It’s coming up to that time of year again – gifts, parties and traditions for some and dilemmas for others: Christmas. Every year, Christmas for me brings a set of challenges – do I capitulate and join in or do I hold my ground. This first came up when Little Lady came home with a […]

This is very much a traditional Pakistani recipe, one which makes an appearance at parties, on Eid and during Ramadan (especially in my Lahori in-law’s house). It also abounds in bazaars and people snack on it as they shop. It’s simple and fairly quick and the chickpeas (garbanzo bean or channa in Urdu/Hindi) and potato […]

My mom has had a little something on her mind for a long time, so decided to give her friends and neighbours a shout to assist. Because we live amongst a big Muslim community here, whenever there is a problem, the ladies tend to get together. So yesterday she called a group together to pray […]

This is very much a traditional Pakistani recipe, one which makes an appearance at parties, on Eid and during Ramadan (especially in my Lahori in-law’s house). It also abounds in bazaars and people snack on it as they shop. It’s simple and fairly quick and the chickpeas (garbanzo bean or channa in Urdu/Hindi) and potato […]

One of the difficulties with working in an office is the way you have to fit to routines and schedules that aren’t a natural fit to the rhythms of the day and the needs of your body. I know, I know, this is what we are being paid for. But there are days when it […]

To me henna is celebration itself and Eid feels incomplete without it. Three of the guests at our Eid party could apply henna, so we asked them nicely and they found themselves spending most of the evening decorating the hands of the rest of our guests. I mentioned earlier that my sister had afound a […]

After missing a lot of lessons and then returning to the sporadically, this week has been about getting down to business again with teaching Little Lady to read Quran.This was something I always ran away from as a child, seeing it as a chore and very boring. Although my dad taught me at home and […]

International Women’s Day took place during this week.  Little Lady went on a school trip to a war ship with a female captain and got to talk to some of the female sailors. I jokingly asked her at some point if she was a feminist and she replied with an incredulous no. That was it. […]

After missing a lot of lessons and then returning to the sporadically, this week has been about getting down to business again with teaching Little Lady to read Quran.This was something I always ran away from as a child, seeing it as a chore and very boring. Although my dad taught me at home and […]

I had to go visit a friend today, so decided to go whilst the kids were at madrassah. I got back to find hubby getting dinner ready and Little Man proudly showing off the chapatti he had made (he rolled it out, his dad cooked it).Alhamdulillah, it took me almost two years of grudging practice […]

These are the last of the cards I made a few weeks ago (first batch), thinking I could make a few quickly. The background for this was one of a series of different coloured pictures I cut out from a university brochure. They were all shots of natural patterns in different colours. The blue background […]

One of the greatest tests anybody could ever face in their lives is the loss of a child. There is nothing that can prepare us for it. Which mother does not live in fear of something happening to her child, constantly worrying about the child that is out of sight and inflating every little danger […]

I did plan lots for this last weekend, but I ended up doing…nothing. Well, nothing productive anyway. I have spent all summer talking my husband out of removing the chimneys from our downstairs (why are all Asians obsessed with removing chimneys – why does about three foot more space by the wall improve our lives […]

Last year I was watching a call-in programme on the Islam Channel, where you could call in and ask a scholar a question. A woman called in to ask for advice regarding her children who would disturb her during prayer. The scholar indicated that she has brought them up poorly and there must be something […]