03 Aug, 2012

another journey

03 Aug, 2012

Another journey. This time, we’re flying to Houston earlier than we planned and the drive to the airport is familiar. Today the roads are clear. There is no traffic; most of Karachi seems to either be fasting or else participating in iftaar festivities. Already, lights are strung along shopping...

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02 Aug, 2012

more interviews…

02 Aug, 2012

Jibran meets me at Karachi Press Club, where I used to spend a lot of time when I worked for the Star during the eighties. Even now, I find myself visiting the old sandstone building at the edge of Saddar. Today, I’m here to conduct a formal interview with Akbar...

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01 Aug, 2012

lyari…again

Sehba Sarwar
01 Aug, 2012

Photo by Akbar Baloch “Why do I need to tell you my story?” asks Atta Mohammad. “What do I gain from doing this interview? I’ve done many interviews and there have been many documentaries. But has anything changed?” He shrugs his shoulders and looks around his street shop filled...

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31 Jul, 2012

memories of the seawall…

31 Jul, 2012

Today is a day of rest after a weekend of long-distance travel, interviews and filming; I need time to digest all the information that I’m gathering. At night, Minal, Ammi and I visit Clifton Seawall, a drive that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto once wanted to create as the “Jewel of...

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30 Jul, 2012

a trip to badin and tando bago…

Sehba Sarwar
30 Jul, 2012

After barely two of sleep, Aslam Khwaja arrives back at our house, and he and I set off again, this time for Tando Bago. On the way, we pick up Jibran Javaid, a filmmaker who’s offered to help with my project. The drive is long and uneventful. Once we...

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29 Jul, 2012

more music, this time in jamshoro…

29 Jul, 2012

The drive from Karachi to Jamshoro is more than two hours long, but we pass the time with chatting with each other. Even though we planned to be at Saif Samejo’s home for Iftari, we stop at Ali Baba gas station so our driver, Dilawar, can take an Iftar...

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25 Jul, 2012

going to lyari…

Sehba Sarwar
25 Jul, 2012

The rental car turns onto Mai Kolachi road, and I look on both sides to mourn the loss of the mangroves that paid the price for easy access to the port from our side of town. As we head further south, we pass the new US consulate, a fort...

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25 Jul, 2012

music outside our window…

Sehba Sarwar
25 Jul, 2012

Our bedroom window overlooks a lignum tree with fresh purple blossoms. I remember when my mother planted the tree in the back of our garden more than thirty years ago. Beside the tree was a cage, inside which lived a family of budgrigar-birds of all colors. Each morning we’d...

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25 Jul, 2012

port grand…

Sehba Sarwar
25 Jul, 2012

Like any large public space in Karachi, we have to go through metal detectors and purse searches before entering Port Grand near Kemari harbor, a new private enterprise designed to offer food and entertainment to middle and upper class families. The metal entry gates are far from the docks...

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stuck in dubai…

Sehba Sarwar

As the British Airways flight descends into Dubai, I wonder if we’ll make our Karachi connection in time. We already know that there might be some problems – as we descend, there have been several PA announcements informing passengers to allow all 14 of the Karachi-bound passengers Karachi to...

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16 Jul, 2012

airplane memories

16 Jul, 2012

I remember the grownups driving through Star Gate and entering Karachi’s international airport – I don’t even think the airport had a name back then – and walking up the stairs to the open patio to eat cake while the grown-ups sipped tea. Together we watched airplanes roar over...

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21 Jun, 2012

protests in houston

21 Jun, 2012

In Houston, protests are rising – as the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) goes on strike to demand higher wages for janitorial staff. Local organizers are participating in daily marches in Tranquility Park in downtown Houston. Tomorrow, there will be another march at 4 pm. Last Thursday’s protest was...

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I was inspired to begin my blog when I visited the library at my alma mater, Mount Holyoke College, and saw a framed photograph of my friends and me calling for divestment of funds from South Africa.

In 2007,  I began a blog when I visited my alma mater and saw a framed photograph of my friends and me calling for divestment of funds from South Africa. I use the blog to document my movement between spaces, Houston, Karachi, Delhi, Dhaka, Los Angeles and elsewhere, recording observations, images and conversations. Here, I document the multiple realities that I inhabit – writer, artist, mother, activist, educator, and transnational. Interviews from my blog were exhibited at Houston’s Baker Ripley Community Center (2014) and at Houston Public Library in downtown (2015). My papers are archived at the University of Houston’s library.