Nancy Thompson
Mount Horeb Mail
August 12, 2004

Huma Siddiqui is one of those enthusiastic, upbeat people who gets the most out of life and is always a pleasure to meet. Huma settled in Mount Horeb nine years ago at the invitation of her brother, who resided here at that time. She maintains a close relationship with her two children, a son, 18 and a daughter 22, and works full-time as a certified public accountant at the Coalition Against Domestic Violence. She volunteers nights at the battered women’s shelter, owns her own company, has written a cookbook, Jasmine in Her Hair, and teaches Pakistani cooking with a gentle dose of Pakistani culture thrown in for a good measure. Huma has lived on four continents and through two civil wars in Pakistan and loves the life she has in America.

She said, “If you work hard and follow your dreams here, anything is possible. I believe that if you can’t live the life of your dreams in this country then there is no other place where it can happen. You most like will have to move to another planet.”

She explained her zest for life: “I was born in Pakistan and life there does not encourage women to be independent. It is a life where women are expected to become good wives, mothers and hostesses. The freedom American women have is a foreign concept to Pakistanis but I was fortunate in having a father who was a scientist and he encouraged me to ask questions and to learn. He taught me to listen to myself and said, “you are my daughter, you would know what to do."

Huma admits that her parents were perhaps a bit more lenient with her because she was the only girl as well as the baby in the family. Even today, marriages are still arranged for Pakistani women and dating is not allowed. The groom’s family offers a proposal and the potential bride’s family selects the young man they consider most suitable. However, the bride’s feelings are a large part of that selection. “I definitely had a choice in who I married.” She said. The future couple does not spend any time getting acquainted before the wedding. They may visit and see each other but always in a group setting with other family members present and taking part in the general conversation. Yet divorce is rare because, as Huma explained, “Most Pakistani couples will try very hard to make their marriages work because divorce is a stigma not only to them but to their entire families.” She described her own wedding a s a ten-day affair during which she enjoyed her parents’ offer to go out and select 55 outfits for the event.

Huma talked about the close relationship she had with both of her parents. “ From my mother I learned to perseverance. My mother wanted me to be a traditional wife and encouraged me to learn to cook. Even though we always had servants, my mother would cook for special occasions. I asked her why she wanted me to learn to cook since like my parents, we would have servants too. My mother replied, “Nobody likes to work for a boss who doesn’t know anything.” “I truly enjoy cooking; it reminds me of home and my children are learning about their heritage from it too. The way food is served tells you a lot about a family and their values too.” Many of her cooking classes are hands-on. “People really like to get into it.”

Her book, ‘Jasmine in Her Hair’, which was named in memory of her mother, is a delightful collection of Pakistani recipes with many interesting stories as well. There is even a recipe for a beauty cream called Ubtan, which brides use to exfoliate and smooth their skin before the wedding, and many of the dishes, like Chicken Curry and Chai Tea, are already popular in the United States. Huma also described a special Pakistani tradition in her book called, ‘Scarf Sisters’ which she continued to follow in America. This is an important bond between women in which close female friends exchange scarves and have a party to celebrate their relationship. “I even have a scarf sisters here in Madison and we get together frequently. We can call upon each other in our times of need, too.

Her company, White Jasmine, even offers a Scarf Sisters Basket, as well as many specially blended spices, teas, scarves and unique jewelry. While the company doesn’t have a physical location yet, her products can be purchased from the company web site which also posts many exciting recipes, or they can be purchased from Orange Tree Imports, Whole Foods and the Willy Street Coop.

Huma’s ever-busy schedule includes a book signing at Borders on University Avenue on Wednesday, Aug 11 at 7 p.m., a stop at Whole Foods on August 28 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., cooking demonstrations at the Alliant Energy Center for the Madison Food and Wine Show Oct 15-17, then on to Atlantic City for the Gourmet Show at the end of October.

In September she will present cooking demonstrations on Charter TV channel WYOU called ‘Curry and Coriander’. Huma promised that demo DVDs would be available from the shows and could be obtained from the White Jasmine Gift shop web site, www.whitejasmine.com.