5 Pakistani women we envy

Almost every straight girl harbours a girl crush every now and then. Before you launch into your “Haye Allah, how un-Islamic!” diatribe, let me explain that we’re not talking about a crush per se.

The girl crush describes how the image of a particular female incites a toxic combination of insane jealousy for their talents, terrible envy for their looks and an infinite amount of admiration for their life.

And of course, we crush from a distance and if we were ever face-to-face with her — we’d never be able to tell her how cool we really think she is —because that would totally uncool, right?

Here are five women who inspire us to try harder, better and never give up on our dreams.

1- Mahira Khan — Actor

No one really needs an introduction to Mahira Khan — she brought Khirad to life in “Humsafar”, dropped jaws on the runway in that gorgeous Feeha Jamshed red coat and made us all believe in the power of Nestle Nesvita.

With her looks, we assume that she’s the kind of girl who never, ever had to try or work hard in her life. And yet she does, according to our sources. Even when she played the plain Khirad, in a simple shalwar kameez, duppata perched on her head and no makeup, she looked stunning.

2- Sharmeen-Obaid Chinoy — Film-maker

So we admit, we had no idea who she was and what she did before Saving Face...but ever since then, we can’t help but hate her life. She hobnobbed with A-list actors at the Oscars, has multinational brands backing her projects and is actually making a positive difference in this world.

She’s a woman, working for the betterment of women. She brought forward a subject that had long been buried and forgotten by our masses yet its victims continued to pile up in numbers. How many of us Pakistani working women can claim that?

3- Frieha Altaf  — Event Manager

You know a woman is going to be interesting, when enough people hate her already. And that’s the deal with ex-model and CEO of one of the most popular event management companies, Frieha Altaf. She’s a one-woman fashion force, often called unapologetically rude and cutthroat by some of her peers, but still, even they’d all agree that she’s one woman who knows how to get the job done — and done well.

You can see her swinging her perfect long hair at every fashion-related event, barking orders at her team, and charming audiences with her dimpled smile. The fact that she singlehandedly handles her business and kids is inspiring enough for us to want to be her.

4- Nadia Ali —  Singer

One look at the thirty-one-year-old Nadia Ali and you’d think she’s one of those exotic international models whose ethnicity is hard to place. But she’s a singer, who was brought up in Queens, New York and gained attention as the frontwoman of the band iiO, after their 2001 hit “Rapture” reached No 2 on the UK Singles Chart. She was discovered at 17 at an office Christmas party.

Her music videos have her showing off her killer fashion sense, her toned body and a sultry face that could get men to fall in prostration.

5- Hina Rabbani Khar — Politician

No matter where she goes, what she wears, and what she says, Foreign Minister of Pakistan Hina Rabbani Khar always gets everyone’s attention. Not only is she the first female to head the Ministry of Foreign affairs, she’s also the youngest. We love her signature style Jackie O glasses, monotone shalwar kameezes, and of course, her Hermes bags.

Published in The Express Tribune, Ms T, August 12^th, 2012.