This Fall

“i think the psyche of NY these days is of a city going through the motions of life while hiding and trying to heal a wound inside.....sort of like someone losing a loved one but trying to live normally.”

Scene: a table at a cafe.

NYC:”I’m just going through the motions of life, while hiding and trying to heal a wound inside.”
Beirut:”Call me in twenty-five years, we’ll have lunch.”

NYC continues to sit at the table, morosely drinking coffee. Beirut picks up rhinestone encrusted crutches and heads off to YSL`s annual prosthetic limbs sale...

(With apologies to NYC, Beirut, Scout & Rabih Alameddine.)

Reply Ajeet #4

“You [Rehan] start with an idea and all of sudden you branch off to an entirely different subject. After meandering through sundry observations you may or may not return to the original idea.”

Ajeet, it’s called a segue (pron. “seg-way”) and he does it a lot. The point being that while the plot changes, the theme remains the same - explored and illustrated in new ways by the juxtaposition of contexts. (But pleeeeeeeeeeeease don’t ask me what the theme is, Rehan Saheb bahaut deep haiN while I am famous for my vapid frivolity – meaning, I am unable to answer this question in the manner which it deserves. On the other hand, look, maybe you’re right and these pieces are just things he types up after his notorious 36 hour clubbing and bingo benders…which are, of course, not merely vulgar hedonism and self indulgence but a profound and powerful comment on decadence and the transient nature of physical pleasure and temporal power in the kafir West…) Best regards.

It refers to both, i would think...going back and remembering a Fall season in which there was possibility and a future...and facing a Fall season right now, where the title `The Empire Strikes Back` takes new meaning, where possibility for more of the negative outweighs the positive...a Fall in which it will most probably be decided (hell, it already has been) that there is going to be a war...a war which is not just, nor is it about justice...and while plans to crush and pulverize the Iraqis, and lies to liberate Iraqi women are being made...the cracks within the Empire are widening. Many places, besides New York look splendiferous in the Fall...the fact that New York has survived its fall of 2001, but this Fall, it sees a part of it falling into xenophobia....it refers to both the season and the act of falling.

Rehan bhaijan:

Lousy idea(s) and even worse execution. New York is like a giant airport. People are always coming and going. That is why its the city that never sleeps. The assholes that brought the towers down have simply caused some flight delays. Romans and decline? Pass me the mozarella. You can keep the eggplant.

Stock exchanges now largely exist in bits and bytes. What is important is who has the key to the vault. Would you rather trust the Chinese or the Singaporeans?

And you could find fresher(and much cheaper) produce in Chinatown. Use the 7 train.

later
-sac

This Fall.
What does this refer to? The season or the act of falling as U suggest the empire will do ultimately?

Hmmm. Pilgrimages, farmers market, Gandhi. Tears falling on a dry-cleaned suit. An on-duty officer eyeing a page of propoganda. People allowing construction to go on everywhere.

New York certainly has changed. :( .

# 8 Aza Munna

Nice verse.

the last sentence is a gem...simple yet multi faceted.

so far, i have not had the slightest desire to go to ground zero.
the view of the skyline from my window is a constant reminder of sept. 11th. the people that i have met since sept. 11th who lost their loved ones, jobs, and livelihoods are a constant reminder as well.

i think the psyche of NY these days is of a city going through the motions of life while hiding and trying to heal a wound inside.....sort of like someone losing a loved one but trying to live normally.

CHOWK may change but Rehan Ansari is still at it.
Very interesting points of view presented here through the lens
of a unique writer.
The empire is not in its fall, but has been awakened.

Ras

Not one to complain but that area was pretty difficult to navigate pre but now it is impossible because of tourists. But that is understandable - paying respect, cusiosity whatever! But I wish they were confined to that area only. Somehow they stray down Bway and then Wall with abs no ettiquete/concern whatsoever. They think they are out for a stroll stopping dead in their tracks for no reason and looking around to see where they are. The worst is when they walk 4-5 abreast taking up the entire sidewalk and if there is an entire pack headed by a red umbrella it is best to run 10 blocks around - much faster than behind them.
There was a viewing post - i think the walkway that used to connect to the Winter Gardens was converted to one. But dont think it is there now.
YOu missed another pilgrimage spot - Battery Park - the globe (battered now) that used to be right in the middle of the WTC complex. That is a very very very real and sad reminder !
ok with that said I am calling it a day - good article and good night!!

Rehan,

The problem that I have, with your writings is that they lack a coherent thought thread. You start with an idea and all of sudden you branch off to an entirely different subject. After meandering through sundry observations you may or may not return to the original idea.

The way you started the current essay, it seemed to me, that you were going to write about some signs that were common between Roman civilization at its zenith and the present day American culture, which led to the decline of the Roman empire and perhaps draw some conclusion as to how that kind of fate could be avoided. However what you wrote about was about the fall weather, your call to your uncle in Pakistan and then to destruction of WTC, jumping to buying sabzi in farmers market, and Gandhi’s statue reappearing and finally concluding with a wish for the city of New York to keep it magnificence.

Also, I sense a split personality here. A little envy of the USA’s dominant culture, with a sneaking hope for its decline, and then, on the other side a wish that nothing bad would happen to New York city which is the epitome of United states of America.

but after having made my previous inane remark, allow me to make a few more (am in the mood--for inanity, that is), and announce the arrival of the Rehan bashers...the ones who will tell you once again that your style is disjointed, that you write well, but don`t say much (no, wait, that was what one of my profs. said to me), and those of us who know that you are capable of much more, and better.
Fall was and still is possibility...for those of us who don`t fall.
And I hope (and pray) that Dubya doesn`t ruin Iraq any more than it has already been ruined. Best he pay more attention to the ruination in his propre nation.

If things were very good in Rome...the decline, let alone it`s beginning would not have happened......