Short Story: The Hen Chase

In a faraway village on a day long forgotten some events stirred the life from normal to chaotic. The village was under a spell of boredom that had never been broken - till this day. 

In the fields, Farkhanda was busy tying and retying her hair when her first cousin approached her with a letter for her second cousin. Innocent as she was , she accepted the letter and went on with her hairdo. The author of the letter was Hamid who had been haunted by the elementary school teacher ever since she came to return their lost lamb. 

A walk through Washington

Washington Monument through the Cherry Trees

Many European national capitals can give you a history over-doze. Yet Washington DC is less because of its heritage and more for being the capital of the World’s only super-power. The fact that US is relatively a recent empire is deeply embedded in the city which sadly has little heritage. 

Revisiting Lolita

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Adrian Lyne’s 1997 adaptation

Lolita is tragicomic literary classic, a novel written by Vladimir Nabokov and first published in 1955.

The story is narrated by Humbert Humbert, a middle-aged British literary scholar who is obsessed with girls aged nine to twelve. He uses the term “nymphets” for them, a term actually coined and made popular by Nabokov himself. 

Happy Birthday Bhagat Singh

Two days before my grandfather died, we brought him home from the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC)which is located on Jail Road. The Jail Road is named after the Central Jail Lahore, where Bhagat Singh was imprisoned. And behind the PIC is the roundabout where Bhagat Singh is said to have been hanged. Our car stopped at that roundabout to get some fruits and my grandfather once again narrated his favorite tale of heroism, this time in his weak, sickly voice. The story of a young Bhagat Singh who inspired everyone in pre-partition India. Most people now don't understand how atrocious and organized the British were in India, and how Bhagat Singh's unapologetic and brave reaction energized the Indian Freedom Struggle. 

Today is Bhagat Singh's birthday and I mourn him, my grandfather and the fact that Pakistan couldn't do as little as name a roundabout or road after him.