Mehreen's Version: Talk Talk

“Mother tongue” is an apt phrase, with the quirk of idiom revealing an underlying truth, or at least a widely-felt sentiment - the languages of our cultures, our homes, offer a comfort not found elsewhere.

In the conversation that follow, one of our intrepid Fohr team members explores this idea with a creator who shares the language they grew up with.  At the heart of their conversation is a recurring question in the digital age: what does “community” mean when the Internet brings us both closer and further apart than ever before, and how do those of us with more than one cultural identity find a sense of belonging and respite in everyday life?

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ESCAPING INTO URDU

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In a country dominated by English, being multilingual shapes not only how you communicate, but also how you view the world. I grew up speaking Urdu at home and English at school, work, and in public, and that divide shaped my sense of identity and belonging. When I speak English, my thoughts flow differently and my interactions take on a different tone. It’s the language used in the “real world.” But in Urdu spaces, I can feel more authentically myself; it’s an escape into a different world, a shift in mindset and perspective.

The majority of the media I consume, from social media and streaming content to subway ads, is in English – a constant intake of information about my daily reality. When I retreat into Urdu and Hindi media, it's like stepping into a sanctuary that feels both familiar and new, comforting and exciting. Media in Urdu and Hindi is rich and diverse, encompassing everything from literature and poetry to music and film. Whether I'm watching a classic Bollywood film or listening to the beautiful melodies of a ghazal (a poem set to music, similar to a ballad), I feel transported. But perhaps the most significant aspect of using my mother tongue in public is the sense of privacy it affords me, a bubble in which I can express myself freely.

My experience of being multilingual is deeply personal, but it speaks to a broader truth about the power of language to shape our experiences. By embracing our linguistic identities, we open ourselves up to new perspectives, cultures, and possibilities. We discover that language is not just a tool for communication, but a gateway to different worlds and ways of being.

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In conversation with creator Dr. Nabila Ismail (@doseoftravel)

Dr. Nabila is a pharmacist turned full-time content creator and entrepreneur. Through her business, @DoseofTravelClub, she puts together worldwide travel experiences for South Asian globetrotters. These are edited excerpts from our conversation.

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MEHREEN AHMED: How did you get into content creation and start your travel club?

DR. NABILA: I started creating content a long time ago, before 2012, but my first solo trip was the summer of my freshman year in college, when I was an au pair in Spain. That was when I really started to document my story, mainly for my friends and my parents, on Instagram; it wasn't for anything. Later, I became a pharmacist. I worked for a couple of years and then I promised myself after three years in the workforce, I would take a year off to go travel. So in 2022, I started traveling, and that was when I built up my platform and got to highlight more of my travel stories because I had more time and was constantly inspired. That’s really when it started, and has turned into a business since then.

AHMED: And now you have a travel club where you host trips specifically for South Asian groups. How did that come about?

NABILA: I feel like I’ve always been on the platform for community… I didn’t see it as being an influencer. It was more like I was sharing things we all struggle with wanting to do, like highlighting my journey as a pharmacy student and traveling. I started to see people organically follow me. They were like - ‘Who’s this South Asian girl traveling by herself?’ And they’d tell me, like, ‘Oh, wow, I’ve never seen a Desi or Muslim girl doing this.’ So the inspiration [for my company] came from the community and me seeing the problem that so many people want to travel but don’t have friends who would go with them. I decided to put it to the test and put the first group trip together. I have no problem hanging out with strangers because I travel alone all the time. When the first Bali trip sold out, I said, ‘Ok, maybe I’ll try this again.’ And it’s kind of been trial and error, but filling a gap that clearly exists - one that I experienced myself.

AHMED: That's amazing. You saw that gap and saw that South Asians didn’t feel like they had that representation - does that also have any influence on the content you create? Do you feel like your being South Asian is embedded in there too?

NABILA: Yeah, I think so. At first, I didn't highlight that because I didn't know if it was just a personal experience that I was going through, and I feel like a lot of the things that we go through may be taboo or vulnerable or topics that we try to avoid or suppress a little bit. So I started to talk about it because people started to ask about it. And I was like, ‘oh, finally, okay, maybe I'm not alone.’ I also realized when traveling that I didn’t see a lot of people who looked like me, probably for the same reasons that I went through, but not everyone would have the courage, finances, or ability to go on their own or have that independence. So I feel like it is very much rooted in my content now because I'm also navigating it now that I've made this my career… I try to take people with me on the journey, and not just the ones to another country.

AHMED: Do the group trips - with South Asian people who have similar goals and interests - feel like you’re in your little South Asian bubble, or do you feel like you're able to really immerse yourself in wherever you're traveling to?

NABILA: When I first started this, I didn’t mean for it to be exclusively South Asian, but because that resonated so much, it kind of turned into that. We try to strike a good balance. We’re there to travel, learn, and immerse ourselves in a different culture. But there are definitely advantages for people of color to travel together in terms of safety and understanding. For example, everyone understands that parents might call a lot or people who say their parents only let them go on the trip because it was a bunch of South Asians. There's way more that goes into it that you don't have to explain to another South Asian person. There’s a comfort level, and I think we bond on a different level from the very beginning.

AHMED: When you're on these trips, or just in general, do you speak other languages? Do you speak other languages in your content?

NABILA: I love language learning. I did launch a Pakistan trip for people to connect with their heritage a little bit more and to be empowered to want to speak Urdu or practice it or brush up on your skills. I don't make content in any foreign languages yet. I tried to will myself to when I was in Pakistan because it would be a great message for other South Asian diaspora people who are trying to change their culture. I also think there's so much value in creating content in different languages, especially since the Indian subcontinent, like Pakistan and India, have the largest populations in the world. There's probably a whole market that I'm missing out on that my content could resonate with, but I see a huge opportunity there and maybe I'll get the courage to speak Urdu on a public platform.

AHMED: You have a very multilingual, multicultural life in general.

NABILA: Yes… and I will say, traveling has helped me appreciate my own culture and language more.