A friend is about to embark on a long voyage to the end of the earth in a rattling old jalopy. I decided that he would need a Roadtrip Devi to protect him on his journey.
{ 0 comments }
holydays
Enough doom and gloom … mangoes are in the market people! MANGOES. Mangoes like Sarholi, DoSahri, Almas, Sindhri, Choonsa, Anwar Ratol….which must mean that summer is nearby. And guess what? Next summer, we desis stuck in pardes will be able to buy some of those fine, fine Sindhi mangoes in Chicago too.
{ 15 comments }
If you are in or around NYC and you care about raging against the machine, then do I have the event for you: Remembering 1857. Our own bulleyah is playing the role of Mangal Pandey. Do attend. And someone live-blog. I will try and mark the event – digitally.
{ 1 comment }
It all began on April 8th, 2004….this Chapati adventure. Year One. Year Two. And now it is the end of Year Three! That it still continues is rather astounding to me. My wholehearted thanks to the amazing contributers – lapata, farangi, dacoit, bulleyah – and to all of my thoughtful, engaging and gentle readers and [...]
{ 9 comments }
Gentle readers, may you have a splendid bakra Eid and a joyous 2007.
{ 1 comment }
Freedom is the distance from here to here. ps. Yes the first sentence is grotesque.
{ 2 comments }
I wish to inform you that in the past few weeks, I should have written the following: A review of Jonathan Lear’s brilliant Radical Hope: Ethics in the Face of Cultural Devastation. My thoughts on Sudhir Venkatesh’s talk at the IHouse. He is the author of Off the Books: The Underground Economy of the Urban [...]
{ 3 comments }
Today, I will not go to work. I will stay at home and finish up decorating. We will all wear our new clothes and hug our parents and grandparents. Friends will stop by all day – dressed fresh and clean. We will exchange those three-pump hugs that I can never get right – left shoulder, [...]
{ 7 comments }
Reports are everywhere that N. Korea has conducted a nuclear test. Remember what Bert the Turtle did.
{ 0 comments }
Happy 8th birthday, Google. You have changed everything. Remember. Don’t. Be. Evil.
{ 0 comments }
I hate my birthdays and this one provides more to hate than most recent ones. Yet, I am loving this one. Because I get to see my brother in a few hours [haven't hugged him since 2001!]. Rosh Hashanah _and_ Ramadan are here, as well [shalom and mubarak!]. So, joy to all and sundry.
{ 17 comments }
Fiction is Truer than Fact. Attributed to E. Hemingway. Like you, few things would please me more than to soak in a hot tub with Clinton, five supermodels, an 8-ball of fine Ecuadorian flake, and a split of Dom. But let’s not kid ourselves: Clinton was a weak leader governing in a sweet spot. It’s [...]
{ 6 comments }
I like having people over. I like throwing parties. I am, what the kids call, a sociable person. That spirit is often in practice at CM – dacoit, farangi, nadia, rob and others have pitched in, now and then. And now, I introduce to you lapata [I will let her tell you what that means]. [...]
{ 0 comments }
Yeah, don’t. Still, I am back – a little earlier than announced. More or less. Around. I think I may have lost my bloggy-legs in the midst. Feeling a bit rusty. So much to talk about. The England-Pakistan cricket fiasco. Iran. Bugti. Google Print. The rebirth of Cool. One at a time, shall we? I [...]
{ 4 comments }
Gentle Readers, I bid farewell to you for the next few months. Enjoy yourselves. Have wonderful summer vacations. Leave me comments with cheerful news. CM will return on September the 12th, 2006. A break of sorts. You can read my latest rant on Bernard Lewis here.
{ 6 comments }
I noticed mostly the kids in the strollers, wrapped in flags or waving them. Noticed, too, the eight lone members of CAIR in a crowd of 400,000 [marking this as one of the biggest rally in the history of Chicago and one of the biggest Immigration rally in the country]. While no one sang the [...]
{ 8 comments }
On this second blogiversary, I would like to thank all of you gentle readers1. Amazingly, since day one, I never felt that my audience was fictive2. But that may be because I have never considered myself an author. This blog has been many things but, more than anything else, it has been a place for [...]
{ 16 comments }
If you walk out of my door, the gusting wind will chill you to your bones. So, allow me some grumblings for wishing a [belated] Happy No-ruz to all my gentle readers. No-ruz, New Day, the vernal equinox, the first day of Spring, has to be the oldest celebration around. Some say it goes far [...]
{ 6 comments }
Every year pilgrims get crushed to death in Mina or Arafat. In 2004, 244 died. So, last year, they introduced safety measures. Yet, at least 50 pilgrims died this year, again. There is no way to control the frenzy of stoning shaitans. Or the hurry of making it back before sunset. Or preventing even a [...]
{ 0 comments }
You can purchase, for delivery around the world,