Bobby & Jerry : Rise of a Coloured ‘son’ Retold

Bobby has proved that he is more Christian than the Christians, more conservative than the conservatives, and as or more embedded in the Bush-Cheney establishment than the others.

Blue Line

They have seen right through my nonchalance as I picked up the pregnancy test at the airport, kept my shaking hands at bay, and walked with assumed confidence through the hotel doors.

The Balloon Seller

Chutki fondles its sand-ridden scabby skin. Rani responds with an effusive wagging of it’s balding tail. Dog and girl sit together for sometime. With a brisk movement Rani aims at one of the balloons

Are We The Most Racist Of Them All?

We’re so racist that we have the heaviest biases within our tiniest microcosms. Even within our own race and our own country, we’re so fond of discriminating based on community or colour of skin

Away and Far Away...

What is life I ask the One
If life is love I have got one
If thou didn’t come and hold me well
What life is worth, I’d rather have none

My darling Dhoti!

The customs officers examines my stuff and says “nice table cloth” “is it hand-made?” he asks. Sir, this is not a tablecloth, this is a Dhoti, I explained to him.

A Fobby Love Story

My love vocabulary increased tenfold here, with words like relationship (it was always love, what the hell is a relationship?), breakups (no breakups in pakistan, either you marry the girl or her parents marry her to someone else), ex ...

Hi, I’m Zehra, Your DJ for the Evening

I am told this is how desi DJ’s start. A rites of passage of sorts. Just make sure it is a passage and not the end of the hall. You play at a desi wedding. You watch the drunk uncles swing around the aunties and come and ask you for the 7th time

You are Not Ready for Desilicious

In a city long past “firsts”, it is New York’s first social space for queer desis to party amongst their own. In doing so, they have defied the accumulated traditions and prejudices of their native and adopted lands.

Bharati Mukherjee : The American Dreamer

‘The experience of cutting myself off from a biological homeland and settling in an adopted homeland that is not always welcoming to its dark-complexioned citizens has tested me as a person but it has made me the writer I am today.’

Sharded Past

When guests go
And I return to me
I’ll cure the hangover

Aloo Gobi for the Choosy

After years of nagging and ominous reminders that if I didn’t learn how to cook I would be considered an uncultured specimen of the female desi specimens

A Wedding Night in Boston...

As I watched the blonde and brunette Pakistani girls gyrating and bobbing to bhangra, I wanted to kneel before God once again.

Birth Of A Nation

Just like Eskimos are a snow based, as Venice is water based society, Desis are a Shaadee based culture. Without these functions we can not function. It is our basic right. You are asking the Pharoah to break the pyramid.

Tips by a Desi Playerette

Feb 15 Rally

A personal perspective on the Feb15 Rally

Living Abroad

America, the dream of many; a country where all wishes are granted and any desire fulfilled

Frankly Speaking

Every one in Pakistan thinks I am this cool flirt dating blondes. And I want to maintain that image.

Dog Foop Days (and Other Such Stuff)

If the wind blew hard enough, her hair blew all over the place

Reaction

Terrorists Breeding In Your Gentrified Neighbourhood of Ft. Greene, Brooklyn.

Headache and Heartburn

I did not want to witness the hell breaking loose as the young Pakistanis started dancing

New Yaark New Yaark

2 a.m.: Rekha, cigarette in one hand, a drink in the other is on the dance floor

The Burden of Virginity

If you ever have sex with a guy, I’ll know immediately

Oi, Kinniyaan Memaan Keetiyan Ne.

It’s a clean slate,
The Paki’s had his fun,

Let’s talk about Bollywood

While many people would rather drown in a nearby lake than admit that they watch Bollywood movies...

American Born, British Born, Canadian Born but still Desi

I thought that the desi’s living abroad would have the best of both worlds.

Threads (Part I)

He wasn’t that bad, for a desi man.

Tale of Two Totem Poles or Sofa & Charpoy Totem Poles

Two villages, different languages and different customs.

The Never-Ending Story

A womans take on being a ’druggie’ in Pakistan

I Cheat Therefore I Am

Our most cherished phone calls home are from some stolen calling card

A Pakistani Teenager in Canada

A 14 year old Pakistani teenager gets some things off his chest

On Being an Ex-Expatriate

What’s it like to come back to Pakistan? An ex-expatriate speaks.

Recollections of my Grandfather

They deserve their complete rest, after a simple, kind, and honourable life

Water Buffaloes

...I could probably use a shave, but I’ve got on this outrageously expensive shirt from the A/X that makes up for any other visual short-comings.

The Good, the Bad and the Anxiety

Can’t we make choices about how to lead our lives without someone out there thinking that we are breaking a religious or cultural law? Who decides what these laws are anyway?