Plant Animal Mineral
When I was nine, my family moved from the racially diverse city of Chicago, to an all white suburb outside of the city. Our family, a Muslim father from India, a white Catholic mother with German roots, three “olive” skinned kids with big brown eyes, did not fit in. On the playground I would be beaten for standing up to the kids who thought it their duty to throw insults out at people of different races and colors—people who did not exist at our school, but were my friends back in Chicago. The result of this treatment, I withdrew from the kids and entered the world of spying. Motivated by Louise Fitzhugh book Harriet the Spy, i began to write about everything I saw. Over the years the game became a habit. Still, I write. My journals are not essays but a series of observations, things heard, touched, seen. Now I include photographs. Here are my spied things……
