Bollywood in the Panic Room I agree with the last part of this article. Not only does `Bollywood` need good writers, but there is so much literary wealth within India itself to do adaptations from without having to resort to copying Hollywood movies. Agni Varsha, for example, was adapted from a play, was it not, and I thought that was very well done. just my few cents worth.

Ramblings On the Fence sac...#12: i like what you said about individual choices. :-)
About Rabbit-proof fence:
I saw this movie over a month ago (it was only four blocks away) when I returned from Christmas holiday. It is a very powerful film, the silences, the trek of Molly, her sister and cousin, combined with the `for God and country` statements of the Kenneth Branagh character say more than enough about the plight of `half-castes` or `aboriginals` in Australia. It is a film about the intense longing for home and family. It`s a film about the struggle to hold on to one`s identity and culture and not to give in to it`s erosion. Molly feels her identity tied more to her `aboriginal` mother and community, and to her language, more so than the white, `Christian` group who abducts her, and other `half-caste` children. And within these `half-castes` it`s the lighter skinned ones who the director of the `training facility` is more interested in `saving`.
these children were not immigrants like some of us are, they were `already there` and until the `70`s as Jawahara pointed out, they were snatched away from their `aboriginal` parent and put in these camps. What Molly did with her sister...to travel 1200 miles relying on nature for their food, and little water, was incredible...an act of great courage and determination, which she repeated, though with the loss of her older daughter. I recommend this movie to everyone!
godot, you have a point when you say that RPF itself is not really connected to what we as immigrants who choose to come here go through, but we are connected to this longing for home and holding on to an identity associated with home, are we not? It wasn`t the entire story of RPF that Jawahara was connecting us with, just a theme that clicked this snapshot.
sammi,
i personally think that it`s always been kinda crazy here, with the xenophobia, the rise of neo-nazi groups, the continuing struggles of people of color, and immigrants, this is an extension of that craziness, it`s taken on a different look and tone, and yes it is getting crazier....

Whatever Happened to Eve? Umer,
Hope your exams went well! :-)

Ramblings On the Fence interesting article...
as an immigrant, I`ve grappled with the notion of home and identity for many years. read about it in post-colonial literature classes, written a poem and stories about it. And since my first home is a country where I was often made not to feel at home, and my second, America, where often it is difficult not to feel isolated, and away from home, I decided that my identity--who i am as a person--should not, and need not be tied to a place. The Pakistan I knew will never be the same again, the America I live in keeps surprising me every day. And while it`s difficult not to think in terms of us and them even more so these days...for me, home is more a state of mind, home for me in the temporal world is a person...that is where i find my middle ground with the fence torn down.

Ramblings On the Fence some thoughts about `melting pot`....
just the word conjures up the first scene in Macbeth...but seriously, I just find the term melting pot revolting...it`s a term obviously coined by WASP`s for non-WASP`s to jump in and blend into their particular mixture. Diversifying is one thing...going into a melting pot and peeling off layers and layers of yourself to become someone or something else is something completely different.

Basant in Lahore m_souza:
if you read the post carefully you will see that these are not sarwar`s words (you don`t know whether sarwar is male or female ;-) )....sarwar has been posting letters to the editor from various people and newszines. Sarwar could be doing this to point out the ignorance of us Pakistanis...we don`t know that Sarwar actually agrees with what these idiots are saying in their letters...so Sarwar has not spoken...read the post more carefully and you will find that these are the words of Dr. Nadeem Un-Nabi.
Muchas gracias!

One Ring to Rule Them All friend...
if you think that this is stretching the scope too far, then I repeat...your scope is still somewhat limited.
there are such things as prose poems but.......
i see nothing wrong with subuhi`s poem the way it is above....it still conveys a khyal...which not even well-rhymed, right amount of syllable poems are capable of doing sometimes...those things look more mechanical, and devoid of thought.
and that`s not my opinion alone...but you are entitled to yours.

Islam in Crisis (part 1) sadna: i don`t know if i can answer your question about the reformation being a topdown phenomenon...this is where I am the fuzziest about church history...if you`re referring to the fact that it began within the religious hierarchy (Martin Luther was a monk, and not a humble one at that) then yes, i guess it could be seen as a topdown phenomenon. The Northern Renaissance (the humanists who preceded ML) and Martin Luther, of course wanted to `reform` within Catholicism itself, but their ideas against the growing corruption within the Catholic Church were considered heretical, and ML was excommunicated.

One Ring to Rule Them All #`s 4 and 6...
clearly you have a limited scope in defining poetry.

In Search of Peace and Flowers I was listening to the news this morning where information from nasah`s post was being discussed. Apparently, Blair has asked Bush for three more weeks...what`s going to happen in these three weeks??? Perhaps he`ll discover he has a spine afterall.

Hasrat aamir...LOL

sameeroo...#169, i don`t know if you were trying to be funny, but the last part of your post sounds quite funny to me!

minhaj...as always, your perspectives are very interesting.

Islam in Crisis (part 1) sadna:
my church history gets fuzzy sometimes, but from what I`ve been learning...one of the main reasons the split of the Church in the 10th century was never healed was because the `Pope` of Rome wanted and still wants to be the sole moral authority. In Catholicism, the Pope is the sole authority on issues like birth control, for example. In Orthodox Christianity (which is how the Church began) bishops and priests have gathered in councils for centuries to decide how issues should be addressed in the Orthodox Church, and these issues cannot be addressed without the approval or input rather of the faithful (which may be why there hasn`t been a council in yeeeears). I know this doesn`t quite address your post, just another perspective. :-)

Feb 15 Rally I wish I had been in New York. Or even Seattle.
and what you`ve said at the end Naeem, is what many of us here on the West coast are saying as well, that even if Bush says he`ll press on in spite of the protests (afterall, who are we to him anyway...), the connections that are being made will be a powerful force. It`s as Rahul Mahajan has written, na, they`ve taken the `public` out of `public policy`. I only hope that the momentum continues when and if the war begins (or continues by force, i should say).
Did Archbishop Tutu speak at the New York rally as well, or was he somewhere else?
regards
~~ana

PM, sajni, samina, and rest...
perhaps i misunderstood the statement which is entirely possible. my `miffedness` (i know that`s not a word, humor me!) came from a whole different angle, and should not have been directed at anyone here.

Having said that, I still stand by my opinion that in Pakistan, and even here in America, a man`s sexual behavior isn`t often referred to as promiscuous, no matter how many women he`s slept with, while a woman`s behavior is defined as such not ONLY because she`s slept around, but even IF she hasn`t. I`ve been in this world long enough to see that...and sajni, it doesn`t matter if men and women are different, obviously they are. In my humble opinion just because we`re different, doesn`t necessarily mean that the same standards cannot apply. If I, for example am going to be defined as promiscuous, then by golly geez, my good male friend Aera Vaghera Nathoo Khera is too. The idea that `oh he`s a man, so it`s okay, but you`re a woman and so you`re a slut` has always been reprehensible to me. If our women especially are going to make judgements like that (if judgements must be made), then why can`t they apply it to both men and women? This is a rhetorical question...and if I sound miffed, my apologies all around.

sammi, i refused to watch that Michael Jackson interview, because he`s been in denial for far too long...so are a lot of people in this world. :-)

In Search of Peace and Flowers samina #33...
thank you!

soldotna...
you really need to read more...I recommend that you forget about David Aaronovitch and all this other bigoted crap you`ve been posting, and turn to Robert Fisk for starters. Robert Fisk has been dead on about just about everything, from his critiques of the Northern Alliance and the Taliban, to his decrying the Israeli government, to his criticisms of Bush and Blair. He`s even pointed out the flaws in the anti-war movement (everyone has flaws, dude!)...so read some of his stuff...it isn`t propaganda like the some of the crap you`ve been posting.