Spring in Ramadan
Ramadan has been in the air as has snow and blossoms of spring in good ol’ Yorkshire this April of 2021. The joy of my favourite season and month have joined forces and it has
Book Review: ‘The Runaways’ by Fatima Bhutto
This novel embodies radical empathy. It’s radical to understand the lives of the radicalised; to understand what it is that made them take their path. Fatima Bhutto gives a counter-narrative of three radicalised teenagers that
The Capacity of Language
Although I mostly write about linguistics, I’ve recently wanted to and had the pleasure to write about my relationship with language and language’s relationship with the identity of its speakers. This has left me conscious
A Linguistic Analysis of ‘Chura Liya Hai Tumne Jo Dil Ko’
The song chura liya hai tumne jo dil ko has echoed around the world and back, from India, Pakistan and their respective diaspora communities to South Africa, Malaysia, and the Middle East. And recently I
Book Review: ‘The Family Tree’ by Sairish Hussain
It’s set so close to home; in the British Pakistani diaspora community of Bradford from 1993-2020. The characters are so lovingly familiar, as are the authentic descriptions of them and the Bradford architecture —that with
Woman of the Week: Sairish Hussain
As we talk about Dr. Sairish Hussain’s debut novel ‘The Family Tree’, we learn how much of the themes of the book are woven into issues and experiences that are at the heart of Sairish
Book Review: Marjan Kamali’s ‘The Stationary Shop of Tehran’
We experience the life of the protagonist, Roya, from the age of 17 in 1953 to her mid 70s in 2013 in New England, Massachusetts. Roya’s life begins in a traditional home of Tehran, where
Chai Shai? Reduplication: A Verbal Art
Chai shai is a classic Pakistani and Indian phrase and one that I hear my parents, aunties, and uncles call out a lot - sometimes with a hand turned out in the air. It has