Notes: Purest Thread

Whew!

No...I mean it...

Whew!

That was one bear of a story collection to write. The main problem was a girl named Yasmeen, and Yasmeen was my MAIN CHARACTER.

Well, it wasn't her fault at all, really.

The problem with writing about a culture centered around Muslim beliefs is that there are certain restraints placed upon women by the whole of the society of Islam. Depending on the conservatism of the Islamic sect, some women are not to show anything other than their eyes. They are not allowed to venture into public places and they certainly cannot express themself physically, such as through sports.

So, I found myself wrestling with God again...or Allah... What do you want, Allah? Do you want me to adhere to the strictest tenets of the high mullahs and disallow female liberties? How do I speak of a culture that is half-missing, in the eyes of an American child, and even more so, the American writer who is writing for a second-generation Muslim-American audience?

So, it was a balancing act. I let the family be somewhat reformed, but still had the spirit of Allah and Mohammad resonating throughout the stories. It was even hard to speak of musical culture, because of the mixed feelings of the Muslim community as a whole.

In the end, I don't think I strayed too far from the ways of a typical urban Muslim family in Pakistan during the early part of the 21st century, balancing the struggle between old and new, sacred and not.

I am even considering writing my Indian story using Yasmeen as a recurring character, visiting her cousin Noor, who lives across the border in India, a world away from the strict upbringing of her cousin from the west.

Only time will tell...