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Zehra Rizvi

So, here I am. Been a member of Chowk since 1997 and my have I gone through many morphs. In my current skin I’m a travel writer (Indonesia for the Indian company: Outlook Traveller. South East Asia Guidebook), a Radio Jockey (www.dhoomfm.com 89.3, a 24-7 desi radio station out of New Jersey), a DJ (Brooklyn lounges, Houston homes), an activist (arrest for civil disobedience, the only ’good’ useful thing to be able to do with my American citizenship besides ofcourse marrying a lonely horny Shia male on an H-1 visa), a film maker, a chef, a runner, sister/daughter, someone with a friendster page, a recent and not so recent past, a cultural and political identity of Muslim and a smoking problem.

Feb 15, 2005

fatimazehrarizvi@hotmail.com

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Zehra Crossing column by Zehra Rizvi

Articles by Zehra Rizvi

The Alternative Muslim Identity

Zehra Rizvi Jun 19, 2005 interacts: 260 Views: 38934

We are not planning on going back home someday. We are home!

Involuntary Closure

Zehra Rizvi Jun 1, 2005 interacts: 8 Views: 5304

I have been scarred and disillusioned by this whole process and I think I will need therapy when I get back home.

The first time I quit

Zehra Rizvi May 19, 2005 interacts: 39 Views: 10117

Three of my smoking neighbors pass by outside my window. They are sweet and I have been collected by them already. A collection amounts to a wave and a smile.

Parents and the Pill

Zehra Rizvi Apr 29, 2005 interacts: 523 Views: 75963

Which desi girl goes around asking her father, when she is unmarried, or even when she is married, to call in a birth control prescription?

Two months and counting

Zehra Rizvi Apr 16, 2005 interacts: 9 Views: 4415

I just know something doesn’t feel right and that I’m neither Sri Lankan, or white

Hi, I’m Zehra, Your DJ for the Evening

Zehra Rizvi Apr 8, 2005 interacts: 13 Views: 8832

I am told this is how desi DJ’s start. A rites of passage of sorts. Just make sure it is a passage and not the end of the hall. You play at a desi wedding. You watch the drunk uncles swing around the aunties and come and ask you for the 7th time

The Monsoons are Coming

Zehra Rizvi Mar 30, 2005 interacts: 11 Views: 5566

Bitch sessions consist of relief workers sitting around, exchanging one frustration after another. The average time is that of three cigarettes and one Lion Beer per frustration.

Asoka

Zehra Rizvi Mar 23, 2005 interacts: 32 Views: 7938

I’m sitting and rubbing my back, smiling.
I want it to hurt.

Volunteer Sri Lanka

Zehra Rizvi Mar 21, 2005 interacts: 0 Views: 3442

Some Weekends

Zehra Rizvi Mar 14, 2005 interacts: 14 Views: 5351

We all revert to our younger selves at homes. When my world was theirs and theirs was mine. I am still their world. Mine has changed but inside these walls, I try to stop time.

Livin’ La Vida Aid-a

Zehra Rizvi Feb 28, 2005 interacts: 10 Views: 4602

The life in Colombo is easy. Instead of bitching and complaining, D and I are going to pursue other options and see if there is anywhere else that we can go. It is not about finding a hard situation so that our stories can be better...

EMACE

Zehra Rizvi Feb 19, 2005 interacts: 6 Views: 4762

It has been two days since I arrived in Sri Lanka as a volunteer for the post-tsunami rebuilding efforts.

Rantings of an Aid Worker

Zehra Rizvi Feb 17, 2005 interacts: 10 Views: 5942

I am of course, in this mindset that once D and I leave and the structures that we will set up will collapse. How the fuck did I get so colonial? What is the middle ground here for me?