It didn’t take my kids long to get bored and pester me to venture out to central London. Both of my daughters, Eemaan, and Ruqayyah are into art. It was the most natural choice to visit an art gallery, so, we headed for Tate Britain situated in Pimlico. The good thing about London is there are so many free places to visit. Do your homework right and you’d be surprised how much fun you can have.

I’m a writer not an arty person, so, I did find some of the art on display quite bizarre! Especially, some of the modern stuff and I’m convinced my daughters stand a good chance in making it into art world! LOL!

Before you think me arrogant let me explain what was on view for the public. Bicycles with a bit of concrete slabs were displayed in the first few room of the modern section??? Exactly! Is that art? I don’t know. Another strange example was a cabinet display of medicines. No joke! It looked like we were about to be served in ‘Boots!’ Am I bad? No offensive to the art world but it was hilarious.

The part I enjoyed was doing creative art in room 17. Forget kids, parents were just as enthusiastic and competitive to show off their artistic streak. I don’t think my son, Ahmad, thought much of my attempt to make him a boat. Yes! I have to admit it was lame! LOL!

Literature at Lunchtime

I accompanied my good friend Imelda Reed to a lecture on Virginia’s Woolf’s semi- biographical novel Orlando. I was impressed by lecturer Dr Jane Mackay’s in depth knowledge of Virginia’s work. Orlando is based on the intimate friendship between Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville- West. ‘Orlando’ is considered by many as important literature to women’s writing and gender studies. But, I have to agree with Dr Mackay that Virginia’s Woolf was foremost a writer dedicated to her art. I don’t believe she would've like to be pigeonholed for women's studies. She came before Feminism and her work lives on post- Feminism era. Virginia was a woman who took her writing very seriously as a writer.

Her novel/biography Orlando explores the boundaries of gender and sexuality. Orlando was often first read by its contemporary audience as a gossipy portrait of Vita Sackville-West; the reviewer at the Daily Mail entitled his buzz on Orlando, "A Fantastic Biography: Mrs. H. Nicholson and 'Orlando': 300 Years as Man and Woman." It was a hugely successful joke - not just critically, but financially as well, both in England and America.

The sad part toVirginia's life was her husband and many people believed she was mad and that’s why she never had children. Virginia suffered three breakdowns and Anorexia in her life. Regardless of her personal issues, she still went on to write and publish work for Bloomsbury. I find it interesting that most strong, intelligent women at some point in their lives will have been considered mad!LOL!

Summer holidays

Writing has gone to pots since the holidays have begun. I took the kids to Norfolk, to a place called Sea Palling for a week. YES! We did get sun, sea and sand most of the time. LOL! We were the fortunate ones to miss out on bad weather. Summer holidays starts early in the East Midlands. The bungalow we hired was fantastic and close to the beach. Not too expensive and the kids just loved spending all day outside with a picnic.

Why go abroad when there’re some fantastic places to visit in England! Locals were friendly and we had a great time just chilling! Driving to Norfolk was lovely. Some of the countryside was breathtaking.

I went to Edinburgh two years and again the visit was a great success. I think people worry too much about weather and ending up in boring or bad holidays. I think holidays are what you make it. You have to do your homework and I’ve been to some brilliant places in England, regardless of the rain, sleet, sun or snow.

Michael Jackson's death

I’ve been following the media coverage of Michael Jackson’s death. It was a shock to hear of his death. Michael Jackson was part of my childhood. I remember watching him as part of the ‘Jackson Five’. I was so excited when I first heard ‘Off the wall’. I was mesmerized by Billie Jean, ‘Beat it’, and so in awe when I saw ‘Thriller’ for the first time. As a kid I used to copy his every move and he did remind me a little of Peter pan. I always thought Michael was a very handsome Afro -American. That’s the Michael Jackson I remember.

Like everything else in life you loose interest, get busy and then suddenly you hear a news flash of his passing. Being a parent, my heart goes out to his orphaned children. I’m sure the Jackson family will take good care of them and give them the grounding they need.

Cbbc Script Competition

Yes, I’ve been busy doing a Cbbc script for the BBC writer’s room competition. The conditions for the competition was the script couldn't be longer than 30 minutes, and no more than 30 pages. I received the email ten days ago, and I wasn’t sure if I would be able to complete it on time. I’m pleased to say I’ve met the deadline before the 1st of July and finished a 6,000 word script.

Phew! It was a slog and I’m quite proud to have done it. But, I hate the waiting part, it always leaves me wondering, was it good enough? Could I’ve done better? etc etc. Why do we self doubt our capability? I don’t know... I suppose it’s the way a writer’s mind works... there’s always room for improvement. No writing piece ever reaches the stage you want it to be at. The funny thing is the other day I was searching the web and I came across this fact page about famous writers who received rejections in their life time. Names like Virginia Woolf , H.G wells, Charles Dickens all took rejections and coped. So who knows if I persevere with my writing where it can lead to.