Yesterday I had a dream and in my dream everything was so real. And it was like it was how it was. And that’s not to say how it was was good. But it was something I knew. And it felt familiar. Because everything has changed so much and everything […]
My mother when she is angry will say nothing. Her rage walks around the room stormily until we must open the windows to let it out. It’s the Miajaan ki jaath we whisper. (I have it too. That streak of fire in the blood. A trace of Pathan that lifts […]
It is always thereeven on driving days when the sun is out,a hand on the small of my back,the slight shadow,the slight weight on my shoulders, I think, will it ever leave? Is the beauty I see,more beautiful because of it? I close my eyes,reimagine moments,to a soundtracka fever hovers, […]
Someone asked the me the other day about daughters. How my father had four. I said four daughters made my father soft. Softer than he could have ever become with sons. Four daughters made my father beloved, I said. They are part of the softness that makes him love God […]
Dear perfect future-husband, I saw your advert in The Al Qalam (March 2017) and I would love to respond to it as I too am seeking a partner for life and you sound like the perfect man. I must apologise for my forwardness but the way you describe yourself is so captivating […]
Sometimes when you get to the shore,it is better to be full of salttaste it in your mouthand feel it burn on your skin(crack open the corners of your eyes), Because sometimes at the shore,there are dead things in the surfand you must know how to pick your way throughif […]
On the first day, B takes me to buy a warm jacket, shows me how to buy a metro card, how to use the subway and helps me get a cellphone contract. I have exact money in my budget for these things. I count the money, write it down in […]
On my third morning I went up to the roof with Marlies and it was still winter so the restaurant was closed and we had jackets on even though the sun was shining and we sat on chairs and looked out at the river and in the distance I could […]
I want to say, I feel a lot more now. When someone says, come, I do. When someone lets go, I fall. I am in every moment, in everything. And so this is how it feels to be living.
Today, while talking to aunty R, I remembered Gorikhala, her nod, her bashful way of crossing legs over at the ankles, her cheeky grin and overwhelmed, I smile, nod, my eyes threatening to spill over. And she too is quiet, waiting for something. How slowly she walks. She tells me […]
