When I think of London, my reminiscences of cosy cafes, little corner shops and my hands hugging a warm cup while it rains outside makes me feel like it is a poets New Year's eve... Could it be that I can now take a car drive to Ranya to breathe in a sprinkle of London?... Continue Reading →

It is October. My favourite month of the year. Like all my mornings, on the second day of October, I woke up and sat outside. It was a different type of morning, with cool breeze through my hair I swung on our swing to the sound of birds and the sight of a few of... Continue Reading →

Hello Loyal Reader! Small businesses' survival heavily relies on their local communities, as a country there is a lot we can do to facilitate their success, I am not a specialist, but here are five ways forward, that we can implement with little budget: Each of the three cities need an allocated location with very... Continue Reading →

Some questions haunt us for life, for me, as I have entered the third decade of my life, sometimes the idea of identity remains unanswered in my mind… Recently I have come across a lot of remarks such as: ‘I am citizen of the world’ ‘belonging to the world’ ‘the world is my home’ and... Continue Reading →

Hello Loyal Reader! Today, after five days at a friend’s village house overlooking majestic mountains and the breath-taking river in Rezan, a two-hour drive from the heart of Hawler (the new tunnel is magic. I swear). It feels as though I am packing to return home from a Maldives trip. No exaggeration. We have breakfast... Continue Reading →

Loyal reader, allow me, this evening, to take you to our neighbourhood. There is something magical about spring nights in Hawler. It is as if the entire neighbourhood has come out form their winter hibernation. At 6:30 as the Mulla of the local mosque calls for the Maghreb prayer every child runs inside, everything is... Continue Reading →

You're back! Hello! Wait. Did you read part I to this? How is it that the aroma of the meals you cook in your home kitchen is a reminisces of your Kurdish mother's food, and it tastes like a Kurdish grandmother's lunch that has been cooking on gentle heat since 7 am. But you're a... Continue Reading →

Hello there! The Corona Virus has become the world's biggest social experiment; testing marriages, relationships, family dynamics, patience and effects of loneliness. It has also revealed a Kurdish husband's cooking potential, a human being's ability to open the same fridge 30 times in 25 minutes; revolutionised our perception of the sacred job of hair dressers;... Continue Reading →

My heart is yearning for the Kurdistani spring.. As my government has announced a 48-hour lockdown, and more than three weeks into isolation- today there was not a single heart beat in the roads of my city. What is fresh air and oxygen without souls of people to inhale it? I am yearning to smell... Continue Reading →

Hello in the time of Corona, We are locked down and locked in. You see, in the time of Corona everything is different in my part of the world. Social life is different. Cafe's are different. Health care is different. Education is different. Awareness campaigns are different. We shop differently. Think differently. Talk differently. You... Continue Reading →