Updated August 11th, 2025
Bangalore, after Karbala
The city feels different when you return carrying the dust of Karbala. The journey to God had taken me through streets where the air trembled with prayers, where hours bent beneath the shadow of holy shrines. Every step was a thread stitched into eternity, the weight of sacred dust clinging to my feet like a quiet blessing.
Here, the monsoon lingers softly. Most days arrive in a light drizzle; evenings breathe the scent of wet earth, slow and heavy, as if the rain itself is reluctant to move on.
Reflections in Progress: Writing Karbala’s Echoes into the Blog
Since returning from Karbala, I have been tending to restless thoughts, sifting through the moments where my steps faltered and my heart wavered. The lessons are still settling, like dust after a long pilgrimage. I see where I held back and where I let the noise of the world seep in. Writing them down feels necessary, as if each word could hold the sacred dust in place before it slips away. The blog has become my quiet workbench, a place to shape what feels true. Each piece I write feels like walking once more along that sacred road.
The Slow Reset
My body keeps its own record of absence. Fifteen days away from fasting and workouts have settled into my muscles like damp air, and I’ve gained nearly four kilos. My desk waits with its map of unfinished work. The rhythm I once moved with feels distant, like a drumbeat from a far-off street, but I know it can be found again. The way back is not to force it, but to coax it: one meal, one walk, one rep at a time. Each small step is a hand extended toward the rhythm, inviting it to return.
Beneath the Skies of Qom
The book is changing shape. Beneath the Skies of Qom will no longer be told from my voice alone. It will move into the eyes of a character who walks my road. The city will remain as I remember it — still the City of Light — but the telling will be freer, more observant, more open to imagination. It is memory refracted through a mirror, showing the same truth in a different light.
Earlier entries are archived here.
This page reflects where my heart, mind, and fight are, it evolves as I learn more about myself and this journey. These actions are grounded in the commitments I made on the Reckoning List. This page was inspired by Derek Sivers.
Yasir Abbas 