Dog Foop Days (and Other Such Stuff)

Smelled???
East Coast...My A**

Simply superb article. It even made me read your earlier two pieces, but this one was the best. Hope you write more like that. Point. By the way where do you stand in the rat race? Or have you givn up? Just curious. :-)

tm

``That staement was not for you inparticular``

Really?? You had me there! But I see you probably meant it for AHCIA !!! whatever

``AICHA you can go only that far to make yourself likeable .What is the use of sugar coating yourself into somthing you are not``

Excuse me - but are you trying to pick up a figth with me again??- give it up!! Well - i wrote that because taht is how I felt tehn - if you misconstrue it into something else - then i am afraid it is your loss not mine.

aicha

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*sigh * the good ol` barbie days. i remember the first time i bought mine. it was one of those filipino barbies (that`s what the guy said) with a lovely pink dress and shoes n` jewellery to match...and that skin...i still cant get over tht!!! sadly though i had to give it away cuz my mum thought tht i was too old for it and thus my cousin became its proud owner....i found it mutiliatd and lying in her dustbin two days later :-(

i had a desi barbie version too...it was called maggie i think...ufff it had the most amazing accessories but they just wouldnt fit my filipino dollie ;-)

and one of my favorites...jenny...she was this incredibly cute lil chubby baby thing with an orange frock and hair ribbons and plump lil legs with white baby shoes...the best thing bout her was tht she was scented...sheer heaven i tell u!!!

i LOVEEEED your piece Bismil...tremendously touching and nostalgic.

Amir # 16

SHIRIN

Sugar you go GURRLL

Lol...Luv Ya .....;-))



``Tum a gaie hou, Noor a gaya hai .. warna chiraghouN sey loh jaa rahee thee`` ...

Welcome back Aamir :))))))))) kahan they ? ya younhee ghayab ho gaie they takey jub Dramaii andaaz mein dobara dakhil houn tou sub Qaseedey likhein .... lolz Amir ....

p.s. mera muhabbat nama partha ``Speakers corner mein `` ????

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just an addition to my earlier post ....

I bet the little proper Baby [Queen`s ]could never have had the fun of cutting their Doll`s hair or giving her a face lift :)poor little babies of Windsor ! At least the yankies know how to enjoy life ....

BTW...I`m not a yank ! Infact their neighbour :)

re:Sac #10

[[They`ve recently opened the section of Windsor castle that houses some ex-Queen`s(the name escapes me) doll collection. It puts to shame any barbie museum the yanks may have come up with.]]



I will not doubt that ....However a Barbie is A Barbie ! Despite all the Limited Edition Porcelain Dolls the Baby Queen`s must have had!!

This is not about competition, as to who had the best ... rather about child hood memories , which everyone cherishes Happily to date.

BTW ... Please make a note of the correct spelling of my name... It`s always been a sensitive issue with me :)

Thanks

cheers...

sa:)

The best piece of writing on the chowk for a long time.

Subroto

lovely..so lovely

Liked the understated narrative with all the brands thrown in for good measure. The influence Barbies have on lives ought to be chronicled more. That nefarious symbol of girlhood has a lot to answer for :)

Shireen:

They`ve recently opened the section of Windsor castle that houses some ex-Queen`s(the name escapes me) doll collection. It puts to shame any barbie museum the yanks may have come up with.

later

-sac

beautifully written.... your simplistic style renders many nostalgic snippets I hadn`t thought of in ages. Coming here at the age of six was confusing and heart-wrenching at times. I wasn`t even allowed a Barbie at first because her boobs were too undecent for the likes of my mom! Anyhow, unconformed and refreshingly unpretentious writing..thanks for the trip.

…growing up, dolls were never my thing…more of a hide-n-seek-tag-jumping rope-you-name-it-i’ll-play-it kinda kid….but i can definitely relate to the nostalgia for the good old days of childhood…where your biggest worry was who to invite to the next sleepover…

….soundmeister…i think the doll’s more of an allegory….of days gone by, a past childhood….just my $0.02….

Nicely written with some memorable bits (``...Some of the kids felt sorry for me and tried to share their hefty turkey or roast beef deluxes (fresh from their Rainbow Brite, Hulk Hogan lunchboxes) with me. But I always said no. I was a proud little kid and I ate my own food happily...``

Thank you for this simple wholesome fare.

Regards,

Aamir

pleasant light reading, brought back a few barbie memories. i cut my dolls hair too, shortly after biting her nose off in a fit of kiddy rage, and poor cindy had her hair dyed with cherry blossom and then got run over by a dinky truck driven by (of course) me.

this seems incomplete, like you have just begun to tell a story and then run out of patience. maybe you could go back to it later.

but keep posting. better dolls than osama.

shandana

Can`t imagine a grown up whining over some stupid doll that s/he never had..... or maybe I lack the sensitivity to grasp the subtle mataphors, who knows?

What is interesting though is the description of living in poverty (abject, as compared to relative poverty) in the US. Most (expat) people you hear of are the middle-class educated variety, who lack no material comforts and so naturally crave for those irreplaceable things they miss from back home: raucous relatives, effusive neighbours, noisy marketplaces, boisterous festivals, respect for elders, that kinds thing.... it was nice to get the ``other`` perspective.

Did you know there actually exists a museum of Barbie Dolls? ... I think it is in Wisconsin, though I am not exactly sure ,as I visited the place long ago.You might enjoy it !

Thanks for sharing this article with us ... it was a refreshing change :)

Wasn`t Ken Barbie`s Handsome Prince ? ... and Barbie had a younger sister too ... Was it Skipper ? These are one of the drawbacks of not having daughters .... I am just out of the fun now :(

``I miss happiness and the simple things in life. I miss the feeling of wanting something badly, not getting it, and finding happiness in something less.``

hmm I think we as a species like to dwell on the past. No matter how much better it is right now - we never recognize this fact till it becomes the past. Forget the past - bury it - move on!!

My niece got a doll like Cindy/ Mindy on one of her Birhtdays and what did she do with it. Well in the doll house filled uncountable Barbies, Cindy/ Mindy was made the `mai` - the housemaid - of the house.

Mona

A. Bismil,
you should write more on CHOWK and submit this kind of work to other publications.
This writing, barring a few fuzzy spots (My age?)was extremely readable and actually took me back to my own initial poverty in the United States.
Very well done!

Ras

Her name was Cindy, and she wasn`t the el-cheapo version of Barbie, she was the English version - or Barbie was the American version of Cindy. Cindy was quite high quality. Princess Diana`s designer made dresses for Cindy. ``Cindy is every girl`s dream`` the ad went. But maybe this was a totally different American doll.