By: Gul-e-lala Rafique
My friends and I often say “Having least expectations would make us more happier than complex plannings”. And this time, I’m going to make it one of my favourite quotes.
The day had come when DM Rawalpindi/Islamabad team had to meet. Although we were planning for this since long but because of everybody’s personal commitments, we couldn’t finalize when to meet. Such is life when you grow up . Anyways, I was in my hometown, enjoying my weekend and had to leave on 10th November, 2025 (the day of our meet-up) for Islamabad . On Sunday (9th November), I had to do some grocery so I thought why shouldn’t we give little goodie bags to our team members. I discussed it with Sister Mehwish and she gave an idea….. candies in a glass. I had watched a video on it a few days ago so I rushed to my nearest mart, picked some disposable glass, some candies and a ribbon from nearby stationery. These few things plus some creativity was all that we needed for cute little gifts.
The next day, I left for Islamabad at 9:00 a.m from my hometown so I could’ve reached at 11:15 a.m easily. But due to traffic, I reached at 11:45 a.m. I had to leave for our meet-up at 12:00 p.m since had to pick 2 sisters, but unfortunately, I was in my hostel till 12:15 p.m (girls always take time to get ready). I ordered cab and left, however, when the driver got to know that there are 3 stops (to pick two sisters from different places and then our venue), he said “Baji itni lambi ride hum nahi letay” ( Sister we don’t take such long rides). I requested him and prayed a lot so he finally agreed to take us all to the venue.
After reaching the destination (it was a mall), we offered Dhuhr prayer and started finding place to sit. We finally found a table near our decided spot and then began making goodie bags. Sister Mehwish and I started cutting disposable glass along with a sister who offered us her help. Sisters started joining us and we made them all work as soon as they reached but luckily we had finished before two non-DM members had arrived.
We all began with introductions and then played “Spin the bottle” game in which the person at which the bottle would stop, had to answer a question. The questions were amazing like “Which Sahaba/Sahabiya would you like to meet, which Dua/Hadith is your favourite, what would you like to say to your older self and what would you say to Allah S.W.T when you’ll meet Him?” It was an instant boost of Iman when we all were having discussion on these questions and it made me feel that how important it is to have a righteous company.
When there is a meet-up and specially if you’re from Asia, food is a must. So we ordered a pizza and a platter of rolls as per majority of votes. Then I distributed the goodie bags that we all had made and captured those beautiful moments. It was the time of Asr prayer by then, so we all went to pray together and then bid farewell to each other .
While leaving for home, I thought that how pure this meet-up was. We were “Us” without having any fear of being judged or thinking that the other person must have something in their mind about us. And above all, who knows that Angels might have joined our meeting and would’ve reported Allah SWT that some of Your servants had met for Your sake alone.
So the next time you have a meet-up with colleagues or acquaintances , you don’t need a lot of arrangements rather think a little out of the box and make the most of the time you spend together.
