Al Shahroura!

I have been watching the Lebanese TV series, Al Shahroura and I have quite a lot to say. I am sure I will have more to say with every new episode but for now, I will settle with the below.

To start with, Al Shahroura is a TV series broadcasting on television channels during the month of Ramadan in the Middle East. The story revolves around the life of the famous Lebanese singer/actress Sabah, a woman who has become a legend through her artistic career.

Watching the series gave me a feel of how the old times were in Lebanon and Egypt as her travels leaves her torn between the two countries. She faces family problems, personal disappointments and major work-related challenges. At that period of time, men were dominant and women were frail, "silent partners". Sabah was different. She was a rebel. She challenged her father who took her money on her behalf, she had strong convictions in love and suffered greatly from media's criticism.

Through it all, she was strong and stood back on her feet after one too many heartbreaks, several marriages,  2 kids and a series of unfortunate events, such as the death of her mother at her brother's gun and her first husband's forbiddance to see her son. Those events and occurances might be seen as common among celebrities as they receive great attention from the media and live a different lifestyle from people with normal jobs; however I still see this as an exception in the time of Sabah. The Middle East was not as open as the West and society didn't have mercy on anyone who broke the rules. To people, Sabah was a loved actress, nonetheless they could not accept her in their families as a wife to their sons or a mother to her own children.

Tough times were faced by Sabah and yet she survived through it all and today she is 84 years old, may God bless her with many more years of health. "Nicknamed "Shahrourat El Wadi" early in her career, Sabah has earned many more titles over her career (Ostourah , Sabbouha , Shahroura , Shahrourat Libnan ). Over a half century of singing makes Sabah the most recorded Arab singing artist in history with over 3,500 songs on records, cassette, CD, film, and in recording/broadcast studios throughout the world."*

As I was reading in a magazine today about Jennifer Lopez's separation from her husband and her rocketing career and new look, I thought of Sabah as I found the common grounds. Times change but brave and potent women keep making their mark on the world!

A song that I love for Sabah and that I would like you to hear is "Yana Yana". I dedicate it to my sister Nayana who was always associated with this song for its rhyme with her name!
Follow the link to listen to the song on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v27dq2AXPPk

* Yahoo Groups: http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/Sabah_Of_Lebanon/

DRIVE RESPONSIBLY.

I've been really busy lately with work; however the novelty in my life is driving. I got a rental car for a start to get used to the roads and while waiting to find the car I want to buy. Driving is not a game! I am fully aware of that and I consider myself to be a cautious driver, alert at all times and careful from others' reckless driving. However, we are all prone to do mistakes and the smallest of them can cost us a lot.

A few days ago, I was going out of the mall heading toward my house when a beautiful song played on the radio. I turned the volume up and became a bit more enthusiastic than I should've, I suppose. The car twisted slightly as I adjusted it at a bend as the speed got higher. It was only a split of a second; but that moment really got to me.

Music is definitely something to enjoy while driving, however it could become a distraction and sometimes cause one to lose complete focus and control on the car if too loud. Please be careful while driving; i.e.: don't dance :P , don't deafen yourself with loud music, don't drink alcohol, don't speak on the phone, don't message, don't bbm, don't speed up, don't get too excited over anything to avoid losing control of the car.
Enjoy driving, there's nothing too urgent (unless you're an ambulance)! Your life is worth a lot more than to lay it down for some jerk to take it away from you and break the hearts of your loved ones, for a silly mistake or crazy ride.

My post today was also inspired by the campaign "Taxi Night" that an active organization for the awareness of road safety in Lebanon "Kunhadi" did last night. My sister told me about it as she was going out to Skybar, a nightclub in Lebanon.The concept was to arrive and leave to and from the club by taxi; no cars allowed! The idea is really creative and helps a lot in spreading the intended message.

So enjoy your ride, your music, your night out and DRIVE RESPONSIBLY!