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Outlook: Discovering my sister's inner world

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A faded photo of Fauzia aged seven sitting next to her 5-year-old sister Arifa in Lahore

28/06/2021 GMT

Discovering my sister's inner world

BBC World Service - Outlook, Discovering my sister's inner world

A story of sisterly love, migration and art

When Fauzia Akbar was 45 she died of a mysterious illness. Her sister Arifa embarked on a journey to know more about the sister she'd lost and the illness that had killed her.

A complicated sisterhood: growing up, Arifa Akbar and her older sister Fauzia had shared everything from a bedroom, to secrets, to favourite movies and books. They'd moved from Lahore, Pakistan to London for a better life but ended up destitute. The change took its toll on Fauzia who developed depression as a teenager. Complex feelings of jealousy and anger took over and the two became estranged. Then in 2016, when Fauzia was 45, she contracted a mysterious illness. The sisters reconciled at Fauzia's bedside before she passed away but Arifa wanted to know more about the sister she'd lost and the illness that had killed her. She tells Anu Anand about an extraordinary journey that began in North London and took her all the way to the Sistine chapel in Rome. 

Arifa's memoir is called Consumed.

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Picture: Fauzia and Arifa Akbar in Lahore
Credit: Courtesy of Arifa Akbar

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