Give Us this Day our Tandoori Chicken

[Sanjay and hamidm2, I`m sorry you didn`t like this one. Can`t win `em all, huh? Well, there`s always the next one. Thanks for reading this and the others. ]

Its not that we did not like your article. We liked it,definitely. But the comparison of birds and terrorists is something which is hard to accept. No.#34 is right in saying ``The bird flu vs terrorism virus comparison adds a second layer of comparison. This is where I have a problem - I dont think bird flu every time I hear a dove cooing in the morning``. Similarly, I dont think of terrorists when my children play whole day with the birds sparrows, pigeons, crows etc.

If suddenly, they are to be perceived as ``terrorists`` or as #34`s ``messengers of death``, it becomes a bit shocking.

Jawaraha begum jii

I wish to improve my reading, comprehension and writing skills to be able to be included in literary diaspora. Can you suggest some tips? Can you write an article on how to improve`em. Thanks
Sincerely
Zeena(Illetrate with no reading and comprehension skills)

I apoliiiiiigiiseeee, oppolagise, upiligise,apoliisice errrrrr, god, what should I do, Me and my engllllissss, Engliss skills!!!

Very goood arrticclee , kkeeepp iitt uuppp.

#46 burpinder: I`m sorry I gave you the impression that I was pissed off with your comments. What I said in the first part of the interact was not meant for you, really. Feel free to not like my work. I`d like to say that just as a reader has the right not to like what I write and express that opinion, I have the right (on chowk at any rate because of the immediate interaction available) to respond to that criticism.

The part of the interact addressed directly to you I still stand by even if you still disagree with it. I do apologize for my tone if that came across as rude.

Look, I can truly understand if people don`t like/disagree/hate what I write. That comes with the territory of being a writer, of putting my work in the public domain. What annoys me is when someone (mis)reads my work and ascribes motives to it or totally changes it around to mean something else. But even that is part of the risk of being a writer....even though it does piss me off.

#53 Jawahara
{{What annoys me is when someone (mis)reads my work and ascribes motives to it or totally changes it around to mean something else. But even that is part of the risk of being a writer....even though it does piss me off.}}}

No one mis reads your piece of great art or ascribes any motive to it. You see, again you and your confusion . This is exactly what I meant . You have to take a big risk of being a big writer. Afterall fame has to pay the price.

I am sorry ,but, you have proved yourself that you`re unable to take the pressure of discussing your own article with out being PERSONAL. If being writer,you`ll start personal attacks on the readers or mis readers(whatever) then, why would I blame the other interactors?

Again, cool it off, chillaxxxxx

Re: # 45
Nasah
Glad to know you`ve seen it. I picked it up while doing a round of different types of folk music. Actually gypsies are our real migrant birds aren`t they. They`ve been all over.

Zeena, I take back the comment about needing reading and comprehension lessons. Sadly, I think you need intervention from a mental health professional. Please get some.

Jawahara, check out the article of Jhumpa Lahiri in this weeks’ Newsweek. She talks about dealing with her Two different identities, one of a “Daal-Chawal-Eating-with-Hand-Bengali” and the other of Hiding it from her friends growing up. It’s really very interesting. Do check it out.

Here, Jawahara, I dished it out for you.

March 6, 2006 issue - I have lived in the United States for almost 37 years and anticipate growing old in this country. Therefore, with the exception of my first two years in London, ``Indian-American`` has been a constant way to describe me. Less constant is my relationship to the term. When I was growing up in Rhode Island in the 1970s I felt neither Indian nor American. Like many immigrant offspring I felt intense pressure to be two things, loyal to the old world and fluent in the new, approved of on either side of the hyphen. Looking back, I see that this was generally the case. But my perception as a young girl was that I fell short at both ends, shuttling between two dimensions that had nothing to do with one another……

Read the Rest in the Link:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11571059/site/newsweek/

#58

she needs to find something else to write about, how long is she going to milk this?

Thanks Kulharee. I`ll check it out.

(Note: article only.) News media always sensationalize a story to make it interesting. No need to fall for it. I have not spent time in Europe, but my understanding is there is more racism there. It is absolutely unfair to put Americans in the same league. SOME Americans are anti-immigrant - so what? There have always been SOME like that - ever since the time of Baba Adam!

Friendly advice. Take the following vow:

``I, Jawahara Saidullah, do hereby solemnly swear that for the next six months, I will not write anything which primarily relies on my Muslim identity. I will write what comes to my mind and to my heart and what feels worth writing as a decent human being, of which I am one and which I reaffirm to myself - and I am convinced that I have enough of a storehouse of those experiences and those feelings and those insights that I do not have to rely clutching to the false identity of one who can only walk using the crutches of being a Muslim and being a Muslim woman. I refuse to fall into that inextricable trap of others pinning labels on me and I having to spend my time and my energy trying to defend myself for things I have no association with rather than doing what I ought to be doing - for which I was created by the almighty! And I refuse to play victim and I refuse to kow-tow to the mindset of a victim, because I am not a victim and I shall not allow anyone to make me feel like one.``

And you can add the following, just to cover all bases:

``And thank you, O Lord, for individuals like BJ Kumar, who lighted the path again, which I already knew in my own heart!``

#56 Jawahara
Yes, I told you earlier, that you need Psych treatment for your mental confusion. Good , you realised . At least you have insitght. When mental health Patients have intact insight, it is easy to treat their confusion crisis. In the beginning you didn`t have an insight, so, it was hard for you to grasp , wht exactly was wrong with you and what were you going through, then I tried lil hard, and helped your scattered insight to gather it with you, and look what I got, a new Jawahara with completely intact INSIGHT , who is ready for a psych treatment.

Believe me dear, you`ll feel good about your identity , once you`ll have psych counselling, You will be proud of who you are and your self esteem will be really esteemed. You`ll thank your lucky stars that i gave you a good suggestion for psycho therapy.
You also need behavioural therapy as you are unable to take the stress of any discourse and you start blabbering. That is OK, I have all my sympathies with you.

Every confusion will be over, this crisis is for the time being,soon you`ll start enjoying your lil fine glass of wine, with your NON hijaab.

Take care. Love

#56 Jawahara
Just to give you more insight for your article and to detach your insight to help you get out of this identity crisis, here is something for you from an ordinary illetrate interactor.
An identity crisis can be defined as `a psychosocial state or condition of disorientation and role confusion occurring especially in adolescents as a result of conflicting internal and external experiences, pressures, and expectations and often producing acute anxiety. It is apparent from your article that you do indeed have an identity crisis because of your conflicting internal and external experiences and the pressures and expectations from those in the chowk website. You endure conflicting internal and external experiences to an extreme and now you avenge all challenges of discussions by your emotional out burst taking it out on readers via weakness of self. Your anxiety is caused as a result of these external pressures. All you need is insight oriented self relaxed catharsis to calm down and relax.

Re: # 53

No problem. I actually enjoy conspiracy theories when they are well-written (Michael Crichton`s State of Fear, for example). Maybe you needed to develop the theme a little more lucidly. And I realise it`s tongue-in-cheek, but I kinda missed that on first read.

Advice reg. Zeena: her intelligence is self-confessedly average and she suffers from a remarkable lack of appreciation for anything remotely ironic. In short, she is not your target audience. I wouldn`t waste time interacting with her, unless you want to get something off your chest. Recommending her to a mental health practitioner will only prompt 22 more responses from her side, which sooner or later will involve female members of your family indulging in lewd, usually same-sex activities. Consider yourself warned....

Re: # 57

What kind of Bengali eats daal-chawal? She is a disgrace to the community!