I had briefly forgotten how it feels to be defeated by one’s own life and the circumstances of reality. At times, I aspire to be the kind of person who accepts reality and goes on knowing that the world is not an ideal place and the general disposition for coping involves playing the crooked game... Continue Reading →
I found my copy of Orientalism when I opened my book cupboard so that my niece could help herself with any book she wanted. I thought I had given it away, but here it was musky, yellowed, reminiscent of a time when I was discovering the treasures inside bookshelves. The book is still as relevant... Continue Reading →
Wearing a mascara is all fun and games until you have to remove it. Leaving the black caked liquid on my eyelashes is not an option but every time I need to do a cleansing routine, it is as if the day’s worries have descended upon them. In the many weeks that have passed since... Continue Reading →
I seem to have forgotten how to write about nothing - the great wide expanses of absence. Why must everything be something? Have meaning? Fall into line? Be coherent? I've beaten myself silly about not categorising thoughts inside the margins of my journals because they need to go into an essay, a piece somewhere, a... Continue Reading →
Sometimes I wish I was the kind of person who would be consistent to the point of boring and follow the Korean skincare routine, finish all the products I had flown in all the way from South Korea, and be predictable to myself. I wish that I was the kind of person who would leave... Continue Reading →
The sun had just set. I knew because I heard the call to the maghrib prayer. It was still a long time before it would become dark, though. He was walking me home. We passed by a local restaurant we used to frequent during college. I pointed towards it, and we laughed. We spoke about... Continue Reading →
I saw Beauty and the Beast and I'll say this as quickly as possible - I didn't like it all that much. Then, I went back and saw the original animated movie. And I'll say it again, very quickly - I didn't like that so much, too. So, I finally decided that this fairy tale... Continue Reading →
While I love my Chanel perfume as much as the next girl, I think nothing beats the smell of a freshly baked sweet dish, specially one that has vanilla essence. When I took out the tray of bread and banana pudding today, the house was filled with a mirth that one could touch in the... Continue Reading →
Earlier this year, I read Things I Don't Want to Know by Deborah Levy. It's a first person narrative of the South African writer and her answer to George Orwell's essay, "Why I Write". At the time, I was also reading another book in which there is an Egyptian character who is a paying guest... Continue Reading →