Zahra speaks

As we are heading to an end of the quarantine period, I feel bittersweet. The time in quarantine has proven to be very eye-opening for me. It turns out that it's actually about prioritizing and not the time. People take out time for those whom they want to. Previously whenever I would ask one of my friends to play an online Ludo game with me or whenever I would ask my family members to sit together and watch something on the tea time, the answer would always be the same, there is no time. Everybody was so much stuck with studies, work, or other things that nobody had time for each other. The human relationship and intimacy were slowly dying a natural death. It's probably not right to find this period beneficial in any way but I am noticing a minor but significant change in the human relationships around. I can notice the change, it is very much familiar to my childhood when the internet and technology were minimal or absent. The human relationships were present and much purer. ...

Another Eid in lockdown. I really hope that we manage to shoo Corona away as soon as possible. This Eid is very important and it is considered to be the Bari (big) Eid. The significance of this Eid is associated with the essence of sacrifices and unity. We sacrifice millions of animals every year and according to the Islamic rules, the meat is distributed. Islamic rules are very clear and fair. The charity has a high regard in Islam, the distribution of meat among the poor and needy is another example of how fair the system of Islam is. By sharing our happiness with others, a sense of brotherhood and equality is established. Islam does not proclaim the act of charity to be done among the Muslims only, Allah has ordered us to help the poor and needy despite their color, religion, race, and religion. It is very important to keep in mind that our Lord is the Lord of the Universe. His bounties are not confined, they are all-conceiving and endless.  Have you seen the footage from Hajj? ...

Note: I don't really watch Bollywood movies but when I do, I like sharing views and perceptions with my readers. If you don't like watching movies, please pass this one! 😀 This movie has been in my pipeline for a very long time. It was released in 2019 and it has a rating of 6 out of 10 on IMDB. It is a dark comedy and psychological thriller. I liked the movie. Mainly because of the gripping storyline. It's not a conventional Bollywood movie with tons of songs and it focuses on story progression rather than glamour. Therefore, I was happy to watch the entire film which is almost 2 hours long. The story keeps you on the edge of your seat. You keep juggling between the thought of the protagonist being 'mental' or not. There are some bits in the movie that confuses the audience and like every good thriller, the climax shocks the viewers. The vibe of the movie is very light. Even the murder sequences do not creep you out. Overall, the storytelling is good. The acting p...

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...