For more titles set in India, click here.
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka (Sri Lanka)
The Sea Elephants by Shastri Akella (India)
Bright Lines by Tanwi Nandini Islam (Bangladesh)
Other Names for Love by Taymour Soomro (Pakistan)
Funny Boy by Shyam Selvadurai (Sri Lanka)
Bonus: These are all Adult fiction, but for YA, check out Swimming in the Monsoon Sea by Shyam…
So well basically this is one of my favourite books
And there goes the review
Ella Anwar starts hallucinating the first time when she was on the plane on her way with Hashi and Anwar
Ella the girl who loves nature and is studying in Ithaca one day when she returns from college she finds someone sleeping in her room
Her cousin Charu is a complete opposite of Ella Bold passionate rivalry basically a storm if I could say Ella has a lil crush on her cousin and thinks that she likes her
Anwar Saleem is a loving father and husband and is trapped between understanding her teenage daughters behaviour and Hashis complaints about her
Hashi is a joyous woman who runs a salon and is mostly busy with her work in the salon as it's summer
Tanwi Nandini Islam a brilliant woman that I love has projected each and everything right from the Cox bazaar in Bangladesh to New York Avenue She portrays the whole story about the warrior the past that includes war , survival , lost innocent love to the present when Ella comes home how things change for them when they let her stay at thier place , them Amans discovery about the whole situation to Ella's own self discovering journey
I'll tell you this book will make you laugh , cry , squeeze your heart in your chest , and the marvelous words of Tanwi will bring vivid colours and stories to your life this is something that will stay with you forever
So, today is lowest weight on the scale I’ve had in a while, certainly the last 180 days. Not by much, I got close in January, but I think those were just weird anomalies, cos it shot down and then right back up a couple of times. This time it’s going down more slowly and predictably.
I know the scale isn’t everything, but it’s still a big motivator for me, especially seeing trends that show me what I’m doing is finally working. I try not to focus on each individual number, but the overall trend so I don’t get discouraged when it jumps up a bit, which it will always do.
I also feel better, more energized, in a better mood, etc. but hard numbers still seem to be my ‘go-to’ for really quantifying progress.
Fingers crossed the trend continues with continued good habits.
This summer marks eight years since I came out to myself (and subsequently, my brother) and four years since I cut my hair and came out to my dad. This time of year marks a significant shift in my life, which means every year I use it to reflect on how far I’ve come in getting comfortable with myself.
I’ve always been an avid reader, hungry for imaginary worlds I could lose myself in and fictional characters I could call best friends. Growing up, there weren’t any fictional South Asian LGBTQ role model for little old closeted me. Since my coming out, and really over the past decade, I’ve seen a sizable shift in this. While on-screen depictions may be coming forth with the web series The Other Love Story or characters like Krishna on Jane the Virgin, the written word has proven sturdier. From fiction to anthologies and histories to graphic novels, the last ten years have shown that telling our own stories is essential to building a community and garnering the strength to live an authentic life.
The best part about these works is that they aren’t just the mainstream LGBTQ narrative of coming out, even though that’s huge and important and incredibly brave. These stories are about multi-faceted people living their lives, and trying to balance culture, norms, and traditions while doing it.
In honor of my comingoutaversary, or really just owning the fact that I can be South Asian and queer and still exist, here are ten books that are written by and/or feature LGBTQ South Asians. Some of these existed when I came out and some didn’t — all have helped on the journey since.
These are all Adult titles. For YA, click here.
Guapa by Saleem Haddad
Bright Lines by Tanwi Nandini Islam
The Thirty Names of Night by Zeyn Joukhadar
God in Pink by Hasan Namir
The City of Devi by Manil Suri
Bonus: Coming in August, Radiant Fugitives by Nawaaz Ahmed
That I ate a cookie. It was homemade and something really weird and wonderful that I’d never seen before. Someone brought a plate of them for some party I was going to. I decided one cookie would be okay since it was a special cookie.
Then, even in my dream, I started bargaining with myself -- I would have just one more treat while at the party, something I really wanted. Then I decided, heck, it’s a party! I’ll just eat anything I want at the party. Then, it was, well, the day is ruined anyway, I’ll just eat anything I want today. Then, it was, well, the week is shot, I’ll start again on Monday.
This is my life. Even in my dreams I can’t escape it.
This is why I need bright lines that I don’t cross. The other side is a steep slide into obsession and addiction.
(for clarity, that chart above is one month, so it’s just the last 2 weeks that I’ve been doing this)
I’m not following all of the Bright Lines suggested in the Bright Line eating plan, but I have two bright lines (meaning rules that I just don’t break):
No flour
No sugar
The only sugar I’m still consuming is in my ranch dressing. I tried one with less sugar and ugh. But I’ve been mixing the less sugar one with the HiddenValley one, and that’s not too bad. Maybe i can wean myself off to the lower sugar one.
The other semi-bright line that I’ve been following most of the time is no snacks. Three meals a day. No snacks. Sometimes, if I’m ACTUALLY HUNGRY, I will break this one, but usually I’m not hungry when I have a hankering for a snack, in which case, no snack.
The fourth semi-bright line that I’m following most of the time is no more than 4 ounces of protien at meals and at least 6-8 ounces of low-starch veggies. I used to eat quite a bit more protien and much less in veggies. Of course, this is primarily a calorie-reduction tool, which is fine. For the most part, I’ve found that this is plenty filling and I don’t need to snack between meals.
The fifth semi-bright line is eating the three meals about 4 hours apart at generally the same time every day, and then fasting the rest of the day. I do this most days and it’s fine -- I’m sleeping during most of that fast anyway.
The last semi-bright line is artificial sweeteners. I had started drinking a lot of diet soda again. The Bright Line eating plan says NO artificial sweeteners, which I agree is ideal, but haven’t had the motivation to commit to yet. I’ve cut down to about 2 diet sodas a day, though, which is much less than I was consuming, and no coffee or other snacks that I would’ve normally put a.s. in.
So far, so good. This plan is actually working for me with little effort. For me, setting Bright Lines that I do not cross is much easier and stops that slippery slope slide into unhealthy eating and binges.
Also, I FEEL SO MUCH BETTER without sugar and flour in my brain! OMG. So much more energy and happier! I don’t know why I forget how much better I feel when I’m not eating that stuff.
brorilla replied to your post “Bright Line Eating”
During the two or so years I was in really great shape I was the annoying type of person that said "I eat to be alive, I don't live to eat" I had rock solid self control. I looked at junk food as poison. Maybe it wasn't the healthiest relationship with food, but it was practical. I wish I could strike a nice balance between "I deserve it" and "that's poison"
Unfortunately, for some of us, there is no happy medium. Some foods are poison to us, they are just as addictive as drugs, alcohol or cigarettes.
This book talks about the science of addiction, particularly food addiction, and actually having ‘bright lines’ that you don’t cross is much more freeing than the constant battle of ‘do I eat that or not?’ that I’m sure many people suffer with. It’s draining to our willpower and to our mental health. Thoughts about food end up taking up more and more of our time and energy.
When I felt best was when I had bright lines and didn’t eat sugar or flour. Period. There was no more debate, and it was sooooo much easier and so much better for me. I felt better in every way.
I think, at some point, some of us must admit that moderation in food choices is not something that works for us. Just like moderation in drinking alcohol doesn’t work for some people. I keep proving that to myself.
