Today I was suddenly struck by some sort of revelation. I stood in the middle of my room and stared blankly at the floor and I thought to myself “Hey, I’m 27 years old!”

Yesterday was my birthday. And just like most of my other birthdays, it went unnoticed. No complaints here. But it has become a fact now: I am 27.

A decade ago I was only 17, and another decade back, I was only 7. When I was 7, I would sit down on my school desk, completely unaware of whatever my maths teacher was ranting about, and I would count the years ahead of me.

I would think, jotting the digits and numbers down on my notebook “In 1996 I will become 18… in 1998 I will be 20 (in time with the World Cup, cool! I would think). In 2005 I will be 27.” Twenty years ago, this days was too far away to ever become a reality.

Well, now I think: 27 is only three years away from 30. Thirty is half way through to 60. Hell, that doesn’t seem that far off now doesn it?!

The funny side of it is that back then, back on that school desk, I was thinking about all this as if it concerned someone else. I was talking about myself, how could I have been? I was only seven remember? Besides, they were only numbers on a piece of paper.

But time flies. And here we are. Another year ticked off.

Back to reality, I am glad to report that I’ve actually done some writing today. I’ve written a little under 600 words on my second novel Buried. Which means that as of now, I am approximately 38k words away from the end.

Tsk tsk. Sigh.

Bear with me please, I’ll get there… eventually.

The Oscars are only 10 days away! Who are you putting your money on?

I also wanted to touch upon Ashora, the shiate religious occasion celebrated by millions all over the world. Now, I’m not going to retell the events of that day, or the savagery of the massacre or the unfairness of the battle of Karbala. You’ve probably heard it all before… but I’m just going to say something about what this occasion has become to.

It used to be a genuinely sad and very religious occasion in which people mourned the death of great people and one that we are meant to draw lessons, wisdom and morals from. But just like any other major religious occasion in the world, it has become commercialized, striped of its true hard-hitting reality to become nothing more than yet another “cultural” or “social” gathering where people come in to meet their friends, chat and have a bit of fun!

Sadly this is the truth.  It has become, dare I say, just like Christmas or New Year, two occasions which are celebrate by millions of non-Christians for the sake of it being fun and cool and gives them something “nice” to do.

But lets not get too critical here… after all, it is only for the good that more people acknowledge this very important and historic event. And why would we complain, with so many satellite channels covering the Ashora activities, broadcasting processions and hearings. For the love of the Hussain, even Bahrain TV is broadcasting programmes and shows about it… something previously unheard of. As little as five years ago, no one would have even dreamed of it, that the government owned television channel would cover the festivities of Ashora.