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Temporal

DARGAH -------------(tEMPORAL’S CYBER SHRINE)

Welcome

Where else can you smell roses past their prime mixed with incense and sweat mixed with fervent hopes? Where all come and go, each seeking something, mystic and skeptic mixing with old and young and liberal and conservative. Where you will find recitation mixed with music floating in smoke flowing from the heart or from the lungs. You are welcome to inhale some.

About Me
Made a career of dropping out of schools, colleges and universities. In the end with wisdom acquired over the centuries they kept kicking me up. In the process have acquired a lot of meaningless letters. On the whole I think I am worse off than better. If I had found a dargah in those days, my growth would have been smoother. But that is a conjecture. Who knows.

What I do for Work
I have drifted to dealing in antiques. My life is a special Ali Baba’s cave full of old friends, books, memories, incidents and experiences. When I feel like hitting the ’pause’ button on life, I say the magic words ’khul jaa sim sim’ and am instantly transformed to another world.

Was born a few thousand years back. Have floated like a cloud since....collecting flavours and smells and colours mostly from Europe and mid or western Asia. Over the last few years am regurgitating all those thoughts, experiences and feelings into a cohesive outlook; the Devi of success is at best elusive. Someday, before I float away again, this will crystallize.

What I do for Fun
Interest in language usage led to experimentation in writing. Now I write mostly poems. Some good, some bad, but all with passion, resonating with feelings. When I read any good piece, the flavour lingers for a long time. Ironically, a really bad piece gets my creative juices flowing.

Random Thoughts
Date posted August 28,2002

DISSOLVING EXCLAMATIONS

EXCALAMTIONS INTO QUERIES

From each perch
the hows and whys
will be probed
for seasons to come.

From each perch
the answers appear
obvious, uncluttered
simple.

* * *

MEN IN HOODS

Twin symbols of affluence
sprouting from earth’s bosom
revert back
and an enemy
fabricated, concocted
thrust upon the unwary.

Wise men in hoods
in establishment,
academia, institutions,
manufacturing consents
and bigger lies
chortled in unison
‘It is them! It is them!’
and yes, were careful
in not branding
all billion plus
as Al Qaeda…

…finally, the men in hoods
rubbed their hands in glee
the dissolution cloned
a perfect replacement
for the ‘red’ menace
and their system
built on adversarial relationships
can merrily whirl again
to manufacture,
to destroy,
to build ,
to profit.

* * *

IN IMPOVERISHED LANDS

As the exclamations dissolved
some thanked the divine
they chanted, they danced
justice, justice, justice
in camps, in bazaars, in
lands usurped, occupied,
by their own, by outsiders
they danced, they chanted
justice, justice, justice.

* * *

BEHIND THE STATUTE’S BACK
and
WHERE ALLAH IS AKBAR

Sadness, disbelief, anger, rage
followed each other in a maddening whirl.

(they say in unison)

who were they
how could they
how did they
whyuswhyUSwhyus
how could they hate us so?

* * *

BLINKERED ENEMY

Who’d guess the victims,
turned successor
zio-nazis of the desert
would so hijack the (once) proud and free
independent and respected
writers, opinion makers of media
who would without whimper
adorn and adapt the zio-nazi blinkers
abandoning reason, justice,
relinquishing nation’s, world’s interest
adopting zio-nazi dictates
volunteering blinkered pens
and keyboards
manufacturing consent, creating
enemies everywhere.

* * *

FRIENDS

Friends from across the pond
of those who dwell behind the Statute’s back
tell the emperor
he is sans clothes
they tell him
he is inane, insane
they would not
join his coalition
of murder and mayhem.

Alienated, intoxicated with power
he denies advice
of friends and foes
refuses to reason.
Cows when mad we put down
what to do with mad giants
they ask in disbelief.

* * *

UNREAD UNDECIPHERED

The lessons of fading exclamations
bring justice, bring justice
fall on humanity’s burst ear-drums
yet again.

And with excavations completed
the lessons of holocausts past
Auschwitz, ’47, Deir Yassin, Kashmir
Khmer Rouge, Rwanda, Chechenya,
Baghdad, Gujrat, RamAllah,
still remain buried
as they prepare to embark
on new Vietnams.

copyright temporal

Feed back appreciated and acknowledged.
Will have something new here in about two weeks.
If you would like a copy of something posted earlier, drop in a line.

--WITH MUSIC NONE
--THE BOMBING
--THE INVITATION
--ONE CITY, ONE COUNTRY : TWO POEMS
--WORD WAVES
--SILENT SPEECH
--WHO KNOWS
--MY PARADISE
--MAHAJIRZADAH ASADULLAH KHAN KARACHVI
--ONCE A VIRGIN
--WHO KNOWS
--SEA GULL I
--ROOK KOOSHAI
--KHAAB MAIn AANA CHOrrH DOU
--CONVERSATION: WITH SELF AND HIS-SELF
--WHY THE HEART BEATS LOUDLY?
--ENTER A SOUL, ANY SOUL
--SILSILA-E-SHUB-O-ROZ
--TELL ME
--STATISTICS
--WHO’D ASK
--UMMEED KI KIRAN: DIWALI 2000
--BEGUM ASHFAQ MUNIR KI B’RHAMI
--AYE KHUDAO
--JAO BETA...
--PRAYER 2000...
--BETA CHALA GAYA...
--THE OTHER FAIRY
--DEMAND
--SEA GULL II
--IS NOTHING FOREVER?
--CONVERSATION
--MISCELLANEOUS 3
--JAL KER SAnWARNA
--THE UNPOET
--TO DEATH
--DUCK, MAN, DUCK
--INVITATION/DAWAT
--ECHOES OF HEARTBEAT
--BE A WAVE
--JALO AUR JALAO

add to my favorite writers

Articles by Temporal

Ramzaan Mubarak

Temporal Oct 6, 2005 interacts: 54 Views: 6442

Being a good Muslim, or being a good Insaan is a 7/24/365 proposition. It is disarranged folly to think that by abstaining from food and drink for thirty days and indulging in some rituals, the rest of the year is fair game for other travesties.

Autumn Harvesting

Temporal Sep 29, 2005 interacts: 12 Views: 3776

with ever so trembling hands
he felt for his back pocket
in a gesture reminiscent
of slow motion pictures

Katrina: An Abdication of Responsibility

Temporal Sep 2, 2005 interacts: 143 Views: 15202

The mandatory evacuation called on August 28 made no provisions to evacuate homeless or low-income and car-less households, as well as large numbers of elderly and the infirm. In 2000, a census revealed that 27% of New Orleans households were without any

Close Encounter

Temporal Aug 29, 2005 interacts: 382 Views: 34868

Jamil had come to the US as a teenager and had graduated in atmospheric sciences from University of Colorado at Fort Collins. A shy reclusive student, he had changed into a rambunctious young man in the intervening years: not averse to enjoying life and w

Karachi Odyssey II

Temporal Aug 14, 2005 interacts: 14 Views: 3439

those fishermen were true
to their sea
these days it helps not
being true

Dear Allah

Temporal Jul 22, 2005 interacts: 53 Views: 7477

could you tell mrs. schmidt to please draw the blinds?...and don’t tell me not to look...you created me, i am what i am…you should know!

London Targeted: Numbers Game

Temporal Jul 7, 2005 interacts: 160 Views: 15124

today’s mourning
in the wake of
yesterday’s jubilation
and the futility of
fragmenting one
into us and them

Ayodhya Back On Top

Temporal Jul 5, 2005 interacts: 114 Views: 10968

Why did it come now?
What was the aim of the attackers?
Who benefits most if the peace process is hindered or rolled back?
How soon will calm prevail?

Compounded Waste

Temporal May 9, 2005 interacts: 71 Views: 7968

As a Muslim I cannot decide what is worse the US intransigence or Osama’s arrogance. Or the reverse. And what makes a person part with their life.

Charity

Temporal Apr 29, 2005 interacts: 19 Views: 4725

He searched his pockets, a driving license, an American Express and a Habib Debit Card. “Do you have some money?” “No,” replied Nina who was wearing diamond studded set she had specially ordered for the wedding.

Unpoet

Temporal Apr 14, 2005 interacts: 27 Views: 3801

float and fall like flakes
one after another
in a suffocating embrace
to the ground
unloved and undead

Bankruptcy

Temporal Mar 29, 2005 interacts: 17 Views: 2864

'Despite incantations we display utter contempt for the poor, for the downtrodden. We are good for empty rhetorics. We are morally bankrupt,' he thundered.

Half a Confession IV (final)

Temporal Mar 9, 2005 interacts: 9 Views: 3057

I have never known religion to be twisted so blatantly -- so much for the inherent flexibility of Islam -- oddly my respect for Islam survives -- despite all the cuckoos in my life -- I have retained a healthy skeptical respect

Half a Confession III

Temporal Mar 8, 2005 interacts: 2 Views: 2701

Strangely, yaara, I am happy even now -- except for this incessant pain that is eating me up -- even though it is taking me eternally longer to key in these words -- but this is still lightning speed compared with Stephen Hawking’s

Half a Confession II

Temporal Mar 5, 2005 interacts: 6 Views: 3481

Body sponges, change of sheets, the general bull shit and I cannot help but smile -- what everyone prays for and dreams about -- I had taken for granted -- the leisurely life style where people around me would do my bidding without me having to lift a fin

Half a Confession-I

Temporal Mar 3, 2005 interacts: 10 Views: 3936

My impulsive ride on the motorbike bare back to topless, daring the gods of winds and tarmac, shattered that idyll. I insisted on going to the graveyard, open the shroud to look at his face and despite protestation I kissed him on the lips one last time.

Arey Larkay!

Temporal Feb 22, 2005 interacts: 22 Views: 4844

“Arey Larkay, go to the fourth room, third shelf from the right and fourth from the top, bring me the seventh book from the right.”

flying kites, playing flutes

Temporal Feb 6, 2005 interacts: 17 Views: 4707

wine and tharra flowing unabashed
right beneath the minaret’s shadow
who deludes whom is for whom to wonder

In Defense of H

Temporal Jan 25, 2005 interacts: 48 Views: 6429

There are rumours circulating that after we rid of the waning moon on our flag ... a slight design flaw...the new emblem in the middle of the corrected rising moon would be...yes!...a shalwar...

Thanksgiving III

Temporal Nov 24, 2004 interacts: 75 Views: 7453

too many queries
orphaned by thoughts
too many thoughts
not in word prison

Yasser Arafat

Temporal Nov 5, 2004 interacts: 95 Views: 11463

His resolute inflexibility led to the current despair and plight of Palestinians: from a charismatic lovable pariah to a hated pariah to an insignificant pariah he became a symbol of Palestinian impotency.

john over george: george over john

Temporal Nov 2, 2004 interacts: 8 Views: 2486

ram das and allah ditta go about their chores
as if there was no tuesday in their lives
sweating, scheming, squandering through their day
dreaming of daal-roti sustenance

One Day At a Time

Temporal Oct 16, 2004 interacts: 53 Views: 5940

For As’r prayers they do not thrust their staff in the ground like they used to in the days of Muhammed (saw). Today they look at the calculated chart and then look at their wrist watches. This is a simple but effective use of reasoning that

Ironies

Temporal Oct 6, 2004 interacts: 17 Views: 3828

being one means
the glass is half full
even when empty

Nomad

Temporal Aug 29, 2004 interacts: 12 Views: 3124

cascading life’s love and tears
mended and broken relationships
waves upon waves of sunrises
urge him to newer frontiers

Karachi Odyssey

Temporal Aug 10, 2004 interacts: 28 Views: 5984

we know so little
we know so much

Karachi a Pawn

Temporal Jun 10, 2004 interacts: 136 Views: 18919

Today’s attack on the Corp Commander’s motorcade was the boldest attack to defy and challenge the powers. How bold was the attempt can be gauged from the fact that MQM which literally owns the city stays out of direct confrontation with the kh

Mother

Temporal May 9, 2004 interacts: 17 Views: 3731

Soul of man developed gradually
Exemplary man rose from this soul
and put to rest death once again
nobody eulogises Death anymore

Shehnai Wails

Temporal Mar 19, 2004 interacts: 13 Views: 4040

like in-laws they fight
over the usual suspects
how the times have changed
wails the shehnai

Chiragh e Sehri

Temporal Feb 5, 2004 interacts: 22 Views: 4152

What is written on paper can be altered. What is written in fate only gods can change.

Fishing

Temporal Jan 19, 2004 interacts: 20 Views: 4084

Thoughts strike alike the living and the frozen. Innocent or enigmatic: they provide the wind in sails, passion in emotions. The magic potion between irresistible dreams and impossible logic: thought. And thinking? One a wind and the other cloud?

Another Attempt on Musharraf

Temporal Dec 25, 2003 interacts: 443 Views: 42797

From international pariah to being accepted as a frontline state leader in the US led war against terrorism his hold on power has been firm and tenuous at the same time.

One Down Two to Go

Temporal Dec 14, 2003 interacts: 304 Views: 28794

the fun has just begun... or the nightmare! …watch bush mangle this re: the trial …if it is in-camera he will be criticized …if it is in public the wily saddam will massacre US administrations …watch for a despicable despot turn in

Miss Hoor-e-Pakistan

Temporal Dec 4, 2003 interacts: 67 Views: 11653

Seriously, you know, cheeks are one part of the anatomy, lips being the other, that we Pakistanis do not kiss in public! Take it from someone who tried it once. And survived. We kiss hands, usually the back of the hands of senile elders and pirs a

Prisoner of Landi Kotal*

Temporal Nov 11, 2003 interacts: 16 Views: 4077

The living are doomed to be incarcerated in prisons of their own making. Only the fool or the foolhardy break out of it.

Diya JalaiN: Light the Lamp

Temporal Oct 25, 2003 interacts: 15 Views: 6328

Who’s afraid of (a) little more happiness, little less hatred?
In diversity is hope: in hope, light. let’s light that lamp and nurse its flickers ..

To Love or to Like?

Temporal Oct 15, 2003 interacts: 44 Views: 6488

Cross gender and cross generation friendship is an under explored subject in literature and in movies. Yes, we have Sugar Daddies and Mammas and Trophy Wives and Girl Friends. But that is exploitative and not the norm.