Whiskey and Cigarettes…
by Wasim
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An essay on history and the vanity of history books
by Wasim
Professors of history and history’s acolytes have an inflated opinion of their subject. They bathe in a vast knowledge which ranges from extreme fact to extreme fact. They know the littlest tinniest detail of their subject and when asked to elaborate further, they go supernova on you! Bookshops are littered with history books on every conceivable subject basking in the warm rays of their own self-importance. These books tend to be big hefty tomes with extensive bibliographies and appendices and […]
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Star Trek: Into Darkness
by Wasim
I won’t be giving a full review. I’m just going to talk about one thing. Benedict Cumberbatch – a supervillain worlds apart. No one gets to outperform Benedict Cumberbatch’s mysterious interplanetary villain “John Harrison”. A sort of space ninja de luxe, this vengeful renegade first blows up the Starfleet’s archive, then strafes its high command, and later has the temerity to hide out in a Klingon stronghold, where he single-handedly bests a whole contingent of the furrowed-browed ones. He’s so […]
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Current location…Marrakech (Morocco)
by Wasim
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South Africa & Namibia
by Wasim
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The Railway Bazaar (part 3)
by Wasim
Whisked upon silky currents we were tripping to the stars; not in a rocket ship but a soap bubble creeping through the crepuscular darkness. Floating past Saturn, effulgent shafts of light bounced off its rings and gently caressed her face. I kissed her. Hovering above the oceans of Neptune (oceans of helium) our vessels reflection, shimmering off the placid surface, lit her eyes. I kissed her. And floating momentarily above the 3rd moon of Dolgoran, night-glow spores attached to her […]
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The railway bazaar – part II
by Wasim
The train continued to creak its way westwards towards the Bengal delta as the hot air settled upon us like a heavy woolen blanket. The metal joints in the wooden carriages, not changed since the days of the Raj (and probably not oiled since then either) were rusty and squeaking and moaning with jolts from the eddies in the track and the rough and tumble of the land. The heat, the quiet, the soothing motion of the train; it was […]
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The railway bazaar (revisited) – part 1
by Wasim
“What is your good name sir?” inquired the ticket inspector as he fondled my train ticket with his greasy hands. His skin was leathery like sun-dried tannin and I could make out the dirty and frayed cuffs of his shirt. He had a skinny neck that protruded like a giraffe between two ill-fitting collars and an unruly paper tie. “Wasim” I answered “Where are you from Sir?” “Please stop calling me Sir” I said tartly. “For I find the whole […]
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He waited but nothing came…
by Wasim
He sat on his desk with his fingers on the keyboard…and waited. Nothing came. Sigh. Why won’t it come? He tried to empty his mind of all willing – perhaps then it would come? Nothing came. Sigh… He sat there. Fingers outstretched on his laptop keyboard. The screen was filthy – so he gave it a wipe down. The keys were filthy – he gave them a wipe down too. He rested his fingers on the keys, and realised this […]
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The Art of Travel (revisitado) – Part 1
by Wasim
If we accept that our lives are dominated by a search for happiness, then nothing better exemplifies this search than our travels. By looking at the way we travel; the dynamics and pitfalls we fall into, the fallacies we imbibe, we can reveal much about that eternal quest for bliss and happiness. Hence, the art of travel is as much about travelling as it is about the human condition and our search for heaven on earth. We are given much […]
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Big nose and fatty
by Wasim
The two cave men sat on the edge of the cave and watched the rain as it dripped down. They looked up at the heavens and were not pleased. The fat one was feeling hungry and this made him irritable. He was always irritable when he was hungry. The one beside him, the one with the big nose – did not look irritated. Rather he looked pensive, thoughtful – even philosophical – to the extent that it is possible for […]
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precious shreds from my book
by Wasim
“I assembled a fantasy and made it real. I wrought it in my hands and molded it in my mind. I gave it flesh and bone and gave it breath. And when the fantasy was proved just that – the ramparts that held it fell apart, and my world fell apart with it. And the thunder I had was stolen and the fire that once raged, was mute – like the world before love”
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How does the world know?
by Wasim
The first time he saw her, it was like the day when as a little boy he’d been violently thrown off his horse. He remembered the feeling; one moment he was atop high and than the next, he was face first on the hard ground with the breath knocked out of him. He recalled the violence of it, the unexpectedness of it – that’s how he felt now, when he first saw her. A thunderbolt had smote him hard and […]
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Venice
by Wasim
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Man of many faces…
by Wasim
Am I the devil laughing? Am I the devil sad?
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A different sort of Venice
by Wasim
I could just show you the typical picture postcard Venice of lovers in Gondolas’ under the Rialto bridge – but that’s boring and I like to think that I am a little above such vulgarity! So I’m going to show you a Venice that you’ve never seen before. A real Venice teeming with real people and not cardboard cut-outs a la Disney Land… Look at her. Poor woman. If she was my mother I’d be ashamed of myself. This is […]
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Isn’t travel so romantic?
by Wasim
I am currently in Venice. Exploring its cryptic streets and darkly mysterious twisting labyrinths…where wonderfully fearful tales await I’m sure. I have my cloak of damask. I have my dagger of finest silver. I have my mask. And with these I walk the streets at midnight in search of high adventures… Well actually, all I’ve seen so far are tourists in the rain! Don’t let the rain ruin it I say. I mean look at this couple: Isn’t travel so […]
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The Manuscript….
by Wasim
It was one of those grey, cold, damp days – when there is no joy in the world. When even the squealing laughter of children fails to lift the mood even a few feet above the sodden ground. When even the face of the one you love fails to spark that meteor shower of happy feelings in your heart. A day when the heavy skies smother any good feelings you might have woken up with and the icy grip of […]
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Cesar’s Margarita Party (in the Jedi Tower!)
by Wasim
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Light Show…Slide Show
by Wasim
(to be watched with the sound on)
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