Amazing Daughters

AMAZING DAUGHTERS ???
isn't it so?



" so your daughters have kids ?"people often asked.

" yeah Mashallah the older one has 3 sons", I replied.

" Mashallah that is so good May Allah give a long life to her sons", a typical response I get very often.

" And my younger daughter has four daughters", I added.

"Oh"......
the excitement always faded.

" Chalo Allah naseeb achey karey", was the response which always irritated me.

My name is Naseem. I am the CEO of a small firm and I am also a mother of two beautiful and smart daughters who are happily married to two amazing gentlemen.

Both of them are mothers who are busy raising their children, taking care of the house and their families and also juggling careers. My older daughter is a dentist and the younger one an investment banker.
I thank God everyday for health and happiness and for my beautiful family which I consider perfect.

Maybe some people think it is not "so perfect".......

I wonder why people around us feel that my younger daughter who is a mother of four daughters is the biggest "BECHAARI " in the world.

I accept every couple wants to have both sons and daughters.
But they can't choose for themselves , Can they?

Daughters are a blessing from God, they are tiny angels on earth. A daughter may outgrow your lap, but she will never outgrow your heart. They are always there for their parents and maybe sometimes more than sons.

Wonder why people of the world are so skeptical towards daughters ?

Why not in Michigan ?

WHY NOT IN MICHIGAN?

Pakistani film Bin Roye has so far received an overwhelming response from viewers across the globe and has presented impressive figures at the box office. Running all over the world even in remote places like New Zealand and Fiji island and Singapore this week, the film is holding its cinemas in the UK (No 12 at the box office), US (No 32 at the box office).

Other countries besides England and America where it is in theatres are UAE, South Africa, France, Denmark, Oman, Bahrain, and Qatar.

Bin Roye had two premiers in USA in New York and Dallas. It's showing in many cities in North America.

Just wonder why it is not showing in Michigan ?
Michigan has a large Paki community who are big time Paki drama viewers and would love to support their film industry.

Any promoter listening ???

Are we "Bahadur" or " Bewakoof"?

ARE WE "BAHADUR " OR "BEWAKOOF"

"Bajrangi Bhaijaan" is the much awaited Salman Khan film released on Eid Day. It is packed with colorful songs, the plot is quite ordinary this  film, for a change, has a very deep message, which melts your heart.

That message is of "love of humanity"!
It's an emotionally-packed drama which preaches brotherhood.


Bajrangi Bhaijaan is the story of extra ordinary friendship of Pavan Kumar Chaturvedi aka Bajrangi Bhaijaan, a Hindu  sincere devotee of Lord Hanuman and a mute 6 year old Pakistani girl, Shahida, who he calls Munni, who happens to be a Muslim.

It is not the first time that a film about the friendship or love of a Indian and a Pakistani has been made but what makes this film stand apart is the deep integrated message that the people of both the countries are simple, loving and helpful.......they are just human beings living on either side of the border.


Both Indians and Pakistanis believe in God, one calls Him Allah and the other calls Him Krishna. They make friends, take care of their children and try to help those around them ........and yes they also take a game of cricket too seriously.

It is ironic that an Indian Muslim has produced and acted in this film which preaches "peace". The film is released on a Muslim holiday across the globe and is watched by thousands of Indians and Pakistanis together in theaters all over the world.

When Bajrangi is questioned in the film  "tum bahadur ho ya bewakoof?" He has no answer. Maybe it's true for all of us Indians and Pakistanis we don't know if we are "Bahadur"( courageous) or "Bewakoof"( stupid). Maybe we are very courageous, we face hardships every day ........yet we are also fooled by our politicians.

Perhaps we are more "Bewakoof" than "Bhadur".......

Scrumptious Samosa

SCRUMPTIOUS SAMOSA

Samosas the very popular South Asian triangular stuffed patties is one of the most popular snacks across the globe. It is prepared at homes and across restaurants and " mithai shops" in South Asia. The Savory Samosa have now travelled all over the world from the street cafés in Paris to train station pastry shops in London and are also served as appetizers at strolling dinner parties in North America.

As a matter of fact samosas did not originate in Asia it did in the Middle East and Western China and travelers brought it to South Asia during the reign of Mughals.

Amir Khusro a scholar and the royal poet of the Delhi Sultanate, wrote in around 1300 that the princes and nobles enjoyed the "samosa prepared from meat, ghee and onions" during that time.

Ibn Battuta, the 14th-century traveler and explorer, describes a meal at the court of Muhammad bin Tughluq, where the samushak or sambusak, a small pie stuffed with minced meat, almonds, pistachio, walnuts and spices, was served.

The Ain-i-Akbari, a 16th-century Mughal document, mentions the recipe for samosa.

Samosa dough making and folding them in a perfect triangle is an art in India and Pakistan. In Bangladesh they are sold in very small bite sizes.
Street corners and sweet shops sell samosas and namak paras all year round.

It is believed that it's triangular shape was given to it by the Egyptians so they could dip it in their "qehwa" and eat.

On a personal note my son love samosas especially the big flaky ones, he used to call them " those triangular cookies" when he was a baby but still enjoys eating them.One of our family"s favorite restaurants in Michigan serve sweet samosas filled with strawberries with a tinge of chocolate syrup and fresh cream.

The Gori Bahu

The "Gori  Bahu "

My wedding was a low key affair, very few guests were invited. Just one dress was ordered for the wedding along with a small gold set. My in- laws"s facial expressions could tell that they were not happy that their son is marrying a "gori". They tried really hard that their son should marry a "nice Desi girl" and not a "farangi".
I had to deal with a lot of sarcastic remarks and criticism from my husband"s family and was always degraded when being compared with my older sister in law who was 100% Pakistani and daughter of a family friend.

"Zaat, Khandan bhi to kuch hota hey".....

" these Gora girls don't know how to take care of the house and family. Thank God we have another son".....

Their older Bahu who belong to the
same background and culture like them and whose wedding was an elaborate affair. My parents in law never missed an oppourtunity to give her examples.

I tried my best to adjust in my new family by wearing shalwar kameez, learning to cook qorma and chicken Karahi. Bought the English to urdu dictionary to master the language very quickly. Read about my new religion and started adding "Alhamdullilah" and "Mashallah" in my sentences.
When my children were in elementary school I enrolled them in the Sunday School of our Mosque. Spoke urdu to them and mingled with my husband "s Desi friends a lot.

As time passed my father in law started appreciating my cooking abilities " Bhai tum kheer  bhut achey banati hu, lagta nahin key Gori ney banaya hey". My mother in law appreciated me behind my back maybe she was worried I will get over confident. Still she would spare no oppourtunity to acknowledge her older "Desi Bahu".

When my mother in law suffered a stroke my father in law sold his house and planned to stay 6 months with each son and his family so they can help him take care of his wife. They stayed with us for six months, I tried my best to take care of my mother in law, helped her with taking baths, took her outside for walks, watched urdu dramas with my in laws.

The day when they were leaving for my brother in law"s house Amah jee"(mother in law ) was very excited to see her " Desi Bahu". Her face was beaming with happiness. She hugged me and said " you make good biryani". I guess that was her way of saying " thank you".
My father in law was very appreciative he said to my husband that he is proud of me.
It made both my husband and myself very happy ......

Abu jee ( my father in law) called my husband after 2 months ;"can we come earlier than the scheduled 6 months?", " sure, why not but is everything ok", replied my husband.
" yeah your mom is missing your kids, your brother"s kids are busy with studies and they are busy too so we thought to come to your place earlier ", " we will go back in few week", he added.

They flew back the next week. Our kids were super excited to see them. Amah jee looked very weak and pale. I started taking care of them again, we also hired a nurse for her as her health was deteriorating pretty rapidly. One day while I was sitting with her and Abu jee she said " Beta you are a noble soul it was my mistake who could not see the nice loving and caring person inside you, you are not from my community or my country but you have transformed yourself into a perfect beti " ......
" we are proud of you!"

I could not contain my tears and my excitement after listening to those words.

Amah jee died the next week. After her death Abu jee informed my husband that she got heart broken at the attitude of her older son and his wife who were busy partying and socializing and completely ignored her. They had totally "westernized" themselves.
He gave me a big box full of Amee jee"s beautiful Jewelery, saris and her prayer mat. "This belongs to Tina
our lovely daughter who is the best eastern Bahu one could wish for!"he said.

Abujee passed away after few months. It has been 10 years.....

I still enjoy cooking Biryani and Kheer. My urdu has improved a lot.
My Desi closet is ever growing.
My kids follow their traditions and religion very well. Sometimes people don't believe that they are raised by a "Gori mother".

It all depends on the individual, after all ........

Bobby Jindal: A Brown Guy distancing himself from his heritage

Bobby Jindal : a brown guy trying to distance himself from his heritage



It was an historic day today when the announcement about 44-year-old Piyush  Bobby Jindal was officially made who joined 12 other Republican contenders who are seeking their party"s nomination for the Presidency of the United States . He is the first " Brown Candidate" who is seeking nomination of his party for the Presidency.  Browns is a common reference to the South Asian Americans.

Yet it is so ironic that Mr Jindal has failed to generate much enthusiasm among the Indian-Americans.......who are among the richest and fastest growing ethnic communities in the US .......because of Jindal's recent statements in which he sought to distance himself from being an Indian-American.

There’s not much Indian left in Bobby Jindal,” said Pearson Cross, a political science professor at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette who is writing a book on the governor.

When a candidate jumps in the election pool he or she usually has a backing of a certain group, from which he generally belongs to and which helps him get votes in the primaries and on Election Day. By distancing himself from American Indians Mr Jindal has lost that big indian vote bank. He could have attracted the South Asian Muslim Voters too but few of his high profile anti Muslim comments has made the Muslim Community quite angry at him. He is the current governor of Louisiana but his approval ratings have plunged to 30% due to some bad choices.

In an op-ed published by Politico, Jindal loathed at minorities to mark the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech. Instead of standing up against the many acts of racism that have been perpetrated by his own party and by conservatives around the nation, Jindal declared that minorities are responsible for the racism in this country.

Apparently it appears Jindal is actually blaming minorities for causing white people to be racist towards them...... quite insane coming from the mouth of a non- white guy

My first short novel A very Resilient Amreeki Dream

My first short novel


My first novel "A very Resilient Amreeki Dream" is about a woman who is brave and courageous and who loves her family.

Look around and honor the survivors, the dedicated care takers , the quite confidants.......

I am also an immigrant. Many immigrants travel every year to United States of America. It is a multi-cultural society where blacks and whites, Asians and Hispanics live together next door to each other. They all help each other during a moment of crisis and laugh with each other during a moment of joy!

I very firmly believe in the power of love which can conquer many battles.

I hope you all will enjoy reading this story as much I have enjoyed writing it.

I call myself a "self taught author" whose inspiration is her community and the social happenings in the world. I have been writing articles/ blogs for almost 8 years years now.

I have dedicated this novel to the victims of verbal and physical abuse and to all the many immigrants around me.

And to my beautiful Pakistan and to my  home the state of Michigan, USA.