Challenges

 One shouldn't set expectations from anyone. I'm not whining or complaining. This expression is a mere statement. A happy declaration, that each of us brings with us a unique set of challenges if we can face those and get done with them by the end of the day, we should feel accomplished. And empathise that everyone out there is fighting there own battle.

  I'm swarm by work; intimidatingly but alhamdolillah for everything. I seem to be in a dire need for a very well-planned schedule. One that I can strictly stick to and that will take me through the remaining symmester. 

The Affirmation 2013

   In the coming 5yrs an individual 5-yr plan for me might have a greater impact InshaaAllah on my future than the one any government engineers. Though Allah Ta'ala's plans have always proved far far better than mine but the fact that He kept me struggling and moving in a direction was important too. So, for the next 5 years I will work at what I plan too and I pray that may Allah Ta'ala lead my plans and direct and redirect them to what is better for me. 

The Present Tense

 
 Children are adorable. They are our compass to what's right and what is wrong. Our key to responsibilty and maturity. A little check on us. There would be no goodness in this world without them. Why am I writing all this? A little chitchat with my little brother gives me a far greater sense of direction than anything else. I love his sweet, adorable and pure soul. The way he confides his little fears, trials, tribulations, sorrows and joys in me has to be my greatest asset.

  I was about to write "life is so busy" but I realise it's only if we make it so. And lately I certainly had. I mean, true, my responsibilities and commitments have increased but constant self-reminders of oh-i'm-so-busy, aggravate things. It's so easy to lose your way fretting about the past and future. Even a good 10-15 min of not thinking about anything but what exists in the present  moment works like therapy. The air the fan thows around; the ground my feet are on; the folds of the bedspread or the kit-kit of the computer keys. *takes a good look around*. Shukar al hamdolillah.

  *Takes a deep breath* Back to Operative! =)



 

     

The First Essay

I remember the first composition/paragraph/essay sort of thing we were suppose to right back at school was "All About Me". Only now I realise why they did so. Your first form of writing should define you.. apparently a perfect start... perhaps to self-obsession but oh well. =p

   It's nice to define and redefine and renew oneself from time to time. We change without even realising. I used to think my friend, Hoppa, is the only person who's absolutely consistent with inconsistency. Now though, I think we all are. Inconsistency is creativity, change, learning, progressing and perhaps sign of vitality, atleast to me. Life's so boring when it's the exact opposite. Anyways, here's what HarleQueen and her life is about today.

- A dental-surgeon-in-making.. a few months away from the title "Dr."
- An artist, Harlequin. I carve handmade plaster of paris gifts, do trosseau wrapping, glass/tile painting, card-making..
- An entrepreneur, owner of Harlequin.Greetings, my online giftshop
- A writer, blogger, poet, playwright (comic skits for school and university).- Winner, 3rd Prize for Creative Writing, at IIPM, NewDelhi India,
- A public-speaker; debator, compere (LOTS and LOTS of awards from school, representation from my college at the Debate, Cicero's Challenge, India. Twice winner, second prize, at Dow University's annual debate competition.  Alhamdolillah alhamdolillah
All by Allah's Grace.
- Thinktank- love to muse and amuse myself with the ongoings of the world. I think I a lot at times, day-dream off and on (no more dreams at night for the past three years or so, or atleast none that I can remember). I used to dream alot! And could even recall every dream vividly. Not anymore. I'd like to think it's probably because I got in dentistry. Dream come true? But then I never dreamt of being part of dentistry. Loved it when I had it and so much that I bet it is better, no, wayyyyy better than a lot dreams I wished would come true. Allah Ta'ala has a much better plan for us than we have for ourselves.
- A daughter to two doctors. Doctor k bachey are completely different from most people coming from non-med backgrounds. Your normative views regarding most things are different. For one thing, we know life's never about us. Most of us, especially if you're the eldest, live with the notion that medicine is a legacy; medicine is the crown to the throne you dare not abdicate; taking up medicine is your responsibility; medicine is your only career choice even if you have inner capabilities to expand


                                                                                         to be continued... for sure =p

The Keera Extension- At the Chairside I

Dental Myths in Pakistan... there sooooo many. Not a day passes without me getting to hear something from my patients; something new, absurd to a dentally-educated mind and yet familiar to someone who was once a patient not the dentist. We all had crazy dental notions and so did I. This is my reminder to me, to be patient with my patients.

 Yesterday I was suppose to extract a carious second molar and a small third molar next to it. My patient, a 26 year old gentleman questioned me twice whether the keera would extend to his adjacent teeth if I would extract them.

Q. Kia keera doosre daaton mein nahi phhail jayega nikalne se?

Ans. Well, firstly what is a keera? I'm going to share this picture from the page dental myths and facts

So that black thing that seems like it "ate" your teeth wasn't a parasite. It was the bacterial acid content decaying your tooth.. it doesn't "spread". And no, extraction will simply take the tooth out of your mouth it nothing to do with causing tooth decay. 

Keep brushing and ALL your teeth will remain healthy. =)

Tremorrrs!!

I get back home; unwind; switch on the laptop and sit on the floor with my back to the closet.
Right below my room is the zabardasti ki gym-machine welding area, of the many recent additions in the neighbourhood that have made us seriously consider moving. The zing zing zing zing makes it impossible for me or anybody to take an afternoon nap and today it's on the regular, business routine with a zing zing zing zing again.

 So the laptop is switched on and before I can begin anything I realise, the closet I have my back resting on is shaking and so am I. The laptop screen is shaking. My bed, my bookshelves and the entire earth around me is shaking!!. It pauses for like 5 seconds and starts shaking again. Even more and that's when I rush out of my house with my sisters and brother to find all the neighbours gathered downstairs. Karachi just got hit by a 5.4 earthquake, the epicentre of which was Iran where it was 7.8-8.0.

 Thankyou Allah Ta'ala again for reminding us that truly we are but nothing and how uncertain the next minute is.
May Allah protect us all.

The gym is back to work; zing zing zing zinging again and I'm alhamdolillah alive and my room is intact and I hear it again.

Then and Now

   Final year... and ask myself.. how far have I come? A lot I'd say. Some lessons I ought to have learnt and embedded in my conscience and only during these few years did I truly do so. Let's say these four years gave me the capacity to do so. Alhamdolillah for everything though. I truly learnt to hold all my expectations from me and i think it's going well so far. Yes, I'm wayyyy too optimistic about somethings but that is necessary if progress is to be expected and worked towards. I feel far more opinionated than I was earlier. I love to reflect on life and it's many sides. It's fun. It's healthy.

  Crazily though I have to admit, funny and to some even eccentric as it may sound but good Pakistani dramas have always had their place in my reflections. Not all; not Humsafar (not as much) =p but quite a few. Back when i was a kid, growing with PTV played that part and today are the new dramas- Daam, Maat and Zindagi Gulzar Hai to name.

 As bright, shiny, smiley and optimistic I like being, it's life subtleties that attract and make me succumb into believing them... of the many are a few depicted in Zindagi Gulzar Hai. I wish the drama had a different name because I don't know why I don't like it but the story, the dialogues and the characters leave me in awe. I know there are a lot of people who'd contradict me, hate the drama and think it's a drag but the truth is you can only truly appreciate it all if you've seen all this or perceived in truth and reality. Alhamdolillah though I've never had to go through a lot depicted in there but I can relate to it, I've seen these characters all around me behaving so verrry like those characters.

This lady here, has got to be the finest actress to carry out this role. She isn't, as my friend puts it "Pretty-Puppetty" and that's exactly what makes her so good, I couldn't help but be awed by the author, the script and the directer for portraying this character with it's correct depth.. so apt.
Having a father, and yet never ever feeling that he has a hand, let alone an upperhand in your upbringing  and your progress creates such a vacuum in a person's life and state of mind that can only be filled by their own struggle with life's negativism and that is exactly what shapes Kashaf Murtaza.

 Lesson at the end of the day.. there is sooo much to be grateful for and appreciate in my life and at times looking at the negativity of it I tend to forget it all. Be grateful you have parents. Be grateful that your father is concerned, very concerned about your future; grateful that your mother is treated like a queen, you do not have to go through the turmoil they do. I'm not pitying them. One should not, it's an insult to their much greater self-esteem. The phrase that a diamond goes through all that heat to become a diamond, holds true. So people who do struggle this way are the best amongst us. Yes, hardships are brought in our path to help us, mould us into something better and shape us and polish us into becoming diamonds. So if you are the one going through those hardships, they are are something to be grateful for as well.

 My good texts are all saved in my old samsung-champ. Right now I'm a little too lazy and sleepy to fetch it and read a text I once sent a friend. It is actually a hadith I read and I think I should make it an affirmation to help me get through the day. I'm just going to give it's crux which is k Allah Ta'ala kisi k saath bhalai ka irada kartey hain tau unhe mushkil se dochar kardetein hain. True, there is goodness in both our ease and difficulty. SubhanAllah.

Off for now. A thought to sleep on.

The Need of the Hour.

  A pleasure it is to talk to Tahrim Farrukh my twinsie in spirit. Writing, oh how i miss blogging when I can't find the time to. *Happiness*

  Finally when I thought I'm immune to prostho allergens, allergic rhinitis came along. I think it came from the disinfectant i inhaled on the day of the denture-insertion. *Sighs* Allergies, Oh how will I make it through the dental school with them.. i wonder.. but then I've made it so far, I called in sick today. Resting at home. Stress is the biggest immunity-enemy ever. I've never been this stressed out in all these dental years as much as have been lately i guess that did it. So today I rest. Today I blog. Today I unwind. Today I reflect and today I recharge for tomorrow.

  So what do I write about today han? Recent achievements or miseries? I'll start with achievements:
- made my first complete denture and got my patient's duas
- my  fastest attempt at making white-sauce pasta. woke up at 5 in the morning and was done by 7. It would've been even faster but I was also de-waxing the denture wax-up. soooo
-worked and cooked simultaneously (multi-tasking is something to celebrate)
- attended shaukat khanum's head and neck cancer conference
-  read isolation from all three operative books on the.same.day in a few hours.. speeeeed =D
- got the raw material for dresses for Fahad Bhai, my cousin's shaadi. THIS is an achievement! Me getting family-shaadi dresses done early.. me proud B)

Miseries.. umm I'm not sure if I should call them so because well, I do believe everything happens for a reason. everything. And no matter how miserable it makes you, Allah has something better planned for us. So I suppose all these setbacks and challenges and events testing my patience are set out for a reason.
- I still have to get one more credit in prostho
-Dr.Anwar, our oral surgery teacher, confirmed that there is an extraction-quota. 250 extractions!
- i still have to complete ortho plates
I wonder what makes medicine students at dow say they're short of time. Dentistry is far more tough and definitely takes up more time. Yes the treatment scope narrows down to the oral cavity but these four undergrad years are wayyyyy to hectic.
Solution: Pray, work. pray it gets approved and keep calm and carry on.
-Next, I seriously feel like going into self-exile, surrounded by notions devoid of any sense or idea about what it is like  is to have a hobby, nurture it and keep at it because it works like therapy, perhaps even better. Crying was never any help to me. I never used to cry to make me feel better because it doesn't. I have had my own set of therapies.
- carving .. no time for that
- poetry.... hmmm not sure what to write about anymore
- writing... I'm at it =D
- reading... i want to re-read Harry Potter but .... no time.

sooo... writing it is for now..



 

Wishlist

1.a new handpiece. original.
2.a crop-a-dile
3. distressing inks
4. craft punches.
5. lovely bookmarks or the the the time to make some
6. Firefly keychains and minialbums
7. A brand-new instrument/ armamentarium box
8. Time lots of it
9. prayers

Harlequin's First =)

I received lots of love today. A lot. I'm thoroughly pleased with the progress alhamdolillah. The work pending gives me shudders. Last year I was sick for like a month after over-carving and after that things got pretty slow. But Allah Ta'ala gives me strength when I'm down, and I still get to manage. Taking Harlequin further and expanding it would be a very difficult task. I get a lot of suggestions as to what I can do and what new stuff I can introduce but I feel, sticking to plaster-carving and gift-booking it will be for sometime. I'm blessed alhamdolillah all due to Him and feel that I need to stick to this, make it grow more, improve more, and master it inshaaAllah. =)

Harlequin charges too much. Harlequin charges too little. Really? As far as "too little" goes, those people who tell me it's too little, well honestly, I've never seen them showing the slightest inclination to buy anything from Harlequin. And as far as "too much" for the carved items goes.. I really don't know what to say.. but since you've paused to give a thought at purchasing them, then you should know a few things.

I didn't take classes for plaster-of-paris crafting, you know. I created it. It started off in my dental labwork taught by brilliant teachers. But converting it into a durable handicraft was a series of experiments. And I still keep making more and more upgrades to improve. You can't simply carve or paint onto plaster of paris. Alot of physics goes into it (a blessing being a whacky science student it is). I'll definately give classes for this craft InshaaAllah and people will realise how much of an effort goes into carving, moulding, shaping, painting, varnishing and the wrapping-it-up part, is no easy either. But it is a lot of fun! And the best part is the extensive detailing I love doing.

 Did you know that as long as a gift remains in my custody I keep making additions to it? Yes, I do that. I'm not jataofying here on anyone. Yes, you don't ask for it either but I know the importance of making the thought count. Take a look at the DSLR I carved. What if I simply exclude the gift box, and give you  something that unique in a simple gift bag? A. I'm inviting every possibility of the gift not reaching your place. Plaster of paris products are "FRAGILE: handle with care!" items.B. Ok, let's say I give it to you in the carton-type box. Those boxes land in trash cans eventually because they're not pretty. Are they? Nope! These gifts are unique alhamdolillah because they are about the unique, beautiful people they are intended for. They need to be dressed well and the way the receiver would love them. C. Why decor the box when you can do with the simple one? Harlequin products are my babies. Take a look at it this way. When I handover a gift I want to sleep in peace that night knowing the particular gift has a home. What if you get something made from Harlequin, and give it to your friend. Years from today, you would want that gift to stay forever. Your friend might move to a new place. In moving, what if the gift breaks because it was simply handed over in a bag or a carton box ?  Now we don't want that do we? Having a proper themed box ensures that the gift has a home. If it is not on the shelf, it is safe in it's box. If it's not in a desk, it's safe in a box it rightly belongs with. Or if it's simply stored in and treasured then it get's to be so in a box that is equally treasured. (I think I'll include that with the instructions now). When I made the Sydney Opera House, I did not want to depart with it. I had put a whole month into it, from figuring out how on earth it could be carved to how to set it right and then finally personalise it. I felt like a parent whose raised a daughter and rukhsatting her. (funny feeling that was) And that is when I made the "Our Love is Like the Wind"-box entirely out of my own hands. And I was up all night doing it alhamdolillah =)

So if you get a harlequin gift, you get it with it's box. The only time I've not added boxes are for little ceramic stuff I stock up when my sisters wanted them or we were in an absolute hurry. The sizes vary so greatly that availablity of "every-size" boxes ain't possible when you need to give the gift within a few hours (hence the processing times when these are ordered). Even then, i do display boxes or quickly-made trays. Presentation of a great gift is nine points of law! And I would encourage anyone reading this to remember, that the best gifts are even more awesome when presented rightly. Even if you've bought simple earrings for your friend. Get some momentum, be little more generous, go and get a lovely box with it as well there are so many in the market. The Gift will turn into a Treasure when given with the Box! ;)  Or if you've planned the gift a week ahead, you can always get a box personalised from Harlequin. I love to personalise.

I don't want the gift to be given to the receiver without my client's contribution either. So we do a lot things where both my client and I put in our best. We decide the colours together. We decide the designs together. My clients get to keep tabs on the progress. And last but not the least, the greeting card... Why would you want to go about looking for one when it comes personalised in the decided personalised theme =). And you get to scribble in your notes to your loved ones yourself. So, you're with me from the beginning to it's very end and we create a jewel and WE WRAP IT UP *high five* =)
Now that's something right?

Anyways I'll get back to some incredible inedibles i'm setting right now. can't wait to put em on the page.

Keep following,

love,
HarleQueen. =)

And it started rolling with a golf ball.

  Harlequin Greetings started off in a box titled "Mahida Greetings" in which i used to store little scraps of paper, Quality Street and Galaxy Jewel wrappers(love their colours), gorgeous wrapping sheets, Hallmark greeting cards, stickers, bookmarks, newspaper cuttings and anything shiny or colourful. I used to make gifts out of these for friends. Basically, a lot of recycle-art.. Like there was this one occasion I made a facebook-timelined folder for my friend using a gul-ahmed bedsheet wala cardboard and alot of everything I mentioned above.. I can't say I was an expert at it but my friends loved it gladly =) In my gap year when applying for a business university, a question kept stirring.. if i made it to this what on earth would I do in business and I'd look at my little box and smile. Gifts.. the at-the-back-of-my-mind agenda! If you're wondering whether I made it to business school then naaaah. I didn't.. bad math =/ and neither did I land in Medicine where I intended to. I landed somewhere in between.... Dentistry!! =D And I never wanted to leave because in Dentistry I found everything.. Art and Medicine & Surgery.. lots of hands-on work! I was offered Medicine again but gladly I never accepted.. I had met my love, and when it introduced me to Plaster-of-Paris.. I couldn't wait to explore it's wonders! And finally by the end of second year.. I found business too. Allah Ta'ala has a much much better plan for us then we have for ourselves and I can't thank Him enough for blessing me with everything. =)

 The above picture is of the first order I got. I took the details of the gentleman this was intended for and rummaged my scrap box to see what I could make and didn't find a thing that could be personalised. My friend (THE harlequin supporter), told me it's about time I start working on things besides scraps. I couldn't really think of anything. cardboard wall hangings no matter how funky, weren't the classy gift one would give to a fiance unless digital i think and I don't do digital. And sooo.. I thought it's about time I experiment with plaster. And I made this. The ball was not made out of a mould. My own hands moulded them and the rest is a lot dental labwork and years of crafting and calligraphy put together alhamdolillah. The ball is a paper-weight resting on a golf plate acting as paper-weight and pen holder =) A perfect Golf Lover's desk item!

 Now a creation like that needs to be wrapped up rightly, the way it deserves to.. and soo I made the tuxedo box. =) 

 And that is what got Harlequin.Greetings rolling! I can never thank my client enough for trusting me with this. I met this lady for the first time on the day she placed her order and she was willing to place her faith in my abilities. Shukar Alhamdolillah. I can't thank Him enough.

Let the blogging.. begin..