The Miraculous True History of Nomi Ali Quotes

“Have you noticed that when men want freedom, the conversation is about the nature of action, violence or non-violence? But when women want freedom, the conversation is about the nature of women, natural or unnatural?”
― Uzma Aslam Khan, The Miraculous True History of Nomi Ali

“Could love, like pain, migrate to a different part of the body?”
― Uzma Aslam Khan, The Miraculous True History of Nomi Ali

“Not all of us are horrid,’ he told her once. ‘Not all of us think of all Indians as our subjects.’ All Indians? Us? She did not know how to explain that she had never trusted these words and did not know what was worse, being a part of all or not, as it seemed the decision had never been hers to make. Nor did she know how to explain that it was not a question of what one or two might think. It had more to do with the patterns inherited, the lies inhabited, though she could not find the words, and so she said nothing.”
― Uzma Aslam Khan, The Miraculous True History of Nomi Ali

“The opposite of peace is not war. The opposite of peace is inertia.”
― Uzma Aslam Khan, The Miraculous True History of Nomi Ali

“Somewhere in the great sky beyond this sky of planes was a star made entirely of words. And on the star lived as many different kinds of words as birds in all the skies, fish in all the seas, and clay patterns in all the hands of adoring women. Some words were cautious as the crabs nesting on the beach. Others, bold as the giant hornbills prattling in the trees. Then there were those that made no sound, but were equally fearless, folding their arms and waiting for her to sit on their lap. The prisoner who was no longer a prisoner was gathering all these many words to herself and would speak them, if there were but someone to listen, even a little.”
― Uzma Aslam Khan, The Miraculous True History of Nomi Ali

“She too waited patiently for the right moment to speak, hands folded, tilting back her head like a sunbird after a refreshing drink.”
― Uzma Aslam Khan, The Miraculous True History of Nomi Ali

“She was given legs to enter the other world, but at what cost? She lost her community. She became neither mermaid nor human.”
― Uzma Aslam Khan, The Miraculous True History of Nomi Ali