Dear Fellow Warrior, I wanted to share a poem with you. I think the poet suppressed within me is gradually returning. Perhaps I deprived that part of me through my graduate studies. It had been silenced and it is trying so hard to emerge when I keep telling it to wait, wait, wait, until I…
Travels
“AZAADI:” What does it mean to you? – Part 1
“Life without liberty is like a body without spirit.” – Khalil Gibran There are certain Urdu words I mix with my English, which I would love for my non-Urdu speaking friends to know. Urdu words that are special to the Pakistani within me… and one of them is “Azaadi.” Azaadi in Urdu means Freedom. Earlier…
“Climbing Mountains” in Georgia… & A Few Updates!
“The mountains are calling and I must go.” – John Muir. Dear Fellow Warriors, It has been more than a month now since my last piece, and so many things I want to share here! I want to be sure that I at least post here once or twice a month if I am unable…
Walking “Alone” …
“If light is in your heart you will find your way home.” – Rumi I recall the drive back to Washington, D.C. last September, and the ‘excitement’ of returning after defending my dissertation and finishing my degree during the Pandemic quarantine in Wisconsin. I have shared that experience in some of my previous posts…
Reminiscing Pakistan’s Allama Iqbal during Amreeka’s National Poetry Month
{Featured Photo from Pakistan National Monument Museum, Islamabad, December 25, 2018.} “Nations are born in the hearts of poets, they prosper and die in the hands of politicians.” – Dr. Allama Muhammad Iqbal It is another moment in Pakistan’s history, a moment which some may perceive to be a “window of opportunity,” and others, a…
Fieldwork ‘Nostalgia’…
Featured Photo: March 17, 2019, Karachi, Jinnah International Airport. A Farewell Salute to Pakistan. “There is no greater agony, than bearing an untold story inside you.” – Dr. Maya Angelou “Nostalgia.” I recently came across an interesting passage in Dr. Brene Brown’s new book “Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of…
‘Honoring’ Milestones and a Dream of 20 Years…
“If light is in your heart, you will find your way home.” – Rumi A little over a month ago, I finally started my new adventure, after completing my PhD, at an amazing non-profit that does great work for enhancing educational opportunities for diverse populations around the world. That week, I intended to write this…
Happy Independence Day, Pakistan!: An unsent letter to Pakistan’s Prime Minister
Happy Independence Day, Pakistan! Interestingly, earlier this week, I found a file on my computer entitled: “Dear Honorable Prime Minister, Imran Khan.” I chuckled a bit, and then read the two page, single-spaced letter, approximately 1200 words, which was dated back to September 1, 2018. It was a little over a month before I started…