Without Brothers This is one of the reasons why I tend to deride translation of literary works, in particular fiction, from one language to another. Unless it is done with immaculate expertise, translation deprives the reader of the spirit and intensity, and most importantly the eccentricity, of the original work, and the latter ends up looking like a juvenile attempt at story-telling! No offense there Dr sahib, you know I am a great fan of your original works, that`s perhaps why this piece has left me slightly disappointed. Also a severe lack of editing and polishing is a bit too conspicuous.
Nevertheless, good to be introduced to an important Punjabi literatus and his work.

regards

A Nomad Among the Bedouins ``I found bedu women to be much more open in their interactions than their gender-mates living in the cities. There was no inhibition and seclusion of women that you see in the cities.``

I think this particular trait of rural women transcends geographical boundaries. Personally I have always found women living even in Pakistani villages to be much more open and interactive as compared to the urbanised ones. One reason for this might be the limited spheres of their lives. Unlike families in the cities, where each individual has to have his own separate living space, families in villages, much like the Arabian desert mentioned here, have to make do with whatever bit of shared space they have got, and that renders them much more mutually interactive while open and hospitable to their guests at the same time.

And couldn`t agree more with your #27. That is what I have excessively noticed in my three or so years of stay here. There is a sheer contrast between us third world people and the Europeans when it comes to the `use` of money. While our primary emphasis is on `saving` it for only God knows what or when, these people are generally hell bent on spending every penny they have got, and their primary outlet is almost always travelling. That is why I come across a teenagers every now and then who has seen more countries then I think I would manage in my entire life, and these countries include places as remote as Chile, New Zealand and the sub-continent etc., and not merely the one`s that lie in the same geographical or `economic` sphere. This must have something to do with the insecurity, instability and uncertainty of life that has somehow gotten buried deep into our psyches, indeed along with many other reasons.

Thanks for a great read Atif payee. Loved the fictional and philosophical yet highly pragmatic touch to the ending.

Jasmines in Colorado (final part) What can I say...it`s just wonderfully crafted!!!
Great piece.

Flower’s Desire Hope Rahul and all his loved ones are doing fine, he hasn`t interacted or responded to any query on this board yet. From what I know he is based in Bangalore, which is quite distant from Mumbai...but you never know...

AmaN Maulvi sahib, sab khairiat tau hai na? jald ittela`a bheijo

Flower’s Desire Re: # 38 errrr....andaaz-e-bayaaN aur` :D

Flower’s Desire Re: # 10 Oh drop it beejay sahib, bet you used only one there...

Flower’s Desire Re: # 6 That`s what i`ve been wondering about. By the look of it, the M should have the same effect in pronounciation as the commonly used N or .n ( for noon-ghunna in Urdu). Rahul chooses M in the first four verses while `.n` in the last verses of both the stanzas. Is there any particular reason for this juxtaposition?

Splendid poetry nonetheless, and a laudable attempt at translation.

Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi Passed Away #1 Thanks Echoboom sahib; that beautiful couplet has always intrigued me, but call me sluggish for not looking up its poet and you did the job for me.

Qasmi`s death is indeed an irredeemable loss to Urdu literature. I remember reading some of his short-stories and poems in our Urdu textbooks at school. Even though he wasn`t quite one of my favourites, his contributions to Urdu language and its proliferation are greatly commendable.

Inna lillahe wa inna ilaihe rajeoon.

Story of the Night Beautiful!!!

``Loved him like the stars love the night, so they cannot live without it. Like the heaven loves the earth, and so looks down lovingly upon it. Like the rose loves martyrdom, so it stands tall``

These lines -if original - are just divine.

Needless to say, the last paragraph looks a bit redundant. It started off as a story, should have ended as one, without `ad-hocly` narrating your own thoughts.

Nevertheless - ``Love sometimes transcends even romance. It moves beyond man and woman, here and now.`` - so very true!

Keep them coming.

A Desi Dilemma I almost missed on this one, and would have certainly regretted if I had. Another brilliant piece Adam! Your technique of story-telling is immaculate, and so are the topics that you write on, exposing the dual face of our society and its torch-bearers.
Loved that `Ask me how/why` thing, it is so very innate to majority of us desis. And just like many others here,I`ll eagerly look forward to reading more from you.

Three Score and Ten? An interesting read!

regards

The Pakistani Fast Bowling Enigma Re: # 13 Well, for batting we have already experimented more than enough with the greatest test batsman ever produced by Pakistan, Javed Miandad... and Waqar Younis, arguably the next best thing to have happened to Pakistani team`s bowling department after Wasim Akram, is currently the team`s bowling coach...

The Pakistani Fast Bowling Enigma Re: # 7 beejay sahib, actually cricket is the only game that testifies its players` manhood! in which other sport would you find the players covering their pp with a solid guard stuffed into their boxers?

My Summer of ’69 jeeeeeez, jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez and another jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez!
We have a homicide right here on chowk, among us mere mortals, us who are prone to being a victim of homicide than committing it ...I don`t know ho to express it...so let me just quote bjk:

YA ALLAH, TERA BOHUT, BOHUT, BOHUT SHUKRIYA!

My Summer of ’69 Re: # 8 anything that could cost you your virginity...

My Summer of ’69 Re: # 7 wait a second! are you suggesting that inispecter Ajmal is our very own Ozer Khalid?