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Interested Applicants Must Shower and Apply
I’m always curious to know what it means when the people, or let’s be real, the Internet diagnoses two people as ‘mismatched.’ I mean, there are definitely things that don’t work well together: apples and oranges, hot cheese on ice cream or like, me and pigeons. →
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Boy, Bye (OK, Not Quite)
But I’m learning that maybe, maybe this isn’t the time for anyone new. It seems alright to learn more about the person I thought I knew. →
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Shut Up Fahad, You Know Nothing: are you a ‘real’ Pakistani?
I’ve kissed a boy in my garden, under the pitch black mantle of night, and giggled with my sister all night afterwards. I’ve had my heart broken and put back together in the arms of this city. This has been my Lahore. →
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“Soulmates”
I met someone for the first time recently; I had been apprehensive and worried about what I would say. I dreaded an awkward silence and fumbling for words to make small talk with. Would we talk about the weather? Even fierce thunderstorms become glamour-less if you discuss them over and over. →
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On First Love
When I think of first love, I don’t think of him. I don’t think about the soft bridge of his nose, or the way his eyes slanted away from each other in small, sloppy angles that I could only see if I was close enough. I don’t remember the contours of his face, or the →
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Protected: The Definitive Guide to Being Single, LOL jk
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post. →
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Hi, could I return some of this freedom?
I never said it was because my parents were worried I would be murdered or kidnapped; I just shook my head and said, sorry I have a family dinner to get to or maybe next time? I have to finish up some homework. I didn’t want them to think my parents were insane, or you… →
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On Katniss and Tampons
Was it just like, “Oh, Katniss is about to get her period, get the sparkly tampons that also shoot fire and put on a show…” I don’t know. →
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Super Brown Girls, You Have No Future
Aunties don’t like our butts, they don’t like our boobs, and they don’t like our blemishes. A well endowed girl is vulgar, a well made up one is a slut, and tanned girls have no marriageable prospects. →
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“Let’s Break Up Today!” or you know, How To Not Do That
Dating tips invariably end with warnings that say: “He/she doesn’t have to be the one!”, “Just have fun while you’re in it!”, “Don’t date someone who lives close by, because when it ends, it’ll be much harder to get over!”, “If they hold you back, leave them immediately!” and more and more. Stupid, stupid. →
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Musings: It’s Good To Be A Girl in Qatar
They started smiling, their eyes clearly roving up and down down on my person. While this was clearly ogling, it didn’t bother me as much as what I did next. →
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Like Blood From A Tap: Let 2015 Flow In
(Our) Blood runs through cracks in the sidewalks and drips drips drips into the sewers below, mixing with the mulch that is later recycled for tap water. Do you know what you’re drinking? →
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I See Dead People Every Night
I see feathery carcasses on the floor: mangled remains of monstrous black birds, their wings slashed and guts spilling onto the grey marble. →
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I Won’t Sit In Grass But I’ll Eat It (‘long as it’s organic)
Rape, trauma, globalization, elections, cheap burgers, expensive salads, two story planes, the ebola virus, acne medication, daddy’s credit cards, abandoned castles, automatic traffic lights, endless highways, and amidst all of these, people who don’t know where they’re going. →
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Watermelon for breakfast
Today I had watermelon for breakfast. I had eggs in the morning – but that was a year ago. Yellow omelette with green pepper flecks; the ting of the toaster the maid’s brown hands on the crusty bread. Baba at the table: two silver forks on his plate; one waiting for me. * I flew →
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These Are The Things I’ve Learnt
There may be a boy who inspires you to be better, and once that happens, you may leave. There may be a girl who you adore from the delicate nape of her neck to her pink painted toes. And those may be the only things you love about her. Love is love. →
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Lahori Blues
How many people here have had the chance to almost dislocate their shoulders with a bhangra? A good bhangra with family can keep you happy for days. There is nothing like Punjabi music and people who love to dance. →
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One Of Those Nights
Sometimes there are those nights, you know, when the moon wears a watery halo and the sea seems to be sewn into the sky; grey and white waves sailing and ripping through the dark, lined in silver. Gliding and leaving no mark. * These are the nights that make me feel lucky. You know, The →
Nayab Malik 