Tales of Amother Kind

Free Love (for cake)

20 Feb 2011 1 Comment

by HMZ in Uncategorized

Hina: I used to have perfect skin, it’s not the same anymore. It’s probably all the cake I’m eating in Pakistan.

Omair: There were cakes in Dubai.

Hina: Yeah but I think I eat more here.

Omair: Why?

Hina: It’s the conversion dude. Do you NOT know that a Dhs. 25 slice cost Dhs 5 here! I’m compelled to eat 5 times as much cake, just to balance out finances in the universe!

Haircuts and Attitudes

19 Feb 2011 1 Comment

by HMZ in Uncategorized

As I strive each year to look hotter and younger (heaven forbid a mom-type!!) hair plays SUCH a crucial role. Whether it was last year’s long Katrina Kaif locks with curls, or this year’s Cameron Diaz’s super sexy sleek do – the ‘look’ is all about the hair.

In recent conversation with Mona, we were discussing how much a hair style can effect our attitudes. Her husband claims that with Mona’s short crop, she’s got some extra oomph. Last year when Sara traded in her old style for a sexier shorter look I was totally floored! With a short visit to the salon, we can give up our old hassled look for something nicer and much more stylish. Hair makes SUCH a difference. Gives us that little extra bounce in our step and doesn’t just make us a little more hotter, but also, a little more haughter.

The way we were

14 Feb 2011 1 Comment

by HMZ in Uncategorized

Over coffee with Jammie the other day, I started thinking about the reasons we choose to write. Whether it’s our way of reaching the masses, getting some sort of message across, trying to remember a moment an event through our own eyes, or for pure and selfish reasons – to console ourselves, our writing gives us freedom.

Besides its obvious communicative qualities, writing can also be incredibly theraputic. There’s no better way to get rid of emotional baggage than to put the word out there in the universe. Somehow, once written, words don’t just belong to us any more, and that feeling in itself is liberating.

So if it’s all that and more, then why did we ever stop?

When I last posted on TOAMK, I was struggling to get to know Ayzah better. Trying to get into her head and figure out whether my ‘mothering’ was actually ‘smothering’. I’ve learned over these past months that Ayzah likes her own space. She’ll come to you with her problems, if you let her. And when she does, you can’t ask too many questions or make too many suggestions. For her, comfort means your presence, not anything else.

I was also trying to juggle a career and kids. Which actually turned into 2 jobs and no help with the kids. But I’m glad to report, I’m still doing just fine. I resigned from my post as editor at the parenting magazine that I was working with. My reason? The kids needed me more. And the money being offered wasn’t good enough to make me want to selfishly become a lesser mom. Obviously with the right price tag, even motherhood is up for sale, but that would mean that my time at work would be able to buy my children a better life. And in this case, that wasn’t the case.

Besides the obvious passing of time, my life hasn’t changed much. I am still waiting to move to Canada, and in the meanwhile, putting so much of myself on ‘hold’ because for me, life in Pakistan isn’t a reality – it’s just a phase, a phase in which I refuse to live the life I want, because I hate living out of compromise. So I have conveniently managed to convince myself that this year and half just doesn’t exist in the big picture. Although I must admit, that despite my resistance to accepting my own circumstances, there is so much I have learned during my time here. So much about relationships, about reality, about inner strength, about parenting, about fears and about hope. So maybe this wasn’t the plan, and maybe it wasn’t the best turn in the road, but it has truly been fruitful, and if I keep focussed on what I have gained, then I will walk out of here, with the glass still half full.

Here’s to the way we were… and the writing that is still to come.