A Wedding Night in Boston...

Atif, great job. You`re one of the funniest people I know (online!) and so much better than some of the clowns that visit these pages. The article made me think of a very close friend`s wedding last winter, in particular the mehndi. After the bhangra, the dances and the food, we all went back for a sleepover at her place, and I couldn`t sleep for some time, because it hit home that this is the last time we`ll be this way, and she would soon leave for Amreeka. Aah. Memories. Oh by the way, I maintain that no abcd girl can match a lahorun when it comes to those ``jhatkas`` and ``matkas`` - take that as a challenge if you must! :)

First of all, my humble thanks to Chowk staff for deeming my scribblings as worthy of being published. I am no writer. Not by a long shot. But then, after seeing veeresh`s articles, i guess I am not all that bad. Now that I am published, it is almost as if I am no longer a `chowk virgin`. Its a good feeling. First time is indeed special.

temporal sahib - thanks for the welcome. No I am not at all a masochist. I am a sadist. I will send Tabish and `A` the link to this article so they can read the interacts. But then, friends have complained that Tabish yawns all day long from lack of sleep these days. This leads me to think that, at the moment, reading is not his pet activity at night.

urstruly - nawazish sir! I am humbled by this knowledge that you liked my writing. Since this is the first time we are directly addressing each other, let me confess that you are one of my favorite interactors on chowk. Indeed Adnan showed a lot of talent. I also see a lot of other `non-writers` who show so much talent in their interacts and ilogs - Salim, Sobia, Rakaposh, romair to name a few.

khmakhwa oye deeja vu day piyo, aye akh kinnoN maree aye?

echoboom echo sahib - thanks for calling me ``sweet and innocent``. my friends in boston agree with your characterization of me as ``sweet``. but for some reason they stop short of calling me ``innocent``. and these are the friends who lost their own innocense long time ago. imagine that! your confidence in me as the ``greatest catch around boston`` was very touching. but why is it that there is no feminine term for `fisherman` who would hook me and then reel me in her boat? fisherwoman perhaps? fisherperson? And since I am a pretty big fish, perhaps two fisherwomen would be needed?

scott aha - finally a rotten egg comes my way. you write ``Chowk standards are dipping. Why are these ilogs making it to the front page? What next - ``The Diary of A S_x Crazed Teenager``?``

well scott puttar, first of all, you did not have to engage in self-censorship by writing S_x instead of Sex. You see, sex is not all that bad thing anymore. Here watch this, I will write sex three times and sun will still not freez. sex. sex. sex. See? Nothing happened. Even chowk staff will not reject my post. As for ``The diary of a sex crazed teenager``, well, once again - you seem to have slept through the 1980s. Scott puttar, sex is no longer the exclusive domain of teenagers only. Adults engage in that too now a days. Sex has gone mainstream now. And you don`t need to call it S_x. Just say it for what it is. Ok?

malik99 thank you for your kind words. as for the choice of ``saudi girl``, i think i have learned now that I may have slept through the 80`s sexual revolution that swept through the middle east.

as for your second part about my ``darkened mood`` at the end - thats a correct observation. It was a day full of happy activties for the wedding of my closest friend, running the chores for auntie, helping Tabish get ready, welcoming and ushering the guests, and then wedding ceremoney with its hungama, loud laughters and dance and music. Then, when all that was over, a sense of `loss` overcame me. I guess, that is the selfishness in a human being. It occured to me then that I no longer held monolpoly over his time. There was a beautiful girl who would look for his company every day.

Chowk standards are dipping. Why are these ilogs making it to the front page? What next - ``The Diary of A S_x Crazed Teenager``?

atif -

this was genuinely humorous account of a wedding. you can be brash and funny, yet graceful and sensitive. that is truly a natural talent for a writer.

Two observations:

- your choice of a ``saudi girl`` to bring home the point of a ``guarded virginity`` was interesting. perhaps an afghan girl from kandahar might have been more apt :)

- your essay was humorous all the way - until the very end, when it seems like your mood darkened a bit. That, to me, was the most genuine and the most human aspect of your writing. In other words, just because the essay was humorous, you did not force yourself to be funny in the end, and instead showed the true human feelings of having ``lost`` a friend to marriage. Great Job!

atif:

Very sweet, very innocent.
atif : It seems that it is you now who would be the greatest catch around Boston. Catch her before she catches on to you.
(attention: Bevy of beauties on Chowk)

It is the reflection of your personna which makes this sweet heart-ache so heart-warming.

The world is not such a CNN after all.

oye! it`s deja vu again...;)

This is one truly hilarious piece. I already read it in your ilog and chowk has made the right decision to put it on front page. I especially liked the skit about good and bad angels - that was brilliant. You are truly gifted humarist. THat guy who wrote about the future of the subcontinent diaspora in US is also gifted. I wish Rozaiba submits his iguana ilog as an article as well - that was unbelievable.

atif:

welcome!

Upon my insistence, he has also read this accout of his wedding.
you masochist?

;)