Nonfiction
Labels & Detractors
Recently, I met a fashion blogger, and I was quite excited as I am when meeting any writers; however, my excitement was quashed when she began speaking of ‘labels’ guaranteeing ‘quality.’ I did not feel the need to correct her with my personal opinion; instead, I told her that ‘I don’t really care about labels.’ […]
‘Someone is lucky.’
Those words were spoken to me by a very aggressive stranger whom I met in the street, and they have obsessed me every day since hearing them because an outward appearance is not defining of a life; in fact, the words, personify the adage: ‘Never, judge a book by its cover.’
Charlie
My father looked away from the mailbox and was quite surprised to see him running down the street. As well, I suppose that my father surprised him because he stopped when seeing him before turning and leaping over the fence bordering our garden. My father hurried to the house and through the garden room to […]
The Importance of Fruits
I love an early morning walk in the country with my dog because the air is fresh and silent to the exception of birds twittering. However, someone was shattering the natural tranquility of one morning when shouting: ‘You with the dog, excuse me. Hello!’ I looked around to see an elderly woman waving to me […]
Imagining the Season
I stepped from the darting dogs and voices of their masters to stop beneath the gnarled fingers intertwining before me: I looked to them absorbing their dancing rhythms as they reached from their sturdy, but tilted trunks for the western light. A path of plush loam wove its way beneath them, and I felt myself […]
Another Walk
The air was softer than it had been as I stumbled over the angled stones beneath my feet. I couldn’t scold them because I hold too much respect for the roots gnarling beneath them: they provide life to the decades old trees lining the walk beside the park. I thought the same of the sounds […]
I Wasn’t Alone
In the third grade, I wasn’t alone when Mother Superior slapped my face for returning a smile to another student. While standing at the side of her desk, later that day, I wasn’t alone when she asked me to extend my arms towards her, and open my hands turning their palms towards God. No, I […]
Walk the Moon
The distance and the difference between us is just illusion
Return to Partition: Finding Pakistan’s Past in India’s Present
The first time my grandfather crossed the India-Pakistan border was in 1947; the next time he crossed was in 2007, with me.
University of California, Los Angeles 1940s
University of California, Los Angeles. The Westwood campus. My guess, the 1940s. UCLA came into existence as the State Normal School in 1881. Its original location is where the Los Angeles Central Library sits facing Fifth Street across from the tallest building in Los Angeles, the US Bank Building. The State Normal School was a […]
