"A writer and nothing else: a man alone in a room with the English language, trying to get human feelings right. " ~John K. Hutchens, New York Herald Tribune, 10 September 1961

Friday, November 23, 2007

Chivalry's Dead

Although including the perspectives of a completely new member was a bold idea, I thought it might work. You have to understand where I was coming from, however--I thought there would be more talk about goings on in the literary world--I hardly expected a religious debate.

I think it's key to understand the purpose this blog serves; as an introduction to the site itself. Sure, I'd love for our writers to eventually put up their thoughts and opinions on the goings on of the Pakistani cultural world, but that's where it ends. Opinions and debates are what The Abstract Thinker on the forums, exists for. It's exactly the sort of things the Podium will cater to, once it's actually functional.

I'm having second thoughts about my developer. There are reasons, I think, why the cheap ones come cheap. They are profoundly unreliable. I was to receive updates today...and did I? Nope. In fact, it's quite safe to say I received no communication of any kind.

In other news, our Orkut community has entirely changed. The description, the way the name's been structured (DeSi Writers for whatever reason), the location (what was once Pakistan is now Mumbai, India. Pardon the yowls of disbelief!), the image (ours was always a cup of tea. Now it's your typical pen and paper), the community owner (goodbye, Sana--it was great while it lasted). It's a little sad to see your past go up like that, but then, as I stated so aptly on the community: that was our past, the site is our present and future. And obviously the new breed of desi writers on Orkut are now entirely disassociated from what we were three years ago. They'll make their own history. Ours is still there, for those interested although most of our work has made the transition into our archives. I think it's safe to say, since Sana is no longer the community's owner, it's no longer ours. It used to be, yes but it isn't anymore.

Let's observe a moment of silence for the death of a great community, and one if it were absent, we wouldn't be here.

For those of you who live in Islamabad, know that Sharabeel's latest is here: Be Careful Where Your Clothes are, and according to Obi, is a farce. So...I'll probably see it, with both my sisters in tow. I have to say, I'm very partial towards plays casting people I actually know. I think I've just become a tad lazy though.

Polls continue to run in the forums until December 10 and if you're thinking of submitting a new piece, know that the deadline for this quarter is December 1. So you have about a week for submissions, and about two for polling.

A request to our members and would-be'ers, please do vote. We're all about democracy here, don't you know?

1 comment:

Khaver Siddiqi said...

Whilst Orkut may have moved on and changed, DWL lives on here and on the board... At times there may be little or no activity, but its nice to know that its still there and growing. Also, didn't chivalry and democracy jump off a cliff somewhere together? Hurm.