Today's #myfather illustration is inspired by one of the most celebrated Urdu writers in the world, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, & his beloved daughter, Salima Hashmi, Pakistani artist, former college professor & anti-nuclear weapons activist. I was watching a video in which Salima remembers her father - how he inspired her as an artist & as a human being, how he never gave up when times got rough, & how he always found a reason to laugh in every adversity.

In his own words:
Speak, your lips are free.
Speak, it is your own tongue.
Speak, it is your own body.
Speak, your life is still yours.

See how in the blacksmith's shop
The flame burns wild, the iron glows red;
The locks open their jaws,
And every chain begins to break.

Speak, this brief hour is long enough
Before the death of body and tongue:
Speak, 'cause the truth is not dead yet,
Speak, speak, whatever you must speak.
(Translated by Azfar Hussain)
To know more inspiring father-daughter stories, click here!