There Was Such Noise Around You, What I Wanted To Say Got Lost Somewhere In The Middle

Perhaps you'll appreciate the gift better when you've had to ride the stormy waves to recieve it. So be patient and carry on.

messy handwriting that’s a combination between cursive and print. books with folded down corners. clear tea cups with peppermint tea. coffee rings on book pages. rain stained windows. freshly started garden filled with poppys. the smell of coffee cake in the oven. an absurd amount of missed calls. late nights sprawled out in crisis on your bedroom floor. the tapping of a pen repeatedly on a desk. mismatched socks.

Muslim academia

shrines. qawalis. sufism. solitude. heartbreak. cigarettes. leather jackets. alcohol. poetry. football. ali sethi. manto. hadiqa kiani. havelis. photography. love. sunsets. you.

- life, once upon a time

I adore the traditional afghan dresses. Beautifully captured.

Yes please!

Petition to have Balls again because I really want to dress up in a large pretty gown and socially partner dance. Like why did they stop being a thing?! Clubs are cool but have they nothing on a Ball.

Rebec.

A precursor of the violin that originated in Islamic nations in Asia. It found its way to Spain and France where it remained popular until the violin displaced it. It had only three strings and was rectangular or trapezoidal. This instrument was also known by the Arabic name, rabab.

Two Pashtun men greeting

Location: Kado, Nortwest Frontier. Pakistan

Photographer: Michael Freeman

things to include in a letter to your overseas pen-pal

that one sticker you were saving

pressed flowers from a walk around your neighborhood

book quotes that made you laugh

paint swatches of colors that remind you of them

the local time of sunrise and sunset 

poems and movie quotes

meaningful song lyrics

polaroids of your desk space, or the view out of your window

cutouts of sheet music you used to play

phrases in your native language with translations

magazine cutouts

pages of old books folded into a small envelope

a secret about your hometown

newspaper clippings from the day of writing

coins from your country 

maps or drawings of your city

recounts of strangers you saw

teabag of your favorite tea

colorful stamps