Kuenza's Diary

I think the question of gender equality will go a long way. Maybe it will never see an end. As far as I know, it began a long time ago and I can say, it has no beginning either. It is a pessimistic view, but some issues, of course, go on forever. And sometime, you don’t even know if it is even improving. But in the case of gender equality, I think it has come a long way and women’s place in the world has improved a lot. However, there are certain issues that we cannot uproot, because they are part of you like an inborn nature. I’m writing this article in continuation to ‘Open Heart Delivery’ , an article about parents’ role in the children’s life as they grow up. Since the growing up stage of daughters and sons are different in some fundamental ways, I thought I should write about questions daughters have in their growing stage and how we must attend to them. For example, a boy will never ask question like, ‘Why do we have less freedom than girl...

I’m heartbroken but I don’t want to appear so. I muffle all my emotions and I put a confident me as I walk up to my ex boyfriend. I say, ‘Oh here you are.’ And I pass a quick abrupt ‘hi’ to his girlfriend. Now, this is tough. Tougher than I imagined. We walk in a shopping mall as if we have more business to deal with than we know. I walk ahead. When he insists that he takes my picture, I refuse. There is no reason why he must have my picture. He should possess nothing of me. I turn away every time he focuses his camera on me. He says, ‘You look sexy.’ But why should that even matter? No, he cannot play with me. I wonder why I had to meet him this time. Oh yes, I know his brother. His brother put in my hands some works he wanted delivered to him. And it then became my business to see him. I could have said no. But unlike many relationships, our relationship somehow prolonged, the more severe pain in our heart...

I have not written to my baby for a long time. I have been busy. There have been so many deaths in the family of my close relatives and social responsibility has taken much of my time. So many times I wanted to write and yet, I gave priority to my sleep, for I always returned home tired. But this does not mean that I have forgotten the baby I’m carrying, this soul, this person I’m going to bring into this world and want to see grow up into a very fine person. It is just like the birthday present you receive when you are a kid. You want to so open the gift you have just received and yet, you can’t. You want to see what it is that your friend has given you and the enormity of your curiosity and eagerness grows as the time prolongs. Just like that, I imagine the face of my baby, I even see myself holding hand of a beautiful girl as I wait to cross the road. Maybe I have failed to live in the moment, but I think it is natural for a pregnant woman to imagine herself with her baby, even ima...