When she was growing up in London, Radiya Hafiza used to love reading fairy tales, losing herself for days in the timeless magic of Cinderella, Rapunzel and Sleeping Beauty. It wasn't until years later that she realised something was missing from these stories. People who looked like her.
And so, bored in a temping job, Hafiza began to play with ways of incorporating her Bangladeshi heritage and some aspects of her Muslim identity into a children’s book.
“I started imagining myself in Rapunzel’s shoes, trapped in a tower,” she remembers. The wonderful guiding principle to her debut came quickly afterwards – “Rumaysa, Rumaysa, let down your hijab.”
That take on the Rapunzel story is emblazoned on the front cover of Rumaysa: A Fairytale, published this month. It's a remarkable achievement; rather than simply amending these well-worn stories with names, locations and cultural references recognisable to South Asia, Hafiza embarked on something far more ambitious.
Her hero, Rumaysa, starts off in the tower recognisable from Rapunzel, but then drops into another story to assist Cinderayla, finally helping Sleeping Sara find her freedom.
What’s more, these are retellings where not everything ends happily ever after, a Prince Charming whisking them away to save the day. These girls are heroes in their own right.
“The characters began to take on lives of their own,” says Hafiza, “and as they did, it became apparent that they could save themselves; they could make their own happy endings through their celebration of sisterhood and friendship.
“You know, a lot of these classical tales do have some problems when it comes to the role of girls and women in society, and I wanted to write something that felt truer to my experiences.”
Imagine if I had these stories growing up; maybe I wouldn't have felt so different, so alienated
In fact, all three storylines feature girls who are desperate for escape. And while this isn’t in any sense a political book – these are gloriously readable fairy tales for children and their families – it does make some nuanced points about empowerment and gender equality.
“Growing up, I definitely felt that sense of specific things being expected of me as a girl, or being decided for me by society,” says Hafiza. “And so it was quite important that the book could have people breaking out of situations where they feel trapped.”
Hafiza first started to write about these expectations and prejudices in her wonderfully entertaining blog, The Good Assistant. Written anonymously – although she has since outed herself – it's a perceptive, witty and semi-fictional account of being "the Muslim" in a publishing office. "A banterous take on all the wild stuff white people say to anyone who … isn't white," as she puts it. It got her noticed by agents and publishers, and the blog and her children's debut share the same sense of wry, matter-of-fact humour.
One of its more powerful entries is You Will Not Fit In, in which Hafiza's character grapples with the difficulty of getting a job when she does not have an English-sounding name. When she gets that job, she has to then field "their incessant fascination with discovering how oppressed I am".
What she hopes Rumaysa can do is normalise the conversation at a much earlier age. Hafiza admits that when she finally did come across books with a “brown perspective” they usually featured arranged marriages, extremists or terrorists.
It’s not just a fun read, either. Rumaysa looks wonderful, the adventures brought to life by Rhaida El Touny’s expansive illustrations. When Hafiza first saw the picture of Rumaysa throwing the scarf down the tower, it was an emotional moment. “It just hit me then; imagine if I had these stories growing up; maybe I wouldn’t have felt so different, so alienated. I mean, I used to believe people like me couldn’t feature in stories – I didn’t start writing from a Muslim perspective until I went to university.
“So yes, it’s so powerful for people to be able to see characters on a page with brown skin, just hanging out and going on adventures,” she says.
Rumaysa’s adventures in the world, you sense, have only just begun.
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Company profile
Name: Thndr
Started: October 2020
Founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: pre-seed of $800,000
Funding stage: series A; $20 million
Investors: Tiger Global, Beco Capital, Prosus Ventures, Y Combinator, Global Ventures, Abdul Latif Jameel, Endure Capital, 4DX Ventures, Plus VC, Rabacap and MSA Capital
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The stats
Ship name: MSC Bellissima
Ship class: Meraviglia Class
Delivery date: February 27, 2019
Gross tonnage: 171,598 GT
Passenger capacity: 5,686
Crew members: 1,536
Number of cabins: 2,217
Length: 315.3 metres
Maximum speed: 22.7 knots (42kph)
RESULT
Bayern Munich 3 Chelsea 2
Bayern: Rafinha (6'), Muller (12', 27')
Chelsea: Alonso (45' 3), Batshuayi (85')
if you go
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct to Kolkata from Dh1,504 and Dh1,450 return including taxes, respectively. The flight takes four hours 30 minutes outbound and 5 hours 30 minute returning.
The trains
Numerous trains link Kolkata and Murshidabad but the daily early morning Hazarduari Express (3’ 52”) is the fastest and most convenient; this service also stops in Plassey. The return train departs Murshidabad late afternoon. Though just about feasible as a day trip, staying overnight is recommended.
The hotels
Mursidabad’s hotels are less than modest but Berhampore, 11km south, offers more accommodation and facilities (and the Hazarduari Express also pauses here). Try Hotel The Fame, with an array of rooms from doubles at Rs1,596/Dh90 to a ‘grand presidential suite’ at Rs7,854/Dh443.
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
Navdeep Suri, India's Ambassador to the UAE
There has been a longstanding need from the Indian community to have a religious premises where they can practise their beliefs. Currently there is a very, very small temple in Bur Dubai and the community has outgrown this. So this will be a major temple and open to all denominations and a place should reflect India’s diversity.
It fits so well into the UAE’s own commitment to tolerance and pluralism and coming in the year of tolerance gives it that extra dimension.
What we will see on April 20 is the foundation ceremony and we expect a pretty broad cross section of the Indian community to be present, both from the UAE and abroad. The Hindu group that is building the temple will have their holiest leader attending – and we expect very senior representation from the leadership of the UAE.
When the designs were taken to the leadership, there were two clear options. There was a New Jersey model with a rectangular structure with the temple recessed inside so it was not too visible from the outside and another was the Neasden temple in London with the spires in its classical shape. And they said: look we said we wanted a temple so it should look like a temple. So this should be a classical style temple in all its glory.
It is beautifully located - 30 minutes outside of Abu Dhabi and barely 45 minutes to Dubai so it serves the needs of both communities.
This is going to be the big temple where I expect people to come from across the country at major festivals and occasions.
It is hugely important – it will take a couple of years to complete given the scale. It is going to be remarkable and will contribute something not just to the landscape in terms of visual architecture but also to the ethos. Here will be a real representation of UAE’s pluralism.
Trump v Khan
2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US
2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks
2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit
2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”
2022: Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency
July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”
Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.
Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”
What vitamins do we know are beneficial for living in the UAE
Vitamin D: Highly relevant in the UAE due to limited sun exposure; supports bone health, immunity and mood.
Vitamin B12: Important for nerve health and energy production, especially for vegetarians, vegans and individuals with absorption issues.
Iron: Useful only when deficiency or anaemia is confirmed; helps reduce fatigue and support immunity.
Omega-3 (EPA/DHA): Supports heart health and reduces inflammation, especially for those who consume little fish.
Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut
Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”
