Facing the Unexpected on International Women's Day

What happens when life throws you lemons? You make Lemon Achar (pickle!) Read below for an interesting and insightful anecdote, narrated by Farah from her recent performance in Pakistan...

I was invited to perform at an event in Islamabad, hosted by the Women’s Parliamentary Caucus for International Womens Day. The event was in the presence of many government officials across political parties, as well as esteemed guests from various fields.

I had prepared two dance pieces, set to recorded music.

However, it seems that the universe did not want this to be a usual performance.

Earlier, I had done a sound check at the venue. But when I began performing the first piece, after about one minute, the track started glitching. The sound started going in and out. Finally, I just asked them to turn the music off!

Watch the video to see what happened next.

Talk about unexpected!

This moment made me grateful for my training. It allowed me to feel confident and trust in my skills. Looking back, I realize that this performance was even more impactful than being able to dance seamlessly through the whole piece. The spontaneity of the situation and how I handled it was a much important message.

As I said on stage, women have to improvise all of the time! Our ability to move through the obstacles of life is just one of our super powers.

When I think of women in Pakistan, I feel so deeply for the way society often works against them rather than with them. Society does not honor them, respect them, or elevate them. These women are maneuvering through their day-to-day under so many layers of pressure that they probably don’t even realize.

I believe this is a reality not just in Pakistan, but around the world. We have normalized “multi tasking” or “balancing.” We often fail to acknowledge the hard work and energy that goes into a woman's life every day.

It was certainly a strange time and place to have this realization. But my experience at the performance feels like a surreal metaphor for this powerful message.