Hi Readers! It's been a while... Well, my prepping for the SAT, several jobs and all the other baggage that comes in the summer lead me to abandon y'all. I got promoted to a monthly columnist in Teenstuff Magazine.

Devil's Breath: Curse in Disguise

I recently went through something that got me thinking about power and how having it bestowed on us may influence our actions. Upon research, I found the ultimate power tool, Devil’s breath, a drug that rids the taker of free will, the real life equivalent of Harry Potter’s Imperius Curse. This short story explores how a person would react to owning this drug. P.S. Before you jump to the conclusion that the main character is the 'villain', stop and consider what would you have done had you been given the same opportunity.... Continue Reading on HASH

My Bucket List

1.      Move to New York City

2.      Go to NYU

3.      Have a relationship with a certain Gossip Girl star I wouldn’t like to mention here.

4.      Try a Vodka Marini and a Cosmopolitan

5.      Write and direct Moulin Rouge on Broadway

6.      Meet Eva Longoria

7.      Have first line tickets to New York Fashion Week

8.      Spend my honeymoon in The Maldives

9.      Write a New York Times bestseller

10. Eat Breakfast at Tiffany’s

11. Visit Marilyn Monroe’s grave

12. Share a kiss with a hottie in the middle of Times Square

13. Win a Pulitzer

14. Own a Chelsea art gallery

15. Ace my SATs

16. Get a paid job

17. Have a baby girl and call her Sarah

18. Legally change my name to Adam

19. Get a job at Vanity Fair

20. Cover the Oscars or Tonys

21. Acquire the linguistic abilities to read the original Shakespeare works

22. Visit Studio 54

23. Spend my 5^th Anniversary in Paris

24. Intern at a successful magazine

25. Have a closet full of nothing but designer labels

26. Go out on a night around the town with Chris Colfer

27. Invite all my bullies to a school reunion where I flaunt my success and make them green with envy. (Don’t kid yourself, you want it too)

28. Move to the Upper West Side

29. Have one of my books made into a movie

30. Write a TV show’s screenplay

31. Get over my animal phobia

32. Be part of a campaign that ACTUALLY does something to save the environment

33. Write a Glee movie that all the actors reunite to film

34. Dine at Sardi’s

35. Go to Vegas and get a hangover so bad that I end up in a place I don’t know

36. Perfect my British accent

37. Know how to cook anything other than scrambled eggs

38. Fire someone (haha, vicious me)

39. Understand why some people called the movie Amour ‘brilliant’

40. Meet Anne Hathaway

41. Watch the Broadway revival of Les Miserables

42. Create a time machine to go meet Audrey Hepburn at her youth

43. Ride a train going to a random place

44. Make out with a hot model

45. Revisit my high school in Dubai

46. Throw a drink in someone’s face

47. Dedicate a book to the world’s most amazing woman, my mom

48. Buy my engagement ring from Tiffany’s

49. Visit Radio City music hall and watch The Rockettes

50. Find out I have magical powers and get into Hogwarts (or just go to the Harry Potter theme park)

The Curse of the Caste

Untouchability, a solemn critique of the now outlawed Indian
caste system by prominent artist and former
Dalit (or 'Untouchable') Savi Savarkar

I’m an urban boy. I love big cities with their fumy exhausts, historical monuments, rude people, wide wealth gaps, disgusting public transportation and chic restaurants. After the excruciating process of taking my IGCSE examinations this May in Cairo where the sirens and whistles are sometimes too loud for you to be able to think, I decided to visit my grandma in Alexandria which contrasts with Cairo the way New Jersey contrasts with New York.

After visiting the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the Alexandria museum of Art and watching The Hangover 3 in a local cinema, I decided that what I was missing was yoghurt slush, a drink Alexandria is notoriously known for, on one of the rustic cafes located right by the Mediterranean. The experience was one of immense delightfulness as the scent of salt air surrounded me all over. When the waiter brought over the yoghurt slush, I said ‘merci’ instead of ‘shukran’ and expected a moment of awkwardness. Weirdly enough, I was treated to... Continue Reading on HASH

Think Again!

Summer… it’s that amazing time of the year when we get to embrace the hobbies that we barely get to practice year-long, well at least, for people who are too lazy to get a job, like me. Earlier this week, as I got to reading The Phantom of the Opera for the third time around, my father pulled a little intervention on me to force me out of my profound introversion. We ended up visiting my great-aunt, a Turk of sixty-something who was born and raised in Egypt and has come to know me as the toddler she babysat fifteen years ago when my parents went out on date night.

A long conversation with her got me pondering about choices, opportunities and determination. The result is this article. As a celebration of ‘Show, don't tell’, here is her story in her own words.

“I was born in 1951 on the outskirts of Cairo to a rich family, a family of circus performers… Continue Reading on HASH

Street Fashion: The Look of Tomorrow!

This article was published in the August 2013 issue of Teenstuff.

We all love watching movies like The Devil Wears Prada and The September Issue where seeing a woman walking down the streets in couture and six inch stilettos isn’t considered unreasonable, and although you’ll probably deny it when talking to friends, you fantasize over the day when you’ll look the same. Okay, let’s leave that bubble! Welcome back to Planet Earth where modern day women dress up in ready-to-wear labels to work rather than red carpet looks.

This season, especially in the teen world, of all of the different genres of chic, the one raving the scene is street fashion. Whether, you’re a Greaser, preppy or hippie, there’s a place for you in this phenomenon. Here are the top 5 pieces that are closet must-haves to help you accentuate your street look!

Denim all the Way!

Denim has stood as a symbol of bohemia and Gypsy-ness since it’s ascension. This is even further true today with denim skirts which are the next big thing. After fading from the fashion scene for a while in the eighties and early nineties, they were revived by Marnie Bjornson in the late nineties. My suggestion is to pair it up with a simple tank top if going to the mall or even better a sleeveless animal print. Avoid Polka Dots. A belt and those nerdy Ray bans we all have would match well! These looks have actually made their looks into some big collections from Stella McCartney to Louis Vuitton! Don’t forget to break the trend by wearing something other than the good, old blue shade! Jeggings are recommended too.

Breton Summer Stripes!

We all love summer stripes! They’re cheerful, colorful, vibrant and are the summer equivalent of spring florals. An amazing aspect about this ready to wear look is the versatility. You can wear them with skinny jeans, shorts, neon pants and if you’re daring with your fashion aesthetic, even a skirt! More importantly, whether you’re going to work, the club or a family reunion, it’s perfect. Though readily available at your local H&M or Zara, iconic designers have featured them in their runway looks this season.

Colorful Blazers!

Although these have been in trend for a while now, they seem to be sticking out a bit longer. What I like about this look is that it manages to combine the youthful feel that we all love with the formality that is occasionally required in conferences, meetings or interviews. As for the coloring choices, I’ll quote Heidi Klum here, “You go bold or you go home.” Try everything from lilac to fuchsia to burgundy. Remember, no fashionista looked fabulous by playing it safe.

Midsummer Night’s Dream!

Possibly not your best option when in the city but on vacation, in The North Coast or Sharm El Sheikh, this is what you gotta wear for a night out in the town, a karaoke party or so! It’s buoyant and hearty. Shades of pink, red, blue or green are all recommended. The length of the hemline is irrelevant here. Short or long, you will look breathtaking. Wear it with flats and leave your hair down.

Accessorizing!

Clothing is definitely a crucial part of creating that cool look you want to achieve, but if you ask Anna Wintour or Sarah Jessica Parker,  they’ll tell you the secret to looking your best is what surrounds the clothes! This is especially true when it comes to street fashion because the garments are usually simplistic and devoid of intricacy, so to bring out your inner diva, put on a variety of accessories. Most commonly seen in Paris’s Haute Couture Fashion week were studded bangles, Ray Bans, Hermès belt, Manolo Blahnik stilettos and Burberry neck scarves. Feel free to ditch the brands and wear something a little more YOU and affordable. It’s what really puts the whole look into perspective. This season, the cutting edge bags in the accompanying photo has been trending a lot thanks to M2Malletier. They are inspired by medieval tools and armor.

Home

Okay, don’t judge this as an article. It’s more of an emotionally heated diary entry I wrote on 3^rd July 2013.

About thirty months ago, the Egyptian society uprooted a tyrant. It was a bloody revolution, which took place over eighteen days, where tens of hundreds died in cold blood. Fast-forward to today, another tyrant, one of immense foolishness and absolutely no sense, has been ousted, this time, by a Coup d'état supported by the Egyptian crowds who rallied all over the nation forming the largest protests in the history of mankind with a total of twenty-two million civilians. This is not a political report so I’m going to cut to the chase. This is my story in the last two and a half years as an Egyptian, legally at least…

When the first revolution commenced, in the beginning of 2011, I was yet a resident of Dubai and was unknowledgeable about Egyptian politics of any sort. Luck came my way when I happened to be on vacation here and the uprising occurred. After lots of analytical reflection, pondering, and going through things in my head, I realized that I wanted to visit Tahrir Square so I did and it was a liberating experience. For a little while, I got the feeling that this place was ‘home’, but I was fourteen, naive and deluded, so makes sense.

On a personal and local basis, from the time that Mubarak was uprooted last year until this week was very chaotic. Nationally, the country went through several ups and downs with the Supreme council of armed forces taking over for a while then the Muslim brotherhood did. At that time, I moved to Egypt. The way I failed at relating with society as a whole got me thinking over my perception of home and how chanting and protesting in a place doesn’t make it home. It remains one where I feel secluded and left out. My introverted-ness along with the stagnant economy, lack of job security and overall decline in safety made me despise the nation as a whole. Being someone who always thinks things over, I realized that Egypt wasn’t my home and more importantly, I don’t have one, at least for now.

After having reached said conclusion, when my parents, politically aware individuals, started protesting, four days ago, I clearly told them that Egypt meant nothing to me and although my apathy annoyed them, they were respectful. I had a revelation when I discussed the issue with a friend who was caught in a similar dilemma but protested. He said, “If you don’t revolt now, minorities like us will still be apathetic centuries from now. If blacks, gays and women didn’t revolt in first-world countries, over the last centuries, they wouldn’t have become first world countries.” It took me a while to process that and I only went to Tahrir under immense parental pressure on the last day.

The momentum in Tahrir square said, “We can defy gravity if we want to. The sky wasn’t the limit, there was none.” I’m not going to elaborate on that because I did in an earlier article. When I went though, I couldn’t protest though. I just sat there, staring, preoccupied with the products of months of thinking. Why did I want to do this? Why did being here feel right? Would I do it If I were somewhere else? Am I Egyptian at heart?

The conclusive answer to me was when Ex-President Mohamed Morsi was finally ousted by the army. I was gloriously joyous. It wasn’t for me though. I was most likely out of there in a year and never coming back. I sat there, expressing my joy in ways differing from the rest of the crowd around me, talking in a different language. This was a victory for the world as a whole, the elimination of yet another tyrant. Things will get better for minorities in Egypt now and who knows what artistic or scientific achievement that will bring to us, and by us I mean the world as a whole. Cliché as it might sound, I truly do understand what ‘world citizen’ means now.