society + culture
Remote work gave them a reprieve from racism. They don’t want to go back from LA Times.
Mecca for the rich: Islam's holiest site 'turning into Vegas' from Independent.
world politics + current events
Secret Pakistan Cable Documents U.S. Pressure to Remove Imran Khan from The Intercept. A must read, the title says it all.
The à la carte world: our new geopolitical order from Financial Times.
‘Bridges with everyone’: how Saudi Arabia and UAE are positioning themselves for power from Financial Times (same theme as previous article).
The Arab Gulf’s New Nationalism from Foreign Policy. I gravitated towards this piece because from the few times I’ve been in the GCC I’ve noticed the pervasive presence of stark nationalist symbols. The nationalist fervor of the people there always left me curious….
Earlier this week, the Human Rights Watch released a report carrying the news that Saudi Arabia has recently committed mass killings of Ethiopian migrants at it’s southern border near Yemen. Border killings of migrants at this border are not uncommon, but the recent findings suggest that the Saudi Arabian border guards/soldiers are estimated to have killed hundreds of migrants, with most survivors having lost entire limbs. At a time when the kingdom is being “celebrated” for so-called liberal societal reforms and as it moves to acquire major sports teams and players (sports-washing the human rights crimes it commits), paying attention to these state-sanctioned acts of torture is critical.
art + film
After watching Oppenheimer, my husband and I have been in a Christopher Nolan film craze. We have re-watched Dunkirk, Interstellar, and Inception so far. I am new to Nolan’s films so it’s been fun to catch up on films he loves. He also wrote a stellar review of Oppenheimer recently as well, check it out (spoiler alert)!!!!
Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani. That’s all I am going to say. Go watch it in theaters nowwwwwwwww. Apparently all movies are $4.00 this Sunday at AMC too. Best Hindi film since like forever.
I recently started watching the Indian series Made In Heaven on Prime Video, after seeing all the talk about it’s S2 on Twitter (or rather… X). I don’t want to describe it too much because it might spoil it but I think it is one of those shows that are just a must watch. The show is directed by Zoya Akhtar and other female and queer filmmakers which makes it interesting (re: female and queer gaze….). It follows the lives of two weddings planners (Tara and Karan) who both grapple with their identities and the major hiccups in their personal lives as they strive to deliver perfect services to their clients. Through their clients, the show explores modern-day societal issues in India such as the whole Log Kya Kahenege phenomenon (or “What will be people say?”… ), colorism, casteism, inter-religious marriages, etc. I also love the relationship between Tara and Karan because it perfectly displays the beauty of having a platonic soulmate haha. I suggest reading this piece after finishing S1 for an in-depth analysis. Def check it out!
environment + climate + agriculture
Recently read this piece on Congressman Blumenauer’s proposal of the Food and Farm Act which aims to reform food and agriculture policies to become climate-forward, support small farmers, and increase food access for all. I am super passionate about regenerative agriculture, food justice, and slow-food so this really stuck out to me. I suggest reading Alice Waters and Michael Pollan to dive deeper into food justice and sustainable food practices. They both have a MasterClass as well which I recommend.
Maui wildfires expose rift over island’s tourism: ‘We’re more vulnerable than anyone admits’ from The Guardian.
Hawaii Disaster Relief - Muslims for Maui (please consider donating, any amount helps).
books
I recently started reading Azad Essa’s book “Hostile Homelands : The New Alliance Between India and Israel” at the recommendation of a few friends. It essentially is a very critical deep-dive on India’s foreign policy with Israel and it’s self-benefitting manipulation of the Palestinian cause. I think it is a timely contribution which helps global analysts put into perspective the ways Indian and Israeli fascism align, and in today’s context, feed off of each other.
Also, I am finally reading Dr. Gabor Maté’s “Myth of Normal” in my pursuit to learn more about the mind-body connection. Will share any gems I come across in the next few newsletters!
food + recipes
8 pasta recipes starring fresh tomatoes from the Washington Post.
As tomato season comes to an end here on the east coast and temperatures start to slowly drop, I am trying to eat & cook with in-season tomatoes as much as possible. Recently, I made an heirloom tomato salad with sumac, mint, peaches, basil pesto, balsamic, and feta. Sharing because it was delish.
Recently, I’ve been into mezze-style foods, especially after coming back from Spain and being sorta influenced by the culture of small plates there with Tapas. So, I watched Chef Yotam Ottelenghi’s MasterClass on Mediterranean Cooking and have been cooking up some of his pantry mezze essentials such as marinated feta, muhammarra, and shatta. It has been a tasty journey haha.
Took my bestie who was visiting me for the weekend to my favorite place ever, the DuPont farmers market. We basked in all the tomato galore.
life updates!!!
Started my new job recently, feeling much more valued, respected, and at-peace in my new role.
I am headed to Seattle next week to spend time with family and friends — if any of you have suggestions for places to see let me know! My only plan so far has been to hike Mount Rainier but I know the city has more to offer, let me know <3
I recently returned from travel in Southern Spain, where I learned a lot about previous Islamic civilizations whose reign expanded all across the Iberian peninsula. I feel like it was sad to see what remained of Islamic society in Spain, especially as we learned of the violent and brutal expulsion of Muslims from the land. The expulsion of Muslims from Spain was a long and treacherous campaign, which involved forced conversions, the separation of Muslim-born children from their parents who were forcibly adopted into Spanish families in order to fully immerse them in Christian society and thereby erase Islam for good. The accounts I heard of the Muslim expulsions were harrowing, I don’t think enough people are reading enough about the conquest of Andalusia by the Spaniards because it is so directly tied to the Spanish monarchy’s colonization of indigenous lands in the Americas and many of their tyrannical methods of torture were first tested out on Andalusian Muslims (the conquest of Andalusia literally financed Christopher Columbus’s expedition…). I may write about out what I learned but for now, I’ll share a photo.
Thank you for reading my newsletter lovelies. I’ve noticed more and more people are engaging with this blog and even though I am only writing from time-to-time, I want to create a more engaging and intimate space here where I can learn from others, share my life story, and make readers feel seen. I hope you all can give me some grace as I learn to lean back into a consistent writing habit.
Anyways, here is my favorite poem this week: