The Damned And The Damnable

Wow! Well-written and thought-provoking. Thanks Samina.

:). Hallo hocie :). I read this article, and b4 I could comment on it (coz I 4got to sign in na), I went and read everyone else`s comments on it, and that like totally clouded my judgement. :(.

1. I am very very - VERY - sorry to hear of what happened to you & your family (the robbery I mean).

2. I have lived an extremely sheltered life myself, so I really cannot feel the INTENSITY of the horror and rage you personally must have felt. But I do understand rage, and horror, and anguish, and fear.
And they are very powerful and compelling emotions. If you turn them to serve your purposes, they can do either good or harm. But if you mould them to good before you set out on your purpose, they can only give you better things than you would have experienced had you let their negative aspects overwhelm you. I don`t know if I have written clearly what I mean to say...

Your writing style, I liked. The story was too graphic for me. I could not read it again. These sort of things I let touch my life only once, and then banish them to the remotest corners of my memory. It is called shutting out. Like the story I wrote on the homosexual, let it touch me once, write it down perhaps to look back on in a later more calmer life, then erase it from memory.

I do not know what it is to live in Karachi, or Bombay, or New York for that matter. Big cities, crowds, many types of people, many types of frustrations. But I know that you must have gone thru something horrible, and you have shared that very acutely with us readers. I liked that.

Some of the commentators wrote about Aristotle and Pluto and Ayn Rand and etc etc.. I will only say this. I am not a very smart person, and have no aptitude for reading long writings by people
who are dead and gone, and on top of that who use very long words. Very short concentration span. And also, someone`s from-the-heart writings - like I can sense in your article - are much much more dearer to me that dead people saying how they lived their lives and found their answers. Your article is vibrant. It is the NOW. That is important. It has immense feelings. Keep your feelings alive, and you will write masterpieces forever.

And you say you want to write a book one day. A book has a beginning, a middle, and an ending. Your acceptance of the system has enveloped you already. You have already written a book. The next book must show how you begin your fight against the system, and how you come out unscalded and stronger than b4.

Now I end this letter on a note of gloom. There are no unicorns in the world, Hocie. If wishes were horses, they would have wanted to exist.

Love,

Ana.

Hi Samina,

I feel much the same anger towards the decadance in the society around me also for the helplessness I feel being unable to do much about it.

I enjoyed reading your article ``The Damned And The Damnable``,it definately gets across the anger you feel towards the corrupt system surrounding our existance.

Keep up the good work.

Prashant

PS : I am sure you will be able to write a book, go for it. You have surely heard the saying about wishes being horses, but have you heard this one ``you can dream of anything,ambitions are free``

Annie #38,

Sorry Annie, it won`t happen again ;)

Extreme violence of this kind shouldnot be internalized by its victims. File a complaint, write to newspapers(or say on chowk), take out a procession, get together with neighbours, make a movie. In other words, put it on the PUBLIC record somewhere or somehow.

The private mental and emotional record of such an incident should be limited to (and its very difficult) filing away under the title `post-traumatic stress syndrome`.

Sadhana

re Aristotle #36:

Upon second thought, maybe my initial impression was wrong. Sorry for lumping you with the likes of urstruly. Welcome and write more albeit with a little more kindness.

later

-sac

35 ScoutApa

``As I told Annie (another good aspiring young frustrated female writer from Karachi I believe)``

Err.. that`s anNy with a `y`

Reply#22 Aristotle

``NO really people this article is GARBAGE… Aside from you philosophy your style of narration is not very becoming either...... you didn`t build the character properly....... he seems more like a lunatic than a sane pessimist to whom atleast I might have been able to relate that is when my emotions would be at the lowest ebb....... oh and one more thing it really lacks originality...... for all the afore mentioned reasons your article deserves a thumbs down...... hope you do a good job next time......``

I`d love to see you not spill garbage yourself 2 days after your house is robbed, when the three men use disgustingly derogatory language for u in front of your 16 year old brother, pull your mothers hair, slap her while the other 2 men laugh and hold your brother captive while the mother cries, (I realize I sound like a pathetic Sultan Rahi movie) men who besides taking all the jewelry in the house, (perfumes too, sad no?) take your sisters thesis papers for spite…a paper that inspite of repeated pleas as to what use will it be to them, they still take, grinning all the way…6 months of hard work down the drain that is our system..and please remember this is happening in the writers house..not even 4 feet from the bed she was sleeping in…`lacks originality` u say…that`s hard to come up with when the mother is under sedation because all the sisters jewelry for the wedding coming up in December is gone..

Sir, attack the writers style of writing (which u have) we all have our own..if u feel its not original that`s just fine… but to criticize her for having emotions not original is unfair…the rage and violence she feels almost all of us have in similar situations..whether it is being car jacked on main clifton bridge or hearing of a friends girl raped by 9 policemen on Valentines day 2 weeks earlier in a police station because they were holding hands while the friend is being hammered beyond recognition by another 6 of the same kind…the emotions are the same..highly `unoriginal`…writing is an outlet for some..this is how Samina goes about letting go of her grief, helplessness and intense fear…please try and understand that…

this might help

“Tsk! Tsk! Look at this,” she exclaims, showing me a newspaper picture of car smashed into an electric pole. It looks new, you know the unregistered, zero meter sort of some hot model. It looks new even when it’s a total wreck and suddenly I find myself saying: “I hope it was some big shot that died in that thing. I hope to God it is.” She is startled just like me. Startled by the subdued bitterness and resentment in my voice. Startled by surge of anger that is flashing in my eyes. She tells me that it’s not a big shot. They were people just like me who belong to a religious minority. I bite my lip, so hard that I finally draw blood.``

To take what u said literally, the entire scene is `original`. I saw the blood as did everyone else sitting by her.

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Re: sac # 34

That remark was made to show that objectivist dont approve of masses following a singular ego.... Now be that singular ego a leader, a revelation, Prophet or from divine.(well they say they do as long as the truth presented is absolute, but thats frivolous, see Leonard Peikoff lectures on objectivity www.aynrand.org)......

Now to the hypocritical nature of Iqbal you speak off. Capitalism in its purest sense i.e the Laissez-faire only exists in theory. So now the most commonly adopted system of capitalism we have around the world has elements of socialism in it to try and accomodate people of all sorts. Thats not hypocrisy, that is the pragmatic truth. Just because Nietschze and Ayn had a black and white view of this world doesn`t mean every one should.

Moreover Iqbal`s philosophy dealt mostly with human psyche rather than the macro elements of sociology and economics. So please next time lets not use the broad terms like socialism and capitalism.

Last but not least..... Welcome or not I am here..... and thats ABSOLUTE.....

Aristotle

re Aristotle #22:

``read the life of Jinnah see how individuall strive and masses follow``

Exactly.....and would you elaborate as to how that proves your thesis about the snotty followers of Ayn rand and objectivism?

Iqbal`s concept of `khudi` draws its inspiration from a rich tradition of Eastern mysticism and German philosophy(Nietszche and Co.). Like most other philosophical constructs, the concept of `Khudi` is heavily influenced by Iqbal`s stay and subsequent doctorate in Oriental studies at Heidelberg. According to the fashion of the times Iqbal couldn`t bring himself to terms with the `selfish` capitalist thinking espoused by the Schumpters of the day. So he tried to align himself with the socialists. But you can tell even from a cursory reading of his works that his heart is just not there. The clever man that he was, he found a middle ground. He decided to become a socialist with a capitalist agenda. Hence `khudi` and `Ya Rab dil-i-Muslim ko.....and something about paying the labourer before his sweat his dry...`(oh where is that bigot f_k when you really need him?).

Ayn Rand`s works are also heavily influenced by Nietschze. Her works are littered with his quotes. However in order to understand her philosophy you have to read her life history in great detail and put her work in context of the time it was written in.

I think you are the first newcomer on Chowk I`ve ever said this...but....I don`t think you are going to be a welcome addition here. Hang around and spew your venom. There are many of your variety already here(you and urstruly will make great friends!!).

later

-sac

You write well (even though it is an unoriginal emotional diarrhea of words) and with interest. By unoriginal I mean the idea of what you wrote, not the way you write.

As I told Annie (another good aspiring young frustrated female writer from Karachi I believe),

direct your energy into something positive for Pakistan.

You can sit and sigh and moan and groan, but that doesn`t do much besides wasting your precious ``gray cells.``

Don`t stop at mass communication and ice cream.

Go further, keep writing and always remember,

actions speak louder than words.

I don`t mean to sound condescending, but I`ve been through this frustrated thought process, as have countless other Pakistanis like you and I.

EAch of us can`t do anything individually, the task is too difficult. If we think about it, we`ll get angry and cynical but if we educate ourselves individually and build a strong community, it will all come together in the end.

that`s all for now.....

scout (mellowed by the cold rain)

I am not at all convinced that this article is a forgery. I think it is a low-blow to a new aspiring writer. All of those who claim it to be a forgery should present their evidence, which they haven`t so far, or forever hold their peace.

Ms. Waheed:
It is good to see your conviction. And dont you worry it is ``normal`` here at Chowk.

Urstruly......

Studb in #28 has put it quite aptly.....Should I expound more?

Thanks for all the criticism and appreciation. It will obviously help me improve and Im grateful that many of you actually took the time out to read it. As for the saying ``take it like a man``... well I`m not a man so its kinda self-defeating dont you think?:-) For those of you who don`t know who Ayn Rand is, well she put forth the system of objectivisim (a system of philosophy). Of course she`s not a very popular writer,so I can understand why many people seem to hate her with a passion. Iqbal is rather good infact I really like his shikwa and jawab-e-shikwa but Faiz and Ghalib take the cake anyday. As far as the forgery claim goes, well I really dont know what to say to that...perhaps I wrote this in another lifetime? =o)

Welcome to Chowk!

and Congratulations on having been able to spark yet another debate about some Ayn Rand,Aristotle and whoever else!..

and as our friend would say `marra tu fit hae`

one more thing..i agree with omarphoenix and krashid...take their advice!

cheers.

Taimur.

Taking Aristotle`s comments to task doesn`t change

the fact that this article is utter rubbish. I agree with Aristotle`s comments.

I do hope the author continues to write.