Gold Medal Oil was part of my known pain-relief arsenal. While growing up, we used it generously for headaches & nasal blockage. I suppose with my migraines and sinusitis, this will come in handy when I’m back in the UK. 📷

It has been 30 days since my father passed away. Time flies!

I feel overwhelmed with the amount of work that needs to be sorted in this situation. Every day, I’m learning about new things needing my attention or to be taken care of.

In India, the time taken to get any formal documentation after one’s passing is ridiculous. One needs extreme levels of patience to handle the people in the bureaucracy. Even the staff at the bottom of the bureaucracy chain will test your patience. It’s frustrating for me because I grew up in the UAE & UK where things get done effectively and efficiently.

At the moment, I’m just taking one day at a time. It’s hard. I miss my father very much. May Allah SWT grant our family the strength and courage to move forward. Ameen!

Today, the air conditioning unit failed in my room. AC repair engineer reckons it would be better to replace the unit with a brand new one. I too agree but with full lockdown in place, nobody knows when the electrical showrooms will reopen.

Currently, the temperature reaches 34 degC. We do have a ceiling fan but that just not enough to cool down the room in the daytime. I feel like a stuffed chicken in an oven ready to be cooked.

The chicken reference is because my sister cooked some delicious fried chicken for lunch. Yum!

Alright! It’s about time I start exploring the world of podcasting/microcasting. I have been interested in podcasts since 2010 when I got my iPhone 3Gs. iTunes introduced me to it!

With the new update to Wavelength app and free two weeks trial, I thought why not I give it a go? So here it is!

I’m call my microcast as Ridwan’s Rough Notes. Rough Notes doesn’t have to be perfect. It’s just random notes on books I’m reading, life learnings, reflections etc etc.

Hope to continue this experiment to more than 6 notes and see how I feel?

Let’s start the journey. 🎙️

It is Eid-ul-Fitr, a day of celebration and gratitude.

I’m grateful for the good memories I had in this year’s Ramadan. I’m grateful to Allah, the Almighty for his countless blessings. I pray to him to give us the strength and fortitude to observe this Eid without our father.

May Allah SWT accept our fasts and good deeds. May Allah SWT shower his mercy and victory. Most importantly, to the people of Palestine whose courage and resilience inspire all the oppressed people of this world to stand up against tyranny and injustice. Ameen!

Thanks very much to the kind souls of Micro.blog!

Words cannot express my gratitude.

It has been more than a week since my father’s passing. I still cannot fathom this huge loss. I feel stuck in a rut. I feel overwhelmed with the big shoes I will be trying to fill in. It’s not going to be easy but I’ll try to move forward and leave a lasting legacy like my father.

May Allah SWT grant us all the strength, courage and confidence to face all of life’s challenges. Ameen.

A shining light has been extinguished, which can never be replaced.

My father has passed away on 21st April 2021, Wednesday, around 6:30 pm (Ramadan 7, 1442 AH).

My father has always been a champion of noble charitable causes in our family and the wider community.

My father has always reminded us to uphold family ties and kinship. I remind these words myself first and pass this message to you all.

Lastly, if my father has done any minor transgressions to your family or yourselves, please forgive my father for the sake of Allah, the Almighty and his Holy Prophet (SAW). And, please pray for my father’s afterlife and may Allah SWT grant him the highest levels of Paradise (Janat Al Firdouz).

One more thing, if I have done anything to hurt you with my words or actions, it was not my intention. I seek your forgiveness and please keep my family and me in your prayers and thoughts.

Whatever is bad of me is from Shaytan (Satan), and whatever is good from me is from the countless blessings of Allah, the Almighty.

May Allah SWT grant us all success in this life and the hereafter.

Today we went to Leeds to get our RT-PCR Tests done. We are expecting the results within 48 hours. Hopefully, we get it by 10 pm tomorrow (12-Apr-2021). I’m in the final stages are flying out and I feel like I have got so many things to do and keep track of. I’m slowly learning to appreciate how far I have come in organising this trip with a lot of emotions in the background. There are times where I have felt knocked down one punch at a time. I think, journaling the process is helping me to cope with the stress and clarify my next actions. Here, I have to mention my Bullet Journal and its creator, Ryder Carroll, for helping me to stay calm amidst the storm.

My wife & I drove around Leeds to do a bit of shopping for our little cousins, nieces & nephews. And, we got a takeaway from this Arabic restaurant, Al Khaleej. It was delicious. We have some leftovers for tomorrow. I’m looking forward to that! They had a wall art of the Holy Prophet’s saying on taking advantage of five matters before five other matters. I needed that reminder. It gave me so much peace.

Today I spent most of my day over the phone booking flights, arranging PCR test and booking our hotel stay in London. I feel like my mind is working at a break-neck speed and it is exhausting. I remember reading David Allen’s GTD book where he talks about cognitive load and how it tires out your mind when you start to clarify the outcomes and next-actions. He is totally right. I’m glad things are improving with my father. But, Covid has infected his lungs and due to his age and side effects of powerful drugs administered, doctors have performed a tracheostomy to reduce further infection in his lungs and help him breathe without intubation. We are keeping hopes alive. That’s all we can do right and leave the rest the Almighty.

We had pizza for dinner and I think it’s the treat that I needed after a tiring week.

Today I went to the Indian Consulate in Birmingham. The emergency visa application has been accepted and the visa is stamped. Now, I need to make our travel arrangement over the weekend. PCR testing, uploading documents, limited flying routes etc. I suppose flying during a pandemic adds another layer of stress but it will all be worth it to be with the family. The doctors are cautiously hopeful today and said they will give us their recommendations on a post-Covid recovery plan for my father. As of now, he is recovering well and next week the doctors will decide on the next treatment steps.

Today was a bit of relief. We had some good updates from the hospital. My father’s breathing is stabilising and slowly his conditions are improving. The doctors are still cautious and hopeful. We were able to relax a bit now. I cannot thank the doctors, nurses and healthcare support workers enough for their service.

Tonight we cooked lamb curry for dinner and it was delicious. Currently, we are trying to minimise our cooking time by batching. So, curries are great for batch-cooking and freezing. The wife doesn’t like to freeze it but, when I was single I used to freeze them for each meal, all the time.

Today has been better. There’s a slight improvement in my father’s health condition. The doctors are keeping him under observation. I’m progressing my travel plans to Chennai. The pandemic is a big disruptor of smooth travels. I guess, people used to moan about airport security and baggage scans but flying during a pandemic is whole another level of pain. At the end of the day, I’m looking forward to being with the family more than ever. As a first step, I picked up my new laptop from the office.

Today I felt at ease after lots of ups and downs in the past two days. My sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew have landed safely in Chennai. My brother-in-law has taken over and that gives my mum, and me so much strength and peace. I can now concentrate on getting my visa, PCR testing and flight bookings sorted.

A lot of people including my fellow microbloggers have sent their prayers and best wishes to my father’s speedy recovery. I’m so touched and grateful for your kindness.

Also, I’m thankful to the inventor of printer technology, this device is helping me to print and scan many required documents for the visa application. Not really happy about the paper that’s going to be wasted, but hey-ho! Gotta print them anyway.

Today I spent most of the day talking to family and following up on the father’s status. He’s still in critical care and we require thoughts and prayers more than ever. May God Almighty grant him a speedy and complete recovery.