Pen and Paper

It Was Never Her Fault healing-from-self-doubt She once told me she was tired—not the kind of tired that sleep can fix, but the kind that settles deep in the soul. The kind that comes from hearing the same words over and over again until they start to feel like truth. They used to tell her, “You can’t do anything… you don’t even know how to speak… you won’t make it.” At first, she would ignore them. Then she would question them. And eventually, she began to believe them. One day, she asked me something I still cannot forget: “Tell me honestly… what is my fault?” I had no answer. Because the truth was, there was no fault to name. She did not choose the life she was born into. She did not choose the absence that shaped her childhood—the silence of a father she never knew, a presence she could never hold onto. She grew up watching others receive a kind of love and protection that always seemed just out of her reach. And yet, she was the one made to feel incomplete. What broke her the most...

ایک گھٹن زدہ ریاست:  جب  حکومت ناکام ہو  جائے  اور  عوام   ٹوٹنے لگیں پاکستان اس وقت صرف ایک معاشی بحران سے نہیں گزر رہا—یہ ایک نظامی ناکامی (systemic failure) کا شکار ہے۔ ایک ایسا نظام جو نہ صرف عوام کو ریلیف دینے میں ناکام ہو چکا ہے بلکہ ان کی مشکلات میں مسلسل اضافہ کر رہا ہے۔ ہر گزرتے دن کے ساتھ یہ سوال مزید تیز ہوتا جا رہا ہے: کیا یہ حکومت عوام کے لیے ہے بھی یا نہیں؟ “بول کہ لب آزاد ہیں تیرے بول زباں اب تک تیری ہے” مہنگائی نہیں—معاشی استحصال پیٹرول اور ڈیزل کی قیمتوں میں اضافہ اب محض معاشی مجبوری نہیں لگتا—یہ ایک منظم استحصال محسوس ہوتا ہے۔ جب ایک ملک کے پاس متبادل راستے موجود ہوں، جب خطے میں سستے وسائل دستیاب ہوں، تو پھر عوام کو مہنگائی کے اس عذاب میں کیوں دھکیلا جا رہا ہے؟ یہ اضافہ صرف ایندھن تک محدود نہیں رہتا:ٹ رانسپورٹ مہنگیا شیائے ضروریہ کی قیمتیں آسمان پرب جلی اور گیس کے بل ناقابلِ برداشت یہ ایک ایسا چکر ہے جس میں پستا صرف عام آدمی ہے—اور فائدہ کون اٹھا رہا ہے؟ یہ سوال آج بھی جواب مانگ رہا ہے۔ تعلیم: ایک تباہ شدہ نظام تعلیم کا نظام...

 Review of the book The Sunflower Boys by Sam Wachman. Some novels entertain. Some educate. And some leave you silent after the final page, because the story feels too real to forget. Sam Wachman’s The Sunflower Boys is one of those novels. Introduction The Sunflower Boys by Sam Wachman is a heartrending modern war novel that depicts the emotional and psychological destruction of the war between Russia and Ukraine by the experience of Ukrainian children. In contrast to the traditional war story where one can predict in advance the military strategy or the politics, Wachman develops a civilian-driven plot in which war is being perceived as a disruption of the ordinary world, an interruption that alters the concept of childhood into the survival. The novel is organized into two parts: Peace and War, which structurally supports the strong opposition of normality and ruin, the way in which violence invades the nation domesticity without even notice. The novel is based on the adv...

“Diaspora, Memory, and Emotional Burden in The Tiny Things Are Heavier : A Critical Analysis” Research Statement This article suggests that the Okonkwo applies the use of the unspoken as a key location of struggle in diaspora. Dwelling upon the overlaps of memory and emotional load, the research assumes that it is the little things that cause more weight, those silent traumas and the awful sense of guilt in abandoning a struggling sibling and the haunting memories of home that weigh heavier than the actual difficulty of moving. Introduction The experience of the Nigerian diaspora in the modern global context is often decontaminated in a neoliberal framework of economic advancement and the gleeful American Dream. But in her debut novel The Tiny Things Are Heavier, Esther Ifesinachi Okonkwo interrupts this narrative badly because she reveals the emotional and psychological depth of the payment of migration. Sommy, the lead character, struggles to survive in a new world, Iowa, which she ...

Donald Trump and Today’s World: Peacemaker or Problem Creator? The world today feels more complicated than ever, and many people are confused about the role of powerful leaders. One of the most debated figures is Donald Trump. Some see him as a leader trying to protect peace and his nation’s interests, while others blame him for increasing global tensions. The truth is somewhere in between. During his time in office, Trump often spoke about avoiding new wars and bringing American troops home. In some cases, he reduced direct military involvement, which his supporters saw as a positive step toward peace. Yet, other decisions raised tensions instead of lowering them. For example, his “maximum pressure” strategy on Iran, including harsh sanctions, caused serious difficulties for ordinary people without significantly changing political leadership. This shows how economic policies can affect civilians more than governments. Trump also strongly backed Israel, supporting controversial deci...