Dear Lord, what is this?

Okay. So WordPress, in all their wisdom, decided this post was worthy of being featured on their Freshly Pressed page. Because of that, I have a total of 91 followers on my blog, 51 likes on that post, and as of right now, 383 hits on my blog today. It’s only, like, 12:45pm and I’m a little scared of how many hits I’m going to have by the end of today. Now, I’m by no means upset about this – I’m elated, and so incredibly flattered. I’ve had the pleasure of getting wonderful, intelligent comments which really made me think, and a lot of compliments that I don’t rightly think I deserve. But thank you, everyone, for being so fantastic!

I wrote that essay to waive a language requirement. I’m in a BA Political Science and International Affairs program at Northeastern University, and the BA requires proficiency in a language other than English. I’m learning French regardless, but I didn’t want to commit to a language course through till the end in case my dual major and minor classes had to take precedence. In other words, I was too lazy to commit, so I wrote an essay professing my fluency in Urdu. The fact that the essay has generated such a response from so many people is overwhelming in the best way possible. So, I wanted to introduce myself to new readers! This is a personal blog, but also one where I try to put my observations to words with some degree of eloquence and articulation. Occasionally, I’ll get really riled up about political matters and write about those too. 

I’m putting this under a cut because this might get long. I really like talking.

I go by Nei more often than not. My favorite way to describe myself is as a parody. It’s true! I squeal, I have a high-pitched voice that gets squeakier the more excited I am, I am clumsy in the silliest way, self-deprecating and everything I try to do ironically ends up being internalized. I adore fashion, literature, poetry and all things political and sociological. My mother calls me the queen of bullshit, and that’s pretty much spot on. I’m also a hopeless romantic. I love the world, I love people, I love all the beauty we encompass as human beings, I love our complexity – no matter how frustrating and upsetting it can get – and I thrive on good conversation. I’m not a musical person, but I love music; I’m an artistic person, but not an art student; I’m a decent writer, but I’m only just getting comfortable with calling myself a writer.

I have had terrible self-esteem issues but I’m in the process of loving myself. Boston and Lahore are my two favorite cities in the world. I love the ocean and the scent of rain and salty breezes; I love the cold but I get cold really easily; I hate the heat, but I can handle it extremely well. I’m not scared of death but I’m afraid of other people dying. I’ve seen a lot in my life but I’m still capable of feeling pain and hurt and that’s the most reassuring fact in the world. My biggest fears are insects, being buried alive, being ignored and growing cynical and bitter, or worse, apathetic. I complain about having a lot of work and procrastinate but I love being busy and knowing I have something to do. I get delirious and giggly when I’m sleepy.

Passionate, intelligent people are my favorite people to hang out with. If you feel the need to apologize for getting excited about something, chances are I’m in love with you – it’s the sweetest, most becoming trait in people.

Oh gosh, this is getting long-winded. Someone tagged me to answer questions so I’ll just do that now.

1. If you could trade places with anyone (dead or alive) for a day, who would you choose and why? …ack. Questions like this are always tricky. I love my life and wouldn’t want to trade it for anything. But I suppose I’d love to be Janelle Monáe – she’s such a great human being, and such an inspiration.
2. If you could send a Tweet to your 16-year old self, what would it be? “Stop hating yourself. You’re have great friends who will love you & EVERYTHING will fall into place. I promise. #keepgoingstrong“
3. What three words would your best friend use to describe you? Passionate, bubbly, ridiculous.
4. Which movie character do you most strongly relate to? Amélie from Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain – one of my favorite movies of all time.
5. Describe your perfect day, in two sentences. Spending the morning sitting outside and reading, then walking around Boston (or some other city) with my friends with the sky overcast, meeting and making friends with strangers, getting slow drip coffee at a cute little coffee house and talking and laughing till the wee hours of the morning.
6. If you had three wishes, what would they be? Eek. To have the ability to inspire positively; for my family to be happy, healthy and comfortable; to spend my life learning.
7. What (or who) makes your life worth living? That I have been granted a life to live, and whatever that may encompass.
8. Where is your favourite place in the world, and why? If I could spend my life between Boston and Lahore, I’d be the happiest person in the world. I’ve talked about this a lot throughout my blog but in a nutshell, they’re both cities teeming with culture and history.
9. If you could time-travel, would you rather visit the past, or the future? Uh, probably the past. I really don’t wanna mess up the future. Also, like, fashion.
10. What’s your go-to pick me up when you’re having a bad day? Good music, reading, getting coffee and taking a walk by myself, and then calling a friend and asking if we can do something, even if it’s just sitting together and doing our own thing. I really need company.

I implore anyone reading this to do the questions and introduce themselves! I’d love to get to know you all! And if you have more questions for me, I’d love to answer ❤