A letter to my mother...

To my beloved mother, Sylvana Dholah

Maman,
When I was 5 years, I so wanted to be just like you...
I admired your beauty, your elegance and your grace.
I would pretend to play 'school' and be a teacher just like you. For me, you were the most intelligent lady in the whole wide world.
I remember putting on your high heel shoes, your handbag on my shoulders and some of your clothes, all of which were way too big for me, I would put on your jewelery and make-up, just to be you for a brief moment in time...


Throughout the years, as I grew up and got to know you more and see you for the woman you truly are, and not just as my mother, my admiration for you just kept growing stronger... there couldn't have been any other better model for me to follow...


I envied your strength in times of tests and trials,
your perseverance to keep going on when you felt weak and tired,
your unwavering Faith in God and Baha'u'llah even in the darkest hours,
your dedication to perfection,
your compassion for the many people who came to you for help and support,
your love and the way you cared for my father, my brothers and me,
your patience towards your children when we would not be the little angels we now are (and God knows how many times we were not quite little angels),
the many sacrifices that you made without a second of hesitation for us and your loved ones,
your encouragement and your ongoing support throughout all of our up and downs,
I envied your cleverness and intelligence and how quickly your brain would work to figure out a solution to all the problems we faced throughout the years,
the way people would looked up to you as an example,
I envied your love for literature and words, and the way you always seek the good in everything and everyone you meet...

Maman, you blessed not only our lives, the lives of your own children, but the lives of so many more, all of your students, all of your 'adopted' children, you have been an example for each and everyone of us...

Maman, I could never express how much you have shaped me into being the person I am today, I know I still am not perfect and there is still lots for me to learn and grow from, but I don't think I would have ever been able to face what I have been through in life if it wasn't for the pillar of strength that you have been for me throughout the years....

And even today, in this dark moment of my life, I still look up to you...
I only need to look back into my memories of you to know what I have to do now...
I wished I would have listen to you more often and taken notes of all the wisdom you shared with us... maybe things might have been a little bit different in a lot of ways.... but who's to know what the future reserves for us....


Now that I am a mother myself and I have a daughter of my own,
I can only wish and pray that she loves me as much as I love you today!

And maman, now that I am 30 years old,
I still want to be just like you maman!

Je t'aime Maman!

Happy Mother's Day 2009

We love you so much mami-joon!
Bisous from Mona & Sabby
xoxox

Photography & Photoshop

I was playing around with photoshop today and also uploaded some shots of flowers that I took on Saturday and wanted to share it with you.... so enjoy!

Mona





Flowers & other random shots

I'm still alive...

Yes I'm alive and kicking actually....

I know I have been a very bad blogger lately and lots of you have sent me emails asking me where I was etc. I'm sorry for all those who were worried about me... but I am still here and doing well... was just a bit quite busy with other more important priorities in my life right now... not that this blog is not a priority, but you get the gist of what I mean right ? right.... :)

So this blog is due for a very very long update and because there is so much to catch up on and since I am really busy and my focus and priorities are elsewhere at the moment, I decided to do a vlog (video blog) instead of writing a huge and long update...
I know that some of you have been persistently asking for some updates and videos from us, well, your requests have been answered.... and I know someone very special in Mauritius who will be finally happy and excited to see this long vlog... (right maman?) lol...

Don't get me wrong, this doesn't mean that I am not going to update my blogs anymore, oh no, you can't get rid of me that easily.... I got lots of resilience you know... actually resilience is my middle name.... lol...., it's just that for now a vlog is much quicker and easier to do....
I actually enjoyed making this vlog for you all, so I might do more of this in the future...
I've gathered some video clips and pictures from the last few weeks and compiled them into a video... and it really starts brilliantly with a great intro by Miss Mona herself and it ends with a funny and quite hard to follow story narrated by Mona.. but you just have to look at the way she narrated the story!! She is really talented (no not biased at all!!!!). And oh dear, the ending is just too funny!!

Really, you should just stop reading this right now and just scroll down and go watch the video, but don't forget to come back up here to finish reading yeah! lol...


Hmmmm, let me guess...... you're still reading, aren't you? .... Go watch the video already!!! (I've got the most stubborn readers of all, don't I? lol just kidding guys...)

So yeah, I'll leave you guys with the first in a series of many vlogs (this vlog is from Ridvan to May 09) and we hope that you'll enjoy watching it and have a laugh or two!!

Love you much guys and hopefully you'll read from me very soon!
Take care you all...

A Voice From Prison

Voice From Prison is a poem dedicated to the seven Baha'i leaders of Iran, who are currently imprisoned and who faced the anniversary of their arrest on Thursday 14 May 2009, along with new and extremely grave accusations, after spending a year in jail without formal charges or access to their lawyer, Shirin Ebadi.

"Despite their obvious innocence and the call by many for their immediate release, these seven men and women have been in legal limbo for a year now, against all international human rights standards," said Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations.

A Voice From Prison (English Poem)

Music and Poem was written and is being read by my mother in law, Shahla Ghotbi-Nabilzadeh.
Videos by Sabby Nur.



A Voice From Prison (Farsi Poem)

"Moreover, their families have recently been told of a possible new charge - 'the spreading of corruption on earth,' which goes by the term 'Mofsede fel-Arz' in Persian and carries the threat of death under the penal code of the Islamic Republic of Iran," said Ms. Dugal.

"The sequence of events surrounding their detention exposes a shameless travesty of justice. Notwithstanding their having been subjected to intensive interrogations, it took a full seven months before they were given even a single pretext for their detention. On February 10, 2009, the Iranian Student News Agency quoted Tehran deputy prosecutor Hassan Haddad as having said that the investigation of these individuals was complete and that 'the case will be sent to the revolutionary court next week' and that these Baha'is are accused of 'espionage for Israel, insulting religious sanctities and propaganda against the Islamic Republic.' The international protest expressed by governments and civil society was immediate and widespread, causing the Iranian authorities to review their approach.

"Now a new wrongful accusation reportedly has been added some three months after the investigation was supposed to have concluded. The charge of being spreaders of corruption was used against the Baha'is who were executed in the years immediately following the Islamic revolution. That it may now be resorted to in this case is a further demonstration that the authorities have no basis for any allegation against these seven individuals, other than blatant religious persecution. This action against the Baha'i leadership reflects the government's sharply increased persecution of the entire Iranian Baha'i community of more than 300,000 members