Love and Hate Online

#73
Look at it this way: prophets spoke in marketplaces and revolutions were brewed in coffeehouses. Those who hung around waiting for this to happen could thus definately be identified as a ``bunch of loosers`` :-).

Sadhana

tahmed321 #78:

Thanks. Sorry for this delay. Was enjoying the thanksgiving holidays. Intezar Hussain is in town. And Dr. Asif Farrukhi. They brought with them some good Urdu/English books including some fine poetry. I am enjoying them.

This quote should be read in conjunction with the Mahajirzadeh quote. Translated it mean ‘Love overcomes everything. Let us (all) succumb to Love.’ Hope this helps.

hamidm #79

Many moons ago a completely inebriated and unsteady Ahmad Faraz recited this Khushal Khan Khattak shai’r and it took the better part of an hour for him to deliver the few lines. That evening was pleasant but the lines had no fascination for me then. Or now.

Words acknowledged.

zeejah #81:

Zeeni, you remember. You remember!

Feel bad, thanks, temporal will do. Will write soon.

Awakening Hopeful #83:

Thanks.

It is fascinating how rapport can be established across distances and barriers. Is it degrees of separation or are we a part of one soul, divided and re-divided down the River Time to create the fractious and torturous spirit and further divide it into nations and states so we can keep Death and Misery in business? Caution is the key. Prudence IS the better part of valour. If you think I am disjointed wait till you read these lines from Ghalib.

From Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib:

Chalta hooN thoRRee do’or har ik tez ra’u kay saath
pehchaanta nahiN hooN abhi rah’bur ko maiN

Kha’hish ko eh’maqouN nay parishtish diya qaraar
kiya poojta hooN oos boot-e-baidaadgar ko maiN

Phir bay-khudi maiN bhool gaya rah-e-koo’aye yaar
jaata wagarna ek din apni khabar ko maiN

Apnay pay kar raha houN qayaas ahl-e-dahar ka
samjha hooN dilpazeer mataa-e-hunar ko maiN

Since my Urdu is not much better that yours, the handy translation I have is from K. C. Nanda. (Disclaimer: I have seen better translations)

I go a little while with every running tide
I do not, as yet, recognize my guide.

The silly folks have confused desire with devotion,
Who says that I adore that dear despot?

Self-engrossed I’ve again lost track of his lane
Else I would have gone to enquire about my state.

By my own measure I judge the world when I opine
Dear is the wealth of art to every human heart.


regards, & love

temporal

PhoenixRising,

I`d like to think that the story of the adulteress is more than a just a lesson in forgiveness and equality, but a clear illustration that no man has the right to judge another in his (or her) actions.

Jonty

Hi Zeenat.

I liked your site but there`s just so much there to read, i just hope I can find the time. *smile *

I see that your personal site is on the same server as mine. 8m.com

Keep up the good work, and I`ll try not to upstage you with my replies. It`s just that the net thingy was something I have been through and felt ``qualified`` to respond to it.

From Karachi,

Phoenix

Awakening Hopeful,

Being Christian, I can help you out with that quote from the Bible.

A woman who had committed a sin was cast out and to be stoned. Jesus intervened and stopped them saying, ``Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.`` It was meant to be a lesson to all that if someone is willing to honestly repent for their sins then they should be forgiven and that all are equal in the eyes of God.

As for the Sufi`ism, I`m sure there are a number of ways in which to interpret it. Hoewvere, I see no parallel between the two.

If you want to discuss this further, I`m all ears. Or eyes as the case may be. *smile *

Phoenix.

Re: Awakening Hopeful #85

I don`t know about that Sufi proverb. Perhaps it has something to do with necessity. But it brings to mind Christ`s 40 days in the desert. After surviving on nothing but locusts and wild honey Christ is visited by Satan who challenges him to turn stone into bread. To which he responds, ``Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.``

Hope that further obfuscates the issue. ;-)

Jonty

Dear Zeejah!

I am quite impressed with your site.

I think the IRS blew a huge amount ($100 m. is the round number I have heard) on false starts before finally getting somewhere. I guess they found God after that, setting the bar at Level 4 as you say. I recall about 5 years ago they blew $100m. trying to computerize the London Stock Exchange. The whole effort was scrapped - the reasons to have something to do with lack of user involvement (they were building an ``invisible palace``, one of the London newspapers reported back then). Although this is not an issue at this time in the press, I fear that investments in IT by the governments in poor countries may be incurring much waste due to poorly conceived projects, although probably at not such large amounts as happens in the rich countries. And the improvements with successful efforts (e.g. the reduction in elapsed time for processing civil cases in Karnatka from 9 years to 15 minutes in certain cases, bringing of land records within control) will in the long run definitely outweigh the losses due to unsuccessful ones.

AH you write ``[efforts to establish some writing standards here. OH! ``around`` here``.

I guess this is an example of being ``hoist on my own petard``. :-)

By the way, since the chowkwalas dont mind wot one interacts about, how about checking out my articles etc on: http://www.themestream.com/gspd_browse/author/view_author_info.gsp?auth_id=23937&action=more

u can interact there too...;)

shammi #28 Thanks for the url for the article on Bangalore, which I read with interest. A couple of observations:

The article mentions 26 firms worldwide (13 in India) that have achieved Level 5 status in the SEI CMM. I recall about three years ago there were only 4, with at least one (the Motorola team) in India. I have not followed developments on the CMM lately, but looks like it is pretty hard to get. The more general ISO 9000 ``certification`` seems to be much more widely given out.

Also, Economist.com has a special section on the Indian economy this time, and is generally quite upbeat and also provides some interesting insights.

Awakening hopeful [#61]

The nickname, yes, is in reference to Phoenix, the legendary bird that arises from it’s own ashes. There is somewhat of a parallel. No, it’s not literal but, in a sense, I have risen from the ashes of my past. Thanks for the appreciation.

Yes, whenever I can, I will offer my clean and fresh insights. Though, I am not from the West Coast. It shouldn’t really surprise you that I am in Karachi and have been since the day I was born. There are a few of us here with some intellect and emotional capacity. As for the way I write... I have a few books in the works... all I need is to complete them and find a publisher. *smile *

hamidm #73 Next time you get the urge to foam and dribble and offend...maybe you oughto lie down, close your eyes, take deep breaths and imagine yourself on a beach or someplace. Once you are exorcised of the urge, go back and read again from temporal`s posts on communication skills. Personally, I appreciate temporal`s efforts to establish some writing standards around here.

temporal: Please note how I rise to your defence, and in return please translate

``omnia vincit amor nos et cedamus amori`` that

you deliberately planted in your previous post to cause hamidm to start foaming and dribbling again.

It is very interesting that tho many ppl interact when i put up an article on chowk...very soon they start using it as a message board and my article takes a back seat...not that i mind...it is just an observation...and something i plan to do too, ...;)

temporal...i spoke to the gentleman yesterday, he left for islamabad and promised to let me know when he gets back..i`ll ask him to put in a few personal words for u too, if u like... btw...wot is your name? or should he write to temporal (with a small t)?...;)

temporal

..... actually i almost missed the ``house of vice`` thing ....do i have an excuse for such sordid behaviour ? of course i do ........ i am sure i can come up with an appropriate verse from the Koran or Bob Dylan or Jerry Garcia or Dave Matthews, that can provide some excuse for such inappropriate behaviour ........ for now i quote (or misquote) the warrior poet who inspires the Taliban into hyper-activity...... i have been told by extremely unreliable and inebriated sources that Khushal Khan Khattak once said :

there is a boy across the river

whose bottom is like a peach

alas, i cannot swim

..... and yes, i am ashamed of myself..... even the venerable Jerry Garcia wasn`t sure about this :

Just a song of Gomorrah, I wonder what they did there

Must`ve been a bad thing to get shot down for

I wonder how they blew it up or if they burned it down

Get out, get out Mr. Lot and don`t you turn around

temporal

..... actually i almost missed the ``house of vice`` thing ....do i have an excuse for such sordid behaviour ? of course i do ........ i am sure i can come up with an appropriate verse from the Koran or Bob Dylan or Jerry Garcia or Dave Matthews, that can provide some excuse for such inappropriate behaviour ........ for now i quote (or misquote) the warrior poet who inspires the Taliban into hyper-activity...... i have been told by extremely unreliable and inebriated sources that Khushal Khan Khattak once said :

there is a boy across the river

whose bottom is like a peach

alas, i cannot swim

..... and yes, i am ashamed of myself..... even the venerable Jerry Garcia wasn`t sure about this :

Just a song of Gomorrah, I wonder what they did there

Must`ve been a bad thing to get shot down for

I wonder how they blew it up or if they burned it down

Get out, get out Mr. Lot and don`t you turn around