Just as you are
March 10, 2011
I was born and brought up in Pakistan. Shocker? Maybe. Do I care? Absolutely not. I used to. To the point where I wouldn’t mention it to anyone.
I was born and brought up in Pakistan. Shocker? Maybe. Do I care? Absolutely not. I used to. To the point where I wouldn’t mention it to anyone.
I am from Suresh, Manju, Raman and Sharda, and the Patels from cracking fireworks.
“These people will tell their kids about other saints now. The ones who came out of their air-conditioned city life to help us.”
“It took me a long time to accept the fact that OK, he’s not going to be a doctor.” His straight-up attitude made me stop short in my tracks. This was going to be no ordinary conversation.
We know him as Ajay Naidu. She knows him as the 11-year-old boy who one day brought home a piece of paper that changed their lives.
When Sunil Prakash told his father he wanted to become a hairdresser, he was told promptly: “Any idiot can cut hair!”
Regardless of which generation it is, or even which culture it is, a lot of people assume entertainment means “I need to be on camera”; “ I need to be a celebrity”.
They seek nothing but the freedom to do what they do best. Not often are they granted this request. And who refuses them? Most often, it is family.
Paun ke neechain jannat hai (there’s heaven underneath their feet). Upon hearing this as a child, I ran to my basement to see if life was sweeter there – no such luck.
It does bother me not to know whether my kids will ever read their language. Will Bengali just become a collection of gibberish words they will gradually forget as they move on with their assimilated lives in North America?
It’s Google for Muslims; Halal meat for Web users. I’mHalal uses a algorithm that is based on the culture, mindset and lifestyle of Muslims.
“Your parents should know how to behave.” There we are, at one of the most romantic locations in India, having our first marital discord. In an Indian love marriage, by the time everyone gets on board, one wonders if there is any love left.