Faryal (F): Even though Natasha and I have lived in the United States for either our entire lives or the latter parts of our lives, we both actively try to remain connected to the culture of Pakistan. For me, culture, specifically fashion, was one of the most important ways I expressed my Pakistani ...
Faryal (F): I remember coming to Tufts and thinking it was so diverse (whatever that means). When I expressed this excitement to some fellow peers, however, I was promptly corrected and told that Tufts was, in fact, not diverse at all. For me, it was all relative. I’m the Kansas part of this column, ...
Natasha Khwaja (NK): This week, Faryal got lost in Europe, so we have a very amazing guest to fill in for her! And it’s not just because her name is also Natasha.
Faryal (F): When we wrote our last column, we were relatively optimistic about the results of the presidential election. All the polls were saying it was going to be a Clinton win, but all of those polls were wrong. To say I was shocked when I saw the results is an understatement. I genuinely thought ...
Natasha (N): As much as I hate to add to the frenzy of opinions that bombard us on a daily basis in relation to the presidential race, today is Election Day. That means a lot of different things to different people. For us, it means that millions of people will be casting their vote for a man who has ...
Natasha (N): One thing I think is really important in any discussion of identity is exposing ourselves to a variety of “sources” that connect us to various pieces of our identity. For me, this was always primarily through books. I first defined my ideas of womanhood through Jane Austen, followed ...
Faryal (F): This year, I’m studying abroad in London. One of the biggest surprises I had when I got here was how many South Asian faces I saw. That may sound a little strange, but I’m from a pretty homogenous area. Kansas is pretty white and all the South Asians kind of just know each other. Seeing ...
Natasha (N): Since both of us got to see our grandmothers this past week, we thought we’d talk about growing up around such incredibly strong and resilient women. Faryal (F): My grandmother moved to London after marrying my grandfather around 1967. They were part of one of the first waves of immigration ...
N (Natasha): So in the midst of my many anthropology readings, I’m starting to think about how individuality sometimes disappears when we look at a group or culture as a whole. But then again, it is rather impossible to refer to concepts without generalizing our terminology. Like, if you look at us, ...
Faryal (F): When I was younger, I couldn’t grasp how large and diverse the Muslim population was around the world. We’re the second largest religion in the world and the fastest growing, yet I only knew the handful of Muslims who lived near Kansas City.Natasha (N): Growing up in Karachi, faith ...
