The White Rose anil:

I know I'm not Aisha, but that has never stopped anyone from making a comment.

"Another thing that I do not understand is why should Ahamdiya Muslims care about recognition by government among sea of hostile opinions? Afterall, African American were denied similar rights by people ranging from KKK to George Wallace."

The comparison of Ahmadiya Muslims now to a situation that has to quite an extent been rectified by America is not entirely apt. The KKK is not a governmental organization (it may have supporters within states but that is another matter), and also George Wallace, if I remember correctly, got over his "segregation forever" phase. And at no point in time have African-Americans ever been told that they could not have their own churches, and yet some were burned down by racist thugs.

As a few Ahmadis have reiterated already they do not care who recognizes them. The problem arises when the state of Pakistan asks someone to make a declaration that they are not Ahmadi, at least there was a point in time when that was on the application for a Pakistani passport (I recall not knowing how to deal with that since I am not a Muslim anyway). And as Manto has said, there is still an ordinance from the Zia days against the use of Islamic symbols - even with what the truth on the ground is. Now I am not an Ahmadi, but I would think there is a reason to care about legal (for lack of a better word) restrictions against Ahmadis among a sea of already existing hostile opinions exercised by those who has Kulharee described have blocked entrance to Ahmadiya places of worship.

Contrary to what some try to tell us, religious freedom, and the idea of it has existed in Pakistan, it is in the books. My generation learned about it growing up. So discrimination matters, and should matter and any injustices that arise against Ahmadis, Christians, Hindus, and all religious minorities should be decried. I would add that it should also be decried when a Muslim wages violence on another Muslim, which is happening far too often these days.

The White Rose sattar:

oye hoye, kis ko lalkaya aap ne? Ab iss board ka baiRa ghaRak ho jayega! *sigh*

Story of Hindustani It wouldn't have made any difference had you said, "We are all Adam's children" or "We all came from Gogol's overcoat". :)

This wonderful Doc… Excuse me Parthaab? You're the one who keeps bringing up your "WAKE UP MALES, SPEAK UP!" into every fora, especially this one where it's hardly appropriate. Then again, no one is ever appropriate here.

And I am not an androphobe. Nor do I don't go from article to article raging about hatred towards men, or why women might still be at a disadvantage in many parts of the world because of male privilege.

You need help. Not to be ridiculed because of your constant rantings. They really have become a joke at Chowk.

Beena, I apologize for the detour here. I will ignore this troubled man from now on.

This wonderful Doc… and Parthaab has to bring his gynophobia everywhere. . . .

This wonderful Doc… haneef: I'm not sure how you do not see how the beginning, "She is not the grave visiting sort" connects to "Zakia now takes time out from her work to sit by his last resting place. It gives her peace." at the end of Beena's piece. What is in between is a recollection of her father Sarwar's life, who has passed away, and Zakia being his partner in that life.

She is (perhaps "was" would make more sense to you?) not the grave visiting sort except when it came to losing her life-partner. What Beena wrote is about the loss of a life-partner and a parent.

The White Rose banjara: yeah, I guess you're right, and what Ahmedis go through in Pakistan is just fiction?!

The White Rose was that a serious question? I think it's fiction, as well as current affairs. :)

This wonderful Doc… Thank you for sharing this glimpse into your parents' lives, Beena. May your father rest in peace and may his memory be eternal.

Story of Hindustani ellora:

I appreciate the exclamation point after "everyone" because saying everyone is of course an exaggeration.

I think Anita Desai's "In Custody" was written long before BJP instituted policies, and that story reflected Urdu as a dying language vis-a-vis poetry at least. I am not so certain that reflection is mere fiction. So yes, I think they could go into separate registers where vocabularies are concerned.

I leave it up to the linguists personally. :)

The End Of An Affair madani sahib: I am being genuine when I say Allah aap ko hamesha sukkhi rakkhe, ameen.

Beyond that, I may not agree with some things you say, but I have no quarrel with you. You brought in a lot more to this kahani than was needed, that was pointed out to you. Aap ke dil maiN jo khyalaat haiN, voh aap beshak zahir kar sakte haiN, par iss kahani ka na toh imperialism, na Gandhi, na Jinnah se t'aluq hai. Ye kuch insaan log ki kahaani hai, jin ko kisi tarah se dhoka hua hai, ya dhoka kiya ja raha hai. Iss maiN aur kuch shaamil karne ki kya zaroorat hai?

The End Of An Affair csg:

It takes time to sift through Madani's posts to find a gem, but there really were none this time around.

Next time remember to say, "Madani saheb, thank you for your always enlightening posts." and quickly close the door! ;-D

Story of Hindustani Is there still such a thing as "pure" languages? Or has there been in the last couple of centuries or so?

Story of Hindustani ellora #255

great point! :)

The End Of An Affair correction: there should be a full stop or a semi colon before *that may work better . . .*

The End Of An Affair Taji:

I understand the part about readers using their own perceptions. I do not think it hurts though to not totally give it away in a short story, but still have some idea of what goes on in a character's mind, that may work better with adjectives for example describing how a person has said something, or responded to someone else. Something to that effect. :)

I think that not describing a little more vis-a-vis the inner workings of a character's mind leaves, as you said, the story prone to various perceptions or interpretations, and while that is not necessarily bad - because obviously as we have seen here, men see this different from women - I think that the lack of inner workings does the characters an injustice.

Even in plays, where of course we do not see anything on paper regarding mental states, there are still prompts to give the actors a chance to interpret it, and not all will interpret it the same way, but those prompts are still there as a guide.

Hope this makes sense. :)