And now, the army! Fine, but really, did the author of this piece have to go on and on about the wondrous virtues of the heroic, son-of-the-Frontier Ali Quli? And then that all-too-obvious reference to Altaf Hussein`s role in Musharraf`s promotion. Mere conjecture. There seems to be innuendo here and a certain agenda at work that is hardly the sort of a thing for a website of this nature.

A Voice in the Wilderness Shandana,

I live abroad, and have basically been out of touch with Pakistan for some time now. While I do visit every year, I don`t really pay much attention to what goes on there. I`ve chosen to live elsewhere, at least for the time being, and try not to look back too often.

Having said this, this is the first time I`ve looked at a Pakistan-oriented website. And I was impressed (like the others at this forum) by your optimism and persistence, more so that you could maintain it in the face of, well, my God, the times that people in Karachi as well as Pakistan face. Your attitude is commendable. I`ve lived in a few places in the world where tragic, horrible things have happened, where people have done grotesque things to each other, etc. And the thing I did learn was that if the troubles ended, they did so because there were people willing to push ahead, to re-build, to say that they just had to go on. I don`t know, I`m not trying to exaggerate your, our, situation here, but in any case, press on. Good luck. Unfortunately, success is not guaranteed, but then you probably know that. (and yes, you have managed to induce some guilt at this end...)

On a more trivial note, just wanted to respond to ``anotherwoman```s query. Mitsou is awesome, in her ridiculous, kitsch manner. The spirit of French Canada, ha ha. Don`t mock it! This d.j. sounds great. I wish I could listen to the station.

Best,

AK