A difficult thing for me to accept right now is that my most personal conversations and exchanges have been made public or have become known to the public. This, of course, has happened through sophisticated means of data breaches. Whilst I feel a certain degree of shame at almost everything I have ever written to anyone, what bothers me the most is that it has happened to me, me, as in a Pakistani, as in someone from Pakistan. For those of you who do not know, Pakistani computer scientists created some of the most malicious computer viruses and hacking tools. And here I am, plundered by a bunch of American housewives. Sheer noobs, you would think- evidently not. This truly is a moment of deep shame and embarrassment for me as a Pakistani. We used to be known in the world for our notorious IT skills, but it seems that we have failed to be decent criminals as well. My national pride, above all, is deeply injured.

There is always an upside to something. This experience of being known to the world has transformed me from the inside out. I feel like the universe is forcing me to come out of my shell and expand. When I look at myself from the eyes of the world, I see a great life, full of amazing people and experiences. Marianne Williamson said, Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. The more the world finds out about me, the more I get in touch with the light inside of me. It is frightening and discomforting, but the only way forward.

And as for those petty disgusting crawling creatures who like to see me defecate- I have a message from my future mother-in-law, ‘Fuck them and feed them to the fish’.