At the time of writing, we are hopefully set to travel to a different part of the world where Covid, although present, does not seem to strike fear in its citizens the way it has here.

It is not the denial of the virus, but an accepted way that it is a disease like many others. As my husband and I reflect on our upcoming journey, we cannot help but think, how is it that one disease-causing similar rise in severe illness is perceived – and acted upon – so differently in the two spaces?

The conclusion that I come to is that the systems of educating or creating an awareness of the power of collective action are non-existent in the space we are choosing to travel to, and, therefore, a resignation to the circumstances sets in.

As the memory of the COP26 summit in Glasgow recedes into our horizons, I feel a little bereft and despondent that despite of the lessons that the pandemic has taught us, a big one being that our fates are all tied together.

Our leaders do not feel pressured to act towards monumental change good for all but have rather favoured national interests over global ones. Vehement nationalism could potentially be a death wish, a bit like shooting ourselves in the foot. It’s a pity our leaders, and us citizens – haven’t cottoned onto this urgent fact.

I tell my girls to reuse their Ziploc bags, reduce their water waste, switch their lights off, etc., to make them feel responsible for their planet. I don’t have the heart to tell them it makes such a slight difference in the grand scheme of things.

How do I tell them the people that really need to change are so much bigger and so much more powerful than them? Or empower them to challenge systems and institutions of power – without too much challenge to my power over them?

The correct answer, I fear, lies in the demotion of my power over them.

When the most rebellious of my Bears challenge my authority, questions my judgement, paying no heed to the reasons for my actions, I find myself getting extremely angry and agitated. I have learnt to back off, and in the heat of the moment, I ask her to question the ‘why’s’ of the systems that I attempt to maintain in our family.

All my Bears need to question the systems that distribute power and look at who has power and why they have power.

That lesson begins (un)fortunately at home, with me.
In the rise of economic and political inequality that becomes unbridgeable, the only way we will get heard about what impacts us is to pool our voices, actions and demands together.

That will only happen if all of us learn how to listen and, more importantly, understand communities outside our own. To hear their stories and see ourselves in them, charting positive actions – however small – moving us forward and strengthening us.

For my daughters, as young women of faith and colour, the world will be pegged against them, but I want them to realise that they do not dance to anyone else’s tune. Just their own, based on solid principles that benefit humanity beyond themselves. Because their fate is tied to everyone else’s.

Aasiya I Versi