14.7.08

The pigeonhole, please

Perception is a bitch; it is also a mirror.

As a mirror it can have tremendous value. But is it often intended to? What do you do with cracked mirrors, blurred mirrors – is it necessary for one to have to see oneself in them only to prove that one is open to another point of view?

As regards the bitch, how many barks translate into a bite?

I was chortling when I read somewhere that the reviewer had done a decent job but this book ought not to have been written! It is hilarious. The review is positive. So, if someone likes what I have written and is being commended for it, then isn’t it natural that he thinks I did a good job and therefore if you like what he has to say and he likes what I have to say then you must therefore like what I have to say? You can’t say, “Hey that T-shirt looks good on you, but it should not have been a T-shirt”. Weird world.

However, let me get to the real strange stuff. Apparently, writing about the identity question is a bad thing. It is passé. Oooh, I am so outdated…everyone else has completed their journeys and I am still unable to negotiate it.

Heck, if they had then they wouldn’t be spreading themselves thin over a ‘non-issue’, would they?

But, of course, an Indian Muslim Woman seems to be causing a whole lot of anguish. An Indian Muslim Woman writing about there has got to belong there.

Apparently, the term Indian is just an add-on. Sure. Ah, yes, I hear it said that the only reason I am not there is because I don’t want to let go of my jeans and expensive coffee.

This should be enough reason to laugh in these people’s faces (faeces?). Pakistani women don’t wear jeans? You don’t get pricey coffee in that country?

These are supposed to be our global citizens. The ones who don’t even know if they have an identity. Unless being incognito counts. Straw warriors.

Make hay, honey, while my sun shines.

3 comments:

  1. FV:

    naam gum jaayegaa, chehraa ye badal jaayegaa
    meri aawaaz hee pehchaan hai, gar yaad rahe

    wakt ke sitam kam haseen nahi, aaj hai yahaa kal kahi nahi
    wakt ke pare agar mil gaye kahi, meri aawaaz hee.. ..

    jo guzar gayi, kal ki baat thi, umar to nahi yek raat thi
    raat kaa siraa agar fir mile kahi, meri aawaaz hee.. ..

    din dhale jahaa raat paas ho, zindagi ki lau unchi kar chalo
    yaad aaye gar kabhi ji udaas ho, meri aawaaz hee.. ..

    ReplyDelete
  2. FV:

    Sorry for the double comment. But I think Ghalib is more apt for your past than Gulzar above.

    poochhte haiN woh ke 'Ghalib'[FV] kaun hai
    koi batlaaye ke ham batlaayeN kyaa


    Or this one...

    Har ek baat pe kahte ho tum ki tu kya hai
    Tumhi kaho ki ye andaaz-e-guftagu kya hai
    jala hai jism janha dil bhi jal gaya hoga
    kuredte ho jo ab rakh justzoo kya hai..
    har ek baat pe kahte ho tum ki tu kya hai...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Here, two different ways of seeing:

    roz-e-mamuuraa-e-duniyaa me.n Kharaabii hai 'Zafar'
    aisii bastii se to viiraanaa banaayaa hotaa

    - Zafar

    benaam musaafat hii muqaddar hai to kyaa Gam
    manzil kaa ta'yyun kabhii hotaa hai safar se

    - Parveen Shakir

    ReplyDelete

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