Birth Of A Nation

And thanks to Khamkhwa for reading my story! I will read your I-Log in the future. I have been working on some short stories as this is my last year. The second part is in my brain just like Adnan who keeps his prose stored away in his dreams. Soon I will get to it. You know my strategy is that I will compliment everyone so much that when my second story comes out they will be obliged to praise it. Its a sick game I am playing here...its like that Iftari Chess you give a samosa here a rooh afza there you get a pakora back... Anyway Cheese Rozaiba and Adnan were discussing the process of writing and the problems in getting it on paper. I wanted to share a letter that Vincent Van Gogh wrote to a friend discussing his work. In a way he was not so different from me. He was broke. This letter will no doubt shed a beautiful orange glowy light on our discussion:



Letter From Vincent Van Gogh To Anton Ridder Van Rappard


Sometimes I feel more like myself...As to the The Little Winter Gardens, for example, you said yourself they had so much feeling; all right, but that was not accidental – I drew them several times and there was no feeling in them. Then afterwards – after I had done the ones that were so stiff – came the others. It is the same with the clumsy and awkward things. How it happens that I can express something of that kind? Because the thing has already taken form in my mind before I start on it. The first attempts are absolutely unbearable. I say this because I want you to know that if you see something worthwhile in what I am doing, it is not by accident but because of real intention and purpose.



wow.

minhaj!
...first a strong protest... you have not thanked ME...so what if i did not comment on your first chowk publication...you should have known that i WOULD like it and you should have thanked me accordingly in your acceptance speech....okay let you go this time being your first misdemeanor...secondly...for an original writer, it`s not a good idea to be so humble to the degree of making your readers and ``fans`` squeamish....that such a great writer is so nice.....he must be suffering from ziatistiques.....which you must be aware is the definition of ...munh pe ram baghal mein churi..
thirdly... you do not have to reciprocate others writings just because they showered their appreciation on your writing...it is just like the iftaar you were invited and HAVE to reciprocate and the silsila continues till your retirement...hai na?...and i wont even ask you to read my i-logs and god forbid comment on it...;) and finally...where is the second qist..?

minhaj:

Papa John`s has been my source of income as well. Once I managed to get away delivering pizzas for Dominoes and Pizza Hut simultaneously.

adnan:

chowk is a great place to take criticism. though you are really not held responsible on any grand scale for a failed piece of writing, you can still get to practice the skills so the words come as they do in your dreams.

Minhaj:

To tell you the truth, the idea of writing scares the crap out of me. There is this inherent fear that forces me to introduce grammatical errors, use insignificant nouns, meek verbs and inappropriate adjectives in my writing. Sometimes, in the middle of the night, I create such beautiful prose in my mind that it would put Oscar Wild to shame. But, it is this stupid fear that turns it into such a pile of rubbish when I start typing.

So you see I am not the one to blame. I am a victim of fear.

How`s that for an excuse? :)

minhaj
`We house the longings for a better life, the fears of poverty and all the silly rules we want to break but somehow cant because someone has invited us for Iftari.. and then we have to invite them.. then they us and so on... `

youre fuking brilliant

Wow I am on the front page. I must try to stay humble. Thank you everyone for reading my story. Thanks temporal for helping me publish. Stuka very glad that you enjoyed my poetry and thanks for encouragement! Will keep writing and going for it.

The beauty of being a small time writer is that you can thank all your readers personally.

Thanks to Samina and also to Rozaiba. Yes I did work at Papa Johns and I used to fantasize about delivering pizza from helicopter. Rozaiba I am waiting for more of your fiction which I enjoyed very much. Sameer, highway 635 is an old joke among Dallas Desis. But the idea of a lavish Desi Shaamyaana right there on the high way and a Dhula Dhulan sitting on the stage oblivious of the 2 mile traffic jam, the exit names covered with rose petals and colorful ribbons…I liked that idea. And those oval shaped lights that glow splendidly at night. Little bit of nostalgia there…Also of having the exit roads covered with thick maroon carpet and mutton biryanee being served there.

Thanks Ahmed Iftikhar will try not to disappoint you with second part.
Soulkeeper I am so glad you got the postman joke because I loved writing that! It is the joy of writing when you start a sentence not knowing where it is going to go and it suddenly comes alive on its own. I hate rules and even racism has its own rules and we have a racist postman who gets trapped in a loop of his own making. I loved that. Is it not for moments like these that we write?

Thanks Ansari, love your poetry man. I am “No longer locked in the cold climate”of my life.Isphahani Thanks for your advise. I will drink more water. Rakaposh thanks for commenting on my Starbucks joke! I always feel the tension when I order the tall thinking they will give me the large size and I won’t have the money for it. starbucks has made millions with their confidence. WE stand obediently ordering Mocha Latte Frapa not knowing what the cup will contain. I really think you should write professionally and you will be able to set a whole new trend in Desi fiction. You should not wait for some great day. You are an original whatever you write everyone will like. One should not shy away from greatness and then call it modesty.

Thanks Faiza, that one word makes me very happy. Thanks 3.14. I will write more.

Thanks Adnan, I will check out Adams. You should also take your writing seriously and not treat it as a hobby. We can not afford to lose writers left and right. I wanted to say this for a long time about middle class folks entering the world of art. We bring something very fresh and new. We house the longings for a better life, the fears of poverty and all the silly rules we want to break but somehow cant because someone has invited us for Iftari.. and then we have to invite them.. then they us and so on... And though these things disturb and delay the production of anything artistic but don’t they also enhance and add humor?

Anyway end of speech.

Nicely done. Waiting for part two. Please write more often if you can, this is excellent. Strikes a chord. :)

Enjoyed reading it. Your writing style and thought process is strikingly similar to Scott Adams of the Dilbert comics/books fame.

Lagta hai Sameer ki Aisha kaafi baRhi aurat hai jo highway pay shadee ho rahi hai....chhoti moti gali main tou woh fiT nai aati ho gi.

Truth is if every desi starts following his culture from back home to the dot...white people might agree voluntarily to give us a separate country.

Hello Minhaj

One word sums it up, witty. Thanks for providing a good laugh. ``New York Crimes,`` LOL:)

One day my fellow desis, one day.....this nations will rise from the ashes beneath the `daigs`` of biryani, pulao, halwa and palak gosht cooked for shaadis......one day our great leader His Excellency Mumawwar Bhai will lead us from Papa Johns and Domino`s to Whataburger, Hardees, EL Chico, Don Pablos......or Jackson Diner`s.....

``Munawwar Bhai, yaar aap meray ko 3000 dollar udhar de sakta hae``

``no problem, kia zaroorat peR gai teray ko``

``woh, Munawwar Bhai, meray ko naheeN, meray bhai ko zaroorat hae``

``abey, kia ho hae teray bhi ko....koi emergency tO naheeN``

``naheeN Munawwar Bhai, mera bhai theek hae....der asal uss kay aik dost ko zaroorat hae``

``Abey teray bhai kay dost ko kia zaroorat peR gai``

``Munawwar Bhai, aap tO aisay sawal ker rahay heiN jaisay mujh per ehtamad naheeN...meray bhai kay dost ko 10 dollar ka batwa khareenda hae aur uss meiN 2990 dollars cash ta keh achcha maaldaar lagay``

=== Interact Filtered ===
view this users filtered interacts

where tall meant small

hahahah...this was hilarious Minhaj....
very refreshing.

``dil khol key haNsney ka maza hee kuch aur hai``

waqae! thanks, minhaj!

Funny,

[He also did not bother shaving and all this was against the company policy. Sometimes he came to work naked.]

lol

[In a matter of years Desis were being booed in the streets and hate mail arrived into their homes, delivered by a postman who also hated them, but continued to deliver the mail because it was hateful.]

dil khol key haNsney ka maza hee kuch aur hai :o)

Thanks,

Karim

T:

Thanks. I had no idea. Missed out on the early ones.

Minhaj:

Gustaakhi maaf karo. Had the pleasure of reading your other stuff too. Identified with the video game poem. Kya karen, 80s only had space invaders.