I spoke to the BBC about addiction in South Asian communities

It don’t really know what to say about this one. I wrote something very personal to me about having an alcoholic parent, and how that hurt me mentally. I was invited to the BBC’s Asian Network to discuss my article with Nihal Arthanayake and speak to listeners going through the same thing. Advertisements

My Alcoholic Parent and I

I wrote an article about the effects of alcoholism on a family for The Pool, and then the website went into administration shortly after, so I am reposting the article here, below. The Pool was a wonderful platform for women to find their voice and tell their stories; they will be missed. I was fortunate […]

Tackling New Year’s Angst

Happy New Year my loves. Some people talk about the dawn of a New Year as if it is going to fix something, as though the tide that is the New Year will wash over us and we’ll finally start swimming in the right direction, we’ll be cleansed, we’ll have a new start and more […]

I took an Ancestry Test and as a Pakistani, I learnt little

I am a British Pakistani born in London. Both my mother and father were born in Lahore, Pakistan. I can’t speak my mother tongue and I know little to nothing about my ethnic culture – what can I say? They didn’t bring it with them when they came. As I got older I became curious […]

On Being a Non-Bilingual Brown Person

“You can’t understand Punjabi?!” Rishma* said, mouth open in a grin stuck on pause that evolved into rolling laughter of disbelief. “No,” I smiled, clenching my fists that lulled by my sides to prevent them from instinctively floating up and punching her in the jaw.

Exercise saved my mental health

I have suffered with mental health issues for as long as I can remember. Even in primary school, I just found life too overwhelming. What I didn’t consider though was that my diet and lifestyle didn’t help – I bunked every P.E class and I lived on fried chicken, ramen noodles, frozen food and concentrated […]

Can I celebrate Christmas as a Muslim?

I think it’s pretty safe to say at this stage that hatred of Muslims is brewing into something that can no longer be halted; there’s no other option now – it is going to get worse before it gets better.