finally a picture from my last trip to rochester in aug, where i attended a beautiful wedding, spent hours having profound discussions with friends in their lived-in gardens (thank u karen, ruhi and tom) and their welcoming homes – sometimes until after 2am (thank u matt, molly, maysaa, mazin, ayesha, tabassam, erica and rajesh). #grateful
lunch with the lovely kiran on tuesday. she took these beautiful pictures of our house. so much fun to hang out with another lover of abbas kiarostami’s film work
downtime and karaoke with friends last night and a meeting organized by @phototrouveemagazine where we got to meet in nyc and exchange photos today. a much needed break <3
in a world full of violence and death, some stories manage to sparkle like drops of sunshine and make one’s heart sing. look at imane khelif who grew up in an algerian village and sold scrap metal to pay for bus trips to the city where she trained as a boxer. her dad is a welder, her mom sold couscous to support her daughter’s dream. now arshad nadeem from a small village in pakistan, who built his skills in javelin throwing by practicing tent pegging, has broken olympic records with a stunning throw of 92.97 meters. his dad is a mason who makes as little as $1/day at times. when gas bills got too high, the family was forced to use a coal pit for cooking, but they made sure arshad continued to have the diet he needed. to rise from such humble beginnings and become the best in the world, to compete with athletes trained by states and given an abundance of resources, to come from the global south and win in colonial empires – what incredible power and audacity! u make us proud!
btw still boycotting the olympics. come across these stories on social media and in whatsapp groups 🙂
for the wedding i wore my mom’s french chiffon sari.
photograph by our daughter <3
why south asian weddings are the best! so much love, loud music, nonstop dancing, and good food at mehndis. a lot of the songs and colorful rituals come from the beautiful province of punjab, the land of five rivers, which extends beyond and across the pakistan-india border and for centuries has been the center of music, literature, art, and sufism. nothing sets the tone of a wedding better than the double-headed dhol or noisy drums that signal the arrival of the groom’s family.
ran into missy by chance this morning as she was picking up coffees for herself and her husband at the village bakery. another serendipitous meeting in roc, and then a vibrant discussion with my fam (rajesh and muna) about activism and palestine. got interrupted by a white lady sitting nearby who tried to police our convo and left in a huff. white fragility and tears are the flip side of white privilege, trust me. should write more about this.
in rochester for a wedding and oh, how beautiful it is here. not as hot as on long island, with gorgeous blue skies and greenery so abundant it takes one’s breath away. a walk in cobbs hill park, dinner at sinbad’s, and best of all randomly running into our friend johannes as he was taking a turn on his bike – what are the chances, right? only in roc.
happy father’s day to my dad who gave us a hunger for life! this might be in austria a long time ago, on one of our trips across europe.
happy mother’s day to my beautiful mom! a ravian who studied english literature at the prestigious government college lahore in the 1960s (tariq ali studied there at the same time), she always set the bar v high for all of us. love u ammi and thank u <3
a full day in rochester yesterday before i drove back home: with kate, carol and laura at spot coffee, some gupshup and tea with shahida, and finally a splendid home-cooked afghan dinner with the beautiful marzia and fatima <3
sunday: lovely breakfast with ted at hydra coffee, lunch at sinbad’s with andrea who is working on a fascinating project about river cultures and collective memory, a visit to ruth and russell’s old home on crosman terrace (russell’s garden looks as splendid as ever), finally, ‘newtown’ the play about sandy hook at geva theatre (thank u laura) with my friend muna, followed by some late night gupshup at java’s.
it’s no secret that i love rochester! this morning i spent time with my brilliant friend ruhi – we had tea, talked about everything under the sun, and took a walk in her magical garden. back to zemeta’s ethiopian restaurant for lunch and then film testing at roc cinema – the film looks and sounds great! can’t wait for the premiere tomorrow at 12pm. went for a walk at highland park and felt transformed by its beauty. designed by the same guy who designed central park, it’s breathtaking in spring. spent the evening with my dear friend karen. her exhibition at anderson arts building, studio 402, is wonderful and i was lucky to receive one of her beautiful pieces <3 met my friend sarita outside the building:) now relaxing at my bnb before the big day tomorrow. hope to see u all roc friends!
We will have an amazing discussion after the premiere of ‘Return to Sender’ in Rochester, NY, on May 4th, 12pm, at the Cinema.
Buy tickets here.
Post-screening panelist Sumayia Islam:
Sumayia graduated from Nazareth University with a Bachelor’s degree in Social Science. She is currently working as a Community Impact Coordinator for a Philanthropic Foundation. Sumayia is one of the brilliant women featured in the film.
Panelist Hernease Davis:
Hernease is a photo-based artist and an Assistant Curator at the Visual Studies Workshop where she develops programming that addresses contemporary conversations in the photographic arts. Hernease earned her B.A. in Biology from Swarthmore College and her M.F.A. in Advanced Photographic Studies from Bard College.
Panelist Urvashi Bhattacharya:
Urvashi spent the first 26 years of her life in India and professes an unwavering loyalty to the Indian cricket team and vegetarian food. While in India, she got her Masters in International Economics and an MBA but moved to the United States before embarking on her professional journey. She currently works at Syracuse University where she is Director of Strategic Initiatives and Project Management. Urvashi stars in the film along with Sumayia Islam and Fatimah Arshad.
happy birthday to my dad! my parents were unsual/ unusually progressive and completely focused on education and work in the world, rather than marriage or other societal templates or expectations. it made for an interesting life, sometimes chaotic but interesting nevertheless. my dad’s addiction to travel (which he still has) formed not only us but also our children. happy happy abbuji!
