On Monday night I got sick, and I’ve been drifting in and out of a muzzy-headed haze since then, but even in my fuzzy state I still saw the news of the bombing at the Boston marathon and the first thought that struck me was, “Not again!” Geez! A marathon??? C’mon! And the second thought […]
Drove up and oh, but the memories! I will forever associate this pretty little city with my older sister Bushra. I had planned on meeting a friend for dinner at 5 pm, none other than Sheema Khan, so I hastened to leave home at around 11 am yesterday and yet each little thing I did seemed […]
13 Apr
Posted by: Rukhsana Khan in: cultures, political correctness, presentations
So yesterday I presented at an event called Sister2Sister and the whole experience was fascinating and yet left me feeling a little sad. These were grade eight girls from inner city schools, coming together to receive inspiring advice from women professionals in all kinds of fields: law, police, firefighters, construction/trades, government liasion, dance, boxing, singing […]
24 Mar
Posted by: Rukhsana Khan in: cultures, political correctness, racism
and the proof of that is I’m constantly saying things I come to regret later. Last night, after presenting to the librarians at the conference I met with the librarian who’s going to be hosting me, insha Allah, in Barrow. A charming lady, she asked if there were any dietary restrictions. I said an emphatic, […]
07 Mar
Posted by: Rukhsana Khan in: cultures, political correctness, presentations, self-image
Read a very interesting article the other day about how apparently certain authors, especially in the business book writing field, are hiring special services that buy bulk copies of their books in such a way as to manipulate the sales figures and make these bulk sales count towards their sales figures, propelling them onto the […]
23 Feb
Posted by: Rukhsana Khan in: cultures, Islam, political correctness, presentations
Okay, so I’m back home, safe and sound, basking in the glow of an amazing adventure and that little refrain keeps running through my mind because it was the translation of a song one of the international storytellers sang at the end of her performance. Ana Sofia Paiva is a petite and delicate Portuguese actress turned storyteller […]
I was talking to my son this afternoon, we do that a lot, and somehow we got to discussing the need to be friendly and reach out to people. He said that he’d been rebuffed at times, and so was reluctant to do so. And I remembered a moment so very vividly right there and […]
21 Jan
Posted by: Rukhsana Khan in: political correctness, self-image
and Greg Mortenson. Everyone knows about Lance, but not that many know about Greg Mortenson. Mortenson is the one who wrote Three Cups of Tea. It’s a huge bestseller, feel-good kind of book. It was all the rage when I was touring Newfoundland a few years ago. Went to dinner with some lovely librarians who […]
13 Jan
Posted by: Rukhsana Khan in: cultures, political correctness, presentations, self-image
Because I was chosen as one of the Toronto District School Board’s writers in residence I’ve been going to various schools who’ve won visits from me. On Thursday I was lucky enough to go to a school I’d been to several times before! One of the things I like best about the Toronto School board […]
is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small […]