Category: Thinkpieces

The Churel and other mythical legends

Post author By Maz Halima
Post date February 24, 2020
No Comments on The Churel and other mythical legends

For hundreds of years in Dominican folklore, people have spoken of the legend of ‘La Ciguapa’ – a beautiful woman who can be found roaming through the trees at night. She has dark features, piercing eyes and hair that swings past her waist; the only way you can tell she’s something other than human is by her backwards facing feet. La Ciguapa’s hypnotic beauty usually reels men in before they notice the oddity below her ankles – and then she eats them alive.

Tags adam and eve, Adele Florence Nicholson, chudail, churail, churel, Dominican, feminism, folklore, India, La Ciguapa, legends, Lilith, medusa, mermaid, myths, Pakistan, succubus, witches, women in history

Thinkpieces

On ‘The Afghan Girl’

I want to start noting stories that deserved more than they received, so here goes. ‘The Afghan Girl’ is one of the more known stories when it comes to exploration of eastern narratives. I always felt a strange connection with this photo – I saw it when I was a teenager and I immediately felt like I could have been her, she could have been me, life is a bizarre lottery.

Tags Afghan girl, Afghanistan, national geographic, Pakistan, refuge, refugee camp, Sharbat Gula, soviet, steve mccurry, war

Thinkpieces

Life Lessons Turning 30

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I recently turned 30, and it was bittersweet – I don’t miss my twenties; I can look back and say although heightened self-awareness brought more anxiety, I am a better person than I was a decade ago. As I welcomed a new era, I saw myself for who I was and the wisdom I gained and it felt significant, character strengthening.

Tags aging, birthday, control, ego, lessons at 30, life is too short, life lessons, self esteem, self love, thirty, turning 30, what happens at 30, women

Thinkpieces

Tackling New Year’s Angst

Post author By Maz Halima
Post date December 31, 2018
No Comments on 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 importantly, we’ll know what to do with it.

Tags anxiety, be kind to yourself, GAD, generalized anxiety disorder, happy new year, mental health, mental illness, new year, new year resolutions, nye 2019, time flies

Thinkpieces

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

Post author By Maz Halima
Post date October 5, 2018
16 Comments on 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 about who I was, what my parents grandparents were like, how they survived partition, what led them here and who is running through my veins.

Tags 23andme, Afghanistan, ancestry dna, ancestry test, british, dna, dna test, identity, indian, pakistani, south asian

Thinkpieces

On Being a Non-Bilingual Brown Person

Post author By Maz Halima
Post date April 2, 2018
5 Comments on 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.

Tags diaspora, ethnic minority, identity, not speaking another language, Pakistan, poc, politics, thinkpiece, woc

Thinkpieces

Exercise saved my mental health

Post author By Maz Halima
Post date December 20, 2017
2 Comments on 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 juices in abundance.

Tags diet, endorphins, exercise, gym, Inspirations, mental health, mental health help, pilates, wellbeing, yoga, zumba

Thinkpieces

Can I celebrate Christmas as a Muslim?

Post author By Maz Halima
Post date November 13, 2017
No Comments on 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.

Tags Christmas, Islamophobia, Jesus, Muslims, Muslims celebrate christmas, Nadiya Hussain, Pagans, racism, Tesco, Tesco advert

Thinkpieces

He Came In The Dead Of The Night

Post author By Maz Halima
Post date November 7, 2017
No Comments on He Came In The Dead Of The Night

It was the dead of the night, and Maria was dead to the world. Her legs sunk into the mattress, the weight lifted away, her mind finally tranquil when the first pebble hit her bedroom window. The cul-de-sac she lived on was quiet; a safe space away from the city, the throng of trees a shelter from the concrete jungle that her days played out in.

Tags abuse, domestic abuse, horror, love, night, relationships, scary story

Thinkpieces

My First Love Broke Me

The first time I fell in love, I thought it would be forever. We had kids names planned and I had our futures mapped out in my mind. He was the first man to meet my parents – in all my twenties so far, I haven’t met another man worthy of the honour. But it became unhealthy – or maybe it always was, and I just never saw it – we loved each other obsessively, aggressively and more dangerously with every day that passed.

Tags blog post, controlling behaviour, domestic abuse, domestic violence, gal dem, gal dem zine, love, relationships, teenage abuse, Tisha Desai, women's rights