The day is January 22nd, 2018. I have just gone to bed around 12am having posted a comparative photo of Nargis Fakhri and myself on “Soul Sisters Pakistan”.
I slept as usual enduring the loving kicks and scratches of my sleeping child. The next morning, as I stood for Fajr prayer, bleary eyed and foggy brained, I remembered my post along with all other “important” things that only come to me during praying! (Sod off Shaitaan!)
I checked my phone and saw a notification or two from Facebook. I clicked on the post and for a moment I thought I saw 500 likes/reactions! Rubbing my blurry eyes, I checked again. It was 500! and that number was growing before my eyes at a rate I have only seen happen on celebrity posts!
Putting my now awake baby back to sleep (I swear she can smell I’m missing), I read pages after pages of comments after comments.
The women of Pakistan had spoken!
“Twining with miss Fakhri?????”
“YAAAAAY!!!”
And OMG the reactions!!!!
There were the ones who said, “Twins for sure”, others gushed “Better than Fakhri”. There were some who thought “Me before and after hijab”, there was the lot who decided “Not Fakhri but Jennifer Garner/Natalie Portman/Julia Roberts”. I even got one who figured it was “before and after Fakhri had a baby!”
There was an actual suggestion made to make the photo viral “Nargis Fakhri Doppleganger found”! A girl wrote.
Belonging to a family who likes to keep it real, my “Dentonic ka ishtihaar” smile was called “the best toothy smile”, my “khaday wala mun” was termed “beautiful dimpled face” and my “Anday jesi shakal” (post hijab… thanks husband) was termed “natural and gorgeous!”. I must admit, I pretty much got a taste of what being a celebrity FEELS like!!
So, what’s the point of this post?! Not much! Is there a moral in there? Nada!
It is simply what it is, the story of A day I became famous.
For some time though, my usually dull day seemed a bit brighter, the dirty nappies smelled a bit less, the rotis looked a bit rounder and I even changed out of my PJs and brushed my hair.
As evening fell, the Facebook notifications died down. A new post took over. The likes and reactions turned to a beautiful set of stationery instead.
Over dinner, I told my husband how I was kind of famous that day on the internet. He looked and me briefly, nodded and smiled, before turning his eyes back to the TV.
And…. that was it! My day had come and gone. I went back to eating my food with one hand while holding my wriggling daughter with the other. As I ate, I wondered over the strange way this universe works sometimes and why suddenly the Murghi I had cooked for dinner, tasted suspiciously like Daal!
Aurthor: Nayab Shoukat
Nayab Shoukat is a Melbourne based Pakistani blogger who loves to laugh and tell stories about her family and everyday life! You can find her blog on face book page NOONMEME’S.
https://www.facebook.com/etnoonmemes/
