Saatchi, Musharraf and Britney Spears Yup... lots of satire here! Nicely written. Love the part about the Free World which is made to actually sound free.

-zensufi-

Preview of Looming Democracy - Two Months of PPP in the Limelight Someone said on the news the other day, that Pakistanis are very emotional people. I can comprehend that and I know that they are also very patriotic, but why the destructive chaos? I agree with you, Salim, that there was/is no need to plunder the city and innocent people in the name of mourning. Unity, Faith, and Discipline - the 3 talwar's I used to pass by often, seem to be just a symbol from the past. Pakistan mein na unity hai na discipline, magar bohut faith hai... destructive faith it seems.

-zensufi-

Benazir’s Murder: Who Killed Her? I keep thinking... what the heck runs in the mind of the suicide bomber? What wonderful stuff was he promised by his superiors to commit such an act? The same applies to suicide bombers the world over... I can't make sense of it, but it sure is scary to think of suicide bombing as becoming commonplace.

-zensufi-

Of Carnage and Triumph Re: # 72
Yes, true... political parties everywhere are locked in battles, but most battles are civil and/or diplomatic as oxymoronic as that may sound! Re the sufi bit, yeah... I like to twirl like Dancing Dervishes.

Back To Idol Worship I liked that you quoted Khalil Gibran, but I think his entire message is appropriate, so here goes...

Pity The Nation

Pity the nation that is full of beliefs and empty of religion.

Pity the nation that wears a cloth it does not weave, eats a bread it does not harvest, and drinks a wine that flows not from its own winepress.

Pity the nation that acclaims the bully as hero, and that deems the glittering conqueror bountiful.

Pity the nation that despises a passion in its dream, yet submits in its awakening.

Pity the nation that raises not its voice save when it walks in a funeral, boasts not except among its ruins, and will rebel not save when its neck is laid between the sword and the block.

Pity the nation whose statesman is a fox, whose philosopher is a juggler, and whose art is the art of patching and mimicking.

Pity the nation that welcomes its new ruler with trumpetings and farewells him with hootings, only to welcome another with trumpetings once again.

Pity the nation whose sages are dumb with years and whose strong men are yet in the cradle.

Pity the nation divided into fragments, each fragment deeming itself a nation.

Khalil Gibran = The Garden Of The Prophet

I can still remember . . . Turned you to Moses? Didn't see how that fit in with the rest of the nice poem. Do explain.

Can Religious Leaders Redeem the Future of the World? Why limit the interaction to Muslims and Christians only? Let's join forces with all religious/non-religious belief systems. Afterall, this planet is but ONE, yet we are as people MANY.

Of Carnage and Triumph Bhutto's politics aside, look at the impact of this tragedy on Pakistan. Every time such setbacks occur, the people and the country's infrastructure suffer. How is a country to advance if its political parties are constantly locked in battles? The people need to be resilient and move on forward not backward. The word “revolution� means “a turn around� --- Pakistanis need a revolution which focuses on advancement - political, technological, educational, financial…

“A Mighty Heart” is a Mighty Sad Movie Ras - a trip to Dhaka sounds great and I do know St. Josephs. Don`t know any Javed. I am near San Jose. Shoot me an email if you like via my website.

Funny but twisted about the popcorn part. After reading your write-up, I checked on more info re the movie. Strange to hear that it was primarily filmed in Pune :-( and not Karachi.

-zensufi-

“A Mighty Heart” is a Mighty Sad Movie Ras - how are you doing? Long time no hear! Nice write up, thanks. I heard Asra Nomani and Dan Futterman on Public Radio on two different programs. The movie was tough to make and watch.

-zensufi-

Wind in my hair nice! I am trying to picture a `sky of sand` but my mind runs off to a tropical beach with clear blue water and white beaches...

-zensufi-

A chain of thoughts nice... very nice! continue the chain...

-zensufi-

Rest in Peace Pakistan (1947-1974) Hallo - nicely written! I love history stories. Don`t know much about Ahmadis, but even the Christians, Parsis, and Hindus are treated unjustly in Pakistan. Whose ridiculous idea was it to state a person`s religion on the National ID Card and/or Passport? I think it is an impediment for a Pakistani non-muslim trying to get a job in Pakistan.

-zensufi-

Letter from Pakistan Hallo - I read some of the comments here and can`t understand what all the `we shouldn`t beg` nonsense is about. Sounds like an okay article to me calling for change and peace, but not begging via the USofA. Don`t most if not all of us want peace? Sure we do. Sadly, politicians all over the planet are puppet masters. I can`t wait for the year 2012!

-zensufi-

Shopping with Perveen Re: # 12 - Chris... in my mind, `come together better` implies... more structure and smoother flow, so it is clearly comprehensible. I realize that poetry can be shaped and formed any which way. Bottomline, I had to read your piece a few times to better comprehend it. Do write more on Chowk...

cheerio,
-zensufi-

Coffin Ride of the Classics And now for my favorite phrase... ``Change is the Only Constant!`` Today`s themes will be tomorrow`s classics. But... I feel your pain. I think the movie, `Shrek` did a good job of reminding us of the classics in modern form, yes?

-zensufi-