International Women’s Day probably brings the same excitement to me as my birthday, if not more considering I get to celebrate with my sisters AND get a snazzy Snapchat filter. Through the support of the Ryerson Sociology Union and RU Student Life, I had the chance to meet the very brilliant and beautiful poet and artist, Rupi Kaur.
Rupi is a force on stage and she carried the same light in her eyes when we spoke during our interview. It is almost impossible to not be inspired by her work in which she effortlessly seems to stitch words together to say what needs to be said on the topics of womanhood the mainstream media seems to gloss over.
Shout out to our amazing videographer and editor Jose Rosales for letting me drag him around!
I never thought I would get the chance to meet the woman who impelled me to write in my amateur high school Tumblr days (which, let’s be honest, are still ongoing). And even then, after we were done, she told me “you’re really good at your job”. Funny, admitting this was my first on-camera interview.
I’m not going to say I belong in front of the lens but it was a nice switch from pen and paper, I mean fingers and keyboard. I want to thank Rupi and the organizers for giving me this chance to stretch beyond my self-made boundaries.
We often get so carried away with our role models being behind screens that we forget that there are talented and unapologetic women sitting beside us. To quote the guest of honor, “We all move forward when we realize how resilient and striking the women around us are”. The women who led me up to this moment are people I treasure most like my “boss” Tesni, my ever woke friend Anuja, and my queen, my mama. Inspiration to do and be better, thankfully, is a bottomless glass.
Zahra Travels 