Side B of the
Om Kalthoum tapeWhen I was in my first year of secondary school I learned why my brother, Raqeeb, liked to call me Ruza. One day he gave me a book called Love Letters. When I read the title, the headmistress’ accusing words from three years earlier came back to me.
No one in the house called me by my name. Mother called me ‘Little Mama’ to distinguish between me and Lula, my older sister, whom she affectionately called ‘Mummy.’ I think perhaps she called her this to compensate for losing her own mother at a young age. Whenever I heard my father calling ‘Girl! Where’s the girl?’ I knew that he meant me. Lula called me ‘Pipsqueak’ and never ceased to find it amusing. That was the name I liked best, to the extent that if anyone asked me my name I would almost answer ‘Pipsqueak
