(May the peace, mercy and blessings of Allah be with you)
This blog is a journal of life and travels documented mainly through photographs. As a little girl wearing my mother’s high-heeled shoes, I wanted to become a writer. My mother – besides letting us wear her shoes – encouraged all her daughters to pursue their dreams. At fourteen, I wrote a fictional story which got published in a local magazine in Pakistan, and earned my first paycheck.
Then I got busy. Life took a huge turn and I found myself working towards a different set of priorities. During that time – at sixteen or seventeen – I grabbed my father’s Pentax film SLR camera and took 36 portraits. And that started my love affair with photography. I discovered it was easier than writing fiction.
Then I got busy. Life took a huge turn, and I found myself married and living in the middle of the desert. Surprisingly, I fell in love with the place. The United Arab Emirates is a beautiful country – except during summer. If you plan to visit, do come between November and March. There is no other activity here during summer except going to the mall.
Anyway . . . since July 2009, most of the pictures in this blog have been shot using a Nikon D40. It’s an amazing camera and I’m totally in love with it! It is also my very first DSLR. However, since I possibly can not bring it everywhere, I keep my small Kodak point-and-shoot camera in my bag all the time. It’s the first digital camera that I’ve ever owned, and it takes great landscape pictures. And finally, when I don’t have both cameras with me, I make use of my Nokia cellphone husband’s iPhone camera. It is extremely helpful to take pictures in places and situations where one has to be really discreet.
April 8, 2008: That's me feeding a chipmunk in the gardens of Taj Mahal.
Update:
All my travel and food related posts will now be published on my own website, which is updated regularly. But I have a special spot for this blog, the place where my online presence began and where I’ve made some amazing friends from different parts of the world. And since I couldn’t get myself to close this blog down, I’ve decided to post stuff here that otherwise doesn’t fit the travel and food criteria of my main website.
The Purple Journal 
assalamu alaykum, thank u for your beautiful comments on my blog. It seems also we have some things in common 🙂 Take care my sis.
Walaikum Assalam. You are on my blog roll now so that I can visit you more often 🙂
Very best of luck to you. I hope this blogging experience is as therapeutic for you as it has been for me already. We both seem to be seeking the same results of inner-peace and fulfillment through our writing. Thank you for your comment on my blog. I appreciate it. And I look forward to reading more from you!
Mary
Salams dearest,
i’ve just read through your blog and i find it quite interesting! and i must say you have been blessed with a good mate mashallah. i pray allah grant your duahs inshallah..
thank you for your comment, its nice to be reminded that its all in allah’s hands…we can only wait and pray patiently.
god bless!
Mary, thank you! It hasn’t been a month yet since I’ve started blogging, but the experience has indeed been therapeutic. Do visit me again soon 🙂 Best of luck to you too.
Walaikum Assalam.
Pucca, thank you for dropping by, and specially for the duah. I really appreciate it.
God bless you too.
salaam nadia,
thanx for stopping by mine. such a sweet advice you gave. and you have a nice blog here. keep writing!
Hey, I decided to look your blog as well 🙂 and I really liked it.
So, you r also looking to reduce 16 lbs till Sep ’08? Me too!! How about we share advices/stuff like that? I am real need of someone to motivate me! 😦
Sure, would love to have a weight loss buddy!
Nice blog!
Hi – I have web pages and a blog attached to it for your comments – I write about social issues I hear about and other stuff – lots going on in there – Inviting you all over – Do visit me as well! 🙂
nadeen.ahmed83.googlepages.com
Thanks, Nadeen!
Pucca’s comment musta sounded rather odd and random eh…so sorry dear, i was reading your blog and musta signed in with my other account when i left that comment.
anyways, dearest…basra and pucca are one and the same.
No problem at all. Both Pucca and Basra are welcome here 🙂
Nice to meet you
Salaam ,
Nice blog , and nice to meet you
With Best Regards
Eng. Hasan Al-Bahkali
~ Walaikum Assalam, Eng. Al-Bahkali. Thank you for stopping by. Have a nice day!
Yours’ is an interesting blog indeed with posts on diverse subjects. Nice work.
~ Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing your thoughts.
Nice weblog. Very enthusiastic.. 🙂
charm!
Eerv
~ Thanks, Eerv! Glad you stopped by 🙂
Should I say your blog’s header is awesome! 🙂
i liked the posts related to ur travels…
hey. i got here through specs. loved the blog name and had to check it out!!
Assalamualaikum,
Figured I got your link from Umm Travis, read a couple of your entries and I’m hooked. LoL~! Insha’Allah, will be stopping by more often in future. 🙂
Assalamualikum Nadia,
Masha Allah nice blog. Insha Allah will keep visiting often. 🙂
Though I doubt you remember me from oh so long ago… But I look forward to reading and catching up. In about 5 days. x_x
Despite the fact that i am very comment-shy i just have to say this- i think your blog is very original and i love the pictures you take. Another thing i couldn’t get enough of is the way you documented your trip to Saudi it was refreshing to see it through someone else’s eyes.
As’salamu Aleikum 🙂
Very nice blog. Masha’Allah 🙂
As Salaam Alaikum,
Nadia,
Thanks for your visit to Risk Rap.
I wish you a blessed Ramadan.
Peace and prayers,
jbm
now that is some gift a husband could give outta love 🙂
surely i m envious but pleased to hear 😀
OMG my name is Nadia too! And I love your site.
I like your blog
I visited your blog some time last year perhaps while searching some thing about UAE. I just loved it as a great information resource about UAE.
Today I saw this blog in my bookmarks and so visited it once again. I really like this blog, I must say 🙂
Ahmed Irfan, thank you and welcome to The Purple Journal 🙂
Mashallah this is a very nice blog! keep it going sister.
Wassalam
JazakAllah khair, Aufidius. Welcome to the blog!
Oh the theme of the blog is changed again…
Isn’t it a bit too early?
I loved the City name tabs in the previous template. How shall I access those posts now?
Ahmed Irfan, I changed the theme again just last night. I really had to. The sea green color started to get on my nerves. But I really liked the layout that came with that theme.
You can still access the city names under the “Places” dropdown, which is just after the “Recent Posts” list on the right of the blog.
Okay, so now I’ve moved the “Places” on top of the “Recent Posts” 😀
O thanks indeed… 🙂
Once again – your umrah posts are so awesome. mashaAllah.. you were referring to your mother-in-law as mom yes? 🙂
Welcome to the blog, Faheem! I’m glad you liked the Umrah posts, thank you. Yes, I was referring to my mother-in-law 🙂
Thanks for the comments on my page.
I don’t get a chance to read many other blogs as im doing this through a mobile connection, but reading yours has been really interesting.
Welcome to the blog, Gillank!
First of all, we both use the same theme (well, forget about the self-hosted wordpress blogs that I own). But here I see you’ve decorated and designed your blog in a much sweeter way. I especially loved the header.
I expected something more from the about page, such as who you are, where you live in, what you do etc.
Anyway, I think you’re blogging pretty well. I love blogging, too. But the problem is I love blogging in English while my native language (and also mother tongue) is Bangla. So, I feel limited while trying to write in English. I can’t stop blogging in English cause without this language I cannot reach a global audience. Whatever, I liked your blog and hopefully I will be coming back.
Please don’t forget to keep visiting my blog and comment on any post you like. (If you’re a technology-lover, you might like to try out this blog too that I own http://www.aisajib.com).
Welcome to the blog, Sajib! My “About” page is more about the blog and less about me. I mentioned my name, religion, marital status, where I live, and what I enjoy doing the most. I am comfortable sharing only that much (on this page, at least. Because you’ll eventually find random information about me and my husband as you read the posts) 🙂
I’m working on my English too! It’s my, well, third language 🙂
You writes well Nadia………………Your English is awesome too……..
I tried my best…..but I don’t know why I am not being able to better like other bloggers surrounded by me like you………
It’s nice to meet you and nice to read your blog.
Welcome to the blog, Shamim! I don’t have great tips to give you on how to improve your English writing skills, but you can perhaps start by reading a lot of English books, news, blogs, etc, and try to analyze how sentences are structured. I think you can start by reading 70 ways to improve your English.
Another very good source for improving English skills is How to Improve English.
Salaam,
I like your blog, it’s very unique and original. It’s cute~ 🙂
– 🙂
Walaikum Assalam, and welcome to the blog 🙂
Your page named Posts carries all your posts in chronological order. I find this very useful. Did you do this manually? Or through a plugin?
I did it manually. I started it when I had only 10 posts, and continued adding to it as I published each post.
Hi Nadia –
Thanks for stopping by my blog! I don’t have time to read your blog now…Am preparing for a trip to Europe, leaving tomorrow…but I will when I return!
Sherry
Welcome the blog, Sherry! I’m looking forward to reading your Europe posts.
Salams Nadia,
Thanks for dropping by & leaving a comment, if not I wouldn’t have found your blog! What lovely pictures you take! 😀
Lena
Walaikum Assalam, Ghazlena. Welcome to the blog!
walikum salam very nce blog n i have added u into my blog roll so that i can read it daily
Thank you, Reedsss. Welcome to the blog!
assalamualaikum sister. greetings from Indonesia 🙂
Walaikum Assalam, Dida. Welcome to the blog!
assalamualaikum nadia! thank you for visiting my blog, you have wonderfull pictures on your blog. i enjoy browsing it … 🙂 have a great day there.
Walaikum Assalam, Sis! Thank you so much and welcome to the blog!
You look really cute:) and interesting stuff you’ve here!
Thank you, spotlesssoul! Welcome to the blog 🙂
Assalamu alaikum.
Sister, this is really nice to find your blog in the blog-o-sphere…
Hope I will be visiting this blog regularly in future. 🙂
Walaikum Assalam. Welcome to the Purple Journal!
Salam Nadia,
I came across your blog today and have been reading through your very interesting posts. many of them make great reads and i enjoyed them. your Umrah posts are exceptional, i just came back from Umrah with my family few weeks back so i was able to relate to your words and feelings easily.
you are doing a great job here. keep it up. The purple journal is definitely going on my blogroll
Many thanks
Walaikum Assalam, SuperSpace, and welcome to the Purple Journal!
I’m glad you enjoyed reading the Umrah posts. It’s been a long time and I miss the entire experience. How was your own Umrah experience? May Allah accept your Umrah and prayers, ameen.
Have a nice day!
If you had not been on my site I would not have discovered this wonderful site and oh-so-awesome photographer.
Thank you, Elmer.
Assalaam Alaykum Nadia!! You have an amazing blog with amazing photographs!! Masha’ALlah! I wish you were here so I could get you to take some photographs for me 🙂
Keep up the amazing work sister!!!
Zeba
Walaikum assalam, Zeba and welcome to the Purple Journal! I’d be happy to take your pictures!
Thanks for spending your time.. to see and comment on my blog…..that …with in the minutes of publishing …..receiving a comment…..obviously made me happy….that too from a new visitor……….Also…Its interesting to see your post names…definitely will take some time to read those…..Thanks and Have a great day!
You are most welcome, Sarav. Welcome to The Purple Journal!
وعليكم السلام ورحمة الله وبركاته
you are so great sis ^^~
i’m really glad to have your blog in my favorite bar ^^!
Assalamu alaikum, sis. Thank you so much and welcome to the Purple Journal 🙂
Ooooh, I like your blog. Just yesterday I got my first DSLR, and I am so happy!
Thank you so much, Zahara! Congrats on the new DLSR and have great fun taking pictures!
Life takes huge turns when you least expect it..And it’s great that you are making the most of every opportunity 🙂
I’ve lived in UAE for awhile and I love that place! By the way what made you choose the name “The Purple Journal”? Why purple?
Hello, Lucky!
UAE is a beautiful and safe place, and we love it here too! When I was choosing a name for this blog, I came up with a few interesting ones. However, they were all taken already. Also, I didn’t particularly know what I’d be blogging about; I had no idea this page will be filled with photography! Purple is my favorite color, that’s all there is to say about the blog’s name 😀
Assalamu Alaikum.
Yours is a very interesting blog, MashaAllah.
I live in Sharjah and work as a Teacher.
During my college and university days i mad about photography but as the years passed on my interest changed to writing as I feel i have flair for writing since my childhood.
Out of place, though, I would you request you and all your esteemed visitors to visit the Qur’an blog to share and spread the word, InshaAllah.
http://yassarnalquran.wordpress.com/
One Request: If you like the blog and feel that it is worthy to popularise for the sake of Qur’an, then Please give a link to it in your blogroll, InshaAllah.
Thank you.
Muqith.
Surfing the waves of the web I am pleasantly stranded in your interesting blog.
I write under the pseudonym of Josè Pascal (a descendant of the great Colonel Aureliano Buendía).
I invite you to visit my “italianglish” writing blog http://parolesemplici.wordpress.com/mytinbox/.
I define this blog “In parole Semplici” as a “virtuacultural tin” box where they are guarded thoughts, memories, images, sounds, and simple stories”.
I dream an intercultural blog. Already involves more than 100 authors/friends.
If you want to participate and to have more informations send me a letter to inparolesemplici@gmail.com
Good life and I hope to soon
I replied to a comment above, but wasn’t logged in. So I’m not sure if it posted. I apologize if this is a duplicate! But I wanted to point out that How to Improve English is a great free source for information on, well, improving English skills!