-
Before You Go Tripping In Love
He looks at you. Smiles, the gaze with the half lidded eyes; He sees you, As you. When you don’t see him, his eyes are plastered open: He tells his friends about you; As a thing to possess. And in that neon bright room with burning minds, the questions begin; You’re on the table as →
-
About The Woman Who Raised Me
The woman who raised me is not my mother. The woman who raised me is not a mother. This woman has a tiny heart, and a smaller spirit. I have learned this the hard way. She was always too busy to read me bedtime stories but never too occupied to later point out →
-
Bird In A Doll’s House
When I was younger, there used to be times when misguided little birds would accidentally fly inside the house. The thought of those tiny sparrows straying in from the open skies to the four walls of my home continued to interest me. The bird would hop from the shelf to the television, then on to →
-
How To Be Proud Of Your Thin Skin
I have a new mantra for you. Over-feeling is not a bad thing. Going through the world with your heart on your sleeve is not a bad thing. Feeling others’ pain as you would your own is not a bad thing. Taking things to heart and hurting is not a bad thing. There are people who will →
-
How To Love Your Looking Glass
What do you see when you look in the mirror? Do you see you? You have bumpy bits and wobbly bits and parts of you you wish you could photoshop away. It doesn’t work that way. To throw some ideas out there, for example: What do you need for the perfect bikini body? Why, a bikini, and a →
-
The Coward Does It With A Kiss…
Have you ever loved someone so much that it takes over an entire city? The walls of your home have sponged up bits of the love you had. And now they’ve turned on you. Every street you walk on, each corner you turn, it’s there. The love, it stares you in the face. The rain →
-
“If You’re Going To Have Two Faces…”
You know those people who walk around with their heads high and look like they’ll slap you if you say hi? I’m one of them, or so I’ve been told. But, I’m nothing like that once you get to know me. I have a big mouth sometimes, I’m outspoken and sometimes tactless. All my flaws →
-
Books Will Never Judge Your Cover…
I trail my fingers down the leather clad spine, ridged and looped with gold thread. The pages are a buttery yellow, smoothed and soft. There’s a clinging delicate scent, of old ink and new desires. The tale remains the same and yet, it makes some laugh, and some it makes sigh. Ah, old friend. We →
-
My Father, The Mortal
Today, my life changed. Well, not in the shooting stars or melodramatic turn of events way; rather in a stop and think kind of way. Today, I realized my dad isn’t immortal after all. Sure, he’s the hero I’ve always looked up to, the staunch defender of his castle, the infallible, strong male presence I’ve come to →
-
Lean On Me, Fall On Me, Laugh With Me…
There’s a kind of love that I’ve heard about. There’s a girl who’s kept a wedding scrapbook since the age of 10, with bits of lace and newspaper articles talking about your perfect day! When she meets the boy she is meant to, her mind will swim with thoughts of wining, dining, and a lot of sweeping-off-of-feet. →
-
I Built A House Of Grape Vines And Sunshine
Today was a good day. It was one of those days when the sun poured liquid gold and painted the tops of buildings yellow. I sat outside my room watching how sunshine streamed through leaves, making them transparent, almost. And it reminded me of the days I used to spend at my aunt’s house. I →
-
Take Me To A Deserted Island…
If you were stranded on a desert island, whom would you want standing by your side? Calculating the value of people is simple; just put two perspectives. Walking in to a room with sunshine in your hair and brilliance in your smile is easy. Anyone, and I mean anyone can fake a smile. I’ve met →
-
Don’t Forget To Check Your Pulse
Sometimes I wake up hating. I hate how wide my hips are, how my legs will never be longer, how I’ll look ridiculous in a swimsuit, how my skin isn’t glossy clear, how I need to work for the things I want, how I can’t just shop my days away, how I have worries, how →
-
7 Resolutions, 7 People, and 7 Reasons To Love 2013
2013 was the year of so much loss and so much more gain. I got rejected from one college, got into two others, and took a year off. In this ‘gap year’, I learned so much, met so many people, laughed, and cried. Since this is New Year’s Eve, I thought it only fitting to →
-
Knocking Down The Berlin Wall, Or, Modern European History Blues
I used to think history would come easy to me. I mean, I had the tenacious, for want of a better word, capacity to never forget dates and names and places. And so there I went, signed up for a history course with stars in my eyes. And what followed made me feel like I →
Nayab Malik 