...despite the freezing weather, I felt so warm

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ
 السلام عليكم

Harini kejap happy, kejap emo…
Hm..tak ateeqa nasha lah kalau tak macam tu.
Ape masalahnye lagiii nasha. oh  hati..

Semalam dan harini saye ke downtown dgn dua org kawan2 purdue dan sorang kawan baru dr Maryland. It was good, Alhamdulillah. Sangat sejuk…but despite the freezing weather, I so felt warm :) embracing kebesaran Allah through the reflection of picturesque downtown Chicago, mashallah.

Balik rumah, saye sambung bace buku duduk bersama ayah dan mama. Kat depan tv. Mmg lah tak boleh focus baca buku kalau duduk depan tv but hey, do whatever it takes to stay close to them. I'm at my calmest like that. Saya sememangnye tak boleh buat mereka lepak dlm bilik saya semata2 nak mintak mereka ada dekat dgn saye...tapi, alangkah bestnya kalau boleh :)

Alhamdulillah, cuti ni kalau boleh rasa macam nk baca buku je. The couple of months back, ayah and I started sharing something in common. Ayah share dgn saya buku yang beliau baca. Best sgt. Sometimes he hands me the book, sometimes he just drops it off by my table. Saya bahagia macam tu :) tiga buku tgh diusahakan utk habis baca. They’re well on the way, syukur Alhamdulillah. Hehe..walaupun none of them adalah buku dari ayah..hehe. They are kept well someplace in my room, and inshallah I promise I’ll finish reading all of them one day.

Satu buku ni is called ‘Lambian Kaabah’ by Dr. Hafidzi Mohd Nor, assisted also by wife, Pn Zuraidah Kornain. Dr Hafidzi ni tetamu khas di jemput dari Malaysia utk beri ceramah dan kata2 motivasi utk annual MISG-USA event called Muktamar. Dari situ, mereka sempat singgah ke Chicago dan ayah ajak bertandang ke rumah. Dr Hafidzi hadiahkan pula buku beliau siap dgn singnaturenya :) since buku ni kecil dan padat, tambahan pula, MANTOP dari segi pengisian, saye pun simpan je buku ni dalam handbag. Kalau berjalan, naik train, bas, kereta, menunggu, tak lah terbuang masa termenung sangat. Boleh baca buku kn.

Walaupun 109 muka surat sahaja, bahasa dan penulisannya memang tiptop. It was simply written with love dan seikhlas yang mungkin. Kita sebagai pembaca dapat rasakan. Imagine a book can make us romantic towards our religion. Eh correction. A better phrase, affectionate towards our religion. Bukan setakat pengalaman, tapi banyak diseltkan dgn surah, hadis dan sirah2 utk support pengalaman dia. Buku ni special sangat. Terbakar semangat ni...saya pon nak experience macam tu. Inshallah, Mekah itu sentiasa tersemat dlm hati  sebagai destinasi yang terancang. without a question. permudakanlah ya Allah.



Lagi satu buku ni, kene jugak baca sbb mak kepada one of my close friends saya sendiri tulis :). Mak kak nazirah..Siti Salwa Arshad dgn tajuk buku travelognya yang menceritakan ekspedisinya menjejelah USA, Putik-putik Islam Yang Kian Berkembang. Best. Yang t upon saya dapat selami, pada masa yang sama, buku tu banyak bagi saya idea untuk plan our next family road trip, this summer, inshallah :)

Kedua2 buku ni bertulisan dalam bahasa Melayu. Sedangkan cuti ni saya dah berazam nak improvekan vocab dan English grammar saya dgn membaca. So, simply for pleasure and self-improvement, saye baca sebuah novel called A Million Little Pieces by James Frey, one of Oprah’s Book Club Must Read. Ha, these kinds of books, saya share dengan mama. Simply sebab kami memang heartkan Oprah Winfrey for many of her inspirational works.

I used to hate reading. Like seriously. Orang yang utama tahu dan ubah sikap saya ni adalah cikgu English saya, Mrs Park. I was 14/15 years old that time. She said she was surprised by my statement. Knowing me, she couldn’t accept that. Beliau banyak menolong dan perbetulkan essays saya sewaktu di Garendon High School dulu. I was weak at Past Tense and grammar, but I had good ideas and a lot to say; so she commented. We went to the library together, she helped me find good, interesting books, so I could read them for pleasure and not all forced and educational for the sake of improving grammars and vocabs. It doesn’t have to be that way at all…

Last day of class before going back to Malaysia, I knew I’d be leaving Garendon forever and not able to see her again after that. Burleigh college was my next destination, pursuing my upper secondary. She asked me what I wanted to be…I told her, a doctor. Doktor Pakar Kanak-kanak, to be precise :) at the same time, she and everyone knew my passion for Arts. Continually what she replied, can be found on this link as I recorded in a 2006 entry http://ateeqanasha.blogspot.com/2006/05/flattered.html when it was all still fresh in my mind…and still is and forever will, inshallah. Itu peringatan bagiku.

Bila reflect balik, what we think we know for sure changes throughout time as far as careers and ambitions. As of today and in the foreseeable life time future, with whatever I end up doing, I know for deadly sure and impulsively, I want to help people, inshallah. That is why, for the time being, for the PRICELESS time being and at any other time, I have to help myself first to help others. I seek for your assistance, Ya Illahi , so I can assist others. Fill me up with knowledge, strength, confidence and persistence. Semoga kita semua istiqomah, amin…

bak pepatah Rumi, a sufi poet, which ayah introduced me to,
"Let the beauty of what you love be what you do".