My World: My Gregorian year 2013 in review...

[fahim mohammed]

Just you and me. Between friends. Thought I should share some of what went through the year 2013
as far as I was concerned.

Uncountable things to be thankful for. Ebb and flow.

So I have ordered a table for two. Two friends seeing through some images..

The menu is Halal..Kosher. The drinks are non-alcoholic.

You are my guest. Welcome.

 

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Fahim,

Just you and me. Between friends. Thought I should share some of what went through the year 2013 as far as I was concerned.

Uncountable things to be thankful for. Ebb and flow.

So I have ordered a table for two. Two friends seeing through some images..

Very nice

The menu is Halal..Kosher.

Fine by me. Always tasty.

The drinks are non-alcoholic.

Fits my own practice just fine.

You are my guest. Welcome.

Thank you. I am honored and pleased.

Indeed, 2013 CE was quite a year!

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

Thanks Fahim, the most important thing about 2013 is that you've survived it. I hope that 2014 will be a much better year for you and your loved ones. Cheers.

 

[Jarmo Juntunen]

Thank you Fahim! Sounds good to me. Now, lets see the pictures.

 

[Michael Nagel]

Thank you.

Hope that the new year will have a lot of ups in reserve for you and you can fully enjoy every moment of it.
For the moment enjoy the meal.

Best regards,
Michael

 

[fahim mohammed]

Doug, Cem, Jarmo and Michael..thank you guys for stopping by.

Cem, 2 more days to go!!

I appreciate all the friends and their well wishes expressed towards me on OPF.

May you and all your loved ones have a healthy, happy and prosperous future.

Best wishes and kindest regards.

 

[fahim mohammed]

I did not travel much this year. Fares went up..for both the tickets and the hotels.

I have posted some of the images to follow ( maybe majority of them ) previously. So apologies in advance.

While my family went to the States and Canada during Jan and Feb..I headed the other direction to S.E. Asia. Malaysia and Laos. I am done with traveling west, for the most part. East and my region is where I would like to concentrate my time in the future.

 

[fahim mohammed]

The flights were long; the layovers tiring. But once I got to Laos, it was worth it in spades.

And, as Asher once remarked, ' rice '. There was lots of it...

 

[fahim mohammed]

The rivers and their tributaries have, and continue, to play a very important role in Laotian history and daily life.

While commercial activity has picked up tremendously, the elder generation has long memories.
Coke, Nike and Big Macs are for the newer generation..the elders sit by the river banks and tell stories
of napalm and aircraft over the Mekong...

 

[fahim mohammed]

Hectic infrastructure development is easily seen in the major cities and towns. Away from these centers, life flows slowly..just like their rivers most of the time.

Generation old practices continue to thrive alongside the improvements that Western and Chinese investments are bringing to the country and the people...

 

[fahim mohammed]

I was putting in a lot of car time, going across the country. Towards either the Thai or Vietnamese borders.

However, I was operating way below my normal. Did not know the reason, at that time. I was enjoying the experience and the culture....

 

[fahim mohammed]

By now the family was back home.

It was time for me to wrap up another experience; another journey and carry on my SD cards the memories of a wonderful country and wonderfully hospitable people..

I do not like long flights. At all. Next time, I shall split flights over 5 hours in hops.

 

[fahim mohammed]

Mariam and me are close. Very close.

Jadoo, she said, tears in her eyes ' will you die '? Straight. fighting to control herself from crying out loud.

Everyone and everything dies, Mariam. Except the Creator.
She understood what I meant, but the child could not bear to loose something she loved.

Your help is the most important, I told her. Will you pray for me?, I asked. She hugged me..all the while crying. It took me a long visit to Toys R Us to divert her mind.

I spent a day with her in a valley. We chased the birds, splashed the waters collected in lakes from the recent rainfall..

But I present this in the reverse order. Never mind.

What was a routine visit turned out to be much serious. The following weeks were a continuous stream of medical tests.

I love photography..

And B&W is my favorite.

 

[fahim mohammed]

This is a review of the year from my pov. Very personal. So excuse some personal thoughts that invariably shape my view of the almost ending year 2013.

There is a verse in our Holy Book; paraphrased it would be something like this " which of the Blessings of your Lord do you deny? .." It is a beautiful passage..

Bob, would later tell me..' Fahim I have never seen so much experience around an OR table as for you today '.

My wife and I have invariably taken our journeys together. She walked along as I was pushed to the OR;
We never talked. I was slightly sedated. I remember the lights on the roof of the corridor. Bright. Sterile.

At the door, she said..' I will see you later, Inshallah '.

Dr. Khan would later tell me, ' Drs Ali and Faisal generally only handle highly complicated cases. Other
surgeons handle the CABG procedures..very simple medically. First time I see them together for a CABG.
And the team...usually reserved for transplants!!'

There is a saying in our part of the world..' He who does not thank his fellow beings is incapable of thanking his Lord. '

' Go home, Fahim ', said Ali ' it could have happened in Laos '.

Indeed. I got lucky. Or did I?

"..which of the Blessings of your Lord do you deny? .."

 

[fahim mohammed]

I am a good boy now. No smoking. Exercises. No fatty food.
Basically starved to death and denied the edible things to eat.

It is early morning..very early. Just after morning prayers. The phone rings.

" Come to the hospital..". I wake my wife..Apprehension. Worry.
Did something go wrong?
Are they both OK?

We named him Mohammed, said my daughter.

" which of the Blessings of your Lord do you deny?.."

 

[Jerome Marot]

I wish you to enjoy little Mohammed as he grows, Fahim. Happy new (gregorian) year 2014.

 

[Asher Kelman]

By now the family was back home.

It was time for me to wrap up another experience; another journey and carry on my SD cards the memories of a wonderful country and wonderfully hospitable people..

I do not like long flights. At all. Next time, I shall split flights over 5 hours in hops.

She represents the visits you have made and the connections that showed a moments of pause while you celebrated the shared humanity. I know that you are a good man and deserve a perfect healing for the new year, إن شاء الله

Asher

 

[fahim mohammed]

I wish you to enjoy little Mohammed as he grows, Fahim. Happy new (gregorian) year 2014.

She represents the visits you have made and the connections that showed a moments of pause while you celebrated the shared humanity. I know that you are a good man and deserve a perfect healing for the new year, إن شاء الله

Asher

Jerome, Asher..may you and yours too have a great present and an even greater future.

Warmest regards.

 

[fahim mohammed]

Wandering in the desert. For a short while. Luckily she was not lost, and made it back home in a week.

My wife took a trip to Egypt. To climb Mt. Sinai. To experience history, as it might have been thousands of years ago.

To gaze across the mountains and see the sun rise. Would have not looked much different to a person millenniums ago...

One walks and climbs through mostly unchanged desert, valleys, rocks and mountains. I am told that there is a ' something ' indescribable one feels as one drinks in the scene around these parts. Gripping and often pleasantly frightening. History rings in one's ears. The body and soul is transported back to a time in history that would shape the future in way unimaginable....

Legend has it that holding the sun in your hands from the top of Mt.Sinai, across the desert and mountains, brings untold blessings and good fortune...

Then there are those that maintain that one makes their own luck and fortune.

Standing on top of Mt. Sinai, gazing across the desert, conversant with the history of this place, I would think otherwise. Not by holding the sun in your palms..no. Long long ago, one person could never have lead his people to freedom from here on his own. Never.

 

[fahim mohammed]

Then arrived the Fuji XE-1. A lighter camera that I hoped would be a travel companion.
I posted test shots from it. It suited me; and was enough for my type of photography..

But how would it do as a travel camera?

 

[fahim mohammed]

So off we went. The XE-1 accompanied us to the U.A.E. From Abu Dhabi to Ras-El-Khaima.

I posted a lot of images from there on OPF. Here are a few more selected ones...

I am satisfied with the XE-1 to be my travel companion. Even in the Spice markets..

 

[fahim mohammed]

Then there was a small bump on the road...

No more travel for sometime for me, they said. So I took you folks to a World Heritage Site, not far from my home...

Our history and our heritage..

 

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Fahim,

Wandering in the desert. For a short while. Luckily she was not lost, and made it back home in a week.

My wife took a trip to Egypt. To climb Mt. Sinai. To experience history, as it might have been thousands of years ago.

To gaze across the mountains and see the sun rise. Would have not looked much different to a person millenniums ago...

One walks and climbs through mostly unchanged desert, valleys, rocks and mountains. I am told that there is a ' something ' indescribable one feels as one drinks in the scene around these parts. Gripping and often pleasantly frightening. History rings in one's ears. The body and soul is transported back to a time in history that would shape the future in way unimaginable....

Legend has it that holding the sun in your hands from the top of Mt.Sinai, across the desert and mountains, brings untold blessings and good fortune...

Then there are those that maintain that one makes their own luck and fortune.

What a pleasure, glimpses of that precious rarity, a smile from this angel.

Best regards,

Doug

 

[fahim mohammed]

Thank you kindly Doug.

A new member of OPF, Mohammed ( who prefers something more solid than milk.. ) and all his family send you all and your loved ones their warmest regards and the very best wishes for the future.

Thank you.

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

Thank you kindly Doug.

A new member of OPF, Mohammed ( who prefers something more solid than milk.. ) and all his family send you all and your loved ones their warmest regards and the very best wishes for the future.

Thank you.

All the same to you and your family Fahim. Warmest regards and the best wishes.

 

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Fahim,

Then arrived the Fuji XE-1. A lighter camera that I hoped would be a travel companion.

I will be very interested in your experiences with this machine.

Of course, I will be especially interested in your thoughts on its EVF.

Good shooting!

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Asher Kelman]

Then arrived the Fuji XE-1. A lighter camera that I hoped would be a travel companion.
I posted test shots from it. It suited me; and was enough for my type of photography..

But how would it do as a travel camera?

So is this a Fuji X series thread, Fahim?


Asher

 

[fahim mohammed]

So is this a Fuji X series thread, Fahim?


Asher

No Asher. Multiple cams.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Thanks, Fahim, just trying to get an idea of the nature of the Fuji line.

I'm holding back, getting more info on the Sony A7 and A7R. I like the small size but i already love the Ricoh GXR at 50mm and the Ricoh GR at 28 and 21 mm.

As one gets older, the "perfect camera" for travel needs to get smaller!

Asher

 

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Asher,

Thanks, Fahim, just trying to get an idea of the nature of the Fuji line.

I'm holding back, getting more info on the Sony A7 and A7R. I like the small size but i already love the Ricoh GXR at 50mm and the Ricoh GR at 28 and 21 mm.

Well, and there are so many yummy things!

As one gets older, the "perfect camera" for travel needs to get smaller!

Last night I went to the first stage read for the local production of "The Vagina Monologues" (Carla will do the rather large piece, "The Flood"). I guess I will be photographer of record, and I took the EOS 40D with the EF-S 18-200 on it. I put the G16 in my pocket (just in case).

About halfway through the event, I sat the 40D rig on the next seat and shot the rest with the G16.

I'll post some comparison shots as soon as I can.

Best regards,

Doug