Zahra speaks

Confinement is merely in one's mind because one can find anything that they look for if the intentions are pure. I was in a need to find the meaning of my life. With the enormous support of my friends and family, there were certainly some more things that made me able to grasp beyond the walls of my house. Cricket which might be just a game for a few people but it was not just a game from me as it helped me get a direction out of the darkness that prevailed my life at that time. I first fell in love with this game in the year 2009, when Younis Khan brought the T20 World Cup Trophy home. He was and still remains my favorite cricketer although he was later joined by Misbah Ul Haq in my favorite cricketers' league. When I went in for my surgery, I still remember the world cup 2011 was going on and my mind was struck by a very important match Pakistan was playing that day. It dimmed the effect of a very hard event that was going on in my life. The semi-final of that particular wo...

One of the most initial indications of my ailment was a weakness in my right arm and hand. In a span of a few weeks, I lost my hand grip which meant that I could not hold a pen and hence I had to give up my studies to go for treatment. I still remember the day when I went into the classroom and I could not sit due to tremendous pain in my back. My teacher was getting so enraged and ultimately, she asked me to leave the class and go home to take some rest. Sadly this was the day when I went to my school for the last time as a student. I was an O level student and was supposed to appear for my final exams in 2 months when this ailment seized me. I was very enthusiastic about my studies. My preparation was in full-fledged but right before my exams, I had to give up my studies because I could not even hold a pen let alone appearing in my exams. Obviously, as a teenager, this was a very heartbreaking circumstance to accept that all the effort and hard work was going in vain. With every pa...

The transition from an impeccably healthy individual to being in a wheelchair is very hard. It wasn't easy for me either but it gets harder when you don't get any backing from your friends, family and the society. I was lucky because I got support from my incredible family as they pulled me out from a phase of disparity into being grateful for what I have despite the agony I had to undergo. Everything changed but the only thing that didn't change was my hope and believe that everything will be alright. Life can be pretty hard at times but the only way we can get over this severity is by believing in ourselves and The Almighty. When you cannot control a situation it is best to submit it to the most superlative authority: God! Any set of circumstances that tests your patience is sort of a trial from the Almighty to see how we deal with the muddle and still be grateful to Him for all his blessings. I know all of this seems to be very dramatic but it is true. Our plans are al...