I try and choose not to despise: Aamina Sheikh

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

When everything in life seems balanced.

What is your greatest fear?

Extreme natural disasters.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

Low tolerance.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?

Those who habitually talk too much about others.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

Piety.

On what occasion do you lie?

To avoid manipulative and negative people or situations.

What do you most dislike about your appearance?

Nothing. I’ve grown up volunteering at institutions for those with physical and mental birth defects and am reminded day in and day out that people like me have nothing to complain about and am extremely fortunate and grateful.

Which living person do you most despise?

I try and choose not to despise.

What is your most treasured possession?

My car.

What is your most marked characteristic?

Adaptability.

When and where were you happiest?

Happiness has thankfully been a regular feature but to narrow it down to one instance would be my marriage.

Which talent would you most like to have?

Singing and dancing!

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

I would be a mathematical genius.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

I’ve found my calling, so to speak.

If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?

A film actor in an appreciative, unified, lucrative and progressive industry.

Where would you most like to live?

Istanbul.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

Finding solace in drugs.

If you didn’t do your current job, what would you choose to do?

Practically, I’d be a filmmaker. Although, I’ve recently been fancying myself as a perfumer.

What is the quality you most like in a man?

Humility.

What is the quality you most like in a woman?

Her ability to stand her own ground without being an overt feminist.

Who is your hero of fiction?

Captain Safeguard, for starters in Pakistan.

Who are your heroes in real life?

Anyone who I see making it from scratch to something they strongly believe in is a hero to me. We all have such overwhelming powers and abilities as human beings, those of us who manage to tap into them are heroes to me.

How many hours of load shedding did you experience yesterday?

Six.

Published in the Express Tribune, May 16th, 2010.