Chowk Tale

that was ``WOW``. U have been blessed with the power of words. keep it up grrl!

dear shandana,

an addition to your article.....

how fortunate I am to not be f) suffering a friend`s wrath after calling and laughing at him during the low point of the cricket match!!!!

u were lucky that u and bean have chicken pox and i cant come over!!!!

Obaid

Shandana, I like this article of course but more than that I really am looking forward to reading more from you. I *love* the name of your new column. Very cool!

Yours is the first article I have read on chowk. I just joined a few hours ago. A friend told me this site is for the discerning. So far I can see that your article has been quite under-rated.

Thank you for making me want to read more. I hope I like it all as much.

wonderful.. this one entertains and disturbs at the same time ...
Please keep up the good work. Thank you for sharing with us

Behain

Ia mwant t shart too. is ok?

Salaam!

Slink,

Refrigerator box....hhmmm..I`ll have to remember to keep ours in the future. :) But I have to say, your box story is adorable...

temp, email on the way :)

zafar, sure you can put my name on a t-shirt (just don`t write `been there done that` after...)

minhaj...arfin? is dat you?

samina, when i was a kid i lived in a refrigerator box for a while...my parents were kind enough to let me...only my dog was allowed inside...it has an access ramp and periscope hole and all. when i got married and got a new fridge i inisited on keeping the box in the store just in case i ever needed in again. my husband found it very amusing, `protected spoilt brat` he called me. i found it more of a retreat. like cats, every child needs a space that is his/her own where they can feel safe from harm, and unwelcome visitors like reality.

sound...i`m very nice to my husband (sometimes) :)

cheese you are. i hope the tummy of your bottom did not find that comment too difficult to pass.

shandana
youre brilliant... and i mean this from the tummy of my bottom

Very, very well written...absorbing read...thank u...:)
Zee

``It doesn’t matter that I’m silly, selfish, self indulgent and misinformed. So is George Bush, and he rules the most powerful nation on earth.``

Shandana, may I put this on a T shirt please? If you allow, would you like your name under the quote?

Samina,
The way she writes, you never get the feeling that she is setting you up, for the punch, but after every few lines she will knock you out. The refrigerator line I think is very sarcastic and I think she is always commenting on her schooling in Karachi, which is a gigantic immunization clinic. She is very uncomfortable with reality and very angry at how comfortable every one else is. Has colonized the English language with concerns that are local, and feelings that just wont go away. This kid is an original.

Slink,
Nice work, as usual. Slight bitter after-taste though.

Your hub sounds like a decent guy. Sense of humour and he doesn`t beat you -count yourself lucky! Don`t snap at him :))

Cheers

very entertaining, enjoyed reading that.
especially the ending..
``It doesn’t matter that I’m silly, selfish, self indulgent and misinformed. So is George Bush, and he rules the most powerful nation on earth.``
if only all truths were that apparent and easy to identify...

Minhaj,
I like ``perhaps I`ll raise him in a refrigerator box after all.``

and this is one of those rare occasions where hamidm is full of praise, and very succinctly, I must say...
shandana...get well soon! :-)

slink #15 Things could be worse: instead of being a fat Pakistani you could be a thin Pakistani. And you know that means lack of food - not healthy diet and gym - for most people in Pakistan.
PS: I am just trying to be funny - nice article.

``It seems everyone must have an accessory in the game of need nowadays.``

Wow.

paras 2-5 esp. effective.

Peace,
Is it just me or did somebody else noticed the freezing of everything around you while reading the article. And the moisture in your eyes, was it due to the dust in the air or something else. Well written. Hope to see more of your action...
Peace
PS Get well soon...

absolutely delightful ! ........ so effortless ........

...shandana, great stuff as usual...powerfully told...btw, djinn and tonic?...luuuurve it...:)

nice article, enjoyed reading it

Hope you get well soon!

thanks for reading people :)

just so you know...its chickenpox. as hubby puts it ``beam me up spotty!``

shandana

That was good. Thoughts pouring out in words. Honest. Straightforward. Intense. sensitive. No make up. No interruptions. Raw & clear.

In good mood, with happy emotions, you would write so wonderfully and effective. Things with rainbows, music, fragrance, joy.

Liked it!

Liked the distracted nature of the article...musing between the important and the trival...

Ciao

Shandana:
Déjà vu! If you were truly immune, you would not have written this. What many people in this world do not realise is that after one has exposed oneself and beaten a retreat, it isn’t an ivory tower one is sitting in. But a fragile bubble that might burst and push you back into the flotsam. Being “silly, selfish, self indulgent and misinformed” is often a security shield for ornery mortals. Our ‘djinn and tonic’…

Farzana

Questions, choices, consequences . . .

1) Why Zambia?

2) Why snap at anybody who deserves it?

3) Why not Headless Chicken?

4) And finally, why is white wine better than red, usually?

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Really liked it! Thank you.

``. They have other things to be happy about though. Children, grandchildren, advancements in fat free and sugar free food technology.``

Yup, Dada`s rejoicing in his latest discovery; a shop near Water Pump that sells sugar-free Gulab Jamun!

Warm regards,

Aamir

Loved it!

Got to meet that maid of yours....

Strange world we live in. Let us hope for peace.

Ras

A piping hot brew of the smoldering realities of our schizophrenic world characterized by the separation between thought processes and emotion. It must be quite a thing to be a Minhas.

slightly off-tangent: relates to Khaki story in Chowk:

11 brigadiers promoted to generals in pakistan.

Now these people will get the 50 acres land ``perk``, further diminishing land-mass available for mere mortals in pakistan.

shandy:

...agree with samm...

...guilt is a very powerful emotive force...and you seem to have channelised it well here...now let`s see if you can turn your attention to some pending mail;)

...t

Shandana:
being somewhat familiar with rejection myself...i sympathise :-)
`tis a good piece!
ana

Brilliant.

There are some ideas in this piece that might be developed further in another essay, short story, poem, prose poem, play, etc.

Just to let you know, I got chills at one point in this piece...and that you know, for a writer is a very good sign!

``All over the world people are agitating, vacillating or salivating over the big War question, but I feel strangely detached from it all``

All over the world, depending on their time zone, people are sleeping, getting up, commuting, working, going home and spending time with their family, and yes switching on the news channell once in a while to see the news with a sense of detachment.

In some parts of the world, people are wondering where their next meal will come from and would feel a strange sense of detachment if they were told about Iraq or Pakistan or any other place outsoide their own environment.

It might be disconcerting for some, perfectly valid for others, but a sense of detachment is required to go through life. You are fortunate that inspite of being a Pakistani, you happen to be educated and middleclass or more. Same as I, and Indian belonging to the same minority.

There are many in Iraq for who the war will be a blessing, and some for whom it will mean the end of their lives. We all need to build our coccoon, and you have apparently succeeded in creating your own. That`s a good thing isn`t it?