Keeping the Crunch: Caregiving, Culture, and the Courage to Stay Whole
There’s a phrase I’ve been using a lot lately: don’t be the soggy lettuce. Too many women—especially those of us in the sandwich generation—lose our crispness under the weight of caregiving, expectation, and cultural obligation. We become wilted, invisible, overextended. We forget what it feels like to taste our own joy, to hold our shape. […]
Of Spice and Story: Tracing Identity Through Ismaili Memory
May is Asian Heritage Month. And yet, every time the calendar reminds me, I pause—not from pride, but from complexity. I wasn’t born in India, not even East Africa. I was born in Calgary, after my parents had already made their way here—and before my grandparents joined us. And yet, when I speak of Nairobi […]
A Samosa is a Spanakopita, just by another name
May 4, 2021 So what is the difference – between a Samosa, a Sambusa, a Springroll and a Spanakopita? Not much to be honest. Did you know that in India alone there are 20 recognized varieties? The filling might vary – between meats, noodles, vegetables or sweets, but like people – a Samosa is a […]
The Underpinning of My Existence: International Women’s Day and Building Each Other Up.
March 8, 2021 As with my previous articles, this one is Raw, Personal, and reflects my own lived truth. Before you start reading, let me first acknowledge my personal history being raised in the Treaty 7 lands in Alberta, pursuing education in the lands of the Algonquin, and today, living in the territories of the […]
Working Solo Parents & COVID-19
May 8, 2020 Let’s start by saying that this is my opinion, and not that of my employer. 🙂 Personal. And written pretty raw, and from the heart. 100% Zafira. There are tips and tricks that I consider best practices, but those are from experience 🙂 2 years ago, I became a mom to […]