Mohammed Ali Jinnah's 134th Birthday

134 years ago today,
Qaid e Azam -
Mohammed Ali Jinnah
was born in Wazir Mansion, Karachi district, of lower Sindh.

As we celebrate the birth of Jinnah,
I would like to wish all Christians in Pakistan and around the world, a very merry Christmas.

Remembering our shaheed .. 14

I'm posting more announcements of our shaheed (martyred) who are fighting for our country, our people and our freedom.

Thursday November 25th 2010

'Two personnel of Frontier Corps were killed and three others received injuries when their vehicle was targeted with a remote controlled bomb in Bara area of Khyber Agency on Thursday. ' (Dawn)

'A paramilitary soldier was killed and six others were injured when a bomb exploded in Sarmalo Kando area of Orakzai on Thursday. Hangu DCO Adeel Sadiq narrowly escaped the attack.

Official sources said that militants detonated the bomb with remote control when a convoy of 11 vehicles escorting the DCO was in the area.

The deceased was identified as Lance Naik Rahman Wali. One vehicle was destroyed in the attack.' (Dawn)

Note: I can only provide you with names if I find them in the news articles I browse. If you think something needs correcting, please do leave me a message. I try my best.

We should all pray for these men and their families and recognise their courage and sacrifice for their country.

Are you related to a soldier? Do you have memories of a loved one dying in a war? Do you have a message for the soldiers fighting? Leave me a comment.

How to Organize Your Files

Here is a website I found that shows you how to organize the bits and pieces of paper that you have regarding your ancestors. Fileyourpapers.com gives you a guide on how to organize your information so you can easily find what you're looking for without rummaging through piles of paper. It has a system for Ancestral Quest, Legacy Family Tree, MyTrees Online (haven't heard of that one) and Personal Ancestral File software. I would suggest looking through these guides just to see what kind of ideas there are to try, maybe something will appear interesting. I found the explanation MRINs AND RINs really interesting as I didn't know what they were before.

If you're like me and you don't have much papers to sort and pile (lucky or unlucky - you decide), then I wouldn't bother with this. I've not reached the stage where I have many same names where I get confused about who I'm looking for. Additionally, most of my work is on my computer which means I can search and find material quicker.

Things you'll need for this task:
* A genealogy software
* Binders/Folders
* Tabs
* Documents (sources etc)
* Time

Good luck to those trying to organize their work. Some day your children, grandchildren will appreciate your tidiness!

Data Backup Day - Mobiles

The 1st of every month has been nominated as Data Backup Day at Geneabloggers and rightly so. As genealogists we all need to take care of all that data we collect whether it's in genealogy databases, documents, scans or whatever because you never know when some incident puts your research back to square one.

Recently I mentioned I took a trip to Pakistan where I managed to make some progress with finding out more about my relatives. Well, I had been taking notes of details such as dates and names using a pen and paper but soon found I didn't have time to scribble it all down so I resorted to making short notes on my mobile which had a handy tool for doing exactly that. This was all going well until my mobile decided to succumb to overheating (I think!) and fall dead. I thought OK, maybe it's not so bad, maybe all I need is a new battery to get it working again. So I returned to the UK with the hope that my mobile would be fine with a new battery. Cut to a few weeks later, and I find out that even with a battery that works fine in a similar mobile, my mobile is definitely dead. Yes, I had lost the data on my phone along with non-genealogy stuff.

What I learnt:

* Technology, as amazing as it is, can fail.
* Using a pen and paper isn't so bad afterall.
* I need a new mobile (anyone want to gift me one?)

So all you genealogists out there, remember to back up your data wherever it is!

Note to self: Back up your genealogy database as you haven't done so since ages.

Tombstone Tuesday - N. Bi (?-?)

I obtained this photograph of my greatgrandmother's tombstone from my brother who took photos of some of our ancestors graves while he was in Pakistan (yes, he went too).

N. Bi is buried in our private family graveyard in Punjab. The writing on the stone isn't clearly visible but I can make out the Urdu script to read her name. Other information seems to have faded away such as when did she pass away. I haven't found out much information about her and missed out on seeing the grave for myself, which just goes to show if you have the chance to visit an ancestors grave, you should do it.

N. Bi was the mother of my grandfather, M Y.

Here is what it says:

"[First name] Bi
???
Wafaat ???" (Translation: Death)

Some day I hope to see it in real life..

Remembering our shaheed .. 13

I'm posting more announcements of our shaheed (martyred) who are fighting for our country, our people and our freedom.

However, since I've been away I may have missed some reports.

Thursday November 11th 2010

'Twelve persons, including nine militants and two security men, were killed in exchange of fire in Orakzai and Mohmand tribal regions on Thursday, sources said.

They said that six militants and a soldier were killed in a gunfight in Goak area of Orakzai Agency. According to officials militants attacked a convoy of security forces and killed a soldier.

In Mohmand Agency, three militants, a civilian and a khasadar were killed while three soldiers received injuries during a search operation.' (Dawn)


Note: I can only provide you with names if I find them in the news articles I browse. If you think something needs correcting, please do leave me a message. I try my best.

We should all pray for these men and their families and recognise their courage and sacrifice for their country.

Are you related to a soldier? Do you have memories of a loved one dying in a war? Do you have a message for the soldiers fighting? Leave me a comment.

Eid ul Adha 1431

Eid ul Adha (Arabic: عيد الأضحى ‘Īd al-’Aḍḥā) is a religious festival celebrated by Muslims and Druze worldwide as a commemoration of Ibrahim's (Abraham's) willingness to sacrifice his son Ismael for Allah. It is one of two Eid festivals that Muslims celebrate. Like Eid ul-Fitr, Eid ul-Adha begins with a short prayer followed by a sermon (khuṭba). It is also called the bigger Eid because it lasts a day longer than Eid ul-Fitr.

Eid al-Adha is four days long and starts on the 10th day of the month of Dhul Hijja (ذو الحجة) of the lunar Islamic calendar. This is the day after the pilgrims in Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia by Muslims worldwide, descend from Mount Arafat. It happens to be approximately 70 days after the end of the month of Ramadan.

Happy Eid everyone.