In the Dying Light

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takeiteasy, you are justified in pointing out the absurdities, but be accurate. its not shivas penis, there is a yoni (vagina) there too, the linga is seated in a yoni..take a good look. and burning of brides is wrong. so, since this justification is used for bombing of the temples, i can see your point.

i think the muslims should make a list of absurdities they want to be abolished from low hindu practices before they will cease the bombings, that would be a fair warning.

Re: # 64 atleast they died doing a thing and not serving a family that wud fleece the hell out of their daughter in laws family to become better off

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Re: # 63

Just like the stampede in stinky Mecca to control the Muslim cockroach population.

i have been to benaras its a dirty ,filthy, place smells that would make u puke , with have naked.. at times naked men sitting on the ghats that havent had bath for years and taking opium of course that is also rich culture and these are the holy men all hindoos go gaga bout .................thier culture and tradition.....really wonderful nice culture and talking bout traditions burning women for dowry is a good tradition i hope it will solve india`s population problem sooon

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Some twenty years back passed through Banares, sucked in it’s smells, sounds and images for an hour and moved on. But then I lived in Allahabad for a few years and I believe Banares is but only a lot more intense Allahabad. Crimson towns these! Paan chewing men looking at heaven while talking to you until their mouth saturated with saliva and splat! The wall gets colored. Arms sporting colored threads, saris, bangles, gamchaas, bindies, hard cover of holy books and the cloth that wraps them, fluttering flags atop temples and ugly unplastered walls of houses; everywhere shades of red. From distance these places look inanimate, trapped in a forgotten time warp yet like anthills bustling with activities inside.

I think the writer made a mistake looking for ‘Nothing’ in Banares. She should have instead looked for ‘Void’. Buddha in me says these words connote different things and I tend to agree. Void is everywhere permeating everything. You could see it in the wrinkles of that rickshaw-puller politely trying to strike a conversation, in the hollow boast of boatman, in the beady glazed eyes of shocked widows, and blank innocence of orphaned children and awed bystanders.

It must have been at the place where bomb exploded and surely in the mind of brainwashed zombie who planted the bomb.

But ‘Void’ is not a substitute for ‘Nothing’ if you want nothing but ‘Nothing’

Re: # 48 and #36
Yes, Moslem women do wear saris - all over Eastern India, certainly, and even in Bihar and MP. Even Gujarati Moslems wear saris. I`ve seen South Indians in them too. Salwar kameez is the dress of Punjabis, basically, regardless of religion. And I don`t think laughing at shaaris is appropriate - it`s as correct for a Bengali to call it a shaari as it is for a Hindiwallah to call it a sari.

Ref#27
[It is pieces like this that makes me your ``bhagat``. I went to Benaras during my last trip to India and went to some of the same places that you mention: the saree shops, the ghaats, the boat trip down the ghats with their burning pyres and the Kaashi Mandir. I also visited Saarnath and a bizaare place where a sects of sadhus live who eat human caracass. But I would be darned if I could write even a paragraph capturing the sights, sounds and smells the way you have. Did you go to Ganga to see the famous ``suboh-Benaras`` or the evening aartis? You probably did not, otherwise you would have written about them.]

Dear DostMittar ji,

Do you realise that there is carnage and bloodshed? Innocent people died.Farzana do not. There is somthing called empathy and ideologically blind people like you, farzana, modi and muslim fundamentalist don`t have it.

In your case it may be age.

I will quote Daag

Hosho Hawaas taab-o-twan Daag kho chukay,
Chalney ka ab samaan hai saamaan to gaya.

I feel Muslims have big problem. Their only solution is in getting rid of the koran and sex maniac prophet who was SOD man that is Sura On Demand man. He kept on coming with so called revelation that benfitted him sexually, financialy, politically and left a legacy of manical cult that is called Islam. Poor Muslims they have to find their spirtuality, redemption, peace of mind from a person like Mohammad. They have a difficult job to rationalise this person`s life and make sense of their own existence in this world. It is difficult.
Mohammad left muslims a world view that is similar to Georg Bush that is like ` us and them`. We are lucky that Bush can be controlled and he does not have followers like mohammad.

All this violence caused by Muslims in the world will not give them peace or redemption and I don`t know about the promised Hoors after the death.

GIGO!
Chowk will be like my PC for next couple of articles/days.
``So, please leave the popcorn and Coke... ``

#55 by bjkumar

Very poignant Beej bhai! Beautifully expressed!

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I had commented to Salim in the past that Farzana is a very mediocre writer of the English language. My impression was based on the few articles of her that I had bothered to read beyond the first few lines. And there have been some real BAD ones.

Well, let me admit here that I was wrong. Salim, if you are listening, I hope you take note.

This short story was well-written. Not earth-shattering, but definitely above average.

About the substance of the story. I think this story illustrates the peculiar dilemma Indian Muslims find themselves in. Kind of like feeling like aliens in their homeland. In Varanasi, wanting to experience the essence of the city, but somehow not connecting. Strangers in their own land. But then, I could be wrong about this.

Anyway, a nice read.