July 22, 2020

Chapter 9 Tamara’s house and the family who lived next door.

Tamara got out of the car and she recalls how hard the pavement was.. She looked up at the house that stretched before her.

Number 110 Alma Road. It had white walls and a wooden front door painted black with stain glassed window at the top of the door. To the left of her as she stood facing was Number 100, her father ‘s friends house Uncle Muneer’s house.

Uncle Samir’s house

In front of the house stood, his whole family to welcome her, her mother and her brother. Muneer’s Uncle’s wife, Nadia Aunty as Tamara was told to address her was a tall and very beautiful woman.

She was like most Punjabi women (as Mrs Alvi, Tamara’s mother used to say) very brash and ignorant of how women were supposed to be. Which according to Mrs Alvi was softly spoken in male company and someone who knew her place.

Beside Nadia Aunty was her son Mamoon who was 19 years old and her daughter Sabina who was Tamara’s age perhaps a few months older than her.

Tamara remembers seeing Mamoon’s grey shirt and brown courdroy trousers. His dress sense looked so dull compared to the orange coloured dress she was wearing. Tamara was impressed though with Sabina’s pink dress though. She loved the white lace on the edges. Later she found out that Nadia Aunty had not made it like her mother made her dresses, but had bought it from Mothercare.

Sabina smiled at Tamara as she got out of the car and Tamara smiled back, feeling the warmth of a friendship that was going to blossom.

Mamoon also smiled at Tamara and although he towered above her because he was tall like his mother, bowed his face towards her and touched her cheek with his finger and remarked

“Hello doll!” Tamara did not know what to say but blushed. Tamara could feel the excitement and warmth of this family.

Even before she met them, she felt like already knew them due to the detailed description her father gave her mother when they saw the house before they bought it. The details included the good, the bad and the ugly. More about that later.

Mrs Alvi hugged Nadia Aunty like they were old friends. Nadia Aunty who was a few years older than Tamara’s mother took her by the hand and said she would give a tour of the neighborhood while Mr Alvi and her husband who she referred to as Khan Sahib or Mr Khan got the luggage out of the removal van and brought it into the house.

Seeing her mother lead Mrs Alvi inside the house, Sabina followed in her footsteps and extended her hand to Tamara

“Let me show you and your brother round the neighborhood too and you just have to see our garden” Sabina said this to Tamara in English as Sabina did not speak Urdu only Punjabi.

Tamara  seeing her hand took it. She said to her brother “Tanveer chalo mera pheechay ghum nahin hona” in Urdu meaning Tanveer come keep behind me so you don’t get lost”

Tanveer who had slept during most of the car journey rubbed his eyes and just responded automatically with “Gee Bajii” In Urdu Gee is the politer form of yes reserved for elders and Bajibeing the term you address an older sister.

Tamara was faithful to her other two companions, her doll and her book and took them with her inside the house.

If anything in this blog has really resonated with you and you would like to discuss the subject further with Taniya privately then use this link.

https://calendly.com/contact-3453/15min

 

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taniyahussain34

Taniya Hussain qualified as a Social Worker in 1991 from Coventry University in England, UK. She has been working on the front lines in London UK, consistently holding space for individuals and families in chaos and crisis for three decades especially, children and young people on the margins of society. Taniya studied Psycho-dynamic counselling from 1991 to 1993 at Goldsmiths College in London. Taniya met Sheikha Halima Krausen in 1992 and has been studying Islam with her ever since especially Mystical Islam, Tassawuf (Sufism) and walks on the Chisti path. Taniya fuses Jungian Pyschology and Islamic Psychology and this fusion can best be understood if you read her book Dancing with Darkness which is available on Amazon. It became a Best Seller on Amazon in the UK, U.S and France in April 2025. The book tells the story of Tamara Alvi, a fictional charachter and is a psychological thriller and a story of healing. Taniya started her coaching and consulting business in January 2018 and she works mainly with High Achievers and High Performers and High Performing Leaders, offering reflective spaces since 2018 and what she refers to as THE REFLECTIVE SPACE. Taniya since starting her busines discovered that she is a powerful healer and was shocked that clients were relieved from pain even though they have been diagnosed with a chronic illness. Taniya is delighted to have discovered Paceology, which is the detailed study of PACE. She is the first paceologist. She noticed when working with high performers when you slow down in one area of your life, this causes you to speed up in another area and vice cersa thus leading to increased levels of productivity, creativity, clarity and energy. She brands herself as the Muslim Alchemist because she really is The Muslim Alchemist as she guides you to transfom the base, in other words the shit that you have experienced into GOLD whether that is love of yourself or God or another human being or a healthier body or a life where you feel at peace and calm and fulfilled or more energy or more money. You definintely will feel lighter, more freer and more clearer even if you book one consultation with her or several sessions. Taniya has a very holistic approach when working with individuals and works with you on multiple layers, the emotional, the psychological, the social, the physical, the mental and the spriritual. She uses stories from the Quran and the Bible when working with clients on a one to one basis or in group workshops as well as breathwork, body scanning, cognitive behavioural therapy, neuro linguistic programming, motivational interviewing. systems theory, neuro science. She is trained in multiple modalities as well as using her own Paceology and insists on offering her clients a trauma informed and trauma responsive service. She is constantly integrating her knowledge of the Quran and Bible with her vast social work experience and training. Taniya's extensive ability of applying psycho-dynamic theory to organisational settings, teams and groups as well as to individuals results in those who attend her sessions or workshops as feeling lighter and more energised. Taniya uses skillfully her understanding of the Shadow, that Jung constantly talked about and her Mystical Training. She also has integrated her passion for inter-faith dialogue and the archetypes that Jung often refers to, come alive in her one to one sessions and her group workshops thus resulting in individuals feeling more freer and fulfilled after they stop working with her. Taniya just does not provide clarity she WAKES you up to. Taniya has a great skill in being able to see the blind spots in others and does this in a non judgemental way and a way that you feel safe. She also "untangles energetic knots" (a term she uses for Shadow) in your body to promote healing from mental and physical disease. Clients usually are healed in a short amount of time because she pinpoints the memory, the event, the thought that first caused the disease. She also provides one to one sessios or training workshops to social work teams, school, secure and prison estate on youth justice, knife crime prevention as well asidentification and prevention of early onset of burnout. Taniya has three sons, who were born in 1996, 2001 and 200 and lives in Surrey, England and when she is not coaching or writing songs, blogs and poems, she loves to spend time, travelling, walking, listening to music, watching films or playing cricket. She speaks fluent English and Urdu and basic German and French and is learning Arabic and Hebrew.

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