Modern Armies and Their Invincible Plans

#23 Posted by AliBhai on August 26, 2003 4:38:32 am

How about an alternate hollywoodish ending with the colliding helos bursting into fireballs and igniting the oil slick underneath. That way the people of both nations could enjoy fresh fried fish direct from the macheras. They could all go to sir creek and have a grand old cross border picnic while enjoying the hatf and agni fireworks in the background.

#22 Posted by hira on August 25, 2003 6:54:18 am

*chuckle* shandy, you go!
in the face of this board`s exhuberant slink-wit, camp recollections sneak up on me all over again...it was fantabulous working with you. Long live our duck! =)
more importantly though, to all karachiites, despite the supposed punjab/sind antagonism, this oil-spill business has been carried on too far...and we, (ahem collective we) need to do something...
-hira.

#21 Posted by veeresh on August 19, 2003 9:15:34 am

``War-dogs hungry and grey,
Gnawing a naked bone,
Fighters in every clime,
Every cause but their own.``

(Emily Lawless)

``Courses & speeds to Master`s orders and Pilot`s advice`` (Entry in logbooks when ship`s approach harbour, implicitly stating that the responsibility, but always, stays with the old Man)

Great article, topical, thanks . . .

#20 Posted by shandana on August 18, 2003 11:30:37 pm

thanks ally,

this was written, posted and replied to in 1998...posted again because of the oil slick currently at karachi.how odd is that :)

shandana

#19 Posted by Ally on August 18, 2003 6:08:55 pm

LOL hahahaha really funny, really enjoyed it, just what i needed in these highly stressful times, thanks a mill Shandana dear...

by the way, everyone seems to be answering to a post written by some guy called shabaz, but i cant see his post anywhere, this is what i see on the first page (i took the main parts of the posts out)...

#8 by slink on September 11, 1998 8:36am PT
dear Shahbaz,

awwwww :)).....

shandana

#7 by slink on September 9, 1998 11:23am PT
Mr. Khan,

i agree.....

Shandana (shoot the bloody idealist then why dontcha)minhas

#6 by sap1 on September 9, 1998 7:45am PT
Ms. Minhas,

Helicpoters ....

Azam Khan

#5 by Faisal on September 8, 1998 8:20pm PT
WAH WAH WAH! Mujhay shagirdi maiN qubool kijyay... please!

Faisal

#4 by BG on September 8, 1998 2:49pm PT
hilarious -- as they say, afsose-naak, magar, such !!

#3 by slink on September 8, 1998 9:14am PT
dear farouq_taj

*sigh *

shandana

#2 by farouq_taj on September 8, 1998 7:53am PT
Okay .....

Farouq Taj.

#1 by afrasiyab on September 7, 1998 5:22pm PT
It will .....

i`m thinkin to myself that i`ve gone a bit cookoo or something (which i probably have) but where is the post of Mr Shabaz?????

if ur all talking about living in KHI or Pak in general, then kudos to those ppl that can hack it...

#18 Posted by skydancer on August 18, 2003 8:28:18 am

Not that I mind BUT when did Karachi become the capital of Pakistan????

#17 Posted by Shahid on August 18, 2003 7:50:21 am

enjoyed it...a hint of JG Ballard?

#16 Posted by Ansari on August 18, 2003 3:38:01 am

Wicked!

``by nightfall the biologists were as tired as they were white.`` LOL!

#15 Posted by lalib on August 18, 2003 12:56:33 am

watch out shandana!! you`ll give the govt. ideas!!

#14 Posted by aabutt on February 3, 1999 5:28:29 pm

I disagree with some of the people suggesting that overall intellect is somehow/somewhat lacking in Pakistan. A whole bunch of people in Pakistan and a whole bunch who have emigrated are some of the most brilliant minds I know. Don`t go far! Take the chowk - almost everyone is brilliant.

I have always said emphatically: just because you don`t want to go back to Pakistan does not make you unpatriotic, and just because you are in Pakistan or go back to Pakistan does not make you patriotic by itself.

What a brilliant piece of work. Please keep sharing it with us!

#13 Posted by ajnabi on October 13, 1998 10:03:30 am

Hilarious...great! Loved it.

#12 Posted by slink on September 12, 1998 9:13:52 am

dear Shabaz,

hmm..i appreciate your point of view but would like to suggest that an atmosphere as stifling and conformist as that of karachi is more conducive to `enlightenment` than say..austin, texas as it forces you to examine yourself and hence (hopefully) grow.though some might mutate instead :) for every incident that demostrates apathy and intolerance there is another that highlights compassion and humour. i dont quite remember who said `it`s not where you are it`s who you are` but that was one lesson that i have learnt time and time again, not just in the mudpits of karachi but in the cowinfested regions of rural ohio.

have a lovely day

shandana

#11 Posted by SR on September 11, 1998 5:53:56 pm

A refreshingly brilliant piece. I love the surrealistic allegories. A Salvador Daliesque glimpse of a morbid reality and anxious times. If we were living in Karachi, I would have bent over backwards to beg you to pollute the minds of my children.

Please make more pollution, without dilution, there`s no other solution.

...SR

#10 Posted by arif on September 11, 1998 1:05:03 pm

Shahbaz,

I relate to a lot of what you say. I moved back to Pakistan a couple of years ago (rather against my will, but economic circumstances dictated it), and i agree that as a country we`re too far gone for salvation. Yes, everyone mouths the platitudes about what a great country we are, but we are a bunch of jingoistic, intolerant fascists. Look at every single political party in this country... cult of personality, unquestioning obedience of the leader`s commands. Ironically, the most democratic party in the country is Jamaat-i-Islami. They actually have internal elections.

Anyway, I really have no point except that there are good, decent honourable people here as well. So what do these people do? Pack up and leave? Not everyone can, you know. So while we`re here (and so are our families) we find strength in each other. We do not conform to society`s norms, we do not give in, we find ways to work around the system to maintain our personal integrity. Shandana does that, I try to, and so I`m sure do plenty of other people. I think we need people like Shandana here, someone who can show that it`s possible to be individual, to be creative even in this oppressive environment.

If I may quote Bono, ``Jara sang/his song a weapon in the hands of love.``

And no, I`m not a bleeding heart idealist. At least not anymore :-).

#9 Posted by BG on September 11, 1998 10:26:13 am

re shahbaz

its funny, i had exactly the opposite reaction (perhaps that`s why you picked engineering and i`m doing something less practical with my life) i thought, how wonderful that shandana is mutilating little minds in pakistan. i wish someone had mutilated mine for me when i was little. loved my teachers to death, but a more conventional, traditional, uncreative and conformist bunch of women (and 2 men) i have never met!! there`s probably too much pressure, i suppose, to appear respectable enough to be in charge of the pure little minds of the next generation of pakistanis....anyway, i think its great little ones have a teacher who can think and write like this. IT IS NOT A WASTE.