BORDER CROSSERS

  A NOVEL BY

  HEMDAN M. ALY

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  BORDER CROSSERS

  First edition. January 13, 2026.

  Copyright © 2026 Hemdan M. Aly.

  Written by Hemdan M. Aly.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Introduction

  The Beginning of the Border-Crossing Journey

  Historical and Geographical Explorations

  Social Media and Crossing Borders

  Esports

  Music is a universal language

  Digital Art

  Grandparental Tales

  My Final Words

  Also By Hemdan M. Aly

  About the Author

  To my Mother, who always believed in me. To my Father, who taught me to never give up. To My Parents, who showed me that anything is possible. Thank you for Your Love and Support.I dedicate this Book to You.

  Introduction

  Borders Crossers may change your perspective of the world, and realizing that happiness is not just Mindful State, but an interaction between Cultures, Cosmic Leaps between Minds and the surrounding entities. The road to the future is limited only by your imagination. If you are curious about how thought habits can shape your reality, then directing your thoughts offers an organized approach to harnessing this Transformative Power to create Miracles and Opportunities for success. Throughout their journey, a person Crosses Borders, between Personal Boundaries and Temporal boundaries, Cultural Boundaries and Geographical Boundaries, reaching Technological Boundaries that enable them to connect with Dreams and Ambitions, and even to connect with others.

  René Descartes' Statement "I Think, Therefore I am" emphasizes on the Self-Evident Existence of Consciousness, representing a fundamental point in Philosophical Discussions about Existence. It affirms that the Act of Thinking is evidence of one's existence and Awareness.

  This idea has influenced both Philosophers and Scientists in their exploration of the Nature of Consciousness and its effects on free will, with Neuroscience indicating that consciousness is rooted in the Brain, and its functions arising from a complex network of interconnected Neurons and their Chemical Processes. Consciousness is associated with various Mental Attributes such as Memories and Emotions; the Mind is considered Responsible for Thinking, Awareness, and other intellectual capabilities, While Material Entities like the body represent a spatial extension from the Mind to Space. An individual is a being with both a Mind and a Body; the Brain is a tangible entity, unlike the Mind which refers to intellectual abilities, namely the capacity to think and reason. The Mind is a profound system composed of organized forces that can be governed by one means: self-discipline. A Disciplined Mind is a formidable power that turns obstacles into stepping stones for success.Many psychologists and human development scholars have indicated that the Subconscious Mind handles all cognitive drives and executes every idea, shapes and achieves its logical results, but it gives priority to ideas inspired by emotion, just as the subconscious also prioritizes ideas that dominate the Mind.

  This may be why many human development scholars emphasize the power of habit, especially cognitive habits. There are many habits that we have created with our own hands, and others that are involuntary, formed by anxiety, greed, and superstitions.

  However, you can organize your cognitive habits to achieve your desired goals. It should not be overlooked that the Mind has been granted by God the faculties of imagination, the power of logic, telepathy, and self-maintenance. These faculties allow the Mind to enjoy advantages, and if a person can enhance them, they can quickly create miracles and opportunities that support success.

  The desire based on a specific motive is the beginning of all thinking related to individual achievement.

  Even in the latest trends of thought, such as Quantum Thinking, there has emerged what is known as Quantum Mental Flexibility, which is the ability to keep multiple possibilities alive in the Mind. Just as Quantum Particles interact with the environment, success lies not in avoiding change, stagnation, submission, and settling for the comfort zone, but always and forever being.

  The Beginning of the Border-Crossing Journey

  The journey of a Border-crosser begins in the early hours of a known day in the middle of autumn, when the world announced the birth of a Border-crossing child. His father enjoyed physical strength despite his old age, being 60 years old, and the entire family rejoiced at the arrival of their beloved child, the Border-crosser, into life.

  Soon, days passed and he entered the nursery stage, where the father showed exceptional care for his son that caught everyone's attention; he would take him to nursery and gently hold his small hands. Quickly, he hired a nanny to take care of all his affairs. As soon as the child reached the age for elementary school, the father began taking him to the mosque and would take him along on all his trips.

  The Border-crosser nostalgically recalls his childhood, saying: "My father never forgot to bring all the sweets and delicious chocolates every day, so I waited eagerly for his return from work. Days and years passed, and the Border-crosser grew strong and well-built, possessing a handsomeness that earned him the nickname Tyson because of his muscular physique and sharp intelligence.

  One day, he asked his parents to allow him to stand at the corner of the street with his friends. During a conversation with his peers, one of them addressed him, saying that he had joined the Tourists' Friends Association as a volunteer initiative aimed at serving expatriates visiting Egypt and guide them to the best tourist attractions, hotels, and restaurants in Old Cairo.

  Therefore, the Border crosser joined this voluntary work, as he practices English while assisting tourists in finding the best tourist spots, hotels, and restaurants in Cairo. He remembers that day; it was a Wednesday, which is the start of the cinematic week in downtown cinemas, where movie theaters change the foreign film shown every Wednesday of each week.

  It was a preferred hobby for the Border crosser to go every week to watch the latest global cinema films like Rambo, The Life Story of Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan films, as well as Indian films starring Amitabh Bachchan and French films starring Alain Delon.

  After the movie screening, the Border-crossing wanderer strolls through the streets of Cairo adorned with gleaming lights and vibrant colors on shop facades, showcasing the beauty of buildings that highlight the magnificence of Greek and French art as well as modern Egyptian art in its finest form. It is no wonder that Cairo is dubbed the Hollywood of the East by its fans among tourists and visitors, as Cairo is the Capital of Egypt, home to many tourist attractions like the pyramids, the citadel, mosques, churches, and popular restaurants that serve famous Egyptian dishes such as koshari, fava beans, and ta'ameya, alongside kebab and kofta restaurants. All this, in addition to the latest global restaurant chains like Pizza Hut, McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Domino's Pizza and the most famous shopping malls, not to mention five-star and three-star hotels and everything a tourist needs in terms of gifts and bazaars.

  Father Ouj has reached his wisdom, having read many books on self-development, self-management, and skill enhancement in both Arabic and English, and has listened to motivational lectures by greats in this field such as Earl Nightingale, Napoleon Hill, Les Brown, Jim Rohn, and Tony Robbins.

  And those who had the credit for enriching knowledge and motivating others to overcome challenges helped the father gain the ability to deal with people, making him a beloved figure among all his neighbors and relatives, whom neighbors and friends relied on for his wisdom and sound judgment in solving problems and conflicts that might arise. He enjoyed great authority over everyone, making him firm and just, and most importantly, loved. The father always talked with his son, and during one of those sessions, he discussed with his son about thinking as an intellectual habit of successful people.

  He pointed out that thinking is a positive, comprehensive mental orientation in terms of the comprehensiveness of thought, ideas, place, and time.

  The comprehensiveness of ideas arises from relying on openness to all ideas, and the expansion of the Mind to absorb and encompass all thoughts, then gradually testing each idea until settling on the path that achieves harmony, alignment, and fulfillment of what is desired.

  As for the universality of time, it depends on not being bound by a specific time range or tendencies related to time. Awakeness is governed by mental orientation (morning - noon - evening), while the universality of place means not being confined to a location.

  There is a mental orientation that is not restricted and governs everything. This type of thinking transcends the traditional limits of classical thinking.The positive orientation is one of the most important components of elevating your Mindset. Strive hard to control these components and mix them all together to achieve the best you can, for a sound Mind does not see barriers, but rather creates a ladder for the ambitions of tomorrow.

  Today's person is the product of yesterday's thoughts.Development and growth occur in the state of discomfort, and the motivations to enter the growth phase come from within the individual or from others who offer help or from the environment and circumstances.

  Despite the fact that we should be cheerful throughout daily life, this is often far from the current state.We often invest more of our energy saturated with negative emotions than we do in posit
ive emotions, from our connections to our accounts, to our professions, to our health, to our goals, while we cannot overcome the stresses associated with everyday problems, if we add to all this our hopes and dreams for the future, and the continual failures we face along the way while trying to achieve anything noteworthy, it’s no wonder that we spend so much of our time feeling unhappy and like failures. It seems that you, the Border crosser, have inherited your father's wisdom and sound Mind, yet you are somewhat of an introverted personality despite your love for life, and your decent culture has made you a scholar without a lab and a writer without novels.

  The father and son burst into laughter, and the Border crosser said to his father: "The thing about happiness and achievement is that to achieve both, we first need a specific definition of what they truly mean to us, and we must create a motivation framework that helps us enjoy life instead of ruining it.

  I wake up before the scheduled time and have a good breakfast, go out for 20 minutes, practice yoga or meditation, and set a set of daily goals." The father replied: "It seems that you and the youth of the neighborhood are living life with its challenges and comforts, you have fun and joke, you love and mourn, you await the bright future as you imagine it, but the winds do not always blow as ships wish.

  You, O traveler across Borders, must remember that successful people do not pay attention to details except to cross into the generalities; rather, crossing in general is one of the concerns of these successful individuals; as you find one of them having crossed from their specialization into a wider space of knowledge, and have transported their past knowledge to apply it in understanding and correcting the present, and after that they transcend their view of reality in order to anticipate the future. And the traveler across Borders spoke, saying:

  Indeed, my father, I once watched the religious scholar Sheikh Al-Sharawi talk about the beginning of his interest in religious sciences and the start of his success in acquiring religious knowledge. The venerable Sheikh Muhammad Metwally Al-Sharawi mentioned that he did not wish to study religious sciences; rather, it was his father's desire.

  In an attempt to change his father's Mind, he tried to persuade him to buy many books, claiming they were necessary for the education at the institute his father wanted him to attend. Later on, the son reconsidered his position and regretted trying to deceive his father. To make amends, he began to study religious sciences and excelled, eventually becoming one of the most famous wise religious scholars in the Middle East and even the Islamic world.

  The conversation between father and son continued for hours, until sleep overcame the father, who suggested they continue their discussion tomorrow. With the dawn of a new day, the Border Crosser woke up and had his favorite meal, as is customary for all Egyptians: a dish of fava beans with hot oil and tahini, along with hot falafel, a green salad, and arugula.

  Once he finished breakfast, he started drinking mint tea, which is considered a wake-up drink for the Mind and helps prevent oxidation. And the Border Crosser looked out the balcony window to see the pedestrians on the street, greeting his neighbors with a morning greeting. After that, he read the daily newspapers, especially Al-Ahram, which is the daily newspaper, as well as another newspaper in English, The Egyptians Gazette.

  During his reading of the newspapers, a friend and neighbor of his, who studies at Cairo University in the postgraduate stage, called out to him and said, "Are you going to downtown today? I need a favor from you; I want to go to the public library to get scientific resources for my doctoral thesis, which I will be discussing soon at Cairo University."

  The Border Crosser replied, "Of course, God willing, within an hour from now. It is wonderful for a person to plan a reading program just as they plan their daily dietary program, because knowledge is also food for the Mind."

  It is no surprise that this Border-Crossers collaboration with neighbors emerges, as the Egyptian people have, since time immemorial, been characterized by generosity and good treatment of neighbors, as well as tourists who are considered guests on Egyptian soil.

  Any Egyptian volunteers to assist tourists visiting Egypt so they can enjoy the best moments during their trip. Despite Egypt's population reaching approximately 108 million, about 9 million of this figure represents guests from countries such as Syria, Sudan, Palestine, Yemen, Libya, and Ethiopia. Although international law refers to them as refugees, the Egyptian people use the term guests, implying that they are among their own and not in a foreign land.

  As soon as wars calm down, everyone returns to their homeland; for Egypt, in the context of the Middle East, is the heart of the nation and a line of defense against aggressors.

  FURTHERMORE, CONFERENCES have played a significant role in Crossing Borders.

  For example, the World Youth Conference is an international event aimed at gathering youth from around the world to discuss pressing issues they face and to promote dialogue and cooperation among them.

  This conference is held in various countries around the world and aims to empower young people to play an active role in shaping their future and communities. It aims to empower young people to play an active role in shaping their future and their communities. The conference seeks to enable youth by providing them with the knowledge and skills necessary to become effective leaders in their communities. It also provides a platform for young people to discuss global issues such as education, climate change, peace, sustainable development, and to promote international cooperation among youth from different cultures and countries, thereby enhancing mutual understanding and global partnerships.

  In addition to involving youth in the policymaking process, where their recommendations and viewpoints are presented to decision-makers, the World Youth Forum, held in Egypt, is considered one of the largest gatherings of youth in the world, bringing together thousands of young people to discuss various issues, including climate change, innovation, technology, peace, and security. Thus, the life of the Border Crossers continued, balancing between education and enjoying youth through entertainment and sports, until he managed to enroll in university, studying at the College of Information, and graduated with a very good grade.

  Life began to show its teeth, defeating him at times and him defeating it at other times, and he was aided in overcoming those challenges by lectures from global human development coaches such as Brian Tracy and John Ron.

  These lectures and the sayings of these scholars inspired him and helped him adopt an optimistic and flexible approach to face challenges. Gradually, he started to rise in the field of information until he became one of the most prominent scholars in the field of information and data.

  Life continued at its fast pace affecting the Border Crossers until his ideas evolved and he reached the pinnacle of progress in his work, but that did not prevent him from dedicating time to his friends.

  It was a habit of his and his friends to gather at one of the cafes known as the Cafe of Intellectuals, a popular Egyptian cafeteria frequented by intellectuals and university students of both genders, where a corner was reserved for him and his friends.

  On one of those evenings, the topic of conversation was the Egyptian scientist Farouk El-Baz, likely due to his scientific achievements and contributions. As it is said, life requires awareness first, then decision-making; there are your daily priorities, which require careful formulation of their terms to achieve success.

  The Border-Crossers recall the habits of successful people, which are referred to as the intellectual habits of the successful. Farouk El-Baz, the Egyptian space scientist at NASA, is considered the best example of someone who maintains his intellectual habits, which have played a crucial role in changing the course of life.

  During one of the television talks, Farouk El-Baz spoke about his beginnings, saying they were the result of habits he maintained.

  ONE OF HIS HABITS WAS reading daily newspapers; during his youth and university studies at Ain Shams University in Egypt, he was keen on buying daily newspapers and reading them. Due to his academic excellence, he was able to secure an educational scholarship to an American university.