Expectant parents have a lot of choices to make. What will the baby’s name be? Will baby have a pacifier? Cloth or disposable diapers? One thing that may or may not be a choice for parents is whether the birth is vaginal or by Cesarean section (C-section). The safety of the mom and the baby is the priority during… Read More »
“Mom, I have to ask you something,” my seven-year-old Henry begins. He stares at me with those solemn eyes and I steel myself. Considering our unique family, it could be any number of things. Why do you and Dad live in separate places? (We are married but never could stand to live together.) Why is Gus so different from other kids? (Henry’s… Read More »
Psychology is the scientific study of human behavior and mental processes. It’s existed since the ancient civilizations of Egypt and Greece, mostly as a branch of philosophy, but broke out as an independent branch of scientific study in the 1870s. The effects of psychological studies are more relevant and respected than any period in the past, and new… Read More »
The nikkah is a religious ceremony for a Muslim couple to be legally wed under Islamic law. It’s a Prophetic tradition and the only permissible way that a man and woman can be married. This ceremony makes the wedding official because in the Islamic tradition it’s not permissible for a couple to be intimate without a nikkah. The… Read More »
No matter what you’ve heard or how badly you want relief, talk with your doctor or pharmacist before trying any home remedy. This is even more important if you take prescription or over-the-counter medications, because some can affect how drugs work. And keep in mind that many don’t have any research to back them up. Mint has been… Read More »
This week, I went to the library to load up on new books. I deliberately chose one light read, so I would easily be able to identify its story structure–something I’ve been researching lately. Though I wasn’t expecting literary perfection, I was quite disappointed in my selection. I found a number of common writing pitfalls that could easily have been… Read More »
What a torrid couple of weeks it’s been for anyone who has been accused of blasphemy in Pakistan. And might you there are more people accused than you might think. Starting off with Asia Bibi – she has been sentenced to death. Then we had the blasphemy mudslinging match between two secular (sure) parties, the Pakistan Peoples Party… Read More »
A study carried out at Iowa Writers’ Workshop in 2005 concluded that writers and their close relatives, when compared with people having the similar educational background and similar IQ levels, had higher rates of mood disorders. Donald W. Goodwin, MD, in his Alcohol and the Writer wrote that out of 11 American Nobel Laureates, four (Eugene O’Neill, Sinclair… Read More »
In Pakistan, I have seen women proactively arguing for gender equality. We have heard countless rants about how they are entitled to have careers just like their spouses. So, does this also mean that when a woman is given the liberty to work, she must contribute financially along side her husband? Is it to be understood between both partners that an equal… Read More »
ver the last 200 years, economic progress has helped to bring about both dramatically better standards of living and the extension of individual dignity to women in the developed world. Today the same story of market‐driven empowerment is repeating itself in developing countries. Competitive markets empower women in at least two interrelated ways. First, market‐driven technological and scientific innovations… Read More »