Maheen Ahmed - Tell The Stars

by Zainab Nasir
(Karachi)

Your city:
Hi, I live in Lahore, but I was born in Gujrat and I’ve had a home in pretty much every part of the country.

What drives you? (What makes you so passionate about your work)
A lot of things, but I don’t see myself as an openly passionate person, except for moments when I do want to get the job done. I think like everyone else, what drives me is a sense of achievement and destiny. A fear of nothingness drives to create something that might be lost in time otherwise.
Umm, a general love for writing and a sense of social responsibility drives me to write, even if no one reads it, the existence itself is assuring.
But I guess what keeps me motivated for work are the dreams and efforts of my mother.

How did you get here and how long have you been in this profession (or been doing what you do)?
Well, I’m glad that I finally am here. I actually might have been a published writer a lot sooner, but I suppose this is what God wanted it.
I’ve always been writing, but there are different kinds of writing and I concern myself most with poetry, but eventually I want to get involved with novels and travel writing.
And I think I got here by some random but blessed shot in the dark, because believe me, I had the world laughing at one point.

What has been your vision and what do you most love about your work?
As a child I had the typical of gaining fame with my talent and getting everything I wanted by a very young age. But as I’ve I think my knowledge of the world has changed the things I wanted, for the better I believe.

At this point , I just to go through life writing what I want and not have to compromise my ideas to some external pressure and make it stylistically great and emotional. You know, art that tugs the heart and makes loud sound and lasts as something that made the people feel something.

And I believe poetry, stories, songs and photographs all do the same thing – they say something.

And that is exactly what I love my work. It direct at times, and at other times it just a pretty-faced symbol, but it always wants to talk to you.

What do you think is your biggest achievement throughout your professional journey?
So far I only major achievement, which is a little published poetry book. But I wouldn’t really call my career professional yet.
I’m at the beginning of it all.

What are your current projects and what do you plan on doing in the near future?
I will hopefully soon have another published book out, here in Pakistan, and the name of the book will be ‘Ramiz’. Words may fail me here, but I am extremely excited for it to be something people can hold and read and talk about. Because it really is something that needed to be written, and full of things I needed to get off my chest.
‘Ramiz’, is a poetry book, with some additional stories and if I had to describe it- I’d say it centres on the feeling of loss. The loss of a loved one-or many.
And after this book, I plan on a few cuter projects. Books that, will be fun to read, enjoyable and bring out a feeling of softness, to the reader.
But apart from writing, I’ll be doing photography and trying to learn how to draw.
Hopefully, I might learn something.

A word of advice you would like to pass on to other women struggling with their start-ups?
I don’t think I’m qualified to be giving out advice, at least, not yet.