Muniba Mazari (Pakistani artist and motivational speaker)

I was 18 years old when I got married. I belong to a very conservative family, a Baloch family,
where good daughters never say no to their parents. My father wanted me to get married, and all I said was,
“If that makes you happy, “I will say yes.” And of course it was never happy marriage. Just about after two
years of getting married, about nine years ago I was in the car accident. Somehow, my husband fell asleep,
and the car fell in the ditch. He managed to jump out, saved himself. I’m happy for him. But I stayed inside
the car, and I sustained a lot of injuries. The list is a big long. The radius and ulna of my right arm were
fractured, the wrist was fractured, shoulder bone and collarbone were fractured, my whole ribcage got
fractured. But that whole injury that changed me and my life completely, was the spine injury. Many people
came to rescue and gave CPR that dragged me out of the car, and while they were dragging me out, I got the
complete transaction of my spinal cord. Those two and a half months the hospitals were dreadful. I was at
the verge of despair. One day doctor came to me and he said, “Well, I heard that you wanted to be an artist,
but you ended up being a housewife. I have bad news for you. You won’t be able to paint again.” The next
day doctor came to me and said “Your spine injury is so bad. You won’t be able to walk again.” I took a
deep breath, and I said, “It’s all right.” The next day, the doctor came to me and said, “Because of your spine
injury and the fixation that you have in your back, you won’t be able to give birth to a child again.” That
day, I was devastated.

I started to question my existence. Why am I even alive? So what kept me going was, one day I
asked my brothers, “I know I have a deformed hand, but I’m tired of looking at these white walls in the
hospital and wearing these white scrubs. Bring me some colors, bring me some small canvas. I want to
paint. So the very first painting I made was on my death bed, where I painted for the very first time. What an
amazing therapy it was without uttering a single word, I could paint my heart out. I could share my story.
People used to come and said, “What lovely painting, so much color. Nobody could see the grief in it. Only I
could. And that day, I decided that I’m going to live life for myself. I’m not going to be that perfect person
for someone. I’m just going to take this moment, and I will make it perfect for myself, and I’m going to fight
my fears. So, I wrote down, one by one, all those fears, and I decided that I’m going to overcome these fears
one at a time. You know what was the biggest fear? Divorce. But the day I decided that this is nothing but
my fear, I liberated myself by setting him free, and I made myself emotionally so strong that the day I got
the news that he’s getting married, I sent him a text that I’m so happy for you, and I wish you all the best.
And he knows that I pray for him today.

Number two was I won’t be able a mother again, and that was quite devastating for me. But then I
realized, there are so many children in the world. All they want is acceptance. There is no point of crying
just go and adopt one, and that’s what I did. I gave my name in different organizations, different orphanages,
and I waited patiently. Two years later, I got this call from a very small city in Pakistan. I got a call and they
said “Are you Muniba Mazari? There’s a baby boy, and would you like to adopt? I could literally feel the
labor pains. Yes, yes, I’m going to adopt him! I’m coming to take him home. And that day, Neal was two
days old, and today he’s six. You know when you end up being on the wheelchair, what the most painful
thing? People think that they will not be accepted by other people, because we, in the world of perfect
people, are imperfect. So I decided to appear more in public. I started to paint. I have done a lot of modeling
campaigns. I decided that I’m going to join the national TV of Pakistanis an anchor person. I became the
National Global Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women Pakistan, and now I speak for their rights of
women and children. I was featured in BBC 100, Women for 2015. I’m one of the Forbes 30 under 30 for
2016. So, when you accept yourself the way you are, the world recognizes you. It all starts from wit hin. We
have this amazing fantasy about life. This is how things should work. This is my plan, it should go as per
my plan. If that doesn’t happen, we give up. I never wanted to be on the wheelchair, never thought of being
on the wheelchair. This life is a test and a trail, and the tests are never supposed to be easy, so when you’re
expecting ease from life, and life gives you lemons, then you make the lemonade, and do not blame life
for that. It is okay to be scared, it is okay to cry. Everything is okay, but giving up should not be an option.
They always say that failure is not an option. Failure should be an option because when you fail, you get up,
and then you fail, and then you get up, and that keeps you going. Embrace each and every breath that you
are taking, celebrate your life, live it. Don’t die before your death. Real happiness lies in gratitude, so be
grateful, be alive and live every moment! Live every moment.

 conservative (adj) traditional

 ditch (n) a long narrow open hole dug into the ground usually at the side of a road or field, to remove
unwanted water
 sustain (v) suffer-to experience sth bad
 fracture (v) to break or crack ; to make sth break or crack
 CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation): a method used to keep someone alive in a medical emergency, in
which you blow into their mouth then press on their chest and then repeat the process
 dreadful (adj) extremely unpleasant (terrible)
 transaction of sth –the process of doing sth
 at/on the verge of sth –to be at the point where sth is about to happen
eg. Jess seemed on the verge of tears.
 despair (n) the feeling of having lost all hope
 devastated (adj) extremely upset and shocked
 deformed (adj) having a shape that is not normal because it has grown wrongly
 scrubs (n) the special clothes worn by surgeons when they are doing medical operations
 literally (adv) exactly
 labor pain ( n) pain during childbirth
 anchor person (n) a person who presents a live radio or television programme
 Goodwill Ambassador (n) a famous person who represents an organization by educating the public
 feature (v) to include or to be included as an important part
 fantasy (n) a pleasant situation that you imagine but that is unlikely to happen
 trial (n) the process of testing the ability, quality or performance of sb/ sth esp before you make a final
decision about them
 embrace (v) hug –to put your arms around sb and hold them in a friendly way

An adjective that ends in -ING is used to describe: the characteristic of a person, a thing or a situation.
An adjective that ends in -ED is used to describe: a feeling (or how a person feels) or an emotion.

1. I was really bored in that presentation.

2. That was a really boring presentation.

Complete the adjectives with -ed or – ing.

1. Thank you. That lesson was really interest___.

2. It’s my birthday tomorrow so I’m very excit___.
3. Look at the view! It’s amaz____.
4. I can't sleep! That noise is really annoy____.

 excited - exciting frightened- frightening surprised- surprising

 tired- tiring worried- worrying confused- confusing