Farzana Versey's Blog
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May.19.2013
A flaky torn bit of page crumbled in my hand as I opened the bookshelf. The remnant had left nothing to read. The collection is eclectic, but I would not call it my personal library. Along the years, I have stuffed too many things in there — photographs, a replica of a Swiss chalet, wooden toys...
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May.15.2013
I see such pictures and cringe. It is not about colour. Or race. It is about how, even with the goodness of our hearts, we do not understand whether anybody wants our help. According to the caption that appeared in the paper, the lady (I shall not name her or reveal her nationality) is a “...
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May.12.2013
“Mama always said there's an awful lot you can tell about a person by their shoes. Where they're going, where they've been. I've worn lots of shoes. I bet if I think about it real hard, I could remember my first pair of shoes. Mama said they'd take me anywhere. She said they was my magic shoes."...
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May.10.2013
It had yellowed. I imagined the sun's rays gave it the hue. I would not have even looked at it, but as I peeled the foil off the glass-shaped container I saw a bit stuck to it.
I tilted the glass and took a large sip. That is when I sensed the foul smell as the bitterness spread in my mouth....
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May.10.2013
Knowledge could probably be ignorance masked. I tend to analyse a bit too much, often finding meaning where there is none. Interpretation is fine, but what if it is a real interaction and one is enlightened only to realise the intent was far from it? Is enlightenment a way by which we affirm...
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May.07.2013
If Muslims believe that Prophet Muhammad should not be portrayed in any physical form as it goes against the principle of Islam, then must a painting not fall in the same category?
Several reports have mentioned an upcoming auction in Britain later in May where a “rare painting of the footprints...
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May.02.2013
I could taste the loss in her voice. Her “Hello..." lingered. It wasn't like her, even though she spoke the same words. The way she always responded when I called. It has been almost a week, but that “Hello..." lingers.
We spoke and somewhere after talking about the heat in our different cities...
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Apr.17.2013
I admit, my first thought was not one of sympathy, but “Hope it is not a Muslim” on hearing about the bomb blasts.
Is she dead? Injured? Her limbs blown off? I will never know. I knew her only as a pseudonym. She often spoke about training for the marathon. She was, from all accounts,...
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Apr.10.2013
She came closest to being monarchy, so it is only apt that they promise her a funeral no less than Lady Diana’s. Britons are terribly excited about her last rites, and many seem to convey that it is to make sure she is finally buried.
Her death at 87 should have been a regular and, one may...
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Apr.05.2013
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala’s screenplays did not scream, or even appear to make profound statements. The sorrow was matter-of-fact. It took me a while to understand the detachment.
“I want a happiness without a hole in it, I want the bowl without a crack” – (From ‘The Golden Bowl’)...
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Apr.03.2013
The sentences were strangling me. The chains formed a loop creating a Nefertiti neck that craned to look for eyes and found heads instead. My eyes read thoughts that were concealed, congealed, thoughts that shone and thoughts that were rusty, thoughts that felt smooth to the...
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Mar.23.2013
Would you read 'Cooking with Poo' or would the title put you off? That it might not alter your culinary skills seems like a given.
Yet, it appears there is a range of book names, less mysterious and more confounding. If they were in the realm of bizarre fiction, one might have considered some...
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Mar.18.2013
A rape apologist is somebody who condones rape, not one who reports on its verdict. The Steubenville trial has concentrated on making a devil of a reporter by comparing what she said with the terrible online comments. How concerned about rape are those who merely ‘followed’ the herd to outrage...
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Mar.13.2013
The One Billion Rising campaign demanded “an end to this violence”. Violence does not knock on doors and seek permission to enter.
It has been almost three months since the Delhi gang rape of December 16. Ever since, the media has been carrying articles or doing television stories on different...
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Mar.02.2013
Would you want your clothes to become transparent whenever you are aroused, instead of the usual signals? When innovative tech art enters personal territory it becomes both edgy and a matter of some concern.
Artist Daan Roosegaarde, who runs a social design lab, has diversified into...
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She writes with anguish and pessimism, a journey into hearts of darkness with no light at the end of that distorted prism, mainly because as she astutely observes, “every few years Pakistan writes a new fiction” to keep the embers alive. ”
—India Today
About Farzana
To be categorised is near-death. It would be nice to say that one is a literary vagabond, but it just does not convey fully the sense of rootlessness and ruthlessness one strives for constantly.
Have written opinion pieces, feature articles and interviews for...
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Farzana’s Favorite Books
Every writer, besides the ones I have listed, who has had something to convey that leaves me with the taste of bitter chocolate...that I like.