"I Have Ambitions" -- Hafsa

     After this twenty-first century student with cell-phone, earbuds, and a laptop helped me decipher a handwritten email address, I asked her if I could interview her about her educational experiences as a Muslim female.  "Of course," she laughed.

     Naturally, I had to get the hijab question out of the way.  She wore a colorful pink head scarf and was covered wrist to ankles with clothing one might see on any college campus in the US--a long top, leggings, and casual shoes.  Hafsa chose to start veiling about three years ago.

     Her reasoning?  When she's covered she's merely a person.  Her looks and physique aren't being "checked out" and so she can be known for her conversation, actions, and character.  She uncovers when with Mehram (family members or others that she could not marry), but generally Islam prohibits touching or gazing upon eligible men.  Hafsa says Islam also proscribes a dress code for men:  they are to be covered from the navel to the ankles.  These practices vary though based upon culture.

I didn't snap a pic of Hafsa, but this looks like her style.  

Mariam Sobh is the founder of Hijabtrendz, a fashion site for Muslim girls.

    

     Hafsa was educated in a Seventh Day Adventist school in this city through grade 10.  A Kashmiri transplant, her father, a banker, moved the family to Hyderabad when he was transferred.  At the Christian school, children of varying backgrounds were treated equally.  Only Government holidays, along with Christmas, were celebrated in school instead of Hindu or Muslim holidays.   After graduation Hafsa tested into an all-girl Intermediate College in biophysics for grades 11 and 12.  Students were grouped according to their marks and the best education was awarded the best students.

     Hafsa reports no major discrimination at the Intermediate College although India's affirmative action policy (known as Reservations) did not apply to Muslim students.  She notes that governmental practices on a larger scale may discriminate against Muslims in terms of limited funding for the maintenance of Muslim monuments, lack of enforcement for equal spending in Kashmir, a largely Muslim state.  She feels that socially Muslims are included in the life of the city.  

     Since her parents are fairly liberal, Hafsa never attended the Madrasa--an educational system that traditionally emphasized Muslin teachings.  The Madrasa, she says, is about the rules and restrictions of the religion rather than the beliefs.  

     Hafsa is studying psychology and has researched Martin Seligman's theories of happiness. She is currently investigating the neurological impact of diet.