Reading, Parallel Reading, To-Read

Its weekend, it’s raining, and I’m here in my room blogging. The weather is beautiful; I feel like dressing up, going out, have sheesha, chat uselessly, look around, window shop, buy a thing or two and have good food. While I wasn’t doing all this, I tried to take a nap but sleep won’t come. So I lied in my bed and stared blankly at the thing on my eye level – my book shelf.

Looking at it made me remember once again that I haven’t been reading much lately. I have so much to read but I somehow always end up doing something else instead of reading. And I know I should read more and something always tugs at my conscience when I think about it. So I thought I should write down a bit about my reading activities; to sum up my reading status.

I watched this movie Liberal Arts today and there was a dialogue between two ardent readers, one of them said, “I love trees ‘cause they give us books”. And I wondered while there was once a time I was such an eager reader, I wish I could say this with the same passion. I hope I get back to my bookworm self again soon. I guess it’s because everything is so modernized now that you would rather watch a sitcom or play a game on your smartphone than sit patiently and read a bit.

And then there is parallel reading. Maybe it’s because I want to read so many books and can’t finish one quickly enough that I start reading another. Apart from that, there are so many books I have that are unread and a whole lot of others are on my to-read list. I thought I will write down all the names of these books but I want to wrap up my post. So that’s it.    

Ending with the weather talk; I feel Christmasy, even though I’m neither Christian nor in the west. It’s like watching all those serials and movies with Holidays and Christmas part in them have finally crept a little into my subconscious.  

Arjun Basu Inspired

And when at times she kissed him on the lips, touched him tenderly or wiped the sweat from his forehead with her palm, she could see in his eyes a mixed expression of disbelief at being loved by her and the delicate feeling of taking in the intimacy of the moment; and yet, his eyes gave away nothing. 

Arjun Basu (@arjunbasu) creates 140-character short stories on Twitter. My creation is simply an inspiration from his work and not an attempt to be his match at all.

Book Review: Moth Smoke by Mohsin Hamid

I read The Reluctant Fundamentalist before Moth Smoke. Perhaps I read the former at a time when my mind wasn’t open enough to understand the concept of the book clearly but I remember not liking it. In discussions, I gave the reason that I found its title and cover to be deceptive.

I read Moth Smoke years after The Reluctant Fundamentalist. In the beginning, I was of the view that this book is also on its way to make it to my resentment list but I kept reading it with interest nevertheless. I have finished reading the book today and I conclude that it was absolutely wonderful. I’m totally impressed; not only by the story but by the style of writing as well. While the story was good on a different level, it was the writing itself that was persuasive and memorable. Hamid’s command over the language and the story-building was strong without being overly done. I liked how the characters and their personalities were related to the Aurangzeb and Darashikoh of the Mughal Empire and how with only one passage in the start and one in the end. The story could have done without this context too, but then again, it became all the more better with this reference. Moreover, there were other, smaller bits and pieces too which were interesting like the name Julius Superb and Mumtaz’s character. While reading, I was critical on some points but reaching till the end, those shortcomings mattered but little.

Like his second book (which I read first), the story ends without an end… open to interpretation. Now after this, I feel I should give The Reluctant Fundamentalist another chance and I’m sure I’ll have a different opinion about the book after that.

Some Things from My Family Archives

The ancestral document stating that I'm from Kabul from my maternal side; the descendent of commander-in-chief of Taimoor Shah, son of Ahmed Shah Abdali, the founder of Durrani Dynasty in Afghanistan.
Explains my fascination with Pashtuns n Afghanistan in particular. I have traces of Afghan blood running in me. Proud!

How I Chose My Pen Name

My pen name Lady Asma is inspired from a fictional character of the same name from Tariq Ali's Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree. I came across it while i was reading the book. Lady Asma from the book was the young wife of the patriarch of Al-Hudayl family. She was a Christian convert and given the name Asma on her conversion. She received the title 'Lady' because of her marriage to the patriarch; Abdullah was his name as far as i remember. I liked my name mentioned in this Moorish Islamic book. The title 'Lady' is self-proclaimed :)

Sad

One day you come across something and realize that you may look and feel as much of a high schooler as you want but there will always be some things for which you are over-aged and/or short of time. And all the times you wanted to grow up quickly flashes through your mind; all the things you could do but didn’t do or didn’t get a chance. But you’re an adult now… and it’s all grim, downhill from here.    

Born Again

You must have heard the expression “every day is a new life” or something like that but have you ever wondered that might actually be very true? That it is not just a motivational saying? Compare the process of a day with the life cycle of a man. While you are sleeping, this is you in the womb; resting and waiting. Dawn is your queue of going out in the world. You wake up; leave the bed (i.e., the womb) and are cut off from the umbilical cord; which, in this case can be your warm blanket. The time until you reach the place of your routine activities (college, workplace) is the time till preteens while you are figuring out your surroundings, getting used to it, finding new stuff. The time until noon is the teenage. As the day progresses, so does your life and you enter adolescence. Dusk is you turning forty; your energy fully utilized but still you try to make the best of this time before night approaches. And then you feel tired after working all day, wanting rest and peace. In life, that is when you get old. Some don’t sit back even at this time… but then there are so many different kinds of people and we are only sticking to the basics here. And while you are lying on your bed, ready to call it a day, you look back on how your day went, very much like how when you get old you reminisce on your life. And then slowly but surely, sleep (or on the bigger picture, death) takes over and you give yourself over to it gladly.    

  

My City Part 2

Lahore is a changed city. Apart from the changes in time, situation, economy or the infrastructure; there is something else going on within the city’s upper-middle to upper society that has contributed to the change and needs our attention. Consumerism.  

Advertisement channels are flooded with promotions of consumer items luring masses with attractions that are nothing but worthless. My focus here is on three kinds of such items in particular; mobile networks, clothing and eateries. Every other day there is a new package offered from the major mobile networks claiming lowest call rates, fastest internet connectivity and as much as unlimited SMS. Each one of these packages is advertised grandly; and by grandly I mean TV ad every two minutes and on huge billboards all over the city. What’s most disturbing is youth as the target audience of such mobile networks specifically. It’s almost cheap and cunning. 

Flashing beside a mobile network advertisement you see a billboard announcing the launch of a lawn collection. What started as an exclusive thing by a few of the oldest and the most reputable brands like Gul Ahmed and AlKaram is now expanded to a large number of people calling themselves designers; launching crazy expensive volume after volume of lawn collection multiple times during a single season. The same can be said for clothing lines and brands of all kinds. 

And where do you go wearing your ‘branded’ outfits? Well, it’s all settled for. Every other day there is a new fancy restaurant opening with food prices that can make your eyeballs pop out. But the restaurant business thrive and flourish no matter how high they set the prices of their food because eating out is probably the most popular source of entertainment for us modern Lahoris.  

All of this makes you think what’s becoming of us. It’s like two alternate universes; one has a sheer deprivation of energy resources, basic human needs and peace while the other one revolves around how best to blend in and keep up with the rapidly changing trends. The contrast is absurd and random. And we are the pawns in the game of consumerism – glad and oblivious. It’s surprising how we don’t as much as bat a lash before taking out an outrageous amount of money paying for such stuff. Because we are doing as Romans did in Rome.

All around, there is a race of keeping up with the changes. No one minds it. We’re all in it. But this move towards modernity is making us materialistic. This wonderful city is shifting rapidly away from its roots, struggling to find a new identity while making no effort to hold on to or preserve its chastity and originality.