Last Orders Interesting work Kamal. Looking forward to seeing more of your work on Chowk. Selling Bananas in an Orange country (or is it the other way around ?) - was an interesting book as well. Have u published any others ?.

Best regards,

Mansoor

Lahore is Bombay i dont know what the article was about. If its about lahore, them then my two cents would be....i like lahore cuz of its hira mandi and the excellent alcohol shop at avari towers.

Perchance to Dream beautiful story, very well told, reminds me of those Kingdom tales i used to love reading..sorry to hear about your uncle...may he rest in peace.

Napier’s Bride i dont know if this poem is about karachi in general or the ``infamous`` napier road. Either way i dont think too much of it if its about karachi. i am sick of people complaining about how f-cked karach is when most of them live abroad.

As far as napier road is concerned. These women earn money. Give them jobs ?. They probably wouldnt work 9 to 5. Some like sex, some dont. Those that dont and are forced into it, including child prostitutes and kidnappend women, that i find very sick and disgusting. But then there are traditional families who consider it their culture, and cant think or want to do anthing else.

Untitled lovely poem

Little buttons, churches and things Re: Kafir

Good point, i agree with you.

On a tangent, has anyone heard of MUSLIM GAY MOSQUES ?

Little buttons, churches and things

``Homosexuality if seen from a Pakistani (only) perspective is not about intimacy. Its about f--king

only.``

I think the same can be said about a lot of HETEROsexual relationships in Pakistan as well.



true to an extent but the issue of procreation mush as many liberal hate this concept should also be taken into consideration. If homosexuals become a majority this world would end in a few decades - hello ?, no babies ?. As an agnostic i am not talking about anything remotely religious,but common sense dictates that f--king among heterosexuals does sustain life.

Little buttons, churches and things Gay culture (only men) is really not hidden. In the media yes where all sex related topics are taboo. Homosexuality if seen from a Pakistani (only) perspective is not about intimacy. Its about f--king only. In the states and other nations starved for intimacy and belonging, people have taken various options - but lets leave that for the moment. In pakistan its only sex, no intimacy no emotional attachments.

And here one sees more Gay stereotypes than any other place. There are the men who wear pink all the time, colorful clothes and talk in a feminish way and gestures. Then there are the people from up north who have no women, and need to take out their sexual frustration by interacting sexually with men only. Then there are the bourgeousie people, who come from AMerica after studies all passionate about sexual freedom and stuff.

Little buttons, churches and things Re: Jonty

``

I`d be very interested to know the different types of gays that you claim exist. And what exactly do

you mean by gay culture being `another commercial marketing package?` It certainly is nothing like

the crass and blatant marketing of heterosexual culture- from Baywatch to Friends to MTV.``

i dont claim anything, though i have been a psychology student i dont want to bring in the biological aspects to anything. From my personal experience there are the effimenate gays, who have womanly gestures, and also talk like that. These people are the butt of jokes. Secondly that are the ``stud`` look alike muscular good looking gays, who wear tight t shirts, have short hair etc. Thirdly there are the creative bi-sexuals who believe in having sex with both sexes for the ``experience``. And then there are those who psychologically get sick of the opposite sex and choose the same sex their justification being they can relate better physically and emotionally. And there are other types. Hope this answers your query.

Little buttons, churches and things Re: Jonty

You`re right a statement like: ``if they leave me alone i have no problems with them,`` is a mantra and bigoted. I suppose i was writing in terms of my very personal experience and this cliche`d statement seemed to perfectly fit the circumstances.

Personality is exemplified by physical gestures. But in my previous post as i mentioned and as everyone knows gays cannot be classified according to that. Some categories can ofcourse, but then there are different types of homo-sexuals and i dont want to get into any biological explanations.

And no, i am not pissed off at the concept of Gay liberation or their celebrating their sexual orientations. They have everyright to do that, but what ticks me off is that like everything else, the Gay culture has become yet another market, and another commercial marketing package.

Little buttons, churches and things Re: Kafir

I dont hate gays, but see it this way, just as YOUR perception of my post might have irked you, because it didnt agree with your schema, or outlook in life; the gay issue doesnt fit into the schema of some people too and that influences or justifies (to their ownselves) the view they hold on gays.

Learn more about gay issues and rights ?. True, some people dont have the time or energy to do that, they have issues and problems to understand about their ownseleves, all they know about gays is through talk shows perhaps, or their religious believes or depending on which side of scientific justifications they agree with.

My post might have sound bigoted to u, but arent u also bigoted towards ``narrow minded`` people ?. Perhaps you dont hate them, but do u associate with them (as friends) and want to learn more about them ?.

Little buttons, churches and things nothing to say against gays as such, personally as i am sure with everyone else, certain types of personality types i cannot get along with. Certain personality types annoy the hell out of me, and the list goes on. Though we really cannot stereotype gays generally, but the ones we can stereotype, i find their personalities annoying, and by personality i mean the way they are including physical gestures etc. I have been approached by gays in south beach, a predominantly gay area - as most people would`ve made the statement: ``if they leave me alone i have nothing against them,`` well i suppose thats what i believe.

And yes majority of gays do dress up and act stereotypically, living near south beach for years has taught me that.

chowk@two Chowk is my fav place to be on the internet. Great work chowk......

Touch Zehra: sorry my mistake.

Deprivation Shandana:

this is probably one of the most intense and powerful piece of writing i have read on chowk.

please keep on writing.

Touch ``life is too short to only love once but i cant help envying those who do...im grateful im not one

of those cuz i wouldnt be half the woman i am today if it were so.``

how many lovers does one need to have to feel complete ?