A
CHRONICLE
OF ANDREW JOSE'S LIFE FROM JULY TO SEPTEMBER 2017.
ANDREW JOSE
Important People in my Diary
1. Pastor Ngalim J ean P aul - He is t he m ain pastor i n m y church.
2. Pastor Tojo Thomas - He is the associate pastor in my church. He is Sis
Maria’s h usband.
3. Sis. Celina and Uncle George - Some family friends in my church. They are
husband a nd wife.
4. The Anands : A family in my church. They are our family friends too. They are
composed of
a. Uncle Anand
b. Aunty M anickavalli
c. Ben - a y oung child in m y c hurch
d. Benita - the only teenager in church besides me. She is a worship
leader in t raining.
5. Sis. Maria - a worship leader in my church. She leads the musicians and the
choir.
6. Sis. Joy - another worship leader in my church. She also leads the musicians
and the c hoir. She i s t he wife o f B ro. Ton.
7. Bro. Ton - T he k eyboardist i n my c hurch.
8. Juan B osch - my f riend, who lives in P alma, Mallorca
9. Irene Verano - m y f riend f rom Madrid
10. Nicole G omez - my f riend from L ima, P eru
// J uan, Irene a nd N icole h elped me i n my songwriting.
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1. F riday, 1 4th of July, 2 017
Friday is a day I cherish during summer, because it is a day I can to go to
Church to worship my GOD. It is also a day when my father does not need to go to
his office, so my family can spend time together. I spent some time in fellowship
with my parents after breakfast today, until it was time for me to get ready to go to
Church.
Some family friends of ours who we did invite once to church, a year ago,
when a senior Pastor came, came today to share a testimony of how GOD healed
one of them. Their names are Mayson and Athira. Mayson is the husband, and Athira
the wife. I love that encouraging testimony of how GOD honored the cry of Athira’s
heart and healed her in that service, a year ago. When we go to GOD's presence
with an expectation aligning with HIS WORD, a sincere heart, faith in HIM and a
belief t hat HE is G OD, H E r eally does m ighty things.
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2. Saturday, 1 5th o f July, 2017
After I was done with my prayers, BIBLE-reading, and my breakfast, it was already
2:00 pm, or 3:00 pm (I do not know the precise timing). My father and I found my
phone which was lost, in the valley between the gear box and the driver’s seat. I
thank G OD t hat I f ound the phone, for t he S IM card is really i mportant.
After brunch, when I sat at my desk to work, my mother came to me and told me to
get ready to go with my family for some work that we had to do. I got dressed and
went with my family in the car. We went to Ezdan’s office (The Real Estate Company
that owns the residential compound in which I reside), and then to Lulu
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Hypermarket in Barwa city. We have been chosen to host the weekly Bible Study
next week, so my mother decided to visit the hypermarket to buy ingredients for
Tuesday’s dinner. In Lulu, we also dropped by the ‘phones section’. I also wanted to
buy a new phone, because my current phone’s button had fallen off and was
missing; and also because the phone was old. We saw some models and I liked one
- which w as a ‘Moto C ’. M y f ather d ecided to b uy o ne f or me, n ext month.
After shopping at Lulu we went to the Grand Express Hypermarket in Al Wukair to
purchase s ome c rabs and o nions. M ummy wanted to make crabs tomorrow.
3. Sunday, 1 6th o f J uly, 2 017
After reading the BIBLE, and after I was done with all my morning tasks in general
including breakfast and brushing my teeth, I contemplated on completing two
chapters of Wuthering Heights. I prayed and asked GOD to help me with reading
through the novel. I b egan t o d o s omething on m y l aptop.
Mummy finished cooking the crabs
that we bought yesterday. After a
short amount of time (the amount of
time I know not), my father came
and he ate some crabs. I was afraid
to eat them because even though I
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like their flesh (the crabs and not my parents, of course), they are really hard to eat.
From my experience, crabs really put your patience and sometimes even your
perseverance to test. I tried to eat them by sucking, and nibbling at the body portion
but it was not satisfying. Also, I felt as if tiny pieces of the shell ( I would say tinier
than a grain of sand) pricked my finger. I told my parents that I will eat potato chips
instead of crabs, and did so accordingly. After I was done eating potato chips, an
idea struck my mind. That idea was using YouTube to learn how to eat a crab. The
first video I saw was of a man demonstrating how to eat a crab. He used a mallet
and a crab fork. I decided to eat, being educated through few videos on how to do
so. In my case I neither had a mallet, nor a crab fork, so I armed myself with an
ordinary fork and a ladle (a makeshift mallet), before devouring the flesh of the
crabs. After being equipped with such essential tools (in my own opinion, for eating
crabs), I set out on eating it. It was really delicious. For extra safety, while eating
the crabs, I donned on my father’s protective glasses, which he used for site-visits.
After eating crab to m y f ull, I went t o my d esk.
I completed reading Chapter 1 and 2 of Wuthering Heights at 7.00 am, the next day.
Wuthering Heights is a challenging novel. I found that unlike the previous novels I
read, I had to use the Dictionary more often. When I was done reading I prayed and
read t he B IBLE, a nd slept.
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4. Monday, 17th of J uly, 2017
After breakfast, I worked on a pre-Calculus summer-work package that Ms. Laura
gave me, to complete and submit when school reopens. I worked on it, until I grew
disinterested. I t hen kept math aside.
Today, I also practised some guitar exercises on 'Yousician' (an app that helps in
learning music). It was when I had neared the end of my practice that time, that my
father told m e of a new phone h e saw at Grand Hypermarket.
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It was an LG X Power. I did some research on it and discovered that it had a good
battery-life. That's what I needed the most. When it comes to mobile phones, as
long as a device has good and long battery-life, can browse the internet, run social
media apps, and other utilities apps efficiently, and has a good app store, I can use
it. Personally, I do not want expensive phones, such as I-phones because with them
comes an obligation to safeguard them. My father told me to wait until the next
month for a new phone.
After that, I made a diary entry into this document, ate some of the crabs that were
leftover f rom yesterday, prayed a nd slept.
5. T uesday t he 1 8th o f J uly, 2017
Today was another day in my new time zone. It was also the day, that this week's
Bible S tudy w as going to b e h eld in my house.
After I had finished praying, my mother told me to clean up my room, and help her
prepare my house for the Bible Study today. I also cleaned my bathroom. The
compound's maintenance department sent their employee today to spray pesticides
in the bathrooms. In the preparation of the house, Mummy did a majority of the
work. My contribution is nothing, when compared to what she did. She cooked,
arranged a nd d id m any t hings I m yself d o n ot know o f.
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The attendees o f t he B ible S tudy began to a rrive.
Aunty Manickavalli taught the Bible Study lesson today. Since Ben was sick today, he
took rest in our third bedroom. After the lesson was over, we dined. Mummy had
prepared f ish c urry, boiled r ice, some vegetable a nd daal curry for d inner.
For the rest of today, after our guests had left I sat up reading articles on my laptop,
watching videos on YouTube and reading Wuthering Heights. I slept at 10:00 am,
the n ext d ay.
*Bro. and Sis. Are titles t hat w e use in church.
Bro. is t he short form of 'Brother'
Sis. I s t he s hort f orm of ' Sister'
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6. F riday, the 21st o f J uly, 2 017
After I had woken up today, Papa served me some of the leftover beef and tandoori
chicken from yesterday, for breakfast. He then urged me to get ready to go for
music practice because the time for the practice (12.30 pm) was nearing. I sing at
the church choir, and that is the practice I am speaking about. I got ready and my
father dropped m e off a t Pastor T ojo’s place.
I was welcomed into their apartment. Sis. Maria had informed me that Pastor Tojo
prepared Chicken Biryani for the first time today. After that, we talked for some
time, during which she told me one of the most remarkable things I remember
today. She told me that before she became a worship leader, she was in a choir, in
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the Philippines. She told me that, she felt she would remain only in that choir. But
by GOD’s grace she is a worship leader today. Sometimes, even I felt that I may be
in one place forever, but I know that if I faithfully do GOD’s work, HE will promote
me. When GOD does something, no human can understand it for GOD is
supernatural i n t he t hings t hat HE d oes.
After my fellow worshippers in the music team had arrived, we prayed over the
meal, and Pastor Tojo served us biryani. We all ate biryani and talked with each
other. We had fun. We spoke about age. In that topic, Bro. Allan was the subject of
attention a nd then i t w as Sis. Benita who had cracked laughter.
After l unch, w e p racticed o ur song lineup and w ent t o church.
At church, the message was really empowering and it touched my heart. After the
service, I spent t ime w ith the brothers and s isters in m y Church.
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7. T hursday, 2 7th o f July, 2 017
Today, I had to prepare for an Online Model United Nations Conference. The topic
was on the situation in Eritrea and Somalia. I was representing Malaysia. For this
session, I did some research and I jotted down some countries whom I thought
would love to work with Malaysia, on the issue. The countries in my list are :
Ethiopia, Kenya, S omalia a nd Qatar.
After some r esearch o n Somalia a nd on Eritrea, I set o ut t o d o s ome m athematics.
For Math, I worked out few problems in factorization. Once I was done with that, I
went o ut f or a w alk w ithin my compound a t 6 .30 p .m.
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On coming back from my walk, I went with my father to look at different mobile
phone models. We went to Carrefour and Grand Hypermarket. In Grand
Hypermarket, we came across a new model - a Nokia 5. I decided that it may be a
potential contestant in my decision to buy my next phone. I came home, did some
internet r esearch o n Nokia 5 , read t he BIBLE and slept.
8. Friday, 28th of July, 2 017
Music Practice was where I had headed to with Pastor Tojo and Sis. Maria. Once we
had reached the venue of the music practice - Aunty Manickavalli’s place, I met the
musicians a nd t he c hoir who worshipped today.
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Today was another day after my sprain was healed, that I sang in the church choir.
We sang all the songs in today’s line up, even for a second time, to strengthen our
familiarity. After practice, we rested, finished lunch and departed. Pastor Tojo took
Sis.Maria and the musicians to church. I went with Uncle Anand and Aunty
Manickavalli who drove the c hoir to church.
After church was over, I fellowshipped with my fellow church-members, and then
went with my parents to Lulu. We bought some grocery and grilled chicken at Lulu,
and went h ome.
9. S aturday, 29th o f July, 2017
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“Friends, Romans, Countrymen”, began my father as I observed him from my seat
inside a conference room, in Ooredoo Headquarters - 1. He narrated Marc Antony’s
speech from the Shakespearean play - Julius Caesar. I was in that conference room
because my father took me there along with him to observe one of the meetings of
their native Toastmasters club. I had enjoyed my time there today morning listening
to speeches, meeting some people and visiting the snacks desk for the social break.
After the T oastmasters m eeting, m y father and I returned h ome.
After returning home, I had to prepare for the Online Model United Nations
Conference today. Today was the lobbying session of the conference while tomorrow
is the debate session. Once the conference had begun, the chair requested the
delegates to proceed with submitting operative clauses for the resolution. Since it
was a Security Council debate, there was one resolution and the delegates of the
Council’s nations had to submit clauses to the resolution which will be debated on
the next day. The discussion was on the question of Eritrea and Somalia. In specific,
it was about the illegal arms trade issue in that region. I took time to write my draft
clause and posted it. Just some time after I was done posting it, the time for today’s
session e lapsed.
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11. Sunday, 3 0th o f J uly, 2 017
At 2:00 pm, I got myself ready for the debate today. During my time of preparation,
I browsed the Internet for some news and information. Also, I had drafted another
clause f or t he resolution w hich I thought might be h elpful a t s ome point :
“Dispatches a group of armed ships, and light combat boats with UN Peacekeepers
and Members of the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services boarding
them, to the Red Sea, particularly in the International Waters off the coasts of
Sudan, E ritrea, Somalia,...”
This amendment which I designed was accepted in the debate today. The debate
was exciting and thrilling. There was no use of ‘veto’ powers - a special power which
only countries like the USA, Russia, France, Britain and China can use to override the
decision of the entire Council. The debate was done after 5.10. After the debate was
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done, I spent some time at home, after which I went to Grand Hypermarket with my
father.
11. M onday, 31st of July, 2017
Today I got my new phone from my father. Our first shopping destination was Jarir
Bookstore. We looked at their inventory and did not find any devices that interested
us, s o w e l eft J arir and h eaded t o Lulu Hypermarket.
After we reached the first floor of Lulu Hypermarket, we went to Lulu’s mobile stall.
At the stall, we looked at LG. Their LG catalog did not have LG X Power - the phone
I initially liked, s o we t urned o ur attention to t he new N okias.
The Nokias did have exciting features but they did not come with essential
accessories such as screen guard and cover. While we were pondering over the
choice between Nokia 3 and 5, someone had suggested Huawei. The screen guard
and cover would be important to me because they would help protecting the phone.
I looked at some of Huawei’s catalog, because Nokia did not have a screenguard or
back-cover. Huawei had a good model called Y5 2017. I had seen the model on the
newspaper earlier. The salesperson spoke well of it. I looked at the price tag and
found it to be cheaper. I chose it because I felt it will be good in spite of the cheap
price. It w as p riced at 4 39 Qatari r iyals.
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12. Tuesday, 1 st o f August, 2 017
My habit of sleeping late is slowly diminishing these days and along with it - my
habit of waking up late also. Today I woke up somewhere around 8 a.m, brushed
my teeth, had my breakfast and began to explore my new mobile phone. So in my
diary t oday, t he m ain c ontent will be about my phone.
I always love it when I get a new gadget because I can explore all its capabilities
and its possibilities. In my Huawei, I started to download new apps, and even
customize the Home screen. I replaced the Huawei interface in the home screen
which is like t his :
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Huawei H ome Interface
with this :
Google N ow L auncher’s H ome Screen I nterface.
The First few a pps that I installed w ere:
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Google Now Launcher : The official app launcher by Google. It is by setting this
app a s m y default l auncher that I m ade t he UI c hange i n my H uawei’s home s creen.
Evie Launcher (Uninstalled later): I n my opinion, it made my Android look like
an iOS device. I uninstalled it because I already had Google Now - another launcher.
But unlike Google Now, which hides its icon from the App menu, Evie does not. I did
not like that, s o I uninstalled Evie.
Evie Launcher
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GBoard : I like Google’s own keyboard for android than other customized keyboards
because Google’s keyboard g ives a n ative f eel t o t he phone.
After playing on my phone for almost the entire day, I got ready to go to Church for
Bible Study, after which we (my f amily) went to Lulu and r eturned home.
13. Wednesday, 2nd o f A ugust, 2017
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After breakfast, I researched about my phone, and played with it for some time. I
also researched about Georgetown University in Qatar. I looked into International
History and International Economics, on the list of programs offered by Georgetown
University - Q atar.
Besides learning about the programs, I also read an email that my father had
forwarded to me yesterday from Georgetown. The email stated that they were
hosting the ACT thrice, and the SAT twice this year on their campus. It also stated
the deadline for a pplying to G eorgetown U niversity i n Q atar was o n February, 2018.
At night, my family and I set out for a walk within our compound, after which we
went to Carrefour - to look for a table for my mother. We didn’t find a table there,
so we bought some tissue rolls and went back home. I prayed, read the BIBLE and
slept.
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14.Thursday, 3 rd of A ugust, 2017
Today I worked on some mathematics problems from the Calculus booklet. After I
was done with it I practised some songs that the choir had on their lineup for
tomorrow’s worship service. I also received news that tomorrow I will be going over
to Sis. Celina’s place. Sis. Celina and Uncle George are family friends from Church.
They are close to almost all the families in the Church. I will be going to their house
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after the Church service. Ben is also going to be there. I am really excited. After
practising the songs on the lineup, I went with my father to Lulu Hypermarket, to
buy a product which was on discount. After making the selection and the purchase,
we returned home. I read m y B IBLE and slept.
15. Friday, 4th o f A ugust, 2 017
After church, I went and Ben went with Sis. Celina and Uncle George. The first place
where we dropped by before going to home was Quality Mart for Sis. Celina and
Uncle George wanted to buy some groceries. Ben seemed to enjoy helping Aunty
Celina put the vegetables in plastic bags. He followed her just like a little lamb
accompanying a shepherd. I spent my time following Uncle George for a while, and
then s witched t o f ollowing Sis. C elina for a w hile. After s hopping, w e all went h ome.
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For Dinner, we ate mutton curry with some dosas. Uncle George is a good cook. His
mutton curry was very delicious, and its main outstanding characteristic was the
choice of soft pieces. I felt a soothing sensation as my teeth cut into the flesh of
those choice p ieces o f l amb soaked in that enriched gravy.
After d inner, w e w atched a movie a nd a t 11.30, w e a ll p rayed and w ent to sleep.
16. Saturday, 5 th of August, 2017
Today I woke up at 8.00. I was the first to wake up. As soon as I got ready I read
my BIBLE and prayed. It was when I was about to complete reading my BIBLE that I
noticed that Sis. Celina had woken up and was reading her BIBLE too. After Sis.
Celina, i t w as U ncle George who woke u p a nd a t l ast i t w as B en.
Aunty Celina had cooked some peas, extracted some coconut milk and prepared
some dosas for breakfast. Until breakfast, I and Ben played some games, and
watched television. One of those games was a Prime Minister’s arrival at an airport. I
threw in some scenarios such as the airport being attacked by terrorists and being
threatened. W e m ade o ur own stories l ike t hese a round his toy models.
After breakfast, Bro. George drove us all around and near Mansoura. They were
planning on shifting their accommodation to somewhere close to Uncle George’s
office.
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We had our lunch at 3.00 pm. Uncle George cooked some sambar and kheema rolls
as accompaniments for boiled rice. As we ate, we watched a movie. After that, we
all departed. It was time for me to go. I spent some time with the children (including
Benita who had arrived at Pastor Tojo’s place), at Pastor Tojo’s place before being
dropped off at my house by Uncle Anand. I am grateful to those who allowed me to
be in their company, for more than the entertainment, I enjoyed the very presence
of people very much.
17. S unday, 6 th of August, 2 017
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I woke up, being hungover from all the companionship I had in the last two days.
Now, I was back to normal, as the only child in the house. I woke up, played some
songs on my guitar and then proceeded to read my BIBLE. After reading my BIBLE, I
worked on my mathematics for some time. I revised all the problems which I had
completed and checked for any errors. For checking my answers I used an
application named Photomath with which I took pictures of questions, and got
answers. I put question marks beside every question that I failed to answer, and
ticked everything which I succeeded in answering. I planned on asking Papa to help
me with t hose t hat I c ould not understand later.
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After math, I read Wuthering Heights. The book was humorous so far. Heathcliff
reminded me of one of the category of people I call “hard men”. They have a hard
exoskeleton but are really nice people if you dig below the stony rock which encloses
them. The mild character of Heathcliff could not be suppressed by whatever hard
casing he cased i t with.
I read until my father decided to take us all out to buy a gift for Benita. It was
Benita’s birthday tomorrow. It was really kind of her parents to invite me and my
family because it has been years since I attended a birthday party of someone in my
age g roup.
After buying a g ift I returned home, prayed, read the B IBLE and s lept.
18. M onday, 7 th of A ugust, 2 017
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I was stuck in my toilet for a long time today morning because I did not know that
my compound’s authorities had shut the water supply. However, I was fortunate to
have my mobile phone with me, in that situation because it kept me engaged in
some activity until the water returned. After water supply resumed, I read my
BIBLE, prayed and then had my breakfast. I was going to Benita’s house today
evening and I was r eally excited.
I worked on my diary until my father returned, for I had to complete the entries of
all the days that have passed after last Thursday. After I had completed my diary, I
got dressed to go to Benita’s house. I wore a pair of denims, and a casual shirt
(which is something I rarely wear). Papa dropped us off at Aunty Celina’s house.
Aunty Celina and Uncle George were going to go to the party with me and Mummy.
Papa w ould come l ate t o the party because he had a Toastmasters m eeting to g o t o.
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At the party, all the guests were welcomed by Uncle Anand, Aunty Manickavalli, Ben
and Benita. I interacted with the guests who were not of our church and met some
interesting people from the crowd. One of them was a man who works at a bottling
plant. He explained to me about plastic engineering and his experiences in Qatar
and Uganda. I also met a lady who once worked as a General Manager in Yamaha -
India. I met Benita, but did not talk much with her, with the exception of few words.
I did not intend to be rude, but felt q uite u ncomfortable t o start a c onversation.
After Benita’s cake cutting ceremony, I had dinner and socialized with my fellow
guests. When Papa arrived today, I planned a day when I would go to Manickavalli
Aunty’s house this summer, in response to an invitation from her to accompany her
kids. I informed the Anands that I would come on the 17th of August 2017. On our
way home, we dropped P astor J ean.
19.Tuesday, 8 th of A ugust, 2017
Today, after I had woken up, I spent some time preparing for the Bible Study. After
that I wrote my diary entry. I had not done much today, with the exception of
eating, and spending my time on my laptop. I am gradually trying to detox my
excitement over a new phone. In the evening, I went to the Bible study, and then
returned home. W e p ostponed m y visit to the Anands t o t he weekend next week.
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20. W ednesday, 9 th o f August, 2017
I spoke with Pastor Jean over WhatsApp today morning. Afterwards I brushed my
teeth, read my BIBLE, and then got to work. Mummy had to go somewhere out, so I
was alone in the house.
While I was in the house, I spent my time reading Wuthering Heights. My favorite
character thus far is Nelly, and my liking for her is because of her faithfulness and
her t olerance o f her m asters’ attitudes.
After almost two hours or less of reading Wuthering Heights, my father arrived from
work a nd I a ccompanied him to a Toastmasters meeting
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21.Thursday, 10th o f August, 2 017
After I had woken up, and gotten ready, I ate my breakfast, and prepared myself to
complete all the work which I had to complete today. Ms. Quarnain’s worksheet
proved to be an effective planning tool for a reading plan. Each heading appeared to
me as a day’s agenda. For today, I read Chapter 9 and 10, which were about
Catherine’s wedding with Edgar Linton and Heathcliff’s return to the Heights. As I
read, I answered some questions in the worksheet, so that I did not have to refer to
the book later w hen I n eeded t he a nswers t o them.
After I had finished my reading task, I opened Visual Studio - the app I use for
coding, to explore how android programming is done on that app. For an hour, I
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was looking at videos about it on YouTube and glancing at the software. This was
pursued by me t ill t he l ast f ew m inutes b efore a n h our e nded.
22. Friday, 1 1th o f August, 2 017
Today was Pastor Jean Paul’s birthday. I sent him Happy Birthday wishes in French.
For most of today I never thought that the date was the 11th of August, instead I
thought that the date was the 9th. The reason I believe I thought so is because in
my laptop the date is shown like this: the month comes first followed by the day and
the year.
In the morning, I had prayed, completed my breakfast, listened to the song lineup
and readied myself to go to church. Music practice was to be held at Benita’s house,
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and it was Pastor Tojo and Sis.Maria who will be taking me along with them to the
music p ractice’s v enue today.
I am grateful to them because both of them have been dropping me off at music
practice whenever it was in the Anands’ place. After waiting for them for a while,
their car arrived and I got inside. On the way to Benita’s place we picked up Sis.
Rahab, m y f ellow m ember of t he choir
At Benita’s place we were received by Aunty Manickavalli and Uncle Anand who
communed with us as we waited for the other musicians, and singers to arrive. Ben
came downstairs after having bathed, and he spoke with me, and then attended to
everyone w ho was present t here.
I spoke with almost everyone who was present there. As we spoke, Aunty Manicka
prepared her dining table with utensils, to serve lunch for all those who will be
practicing for the worship service today. Sis. Maria asked all those who were in the
choir to have lunch so that after everybody had finished their lunch, the practice can
begin.
After everyone had finished eating their meals, they readied the living room for the
practice. Benita and Sis. Maria really helped me with the harmonies. They were
really patient with me when I couldn’t sing the harmonies well and helped me in
those moments. May GOD bless those kind hearts. My singing voice is a blessing,
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and I am really ashamed to say it - it is a blessing I often underestimate.
Nevertheless I g ive thanks to G OD for equipping m e w ith a b eautiful voice.
After the practice was over, I went with Sis. Celina (without Ben this time though) in
Anand uncle’s car while the others went with either Pastor Tojo and Sis. Maria, or
Sis. J oy and h er h usband Bro.Ton.
23. Saturday, 12th of A ugust, 2 017
The first thing that I had on my agenda today after I had woken up was to
accompany my father to another meeting of the Ooredoo Toastmasters. Unlike the
last time I had visited Ooredoo, the venue of the meeting was inside an Auditorium
in the ground floor and not in one of the floors at the top. I was amazed at how they
managed t o f it d ifferent k inds of rooms into one h igh r ise building.
The meeting was fun, I listened to few speeches, and spoke in the
impromptu-speaking session (officially termed as the ‘Table Topics Session’ in
Toastmasters’ terminology). I also met new people, and some old people - especially
a man named Amit Joshi. He was my father’s colleague and he was kind to
accompany m y f ather w hen h e was s earching f or a s chool t o g et me admitted i n.
Today I was also given an opportunity to speak. GOD’s grace helped me to speak
well, and I know that it is grace because people found me as a confident speaker
because it is a title which I never deserve. They asked me to come and speak at
their next m eeting.
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24. Sunday, 13th o f A ugust, 2017
I woke up at 7 .00 am. A fter w aking u p, a nd r eadying myself. I a ttended an online
church s ervice s treamed from Colombo by P astor J erome’s church. I a ttended the
service t ill i t w as o ver.
After the service w as o ver, I r ead my B IBLE a nd g ot ready t o work on my
homework, w hich w as t o read Wuthering Heights. I reviewed my p lan f or today and
found that I h ad t o c omplete reading C hapter 9, 1 0 and 1 3. After h aving r eviewed
the plan, I began to read. I n my opinion, t he s tory starts to elevate i n c onfusion with
bizarre events o ccurring in these p ortions. H eathcliff’s nature changed completely
after h is c omeback after t hree y ears and his actions w ere contrastingly different t o
his own nature at t he b eginning o f Miss. D ean’s n arrations. As f or C atherine
Earnshaw, reading these chapters h elped m e l ook deeper i nto her n ature. If I were
to r ewrite this n ovel, I would m ake Joseph s peak i n a m ore comprehensible d ialect -
for whenever h is w ords were quoted, I had to invest m ore time in breaking down
those w ords i nto a c omprehensible f ormat f or my mind to u nderstand. I w ould a lso
make the s tory i nto a h appier s tory - for example: Hindley gets into a p roblem and
Heathcliff helps him and t hey become f riends. Nevertheless E mily B ronte has done a
hard job f or w hich I a cknowledge her e ffort.
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I spent m y time r eading t he novel u ntil 2.00 pm, after which I had a b ath and
shaved.
25. M onday, 14th of A ugust, 2 017
Today, after I had risen from my bed, I got ready and began to work on copying the
contents of my father’s phonetics notebook to a new one, in obedience to his
request. After I was done with that, I read until few pages after the beginning of
Chapter 17. Today was a casual day in my summer. I really enjoyed my day. I also
did some r esearch on coding and t echnology.
26. Monday, 15th of August, 2017
After I h ad woken u p, I opened my mobile p hone to v iew m y text m essages, and
noticed from S is. Celina’s m essage that it w as I ndia’s Independence D ay today. I
viewed the videos that p eople had sent, a nd t hen r etired t o pray. A fter p rayer, I
revised for the B IBLE study t oday. Pastor J ean a sks t he church q uestions before he
teaches f rom t he BIBLE e very B IBLE s tudy, so I thought t hat i t w ould b e w iser to
study f or those q uestions. I r ead Wuthering Heights a fter p reparing f or my B IBLE
study. After r eading W uthering Heights, I conversed with m y parents, and then g ot
ready and w ent to t he BIBLE study. O nce t he B IBLE study was over, I returned
home, prayed a nd slept.
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27. Wednesday, 1 6th o f August, 2 017
This W ednesday w as an exciting day because I g ot to visit S is. C elina a nd Bro.
George o n their Anniversary p arty. T his party was a s urprise t o m e until it w as
revealed y esterday b y S is.Celina m oments before m y car w as ready t o leave the
Church compound. So, in o rder t o p repare f or this e vent, I d ecided t o s et o n
completing m y h omework, so t hat my parents would h ave not h ave a problem w ith
taking m e t o the e vent. I s pent my time r eading t hrough Wuthering H eights. I began
to have a slight detestation for Heathcliff's c haracter. H eathcliff h ad a b etter,
brighter and beautiful f uture ahead o f him, but he c hose to b e someone w ho
betrayed t he very f amily t hat gave him a g ood l ife, and brought h im out of the
streets. T his t o my e yes w as a bsolutely something w hich I d o n ot e ncourage n or
appreciate. A fter I had f inished the last f ew chapters I got d ressed a nd d eparted f or
the party. I attended t he p arty a nd found i t to be v ery exciting. I a m r eally thankful
to Sis. Celina and Uncle George f or inviting me to their party.
28. Thursday, 1 7th o f A ugust, 2017.
I n ever k new i t w as T hursday u ntil I realised i t w as T hursday after looking a t my
computer c lock. T his shocked m e t otally b ecause until a major half of t he day was
over, I l ived t he day w ithout a ctually t hinking t hat this d ay which I l ived was not
Thursday. After a while I 'm r eading W uthering H eights, I d ecided to practice t he
song which I w as to p ractice f or the service tomorrow. Tomorrow’s s ervice w ill be
my second t ime singing h armonies for my Church choir. S is. Joy was k ind enough t o
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put t he same s ongs a s last week o n tomorrow's lineup. T here w as one different
song t hough, b ut s ince I d id n ot l earn h ow t o do h armonies for t hat, I d ecided not t o
worry a bout it. After practice, I read my BIBLE, p rayed and slept.
29. Friday, 18th o f August, 2017
I w oke u p v ery l ate. The t ime I w oke u p was way a fter my self-expected waking up
time. I w anted t o wake u p at 7 .00, b ut e nded u p w aking up a t t en. N ow I h ad t wo
challenges with t hat - one was listening t o every s ingle s ong on the line u p a nd the
other was g etting ready o n time. My p arents w ere strong on s eeing that I g o t o
practice e arly. I n o rder t o be o bedient, I took a bath, b ut d idn't s have - t he former
was essential b ut I can d o without the latter. So after d onning on some c lothes, I
went f or p ractice. At p ractice I mastered a lot of n ew h armony techniques. Sis. M aria
and Sis. Benita w ere amazingly kind i n h elping me learn t he harmonies. B y GOD’s
grace, my harmonies w as w onderful. A fter service, I retired to my house, dined and
slept. I had t o go t o Ben’s and B enita’s house t omorrow. I w as excited a nd c ouldn't
even sleep until the c lock struck 12.
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30. S aturday, 1 9th of August, 2017
I w as r eally e xcited to arrive at t he Anands’ house. I h oped t o s pend my time w ell,
playing with Ben and B enita, and conversing with both Manicka aunty and Anand
uncle. P apa w as k ind e nough to drop m e. A fter B en arrived, w e had b reakfast. A fter
breakfast, w e began to watch a m ovie called ‘ VIP’. I t revolved a round the
protagonist - an u nemployed man w ho never w anted t o s ettle for a ny o ther job
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besides w hat he h ad desired - t o become a c ivil e ngineer. W hile w e w ere w atching
the m ovie, I met Benita w ho came d ownstairs t o t he hall. After t he movie, I s howed
Benita h ow t o compose b eats electronically. A fter s ome t ime o f s howing her the
software, I p layed with Ben, until it w as lunchtime. In t he evening, uncle Anand took
us to a g arment shop. On n oticing m y l iking f or mandarin collared shirts, h e wanted
to b uy m e one. After t he garment s hop, we visited a c ar s howroom, a nd t hen a
supermarket. After visiting all these p laces, they took m e to Deccan Deewan, a
restaurant where t hey b ought m y f avorite dish, - C hicken B iryani. A fter d inner, w e
went back to their home where I w as to spend the night. B efore sleeping, I s howed
Benita how t o w rite a melody electronically.
31. Saturday, 20th o f August, 2 017
Today I w oke u p a t 9 .00 a m. After I h ad w oken u p, I got d ressed, h ad my b reakfast
and watched t elevision with B en a nd B enita until e verybody completed their
breakfast. A fter a while o f g aming and watching television, we departed f rom their
house and h eaded to my p lace. I was t o b e d ropped a t m y home t oday. B efore
arriving a t m y h ome, w e also w ent t o t he g arment s hop to c ollect m y shirt (they
gave it to t he tailor y esterday after b uying i t f or me, t o m ake a mandarin collar), and
Aunty Manicka’s o ffice t o g ive h er s pectacles t o her. On a rriving h ome, I f elt a bit
lonely after s pending a lmost a day at their house. I began to r ead W uthering
Heights a fter r eturning. I finished t he book t oday! A fter r eading I t ook s ome r est
and then began t o some o ther a ctivity until I slept.
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32. M onday, 2 1st o f August, 2 017
I h ad to complete m y S AT practice today. A fter I had finished reading my BIBLE, I
set out t o do 120 SAT p ractice questions. I w as able to complete a ll of t hem by the
end of t he e vening. After S AT, I began to program on F lameSky 4 . I w ant t o make it
a very r esourceful w eb b rowser which will help people a ccess t he i nternet in a ]
better way. The g ood thing about t his browser is t hat i t cannot b e a ttacked b y
browser e xtension v iruses. I s pent most o f my t ime b uilding it today u ntil it was l ate
in the n ight.
33. Tuesday, 22nd o f August, 2 017
Today l ike other Tuesdays, I spent t ime studying the BIBLE S tudy notes w hich I had
to study. After s tudying f or Bible Study, I programmed on FlameSky 4 f or m any
hours. I continued to build FlameSky 4 till it was t ime for m e to g o t o Bible Study.
Few h ours b efore Bible Study, I also did s ome r esearch o n h ow to build an A ndroid
app. B enita was going for a Scrabble competition t hat is Worldwide, and since she is
like a little sister of mine, I was e xcited f or her. B enita is a blessed c hild. S he is r eally
favored by G OD. S he and I have b een through s ome common c hallenges, and s ince
she is the only t eenager i n m y church besides me, t here i s a fraternal bond b etween
us. A fter B IBLE Study was o ver, I w ent with m y f amily t o D unkin D onuts a nd to
Lifestyle Restaurant in Barwa V illage, w here we h ad our dinner.
34. Wednesday, 23nd of A ugust, 2017
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Eminor, C major, Gmajor a nd D major were t he first c hords I played a s soon as I t ook
my guitar. I w anted to make i t a song. I decided to write i n Spanish for English d id
not h ave the essential v owel sounds or v ocabulary t hat w ill s uit the accompaniment
I wrote. For Spanish - I used Google T ranslate. I spent a lmost t wo hours
song-writing and using Google Translate. A fter songwriting, I went to Khan
Academy, t o finish almost three h ours o f m ath. A fter I was d one w ith math, I went
to program.
35. Thursday, 24th o f A ugust, 2017
Today I r emembered that I had to r ead t he f irst three chapters of Wuthering
Heights, since I did not k now w hat to write a s answers f or Ms. Q uarnain’s
comprehension sheet. S o, as soon a s I h ad gotten ready a nd finished b reakfast, I
commenced r eading through that novel o nce again. It seemed to m e a s if I
understood t he better when I read through those f irst few chapters o nce a gain.
After I was done with r eading, I worked o n s omething else u ntil night.
36. F riday, 2 5th of A ugust, 2 017
For today’s church service, I wore t he m andarin-collared shirt that Anand uncle
gifted me l ast week. I l oved the way it l ooked o n m e. Today, Pastor Tojo preached
the m essage. It was a touching sermon on Reaction a nd Response a nd t he
difference between t he two. B enita had g one f or t he MSI W orld Srabble
Championships a nd was a bsent t oday. Because of t hat, she c ould not c ome today
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for practice. O nly U ncle Anand and A unty Manicka w ere p resent. A unty Manicka
asked me t o p ray f or h er tournament today. After t he church s ervice w as over, I
went home, I had my dinner, p rayed and r etired to m y bed.
37. Saturday, 26th o f A ugust, 2 017
Papa w oke me up e arly today morning. H e w as g oing t o take me t o a l ive s creening
of t he W orld C hampionship o f Public S peaking at the Radisson Blu hotel today. I g ot
ready a nd w ent w ith him. T he venue w as s o beautiful. Today w as the first d ay t hat I
remember going i nside a Radisson Blu hotel in my e ntire l ife. I a m t hankful to Papa
for t hat. After breakfast, I s at a t a table a nd w atched the e ntire t ournament. The
tournament featured different speakers who made it to the f inals. I loved most of
the s peeches. It w as a r eally t ough competition, because all speeches from my v iew
were fantastic. A fter the event was o ver, I headed to s chool with m y f ather to see if
the uniforms s tore w as opened. We checked i f it w as open, b ut f ound o ut that it w as
not, s o w e returned h ome. For the rest o f t he d ay I awaited t he Monthly
Intercessory Prayer m eet which was going to b e held at my h ouse tonight.
38. Sunday, 27th o f A ugust, 2 017
Today a fter I woke up, I worked on m y new song, read t he Bible a nd h ad my
breakfast. J uan has been a great help in w riting my song. After b reakfast ( literally
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lunch b ecause I w oke up late), I b egan to redesign F lameSky’s w ebsite. F lameSky is
my web browser that I o nce used t o code. Now, I decided t o r evive it. Whatever I
did today was steps towards F lameSky’s revival. A fter designing w ebsites, I w orked
with P apa on some math p roblems from the Calculus b ooklet. I w orked on t wo
problems, a fter which I e ngaged myself i n s ome activity until i t was time for me t o
go t o b ed.
39. M onday, 2 8th o f August, 2 017
I w oke up w ith t he d ecision that a fter I f inish my p rayer, a nd b reakfast, I w ill clear
my w ebsites o f p irated l ogos. W hen I used t o be young, I o nce u sed p irated
software t o make logos, b ut now that I have grown, I d ecided t hat it w ould b e
better t o g et r id o f those l ogos made w ith pirated software because piracy is
stealing. Today I u sed Inkscape, a f ree tool t o d esign my logo for F lameSky. I a lso
made other c hanges such as c hanging t he banners o n the facebook p ages o f a ll my
brand. A fter t hat at n ight, I worked w ith m y father o n some m ath, like yesterday,
and did something u ntil night.
40. T uesday, 29th o f August, 2017
Today I s pent m y t ime programming since a bout 3 :00 p m, u ntil it w as time for me
to change a nd p repare t o leave for Bible S tudy. Today, at Bible Study, Mummy w as
chosen to d o the e xaltation. She s poke a f ew points relating to this m onth’s t heme -
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Faith. A fter s he w as d one, P astor Jean answered few questions asked b y t he b ible
study a ttendees. After c oming home, I b egan to build websites f or a n ew idea that I
had. I d ecided to build a community a nd make m y w eb b rowser i ts subsidiary. T he
name o f the community is ‘The F lameSky O pen Source Project C ommunity’ and it is
an open s ource c ommunity where all t hose w ho l ove t o code, c an b uild the
FlameSky browser, and e arn experience. M y duty t here will be t hat of a m aintainer.
As m aintainer, I will h ave t o respond to i ssues, a nd f ix bugs, promote the p roduct,
and above all - c heck t he code.
41. Wednesday, 30th of August, 2 017
Today M ummy w as gracious e nough t o accompany me t o s chool, to visit the u niform
store. I was s o happy t o go back to s chool. I loved t o s ee the w alls once a gain with
those flags h anging, and also t he n ew changes - the p ictures that were posted on
the w alls. After choosing our choice e lements of t he u niform, M ummy went to the
cashier to m ake p ayments f or m y uniform. It w as t hen, when I n oticed a familiar,
bespectacled face c oming i nto t he atrium. I looked on, until I recognized w ho t hat
person w as - Mr. Esmahel. I w ent t o greet him and t he o ther Arabic t eachers that
followed him, which i ncluded M r. M oustafa Kak. A fter I f inished g reeting t hem, I a lso
encountered Mr.Cox, Mr. Eddie a nd Mr. V an Mierlo, w ith whom I conversed. A fter I
spoke w ith them, I j oined M ummy in g oing home. A t home, I s pent my t ime
programming until m y father decided t o t ake us to Lulu for m aking purchases. I
thank h im for buying me a new b ag.
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42. T hursday, 3 1st August, 2017
Today w as the first d ay in m y f ather's 'Eid’ holidays. Papa was k ind e nough t o h elp
me w ith my Mathematics booklet. He a nd I s olved few problems t hat I c ouldn't solve
before. A fter o ur t ime w ith m ath w as over, I listened to s ome songs in the c hurch
lineup, b ecause I had t o g o t o a p rayer meet this e vening. I practiced t ill my f ather
asked me t o g et ready before leaving f or t he prayer meeting. T his prayer m eet w as
a blessing. I a sked the L ORD t o s how m e a v ision f or m y future. W hen I returned
home, I returned b lessed.
43. Friday, 1 st S eptember, 2017
Today practice was a t Aunty Manickvalli’s p lace. M y favorite song w as on t he l ine u p.
It w as titled ‘ Good Good F ather’. S ister Joy was leading the team t oday. We l istened
to t he songs, a s we a waited the other members o f t he m usic team. After a m ajority
of the team h ad arrived, w e b egan to h ave our lunch. After l unch we practiced, and
then h eaded to church. D uring f ellowship time, I m et Sis. Lisa, a fter m any d ays. A t
I spoke w ith h er about her c hildren. On our way h ome, we d ropped few s isters from
Qatar A irways.
44. Saturday, 2nd September, 2017
After I had woken up, I prayed and read my Bible. Then, I b egan t o work on editing
all my d iary e ntries, t hat I made into t his j ournal. I w orked o n s hortening w hat I
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could s horten, a nd adding w hat I c ould add. A fter I w as d one w ith working o n this, I
got ready to go f or a p rayer m eeting this evening, and I w ent with family to the
Religious C omplex.
45. S unday, 3 rd o f September, 2 017
Yesterday w as a busy day, as I b egan to t ransfer all the work I did f or
Calculus, o nto the f inal d raft. It i s this draft t hat I w ill submit t o Ms. Laura n ext
Monday p erhaps. I managed t o c opy twenty s even p roblems and a ll the steps
involved into the draft. A fter I w as done with the w ork, I g ot ready and went w ith
my p arents t o the l ast s ession o f the p rayer meet t hat I w as a ttending, in t he l ast
few d ays. The l ast s ession for me was r eally o verwhelming, a s I s aw great things
which one will h ave to s ee a nd witness with t heir o wn eyes to believe. A fter the
meeting, I went to Safari m all with m y parents. At S afari m all we b ought some
vegetables f or lunch t omorrow. T here is a s pecial vegetarian m eal t hat M ummy will
make tomorrow.
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