I Am Malala

Born on July 12, 1997, in Pakistan’s Swat valley, Malala Yousafzai became the youngest person ever to be feted with the Nobel Prize. The young activist, who is now a household name, graduated from Oxford University last year with an honours degree in philosophy, politics and economics. This reality is vastly different from the one she lived in till she survived an assassination attempt at the age of 15 when she was shot at by the Taliban in Pakistan in 2012.

The humanitarian is now the author of several books and has a multi-year programming partnership with Apple TV+, in addition to being the founder of the Malala Fund – that works towards ensuring girls the world over have access to quality education.

As she turns a year older, we look at at some interesting facts about the activist.

The Mighty Pen

Yousafzai, who used to study at the Khushaal Public School, previously run by her father Ziauddin Yousafzai, started blogging for the BBC at the age of 11. She used to write about living under the Taliban rule using a pseudonym Gul Makai.

You can read her blogs from the time here.

Shining Star

Malala has an asteroid named after her.

The 2010 ML48, was officially named ‘316201 Malala’ in 2015. As per NASA, Asteroid Malala is in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter and orbits the sun every five-and-a-half years. It is about four kilometers in diameter, and has a very dark surface – similar to the colour of printer toner.

File photo (March 31, 2018): Malala poses for a photograph at an all-boys Swat Cadet College Guli Bagh, during a visit to her hometown, some 15 kilometres outside of Mingora.

All For A Good Laugh

Malala has a soft corner for TV, especially for comedies. The young graduate is a fan of ‘Ted Lasso’ and reportedly also loves spending her spare time watching ‘Rick and Morty’.

Name Game

Malala, whose name means ‘grief-stricken’, was named after Malalai of Maiwand – the Afghan heroine who rallied Pashtun fighters leading her people to victory in the Battle of Maiwand.

File photo: Malala accepts the Nobel Peace Prize Award during the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony at Oslo City Town Hall on December 10, 2014 in Oslo, Norway.