Comments for Koonj: the crane

Comment on Extremist women want in by (un)relaxeddad

(un)relaxeddad — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:28:04 +0000

Hmm. Well, that’s a challenging article, bravely impartial (apart from the obvious partiality to feminisim!)

Hope all is well.

Comment on Extremist women want in by vinod

vinod — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 07:41:35 +0000

I didn’t understand the title of the post

Comment on “It’s not raining eligible Muslim men” by TwennyTwo

TwennyTwo — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 22:26:27 +0000

Salaams,

I see I’m several days late to the party but um, YES. Thank you for saying what needed to be said from your very well-informed perspective. At this point I feel like I’m reduced to incoherent yet urgent whining. And that’s not productive, ya know?

My real question (from the perspective of the single Muslimah) is, what exactly do we do about this? Really. I’m not about to go with the option of that group you mentioned in the article, and I’m not about to actively start stalking eligible non Muslim men in order to see a bunch of shahadahs and even out the single male to female ratio.

I’m gonna have to go back to my blog on this (uh oh, another post on marriage?), because ‘Asr is in… but jazak Allah khair for staying ‘on the case’.

peace
Twenny

Comment on Pakistani Harvard student refuses to receive award from US Ambassador by Matt

Matt — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:31:42 +0000

Yes, he can hold his head up high for being a total douche.

Comment on Life before this brave new world by ayesha

ayesha — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 03:30:19 +0000

digital cameras!!! you take a picture and you don’t have to wait until you drop it off and pick it up to see the images! you can see it RIGHT THEN!!!
i still remember very clearly the apprehension while taking a roll of pictures - did i do that right? what if it was over/under/badly exposed? and then the EXCITEMENT of picking up a developed roll at snapshops or walmart (or klick, in edinburgh!) and opening the envelope (which i would often do while driving back from said developer).
there’s so much to learn about digital photography, but i still have that feeling that film photography forces you to pay more attention to what you’re doing - after all, you’re paying for the roll and the development!!! you can’t just delete them and start over…

Comment on What an elite education deprives you of by wasiq51

wasiq51 — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:08:22 +0000

This is a topic I’ve thought about a lot. When we’re growing up, parent’s, teachers, and others tell us to be good people which means being honest, putting others first, and living by a set of core ethical principals. When you’re grown and you’ve entered the real world of social and economic competition, one finds that other things count a lot more and that so long as one has gathered all the right trophies that symbolize academic, financial, and social success, then the other stuff about being good people is really just extra stuff that may actually get in the way of being a winner in life. The point where we become aware of this contradiction is what I’d call the point at which one has grown up and faced the reality of life. I’m a college teacher and I am continually baffled at how little pleasure my students derive from learning. Life for them has already been presented as a series of obstacle courses one has to master. Living for livings sake; learning for learnings sake is not an experience most have. The best studetents are often so stressed out that they have to take drugs or drink heavily to actually get in touch with themselves and their surroundings again.

Comment on Pakistani Harvard student refuses to receive award from US Ambassador by kashif

kashif — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 06:16:11 +0000

I would be going against your views. Here is what Samad told the US Ambassador:
“I refuse to accept this award in protest against the recent US strike on the tribal areas, and its support to unconstitutional acts of Pervez Musharraf”

His views are clear and his protest is not against the school.

Comment on What an elite education deprives you of by Reading between the headlines « The Cultural Anarchlyst

Reading between the headlines « The Cultural Anarchlyst — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 05:46:45 +0000

[...] Rushdie is knighted by the Queen (Andrew Pierce, Telegraph) Spectacular Transports (Trinketization) What an elite education deprives you of [...]

Comment on What an elite education deprives you of by Julaybib Ayoub

Julaybib Ayoub — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 05:17:39 +0000

I know I’m not alone in being among white brits who, from the beginning, were not motivated by a desire to get to elite institutions. I got badgered at school to “pull my socks up” because I was supposedly Oxbridge material. But there was simply no inclination to go there. Academically, such institutions are often over-rated. But more than that, they are full of people I have spent my whole life trying to avoid!!

Comment on What an elite education deprives you of by wahaj

wahaj — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 01:29:41 +0000

This is something we as parents considered seriously for our kids when they attended “private” academy for a couple of years but soon realized they are not being given proper advancements in studies, so we switched them to ordinary (Public) school where our main worry was drugs and such. but Alahmdulillah they did OK.
Well, I have lots to tell you for I was always on the non-elitistic side when I was growing up. As you will recall, your nanjan always wore Khadder and only desi stuff (Gandhian Philosophy), always travelled in “third Class” (and I remember that when I came to Punjab in 1944 from Sauger)
That is what worries me about those who are born with silver and even gold spoons in their mouths proclaim themselves to be standing for the poor worker, when they dont know what hunger or want or deprivation is. And majority of champions of democracy only want votes, not demonstration or agitation from the “Awam kal-an’am” Is’nt that the problem with democracy everywhere?
I have strayed awy from your topic, sorry.