Around this time last year I decided to take a leap and do something I had been thinking about for a really long time. In 2 days time, I’m off to the motherland for the very first time and I am so incredibly excited, nervous and every other emotion that flips your stomach upside Read More…
Category: Experiences
Life lessons of 2017
2017 has been one of those years when my life did a complete turn around. I came into this year jobless after a year of being shut down on every corner and afraid of what the future had written for me. I had a bunch of unrealistic expectations on myself – New Year’s resolutions Read More…
My reading list.. Hopefully
As much as I loved studying for my English degree, it completely destroyed my love of reading. There was a time when I read anything I could get my hands on. Not in the last few years. Recently I’ve been going through phases, and I hate that something I used to love, is now Read More…
Down another dress size I go
I’ve gone back to eating a bit more bread, I don’t say no to junk food as much I used to, and despite using a wheelchair permanently, I have gone down another half of a clothes size. I know I already wrote about vibration therapy a few months ago but I am constantly amazed Read More…
When my wheelchair broke and my anxiety kicked in
I have a really bad habit of taking writing breaks and then coming back to it at the most random of times, mostly for no reason at all. But at the risk of sounding like a negative downer, the past few months have not been my friend. Other than getting used to a 40-hour Read More…
How I’m losing weight and regaining muscle strength
When you have limited mobility, one of the most annoying things is being told to lose weight and not being able to. Since I was diagnosed, I always struggled with my weight. Desi aunties and uncles would straight up just “you’ve put on weight. Here, have a gulab jaamun”. Doctors would tell me I Read More…
When young brown girls tell me they wish they were white
This week I had a conversation with a 16-year-old girl who was explaining to us why she wants to be white. At first I thought she was joking because she can usually troll really good. We were winding her up and making fun of it. But her face and expressions started to tell a Read More…
That time I was told to drop out of school
When I was in year 11 I was told to drop out of school. Nine years later I have two university degrees with a full time job. Part of being disabled at school means an assessor comes to check in on you every year to see that you have the systems in place to Read More…
“I’m a transformer”: How to talk to children about disability
I find the way children respond to my disability is the most interesting part of being in a wheelchair. I’ve been permanently in a wheelchair for almost 10 years now, after 3 years of being partially able to walk. Even when I was a newly diagnosed grumpy teenager, I was always amused at the Read More…
Growing up as a Kiwi Muslim post-9/11
Every time I take to Facebook or Twitter lately, I see one thing – Muslim Ban. As a human being, my heart breaks every time I see families being ripped apart by any external force. As a Muslim though, it hurts even more. I know that 15 years of alienation, dehumanisation and collective vilification of Read More…