dhaani "Ambition in me has always been about the battles inside" Nadia Jamil, Actor - Part 1 , Episode 26
This happened to be my first podcast sitting face to face with my guest who was none other than Nadia Jamil. The conversation was caffeinated, speckled with pauses, lots of tearful blotches, hearty laugher, admissions , permissions, pronunciations and enunciations. This is a 2-part conversation where Nadia candidly talks about Lahore, lessons, trusting and connecting, her lineage and her parents, her love for nature and her extreme love for words.
The beats, rhythms, rhymes of her acting career, her role as a mother, anger management and the importance of establishing boundaries in relationships.
"I started school at a Catholic convent in London and ended it on a Catholic convent in Lahore. After my A levels I went on to study under the guidance of Professor Eqbal Ahmad in the USA. I studied drama and political science with a minor in creative writing.
However my learning has come from everywhere, everyone and everything. Not just the academic institutions I have been in.
I grew up surrounded by art, culture, politics and romance. I witnessed and learned from it but also from hypocrisy, lies, violence and posturing. I saw the beautiful, the ugly and keep learning from it all. What I want to be, want I do not choose to be. I love all my plays. I’m not a deeply ambitious actor but both my times at The Globe theatre and my experiences with street theatre in Lahore are acutely important to me.
Performing a strong script on Stage is where I am the bravest.
I am a teacher of mindfulness, drama, posture, expression and self confidence. Also an anchor and tv host, connection and communication is important to me. I write. I am a story teller.
I am a student.
I run a small creative arts institute called The Empty Space- Nadia Jamil’s Imaginarium. It is primarily for children from vulnerable back grounds, but also for all children, youth and elders. I am a staunch advocate and activist for the rights of children. However I will speak for animals, nature, the vulnerable anywhere and everywhere I can.
I am a proud survivor of abuse and learn every day that the most powerful friend and companion I must invest in, is myself. I am a mother. Learning to be a better one helps me fulfil my ambition to be a better human being. There are too many lessons being taught every second for me to name one, but an important one is to learn to get up, hold your own heart and pull yourself up. Knowing you will fall again, knowing you have to strengthen yourself to haul your self up again. And in that process look around. Your greatest teacher is Nature, let it heal you. Your second greatest teacher is childhood. The child in you, the children around you. Learn how to bounce back from them.
Serve. Serve everything selflessly. Without agendas. Without expecting. Prepare yourself. This life is an incubation period, it is a womb. Laugh, laugh easily and in good humour. Never cruelly. Laugh at yourself, at the ridiculous, at the wonderful. Laugh because you know you CAN get up. Laugh in joy, you have the will to cut through your pain. You are a survivor. Laugh with me." Nadia Jamil
Nadia Jamil's Social Media Handles
Twitter: NJLahori
Facebook : Nadia Fazal Jamil
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