Dusk

Re: # 1
Cayenne you suggest that the author needs to ``get out of that dark and dingy city named London``. Though this writing and its symbolisms, the Big Ben, cobbled streets, red buses clearly describe London with a Dickensian touch (notice the comments on the beggar), I think the author is referring to urban decay of a moral fabric in general and not ``London`` in particular. He only uses London as an epitomy of degradation.

Re: # 25

The flight`s at 530 am tomorrow morning.How did you know i was being facetious again?.I have to be polite on these boards, `cause of the PC police that prowl around like nosy yentas and peeping Toms, they take half the fun out of venting.Yeah , life is like the tides, like ye were pontificating, but i feel it`s more of a tummy ride, between the hollow and the bloated, and the farts in-between.I would love to discuss this in detail with you, but i have to get out of the office early, pack and deal with all the other tension you get when you decide to take a breather from the tension you already have. Have a good weekend, mon ami.Get wasted.

One more thought.Why are people from the UK , in general, dour, moody, cynical, suicidal , stingy and have bad teeth?.I`ve always wondered.Except you, of course!!!.South asians have strong teeth and gums.I shall ensconce myself in a snug bar in my hotel in Gangtok while the brood trundles off to see Mt.Kanchenjunga.Hope they get lost trying to get there till it`s time to get back to Mumbai.If only wishes were dreams!.

Re: # 1

Hey Cayenne

A few readers took what you said to me LITERALLY (LOL). Are you on vacation yet ? With internet-fuelled action ? Sorry you had a balcony seat to watch Brain-Dead Bravado !! Re: this article: Depression and mood-swings are in tune with the natural state of being, in tandem with prolific William Shakespeare:

``There are tides in the life of man``. (Julius Ceasar, with reference to the Ides of March 15th)

These ebbs and flows pre-require balance. Though with the ``metaphorical`` gravitational pull of gravity it is impossible to control the vagaries of high-tides and low-tides. Surely part of nature`s intention I surmize ?

One counters all the tides.

As baggage.

The High.

And the Low.

Ozer,
You NEED to get out of that dark and dingy city named London, in a rather wet and dreary island called the UK and visit somewhere loud, vibrant and colourful like the city of Mumbai.Whaddya want?.Booze...the taps overfloweth.Music...it`s `bollywood nights` every nite.Loose women......all nationalities.Ok.You into heavy metal, techno pop??.Any kind of music your ears will hear.Jazz?......YE can go to `Jazz by the Bay` a fav of many american jazz greats, no less.Gambling?....we bet on anything over here.

Whatever ye wants ye can get over here and no depressing weather or dour ,cold people with bad teeth either.ANYTHING, including my suggestions, you must do to overcome your depression , which is so evident from reading this essay!!.Phew!.I`m not being facetious or rude.(dis

very sincerely,

cayenne


cayenne

Re: # 14 husna your logic

``it is needed from a girl who is obviously buying time and leaving everything to fate``

does not hold water.

i do not think ``the girl`` in dusk is leaving things to fate, like Mohsin hamid`s mumtaz she is craftily weaving a plot, witness how Ozer writes:

“She” absorbs the ‘All hail’ speech, breathing in his words like Himalayan air- She`s no Palin mountain-climber. Purposely pretending to be distracted?

her purpose-laden pretending to be distracted is a sign of ulterior motives

Re: # 14

Husna

A noteworthy commentary.

Inequity spirals out of control. In the outside world. We all do. From the inside.

Into a degraded existence of moth-like metamorphosis. We remain but on the fringes of society through inaction. This age-old problematique must compell us all to harbour thoughts on how to stop playing out inaction once more.

As daylight fades to ``dusk`` with time`s ticking clock against the backdrop of our bodies and lives, do we artfully weave practical solutions that resonate on many levels.

Or do we ``escape`` like lepricons into the wilderness of inactive sanctity ?

Re: # 2
cipram you mention ``cayenne is right you writing depicts depression.change of place is must. London it self is depressing ,huge building and narrow streets.``

this ``change`` is not needed from the city of london, it is needed from society as a whole. it is needed from a girl who is obviously buying time and leaving everything to fate. it is needed from the capitalist econo-political imposed superstructure. it is needed from the ``chattering`` classes of society who say one thing and do another.

OZER,
cayenne is right you writing depicts depression.change of place is must.
London it self is depressing ,huge building and narrow streets.

Re: # 3

Sarah

Mohsin Hamid very compellingly caricatures Mumtaz. A lady many readers indellibly identify with. Like Mumtaz the girl in ``Dusk`` lurches with an insecure/uneasy/plotting status on the fringes of an elite-laden society, imperiled by its accoustics, as she is when she hears Tony Blair`s championing slogans. Mumtaz too is fascinated by the accoustics of modernity: namely a taste for recreational drugs, infidelity and sports.

Oz

As when I read this article for the first time, I really think your style echoes that of Mohsin Hamid. You build up the ``moths`` of society such as the urbanites ignoring the beggar, the rowdy macho ladish lads in the bar and the pseudo-intellectuals whilst creating ``smoke`` in the form of the uncertainty shrouded around this girl and her wavering commitment.

Cayenne

Your post states ``Whaddya want?.Booze...the taps overfloweth.Music...it`s `bollywood nights` every nite.Loose women......all nationalities.Ok.You into heavy metal, techno pop??.Any kind of music your ears will hear.Jazz?......YE can go to `Jazz by the Bay`

Do you not think the author is trying to show ambivalence and critique towards these post-modern artefacts and by-products ?

Re: # 9 moazammudasar

``Though this piece is dark and obscurantist, it is more Sartre than Kafka.``

Moazammudasar notice certain bits of this paper like ``Their Polaroid anorexic snapshot existences will click away without a flash`` or ``Oh babe the system swallows you like a Tsunami as though you are its natural victim`` or most gruellingly ``My blood-red patience wears thinner than a bulimia-laden epidemic``.

If this does not sound like Kafka in its tone, then what does ??

Re: # 5
Husnaangelique

Though this piece is dark and obscurantist, it is more Sartre than Kafka. Witness how the narrator is consumed by the sheer superficial veneer of society and the entourage rather than victimizing and wallwowing in Kafka-styel self-pity.

Ozerkhalid

This is an incredible piece of poetry ! It reveals a soul trapped in the confines of modernity trying to emerge out of its flames. It has a leftist/Marxist undertone with a nihilistic/Kafkaesque view toward society.

One of the best pieces I have read in a long time !

Re: # 6 good point kulsum ! interesting observation...

Re: # 6

Kulsum

are not ``permanence`` and ``transience`` both threads of an illusory continuum ?