Mapping Karachi’s Charms and Contradictions

Romair:

If you like thrillers and would be interested in reading a pretty good Indian one, get hold of a copy of Bunker13 by Aniruddha Bahal. The twist in the tail will knock you off your seat.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0374117306/qid=1068545208/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-6438559-1800866?v=glance&s=books


Saminasha

~~I`ve also seen writers who are appreciated in the rest of the world get lumps from the peanut gallery here-Shamsie`s theme sounds really interesting-and now I`m going to get her book~~

You are too presumptuous and reading too much into peoples motives for criticising her work. First of all read it yourself and then comment.


~~I also said Art was AS important AS basic necessities-it is one of them. Anyone who tells you otherwise has not read Paul Celan, Kabir or Neruda... ~~

I have read Celan, Kabir and Neruda and I still do not think that they are as important as clean water, food and shelter.

MNPhirsay;

Why are you wincing with embarassment? Dont be shy, express yourself.

Sac

Thanks for the information. Sounds interesting.

shandana

I wish you the best of luck in your endeavour to get published.

i so agree with you sac. :) i wonder why people are so resentful of criticism[or even condemnation :p] when it isn`t even about them. i`d refrain from commenting further on how I feel about Kamila Shamsie, Bapsi Sidhwa and whoever else.

annie

debated about whether to post on this board, have decided to after all. lots of misconceptions seem to be floating around about pakistani women writers.

i am a pakistani woman writer. i have never had a book published, but my essays and writing has been featured in most pakistani papers and magazines worth reading, and some that aren`t. this does not mean that i am not a writer, it simply means that i don`t fit the criteria for publishing. when i was younger, people encouraged me to go back to college and get a degree (i dropped out halfway because a)my father was very ill and b) i didn`t feel i was cut out for college education), but i chose to start working instead. i worked as a teacher for three years. i started out earning 4000 per month and teaching math and geography, when i quit i was earning just over 10,000 and teaching my first love, literature. i quit teaching because i wanted to devote all my time to writing. instead of heading for publishers abroad i wanted to get published by a local publishing house because i am pakistani and wanted to write for a pakistani audience. an editor at one publishing house read my work and offered me a project ghost writing someone else`s book. i declined. my ego was hurt. good enough to write someone else`s story but not good enough to write my own? another felt my work was `interesting` and thought about including it in an anthology. apparently, he is still thinking about it till this day. a third said i was as talented as jhumpa lahiri but just not ready. the job i quit to write full time seemed like a pleasant dream. with no other skills, apart from some writing ability, and an acute degree of social dislocation, i could find no other work. finally, i turned to working for a production house where i did concepts, scripting and produced programming and earned (on paper) around 20,000 rupees a month. i wrote for papers steadily for a while, but that stream of words became a trickle as more and more of my time and energy was spent making a living. tv production is time consuming, often superficial and a very bad paymaster because you paychecks come by one every four months instead of every month, depending on the advertiser. a little bit of regret began to creep in when i thought of my choices, why hadn`t i finished my degree and learnt to market myself? why hadn`t i gone the `opressed third world woman seeking western publishing benefactor` route often recommended by market savvy friends but rejected by self as `crap`? why had i let my belief in myself and my work interfere with my judgement?

clarity suggested the choice was between success and failure in terms of money rather than in terms of quality.

10 years after i first took a step down the word road, i have finally begun flipping through the thick writers guide to agents and publishers my sister sent me years ago. success in publishing has as much to do with being a marketable commodity as it does with writing talent. i am no longer interested in pakistani publishers. part of me is still not interested in publishing, but now that i`m a mother i dont have the time or the inclination to hold a day job and exhaust myself with things that dont really matter to me in the first place. i would love to survive on what i earn writing, for now it isn`t possible. but maybe one day, and if i ever do get published, my book will be dedicated to www.chowk.com. because.

i have recently started writing for papers again. only a few, but i am writing. now that i`ve passed through the tunnel of rejection and come out on the other side, i am again entranced by the magic and words and remember why i do what i do. and if the world doesn`t get it, so what.

if someone says to me you aren`t a writer because you`ve never had a book published, i shall poke them in the eye.

mohsin hamid is a good writer.

Saminasha #57: `re: construction work vs. nursing and caretaking an infant

I wouldnt presume that construction work is easier. Hope you post after your newborn :) And no ayahs allowed!``

Taking care of newborn is probably more difficult than construction work. But construction work + writing a book is probably more difficult than taking care of baby + writing a book.

Though I have never written a book, nor taken care of a baby. Nor have I ever been a construction worker.

As for the various comments on Shamsie bya various posters:

Obviously people will have different views. But from a critics` point of view (which is the one that counts), there are so many people who write books. Very few of them get published. And of the many which get published, a microscopic amount win, or become finalists for prominent international awards. And out of those finalists a small percentage are from non-native English writers.

Shamsie`s first two books achieved all of the above. And her third may get something also. All this before the age of 30. If that doesn`t make her a good writer (at least in the eyes of critics and in my opinion also), then people need to change the definition of, ``good writer.``

But she is not a great writer. But she still has a long way to go, and is young. And writers like wine, tend to get better with age. Unlike scientists, who like Coca-Cola show their most promise in the early days.

I would still say, out of all the South Asian authors I have read, other than Rushdie, I liked Mohsin Hamid the best. Maybe, because he wrote about a familiar city. Rushdie, I don`t liek as a person, due to the opportunist that he is. But literally speaking he is in a class of his own. Haven`t read much Naipaul yet, though. Though does he count as Indian. And isn`t his wife Pakistani?

But in Pakistan, Hamid and Shamsie are the only ones going places. Rest are very average. The fact that I am a Pakistani, may make my view biased. So they may even be below average. Some on Chowk could write as well, as this average crowd.

Re: sac:

Men on the other hand have a very sharp peak in the IQ distribution. Meaning there is a large variance in IQs of men. Explains a lot doesn`t it. Obviously being a `creative` writing major it will take you the whole day to figure out what it means and the rest of your life trying to debunk it. Good luck.


Sharp peak = large variance hahahahahahahaha

sac you`d do well to eat some baadaam yourself.

Why does everyone make fun of creative writing? What`s wrong with creative writing?

Re: PunjabiZulu:

I read Kartography and was deeply, profoundly, massively underwhelmed. She is a mediocre writer. The whole novel meandered aimlessly, and there were some sentences which made me wince with embarassment.

and I am wincing with embarassment right now.

Sac,

And so you represent the apparent drop in distribution? Or, as the joke goes, were out out for kulfi when She was handing out brains? :)

re PunjabiZulu,

I think he is working on something set in the subcontinental past. t seems to know more. As for the gf, she wasn`t a publisher but seemed to know a lot of folks in Manhattan. Mohsin used to be a very introverted guy but has blossomed out after his success...maybe loss of hair has something to do with it. Not sure.

t,

Thanks.

re saminaSha and her usual ride on the A train,

There is a study out there that likens the IQ distribution amongst females to be somewhat flat. Meaning the likelihood of finding crazies and correspondingly geniuses is smaller compared to men. Men on the other hand have a very sharp peak in the IQ distribution. Meaning there is a large variance in IQs of men. Explains a lot doesn`t it. Obviously being a `creative` writing major it will take you the whole day to figure out what it means and the rest of your life trying to debunk it. Good luck.

later
-sac

Romair,

Monica Ali.

re: construction work vs. nursing and caretaking an infant

I wouldnt presume that construction work is easier. Hope you post after your newborn :) And no ayahs allowed!

Punjabi,

Actually, if memory serves, there are very few on Chowk who have even deigned to address Lahiri and Ali. The rest are abcd potshots.

I`ve also seen writers who are appreciated in the rest of the world get lumps from the peanut gallery here-Shamsie`s theme sounds really interesting-and now I`m going to get her book.

I also said Art was AS important AS basic necessities-it is one of them. Anyone who tells you otherwise has not read Paul Celan, Kabir or Neruda...

Saminasha #44: ``Tom Clancy isnt really considered a great writer around here...also``

I don`t recall calling Tom Clancy a great writer. I just said he is a very successful one, and very wealthy. In that sense, in his own field, he is a great writer. Though in the literary crowd he is not. Just like, I love Star Wars, but the Oscar Academy does not. At the same time, Clancy outsells all the Booker award finalists combined, many times over. So he must be good at something.

Writing thrillers is extremely difficult. There are barely five to ten in the whole world, who regularly sell. And not one from South Asia. India has produced so many good novelists, yet it has produced no one who is even close to average in the Thriller field.

``I`m not so sure that these writers put their native countries on the literary map.``

Writers who write about their cities and countries definitely put them on the map. It doesn`t mean I will visit those countries, but at least I will be curious. Just like, after watching Indian movies, I used to think all Indian college girls are very attractive, dance a lot and wear spandex. Now after meeting them, I have realized most of this to be false. But at least, the movies did make me curious.

``You discount the famillies in which women also are breadwinners who write in their downtime. If men find this schedule tight, they should finally consider themselves part of the reality that most women in this world operate in. Both Lahiri and Ali wrote their books in between caring for their newborns...and isnt that a 24/7 job? ``

To the best of my knowledge, Lahiri is not a Pakistani. And who is Ali? Tariq Ali? Ahmad Ali? Ali McGraw? In the West, a lot of women maybe the main breadearner. But in Pakistan, 99% still aren`t. This may be right or wrong, but it is there.

I have never cared for a newborn, and have only vague memories of being one. But I would think writing would be the perfect profession for anyone raising a newborn. One could multi-task easier than with an office job. Roll the cradle into the computer room, and then type on the word processor, while keeping an eye on the baby. Not easy to do. But it seems much easier than being a construction worker and writing.

``I know....to each his/her own...but shouldnt these writers be cut some slack?``

One should never cut anyone any slack, if one wants them to be successful. One should provide a lot of encouragement and support. But never slack. Slack leads to mediocrity, and a false picture of one`s achievements.

Pakistan, in English literature, is comparitively furthur behind in the world arena than, say, it is in Punjabi movies, Urdu literature, pop music, singing, TV plays, sports (if one considers it an art form), debating, etc.

Out of curiosity I just did a google search on Pakistani writers and found some websites that might be of interest:

Shamshie:

http://www.umiacs.umd.edu/users/sawweb/sawnet/books/kamila_shamsie.html

Ghose:

http://www.centerforbookculture.org/interviews/interview_ghose.html

And I discovered this site about a film adaptation of Manto`s Toba Tek Singh has anybody seen this?

http://www.geocities.com/kenmcm_2000/pagepartition.htm#partition

Bapsi Sidhwa:

http://www.monsoonmag.com/interviews/i3inter_sidhwa.html

An article by Mohsin Hamid about Lahore:

http://www.time.com/time/asia/2003/journey/pakistan_lahore.html

Saminasha

~~We have no problem in lauding the works of male writers and policy makers who have come from upper middle class backgrounds, no matter how sheltered, sexist and narrow minded....but should writers in Pakistan come from the same class, they are hooted at and treated with a great deal of contempt. I find this quite hypocritical. Dont you?~~

I see nothing but praise for writers like Jhumpa Lahiri and Monica Ali on this website. Shamshie is being criticised for her mediocrity. I can detect no misogyny here. Maybe you are reading too much into things.

~~And YOUR comment of Art not being as essential as bread, shelter and rights is quite ill advised. Or are you of the strange opinion that humans operate in vacuum of biological survival?~~

As much as I love literature, art, music and cinema, I simply do not believe it is more important than clean water and medicine etc.

True artists will always flourish. If they can flourish in India they can in Pakistan.

Sac

Any more ideas about the novel that Hamid is working on? I am keen to read his new work it will be interesting to see how he progresses as a writer.

So his girlfriend was a publisher?

Punjab,

Well...I wasnt actually being sarcastic in the first part...the second part, yes, was quite sarcastic....but let me spell it out for you:

We have no problem in lauding the works of male writers and policy makers who have come from upper middle class backgrounds, no matter how sheltered, sexist and narrow minded....but should writers in Pakistan come from the same class, they are hooted at and treated with a great deal of contempt. I find this quite hypocritical. Dont you?

And YOUR comment of Art not being as essential as bread, shelter and rights is quite ill advised. Or are you of the strange opinion that humans operate in vacuum of biological survival?