#HennaByFarz

I've had mehendi done on me a total of 4 times - all in India. I remember the first time I ever drew with henna, it was on my feet and it was a complete disaster. So henna was not something I was crazy about, especially because I didn't (and still don't) like how it looks when it starts to wear off. Few days before leaving India, I had mehendi done on both my hands, then when I got to Iran, a lot of my friends were admiring it. It happened that I had bought two little henna cones before leaving, so I took them out and doodled little flowers and smiley faces on some of the little girls who visited me. Then there was this one time that a little boy said he wanted a skull, and I said I don't know how to draw a skull! So I googled for a picture and copied it. Another girl told me something specific that she wanted, and I found myself going on google again.

I enjoyed the pictures I saw on google - simple drawings across the hand, not all over like the typical way they do it during festivals in India. I practised on kids, and they adored it, and later on I traced my hand on paper, cut them out and started practising on the cut-outs. For a long time I depended on copying, then little by little I allowed myself to imagine. I found a Pakistani shop in Iran and bought dozens of henna cones, and when I went to Abuja - I made it a business :)

at our Rooftop Bazaars

My mom's hand and my dad's arm!

I'd still call myself a beginner. I've been seeing the works of a few henna artists on the internet, and I'm inspired to improve! I need to go beyond flowers! :)

Kebab should have been my last name

If there's one thing that unites my family more than barbecue - well, it's barbecue. We grew up looking forward to Sundays when my brother would prepare the fire, my Dad would marinate and put the chicken and kebab on the sticks, my mom would make the saffron rice, and I would be the first to eat. 

I've enjoyed kebab koobideh all my life that it wasn't until this year that I made an effort to learn how to make it! Mixing the ingredients is easy - it's as simple as ground meat, fat, ground onions, salt and pepper -- by hand. The hardest part would be scraping the fat off your fingers afterwards. Then comes passing the kebab stick through the meat. I tried so many times, but kept failing! It's actually not easy! To even out the meat on the stick?! Whenever I'm in Iran and we go to Towhid's to buy koobideh, I'm always awestruck with how FAST and perfect the men put the meat on the sticks by hand! Luckily just this year we discovered kebab moulders! We bought several from the bazaar in Kerman and brought back to Nigeria so that we could teach some of our staff. Here's a video I took of my Dad working with the kebab moulder:

My Dad finds the moulder very time-consuming, so he sticks to the traditional way. He's used to making hundreds at one go! For example, every year the Iranian Embassy in Nigeria invites him to makes 300 sticks for their guests. That's why I call him the Kebab Master! I also recently discovered that one of his brothers in Canada is equally a pro!

passing the skills to the next generation

my favorite picture!

even cats come around

This pictures shows several barbecue stands - all of them
built by my Dad

My dad made more kebab by hands than four of us altogether using kebab moulders
did, in preps for the first Rooftop Bazaar

Here I've only shown you the art of making kebab. Don't get me started on the art of SERVING it. I've leave you to (but make sure you're on a full stomach right now). Go and google "chelo kebab koobideh".

Memorizing prayers through chanting

It was early last year during my year of service in Lucknow, India that I realized two things: 1) I hadn't memorized a lot of prayers (I often depended on my prayer book) 2) the Indian Baha'is never read prayers; they always chanted! And they sound so beautiful! So I decided to memorize new prayers. It took me time to read and memorize just like that, so I thought of creating tunes for the prayers that I read. That made memorizing A LOT easier. It also felt really really good...reciting prayers with melodies. I enjoyed it so much, that I'd find myself washing clothes and singing out loud "verily Thou art the Powerful..." hehe. It took a few weeks to memorize and come up with a new chant, and then I'd be inspired to do another one. Before I knew it, I started chanting in Baha'i gatherings, and it just felt really good - It helped me reflect on the writings even more. It's such a beautiful experience. I've video-recorded some of the prayer chants I've made. If only I knew how to play the guitar or piano, I know they would sound more beautiful. *Note: some of the prayers are not complete because I used instagram to record them (and IG has a video limit of 1 minute).

"Intone, O My servant, the verses of God that have been received by thee, as intoned by them who have drawn nigh unto Him, that the sweetness of thy melody may kindle thine own soul, and attract the hearts of all men..." -Baha'u'llah

"Baha'u'llah, in this glorious period has revealed in Holy Tablets that singing and music are the spiritual food of the hearts and souls. In this dispensation, music is one of the arts that is highly approved and is considered to be the cause of the exaltation of sad and desponding hearts. Therefore....set to music the verses and the divine words so that they may be sung with soul-stirring melody in the Assemblies and gatherings and that the hearts of the listeners may become tumultuous and rise towards the Kingdom of Abha in supplication and prayer." -Abdu'l-Baha

How the Bazaar got on the Rooftop

 Here's the story about how we made #RooftopBazaar happen.

When I arrived in Abuja a few months ago, I found myself going to bazaars/fairs almost every weekend. Abuja Discount Fair, The Total Market, InsideTrack Bazaar, The French School, Fusion Fair, Trendelo (every first Saturday of the month). I found it really interesting how people were out shopping while at the same time crying over the economy and exchange rate. Perhaps shopping is therapeutic? :)

A lot of people have been wanting to rent our rooftop for events, so we thought - let's try one ourselves first! My parents thought of either a bazaar or a weekly/monthly themed buffet. We went with bazaar, but had to wait until our suya pit was completed, and bought chairs and tables, material to sew table cloths, oh and a hamburger machine (I'll write about our food later on). 

Promotion

1) I designed our banners and leaflets and my Dad printed them in UTC (the best place to get these done - they give an amazing rate for bulk printing, oh and excellent quality too.) We placed banners on the streets in Gwarinpa, and on keke napeps. Two of our banners in Gwarinpa were stolen before the first bazaar. For the second bazaar, we had to cut holes on on the banner so that they won't be useful to people who plan on stealing it to use as a mat or shade from the rain. My mom made stencils and I spray-painted it (very poor quality haha)

2) Texts - Only for the first bazaar, we got in touch with a friend who we paid to text over a thousand MTN and GLO numbers within the area. Just because none of  us in the family were lucky enough to be part of that "random" selection of MTN numbers, we were sceptical as to whether or not it did work, so we didn't do it again. 

3) People who make it their business to promote. For the first bazaar I got the help of "Abuja events and places" on Instagram. For the second bazaar I got the help of "Buzz9ja". Both of them allowed me three posts, because of the budget I had. I went with a small budget. Buzz9ja has thousands of followers, and they charge big but I told them what I'm doing is small scale, so they made arrangements around my budget. 

4) Facebook. I found several groups on facebook just by searching for words like Abuja marketplace, business in Abuja, events in Abuja...but the ones that worked the most (where a lot of the visitors came from) were the expat groups. Some of the vendors told me "I hope you invited a lot of expats, because they're the ones who love our African crafts". The first bazaar attracted a lot of foreigners, yes, but the second one not so much and I told some vendors in advance not to expect the expats because they're all on summer holiday (August). 

Another feature I tried on facebook was literally the "promote" button. We used our credit card for this - you select the post you want to promote, select your audience (we chose Abuja and Gwarinpa), then type in the amount you're willing to spend. Your budget determines how many people will be reached via facebook (on mobile and desktop AND your associated instagram account - we connected it with our "Persian Shop" IG account).

5) Leaflets. At one point, I thought leaflets are old-school, that people don't hold on to papers anymore (they'll remember what they see on their facebook walls) but no - leaflets still work! I designed the leaflet (and that rooftop with a chimney that I got off the internet ended up becoming THE SIGN), and we printed lots of them (colored). My parents and I distributed them at other bazaars/fairs, inside malls, even to the car next to us in the traffic. My favorite experience was when my Dad and I were coming out of NEXT Cash & Carry, just before handing a lady a leaflet, I told her "Come to our bazaar next week" and she asked "Is it that rooftop one?" I jumped and said yess!!!

Every String Breaks

Every String Breaks

The beginning bestows excitement

From the lies of what the end will grant

Rushing 'til half the treatment

Slowly, the feeling of confusion that instant

Creates an illusion without its testament

As faces of all remain constant

While the souls at risk have no replacement.

Mid-way to the existing departure

The drums hit the silence

For time is no living creature

Nor a body under pretense

Which grows with a figure fully mature

Riding through the way in search of spiritual essence

When suddenly the wheels flatter under dense pressure.

The path still smooth and rough

Has no skin of pins and nails

The stars shone and soon went off

For the hero seems to feel he fails

The fight he felt was not so tough

As the race of water in pails

He lost his breath and that was enough.

***

Here's the thing when I write poems - I never start out knowing what I want to write about. I first focus on rhymes. This poem goes with the pattern a, b, a, b, a, b, a (first, third, fifth, seventh lines rhyme; second, fourth, sixth rhyme). It doesn't just stop at finding words that rhyme; there's a lot of rephrasing involved, to make sure each line connects. That's why poetry is as much science as it is an art!

After writing this poem, I spent a lot of time trying to understand what it's about. This is how I interpret it - it's about a soldier. He's on his way to the battlefield. All he knows are the words of his Commander "victory will be ours!" Everyone assures each other that they'll have a good fight and they'll bring home honor. But of course they're nervous. They're thrown into confusion once they set their foot on the ground. The field isn't that pretty, and it's too late to back out. This one particular soldier starts to pray. But that doesn't stop time for him. He chose to go to war, and that is what war is. Ups and downs...day and night... but more downs and more nights. 

Interpretation number 2 - my poem is about non-permanence in this "physical" world. We're always so busy anticipating the future, the tomorrow, the next 10 years. We are ever so hopeful. But we're just running towards our end. We try so hard to understand beyond day to day [in search of spiritual essence] but there's just so much we can take. Racing with pails of water? What happens when you do that? you spill! Those are the mistakes we've made, the pushing and shoving we desperately do to get through the way. We're all so ambitious. But what's the point? We're just going to die anyways... 

*Note: This is just creative writing! not synonymous to my personal beliefs (about our purpose in life) 

Chia seeds (part II)

This week, I played around a bit with some fruits (which my Dad brought from his recent trip to Iran) and chia seeds! 

P.S I'm going to be fancy and name my creations :)

1. I am calling this "Blue cherry yoghurt". 

At the bottom is blueberry flavored jelly, then chia seeds that I soaked in semi-sweet yoghurt, topped with cherries. This was such a delight to eat - the flavors were amazing (blueberry, cherries, yoghurt) - each of them not so sweet, though the jelly's flavor overpowered. The chia-yoghurt was a bit thick, so this dessert could very well pass as a pudding!

 2. I am calling this "Honey chia".  

This fruit is a type of melon. It's long and oval, with yellow skin. It tastes and smells as sweeeeet as your basic round honeydew. My family and I were eating this melon three nights in a row and it wasn't finishing, so I decided to juice it! I blended the melon with chia seeds AND evaporated milk. The evaporated milk made this very heavenly, because the melon was very sweet, so the milk balanced it. (I also love the smell of evaporated milk). This drink was very filling as well. 

3. I am calling this "Chia acid".

 I put apples, sour peaches, green & purple grapes, freshly squeezed orange juice into the blender. I'm a big fan of sour, so I loved it! I can't exactly point which fruit was the most overpowering, or where the tanginess came from (it had a sharp citrus taste, but the organge juice wasn't so much!), perhaps it was just the mix in general! It was very refreshing! I put chia seeds at the bottom of the glass, and when I poured the juice, the chia settled in the middle. Chia seeds are BEAUTIFUL! So I'm calling this "acid", because of being sour - perfect way to shake up your brain in the morning!

4. I am calling this "Shrek". 

At the bottom is plain aloe-vera flavored jelly, then on top is another jelly I made (which fell apart) but it's banana-flavoured, with chia seeds and little green grapes inside the jelly. Shrek because of all the green! I plan to retry the chia-and-fruits inside the jelly again because this attempt didn't work out perfectly, but nevertheless, it was very fruitful! The grapes and jelly combined in one bite was something very new and interesting. 

Chia seeds

A few months ago my Mom brought the chia seeds out of the cupboard and started straining/soaking them on a daily basis, adding them to her hot coffee. I didn't think much of it at first. She told me that chia seeds cleans your gut. So I tried chia seeds with my coffee not because I needed gut cleansing, but because it just looked beautiful. After straining the seeds (to remove the sand) and soaking them overnight in some water - they really did look beautiful, especially in my transparent mug with cold or hot coffee or chocolate. 

Then my mom and I started mixing our chia seeds with other things - eg. yoghurt, fruits, milk (oh and the best - with condensed milk and jelly). Chia seeds are tasteless; they're really tiny too so no chewing involved. I started making breakfasts and desserts with chia seeds and posted them on my instagram (#Farzinthekitchen). Then one day I got a call from a blogger friend Jecintha - she asked me "What are chia seeds?" I told her the little that I knew, and she said they just look amazing. A few hours later she texted me a link containing all the benefits of chia seeds. The link said chia seeds are rich in fibre, vitamins, antioxidants; they helps with your digestive health (yup, cleans the gut); regulates blood pressure and cholesterol; cures diabetes; boosts metabolism and energy (I might disagree with this; apparently chia seeds can keep you full for a long time but no... I still get really hungry soon after!) At the end of the article it shows "side effects" but there were no side effects (see for yourself). 

I was really grateful for the link she sent; it was a relief to know that something I consume almost everyday just because they look beautiful, is actually in fact very good for your health! Here are a few ways I've enjoyed my chia seeds/ ideas for you: 

green tea jelly, banana, chia seeds and condensed milk. An absolute delight!

sweetened yoghurt, chia seeds, apples and cinnamon powder

whole wheat grains (Kelloggs), raisins, yoghurt and chia seeds. A very filling breakfast

How #FarzInTheKitchen started

One evening, about a week or so before I left Lucknow, I started making a list of things I could do during my 2-months stay in Iran. Cooking was on the list, because I really missed everything about cooking. While I was in Lucknow, I had access to a kitchen - but an industrial one (where the staff cooked for hundreds of students/guests daily, so you can imagine the kinds of pots/pans I had to deal with while trying to make a single meal for myself). I bought my own knife, but there was no chopping board in the kitchen. I had to cook one cup of rice in a gigantic pressure cooker because there was nothing smaller. I couldn't marinate my chicken over night because there was no fridge; only a freezer. I could only make chicken dishes there, because beef was "holy" and seafood - just no where to find. Don't get me wrong - I'm not complaining. I adapted to the situation very well, and I was very thankful for what I had. 

Anyhow, as weird as it sounds, I started making a list of dishes I wanted to cook once I land in Iran. I also googled for recipes of foods I've missed but don't actually know how to cook (eg. pesto sauce, orange chicken, Thai soup tom yum goong). I noted all these down in my little diary, and when I got to Iran, I made all my food dreams come true.

I started by cooking the basic things I missed (especially grilling with the turbo). I found myself excited to show my parents the food I was cooking at home, so I'd arrange the food nicely on a plate and send them pictures. The first few pictures were quick clicks...and you'd be surprised to know my parents would also send me pictures of meals they were cooking (my Dad in Nigeria, my Mom in the Philippines). One day I was going through the pictures I sent them and realized - these look really good. So I started posting them on my instagram account. It took some time before I decided to take the photography seriously - I'd carry my plate beside the window for natural light/sunlight, I'd change between round/square/ transparent plates. I'd hold my plate by the plants, sometime I'd put it on the carpet because it looked more beautiful with that background. This was art. I had so much joy cooking, arranging the food beautifully on a plate and taking pictures, and I only posted after eating. I made a few dishes that were very simply/didn't taste very WOW, and I didn't post them. A few weeks into this, I decided to make my own hashtag so that I could view all the food posts by clicking one button (because my feed was a mix of food and non-food pictures). Hence I created # Farz In The Kitchen. The posts were strictly meals I prepared by myself. These were some of the first few posts:

rice kheer (my favorite Indian sweet) - rice, milk, raisins, nuts

turbo-grilled quail (marinated in lemon), mushrooms and potato/rice taddigh

rice (tomato sauce, green beans) and shrimps (cooked in butter and orange juice)

Turkish coffee with dates (stuffed with feta cheese). I place this on the carpet

This was my biggest pride - my first pesto sauce. Served here with cheese and canned tuna

Of course there's nothing special about this - I just sliced three kinds of oranges,
but FarzInTheKitchen made me turn everything into an art.