The Damned And The Damnable

Samina, welcome to Chowk. It`s a well-written piece. However, I could have done without the blasphemic remark. Blasphemy is not only hideous, but also depicts a writer`s weak sense of expression, for it makes the words trite and cheap simultaneously.

Having said that, I truly enjoyed the imagery, and metaphors. Persevere, and you shall definitely write that book one day.

Regards,

Kiran

Samina, welcome to Chowk. It`s a well-written piece. However, I could have done without the blasphemic remark. Blasphemy is not only hideous, but also depicts a writer`s weak sense of expression, for it makes the words trite and cheap simultaneously.

Having said that, I truly enjoyed the imagery, and metaphors. Persevere, and you shall definitely write that book one day.

Regards,

Kiran

Well done Samina , and wish you many happy years ahead with your interest in writing !

I must admit though in your article, when the guns and breakin`s came into mention I instantly recognised you as a Karachite, without any hesitation.

Truly hope things are not that bad now.Its so sad to see karachi being twinned with so many evils !

Regards,

Shirin

Looks like you need to go on a journey to figure out the purpose of life.

In essense you have to figure out if there is a God and if there is, what amount of control does he have on us and what does he want us to do with our lives.

What you have gone through are some difficult times which are (in my opinion) events to give you an opportunity to look for something beyond the mundane materialistic life.

One remains engrossed in a cyclical rat race untill something like this happens and that is the time to try to find the bigger picture. Subjugation to materialism and pompusness has resulted in making us a nation full of people worried about their position, status and has filled our hearts with greed and envy. Ours is one country where most people want that those who they percieve to be materially richer than them, to meet a horrific end. Why is that? Why are we so consumed with competition and jelousy?

Good luck if you try to embark on this journey. I believe this is a wakeup call for you and similar wakeup calls happen to most people sometimes in their lives. The point is do you grab them or miss them else you can remain bitter about whats happening to them and get caught in a cycle of jelousy and materialism like most people in Pakistan.

welcome!

you seem to have smelled the coffee just now...

read your peiece and i join you in your damnation of the creatures that walk this soil. i was robbed earlier this week..woken to the terrifying sounds of my parents resisting those things with which we share our oxygen. and to depend on the LAW - the LAW which is governed by those who secure themselves and only speak of the despicable that happens to us. the LAW that claims to control the crime but never do we see what it is that they`re doing to diminish it. The LAW that we are controlled by so mercilessly that it eats me up inside, twists my mental state and makes me hate every single thing, suspect every single stranger and panic at every small sound that i hear in the middle of the night. In broad daylight they walk into our space and violate us with such terror...

I don`t know what it is that we can possibly Do, like REALLY DO to kill the scum that reigns with such supremacy. Guns? You know, i still see that every minute.. me shooting the bloody humans with a gun to THEIR head. watch their terror as we hold them down to their death.

i probably sound violent..but who wouldn`t be after such hell?

by the way, The Fountainhead is the only book i`ve read about 478 times. :)

things won`t get better. the only faith you can have is in what we don`t see...a Force we`ve grown up listening about.. But even then, it`s not easy to believe when all we`re surrounded by is Evil..and it makes you wonder in the fairness of it all...

loved the flow of thoughts. having lived in Canada for the past many years, its getting harder and harder to relate to the feelings of anger and skepticism you`ve described. but keep writting, don`t let us or anyone else lose touch with the reality. stay sane.

jasmin

Dear Samina,

It is a good piece of writing. A job well done. Please keep writing and sharing with us at Chowk.

I think the most beautiful aspect of this endeavour is that it is incoherently coherent. This (in)coherence goes perfect with the first introductory paragraph.

Bottomline is that I liked it. The other comments may be due to my short attention span; in case you didnt like my comments. Dont take them seriously I am not a critic.

Samina:

Welcome to Chowk.

Controlled sanity is a boon to creativity. It is a two edged sword though. Pls. keep writing.

lve,

t

Enjoyed this writing very much.
Welcome to CHOWK Samina!
I hope that just the mention of ``Kashmiri Chai``
here does not get the Indian-Pakistani divide
going....

Ras

I felt that your article failed to arouse the essence of hatered and contempt in me for the system. I think the incidents you limelighted are quite commonplace, and most of us have learned to accept them and to live with them. We all have become remorseless creatures and a little more is needed to mortify us.

Re: Samina Wahid

I loved it Samina. What anger! What flow of thoughts! Powerful. Beautiful.

You are right Samina. Damn the skeptics. Damn the believers and the pacifists. Damn all those who see the light at the end of the tunnel. Damn the blinds with eyes. They are among Pakistan`s worst enemies.

Loved the ending: ``The skeptics and the pacifists who`ll condemn me...and so I now dance a little dance to the music of this insanity. Perhaps till I`m entirely spent...or perhaps till the day I become insanity itself.`` Brilliant!

Hope to see your more writing at Chowk. You sure are a writer. And only 21! If you can sustain the same level of writing as this one, you will be a famous writer one day, I`m sure.

You make Pakistan proud (quite ironic, I`d say.)

P.S. I loved Ayn Rand`s Howard Roark and Dominique Francon.

Such bitter hatred and deep vehemence against the society that you yourself are part of and is a creation of your parent`s generation. I wish I could say something to make you feel better, but realize that the problem is not only the people around you.

Dear Samina:

Wishes ARE horses, which is why we can ride them.I do not want to sound trite and say that I will cheer you to the winning post, for hollow victory is for spent forces.

I think you have the boon to blaspheme, and get angry -- with god, the world, and I do hope yourself. We all wish that the wrong people die, and find that the right ones do. It is not our fault. Destiny likes to leave the dirt behind,perhaps to delude us into believing that we are clean.

Once when I too did bite my lip and drew blood, I felt violence coursing through my veins -- it was a violence against myself. For, if you are sensitive,as you so obviously are, you internalise every act that you see. You become that. Is it your insanity you are flying like a pennant or the collective insanity that is being projected onto you?

If you must have faith, it should be in the ability to walk a lonely road. How I would have loved to share those ice-creams with you, but the darned things melt barely have I moved two steps... and here we have miles to cover to exchange notes on respective madness. Oh sure, Atlas shrugged. And they say the world is a small place. I hope you cover enough ground. I`ve done it and found that I prefer the clouds.

It is as close to home as I can get :)

Love,

Farzana

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Samina Wahid#

A very good read.

Why don`t you turn to Islam. It will cure all evils as it has done for last fourteen hundred years.

And these commies and liberals who are in police and law enforcement agencies should be shot dead.

Governemnt should be hailed in its endeavour for the betterment of its own lot.

And you are not people but scum fit for a Islamic Danda.

Have you researhed history of those criminals. They may have come due to their needs and their need might be more than yours. At least that is Islamic spirit reached to us through stories.

Similar sentiments were expressed by my mother when I told her about my going to Pakistan. She mentined three incidences of gun point robbery in my lane in one month.

Your writing took me back again to memories of the vibrant city which feeds poor to billionaire equally well and where people used to laugh and smile in bad times.