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Posts Tagged ‘relationships’

Autoimmune Nation

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 26, 2025| Leave a Comment »

After reading the opening pages of Gabor Maté’s When the Body Says No, I could not help but translate his metaphor into the living pathology of Afghanistan itself. The nation, once nourished by its own diversity of spirit, now suffers from a profound autoimmune disorder, its body turning violently against its own cells. Saadi Shirazi, with his timeless clairvoyance, once wrote:

“Human beings are limbs of one body,

Created from the same essence.

If one limb is afflicted with pain,

The others cannot remain at ease.”

But centuries later, that wisdom has become a diagnosis rather than a proverb. The men in power, swollen with self-righteous inflammation, have mistaken the women of their land for foreign invaders. They strike with decrees instead of antibodies, targeting classrooms, dreams, and the very idea of thought. What they call governance resembles nothing more than the immune system gone rogue, attacking its own tissue until paralysis sets in.

Education, once the lifeblood of progress, has become the site of infection. Half the nation’s brain, its women, has been chemically suppressed, sedated by superstition and sanctified oppression. The body politic convulses, mistaking disease for discipline, decay for devotion. They do not see that by disabling the feminine intelligence, they are amputating their own future, starving the organ that once nurtured them.

This is not piety; it is pathology. A fever disguised as faith. The Afghan male authority has become the immune system of ignorance, hyperactive, hypersensitive, attacking its own flesh with divine conviction. And yet, like every autoimmune illness, this self-destruction masquerades as protection. They believe they are defending purity, when in truth they are disfiguring the very body that sustains them.

Eventually, the disease consumes even its host. The hand that silences the girl also trembles when it tries to write. The mouth that forbids her speech forgets how to pray. The nation, caught in a state of spiritual sepsis, will not heal until it learns the simplest truth Saadi left behind: that no limb survives by devouring its own.

Until then, Afghanistan remains a tragic anatomy, half alive, half in denial, its soul gnawing on itself in the name of God….

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A Game of Guess Who?

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on April 8, 2025| Leave a Comment »

I recently listened to a group of psychologists discussing arranged marriages, specifically the notion that parents tend to select a partner for their child based on mirroring familiar family dynamics. Essentially, the logic is: “He reminds me of your uncle—quiet, responsible, and has his own cow.” This kind of psychological rationale attempts to normalize something that, in many cases, defies logic entirely. It struck me as peculiar—almost comically so—that professionals trained to understand the infinite complexity of human behavior would reduce romantic compatibility to a familiar pattern, as if trauma bonding is just another love language.

It becomes even more bizarre when you consider that two individuals—each born into vastly different environments, molded by distinct cultural, emotional, and educational experiences—are expected to fall into harmonious union merely because their parents say, “He’s from a good family.” Ah, yes, because nothing screams compatibility like matching last names or shared shame around public displays of affection.

Let’s be honest: arranged marriages are often a glorified game of Guess Who? except the stakes are lifelong and the winners rarely smile. “Does he have a stable income?” Yes. “Did his mother die of diabetes?” Also yes. “Can he communicate emotions without causing a scene at a wedding?” Sorry you lost. Try again.

Incompetency in arranged marriages can wear many disguises. There’s the brooding poet type who writes haiku’s about his loneliness but can’t boil an egg or ask how your day was. There’s the mama’s boy who needs written permission from his mother to buy new socks. And then there’s the classic—emotionally unavailable but financially present. A man who believes buying you a washing machine on your birthday is the height of romance. “Love language? Mine is appliances.”

Psychologists, with all due respect, often overlook the subtle tragedies embedded in these unions. They talk of compatibility as though it’s a software update—just click ‘agree to all terms’ and wait for love to download. But real life isn’t an algorithm. It’s messy, layered, and often deeply unfair—especially when choices are dictated by a committee of elders who still believe mental health is cured with turmeric milk.

Perhaps the darkest humor in this is that even when these marriages falter—when silence becomes the primary form of communication and resentment ages like fine wine—the families still hail them as “successful.” Why? Because they stayed together. Never mind the chronic anxiety, emotional starvation, or whispered midnight prayers asking for an early exit.

So yes, I find it odd—alarming, even—when psychologists lend their professional weight to justify or sanitize a process that often prioritizes tradition over emotional intelligence, and social appearances over authentic connection. At the very least, can we agree that choosing a life partner shouldn’t feel like selecting a durable carpet?

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