It is not just billboards or television, English is in pamphlets and mall announcements. It is in Facebook, it is in Google. It is in WordPress. English is everywhere in Pakistan. And there is nothing inherently wrong with it. Except that sometimes, we forget those humans who cannot access this language - a great majority of humans. They cannot access a whole world (the internet, ideas, literature, or movies). So culturally and socially, they develop at a tangent than those who can read English.
Category: anthropology
The Secret of Seoul: exploring sub-stories
War Memorial | Seoul, South Korea 22nd September 2018 As my friends from back home are donning pashmina shawls against a cold Autumn racing, I am sipping on a fresh and cold yogurt drink, which is not really lassi and not really yogurt but somewhere in the middle. After an adventurous walk through the labyrinths … Continue reading The Secret of Seoul: exploring sub-stories
The Butter On the Ferry’s Windowsill
Vallejo, California November 4th, 2017 The sun is drowning in spools of cotton, thread-like and so silvery that none would mistake them for fluffy Autumn clouds. Almost by design, there is only some sunlight that is directly shining. And in the pale blue sea of California, it is casting a spotlight on my little ferry. … Continue reading The Butter On the Ferry’s Windowsill
A CHRISTIAN, A MUSLIM, AND AN ATHEIST WENT OUT FOR DINNER| PART 5/6 (THE DINNER)
Continued from: February 2015 Abbottabad, Pakistan I have had the fortune to savour some of the most interesting meals. Not for how deliciously spiced or finely minced the food was, but because my fellows of the meal spoke intriguing words of wisdom, delivered simply yet with infinite grace. I had the pleasure of … Continue reading A CHRISTIAN, A MUSLIM, AND AN ATHEIST WENT OUT FOR DINNER| PART 5/6 (THE DINNER)
Infinite joys of San Francisco: an ode to being alive
9th September 2017 Suburban California, United States As I sit here braiding words and sentences from the symphonies of my heart, I care little for the limitations of language or grammar which actively suffocate me, or the worst monster of all: the writer's block when I try to write to please an audience. … Continue reading Infinite joys of San Francisco: an ode to being alive
Painting murals on a rainy day
July 4th, 2017 Abbottabad, Pakistan As I stand across the green and blue of Abbottabad, I feel my fingers tingle; I feel a need to paint; to let my heartstrings tug my fingertips and create art, in its surreal yet raw essence. Lints of cloud cascade the skies, drawing nearer from their infinite distances to … Continue reading Painting murals on a rainy day
A Christian, a Muslim, and an Atheist went out for dinner | Part 3 (The Pilgrim’s Feast)
( Continued from Part 2 ) February 2015 Islamabad, Pakistan I clutched my neck scarf for the fifteenth time and looked around awkwardly at this place I had never before ventured to; a fancy new restaurant. Adorned in a bright coloured sweater striking against my off-white kurta, I felt rather awkward and lost, even though my folks … Continue reading A Christian, a Muslim, and an Atheist went out for dinner | Part 3 (The Pilgrim’s Feast)
A Christian, a Muslim, and an Atheist went out for dinner| Part 1
Hello, beloved readers! I am very thrilled about sharing a series of stories and 'travel-ventures' with you in the coming few weeks. The stories will all be themed "A Christian, a Muslim, and an Atheist went out for dinner". In a world that is heartbreakingly divisive, one often feels out of control. When hatred raises its ugly … Continue reading A Christian, a Muslim, and an Atheist went out for dinner| Part 1
Hunza’s Buried Treasures
We are not raised to become 'lasses fit for proposal,' because we are raised to value ourselves, to be enrolled in school and become learned and educated. We are always reminded that it's okay to fly."