January 23, 2020 Shakeeb and I were looking for a shared cab to Masjid e Quba to offer two rakats nafl which is said to be equivalent of one maqbool Umrah. One elderly couple seemed to have forgotten their hotel name and recklessly asked every cab to drop them to their hotel. Poor couple! So,…

24th January  2020 In Madina, most of the guests of the hotel remained seated in the lobby through the day and night as that was the only area with internet access – free WiFi. So was I, on this eventful afternoon. A woman walks to me when I was drafting Day 12 post. She handed…

30th January 2020 I’m back to work and the spiritual journey has just ended. Even though I reached Nagpur yesterday, the change didn’t hit me until now, as I am sitting at my desk trying to recall whatever it is that I used to do. Coding is something that I have done all my life….

29th January 2020 Jeddah Airport It is so hectic, I can’t even. One thing I liked about Jeddah airport is that all the sections for international flights are interconnected with minimal walking distance. We got our boarding passes in 45 minutes, and headed to the immigration counter. Security check happened before that. Immigration was next…

28th January 2019 Today is the last day of my first spiritual journey and we are leaving Medina in a few minutes now. Our flight is from Jeddah Airport. When we began this journey, we stayed awake all night. Today is no different. I hope to visit this place again, and soon. Prayers and love…

27th January 2020 We offered Fajr at room. It was too late to go to masjid. Today, we have planned to spend some time at Al Masjid Al Nabawi. It is our last day here at Madina. We start tomorrow morning for Jeddah. After Breakfast, we took a cab to Quba. It was funny to…

26th January, 2020 We couldn’t go to Quba today. The day started a bit late. Shakeeb and I went shopping. It was quite tiring. Madina is very cold. I just feel like sitting in my bed wrapped in the blanket and just never step out. My infected finger is troubling me as well. The day…

25th January, 2020 We toured two nearby markets for a new travel bag and abayas etc. Zilch! We liked one bag but the shopkeeper was too arrogant and he started to shout at us for no reason. I walked out of the shop, vowing to not buy a bag instead. As for abaya and prayer…

24th January 2020 Juma Mubarak! I haven’t been posting daily as I had hoped, thanks to lack of time and internet. However, there are a few things you must bring if you’re planning for Umrah in January 2020 or next couple of months. I will post separately about “things to pack” but please, oh, please,…

23rd January, 2020 Sainji isn’t keeping well. We had quite a blast today. Post lunch we spent ten minutes and 220 riyals to buy 10 kilogrammes of Ajwa Khajoor. For those who want to say they got it for less, fret not. Quality matters when it comes to Ajwa and prices are always subjective. Shabana…

22th January 2020 Today is Ziyarat day… But I am least excited. I like all the historical places we watch but that wait is just not worth it. The more the number of people going, the more we have to wait and coordinate. And people shamelessly stop got shopping and go missing only to return…

21st January 2020 We arrived at 9:15 PM yesterday. We ate, prayed and slept. That’s pretty much the entire routine of every single day. Isn’t it amazing? Life’s become so easy. Being unaware about namaaz timings caused us one Jamaat in Al Masjid Al Nabawi. I got up at 5:31 AM, confident that we missed…

20th January 2020 Painful, was the beginning. I have an infection in middle finger of my left hand. The finger hurts again, so much that I had to take a painkiller early in the morning, like 6:30 AM. All for good though, because I was up for Fajr, which otherwise is still a tough task. …

19th January 2020 This was our day – the young ones. Wait, I should not call myself young. Alright, the not so old ones’ day out. After yesterday’s Umrah, even though dad was on a wheelchair, he is feeling too tired. Shakeeb and I were free to do what we felt like. We did two…

18th January 2020 As we boarded the bus for second ziyarat, a good news awaited us. We found out that the tickets are changed and now the entire Nagpur group will fly to Mumbai, the layover will be for eight hours. It isn’t less, but compared to the 20 hours and 35 minutes in Delhi…

17th January 2020 Juma Mubarak! This is our first and last Juma in Mecca. Shakeeb and I had devised a plan to minimize our efforts maximize the time we spend inside Haram. During that planning, Shakeeb said twice – “Juma, we will keep free.” I wondered why he said so, but didn’t question him. I…

16th January 2019 Nothing doing. I am down with flu and fever and body ache. I haven’t even been Haram Shareef, not even once.  Prayers and love for all ummah. Shabana Mukhtar

15th January 2020 The day began at 4:30 when we got up for tahajjud. I felt too tired and I had intentions of doing second Umrah. Shakeeb went to Haram Shareef for Fajr and I helped him get ready. Brothers are so casual and careless when getting ready. Even after all the care, he left…

14th January 2020 Despite my predictions, I could not sleep for more than 2 hours. Surprisingly, I was feeling fresh like I do (almost never). Fully charged and determined to make the most of the day, Shakeeb and I left for Masjid Al Haram. Today, Shakeeb and I did Tawaaf on ground floor. It is surprisingly shorter, even though the mataaf area…

13th January 2020   This day is as crazy as it gets. In one day, I have been in 4 different cities. Nagpur, Mumbai, Jeddah and now Mecca.  Here’s a quick sneak peek into my crazy schedule. 0:55 AM – Left home  1:32 AM – Arrived at Nagpur airport:  3:50 AM – Entered the airport  4:12 AM – Security…

12th January 2019 To say that the day was crazy will be an understatement. I reached home this morning, around 10:30 AM. This city is freezing, and the 45 minutes ride from railway station to home was a sheer torture. I slept a lot in train, almost 7 hours, which is is double then what…

Dammit! Why am I so indecisive? I am in Mecca and have just finished my Umrah. I wanted to post every day, a little bit about how each day felt like in Mecca and especially in Haram Shareef. I had drafted the posts, with tags and categories and whatnot. Then, I realized that i don’t…

11 January 2020   Saturday is here. I sleep only on Saturday, but I was too anxious to sleep. I am packing my bags and readying to go home. No matter how many times I travel, the 16 hours train journey always scares me. Have you ever felt scared of the fellow passengers? Like if…

10 January 2020 Last day at work. I am so excited, I cannot even stay at my desk for long, or focus on anything. The clock is ticking. At 5:25 PM, I will be out the door sprinting towards the bus. I go home every couple of months and yet, I feel the same excitement…