Tikhtak

Bill and Helen's wedding

On Saturday Bill and Helen (My sister in law's mum) got married after 14 years together. It was great to get together with Yo's sisters family who live in the states and her brothers families. It made for quite a clan of young guns. Amazingly we managed to get them all in one picture for a pose as you can see. I hadn't been to a wedding for a while and I had forgotten the theatrical nature of it. After the ceremony in the church we all went over to a hall to have the reception and hear the speeches and then for the cake cutting session. Suddenly the curtains magically drew back to reveal a classic multi coloured disco consul. The day was complete! Check out more pics here

Happy Birthday Irfana

Yesterday we celebrated Irfana's birthday at the Kasbah Moroccan restaurant in Clapham. We had a great time and the food there is really good. While we dined a rumour was going round that Keira Knightly was drinking opposite in the Clapham picture house bar. Little did she know who was opposite!

Congratulations too to my Dad who celebrated his 70th birthday on 7th Sept and to my Mum who will celebrate her birthday on 15th September. It's a busy month..

Back from Skiathos

Just got back from a picture postcard island off the coast of Greece, Skiathos. There  were so many lovely sandy beaches and coves and although the weather was hot -30 degrees, it wasn't too hot. Zara enjoyed her first taste of sand and sea water and on one day we managed a round the island boat trip while my Dad and Step Mum (who are still there as I write) baby sat for us. The picture on the right is our boat stopping off to see a ruin of the old Skiathos town, while the picture on the right shows that Skiathos was so beautiful that even old shoes produce flowers. I hope to upload more pics to flickr in the next few days.

Seagull Theatre takes flight

After nearly 30 years of Theatre in Education our Mum's Theatre company Seagull has moved out all it's sets, costumes and props from it Shropshire wharehouse. We had the painfull choices of what to dump and what to take with us to London. Big Intent Theatre has managed to acquire a home in Brixton for it all and we will be putting a lot of it to use at various times throughout the year on our CMS World To Rights tour. It was a family removal affair with our cousin Guy working the nooks and crannies, Dan, Sian and I lifting and Marg the chief orchestrator. Check out more picks here

Meeting Shah Rukh Khan

We didn't quite get a one to one with this bollywood icon, but we got pretty close! or at least Irfana did. Otherwise we enjoyed asian cuisine, stalls gallore, music and a fashion show at the Zee Carnival in Kensington Olympia. I have to say King Khan was pretty impressive and treated everyone like a personal friend. To see a few more photos check out my flickr or Simon & Laekha's pics

Travelling with God into 2008

After spending a very enjoyable Christmas with my Mother and Father in law it was time to say goodbye. They were returning to an unstable Pakistan just two days after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Before leaving home for Heathrow we sat down to pray for the practicalities of the journey and especially being able to find transport from the airport in Lahore back to their home.  Their school minibus driver was unable to get petrol as no petrol stations were open and with all public transport being halted; there was no straightforward way home. 
With no options my wife Irfana drew our attention to her daily bible reading notes for that day 29th December as a source of encouragement:

“And the Lord said, surely I will be with you.” Judges 6 16”

We prayed together and took this verse as God’s promise that he would be with them. After a tearful farewell at the airport we parted with a little faith and apprehension. The next morning we received a phone call from them both praising God for his faithfulness. When they arrived at the airport there were some taxis still running and so they hailed one expecting to pay 4 or 5 times over the normal fare. To their surprise the taxi driver had no intention of over charging them and in fact he asked for 200 rupees less than they normally pay. They got home without any problems.

As we step into 2008, we too don’t know what lies ahead but we can all take God’s promise from Judges 6: 16 with us:  “Surely I will be with you”

(This is my latest etrax post for 2008 inspired by recent events). 

Celebrating our 4th anniversary year

Today Irfana and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary with a hearty meal at Nandos in Streatham. Unfortunately it is on a day we won't forget with the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan. This has of course thrown the country into turmoil and is a concern as Irfana's Parents return home on Saturday. Irfana's Amma (mum) took this photo on our return and did a good job.

Hello's and Goodbyes for Christmas

On returning from Sierra Leone it was great to be welcomed back home by not just Irfana and Zara, but also my Amma and Daddy from Pakistan. It has meant there is constant home made roti (chapati) and various dishes on the go and our need for child care is no longer an issue.... I have also finished my first term at Goldsmiths college   where I am studying  part time for an MA in Applied Drama. It has been a challenging term with lots of reading involved and over the Christmas break I will be writing a research question from my trip to Sierra leone to be handed in early in the new year.

What's the crack

I have uploaded some pictures to Flickr of our recent trip to the Tate with friends from Deddington to see a crack which runs the length of the main hall. We also went out for an evening  of Pizza in Streatham with my Dad and Step Mum. Check them out by clicking here

Madonna with Child

My CMS Colleague and friend Jonny Baker took this picture of Zara and Irfana at Greenbelt and emailed it to me yesterday with the title "Madonna with child"  I think it is great as you an see Irfana's motherly love and fascination as she gazes down at Zara and Zara's mix of curiosity and vulnerability.