Nida Farid
Author Website
Sometimes it feels like nothing’s moving forward. There are a dozen things to be done. And you decided last night which one of those to work on in the morning. But when you wake up, the original debate on which of them to do starts again. I have to continue writing Book 2. I also need to create a reader magnet ( a shorter prequel of my book “The Extraordinary Life of Riz”) so I can use it to build my newsletter mailing list. It’s also time to read through the first half of Book 2 and create a stronger…
“O Lord. Make my tongue wholesome. Guide my heart aright and draw spite out of my bosom”. This is one of my favorite duas. I say it daily, and especially when things are a little trying. I love that there is a dua/prayer that gets it just right. Make my tongue wholesome so that I don’t hurt people with my words. So that I don’t add to the drama in a situation (whether related or unrelated to me) and make things worse for me or for others. So that my words resolve a situation amicably rather than worsen it. So…
She caught her breath in delight and awe at the sea of blush-white blossoms in front of her. Apple trees covered every inch of the vast orchard, framed by eucalyptus trees around the boundary of the Hashupi Fruit Nursery. Behind the sea of white apple blossoms, and the tall bright-green eucalyptus border, rose the majestic snow-capped peaks of the Karakorum mountains. And then she gazed down, her mouth a round “O” of wonder. There were wild yellow flowers and tall wispy white dandelions spread all across the green grass. Grass was a misnomer, she realized. Because the meadow was a…
I read an article about the link between coffee and Anxiety, and it changed my life. As kids, we weren’t allowed to have caffeine. I started drinking coffee during my undergrad, up to 4 cups/day. In my twenties, I went through some years of trauma. My memory became like a sieve, my thoughts whizzing at the speed of light, and my sleep restless (waking up every hour). I often had foggy brain and dissociation, my attention span in tatters. Once I removed myself from the source of trauma, I hoped the symptoms would fade over time. Yet, the restless nights…
She pulled open the curtains and let the morning light in. The city sprawled ahead below her. Hundreds and thousands of houses, with solar panels installed on their rooftops, and trees lining the streets between them. The houses gave way to the Margalla Hills in the distance, the early morning rays making the backdrop hazy. A large black bird swooped by her. Her eyes jerked up, taking in the beautiful black bird sailing barely a meter below her. “Is that a raven? Does Islamabad have ravens?” she thought. “It’s definitely not a crow, since there’s no grey.” The bird was…
Happy New Year! I honestly don’t know what to say for New Year’s. I fulfilled one of my biggest dreams (to publish my first novel) in 2025. I also got to visit 3 new countries in 2025. Yet 2025 has still felt like a hard year. I think it has for many people across the world. The ever increasing polarization and oppression of human rights within Pakistan and across the globe, and the continued massacre of the Palestinians (while the Western governments and media continue to enable it) has battered my hope in the general humanity I thought every human…
Please stop telling boys that “Men Don’t Cry”. When you tell boys that it is not OK to cry, you are instead making them suppress their pain. You are encouraging the rhetoric, even if you don’t use the words, that it is OK for Men to get angry, but is not OK for them to cry. That Real Men should get angry instead of crying. Who do you thing they will take out their anger on? The women and children in their lives, and others that are weaker than them. That Anger could even become physical violence. It does become…
What if we stopped doing good in the world? What if we instead focused on doing no harm? As I have seen more and more of the world, the truer the old adage “The road to hell is paved with good intentions” has turned out to be. I realize now that many people do as much harm in trying to do good as others do in intentionally doing bad. Many people start off with good intentions, wanting to save the world. And then they make one decision that is a little morally and ethically wrong, but they make that decision…
Love does not teach to hate. Learn the difference. If you hate another country to prove your love for yours, you are not patriotic, you are a nationalist. And that is as bad as some other “ist” words like facist, racist, etc. Patriotism is doing good for your country and fellow citizens out of love and goodwill. It does not involve hate of another country or a desire to hurt others or to feel superior to others. Patriotism is what drives you to do good in your community. Unchecked nationalism is what drives you to hurt others and to war…
The trawler rumbles across the grey tidal flats, bringing back a group of people and picking up new passengers to take a kilometre out where there are better pickings of shellfish. The passengers getting off all have full bags. Hmm, I wonder what they found? Clams, oysters, conches, crabs, mussels, scallops? They are going to have a wonderful satisfying BBQ lunch-on-the-beach with their hard-earned harvest. The new passengers scramble onto the trawlers, the children excited to accompany their parents on this quintessential Korean family experience. Everyone is wearing rubber boots, with bright vests and aprons on to protect their clothes…
