Mrs. Ashfaque Munir’s Resentment

nazar:

“This sounded like my routine.”…khuda na karay!

JM and i go back to the war of independence circa 1857:) …yes i know that flat-footed paceman from my school cricket team that produced several test cricketers of note…JM is a sane family person who has his head screwed firmly to this shoulders…and is lucky to have a wonderfully organized and graceful companion in S…back in the days when i used to visit or pass through karachi fairly regularly would call him up and S would ask me in rapid fire how long would be in town, or if leaving when am returning…all the while looking at the kitchen calendar and upon learning the dates would fire off two or three dates ...usually local weekends that i was expected to leave open till she gets back…then she would call up all our school mates in town or expected on town and get us all together on an agreed day…thanks to her organisational skills we have spent some of the most pleasurable evenings in karachi…but do not recall if he ever mentioned you…perhaps your writing passion was hidden from him?….please drop in a line at ttemporal@lycos.com…we should meet when you visit TO next…

rgds,

t

Syddo why do i do it sometimes?...when am totally bored…or need some challenge…or…nah, forget it…chanced into ‘trans-literation’ accidentally…as rozaiba mentioned each version has its flavour…sometimes the challenge is nearly met…sometimes it cannot be met…

exchanged inaudible good-nights

is not and can not be the same as

aur shub khair say guzarnay ki
thaki thaki khaahishoiuN ka
dabay dabay andaaz maiN izhar kiya

or this from the cobweb series:

Farewell

will be ever grateful
for the timely downpour
that blended
with mine

Alwidah

sada ehsaan-mund rahaiNgay
bur-waq’t abr-e-rehmat kay
laaj rakh li jisnay
ash’k-e-jigar souzi ki

the english version has its simple charm, but lacks the depth and potency of urdu…laaj rakhna and ash’k-e-jigar souzi simply are unavailable or too convoluted if translated…

lve,

t

ps: heard from the universities?

thank you aamir, FJ, rozaiba, Ras, Ferz, taimur

tahmed you concern for smoking is noted…obviously smoking is bad but it was not the major culprit in their relationship (will reply to the second concern later…am thinking of ways to do it so that it will satisfy you and sammi and not get me into trouble with the munirs and homeland security;))

rgds,

t

Temp: I second Saminasha #10`s suggestion. Tell us about Mr. Munir`s dashing brother who still gets excited 20 years after marriage when his wife enters the room. Tell us about Mr. Munir`s dashing brother`s wife who sneaks the neighbor into the bedroom when Mr. Munir is out of town...

Samina: That would be a disaster. How many kidz do u know that count time in scores and use words like ``carrotussle`` which no one has any business using.

Dear Temoral,

what can I say!

Keep it up :)

Regards.

Temp Bhai,

Isnt it time you wrote about a character with a more youthful demeanor?

A fictive account, anyway.

:)

temporal

``But her resentment
tattooed on her facial skin
was unlike an escaped prisoner
to be frozen in its glare``

Liked these lines the best.

Ras

Temporal always creates his works in such a way that it appears that he has actually experienced the actions of his characters. What powerful storytelling.

;)

temp:
Very nice. ``understanding meaning nor intent``...so true, but then you accept that meaning and intent can be different in varied contexts.

Bas, ab tau sirf ``thaki thaki khaahishoun ka`` thakaan mehsoos hota hai :)

love,
F

temporal

This sounded like my routine.

All wives want their husband to talk to them. But I guess all meaningful conversation has been done in the first 3 years.

sounds like the story of old wives & bored husbands. my wife gives very high marks to my friends who are talktative.

(today FE Jamil came when I was at Chowk. He knows you very well)

t:

yeah, mr. munir needs to pay more attention to his mrs. housewife. too many such desi couples.

i like your way of putting up both versions of the poem- english and urdu. each has it`s own flavor.

Temporal,

I was wondering. Is there any specific reason why you sometimes have a piece in both urdu and english. I think-I think, you shouldn`t do that. It`s sort of unfair with the text, if you know what I mean.

But yes, I`ll admit it`s also interesting.

Good one. But why does Mr. Munir still smoke?? (I thought everybody had quit smoking by now).
And they go to sleep back to back? I think Mrs. Munir should outsource Mr. Munir`s services to the neighbor, the mailman, possibly (if all else fails) to the illegal alien mowing the lawn. That`s what Mr. Munir deserves for going to sleep back to back with a lady in bed!!! A disgrace to all Pakistani males!!!

Temporal, one of your best. Read it as ``Mrs Ashfaque Munir`s Restaurant`` initially ...

hey, i remember this one. . . :o)
enjoyed reading this, t.