Tania

while i was reading it, i thought the story was rotten, but the "dream" in the ending was an apt conclusion.

Re: # 6 As funny as that post was...could you please attribute the correct author to it and not plagiarise? PSYCHOANALYZING TANIA: A SEQUEL, if you just change the names, is an article written by Dave Barry...

i liked your story...specially its full circle effect...with a critical point of view....and that too...positive...cut out the extra ``tooraj`` from the text...you don`t really need it...it will make your text stronger.

for example...this paragraph...

``Tania is in her floor lounge and Tooraj is kissing the side of her neck. And there are other people in the lounge but no one notices. And Tooraj kisses her neck softly. But Tania stares straight in front of her. She wants to put her hand on his head but she doesn`t. And nobody notices. Then there is a fire. The whole dorm. is on fire and people are running. But Tooraj stands next to her. And Saadia is there and she is running out of the building.``

we all know tooraj is doing stuff....why keep on repeating his name...

good job...

This is quite the most ridiculous piece i have ever read. There are two factors which i suppose are responsible for its superficiality - one, that you`re a man, and two, that you are a man who has not gone to college abroad. Of course i`m making assumptions here. But for people to praise this story as ``having really gotten into the psyche of a US-college going Pakistani woman`` is absolutely laughable. What you have written about may instead be the story of a 14 year old girl in an American high school; it may be the story of a 17 year old girl in a Pakistani college, but it sure as hell isn`t the story of an 18+ girl developing the kind of skills needed to succeed at college in the US. The kind of independence, responsibility, maturity, and social aplomb that a girl develops at an American college far exceeds the kind of superficial ``ohmygod he looked at me now what will i do`` mentality you have outlined here. Next time, please stick to subjects you know about.

Re: Rad

Your feedback is tough to decipher.

I dont think Tania is an airhead. She may believe in elegance, in beauty but that does not make someone an airhead. She is indecisive, butthat too does not make someone an airhead.

Yes infatuation spares no-one.

Not sure what you are saying in the last para??

Good. But I think you could have done better. Tania the pretty naive airhead, Saadia the no nonsense wise woman tomboy.

Infatutation spares no one. The wise the skeptic, the whoever, falls for the powerful, the attractive, the whatever-floats-your-boat. And rationalizing helps little. Even the not so naive and the skeptic wonders what is she thinking. And the tomboy says I`ll slap him next time when I see him - in fact I`ll go stand in his gulli to make sure I see him.

So, the naive Tania, brought up to fall for whomever her parents chose, unwittingly uses this skill to fall for a man who, brought up to be powerful and show power, uses the same skill in puberty. Solution - education. Call them spoiled brats. Right. Become a skeptic. Use rational thought. Bring up your kids properly. And then get infatuated with that beuatiful woman or man who typifies what you secretly desire.

I thought this was an excellent story. Too bad dimwits thought it was just a mills and boon romance novel - they should go back to them or akhbar-e-jahan. I also did not see any hindi movie goo-goo-gaa-gaa hero/heroine here as Waheed did.

I think it was about being scared of ones own feeling/desires and being helpless before ones own self. This is shown as a conflict in a romantic situation in Tania but it is a much more universal theme.

I especially liked both the dream scenes though the ending was confusing. Still very good work. Thanks.

Good job! You have gotten very well into the college age pakistani female psyche! I take exception to Saadia`s figure, though, not all level headed women are stout and round-faced :)

Regards from Tlism-i-hoshruba

The most horrible piece of short prose I have read in a long time. Why don’t you get this published in Akhbar-i-jahaN. It’s just like ``Teen aurtaiN, teen kahaniaN`` in English. I don’t mean, or intend, any disrespect towards your person. Keep at it, maybe you’ll get better. Hey, if Taslima Nasreen can write, why can’t you.

PSYCHOANALYZING TANIA: A SEQUEL
(With nolo-contendre to Umair!)

Let`s say a guy named Tooraj is attracted to a woman named Tania. He asks her out to a movie; she accepts; they have a pretty good time. A few nights later he asks her out to dinner, and again they enjoy themselves.

They continue to see each other regularly, and after a while neither one of them is seeing anybody else.

And then, one evening when they`re driving home, a thought occurs to Tania, and, without really thinking, she says it aloud: ``Do you realize that, as of tonight, we`ve been seeing each other for exactly six months?``

And then there is silence in the car. To Tania, it seems like a very loud silence. She thinks to herself: Geez, I wonder if it bothers him that I said that. Maybe he`s been feeling confined by our relationship; maybe he thinks I`m trying to push him into some kind of obligation that he doesn`t want, or isn`t sure of.

And Tooraj is thinking: Gosh. Six months.

And Tania is thinking: But, hey, I`m not so sure I want this kind of relationship, either. Sometimes I wish I had a little more space, so I`d have time to think about whether I really want us to keep going the way we are, moving steadily toward . . . I mean, where are we going? Are we just going to keep seeing each other at this level of intimacy? Are we heading toward marriage? Toward children? Toward a lifetime together? Am I ready for that level of commitment? Do I really even know this person?

And Tooraj is thinking: . . . so that means it was . . . let`s see ... February when we started going out, which was right after I had the car at the dealer`s, which means . . . lemme check the odometer . . . Whoa! I am way overdue for an oil change here.

And Tania is thinking: He`s upset. I can see it on his face. Maybe I`m reading this completely wrong. Maybe he wants more from our relationship, more intimacy, more commitment; maybe he has sensed -- even before I sensed it -- that I was feeling some reservations. Yes, I bet that`s it. That`s why he`s so reluctant to say anything about his own feelings. He`s afraid of being rejected.

And Tooraj is thinking: And I`m gonna have them look at the transmission again. I don`t care what those morons say, it`s still not shifting right. And they better not try to blame it on the cold weather this time. What cold weather? It`s 87 degrees out, and this thing is shifting like a goddamn garbage truck, and I paid those incompetent thieves $600.

And Tania is thinking: He`s angry. And I don`t blame him. I`d be angry, too. God, I feel so guilty, putting him through this, but I can`t help the way I feel. I`m just not sure.

And Tooraj is thinking: They`ll probably say it`s only a 90- day warranty. That`s exactly what they`re gonna say, the scumballs.

And Tania is thinking: maybe I`m just too idealistic, waiting for a knight to come riding up on his white horse, when I`m sitting right next to a perfectly good person, a person I enjoy being with, a person I truly do care about, a person who seems to truly care about me. A person who is in pain because of my self-centered, schoolgirl romantic fantasy.

And Tooraj is thinking: Warranty? They want a warranty? I`ll give them a goddamn warranty. I`ll take their warranty and stick it right up their.... .

``Tooraj,`` Tania says aloud.

``What?`` says Tooraj, startled.

``Please don`t torture yourself like this,`` she says, her eyes beginning to brim with tears. ``Maybe I should never have . .Oh God, I feel so.....``

(She breaks down, sobbing.)

``What?`` says Tooraj.

``I`m such a fool,`` Tania sobs. ``I mean, I know there`s no knight. I really know that. It`s silly. There`s no knight, and there`s no horse.`` ``There`s no horse?`` says Tooraj.

``You think I`m a fool, don`t you?`` Tania says.

``No!`` says Tooraj, glad to finally know the correct answer.

``It`s just that . . . It`s that I . . . I need some time,`` Tania says.

(There is a 15-second pause while Tooraj, thinking as fast as he can, tries to come up with a safe response. Finally he comes up with one that he thinks might work.)

``Yes,`` he says.

(Tania, deeply moved, touches his hand.)

``Oh, Tooraj, do you really feel that way?`` she says.

``What way?`` says Tooraj.

``That way about time,`` says Tania.

``Oh,`` says Tooraj. ``Yes.``

(Tania turns to face him and gazes deeply into his eyes, causing him to become very nervous about what she might say next, especially if it involves a horse. At last she speaks.)

``Thank you, Tooraj,`` she says.

``Thank you,`` says Tooraj.

Then he takes her home, and she lies on her bed, a conflicted, tortured soul, and weeps until dawn, whereas when Tooraj gets back to his place, he opens a bag of Doritos, turns on the TV, and immediately becomes deeply involved in a rerun of a tennis match between two Czechoslovakians he never heard of. A tiny voice in the far recesses of his mind tells him that something major was going on back there in the car, but he is pretty sure there is no way he would ever understand what, and so he figures: it`s better if he doesn`t think about it. This is also Tooraj`s policy regarding Bad Girls` with Big Breast Fixations!

The next day Tania will call her closest friends, Saadia or Michelle or Sara perhaps all of them, and they will talk about this situation for six straight hours. In painstaking detail, they will analyze everything she said and everything he said, going over it time and time again, exploring every word, expression, and gesture for nuances of meaning, considering every possible ramification. They will continue to discuss this subject, off and on, for weeks, maybe months, never reaching any definite conclusions, but never getting bored with it, either.

Meanwhile, Tooraj, while playing squash one day with a mutual friend of his and Tania`s, will pause just before serving, frown, and say: ``Derek, did Tania ever own a horse?`

I enjoyed the style much more than the story, although the story was good too. It has a professional touch. It seems to be real as both Tania and Saadia represent characters from day to day life. Keep up the style Umair and best wishes.

``you and your super liberalism``

I hope you were not referring to my posts. Let me clarify right now. I am NOT a liberal (I do not want to give those people a bad name) and I would much rather uphold ``wanton crassitude`` over your conservatism. Why ? because the common people are crass and crude and the common people are better than your elitist, religious, militaristic, feudalistic ``smooth``ness. That is why I like the Punjabi people - they are sincere and straightforward, even ``munh phat`` (open mouthed) and simple minded unlike the Imams/ Qaris (who are either too abrasive or too politician-like) I prefer ``crass and crude but true`` to dis honest, artificial & fanatical: ``if you bring Sahaba and rasool allah into this then I will kill you`` - that is pretty much the only straightforward thing that comes out of their mouths.

``Why, that was quite beautiful! It was not just breaking down the old temples but providing a vision of a new one.``

Why do we need temples my dear PM ? Why do we need me to provide visions. YOU are a visionary yourself. I say everyone can build their own temples. Everyone can be the god of their own temples. It is lazy to demand temples and ideaology that replaces Islam. It would be slavish and sluggish to demand alternatives from people like yourself. Besides the temples I build are often just small enough for one man (me) and too fragile. My temples are women.

There are no messiahs and prophets (only people who are turned into messiahs and prophets and gods). We do not have to look for Ataturks and Martin Luther Kings ( so why do you say ? ``so instead of looking-up to our CE, we should start looking for a martin luther king``)

I ask you my fellow human beings : why wait? or look up to anyone? What if I were to tell you that YOU ARE ATATURK and YOU ARE MARTIN LUTHER KING. YOU ARE EVERYTHING you are looking for. You are the King and the slave - why do you look for leaders? why do you hand over your proud reigns to others?

So pick up that butchers knife and head straight for your local masjid (just kidding), pick up those years of frustration and anger and helplessness and start speaking against the religion that has made you submit- the religion of ``submission`` (starting with your own : Islam, hinduism, christianity etc.).

Then watch the rage of those who have no temples of their own. Witness the helpless tantrums of those who are parasitically feeding off of ready-made (pre cooked and pre-canned) ``divine`` morality. Heed not their braying because they are slaves ``abd allah``- they are mindless ``samena wa ataana`` (we hear and obey) and are subhuman because they choose to submit (to Islam = ``submission``) they carry this life like a donkey bearing its burden (life is a test a burden) Be amazed at the caw-cawing of these vultures who feed off the dead carcasses of primitive 6th century morality. It is time we buried that 6th century morality 6 feet under the ground.

Beautiful piece of work. The story was absorbing and you captured the desire to maim of having to put up with an infatuated friend brilliantly.

I`m not sure I get the subtext:
Teenagers are morons?
Never befriend an airhead?
Transferral is a common emotional problem?

I hope the next one is on Saadia, would like to hear more about her, she seemed a much more complex individual.

p.s. IMHO she should just have slept with him and had done with it.

Umair, this short novel is much far superior to any Harlequin novel that I`ve ever laid my eyes on :)-

what happens with tooraj?????????????