Graffiti Christ II: The Resurrection

Very clever, Mr. Paracha. A clever way of saying that why waste time and energy
bombing innocent people when you should be using these bombs blowing up multinationals.
I am impressed. But remember being clever has its pitfalls.
And about the `God Couple` what makes you say antismoking is a facist ploy?

LOL ... excellent NFP, alla. btw `khadija` just blew up in a karachi masjid killing dozens.

#21
Good girl.

Its ironic how amreekee goras are less prone to believe the loopsided extreme views of generalizing islam and restricting it to the stupid ways of Binladen and likes but the Pakis wanabe goras and ``intelectuals`` are not only ready to beleive the crap sent down to them but are propagating the vendetta. The piece was awesome and funny but between the lines seemed to have a propogandaist hate the muslim theme. Most of the replies had a similar anti-Islamic bias. Just curious NFP .. is this Ur msg? to despise anyone whose views differ from Urs in matters of faith???

the other irony of `floaters` of course, among others that i may have missed, is that faisal kills khadija to keep her from setting off the bomb in zainab square, but he`s not averse to throwing the bomb in the coca-cola factory and destroying lives and livelihoods over there. when it comes to violence. . .what is the difference between `muftis`, `capitalist pigs`, and `communistoon, anarchistic dogs`? : )

ah, but the gaze hasn`t diverted entirely from corporate slogans: `the real thing`. . gawd i remember that! the question is does anyone remember when RC cola adverts first slammed our television screens, and that long-haired hippie type with the drums, and i think there was a trampoline as well somewhere.

digressing. . .i know, yes nadeem, my you know what is here now. . .so kya? : ) i`ll talk about the parables and what they mean agar ijaazat ho tau?!

when i was reading `floaters` and all this about the sunnat, and doing what her mufti tells her to do, i was reminded of a passage from the book i`m currently reading called Reading Lolita in Tehran. and hopefully it is not too out of context to bring that here.
from page 30 of Reading Lolita in Tehran:

``Imagine Yassi standing with me in front of that green gate, laughing between conspiratorial whispers, our bodies close together. She was talking about the teacher who taught Islamic morality and translation. A Pillsbury Dough boy personality, she said. Three months after his wife`s death, he had married her younger sister, because a man--and here Yassi lowered her voice--(in italics) a man has his special needs.
Then her voice took on a serious tone as she began to describe his recent lecture on the difference between Islam and Christianity. She now became this dough-faced little man standing by the blackboard, pink chalk in one hand, white chalk in the other. On one side he had written in large white letters MUSLIM GIRL, and drawn a vertical line in the middle of the board. On the other side, in large pink letters, he wrote CHRISTIAN GIRL. He had then asked the class if they knew the differences between the two. One was a virgin, he said at last, after an uncomfortable silence, white and pure, keeping herself for her husband and her husband only. Her power came from her modesty. The other, well, there was not much one could say about her except that she was not a virgin. To Yassi`s surprise, the two girls behind her, both active members of the Muslim Students` Association had started to giggle, whispering, (in italics) No wonder more and more Muslims are converting to Christianity.``

Apologies for the long quote but i wanted to keep the context intact somehow. anyway. i was thinking about sunnat. . .and what we (or i should say muslims in this context) are taught and what the reality is out there. and that`s what connected the two texts for me.

the absurdity of a woman growing a beard because somehow, somewhere waxing became a western concept (i always understood it to be the opposite), and the absurdity, nay, the inhumanity of going to bomb zainab market with no other care than that she will go to heaven (will heaven let her in is the question for those who believe?) and then faisal, committing what he felt was the needful crime of murdering her in order to save all those in zainab market (i suspect zainab market isn`t limited to pakistani muslims alone. . .) the absurdity of all this is rich, in my opinion. and hilarious in terms of language. .words like sexical, and `you go keelub and play badminton.`

and the irony of khadija is that she is portrayed as the antithesis of what a `good, white and pure` muslimah is. and this isn`t unrelated to news reports we hear of young women being trained up in the north to do acts similar to what khadija sets out to do. dark humor here succeeds in critiquing false teachers, teachings, and the actions that result as of those.

i`m still trying to wrap my mind around `the god couple` i was trying to recall `godless` or searching absurd couples like lucky and pozzo from `waiting for godot` or rosencrantz and guilderstern from `rosencrantz and guildenstern are dead`, and it`s been so long i can`t recall. . .but all i can wrap my mind around here is the betrayal. . .you`ve been reading too much science fiction lately haven`t you?! the bioborg, like khadija is not concerned with life, or the things associated with it, utrapit is the ultimate fascist. . only interested in assimilation and or extermination. darker than `floaters`. . .and just as absurd. .or less so.

as shandana says, more power to your pen indeed! : )
n~

p. s. and now i`ll go have my chai and ciggie!

nass. . .

whatever. don`t worry, be happy! you live with your twisted ideas and i do the same, theek hai? : )

noorlain, I agree with umer. And anyway in the many interviews I have read on Nadeem, he himself seems very candit talking about his breakdowns. So why should you be so bothered?

umer. . .

i KNOW that most if not all good writers are a bit `messed up`. they have to be, in order to create the worlds they create. . .that was not the point though. NFP, i suppose, can be cavalier (though something tells me he isn`t) about his `mental breakdowns` because he has made it through them. some people don`t though. and so yes, it does bother me when people constantly refer to what involves a great deal of pain and suffering in the terms that have been referred to every flippin` time a NFP article or story appears.

we as readers tend to romanticize and even minimize raymond carver`s alcoholism, or virginia woolf`s suicide, and her breakdowns, and i just find that really problematic, but that`s just me. now if you say so what again, fine. so i`ll just keep my opinions on the matter to myself from now on. glad you`re enjoying the `madness.`

n~

Nadeem F.P.,

That was fantastic!!! I couldn`t stop laughing my donkey off at the first story. The bit about `oh you shut up,` and `you play keelub and badminton` was just so, so, so on the spot.

Love you, man.

Neuro,

All good writers are a bit messed up. I`m really starting to like Nadeem`s writing and I wouldn`t be surprised if he talks to his herbs and spices or stands sideways naked in front of a mirror, swells his abdomen with air and holds his belly like a pregnant woman. So what?

Umer M.

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# 1
nooralain
The sooner the better.

#2
M.B.Z.Isphahani
You’re a good man.

#3 fadyady
Funny how I suspect that too. ;)

#4
zebunnisa
Gracias.

#7
Nass
Okay, Nass, “not another breakdown.” It wasn’t as if you were cleaning after my first (or second) one. So why worry? Enjoy the Garffiti.

#8
Warlus
Define “wicked?” (Without a having a meltdown).

#9
atif1
There are no gates. Just holes. Ask Alice.

#10
rahul_capri
Radio play genre, hmmm. Interesting prospect. But this would need a wholly different frequency. The sort those poor sods keep waiting for at SATI.
Honored to be compared with the great Manto, even though I’m nowhere near him. Thank you nonetheless.

#11
M.B.Z.Isphahani
You’re a good man.

#12
Hello Shandana. Glad to have made your morning pleasant. I made sure this piece came without the surgeon general’s warning. Smoke up.

#13
Ahmedbilal
Sticky wicket, Ahmed. Strangely, the umpires are neither giving me out nor letting me bat. I think I’ll retire hurt.

#14
nooralain
Hey is that me running naked on the streets? Nass should know. She worries a lot about my mental health. Don’t you nightingale?

warlus and nass,

why don`t you give up on bringing up the breakdowns? have you ever had mental breakdowns of your own??? they don`t produce creativity per se. give NFP some credit for being able to be creative without having a bloody breakdown. . .or is that so difficult for you `normal` people???

Nadeem, when are you posting ``Cactus Gas`` on Chowk? Or is it too hard to swallow for this site? Thanks.

have managed to read the resurrection, with my morning chai and ciggie, what a way to start the day. think its fantastic! so glad you`ve turned that gaze on something other than popsicles and corporate slogans which, imho, is a waste of your talent. good thing my opinion doesn`t matter :)

more after reading the second half later in the day after i`ve recovered from the first.

more power to your pen nfp,
shandana

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