The Right To Bigotry

=== Interact Filtered ===
view this users filtered interacts

=== Interact Filtered ===
view this users filtered interacts

fawad :) CAUTION: long post ;)

I was wondering what you were up to. Not much going on here. Soon to join the ranks of the unemployed (`opefully not for long) My lovely yet lowly presence on Chowk will diminish considerably within the next few weeks..and will miss inter-acting with some of the bachche log and some of the buzorgs, but `nyways...

you asked me about the bombings...are you referring to what happened in Murree earlier this week with the masked gunmen? `Course I was saddened to read about that, more so for the people who died at the hands of these faceless `buzdils`. I know people who went to that school years ago, I`ve visited it myself, and clearly it was targeted because a) it is Christian and more importantly b)it is an American school where most of the student population is American, or British, or Australian or Filipino. A school whose administration and students have not had much IF any problems with the local community around them. This is a school whose alumni have returned after their college educations to give back not just to the school, but to continue their love affair with Pakistan, developed in their youth.

As for whether I fear for the Christian population there, at this point I fear for the entire country, but almost everyday, I think I`m going to get that phone call from my mother who lives a few hours away from me, telling me `bout something horrible happening to our relatives in Pakistan, or friends that we know, or the community as a whole. My mother,however, feels that so much fear and worrying does not help and prayers do. :) I remember as a child being ridiculed for being a ``Issaiyee`, and my inability to respond to that in any way other than silence and tears..except for the one time I wrote the note `may you all burn in hell forever`, and guess who got in trouble! I have no illusions or delusions regarding the treatment of Christians (or any minority) in Pakistan. And since I`ve already spoken about this on another board..I don`t want to go too further into it, except to paraphrase what a dear friend said, which is that once we begin respecting each other as individuals and equals then and only then can we progress as a society and abolish these laws that strangle us right now. So yes, I am worried about Christians, no, I am not very hopeful, and I`m not really sure how most Pakistani Christians feel `cept that quite a few of us are quite content to be what Bapsi Sidhwa described the Parsi community in `Cracking India` as being the sugar in the milk, only it seems that some of the more ignorant folk cannot stand having sugar in their milk :) Pakistan is their home, and hate crimes against them will not force them to leave what has been their home for generations and generations, sadly some of them don`t have the means to either, unless they are helped by friends/familia already in the US, or England, or Australia, or wherever they are.

One of my favorite songs by Bob Marley often comes to mind when I think about the world we live in now, this world that many of us are bringing children into. The song is Redemption Song, and these particular lyrics are what stay in my mind: Emancipate yourself from mental slavery/None but ourselves can free our minds/Have no fear for atomic energy/Cause none of them can stop the time/How long shall they kill our prophets/While we stand aside and look/Some say its just a part of it/We`ve got to fulfill the book/Won`t you help to sing these songs of freedom/Cause all I ever had, redemption songs.

We are still killing our prophets, and the barrage never seems to end. Peace!

re: ylh #79

...and you said i couldn`t get you to bleat at will...hahahaha...bacchey, you just got played...again...

saxena,

you still enjoy playing with that chut?! how many times do you want to catch the same fish & release it into the pond...again & again..?

..i think you like watching him shag with his tongue..

fawad :)

[anwyway we should go to starbucks unless then again if you boycott them and talk about literature and other intellectual stuff]

--how could I let this go without responding? I had boycotted Starbucks for quite a while, until one morning..I needed that cuppa so desperately..and starbucks is right across the street where i live, so the transgression occurred, `nyways..our cuppas will have to be virtual for now since I think we are on opposite coasts..but if there is a Torrefazione in your neighborhood (or any hole in the wall cafe will do) then perhaps a cuppa will be in order..but please don`t expect me to wax eloquently on literature and all things intellectual. I flail my hands and arms around faster than I talk and my intellectual conversations eventually take what Abba huzoor called the inane and trivial details path regarding movies. Who cares if Anthony Quinn danced at the end of Zorba the Greek with one broken foot?!?! But I can make an argument for the old ladies who lay in wait for the foreign woman to die, and as she took her last, swooped down on the house, devouring vultures that they were, and tore the place apart, claiming their booty..and point out to my students that that scene brings up the issue of women being pacifists by nature...been a long day. :)

Arjun: Logic 101. Ur saying that the white man`s perception of India will determine what he INVESTS (A premise u just threw in) in the nation. This is a FACT.

What Im saying is that the white mans PERCEPTION of India does not by itself make India Great or ``civilized`` or whatever ur trying to say.

The point is that ur saying nuthing. WHO CARES What white people think of Ganhdi? What the fukk have u done to carry his torch? Simple minded people like u get tremendous ego boosts cuz the world ASSOCIATES GREATNESS with them. U did not make india what it is. Fukk ur cructhes, be a man and stand by urself.

That I come from Canada does nort mean i take VAIN/IDLE pride in Canada being ``civilized.``

yasser and sax

newsflash:jinnah gandhi and einstein are dead i mean does it matter?

ana heres a serious qn:you ever encountered an iranian who is a practicing muslim i mean damn its harder than finding good chelo kebab on the east coast how is tehranangles i heard sabzeh gormeh is take out and the dokhtars are just aaaaakh jaaaaan!

Poor `bleated Bakra` of a soul: Me

Payaray Rsaxena ji,

App ki choti choti kushian... chalo I won`t break your heart... Here is how you brilliantly bleated me into the following reply.. oh God how could I have been such a `bakra`:

I wrote in #79: ``By the way your predilection to irrelevancy never ceases to amaze me ... now Gandhi, whatever his achievements and claim to fame (I hope and pray that it is not simply because Dr.King and Einstein said so and so about gandhiji) has nothing to do with the fact that you think `Pakistan is geographically too thin a country to have daylight savings time`... the fact is that you need to have some more of that iodized salt... I fear that the deficiency permanently voided your brain cells (which might be the reason why you are starting with the Gandhi hagiography on this board).``

Truly an amazing achievement... (though it might incomprehensible to me) by the way I am still confused as to how you came to the pure genius of a conclusion that `Pakistan is geographically too thin a country to have DST`??

Can you please elaborate for us lesser mortals?

-YLH

Dear Shankar,

Sirkar you are as always accurate in your brilliant assessment of the situation... As your highness has accurately judged, I have been bleated by clever and witty Rsaxena...

Respectfuly and most humbly I must, given that I am a lowly simpleton bakra who is made to squirm at every witty and clever Indian`s whim, inquire what in my response #79 was indicative of this ? Because I desperately want to learn from the masters of sarcasm and wit...



Fawad,

`Paki-girls`

Surely you are not committing sacrilege by calling those Arab-style Hijabis with IQs less than the numerical value of room temperature in an Alaskan Winter `Paki-girls`??

Come on man... Give me a BREAK! Perhaps you shouldn`t have been so lilly livered and gone up to them to inform them that the Kefiyas they are wearing to show their Arabness doesn`t make them Arab. I mean the stuff they said about you... you know the Razias, the Sehers, the Nadias, the Afsheens, of Rutgers? Please don`t confuse those Hijabi ABCDs with `Paki-girls` or Pakistani girls... Pakistani young women are amongst the brightest in the world...

Sincerely

YLH

Dear Fawad,

``re: yasser ` s famous -green-yasser-my-name-is-on -the back -in case-you didnt know-tshirt``

A small clarification: It was my shirt from my High school`s Men`s Hockey team from the All-Lahore Schools competition ... We won the tournament three times and I was a part of the team all three times.

Ofcourse I can`t explain the sentimental value a shirt like that holds for an International student in a foreign land, so I don`t expect you to understand. Your mockery is sad but don`t worry I will live. Haven`t you ever seen a football jock wear his high school number? Well we didn`t have numbers... we had our names on our backs... so I apologize if I offended you by wearing my shirt.

I find it amazing though that only Pakistani-Americans seemed to be offended (that too in your testimony)... a lot of non-Pakistanis seemed to like it a lot... infact even some of the more decent Indians came up to me and asked me if I was from Pakistan (it said Choueifat Pakistan in the front remember) curious to find out more about Pakistan... and lahore...

Sincerely

-YLH

hi fawad,

I think its a very sensible thing that Pakistani courts have asked shrinks to testify in blasphemy cases. In mental illnesses like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, patients can get grandiose delusions. Thats one of the classic symptoms. I`ve seen many patients who claimed they were God, Moses, Jesus Christ etc... So, its concievable that a psychotic person in a conservative country like Pakistan, could proclaim that he is the ``next prophet`` or he`s greater than Prophet Mohammed. Its a good thing that the poor guy is sent to court & not stoned to death or lynched by an irate mob.

When I was a resident, one of my first patients was a schizophrenic who was comitted to the psychiatric unit (against his will, ofcourse) because he claimed that he was Moses.

Our conversation went something like this:

Patient: ``You godamned fcuking shrink..you better discharge me from this hospital..dont you know one day you will answer to God for doing this to His prophet Moses?!``

Me: ``Er...sir..if you are the prophet Moses, why dont you just part the walls of this hospital & leave? Afterall, if you`ve parted the Red Sea, something like this would be a piece of cake for you!``

Patient: ``thats why you are just a stupid doctor & I`m a prophet!! dont you know that this is the 20th century?! God has told me that I`m not allowed to perform anymore miracles in the 20th century! What the HECK do they teach you in that idiotic medical school, you went to?!!``

Oh well, why do you think I`ve developed a thick skin?:) So when a psycho on Chowk insults me, I dont get offended, I just roll on the floor laughing.. Practising psychiatry may sometimes be harrowingly frustrating, difficult, may not pay as much as other specialities, but its NEVER EVER boring:)!

As far as the psychologist vs psychiatrist feud..in the 80s, when I was doing my residency in Long Island,NY, there was a deadly ``khunnas`` between the 2 professions. We used to have psychologists supervising our psychotherapy patients. One butthead psychologist supervisor even had the balls to tell me that ``the only reason psychiatrists are more successful in treating schizophrenia is because nowadays they TALK to their patients & not ``snow`` them with pills!``

Its been 20 yrs since then & let me tell you that psychologists have really come around (in Michigan, atleast). One of my biggest referal source is psychologists. They sometimes advocate their patients to see a psychiatrist & get on medications LOUDER than other doctors! Its cos a few psychologists got their asses sued & lost their pants in court. They used to tell their depressed patients NOT to take medications. When some of those patients comitted suicide, their families successfully sued them for malpractice.

It BURNS them that psychopharmacology has made significant strides in the last 20 yrs & many types of mental illness are now successfully treated with medications. Scientists are on the threshold of greater inventions & discoveries in ``CNS disorders``. Paxil has already been approved by the FDA for treating ``extreme shyness`` (social anxiety disorder). Believe me; it works! Now psychologists are clamoring for ``prescription priviledges``...hah! the powerful AMA has successfully blocked them from doing so:)

None of the medications I prescribe today were available 20 yrs ago, when I was doing my residency. Great strides have been made in this field & even greater strides are going to be made in the next 20 yrs. But I`m a great believer in the value of psychotherapy..there are many many issues that a ``pill`` will not resolve...so the baby shouldnt be thrown out with the bathwater.

OTOH, I`m very cynical about psychoanalysis. There is not a SHRED of evidence that psychoanalysis works! I guess its worthwhile if you have money to burn & have the luxury of making an introspective journey into your own mind & understand how your mind works. But in terms of it being THERAPEUTIC...(by todays definition), its a waste of time.

Classic examples are Woody Allen & Barbara Streisand. They have been in analysis for decades now. They have probably spent enough money on their analyists, to make the latter buy homes in the Hamptons. But Goddamnit, they are STILL as neurotic as ever!:)

Hey! I think your career plans are great. Just some unsolicited advice, if you dont mind...choose a career based on what interests you..not based on how financially rewarding it is...its better to be happy than rich!:)).

I hope I didnt bore you with my long post...

yassser dude i liked the shirt from the front actually but it see it had ur name on it ............everyone KNOWS AYOU ARE YASSER YOU DONT NEED AN INTRO .........like faisal the sindhi once said,``if you are muslim, you know yasser`` as for those girls none were hejabi i dont mock ur shirt i dont know its just unfamiliar ........r u sure only pakistani americans

paki girls at rutgers and the whole palestine thing

i agree with you 100 per cent the same girls who boycott starbucks and make posters about palestine dont know a damn about kashmir

like i once asked this girl: why dont u boycott indian movies for god sakes at least be consistent !!!!or dont boycott at all................i know what those girls said about me that im stupid yeah whatever this coming from english and middle eastern studies majors oooo thats hard ................

=== Interact Filtered ===
view this users filtered interacts