"Forbidden Lessons in a Kabul Guesthouse" by Suraya Sadeed with Damien Lewis is a terrific, very moving book.

Suraya Sadeed founded Help the Afghan Children in 1993 as a response to the humanitarian crisis she witnessed on a trip to her home country during the height of the Afghan civil war.  Since then, her work has been recognized and honoured at the highest levels of government in both Afghanistan and the United States.
In March 2006, she was recognized by President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush at the White House for her work in Afghanistan.

This the true story of one woman who risked everything to bring hope to Afghanistan.  Yes, she took a lot of risks, the trauma and the happiness of helping those Afghan children towards their education to enable them to rebuild their life and to a better future.  I feel humbled at the courage shown by Suraya and have great admiration at her contribution towards humanity.  She's an inspiration.

I am feeling triumphant.  My electronic project, using opto-sensors, relays connected to a car window motor is working fine.  My former working experience with electronics is still intact.  I could still wire up electronic components and make it to work.  That's happiness.  Earlier, I had constructed an electronic circuit, from the DIY Electronics section in the internet, Pump Control Circuit, and it worked.  Simply exciting.

I was apprehensive at first.  Trying to solder small components, resistors and capacitors and IC components - can be a formidable task.  I am now 75 years old, and my hands might not be steady enough to do soldering of these tiny components.  But I seem to manage OK.  Hence, I am feeling triumphant.  It is great.

Trying to master the Mandarin (Chinese Language) is much harder than I thought.  The same sounding word, with different emphasis (tones) can mean different thing.  And this the tough part.  You really have to use your tongue (roll it) to get the correct emphasis or else it's a disaster.  And you really have to listen carefully.  One really needs all one's faculty to enable one to understand this language.  I find this to be very challenging,
frustrating and fascinating.  I will continue to struggle and persevere.  Its a challenge - and its tough.  But I believe I will overcome.

In the book "Fit For Life" by Harvey and Marilyn Diamond, stated inter-alia:

The consumption of exclusively fruit and fruit juice in the morning is at the very heart of Fit For Life.
The second consideration pertain to the amount of time that should elapse between eating foods other than fruit and then eating fruit.  As long as your stomach is empty, you can eat all the fruit you wish over as long a period as you wish, so long as twenty to thirty minutes elapse before eating anything else. This will allow the time necessary for the fruit or juice to leave your stomach.  Juice and some fruits take less time, but twenty to thirty minutes is a good standard to use.  Bananas, dates and dried fruit need about forty-five minutes to one hour.

I am following the above good advice and I find it helps me.  Yes, I will do anything to improve my health.
Happiness is to be healthy.  Health is wealth is certainly something to hold up to.

Happiness!  My letter to the press got printed.  I feel happy.  This means my opinion is of public interest.  Considering the fact that only 2 or 3 letters were printed each day out of several hundred, I believe, being received, my opinion is relevant to the current political scenario.  And this paper, theSundaily, has a circulation of a quarter million - that's quite a number of readers.

I also believe that the opinions of readers are a good feedback on the current socio-political scenario.  The cumulative effect of all these ideas help to form that society, and we are all the richer for it.

Yesterday I sent off this letter to the press.  I hope it gets printed.  Anyway, here it is:  "Political Islam"

I believe a lot of people do not know this: Political Islam is a deviation!  According to former Egyptian Chief Justice Muhammad Said al-Ashmawy, the most natural consequence of bringing politics into religion is that the former debases the latter.

Because of his controversial views on political Islam, the Egyptian jurist has been on the hit-list of militants in his country.  He is surrounded by bodyguards most of the time.

In 1987, in "Political Islam", a book still being read by many, al-Ashmawy said that Islam was, from the beginning, an apolitical religion, concerned solely with spiritual and ethical guidance.  The form Islam has subsequently taken - as "religion and state" - for him is a deviation from and a perversion of that true conception.

Another consequence is that rulers who operate under the guise of political Islam acquire a certain degree of infallibility.  Their political statements will be seen as expressions of absolute truth and their political goals shrouded with religious sanctity.  When this happens, political issues cannot be commented upon, or even criticized.  "If you open your mouth, you will be accused of questioning God".

This is what is happening now in our country.  The political "ulama" (religious scholar) blatantly make pronouncements that question the religious faith of other Muslims who do not subscribe to their views.  This caused much dismay, confusion and antagonism between Muslims of different political belief.

Yes, people, these political "ulama" can fool some gullible people all of the time, all of the people some of the time, but they cannot fool all of the people all of the time.  I do hope this revelation is a wake-up call to all thinking Muslims!

I am now reading this book: "The Human Body" by Derek Hall.

The introduction states: The human body can be thought of as a complicated living machine.  It needs energy in the form of food to make it work, it has its own in-built monitoring systems, and it can usually be repaired when it fails.  The result of millions of years of gradual modification and improvement, the human body is versatile and adaptable and is capable of performing remarkable physical and mental feats.

I am now 75 years old and I find that I have a lot to learn - and there are many gaps in my knowledge.  To know how my body works should be very interesting.  What a revelation.  Its fascinating, fantastic even.  I am excited when reading this book.  Yes, life is an adventure!