On Common Purpose and other thoughts around recognising leadership in the Pakistani diaspora

A few months ago I started a series of instagram posts about my experience of returning to the world of work having taken a number of years off to bring up my two children. I spoke and wrote about some of the challenges I faced and how I worked through them. I have written and…

On girls and other thoughts around building resilience

Yesterday my daughter came home from school in tears. She had been disciplined for hitting someone. I found this very strange as it was unlike my daughter to throw the first punch, so I met with her teacher to discuss it in more detail. I later found out that she was standing in line when…

On Eva Zubeck and other thoughts around being a British Pakistani

Eva Zubeck doing the Kiki challenge on a PIA aircraft is amazing.

Who is Eva Zubeck?

Google her.

Eva Zubeck is the single reason why I welled up and had a little cry when I went to drop a relative to the airport today to catch their flight to Pakistan. Her recent portrayal of Pakistan is simply breath-taking.

Like many British Pakistani children our yearly holiday destination was Pakistan. Every year, at the start of the summer holidays, our suitcases would be packed, and off we’d go for six weeks in the sun with the relatives. My earliest memory of Pakistan was being seated with one of my uncles on his motorcycle, god knows where we were going, but I am sure I couldn’t have been more than about seven years old, and I was told to hold on tight – which I did, for dear life! We loved going to Pakistan; we were like celebrities; the cousins from London. It was a novelty, being treated with so much care by all our aunts and uncles, going shopping and having late night ice cream or a soda. It was a completely different world to London.