• Desi Girl Struggles

    “Healing the Scarcity Mindset That Tells Me I’m Not Enough Unless I’m Better”

    Roumaisa’s POV I was a girl born in a house that prayed for a boy. My name? Roumaisa – it means a woman of excellence, graceful and beautiful in character. But I never felt like I was allowed to live up to it. Growing up, my parents were trying for a son. When I came into the world, they called it a mistake. A failed prayer. I became the daughter dressed like a son—my brother Asghar’s old clothes stitched back and handed to me with a cold smile. No one ever asked what I liked. On Eid, while the other girls wore shimmery salwar kameez and glass bangles, I was…