an itinerant observer

I didn’t set out to build anything. In the late 2000s, in Houston, I was doing what I was employed for, pediatric emergency medicine: long shifts, clinical and academic/research competence, the steady rhythm of a life that made sense on paper. And yet, something was off. Not broken. Not dramatic. Just... hollow in places I couldn’t quite name. I was busy, productive, advancing, while feeling, quietly, that the work was losing its soul. Or maybe I was. Around that time, without fully understanding why, I started writing stories for children. Not to teach. Not to intervene. Just to speak plainly and gently about things that had become too loud and technical in adult language. Fear. Illness. Change. Courage. Curiosity. The small, interior weather of a child’s mind that often gets flattened in clinical encounters. That’s where Biloongra – the kitten, the child, the me - came from. It began with a simple instruction. While I was in Houston, wandering through questions of purpose and...

Rakhshee has never done things halfway, and I should have known from the start that her greatest lesson—the art of unyielding resilience—would be her gift to me. She is a teacher in the truest sense, but her methods are far from orthodox. Back in Karachi, she was my history teacher, and her classroom was as much a theater of stories as it was a lecture hall. She did not just teach history; she made us see it, feel it, question it, bringing figures and events to life with a voice that demanded attention. Through her teaching, she subtly reshaped my life’s course, though I did not realize it at the time. Years later, as I drifted deeper into academic medicine, entrenched in medical charts and lectures, I was reminded of Rakhshee’s wisdom—the stories, the humor, and her knack for nudging others toward a broader view of life. Her voice, in many ways, drew me into the world of children’s literature—a realm she opened to me with unexpected passion. She taught me that the only real critics ...

Part I  Meet the Biloongra family members.  BILOONGRA. The central character Biloongra is a fun-loving, compassionate, and mischievous kitten. The exact breed is unknown, but is likely a Persian (tortoiseshell kind), and looks like a much younger version of Luna (my Persian cat, picture below). Biloongra is special because he can talk. Thus he has the ability to comment on his human family members and their peculiarities, irrespective of any coherent responses from them.  Note: for the cultural contextualization of storytelling, Biloongra remains Biloongra i n all languages or dialects, unlike the rest of the characters!  NOORI. The little girl around eight years old, I believe, is the main human child character. Biloongra and Noori have a special bond because like Biloongra, Noori is fun, carefree, forgetful, messy, loving, and caring. They tend to get into trouble together. Noori is assertive and outspoken. She does not take crap from anyone. She fights for her r...