Sabrina (1954) Dir. Billy Wilder

“د مسافرو یاري مه کړه تا به د زړه په رنځ اخته کړي دوی به ځینه Do not fall in love with wanderers You will drown your heart in sorrow And they will leave.”

— Pashto landay

Na manam, na manam yara! Marg anjaam da hastay na de.

Khlasidal sharab pa jaam ke, ikhtitaam da mastay ne de.

Nah! I dont believe, i dont agree with it, death is not the end of existence.

Finishing up a cup of wine, is not the end of joy.

- 𝑮𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒊 𝑲𝒉𝒂𝒏

Image source: we heart it.

Poetry: malghalari by pashtoscoop

Ka makh de rana heer sho no jehan ba rana heer shi,

Ka noom de rana heer sho no khpal zan ba rana heer shi.

- If I forgot your face I will forget the world,

If I forgot your name I will forget myself.

Ghani Khan

“Happy is he who does good to others; miserable is he who expects good from others.”

— Hazrat Inayat Khan

Illuminated pages from a manuscript of Hafez, Zand Period style, 1790.

british people be like i know a spot then colonise it

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.

South asian Dark Academia

• Reading poems and stories of Rumi, Hafez, Iqbal, Ghani khan and Manto.

• Wanting to learn how to speak Arabic, Persian, Hindi, and Urdu.

• Being bilingual or multilingual by birth.

• STEM students with an interest in Art and rich knowledge in History.

• You know exactly what to do with 6 yards of fabric; look fabulous in a Saree.

• Wearing your hair in braids to keep it out of your face.

• Always looking forward to eating your mother's homemade Biryani. Nothing tastes spicy enough.

• The shelves of your kitchen are filled with colourfull jars of Masalas (spices).

• Haldi is literaly the cure for everything.

• Chai is your addiction. It calms you down and you get a headache when you miss your daily dose of chai.

• The smell of Mehendi / Henna when women are applying it in ardous designs on their hands and feet at weddings and festivals.

dark academia critics

dark academia is like one of my favourite aesthetics however there are certain things/issues that bother me about this whole aesthetic

1. where is the diversity?

have you ever come across any dark academia posts that included any people of color. everywhere I go, all I see is elite white kids. I would die to see japanese/korean/indian /pakistani/ african/ middle eastern dark academia students often wearing their ethnic attires and embracing their cultures.

2. eat the rich

I know the whole theme about dark academia is ivy league/ rich elite students but imagine middle class dark academia srudents who are not necessarily clad in expensive attires rather wearing clothes bought from the thrift stores studying on scholarships, who own second hand books and antique/vintage items from some local flee markets or thrift stores.

3. fuck that Greek philosophy

not that I hate Greek philosophy but all dark academia posts do talk about is western art/architechture/ mythologies / history and philosophy etc. I would love to read and discuss persian poetry and history , south asian mythologies, japanese/Arabic/korean calligraphy, Muslim world's art and architecture.

4. what's up with that nerd shit.

why are dark academia students always protrayed as nerds, reserve, quiet, hates to have a social life, perfectionist who can't afford to get any grades lower than As etc like even the best students have their ups and downs, what matters is the passion and the will to do better. It's okay to have a life outside books, to have romantic dates, to prank, to hangout with yout friends, to skip classes, to be unorganized...its more realistic.

some things i’ve learned while studying in quarantine

drink more water instead of more coffee.

weekly goals are bullshit. set yourself 3-day goals. you’ll be less laid-back.

don’t just mindlessly stare at words. before you start studying, know your approach to it. have a plan.

summarizing the concept in your own words is the key part of taking notes. don’t just copy things down, convert them into your own way of talking, your own vocabulary, no matter how dumb and unprofessional it sounds.

don’t let the “studyblr aesthetic” fool you. studying doesn’t have to be pretty. summaries and notes can be messy as long as they’re comprehensible. you can always rewrite and reorganize them later. (honestly, you better do. and you better keep them.)

don’t throw away the papers you’ve solved your problems in. staple them to the fucking textbook. you need to see them constantly. cause you’ll need reminders of how far you’ve came, when you’re feeling discouraged.

don’t be an armchair analyst for your issues. if you have an idea then act on it.

remember: the exact point where it becomes difficult, is where your growth begins. take a deep breath, and try to focus on the paragraph in front of you.

get off your high horse and understand that if you’re a zero, you won’t go to 100 in a couple of days. first, you’ll need to reach 30, then from 30 to 60, and then from 60 to 90. nobody is 100 everyday. that happens very rarely.

you need to have fun everyday. you need to have peaceful time every single day. even on exam night. especially on exam night, actually. so make sure you’ve studied enough so you can have some time to yourself.

once you’re on a roll and in need of some challenge to stay on track, start writing down your studying hours. tell yourself you’re not allowed to do less than 80% of what you did yesterday. whatever the hell it was, even just one hour. so if yesterday you really studied for like, say 8 hours, today your goal is to study for at least 6 and a half hours. if you can’t keep up with that, make it 70%, or 60%. 

be forgiving of yourself. be kind to yourself. even if you bounced back and lost your streak. start again. as slowly as you did before. take your time. it’s okay, you were there once you can get there again.