Zahra speaks

 Reading is a fruitful habit that helps you in many pursuits of life. It is the most preferable and productive activity which helped me a lot in many ways. I could have never realized my passion for stories if it wasn't for The Wizard of Oz; The first book that I ever read. It was a long journey but somehow that book remains special. I read it when I was around eleven years old. It was my routine to write a diary before going to sleep so, I would write the important events of the day and then, immerse myself in the fictional world of the book. Honestly, I don't even remember the story clearly, but I do remember enjoying it thoroughly. It changed my perspective and instilled the passion to write. The truth is I haven't read many books, but when I turned fourteen, one of my cousins gifted me 'The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho'. When I read that book, I felt something incredible. The books were not just the pages anymore, I sensed life in them. There was an immensely spect...

My elder uncle (mamoo), Syed Asad Abbas Shamsi, returned to his Maker on 28th July 2021. It was an untimely demise that shook me to the core and taught me a lot of bitter life lessons. The past few days were both emotionally exhausting and painful. I felt my heart and hope shattering. It was a difficult time for the entire family, but most importantly, each minute was painful for him. My only solace is that he is now free of the pain that he was enduring for so long, and his travail has finally concluded. Yet, his passing has left a deeply engraved scar on my heart, and I can never forget the pain he endured in the last few days of his life.  If it were not for him, my parents would not have gotten married. He was my father's friend, and through that association, my parents got married. He was cheerful, funny, passionate, and knowledgeable. I can still picture his smile. The way he beamed when we would all sit and listen to his jokes. Most of the time, he would tell us imaginative ...

Creativity is a gift and once you embrace it in your life, everything seems simpler. I have explored different sides of my personality ever since I started writing my stories. Before that, the stories were there in my mind, but I never executed my creativity to put them down on paper. Writing has always been more than just a hobby for me, it's the driving force in my life. I cannot imagine my life without my stories. As a writer, my stories provide me with an opportunity to explore the world beyond my physical limitations. I can be anyone and anything in my stories which is not the case with reality. Physical limitations, cultural boundaries, religious obligations, and social expectations are all part of the real world, however, when I am writing a story, I have the liberty to set everything as I like. I am grateful to Allah that I could turn my passion into my profession somehow. There is a creative instinct in everyone, but their method of execution is different. An engineer with...

Recently, I saw a lot of posts on animal rescue pages that included some graphic content of the heinous abuse against animals. It is not a new thing and has been going on for years. There is no idea for animal rights and when you try to highlight animal violence, they start talking about the lack of human rights in this country. My question is who is comparing the two matters? Why does it always have to be a comparison? Whether it be the comparison of Islamophobia in the West to forced conversions in Asia or the horrible execution of human rights laws to the lack of basic animal rights, all of them are wrong. There is no superior wrong, wrong is wrong! It's not a difficult thing to understand when you are not approaching everything with an aggressive and depressed mindset. You want to compare and compete with West, look at the way they implement their laws. There are rules for everyone, including the disabled community, the minorities, the laborers, and animals. I am not portraying...

 Love is a phenomenon that has been highly misunderstood by many, including myself. Different other phenomena are sometimes confused with love. However, the point of my blog is not discussing love, it is a complaint to Mr. Shahrukh Khan for messing up our minds about the ideas of 'falling in love.' Let's begin from the beginning. I am a 90's child and my mind still battles the idea of meeting my Mr. Perfect in a strange land away from home. Yes, I am talking about Dil Waley Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and Mr. Perfect is none other than Raj Malhotra. I know I am no Simran, my father won't allow me to travel to Switzerland with my friends to 'live my life before getting married, and I won't be meeting a moral casanova on my trip with whom I will fall in love. I am sure nobody is going to say 'palat' while I would be getting on the train. Let's be realistic, that train was not wheelchair accessible and it would take a lot of physical effort for me to get o...

 Everything has a purpose and I have been a firm believer in it throughout my life. Sometimes it is difficult to find the light in the gloom but it is the only way out. With all the educational institutions closed down, the students are not forced to study at home through online lectures. There is a lot of buzz regarding the same issue. However, I have been studying privately, through the internet and online lectures for the past four years and it is worked quite well. After a sabbatical of around six years, I started studying again. Although it took a lot of persistence and courage now I feel it was all worth it. All the nights of fearing what would happen at the examination center, what if the wheelchair is not accessible to the examination center, would I be able to write the paper on the table below or higher to my wheelchair level. Many things made me even more skeptical but sometimes it just takes a leap of faith and God holds your hand, clearing up all the blockages in your ...

The third wave of coronavirus is very powerful and affecting much more people as compared to the last year. Eight members of my family contracted coronavirus last month, including myself. It happened at the start of April, on the first of Ramadan. I had a severe headache and fever. Usually, at the start of summer, I get a fever for a few days. It's probably because my body reacts to the weather change like that. However, I was also experiencing a dry throat and a very slight cough. I started taking painkillers for my headache but after two days of fever, I lost my smelling sense. It was the most alarming sign. Well, my mother was sharing my symptoms and, in the meanwhile, my father also started having a cough which indicated that he had also been exposed. The coronavirus test costs Rs. 7500 per patient. It is very difficult to get tested every time you experience symptoms similar to the coronavirus symptoms. So here is a pro tip, if you feel you are having a fever with a headache, ...