tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44433180234691590392024-02-06T19:58:17.160-08:00Land of Lilliputiansnaureen amjadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16181390313515434907noreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443318023469159039.post-91884566752503666262019-08-31T08:30:00.000-07:002019-08-31T10:28:22.983-07:00How things are<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Season Two of the Land of Lilliputians Coming soon!</div>
naureen amjadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16181390313515434907noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443318023469159039.post-2638232280112028422015-06-26T09:42:00.001-07:002020-05-12T04:42:14.936-07:00Emma<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is how Emma was brought to the back terrace</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">“You haven’t written anything about Emma,” <a href="https://lilliputians-land.blogspot.com/2011/06/my-lilliputains.html" target="_blank">Zainab</a> complains and the others join to</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"> voice this massive omission on my part.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">“Stray cats give you a heartbreak when they die. Remember <a href="https://lilliputians-land.blogspot.com/2013/11/roseee-goes-to-vet.html" target="_blank">Roseee</a>?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">“But at least we now remember everything about her. We have memories,” the Lilliputians pipe in. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">“Please write about Emma’s story.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2j5k4X93fhfP8CjWG2zk0qqnE3d9Fo5bpR7Iq4b8zrMdb4PzZXu488XJuj3f-pyoCUx2WQBtsWCIZhyphenhyphenC7n1gL0UhUdxydW1q5Le4ShqvaPsQLOHOoW5ZcblCZJtx6Gz0pj0wM7nI_dCk/s1600/mma+rosee.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2j5k4X93fhfP8CjWG2zk0qqnE3d9Fo5bpR7Iq4b8zrMdb4PzZXu488XJuj3f-pyoCUx2WQBtsWCIZhyphenhyphenC7n1gL0UhUdxydW1q5Le4ShqvaPsQLOHOoW5ZcblCZJtx6Gz0pj0wM7nI_dCk/s320/mma+rosee.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emma with mama Rosee and sibling</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I think about it. Maybe they are right; if you love someone as elusive as a stray cat then you learn to live with it. You can’t hold on to stray cats, but then, you cant hold on to people either. But memories…yes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I go out to our back terrace. There she sits, lapping up the cat food that I had left in her plate. Emma has lost weight. She is a big cat now, and she is a mother cat. I remember the day she was born…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">It is a story of cats. It is a story of two generations. It is a story that happens on the back terrace that has become home to two and now three generations of cats.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp7Mm80_9qTYJgYETX4Jh523qcxI5HRg_NZW1p9x1Soc5Sq5o7OpMhV5AP1q-unfSZZq6ZImBaeuvHdGAKf5xLUyCqlhPzv380nMN0LKEsO8I37x3zYyuBjT3aMMfPtBK-7RAsjhJ_mwQ/s1600/seems+like+food.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp7Mm80_9qTYJgYETX4Jh523qcxI5HRg_NZW1p9x1Soc5Sq5o7OpMhV5AP1q-unfSZZq6ZImBaeuvHdGAKf5xLUyCqlhPzv380nMN0LKEsO8I37x3zYyuBjT3aMMfPtBK-7RAsjhJ_mwQ/s320/seems+like+food.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'seems like food' grown-up Emma spots a mouse</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Emma was among the four kittens in Roseee’s second litter. Most probably, she was born on March 29’2014 because this is when Roseee had vanished for an entire day. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">We saw Emma when Roseee brought her kitties to our place, all four of them. They were endearing, the kittens. But Emma was the one that stole our heart away. Zainab was then reading <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_(novel)" target="_blank">Jane Austen’s ‘Emma</a>’ and decided to name our favorite kitty after Austen’s spirited heroine. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The kitties were still sucklings when Roseee died. While we were able to find homes for the other three, we couldn’t give up Em</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">ma for adoption. It was selfish of us, I know. We
knew Emma could never be a house cat at our place because of many people (adults)
in the land of Lilliputians are allergic to cats.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">But we needed Roseee’s daughter in our
lives. We wanted someone to keep Roseee’s memory alive</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbxurrSvloxC8I3PoEk6EJV5d7BDXfc0KtTtg6TyZuBlffCyoMZIaU4LY11sBzSvKgsnjIAlEHj_pN8pyKQZaBpDWVmSKfP0MyS1lzJ6c1yY_MdGrn8mypprGgiopCwU5ppsfnUnKE064/s1600/emma+jumps.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbxurrSvloxC8I3PoEk6EJV5d7BDXfc0KtTtg6TyZuBlffCyoMZIaU4LY11sBzSvKgsnjIAlEHj_pN8pyKQZaBpDWVmSKfP0MyS1lzJ6c1yY_MdGrn8mypprGgiopCwU5ppsfnUnKE064/s200/emma+jumps.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Emma was a playful kitten, but she grew up to be a loner. Unlike her mother, she doesn’t much like being cuddled. And she never developed a taste for the qwwalis of<a href="https://soundcloud.com/nfak-v/sets/virrick" target="_blank"> Nusrat Fatheh Ali.</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">I remember the day when she had her first encounter with a mouse. It was in the basement. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHocmGQPfkLQ6cP5118xLtuDHEuYiGtekulXog2glepZSZvITIbf2VOSAqhEoJ2woDt9QxHNAL7QlgtM8Kjlu5pvYyMlMgctVzk0_iaoPXtHkEIBPlpvSv5-uf0UUvCla3LQXYWYtX4yA/s1600/jumpy.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHocmGQPfkLQ6cP5118xLtuDHEuYiGtekulXog2glepZSZvITIbf2VOSAqhEoJ2woDt9QxHNAL7QlgtM8Kjlu5pvYyMlMgctVzk0_iaoPXtHkEIBPlpvSv5-uf0UUvCla3LQXYWYtX4yA/s200/jumpy.JPG" width="196" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">It was an hour-long chase that left the onlookers wondering who was chasing whom. When Emma pounced upon the mouse, it jumped. And when it jumped, Emma retreated. After half an hour, the mouse decided to call it a day and sat immobile daring Emma to catch it. And what did Emma do?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">No, she didn’t grab it. She just sat there and tried to solve cosmic mysteries. In the end, the mouse gave up and crawled inside its </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">hole</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">. Since that day, Omar has dubbed Emma as ‘a loser cat.’</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-0-ovnOiaD5V0RWvQHPeJ7aRsjIrPTH1qSyWuBjuYMiHLx1K0ha_fuJSc7298breZgKORZxVPGdU3YnQc5FenAz0a4SVaFd41ndgsNc37-PrG0t4LXGC-e5cA0MmO7QLUa5K8Z3rifXg/s1600/DSCN0681.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="129" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-0-ovnOiaD5V0RWvQHPeJ7aRsjIrPTH1qSyWuBjuYMiHLx1K0ha_fuJSc7298breZgKORZxVPGdU3YnQc5FenAz0a4SVaFd41ndgsNc37-PrG0t4LXGC-e5cA0MmO7QLUa5K8Z3rifXg/s320/DSCN0681.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Loser?</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">But Emma is not the preying sort. She has a bit of Roseee’s Sufi soul in her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">She has also inherited from Roseee her love of </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">nightly ramblings</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> on the rooftop. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">“Emma, let’s go for a walk,” I say to her every night.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHlv_R2OAM0M72dL5XETnL1ymkjovlhF6DLMG8wOgsOlyXSoVuXJLLIWSOU7zdWI54BLajvOa1-crY5pwuKdbA3J-s_7P3u3nIYVasB9IpYpCBcg3O0W7QbMROANPMRO_0tJSy8IpaiE0/s1600/mother+emma.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHlv_R2OAM0M72dL5XETnL1ymkjovlhF6DLMG8wOgsOlyXSoVuXJLLIWSOU7zdWI54BLajvOa1-crY5pwuKdbA3J-s_7P3u3nIYVasB9IpYpCBcg3O0W7QbMROANPMRO_0tJSy8IpaiE0/s320/mother+emma.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Now a mother of two</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">And she jumps up the stairs, three steps at a time. On the rooftop, she mostly just sits there and thinks her own catly thoughts while I walk and think some human and some not-so-human thoughts. It’s quite an un-intrusive companionship. The way I like it, and also perhaps the way she likes it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">During our hour-long silent musings, there also comes a moment when she tries to stand on her hind legs. For me, it is a kind of signal. I go near her, she puts her paws on me and I pat her, talk to her, and tell her about the things that I tell only to her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emma's kitty</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">And like Roseee, she is a stray cat. Will remain one. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">A month ago, she vanished </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">for many days. She came back very
sick and very pregnant.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">She is better now though still weak. Her kitties are feeble. But she is here, and the story goes on. Our back terrace witnesses all. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZeXPjrJyVf0HRLsrlHxmdrzRWP5cedR9VipEUso_nT8l4gkq3Ewy86wGpzDRznzNEmMgU5D5EYEQ7XmWIcFsQ9_mY6JNMpJ-laFn7FR2xyDsLc5Pj-YhqfYxzywTnR2_SWbI_Xbh__7k/s1600/kitty.JPG" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZeXPjrJyVf0HRLsrlHxmdrzRWP5cedR9VipEUso_nT8l4gkq3Ewy86wGpzDRznzNEmMgU5D5EYEQ7XmWIcFsQ9_mY6JNMpJ-laFn7FR2xyDsLc5Pj-YhqfYxzywTnR2_SWbI_Xbh__7k/s1600/kitty.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emma's kitty</td></tr>
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naureen amjadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16181390313515434907noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443318023469159039.post-5666050206665844022015-05-19T05:26:00.001-07:002019-08-31T08:39:33.830-07:0090 Days of Freedom<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggCYDZQ3EiyPbViJAxyayDBI2WtNtZDVq6By7sT6RUxYH2tCbZmvbVgmfoDY4e_fyIv-p15mkNePN4MndAcHidvmMZmSxkxJhTU_Dhh7fR8wbbdRQa452XjrJkwKpo7SlSW2bK1EOoS-A/s1600/DSCN0926.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggCYDZQ3EiyPbViJAxyayDBI2WtNtZDVq6By7sT6RUxYH2tCbZmvbVgmfoDY4e_fyIv-p15mkNePN4MndAcHidvmMZmSxkxJhTU_Dhh7fR8wbbdRQa452XjrJkwKpo7SlSW2bK1EOoS-A/s320/DSCN0926.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Forced Confinement: Preparing for exams</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There is a palpable sense of excitement in the Land
of Lilliputians. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“The freedom!” I can see the words written over their faces as
the Lilliputians slog around their books to somehow weather the slings and
arrows of exams.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Summer holidays. We will have 90 days!” Omar’s eyes
shine with the possibilities of unlimited freedom and that too for 90 days.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“What do you plan to do?” I ask, some of the
excitement rubbing in on me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I will get hold of the TV remote and will keep it
in my pocket 24/7. I will sleep with a remote in my hand and will immediately
turn on the TV when I wake up.” Omar has dark plans up his sleeve to make up
for the ‘externally’ imposed deprivation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Now I am curious. What plans the others have? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Saif’s plans, predictably so, revolve around
cricket. “I will play, play and play,”
he enthuses and circles his arm in the gesture of throwing a ball.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Zainab is the literary type and intends to read every book by Percy Jackson.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Roshan has ambitious plans. “I will write a book of
500 hundred pages. And I am not telling anyone what it will be about; somebody
might steal the idea.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Mobby is the philosophical sort, or maybe he is a
practitioner of Zen. “I will think about it when holidays start,” he says
calmly, sage like.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Freedom for the Lilliputians </span><span style="font-size: 18.6666660308838px; line-height: 21.4666652679443px;">isn't</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> just about
freedom </span></span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">from</i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> the constraints of
school; it is more about being able to do what they </span></span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">want </i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">to do.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I wonder if this
type of freedom is the prerogative of childhood. With time, w</span><span style="font-size: 18.6666660308838px; line-height: 21.4666652679443px;">ouldn't</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> they, imperceptibly
& unconsciously, internalize limitations imposed by society, norms, and the
dictates of bread and butter? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And how much we
adults will contribute in teaching them to bow under the pressures of
conformity?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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naureen amjadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16181390313515434907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443318023469159039.post-21036469994165899202015-03-25T01:22:00.000-07:002019-08-31T08:40:13.273-07:00Rooster in a Lota<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9QrWQJ2FZk09Ste10s9nkgKFhyphenhyphen4uRrQJBzdQU1k7ZdPHEHINuBdKkWhDj6kxmaVrmC4jrgDZMD5SlPqGJdjVwaKnZkDRwdyHLQnQoOCcRyUyyo0f0DKjsYzaAaEB450w-CRoO4EfsJwM/s1600/DSCN0851.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9QrWQJ2FZk09Ste10s9nkgKFhyphenhyphen4uRrQJBzdQU1k7ZdPHEHINuBdKkWhDj6kxmaVrmC4jrgDZMD5SlPqGJdjVwaKnZkDRwdyHLQnQoOCcRyUyyo0f0DKjsYzaAaEB450w-CRoO4EfsJwM/s1600/DSCN0851.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I need a lota, I want to make a rooster out of it,” Omar informs me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I tell him it seems too far-fetched an idea. But Omar is adamant, even surprised that I can’t see the obvious.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“It is a ready-made rooster; you just need to do a little bit of work. Just look at this, it’s a rooster’s neck,” Omar brings a lota and points towards the spout. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I try to see it with Omar’s eyes and yes…the lota does seem like a rooster in making.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And then, I am put to work. A bottle of glue, a paintbrush, a cotton roll, and some chart paper are placed before me. And I am told to follow the instructions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Now with the help of this paintbrush cover the lota with glue, don’t leave any uncovered area,” Omar instructs and warns.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I set to work, diligently so. Obediently I follow the instructions that are constantly being hammered into my ears.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Lovingly I make the rooster’s white round body (it’s a fat rooster) and triangular face, tenderly I fashion its wattle, its comb, and its tail with red glazed paper, and gently I stick a red button on its triangular face to help it see.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNEVr7P3Z_6_TBzoE3MuQT5eOXerXwgt5ScdW5TbH-dQxidNMUB3cEpxyyykjOS7eVXFL8XIj17p-CVc8USFIq5dPR6VUZhAgHx5YUEamZ0MvoJLRSs2a24qDEejCn0s-n55uThNJuww4/s1600/rooster.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNEVr7P3Z_6_TBzoE3MuQT5eOXerXwgt5ScdW5TbH-dQxidNMUB3cEpxyyykjOS7eVXFL8XIj17p-CVc8USFIq5dPR6VUZhAgHx5YUEamZ0MvoJLRSs2a24qDEejCn0s-n55uThNJuww4/s1600/rooster.JPG" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Do we need to cover the big hole in the rooster’s belly?” I ask my instructor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“No,” he chuckles, “we will put golden eggs inside it and then my rooster will lay eggs.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sure. Everything is possible. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">All you need to do is to see the possibility of a rooster in the good old lota</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">.</span></div>
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naureen amjadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16181390313515434907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443318023469159039.post-38650232772739546452015-03-15T07:17:00.002-07:002019-08-31T08:41:45.112-07:00The First Poor Person in the World<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> I hide inside my blanket and listen to the rain knocking on my window panes. Flu always makes me want to hide somewhere dark and warm. A hangover from my prenatal life, I guess. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Omar comes and snuggles into my bed. “You are so boring! Why are you sleeping?” he asks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Yes, boring and not well,” I murmur from inside my cocoon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“What should I do?” Omar asks and then defines the boundaries within which my answer should fall, “just don’t tell me to do these three things: sleep, eat, study.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This is Omar’s standard question. A constant refrain that we hear throughout the day and, if he is awake, at night too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Okay. Maybe you can stand upside down and look at the world in a new way,” I say and emerge from the darkness of my shell to face Omar’s glare.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“It works,” I tell him from my own experience.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“No, suggest something else. I am bored.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Listen to the rain and think about the children who don’t have a warm bed to snuggle into,” I try to change the track of his thoughts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The comment makes him pause for a while. He thinks and then asks, “Why are some people poor?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Because some of us have more than our share of wealth.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“But tell me how it all started. Who was the first poor person?” he asks<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Omar’s questions often make me acutely aware of my limited knowledge. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I don’t know,” I confess.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“If I only had the time machine! I would go back and find out and then stop that person from getting poor. It will easier to do so with just one person. No?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I think so.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He again ponders for a while and then comes up with a thesis that explains poverty.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“It is all because of money,” he says.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“How?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Because the rich have the money and the poor don’t. If nobody had it then everybody would be equal,” he explains.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">My constant sneezing has muffled my brain, but I try to understand Omar’s logic. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I have read that people used to live in caves. When I look at the pictures of cave people, they all look the same. There were no rich or poor people because then there was no money. Everybody could pick fruits from the forests and eat,” Omar supports his thesis and then declares:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I think the cave period was the best. It must have been so much fun, and you didn’t have to study,” Omar says and then hops out of the bed. Probably he has figured out what he wanted to do. Perhaps he has decided to build a time machine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Maybe Omar would allow me to test drive it. I also need to find out a few answers and relive certain moments.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Till that happens I will hide inside my own dark places ‘so much nearer home.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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naureen amjadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16181390313515434907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443318023469159039.post-1088798783322585872015-02-08T06:07:00.000-08:002019-08-31T08:42:14.984-07:00The Games Children Play<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN9QMVPaQI8CPh28CAacUeGWybU-q84Wf9PhXByvJWcEemMQ-RBxdkFBhhL2bOypoPUWHdwjP28v6apEGAdMQfU76RktjdE61h6H8ZCoegCWiW5OtA7PiygymIDpX1kKXCq2pB5LttPRY/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN9QMVPaQI8CPh28CAacUeGWybU-q84Wf9PhXByvJWcEemMQ-RBxdkFBhhL2bOypoPUWHdwjP28v6apEGAdMQfU76RktjdE61h6H8ZCoegCWiW5OtA7PiygymIDpX1kKXCq2pB5LttPRY/s1600/images.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> “You are the bad guys. You will drop the bomb and then the police will come. Got it?” I hear Saif's instructions crashing in through the window of the dining room where I sit and sip Yemen’s special mocha coffee.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Bomb? Police? Sounds familiar. I peer through the window. Mobby and Omar are carrying bombs, aka footballs, that they have to drop somewhere. They are trying to mimic menacing expressions. They don’t succeed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“What kind of game is this? Can’t you play something nice?” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">They look at the frantic woman standing behind the window and laugh.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “We are playing Taliban, Talibaan. We will drop the bomb, police –Zainab and Roshan- will come but they won't be able to catch us,” Omar outlines the rules of the game for my information.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“And then I will come and capture all of them. Because I am really powerful,” Saif tells me how the game will end.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“And who are you supposed to be?” I ask.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I am Raheel Sharif,” Saif says and they all run away to begin the game. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I wonder about their new heroes. And I wonder how insidious are the narratives that get reflected in the games that children play. And then I wonder some more about how quickly the new national narrative is built. Or is it the old one? Rehashed, re-packaged?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I don’t understand much. There are things I am not good at. But I am getting better at brewing a perfect cup of mocha coffee. Some Consolation.</span></div>
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naureen amjadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16181390313515434907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443318023469159039.post-17206502402214910752014-12-07T06:45:00.000-08:002019-08-31T08:42:31.605-07:00Writer’s Life<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVR_SAYqmqaJgaFEurkcrh4hSsC_VWC2IPGXhCX_WNkEuqqeX6Vyix0ok0Q0l-zXxqbxsApSUN6BY_SeYX2s3CNGLDeBO4eQZNB_SonYu77RWaHDDhr2-OdDl3yZdZHhq7QJlm7Pi390I/s1600/DSCN0669.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVR_SAYqmqaJgaFEurkcrh4hSsC_VWC2IPGXhCX_WNkEuqqeX6Vyix0ok0Q0l-zXxqbxsApSUN6BY_SeYX2s3CNGLDeBO4eQZNB_SonYu77RWaHDDhr2-OdDl3yZdZHhq7QJlm7Pi390I/s1600/DSCN0669.JPG" width="290" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Smitten with the written word is he. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">But this is not
entirely an innocent love that </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">shuns all thoughts of material gains. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Omar’s love
for the written word has a smattering of worldly motives. More than a
smattering in fact.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">It all began when Omar decided to copy every book in
the world. “I want to build my own library,” he told me.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Why don’t you buy them?” simpleton that I am, I
always fail to decipher Omar’s deeper motives.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I want to write my own books. And it will save
money.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“But this is not writing, this is copying somebody’s
work.” I have already admitted to not being very sharp.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I am writing. This is <i>my handwriting</i>.” Considering the finality in Omar’s tone, I decide
not to wax eloquent on plagiarism.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsN7fExeMDGEUH8y8J4Y-U9WwUccSUjEPtznZ6xdlz-Lx-JSacHJCverUapTscuAMRDlyU8trz7qb_OS8xjCGhZyTwMAIWweCzs6VQxulA8eNFBV4PA0os9Tr2zvElQpC7NgtvGW7LrIM/s1600/DSCN0670.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsN7fExeMDGEUH8y8J4Y-U9WwUccSUjEPtznZ6xdlz-Lx-JSacHJCverUapTscuAMRDlyU8trz7qb_OS8xjCGhZyTwMAIWweCzs6VQxulA8eNFBV4PA0os9Tr2zvElQpC7NgtvGW7LrIM/s1600/DSCN0670.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A chicken-hearted simpleton. Not very flattering!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Thus a couple of stories are <i>written</i>. And here ends the first phase of the writer’s life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It is with swarming thoughts and plans of getting
rich and famous that the second phase starts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Now Omar wants the world us to see what he is seeing,
imagining. And he wants to become rich.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“How much money do you need to get a book published?
I will get it published with my pocket money and then sell it in shops,” he outlines
his writerly plans.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“If some publisher likes your book, she will pay you
for writing it, “I tell him about the rosy side of writers’ life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Really!” he is excited and tells me about the book
that he is writing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“It is really good. It is about an astronaut who
lives in Australia and has a rocket. One day he lands in Japan and meets children
there. Do you think some publishers would like to publish it?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Yes, it sounds interesting. Keep writing.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For a couple of days, Omar is excited and is seen
writing at all times and in all positions: lying down in the lounge, cuddled in
bed, sitting on a sofa. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “Mr.Robert is
now in Pakistan and he is writing books with children. They have set up a small
book shop, they are going to sell books and become rich,” Omar tells me one day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Robert?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“The astronaut in my book! He is now in Pakistan.”
Robert is now Omar’s alter ego. Omar is excited. He believes he is writing a
best seller, and he is vicariously living the life he wants to live. The best
phase of a writer’s life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Now starts the next phase.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One day, the writer seems cranky and in not so good a
mood. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I think my book is not good enough. Nobody would want
to publish it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“It is good. Just keep writing, write what you
want to write about, don’t care about getting published,” I pass on the classic
advice given to all wanna-be writers. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This works for a few days, and then:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Robert built a gold castle with children and has
gone back to Japan. I don’t know what to write next. Can’t think of anything,” the
writer sounds frustrated.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The little writer is suffering from a massive
writer’s block.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For the next few days, Omar is in the worst possible
mood. And then he decides to settle for an ordinary life: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Keep this with you. I don’t think I can finish it.
Maybe, I am too young,” Omar hands me his unfinished manuscript. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I am keeping the manuscript safe. I know he is going
to ask for it one day. I know once you fall prey to the scourge of writing, you
remain a captive. Publishers or no publishers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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naureen amjadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16181390313515434907noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443318023469159039.post-78273489024267337122014-09-29T22:42:00.001-07:002019-08-31T08:42:50.813-07:00Getting Political<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Pb86a6bC8kw1RLECe_5hQL3FtK7ox23DRhcd6AzWoDgP07r3kI7Trcj-Bhv9wf3U9Q8KRbYluiEmpM6zJfqX8vlOm4yIqULqp34CSZLYVD9gV_866kf_rB1cH-OU8YfBell8GqCgZQE/s1600/childern.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Pb86a6bC8kw1RLECe_5hQL3FtK7ox23DRhcd6AzWoDgP07r3kI7Trcj-Bhv9wf3U9Q8KRbYluiEmpM6zJfqX8vlOm4yIqULqp34CSZLYVD9gV_866kf_rB1cH-OU8YfBell8GqCgZQE/s1600/childern.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We saw a car stuffed with children...singing, and waving PTI flags</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Have you ever been to
a jalsa,” Saif asks me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“No, I am
claustrophobic, crowds suffocate me.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Saif only listens to
half of my comment because he is busy chanting a PTI song. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“But you have to go to
his one. There will be a huge crowd, the like of which you have never seen
before,” Saif informs me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“So, you are a PTI
supporter. Why?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEa5mdVc5yuQx3HVsrYpe2LDwcAh7h5vrQNlxn6od6FuYSOBUQ90KHJJqhwOb3VToG2m03pfuhTAGc4lYSrmta7DW6ydswoaw0lagseMkROYAe55o4CqKAQxsfA1TKvOQDHIj_3Da9Bok/s1600/fam.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEa5mdVc5yuQx3HVsrYpe2LDwcAh7h5vrQNlxn6od6FuYSOBUQ90KHJJqhwOb3VToG2m03pfuhTAGc4lYSrmta7DW6ydswoaw0lagseMkROYAe55o4CqKAQxsfA1TKvOQDHIj_3Da9Bok/s1600/fam.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Because Imran Khan is
going to change everything. Nawaz Sharif goes to America and stays in the most
expensive hotels. And we don’t need metros, we need more schools and hospitals.
Why should his daughter handle that project which Imran Khan says she does?”
Saif is a regular listener of Imran Khan’s daily tirades <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Saif and all the other
Lilliputians daily watch news channels and discuss politics. They are now <i>so into</i> politics.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Should I accompany them
to the jalsa?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I have a green shirt.
And this decides for me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMajhLz6ZU5pmKJZNv4cm6elSBlBIeBhw1nsby3nJ-Oc7TY9PgHz5KmfB1ZrANCj8mKgwBeje_aOV6LxxA4EHN_IDmTRBg16LBWny52olcKY0i4QaIdRSQ198EkmLE8gMO9XvN1yuDKK8/s1600/mask.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMajhLz6ZU5pmKJZNv4cm6elSBlBIeBhw1nsby3nJ-Oc7TY9PgHz5KmfB1ZrANCj8mKgwBeje_aOV6LxxA4EHN_IDmTRBg16LBWny52olcKY0i4QaIdRSQ198EkmLE8gMO9XvN1yuDKK8/s1600/mask.JPG" width="188" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Masked</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As our car inches along
towards the Minar-e-Pakistan, the first impression that I register is that of people around
me-immense crowds- twisting, hopping, tapping, nodding and whirling and waving
in different directions. I realize this is some kind of response to the blaring
music that accompanies many cars. What I find particularly endearing are the
shopkeepers in the roadside shops dancing, yes dancing, while doing
their business.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Look!” Omar excitedly
points toward one PTI supporter who is wearing a mask.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Very creative.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We encounter many other
imaginative souls who have <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOiA6p_zIzfdmWIxVZykvhyMTUR-e-SqNObQfvxvEaZLUf0UzZ8DIIy7iCj-JcMngzkgiMYmIMTqBp4lmNMFucLsNLmoTnKEdjSp2PsizYklIG4NCpwye_L09zrTqL9znRi97HbOTuhO8/s1600/hrs.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOiA6p_zIzfdmWIxVZykvhyMTUR-e-SqNObQfvxvEaZLUf0UzZ8DIIy7iCj-JcMngzkgiMYmIMTqBp4lmNMFucLsNLmoTnKEdjSp2PsizYklIG4NCpwye_L09zrTqL9znRi97HbOTuhO8/s1600/hrs.JPG" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">man with the horns</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
devised different ways to register their support.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">My favorite, however,
is the man with the horns. He sits on the bumper of his car, makes a victory sign and gives huge smiles to
everyone. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I start thinking. Maybe
the man with the horn represents the change that Imran Khan talks about. So
does the change rhetoric imply that people will be able to live the way they want to live?
Wear what they want to wear, even horns? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD1NmezsXCTiyi0QnZj64s0ZsSH5l_Pwp1ftaN8zi6xqMFngBPe5F0VharwpS05pWi1Tf6Qp4dQWv9l3fARc5EE9whc7DnA2FVzX7aCgZJJwKB8OOE7ZNoCVL5I_sw2pEWO64n-ogjS7s/s1600/morejalsa.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD1NmezsXCTiyi0QnZj64s0ZsSH5l_Pwp1ftaN8zi6xqMFngBPe5F0VharwpS05pWi1Tf6Qp4dQWv9l3fARc5EE9whc7DnA2FVzX7aCgZJJwKB8OOE7ZNoCVL5I_sw2pEWO64n-ogjS7s/s1600/morejalsa.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jalsa Mood</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The thought makes me happy. But somehow I have a
feeling that this is not what IK has in mind. He has never waxed </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">eloquent about horns.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt; tab-stops: 387.6pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
crowd is growing by the minute. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt; tab-stops: 387.6pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We finally reach our
destination. I am beginning to have serious bouts of claustrophobic paranoia. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXwTbKy65pI4TNU2r_aowyyK-0aW9rg6G6yZUd4tJxNR4oLDvSvIWnge_zQC8tjPxoTDO_-bmlsVjL368twUxJXdh9CLCRyZQvHO7Fodh6qLczWTtrvaYQlbBHsY0DMSt7dReEq0QIb90/s1600/bands-1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXwTbKy65pI4TNU2r_aowyyK-0aW9rg6G6yZUd4tJxNR4oLDvSvIWnge_zQC8tjPxoTDO_-bmlsVjL368twUxJXdh9CLCRyZQvHO7Fodh6qLczWTtrvaYQlbBHsY0DMSt7dReEq0QIb90/s1600/bands-1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Friendship bands</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The police on duty
seem weary, and almost have a harassed looked. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">They are telling people
to move quickly, to make way for other people.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I hear one weary
policeman telling a charged PTI supporter, “Please hurry up, Nawaz sharif is
going. Make way for other people!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjywoimHufI_t5809It6ZRNACwDnSMXwehdDJdLyJjeMmuX1hwFob94kLlEJinKLXzBC4gcl08etZAbY0z59qhzFvuRt8ncL3OXwcIgIt9PTNWPEQGXwPq6AnC6YUhmBuHuTLw6tHcruw4/s1600/child.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjywoimHufI_t5809It6ZRNACwDnSMXwehdDJdLyJjeMmuX1hwFob94kLlEJinKLXzBC4gcl08etZAbY0z59qhzFvuRt8ncL3OXwcIgIt9PTNWPEQGXwPq6AnC6YUhmBuHuTLw6tHcruw4/s1600/child.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">flying child</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Yes, I have never seen
so many people together. And there is also a robust commercial activity going
on amidst crowds. There are hawkers selling food items, offering to paint
faces, selling friendship bands, caps and other paraphernalia. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We can barely move.
Barely breathe, so dense is the crowd. And there are children, toddlers,
infants. Some flying in the air.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAgHuha-pwlIIAbwq0PybAE7or-fZRw4VLDG5hFGF_Ft2Wpi7qLxSwbG7E4kyvzcciLHv_woJBKLQGd0Cm46PcC7ov3D95Q4_MgEAnDEKnTdoWeck7VXYPeuW-X86sJ35kAetC7xWwur0/s1600/omar.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAgHuha-pwlIIAbwq0PybAE7or-fZRw4VLDG5hFGF_Ft2Wpi7qLxSwbG7E4kyvzcciLHv_woJBKLQGd0Cm46PcC7ov3D95Q4_MgEAnDEKnTdoWeck7VXYPeuW-X86sJ35kAetC7xWwur0/s1600/omar.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"I want to see Imran Khan"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I need to go near the
stage, I have to see Imran Khan,” Zainab says.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“What’s the point of
coming here if we can’t go near the stage,” Saif grumbles.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“We can’t, there’s no
place. Besides, Imran Khan hasn’t arrived yet,” I tell them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The disgruntled looks
don’t go away. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">After an hour of being
sandwiched in the crowd I am tired of looking around, and look up. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQEucWG4MUGRBQW8y3iTMCThM7TTCO0WvYdGvrf72yz_8xKwtMSvQEjEl_HbNCYvFa6MaF57i301rTdH9RVOam5x0kCml-Knp1i6wYa0LPRTzFXB2-NNfJWH22UscyG8TmlkP1f0fUPUE/s1600/crescent.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQEucWG4MUGRBQW8y3iTMCThM7TTCO0WvYdGvrf72yz_8xKwtMSvQEjEl_HbNCYvFa6MaF57i301rTdH9RVOam5x0kCml-Knp1i6wYa0LPRTzFXB2-NNfJWH22UscyG8TmlkP1f0fUPUE/s1600/crescent.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“The moon is
waxing…it’s a beautiful crescent,” I invite them to look at the sky. My claustrophobia
eases for a while <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Nobody replies. Nobody
is listening.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">While we stand and
listen to various chants, a woman offers us Gulab Jaman. “Take as many as you
want,” she says.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I am beginning to like
PTI people. I mean, they give you Gulab Jaman.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There are more people
coming, and there is no place to stand. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Let’s go back,” my
claustrophobia begins to mount. Every inch of the grounds, every bit of the
bridge, trees, poles, cars, walls, are packed with roaring, shouting, dancing
humans.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy6O0TlR1yho4A8cVh3rWiMh8pbgBzDGRzG4YPyyVDTFS_dhzA0UlOdRXa7embl0PYk2J3RUTLZdG7H2KNJPy3HctPQODRDLVPmMhm48Qi6BcCTLpUkUQaYajO9HYNFDoGPsBlz0uvu_c/s1600/family-3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy6O0TlR1yho4A8cVh3rWiMh8pbgBzDGRzG4YPyyVDTFS_dhzA0UlOdRXa7embl0PYk2J3RUTLZdG7H2KNJPy3HctPQODRDLVPmMhm48Qi6BcCTLpUkUQaYajO9HYNFDoGPsBlz0uvu_c/s1600/family-3.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We ignore fuming faces of
Saif and Zainab. We turn a deaf ear to their griping. Omar is too tired to say
anything, but he keeps making weird faces. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We start looking for a
way out. We walk, and walk.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJCRsrTobMAwEr6Rh-e00kMaRqOGPLR2kQ7XrQ_DP0YQsYbDPvvOE9IFL-a65tD93X3p4HAjMtxkuriEwGH9vZaXSsNeWmHthInL8niDb6kR1iUDlAjI9_unhT9jkYEFRDRCOUlAEvBow/s1600/family-2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJCRsrTobMAwEr6Rh-e00kMaRqOGPLR2kQ7XrQ_DP0YQsYbDPvvOE9IFL-a65tD93X3p4HAjMtxkuriEwGH9vZaXSsNeWmHthInL8niDb6kR1iUDlAjI9_unhT9jkYEFRDRCOUlAEvBow/s1600/family-2.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">After an hour, we manage to somehow go out of the
Minar. But No let up from the teeming, charged humanity. We keep walking, keep
shoving, keep getting shoved and pushed all the way to the Bhaati gate. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There we get a chingchi
and get a ride to the Secretariat. Omar now tries to ward off his bad mood by
donning all the paraphernalia of PTI that he has purchased so far and starts making faces. Once there, we
call the driver and reach home. Just in time to listen to Imran Khan. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
Lilliputians, though tired, run and huddle around the TV. They listen. Now that
they have been to the jalsa, they feel they are a part of something big. They
are all charged up and feeling important.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPfl-Q1HHS8cO4Q3yp8f6tluuVjlLm7RG8FRd0s_hXIVywLY9J-_b4rQKKaWTbkwqsMq8F5wAoG1uuC-uCDyyY1vlCkpx4zWR9s8ymES8yDoi8N6RR5GCSed0EaJt8TKlpN0w-vhehKrM/s1600/pti.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPfl-Q1HHS8cO4Q3yp8f6tluuVjlLm7RG8FRd0s_hXIVywLY9J-_b4rQKKaWTbkwqsMq8F5wAoG1uuC-uCDyyY1vlCkpx4zWR9s8ymES8yDoi8N6RR5GCSed0EaJt8TKlpN0w-vhehKrM/s1600/pti.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Omar wearing all PTI stuff</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I only want to hide
somewhere quiet with a steaming mug of tea.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There are two types of
people in the world: jalsa- type, and not-jalsa-type. I know to which category
I belong<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -4.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
naureen amjadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16181390313515434907noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443318023469159039.post-19485208265843889772014-09-21T01:44:00.000-07:002019-08-31T08:48:44.273-07:00Of Candle Light and Parties<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Can pyromania surface as a fascination for candlelight? A kind of sublimation of the fierce urge to set fire to things and then
watch them burn, and burn.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFHXb0g0FnDz0LHIA_26NLG6V1dZrrPzD9T4uZGpubNt2wHXJPbAoFybUI3UCyhlMXoS0hUV2bECuiNZmwPAWrxQbnY1iDtC5OjMDj0B2ESzIy8kULh9nxpenaeUr7I5W_V8KFsib6ObQ/s1600/DSCN0554.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFHXb0g0FnDz0LHIA_26NLG6V1dZrrPzD9T4uZGpubNt2wHXJPbAoFybUI3UCyhlMXoS0hUV2bECuiNZmwPAWrxQbnY1iDtC5OjMDj0B2ESzIy8kULh9nxpenaeUr7I5W_V8KFsib6ObQ/s1600/DSCN0554.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Perhaps. Who knows. And Freud is no longer here to
enlighten us. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I love watching it quiver ever so lightly, it
almost seems to be smiling and nodding at something,” this is what I had told
Omar once. It must have happened when I was in one of my candle-light-roof-top
party moods. Omar had looked at me
askance, as he tends to do when he seems to be having second thoughts about my credentials
as a learned-wise-adult. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But in spite of his doubts, my sublimated pyromania
must have appealed to Omar’s equally wayward imagination.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGue_WYY432xQKDMlX0UX7INofO-DU0RMQXNaFJ5s0IO6OoSqE052FeDlAOc_touumprFRcYGH9X6nGJxers6KvrwPcto_Kjb_IBUNfMTrufNCwS9jiG0jc7s-wX5FEO_YZF_YBxda3Jk/s1600/DSCN0553.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGue_WYY432xQKDMlX0UX7INofO-DU0RMQXNaFJ5s0IO6OoSqE052FeDlAOc_touumprFRcYGH9X6nGJxers6KvrwPcto_Kjb_IBUNfMTrufNCwS9jiG0jc7s-wX5FEO_YZF_YBxda3Jk/s1600/DSCN0553.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I am not prepared, not in this hot sauna-like
evening, for an invitation to a candlelight tea party. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Look! Thirty candles. I have brought thirty
candles, and they are scented. I have bought a colourful dinner set for
our parties. You will light the candles, you will have your tea, and I will
have a glass of lemonade,” Omar tells me about the party that I have to attend, and
arrange.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Notice the ‘will.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7JJzToX6KmfQRu2ukIFW7u-GURowi9smwnxbh5yWH5dnz3WuGkgPH3MJTr96OgLNQA-oVQ-nxS3tJ1J8g36ZAx6V0vni2JGNQfGrG6lVFRm7fdrJln73RZ7C1X2RynlVxWxyjxyVg8K4/s1600/DSCN0552.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7JJzToX6KmfQRu2ukIFW7u-GURowi9smwnxbh5yWH5dnz3WuGkgPH3MJTr96OgLNQA-oVQ-nxS3tJ1J8g36ZAx6V0vni2JGNQfGrG6lVFRm7fdrJln73RZ7C1X2RynlVxWxyjxyVg8K4/s1600/DSCN0552.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Omar, don’t you think it is too hot? It's the load
shedding hour so there won’t be any air conditioner to make it bearable. The
fan will blow out the candles,” I tell him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Of Course, we will not switch on the fan. If you
don’t want to have tea, you can have coffee. But hurry up. I have also arranged
for something to eat.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Do I have a choice!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So here I sit with Omar, sipping tea, and looking at
the thirty flames, wondering what are they smiling at and who are they nodding
too. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The heat bothers. But Omar is happy, he tells me
that I am the best, and this more than makes up for the hot evening made hotter
by the wafting heat from the candle flames. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The sublimated form of pyromania seems to run in the
family.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
naureen amjadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16181390313515434907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443318023469159039.post-70588078268558715222014-08-21T11:06:00.000-07:002019-08-31T08:43:32.448-07:00A Story that Happens at the Dining Table<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It is a hot and humid night, a few stars are gazing lazily
at the dwellers of this planet. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEWqITrMm1hVtdUKQ38uYKOuMH6tl62MzbZd5NwsiQd6IQvedDz-gjbt612W35fPpYevx09WTlBtH48pm8Q4BjT8BVYJUnFrnIazux1R5opb8PpUMvDDPwqpEgduA_6PgwXCBVwIbWHDQ/s1600/IMG_7953.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">They think about the shenanigans that the
inhabitants of the earth engage in, and they start yawning. The thought is
boring.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIdnMJf53Yb8UFyV__QpEDC8EQaknV-RiTIj45ll8Yj9GP4kXYboMMZLDk9hS9iCB4BW9NKNutMIUqt7dXhNczQQQ13VOoeWlb8UK7cPWt6f_WqZEGS2v3Sm4UMlJNwdrdANs_UUBDiDs/s1600/first.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIdnMJf53Yb8UFyV__QpEDC8EQaknV-RiTIj45ll8Yj9GP4kXYboMMZLDk9hS9iCB4BW9NKNutMIUqt7dXhNczQQQ13VOoeWlb8UK7cPWt6f_WqZEGS2v3Sm4UMlJNwdrdANs_UUBDiDs/s1600/first.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Ha! Look at the people casting stones while sitting
in a glass house,” exclaims Sirius the brightest star.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“And there are piped pipers too who seem to be
having delusions of grandeur” says another bored star.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">They yawn. Suddenly one of them starts twinkling
real fast. “Look, finally there is something interesting happening on the
earth,” he sparkles with joy.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">They peep inside the window of the house on one of
the streets in Lahore.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiesP2AEq1YOUsqMTl9-VoY3XYW7Y11fVUIenMQZe0lnL21sJaW0z2rKhWlxhqJv8mB4mXxLWvBO8iAwM8sk6D929vBE7kRfJG8kEJOPI7UnkHI6WXfkm5WVqqE96KTxIOyX4mOy1wF6EM/s1600/teddy+comes.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiesP2AEq1YOUsqMTl9-VoY3XYW7Y11fVUIenMQZe0lnL21sJaW0z2rKhWlxhqJv8mB4mXxLWvBO8iAwM8sk6D929vBE7kRfJG8kEJOPI7UnkHI6WXfkm5WVqqE96KTxIOyX4mOy1wF6EM/s1600/teddy+comes.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">They have Google street maps so it’s easier for them
to find the exact place.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There is light, there’s food, there’s the laughter of children and a sense of expectancy. A perfect setting. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The waft of something crispy,
salty, tasty, settles on the dining table, it blends with the laughter, settles
on the tongues of Mobby and Roshan. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE5hBB-oJC0t484OfMg5_9XiR1OHoF7eyo5F2akrqeCWYWnQPbq0o19mnDE88IBsl43Y6Oyqw8teiIpZLyJsAkEue8w-SS4ZleaDRYauw5NAtuJwGh1uUU_YWG-ZibduCj4p4gb0mPMLc/s1600/friends+4.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE5hBB-oJC0t484OfMg5_9XiR1OHoF7eyo5F2akrqeCWYWnQPbq0o19mnDE88IBsl43Y6Oyqw8teiIpZLyJsAkEue8w-SS4ZleaDRYauw5NAtuJwGh1uUU_YWG-ZibduCj4p4gb0mPMLc/s1600/friends+4.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Amma comes, bearing a dish of mouth-watering homemade KFC style mini burgers. The dish is placed on the table. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And then it happens.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “This looks like a turtle…well,
almost a turtle,” Roshan has spotted a turtle among the burgers.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHs1XA3JlMCtCbM-6KQXQ7d9PkWGYQW6QPhnVgM81pQVrSr_0xhYTjPuuUUz_t9Xhvc1oyDOLD3uWqkSv8ROtRwuyktnYhJK0P_CvjhVSljnRmYPjCmGN_MW_8Mkb1GSxCTG43vz4XHH4/s1600/last+one-2.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHs1XA3JlMCtCbM-6KQXQ7d9PkWGYQW6QPhnVgM81pQVrSr_0xhYTjPuuUUz_t9Xhvc1oyDOLD3uWqkSv8ROtRwuyktnYhJK0P_CvjhVSljnRmYPjCmGN_MW_8Mkb1GSxCTG43vz4XHH4/s1600/last+one-2.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sure. There is one turtle. All I need is a pair of
cloves and a dash of tomato peel. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I am so good at sculpting eatables.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“One turtle is looking, while the rest of them are
hiding inside their shells,” Mobby observes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“ Invite your friends, introduce turtles to them,” I tell
them.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I want visitors to admire my sculpting skills. I want to
be famous.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A teddy comes and sits near the dish of turtles. “They
look so cute,” he says.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Another friend comes. And then another. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcjsERYqSZzeBKhjE3Z5cGEOLiCPMv9WCZh9FP-78uy6SsoAeIkuEFLxkfLUj91fBE81mls8z9tdReNeOySUYb91F1QXQDmUX1uL50BkxzrrqX8IKtaVvMWzMZvaHt0D-5zKQhwhuwS_E/s1600/friends+3.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcjsERYqSZzeBKhjE3Z5cGEOLiCPMv9WCZh9FP-78uy6SsoAeIkuEFLxkfLUj91fBE81mls8z9tdReNeOySUYb91F1QXQDmUX1uL50BkxzrrqX8IKtaVvMWzMZvaHt0D-5zKQhwhuwS_E/s1600/friends+3.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“They are such darlings,” say the teddy and the
froggy, and they bend down to kiss them.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“These turtles smell like…smell like…something
yummmmmy,” they open their mouths.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCPvVJpoUjSZpXrUALeKEh1vcc0HNmBeGB1zqWLR8E2yKpzEUERRWTNQcr84ARBd1kC_SfmJAh9A6a6n2Jc2Sbwsb05bjY6dXBXTLwz1nQVuM_4IcTgZl-f3_2w7McB8uIu2Etc_b6fpA/s1600/solo.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCPvVJpoUjSZpXrUALeKEh1vcc0HNmBeGB1zqWLR8E2yKpzEUERRWTNQcr84ARBd1kC_SfmJAh9A6a6n2Jc2Sbwsb05bjY6dXBXTLwz1nQVuM_4IcTgZl-f3_2w7McB8uIu2Etc_b6fpA/s1600/solo.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The turtle, the one that’s not hiding in its shell,
tries to run away…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ah! It’s the cloves I taste first.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Teddy and friends have gone back, and they never
admired my sculpting skills. I am not famous. But I am satiated, and it feels
good. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A happy ending.</span></div>
</div>
naureen amjadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16181390313515434907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443318023469159039.post-26722715177289614972014-08-09T01:42:00.000-07:002019-08-31T08:48:32.800-07:00Of Tooth Fairies and Sparrows<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEzNAHDnGyKplplc-EsE-lihTDTtdkvyGGMyD4CJd5lUYHtWq8sSNAEw3tv28Ix9rT-icGrKLV07VSdM-fI07YXRWqbORzUH8SgtwO8ZDS3u1WuRU_aUbJsd2fmK2Ci6kD3gyzzrTVzd0/s1600/tooth+fairy-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEzNAHDnGyKplplc-EsE-lihTDTtdkvyGGMyD4CJd5lUYHtWq8sSNAEw3tv28Ix9rT-icGrKLV07VSdM-fI07YXRWqbORzUH8SgtwO8ZDS3u1WuRU_aUbJsd2fmK2Ci6kD3gyzzrTVzd0/s1600/tooth+fairy-2.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“And they give gifts to children?” he asks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Yes, they like to do honest business. So they barter gifts
for teeth.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">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.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">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. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Something is still bothering Omar. And he asks me, “Do
you <i>actually </i>believe in tooth
fairies? I think Amma put these gifts under my pillow when I was sleeping.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Omar is facing an existential moment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Of course, I believe in fairies, all kinds of
fairies. Why would Amma wake up in the middle of the night to do so, she could
have given you these gifts in the morning,” I am in my <i>defense- counsel-for-fairies</i> mode.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Now Roshan joins the conversation. He is also a
beneficiary of tooth fairies’ largesse. “I got a big teddy bear. The shops are
closed at midnight, and I didn’t see my mother going to the market in the morning
to buy a teddy bear. I think there <i>are</i> tooth fairies,” Roshan seems to be
reassuring himself. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Omar is not entirely convinced. “Dado, were there
tooth fairies when you lost your teeth at seven,” Omar asks grandma. He is now
looking for historical, empirical evidence for tooth fairies’ existence. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi50jqRywkyOuH4nPS1RSFUnm59sqgicqzf0JWACd6_2yiCWY-xQgUwIsOVDEMgKlRv2SKrZtrkIUm_xeud_aHmYja6_1kqJr9NdS6Fqv7y_u3RVQcNPKbjGYbiUMfsUU0Fl4fhzkSyZk4/s1600/sparrow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi50jqRywkyOuH4nPS1RSFUnm59sqgicqzf0JWACd6_2yiCWY-xQgUwIsOVDEMgKlRv2SKrZtrkIUm_xeud_aHmYja6_1kqJr9NdS6Fqv7y_u3RVQcNPKbjGYbiUMfsUU0Fl4fhzkSyZk4/s1600/sparrow.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“We used to give our teeth to sparrows. We would chant
‘Sparrow, sparrow, take our old tooth and give us a brand new one’,” Dado reminisces.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“At that time in history, tooth fairies weren’t mobile.
So they asked sparrows to collect teeth for them. I believe, the fairies paid those
sparrows handsomely,” I am a loyal counsel.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">If I want my tooth back, will the fairy give it
back?” Omar asks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“No, I don’t think so. It has already been turned
into a pearl,” my loyalty knows no bounds. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“What kind of a fairy is she if she can’t return my
tooth?” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Omar and Roshan look at each other meaningfully. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Ah! The real
world. The world where tooth fairies don’t exist but dentists do. The world of skepticism,
doubts, disillusionment, and questions with no answers. What a momentous transition.
We do need tooth fairies to mark the moment, to make it easier. Maybe, a dollop
of enchantment will stay on. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Yes, I believe in tooth fairies; and I believe
there were sparrows who used to run errands for fairies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
naureen amjadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16181390313515434907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443318023469159039.post-89543506634579401842014-06-07T01:15:00.000-07:002019-08-31T08:48:13.903-07:00No More<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidTx-T4LHN051bnjfnUJhYIwAf2uyJ1tXLmBjCusqIclR7JfzT5FMv_wwW1xFqZ9nhSRu160gmsSplP2kxsyiF_baQSLaDuv3ePw3kl08cagi0otUXSvn1Jc6wDM-daiXHaX15r6lXigA/s1600/IMG_6155.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidTx-T4LHN051bnjfnUJhYIwAf2uyJ1tXLmBjCusqIclR7JfzT5FMv_wwW1xFqZ9nhSRu160gmsSplP2kxsyiF_baQSLaDuv3ePw3kl08cagi0otUXSvn1Jc6wDM-daiXHaX15r6lXigA/s1600/IMG_6155.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I stand by the main door and wait. Roseee has this
habit of hiding behind flower pots and sneaking inside whenever someone opens
the door. I open the door, wait in the foyer, look around. Of course, Roseee
cannot come inside, she is no more. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Roseee died a few days ago, and I am still
waiting for something to tell me there is no need to look behind the flowerpots.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“What if she hasn’t died, but only fainted and will
come back someday!” Omar is wishful. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I can’t even believe she is dead. She was nicer than
most human beings, so gentle and loving,” Zainab is wistful. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“We once gave her a bath, remember?” Saif says.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We reminisce.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It seems yesterday, but it also seems long ago when
we befriended Roseee. A stray cat that walked into her home and stole our heart
away. She was <i>so </i>unlike a stray cat
and behaved as if she had always known us. She was so trusting and loved being
touched and held. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVvD4gy4p1w3me5WhG8HJ8xNW4hXSWwEnlcMLWwELC92UbOOJQ_LKr7x9lXdUXneC6UlCnGLYtLTEUo3bxfzDwcAKbc5CjKPK5N9Qz7yKQThZabzYpdiVeWdyC0Wg4C4q3k2kaKKz4APA/s1600/roseee+with+hens.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVvD4gy4p1w3me5WhG8HJ8xNW4hXSWwEnlcMLWwELC92UbOOJQ_LKr7x9lXdUXneC6UlCnGLYtLTEUo3bxfzDwcAKbc5CjKPK5N9Qz7yKQThZabzYpdiVeWdyC0Wg4C4q3k2kaKKz4APA/s1600/roseee+with+hens.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Zainab is right. Roseee was kinder than most humans.
We remember how she would sit back and look at the hens when they would greedily
devour her favorite bread and butter. She liked omelets, Nusrat Fateh Ali, and
long walks at night. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Do you remember we once gave her a bath?” Omar
chuckles.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Yes, I do. I lathered her with my favorite
shampoo. A bewildered Roseee looked at
me, a wet, dripping Roseee ran away and hid on the rooftop. It was a new experience
for her, she didn’t like it. But shortly afterward a cleaner, prettier Roseee
sat in my room and listened to Nusrat Fateh Ali. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“And that trip to the doctor!” Saif laughs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlsfqQgROKG05B6jadLjCOkLh0ez1wyKMEAtzw-zVu1S_MpReayqxn6Ahi5NDMyRrmBvvu2kgxNgOBNM780PV4NTfqkxY9mv0Z80AL-NMIfVuDSzWUb8HzVv6tYAyG6PNhpr0FBQRPLgo/s1600/WITH+KITTEN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlsfqQgROKG05B6jadLjCOkLh0ez1wyKMEAtzw-zVu1S_MpReayqxn6Ahi5NDMyRrmBvvu2kgxNgOBNM780PV4NTfqkxY9mv0Z80AL-NMIfVuDSzWUb8HzVv6tYAyG6PNhpr0FBQRPLgo/s1600/WITH+KITTEN.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Yes. Roseee kept giving me hurtful, accusing looks
throughout the trip to the doctor and back. Perhaps she didn’t think too well
of me when the doctor gave her two injections. But later, a healthy, active Roseee
walked with me on the rooftop and snuggled against my legs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“We built her a house. She liked it, didn’t she?”
Omar asks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I am glad we did. It kept her cozy on winter nights;
yes, she liked it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Her kittens were pretty like her,” says Zainab.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2m4pdhh8y-gNPCYE5-ECgcFUA0sKLfq5U66Iyl8MSyXsl418lm7QJ4oyPSHTCnqgckk6IYDzMnZ0C1u5f7-E-agDZ_KLK8TW2F9I_D39cu9T-FoX3Do1nK48jQN8lRYt25V1NpEgORW4/s1600/DSCN0448.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2m4pdhh8y-gNPCYE5-ECgcFUA0sKLfq5U66Iyl8MSyXsl418lm7QJ4oyPSHTCnqgckk6IYDzMnZ0C1u5f7-E-agDZ_KLK8TW2F9I_D39cu9T-FoX3Do1nK48jQN8lRYt25V1NpEgORW4/s1600/DSCN0448.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Roseee had two litters of kittens in a year. There were
three kittens in the first litter and we gave them up for adoption. Hopefully,
they are now healthy young cats. She had her second litter of kittens on March
31, 2014. There were five kittens in the litter. Two of them died and two we
gave up for adoption, and one still lives here. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9o1zdNzge4fpKprBmo9AHayGcKzu3daB3QyYDD2Tt0dPQ3WIlY_lkamyozq8oJX2dWczvT-MyvxkhYCJoq4kXnFsDUZv1kiWpq9_xzVLKVyIT1NuOJm8Com-lolfV5TnezIwAsZNslcM/s1600/ROSEE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9o1zdNzge4fpKprBmo9AHayGcKzu3daB3QyYDD2Tt0dPQ3WIlY_lkamyozq8oJX2dWczvT-MyvxkhYCJoq4kXnFsDUZv1kiWpq9_xzVLKVyIT1NuOJm8Com-lolfV5TnezIwAsZNslcM/s1600/ROSEE.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“How she carried her kittens in her mouth and
brought them to our home,” Omar reminisces.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It was soon after her second litter of kittens that
Roseee was probably hit by a car. -she was a stray cat and needed to go out
from time to time. She developed some complications which the doctor couldn’t figure
out. It was a painful and slow death. She lost weight, she stopped eating, she couldn’t
poop. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">She kept wandering during her last days. But she
came back here to die. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A sense of loss there is. Our senses feel deprived…she
seems to be around but we can’t see her, hear her or touch her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">She is no more. No more forever.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
naureen amjadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16181390313515434907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443318023469159039.post-12272480872816442112014-05-25T07:45:00.000-07:002019-08-31T08:47:51.851-07:00An Unending Story<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj588ZjE4_sMz2OleyXMFb8Pm548keAg-JMgsf_7dRQSjRyRWIK2lQCjeTOTwuNKLVyVT9FjvrGrHFhxKP8dMRYfhKWYZv_gB0OmFt-Oc6NWxKXAMqCtUBsz0RqpvXt4YBGWgG0akIg6T8/s1600/DSCN0436.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="62" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj588ZjE4_sMz2OleyXMFb8Pm548keAg-JMgsf_7dRQSjRyRWIK2lQCjeTOTwuNKLVyVT9FjvrGrHFhxKP8dMRYfhKWYZv_gB0OmFt-Oc6NWxKXAMqCtUBsz0RqpvXt4YBGWgG0akIg6T8/s1600/DSCN0436.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“The story starts almost like another story: The Sleeping
Beauty. However, it is about a seed. There was once a little black seed. It slept
peacefully inside the earth for many months while the water kept caressing it. So
one day it woke up. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The seed opened its green eyes and looked at the world
around it. It looked at the Ashoka tree that stood tall at some distance and was
looking affectionately at the budding seed. The seed smiled and nodded to the
tree. Little did it know that one day the tree would become its best friend.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihLngC1uPjXijEPTGF-XOmm4XFuxRWoiA6mzz-S-2HpQp_cEjmHiFEIoDpRskmcvJn7lywBPHpzF4e-ilN70Q5BH2FRTpSWkBDTdFqAbjDBrHBO-EL6Xw3WavcSQz85LcjdMvH2-y51tA/s1600/DSCN0440.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihLngC1uPjXijEPTGF-XOmm4XFuxRWoiA6mzz-S-2HpQp_cEjmHiFEIoDpRskmcvJn7lywBPHpzF4e-ilN70Q5BH2FRTpSWkBDTdFqAbjDBrHBO-EL6Xw3WavcSQz85LcjdMvH2-y51tA/s1600/DSCN0440.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As the sunlight gently touched the bud it started
growing, and it grew fast. It was curious and wanted to explore the world, so
it kept spreading in all directions. The water and the sunlight, seeing the
seed’s thirst for knowledge, kept helping it travel far and wide. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It became a vine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHGsB7aGKMpHfL1Dw-18gzIA-IrjFWWb6QkPe-puWUWd7z8979weX3J4c8pMIMUgIi1VB2lB7oAXeE7pv7uVEcuO44x8-YNgyW6WDe4W8bm9GpQLPDoajCEreXGkl7nbvKTuhuwFdYFNU/s1600/DSCN0441.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHGsB7aGKMpHfL1Dw-18gzIA-IrjFWWb6QkPe-puWUWd7z8979weX3J4c8pMIMUgIi1VB2lB7oAXeE7pv7uVEcuO44x8-YNgyW6WDe4W8bm9GpQLPDoajCEreXGkl7nbvKTuhuwFdYFNU/s1600/DSCN0441.JPG" width="190" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One day the vine looked at the starry skies, they
seemed to beckon it. Now it wanted to travel upwards and meet the stars, so
unquenchable was its curiosity. As it
pined for the stars and the moon, the tree who had witnessed the seed’s
journey, thought of the ways to help it. One day it asked the sprawling vine to
lean on it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">‘Entwine yourself around me and climb upwards. And you
might touch the stars one day,’ It told the seed that was now a vibrant vine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The vine was happy. The happiness wasn’t just about the
thought of climbing upwards, it was also about having someone to lean on,
having someone to share its dreams and happiness with. It was about having a
friend. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Together the two friends nodded to the wind, played
with the sunlight, and conversed with the stars. They also endured harsh
blizzards, but they had each other. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0fGTgtTOBf3MYrMTxNqdCndknBVKpajN-pd1jvsRJ1vYRjiO17RPhYL6OqiMArfPrO1NNIsQPsyZqJLNo5wg0MncpG3U6Zh3ojMT7As9zG9it544KJE2cttRhs5IBG2AYY7P5PCZCrKo/s1600/DSCN0442.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0fGTgtTOBf3MYrMTxNqdCndknBVKpajN-pd1jvsRJ1vYRjiO17RPhYL6OqiMArfPrO1NNIsQPsyZqJLNo5wg0MncpG3U6Zh3ojMT7As9zG9it544KJE2cttRhs5IBG2AYY7P5PCZCrKo/s1600/DSCN0442.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As the vine grew and grew, it bore gourds that
people happily ate. But some of the gourds that grew on the top, remained hidden.
There was a purpose behind it. They had to live on to tell the story.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYOWrbDjJqb40BXfJ1f64M-y7eF_oHXpfed6sz4mAjz6qZ0z3BRTSkCIoVj7Z1j2wdJEgJ5ZTSSR7aOtdchbR9X9CwIfu7zcW1haWHtmFU3SImkMnNKE2lA0nonvO8eFMM3eewH9h8-Pk/s1600/DSCN0501.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYOWrbDjJqb40BXfJ1f64M-y7eF_oHXpfed6sz4mAjz6qZ0z3BRTSkCIoVj7Z1j2wdJEgJ5ZTSSR7aOtdchbR9X9CwIfu7zcW1haWHtmFU3SImkMnNKE2lA0nonvO8eFMM3eewH9h8-Pk/s1600/DSCN0501.JPG" width="166" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I tell this story to the Lilliputians. And show them
the dried gourd that I found on the top of an Ashoka tree growing in a house in
Garden Town. How I asked the security guard of the house that I badly needed a dried
gourd, and how gracious was the guard to pick it for me, is another story.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “I have
brought one of the hidden gourds so you can also hear the story. Now hear,” I shake the gourd and something jingles
inside it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">They are curious. I peel off a little bit of the
hardcore, and we have a glimpse of a sponge-like loofah. Their excitement mounts.
Together we peel the entire dried gourd. A brand new loofah becomes visible.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigC8khevSO5greUmVT4NvhMmx66Rm9oBBiLeK0L4bp3LQbRkyZQa163IiAsd5P0anhKRg2aSXhuHVj_93_7fkLXyK2NPGeg2vGIsBjfuJnyBAwn2AoLmYrwPZ0_37ZWL4Rgz2qCMj0V58/s1600/DSCN0502.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigC8khevSO5greUmVT4NvhMmx66Rm9oBBiLeK0L4bp3LQbRkyZQa163IiAsd5P0anhKRg2aSXhuHVj_93_7fkLXyK2NPGeg2vGIsBjfuJnyBAwn2AoLmYrwPZ0_37ZWL4Rgz2qCMj0V58/s1600/DSCN0502.JPG" width="302" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“It is used as a bathing sponge. But it hasn’t yet
stopped narrating its story,” I tell them, and shake the loofah. It still
jingles and the seeds start falling down. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Omar collects the seeds and washes the loofah.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Now the story has started all over again. Omar daily
waters the seeds and they are growing fast. Traveling far and wide.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Omar has plans to sell loofahs…homegrown organic loofahs.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Capitalism has seeped inside the story!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<!-- Blogger automated replacement: "https://images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url=http%3A%2F%2F2.bp.blogspot.com%2F-4RnuLNOC7TU%2FU4H9p8qP8OI%2FAAAAAAAAAXk%2FMEHeiuZV6Eo%2Fs1600%2FDSCN0436.JPG&container=blogger&gadget=a&rewriteMime=image%2F*" with "https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj588ZjE4_sMz2OleyXMFb8Pm548keAg-JMgsf_7dRQSjRyRWIK2lQCjeTOTwuNKLVyVT9FjvrGrHFhxKP8dMRYfhKWYZv_gB0OmFt-Oc6NWxKXAMqCtUBsz0RqpvXt4YBGWgG0akIg6T8/s1600/DSCN0436.JPG" -->naureen amjadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16181390313515434907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443318023469159039.post-82840269562276462152014-05-03T12:40:00.000-07:002019-08-31T08:47:28.578-07:00Of Banana Twins and Twin souls<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivDTJiZ5NalodPvIqGsTgOVrmYxew7my7i0VuxHPYcAjjvYqRckSqf6CPGX1rWBOvu0JxxIsky7LDajsq9H-UwMJHmYp6_apxj2lHFhRdyO9mF6dfzjhJIx0-sx6SG8bViG_j1uNHR3HA/s1600/DSCN0439.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivDTJiZ5NalodPvIqGsTgOVrmYxew7my7i0VuxHPYcAjjvYqRckSqf6CPGX1rWBOvu0JxxIsky7LDajsq9H-UwMJHmYp6_apxj2lHFhRdyO9mF6dfzjhJIx0-sx6SG8bViG_j1uNHR3HA/s1600/DSCN0439.JPG" width="196" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Look!” Omar’s voice reverberates in the kitchen and,
most probably, is heard within </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">the radius of thirty miles. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He has experienced a
eureka moment:Two bananas that sleep cozily inside a single peel.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“They are twins. They are born together,” I tell
Omar, and then decide to create a visual experience. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And if you are standing in
a kitchen, there is no dearth of possibilities to stoke your creativity. My
sculpting skills need just two black peppers for those deep dark eyes, a clove
for a roman nose, and a bit of tomato peel for those rosy lips. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I am happy with my artwork. I feel so creative; and
Omar is impressed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Aren’t they cute” I ask Omar.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Yes, let’s keep them for ever,” he enthuses. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“We can’t, they will rot. Everything in this world
is transitory, even banana twins.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">After all these years, Omar has learned to ignore my
meaningless digressions. And he focuses on what matters: twins<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Do I have a twin too?” he asks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“No, you don’t. But in all probability you have a
twin soul, but twin souls are, generally speaking, elusive. And sometimes…”
here I stop as Omar starts giving me <i>here-she-goes-again</i>
look.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “And if I had
a twin, would he have been exactly like me?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“There’s a possibility that he or she would have
looked like you, but no one in the world, not even a twin, can be exactly like
you. The way you think, the way you feel, the way you experience things is
unique. There is just one you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I don’t know how much of my eloquent sermon on <i>individual uniqueness</i> makes sense to
Omar but this seems to make him happy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He again looks at the banana twins and marvels at my
‘sculpture’, “You are such a good artist,” he declares and runs to invite
everyone to have a look at my ‘masterpiece.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I am an artist. This is <i>my</i> eureka moment. So happy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
naureen amjadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16181390313515434907noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443318023469159039.post-18546944083936390212014-04-21T06:08:00.000-07:002019-08-31T08:47:02.687-07:00Under the Starry Skies<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">“You said we would camp on the rooftop and watch the
starts…you have been saying this for at least a year now,” Saif reminds me of
our long overdue ‘expedition rooftop.’</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Zainab and Omar join Saif’s refrain. I decide not to
let the posterity remember me as <i>someone-who-never-kept-her-promises.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Tonight is <i>the</i>
night. Pack your things. We will dwell among the stars,” I announce amid a
thunder of applause. My reputation is secure. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Saif and Zainab pack their bags. “I have also made
a first aid box,” Saif tells me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Aren’t they well versed in the art of camping!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Omar’s bag contains eatables, biscuits and chips. He
also has a dictionary in his bag.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“What’s that for?” I ask. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9OLI_LbSUB1yvcnARqT6TWOU6KEKSLqRUHfyPId6yVQP3jn5MIDzH6wpmyd_QJeednGfK6phvu_6Osw42ES_5swAOqadDrSNJ7fjLD84OZbxizcimWPmArXonqVq4nHYuqRaaIWrrpvU/s1600/first.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9OLI_LbSUB1yvcnARqT6TWOU6KEKSLqRUHfyPId6yVQP3jn5MIDzH6wpmyd_QJeednGfK6phvu_6Osw42ES_5swAOqadDrSNJ7fjLD84OZbxizcimWPmArXonqVq4nHYuqRaaIWrrpvU/s1600/first.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“If we spot a constellation we can’t name, we can
check it in the dictionary,” Omar educates me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I take along (borrowed) binoculars, and my camera. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We light a few candles, set up a camp on the
rooftop, and start charting the constellations. A naughty monkey comes from
somewhere and climbs on our tent.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdMjkuQoYgSxmW0MZlU5YlOdbb5YHw1jEIDKUGqisbi0Vlv56DJl2evhyxC4fov8mBbMJGV0dAfdzX5fb8hQzelOsfPE11sFKMTzdxlecM8kbjaNIZD0DLhbF5tUSNR9xM3MsFyfvy6uY/s1600/two.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdMjkuQoYgSxmW0MZlU5YlOdbb5YHw1jEIDKUGqisbi0Vlv56DJl2evhyxC4fov8mBbMJGV0dAfdzX5fb8hQzelOsfPE11sFKMTzdxlecM8kbjaNIZD0DLhbF5tUSNR9xM3MsFyfvy6uY/s1600/two.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We spot Ursa Major. Zainab thinks she can see the
summer triangle. We spot a few </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">constellations we can’t name, and Omar can't find
them in his dictionary either.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s getting quite dark. We blow out the candles and
settle in the camp. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “Let’s listen
to the sounds of the night. If you talk loudly, you don’t know what creatures
of the night might get disturbed,” I whisper and then add dramatically, “What
if they barge inside our tent...”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The warning works. There’s a sudden hush. And we
look on at the starry skies and try to listen.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">An inadequate yolk yellow moon hangs in the sky. A
crow flies over. Maybe it has forgotten the way back to home, or perhaps it is
just a loner and likes to take long lonely flights at night. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">There’s faint honking of a rickshaw somewhere far
away on the road. A koel sings in the Lawrence Gardens. Or maybe it is just a
ring tone of somebody’s cell! After all we are trying to listen to the sounds
at night in the 21</span><sup style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">st</sup><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> century.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj43oUmD6v7UQWyU0yAF_LnWhWzlrulxMd4jld-fmYkE68AXYRP9IQaBRSUq28J3OEhd9hgX0kjIQb-toA0gHs_Ao0YBpUsuNGuF6A3Pk-tz1t365GRuGZ8UMJSzU6lHfUOJb71uQJEfWs/s1600/elephant.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj43oUmD6v7UQWyU0yAF_LnWhWzlrulxMd4jld-fmYkE68AXYRP9IQaBRSUq28J3OEhd9hgX0kjIQb-toA0gHs_Ao0YBpUsuNGuF6A3Pk-tz1t365GRuGZ8UMJSzU6lHfUOJb71uQJEfWs/s1600/elephant.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s quiet…so very quiet.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Suddenly the monkey on our
tent starts jumping, it squeals, it has spotted our chips and biscuits and
wants some. And then… there’s an elephant, a big grey elephant. It eyes us. It extends its trunk and rummage
inside the tent, takes away some of Omar’s biscuits. What if it decides to come
inside? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMH9XE_p37s_DuXqGHAqSoHJAIdAbw-16oVe_AcQeGrnMuCaBg2J7WMyvRZZPZxTWRBeW0aFQqpFohUKNpUj9xXMm9wNifimC8stsG40kYabsRGSK7pdoSMOS5aWxbHMlnvckmHSC3Eek/s1600/scared.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMH9XE_p37s_DuXqGHAqSoHJAIdAbw-16oVe_AcQeGrnMuCaBg2J7WMyvRZZPZxTWRBeW0aFQqpFohUKNpUj9xXMm9wNifimC8stsG40kYabsRGSK7pdoSMOS5aWxbHMlnvckmHSC3Eek/s1600/scared.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We are scared. But I have an idea.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> I tell them
that if the elephants barges inside, we will jump and mount it. We will take a
tour of the wilderness on the elephants back. Now we are eager to <i>greet</i> the elepahant. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2CFLVUCTePHzhRl89p6USICye5R7qw8vmnGSMVt54qq7GKAtzcdyLo3X5Fit_Xr8q05DKFMlKyjJ9IYRLduPY3FvBi0i_jx_arBWfMlUWNsrzswK3hlwMsGXDOjIC9TthGt0-pjeeIOM/s1600/hello+to+kangroo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2CFLVUCTePHzhRl89p6USICye5R7qw8vmnGSMVt54qq7GKAtzcdyLo3X5Fit_Xr8q05DKFMlKyjJ9IYRLduPY3FvBi0i_jx_arBWfMlUWNsrzswK3hlwMsGXDOjIC9TthGt0-pjeeIOM/s1600/hello+to+kangroo.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">While we are planning who will jump from which side
to mount the elephant, a kangaroo comes; it is looking for its mate. The mate
actually sleep walks and sometimes lands near the lion’s den. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We say hello to the kangaroo, but it doesn’t reply,
it is so worried, almost in tears. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiw4X2X67D1GZpfGsABTjDOcCK_qjyzQOJDn8cQrx3Gi5YaxXckJl6OkxbqioNnuiqrPYza9vyan7Ao0uKvdPCSxP3ihkpkTEcau3Jf9BPEFyjNPJhljUlqSkHulA-407BIadR6XM9DjQ/s1600/hello+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Come, jump and sit on my back. We will find your
mate. And don’t cry, the lion normally sleeps at this hour. He ate a heavy
dinner and won’t wake up soon” the elephant reassures the kangaroo and they
both go away to find the sleep-walking mate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We are disappointed, but happy for the kangaroo. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMzLKtol9WuErpQRNjtWEF1ieQo62U-PtnulE9XX6gP3fSKeVGZJXwu0I1g9doUd_O9tedCkqitbcK2Ha1-EdrV803RxT5YhSx1mxgb6dtHHdiu5U0ILW9xJYq4lDOMA7SjtUYldI6Tk/s1600/bear.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMzLKtol9WuErpQRNjtWEF1ieQo62U-PtnulE9XX6gP3fSKeVGZJXwu0I1g9doUd_O9tedCkqitbcK2Ha1-EdrV803RxT5YhSx1mxgb6dtHHdiu5U0ILW9xJYq4lDOMA7SjtUYldI6Tk/s1600/bear.JPG" width="172" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Look there!” Zainab points to a cute little teddy
bear. We invite the bear inside the tent, it snuggles with us, and we try to sleep.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And…Omar sneezes, he has a sudden headache. It is
2’0 clock and so chilly. Our blanket is damp. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Let’s pack our things, and go downstairs. It is
getting cold.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">They are not willing to go, not yet. But I start
picking up things. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“You said we will watch the morning start,” Saif and
Zainab grumble. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Omar tries to convince me that it was just one sneeze,
there won’t be more, and then sneezes again. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“We have to go. Next time we will arrange a bigger
tent and stay here till the morning star comes,” I try to pacify them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But the bad mood has set in. They are grumpy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But now we know. There’s a whole new world under the
starry skies. We only have to go to our roof top to experience it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
naureen amjadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16181390313515434907noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443318023469159039.post-24649859616267919032014-03-24T09:58:00.001-07:002019-08-31T08:46:31.322-07:00Strategic planning<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It is about Mobby. It is about Omar’s revenge. It is
also about Roshan who has no idea that he is the impetus behind the strategic
planning being carried out in Omar’s territory.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGsUp513KVeB3bTU5yvjfTe6EP_i4KwZQjjto5mYGOnFvYACimDRNoftrSGqIqhyphenhyphen7_JgOs8on3LX_3E4vvxCq9iUH5NBl9j3gaDaJFsWAtiz13WMDHjqBU6hrBt48LDeRl4kTMusPZa9k/s1600/DSCN0394.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGsUp513KVeB3bTU5yvjfTe6EP_i4KwZQjjto5mYGOnFvYACimDRNoftrSGqIqhyphenhyphen7_JgOs8on3LX_3E4vvxCq9iUH5NBl9j3gaDaJFsWAtiz13WMDHjqBU6hrBt48LDeRl4kTMusPZa9k/s1600/DSCN0394.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One day I spot Omar carrying a sleek briefcase. I
tell him that carrying his school books in a briefcase looks chic. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Well, they are not exactly my school books. And I
am planning something; it is a secret but I can tell you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So we move to my room. After all, secrets,
especially of such strategic nature, cannot be disclosed in the open. They have
to be discussed behind closed doors sans spectators or eavesdroppers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When we settle down, Omar opens his briefcase.
There is a writing pad and on it is jotted down what seems like a lesson plan.
There are also a few colored markers and one of Omar’s school books. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“So what’s the plan,” I look at the ‘tools’ and ask.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I am preparing a lesson plan for Mobby from my
books. I will teach him and turn him into a genius,” Omar sounds determined.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“But Mobby is only four, I don’t think he will be
able to understand and grasp the course meant for 7-year-olds,” I say and
wonder about Omar’s sudden interest in Mobby’s intellectual development.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“He will do it. I will make him write everything
twenty times. Then he will become smarter than Roshan, and that’s what I want.
Roshan will feel ashamed that his younger brother is smarter than him,” Omar
unravels the plan.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What has Roshan done to provoke such covert planning
against him? I am not sure. Omar has no coherent answers. But the blueprint of
his plan is ready: turn four-year-old Mobby into a kind of super kid by
teaching him advance courses and then pit him against his seven-year-old brother
Roshan. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">After a little while, I watch as Omar tries to get
Mobby interested in the plan. I ask Mobby if he is willing to fight Omar’s war.
Mobby only smiles back and I discern a mischievous glint in his eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The glint is a precursor of the things to come.
Omar’s strategic asset is all set to become his biggest liability. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">If Omar’s revenge plan bears some resemblance to
some geo-strategic situation then it is, perhaps, a coincidence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“You will help me develop the lesson plans for
Mobby?” Omar tells me, he doesn’t ask me. As far as Omar is concerned I have no
option. It is: I am ‘either with him or against him.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I am being dragged into this ‘big game.’ Do I have a
choice!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
naureen amjadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16181390313515434907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443318023469159039.post-72031616123996985752014-03-09T09:55:00.000-07:002019-08-31T08:46:02.801-07:00Befriending Demons- Cooky and Demoniya<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXAXxGwyu11f6Bh26a8tlPLcz-cOsIsUxPwwdkgdtqcjM91CSzU03GzrwObBHu3hv5EFNRmdNjJbhyphenhyphen4_5P5w9ODXInnJKpF108HjVUX4PvErp8YnMUcFIWvgGWtABa-zG1i4NN6iBJLGQ/s1600/DSCN0390.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXAXxGwyu11f6Bh26a8tlPLcz-cOsIsUxPwwdkgdtqcjM91CSzU03GzrwObBHu3hv5EFNRmdNjJbhyphenhyphen4_5P5w9ODXInnJKpF108HjVUX4PvErp8YnMUcFIWvgGWtABa-zG1i4NN6iBJLGQ/s1600/DSCN0390.JPG" width="311" /></a><o:p> </o:p><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">He has six eyes. He has three mouths. He shouts, he cries,
he screams, and he kicks. The name of this six-eyed and three-mouthed demon is
Cooky and he can make a sudden appearance whenever Omar can’t have his way.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">How do I know about all this? Well, being nosy helps
but so does unveiling your own demon. See.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Yesterday, it wasn’t really you. Who was he?” I ask
Omar and allude to one of his recent tantrums.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Omar gives me a quizzing, and not so friendly, look.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“You were shouting and fighting. Seems like you have
a personal demon that arrived and took over. What’s his name?” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhInv_zSxYK4mHx7F1Wh9l83ElVCcTPEJqpin9unANfgX7F8eZzh9x0mPc4vDsSMYRDQq_IXlSXJcXQ2TAUEfn0J3q7Nbmi29dfvbD0P-GTVF6AjyY7KPVKQOZDq1xSbLs06uZzc-xQ56Q/s1600/DSCN0389.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhInv_zSxYK4mHx7F1Wh9l83ElVCcTPEJqpin9unANfgX7F8eZzh9x0mPc4vDsSMYRDQq_IXlSXJcXQ2TAUEfn0J3q7Nbmi29dfvbD0P-GTVF6AjyY7KPVKQOZDq1xSbLs06uZzc-xQ56Q/s1600/DSCN0389.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Omar is now eyeing me menacingly. I add, “Just like me.
I too have a personal demon. I call her Demoniya”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“You do? She has a funny name” Omar laughs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “What do you
call yours?” I ask.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He thinks for a while and comes up with, “Cooky. I call
him Cooky.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We start discussing our respective demons; we want
to know what they look like, when they come, when and how do they go away. Making portraits of our demons seems like a
good idea and we sit down with a box of crayons and some paper.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “Cooky comes
when I am angry, so then I shout, scream, and fight. He goes away when he
becomes tired of crying or fighting,” Omar tells me about ‘Cooky’ as he draws ‘his’
six eyes and three fire spouting mouths.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Why does your Demoniya come?” he now asks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“There is no particular reason. She is a sad demon. She
cries and sits in a glass-house?” I say as I try to draw ‘Demoniya.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“What’s a glass house?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“When you are sitting in a glass house, you can see
people but you can’t hear them. Likewise people can see you but they can’t hear
you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Omar gives me an uncomprehending look and decides
to ignore the glasshouse bit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“She is so funny. Why can’t she fight like ‘Cooky’
does? Anyway, when does she go away?” he now asks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“She goes away whenever she wants to. But eating hot
cereal helps. Sometimes coffee also makes her go away.” I tell him and realize that
‘Demoniya’ is socially impaired.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Omar, however, thinks ‘Demoniya’ is not very
impressive. The demon that sits in a glass house, craves hot cereal and black
coffee can’t really be as majestic as Omar’s fire spouting ‘Cooky.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But we now know about Demoniya and Cooky. And this
feels good.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">You can’t get to know someone without befriending his/her
demons. I mean, not really. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
naureen amjadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16181390313515434907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443318023469159039.post-70229154969737029812013-11-20T01:58:00.000-08:002019-08-31T08:45:44.652-07:00Roseeecozy for Roseee<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7D3_Ybh4CsvNSI5U_zBZ9_JYgxUre67NIdeDPkbtbCzPi_L5PQ2emkCfna_0sA6OeRN2blX5GwZKLDlhLxiZzqm-XDMJfAnRuPVWtoMC820pnJb0uMdKIvk9n63x_l2dI0RNN9_q_1RU/s1600/IMG_7102.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7D3_Ybh4CsvNSI5U_zBZ9_JYgxUre67NIdeDPkbtbCzPi_L5PQ2emkCfna_0sA6OeRN2blX5GwZKLDlhLxiZzqm-XDMJfAnRuPVWtoMC820pnJb0uMdKIvk9n63x_l2dI0RNN9_q_1RU/s200/IMG_7102.JPG" width="163" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So where do stray cats take refuge when nights turn
cold and dark? Darkness, of course, they can manage, but cold?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Though Roseee, like me, is fond of taking long walks
during cold, foggy nights, she craves a cozy corner for her nightly catnaps. We
know for sure by the way she starts knocking our doors and windows at night. She
wants to come in and cuddle up, but she wants her independence too…a room of
her own.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“So what do we do?” the Lilliputians ask.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnlH21SPugAzjV08cNJFHu9t0RVFFZxgclvKtsoThsYJ6UWZhnXdzo46xbNlnvj315VM0ToI4sGGUsiqcKr9stxCkeGC1iBWj7Zof7y9jsvAcvxEXxmID_fhH0TtgPIENfMC3b1o9cPyQ/s1600/IMG_7089.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnlH21SPugAzjV08cNJFHu9t0RVFFZxgclvKtsoThsYJ6UWZhnXdzo46xbNlnvj315VM0ToI4sGGUsiqcKr9stxCkeGC1iBWj7Zof7y9jsvAcvxEXxmID_fhH0TtgPIENfMC3b1o9cPyQ/s200/IMG_7089.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I assume the mantle of a sage. “We can build her a
home.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The suggestion ushers in ripples of excitement that reverberate
through the entire Land of Lilliputians. Omar, the master builder, has, as
always, ideas aplenty. He immediately starts sifting his brain. “We can use a
big box to make a house.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The idea seems plausible and we set to work.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“What will we call the house?” I am still in my
thinking Buddha mode.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv6Qyc3PF-JqkgFycawq4fjuIjx_e9TxVgocwAuUuda0hPYWuCLe-Tdkn3j8Ha91Wvk8BMeKyVInHTP2iQMREcVGLvrFAq2L_r_-LVw5RTff1hIyDyQCALKzBEPQ-HGfiD812oWn_xNEg/s1600/IMG_7103.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv6Qyc3PF-JqkgFycawq4fjuIjx_e9TxVgocwAuUuda0hPYWuCLe-Tdkn3j8Ha91Wvk8BMeKyVInHTP2iQMREcVGLvrFAq2L_r_-LVw5RTff1hIyDyQCALKzBEPQ-HGfiD812oWn_xNEg/s200/IMG_7103.JPG" width="183" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We all start brainstorming. Zainab, an extremely organized little girl
that she is, brings a copy and starts jotting down the names we all come up
with. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Finally we settle on ‘Roseeecozy.’ Since it is ‘tea
cozy’ for keeping tea warm, Roseee cozy will keep ‘our’ cat cozy, so goes the
logic. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijB2Tuj5rQWA8N4AtvTxZwmx4OzQFYovKmraxakBEPq8rwltQDF3Q28ND5rB_ALCvsrqBVF0wvdVHzNb75jmXAqmwO-p1f0OwNnTuuz9A6eU7IiaOMR7DC6w0YpEZLQtbtfCFMMuZqLO8/s1600/IMG_7100.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijB2Tuj5rQWA8N4AtvTxZwmx4OzQFYovKmraxakBEPq8rwltQDF3Q28ND5rB_ALCvsrqBVF0wvdVHzNb75jmXAqmwO-p1f0OwNnTuuz9A6eU7IiaOMR7DC6w0YpEZLQtbtfCFMMuZqLO8/s200/IMG_7100.JPG" width="168" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I like the fact that we have somehow brought in tea in
this roseeecozy business. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We make a house. To make Roseee feel special, the
Lilliputians embellish the house with her portraits. There is even a little red
foot mat in case she becomes too cultured and starts wearing shoes. The house
is then furnished with a wall- to-wall carpet, a few cushions are thrown in to
make it snug for her snooze. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgisk-3KuYBrXDp5ENOayawxYCiCcgUFnlwIVDDqC1-RO3dwVRSptAdQdToNPTZxRuxVXnoBVCzkMl8vDee-Os3KVXnkmTm-Okx-CwbKbAvk47-ULzEi0N36sezZUOQHH9n48aukR6Ah9A/s1600/IMG_7111.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgisk-3KuYBrXDp5ENOayawxYCiCcgUFnlwIVDDqC1-RO3dwVRSptAdQdToNPTZxRuxVXnoBVCzkMl8vDee-Os3KVXnkmTm-Okx-CwbKbAvk47-ULzEi0N36sezZUOQHH9n48aukR6Ah9A/s320/IMG_7111.JPG" width="296" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“She might like it enough to start living here. Then
she will become ‘our’ cat and will never ever leave us,” they say wistfully.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The insatiable human urge to possess, to make
someone, or something, ours...but can this ever be so…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
naureen amjadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16181390313515434907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443318023469159039.post-1669463287051060802013-11-10T02:46:00.000-08:002019-08-31T08:45:23.491-07:00Roseee Goes to Vet<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Roseee, a stray cat that she is, likes to go for
long walks all on her own; she doesn’t hang about our place for long. But one day
Roseee stays at our place, eat nothing, and sleeps. If it had only been her marathon sleeping
session, we wouldn’t have been worried. But she coughs a real couch, not once,
not twice, but three times. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Zainab tells me: “Roseee caught it from you.”</span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Yes, I was down with a protracted flu &fever, so bad
that it made my jaws ache as if they were being hammered upon. I think about
Roseee’s jaws and announce: “I will have to find a vet for her.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPYo6cjL-o0XSEiX-azjfC9HE-EF_Oq3bVkahwTAziJdu2_fcQZLpqQ4B-KDWLrRJhvQ1ahf7azsh6VzmdcMUfz0_b9hL2cz9ndED6UNWXx8dODT47Zl_HZjlQQsdeT-GCFRQhupXu3os/s1600/IMG_7097.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="118" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPYo6cjL-o0XSEiX-azjfC9HE-EF_Oq3bVkahwTAziJdu2_fcQZLpqQ4B-KDWLrRJhvQ1ahf7azsh6VzmdcMUfz0_b9hL2cz9ndED6UNWXx8dODT47Zl_HZjlQQsdeT-GCFRQhupXu3os/s200/IMG_7097.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inappropriate medium for transporting cats</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There are screams of excitement and they all want to
go with me. This uncalled for enthusiastic response to Roseee’s illness feels
ominous and I start dreading the trip. “I didn’t say picnic, I said vet.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There’s a chorus. “You can’t go without us.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I am good at recognizing commands that just can’t be
defied. So we pick Roseee’s basket, it is also her makeshift bed, and set out
on the journey. Only the basket in question is NOT meant to hold cats but the
realization will dawn on me much later.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We settle in the car, Zainab sits in the front seat
with Roseee, Saif extends his hand from the back seat to help Zainab in calming
down the cat. While I drive, Roseee takes offence and tries to jump outside. Saif
Screams, Zainab shrieks and asks me to control Roseee. I try to keep my cool, concentrate on driving
and tell zianab that I have two eyes and
they should preferably be on the road, and it would be better if my hands held
on to the steering instead of Roseee. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">After a while, an object comes flying from the back
seat and hangs upside down on the front seat. This is Omar. He too wants to
hold Roseee. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Now I raise my voice and tell him to behave and
threaten to drop him on the road if he doesn’t.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He moves back and makes a few statements that in
effect pronounce me the meanest person in town.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I make a silent vow: I will never ever stuff the
Lilliputians and Roseee together in anything that moves on the road, and has me
at the steering.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDiPMyeVBwAEOjql9c33tWeLNholJnZs1lKYBTMMFrWv6-EfvtnYysA2Agvwutf5-ldHTa8D-tulcVaPqvuH-mjeoxjiNrnakJqcgMl8tqhaDxGVZ2rifNMPFFu9NNiAxGq0taEUD_quU/s1600/IMG_7084.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDiPMyeVBwAEOjql9c33tWeLNholJnZs1lKYBTMMFrWv6-EfvtnYysA2Agvwutf5-ldHTa8D-tulcVaPqvuH-mjeoxjiNrnakJqcgMl8tqhaDxGVZ2rifNMPFFu9NNiAxGq0taEUD_quU/s200/IMG_7084.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roseee and her vet</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">After what seems like twenty years we reach the
market where we have been told there are vet clinics. Now everyone wants to
hold the basket. So this is how we move around the market: six people moving in
a circle, holding a basket with a harassed looking cat inside it. We are a
spectacle.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I reiterate my vow.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwkcSM57NTXAsW50rP5oNbZSDCYHUNVPWdNJvTQaJYqiUQk0C46CuUblZ_a3tO0Ub1uYYAMZTkqMo-xpRgZWUDDk4YsE2KMjWw0cxs6t62sVipkddzgOxelNzpE86UI-Flm_C5_AzXbH4/s1600/IMG_7083.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwkcSM57NTXAsW50rP5oNbZSDCYHUNVPWdNJvTQaJYqiUQk0C46CuUblZ_a3tO0Ub1uYYAMZTkqMo-xpRgZWUDDk4YsE2KMjWw0cxs6t62sVipkddzgOxelNzpE86UI-Flm_C5_AzXbH4/s200/IMG_7083.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As we reach the clinic, the cat starts jumping around
and we all run in that small cubicle to catch her. The vet doesn’t seem too pleased to see us. However,
Roseee is then put on a stretcher, he takes her temperature, injects her with
some antibiotics.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Roseee looks at me, and for the second time in a day I am
made to feel like the meanest person in town. Not good for my morale. Really.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And then it happens.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Saif nudges me: “The uncle behind us has a cat in a
box.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I turn around. Yes, the uncle in question has a
beautiful Persian cat that has come to have his nails clipped.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCuZGyZvM6mkQgv0NcZOoIJ36ZLmTr3gB4qUXeDQWm8H7r1vd3YUjK7OJFaD-Z9PixMiiNo4NihoTELnK5plOTdff9HVG73JupQsUZNIAeJu58UsG4egyKwJg4vi3OQYh1M5_HH84X5ZM/s1600/IMG_7085.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCuZGyZvM6mkQgv0NcZOoIJ36ZLmTr3gB4qUXeDQWm8H7r1vd3YUjK7OJFaD-Z9PixMiiNo4NihoTELnK5plOTdff9HVG73JupQsUZNIAeJu58UsG4egyKwJg4vi3OQYh1M5_HH84X5ZM/s1600/IMG_7085.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The handsome Persian dude</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We all start petting the cat who is fashionable
enough to come for a manicure. As we are doing so, Roseee jumps and attacks the
well-groomed feline dude. There is a commotion. The uncle is worried, the vet
tells us to quickly control our ‘stray cat,’ and we try to leave. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The entire spectacle of six people holding a basket
with a, now angry, cat is repeated.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Roseee was jealous because we were petting the
Persian cat,” on our way home, Roshan comes up with a likely reason for
Roseee’s bad behavior.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Since Mobby always has an opinion on everything, the
next possible reason comes from him. “The Persian cat was big, Roseee was
scared of him and wanted to attack first while the doctor held him.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “No, actually
Roseee wasn’t trying to pounce on the Persian cat. She wanted to scratch the doctor
for giving her the injection. He gave her two injections, it must have hurt
her,” Omar has another take on the matter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Zainab finds Roshan’s reason more plausible, and Saif
seconds Omar, or perhaps Mobby. While the Lilliputians shout, voice opinions
and fight over who is right, Roseee again tries to jump out, Zainab again shrieks,
I try to somehow drive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> And I renew
my vow for the third time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We finally reach home safe and sound. We give some
warm milk to Roseee, tuck her in her make shift bed, and tell her to rest. When
after half an hour we check on her…..she is gone. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Lilliputians are dejected. “After all that we
did for her!” is the prevailing emotion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I tell them that our love, our <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">entreaties</span>,</span> our ministrations,
our pampering cannot chain her. She is a free soul.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Roseee is
generous in her <i>acceptance</i> of our
love. She doesn’t take it as a loan that she has to pay back with or without
interest. Nor does she ascribe motives and designs to our ministrations. She takes
it nonchalantly like she receives the breeze that caresses her, or the sunshine
that makes the terrace such a cozy place for her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In response to our love she does what she is good at
doing: she basks in it, and she purrs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
naureen amjadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16181390313515434907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443318023469159039.post-54644024459685649282013-11-01T02:37:00.000-07:002019-08-31T08:44:55.706-07:00Apple’s School<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Saif is teary-eyed and has an injured look on his
face.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Aymen has fired me and she didn’t even give me my
pay,” Saif tells me when I ask the reason.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Apple hired you, and then fired you! And she pays
you too…to do what?” I am confused and curious.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Aymen, <i>your</i>
Apple, runs a school. It’s called <b>Kids
Club</b>. Maheen, Zainab and I teach there, and she pays us 30 rupees per day.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“There seem to be too many teachers. Are there any
students?” I ask.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht5rinkVmHxi9EuoMCtfT9GzLJteLnslPB5Htw5Wen6cid52BFsV8UbJxubgE0lVo5NcrkznijrvkhqmD1VdXReN6rSohjTRA3s6-BlcRD-Z0Q0SnS3BDKHN4FvBCi4Xy90lfjdbcpZXo/s1600/Photo0238.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht5rinkVmHxi9EuoMCtfT9GzLJteLnslPB5Htw5Wen6cid52BFsV8UbJxubgE0lVo5NcrkznijrvkhqmD1VdXReN6rSohjTRA3s6-BlcRD-Z0Q0SnS3BDKHN4FvBCi4Xy90lfjdbcpZXo/s320/Photo0238.jpg" width="292" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Omar, Roshan, and Mohib are the students.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I learn more about the school. It becomes
operational every time Apple comes to Lahore, three to four times a year.
Classes are held for two days or even one day depending on how long the ‘principal’
is staying here. The duration of her absence is considered holidays, and the
students are required to revise and practice whatever they learn during rigorous
school sessions. There are three students and almost four teachers because
sometimes Apple likes to take a class or two. Two of the teachers are sixth
graders, one is in grade four, and the principal is in grade three. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It seems an interesting institution. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> I decide to
meet the principal.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Apple is sitting on a sofa with legs crossed,
chewing gum. Looking every inch a principal, she gives me a <i>don’t-intrude</i> look and makes a curt
speech before I can utter a word. “If you have come to take Saif’s side, then
don’t. He misbehaved in the class. He is a math teacher, and he was laughing
while teaching. What kind of impression will it leave on students?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“She was also giggling when she came inside the
class, though she tried to hide her face,” Saif voices his grievance against
the principal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“She hardly leaves us alone. And she doesn’t let us
make the planner or take attendance,” teacher Zainab has her own set of
complaints against the principal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“And she asks me how to spell <i>attendance</i>," Maheen, the big sister, rolls her eyes and laughs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Apple glowers at her, and I ignore this irreverent
comment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I plead on Saif’s behalf, appeal to Apple’s sense of
justice, and draw her attention to the paucity of good teachers. Apple finally
relents. After all, good mathematics teachers are hard to find. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What I find really impressive is the way Apple is
carrying out the entire school business. So professionally. And she saves her
pocket money to pay the teachers! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“You don’t get anything out of it, and you pay out
of your pocket. In fact, you should get a handsome salary, you are the principal,”
I bring up the matter with Apple.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“It's because I don’t get any fees from the parents. I am sending
them another notice today. But I have to run my school, so I pay the teachers
from my pocket money.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 19px; line-height: 21px;">Isn't</span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> this how we all begin…by believing in
our passion, financing our dreams. Also present in this saga is some kind of
power game. Being able to hire and fire, to be able to pay, to formulate rules
and make others follow them… power can be intoxicating and addictive.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></div>
</div>
naureen amjadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16181390313515434907noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443318023469159039.post-79644091267020698192013-09-29T04:42:00.000-07:002019-08-31T08:44:29.799-07:00Ginger, Cinnamon, Black Pepper<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9hUdzgHNEA024V2jmRZg787TlyfjpENVki8QYykcTD8kXYilMrui-BFDp5XC52LQc98PT_6DuOpFKgMow-PK1wyGzG2tttGkUtIRItEdnvrkPH-SmvZ6uzgQFEC3XPXtd4rIeDo9QifA/s1600/IMG_6925.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9hUdzgHNEA024V2jmRZg787TlyfjpENVki8QYykcTD8kXYilMrui-BFDp5XC52LQc98PT_6DuOpFKgMow-PK1wyGzG2tttGkUtIRItEdnvrkPH-SmvZ6uzgQFEC3XPXtd4rIeDo9QifA/s320/IMG_6925.JPG" width="299" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ginger and Cinnamon fight, Black Pepper hides behind
the door. Roseee, though she is enjoying a few minutes of respite, peers inside.
She wants somebody to come and give her something to eat. Real quick. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> I give her a plate full of chicken liver, her
favorite, and watch. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">She has never been the greedy sort; if somebody gave her
food she ate nonchalantly otherwise she would go and fend for herself. But now things are different. Now Roseee has
to feed her three adorable kittens. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ginger, Cinnamon, and Black Pepper were born on
August 22. I know for sure because this is the only day when Roseee didn’t turn
up. Before that day, a very pregnant Roseee used to sit outside my room and
listen to the wafting melodies. This is how I got to know about her likes and
dislikes in music. Nusrat Fateh Ali is her favorite singer, and her preferred
genre of music is qawali. During her pregnancy, Roseee used to sleep for long
hours at a stretch, and also developed a taste for omelette.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhndKK4MwoQXG_TRJZEPP5tUeEH2kYk_9AhT7bPF-31UBcmTltk0LnaOSabaSy1t00OO5UoV_HQRD0yP-zChs8oJUiz3MaANhcHI_fv1PIYz6DtGH9EB9Q9SBJcqyiC8ySRqji8RM9G60g/s1600/ginger.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhndKK4MwoQXG_TRJZEPP5tUeEH2kYk_9AhT7bPF-31UBcmTltk0LnaOSabaSy1t00OO5UoV_HQRD0yP-zChs8oJUiz3MaANhcHI_fv1PIYz6DtGH9EB9Q9SBJcqyiC8ySRqji8RM9G60g/s320/ginger.JPG" width="218" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ginger</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I know she wanted to have her kitties here, but I
couldn’t live up to her expectation. I failed to provide her a dark private
place where could begin her maternal journey in peace. So, an independent soul
that she is, she went and delivered her babies somewhere on August 22. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The next
day she came for a visit, stayed for just ten minutes, ate, and ran away to be
with her kittens. With every passing day the duration of her visits became
longer. And daily the Lilliputians and I coaxed her to bring her kittens here.
We so wanted to cuddle them. I wondered if she would ever forgive me for not
being able to go the extra mile for her sake. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But Roseee’s love, though indifferent, is generous.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And one day it happened. I heard a muffled cheeoon
cheeoon, went outside, looked behind the washing machine, and found Roseee
nursing her three kittens. From that day on, the family has been living here.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6xLVz5fYZtTdTek3nvfwSZP4UNFV82q38e-e9yp2hb2Qnhj4S75P37QSPKo6DlcYsMVVOtRMbvH3ro2I30TF4affYyI0kBWmVBo9l_MK-TBit_NKn9HzBAkAaqypkopstKYjCGbKRXWY/s1600/cinnamon,+black+pepper.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6xLVz5fYZtTdTek3nvfwSZP4UNFV82q38e-e9yp2hb2Qnhj4S75P37QSPKo6DlcYsMVVOtRMbvH3ro2I30TF4affYyI0kBWmVBo9l_MK-TBit_NKn9HzBAkAaqypkopstKYjCGbKRXWY/s320/cinnamon,+black+pepper.JPG" width="297" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cinnamon & Black Pepper</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> And now. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Daily there is something new to learn and observe.
Now we know that Ginger is the naughtiest of the lot. He wants his mother all
for himself, pushes his siblings away when he suckles her. Cinnamon is fond of
eating and, very young though he is, tries to taste everything that his mother
eats. Black Pepper is very shy and hides behind the door every time somebody
tries to touch her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Roseee sometimes leaves her kittens and comes to me
while I am busy in my nightly ramble on the rooftop. For a while she walks with
me, nuzzles against my legs, then sits and looks at the stars rather wistfully.
Post partum melancholy, I guess. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Since the day the kittens started living here the
land of Lilliputians has been resounding with shrieks:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Look, Roseee is licking her kittens just the way
she licks herself!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Ginger tries to walk, but he wobbles and sits back!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi32aRizWmXMOjK226ffKPn2630ckonhjcOcybabaBIDi9BkQFAbZR-RNdlt51NiWd6b0cTJc0vYJaJ5jgBtrhIiQr_GfWFL7pEyFHEKFYbp7pbb7pMUyUirbeVcV4ejhpuOmvNGNUXXSY/s1600/kittens.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi32aRizWmXMOjK226ffKPn2630ckonhjcOcybabaBIDi9BkQFAbZR-RNdlt51NiWd6b0cTJc0vYJaJ5jgBtrhIiQr_GfWFL7pEyFHEKFYbp7pbb7pMUyUirbeVcV4ejhpuOmvNGNUXXSY/s320/kittens.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Cinnamon has started walking!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Black Pepper finally let me hold her!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Today Ginger climbed up the washing machine...he is
getting bigger!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The excitement is understandable. The Lilliputians are
witnessing life itself as it unfolds everyday on our terrace. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
naureen amjadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16181390313515434907noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443318023469159039.post-85973379882973122532013-08-27T04:21:00.001-07:002019-08-31T08:44:09.904-07:00With a Dice, a Few Curtain Carriers, and Some Paper<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB9UyxVZRuUGfNodgs1G8m3qfW-I1GCuiXpkF1gtEM75rB1bvi1FG_5VfNUPOBpMysovK1zbzvbvcNqT5ZVCkz26ksBArKK-W5Wda939JzhfGTHV1lDXttSdSz5zR17xQfn_AD1YmBF7E/s1600/dice+and+carreris.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB9UyxVZRuUGfNodgs1G8m3qfW-I1GCuiXpkF1gtEM75rB1bvi1FG_5VfNUPOBpMysovK1zbzvbvcNqT5ZVCkz26ksBArKK-W5Wda939JzhfGTHV1lDXttSdSz5zR17xQfn_AD1YmBF7E/s200/dice+and+carreris.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The package of being a younger brother comes with
its privileges. But there are certain inconveniences, too. Ask Omar. You can be
treated as a meddlesome mouse or an irritating fly. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Leave us alone, Omar. We want to play, stop bothering us,” Saif and Zainab tell Omar who is eying their brand new
games of monopoly, ludo, and carom. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There are many ways to handle the injustice of such
proportions. Sulking and whining can get things done but it is, of course, not
as effective as kicking the locked door or trying the full might of your
lungs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Though Omar has nothing against testing the capacity
of his lungs every once in a while, he has other ways of dealing with such
discriminations. His classic response is: “Okay. No big deal. I will make a game
like this for myself.” And he sets to work. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgahQC1RScUDR2ClBRESVNGv7wrKtNYeGPgbwg8ChgLLZqYyHhGdpjJwkawEUZWubv8HF8YnB7qclQj3J-MY3Z9x49KVMLY_0MBmcqWNen3gXPzBDbSNbh4RDBPRmr2Hr3SJuWBeEj07Rc/s1600/monopoly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgahQC1RScUDR2ClBRESVNGv7wrKtNYeGPgbwg8ChgLLZqYyHhGdpjJwkawEUZWubv8HF8YnB7qclQj3J-MY3Z9x49KVMLY_0MBmcqWNen3gXPzBDbSNbh4RDBPRmr2Hr3SJuWBeEj07Rc/s320/monopoly.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">After an hour of concentrated effort, he emerges
with a handful of all the equipment, he needs to play these games. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Loaded with the equipment, which seems like a humble
paper pouch, he asks me “Do you want to play monopoly with me?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKmeXbE7p4mCMmYPtIvTTKjW01we2vCF5hOu0sBUVQ-ZuJWuYcFiXv3CFE1UPLTMFyZ_A9T0u4mq3ltA1rJMFEAR4-c2tMeGYPx6XEhv8pcVZB4NaXySDrIUGLE7xk9D8h1xyww66EaxM/s1600/ludo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKmeXbE7p4mCMmYPtIvTTKjW01we2vCF5hOu0sBUVQ-ZuJWuYcFiXv3CFE1UPLTMFyZ_A9T0u4mq3ltA1rJMFEAR4-c2tMeGYPx6XEhv8pcVZB4NaXySDrIUGLE7xk9D8h1xyww66EaxM/s320/ludo.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Yes,” I say and look on as he takes out a paper and
unfolds it. Then he fumbles inside the paper pouch and scoops out two plastic
curtain carriers, and a dice. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We are all set to begin the match. Obviously, Omar wins
the game.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDdma3GIDnbgCsXjT57UE3du0JuRIY_OGu7pGy03k4iXSccl1LKxx0Xp3v0pLmUXTT_1wT1Z7Vu5tmG0fukYUV3CUbUAqJLBzLMQKauDj-wd2U1dsx54x79R412SvDxFF4ypjSTgRIYs0/s1600/carom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDdma3GIDnbgCsXjT57UE3du0JuRIY_OGu7pGy03k4iXSccl1LKxx0Xp3v0pLmUXTT_1wT1Z7Vu5tmG0fukYUV3CUbUAqJLBzLMQKauDj-wd2U1dsx54x79R412SvDxFF4ypjSTgRIYs0/s320/carom.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> After losing
two rounds of monopoly, and feeling like a loser, I am subjected
to more rounds of Omar’s ludo and carom. Seeing my dejection, and to make me
feel good, he eventually lets me win one round of carom board. I finally
feel the winner’s high. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Omar has not just invented the portable versions of
the games, he has also changed the established rules. For instance, in carom, you
just have to flick the dice in toward the center circle. If it lands inside it
you win. No black and white pieces, no striker, no queen. And you play ludo and
monopoly with just two curtain carriers plus a dice. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Broadly speaking, Omar’s games can be jointly
labeled as “Finding your way out of any <i>labyrinth.</i>” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Omar's rules….well, they are about defying the
established rules to unearth more interesting possibilities. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
naureen amjadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16181390313515434907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443318023469159039.post-4063954835515324382013-07-24T01:44:00.002-07:002019-08-31T08:43:51.236-07:00A Grimm’s Fairy Tale<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiewo7ZlhvfXeUn2pDo0sOzmN4ueqeKeHGxxQyllIPfHqQ362frbfo9uzz8vl4zAQxdE6S98CGWYFNljSVTvoe1n1UbbqbstrX5qPAW9jlzhRFxT37-4lSLMwLiPmn1tow-FR2Cl1nUuk/s1600/Gimm's.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiewo7ZlhvfXeUn2pDo0sOzmN4ueqeKeHGxxQyllIPfHqQ362frbfo9uzz8vl4zAQxdE6S98CGWYFNljSVTvoe1n1UbbqbstrX5qPAW9jlzhRFxT37-4lSLMwLiPmn1tow-FR2Cl1nUuk/s320/Gimm's.jpg" width="207" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It is about a donkey who decides to reinvent
himself. Just when his master writes him off as too old and good-for-nothing,
the donkey plans a career change,” I tell the Lilliputians who ask me what I
find so interesting about a particular Grimm’s fairy tale.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The expressions on their faces tell me I haven’t
been able to convincingly convey my immense admiration for the story. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I try again. “It is about a donkey with high self
esteem and the courage of his convictions. It is about friendship. It is about
how our own fears can transform shadows into hideous goblins, so a cat becomes
a witch, a dog becomes a man with a
knife, a donkey becomes a black monster, a good old rooster becomes a devil
whose simple crowing is heard as ‘throw the rascal up there’ and so on.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Very intelligent listeners that they are, they
manage to cull out a few useful words from my largely unintelligible account of
<b><i>‘The
Travelling Musicians.’<o:p></o:p></i></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“So it’s about a donkey, a cat, a dog, and a
rooster. And they are friends?” one of them asks, editing my garbled details to
a succinct, one-lined statement.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“What happens in the story?” another now asks a precise question to help me focus on the <i>essentials</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Once upon a time, there was a donkey who faithfully
served his master for many years. When the donkey became old and unfit for
work, the master decided to get rid of him. The donkey got a whiff of his
master’s plan, but he wasn’t the type to sulk over the situation or make
revenge plans. He made up his mind to give himself a makeover by going to the city
and becoming a musician.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Musician!” they laugh. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Yes, he believed in himself. He thought he had a
wonderful voice. On his way to the city, he met other friendless and lonely
animals. The donkey told them about his decision to explore new ways of living
and offered them to join him to form a music group-after all, they all had
interesting voices- and hold concerts in the city. The donkey’s enthusiasm rubbed off on the
animals, they found the idea of music group and concert interesting, and jogged
along with the donkey.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Music group of animals!” now the Lilliputians <i>understand</i> why I gush over the story.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We read the entire story together; we all are
charmed by the narrative. And there isn’t just one reason to like it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
naureen amjadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16181390313515434907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443318023469159039.post-30767052013333135602013-07-13T00:46:00.000-07:002019-08-31T09:18:54.602-07:00Goldilocks Revisited<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn1B0-jwXuNCitedFN-_51KdLyYn1vX5WM2odxH0q-m21sNJqeLeNP0rwyzliUm71C4JNMM7pkkosYpdjfjpVRJT6lI6g1FT2GqpAJWEL7i1KiRwY1NdDEr6b2C_DQIsvg2TwIPtnLNOs/s1600/Photo0160.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn1B0-jwXuNCitedFN-_51KdLyYn1vX5WM2odxH0q-m21sNJqeLeNP0rwyzliUm71C4JNMM7pkkosYpdjfjpVRJT6lI6g1FT2GqpAJWEL7i1KiRwY1NdDEr6b2C_DQIsvg2TwIPtnLNOs/s320/Photo0160.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Again my yellow bowl! Why you always take my bowl,
and you are always eating cereal,” says Omar in a voice that’s higher and
shriller with both anger and exasperation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I like your bowl. Cereal is my comfort food.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Omar is not interested in knowing how I deal with my
emotional and spiritual lows. And he is possessive about his cereal bowl. “Can’t
you eat in another bowl? Take the green one.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Eating in your bowl makes me feel like Goldilocks,”
I tell him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">My penchant for occasionally living out my life in fairy
tales never fails to evoke Omar’s admiration. And now I have his attention.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“And I am the baby bear,” he laughs with a flash of
recognition in eyes. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Yes. But we are friends. Goldilocks ran away in the
end instead of making friends with the baby bear. They could have had so much
fun together,” I voice my primordial issues with Goldilocks. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Omar thinks for a while and nods his head in
agreement. “But why did she run away? Why didn’t she ask the bear to be her
friend?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Maybe she thought people would consider it odd if
she were seen romping about with a bear. Or maybe she was just afraid that the
bear would say no to her friendship,” I try to think of the probable
apprehensions that might have bothered Goldilocks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“But it’s not odd. We play with teddy bears, don’t
we? And why was she afraid… the bear could have said yes.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“He could have said no,” I try to think like
Goldilocks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“So? She could have asked again,” Omar shrugs. My
reasons don’t resonate with his ideas about people, bears, and friendship. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Omar isn’t yet tainted with the compulsions of
conformity and tricks of the ego. I hope he always remains free.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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naureen amjadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16181390313515434907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443318023469159039.post-76065836398831827452013-07-02T04:13:00.001-07:002019-08-31T09:19:40.542-07:00New Friend: Roseee the Cat<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1q6sblWpiCLlTNW4qJDaaIIaUS9HyePYmrwnsfQ2b9x0QjH83O-JTUhLcYnr8dwEhMcZU8eei6Chsz5XiSP-Z8NgbhDZR78ZpccLN8o7AE6hLu8Kle3mpSLwkl7jX9GsNkk2FKLsx8cE/s929/rozeee-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1q6sblWpiCLlTNW4qJDaaIIaUS9HyePYmrwnsfQ2b9x0QjH83O-JTUhLcYnr8dwEhMcZU8eei6Chsz5XiSP-Z8NgbhDZR78ZpccLN8o7AE6hLu8Kle3mpSLwkl7jX9GsNkk2FKLsx8cE/s200/rozeee-2.jpg" width="186" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Roseee is a whimsical
cat. For some reason, she has decided to adopt the land of
Lilliputians as her home. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Roseee was wooed the
way stray cats ought to be befriended: with milk and butter. It was her
skeletal look that made us want to fatten her up. Real fast. Perhaps all our
milk-butter maneuvers touched a chord in her heart, perhaps she really likes
us. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The rather
unimaginative name, Roseee, stuck to her because Roshan's Baba uttered the word and she
lifted her green eyes, looked at us disarmingly. Writing her name with three
<i><b>eee</b></i> is my way of making the name extra special. But in my hyperbolic imaginative
way, I also like to think that the name, Roseee, has a deeper meaning. The etymology of Roseee can be traced back to the word rose, the rose scent is elusive, roseee
the cat is elusive, too. We can’t hold on to her, she likes her independence. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglzsKNt3K9TkCL3NVkWqYnZre9NbqV8FElkCa40OcP92SFrGo4Qyj9QlnoV3ehqG1cEU6gHfVMiJGUDiAwYdbJ1Dm0gpMUu5oK1Hn7wgThECSreTeA3iHllqsVfSytCiIkqnQveiTVrnc/s702/rozeee-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglzsKNt3K9TkCL3NVkWqYnZre9NbqV8FElkCa40OcP92SFrGo4Qyj9QlnoV3ehqG1cEU6gHfVMiJGUDiAwYdbJ1Dm0gpMUu5oK1Hn7wgThECSreTeA3iHllqsVfSytCiIkqnQveiTVrnc/s320/rozeee-1.jpg" width="307" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There
is also something royal about the name. It was Nur Jehan the queen who
accidentally discovered rose essence when she had the reservoirs in her garden
filled with rose water in preparation for a banquet for <i>her</i> king, husband, Jehangir. The banquet was actually Nur Jehan’s re-avowal
of love for Jehangir after some marital tiff. A highly creative way to make up after a squabble, I must say. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And so, as the story
goes, at dawn she found a film of oil on top of the water in reservoirs. She smelled
it, loved the fragrance, smeared herself with it, and went to meet Jehangir…..<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Roseee has about her
that royal air, the haughtiness… yes, it is a bit too far fetched, I concede. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The land of
Lilliputians is Roseee’s temporary home. Mercurial as she is, we are subjected
to her vanishing acts from time to time. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">There are days when she can laze away the entire day, lying on a table
in the veranda, doing cat stretches at regular intervals. And there are days
when the Lilliputians and I wait and wait for her to show up, to lap up the
milk we put in her plate in anticipation. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Then she arrives, her mew-mew
mingling with the shrieks of the Lilliputians and my cooings.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This is the way she
likes to be: independent, with no strings attached. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Maybe Roseee can teach us a
thing or two about love without its trappings. But then, I guess, you have to
be a cat to be so emotionally independent, to be able to occasionally turn your
back to the world and sleep peacefully, to love and remain indifferent. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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naureen amjadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16181390313515434907noreply@blogger.com0