Author Nafisa Rizvi Talks About "The Blue Room"

After a long break this visit to chowk was full of delight as I came across the wonderful review/interview of a beautiful story/author.

Thanks Ras and 'dil maange MORE' of such exciting discoveries.
Nikhat Riaz

RE:#1 AA, thanks but the credit is not all mine.

Re:#2 Riaz, Thanks but democracy has to remain a part of the equation.

Re: #3 & #4 GT, Dawn has its own charm. CHOWK is developing
into something, but I don't know what!

Re: #5 Ana, I hope that you get a chance to read "The Blue Room" along with other CHOWK readers.
I don't visit this site as much as I used to, but once in a while it is still interesting. Along with Dawn, the Pakistan Link and Siliconeer Magazine take up most of my time along with family life.

All,
the credit here goes to Nafisa for her great answers.
I had very little to add other then the fact that I enjoy a
good book once in a while.

Ras

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This was a good interview. I don't know if Ras is actually going to interact here since this was originally published in Dawn, but thanks so much Ras!

I think magical realism is a great way to tell stories from our part of the world. I don't think it's the best way, but I hope this novel gets lots of readership.

What Rizvi said about jinns reminded me of quite a few incidents back in Lahore. Like how some girls used to point at one corner of our school playground, and insist that there were jinns occupying it, and while there were those who did not know whether they were being fooled or not, that corner was assiduously avoided for a few days. :)

It is still good for chowk as Ras is an old timer ... but would have been thrilled had it been first published in chowk.

I was surprised by this neat write-up and felt really good for chowk .... of course, at the end I noticed it was written for Dawn.

Ras: Good choice of author and excellent interview.

NR: "I believe that feudalism has seen its day and will fall but there is a lot of resistance to it, unlike the extended family system. It is amazing how much of a knock that system has taken, proven by the number of old people’s homes mushrooming in the urban areas of Pakistan."

I think this statement makes a lot of sense. The rising wave of urbanization in Pakistan will eventually overtake the feudal system, but it will require significant, sustained, and accelerated economic growth to move people off the farms and into industrial and services sector, a process that appears to be stalling under current feudal democracy.

http://www.riazhaq.com/2009/09/south-asian-slums-offer-hope.html
Riaz Haq, PakAlumni Worldwide

GOOD REVIEW SIR.
Agha Amin