I miss you Miss Nazia,

Please treat this as honest assessment:

``The twinkling lights faded out the cool soft breeze turned crisp and uncomfortable sending shivers down her spine``

Notwithstanding your writing skills this writeup doesnt cut with me. Perhaps crying in bed is such a woman thing. Perhaps I`m so comfortable with people around me that I dont miss the dead or the deserted. Or perhaps I`m just a heartless bastard :)

``Aila! This is turning out to be a self-assessment`` :))

But nahin, I`m not. So why doesnt it affect me like it does to others? Maybe, the void-the emptiness left behind from your beloved doesnt come out very clearly here. Or maybe I just dont like sad-melancholic stories. Or perhaps I`ve had my quota in Kafka.

Please please dont treat this as a review on your writing skills as such. From the few lines above it`s evident that I`m not qualified to judge your writing skills.

Cheers

Who Created Pakistan? Who gives a damn. They have their country and we have ours. But there`s minor matter of IMs who couldnt reconcile with the situation. Minor cos only a small minority of IMs dont think of India as their country. Even UP and Bihar, states which gave Muslim League its initial momentum during independence struggle, now have Mulayam and Laloo protecting the interests of minorities. Not to mention Kerala where Muslim league and Congress are ``natural allies`` against the Marxists.

What I mean is India has at least answered the fundamental questions on identity and the idea of nation-state. So we have a multi-enthic, multi-lingual, multi-cultural, multi-party anarchy-total chaos. Ideal receipe for disaster and disintegration for any other nation on earth, but it`s perfect for India.

What about Pakistan? Who gives a damn..

Cheers

The Sania Effect Manto uncle,

Are you really the editor of dailytimes?
Holy shit! We have in our midst Pronnoy Roy of Pakistan. How does it feel sir to be an editor of a national newspaper of Pakistan? Now I see your points of view with new respect. You must be a bigshot in your country like Pronnoy Roy in ours, hanh?

The Sania Effect Re: # 15

To say nothing of muslims in a majority situation. A bunch of lunatics on a murderous streak unless confined with shackles by a monarch or a mullah. This is general experience of the rest of the civilised world.

Dina Wadia Claims Jinnah House Re: # 94

Arey kahan sir! Ek hi ID bahut zyaada hai mere liye. Though I`m regular here Im not much of a contributor. Even if I have an opinion I dont post unless something catches my attention or someone really provokes me to - this post for instance :). Like, I`ve some strong opinions on Jinnah but I dont get the urge to post everytime someone mentions him. I`ve read Rajmohan Gandhi too you know.

But I must apologise if my prev post bothered you in any way. What I really only wanted to say was that you uncles are having it too good. I dont want to expand more here :)

Cheers

Dina Wadia Claims Jinnah House Mr Gafoor,

Guess you never heard of concept called Private property. It`s difficult explaining without slipping into democracy, rule of law and fundamental rights-specifically, right to remain silent upon arrest and not be forced to witness against oneself. Indian courts would be unimpressed with the arguments presented here but your article in itself is not bad. Very passionate infact; you should read this speech in your mosque today. Or as a bedtime story to your children :)

Ylh,Mantolives,

I dunno what you do for a living but seems you have lots of time to post so many messages in chowk. And such nice posts! You must have a personal secretary to research and then proofread and edit your posts. I envy you. I want to be like you, you know a manager somewhere with an army of people working for me, while I sit in my glass cubicle and track my investments online and gernerally abuse office resources. Kisi ne theek hi kaha hai: Life begins at 40.

Cheers

Bunty aur Babli: The latest RSS-BJP tango Hear ye! Hear ye! Political analysts in Dawn, Daily Times should go sell pani-puris cos they aint know anything of politics and even less of analysis.
And Pronnoy Roy of NDTV/Star News doesnt know his dick from his nose but our bibi knows exactly where her G-spot is. And that`s something to be reckoned with.

Advani in Karachi Re: # 338

Manto,

Thing one: These are all learned men and know their history well. So it shouldnt really be surprising.

Thing two: Jinnah issue has nothing to do with being Pro or Anti-Pakistan. In deed If Jinnah was alive he`d would be more anti-Pak than Advani, Vajpayee and George all put together.

Cheers

20 Worst Pakistani Pop Songs … ever! #13 by Mantolives
Manto,

Ok. So its Delhi college scene you were talking about. Still, I`ll be damned if such music is popular in south campus. Nonetheless, let me tell you; pretty girls notwithstanding, Delhi and Delhites` attitude is a big embarrassment for the rest of India (and most of Delhites themselves). Me and my friends who been to Delhi clubs/pubs were pissed at the DJ, except when he`s playing dance numbers and yes, those ``shameless`` remixes. Believe it or not, best music in clubs and parties in Delhi is played by a few Israeli bands.

One thought though: If your music is good you dont need music videos to promote it. I wonder about Adnan`s popularity if his videos were not graced by Bollywood starlets. Take it from me that no self-conscious DJ plays Adnan in his club. Therein lies the whole point. World`s biggest pop stars are Britney, JLo, Shakira, Kylie Minogue; but are they really producing good music?

It`s pretty obvious that Indian music is not being marketed as much in Pak as Pak music is done here. Even Indians dont know what`s happening in Bombay-Pune, Chennai, Bangalore Rock scene. Or the musical orgies organised in the outskirts of Chennai. Annual event of Vasantahabba outside Bangalore. Live music in the dingy bars of Goa. It`s good in a way. No one wants vandals from Delhi with their crass tastes gatecrashing into such parties.

Cheers

20 Worst Pakistani Pop Songs … ever! #4 by Mantolives

Manto,

I listened to a few songs of Junoon and Strings but never heard of the other bands you mentioned. Even with such limited exposire I can say that Paki pop music is good. But to say that Paki pop has taken over Indian college scene and have Bollywood moviemakers begging is way way over the top. At best they are at the college main gate waiting to be let in. When it comes to my alma mater, Paki pop is not even in the town yet. This is a top college with annual festival budget of over Rs 2m which usually climaxes with an evening of live performance from Indian Rock bands like Euphoria, Parikrama, Shiva, Indian Ocean, Moksha-a band featured on an Iron Maiden album, no mean feat.

But I wont blame you if you`re only exposed to ``shameless`` remixes, afterall pop`s only what`s popular.

Cheers

The Ultimate Betrayal Ana,

Adult by definition, at least in India, is above 18. So question of consent from anyone below 18 does not arise. There`s a school of thought though that while voting rights and things like driving license can wait till the person is 18, minors can still be accorded some rights over themselves-adolescent rights. Things like what a 16yr old wants to study next yr. Like, his parents should not force him towards engg if he really wants to purse arts. Sex is the other dimension. A 14 yr old girl ( 15-16 in case of guys) is quite ready for sex but existing laws forbid it. Adolescents` rights are to address these situations. General agreement is that two consenting adolescents should be allowed to seek sexual pleasure while fobidding them to have sex with adults because of diff in the levels of maturity.

Point is, we shouldnt look at existing laws in deciding what we want to do. That`s the essence of personal freedom, individual liberty and sovereignity. Secular democracies always change their laws to reflect the ground realities. What`s forbidden and immoral today is legal and acceptable tomorrow. For eg. people are talking of adolescent laws only after they see that existing laws are being violated. There`s no need of gay rights if there are no gays. In theory at least, there`s a ``phase difference`` between law and the people in any democractic society, with law trying to catch up. Funny isnt it? West is ``immoral`` by their own definition, you dont need NTsyed to tell you that.

Cheers

Communal Stereotyping in Bollywood Movies Communal stereotyping or `labeling` happens on every Indian street. Imagine life without sardarji,gujju, bengali, bihari, tamilian jokes :))

Que: Name of the Japanese businessman in Calcutta desperately wanting to pee?

Ans: Thakiyeno Muteyashi!!

Cheers

The Ultimate Betrayal WTF! It`s not a social commentary or an academic discourse. It`s neither an attempt to spread awareness on child abuse nor an expose of any particular incident. It`s just fiction to titillate and provide oppurtunity to those sick middle aged men out here to read, write, discuss and confess till they cant get enough. Comments are already flowing in - ``Nice simple flowing style``, ``Lovely``, ``Well done``, ``Please write more``. I say, why this veiled attempt at stimulation? Why dont you give your fans more of this? Put it all in here - inner thighs, outer lips - everything.

But I wont spoil it for temporal who wants to discuss incest on this board. This is my take on incest sir! I say, go fcuk your mother, daughters, sisters for all they are worth. I dont judge. But if you really love your daughter so much then well at least wait till she`s over 18 and take her when she becomes a woman.

Cheers

General Musharraf goes on Struggling for Legitimacy Ever wondered why dictators while having Total Power project themselves as humble folks destined to lead their countries? Why is that guys like Laloo, a cabinet minister desperately trying to hold on to his chair, shows such arrogance of power? If you dont know their background you`ll easily mistake Laloo as a dictator and Mushy a mere humble politician.

Why? Ever wondered?

The Book is also Just a Book ``Why can’t those Arabs learn landscaping, oil drilling?``

``Arey where`s the time Farzana bibi? I have 4 wives to take care of and then I have to read quran 5 times daily. You live in a democratic country so you need not worry being `muslim` but I`ll be damned if anyone finds out that I`m not reading quran. In fact it`s the only book I ever read and have started reading 6 times now - just in case, you know``

A Season of Faith’s Defection Religious men of islam with their beards and skull caps are somewhat more acceptable to the eye when compared to half-naked (at times completely naked) sadhus in India. And not just sadhus, even the priest who leads the pujas in households would come with only a dhoti wrapped around; topless with big belly showing; sacred ash everwhere; and sometimes bald with just a pigtail on their shaved heads. But why is that secular hindus are not repulsed by the sight? Devotees touching the feet of temple priest is a common sight. Never mind that the pujari is much younger than the old men and women that are devotees. Imagine a rich, cultured, secular and educated middle aged man (or woman) bending down and touching the feet of barely-out-of-teens pujari!!

Why doesnt `secular and enlightened` hindus scoff at their `mullah` and his appearance? Heck, why doesnt secular Indian muslims dont react to the bearded mullahs as secular Pakis do? Think about it.

Cheers