Women

Belief, Humanity, Love, Women / 16.01.2018

On any given Sunday, a sea of hats, in all colors of the rainbow, is visible before you set foot on the grounds of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church (FAME) in South Central Los Angeles. Women, men, and children in their finest fill the entryway with vibrant colors, matching the rich laughter and greetings, as we are welcomed by Reverend Cecil Murray. My mother-in-law has always been very involved in her temple: from a member when Damon and his sister, Dawn, were younger to one of the first female presidents of Temple Isaiah. Mom has exemplified what it means to...

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Family, Growing Up, Women / 09.01.2018

When Lucky Chucha (in Urdu Chucha refers to my father’s younger brother) decided to marry an “Umrican” it wasn’t the first time a male had married outside of race and religion in our family’s history nor would it be the last. Nancy was a rebel from the start: “Don’t call me Nancy Aunty…it sounds so old!”; “Start wearing seatbelts…you want to live past 13, don’t you?”; “What do you mean you don’t know what Disney is? Let’s go see Cinderella at the Cineplex...

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Joy, Love, Mindfulness, Women / 03.01.2018

Getting lost as a child is terrifying. Being lost as an adult is paralyzing. After one of the happiest moments of my life – at our boys’ B’nai Mitzvah – I looked at my reflection having no idea who the person was staring back at me. She smiled but it wasn’t genuine. She laughed but it was forced. She was going through the motions of living without feeling. Who was she and where did I go?   "I looked at my reflection having no idea who the person was staring back at me."   We wait our entire childhood to grow up, gain responsibilities,...

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Women / 14.05.2017

I have one mother who gave birth to me; she’s my one and only Umme, and yet I have countless other people in my life who take on the role of “mother” whether for a brief moment in time or for decades. Two of my favorite mothers raised hundreds of children. They were my paternal great-aunts, Chotee and Bhari. Chotee Phuppo and Bhari Phuppo, as they were known, directly translates to little sister on my father’s side and older sister on my father’s side. Everyone called them that until I came along. I referred to them simply as Chotee and Bhari,...

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