Chowk is 9 Today

I stumbled upon chowk exactly 2 years ago as atif1. Within a span of 21 days of interacting, I managed to get myself banned. From then on, I learned my ropes to stay afloat, even though at times I came precariously close to getting banned. There were a few times when I sat down at my computer not knowing whether I would be able to log into chowk or not.

Having said this, I must admit that before I was introduced to chowk by a friend of mine, my sexually laden intellectual discourses were limited to expressing them through emails, conversations in friends` houses, and during women`s support group sessions in a local liberal arts college. Chowk taught me how to be articulate in my intellectual discourses without necessarily crossing the borders of sexual harassment - a persistent problem I faced in those women`s support group meetings. Along the way, chowk staff was kind enough to publish 3 of my ``writings``, and a couple of photographic galleries.

Chowk gave me an audience whereby I could get my thoughts grilled. Now even my critics acknowledge that my articles and ilogs awakened their ``child within``. It is sad but true...when I stepped into my adulthood and noticed how grown ups acted, I subconsciously refused to grow up. Although I had no control over my physical growth, and god knows I am amply endowed, I could and did control my mental growth.

And so I thank chowk staff for giving someone like me a medium to express my thoughts, misgivings, and inhibitions. Most of all, I thank chowk staff for letting me be what I am, most of the times.

Happy Birthday Chowk! And Happy Birthday Pakistan!

Congrats chowk!

I must admit I have nt been as loyal to chowk as I would ve liked to, but the article I liked best this year - and possibly one of the strongest contenders for the last 9 was http://www.chowk.com/show_article.cgi?aid=00006347&channel=chaathouse&start=0&end=9&chapter=1&page=1
by Salim.

Hope Chowk lasts forever ( well maybe one day it ll metamorphise into a blog? )

Chowk.com is certainly better than Naseeb.com. My articles have been published on both sites.

Naseeb.com, thanks to its inexperienced Pakistani nationalist editor, is terribly biased towards Pakistan. The censorship is pathetic on Naseeb. Any comment/talkback that criticises Pakistan or Jinnah or even Yasser Latif Hamdani (the Naseeb editor`s husband) is conveniently chopped off. Just like Pakistan, Naseeb stinks of dictatorship.

Chowk.com, because it is being managed primarily by Indians, is democratic. And why censorship at all? It seems that interactos who are criticising Chowk for its lack of censorship are forgetting that one of the best advantages of the Internet is that allows you to express yourself without any inhibition. You can shower flowers or spit venom on a person/community fearlessly.

hai hai, i wasn`t aware that lack of censorship or this glorious thing we all hail as free speech gave us free license to spit on a community. but that`s just it, isn`t it? some people use the internet to express their racist, group-hating attitudes and they think it`s okay. and if they think it`s okay on chowk to do that, and our fearless chowk leaders don`t do anything, then what`s the praablem? right?

whatever.

Exactly my thoughts ana...

People need to understand that no one is asking for censorship here.... I never see any type of abusive post on Naseeb so I believe that editor there is doing a good job...

Happy Birthday Chowk.com! Long life for you!

HP, salaams!

i don`t know if we have the same thoughts `cause i was being sarcastic about there being no praablem. there is a praablem, and if you remember, i used to advocate censorship across the board. but now, i just think that if we don`t have the dil-o-dimaagh to act with decency ourselves, then why should something like chowk interact guidelines, and a chowk ``hunter`` stop us? let it all out. . . `cause those who do, show what small small hearts and minds they have. even if this is a forum, where ``superficiality`` is really all we see in most interactors, there is something to be said about those who lump all pakistanis or indians or whomever together, and say vile things about them.

and there it is.

and to that i`d like to add: if this makes us look bad to other forums, or people working towards peace between our countries, or any sane intelligent person, it`s our own effin` fault, and yeah the staff here at chowk do need to think about this, if they`re truly proud of being the largest online community etcetera etcetera etcetera. it`s not just the writers we should be boasting about. it is the whole community.

The Naseeb editor may be doing a good job in warding off abusive posts but it is doing a bad job is publishing only pro-Pakistan articles and comments while censoring anything that talks negative of Pak or Jinnah. Of course, only Pakistanis and Pak-tilted Indian Muslims would like Naseeb.

Saal Girah mubarik

This site exists because of the commitment of its founders to keep it going at any cost. Chowk has survived nine years not because of its core constituency but in spite of it. This “core constituency” is fickle and ever changing. There is constant attrition and replenishment. Some of us may have lingered on, though fading in and out, over the years but that counts for naught. There has been nothing constant or consistent about Chowk save its founders’ commitment (or should I say “stubbornness” instead). They entertain lofty ideas about Chowk’s future but are constrained by the limitations of time and energy. The spirit is willing but the flesh gets weak. It is the story of every altruistic mom and pop all volunteer enterprise. The bacon has to be brought home, the dog needs to be walked and the baby’s nappies have to be changed. There are, after all, only 24 hours in a day.

Until there is a self-generation component to it that affords commercial viability for the whole enterprise and thus professional editorial services are made feasible, things will stay more or less the same.

The “Farzana experiment” could have worked much better if it was done differently. But I can say this only with hindsight. She gave her heart and soul but got bogged down because she personalized her role too far too fast. She should have remained anonymous at first (“Chowk Staff”) and thoroughly cleaned up the muck that clogs the plumbing before coming out of the closet so to speak. That approach might have stood a chance. What Chowk is, or has become, is because of how it evolved. Only an evolutionary process (“artificial selection” perhaps) guided by a “hidden hand” could have worked to undo some of the ills that have snuck into the fabric of this cyber crossroads. She tried to be a revolutionary instead and got burnt out by the entrenched resistance. Chowk didn’t need a Trotsky. It needed a Stalin. Let’s hope the next editor (whenever s/he reincarnates) is not a Gorbachev.

...SR

Yappy B`day Chowk

``This perhaps was the occasion for you say it is the ONLY community where some of the worst Indians and Pakistani discuss things in the worst possible way. There is no other site on the web that would allow so much abuse to be published and unfortunately, it is catchy.”

Intriguing coming from someone who routinely abuses women, writes a lot of posts about abusing mothers for interactors now talks about decency. Similarly the poster who abused teenage daughters of another interactor now wants a paid subscription site for civilized discussion.

But apart from that its all good. This site still is the best in terms of usage and ease of navigation. And inspite of the abuses & fights it still provides a lively discussion. Gives you exposure to differing viewpoints and helps in making friends across borders. And for the faltu timepass folks there is always unplugged.

Some people on here cannot think beyond the level of a six year old, they are still busy with ``my papa is stronger than your papa`` etc. For them, as for the `time-passers` and `recreational reader` on here, Chowk should create seperate subsections where they can enjoy their ``free speech``~ when these people drift unto the arena of important issues they not only distort it beyond relevance, they infringe upon the rights of others who are genuinely interested in understanding and sharing thoughts on those issues, which is unfair and infringes upon the rights of many others, and those many others whose rights are being infringed upon are forced to react in unbecoming ways out of frustration. This sets a cycle in place ensuring that Chowk is reduced to a dung-pile and reflects very badly on the vast majority of the decent folk on here.

Reduce the number of articles you publish if monitoring is hard, clean up the site, otherwise the published articles are quite useless given the interactions going on on most threads.

Happy Birthday Chowk!

Some Suggestions:

---

We all know that sex and violence sells. Chowk, I am afraid has concentrated too much on the violence part. Which is now out of control. I would suggest you concentrate more on the sex part, in the next version. I would like to float two ideas, which could be the basis of your new marketing strategy (Normally I don`t do this for free, but consider this a birthday present):

1. Babes of Chowk Section:

Over time, the guys here, have admired, cherished, envied, learnt from, abused, (maybe even) coveted, fancied, and basically, been over-all enthralled by the various ladies who visit Chowk on a regular basis. Some have even fallen in love and gotten married. No doubt the wisdom of the fairer sex here, is something we have all benefited from. However, their is a limit to everything. After a while, repitition of things can start to get on one`s nerves.

Now, granted your pictures section can be quite interesting. But wouldn`t you agree, one can only get so excited from seeing Erwin Franzen`s rickshaw in Peshawar. Or Vereesh holding a fish in his hand and smiling from ear to ear (not that that is not a sexy sight!)....

So, I would like to a suggest a link - in between gulberg and university avenue - which introduces us to the babes of chowk. I know it is not for everyone, but there must be some confident, self-assured ladies on this site, who are not afraid to be exhibitionists. Perhaps desi babe posters. Desi screen savers. Some titillating tales that arouse (the imagination, you moron). Who knows, maybe a Hameeda`s Secret lingerie line. A private chat room, where indian and pakistani ladies can, lets say, promote foreign relations.

If you can pull this off, believe me, this site will get so many hits, your servers will crash......

2. Men of Chowk Beach Calendar:

Chowk is filled with testostorone-filled desi men. Regularly describing their masculanity and, ``conquests,`` on every thread. Threatening to have their sexual ways with each other and each others` relatives. While I have not met any of them, one would have to assume they would be quite a physical site, if seen in real. Muscle-bound Greek gods lurching amongst us mere mortals. The ladies would certainly fall all over them. As might many of the men........

So why not put this pool of masculanity to good use. Chowk is short of money. Why not use the local talent? For this I suggest a, ``Men of Chowk Beach Calendar,`` to be published on Chowk`s anniversary, every year:

Seriously, who wouldn`t pay big bucks to see hamidm2 and Urstruly, walking hand in hand on the shores of lake Michigan, in their tight, ``Red white and blue - I love the USA`` matching speedos? I know I certainly would break my piggy bank for this. Or Zeemax and Godot sumo-wrestling in their tightly wound G-strings, as they debate the finer points of each others` female relatives. I know I would pay big bucks for that picture. Or Vereesh wearing his Tata Fruit of the loom underwear as he stands next to his Maruti Indus Suzuki at the exit of the Reliance M2 highway in between Lahore and Rawalpindi - right across the street from the Infosys Kalar Kahar PTDC hotel.......I am in for that one, as well!

Or Dost-mittar and Nazar Hayat Khan, sunbathing in their soaked teasingly see-through dhotis, on the banks of their village nallah in the hills of West Punjab. Forget the Spring Break wet-T shirt contests. I know a lot of senior citizen women, who would sell their dentures to buy this picture..........

Or Echoboom, Naqshbandi and Masadi wearing nothing but a smile; strategically covering themselves with their handy maswaq. The right shade of light, a few bushes and leaves and this one could be on the cover of Takbeer!

So there you go.............the opportunities are endless.............and perhaps it is time to change things up a bit..............

Re: # 49

Gripping stuff, Atif :))

Congrats to Chowk!!!

Best Wishes for another year and best wishes to all Pakistanis and Indians in the hope that the next year will be better than the last one.

Ciao

Re: # 48 by number

A CORRECTION:

* 9 is the first positive integer > 1, which is not prime

SHOULD READ

* 9 is the first odd positive integer > 1, which is not prime