🌈1416 – Monday, 27 July 2026

Enjoy your time with me.. I like to disappear!

London

“Come Together” by The Beatles is playing on Virgin Radio.

I’m sitting on the white mat beside my bed with my laptop resting on the bed. Underneath it is the bright red velvet bedsheet with a golden border, a gift from my dear mamma.

The windows are wide open, and a beautiful cool draft is coming in.

I had just texted a mate saying exactly that: “The windows are wide open and a beautiful draft is coming in.”

Then I remembered I hadn’t checked on my brother today.

Quickly sent him a message.

“Assalamu Alaikum, bhayya. Hope you had a good day today.”

Then I thought I’d check on my nephew too. The last couple of conversations felt like he was making more of an effort to keep in touch. He sent me a joke yesterday which I’ve read over and over again… but I still don’t get it.

So I texted him,

“Good day back at college today? Monday, I mean. And I still don’t get this joke! 😂”

Right…

About the day now.

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful day.

I woke up early at exactly 7:48 a.m.

I didn’t quite start the day as I normally do.

First I read Dad’s good morning prayer message, then one ruku of Surah Al-Kahf, did my affirmations and got out of bed much quicker than usual.

The only thing I skipped was reading a page of the Bible and some Arabbi, which I thought I’d do now before carrying on writing.

It’s exactly midnight now.

Well…

I got a little carried away.

I read today’s page from the Bible first, then opened the Torah which, for some reason, hadn’t worked yesterday morning but worked perfectly tonight.

The Bible usually takes two or three short paragraphs to read a page, but the Torah…

I’m only on page one and there are thirty-one verses!

Definitely a longer read if I’m doing one page every day.

Let’s see how long it takes.

I only managed to read three or four verses before I suddenly felt like going for a wee and grabbing a snack.

Went into the kitchen and found my flatmate Angie standing on a stool trying to reach a packet of crisps from the top cupboard.

We both burst out laughing.

Midnight snack time.

We wished each other goodnight.

I came back with a red pepper, a packet of crisps, and the last homemade protein bar Mum had made for me.

Back to the Torah.

I’ll be back in a few minutes.

I’m now reading one page a day from all three books together—the Qur’an, the Torah and the Bible.

I have to say…

Very, very, very interesting.

These are the books that have guided generations upon generations of people throughout history and have encouraged mankind to live with kindness and purpose.

Let’s see what I learn.

And whatever I learn…

I’ll share it.

So stick around.

Anyway…

Back to today.

Last night was incredibly warm.

Around 33°C yesterday.

Very unusual for the UK to stay this hot for so long.

Normally we’re back to freezing temperatures before you know it, but this summer just doesn’t seem to want to end.

I kept waking up throughout the night.

I’d had a huge glass of grape juice just before bed, so my sleep wasn’t the best.

Mental note…

Don’t drink loads before going to sleep.

I’ve heard that advice so many times.

Yet somehow, whenever I decide to treat myself, I completely ignore it.

Eventually I looked at the time.

9:08 a.m. Damn. I’d slept in.

Quickly logged into work, hoping to catch up because the invoice system had been down yesterday.

Still down.

Nothing I could do.

Ended up hopping from one app to another, getting distracted and wasting far too much time scrolling.

At least I’m getting some writing done now.

I broke for lunch around 1:15 p.m.

By then the sunshine had disappeared behind the clouds.

I didn’t feel like staying indoors.

I felt like running.

So off I went.

Russell Square…

Bloomsbury…

Tottenham Court Road…

Oxford Circus…

Bond Street on my left…

Marble Arch…

Into Hyde Park…

Did the long loop…

All the way up towards Knightsbridge…

Then turned around and ran the whole route back home.

The clouds actually made the run much nicer.

Still warm.

But the shade helped a lot.

When I got home, it was just after 2:15 p.m.

I’d thought I’d been out for ages.

Turns out it was only a forty-five-minute run.

Funny how time feels different when you’re enjoying yourself.

I was glad to be home, sat straight back at my desk…

Only to discover the system was still down.

I was chatting to a mate who happened to be nearby.

He said he’d pop in on his way home.

He’s from Cambodia.

I’ve always enjoyed spending time with people who grew up differently to me.

Different cultures.

Different stories.

Different perspectives.

And I’ve never liked saying no to someone who messages out of the blue just wanting to say hello because they’re nearby.

It’s always nice when someone thinks of you.

Sometimes I think about life before mobile phones, apps and even shops being open all the time.

Friends and relatives would simply turn up at your door.

Knock.

Walk in.

Spend time together.

People even talk about throwing stones at bedroom windows to get their mates’ attention.

That never happened to me!

My friends just knocked on the door.

And relatives…

Oh God…

They were always arriving unexpectedly.

Those were good times.

My mate only stayed for a short while.

Before I knew it, it was already 6:15 p.m.

I decided to have a quick nap.

An hour later I woke up around 7:15 p.m.

Still lying in bed, I caught up with my notifications.

Checked the camera at my parents’ house.

My brother’s children had come back today from their other grandparents.

Little Hamd and Hawwa…

One is three.

The other is one.

Watching them run around the house while Mum and Dad chased after them was nice to see.

I left the camera open on my desk for another hour while I got on with my own things.

Around 8:30 p.m. I went over to the playground next to our house.

Four sets of eleven pull-ups.

Then dips.

Then push-ups.

Same number of sets.

Two of my mates from the building happened to walk past, joined me for a couple of sets each, then carried on with their evening.

I headed home for dinner.

Chicken.

Avocado.

And a bottle of orange and mango smoothie.

By then it was around 10:30 p.m.

I spent an hour downstairs in our boardroom doing a little more work.

And now…

Here I am.

Back at the desk.

Typing out my day.

Hope you had a good day too.

It’s still very warm, so drink plenty of water.

Just maybe not right before bed.

Around the world today

Honestly…

I haven’t read the news today.

From what little I’ve seen, everybody just seems to be fighting with one another.

My shares dropped a little today, not so pleased about that.

One thing I do regret…

I spent quite a while watching my parents and the rest of the family on their living room camera.

But I never actually rang them. I feel a little bad about that now. Never mind, life goes on!

What would it take for me – and for you – to wake up tomorrow ten times bigger, stronger, leaner, more muscular, more energetic, more confident and happier, to wake up early. Get to the gym. Have a great workout. For everything to be okay with family, friends and everyone around us. And then have another relaxing… relaxing… relaxing… yet productive day tomorrow?

Goodnight, good luck!

Ash Khaleem