Ashma John

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Articles by Ashma John

Teachers, nurses and the gig economy

As I look on and observe from an incredibly far distance while the nation’s teachers protest for both liveable wages and decent working conditions, I remember two stories my late Godmother who worked as a nurse in the public healthcare system shared with me growing up.

A look at love

A little over halfway into  Bell Hooks’ book “All About Love: New Visions”, and my mind  cannot stop reshuffling memories of my past relationships, friendships, family dysfunction, and my own shortcomings when it comes to  consistently enacting a love ethic in all aspects of  my life.  

Online etiquette

There is something deeply traumatising about navigating online social spaces in moments of absolute political turmoil and instability.

Patriotism and people’s rights

Dave Martins’s song “Not A Blade of Grass” is playing on steroids right now and while there is a heightened sense of national pride across certain sections of the population due to the border controversy, there is a big part of me that can’t help but to interrogate the phrase, “is we own” that is being plastered everywhere.

Injustice in Gaza must be condemned

I first learnt of Israel’s occupation of Palestine about 12 years ago; not through a news report,  United Nations or Amnesty International but a friend’s Facebook post after their interaction with a Palestinian man that took place as they were in a queue (if my memory serves me correctly it was a bank to be exact).

Self-care is more than retail therapy

An impulsive buy, a scented candle, a bath bomb, a new essential oil, pillow mist, the list can go on and on, are all products and practices we tend to associate with self-care, a word that gets thrown around steadily that seeks to describe the way in which we tend to ourselves after we have been battered by life and all its woes.

Adjusting to new-mom friends

Maybe it’s just my friends circle, but it currently feels as if everyone and their mother has a baby or one on the way and as much as I would like to tell myself and you the friendships will remain the same with just some extra planning; they evolve in a such a way that requires you  to be re-introduced to a 2.0 version of your friend.

Manners matter

Whenever, as a child, I forgot my table manners or just general etiquette, I recall my elders nagging that it showed that I had no “broughtupsy”. 

Looking beyond the jokes

I recently saw a meme being shared on  Facebook that made me feel a bit sad, and, if I’m being honest, caused me to chuckle a little at how nonchalant we are when it comes to connecting the dots to global problems.

The perfect gift

Purchasing gifts is such a time consuming, hit or miss, mind boggling task, especially when there is no gift registry.

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