Timeless Wonderful, very poetic indeed and dont get hurt by the senseless criticism of those who cant see and hear the timeless.

although the theme is not unique the expression is very creative, the first half before the entrance of the old lover was philosophical and the second like i said is poetic. The whole life of the dying lady is portrayed through a host of character and her success in fulfilling the duties of a faithful wife and loving mother was evident, yet the eternal love survives the passage of time like the ruins of an ancient altar.

Mediocre vs. Mediocre Bhati Sahib:

Don’t be so shy in uttering what is in your mind . . . offcourse it is the rise of mediocrity to power in PPP that was the aim of bibi’s murderers. If there is any body half as shrewd a politician as bibi, there would be more than one falls on that terrible evening.

Surely the mediocres of establishment will win as they are less prone to myopia. In a sense Bibis her self is the poor victim of this myopia since in all of her 20 plus years of political career she never made a serious attempt to curtail the power of establishment, God forbid if her political and family heirs follow the same path.

You are dead right about Scotland Yard report but we Pakistanis . . .

The Landlady Tahera, I read some of your work at Chowk , cant resist saying that you have a natural gift for writing. I say natural because of your ability to stretch the plot to the right length

The tingle of a very soft satire that rarely stings bitterly is the reflection of a mind that is indeed not very philosophical yet keep pondering at the inner side of the tings, but most delightful is the under current of humor that forces the reader to keep smiling until a sudden twist broke it to an unfortunate end - Humor in fiction is a very tricky thing.

Its amazing that you have written so much in a short period of time. must be a very fertile mind.

The Price of Loving Karl Marx A serious effort to brought to light the pangs of loving a genius, remind me Ismail Merchant’s Surviving Picasso. But I wonder if this is the right forum Comments like

"Men who have their wives pay the bills – they become great communists!"

And

"Marx was a very dishonest man who advocated violence. The woman he made pregnant was his maid, was it an affair , or took advantage of her , may be even raped her, he was old enough to be her father."

are stupid. We need an adult mind to understand the crisis of a genius's life

The Price of Loving Karl Marx So far the most sensible comment, you did justice to the article and the person in question

Martial Law Not Emergency You are right Khalid bhaee in a sense but tell me one thing isn’t it the Jawans and low cadre officers who follow the instructions of corrupt generals in overthrowing public institutions from legitimate offices. A soldier willing to sacrifice his life for country is doing great service but still is there anything unusual in it? Isn’t it the prime function of any army? What is unusual is the act of using his weapons against his own countrymen … a very shameful example.

There is an untold story of a nation whose two Prime Ministers were murdered; one exiled twice, a national hero humiliated, a chief justice thrown out from office twice.

If it were just one instance I wouldn’t be so harsh but looking at the history of Pak army I doubt if there is any reason for not being so.

wasalam

Martial Law Not Emergency Lets talk about Afwaj e Pakistan.

The most efficient army of the world because they follow

Their Oath - To plunder the very country they are supposed to defend.
Their History- Shedding blood for the British empire in every corner of the world
Their Legacy - From Ayub Khan to our great Commando the legacy is to sell the national interest at the cheapest price
Their Belief – All is fair in war (of interest) and love (of power)
Their Training – those bloody civilians know nothing
Their Motto – Crush the filthy insects under military boots

So I strongly agree with Khalid sb in calling Pakistan the “Sultanat -e- Pakistan barayay Imarat-e-Afwaj-e-Pakistan�.

Lets do it and have a nice concience free slumber like the most respected justice Muneer.

The Actor a very touchy picture of the agony of the ignored artist, the line

``All the Actor had wanted to do was act``

gets deep into the heart.

Its great to learn that the director of ``Shatranj Ki Khilardi`` was as good a stroy teller.

My regards to the tranlator for selecting the good piece.

Shopping with Perveen A little chop of candy taste, hum...um

Condemned Gods of Darrah Pir Yea a mistake on my part , thanks for pointing out.

Nietzsche – the Overman and the Three Metamorphoses Salam

A good article and even better discussion, I would like to share some thoughts.

Firstly Naqshbandi sb rightly pointed out the creative dilemma of Nietzsche, that is “his heart believes while his mind doesn’t” now we understand why the man who killed God in “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” has such an ugly face, and offcourse the barren landscape of the book itself, Is it the spiritual empty space in authors mind?

Nonetheless the point raised by Khurram sb is vitally important, Nietzsche does not believe in any ethics (in the popular sense) and in doing so his superman becomes instinctive (if I term it rightly) while ours (Iqbals) Mard e Khuda is a moral being whose strength lies not in rejecting the moral values but in accepting and submitting to them

“NUQTA E PURKAR E HAQ MARD E KHUDA KA YAQEEN”

The true nature of Nietzsche’s philosophy (in essence the theory of values) can not be understood without a deeper analysis of his personality, deep in his heart there is always a desire to rule. To him the entire universe organic and inorganic express this desire – the will to power- the moral philosophy erected on the foundations of will to power is absolutely subjective and in stark contrast to objective (Greco-western ethics) and revealed morality of Islam and Christianity.

Nietzsche’s contribution to philosophy is in the domain of evolution and morals ie the creation of superman and his code of conduct. Supermen, the artist –warrior, evolving from present stock of humanity, is a small ruling Junta who create their own virtues and vice, while the rest of humanity serves their masters as cattle and farm animals, this is again in contrast to the strict demands of revealed morality where Caliph Umer bin Khitab considers himself the humble servant of the most downtrodden citizen of Medina. It is especially in his ideology of selected few and their rule over entire humanity that I find Nietzsche more close to Judaism (whom he hated most) than to Islam.

I doubt if the believer heart in Nietzsche could have won the battle had he a better understanding of Islam, we learn from his biography that Nietzsche seems to have devoted much of his time in studying all kind of philosophies and religious teachings before constructing his own philosophy, this could not skip Islam as Nietzsche being one of the most learned men of his time could not be ignorant of the contributions of Islam in the history of idea and culture. Germans as a mater of fact were in close contact with Turkey, and many of his contemporaries and predecessors Marx, Engels and Goethe showed good knowledge of Islam and Muslim societies. Nietzsche’s departure from Christianity and Western philosophy of his day is not in search of mystical appeal of a more refined religion but because of the inner call of the wild and ruthless will to power,for which any religion Islam, Buddhism, Christianity, has no place

By the way I consider Nietzsche more of an artist than a philosopher and artists may have visions (or Nighmares??)

Sidra, we hope to see more from you

Wasalam

Can We Defy Time or Be Contacted from Outer Space? Well written Mamoon Sb:

having a scholarly interest in physics I love reading easy to understand concepts, I would disagree with your concept of imagination as receiving antena of future information. Artists and inventors both are imaginative and their imaginative power creates the future as we see it. Nonetheless it is one of the best pieces at chowk which deserve a second more serious read.

Would you like to explain the concept of 0 &1.

And best of luck for the ring theory

``LET NEWTON BE``

Indian Shuakat Aziz and Pakistani Manmohan Singh To ballukhan – for ur information Shahnawaz Farooqi could be any thing but “Jernail’s boot licker” he is one of the biter critics of Fauji rule in Pakistan, I am saying this bc I read his newspapper columns. Irrespective of our political views we should respect the brave souls who voice our opinions against illegitimate regimes.

A Failed Romance We all have failed rommances and the Unforgetible moments of (one sided) love.

Out of Sight Good effort Sajjad, a very simple & natural style of writing.

Baby Doll A good read. 1 thing funny about this story is the stubburness of the child; I never remember myself resisting so much the pressure for being ``distinctive``. My words - its typical to Indo pak culture that parenrts supress their child`s youth in order to make him distinctive in sosiety. Well! for the rest of our life, we strive hard to be competitive, distinctive and compliant to social standards.