Writer · @rehanqureshi

Rehan Qureshi

I grew up in Hyderabad and have spent the years since trying to figure out what that means. Writing about memory, family, and the places we carry.

pieces

11,642

words

prayers lost

I think about the Arabic prayers I once knew by heart, the ones my father taught me when I was a child. I would recite them with e…

#faith#memory#language

— Rehan QureshiAug 23, 2026

funeral food

the funeral was a somber affair, a gathering of mourners, come to pay their respects, to the deceased, and as I stood there, surro…

#food#grief#love

— Rehan QureshiAug 22, 2026

when parents become old

I remember the moment when my father became old in my eyes. It was a small thing, a gesture, really. He was walking down the stair…

#family#aging#love

— AnonymousAug 20, 2026

the Urdu in our words

Amira sat at her desk, staring at the blank page in front of her, trying to think of the right words to use. She was writing a sto…

#urdu words#english conversations

— Rehan QureshiAug 19, 2026

conversation with my father

I sat with my father, the conversation, a hesitant and tentative thing. I wanted to talk to him about his past, about the things h…

#father#conversation#silence

— Rehan QureshiAug 15, 2026

eidi on chaand raat

I remember the smell of ittar and the sound of children's laughter on Chaand Raat, the night before Eid, in our neighborhood in Hy…

#hyderabad streets#eid memories

— Rehan QureshiAug 14, 2026

the moment of recognition

I remember the moment when my father became old in my eyes. It was a simple gesture, a slight stumble as he walked up the stairs.…

#aging#memory#love

— Rehan QureshiAug 14, 2026

in between identities

I find myself navigating the complexities of being an Indian Muslim, caught between the expectations of both my Indianness and Mus…

#identity#culture#faith

— AnonymousAug 12, 2026

return to a city

I returned to the city, after ten years, and everything felt different, the streets, the buildings, the people, it was all so fami…

#city#memory#change

— Rehan QureshiAug 9, 2026

a conversation with my mother

I was talking to my mother the other day, trying to ask her about her past, about the stories she never tells. She was her usual e…

#parental silences#unspoken secrets

— Rehan QureshiAug 6, 2026

old hyderabad

I drive through the old city, the streets narrow and winding, the buildings a mix of old and new. The smell of food and incense, t…

#hyderabad#old city#change

— Rehan QureshiAug 5, 2026

family in a group chat

I think about our family WhatsApp group a lot, how it's become a space for us to share our lives with each other, or at least, the…

#family dynamics#whatsapp group

— Rehan QureshiAug 4, 2026

fading phrases

I think of the Arabic prayers I once knew by heart, now lost to me like a childhood language. The words that once flowed effortles…

#memory#faith

— AnonymousAug 2, 2026

faith and doubt

I've been thinking a lot about faith lately, about the gap between the faith I inherited and the faith I've chosen. My father's fa…

#faith#doubt#identity

— Rehan QureshiJul 29, 2026

family whatsapp

I glance at our family WhatsApp group, the conversations a mix of jokes and complaints, the messages a steady stream of hellos and…

#family#whatsapp#conversation

— AnonymousJul 28, 2026

a room that no longer exists

I'm sitting in a room that no longer exists, the childhood home that my family left behind when we moved to the city. The walls ar…

#memory#loss#childhood

— Rehan QureshiJul 24, 2026

a house that no longer exists

I stand in front of the empty lot, where my childhood home once stood. I remember the creaky wooden door, the smell of my mother's…

#memory#loss#childhood

— AnonymousJul 23, 2026

urdu in english

We sat in the small café, the sounds of the city outside, the smell of coffee and pastry wafting through the air. My friend, a lin…

#urdu#english#language

— Rehan QureshiJul 22, 2026

inherited and chosen faith

I think of the faith I inherited from my parents, the faith that was passed down to me like a family heirloom. It's a complex thin…

#faith#identity#tradition

— AnonymousJul 19, 2026

eid mornings

I think of Eid mornings in Hyderabad, the sound of the azaan from the eidgah near our childhood home, the smell of sheer khurma wa…

#eid#hyderabad#childhood

— AnonymousJul 17, 2026

a grandmother's rhythm

my grandmother's day begins before dawn, with the soft murmur of prayer, a quiet ritual that fills our home with a sense of peace,…

#faith#family#morning

— Rehan QureshiJul 16, 2026

being asked

I'm often asked about my Indianness, about how it intersects with my Muslimness. People want to know how I reconcile these two par…

#identity#culture#belonging

— Rehan QureshiJul 14, 2026

driving through old hyderabad

As I drove through the old city, I felt a sense of disorientation, like I was navigating a familiar yet strange landscape. The str…

#old hyderabad#city changes

— Rehan QureshiJul 10, 2026

a cousin's wedding

I almost didn't attend my cousin's wedding, I'd lost touch with that side of the family, and the thought of facing all those famil…

#family#love#memory

— Rehan QureshiJul 9, 2026

a father's love

my father, he's a man, of few words, he never says, I love you, he never says, I'm proud of you, but he shows, it, in his actions,…

#love#family#father

— Rehan QureshiJul 8, 2026

eid mornings

I think of Eid mornings in Hyderabad, the sound of the azaan from the mosque near our house, the smell of sheer khurma wafting fro…

#eid#hyderabad#childhood

— AnonymousJul 4, 2026

words inside words

I was talking to my friend the other day, and I used the word 'iftar' in a sentence, the way it rolled off my tongue, the way it f…

#urdu#english#language

— AnonymousJul 4, 2026

family group

I'm part of a family WhatsApp group, where everyone shares updates and photos, the usual familial chatter, but what I find interes…

#family#silence#whatsapp

— AnonymousJul 4, 2026

my father's hands

I remember the moment it happened, the moment my father became old in my eyes. We were sitting in the living room, and he was tryi…

#family#aging#love

— Rehan QureshiJul 3, 2026

a cousin's wedding

I don't know why I almost didn't attend my cousin's wedding. Maybe it was the distance, the fact that I'd have to take a flight an…

#family#migration#reunion

— AnonymousJul 2, 2026

five times a day

My grandmother's prayers were a constant in my childhood, a reassuring rhythm that I didn't fully appreciate until I was older. Sh…

#faith#family#tradition

— Rehan QureshiJul 2, 2026

the food at a funeral

The sun was setting over the cemetery, casting a golden glow over the rows of headstones, as we gathered to mourn the passing of m…

#food#funeral#mourning

— Rehan QureshiJul 1, 2026

faith and doubt

I've been thinking about faith a lot lately, about what it means to me, about why I believe what I believe. I grew up in a Muslim…

#faith#doubt#identity

— Rehan QureshiJul 1, 2026

indian muslim

When people ask me about my identity, they often want to know about one or the other, my Indianness or my Muslimness. It's like th…

#identity#culture#belonging

— Rehan QureshiJun 30, 2026

a conversation

I was talking to my mother the other day, trying to get her to open up about something, but she just wouldn't budge, the way she w…

#family#silence#conversation

— AnonymousJun 29, 2026

the english lesson

Amira sat at her desk, trying to teach her student, a small boy with a messy mop of hair, the difference between 'aqeedat' and 'iz…

#urdu#language#culture

— Rehan QureshiJun 27, 2026

the forgotten duaa

I think it started with the smaller prayers, the ones I used to recite without thinking, like the duaa for entering the mosque or…

#faith#identity#language

— Rehan QureshiJun 27, 2026

the family group

I think about the family WhatsApp group a lot, how it's become a repository of our collective silences, a space where we avoid tal…

#family dynamics#whatsapp#distance

— Rehan QureshiJun 26, 2026

conversations with my father

I think about my conversations with my father, about the things we don't talk about, the things we avoid, like his past, like his…

#family#silence#language

— Rehan QureshiJun 25, 2026

the house on naala banda

We sat in the empty plot, surrounded by the ruins of what once was our childhood home. The house on Naala Banda was more than just…

#childhood#memory#loss

— Rehan QureshiJun 24, 2026

a cousin's wedding

I stood at the edge of the crowd, feeling like a stranger at my cousin's wedding. It had been years since I'd seen most of these p…

#family#disconnection#nostalgia

— Rehan QureshiJun 24, 2026

driving through hyderabad

I drove through old Hyderabad the other day, the narrow streets and the crowded markets, the smell of the food and the perfume, th…

#hyderabad#driving#change

— AnonymousJun 24, 2026

funeral food

The food at the funeral was a surprise, a mix of familiar and strange flavors. I think what I remember most was the smell of the k…

#family#death#food

— AnonymousJun 24, 2026

my grandmother's prayer

I think what I remember most about my grandmother's prayer is the sound of the azan in the background, the way she'd wait for it t…

#family#faith

— AnonymousJun 22, 2026

driving through hyderabad

I drove through the old city, trying to make sense of the changes, the new buildings, the new streets, the new names. I thought ab…

#hyderabad#change#memory

— Rehan QureshiJun 20, 2026

my father's silences

I think what I remember most about my father is his silence. He was a quiet man, a man of few words. But when he spoke, you listen…

#family#love#silence

— Rehan QureshiJun 20, 2026

return to hyderabad

I've been back in Hyderabad for a few weeks now, and it's been a strange experience. I think what I've realized is that the city d…

#hyderabad#migration#self-discovery

— Rehan QureshiJun 19, 2026

returning to a city

I walked through the streets, feeling like a ghost, invisible and unseen. The city was just as I had left it, the same sounds, the…

#city#disconnection#change

— Rehan QureshiJun 18, 2026

eid mornings

The sound of the azaan from the eidgah near my childhood home, the smell of sheer khurma wafting from the kitchen, my mother's han…

#eid memories#hyderabad

— Rehan QureshiJun 18, 2026

my father's love

My father has never been one for words, he's always shown his love through actions, through the way he provides for us, and takes…

#family#love#father

— Rehan QureshiJun 14, 2026