Home > Author > Uzma Jalaluddin
1 " What do you see when you think of me,A figure cloaked in mysteryWith eyes downcast and hair covered,An oppressed woman yet to be discovered?Do you see backward nations and swirling sand,Humpbacked camels and the domineering man?Whirling veils and terroristsOr maybe fanatic fundamentalists?Do you see scorn and hatred lockedWithin my eyes and soul,Or perhaps a profound ignorance of all the world as a whole?Yet . . .You fail to seeThe dignified personaOf a woman wrapped in maturity.The scarf on my headDoes not cover my brain.I think, I speak, but still you refrainFrom accepting my ideals, my type of dress,You refuse to believeThat I am not oppressed.So the question remains:What do I see when I think of you?I see another human beingWho doesn’t have a clue. "
― Uzma Jalaluddin , Ayesha at Last
2 " Books are like people, you have to give them room to breathe. "
― Uzma Jalaluddin , Hana Khan Carries On
3 " What do we owe the people who grew us up, who first made up our entire world? It's complicated for the kids of immigrants. I'm not talking about the usual "my parents don't understand" thing. My parents believe in the power of choice, and they never asked me to sacrifice my dreams for theirs. Yet I feel like I should anyway. Where does this feeling come from? Is it just loyalty and strong family ties? Is it because, as part of a marginalized community, we all had to stick together to survive, and that sort of experience tends to become habit? Maybe it's about guilt. We are kids who benefited from the sacrifices our parents made when they decided to move to a richer, safer country. If we then grow up to grow apart, have we become ungrateful villains? "
4 " No, she is not with child,” Khalid said tightly. “She’s a virgin, and so am I.”There was a stunned silence among the men.“You’re not supposed to say that out loud,” Mo said. “There are women present. "
5 " The assumptions he saw in strangers’ eyes as they took in his beard and skullcap were painful to acknowledge. Khalid had considered shaving or changing his wardrobe many times over the years. It would be easier for the people around him, but it wouldn’t feel right. This is who I am, he thought. "
6 " Just remember to pack light. Dreams tend to shatter if you're carrying other people's hopes around with you. "
7 " Sometimes there were no words, only sunshine on your heart. Alhamdulilah. "
8 " It's not enough to find someone you love. You have to be ready for that love, and ready to make changes to welcome it into your life. "
9 " My father says that trying to stop hate is like trying to stop the tides,” Rashid said. “The best thing you can do is take advantage of it. Don’t stop the tide from flowing. Build a hydroelectric dam and make electricity instead, enough to power ten thousand houses. That’s how you stop hate. "
10 " Then you tell me your favourite colour so I can send you flowers, your favourite place so I can take you there, your favourite book so I can read it just so we can argue about it. I know you want to work in radio, and I plan to cheer you on every step of the way. I might even listen to TSwift, if you insist. "
11 " [Khalid] took a deep, calming breath, and smiled at her, channeling his inner shark. Or at least, dolphin. "
12 " Sheila left her hand outstretched for another moment, cold eyes locked on his face. Then she slowly pulled back and raised an eyebrow. “I should have assumed as much from your clothing. Tell me, Khalid: Where are you from?”“Toronto,” Khalid answered. His face flamed beneath his thick beard; he didn’t know where to look.“No,” Sheila laughed lightly. “I mean where are you from originally?”“Toronto,” Khalid responded again, and this time his voice was resigned.Clara shifted, looking tense and uncomfortable. “I’m originally from Newfoundland,” she said brightly. "
13 " Everything is better told as a story, and mine is still unfolding. "
14 " Because while it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single Muslim man must be in want of a wife, there’s an even greater truth: To his Indian mother, his own inclinations are of secondary importance. "
15 " Oh, honey, nobody knows how this thing works. It just happens. Your heart and gut take over, and your mind has to go along with them, because it’s going to happen no matter what. Sometimes you get a sign, and sometimes the sign gets you. "
16 " The first law of thermodynamics states that energy is neither created nor destroyed, but it can be transformed from one form to another. That law will get you every time, so make sure the energy you put out into the world is positive. Otherwise it will turn the other way and then turn on you. "
17 " I do know that, for all the benefits of being the daughter of immigrants, the one drawback is I’ve had to establish my own sense of place. All my extended family live elsewhere, on a different continent, and we don’t visit often enough to form real ties. There’s a lot of freedom in being a pioneer of your family’s history in a new place, of course. But there’s a lot of loneliness too. I’ve had to find my own family, to make the sort of friendships that are family. Yet lack of history means my roots here are shallow, my stories only a few years old. "
18 " I like to think of our tiny speck-of-dust Earth wrapped inside its snug little Kuiper belt, cocooned somewhere inside the massive Oort cloud, completely undetectable inside a universe so massive there is no comparison. And here we are, living and dying, completely unaware of all that lies beyond. Terrifying, but also comforting, especially when things happen that are hard to understand. "
19 " Tell me, Hana, how strong can blood ties remain when they stretch across an ocean? "
20 " Aydin threw back his head and laughed out loud. My heart lifted. I wanted to hold on to that joyful laughter. I wanted to bottle the sound and play it back on demand. I wanted to listen to him laugh for the rest of my life "
