This is going to be a series, and I am not going to promise it’ll be as regular as I’d like it to be. I’ve asked several Pashtun females to share their online experiences with me for this series — whatever stories they’d like to share, however, detailed or un-detailed, whether they use their real name or fake names or remain anonymous, whether they choose to expose the men and […]
I’ve mentioned before that I’ve been working with Afghan refugees (and non-refugees here and there, too), translating for them for different things. Apparently, there’s a strong Afghan community here, most coming in as refugees. When it comes to Pashtuns, I prefer the ones of Afghanistan to those of Pakistan. In my experience, however limited, the Afghan Pashtuns are more willing to re-adjust to new environments, far more willing to learn […]
One of my closest friends is a black American, and she and, being a Pakistani Pashtun as well as a Muslim American, I share a ton of things in terms of some of our experiences with racism, discrimination, and other layers of marginalization (the discriminations I’ve faced have been nothing compared to what she faces, though). She’s Muslim as well. Recently, our conversations have been mainly on racism and being […]
The last several months, I’ve been thinking a lot about friendships (and love and stuff). I’ve grown to love my friends, I’ve gotten closer to the ones I was already close to–’cause life and shit teaches you to keep the good people in your life closer to you because they’re a blessing; good friends and a good friendship are great excuses to be happy … not that you should ever […]
For the past several months, I’ve been going through some shit. That includes losing people/friends that I regret losing (no, don’t be like, “Well, they weren’t worth your friendship in the first place if they had to choose to get out of your life,” or, “Oh, well – their loss!” No, it’s their loss, maybe, but it’s my loss, too, and I’m not okay with that), and some other stuff. […]
Freedom from the Forbidden 