Usra Murtaza

Early life and background

As a child, Murtaza wanted to become an architect, and she says watching buildings being built gave her a sense of hope. Growing up, she planned to be a homemaker. Her mother worked before marriage and stopped after she married. [1]

Murtaza's family has long let each person choose what they want to do, and her parents gave her and her siblings a great deal of freedom. As a child she spent hours writing and reading, and she has had a close bond with storytelling since childhood. She also read many Indian magazines in their digital form. [1]

Education

Murtaza is the first woman in her family to go to university. By ninth and tenth grade she was strong at computers and maths. She had planned to study computer science and IT, because she was strong at programming, but she chose media studies mainly to challenge herself. [1]

She attended IMCG for college and completed college at G-10/4. She completed a bachelor's degree in Media and Communication Studies. She studied at the Islamic University, and says she was admitted to it by chance. [1]

Lolzstudios

Murtaza worked with Lolzstudios. She knew of Lolz through Instagram, and she applied to Lolz after hearing about it through another person. She sent CVs to several other places at the same time. When a call back came, she decided to go and show up, and she says that decision changed everything for her. [1]

Murtaza thought she could do content writing and planned to try it. She took the opportunity as a chance to see how much she could do. In her first project, she did the research and also wrote. She says research is her strength, because she has long been used to finding answers herself, and that she has always enjoyed finding things out. [1]

Career

The move from university to full-time work was difficult for Murtaza, because she had never pictured herself in that role. She describes herself as a working woman and was working full time from April. She says she had no plan to work on screen. [1]

Murtaza works on Happy Chirp and says she owns every platform she works on. She says she treats any work she has contributed to as her own. She also says she will need a break to fit into a new role. [1]

Views

Murtaza says a good work environment is a basic right, not a personal achievement. She says a workplace is right for her when she can speak openly in it. She also says it is better to say a difficult thing than to hold it in. [1]

Murtaza says earning for herself makes her feel much better as a person. She says she will not let money shape the power balance in a relationship. She says that, growing up, marriage was an escape for people like her, but that she now says marriage is not an escape, based on what she has seen among people around her. She says constant pressure makes it hard for her to define her path or goal. [1]

Murtaza says meeting the right friends is very important, especially at university. She also says everything now comes through social media. [1]

Personal life

Murtaza says she was a people pleaser while growing up. She says she avoided telling people directly what she felt, and that her face shows her feelings clearly, so people can tell when she dislikes something. She says she is loud at home but was quiet outside it. She describes herself as a very good listener. [1]

Murtaza has always been the responsible one in her family. She writes down the next day's tasks every night, and says she completes tasks from start to finish and does not push them to the next day. [1]

Murtaza says she has ownership of her own money. Since her first salary, she has not taken money from home for anything. [1]

Appearances

Frequently asked questions

References

1. Why women work: Usra Murtaza on independence and identity . Thought Behind Things , 2021-06-04.