Zahra speaks

Image Courtesy: WIKIPEDIA After going gaga over the song Maana Ke Hum Yaar Nahin for years, I finally stumbled upon the movie Meri Pyari Bindu. I feel it is the most underrated movie I have ever come across. This statement correctly represents my sentiments after watching the movie. I related to the movie a lot. By a lot, I mean a lot. The story revolves around the life of a writer who pens down his story that orbits around Bindu. Bindu, the girl who is the love of his life, his first best friend, and his first crush. It is the first movie where I surmised the mindset of the protagonist. I could step in his shoes while he was writing down such impassioned events of his life. It was relatable because writers grapple between reality and fiction all the time, I did too. Sometimes it gets difficult to distinguish between the two, its the enigma that a writer leaves for the readers to comprehend and that is the beauty of it. It was transcendent to know that I am not the only one who goes ...

Ten years ago, I would have never guessed that one day, I would be interviewed. Life was very overwhelming and I was trying to fight as hard as I could. I remember reading one quotation which boosted my morale the most,  “If you face a problem in life and it draws you closer to the Almighty then it is a trial from Him but if it drags you away from Him then it is a punishment”  so I chose to make my condition a test. Being closer to the Maker helped me explore a new side of my character. An  undiscovered aspect of my being.  The journey has been very tiring. I fell, I got lost, grappled very hard with the circumstances, and myself but I clung onto hope. I always hoped for the best even if the circumstances were not in my favor. When I look back at my journey, I try to locate how I gained courage, how I fought with such challenging issues but the truth is, I can not pinpoint a mantra that I employed to get through this phase. However, the only thing is that I grew clos...

Self-isolation is the new norm. We are keeping a 'safe' distance from more than 3 months now. The thought of being isolated is usually very daunting but as we are in quarantine for such a long period, a sense of patience has predominated in most of the people. Everybody is putting in their 100% effort. This particular period reminded me of a very bittersweet time of my life.  I have been in a wheelchair for almost 10 years and we know there is no facilitation of rehabilitation in Pakistan. I was discharged from the hospital within a few weeks of my surgery. To be clear, I had spinal decompression surgery. I had a giant cell tumor on the C7-T1 level on my spinal cord. I will not be going to details but I was pretty stiff when I left the hospital. It was difficult for my family to actually seat me in the car. I was sent home without any instructions as to how to manage neither myself nor my parents were an expert in managing a paralyzed patient. However, the good thing about the ...

I have been gutted from the past few days. It is important to vent, I have a lot of things in my mind and I have to put it out there. Image Courtesy: Wikibio Firstly, it's not about a particular person, it's about the mentality that is widespread on social media and nobody is addressing it. We are the dead-worshipping generation. Nobody talks about mental health when everything is fine but suddenly, every person begins advocating its importance once somebody commits suicide. Why? Why do we have to praise people when they are gone? Why can't we support and coexist when they were alive? Half of the people who are discussing mental health on social media today are the ones who are active online trolls. They go on the social media handles of every celebrity and spill filth. Just lately, Mahira Khan posted a picture of a cup of tea and she was called shameless for doing so. Who is answerable for such people's behavior? If today we are blaming several people who may have pus...

‘It’ll hurt,’ someone yelled from somewhere far. She stood still, looking ahead at the beautiful pathway. Her feet were drenched in water; she felt the chilliness of water in every inch of her body. However, it was a pleasant feeling. Like she had been wandering in a desert for years and finally, she was experiencing a trace of coolness. The running water moved horizontally, down into a small valley. Her eyes were glued to the path before her. Deep green trees merging to make a tunnel, the muddy land that led straight to a place that she knew was safe. Suddenly, the breeze started blowing; gentle air caressed her face and she smelled an enticing fragrance. ‘Lilies!’ she thought. As she took a step forward, the water stream was no longer touching her feet. She looked back at the wonderful water which sparkled even from such proximity. She turned back towards the naturally built tunnel of trees, some barks of the trees were uneven but the leaves of every tree met at a point to contri...

  Comedy is the most difficult thing to do. It is very challenging to make people laugh especially in these times when everything is so grave and tensed. I have immense admiration for the people who can make other people laugh. It is an inbuilt talent and not everyone can master this craft. It takes years of practice and dedication to be able to bring a smile on anyone's face. However, the people who possess this skill are very sensitive and recondite in their approach towards life. They understand the realities of life and the precise details of the simple aspects of daily life. They are intelligent, skillful, and blessed.  Some people are born comedians. They don't need to invest any efforts to make people laugh, it comes naturally to them. They don't have to showcase their skills on a platform such as television or movies. They practice their skill in real life. They make us laugh when it is very difficult to smile. We all have someone in our surroundings who is witty an...

The current situation has rendered a lot of lessons for everyone. Everyone has understood something or the other. Some people haven't learned anything and I feel it's fine, not everyone is bound to be learning something in this time of isolation. Earlier, the saints, gurus, or the yogis would go into isolation to practice meditation, to achieve a greater connection with the Higher source. Perhaps they did find something, perhaps they found they looked for. The definition may be different but we all are finding something, some questions need to be answered, consciously or unconsciously, we want something which is not materialistic, it is purely spiritual. What is it? You have to find out, only if you have the will to do so.  I will not be going into any deeper conversation about what the meaning of life is or what I am finding. I have observed something so simple yet astounding in this period of isolation. Even before the quarantine started I was in quarantine for a month. I los...