Practise the real Sacrifice on Baqr-i-Eid

Waking up early on an Eid morning is a pious ritual. Offering Namaz is a cleansing experience. On every Baqr-i-Eid,  my mother Professor Najma Mahmood read out the significance of Eid from columns that used to get published in #Urdu newspaper #QaumiAwaaz (unfortunately it has stopped publishing now). Ammi read out that Baqr-i-Eid is all about 'Sacrifice'.. Sacrificing your pride,  ego,  jealousies, hatred and anything that is dear to us but sacrificing it will make us a better human being. Unfortunately,  today Baqr-i-Eid is all about hurriedly offering Namaz (I saw a Maulana walking out even when the Qutba was going on) and worrying about how quickly can one get done with 'sacrificing' the goat so that they can be the first one to send out the prized meat packet to neighbours and relatives. Many a times (not all) the concern is all about how soon can you purchase The goat. The breed and the price of the Goat is a matter of intense discussion. Somewhere the basic idea of Sacrifice of the spiritual kind has been forgotten and a display of gluttony has taken over. Someone was telling me yesterday that if the massive amount of money spent on purchasing Goats on Baqr-i-Eid is spent on educating poor children, a huge problem of lack of education amongst the poor can be eradicated to a great extent. This is what we shall be doing from now on. Sacrifice a substantial amount of money to help the poor get educated. Eid Mubarak!

Incredible Triund Hill and how we conquered it

It was once in a lifetime experience as trekking for 12 kms (up and down) on steep and extremely difficult mountain terrain isn't an easy task but Aarefa Faridoon, Insha and I managed to achieve it today and it is a tremendous feeling. #Mcleodganj is at an elevation of around 6800 feet above sea level and #TriundHill is at over 9500 feet above sea level.  It took us around 3 and 1/2 hours to reach on top.  It was specially tough for Insha as she's a kid after all and the rocky uneven terrain was tough for her.  With my constant fitness enthusiasm for gymming,  swimming and running I was quite adept at handling it but even I was totally tired as we were reaching the top.  Aarefa on the other hand moved around like a hare and proved to be the one with maximum fitness levels. As they say, the journey is more enjoyable than reaching the destination.  It was perfectly true with us today. We encountered brilliant sceneries,  Brooks of amazingly sweet water,  wild orchids,  sheep's and much more. On top of the hill,  tents are available for tourists at a nominal price. Several tourists spend the night there too but we were told that it's extremely cold in the night. There are no facilities for toilet and that's a drawback. You can get omelette slice,  Maggi,  biscuits,  tea and coffee at a steep price. It was foggy on top and we couldn't see the far flung hills. While coming back we took two and a half hours. There are several cafes on the trekking route where you can get tea,  coffee,  cold drinks and some basic eatables. You have to travel 7 kms by taxi to and fro as well. As I said it was a truly memorable experience and surely an achievement.