"Enslaved animals on the streets are my real heroes", Aaminah Haq

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Fitting into my size 26 jeans, abolishing animal cruelty, owning the LVMH group, the monsoon, biryani, and my boy Barack.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

An appetite for self destruction.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?

The usual suspects: dishonestly, double standards, debauchery.

What is your greatest extravagance?

The choices I’ve made and the way I’ve lived my life.

What is your current state of mind?

To reboot and restart.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

Madonna put it rather well in one of her early songs…

On what occasion do you lie?

When Ammar asks me about the whereabouts of the Magnum he’d  gotten himself, or the entire jar of cake rusks that seem to have vanished.

What do you most dislike about your appearance?

The fact that on a good day I look like Kung Fu Panda.

Which living person do you most despise?

People who use animals to earn a livelihood, cockroaches, lizards, politicians, celebrities, sleaze buckets and self proclaimed style pundits. Also the Punjab police, and women who sleep their way to the top. I could go on, but you’d run out of space.

What is the quality you most like in a man?

A great sense of humour, being smart as a whip and yes he shouldn’t look like Shrek.

What is the quality you most like in a woman?

Intelligence and the ability to laugh at herself.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

Obviously and No.

When and where were you happiest?

Every day after the gym.

Which talent would you most like to have?

To be able to surf or win an Olympic medal at something hardcore.

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

My substance abuse days.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

Quitting modelling and getting a 9-to-5 job.

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

One of Sadaf Malaterre’s cats.

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

I am currently dabbling as a freelance journalist and PR consultant, so, in a perfect world, I’d be a buyer for a store, or be the creative/fashion editor of  Bazaar, Vogue, or W. Also, work in an animal sanctuary.

Who is your hero of fiction?

All the characters from Peanuts, Calvin and Hobbes, Catwoman, Katy Keen, the Sandman and Superman.

Who are your heroes in real life?

My mom, my naani, my husband, my friends, and all the animals that I’ve ever had the pleasure of being introduced to, or I see enslaved on our streets.

What’s your favourite quote?

Usually anything my therapist has the misfortune of saying.

How many hours of loadshedding did you experience yesterday?

None; my trusty UPS never lets me down.

Published in the Express Tribune, June 13^th, 2010.