Mukhtar Mai\'s December 11th Fundraiser in Sacramento I know MM quite well and see her fairly regularly, she lives about 100kms from me. I have known about this fundraiser for a while and have been liasing with Jack Loomis to see if IU could get an article done in time for the dinner...but events conspired against me, and it was not to be. MM and Naseem are flying tomorrow (3rd) IIRC, and are due back in Pakistan on 13 or 14 of December...will see them before Eid.

The work that her NGO does is good...they hve recently be thoroughly audited by IRC, a very big American NGO, and they found no financial irregularities, but there are a few things to 'tidy up' on the operational and institutional side, but nothing dramatic.

The girls school is a treat to see...the children are confidant and outgoing, the teachers happy in their work and delivering an above standard job. All in all, a useful NGO.

It Is Raining Short, elegant, poignant. So often I read pieces and think to myself 'Too many words...too many words...' - and it is rare indeed to see a piece that seems to me to have just the right number.

I liked the sense of ambiguity here...you were writing in the spaces BETWEEN the characters.

Guillotine Powerful stuff. The dust/rust lines are a bit awkward...other than that - yup.

Shopping with Perveen Re: # 40 Yes...my wife is Pakistani...a Seraiki. We have been married for 12 years. We foster a profoundly deaf Pakistani girl and have just adopted a 5 wks Pakistani baby. Anything else you want to know?

Shopping with Perveen Re: # 34 Hmmm...actually I was very fond of Perveen...still am and she visits from time to time. We had a lot of laughs together, me and Perveen, and I was sorry she left. The University was on her doorstep. More money...as to power, servants can be VERY powerful, as I have discovered over the last 14 or so years. Our current servant is live-in, and she lives as a part of the family.

Shopping with Perveen Re: # 14 Mostly I deal with project monitoring for Pakistani NGOs and some internationals. Work mostly in health and education sectors. Journalism is something I have only come to in the last couple of years...all my stuff that was published prior to that was very academic...dry as dust really. Got into journalism very much by accident, and also very much at the encouragement of another Chowker - Beena Sarwar, who has pieces here regularly.

Shopping with Perveen Re: # 7 Thanks...how do you mean `come together better?`

Shopping with Perveen Re: # 2 Cheers Tahera...from the looks of things so far `experimental writing` seems not to be popular hereabouts.

Shopping with Perveen Re: # 9 LOL!!! Oh boy have you got that wrong! The person you are referring to is Ethan Casey, an American, who no longer writes in the Pakistani press - at least not so far as I am aware. The moustache has been with me since my teens and I have never, ever, in my entire life owned or worn a stetson nor would I ever want to. I write a weekly column in the News on Mondays, plus other roughly fortnightly pieces which are longer and look at the Pakistani domestic political scene.

I first started writing in The News in February 2005...so taking your timeframe it is possible that you have not read any of my pieces at all!

Shopping with Perveen Re: # 5 So far as I can recall have never mentioned India in any piece for Pakistan newspapers...let alone taken a swipe at India. Perhaps you could point me to where I have done this - in case my memory is failing me.

Shopping with Perveen Re: # 1...no not poetry. Speech. Without the narrative connections. Who me? Read the profile or just Google me.

Worlds Apart You need to factcheck if you are going to reference cultures/places you have not been. (`social services sector`...ouch!). Bit pink and fluffy for my liking. Also, I suspect, as far from reality as it gets. But nicely written and observed.

Guddi I can`t remember if this was your first piece published for `You`...yes? Fair to say you have moved on a long way since you wrote this.

A Teacup in My Hand Well TS...do you see yourself as Mills and Boon material? I would have thought Virago more likely.

TBoB