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Showing posts from August, 2014

A Story that Happens at the Dining Table

It is a hot and humid night, a few stars are gazing lazily at the dwellers of this planet. They think about the shenanigans that the inhabitants of the earth engage in, and they start yawning. The thought is boring. “Ha! Look at the people casting stones while sitting in a glass house,” exclaims Sirius the brightest star. “And there are piped pipers too who seem to be having delusions of grandeur” says another bored star. They yawn. Suddenly one of them starts twinkling real fast. “Look, finally there is something interesting happening on the earth,” he sparkles with joy. They peep inside the window of the house on one of the streets in Lahore. They have Google street maps so it’s easier for them to find the exact place. There is light, there’s food, there’s the laughter of children and a sense of expectancy. A perfect setting.  The waft of something crispy, salty, tasty, settles on the dining table, it blends with the laughter, settles on the tongues

Of Tooth Fairies and Sparrows

“They travel at night and collect teeth. In the morning they set to work and fashion those teeth into gleaming white pearls and make necklaces. In the evening they get dressed, wear tooth pearl necklaces, and dance. And they sing, ‘we are happy, we are pretty’,” I tell Omar when he asks me about tooth fairies. “And they give gifts to children?” he asks. “Yes, they like to do honest business. So they barter gifts for teeth.” Omar seems indecisive about something. But after a while, he shows me his key ring and a wallet with brand new notes. “Look, what the tooth fairy gave me last night.” I am excited about Omar’s newfound riches and tell him so. After all, this comes as a replacement for his seven-year-old tooth. A long-held treasure. Something is still bothering Omar. And he asks me, “Do you actually believe in tooth fairies? I think Amma put these gifts under my pillow when I was sleeping.” Omar is facing an existential moment. “Of course, I believe in f