Today marks a year since I started my new role at my very first job. In that time I’ve been blessed to be part of some thought provoking and refreshing conversations, which have made me reflect on my own place in the world. One of the most challenging ideas I’ve heard is when one Read More…
Category: Thoughts
I hate tolerance
I keep hearing people talk about ‘tolerating’ other cultures and ways of life as something we need to strive for. We need to ‘tolerate’ other people. I really hate that word. Tolerate, to me, feels like a position we are forced to take. In a world that is more globalised than ever before, we Read More…
How can we work together? My year of leadership
This year has been one of the most stimulating, challenging and exciting years of my life. I decided to test my self-confidence by participating in the yearlong Be. Leadership programme. When I applied around this time last year, I didn’t quite know what I was signing up for, nor did I see myself as Read More…
Why are passports so powerful?
Trump’s travel ban has really got me thinking about the power of a passport and how severely it determines everyone’s freedom of movement. While being able to travel is a privilege in itself, our place of birth within man made borders decides the fate of how we live our lives. Anybody who was born Read More…
When political representation and engagement matters
The Grenfell Tower fire has really taken its toll on me this week. The victim and witness accounts show a desperate call for those in power to take the voices of the people seriously. The residents of that tower had been asking for help for years, only for their pleas to fall on deaf ears. Read More…
Fasting while disabled: what I discovered
Today was the first day of Ramadan 2017. In this month, Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset in an effort to increase in self-reflection, empathy, gratitude and patience. This is only my fourth year fasting after a 10-year break following my diagnosis. While I knew I wasn’t well enough to observe, and therefore exempt, Read More…
My big surgery: 10 years later
On 22 May 2007 my life changed forever. On that day, almost 10 years ago, I had a 12-hour operation on my back to straighten the curve that was forming at the top of my spine. Two days later, my lungs collapsed, I was taken to intensive care and my parents were told Read More…
Words can hurt me too
At the start of this month, I had my second session of a year long Leadership Programme I’m participating in. The weekend topic was about society – “what’s really going on here?” One of our speakers spoke about the importance of words, and how they can be used to perpetuate mentalities about marginalised communities. Read More…
3 women who changed my life
There are way more than 3 women who changed my life. But these three are the main ladies who have challenged ideas and beliefs about myself that I grew up with. There is nothing I love more than women of colour straight up forcing the world to listen to us. Being a Muslim Indian Read More…
The highlights and hypocrisies of Meryl Streep’s speech
Meryl Streep’s Cecil B. DeMille Award acceptance speech went viral after she slammed Donald Trump for mocking a disabled reporter during his election campaign. By pointing out Trump’s disgusting behaviour, Streep acknowledged the power dynamic that exists between powerful establishments and disabled people. I applaud her for using her platform to highlight oppression and Read More…