Deranged Arranged Marriages Re: # 42
Because once you`re married, its all the same. Love goes out the window because you are too busy trying to adjust to everything all at once.

Wrong. May be because I am not married, and may be because of that I have some strange, idealistic conceptions about marriage, but I`d rather be a lonely, old, single guy than be trapped in a loveless marriage.

There is a hell of a difference b/w seeing each other every single day for 5 years and talking on the phone etc etc and actually having to wake up next to the same person EVERY single day.

Agreed. But then why would you want to wake up next to a person whom you don`t love every day?

My parents have been married for 35 years and yes they are happy because they still talk to each other without getting ready to kill one another. And yeh they even joke and laugh together. After 35 years, i`d say thats an achievement

Absolutely. It is an achievement no doubt. But it was possible only because they are in love.

A Fobby Love Story Well.. from the article it looks like rejection has hurt the author`s ego quite a bit, and due to it, he is lashing out at the so called ``ABCD`` culture.

You like a girl in your school or `mohalla`, get her number through directories or her friends, initiates it by `lets be friends`, and soon it trascends into love, pure eastern one love for life.

It really does not quite work that way, even back home. I don`t think author has ever been in a serious relationship (yes, a common word back home). I think author is really young and as he matures, he will find out that every relationship is always much more complex and intricate (irrespective of whether it was formed in Hollywood or bollywood) than one initially thinks.

Happy Days are Here Again Shandana,

Congratulations and good luck!
Do let us know when the book comes out.

Deranged Arranged Marriages Re: # 20

Are you so shoked by the news of your uncle`s marriage that not only have you forgotten to eat, but also to how to write?

Doctor, Can You Give Me Something for the Pain? Shandana you rock - as usual.

BTW, it is nice to see regular contribution to chowk from you again.

The \'Ikes of March Re: # 43

So how does that make this article ``in poor taste``?

The \'Ikes of March Re: # 5

Delhiwala, why are you so saRa hua?

The \'Ikes of March Shandana, excellent writing as usual. However, this peace could have used some diligent proof reading. There are a couple of glaring (but easy to commit) spelling mistakes, which should have been caught by the editors.

Having gotten that off my chest, I must compliment you on an excellent article. You have a certain style of writing which is very polished, but still comes straight from the heart. Add to that your bubbly wit, and we have a winner on our hands. Indeed, you are a breath of fresh air in an otherwise putrid environment of chowk.

There is a real problem in India (and I guess also in Pakistan) as far as primary education is concerned. Most government schools have become useless with their out-dated teaching methods and their completely unenthusiastic teaching staff. That is partially the reason why every parent wants his or her kid to get into the private schools, which are few. The competition to get into such schools is very high and consequently, the schools can practically dictate terms to parents. Also, the fees charged by these schools are exorbitant. I doubt any middle class parents can afford Rs. 60,000 per year school fees (for 12 years) in either India or Pakistan (rising salaries notwithstanding).

Both the governments of India and Pakistan need to address this crises in primary education facilities as a top priority. In India the government focus is mainly on the institutes of higher education like IITs, IIMs and RECs. Indians are quite proud of the engineers and managers that come out of these institutes - and rightly so- but the primary education infrastructure needs huge, huge improvement.

I don`t know what the solution to this problem is, but encouraging opening of more private schools while at the same time drastically improving the conditions in government schools seems like a good place to start.

Muslims in Infidelistan: A Ready Reckoner What is in this article that hasn`t already been posted on Little Green Football or Free Republic?

Give Us this Day our Tandoori Chicken Re: # 5

Zeena is too istoooopid for words. Jawahara never claimed to be any of those things. Her point is exactly opposite - people assume things about her because of the way she dresses and behaves does not match with their stereotypes of a muslim woman.

Husain, Hinduism, Hindustan: Testing Tolerance My 2 cents on these two issues from an atheist`s point of view:

Commercial exploitation of revered figures of another faith to sell a product is wrong. 99% of the time this is done to highlight and exaggerate the `quaintness` of the other belief systems (those strange Hindus/Muslims/Sikhs with their dots/beards/turbans); which is just a thinly disguised appeal to hidden racism in the popular culture. This should be opposed not on the religious grounds, but on the grounds of identity politics and racism.

Having said that, artists should be free to exploit any figure/character/deity for their artistic expression, as long as the art is not being used to sell some other product. So Hussain has every right to paint pictures of Durga having sex with Shiva, let alone painting ``mother earth`` in nude. Only jokers of BJP and RSS can think of objecting to something like this. I have a feeling that this would have been a non-issue had BJP been in the power instead of Congress.

On another note, if BJP and RSS are so offended by the notions of a nude mother earth, may be they should consider covering the whole earth with some kid of sari.

Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World This movie sucked. It was not funny at all.

Mohammad Who? This is not a religious matter any longer. This whole thing has morphed into an identity politics issue.

The Algebra of Arundhati’s Injudiciousness The reason for rejecting this award is simple. What would you rather have? One lousy certificate and a few thousand rupees from Sahitya Academy, or thousands of dollars in speaking fees on the american lecture circuit?

Digital Desis or Giant Managers? If #18 is typical Paki reaction, then Indian corporations have a great business opportunity in exporting Burnol to Pak.

Digital Desis or Giant Managers? What idiots like madani and bolta aaina do not realize is that even though IT is not a magic wand that will solve all the problems that India faces today, the success in IT has given India and Indian industry enough confidence and world recognition to allow indian businesses try their hands at different and better things. Also, it has led to the rise of a middle class that can in future not only sustain but accelerate this economic growth.

Re. MindTree consulting. MindTree was started by a bunch of wipro alumini, chief amongst them Ashok Soota, who held Vivek Paul`s post from early 80s till 1998. When he left Wipro, there was a major question mark on wipro`s ability to grow without him. However, since then, both Wipro and MTC have grown exponentially; thus gaining India TWO world class technology firms. Just an example of how Indian industry in general and IT industry in particular has matured.