“When you ask the question ‘what is home?’ are you talking about a physical space or an emotional place?” asks my friend Yaksha. “Those are two different things.” “This...
Read more29 Sep, 2014
01 Sep, 2014
reflections on ferguson and gaza…
01 Sep, 2014
In her August 28, 2014 essay “On growing up in Ferguson and Palestine” published in the Washington Post, poet Naomi Shihab Nye writes: In Ferguson, an invisible line separated...
Read more18 Jul, 2014
beets in boston…
18 Jul, 2014
My sister, Beena Sarwar, has a spate of snack-recipes to share: baked beets, sauteed carrots and baked cauliflowers – to name just a few.
Read more13 Jul, 2014
window-shopping at the forum…
13 Jul, 2014
The pre-Eid shopping frenzy has already begun in Karachi, and shopping centers remain open after iftari. One night, my mother Zakia Sarwar and I wander over to the Forum,...
Read more09 Jul, 2014
another border…
09 Jul, 2014
I take a drive up to the Wagah border to experience the raising of flags ceremony that has been documented many times over. The afternoon is humid and hot,...
Read more10 Mar, 2014
home-cooked puri…
10 Mar, 2014
I wake up late this Sunday morning, and when I wander into the kitchen, I find that my mother Zakia Sarwar and Minal have kneaded whole-wheat flour to create...
Read more25 Aug, 2013
06 Apr, 2013
more thoughts about the family that lives under pierce elevated…
06 Apr, 2013
Today, on our way back to our house, Minal points out to laundry laid out behind some bushes right off the freeway, as we enter Pierce Elevated, heading south....
Read more06 Feb, 2013
Why do women work so hard?
06 Feb, 2013
– Why do women work so hard here? Minal asks me over dinner. – What do you mean? I ask. – Because women are always working and they don’t...
Read more02 Jan, 2013
returning from the rio grande…
02 Jan, 2013
Lights flash as we approach the rectangular building sitting alone in the desert amidst hot land and cactus. Wearing green pants & shirts, they stand and inform us: We...
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