tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9390214.post115998482360581675..comments2022-04-02T23:45:43.257+05:30Comments on Itinerant: Among the Bosnians Iitineranthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00764520998085530843noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9390214.post-34893942004517034162006-10-09T16:59:00.000+05:302006-10-09T16:59:00.000+05:30Hey, now I feel like a bit of a fraud because my n...Hey, now I feel like a bit of a fraud because my novel that's about to be released is quite depressing, and is more of a story of lost hopes! Damn. Ah well, c'est la vie. <br /><br />Muriel, would love to hear about your work in N Ireland, and read your thesis. My email ID is omair.ahmad@gmail.com. Satya and I had spoken about whether to put it up earlier but we had thought that maybe it would be best to have an idea exchange on his blog rather than just an exchange of emails. <br /><br />Cheers everybody and by the way just passed the first stage of a selection procedure to be part a specialist with the Foreign Affairs Committee in the UK Parliament. Quite a longshot to get the job, but wouldn't that be wonderful (and somewhat insane)?...https://www.blogger.com/profile/12062048334370672890noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9390214.post-86767942439160784132006-10-09T08:32:00.000+05:302006-10-09T08:32:00.000+05:30It is so good to read u again, Omair. Was an extre...It is so good to read u again, Omair. Was an extremely loyal reader of ur blog. Can't seem to get to it now. <br /><br />Anyways, thnx to Satya, u have again transported me into a different world, way beyond my league and so akin to where I want to be.Faced by corporate rut, I rarely get time and more importantly, the opportunity to read something original. Am waiting for ur book. Till then keep giving us stories of hope...svetyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14334049900582397948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9390214.post-61570860786536104982006-10-07T20:12:00.000+05:302006-10-07T20:12:00.000+05:30Hi Omair,
I have to say that i did not expect th...Hi Omair, <br /><br />I have to say that i did not expect this. It is a lazy saturday night, i am watching rubbish american movie, my mind almost shut down for the evening and then i am browsing on Satya's blog and here it is: your article on Bosnia. I totally agree with you, we always point out the tragedy, the blame, the horrible, but rarely we stop for the courage and the desire of people to continue and live together.I wrote a thesis on Integrated schools in Northern Ireland, few years ago, for exactly the same reason, people still talk about the fight but how often did you hear about these fantastic schools teaching all children with the desire of building a new Northern Ireland, how often? <br /><br />I also share what you felt when you encourage people to believe in another future for themselves. Sometimes it is difficult to achieve more than that, but i also believe sometimes it is enough, it is a beginning, positive views, any, are good to have, collect and build up. <br /><br />Anyway, i'll be happy to read some other thoughts if you want to share more with us... <br /><br />MurielMuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05840414129784622035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9390214.post-80072787477813985032006-10-07T17:53:00.000+05:302006-10-07T17:53:00.000+05:30Hey, this much praise and I'll die, as it is every...Hey, this much praise and I'll die, as it is everybody I know can already vouch for the fact that I've got a overblown ego! (=<br /><br />If you guys are interested in the Bosnia issue I'd recommend two books, "Love Thy Neighbour" by Peter Maass and "A Short History of Bosnia" by Noel Malcolm. Emir Suljagic's "Postcards from the Grave" about surviving Srebrenica is fantastic. You should also note that the Serbs have, in the end, been among the worst long-term sufferers, so do make the distinction that it was Milosevic and his regime rather than Serbs themselves, who are to blame.<br /><br />About good stories, I think they are vitally important. Many of you will not know but in talking about Kashmir and its many tragedies, we tend to overlook that some Kashmiri Hindus still live there among their neighbours. In fact during the municipal elections in 2005 they, and the Sikhs, were conspicous in their overrepresentation in the people elected. One of the things that I was able to do when I was working on J&K was to get partial funding for a Granta-like publication on Kashmir written by Kashmiris. It should be published by Picador India in a few months (hopefully). I hope it contains some good stories. We need them.<br /><br />My hope in writing, the primary reason for all the books I am working on, and the manuscripts I have finished, is to hopefully provide the hundreds of millions of young, underrepresented Asians just coming into parity with the rest of the world some way to look at ourselves. Partially for my friends, partially for my nephews. A grand ambition, but I am extremely proud of India (despite our many mistakes) and I think we have a lot to offer the world. This is just one way.<br /><br />Cheers, guys....https://www.blogger.com/profile/12062048334370672890noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9390214.post-49747514671568192512006-10-07T00:06:00.000+05:302006-10-07T00:06:00.000+05:30Omair-
Hope you see this. This was one of the bes...Omair-<br /><br />Hope you see this. This was one of the best pieces of writing I have read in a long, long time. I think you;re absolutely right that stories are important, that language holds possibilities that academics and politicians don't relaize or maybe realize only in sinister ways. <br /><br />And the writing is excellent- simple, clear and powerful. Pretty f'ing awesome..I agree with Satya- I whould have listened to more of your stories back then. <br /><br />anyway, please send me what you write next..and I hope all's well. I've managed to survive in Syracuse so far! You were right about Euclid ave...<br /><br />Anyway, the piece was great- I'm going to forward it to some people that will appreciate it. <br /><br />DeepaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9390214.post-1160156382060210912006-10-06T23:09:00.000+05:302006-10-06T23:09:00.000+05:30I agree here totally. When Omair emailed me the pi...I agree here totally. When Omair emailed me the piece this was my immediate reaction, "Dude,That was the best thing I have read in months. Fuck fiction, you know where you should bull shit...<BR/>Are you going to let this lovely write up waste in an email inbox?<BR/>If you dont think of anything, I want this up on my blog.I should have listened to more of your stories or maybe you should write them down for me".<BR/> <BR/>Now, even with the advantage that hind sight offers nothing I wrote above has changed.<BR/><BR/>Getting down to the points, I really thought that point about the success in the Bosnian tragedy was breathtaking in the way its narrated, "I raise my hand to stop the flow of my enthusiasm, and to apologise. This is the Bosnia of my imaginings, I say, not necessarily the country she knows. I apologise if I have offended in my ignorance." or in Aida's final reaction, 'She laughs ruefully, and turns to one of the others at the table, "He makes me happy about my country."'<BR/><BR/>I also enjoyed the gentle layers of reaction begining with sceptical hostility (mujahedin) and moving to genuine relief at the incredulity of the thought to a warm discussion.<BR/><BR/>But in my view this takes the cake,"In dark days you need stories of hope. We should build on them."<BR/><BR/>That is, Omair, terrific and read in the context it feels superbly crafted and such a genuine expression of stories and story telling and their intangible value. Priceless.itineranthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00764520998085530843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9390214.post-1160134371573083642006-10-06T17:02:00.000+05:302006-10-06T17:02:00.000+05:30For a second, you made my jaw-drop..Breathtaking p...For a second, you made my jaw-drop..Breathtaking piece, by any standards. And what writing maan, had just heard references about his famous blog which still exist on Xanjukta's!! I guess you have started following my trick of putting source right at the end. <BR/>Anyways, my knowledge of Bosnia is rather limited, except for the knowledge that the First World War started in that region, and in the new century, they have contributed to the biggest threat to nationalism, 'balknisation'. <BR/>I celebrate India for still being a successful nation-state experiment, however flawed it is. All similar examples, primarily the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia collapsed, and it again stengthens by liberal capitalist beliefs that they were mainly governed by centralist Communist regimes. We have problems mainly in our Himalayan areas, and the only we can survive politically is by giving them more space. Till then, as Lata ji had put it, Jai Hind Ki Sena!!!Agyanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14503056769448425400noreply@blogger.com