For The Love Of Writing

To those who blog often, and by often I mean more often than I do, you would be familiar with the burning desire to rush home and turn your laptop on in a hurry to gather your thoughts into a post... usually inspired by something you saw or heard.

Such was the sensation I felt today whilst in the midst of a meeting with an extraordinarily charming woman, one who seemed to be courting her early eighties with the same gusto and zest most teenagers would court their first dates with.
She had this perfectly groomed head of silver-blueish hair, with the clearest of blue eyes to match.
Her name was Zelda.
In another life, she could have been a clairvoyant. She certainly had the jewelry and the animated hands for the job.

Anyways, Zelda turned out to be a property mogulless (I just made that word up. Don't bother Googling it. It's meant to mean "Female mogul"). She owns more commercial property than Donald Trump owns toupees.
She was referred to me by a client I had recently renovated a building for.
I'm not easily intimidated, especially not by a geriatric, but her very first phone call to me went something like this:

Phone : Tring Tring (in a polyphonically kinda way)
Me : Hello
Zelda : Yes. Fareed?
Me : Yes.
Zelda : Fareed, I got your number from so-and-so (insert referrers name here).
I'd like to meet you tomorrow at 9,at my building. Please don't be late. I'll forward you the details shortly.
Me : Yes.
Zelda : Good. *click*

Now your'e probably wondering why I hadn't asked her anything, or said anything to her.
Well, in my years of business, I have learnt a a vast array of skills, and one of the most important is recognising authority the second you see or hear it.
Zelda spoke with such commanding authority, there was no questioning her. Not for a second. Not if you gave a damn about emulating the successful.

By 9:15am the next day, she knew I was the right man for the job, and I knew my life as regards my business would never be the same again.
At best I would liken it to the feeling of a kid in an orphanage, having been overlooked every single time potential foster parents came to pick adoptive kids up like puppies from a pet store.... and who finally gets chosen by Santa himself!

I sense I will be learning much from Zelda, but if the truth be told I will be richer and wealthier if I simply learn how she managed to keep the energy and gumption (I stole this word from Humayda's blog ) burning inside that wrinkly body of hers. It's almost like there's a fiery teenager inside, who wakes up each morning ready to blaze a trail across the skies each morning, but decides to put on a pensioners body-suit first.
I watched in awe as she rattled off her expectations of me, interspersed with anecdotes from her impressive mental library of life... all the while those crystal blue eyes sparkling like the Hope Diamond, never dropping her gaze as she locked me in an eyehold, or steady gaze if you prefer (my spellcheck doesn't seem to recognise "eyehold".)
Yes, I'll be the first to admit that I was captivated, immersed in this sea of giddiness.
Vertigo by Zelda.
Sounds like a perfume.

She encapsulated my understanding of success.
She knew who she was, she knew what her purpose was, and she knew that no matter what, she would attain and achieve. It has very little to do with money and all to do with confidence.
It's so easy to misunderstand and confuse these two. Read Azra's blog for a better understanding of this.
It's that very confidence and success that I hope brushes off on me.
The very same I hope to pass on to Sabreen some day.
I know she's going to make an amazing businesswoman some day. Of this I am certain.
(Sabreen I mean, not Zelda.)
But I'd like to think that she gets there with an air of confidence and invincibility that would make men go weak at the knee's in her presence, just as happened to her Daddy when he first met Zelda.

Here's to confidant and amazing woman the world over.
Here's to me who's privileged to be surrounded by the best of them.
Here's to Shakera, and Sabreen, and of course Zelda.

Ole'