The terrible Boston Marathon bombing instantly gives me bad jitters; here we go. Again. Lunatics perhaps, probably from a Salafist country in the Middle East bringing their deviant loco beliefs of killings and mayhem so very close to home. Or, it could be homegrown extremists, who bloody know? But I pray hard nevertheless, wishing the […]

I love elderly people; they relate wonderful tales of yore. They are also mirrors, in whose eyes I see my reflection not too distant away; I am, after all, over the fifty hump and rapidly accelerating down. They can also be crabby and vicious at times, some of them. Take Mullah Mchungu for example, who […]

Tanzania in general, the people of Dar es Sallam, worldwide Khoja Shias, but especially the Dar es Salaam Khoja community is struck with terrible calamity on March 29 2013 when a sixteen floor building under construction adjacent to the Khoja mosque complex comes tumbling down like a deck of cards. Thirty-six people lose lives that […]

Dear Mr. President, Salutations and peace to you and yourn family. My name is Ali Yusufali; it may interest you I was born not too far from your father’s birthplace of Kenya, in Arusha, Tanzania, where I grew up and became an adult. Aspirations for a quality education, better economic opportunities and awe for the […]

Oh. My. Gawd, you are such an uncool Dad! Why can’t you, like, be like other Dads? Exclaims my twelve-year-old daughter Maaha Zainab once more, rolling eyes to the heavens. I have heard her use this expression several times now, consequence of middle school peer influence obviously, but it never fails to irk me to […]

I sit at my desk, minding my own business, at peace with the world and, for a change, the world at peace with me. There are no bombs exploding down the street, no lunatics with Kalashnikovs wondering the street taking potshots at everything that moves, no delayed aircrafts with silly excuses of late incoming flights. […]