tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41938857022908487862024-03-12T21:13:12.234-04:00Apples and OrangesIntrospection, retrospection, and the art of immigrant living.Madiha W.Q.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06004995604291413209noreply@blogger.comBlogger67125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4193885702290848786.post-64068544255717017132014-03-02T08:16:00.002-05:002014-03-02T08:16:43.835-05:00You are three.
Dear Ali,
Today, you turned three. I have tried to write you a letter every now and then since the day you were born, mostly describing how I feel about being your mother, about you landing in my life and helping me find my feet. I have hoped that one day you will read these and get to know the life and times of your mother with you. But this letter is going to be a little different.
This Madiha W.Q.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06004995604291413209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4193885702290848786.post-66582093639213173952012-01-09T16:55:00.010-05:002012-01-10T11:33:49.478-05:00In My Motherhood - ep. 2In the past week, my ten month old son has punched me in my left eye, pulled individual strands of my hair till I yelped in pain, and kicked me in the face upwards of two dozen times as I slept at night. And yet, when he rubs his plump little fingers on the couch --fingers coated with the spicy hummus he just discovered in a closed Styrofoam container on a side table-- all I do is mildly chide Madiha W.Q.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06004995604291413209noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4193885702290848786.post-17561103248969041982011-10-03T01:04:00.003-04:002012-12-31T21:26:39.789-05:00In My MotherhoodWhat is it that makes women so susceptible to the smallest slight once they've scoured practically the highest mountain for human endurance: giving birth to a child. One would think that successfully delivering a living, breathing person would open gates for some kind of new, thriving confidence that would make them a seamless amalgam of wonder woman and Minerva. Well, it doesn't. Touchy-feely Madiha W.Q.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06004995604291413209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4193885702290848786.post-13393898344720068362011-08-09T10:04:00.004-04:002011-08-09T10:09:09.784-04:00I Wonder......if writing a blog is really just a way of fooling people into thinking you're a writer and not high/delusional/a little bipolar. Because you're really just sitting in a corner talking to yourself quite eloquently.Madiha W.Q.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06004995604291413209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4193885702290848786.post-27045947527166443942011-08-08T15:27:00.003-04:002012-12-28T11:48:38.817-05:00Ta-Da.I have decided to...drum roll...reclaim this blog. I'm not entirely certain what has brought on this sudden relapse into another prematurely orphaned project of mine. Two possible reasons: One, I am finally re-inspired. Two, I am soon to be unemployed. Might as well have a vent handy.
Step 1: Change the name of this blog. It is not cool anymore to name a blog after yourself. Working on it.Madiha W.Q.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06004995604291413209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4193885702290848786.post-63960566367553083682010-03-17T10:53:00.008-04:002010-03-20T08:43:44.636-04:00Really, Shahbaz Sharif?A few days ago, the chief minister of the Punjab province came into the limelight, for a strange, ill-advised commentary on the Taliban's recent attacks in Lahore (see Dawn's unusually strong-worded editorial about it here). Sharif was also chief minister, Pubjab in 1999 when his brother, then PM Nawaz Sharif, was ousted by Parvez Musharraf during a bloodless military coup. The Sharif brothers Madiha W.Q.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06004995604291413209noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4193885702290848786.post-84106749480363204242010-03-10T15:01:00.006-05:002010-03-10T16:31:11.200-05:00My Oscar RantOn a lighter note, Sunday's Oscar ceremony was typically boring and overlong, which is fine and expected, but there was something especially annoying about it this time. Apparently, some genius gave them the idea that broadcasting Barbara Walteresque testimonials by actor friends of the nominees would keep those flighty audiences rooted in their seats. Well, here's what it came off as. Not that Madiha W.Q.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06004995604291413209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4193885702290848786.post-4980221170465051332010-02-23T15:05:00.018-05:002010-02-26T13:02:42.073-05:00The bitter pill called Aafia SiddiquiThree days ago, Washington Post reported that that U.S. investigators have formally concluded the late Bruce Ivins, a government scientist, to have acted alone in the 2001 anthrax attacks that killed five people and sickened 17 others. Bruce Ivins' actions bear testimony to a complicated fact: brilliant minds are more than capable of causing mindless, even inexplicable terror. Most of us will nodMadiha W.Q.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06004995604291413209noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4193885702290848786.post-29435309732309130862010-02-13T10:51:00.011-05:002010-03-19T09:38:02.478-04:00And time yet for a hundred indecisionsSince I have nothing original to say, I will let T.S. Eliot speak for me this sunny, wintry Saturday. My favorite excerpts from the very tedious, and very beautiful, Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock.--Let us go then, you and I, When the evening is spread out against the sky Like a patient etherised upon a table; Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets, The muttering retreats Of Madiha W.Q.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06004995604291413209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4193885702290848786.post-3787493933639892882010-01-12T10:39:00.008-05:002010-01-12T10:54:14.135-05:00Shopping for a cause...For the last year, I've been involved in starting a Washington DC chapter of The Citizens Foundation USA (http://www.tcfusa.org/), my favorite charity (and once employer) that builds schools in underprivileged communities throughout Pakistan. My fellow members and I recently chose a particular school project to support through our fundraising efforts (information about the project at the bottom Madiha W.Q.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06004995604291413209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4193885702290848786.post-2096059905856556292009-12-23T15:54:00.024-05:002010-01-12T13:09:08.576-05:00Up in the Air - A reviewNote: Spoiler AlertI had been very excited to see Up in the Air. The trailer showed a classic Hollywood recipe for success: George Clooney, a cynical, impossibly handsome vagabond who's bit of a prick, and passes cynical and adorably unashamed judgment on every facet of life until he has a change of heart, meets his perfect match, and is redeemed. Oh and there’s that side story involving his Madiha W.Q.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06004995604291413209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4193885702290848786.post-50938544069113201952009-10-10T10:18:00.009-04:002009-12-26T11:57:20.702-05:00OCDYou’re stuck indefinitely in a bubble of soap and antiseptic liquid, the overpowering scent of alcohol compounds that promise to exfoliate you of the insurmountable…dirt. What an inadequate word to describe an object of a lifetime of inexplicable and inconvenient fear. But it's not just that. There are the ticks. Nobody wants to know what lurks behind that slightly fidgety, but still apparently Madiha W.Q.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06004995604291413209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4193885702290848786.post-19502179520711076142009-07-20T14:15:00.040-04:002010-03-10T15:28:43.385-05:00Why Legalizing Marijuana Won't Destroy America (or Anyone Else)LA Times states that in a Zogby International poll taken earlier this year, 44% of Americans said marijuana should be taxed and legally regulated like alcohol and cigarettes. Here's probably why: Annual American Deaths Caused by Drugs: Tobacco: 400,000Alcohol: 100,000All Legal Drugs: 20,000ALL Illegal Drugs: 15,000Caffeine: 2,000Aspirin: 500Marijuana: 0(National Institute of Drug Abuse)Yet, it Madiha W.Q.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06004995604291413209noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4193885702290848786.post-57952478425595456062009-07-09T23:28:00.010-04:002009-12-26T11:57:38.414-05:00-Two days ago, I came across some sad news. My friend Tazeen's father had passed away after fighting a long illness. In the few years that I've known Tazeen, I never got the opportunity to meet her father. However, last month on father's day while her father was being treated in the hospital, Tazeen wrote this heart-wrenching article for him, which acquainted me with the wonderful man who raised Madiha W.Q.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06004995604291413209noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4193885702290848786.post-11572609772366347942009-05-04T15:43:00.004-04:002009-05-04T16:27:43.548-04:00Karachi Women: Persecuted or ParanoidFear travels fast in turbulent times. A few weeks ago, a friend in Karachi wrote to me about women around her feeling afraid of harassment by pro-Taliban men when they went out in public. She quoted incidents she had heard of occurring in shopping markets frequented by the elite of the city. As residents of the bustling, diverse economic capitol of Pakistan brace themselves for more political Madiha W.Q.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06004995604291413209noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4193885702290848786.post-72921193383922697482009-05-04T15:13:00.011-04:002009-05-04T16:23:13.447-04:00Beginning of the EndAs things in Pakistan steadily deteriorate, political pundits on the American media are now predicting a takeover of the state by the Taliban, citing the attacks on Buner, less than sixty miles away from the Pakistani capitol. The latest casualty figures released by the Pakistani military in Buner show some success for the army, which says its operation is continuing smoothly. But civilian deathsMadiha W.Q.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06004995604291413209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4193885702290848786.post-75365683081847349982009-03-31T13:29:00.018-04:002009-07-11T10:03:00.444-04:00Lessons of the NightSo I slept with my bedroom door locked yesterday. I realized last evening, much to my anguish (while watching 'Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day' in bed) that I had never spent a night alone in a house before. I must be the only twenty-six year old woman I know in this country with that dubious honor, which thankfully lives no more after yesterday.And despite a night of checking the front door lock Madiha W.Q.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06004995604291413209noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4193885702290848786.post-8351460783301018442009-03-20T10:51:00.007-04:002009-12-26T11:58:10.404-05:00Hope is a Good ThingThe Shawshank Redemption, the 1994 movie based on Stephen King's novella, never gets old. Despite its length (it's about two and a half hours long), the calm and steady narration, and the lack of graphic action, the movie holds me still in anticipation of what I already know and expect...each and every time. I can watch it again and again and still share that feeling of relief, freedom and Madiha W.Q.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06004995604291413209noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4193885702290848786.post-49186791484457850442009-03-09T10:31:00.003-04:002009-03-09T10:35:53.086-04:00A Hostage Nation...A friend's letter to the editor of the Pakistani newspaper Dawn, in the wake of the recent attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore:-----The armed attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team convoy and the resulting loss of life of our brave police officers have proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that Pakistan has been taken hostage. It has become hostage to the whims of armed extremists, Madiha W.Q.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06004995604291413209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4193885702290848786.post-83036437685819893992009-02-26T10:40:00.014-05:002012-12-04T16:19:34.938-05:00Trip to PakistanI'm listening to the haunting 'Trip to Pakistan' by the Irish band, Celtic Spring, today. Over and over again. And each time, it makes me feel I am no longer in front of a computer screen, inside my home in Maryland. I am, instead, miles and years away; sitting alone in a cable-chair, that slowly, meticulously makes its way into the valley below the mountains surrounding Nathia Gali. Spring is Madiha W.Q.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06004995604291413209noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4193885702290848786.post-29870968769223710002009-02-20T18:05:00.016-05:002009-03-09T10:31:07.260-04:00Coloring the Future...This is a drawing by ten-year old Ruqayya, a student at the TCF School in Machar Colony, Karachi. It appeared in a feature in the newspaper DAWN, that invited school-going children from different socio-economic strata in Karachi to draw their vision of a future Pakistan. Not surprisingly, the young artists were infinitely more optimistic and hopeful about Pakistan's future than the adults are. InMadiha W.Q.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06004995604291413209noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4193885702290848786.post-73110314387270532642009-02-18T12:35:00.012-05:002009-02-20T09:07:37.798-05:00From son to father-in-lawBy enlisting Sufi Muhammad's support, the authors of the new political approach hope to be able to drive a wedge between the father-in-law and the son-in-law, with the former promising to declare the armed struggle un-Islamic if the militants refuse to lay down their arms. --Ismail Khan in Dawn (Photo of Fazlullah, courtesy NBC)The Swat saga has taken a sharp twist with the Pakistani government Madiha W.Q.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06004995604291413209noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4193885702290848786.post-72904123711993195882009-02-02T15:49:00.034-05:002009-02-17T13:39:09.902-05:00The Charity With a DifferenceToday I want to talk about my favorite charity, my first employer, and my pet cause that is so close to my heart, I haven't been able to get away from it since I first entered the seventh floor of the shabby N.I.C building in Karachi, three years ago. I joined The Citizens Foundation (TCF to everyone) right after my MBA. I actually applied there right after a die-hard idealistic, and rather Madiha W.Q.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06004995604291413209noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4193885702290848786.post-10808217105051751952009-01-22T09:10:00.028-05:002009-02-17T16:10:13.234-05:00Maryland Suburbs for Change: Our Inaugural AdventureTuesday January 20, 2009Inauguration Day 6:00: Gloves, hats, six layers of clothing: check. Route maps: Check. Books to read in line: Check. Shayan(sister-in-law), Taimoor(husband) and I set out to the capitol via Glenmont Metro, which is a tiny walk from our home. 6:20: I can't believe we're already in the train and on our way! This mob is totally manageable. 7:10: We're here! As we try to Madiha W.Q.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06004995604291413209noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4193885702290848786.post-72919468697393093382009-01-19T16:00:00.028-05:002009-01-21T18:37:30.317-05:00Who Killed Swat?Tazeen posted a picture of a banner prohibiting women from entry into a cloth market in Swat, the breathtaking valley that once used to be a bustling tourist spot with an economy that thrived on nature lovers, honeymooners and export of its vast mineral resources. I went to Swat when I was ten, with family, and have pictures to prove what a happy little piece of heaven it used to be. I remember Madiha W.Q.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06004995604291413209noreply@blogger.com2