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Turning pain into beauty
Shortly after I published my novel, An Incomplete Love Story, I remember asking if I finally had permission to post romantic, or mushy stuff. The responses were entertaining and generally positive. The most common question I get is whether it is based on true life, or is it fiction. Suffice to say it’s a dumbed…
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Release the bitterness
I often wonder how much good is denied to the world when love stories remain incomplete? We often see quotes reminding us that the next great discovery could be in the mind of a child labourer stuck working in a field. Similarly, how much beauty is wasted when treasured bonds are abandoned for reasons other…
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It starts and ends with gratitude
Many struggle with achieving a sense of fulfilment in their lives because they have yet to appreciate, with sincerity, the value that they hold within themselves. We only make ourselves truly available in a relationship, romantic or otherwise, if we believe that who we are will be valued by others. The irony is that gratitude…
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This is going to hurt
Another excerpt from a manuscript slowly taking shape in my head. From the sequel to my novel, this is Taqdeer: A dance with destiny. In this scene, the main character, Zayd, once more finds himself faced with the betrayal of one close to him, but it’s not enough to deter him from remaining defiant against…
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Know your place
What if it wasn’t about the struggles, but about what we lost sight of that created those struggles? What if 2020 was needed to tamper our arrogance, or to test our gratitude? To remind us of the mortality of our dreams, and the reality of our shortcomings? To give us reason to pause and observe,…
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Farewell, it wasn’t fun
Goodbye to a year that has defined new depths of beauty and pain, and left its mark somewhere adrift between the two, leaving an ambivalence of hope and hopelessness, where once there was certainty. Nothing changes after midnight tonight. But the token of 2021 may give some hope, while the rest brace themselves for a…
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2020: It doesn’t matter
Depleted. That is my word for 2020. After an eventful year, the net effect of this year has depleted my resources physically, and especially emotionally. Even a colourful life such as the one I’ve managed to create for myself could not have prepared me for the year that has passed. I discovered new levels of…
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Time rewrites every line
From my blog post titled Legacy of Beauty, this excerpt resonated strongly this evening. “As time morphs the pain into beauty it also morphs the beasts into angels. Those that manipulate the vulnerable suddenly appear as the downtrodden when their loss of control is lamented as a betrayal of love or affection. I sit with…
